hi there! i originally posted this on ao3 @ hippieluna (as a gifted work to rainbowsandgucci), and i'd love it if you read and left kudos/comments there!
i'm also on tumblr @ hippieluna and twitter @ fairytalefluff and I love getting messages ^-^
(the A/Ns will be copied from ao3.)
a few months ago amber was like "hey you know what i'd love? 10k of summer pining where eddie thinks richie is leaving for college but richie is actually trying to figure out how to ask him to go with him" and i was like "done, also it's a road trip au, also it's 52k" so. that happened. hope you enjoyyyyyy bc i enjoyed writing it!
thank you to amber for the prompt and help with mixtapes, as well as myles, eline, leonie, and winnie, for giving me advice and encouragement and enough validation to keep me motivated writing this. love you guys xo
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The thing is, Eddie hadn't thought about it until he saw the letter.
Sure, maybe it was in the back of his head somewhere; logically he knew that they'd all grow up and eventually move away. Hell, they constantly talked about moving away, but usually in a more fanciful sense — throwing all their shit into the back of Richie's car and leaving in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. That unrealistic kind of daydreaming that made nothing seem real, that always had Eddie ignoring reality, because in his version they all stayed together forever.
He and Richie stayed together forever.
The actual thing is, Eddie can't picture a world in which they don't. He hasn't tried and he doesn't want to and it just doesn't make sense. Richie is a constant — all the losers are, his life revolves around them and they're at the top of his list of priorities. Well. The losers are at the top, and Richie... Richie is at the very top of that.
Which is why seeing a college admission letter on the ground, half-hidden under a pair of jeans, feels like everything screeching to a halt. One little domino falling over and causing a chain reaction until eventually, inevitably, all of him will be scattered pieces on the ground. Because this letter is for Richie. Because this means Richie got into college, somewhere that's not here, which was always the plan and Eddie shouldn't be surprised, but that means Richie is leaving. Finally, after talking about it for years, Richie will leave. He'll drive away, car packed with everything he'll need for a new life, and that will not include Eddie.
He takes a step back, frame unfreezing and thoughts running through his head quicker than he can process them. He puts a hand on Richie's desk to steady himself and seriously thinks about reaching for his inhaler.
"Eds?" Richie asks from behind him, having reentered the room at just the perfect fucking moment. It's not like Eddie's world is crashing down around him or anything. "You good?"
"Yeah," Eddie lies. He's glad his voice doesn't sound as shaky as it feels. Or maybe it does, he can't really tell. "I just, um. Feel like I'm getting an allergy attack, or something. Did you bring any weird plants into your room recently?"
Smooth.
"Is this your way of asking if I have weed?" Richie asks, smirk evident in his voice.
"No," Eddie wheezes. "I just — I feel a bit lightheaded, and my eyes itch, and if my throat starts to close up I'm fucking blaming you because —"
"Hey," Richie's hand closes around his wrist, and Eddie can already feel his pulse slowing. "You're fine. You don't have allergies."
"I am allergic to penicillin!" Eddie squeaks, still unable to tear his eyes away from the paper.
YOU ARE READING
greetings from stardust
RomanceA few days ago just an ounce of Richie's attention was almost too much to bear. Now, he feels engulfed in it - hot tickling flames that spread from his chest to his fingers when their wrists touch between the seats of the car. It hurts when Richie l...
