"Richie," whispered a beautiful voice.
Richie opened his eyes, his vision slightly blurred. He smiled when he saw Eddie was the one standing beside him, urging him to wake up. He wasn't wearing a shirt, clearly having been in the middle of getting dressed when he decided to wake Richie up. The golden ring was on his finger, shining in the light flowing through the window.
"Good morning, beautiful," Richie said, sitting up and leaning on one of his elbows. "Looking as stunning as always."
Eddie smiled and rolled his eyes, pulling a shirt over his head. It was a soft grey color, and Richie decided when he found a way to get money and buy Eddie clothes, he'd definitely buy him more grey. It was extremely flattering on him.
"You have bedhead," Eddie said with a giggle, sitting on Richie's chest and running his fingers through his hair. "It's cute."
Richie blushed, pulling Eddie down to kiss him. "When do we leave?" he asked, his expression getting more serious.
Eddie frowned. "I was going to go meet up with Cassie and have a guard escort me to the cells to see my mother," he said in a disapproving voice. "Bill already saw her last night. Said she said some horrible things so to be prepared."
Richie grabbed Eddie's left hand, putting his lips to the ring on his left finger. "I can go with you," he whispered. "You don't deserve whatever they say."
"You're hurting, love," Eddie said, knowing how much grief Richie must be feeling. He couldn't catch a break. "I don't want them to try to break you."
"Eddie, I lost my biological father, my dragon, and my mother all within a month. Not to mention almost losing my brother and you. I'd like to see them try to break me," he said with a scoff, sitting up so Eddie fell out of his lap and they were sitting across from each other. "I'm already mostly broken."
"Mostly?"
"You're what's been fixing and healing me," Richie whispered, leaning forward and kissing Eddie on the lips.
All of their emotions hit at once, and instead of pulling away, Eddie grabbed the back of Richie's head and gave him a bruising kiss. He plunged his tug inside of Richie's mouth, trying to memorize the taste of the love of his life.
Richie didn't stop him, allowing Eddie to do what he wanted. It made him feel whole; the one he loved the most in the world was okay, holding him and loving him. He grabbed onto Eddie's shoulders and laid him back so he was resting in between Eddie's legs, kissing his deeply. No part of Richie wanted to try to take the control that Eddie obviously desired, but it was tempting.
"Shit, Rich," Eddie whispered, looking up at the boy he had known for so little time but loved like he'd known him for a lifetime. "You're beautiful."
Richie smiled at Eddie, who was giving him a look of pure adoration. "I adore you," he whispered, lowering his head to Eddie's neck, kissing and scraping his teeth against his skin. "Is this okay?"
Eddie gasped at the feeling, closing his eyes. It felt okay for a few seconds, then he felt a pit of nerves clench in his stomach. "Henry did this, he made you do this, this isn't right. No, you can't stop, that's not fair to Richie. He's not Henry, he loves you. Stop being such a whiny bitch!"
"Eddie," Richie whispered, looking up when Eddie hadn't responded. "Do you want me to stop?"
Opening his eyes, Eddie shook his head, biting his lip.
Richie could sense the hesitation when he saw Eddie look away from him. That made his heart drop a little, feeling like Eddie was keeping something from him.
