reddie oneshots

iiii

     richie winced, spiting blood out of his mouth as henry bowers landed an uppercut on the left side of his face. richie felt his glasses snap and detach from his face.
     "c'mon bowers, that all you got?" he snarled through clenched teeth.
"i'll show you what i've got you four-eyed faggot," henry snapped back.
     the blond boy grabbed richie by the hair, forcing him face-down, and lifted  his knee up as he did so. richie's nose gave a sickening crack; he let out a pained scream.
     richie stumbled back, hands cupping his face as he gasped for air. he tripped over his untied shoe laces and sprawled backwards.
     he landed hard on the concrete ground of the alleyway. he bit his lip to stop a cry of pain, but when henry's foot landed itself in his rib cage he screamed. he couldn't tell what was worse: the pain that suddenly wracked up and down the right side of his body or the fact that he had just heard his own ribs crack and possibly break.
     henry forced richie on to his back using his steel-toed booted foot.
     richie struggled to breathe as henry added more and more weight to his chest; he vaguely wondered if eddie felt that way when he had an asthma attack.
     "you stay the fuck away from my cousin, got it, fag?" henry snarled.
     richie could barely breathe. he nodded vigorously. "got- it," he wheezed.
     henry stood up abruptly, taking all his weight off richie's chest. "good. that's what i like to hear."
     richie took a deep full breath as henry began to saunter away, clearly pleased with the work he'd done. richie curled into the fetal position; taking a deep breath wasn't his brightest moment. he opted now for shorter, shallower breaths.
     as his chest screamed in agony, shame washed over him, and his head spun. if only he hadn't hit on connor. but, in all honest, richie had only struck up a conversation with the boy so he could get his mind off eddie, who had been on his mind for a long time now.
    his plan had backfired terribly. he was down a new friend and missing eddie.
     richie sniffled, growing angrier at himself as tears began rolling down his face. he let out a weak sob, covering his face with his hands.
as he laid on the ground, he could hear the rusty gears of a bike growing closer. he perked up.
"bill?!" he called out roughly.
the squeaking increased, until he suddenly saw bill round the corner sitting atop silver. richie nearly sobbed with relief.
"holy ssshit, r-richie, wuh-what happened?" bill asked as quickly as he could, hopping off his bike.
richie waved his hand in dismissal. "nothing big bill. i'm fine." he pushed himself up on his elbow, grimacing in pain. "can you... can you maybe take me to eddie's house?" he asked quietly.
"sssure thing r-richie. l-let me help you uh-up."

