𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗘, reddie

031. cesena

EDDIE woke up early on the sixth day; the day they'd finally relieve their intense adrenaline rush by riding insane roller coasters in Universal Studios. Maybe Eddie should pretend to be scared in a ride so that Richie could hold his hand.

Truthfully, he knew that he didn't need an excuse. He knew that Richie would jump on the opportunity to hold his hand. Still, there was that underlying fear that he might be misunderstanding this platonic affection as something more.

Eddie just didn't want to get his hopes up. And it wasn't like he had some tragic past, some brutal fucking-over of a boy who he loved; actually, he never really loved anyone before.

He wondered often if he loved Richie, but he was eighteen years old and still had no idea what love was like. Did double thinking about it so often it mean that it was true? Did he love Richie in the way he thought he did?

"Mornin' Chee," Eddie greeted when his friend walked back into the main area of the room after being in the restroom to take a shower; Eddie almost swooned at his damp curls, eyes drifting over Richie's skin, red from the heat of the shower.

Richie gave him a fond smile; it wasn't one reserved for any particular moments, but he always sent it when he was caught off guard, a genuine smile that made Eddie smile too.

A quiet moment passed while Richie stared at Eddie as he yawned and stretched out on the bed like a cat, hands overhead, and then Richie responded; "Morning Eds."

The sun gleamed through the windows, curtains drawn so that the golden rays shined against the floor and the wall and Eddie's skin, and Eddie was angelic.

"You're really pretty," Richie said without really intending to, it coming from his lips on its own accord. He hadn't regretted it — Eddie was really pretty. The prettiest.

Flushing, Eddie sat up but ducked his head sheepishly. "Thanks," He breathed out, pushing himself off of the bed to look through his bag for clothing.

As he made his way to the duffel, bending down onto his knees to where it sat on the ground to shuffle through it, he inhaled deeply and felt the way the oxygen burnt his lungs.

When he exhaled, it felt like butterflies were flying from his lips, his insides swirling with a hurricane. He grabbed onto a pair of shorts and a shirt without really paying all that much attention.

"Uh, Rich?" Eddie spoke up suddenly after standing up, clothing in his hands, causing the taller boy to perk up and raise an eyebrow. "I was just — wondering, uh..."

Richie could practically make out the wheels that spun in Eddie's head as he stood there, face aflame with blush. He hesitated before opening his mouth to speak, but was cut off from a knock against their door.

With the hint of a shy smile on his face, Eddie turned towards the door and shook his head. "Don't worry about it," He told Richie as he turned the black knob of the door, tugging it open.

Beverly and Mike were at the door with smiles on their faces — they'd became good friends since the beginning of the trip, luckily — and Bev piped up a little bit at the sight of Eddie. "Hey, are we getting breakfast at the park today?"

Eddie hesitates, wincing a little bit at the idea of eating in such a crowded location — he presumes that, at such a popular location, it will take a while to get seated — "Uh, I think it's best to... not. Too crowded," He explains, and Bev hums and nods, "But can we stop at an iHop or something on the way?"

Bev beams at the idea, nodding enthusiastically. "Okay, yeah, that works!"

They ended up stopping at a Denny's instead, where they all make small talk as they eat their breakfast ( Eddie gets a bit of whipped cream on his nose, blushing when Richie points it out ) before getting a ride in a taxi to the park.

The entrance to the park is large, exciting all members of their little group. Even Stan, although he tries to hide his excitement by keeping his grin minuscule.

They're hit with rows of attractions to either side; shops, rides, and restaurants that are already highly occupied. Richie sees a Despicable Me attraction and does an awful Gru impression.

"Okay, kids, where do we want to go first?" Jessica asked the group, sunglasses perched on her head as she glanced down at a map of the park in her hands. Eddie was already beginning to sweat beneath his t-shirt, fanning himself a bit with his own map.

Richie bounced on his toes excitedly; "Can we go to the Jurassic Park place first?" He asked, grinning over at them.

Before Jessica could respond to Richie, although she'd sent him a fond smile, Mike was cutting in. "There's a pretty big water ride there, though. I think we should start at Harry Potter and get those rides done with."

Eddie raises an eyebrow as he glances down at Jessica's map, too hot to stop fanning himself with his own. "You guys realize we have to go through that train to get to any of those, right?" He asks, causing the others to stare at him blankly, "Lets start out at the ET area and then go to the Harry Potter attractions, yeah?"

Richie breathes out deeply, face rosy from the heat of the sun and also blush from how adorable Eddie looks in his t-shirt and short-shorts. "Yeah," He responds.

They have to skip over The Mummy due to Mike's fear of fire, but besides that particular ride they manage to get to most of the ones they want to before riding the train to Island of Adventures.

To cool down from the heat they do manage to hit the Jurassic Park ride, one with a particularly large drop that causes Richie to squeak and bury his head in Eddie's shoulder.

( Eddie wasn't sure if he couldn't breathe from the drop or Richie's hair pressed against his neck )

It isn't until the Hulk ride that Richie properly loses his shit. He underestimated just how wild the ride was; a neon green one where people's legs dangled and they went upside down multiple times.

With a grin on his face, Eddie immediately said that he would be going on it as soon as they saw it; the so-called cowards were to go on a Spider-man ride instead, and that left Mike, Richie, and Eddie to ride the Hulk.

The problem was that Richie was definitely terrified. He didn't do roller coasters — it wasn't exactly a surprise to most people, it was just a Richie Tozier Fun Fact.

But he didn't exactly want Eddie to know that he was so afraid of a stupid ride. Which, okay, was a stupid idea in itself because he was definitely going to know when Richie was freaking out but... he didn't really think that through.

After the long wait where he nervously tapped his nails against the metal railing, he was finally sitting snug between Eddie and Mike; not snug enough, the pounding fear of falling out booming in his mind.

Eddie must have noticed something was up — his face, albeit blurry from Richie having to remove his glasses, was filled with concern. "You good, Rich?" He asked as the ride slowly started up.

"Yeah, what are you talking about I'm just f—" Richie cut himself off with a scream when the ride immediately surged into a loop. Eddie laughed at the butterflies in his tummy from the loop, similar to the ones Richie gave him when they made eye contact.

Still, in an act of comfort, he reached over and held onto Richie's hand throughout the loops. Turns out Eddie wasn't the afraid one on the roller coasters.

If he held hands with Richie for the rest of the day, well, nobody said anything about it, right?

pinkdramaz | celeb tea account
— "Video released of Indie Singer Richie Tozier holding hands with Artist Eddie Kaspbrak in Universal Studios!! 😱😱 Brewing young love between the two influencers?? What do you think?"

12:00 PM • 03/24/20