✓ 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲 ━━ 𝗋𝖾𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖾.

x

eddie stared quietly down at his white ankle socks while thinking about what patrick said. it was all so dubious to him, but he needed to get his ring back, meaning he was going tomorrow. "alright, so," the dark brunette looked up, seeing stanley with two plates in his hands with ham sandwiches on them.

they weren't crappy, half-assed sandwiches either, they were stacked with fresh lettuce and tomatoes and some fancy expensive bread eddies never seen in his life before. "you wanted no mayo?" he asked as he handed the plate to eddie. the boy nodded with a smile, happy he didn't forget the one thing he asked. "thanks." he said, picking it up from the plate as stanley sat at his desk with his own.

stanley are silently, his brows furrowed as if he was wondering something before he finally spoke. "hey, where's richie?" he asked curiously. eddie looked at him, swallowing his food. "oh, he uh...had to go find something out." he muttered, taking another bite of his sandwich as he glanced at stanley who let out a slow sigh. "have i ever told you that you're a terrible liar?" he spoke, his brow raised as he set his plate on the desk. eddie only stared at his food.

"you can stay here, but you have to tell me what's going on. that was the deal, remember?" he said as he folded his legs together on the chair. "yeah." he mumbled softly, chewing nervously on his own lip.

eddie finished his sandwich without another word toward stanley or himself, allowing stanley to take his plate who offered. stanleys parents didn't know eddie was even here and he planned on keeping it that way. eddie grabbed the folded blanket from the side of the bed as well as a pillow, going on the floor. he wrapped himself up in the blanket, before resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes.

THREE HOURS LATER

eddies head moved in his sleep, one way to another at the dream he was having. when he escaped from his mom, he hasn't had any dreams, all he saw was pure darkness. but this wasn't any normal dream, it was a nightmare. it involved his mother, she still had him and kept giving him unprescribed meds to where he was suffocating and had struggled to live.

eddie woke up in a cold sweat. he sat up carefully, looking around the dark room as his hands were on the blanket above him. the light was off and stanley was asleep in his bed peacefully. he let out a slight sigh of relief, looking over to the digital clock which said 12:18am. he looked away, rubbing his eyes.

there was a faint shadow in front of him that had caught his attention. he was hesitant, not knowing if he was actually seeing something. "richie?" he called out quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up.

just like that, richies face appeared as he was now sitting in front of him. "hey..." eddie mumbled. the raven haired boy only gave a small smile. "are you okay?" richie asked, noticing he looked pale and even a bit frightened. "yeah...yeah, i'm alright." he nodded, but the pictured furious look in his moms eyes burned into his brain. it was just terrifying.

a sudden chill grazed over the top of his hand which was richies own hand. it felt like the middle of a late december when you check to see the temperature, unaware that when you hit your bare feet on the cold pavement, it would burn you. he let his hand linger above his as he looked back up at him. "nightmare?" richie guessed. eddie simply nodded, not even attempting to try and lie to him.

richie also nodded, understanding. "can i ask you another question?" eddie asked. richie was about to say something snarky like oh, you just did, but he let it go with a shake of his head. "my friend...ben, he said you had to go. i don't know when, but he said you had to disappear one day." he tried to explain his best. richie knew exactly what he was talking about. "crossing over." he mentioned. the thought of it made eddie bummed. "yeah...that." he mumbled. eddie felt fingers intertwine with his.

eddie lost his train of thoughts, looking down at their hands. "i can't feel it." richie suddenly said. it was this constant numb feeling whenever richie tried to touch anything or anyone. it was honestly quite frustrating. "it feels cold." eddie described.

richie nodded, knowing what that felt like at least. "cold..." he repeated his words. he ran the pads of his fingers over the bone of eddies wrist as he watched, eddie also. richie then stopped. "where's your ring?" he asked, looking at him with puzzled eyes. "uh," eddie stammered. "i took it off. it was hurting my finger when i was writing, it's in my bag." he lied through his teeth. richie didn't seem to believe him, but the sound of a light clicked on.

eddies eyes widened as he noticed a dim yellow line of light under the bedroom door. he lied down next to the other side of the bed, covering himself with the blanket. richie watched quietly, seeing the door to the room open slowly. it was like he met eyes with the woman who didn't even acknowledge him.

the door closed after a few long seconds along with the light shutting off. richie looked over to eddie who had his head rested on the pillow, noticing he fell asleep from trying to pretend to sleep. he went over and fixed the blanket so it wasn't covering his face, now above his shoulders. richie stared down at him silently, shaking his head to himself. he ran his knuckles across the side of eddies cheek gently, getting used to how calm he looked in this state.

"i'll get you out of this...promise."

i've been at the hospital all day, thank g o d i can go home in a few hours