Not Sure If You're A Boy or A Girl~ Reddie

Something For Emily

"You are not going, Edward."
"Fuck you, fucker, I'm going."
"Fuck me, fucker? Dude, unoriginal. Should I get you a thesaurus for Christmas?"
Eddie rolled his eyes at this, returning a pair of black leather shoes he was interested in buying. Of course they'd only carry sizes 7-12. In a men's shoe he was a 4. He'd probably have to go to the children's section.
"I'm going to your Mother's funeral. End of discussion. You don't tell me what to do."
Richie's face squished up at this, aggravated. He really didn't need Eddie to be there. It would be a few hours of awkward grieving and pitying hugs from relatives he hadn't seen in a decade. The risk of Sonia showing up and snatching his boyfriend was too great and the benefit of having Eddie slog through the event with him too low.
Wentworth had left a note on the kitchen table with his credit card attached.
Get a suit and something for Emily.
XDad
Richie couldn't help by smile as he looked at his fathers chicken scratch in blue ink. He could make do with finical support.
The Men's Formal Department store in town was stuffy. Each ensemble he touched looking as though it was teleported back from the early 70's.
"You boys looking for anything specific?"
A woman questioned from her place at the front counter. Her mousy brown hair tied in a loose bun, revealing a withered face. Richie could see she was beautiful as a younger woman, with bright blue eyes and small delicate features. But the apathetic marching of time had dragged through her tanned skin causing her features to fall downward.
Eddie grinned at the question.
You boys
"Yes ma'am. We're looking for simple black suits. We've got a funeral to attend." His voice lowered toward the end of the sentence.
The woman gave a sympathetic smile.
"Oh, my condolences. If you'll follow me, we have just what you're looking for in the back."
The back of the store was even more dismal,in Eddie's opinion, what with the lighting dimmed and the drab earth toned carpet. Brown, green and teal? Eddie's nose crinkled involuntarily with disdain.
The woman, Jackie she informed, took their measurements. Richie first and then Eddie, who she delicately informed may have to look in the juniors section.
"You're fifteen? My god, is your Mother feeding you?"
"He's a late bloomer, ma'am."
Richie interjected looking to Eddie who's mouth was open already, probably ready with a snide remark. He would've let it go as he saw the way the comment had brought Eddie's eyes to his feet with a red blush on his cheeks, but this was the only suit shop within a walkable distance and he didn't want to make a scene.
As they exited the store, the wind blew hard against their bodies. It had been that way all morning, trying hard to knock down every tree and building in its path. Almost as if the world itself was grieving Maggie's death.
They passed by the window of a condensed Sears. Before they left it had been nothing. Five years ago or so a florist rented out the building, a business that shouldn't have had so much trouble with the amount of missing kids presumed dead in the area. Still, in the few days they'd been gone the Sears must've snapped up the property and where advertising their newest work out gear.
The poster plastered on the large glass window was of an emaciated blonde woman, her chest flat as a board. She wore a wide smile, showing off a row of perfect chiclet teeth. Her hair was tied at the top of her head in a high pony tail with a pink head band decorating her forehead. It matched her leotard and went well with the sky blue leggings layered underneath. In big neon letters it read
For the hardest ups and downs-
Introducing Jockbra: Compression Line
Eddie's hand smacked Richie's chest, brain running a mile a minute.
"'Chee! She's flat."
Richie, who had previously been studying his feet, brought his attention upward to the ad.
"Well, not everyone is as blessed as you, Eds," he thought for a moment, "or I guess cursed from your point of view."
"Can it, Trashmouth. I think it's the bra."
Richie reread the advertisement, realisation finally striking him.
"You think it'll be safer than binding?" Eddie asked, giddily. Like he'd just been told they'd won a lifetime supply of hand sanitiser and fannypacks.
"Let's see."
The gleam of fluorescent lighting bounced off the speckled tiles in the dressing room as Eddie started at the contraption in front of him. It had three straps on each side and a zipper. He'd grabbed a medium and a large because the medium seemed so small, but maybe that was the point. It was a compression bra after all.
He started with the medium, unzipping the zipper and pulling it over his head. Like some sort of black magic, when he turned to meet his reflection in the mirror his chest was flat. He turned to the side, revealing a small bump before his flat stomach. Ok, not completely but pretty damn close. He threw his shirt back on turning to the side again, flat as a board. He smiled. Taking a few deep breathes for good measure. The contraption moved with him, ready to expand and contract when prompted by his rib cage.This he could work with.
After a few strange looks at the register, it wasn't everyday two teenage boys came in for a workout bra, Richie and Eddie began the trek back home.
"Let's grab something to eat."
Eddie suggested, mind still lingering on Jackie's earlier comment.
"In town," Richie pulled a hand through his hair, "why don't we go home. I'm sure I can whip something up there."
Richie was no Julia Child, but he had been left to fend for himself at such a young age that he knew the basics.
Eddie lips pulled downward, eyebrow cocked.
"We're right here. It'll be thirty minutes, tops. Please, Rich, let's have a lunch date."
"What if you're Mother sees? Or somebody who knows her. You know how this town talks."
"I'm hungry and I don't care who sees me, Richard," Eddie crossed the street, knowing his boyfriend would follow, to the diner on the other side, "If she wants to try and drag me back home I'll just leave again."
He waved his hand dismissively only to have it grabbed by Richie. In a swift motion, he was spun around to meet magnified narrowed eyes.
"I can't loose you too, Eds."
Eddie softened at this. He didn't want to cause Richie any distress, but Maggie's death has put so much in perspective for him. Once Richie had finally fallen into the sweet arms of sleep last night, he'd laid on the Tozier's living room floor for hours. Just staring up at the blackness and wondering if that's all Richie's mother could see now. He decided then that he didn't want to regret anything when he finally succumbed to the darkness.
Eddie lifted himself onto the tips of his toes placing a bold kiss on Richie's cheek. The skin where his lips had touched burned against the wind.
"I'm not going anywhere, Chee. I just want to put on my new bra and grab a burger. Unclench you're asshole."