☆ My Star ☆ ~Reddie~ (completed)

☆ Ten ☆

That night. Richie ran. He ran faster than he ever had done before, the force's pull was too strong to ignore. The roads seemed like they would never end, usually they were short, two minute run roads, but they felt like hours. He made his way to Eddie's house, but all of the lights were off and the curtains were closed.

His foot slipped as he grasped the walls of the building, struggling to hold on. Richie's palms were sweating as he finally reached the small window that opened to Eddie's room. The boy was awake, hair swept in front of his face, eyes fixed on a book about stars. He held a flashlight in his hand and pointed it at the pages. Richie slid the window up just enough for him to fit through.

The smaller boy jumped in surprise when he saw his friend pushing the window back down from inside. "Richie?" He said curiously. "What are you doing here?" Richie was confused. "You don't want me here?" Eddie's face changed and he panicked. "No I never said that, but you haven't come for a whole week, I thought you were sick of me." Richie pushes his glasses up to his eyes again. "Sick of you? I thought you'd be sick of me, so I stopped for a while, I didn't want to bother you."

They sat in silence for a minute before Eddie sighed and a tear rolled down his face. "She knows..." The taller boy looked at his friend. "Who? What?" Eddie let out a shaky breath. "My mom, she knows what happens at night. When you come over. She found out." His voice was quiet. Not a whisper, but very close. "What, how?" He didn't understand. "It was my fault, when the pillow was on the floor, she walked in... she asked why and I said I had a friend over, she assumed it was a girl because..." Eddie stopped. "You know... but I told her it wasn't. So it meant it was a boy, she knew only you were crazy enough to climb through my window... she told me she knew that dinner. At first, I thought I'd gotten away with it. I thought we'd gotten away with it, but when I got downstairs she yelled at me..." Eddie began to sob. Richie turned the flashlight on. "Eds..." He whispered, stroking his finger over Eddie's knuckles.

"She... she insulted me, called me a fag. That it was disgusting to allow another boy to lie on the floor with me, I cried for hours. I wanted you to come around that night so desperately, I wanted to see you again." The words were almost impossible to hear, his voices breaking as he sobbed. Guilt ran through Richie like a freight train. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you wanted to see me." He stroked the boys hand softly, pulling him forward and letting him cry onto his shoulder.

He rocked back and forth slightly whilst holding Eddie in his arms, as an attempt to calm him down. It worked and the boy eventually stopped crying. "Shh, it's okay, you're okay..." Richie hushed. Eddie moved the book from his bed and turned the light off. "You tired?" Richie chuckled quietly. "Mhmm... yeah..." Eddie grumbled. The skinnier boy stood up ready to leave, but he felt a small hand grab his.

Richie smiled. Their hands locked together perfectly. "Please stay..." Eddie whispered. Suddenly, all fear of his mom was gone. Neither of them cared what she thought... Eddie had always cared for Richie. Now it was his turn to pay him back.

He held the duvet in his hand and climbed under, he held his arms around Eddie and buried his nose into his hair. He would always protect him...