✓ 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲 ━━ 𝗋𝖾𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖾.

x

maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

eddie wondered immensely if he should've thought out his plan more before deciding to just recklessly go out without any thought. sitting in the seat of his friends car in front of his childhood house, his forever home, a certain feeling of chills crawled up his spine and through his limbs, like a ghost danced freely through his body. "if you're second guessing, you don't have to go back in..." stanley implied, his eyes fixated on the house up ahead.

as those words floated through eddies head, he simply shook his head — as if that wasn't a choice. "i'm going." his hand grasped the door handle, but it didn't open. his head whipped over, looking at stanley through the dark that surrounded the two. "i'm here if you need anything, alright?" the boy offered. eddie was silent, his mind blank before he allowed himself to nod once. "i know." a slight smile was on eddies lips. a thump went throughout the car, giving off that stanley unlocked the doors.

the brunette pushed all his weight onto the door, pushing it open only to feel the cold, bone chilling breeze enter into the car and onto his skin. he stood up carefully and glanced back into the door before shutting it. he slowly approached the door he's walked through countless of times, only this time it was like it wasn't normal. the homey feeling he once felt seemed to disappear, almost like it was never there in the first place.

his nimble fingers curled around the silver door handle, pushing the key through and twisting it so it unlocked. eddie softly sighed, glancing around the front porch wearily before timidly opening the door. as he allowed himself to move a foot forward into the house, it wasn't as scary as he thought it would be. there was some void in eddies chest that prevented him to feel anything. eddies eyes had scanned around the dimly lit room, a visible frown plastered across his child-like features.

attempting to turn the switch for the lights, nothing happened. he should've known, his mother wasn't exactly around to pay any bills. eddie pushes the fact that his mother was gone out of his head as he then continued to make his way down the hall, dealing with the dark and just walking through it carefully so he didn't bump into anything.

it was as if nothing had been touched. it still looked like a home. the dishes were in the cabinets, family pictures still hung up on the walls. there still had the same lilac, dying bouquet of flowers decorated in the center of the counter. only it didn't feel like a home. that warm, numb feeling of safety was gone. it was replaced with the pure feeling of wishing his mother was still alive—and he knew that was bad to think, but he couldn't help it. at some times, she could be the nicest woman in the world...even when she was forcing medication to him, she was still his mom. sometimes he thinks he misses her.

eddie was now standing at the door frame of his bedroom when the image of his lifeless mother on the floor with a bullet lodged in her skull appeared. for a moment eddie felt like chickening out, running back to the car with stanley and never going back to this place again. the other part of him sucked it up and took a deep breath. he opened his bedroom door, seeing everything still in place. only a few books were spread out all across his bed, his old covers were messy like someone had been sleeping in it. eddie looked around, wondering if it could be who he thought it was.

he was afraid to speak, taking in that it was so quiet he might just scare himself with his own voice. eddies fingertips grazed over the desk in the corner of his room, like he was looking for something that wasn't there in the first place. static rang through the room, startling eddie. the boy jumped and turned on his heels, noticing his radio flip stations all by itself. who else could change songs like that? "richie?" he called out, looking around wildly. love will tear us apart by joy division filled the room, only it was distorted like there wasn't much connection for the song to run quite smoothly.

"eddie?" a disembodied, hoarse voice called. eddie turned around, meeting eyes with richie tozier who seemed all too real. those big and innocent chocolate brown eyes looking right back at him like he was looking through a mirror. the boys eyes were droopy and he looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept in months. eddies mouth opened as if to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

without obligation, eddie stepped forward and had wrapped his arms around him securely. the hug was passionate and voiceless, eddie afraid that if he let go he might never see him again. richies arms were limp at his sides, brows furrowed as he couldn't feel eddies small body pressed up against his own. his arms made their way around eddie, like he was simply hugging nothing but air.

it was like they had never been apart, really, as they embraced with such intensity. their arms clasped around each other while their chests were pressed together. eddie had the overwhelming urge to cry, but he swallowed the feeling down. "you...i thought you were dead." richie spoke aloud, watching as eddie pulled away from his arms. eddies eyes scanned the boy, taking in his disheveled raven curls that weren't neatly taken care of. "why would i be dead?" eddie questioned. richies orbs held confusion and slight anger. "your mom—nobody told me where you went. you've been gone for months." richie exclaimed, voice heavy with such emotion that he couldn't seem to explain.

eddie stayed silent in his tracks, keeping his eyes on the figure that stood before him. "i waited for you." richie informed under his breath, locking eyes with eddie. the seventeen-year-old felt extreme guilt eating away at him. "i couldn't come back here, my-" eddie swallowed nervously. "my mom died, she's gone." he finally admitted to himself out loud, seeing the expression on richies face. richie nodded slowly. "you'll be fine." he assured, knowing eddie was tough for his age.

there was a small silence between the two, it was oddly comfortable. richies eyes were glued to the tan carpet under his feet, almost feeling eddies hard stare burning through him. "i missed you." eddie gave, his voice so soft it was nearly a melody. richie looked back at him, allowing a crack of a smile to emit from his chapped lips. "really?" he asked, like he almost doubted his words.

a car pulled up to the front of the soundless house, catching both the boys' attention. eddie looked over at the open window, seeing bens car parked next to stanleys. eddie grasped richies hands, calling his name softly when he realized he couldn't feel him. "come with me and stanley." he almost pleaded to him. "i thought you'd want space." richies brows furrowed, knowing he wasn't in a rush to come back here. eddie shook his head, now reflecting the same look he had back in his face. "don't give me space." eddie instantly told. "that's the last thing i want with you." richie grinned from ear to ear.

"alright, i'll go with you." richie gave in. "only because you want me to, not because i want to." he joked, smiling when eddie rolled his eyes at his claim. "you want to." eddie read. richie bit his lip slightly before nodding his head. "yeah..." he gave in. eddie chuckled and grabbed richies chilling hand, walking out of the room with him by his side.

eddie was practically euphoric.

the two walked out of the house side by side, going to stanleys car. ben peaked his head out of his car, eyes unsure when he saw a pale, tall figure walking next to eddie with a smile plastered on his face. he knew his friend was happy, but this was a dangerous thing to be doing. "long time no see." stanley said toward the raven haired beauty. richie looked into the car when eddie opened it. "hey, bird boy." richie teases, making stanleys eyes widen. mike's brows furrowed as he leant forward from the back seat, behind stanleys chair. "bird boy?" he questioned. stanley groaned and rolled his eyes in embarrassment, glaring at richie.

"it's nothing." he quietly told mike who just smiled. "awh, you're embarrassed." mike laughed heartily before running his large hand down stanleys thin arm in attempt to show he was only teasing. stanley just huffed and watched as the two got inside the car toward the back seats. "embarrassed." stanley just scoffed before beginning to drive when he saw that everyone was sitting down safely.

eddie sat next to richie, watching him look out the window with such freeness he's never felt before.

this fic might be ending soon 🥺🤍