𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 | 𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕖

chapter twenty-one: it's my party

"You saw them, didn't you?" A tall cop stood, questioning Mike Wheeler with an unforgiving scowl on his bearded face. "Tell me where they're going."

The state of the room they were in was shocking and vile, with gross-smelling liquid dripping in the corner of the room. Even though it was a police-matter, it seemed very illegal and wrong.

"Why would I tell you, scum?" Mike would've spat on the cop if it weren't for the lack of moisture in his mouth.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but I might just have to keep you here a little longer." He had a smug grin on his face and he was missing one of his teeth. He was probably better off without the tooth, considering all of his other ones were rotten and yellow. It made Mike want to gag.

"I don't give a shit!" Mike squirmed in the chair, knowing it wouldn't help at all.

"Tell me where they're going!" The cop slammed his palms against the table in front of Mike and screamed his guts out.

Mike felt like he was going to cry. "I don't kno-know."

"Yes you do. Tell me!"

"Never!"

★

"You would cry too if it happened to you!" Eddie sang, grinning like a child on Christmas Day. 'It's My Party' was one of Eddie's favourite songs of all time. The poor thing had no clue about the struggles that Mike Wheeler going through and if he did, he would've bit his tongue and felt intense guilt for his minuscule joy.

"You sing beautifully, I must say. Nicer than any chick." Richie had his hand resting against his face.

They'd just found the perfect place to hide until morning. It was secluded, near a forest but not trapped. Eddie was pleased, and that's all that Richie needed. "I'm hotter than any chick too." Eddie joked.

"That's true." Richie tried to make it seem like a joke, but he knew that he couldn't lie. "Don't know if you're hotter than your mom though-"

"You've just lost all my respect." Eddie laughed.

"You had respect for me to begin with?" Richie couldn't hold back his smile as they sat, watching the sky turn from orange to black. "Babe, you gotta learn!"

"Babe? What happened to Eds?" Eddie smirked, raising his cute little eyebrows.

"I call you Eds when I think you're cute," He paused, "and I call you babe when I think you're hot."

Eddie laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck, a single curl falling onto his forehead. "That's a good one, Rich." He pointed and Richie and somehow raised his eyebrows even further, "you should use that in a comedy act-"

"I'm serious though." Richie admitted.

Eddie was speechless. He had no idea what Richie was implying.

"You're so beautiful, I don't know how to express it sometimes." Richie had the most sincere expression that Eddie had ever seen on him. "Your eyes, your lips, your hair- I just- I wish I knew how to say it more-" Richie wiped the sweat that was gathering on his forehead, watching Eddie's eyes well up with tears from who-knows-what. "As soon as I saw you in that adorable yellow suit, I could feel how much you would mean to me."

Richie braced for the impact of whatever Eddie would say, but the impact never came. Instead, he felt a soft pair of lips touch his cheek.

"When I saw you in your dorky-ass glasses when you came over for dinner, I could tell how much you would mean to me too." Eddie spoke softly, but Richie's picked up on every shade of raspiness or hoarseness, but loved every second of it. He could feel his face getting hotter and decided to move on from the subject. "It's getting pretty late, huh?"

"You're killin' me, Eds."

"I know, Richie. I like seeing you all flustered. It makes me feel," Eddie paused, "taller."

Richie laughed and held his stomach, regaining his composure, "it is getting pretty late," he climbed into the back of the car and laid flat on the backseat, one hand behind his head. "We should get cozy."

"Gross." Eddie stuck his tongue out at Richie, but ultimately sighed, for he was disappointed that the world made him the way he was. He wished he could just snuggle up to Richie and take things one at a time, but what would everyone think of him then?

"Cuddle me." Richie pouted, holding out his arms.

"I-I'm not a homosexual." Eddie laughed nervously.

"That didn't stop you when it was a stormy night. I need warmth or else I won't feel my toes, Eddie bear."

"Eddie bear?" Eddie laughed until he saw the fake-sad look on Richie's face (which was actually half-real). "Okay, okay." He motioned for Richie to scoot over so he could crawl into the backseat. "I need warmth or else I won't feel my toes." Eddie mimicked Richie as he crawled into the backseat of the car, which he totally despised the thought of. There could be raccoons or hooligans just waiting to break into the car!

"Comfy, Eds?" Richie smiled smugly, appreciating the tiny ball of warmth cuddled up to him.

"You're a dickwad, Richie Tozier."

"You love it."

And so the two teenage runaways took comfort in each other, but they had no clue what was going to happen next.

★

"Fucking hell. This is the worst." Henry Bowers sighed as he sank in his car seat, waiting for Patrick to screech at him.

"What? What's the worst? Going after lil' fags? You've lost all of what made you interesting, Hen." Patrick whined and Henry was really starting to lose it.

"I just don't get it. There's plenty a' fags runnin' round!" Henry exclaimed, rummaging around on the floor for a pack of cigarettes which he knew wasn't there. "Y'see," he managed to find a small package of potato chips instead and came back up to look at Patrick, "this trip's just goin' on way too long for my likin'."

"All good comes to those who wait." Patrick sighed and tried to relax into his seat.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"How the fuck should I know, jackass!"