Kisses | Reddie

eleven ☆ only love i've ever known

by: Saffir on ao3 (all credit goes to this amazing author)

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There was a lot of things Eddie had never thought he'd do - fight a demon clown in a sewer, engage in a rock war, help clean up a bathroom that was entirely covered in blood, walk through grey-water - but climbing out of his window at nine at night to sneak over to a sleepover he wasn't allowed to go to definitely hadn't made his list.

Nevertheless, that's exactly what he found himself doing one warm, late August night. His mother had grounded him for a whole month after the whole running-away-and-defeating-Pennywise fiasco, screaming that she was his mother, that he was fragile and sick and delicate and that he needed to listen to her. And then, a mere four days later, his friends had planned a sleepover as a celebration for defeating Pennywise, and despite being grounded, Eddie'd be damned if he was the only one who didn't show up. So regardless of what his mom had said or what she had threatened to do, he had made up his mind to go. Even if that meant climbing out of his window - and low and behold, that's exactly what was happening, as he heaved himself out of his window and over the windowsill.

It was already dark out by the time he decided to sneak out, as he wanted to be completely sure that his mom was asleep and wouldn't chase after him. Not that she would catch him, but he'd rather risk the chance of getting back home before she woke up than getting back when she knew he had been gone and had been looking for him. His mom did always wake up late, and he tended to wake up early, so the chance of sneaking out at night undetected and returning in the morning before she woke up was, in his mind, the much better option.

It was definitely a challenge with his broken arm, but he somehow managed to do it rather silently, landing on the soft grass with a soft thump. He thankfully didn't injure himself - perhaps he should've been more careful since the last time he fell one story he broke his arm - and just stood up straight and dusted his pants off. After quickly glancing at his mom's bedroom window to make sure she hadn't woken up, heard anything and turned her light on, he took off on his bike towards the clubhouse that the Losers' had made for themselves. He rode briefly through the city, avoiding any streetlight he came across just in case someone happened to be looking, before biking towards to Barrens. He eventually made his way to the clubhouse in the woods, hopping off his bike when he was about thirty-feet away, opting to walk his bike there the rest of the way, given how difficult it was to even ride his bike with a broken arm.

He quickly realized that Stan was sitting near the entrance, flashlight in hand, clicking it on and off at random, quite obviously waiting for Eddie to arrive. Sure enough, at the sound of Eddie's footsteps and his bike wheels crunching over leaves, Stan turned around wildly and his eyes lit up.

"Eddie, there you are!" He had exclaimed, clicking the flashlight back on and pointing it at him. "We were starting to think you weren't going to show up! C'mon, everyone's waiting."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Eddie murmured, setting his down next to the others. "Why are you standing out here, though? Someone might see you and we could get in trouble."

"Who else is gonna be sitting in a forest at nine at night besides us? Most of the town's probably asleep by now."

Eddie shrugged in agreement. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Stan just nodded his head and tugged at the hatch of the clubhouse, and with two good tugs, he managed to open it. Bev's voice was the first to flow out of it - a simple "Is Eddie here?" before Stan and Eddie hopped down into the clubhouse and nodded, closing the hatch behind them and casting a level of shadow over the interior of the clubhouse.