not my forte || reddie

Eighteen

Richie had felt horrible after the wreck.
Having put Eddie in danger and also totaling Stella. Bill wasn't too happy either.
Richie had never seen Bill mad until that night, it wasn't even rage it was downright fury smoke spewing from his ears furious. It was like something straight out of Looney Toons. And it was a sight that Richie hoped he'd never have to see or experience again.

"D-Do you w-w-want to fucking t-t-tell me how you c-crashed my car?!" His lip was drawn back in a snarl, and this was Bill after he'd gone inside and calmed down.
Richie hung his head shamefully he couldn't meet his eyes he felt like the scum of the earth and he probably was.
Eddie stepped forward and Bills attitude changed, he didn't blame Eddie because he wasn't the one behind the wheel.

"Well, we were driving and there was this deer in the middle of the road that Richie couldn't see, so I shouted 'Richie, deer!'" Eddie elaborated Bill watching on with his arms strung tightly over his chest. Eddie turned his gaze to Richie and placed a hand on bus shoulder.
"Do you want to tell Bill what your response was?" He mumbled.

Richie looked up slowly, avoiding Bill's gaze. "Yes baby?" He whispered croakily and Bill began to laugh dryly, no amusement lacing his tone in the slightest.
"That's f-f-fucking comedy g-g-gold!" Bill shouted making Richie flinch at his tone.

Richie brought his eyes to meet Bills.
"I'm so sorry, this was never meant to happen Bill."
"I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really-" Eddie fixes Richie with a pointed glare.
"Really sorry." Richie finishes sadly watching Bill's shoulders hunch up.

"I f-f-forgive you.. You're p-p-paying to fix her."

Sometimes Richie hated how forgiving Bill was. He felt like a total shitbag and Bill still forgave him. Of course there was consequence, their parents decided its best if they took his license for a couple months and Richie was compliant if not a little bummed out. And then there was working to buy the parts to fix up Stella.

Richie started doing easy cash jobs after the accident.
He was out every weekend morning mowing lawns, cleaning out neighbors gutters, power washing a couple driveways, chopping wood anyway to make some money. At first he was Mrs. Sanders pool boy then she got a little handsy and Richie bolted out of there.

Richie would set bars every week for the new part he needed to purchase currently he had ten out of the ten parts. His last job had set him up to get the last part. Richie was so grateful for Eddies mechanic skills he helped him out a lot in the garage. Richie just wasn't car smart, he loved them, just not working on them.
And this was how Richie ended up sprawled out on Bill and his dads workbench staring up at the garage popcorn ceiling.

He felt himself zoning out the longer he gawked at the bumpy ceiling. Eventually Richie knocked himself out of his thoughts and sat up.
Richie shifted his gaze to Eddie, watching him curiously from the garages work bench. Eddie was laid up underneath the car, repairing a cylinder. Richie watched on dreamily, he was on one of the pullout rolly things Richie forgot the name of.
He stood up leaning over Eddie eyeing his lower body up selfishly.

Richie smirked and hooked his foot on the bottom of the roller, pulling Eddie out to grin down at him. Eddie met his gaze with a fiery glare. He stared up at Richie defiantly his nose scrunched up, Richie thought it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.
"Rich I'm almost done can you wait?" Eddie huffed agitatedly his face smeared with grease.

Richie shook his head. "Nope! Break time let's eat somethin' sugar." He growled playfully pulling Eddie back out from under the car who glared up at him once more.
Eddie rolled his eyes and got his footing quickly wiping his dirty hands off on his towel. "Missed a spot." Richie murmured taking the towel and cleaning his hands gently. He ran the towel slowly over each of his fingers lost in the simple touch.
Eddie eventually grew bored and tugged his now completely clean fingers from Richies grasp. "You're a weirdo." Eddie commented on his way indoors.