real; reddie

t w e n t y o n e

"will, stop worrying."

eddie brushes off his friends obvious worry when will asks him, for the tenth time, if he's feeling comfortable enough to hang out with their friends.

"but, you know you could tell me," will reiterates. "if you get uncomfortable. we can leave anytime you want."

eddie musters up a forced laugh and shakes his head as the car that the two boys are in pulls up to the large, grassy park that the friend group had agreed to meet up at. "i know, will. but it's honestly fine."

will doesn't seem convinced, but before he can protest anymore, eddie is unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out of the car as soon as they are parked.

the two friends immediately spot their group a few yards away, underneath a large tree in hopes to get away from the burning sun. everyone begins waving, and will and eddie begin to jog over to them, until a gap between dustin and lucas reveals richie, who looks utterly uncomfortable as soon as they make eye contact.

eddie slows his pace a bit, but not enough to cause any suspicions, and the two of them arrive where their friends stand only a few moments later. they begin to greet everyone, but eddie cannot take his eyes off of his ex boyfriend, who subtly watches as he hugs el.

while everyone continues to chatter, eddie sits down next to bill on a blanket that had been laid out. though bill is preoccupied poking fun at stanley, eddie doesn't mind the brief moment of air for him to breathe and recompose himself.

as eds tries to calm his racing heart, which had begun running a marathon as soon as his eyes had met richie's, he spots two men walking down the path ahead of them, one of them pushing a baby stroller. with curiosity in his eyes, eddie watches them for a moment. he sees the taller of the men wrap his arm around the other and press a kiss to the forehead of who eddie could only assume was his boyfriend, or husband. their stroller holds a cute little baby, that is giggling all the while, and it makes eddie feel sick to his stomach, because he'd been that happy before, he'd been so comfortable and in love with richie until they had to pretend they were broken up and everything fell apart.

his heart feels heavy in his chest as the couple passes him, and his entire body aches in longing to be able to hold the love of his life that close in public without any repercussions. his eyes have begun to water just slightly when a familiar voice shocks him out of his daydream.

"y'know, i think i'm actually," it's richie, and he's speaking to bev and max. "i think i'm going to go."

eddie looks up to see him, but richie is avoiding his eyes, and he immediately knows that he is leaving because of him. eddie's stomach twists up even further.

-

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