The boy with pink hair

Chapter 1 - (part 3)

"Hey mummy, can I have some money for ice-cream? It's really hot out and I need something to cool me off." Eddie crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping she would say yes. His mother almost never let him eat junk food, but every once in a while she would cave and allow the boy to indulge in a few sweet treats. 

"Eddie-bear, you know how bad that stuff is for you, and you know how sensitive your teeth are. Are you sure you wanna risk getting a cavity?" she was reclined in her usual seat, the TV blaring infomercials and bad cartoons. 

"I'll be fine, it's just this once, and I'll brush my teeth right after, promise." he pitched up his voice, giving it that young sound that always made his mom cave. 

"Oh alright, but just something small, and pack your toothbrush with you, the longer it sits on your teeth the worse it is." she reached over, her stomach spilling out the side of the chair. When her fingers found the wad of cash she kept by her recliner she pulled out a five dollar bill. "Don't forget-"

"I know mummy," he quickly pecked her on the cheek and grabbed the bill, "Love you." 

"I love you too Eddie-bear. Be safe!" 

He was already closing the door by the time those last words left her lips. 

...

When the boy opened the door to the ice-cream parlor he could hear snippets of conversation from all the customers, but one thing stuck out to him. 

"Not a single fucking blue haired person who's favorite color is pink in this entire town, who would have guessed?" 

Eddie's heart shot out of his throat. Holy shit holy shit holy shit... He stood there in complete shock, his mouth agape and his feet frozen to the floor. Holy shit holy shit is that him? Okay okay be calm you've got this. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet were pulling him towards the table of boys. He couldn't hear a single thing that anyone else was saying, just the buzzing in his ears, like a million bees flying around his head. He walked up to them and before he could stop himself he said, 

"Hey do you mind if I sit with you guys?" 

The whole group went silent and the Richie turned to Bill. 

"Is he talking to us?" 

"Oo-oof course h-he is you a-a-aa-ass" the yellow haired boy elbowed Richie in the arm. "S-s-sure." he smiled. 

"Uh... thanks... Sorry I just... I came here by myself and don't really-" 

"Sit down, it's fine." Stan cut in, getting fed up with the awkwardness." he gestured to the seat beside him, "I'm Stan, and you are?" 

"E-Eddie, nice to meet you." 

"Hey look at that Billy boy, he stutters just like you." Richie clapped the new kid on the back, "Richie Tozier's the name, comedy is the game, nice to meet ya kid."  

"I-ii-i-ignore him. He's an aa-aa-a-asshole. I'm Bill." he reached out and clasped Eddie's soft hand between his. The boy sat down, pulling Eddie along with him. 

"Now, if we're done with that awkward little interaction, shall we eat?" Stan Remarked. 

The boy's sat and talked for an hour while Eddie sat there awkwardly, occasionally throwing in a remark like, "That sounds like fun." or, "pass the chocolate sauce?" He tried his best to fit in with the group dynamic, but just couldn't manage to compete with the years of comradery the other three boys had. 

Eventually the boy zoned out into his own little world. It took him at least a minute to realize the group had gone quiet and were looking at him. 

"Huh?" he looked up at them, desperately trying to remember what they had said before. 

"We were gonna go to the barrens. You down?" Richie piped up, recognising the panic in the boy's face. He was also one to zone out so he understood more than the other two would. 

"Are you kidding? That place is crawling with disease. Did you know you could get aids just from sitting on the same toilet as someone who has it? Why would I wanna splash around in hundreds of gallons of Derry piss and shit? Not to mention, there could be druggies hiding down there. I don't feel like being stabbed by a coked out lunatic." his face twisted up just thinking about what could be crawling around down there. 

"C'mon Ed's, it'll be fun. I could protect you from the druggies if ya like, maybe hold yer hand." Richie winked, not so subtly flirting. That was what he did, whether intentionally or not, he was a flirt by nature.  

"I... uh... I mean..." 

"I-ignore that b-ba-bastard. I-if you d-don't wanna g-go it's fine." Bill started to stand, extending his hand to help Stan, who was very quick to accept it. 

"You know what... why not. I'm sure it'll be fine. I just have to make sure not to uh... touch... any...thing... What are you doing?" 

"I said I would hold your hand and I'm a man of my word so..." Richie was beaming ear to ear, his eyes crinkling. Eddie's eyes crawled across the taller boy's face. He had a slim face with jutting cheekbones and a slim nose, but Eddie couldn't help but glance at his lips. Oh... my... god this boy is gorgeous. 

So with that, the smaller boy reached out and took the extended hand. The moment their skin met it was like a shockwave through Eddie's hand and up his arm. In that moment he knew. He knew that this boy was for him. Whether or not Richie had any idea, Eddie didn't know, but he knew he would not let this boy find out. Not yet. He didn't think he could handle rejection. 

.......

Hey guys, sorry about not uploading for a bit. I've been really busy with life. This quarantine is hard on everyone  so I hope you guys can forgive me for my awkward release schedule. I really hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far, it means a lot to me and I really want it to get out in the world. Thank you to anyone reading this, each view means the world. Even if only a few people see this, at least I'll have made those people happy. :) I love all of you!