Reddie Oneshots

reddie eating disorder fic part 7

⚠️trigger warning ⚠️

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Eating Disorders in Teens
Eating Disorders: There's more than just one
Eating Disorders and Their Effects

Richie had never spent so long inside of a library, and after three hours of being inside of one, it seemed like his brain was a large grey cloud sitting on his shoulders. He didn't know how Ben could do it.

There was a large stack of books in front of him, and he had gone through them all, but he still felt uneducated and hopeless when it came to Eddie.

How do you tell somebody to eat when it is their biggest struggle? How do you care for somebody who doesn't want to be cared for? How do you tell somebody that they're perfect when they don't like themselves at all?

Richie could feel tears burning in his eyes, so he quickly gathered his things and moved outside, gasping for air once he could breathe again. Richie moves and sits on the steps outside of the library, drawing his knees up and resting his chin on them, tears bubbling from the sides of his eyes.

He doesn't know what to do, he feels impotent when it comes to Eddie. He read three books but he knows nothing about eating disorders or what Eddie is thinking. Does he even know that he has one?

Then he feels pathetic and guilty for sitting here and crying, probably looking like a pussy to everybody who walks by. It's like he's trying to take the worry from Eddie and put it on himself. He stands and walks to his truck, flipping the engine with no direct destination in mind— he just drives. It's freezing, and he rolls the windows down, the wind softly hitting his arm.

Three hours later, he's knocking on the door of Bill's house, desperately low on gas but also with an idea that might work. "H-hey, R-Richie." He says opening the door.

"Big Bill! Do you happen to have any spare gas lying around?"

"My dad might have some, let me check." Bill disappears into the kitchen and Richie stands with his hands in his pockets in his sitting room. The inside of Bill's house is dark but has a certain warmth to it. The natural light from outside always finds its way inside, shining on brown living room couches and old lady rugs. His house always smelled like a burning fireplace, but Richie only saw their fireplace lit during the winter.

His parents weren't the kindest, but they allowed The Losers Club to take up Bill's room for days at a tie, so they weren't the worst. Richie looks over the pictures on the wall, frowning when he sees Georgie. Bill's parents have almost let their youngest son go, and Richie is sure that this is probably the only picture they have of him.

Two years ago, he and Bill watched as his parents sold Georgie's bedroom and all of his toys at their garage sale. Bill cried and Richie held him for a long time. Georgie's bedroom is an office now, and Bill has never gone inside of it.

"Richie?" "Rich!" Richie tears his eyes away from the pictures to Bill who is holding a red tank, barely able to keep it raised. "I have gas. Do you n-need help?"

Richie nodded and they both walked down to Richie's car, opening the gas and tilting the tank to fill up the car. "Hey, Bill?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Um... I was wondering, if it is okay with you, of course, if maybe we could have a sleepover here? Like one of those group sleepovers that we always had in June? Eddie has been really down lately and I don't know how to cheer him up. Oh God, I probably sound like a rude dick, don't I? I'm so sorr-"

"Richie." Bill smiles. "I-It's f-fine. I would l-love that."

Richie smiles back and they both finish filling Richie's car. Bill invites him inside for lemonade and asks if Richie wants to play Mario on his video game system, Richie's answer is obviously yes.