Reddie Oneshots

-81- Park Rats

Bill and Eddie crossed the bumpy downtown street to get to the rather busy-looking skatepark in the middle of the town centre. It had been put in rather recently, in 1991, and was quite popular among Derry's high school students. Eddie hadn't been able to even step foot in it until that day, thanks to his mother. She always did her best to keep him far away from physical danger, even if it kept him away from fun.

But today was different. Eddie had told her he was going out to the library, and he had an excuse if he got badly hurt: his old bully, Bowers, was back for the summer from military school. He had the perfect plan to have the perfect day skating with his best friend. And if today went well he could certainly arrange another.

Tucked under his arm was the board he'd saved up ever so carefully to buy, and he began to approach the park. The closer he got though, the scarier it looked. Mounds and ramps of solid concrete, metal bars and short flights of stairs—stairs! in the middle of a skatepark!?—and it all came together to look like a sea of concrete. Accidents waiting to happen. And worst of all, it was full of people who looked like they knew it like the backs of their hands.

It was pretty cool to watch them, honestly, gliding up and down the ramps and flying over their twisting boards, then landing right on them without even flinching. Even the way they fell was effortless; the way they toppled off the board and sent it flying, but still managed to roll almost gracefully and stand right back up with a smile.

Eddie was rather intimidated. Very intimidated. He felt his stomach drop as he looked over the edge of the first ramp. It felt steeper from up here.

His attention was caught by the loud clack of Bill's board against the concrete and he looked up just in time to see Bill stamp his foot onto the front of the board and drop down against the ramp, rolling down it and pumping himself over the concrete mound. He watched as Bill kicked up his board and caught it, looking back at Eddie.

"Wanna t-try?" he yelled over the racket of skateboard wheels against the hard ground. Eddie felt his eyes widen, and he shook his head violently. Bill sighed and walked over to him, running up the ramp and joining him at the top.

"O-once you try it, i-i-it won't be th-that bad. C'mon, I kn-know y-you know how t-t-to skate... I-I-I-I taught you, r-re-remember? This very board," he said proudly.

"Well, I mean, yeah..." he was still terrified. Not only of getting hurt but of making a complete fool of himself in front of all these people. A good crowd of hot guys and hot girls alike, all of them a million times better than he was.

It wouldn't be so painfully embarrassing, he thought to himself, if he wasn't so old... fifteen felt so old to him, even if it wasn't, it felt so old to be starting trying something like skateboarding.

"C-come on, you g-got this... I-it's re-really hard to h-h-hu-hurt yourself d-doing this," he added. "H-here, just p-pu-put your tail end f-flat on here a-and then y-you st-stomp down on th-the screws h-here, as hard a-as you c-can and you l-lean forward l-like y-you're going to g-grab the ti-tip of your d-deck. Here, l-let's tr-try it a c-c-c-c-couple– fuck, s-sorry– a coup-ple times o-on flat, f-for now." He coached Eddie though holding the tail down with his back foot, then to stomp on the front and flatten if while staying balanced.

As he practiced the movement a few times more, Eddie scanned the park. After looking around for a little bit, he caught eyes with one of the skaters down in the half pipe, one who was rolling up each side in a zigzag, and catching the tip if his board against the bar at the top of it.

The guy had long, skinny arms and curly black hair that swayed in tendrils around his face and his thick brimmed glasses. He smiled slightly, kicking up his board and running over.

"You learning to drop in?" he asked.

Oh fuck, Eddie thought. He's even hotter up close.

With flaming cheeks, Eddie looked up at Bill for confirmation.

"Y-yeah, but I-I have n-no idea what t-to t-tell him t-t-to do," he admitted, "p-past stomping a-and leaning f-forward."

"Oh," the guy shrugged. "Well I think you kinda got it covered there. From there, you kinda just have to, like... send it. And make sure you're leaning forward! You don't want to go flying backwards... at least not too many times," he laughed.

"Uh... thanks," Eddie murmured, scolding himself inwardly for not sounding cooler.

"By the way, I'm Richie," the skater smiled, nodding at Bill, who introduced himself as well.

"A-and th-this is E-Eddie," he added, laughing.

"Well, hello there Eddie," he grinned, watching as Eddie stomped his board against the ground a couple times to practice. "You got it, Eds, keep doing what you're doing... peace, guys." He saluted casually, then jogged back off to the half pipe.

Surprised, Bill stared at Eddie. "Y-y-you let h-him c-call you th-that?"

Eddie just shrugged. "Let's go try the ramp."

Bill was impressed at his willingness. Eddie told him, as he prepared for yet another tumble, that he was only this unafraid thanks to his mom.

"I hate her so much, and I know the very last thing she would want me doing..." he kicked down and rolled down the ramp, before his board went flying out underneath him. He rolled over to stand up and face Bill. "Is this."

"Hey," Eddie heard a voice call from behind him. He turned around to see Richie skating towards him, board in hand. He got close and kicked up his own board to hold it still. "Lose something?" he joked, handing Eddie's board back to him.

"Thanks," Eddie smiled, embarrassed at falling like a dumbass.

"Mad respect, by the way. You've been taking some pretty cool spills, and you're not letting up," he laughed. "Better than I could say for my first time dropping in."

Eddie's face lit up. Holy fucking shit. Holy shit! Hot skater boy thinks he's cool!

"Thank you," he beamed, scratching his thumbnail against the grip tape.

"Anytime." Richie pulled a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and flicked it open, offering one to each Eddie and Bill. When they both declined, he put it away and lit his own. With a nod and a "peace", he headed off again.

Eddie was, from that point on, even more excited. Every day, with or without Bill, he visited the skate park and worked on his transition skating. Richie began to skate with him more and more, coaching him on little things that made big differences and demonstrating them during his own turns.

Eventually, he tried teaching him more than just half pipe tricks, bringing him to skate flat and even learn to ollie. And every now and then—and this is what Eddie enjoyed almost the best out of everything—he would use his hand to reposition Eddie slightly, just showing him where he should be leaning or where his arms should be.

It was glaringly obvious by now: Eddie had a crush. And he couldn't see it, but Beverly (Richie's friend) and Bill and Ben and Mike and Stanley and everyone else at the skatepark who even looked at them could tell—Richie did too.

After one bright afternoon as the sun set over the little town, Richie ran to catch up with Eddie as he crossed the street to head home.

"Hey! Eds, uh, wait up for me," he called. Once he caught up and they'd finished crossing the street, he began. "Do you wanna, uh... like... I don't know, like, go see a movie with me or something?"

Fuck Richie, stop being so damn awkward, he thought.

Slowly, Eddie cracked a smile. "Yeah Rich, I'd love to."

"It's-it's not a date or anything," Richie added quickly. "Unless you... um..."

"It's a date," Eddie grinned.

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Idk I saw a hot guy at the half pipe today & thought why not make it an AU .

ps. He was hot as fuck . like hotter than Richie </3 mans could curb stomp me

pps. I could probably write a part 2 for this if anyone wants it ... 👉👈