Yearning - Reddie

Three

They were half way through their third horror movie for the night, and Richie could safely say that everyone was fast asleep by now. It wasn't a problem, of course - Bill invited everyone over for a sleepover since his parents were away, but he did have one slight, tiny problem of his own.

Eddie fell asleep on him.

In between movies, the group of friends took out some sleeping bags and extra pillows Bill had in his house, and got ready to go to sleep after the third movie. Richie didn't think they'd make it until the end, and he was proven right after about 30 minutes or so into the movie, hearing soft snores behind him while quietly snickering to himself.

It was all fun and games until Eddie, giving Richie his third heart attack for the night, decided his shoulder was more comfortable than his own pillow, and claimed it as his for the rest of the movie. Richie, needless to say, was quickly losing every trace of cool he had left in him. Eddie was probably unaware of it since he fell asleep at some point, his head on Richie's chest, hair all over the place, eyes shut and mouth ajar.

Richie thought he'd never make it through the night as is, but at some point Eddie threw his hand over Richie's chest and basically cuddled him like a human teddy bear.

Full on panicking now, Richie contemplated waking Eddie up and getting him to sleep on his pillow instead, but he knew an opportunity like this would probably never come again. He felt kinda bad for enjoying it, he really did, but he convinced himself that he couldn't, against his conscience, wake this little ball of energy up when he looked this peaceful.

Considering waking him up some more but ultimately deciding against it, he shifted a little and tried making himself as comfortable as possible without waking Eddie up. Shifting his left arm awkwardly, not daring to place it on top of Eddie's shoulder, or anywhere else for that matter, he eventually propped it behind his head as a last resort.

It was nearing 2 AM and Richie was suddenly hit by a wave of tiredness, his eyes rapidly fluttering open and close. He feared the morning's inevitable arrival - he feared his friends' reaction to them cuddling, and Eddie's in particular. His worry filled thoughts slowly faded away as sleep consumed him, the dim light from the TV and the faint sounds from the still playing movie accompanying him into his dreamless sleep.

***

Being only half awake and eyes closed, Richie didn't feel a certain weight on his chest that was there the night before. Not knowing what to expect, he was somewhat scared to open his eyes. After what seemed like forever he did though, and just like he thought, a certain brown haired boy wasn't there anymore.

Slowly sitting up, feeling dazed and confused, he realized he was the last one to wake up: all the blankets, sleeping bags and pillows were deserted in the empty room. He felt panic wash over him - has any of their friends seen him and Eddie? And how did Eddie react when he woke up smeared all over him?

He was about to get up and go upstairs, hoping his friends wouldn't mention it if they had noticed, when he heard faint footsteps making their way downstairs.

It was Bill. Richie's tense shoulders relaxed and a sigh of relief left his mouth, expecting it to be Eddie. His hands and shirt had some sort of powder on them - was that flour? He mindlessly thought but didn't ask, assuming he'll find out soon enough. Noticing he was awake, Bill's eyebrows shot up in surprise, expecting him to still be asleep. "Oh, h-hey R-Richie, j-just w-woke up?" He asked pointing at Richie, who's legs were still inside his sleeping bag.

"Yeah dude, didn't sleep so well actually." What a blatant lie, Richie thought to himself. After he stopped panicking about the whole Eddie-is-laying-on-me-what-the-fuck-am-I-supposed-to-do thing last night, it only took him about a minute or so to fall asleep. He hoped Bill wouldn't call him on his bullshit, though, if he knew.

Bill frowned a bit, seemingly confused. "Uh, t-that sucks, Rich. I t-thought-" he cut himself off, seemed thoughtful for a second and instead said, "W-Well, we made p-pancakes, kinda. T-There's a-also cereal. You c-coming?"

Richie paused for a second, almost uncomprehending his words. "Uh, sure, I'll brush my teeth first." He finally said, Bill's weird behavior and flushed cheeks making him feel uneasy - like he knew something and was contemplating whether he should bring it up or not.

Bill nodded and jogged upstairs as Richie got up on his feet.

He wondered who else knew from the group and suddenly felt anxious about going upstairs, taking his time brushing his teeth in the bathroom floor.