𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝 | 𝐫

R

    After Richie kissed Eddie, he walked back inside of the cabin on the path. He took a few deep breaths once he was inside, leaving the door open a bit so Eddie could come in eventually. He hoped he didn't leave the scene too abruptly, but he knew he had to restrain himself. He thought that if he started kissing Eddie more, he'd never stop. He sat up straight on the old, polished leather couch in the living quarters of the cabin.

    After a second of contemplation, Richie noticed something drip onto his hands, which were fidgeting and resting on his laps. A sangria droplet of blood lay on his hand, dripping onto the hardwood floor as he examined it by turning his wrist. He looked up, foolishly thinking that it was coming from the overhead light, but it wasn't. He felt the crimson liquid slowly stream down from his nostril and onto his cupid's bow, wiping it to see the blood was coming from his nose. A nosebleed? He didn't have a tendency to get those. He got up, cupping his nose with his left hand so as to not get more blood on the floors. As it dripped down onto his cupid's bow, he accidently got some in his mouth, tasting the sticky, metallic taste upon his tongue. He gagged a bit, reminding him of getting a tooth pulled as a child. He grabbed a paper towel on the counter top and tried to use it to halt the blood flow before Eddie walked in and began to worry.

    After about five minutes, the blood stopped coming out slowly. He was glad Eddie was still outside. It took about four paper towel sheets to stop the blood. Richie threw them away and pushed it down into the trashcan to make it less noticable. He walked into the bathroom slowly on the creaky floorboards, turning on the dim light with a click. It was unusually cold, but Richie didn't pay much mind to it. He turned on the rusted copper faucet and splashed the icy water onto his face, rinsing some of the blood off from above his lip. A slight ruby residue was left in the sink. Richie got a glance of the outside of the window, seeing that the sun was now almost fully set. A light indigo shade ended the sunset, darkening the cabin and its surrounding areas. The rising moon was not yet bright enough to light the bathroom, but neither was the old light. Richie sighed, turning it off and walking out and closing the door.

    He sat in silence, hearing only the cicadas high-pitched shrill. He felt slightly weak after his nosebleed, and felt an uneasy feeling rush over him all of a sudden. The lingering smell returned, this time seeming to be more potent than before. There was no literal smell that could compare to it, and it didn't have a particularly unpleasant scent, but it felt all too familiar. As for the feeling he was experiencing, it felt like the feeling you'd get after a fight with a close friend or family member, or the accidental betrayal of telling someone else's secret, except much more magnified. He sat in this feeling, taking it in for a while until he tried to distract himself.

    He got up from his sitting position to go to the front window - he saw Eddie, who was still sitting outside, and for some reason not looking disgusted at all of the bug noises. Richie wondered what he was thinking about - but then again, he could almost never tell. He wondered if Eddie was as disgusted with Richie as Richie was with himself. He'd already done so much to hurt Eddie, and he didn't want to fuck anything else up too. Richie couldn't be at peace with himself until he knew that Eddie forgave him, completely and genuinely.

    Richie looked back over to the couch where he was sitting, looking at the red droplet on the wood floor that he forgot to clean up from his nosebleed. Shit. He rushed over to the sink and got one of the washcloths, wetting it with warm water. The water dripped on the floor as he walked over to the stain and got on his knees. He knelt down to scrub it, but it wasn't coming up, rather slightly smearing from still being a tinge wet. Please no. He scrubbed it with more pressure. It wouldn't come up. No. He got up and sighed. He glanced back out the window and did a double take, seeing Eddie getting his things and standing up. God no. Eddie would freak out if he knew that Richie stained the floor, more or less having a nosebleed (with his hypochondriacal tendencies). Thinking quickly, he threw the washcloth in the sink and quickly walked over to the couch, moving the leg of it forward and top of the stain. He saw Eddie approaching the door and Richie quickly opened it for him, hopefully not causing suspicion.

"Hey..." Richie quickly said, trying too hard to appear casual. "Uh, hi." Eddie said, seeming slightly weirded out. He couldn't tell if this was just 'normal nervous Eddie' or a 'suspicious nervous Eddie'. As Eddie walked completely inside the cabin and shut the creaky door behind him, Richie's saw the boy looking around the room, and sensed that he'd picked up on a smell as well. "Can we light a candle?" Richie said, anxiously. "Yeah, sure." Eddie said with a slightly delayed response as he sat down and pulled out his phone.

Richie went into the bathroom and picked up a cylindrical candle that he'd seen earlier. It was a fall scent. A bit last season, but it didn't matter. Richie pulled out his lighter that he'd usually use for cigarettes from the pocket of his bag, which was resting on his room floor. He took another glance at the book on his night stand as he fumbled to grab the pocket lighter. Crime and Punishment. He felt like this was some sort of sick joke that someone was playing on him. He felt his stomach toss and turn.

    Grabbing the lighter from his bag, he lit the candle as he walked. He put it down on the table in front of the couch. He lit it and the room was slightly diffused by the smell of pumpkin spice, but the previous smells still remained there. His gaze was drawn over to Eddie.