The Tension Between Us

Chapter Eight - Unrequited

- Eddie's POV -

The next day, Richie insisted on walking Eddie home because of what Bowers had been threatening, Eddie pushing his bike and Richie carrying his skateboard. It was nice, the sun was out, and they joked around with each other like any other day, but even still, the delicate undiscussed conversation lingered between them. Both of them were to scared to bring it up, that was clear, and Eddie was definitely not going to mention it first, so he pivoted. "About last night-" he starts awkwardly, "you smoke now." Richie cuts him off, a smirk aimed at his small friend, "uh, yeah... Something like that." Eddie says awkwardly, turning to look at his shoes as they walk, "I could smell it when me and Mike went outside to- " Richie hesitates before looking away. "You shouldn't you know," he says, "Me and Bev are idiots, and you have asthma, you shouldn't follow in our footsteps Ed's." His voice is soft with concern and Eddie sighs, "I know. But if I'm honest I've stopped caring, and plus, I only smoke the odd one, maybe two every few weeks, I guess I don't have the addictive Jean, you know?" He shrugs, nudging Richie in attempt to lighten the moment, receiving a successful tiny smile from the trashmouth. "Well, let me know when you wanna share a Marlboro or two sometime, yeah?" He Laughs, an easy grin slipping over his lips. His dark eyes were magnificent when he smiled, they crinkled at the sides and we're adorably huge because of the thick glasses, it made Eddie grin back, but not really because of the joke. When they finally stopped out the front of Eddie's house, an awkward silence ran over them, how should they say goodbye now, like they usually do, or something more? Richie hesitates for a second before making the first move and stepping closer to Eddie, reaching a hand up and brushing a brown strand behind his ear, then leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his jawline which basically shook the smaller boy to his core, "I'll see ya." He whispers, Eddie letting out a small sigh, but before he can respond, the front door of Eddie's house swings open, Mrs. Kaspbrak bursting through it with blazing eyes, "What in God's name!" She bellows, looking at the boys in astonishment. Panic and fear strikes through Eddie, and in a quick decision he shoves Richie away, "w-what the fuck Richie!" He yells, a desperate attempt to cover up their secret.
His secret.
"Don't touch me, fag." He growls, almost instantly regretting it as he sees the sharp betrayal and rejection reflecting in Richie's eyes.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit!
"You stay away from my boy with those queer hands of yours Tozier, or there'll be trouble, you hear?" She snarls, grabbing Eddie's wrist and dragging him towards the house. Richie's expression is now steeled over, eyes looking to the footpath below him, "loud and clear." He says lowly, sending Eddie one last glance, it's cold and filled with hatred, almost burning holes into his best friend. He puts his board on the ground and skates off down the footpath as fast as he can manage. The small boys eyes widen at the realisation of what he's just done, the urge to chase after the ravenette ripping at his heart, but the words get caught in his throat and his mother simply shoves him into the house with an angry mumble, "You keep away from that boy Eddie bear, he'll get you sick!" She warns, voice shrill and a pink manicured nail pointing in his face, "now go upstairs and wash your hands, who knows what kind of Filth that rat carries with him!" Eddie tries to argue, the harsh insults making his blood boil, but the big woman simply glares before he can let any words leave his lips, "now Eddie." He frowns, holding back tears before running up to his room two steps at a time, hearing the small mumbles of disapproval from his mother as she shuffles back to the lounge. He slams his bedroom door behind him and sinks down against the wood, a hand running through his hair, his heart has never beat so fast. What did he just do? What did he just say? "Fuck!" He whisper yells, tears starting to fall down his flush cheeks as he a panics. The anger in Richie's eyes was a clear sign he'd fucked this all up, and it made his insides twist in regret and remorse. He should have just let his Mum find out, why did he have to be such a pussy all the damn time? Jesus, how in the hell was he gonna fix this, what if Richie never wanted to talk to him again? He had to do something. He wipes his bleary eyes and makes his way to the house phone, he needed Mike, he needed a friend.
