Brushstrokes (Reddie AU)

Feisty Asthmatic

"Fuck! I mean seriously, fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. And now I've said it so many times it sounds weird to me. Just a few more times until my anger finally stops. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck you, fuck me, fuck everything!"

I have to stifle a laughter. Honestly, this shit is adorable. I listen and nod and pretend he sounds sane in the head. "Alright Eds, how many more have you got?" I ask with a smirk. He looks like he's fuming.

It's adorable.

"Richard fucking Tozier, I am going to fucking kill you!" He squeals and tries to tackle me. I end up tickling him, which results in him rolling over onto his back and erupting into childish giggles. "Stop it!"

I stop as soon as he requests it. "Would you like to tell me what you're so upset about?" I ask.

"The fucking art project! I got the painting back early. She said it was easy to grade. I got an A+! How dare you! You were supposed to be bad at painting! Why the hell did you actually succeed?" He scrunches up his face when he's angry. It's cute.

It's honestly hard to believe though. All I did was color inside the lines with some paint. "But wasn't the painting supposed to be how you've changed?"

He nods. "Yeah. That's why I chose the flowers in a first place. They start off tiny and green, fragile and breakable. But then they blossom into something beautiful because of the sun. To me, you're the sun. You've helped me blossom." As he says it, I don't even think he realises just how cheesy he sounds. It's practically unbearable. I cringe for a moment before nodding.

"When do I get to see the comedy set you've written?" I ask.

"She'll be handing it out sometime this week depending on how it's been graded. It was hard for me to explain how you've grown through comedy, but I think I've got it." He sits down beside me and kisses me on the lips very gently. Damn, his kisses are something else.

"You remind me of that Katy Perry song, fireworks," I tell him with a smile.

"Because I have a lot of potential but I keep it tucked away because I'm scared?"

"No," I take his hands. "Because you're cheesy and kind of annoying but you still always make me smile," I explain. He laughs and I feel my stomach flutter. This is what true love feels like, isn't it? If that's the case then I'm never going to fall out of love, never. Because it's the best feeling in the world. I can make him laugh. I can make him smile. I can make his face scrunch up. I can anger him but always make him forgive me immediately. I can do all this but I prefer the laughing. I love to hear that damn laugh. There's nothing like that sweet sound. If I ever have to lose him, I'll lose my mind as well.

"I can't think of a single song that captures your essence, Trashmouth. You're too much for me sometimes, I can't imagine how a songwriter could write about it." He snickers as if it is a funny joke. I can guarantee you it isn't. Which is why I'm going to fail my project. He doesn't know my whole story, there's no way he can write about it.

"Can you take me out to a playground?" He asks sheepishly and looks back up at me with a grin.

I want to say no but it's impossible to say no to a face like that. We get ready to head out. I'm so happy when I see him wearing his overalls. He looks amazing. I'm in a casual hoodie, I have no fashion sense, but he looks incredible. We leave fairly quickly and I drive us to the biggest playground in our town. It used to be connected to an elementary school, but then the school moved. Instead of moving the playground too, they just replaced it. And now it's for public use. So now me and my boyfriend are going to fuck around and have a good time pretending to be kids again.

We arrive a little after the sun starts to set. Which is perfect, because that means that no stinky and grabby kids are going to be around. "Race you to the swings," he giggles and starts to run. I run faster. He tries to catch up.

But something is wrong. He stops at some point and clutches his chest, looking around with wide fearful eyes. I'm completely stupid but even I know what an asthma attack looks like. I immediately rushed to his side this was a stupid idea, racing a feisty asthmatic. He points back to my car and at first I don't understand, but then it hits me. That's where his inhaler is. I rush back and find it, trying to hurry. The poor kid is struggling to breathe. I hate those Sounds he's making. They are awful. I hand the inhaler to him and watch as he puts it in his mouth and pulls the trigger. He gulps deeply and looks at me. His eyes are watering.

"Thank you so much Richie," he whispers. "You helped a lot."

I place a kiss to his forehead and mess a hand around in his hair. After a brief moment we return back to the swings. I start to pump myself high but he just sits there kicking the dirt around beneath his feet. Something is clearly wrong and I don't hesitate to investigate. "What's going on?" I suddenly ask and keep my eyes glued on him.

"I just love you," he smiles and looks at me. "No ones ever been so kind to me during an asthma attack before," he explains.

"Of course I'm going to be kind to my beautiful Eddie Spaghetti! He's my boyfriend and my best friend, and he's absolutely adorable!"

He frowns at this but there's some joy behind it. "Don't just me Eddie Spaghetti! And I'm not cute!"