Kisses | Reddie

twentyfour ☆ he's just scared

by: eidder- on wattpad (all credit goes to this amazing author)

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Richie moaned into the mouth of a girl in a booth at Uncle L's diner, a classmate of his named Betty. Betty? Maybe if was Beatrice, or Bailey. Whatever, it's not like it mattered who it was anyways. All Richie knew was he was heartbroken, and he needed someone to numb the ball of pain growing in his chest. He could feel the aching claw it's way through his heart and his stomach, and he tried his best to keep himself from overflowing as he made out with the girl who's name he couldn't bother to recall.

Richie hadn't felt like absolute shit all day though - in fact he woke up on Wednesday morning and grinned brightly to himself at the thought of going to school. This was extremely out of character for the seventeen year old, who hated school with his entire body and soul. Trying to not bite all his nails off and not shake the table too hard was a grueling daily task for the Tozier boy, as he was diagnosed with ADHD at the ripe age of 6. And even though his parents knew, they never put him on any medication, worrying it would cut down their funds for other important things like On Demand movies on their cheap cable subscription, or fancy dinners they would pretend they considered asking their only son to go along with them to.

He had woken up in that good mood for one reason, and one reason only.
Eddie fucking Kaspbrak.

Richie swore to whatever god there was that Eddie was the one for him, and he had multiple years of flirting and pining to vouch for him. Ever since he had turned 13, he had known that he loved Eddie Kaspbrak.

He had never understood why when Mike or Beverly held his hand, it didn't feel as good as when Eddie laced his petite fingers with his. He couldn't grasp why when Ben or Bill asked him to go see a movie with them on a Friday night, it didn't feel as good as when Eddie asked him to go see a horror movie he knew Richie wanted to see, even though Eddie was terrified of horror movies. Richie never understood why it felt so good to have Eddie hide his face in the ravenette's shoulder when a character was killed off, as blood squirted out of his chest and a shrill scream cut through the theatre.

These things and so many more were the stepping stones to Richie realizing that he wanted to be with Eddie.

When Richie was 14, he told Beverly. She was the most compassionate out of the 6 people Richie even considered telling, and although he assumed she wouldn't be able to directly relate to him, he knew she would care enough to sit and listen. So Richie mustered up the courage to finally come out, and once he and Beverly had a moment and she confirmed that she would never feel differently about him, Beverly sat on Richie's not so comfortable twin bed for what seemed like forever; listening to him drone on and on about how wonderful and adorable the Kaspbrak boy was. After, she grinned at the young boy and promised him that eventually, he would be able to tell Eddie his feelings. And she was sure Eddie liked him back, she really was.

When he was 15, Richie came out to the losers club. With Beverly's hand in his and his heart in the other, Richie stood in front of the people that had become home for him throughout the last couple of years and told them that he liked boys and girls. The reaction was, as expected, a mixture of joy and content. Mike hugged him tightly, whispering in his ear how proud he was of the boy for finally saying it out loud. Bill and Ben smiled at him and told him they loved him no matter what, and they would always support him. Stanley didn't react much, but Richie knew he didn't see him any differently, because if Stanley was homophobic, then why did he catch Mike and the curly-haired boy making out in Ben's downstairs bathroom during a marathon of 80's movies. Eddie looked at Richie with what seemed like a glint of hope in his eyes and smiled at him. Eddie's reaction mattered the most, and Richie was satisfied with it.