21

Draw Me

Richie unlocked the apartment door, leading Eddie inside. Bill and Stanley weren't there, they had gone out on an impromptu date.

Richie set his keys down on the counter.

"My portfolio is somewhere around here." Richie mumbled looking under the coffee table.

"Is it weird sharing such a small.place with two other guys?" Eddie gestured to the mattress on the floor.

"It's awkward sometimes. Bill and Stan go at it like bunnies most the time."

"Oh, uh yeah. I bet."

"Walls are thin."

"I think I get--"

"Very thin. Like, I can hear the sound of the condom wrapper being torn open, one time I eve--"

"Hey are you gonna show me your art or what?" Eddie interrupted not wanting to hear about the different sexcapades involving Richie's roomates.

"Oh yeah! I think it's in my room."

Richie headed towards his bedroom beckoning Eddie to follow him.

Richie checked underneath his bed, seeing a pile of random papers he had doodled on as well as his sketchbook and portfolio.

"Found it."

~~~

Eddie flipped through each piece of artwork. Looking carefully at each detail Richie had carefully drawn or painted.

There were twisted trees, broken clowns, a drawing of a broken doll that looked strangely like Richie himself.
The most disturbing piece of artwork though, was a charcoal drawing of some sort sickly being.

A leper.

Eddie shuddered at it. It reminded him of the nightmares he experienced as a boy.

"Yeah, my art does that to people. I have this one painting of this woman, it freaks Stan out, he won't even be on the same room as it."

"These are really good Richie."

"Yeah so good they make people wanna pass there pants. "

"No you don't get it, good art makes people feel something. Yours makes people feel fear."

"Oh great, I'm sure scary art sells like hot cakes."

"It might. You never know."

Eddie was so much more positive than Richie. Eddie had that luxury, Richie didn't.

"Yeah maybe."

"Can I have one? I'll pay you for it?" Eddie wanted something of his to put up in his apartment.

"I can't sell any of these since I need them for class, but I can draw you something new?"

"Draw me."

"What?" Richie blushed at the thought of sitting here staring at Eddie while he drew him.

"Please?"

"Oh, um yeah, sure. Let's do it."

~~~

"If you keep moving, I won't be able to get your nose right, you'll have a big ugly schnoz and it'll be your own fault."

Richie had been carefully swiping a piece of charcoal to get each detail of Eddie's face right.

Richie wondered what it would be like to trace Eddie's dimple in his cheek with his finger. He wondered if Eddie's hair was as soft as it looked. He wanted to entangle his fingers within the dark brown hair on his head.

His eyes. They were so sweet. So soft and inviting. So. . . So inviting.

Richie had unknowingly lowered the drawing he was supposed to be working on, and was just. . . Looking.

How had he not noticed how beautiful Eddie was before? How had he not thought about him more in these years they'd been apart?

"If your not going to keep drawing I'm going to relax now." Eddie laughed.

"Sorry, I was just, I was trying to take a better look at that wrinkle you have on your forehead." Richie said desperately trying to shrug off what had just happened.

"Is that why your sitting on the edge of the chair?" Eddie asked with a sly smile.

Richie had only just notice that he was about to fall off of his chair.

"Y-yeah. I always get like this when I get really into my art." Richie lied.

"Sure." Eddie said clearly not believing him.

"No it's true! You can ask Stan, I drew him once."

"Did you also get really red in the face when you drew Stanley?"

Eddie was on to him, there was no way he was going to be able to back track now.

"I'm finished. So . . . Here."

Richie handed the drawing to Eddie.

"You made me look. . . Really beautiful."

"You are beautiful Eds."

"No, not like this." Eddie said holding up the drawing, "you somehow made even my flaws look beautiful. Your amazing Richie."

"No, I'm not." Richie shook his head not willing to believe it.

Eddie scooted closer to Richie. He had been sitting on Richie's bed, with his legs crossed, smiling for his picture. Now he was mere inches away from Richie.

Eddie placed his hand on Richie's knee. The same knee that Eddie had tried to fix up after Richie had fallen three years ago in Derry.

"You are though, which is why this is so hard."

Richie braced himself for the worst. The last time Eddie had used this tone, he had told Richie that he was going to work it out with Myra. Richie felt his heart pound in his chest. Hr was experiencing some sort of PTSD. He felt like he was reliving that moment all over again.

"What's so hard? What age you talking about?" Eddie could hear the panic in his voice.

"Shh. Calm down." Eddie gave Richie's knee a gentle squeeze, "pretending like there's nothing between us, is hard."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm not going to make the same mistakes, this time."

Eddie grabbed the sides of Richie's chair, and pulled it closer to him.

Richie could feel Eddie's warm breath on his skin.

"I am." Richie said remembering the mistake he'd made when he'd kissed Eddie in his car, three years ago.

Richie was ready to get his heart broken again, as long as he got to enjoy Eddie right now, in this moment, it didn't matter what happened.

Richie grabbed Eddie by his shirt collar and pressed his lips against Eddie's.

Leaping into the best mistake of his life.