Reddie II: Eddie Kaspbrak

Chapter 4: Derry Needs You

Eddie returned to the hotel in an uncomfortable silence. He could smell the gross black slime all over his nice new jacket, and tried not to gag at the thought of it being all over him. The smell on it's own was hard to deal with, let alone being covered in slime a leper had just vomited all over him. That damned leper had haunted him, and now he found himself covered in its repulsive slime again, and he shivered in disgust. 
The hotel was empty, which only made him more anxious as he entered. He felt exposed to Pennywise's tricks when he was by himself, and he quietly wished that one of the other Losers would return soon. He felt safest when they were all together... He felt safest when he was with Richie. 

The wooden stairs that lead up to their rooms quietly creaked as he stepped on them, and it sent a cold shiver down his spine. He hated this place. He hated being in Derry again. He just wanted to get out of these stinky clothes because lord knows what germs were making themselves at home on him. 
He quietly entered his room and hastily made his way to the bathroom as he desperately removed his clothes, and promptly threw up into the toilet. He felt disgusting. He sat in silence on the bathroom floor for a while and tried to gather himself again. Eddie listened quietly as he heard a commotion downstairs, it sounded like some of the others had finally returned too. He sighed with relief as he was reassured that he wasn't in this place by himself any more.

Suddenly he heard someone else enter the hotel, and he braced himself. He heard muffled voices and a frustrated sounding "Move!" which was quickly followed by heavy stomping up the stairs. 
Eddie quietly got up from his place, forgetting briefly that he was still covered in the leper's slimy vomit, as well as only wearing his jeans after removing his t-shirt to throw away. There was no way he was going to wear that shirt again. 
He quietly poked his head round the bedroom door, but saw no one outside. Quietly, he made his way out onto the landing area and looked around. When he turned back to go into his room, he found Richie standing behind him and they almost walked right into each other, "Jesus, Rich!" he jumped "You scared me". Richie looked tired, and a little sad too, "What's wrong?" Eddie asked looking concerned. Richie looked up at him quietly and their eyes met for a brief moment. They both stood opposite each other in silence, and a slight frown appeared on Richie's face. "What the fuck happened to you?" Richie asked, his voice sounded heavy and he promptly covered his mouth and nose with one hand as he tried not to gag at the smell "You smell like your mom's underwear!" he exclaimed jokingly. Eddie sighed in exasperation at the unnecessary joke "The leper threw up on me" he said in a low voice.

Richie stood for a moment in silence as he looked at his friend and found his eyes wandering over Eddie's toned torso. He felt something flutter in his stomach for a moment. Suddenly snapping out of his dazed state, he slowly lowered his hand in a brief moment of confusion "Dude where did your t-shirt go?" he asked quietly. Eddie's eyes widened as he realised he'd been stood in front of Richie this whole time without a shirt on and folded his arms in an attempt to cover his bare chest. He awkwardly sidled back into his bedroom and grabbed the nearest shirt and proceeded to put it on backwards in a hurry.
He returned to his spot by Richie and smiled awkwardly at him for a moment. He could feel his heart thumping quietly against his chest as Richie smiled in amusement at him and reached out to him. His chest tightened as he watched Richie extend his arm out to him as if it were happening in slow motion, and he became slightly worried at what he might do next.
His chest suddenly relaxed with relief when he noticed Richie was only pointing out to him that his label was sticking out of his shirt. "Oh" he chuckled nervously and he quickly adjusted his shirt so he was wearing it the correct way around. "Eds you really gotta do something about that smell though, jesus" Richie said as his hand returned to covering his mouth and nose. Eddie took a quick sniff at his arm and promptly gagged at the smell, "Yeah... I'm gonna go wash up" he said as Richie chuckled beneath his hand and nodded at him as he left.