cliché || reddie ✔️

six

Barely any light breaks through the glass of Eddie's window when he's lulled into consciousness the next morning. He rolls onto his side and snuggles deeper into his pillow, wanting the world to fade away around him. School strays far from his mind and so does the fact that a boy sleeps soundly just a few feet away.

Nothing hits his ears. Not even when his door cracks open the slightest bit, the hinges threatening to squeak if it was pushed any farther. "Eddie?" Sonia calls out into the dark room. The room is thick with sleep, the only sound keeping the silence away is the ceiling fan spinning. "School's going to start in an hour. You don't want to be late, do you?"

She ignores the threats of the door and pushes it open, a creak accompanies it. Eddie's eyes flutter open, the warmth of his bed trying to call him back into unconsciousness.

"Eddie-Bear."

He breaths in deeply, ignoring the stinging dryness of his eyes as he rolls onto his back. His hands were thrown next to his head as his eyes open and close with heaviness. "'m not going to school."

She sets her hands on her hips and stares her son down. "Yes you are. Get up, Eddie."

He breaths in and reaches his hands out, forcefully pulling himself up. Sleep clouds his head and lungs as he blinks slowly. Sonia moves farther into the bedroom and glances over at the window. Her eyes narrow as her gaze becomes fixated on the roof outside. Eddie follows her gaze and sees what she's looking at with such intensity.

Footprints. On his roof.

Richie.

Panic jolts at his bones. He jumps up out of his sheets, scrambling to the end of his bed. Sonia's attention snaps over to her son as he stands. "Late! I'm going to be late for school, Ma. And- and I have to get ready, so if you mind..." His words push past his lips, urgency lacing his tone which makes Sonia look at him with a mix of confusion and concern.

She stares at him through the darkness for a second as she tries to figure out if Eddie is hiding something. "School, yes," she finally says.

Eddie has his eyes trained on her, watching as she casts one more look to the window before walking to the doorway. "Oh, and don't forget to take your pills," she says with a hand on the doorframe. "It's cold out. We don't want you getting sick." Eddie nods and she taps twice on the wood before heading to the staircase.

Before she even turned the corner, Eddie's legs were already carrying him to the door. He shuts it, cutting off the light from the hallway and leaving his room in darkness again.

"She totally knows I'm here." A dark figure pokes out from the other side of the bed and there's shuffling on the tossed around blankets.

"Close your eyes," Eddie mutters as he raises a hand to the light switch. Richie obeys and covers his eyes, shielding his retinas from the blinding brightness that fills Eddie's room a second later.

"And what do you mean 'she knows'?" Eddie asks. He looks at Richie who is now sitting on his bed, his glasses twirling around between his fingers.

He moves away from the door and to the closet as Richie speaks up. "Did you hear that pause? That was a 'i know you're hiding something Eddie-Bear' pause." His voice went shrill as he took on a women's voice to impersonate Sonia. It wasn't a horrible impersonation, and if Eddie hadn't turned his back on Richie in time, he knew the boy would've seen his smile.

"Was that supposed to be my mom?" He asks and starts flipping through his hangers for something to wear.

"If that wasn't good enough then I can defiantly think of some other noises your mom makes - especially when she's with moi."