˗ˏˋsoft ; in which eddie cannot sleep, so rich sings him a lullaby
word count ; 816
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A FRUSTRATED sigh escaped eds' soft lips as he tossed and turned, limbs entangling with the fluffy blanket that was draped delicately over his olive toned legs, keeping his lower half warm.
he opened his doe brown eyes, pupils scanning across the dimly lit room until his gaze landed on richie. his richie.
rich was sat at his desk, his walkman cassette player playing through his headphones so he didn't wake the precious boy who was supposed to be asleep in the bed across the room. he scribbled notes messily into his book, running a hand through his tangled raven hair as he thought to himself carefully about each word he noted down permanently with black ink.
eddie slowly stood from the bed, creeping across the room as to not grasp the taller boy's attention. the wooden flooring was cold and hard against the soles of his feet, and he held back a shiver as he wrapped the fluffy blanket around himself. he found himself behind richie, peering down at the notes for a minute or so before he noticed eds.
"hey." richie half whispered, half shouted, pulling the headphones from his head and messing the curls up even further. a grin spread across ed's lips as richie's fumbling hands reached around eddie's petite frame and pulled him close to him "why are you awake, angel?" he asked softly, his words falling out of his lips melodically, sounding like gentle guitar to eddie's ears.
eds shrugged, biting his lip and gently swaying in rich's comforting arms "nightmares or something... and i missed you, i guess." he replied, watching as a look of understanding covered richie's features. richie nodded, his hair tumbling into his eyes. eds didn't hesitate in leaning over and gently brushing it aside.
he paused for a moment, before allowing his grip on eds to loosen slightly "get to bed, i'll be with you in a second. okay?" he kissed his flushed cheeks, before turning back to the mess that covered his desk.
as eddie took hesitant steps back to richie's bed, richie shut his notebook and pushed his pens to aside. eddie hadn't noticed that rich had joined him until he felt a shift on the mattress, and turned to see that richie and his old acoustic guitar had joined him on the bed. "sharing is caring, eds, don't take all the blanket." he smiled, making eddie giggle as richie dropped the soft blanket over the lower half of his lanky body.
eds watched in confusion as richie tuned his guitar, before it clicked in his head what the events unfolding were "what? you're gonna sing me a lullaby?" he questioned in disbelief, raising his eyebrows as richie playfully rolled his eyes.
"romance isn't dead just yet, eds. of course i'm singing you a lullaby." a small smile spread across his chapped lips as he began gently strumming the guitars strings, before allowing his calloused fingertips to gently fall in formation over the frets, forming a chord. eddie didn't answer, he didn't protest or even pretend to hate it. because he didn't. he didn't hate a single thing rich did – he didn't even hate the stupid cigarettes that richie had become infatuated with by the age of fourteen. it made him him.
rich opened his mouth, and he began to sing. a sequence of angelic words falling from in between his lips as he quietly strummed the instrument. eddie felt his heart melt away at the gesture, at the genuine meaning that the words possessed, he watched in awe.
eddie my love, i love you so. how i've waited for you, you'll never know. please eddie. don't make me wait too long. eddie please write me one line, tell me your love is still only mine. please eddie, don't make me wait too long.
eds didn't notice the tears that formed in his eyes as richie's gentle words echoed throughout his mind, filling his head with all kinds of sappy thoughts of romance and love. he shut his eyes tightly, and listened to the music, knowing that there was a slim chance rich would ever do this again. he wasn't the most confident about his talent, his ability to sing. but eds loved that about him too.
you left me last september to return to me before long. but all i do is cry myself to sleep, eddie. since you've been gone.
eddie my love, i'm sick in bed. the very next day might be my last. please eddie don't make me wait too long. please eddie don't make me wait too long.
by the time rich had sung the final note, and strummed the final chord eddie's eyes had dropped close, his lips had parted and gentle snores had begun to leave his small body. richie leant down, and pressed his chapped lips to the soft skin of his forehead. "night night, eds."
