Brushstrokes (Reddie AU)

A Weekend Together

"It's a sunny day in Derry, Maine and the young Eddie Kaspbrak is still officially adorable," I state in my news anchor voice. He sticks his tongue out at me and continues to eat his lunch. Chicken nuggets, because I know all about fancy and romantic cuisine.

"I haven't seen my mom in thirty six hours," he informs me proudly.

"That's wonderful! This just in, he's finally seeing past some bullshit that a fat abusive whore tells him!" I say...of course, still using the voice. But this time he doesn't even smile. He just stares at the floor, all vacant and shit. If he wasn't so cute it would just be creepy.

"She's not abusive," he says after a long time.

And man, it is really hard to respond to that. What the fuck am I supposed to say? I mean, she is totally abusive! She brainwashes him, controls him, and makes him take medications for illnesses he doesn't even have. She's abusive, plain and simple. But he doesn't see that. Maybe he never had a mom care for him.

I get that. Fuck you, mom.

I just try to think of some way to change the subject. Thankfully, I think of one. "You're the greatest artist I've ever known, you know," I mumble shyly.

He giggles. "I thought Bowers would be. The way he does his hair is truly a gift."

I look over at him. "You should look into hairdressing. I mean, man, I would love it if you could give me a look like that! Ridiculous in the front, obnoxious in the back!"

He laughs even more and my heart fucking hearts because of how cute it is. Maybe being a clown isn't so bad after all. I get to make him laugh.

After we eat, we go back to my room and play the most intense game of UNO ever. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea. I end up getting tackled after two consecutive +4 cards, and he threatens to shove my glasses down my throat.

"Kinky," I hum.

He can't help but laugh. And when he finally stops laughing, he leans down and kisses me. I'll admit, it's a beautiful kiss. Something about that boy makes every single kiss, every single tease, every single giggle seem like the most important thing in the world. And after a few moments, the only thing I can think about is how I have only known this boy for two weeks. And we're already playing UNO together!

"Richie, get up!" He calls and pulls me into a standing position. "I know we're having fun, and it's all laughs, but I have to go home. Oh god, what was I thinking? She's going to kill me! She's going to fucking kill me, and then I won't be able to kiss you ever again, because I'll be dead and you're not a necrophiliac!"

I smirk and place a kiss to his forehead. "Baby, shhh..." I hum gently.

"What?" He asks. He is really panicky now.

I brush a hand over his cheek. "Darling, deep breaths. You're okay. She can't hurt you, not when I'm here. I won't let her you ever, ever again. You're too good for that."

He smiles very weakly and hugs me. I don't know what turns a violent game of UNO into such a sweet moment, but before I know it we've embraced in the most glorious hug. And I love it.

"Hey, can we go to Stan's? Or invite him over?" Eddie asks with a grin.

"Yeah," I laugh nervously. "He just can't...you know...know about us and stuff."

"Bitch, he's your best friend!"

It's true. Stanley fucking Uris, my best friend since third grade. We met when he offered me a goldfish and I dumped the entire bag on the floor by "accident". He never learned the truth about that day, poor Stan. I have known him so long, cared about him so long. I once tried to straighten his hair when he was sleeping, he once tried to push me off of the Ferris Wheel at the state fair. We're close as friends can be. Why would I want to change that?

What if I come to Stan, and tell him the truth. He laughs because I disgust him, or he stops talking to me altogether because he's scared I'll get a crush on him. I can't break a friendship of almost a lifetime for a relationship of a few days.

"Uh, Rich?"

I smile nervously. "I'm sorry Eds, I don't mean to do that zoning out shit, I just...we can't tell him. He can't know."

Eddie plants a kiss to my lips and I just want it to last longer...and longer...but then he pulls away to speak. "If you don't want him to know, then he won't know."

I send a quick message to Stan telling him that we'll be right over there. And we are, the drive between our houses is so short I could actually walk, but I'm not about to make the adorable Eddie walk out in the rain for ten minutes when we could drive. When we get there, Stan immediately lets us in and makes us dry off in the entryway before we can step into the rest of the house. "So have you guys had a good weekend?" He asks with a smirk. "A sleepover Friday night, and now you're hanging out together again. I wonder how you survived yesterday apart."

"I can't be with him for too long or I start to get hives," I shrug, and Eddie jokingly punches my arm.

"Oh shut up, hives boy," he responds. Hives boy? Jesus, I need to teach him some comebacks.

"Make me!" I laugh. He tries to tackle me but then I notice Stan trying to separate us.

"You two are first graders," he says. "Now please don't go wild, you two have too much energy, and 75% of it comes from the little Kaspbrak Firecracker."

"65," Eddie corrects him. I nod.

I think Stan is a little jealous of Eddie there or something. It was always us two, up until this year. But I was allowed to make friends. Friends who I kiss behind the closed doors.