𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰. || 𝔯𝔢𝔡𝔡𝔦𝔢

🌹 [ S I X ] 🌹

tw: suicide and lots of internalized homophobia :( love urself kiddos
written by richie @richietozierirl
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"Richie doesn't know shit about birds Stan, this won't help!" Beverly slammed her head against her wall in frustration and the noise caused Eddie to flinch.

"Beverly, I know what I'm doing. This always calms me down, just trust me. Can you trust me?"

Beverly rolled her eyes and sighed, turning to face Eddie who was standing with his arms crossed. He was wearing a pink sweater, and something about that fact strangely comforted Beverly. Stanley cleared his throat and carefully took of his shoes before sitting cross-legged on her floor. He opened the book entitled The Sibley Guide To Birds and flipped to the bookmarked page. The candles Michael had advised them to light illuminated the pages and cast shadows on Stanley's pale face. 

"The Cyanopica Cyanus, more commonly known as the azure-winged magpie is a a bird in the crow family. It is thirty one to thirty five centimetres long and similar in overall shape to Eurasian Magpie." He began to read in a clear voice. Beverly chewed on her thumb nail before Eddie gave her a sharp look to stop. 

Stanley looked up at Mike for approval, and continued once he had nodded his head for him to resume his reading.

"It belongs to the genus Cyanopica. It has a glossy black top to the head and a white throat. It's one of my favourite birds, not just because of the colour but also because they're considered some of the smartest birds in the world. They remind me of you Richie, even though I barely know you."

"Read more Stanley." Eddie urged him to continue.

Stanley bit down on his bottom lip and cringed. He was so sure that this was going to work.

"Michael, are you sure this is going to work?"  he asked.

"I..."

"It has to work! Okay?" Eddie was crying, too angry to be aware of the shame he would usually feel. Michael looked down and motioned for Stan to continue.

"Eddie reminds me of a Chickadee most of the time. The scientific name for a Chickadee is... um, shit. Mike?"

"Poecile carolinensis."

"Thanks. The Carolina chickadee is a small passerine bird in the tit family. Isn't that funny Richie? Tit family? Anyways, Eddie reminds me of a Chickadee because he's small. Chickadee's are pretty birds too. Richie if you can hear us we miss you. Eddie's a mess. Beverly... Bev misses you too. And so does Mike, I guess."

"You don't miss me Staniel?"

Stanley jumped and turned around to see Richie floating in midair, his chin resting on his hand and his legs dangling behind him. Eddie squealed so loud Beverly though she would go deaf. He tumbled over to Richie and embraced him, the rest of the group sitting awkwardly around them.

"Richie don't you ever fucking do that again, I though you were gone again and I felt like you fucking left me again, it felt just like that night, it felt-" Eddie pounded on Richie's chest emphasizing each word.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Richie said in a Fat Albert voice before looking into Eddie's eyes and realizing maybe that wasn't the best idea. "I promise. I'm not going anywhere Eds."

And this time Eddie didn't protest the stupid nickname.

Stanley stood up and closed his book, clearing his throat again and collecting his shoes. Michael floated behind him, his shoe laces untied, which seemed odd even for a ghost.