soulmates~reddie

chapter twentyone

'So, what'r we havin'?'

Eddie was so caught up in trying to get his hair dry again that he hadn't noticed Richie's arrival up until he heard one of his voices. He looked over to see Richie with an arm around Stan's shoulders, walking over to the group of teenagers, and then he noticed a curly haired boy walking behind the two of them.

"Hey Richie!" Beverly said happily and skipped over to him, "Miss Marsh," he said taking a bow while grabbing Beverly's hand. He stood up straight again and let out a giggle before kissing Bev's cheek. He greeted the rest of The Losers, even Eddie, who just gave him a curt nod and went to sit down on the blanket, pulling Connor into his lap and started introducing The Losers to the blonde one. A sting went through Eddie's heart by seeing Richie be happy with someone else other than him.

The Losers had a great time eating snacks and catching up with eachother, "So, Rich, what have you been doing this summer?" Mike asked cheerfully after Richie had just stuffed his mouth full with gummy worms. "Probably his new boytoy." Eddie murmured under his breath but Connor heard and shot him a glare. Eddie huffed at that and raised his eyebrows to the blonde boy in a challenging way.

Connor turned to whisper in Richie's ear, "Babe, can we leave? Shorty over there is kinda freaking me out." Richie had a puzzled look on his face and looked in Eddie's direction who was glaring daggers at both of them. "What's your problem Eddie? Why are you being like this? Not inviting me to the picnic, shooting looks at Connor...I don't know if you remember but YOU are the one who broke up with ME, so what's your problem about me moving on?"

Everyone got very quiet and all eyes where on Eddie now. "I—" the brunette brought out before standing up and running away. "I'll go after him." Mike said, and started standing up to follow the little brunette. Richie's heart pulled to stop Mike and go after Eddie himself..but he didn't. Instead he excused himself and told his friends that maybe it was for the best if he left. He said goodbye to all of them and Stan hugged him again while saying he was sorry but Richie just shrugged, told him it was fine, grabbed Connor's hand and made his way back to the appartment.

Meanwhile, Mike was running his legs off to keep up with Eddie who was running like he was an arrow shooting out of a bow. Eddie came to a stop and let himself fall to his knees, vision getting blury because of the tears streaming down his face.

When Mike catched up with Eddie he doubled over, resting his palms on his legs while catching his breath. He dropped onto his knees next to the shaking frame from the brunette and layed a careful hand onto his back, "Eddie, what's wrong?" he asked, concern laced in his voice.

"It hurts so fucking much Mike!" Eddie yelled while throwing his head back and lunging forward into Mike's chest.

Mike wrapped his two strong arms around him and tried to console the boy as best as he could, "What hurts Eddie?"

"Seeing Richie...seeing him move on from me..I— I still love him!" the brunette burst into tears again, soaking Mike's shirt with his tears where his face was buried into his caring friend's chest.

Mike didn't know what to say to this, he loved both of his friends deeply, but seeing them suffer like this wasn't what Mike had visioned for them. Although Richie may be happy with Connor, it's evident that he isn't over Eddie.

The glances between them during the picnic, but only when the other one wasn't looking, the blush that formed on Richie's cheeks and rose to the top of his ears when they had bumped their hands together while reaching for the same snack and Eddie had quietly apologized while also starting to turn red...

Even the most oblivious person could tell there was still something between them, except for the two of them ofcourse.

~

After Richie had walked a few blocks with Connor to calm down he had dragged Connor back to his appartment and had pushed the boy against the front door as soon as it closed. Their lips interlocked and Richie started moving lower, nosing at Connor's neck, leaving open mouthed kisses, until Connor softly pushed the ravenette off of him.

"What's wrong?" Richie asked through lidded eyes.

"I– Rich...you're still in love with Eddie, aren't you?"

Richie's eyes widened and he cocked his head in confusion, "Baby, don't be silly. I'm together with you now." Richie said, trying to lean back in for another kiss but Connor stopped him again,

"That doesn't mean you're not in love with Eddie anymore..." he hesitatingly said to which Richie sighed. With his left hand he tucked one of Connor's golden curls behind his ear, while he had his other hand resting on Connor's hip, drawing slow circles with his thumb into the skin there,

"You know I don't love him anymore."

A pain flowed through Richie's heart. It felt like he had been shot and all of his feelings for Eddie were bleeding out.

"Then tell me you love me." Connor demanded.

The pain grew stronger and Richie gripped at his chest. He let out a groan and pushed himself away from Connor and towards the bathroom to find a pain killer.

"Richie? Is everything okay?"

The latter now saw himself in the reflection from the mirror and he looked as pale as a ghost. He started feeling feverish all of a sudden and he had to ground himself down by gripping the sink so he wouldn't faint.

Connor came into the bathroom shortly after and was shocked by Richie's appearance. The boy looked fine a few moments ago, but now looked like he had been sick for days.

The blonde one layed a hand on Richie's forehead to see if he felt hot. Richie groaned and pressed two fingers against his temple, "I think it's better if you go rest." Connor said while slowly guiding Richie towards the bedroom.

Richie kicked of his pants and pulled his shirt over his head as soon as he arrived to the bedroom. Climbing into the bed, he rolled himself up in his comforter. Connor crouched next to the bed and brushed a few curls out of his face, "Hey..Is everything alright?"

Richie shook his head.

"What happened?"

Richie shrugged.

"Did you take anything?"

He shook his head again.

Connor placed a kiss on his forehead, "I'll go get you something."

A few moments later he appeared in the room again, now with a glass of water and an ibuprofen in his hands.

The items were placed on the bedside table and Richie slowly took the pill, swallowing it down with the water. The bed dipped behind him and he turned around. Connor had taken off most of his clothes too except his shirt and boxers and was now getting under the covers too.

He layed down, facing Richie, and placed a hand on the boy's cheek, "Hope you get better soon." he said before taking of the ravenette's glasses and placing them on the bedside table.

Richie nuzzled into Connor's arm so the blonde one opened his arms and Richie cuddled into Connor's side, head resting onto his chest. Connor started playing with Richie's hair, twirling the dark locks around his pointer finger. He came across the pink lock and he was kind of confused as to why the curl looked less pigmented then normal.

He shrugged it off, it's probably because he's tired or because of the dim lit room he was in that it looked that way so he pressed a kiss against the top of the dark brown curls and closed his eyes,

"Sleep well, Rich."