"Hey Eddie! What's up?" Comes muffled through the receiver, Eddie feeling the releif in his gut at the kind soul on the other end. "Hey Mike, you wanna hang out again today? I need some advice."
An hour and a bit later, Mike and Eddie where down by the barrens, drinking raspberry slushies from the gas station up the road, and basking in the summer warmth.
"And that's what happened." Eddie sighs, taking another much needed slurp of the frozen drink. Mike's eyes are wide and he let's out a breath in thought, "damn Eddie you really jacked this is up huh?" He says, Eddie groaning and leaning his head in his hand. "Listen dude, I don't know boys, but I know Richie, and he cares about you more than he cares about anyone, just talk to him ok? He'll always listen to you." He pats his friend on the back in comfort, "Maybe do something that shows him how much you care, like a mixtape or a note, something personal, he's definitly one for grand gestures." Eddie thinks for a moment before smiling, "I think I might have an idea. Thanks Mike." He says, skipping a rock over the water. That's when they both hear a rustling behind them and turn around in shock, only coming to see soft bright eyes and pink lips. "Shit Bill you scared the crap out of us," Mike says exasperated with a hand to his heart, "I swear to God." He mumbles, shaking his head, the tall brunette just laughing and sitting beside them on the rocks. "What're you doin' here anyway?" Eddie asks their pretty friend. Bill shrugs, "Home felt too lonely, so I b-biked down here. Glad I f-found you guys." Eddie smiles, "We're pretty good company don't you reckon?" He says to Mike, who laughs as he throws another rock into the water, "S-so what we're you two talkin' about?" He questions, Eddie looking away awkwardly, "nothing too interesting, just-" he fumbles for words, eyes pleading with Mike to help, but the boy is obviously lost. "Girl p-problems?" Bill asks, not really taking notice of the nervous energy flowing from the two next to him. "I guess you could say that." He squeaks, Mike snorting with a laugh, receiving a sharp elbow in the side from Eddie. "What about you Bill, how's things with the Auburn queen?" Mike asks after calming himself, both boys looking over to their blue eyed friend, who has started skipping rocks over the running water too. A wide smile floods his face, eyes alight with a rare sparkling happiness that only appeared when Bill talked about Beverly. It'd been like that ever since IT. Since Georgie. Only Bev could really bring back that fire in Bill, her perfect smile and soft kisses gave him something that no one else really could. Gave him hope. "Things are good." He says simply, though he can't help but keep grinning at the thought of her, and it makes Eddie wonder if that's what he looked like when he talked about Richie.
A few minutes Later Ben and Beverly made their appearance from the woods, having caught up at the diner in town for lunch and decided to come there to look for straggling losers. It was kind of a gathering place, if you couldn't get ahold of someone, they we're most likely down by the barrens. Stan would usually bird watch, Bill would come to draw, Stan dragging him along quite often and getting him to draw the birds, but Bill never really argued, he had a soft spot for Stan. Eddie and Mike would skip rocks or chat, Ben to read, and Bev and Richie to smoke. They all had their place, and today, five out of the seven had found their way there. Eddie guessed that Richie was with Stan, they were close like that. As if Bev could read his mind, she asked, "I wonder what Stan and Rich are up to, do you know Ed's? Didn't he walk you home this morning?" This turns all eyes on him, Mike and Eddie sharing a glance before he shrugs, "Me and him had a bit of an argument, I don't reckon he'll be down here today." He mumbles, skipping another pebble and failing miserably, the rock falling into the water with a loud 'plop'. His vacant expression is obvious to Bev and she backs down, none of the other losers pressing further either. As much as they all trusted eachother and were closer than any friends, they knew there were still some levels of privacy that we're held, and that some losers we're closer to each other than others. "Alright, well how about we head down to the quarry then for a swim before we split?" She asks, the losers nodding here and there as Bev grabs Bill's hand and helps him up, "I didn't bring my bike, can we go double?" She asks casually, Bill nodding with a smile. Ben does the same on the back of Mike's and they all ride up to town and past it again, twenty minutes later finding themselves stripped down to their underwear and building up the courage to leap off the edge.
