Empire State Of Mind // Reddie

Chapter 1

Richard Tozier, also called Richie, stood infront of a huge grey building. Looked just like any other building around. It was raining a little which didn't make the way from the airport to his new home easier. This was defenitely not what he imagined his first impression of New York City was gonna be like.

The rain had soaked through his coat and his glasses were sprinkled with raindrops. He had to walk 10 blocks because he couldn't affort the cab any further.
He was glad he arrived because it was slowly starting to storm.

He walked up to the door, put his two huge bags down and tried pulling out a little also soaked piece of paper out of his pocket. Wasn't a hard task but his fingers were so cold and wet that moving them was hard work. When he finally got out that piece of paper he tried reading it. The only thing still visible and not blurred by rainwater was "Kas..." and something like "ak" in the end.

"Oh great..."

He looked at the many names of people who lived here. On the piece of paper he had written down the name of the guy he was supposed to move in with.

"Kas... Kas.. Kaspbrak..?"

He thought that that must be it. He didn't really care if it was the wrong person because he just wanted to get inside and get warm. A few moments after ringing the bell he was let in. No elevator so he had to walk eight floors up.

"Please do not let this be some weird guy I'm moving in with..." he thought while walking up the stairs and feeling like his arms would just rip off every second. These bags were so damn heavy. But they had to be. It was basically his life packed into two suitcases.

When he stopped at the door, breathing hard, a guy was standing there and smiling a little. Richie noticed how the guy quickly examined him before saying anything.

"Hello! You mist be Richard.. uhm Tozier?"

The guy was smaller than Richie. Probably average size. He wore dark blue dress pants and a white shirt with a few buttons undone which showed some kinda tatoo on his chest. Other than that he had short and dark hair, seemed like he would go to the gym regularly.

"Hi. Yeah you can just call me Richie I guess."

He felt extremely awkward and didn't know what to say. Maybe it was because he felt like the guy looked quite good. But probably also because he just met a guy he doesn't know at all he's supposed to live with.

"Okay nice to meet you. You can call me Eddie then."

Eddie looked up to Richie and smiled. He was impressed by his looks since the first moment. Those broad shoulders and muscular arms. Also that jawline was something else. He noticed how soaked through he was.

"You should come in you're probably cold!"

"Oh yeah I'm totally freezing!"

Eddie stepped aside so Richie could come in. The apartment wasn't big or anything special. But he tried making the most of it. He helped carrying one of the bags and closed the door behind the tall stranger.

"So I guess I should say welcome home! I hope you like it here. It isn't the most amazing place you could imagine to live in but I think it's alright."

Richie noticed how clean it was immediately and felt bad for just walking in with his muddy shoes getting mud all over the floor of the entrance area. Some calm music was coming from the kitchen and little lights made the atmosphere very comfortable and peaceful.

"I'm sorry for getting the floor dirty!"

"Oh it's alright.."
Eddie didn't want to image what kinda bacterias that guy just carried in. So instead he waited till Richie took off his shoes and then showed him his room.

It wasn't a huge room of course. But it had all the basics. A bed, desk with a chair and some storrage cabinets. It had a window next to the bed and white curtains were hanging down on the sides of it. The walls were painted in a soft creme color.

After Eddie had shown everything to Richie and had given him some time to arrive Richie came to the kitchen. Eddie was sitting at the little counter working on his laptop. He stopped his work and looked up. Richie had changed to clean clothes.

"I got some chinese on the way home today. There's still some left you can heat it up in the microwave."

He stood up and walked around the counter to the fridge to show Richie the food.

"Oh good I'm so hungry! I didn't even realize till now."

He took the food and heated it up. While waiting he looked at Eddie sitting back down.

"So what's your job? You seem busy. I mean you didn't even get out of your work clothes" Richie grinned a little.

"I work for a logistic company. Doesn't sound like it but it's hard and stressful work. But I gotta make money..."

He looked back at Richie. They looked each other right in the eye for a second when the microwave beeped and the food was done. Quickly Eddie started typing again as Richie got the food out of the microwave. That was kinda awkward Eddie thought.

Richie sat down at the opposite of the counter and waited for the Chinese to cool down.

There was still that grin on his face that made Eddie go crazy on the inside. It gave him some feeling he didn't know.

"Not married huh?"

Eddie wasn't married. He just never met the right woman. His friend Ben had gotten him quite a bunch of dates but it never felt right. So he just stopped trying and started to concentrate on his job.

"Nope.. Are you?

"Nah.. Had some relationships but nothing lasted. But it's alright. I'll find the right person one day."

"Yeah. I think the right woman comes when you least expect it"

"Mh" is all that Richie answered.

Richie ate his food while Eddie was still working on his laptop. Sometimes he wrote stuff down or did some stuff on his phone. At some point he closed the laptop.

"Alright so I'm gonna go take a shower now. I have to work tomorrow so I'll be gone from 5:30 till around 5 pm. I'll probably go to the gym after work. If you want we can go together and I can show you the area a little."

"Okay sounds good."

Eddie stood up and went to the bathroom to take the shower. So Richie got up too, threw away the empty plastic bowl and grabbed a dry coat from his room.
He also grabbed a cigarette and went out on the balcony to smoke. It was a very small balcony but you had a great view of New York. There were still so many people out, walking around, being busy. It was still so loud that it could be day and still some many lights on that you could think this city never sleeps.

It probably doesn't...