Wait For It || Reddie ✔️

- 24 -

Richie's breathing hitched and his eyes darted to the beanbag in the corner of his room. Eddie sat there, a stack of Richie's music in his lap and one in his hand. "Jesus Eds, what the fuck are you still doing here?" Richie asked as he placed a hand over his heart. Eddie threw a hand in the air, one still plastered to the stack. "Because I have nowhere else to fucking go, Richard!"

Richie shifted his weight to the other foot. His mind flashed to earlier that day with the phone call. Eddie moved the music to the floor next to him before pulling himself up. "Hold on, Eds," Richie said, stepping backwards towards the window. Eddie huffed, his cheeks expanding slightly as he stepped forward, too. "You're not fucking getting away again, Rich." Richie shook his head and went to point outside to Stanley but when Eddie walked up to him, his words refused to leave his mouth.

Eddie grabbed the collar of Richie's jacket and yanked him down, not wasting a second to stare into Richie's eyes. Eddie let his own eyes slide closed as he leaned forward, pressing his lips up against Richie's.

The cheesy romance movies Beverly and Ben made the group watch were right. The world did seem to drip away around you as you got lost in the kiss. Eddie had no sense of his surroundings, just the feeling of Richie pressed up against him.

But that feeling left when Richie pulled away. "Eds.." he breathed out, his voice trailing. Eddie swallowed thickly and forced his eyes up to Richie's. "I fucking hate you," he said, his hands never loosening their grip on Richie's collar. "Running away and making me wait an hour until you came back."

Richie smiled and placed his hands onto Eddie's bent arms. "I like you, too," he said. An indescribable warmth filled Eddie's chest and a smile forced its way onto his face.

Eddie moved in for another kiss but Richie craned his neck away. "One second, please," he said. Eddie narrowed his eyes and let his hands fall back to his sides. Richie turned to look outside, the sunlight warming his face. "Hey, Stanley!" He yelled out and Eddie's eyes bulged. "Fucking move it," Eddie said and elbowed Richie out of the way. Eddie placed both hands on the windowsill and looked out, his eyes instantly spotting Stanley. "What the fuck is Stanley doing here? Holy shit what if he saw us? What am I even talking about, he definitely saw me kissing you!"

Eddie backed away into the room and Richie replaced him at the window. "I found Eddie!" He called out. "Yeah, I saw," Stanley said back. Eddie heard Stan's words and groaned loudly. Richie looked over his shoulder. "Eddie, calm your tits. Stanley won't say anything if you don't want him to," he reassured.

Eddie spun around and looked at Richie, his eyes wide with panic. "Yes he will! I know he will! And plus, Richie, I've already told the others I did something bad and you did too, so they're going to want to know," Eddie rambled on.

Richie turned back to Stanley and watched as he got onto his bike. "Hey, Stan!" Richie said and he turned around. "Eddie is mid-panic attack here. Could you do me a favor and not speak a word of what you saw to anyone?" Stanley looked off to the side and thought it over. "I.." He trailed off and looked up at the window. "I won't."

Richie smiled and looked over at Eddie. "You hear that? Stanley said he won't tell." Eddie still had the worried expression painted onto his face. "I heard that, dickwad! But he still knows!"

"Eds, what's so bad about him knowing?"

"Because Richie! I don't think I'm ready for anyone to know!" Richie paused, staring at Eddie. "You're not?" He asked and Eddie shook his head. "Of course not!" He breathed out and walked over to Richie's bed, falling down onto it. Richie studied Eddie for a second longer before turning, shoving the window closed. Stanley had already left and was now biking down the street back to his own house.

He joined Eddie on his bed, one foot on the floor and the other leg bent. "Eddie, it's only Stanley who knows. No one else has to." Eddie pushed his hands into the bed and shifted so he was facing Richie more. "Yeah but, Rich, the others are still gonna want to know what's going on. We- we can't walk up to them as if nothing ever happened!"

Richie's eyes fell as he thought. "Yeah, I guess," he said, shifting. "Wait," Richie said, remembering something. Eddie raised an eyebrow. "What about your mom?" Eddie's stomach dropped. "What?" He breathed out. Eddie shook his head, his hands pushing him away from Richie. "Why do you think something happened between me and my mom?"

Richie tilted his head, looking at Eddie with an expression to make it clear he didn't believe him. "I heard you over the phone call with Beverly and Bill. You said you don't live with you mom anymore," Richie explained. Eddie shrugged and glanced up at him. "I don't remember that." Richie sighed and threw his hands into the air. "Stop bullshitting me, Eds," he said, "If something bad happened I wanna know."

Eddie's fingers prodded at the bedding. He debated if he should tell Richie. He knew if he did decide to tell, Richie would fight his mom in a heart beat, but he needed to decide quickly. "Nothing happened," he blurted out, "I swear."

Richie stayed silent for a little too long. Fear creeped up Eddie's chest, what if Richie didn't believe him and made Eddie tell the truth? He was close to opening his mouth to say something more but Richie interrupted him. "You sure?" He asked. This is Eddie's last chance to come clean to Richie. His last time to tell Richie the truth.

Eddie breathed in deeply and nodded. "I'm sure, Rich," he said, "Nothing happened."