𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 | 𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕖

chapter seven: the sound of silence

"Eddie!" Richie shouted in fear, running to small boy who collapsed. "Eddie, oh shit!" He cussed, not caring about anyone who could hear him.

Eddie was blacked out and laid on the stairs at a strange angle.

Richie had no idea what happened. They were just walking up the stairs when he fainted. Richie was no doctor and had no clue what to do.

So he picked Eddie up bridal style and ran back down the stairs to the hotel lobby. "Ben! Ben! Please, help!"

Richie didn't know what he was feeling for Eddie, but he knew it was big and undeniable, so he ran at speeds he didn't know he could reach. "Ben!"

Ben ran to the bottom of the staircase, where Richie just appeared with an unconscious Eddie in his arms.

"What happened?"

'The Sound of Silence' played on the hotel television and Richie almost growled because of how melancholic it was in the situation he was in.

"He fell over and passed out." Richie was panicking big time. He had no idea what was wrong with Eddie and didn't want him to suffer.

"I need to check if he's breathing." Ben gestured for Richie to place Eddie on the lobby desk.

Richie complied, setting Eddie softly down onto the table.

"He's only just breathing." Ben announced, grabbing a first aid kit from under the desk. "I think he has asthma."

Richie almost face-palmed right there. It was so obvious!

"We have an inhaler." Ben grabbed the inhaler from the kit and gently shook Eddie's shoulders.

Eddie was beginning to come to, opening his eyes slightly. "Open up," Ben whispered. Eddie opened his mouth weakly as Ben placed the inhaler inside, pressing the trigger. "Breathe in."

Eddie breathed the Ventolin in which assisted his breathing more.

"Oh God, Eddie, I was so worried! I thought you were dead!" Richie sighed in relief, stroking Eddie's soft hair.

"I'm okay." Eddie wheezed.

"Woah, Wheezy, take it easy." Richie rhymed in a cowboy voice, laughing softly and wiping away the stray tear that left his eye. "Thank you so much, Ben."

Ben smiled in sympathy for the boys, "I know that you're Eddie Kaspbrak and Richie Tozier. The runaways."

Richie and Eddie's faces turned to shock as Eddie pressed the trigger to the inhaler again.

"It's okay, I won't sell you guys out." Ben reassured them. "I don't care about money and it's obvious that you care about each other. The same way Bev and I do."

Richie shook his head, laughing, "we're not homosexuals."

"Okay, but if you were, I would accept you." Ben smiled, "do you still want the room?"

"We don't wanna sleep in the car." Richie said.

"Well, it's on the house for tonight."

"For real?" Richie eyes bulged out of his head.

"Totally!"

The boys smiled and Eddie placed the inhaler back on the desk. "Keep it. You might need it again, bud." Ben told Eddie, handing him the inhaler.

"Thank you, Ben." Eddie politely said as the two boys instead took the elevator to their room.

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