adjectives | reddie

eighteen - jealous/okay

i watched with a smile as bill sneaked up on stanley and tackled him into the snow. stanley's eyes widened as he started to fall forward with bill's arms wrapped around him. he fell down with an 'umph'. a smile formed on his face as bill started to roll them both around. "william!" he laughed.

"they're so happy," mike whispered, "i hope i have a girlfriend to do stuff like that with someday."

"i bet they've been waiting for years to do stuff like this," beverly said, laying her head on mike's lap. his fingers played with her hair that poked out of her hat mindlessly, but there wasn't any romance in the affection. everything between them was platonic. beverly's eyes were closed as she steadied her breathing. her red cheeks burned brightly from the cold winter air.

"i've never seen stanley so happy," richie whispered to me as my head rested on his shoulder. yeah, i looked over at stanley with a soft smile, "me neither."

elated

i felt richie rub his thumb over my hand tenderly as his head rested on my own. despite the low numbers and the snow on the ground, i felt no cold around my body. richie's jacket hid behind my puffy winter coat; it made me comfortable. every stroke of richie's thumb sent another butterfly into my stomach. "i want what they have," he said mindlessly.

"me too," i whispered, watching bill as he leaned his forehead onto stanley's. they were both covered in snow from rolling together into the ground.

"i think you both are closer to that reality than you realize," beverly spoke simply; both mike and ben nodded in agreement. i looked at all of them with a confused expression, but they all already had looked beyond to something else. then, i looked over at richie, but he never acknowledged the remark beverly made.

"since when did you want a relationship anyways, mr. anti-soulmate?" i asked jokingly, but he only shrugged in response. he hugged me tightly for a moment, but we soon started to tip on the stone bench. "richie!" i exclaimed before we both fell onto the snow. unlike stan and bill, however, we stayed there for a moment, looking at each other with amused smiles. the adjective above his head burned so brightly, it could melt the winter snow.

happy

"very close," beverly said softly.

—

my head rested on mike's lap as he read a book by the fireplace. i closed my eyes gently as the sound of the fire's crackles filled my ears and the heat surrounded me. the rest of the group talked about various subjects. i didn't mind the silence surrounding mike and i as we were away from the rest of the group. my thoughts were left to myself so i could recollect for a brief moment. richie's parents were out of town to visit family, so we relaxed in his house. no adults were in sight.

despite constant chatter, i had never heard the familiar voices of beverly or richie talk the entire conversation.

curious, i opened a single eye to see what everyone was doing. bill and stanley sat by each other, listening to whatever ben was talking about. beverly, on the other hand, was checked out, watching whatever was in the television. the thing that caught my attention the most was richie. he looked away from everyone, resting his chin in his hand with a sour expression.

jealous.

i found the adjective strange. there was nothing to be jealous of around. nevertheless, i found myself sympathetic. i waved towards him to catch his attention and gave him a concerned look when he looked back. he gave a small smile in response, but it dropped as soon as he looked away. my heart sank slightly.

when the guilt finally started to suffocate me, i made my way over to him and sat right next to him. he looked over for a moment and then situated himself to face me. my body leaned into his as i wrapped my arms around his waist and closed my eyes.

"are you okay, tozier?" i whispered to him after a long moment.

"i guess," he responded, slouching down and laying on the couch with me on top of him. i felt his chest rise and fall as my head rested on it gently. my eyes closed as i let the heat radiating off of his body consume me almost totally. his fingers ran through my hair mindlessly, soothing me slowly; however, i felt the hesitation with every stroke. i wanted to hold him even more closely and whisper in his ear that everything was okay as his adjective changed into something positive, but i had no clue what he was thinking.

bill, stanley, and ben continued talking to each other, not minding what was happening around them. i never bothered to discover what their topic even was. i was too focused on warmth or too focused on richie to care about it. i just wanted richie to stop hiding his thoughts for a split moment, and he finally did.

"do you like mike?" he asked after a couple of minutes. the question caught me off guard like a sudden hit to the chest. i felt his breathing stop after a moment as i lifted my head to look up at his glasses-covered eyes. i saw the regret in them as soon as i looked at them intently.

"no," i shook my head, "not like that."

he exhaled as his adjective changed.

okay

"why would you think that?" i asked suddenly, tilting my head. his face went red from embarrassment as he smiled sheepishly.

"i don't know," he shrugged, "you just seem very affectionate."

"and?" i laughed, "what are we doing right now?" i dug my head back into his chest as i felt his breath regulate again as i held onto him close. i felt my head sink into a fuzzy sense. before i dozed off, i felt richie kiss my forehead lightly and finally lose all tensity from his body.

and everything was okay.