sharon denbrough answered the door for richie when he arrived. all the losers were sleeping over bill's house, as they usually do. mrs. denbrough greeted him with a smile and welcomed him into the house. the denbrough residence was very elegant and clean, and the denbroughs were great people. they were like a second family to richie. the smell of fresh cookies and soda filled the air as richie's eyes trailed to the cracked basement door.
laughter was heard downstairs as richie approached the door. mrs. denbrough called from the kitchen. "the boys and bev are downstairs. let me know if you need anything, rich." he turned around and showed her a bright smile. "thank you, mrs. denbrough." the boy looked back at the door and walked down the steps, his backpack in hand. when he approached the bottom step, the room became silent as the losers' eyes all turned to richie. but, there was a new face there.
this boy had honey brown doe eyes, with freckles like constellations all over his soft face. his smile beamed brighter than a summer sunset. he wore a yellow polo with red shorts and a black fannypack around his waist. his brown hair fell just above his eyebrows. richie strangely felt his heart skip a beat and his breath hitched as he got lost in the boy's chocolate eyes. before the silence could be broken, beverly stood up. she pulled richie out of the basement by his wrist and shut the door.
"so we kind of... invited eddie...". "kind of?" he scoffed. bev sighed and looked at him. "look, i know this is all so sudden and we're sorry for not telling you. but we've all been excited to meet him and we know you have too. even though it's only been a day since you've met, but you know you're been wanting to meet him since you found out he lived here. and on the bright side, you can make a new friend." he sighed.
"what if he thinks i'm annoying and i'm not what he was expecting?" at this, bev laughed. "rich, come on. he's a really nice kid. he's not gonna think that. we don't think that about you. just stop worrying and come meet him." the redhead grabbed the boy by his wrist again and pulled him back into the basement.
when the two teens got back downstairs, beverly sat back at her spot, next to ben. richie decided to take a seat next to eddie. eddie looked at him and smiled. "you really do look like a five year old." richie smirked. the boy shoved his shoulder a little. "fuck off. at least i'm not 30 like you thought." richie scoffed. "um, what? i thought you were 30? you were the one who was like oh my god, you could be a 30 year old murderer!" he mimicked eddie in a high pitched girly voice. "well that's because-" "enough you guys", stan interrupted. "you guys seem like you'll get along just fine. you both are fighting like a old couple who's been married for 30 years."
——— ♡ ———
the 7 teens had spent the remainder of the night laughing and playing with each other, without a worry in the world. just enjoying each other's company, listening to the comforting sound of each other's laughter. eddie was a newcomer, but he fit in perfectly. nothing felt awkward, nothing felt weird. the mood felt right and peaceful. while the rest of the losers were all teasing each other and enjoying mrs. denbrough's homemade cookies, richie and eddie were on a small hammock in the corner together. they just... peacefully talked, got to know each other, and fought like a married couple as stan suggested. a lot of "shut up, richie"s were heard in the denbrough's basement that evening.
it was now the middle of the night. stars hung brightly in the dark sky above derry. the moonlight glistened into the tiny window of the basement. the losers remained still. light snores were heard, but nothing too major. the only thing that was heard what shuffling of richie's feet in the dark kitchen. he couldn't sleep, and decided to go get a glass of warm milk. it always helped him. being as careful as possible not to wake anyone, he put the glass in the microwave and swiftly sat on the kitchen island. not a single sound was heard until someone appeared behind him.
"rich?"
he spun around and saw eddie standing there in his star wars pajamas, with messy hair and tired eyes. richie sighed in relief it wasn't a robber or something. "oh hey eds." eddie walked over to him and sat next to richie on the kitchen island. eddie was much shorter than him, just as richie had imagined when he had revealed his height. "again, don't call me that. what's in the microwave?" the shorter boy scrunched his nose and looked over at the microwave. "oh, i'm just warming up some milk. it calms me when i can't sleep." richie explained looking down at eddie. the second he looked up at richie with those honey eyes of his, he felt the feeling again.
that bubbly feeling in his stomach, his breath hitching, his face getting warm and light pink, the feeling of pure joy. there was another word to describe it, but he couldn't seem to find it. happiness? no. desire? maybe. but that's not it. maybe it's-
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
the sound of the microwave startled the two boys, breaking their stares. richie stood up and took the milk out. he turned to eddie. he looked really tired. "go back downstairs and get some sleep. you look really drained." richie stated, slowly sipping his milk. "i want to wait for you though." eddie crossed his arms. he almost spit his milk out. "go eddie seriously. i'm okay up here." eddie stared at him for a second before plopping off the counter. "fine. if you get murdered, i'm telling people it was your fault at your funeral." richie heard the basement door close.
and richie couldn't take that smile off his face for the rest of the night.
