Reddie For You [On Hiatus]

| Chapter 6 |

"Richie!"

He didn't know how long he'd been on the floor, but his head was throbbing intensely. Eddie was hovering over him again, shaking his shoulders lightly. "Richie, get up or I'm calling an ambulance."

"Don't." He groaned in response, shifting to sit up with the help of Eddie's strong arms. "Sorry- I don't know what happened. I'm good, I'm good."

"I told you I like men and you fainted." Eddie put on a small smile as he helped Richie up, but he could feel his quick pulse through his wrist. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Richie sat back onto his bed with a groan. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, I didn't mean to stress you out more than you already were." Eddie sat next to him, looking down at his hands where he was fiddling with his fingers. They sat like that for a few minutes, like time was standing still and the only noise filling the room was the occasional sigh or hum. That is until Richie broke it, go figure.

"I think this is the longest I've ever been quiet." He laughed, pulling one from Eddie as well.

"You just had to ruin it. I was beginning to like you more." He lifted his gaze a bit to meet Richie's. "Now I'll just have to go back to hating you."

"That's homophobic."

"Wouldn't it be more homophobic if I started treating you differently? You're still the same Richie aren't you? Still the same dumbass that we all love?" Eddie's face was smug and Richie had to physically restrain himself from leaning into his lips, so close in distance already.

"Yep, still the same dumbass. If you think this means the 'your mom' jokes are stopping, you're mistaken, my good sir!"

"Oh fantastic. At least there won't be any 'your dad' jokes." He squinted at Richie's growing grin. "Don't get any fucking ideas."

Richie shrugged and mimicked zipping his mouth shut. "Enough about me, how uh... how are you handling it? Everything, I mean."

Eddie's suddenly distant gaze scared him but then he laughed. "Do you have time for me to rant for a while?"

"I always have time for you Eds."

"Fine, you asked for it." Eddie took a deep breath before starting. "It's been a lot Richie. IT almost killed us. I almost fucking died and the first thing I wanted to do was run away back to New York. It's so pathetic and I know I said I felt like a new man after nearly dying but I still felt so weak. Part of me still does, and I just can't believe that I wanted to go back, to my shitty job, to her. That's why I had Bev stay while I called Myra, I just needed someone to understand what that's like. I told her about Myra, and that I liked guys and I wanted to tell the rest of you but I was just so scared. I forgot what it felt like to be that scared." His voice was wavering and he clenched his fists. "How the fuck did I forget about Derry, about you? And I don't give a shit that you're gay Richie. Hell, it feels so good to know that I'm not alone. I almost forgot that I even felt this way if I'm being honest, but it was always there. In the back of my head. God, when I came back it was like I remembered what it was like to be Eddie Kaspbrak. And I didn't want to lose that. Or you guys. I don't know what I would've done if you didn't invite me to stay with you..."

"There was no way in hell I was leaving you alone Eds." Richie gripped his hand and squeezed it. "You know you're welcome to stay as long as possible, I like having you here. And you know what, I'll help you with whatever you need, you just say the word. I'll help you get your stuff from Myra, we'll get you free of these bandages in no time, we can go job hunting since you're so stubborn about going back to work. Shit Eddie, I'll even help you become a doctor like you always wanted. Don't look at me like that, it's not too late. I mean look at me, I'm finally gonna write my own material, and I'm like super gay. It's not too late to start over, trust me on that."