when the two arrived at eddie's house, richie couldn't help but mentally pump his fists when he saw eddie's bedroom light on and didn't see sonia's car parked in the driveway.
"thank you so much bill!" richie told him earnestly, attempting to get off the bike. he swung his leg over the side, cried out in the pain that shot up his sude again, and crumpled to eddie's front yard.
bill looked down in shock at his friend. "l-let me g-get you ttto the f-front d-door."
the pair stumbled to eddie's front door, rapping loudly on it. eddie answered after a moment. he began to smile, but it quickly fell as soon as his eyes landed on richie.
"holy fuck, what happened? are you ok?" he cried.
richie nodded. "yeah."
"get inside, i've gotta get you cleaned up!" eddie quickly pulled richie inside.
the taller of the two nearly sent both of them crashing to the floor as he could barely walk and see.
"i've g-g-gotta g-go, my m-mom said 'b-be home b-by sssix!' call me l-later if you n-need me!"
"i will. bye bill. and thanks for bringing him here!" eddie called to bill as he shut the door.
eddie turned to richie. "come on, let's get you cleaned up."
he heaved richie into the bathroom, forcing his to sit down on the rim of the tub. he immediately pulled out a first aide kit, grabbing the small wipes used to clean out cuts.
richie, who could barely see, gave a humorless chuckle. "get in there doctor k!" he announced loudly.
eddie raised his hand; richie flinched back, thinking eddie was about to hit him. he blinked in surprise as eddie cupped his hand around richie cheek.
"are you ok?" he asked the other boy softly.
richies face crumpled, and he couldn't hold back a second wave of tears. he began to cry again.
"oh richie!" eddie exclaimed, wrapping his arms around richie. "what happened?"
richie buried his terribly bruised face into eddie's chest, sobbing harder.
"h-henry bowers," richie managed between sobs.
     "oh richie," eddie whispered sadly.
     richie sniffled, thinking eddie would start ripping him a new one.
     instead, eddie began cleaning the cuts and blood on his face again.
     "i'll get you cleaned up and you can spend the night, ok?" eddie soothed.
     richie sniffled and nodded his head. "ok-kay, thanks eds."
     after eddie cleaned richie's face the best he could, he finally spoke. "did bowers get you anywhere besides your face?"
     "ribs," richie mumbled his eyes glossed over.
     eddie grabbed the hem of richie's blood-soaked t-shirt. "can i lift it up?"
     richie nodded, and eddie moved the shirt so he could see richie's torso.
     the right side was covered in dark purple bruises; eddie suppressed a gasp.
     he gently prodded at richie's side; richie hissed in pain and tried to scoot away.
     "shh, it's ok," eddie told him. "please stop moving so i can make sure nothing's broken."
     richie held his breath as eddie's freezing hands ran up and down his side, pressing and prodding painfully.
     after a moment, he was done. "nothing feels broken, i'm gonna give you some painkillers though. if it hurts in the morning, i'll take you to the doctor."
     richie, who still couldn't see, listened as eddie fumbled around in the medicine cabinet and fixed a glass of water.
     eddie pressed the cup and medicine into richie's hands.
     "take that," he told richie.
     "how do i know you're not trying to kill me?" richie bantered playfully as he popped the pills eddie gave him into his mouth.
     "shut up trash mouth, i love you too much to kill you," eddie scoffed.
     richie blushed. "you lov-"
     eddie had also reddened at his own words. he hadn't meant to tell richie he loved him like that.
     "hey, i have an old pair of your glasses that you left at my house a while back. let me go get them for you!" eddie darted out of the room.
     richie smiled to himself. eddie loved him.
     eddie slipped back into the bathroom, handing richie his old pair of glasses that he thought he'd lost.
     "that's where these went!" he exclaimed as he pushed them up the bridge of his nose.
eddie couldn't help but laugh. "i'll let you sleep in my bed tonight, ok?"
richie's face fell. "you don't wanna sleep with me?" he asked sadly. "is it because you told me you loved me?"
eddie blushed. "n-no 'chee. i just don't wanna jostle you. i don't know how much more your ribs can take. and for the record, i didn't mean to tell you that i loved you... not like that."
richie grinned. "you love me too?"
"too? wait- you," he pointed at richie. "you like me too?"
richie nodded happily. "yup."
eddie blinked in surprise, a small smile frozen on his face. "oh."
richie giggled, but it was overpowered by a yawn.
eddie looked down at him. "come on, it's bed time." he began to drag richie to his feet.
richie pulled back. "i'll only go if you promise to sleep with me in your bed tonight."
"richie-"
richie stuck his bottom lip out in an over-exaggerated pout, complete with puppy dog eyes.
"i'm not gonna win this am i?"
richie shook his head no.
"oh all right, fine."
"thank you," richie squealed, bouncing up and down. he quickly stopped, doubling over in pain.
eddie took this time to whisk richie into his room and push him onto the bed.
richie gently laid down on it, and eddie smiled to himself. he turned around to change into his pajamas.
"do you want anything to change into?" he asked richie.
he received no answer.
"'chee?" he asked again, turning around and giggling.
the raven-haired boy had already fallen asleep, curled up in the middle of eddie's bed.
eddie rolled his eyes, scooting the taller boy over so he could have room beside him on the bed. he too fell asleep in seconds.