Eddie looks over to Bill and Bev, she has an arm around his waste and she reaches up quickly when she thinks nobody is looking to place a peck on his cheek. It makes his whole face turn red and he tries to suppress the smile on his face. It makes Eddie smile too, and he turns away to watch Ben leap off the cliff side with a yell.
Next up is Mike, but he grabs Eddie's wrist and Yanks him over, "together." He says nervously. Mike never jumped alone, he was beyond terrified of heights as they'd come to learn. He'd never chicken out, but he was also never not scared, so Eddie laughs and rolls his eyes, taking Mike's hand and counting down, "three, two, one, now!" He says quickly, pulling Mike with him as he plummets, both of them screaming like little girls. When they hit the water, the sounds of the world become muffled, and Eddie feels himself be engulfed in the warm embrace of the quarry. He takes a second before coming up for air, the sounds of laughter behind a layer of swishing water, the sun somehow still hitting him and turning the strands in front of his eyes golden. It was like a magic portal, and part of him wished he could just stay there. That's when two pairs of hands yank him to the surface and he takes in a gasping breath, "Jesus Eddie, you tryna' kill yourself?" Ben says, looking at the boy like he's crazy. He then looks to Mike who's wearing the same fearful expression, and realises he might have been down there longer than he'd thought. "Calm down idiots, was just looking at the fish." He rolls his eyes as he splashes them, forcing small smiles of releif to fall over their faces. "Where's Billy and Bev?" He asks then, looking up the cliff, this makes Mike laugh, "probably making out." He snorts, Eddie letting out a short cackle before noticing Ben's silence. He's wearing a pained expression and Eddie quickly changes the subject, "any plans for tomorrow?" He asks, looking between the two, "gotta help out my uncle on the farm, we have to rotate the cattle." He frowns with a shrug, then turns his attention to Ben, "Visiting my Nanna for lunch, it's gonna to be torture." He sighs, visibly greatfull for the change of topic, but still downtrodden at the idea of tomorrow's plans. Eddie goes to respond when a loud pair of screams rip through the air and they all spin around to see Bill and Bev holding hands and colliding into the water with a splash. This makes Mike cheer as they come up for air, swimming over to them, "have fun up there all alone with your damsel?" He asks with a grin, Bill splashing him with red cheeks, "she's not a d-d-d-damsel." He says in defense, though he's still grinning right back. Mike throws his head back in a much too big laugh, pausing for dramatic effect, before looking back to Bill, "I didn't mean her." He says slyly, Bev erupting into a wild burst of cackles, Eddie and Ben following suit. This makes Bill gasp in fake offense and jump onto Mike, wrestling with him, Ben soon joining the tussle. Eddie watches bemused and floats over to Beverly, leaning an arm on her shoulder as she sighs, "A shame really," she says sarcastically, "I've always wanted to be a damsel." Eddie and her snicker to themselves, and the small boy admires her sparkling blue eyes and how her auburn hair looks like fire in the summer sun, just reaching her shoulders when damp. Her hair had grown a bit since they were younger and she now usually wore it up in a dark pink satin scrunchy. He might not like girls in the same way Billy or Ben did, but Beverly Marsh was stunning all the same. He smirks then, "well Bev, today is your lucky day." He says, the redhead girl not really having enough time to process the comment before he grabs her waist and throws her over his shoulder as she squeals with laughter and protest. "Hear-ye, hear-ye, I have retrieved the damsel! She is saved!" He bellows, the rest of the boys pulling out of their fight to howl with cackles, Bev losing the ability to fight back as she slumps over in a fit of giggles. It fills his chest up with smiles as he watches them all, though a big part of him wishes it was Richie here making them laugh instead.