- 𝗋𝗎𝗂𝗇𝗌 -

25

The first thing that Eddie noticed was that it was cold. Unbearably cold. Wherever he was, it was as cold as how he'd imagined the North Pole to be.

"Guys, he's awake!"

"Calm the fuck down, Stanley."

"Bev, Stan, settle down."

"Shut up, Ben!"

"Hey!"

Eddie blinked sleepily, his eyelids felt heavy as if leads were attached to them. He struggled to open his eyes, but when he did, he was surrounded by the losers. Beverly, the first one to notice that he was fully awake, gave him a small smile and poured him a glass of water.

"Hey Eddie, you feeling alright?" Mike asked from the doorway. His dark cocoa skin shined from the sunlight covering the room in streaks. He looked beautiful like that, and Eddie looked away, blushing. "Eddie! we were so worried." Ben said and shuffled over to give Eddie a gentle hug. Eddie patted his back.

"Hey, back off! Give him space! Come on, get out. I'll handle him!" Beverly raised one hand in a "get the fuck out" motion and the dejected boys sighed. With no one willing to go against Beverly Marsh, they all trudged out slowly, Ben giving Bev a kiss on the cheek on his way out.

Once the boys were gone and the only people left were Beverly and Eddie, the redhead swept the brunette into a hug. Eddie could feel a growing wetness on his shoulder and immediately felt his own eyes water. God, what happened. His mind swarmed with questions.

"Eddie, we were so worried! we had to call your mom first and tell her that you were sleeping over at Bills house, then drag you to Bens and get you settled in for the night after you-"

"-fainted?" Beverlys face transformed into a tender tearful mess. Her shoulder-length ember curls were just as droopy as her expression. "I'm sorry i worried you guys. All i remembered was feeling sleepy..."

"Yeah we know. Some guy called Micheal carried you out of the science lab. Bill saw him carrying you when he was at the punch table, and quickly got Mike to get you while he got the rest of us together to find you and Richie." Beverly explained as best as she could, the hazy night still a bit of a blur to her. All she remembered was laughing and singing the night away with her Ben, his handsome face aimed at no one but her. How terribly it all ended.

"Micheal?" Eddie racked his brain and tried his best to figure out who was Micheal. Nope, nothing coming up. Micheal was as good as nobody to him.

"He just moved here...apparently. But he also said he was moving away." Beverly bit her lip and looked over Eddies shoulder. Her eyes glazed over and she ignored Eddie entirely.

"Bev?" Eddie raised a hand to shake the stoic girl. "Bev, are you okay?" he asked, his panic and anxiety swelling and rising until he crested over him. "Eddie, there was this real creepy thing about...about Micheal."

Eddie raised one eyebrow. "Really? i mean, we talked and he was so nice to me...how could he be weird in any way?" he asked innocently. His brown eyes wide with curiosity.

"He looked just like Richie. It was like looking at a mirror image of Richie, but perfection. The total opposite of Rich. He was neat and pristine and wore knitted sweaters." Beverly said in awe. Her cornflower blue eyes were somewhere else when she spoke of Micheal. It was as if she was too afraid to talk about him, and yet, she couldn't believe if what she saw was even real.

"Bev, are you sure? Richie doesn't have a twin, he's an only child."

"I know. That's what's the freaky part."

________

Light streamed in. And with it, awakening the slumber of one confused Richie Tozier.

"Fuck." he groaned and raked a hand through his thick raven curls, the other peeling back the soft comforter that was covering him. "Glad you're awake." someone said from his door.

"Bill? What the hell are you doing here?" Richie asked groggily, his voice cracking and his eyes blinked sleepily, trying to focus on the tall lean figure that was glaring at him. "Richie."

"I'm here because you owe all of us an explanation." the blonde explained in a tense voice.

"Bill, have you taken too much alcohol? i don't owe you anything." Richie laughed, his laugh becoming a cough.

"Did you really forget about what happened last night? Well here, let me refresh your memory," Bill glared at the now wide-awake Richie, "you did the shitiest thing you've ever done. The worst. And i'm not talking about that one time when you left the group for you lowlife creep of a ex."

"Spit it out, Denbrough. You'll never be able to make me feel guilty if you don't bring up whatever shit that you're burying on me." Richie said calmly, picking at his nails. Bill felt the tips of his ears burn red. "I'm talking about Eddie, you insensitive prick. You lied to Eddie despite knowing that he knew absolutely nothing about your past. You know his, how he has to take his pills, his fucking mom, and how his shitty dad left him when he was seven. But does he know anything about you?"

The blood on Richies face drained.

"You lied. To Eddie. The boy you say you love, the boy we all know you love. But also the boy you lied to." Bill continued, driving the knife in and twisting it.

"I didn't lie about anything to Eddie."

"Neither have you been honest."

"He didn't ask me outright if i was gay!"

"Maybe because he was in love with you and wanted to know if you felt the same! Maybe he didn't want to sound rude!"

"God, you're such a dick, Bill. It's ten in the morning and i had a rough night, so can you just leave?" Richie shouted in one last attempt to be heard over Bill.

"No!" Bill roared back with all the ferocity of a lion. "No! you don't get to lie to Eddie. He's amazing, and the sweetest boy we've ever known. You can't lie to him about being gay and then lie about your past relationship."

"Well Eds doesn't know anything! I didn't say anything about being gay because i wanted him to feel special! i wanted him to feel like he was the first boy i ever gave my heart too. When i do, he lights up! He's like a fucking christmas tree! and you have no idea what it feels like to have all that happiness directed at you from just one person." Richies husky voice cracked and tears were pooling in his dark eyes.

Bill shook his head, his swishy blonde-brown hair moving with him. "Well even if that's the case, you went about all this the wrong way. You did it for Eddie, but at the same time, did you ever think to ask yourself, what if he knows already."

"He won't. Ever." Richie swore, his dark eyes glinting something mad under the light.

Bill growled, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

________
note!
wOah! so um...don't hate me for the out of nowhere crossover and the huge tear in the middle of reddie! the fight between these two and richies reasoning was something that happened to one of my friends and i remember how heartbroken she was when she found out the truth and how she couldn't move on for a long time. but eh, hope you like this chapter anyways! vote and comment!!❤️❤️