Reddie II: Eddie Kaspbrak

Chapter 9: Goodbye Derry

The day had finally arrived where the losers gathered all of their belongings and prepared to leave Derry for the very last time. Beverly hugged Bill tightly "We'll stay in touch" she reassured him and he smiled warmly at her "For sure" he replied. He moved along and gave Ben a hug too, "Make sure you take good care of her okay?" he said as he smiled. Ben warmly returned the smile and nodded "I will, don't worry" he reassured Bill, and he placed his arm around Beverly who looked up at him lovingly. 
"Look after Richie okay Eds" Bill said as he gave Eddie one last hug goodbye. Richie looked offended at the comment "Excuse me?" he said placing a hand dramatically on his chest in response. Bill simply smiled, "Well you did almost get yourself killed yesterday" he chuckled,
"Yeeeah fair point" Richie admitted and laughed. He gave Bill a big hug and patted him on the back. 

Bill was the first of the losers to leave Derry, closely followed by Ben and Beverly, and then Mike. 
Richie and Eddie stood in the road in silence for a while "Are you sure about this Rich?" Eddie asked quietly. He felt Richie take hold of his hand and gave it a warm squeeze "Yeah... I am" Richie replied contently. "Come here" he said softly as he turned to Eddie. 
Eddie turned and looked up at Richie as they continued to hold hands, and he smiled. They leaned in close again and Eddie was about to give Richie a soft kiss when he suddenly felt a warm hand squeeze his backside. "Hey!" he jumped, and Richie fell about laughing as Eddie looked at him in horror "You're an asshole" Eddie exclaimed.
"Yeah, but I'm your asshole now dipshit" Richie responded as he grinned childishly.
"That literally makes no sense" Eddie replied quickly.
"Just come here dickwad" Richie said lovingly, and pulled Eddie in close again and they shared a tender kiss for a moment. "I love you, Rich" Eddie said quietly but in a content tone. He looked up, and Richie smiled at him warmly "I love you too Eds" Richie replied. They stood quietly in each others arms again but suddenly the moment was ruined when Richie squeezed Eddie's backside again. Eddie squealed in response as Richie fell about laughing again. "Would you stop doing that you asshole!" Eddie shouted as Richie walked away towards his car. He let out a loud laugh "Just get in the car Eds" he chuckled as he looked back to see Eddie fuming.
"And stop calling me Eds!" Eddie shouted again, hastily following Richie and slamming the door behind him as he climbed into the car. 

i: The Kissing Bridge

After a few minutes worth of driving, Richie pulled up beside the kissing bridge. "What are we doing here?" Eddie asked in confusion.
"I want to show you something" Richie replied as he climbed out of the car. Eddie climbed out quietly and shut the car door "What is it?" he asked. Richie was knelt on the floor in front of the wooden barriers and ran his fingers over a particular carving. Eddie stood quietly behind him, still confused as to why they were here. "I came here when we were kids" Richie began quietly, "It was right after I'd been at the arcade and Bowers called me a faggot just for wanting to play a game with his dick of a cousin" he continued "I carved our initials" he said softly as Eddie knelt beside him. 

Eddie reached out and ran his fingers over the "R+E" that had been scruffily carved into the wood, "You did this?" he asked quietly "I thought someone did it as some sort of joke" he added, and he looked over to Richie. Richie smiled at him "I loved you Eds" he said quietly "You were literally the only good thing in my life at that point". Eddie smiled warmly at him in response. 
"If it makes you feel better Rich, I did one too" he replied eventually. Richie raised his eyebrows in mild surprise "You did?... Where?" he asked. 
Eddie rose to his feet as fast as he could, and limped quietly over to another part of the barrier. He pointed quietly to a neat "R" in a small heart. "You did that?" Richie asked in surprise. "I legit thought Bowers did that to wind me up" he added. Eddie shook his head quietly.
"I did that when the leper scared the shit out of me when we were kids" he said, "Literally my first thought when that leper chased me past Neibolt for the first time, was 'I hope Richie's okay" he added quietly. Richie looked up at him and smiled "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah... It sounds pretty stupid, but hey... look at us now" Eddie responded. 

Richie rose to his feet once again and stood in front of Eddie, taking him by the hand once again. "You're such a dork Eds" he said, and hugged him tight. Eddie sighed in exasperation again.
"And there was me thinking you were gonna say something nice for once" he replied.
Richie and Eddie quietly walked back to Richie's car hand in hand and climbed in. The daylight was beginning to fade as they sped off towards Derry's boarder.
"So... About that pomeranian" Richie began.
"No." Eddie interrupted "No fuckin' Pomeranians" he continued.
"Aw man, why not?" Richie protested
"Think of all the fur everywhere dude!" Eddie interrupted again "It'll get everywhere" he added.
"Yeah but we could call it Stanley" Richie added with a chuckle. He knew Stanley would hate having a dog named after him, especially if it was Richie's dog that had been named after him.
"You know Stan would really hate that" Eddie responded with a chuckle as he remembered their friend. Richie smiled too as he reminisced. "All the more reason to get a pomeranian named Stanley" he joked childishly.

Eddie and Richie continued to bicker about the idea of getting a dog together as they sped off and left Derry for the last time. For the first time in years, both Eddie and Richie finally felt genuinely happy, and it made them even happier to know that they would be able to share their lives with each other. Eddie anxiously gripped the passenger seat again. Their terrifying ordeal with Pennywise may be over now, but now Eddie realised he'd have to deal with Richie's terrifying driving for the rest of his life now... 

The End