greetings from stardust / reddie

chapter 3

The first half of the next day is spent as expected; chatting about nonsense, listening to Day 2 mixtapes, and marveling at how, despite the views out the window being incredibly similar to Maine still, it feels worlds away. They stop at a grocery store for breakfast and freshen up in the restroom, and then they're back on the road.

They make it to Ohio before the anxiety starts to set in. Eddie had reached for his allergy pills (you never know what new kinds of trees they have here) that he thought he'd stored up front, but found rather quickly that he'd been wrong in that assumption.

"Relax," Richie says. "You just packed them in your suitcase."

"How do you know?" Eddie snaps back, clearly distressed. His brow is pinched so tightly it's giving him a headache.

"Because," Richie insists. "I know you. And you would never go off without them. Besides, you don't need them."

"But -"

"Not right now, Eddie. You're in the car, okay? Windows are up, AC is on, you're fine. I promise. You can look for them when we stop."

Realistically, Eddie knows he's right. His eyes don't itch, his sinuses don't feel like they're closing up, it's just. They're comforting to have. But so is Richie.

"What if I don't have them, though?" He continues anyway. And then he starts to think about what else he might not have, everything he might have forgotten back in Derry, and suddenly his chest feels tight. "What if - what if I don't have my inhaler? What if I forgot my toothbrush, or, or -"

"Eddie, babe, take a breath." Richie says, and Eddie does, but it doesn't help much. "Look, I'll buy you whatever you forgot when we get there, okay?"

"Richie, you have, like, barely enough money to get us there in the first place." Eddie says with a roll of his eyes.

Richie chuckles. "Alright, jeez, I'll steal it for ya."

When Eddie doesn't say anything, Richie reaches over to rub at his shoulder again. His fingers dig into the muscle in a way that makes Eddie's eyelids heavy, the panic in his chest subsiding just a little. His thumb brushes the side of Eddie's neck, just for a second, and a small shiver runs through him. Hopefully Richie doesn't notice.

"Hey," Richie says. "Grab the mixtape on the left side - yeah, that one there."

"Why the fuck is it called garlic bread?" Eddie asks.

Richie grins at him. "Just put it on, okay?"

Eddie does, and immediately Freddie Mercury's melodic voice fills the car. He finds himself humming along to Somebody To Love as Richie continues to massage his shoulder, and despite the fact that there are a million things to panic about, he can feel himself calming down. Whether from the music or the touch, he doesn't know. Maybe both.

Still, when Eddie starts, it's hard for him to stop. In a last attempt to worry, he says with a small voice, "Are't you afraid you forgot something important?"

"Eddie, Eddie, Eddie..." Richie's smile is softer now when he glances over. "I've got everything I need. You, good music, and the open road."

Eddie snorts. "Fuckin' cheesy," he mumbles, but his whole body feels warm.

They drive until the sun hangs low and Richie's exhaustion seems to catch up with him. Eddie can see the way his eyes strain, the way he keeps sighing, so he turns down the music and says, "Hey Rich, I think we should stop."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," Eddie says firmly. "You haven't eaten enough, you haven't slept in like 30 hours - it's not healthy! You could get into an accident, or, or just get sick. I mean even if you weren't driving it wouldn't be good for you, you know, your body will start to shut down and -"