𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲

( 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕚 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥? )

v - can i call you tonight? (dayglow)

richie is only a couple seconds from falling asleep with the thought of his plans for the summer in his head when his phone begins to ring from it's spot underneath his pillow. he jolts awake and hits his head on his headboard, reaching to find his phone and furrowing his eyebrows when eddie's contact is on his screen.

he swipes his thumb across the screen to answer the facetime and holds his phone in one hand and rubs his eyes with the other. he clears his throat before he speaks so he doesn't embarrass himself with a voice crack. this is weird, he's never called, let alone facetimed this kid. it's only been a couple of hours since he'd spoken to him last, they hadn't snapped at all really after that argument at dinner, so he's curious to know why he's being facetimed at one in the morning. "hello?" he greets, even though he knows he's there; he can see the boy's face and the very top of his shirtless, bony shoulders in the dark room, only being reflected and lit up by the brightness of his phone.

"hey," eddie sighs, quite loudly. his eyes drag across the phone and richie knows he's looking at his face and he gives him a sheepish, tired smile. the brunet coughs, hooking his white duvet over his shoulder to keep himself warm. "i just want to apologize for what happened at dinner earlier," he shrugs. "that really wasn't the best first impression they could've given you, i'm sorry."

the raven-haired boy just shakes his head as he swings his legs off the edge of the bed and stands up, bare feet against the cold wooden floors. he pads over to the open window and looks out at the small quarry only a couple hundred feet from his backyard and the luminescent lights of the pool by the deck. "it's okay, really," he nods, he can feel eddie watching him as he grabs a cigarette from the pack in his backpack and lights it up, sitting in his window frame and letting his legs dangle out into the dense summer air of the night. "are they okay now?" he asks, letting the cancer stick in his mouth as he looks down at his phone and waits for eddie's response.

the kid nods. "i think they're fucking now," he wrinkles his nose. richie laughs and eddie rolls his eyes and pretends to gag at the thought of his parents doing it while he's only a couple of rooms away. "wanna come over and outdo them with me?" he suggests, smirking with his clean brows quirked.

richie has a shocked look on his face that soon turns into a suggestive one as he grins right back at him and winks. "i thought you'd never ask, eds."

"eds?" eddie repeats, watching his friend nod. "i like it."

and richie just nods, knowing he would like a stupid ass nickname like that. they sit in silence for a while as eddie fixes his head against his pillow and richie continues to smoke his cigarette, looking at the smoke that disappears into the air. "listen, eddie, i had fun tonight," he speaks up after a moment, not paying attention to the smile on eddie's face but instead the glowing pool water and the sound of it, wishing him and eddie were swimming in there, or maybe doing something other than swimming, like, you know, kissing. "it's not like i'm going to stop talking to you or anything just 'cause your parents started arguing. i get it, your dad's probably stressed. you don't have to apologize at all," he shrugs, leaning his head against the window frame with his mouth twisted. he finally looks at the screen and eddie seems a little down. "chin up, eds," he gives him a smile, hoping it cheers him up at least a bit.

"d'you wanna hang out again tomorrow?" the younger boy changes the subject, but his lips curl up into just a hint of a hopeful, teasing smile. "unless you have more important people to be with?"

the ravenette rolls his eyes and shakes his head sarcastically. "i totally  have cooler people to hang out with. so sorry, but i'm gonna have to say no, fuck off," he tries not to laugh but he can't help it and he bursts out laughing, holding his cigar between his two pale, lanky fingers with a dreamy grin on his face.

eddie grumbles. "that wasn't even funny, asshole. i'm gonna hang up on you now," he hovers his thumb over his camera to imitate that he's going to press the end call button and never speak to richie again.

"fine," richie blows some smoke out of his mouth, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds because he's still sleepy. "i'll just go facetime bev, then."

"who's bev?"

"only my bestest friend in the whole wide world," he smiles at the thought of the ginger girl and how much he misses her and all their memories and how she's literally the only reason why he still lives where he lives. if she would decide to move out of the country, he's sure he would follow her. they could be neighbors and richie could live alone with four cats and beverly could be married in a pretty white suburban home with two kids and a dog and they could die best friends forever.

nobody speaks for a second again, but the silence isn't uncomfortable or anything, surprisingly. eddie's too busy thinking over what he wants to ask that he doesn't realize richie isn't being sarcastic or implying that him and this bev girl are together. or is he? "so, she's your girlfriend?" he asks, eyebrows drawn together. should his heart be beating a million beats a minute right now?

the older boy shakes his head and laughs a little, stubbing out his cigarette and tossing it out the window. he gets back into bed and lays on his stomach, setting his phone against the headboard and resting his head in his arms. "no, i would never date that stupid idiot," he scoffs. "she's dating this guy, his name's ben, i've never met him in real life cause he lives in another state, i think she has once or twice but she said he's scared of me, so..."

he doesn't miss the relieved look on eddie's face at that, and the boy sighs. "oh," he twists his mouth. "so, you're single?" he asks, thank god the dark room disguises the blush forming on his face, scattering across his freckled cheeks.

richie shakes his head jokingly again and eddie's heart sinks before he realizes he's just kidding. "i'm a fucking chick magnet, eds," he grins, sending yet another wink eddie's way. "i'm kidding, jeez. no, i've been single my whoooleee life, believe it or not."

eddie thinks he should stop winking at him before he ends up having a fucking heart attack. he really can't believe this guy has never been in a relationship before, i mean, look at him! he does think he's pretty attractive, any sane person would. maybe his personality, his stupid humor adds to the attractiveness. "me neither," he shakes his head. "the last guy i had a crush on blocked me 'cause i sent him a shirtless mirror pic," he explains, still blushing.

"you can send me as many shirtless mirror pictures as you want," the raven-haired boy winks AGAIN and eddie rolls his eyes despite the fluttery feeling in his chest. "in fact, you already have. but i didn't get to screenshot them so i think you should send more."

"shut up," the brunet laughs, but he's not totally against the idea. maybe if he gets to know this kid a bit more, who knows. he yawns and doesn't cover his face so richie watches him, admiring him with a smile on his face. "well, i'm gonna go to bed now. i just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier, but i'm glad you had fun," he says with a sheepish smile.

richie nods, yawning now, as well. "alright," he moves to lay on his side now and holds his phone with one hand and waves with the other. "let me know when you wanna bang. i mean, hang. god, sorry, stupid autocorrect, this phone sucks," he rolls his eyes. eddie giggles  like a schoolgirl and tells him to shut up again before he ends the call.

the ravenette falls asleep for the second time with that laugh stuck in his head. he's come to the conclusion that he loves making eddie kaspbrak laugh.