𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡.

𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 | 𝐞 & 𝐫

E

Richie felt Eddie lay on the bed, and Eddie followed. Richie continued to kiss him. Eddie watched the boy as Richie took off his own shirt. Eddie started to take his off, but he was nervous. As Richie was still kissing him, Eddie got a weird feeling. Flashbacks. Thoughts. He felt himself not in control, feeling the same as that night. Let's stay here ten more minutes. I promise. Eddie remembered, his eyes looking at a different corner of the room. Ten more minutes. Richie started to unbutton Eddie's shirt. Stay here. Watch my stuff. "Richie, wait..." Eddie said. Richie must have not heard him, as he continued to kiss him. "Richie, wait." Eddie said louder, slightly nudging the boy. Richie looked up into his eyes, confused. "Yeah?" He asked.

R

Richie was confused. Shit. "Can we stop?" Eddie quietly asked him. "Uh, yeah... I mean, yeah, sure." Richie said, reaching to put his shirt back on. He got off of him and sat on the side of the bed. Shit, this is awkward. "I'm sorry." Richie heard Eddie nervously say. "I just..." Eddie trailed off. "No, yeah. It's fine. Totally." He said, not letting Eddie finish. Richie put his shirt back on and Eddie re-buttoned his own shirt.

E

Eddie sighed, looking down. He was absolutely mortified. "Richie, can we talk about it-" "No, you don't need to explain. It's fine. We're fine." Richie said in a reassuring but slightly angry sounding tone as he cut him off and began to fix his hair. He walked out of the bedroom and closed the door, almost slamming it. Eddie's hands were slightly shaking. God, he really fucked that one up. The boy took a few deep breaths. Inhale, exhale. 'You have to go out there sometime,' He thought, glaring at the door anxiously. Richie was probably mad at him.

R

After Richie shut the door, he sat on the couch with an uneasy feeling. He felt almost empty, right after he'd felt so full. 'It's fine. It's fine.' He told himself, sweating a little. He looked over at the counter at the bottle of pills. He obviously wasn't thinking clearly. It took him a lot to not take them. He twiddled his thumbs and tapped his foot as a distraction. He shouldn't have pushed Eddie so much. Ugh. He wasn't mad at Eddie, rather himself.

After about five minutes, he saw Eddie walk out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him. He walked over to Richie and sat next to him on the couch, but not very close. He was looking at the ground, too.

E

"It's not you, it's just me." He said to him after a few seconds of pressing silence. "I told you it's fine, okay?" Richie said, looking at him. Jesus. He was so confusing to be around. "Okay..." Eddie said unsurely, still not looking at the other boy. "You're uh... A good kisser." Eddie said to him awkwardly.

R

Richie laughed a little. "Thanks, I guess." He saw Eddie's smile fade a bit. "Are you mad at me?" He asked Richie. Richie smiled with a confused expression. "How could anyone ever be mad at you?" Eddie scoffed. "You'd be surprised..." He muttered. "Well, not me." Richie said, genuinely. Eddie smiled again.

"Eddie..." Richie began. "You know, if you're still mad at me, it's okay. It really is." He said. "I'm not mad at you for being mad at me. If you need time, that's totally okay." And he meant it. He was okay with the fact that Eddie needed time. Eddie sighed. "Yeah... thanks. That means a lot." That meant it was true. It hurt at first, but he pushed through it. "Mhm."

E

Eddie appreciated Richie trying to understand. For once, someone was trying with him, and it felt good. Reassuring.  "I just realized something." Richie said. "What's that?" "I still don't know where you live." He awkwardly said to him. "Uh, I mean it's not as cool as this place." Eddie said, nervously and sarcastically. Richie laughed a little. "You don't want me to come over, don't you?" Richie said, sounding a little hurt. Eddie sighed. "Fine. Let's go." He said, getting up. "What?" The boy replied, looking disoriented. "I said let's go." Eddie grabbed his bag and opened the door. "Uh, right now? I mean... okay." Richie got up and put on his dirty shoes, lacing them tightly. Eddie saw him stumble a little standing up, probably because of everything he was on. Richie held the door open for Eddie as they walked out.