THICK & THIN ✿ reddie

silver tongue.

They don't waste anytime going through with their kidnapping. It's a bit of a struggle to carrying the ladder over to the Kaspbrak's house, but the Tozier siblings make due, skillfully balancing it on their shoulders.

They keep as quiet as possible as they set the ladder against the side of the house. Katie holds it steady as Richie makes his ascent.

He peers into the window first to make sure Eddie's actually inside. His heart lurches when he sees the boy, back pressed against his bedroom door, and shoulders shaking from how hard he's sobbing.

Richie knocks lightly on the window. Eddie's face lights up when he notices him and he rushes over, quickly opening it.

"Richie!" he chokes out, "please get me out of here."

"Of course, baby," he responds, pulling Eddie into as tight a hug as possible while also keeping his balance, "what happened?"

"She locked me in," he reveals, "canceled the data plan for my phone, and tuned off the Wi-Fi, I haven't left my room for days, Rich."

Richie wants nothing more than to sock Mrs. Kaspbrak in the face, but he really has more important things to worry about.

"Oh, baby," he says sympathetically, "pack your things, we're gonna get you out of here," he promises.

Eddie nods and Richie watches him scramble to pack up the few things he has laying around into his bag. He then hastily throws it out the window for Katie to catch.

Richie starts down the ladder when Eddie gasps.

"She's coming upstairs! Hurry up!"

Richie climbs down the ladder as fast as he can and Eddie follows behind him. He can hear Mrs. Kaspbrak screaming from inside the house. He looks up to see her angry, red face looking out of the window.

Once they're all safely on the ground Richie urges Eddie to run ahead of them as he and Katie struggle with the ladder. Mrs. Kaspbrak bursts through the front door as Eddie sprints across the lawn.

"Edith! Don't leave me here!" she screams, and Richie can already hear the crocodile tears in her voice.

Running with a ladder isn't that easy but he and Katie somehow manage.

"When he's done using you, I'll be here, and I'll take you back because I love you, Edith!" she yells and Richie can see the tears already making their way down Eddie's cheeks.

Eddie doesn't stop when he gets to the Tozier's house instead bolting inside. They drop the ladder on the front lawn and enter the house in time to catch him racing up the stairs.

They follow him up and find him sitting on Katie's bed, fisting the sheets.

"Eds?" Richie says.

Eddie shakes his head. "Just...just we're gonna lay on the bed and watch Buzzfeed Unsolved or something, I just want to be held right now," he whispers.

Richie nods. "C'mon Kit-kat, we got work to do."

-

Eddie's lucky he's able to fall into an easy routine with the Tozier's. He sleeps in the guest room or occasionally Katie's, helps Mrs. Tozier cook, or even grocery shop, and stays on top of his workout plan.

Mike is his workout buddy for the most part, although he'll often drag Katie to the court for volleyball practice. Sometimes he forces both the Tozier children out for some exercise. Katie keeps up fine due to years of sports, but Richie struggles, especially because he smokes. Eddie can tell he has potential though—the Tozier children are athletic. He thinks that if Richie picked up sports instead of drama he probably could've been a decent athlete.