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Another day, another college party Eddie had to play babysitter at. He looked down at his red solo cup, frowning at the water inside and taking a sip of it.
As much as Eddie wanted to let loose and have a good time, the thought of him having a hangover in his 8AM math class made him behave.
He suddenly heard people cheering loudly in the kitchen and he got up off the couch to see what all the commotion was. Having to fight through the crowd, Eddie finally was able to see what had the crowd so hyped up...his roommate, Richie Tozier.
The crowd cheered again as Richie put his arm behind his back and bounced the ping pong ball on the table, sinking it into the last cup on Ben's side.
Ben begrudgingly grabbed the cup off the table and quickly gulped the beer down as Richie did a little victory dance with his hips. "I told you couldn't beat me, Haystack. I am the fucking master of beer pong. Who wants to get their ass handed to them next?" Richie yelled.
Eddie managed to maneuver his way over to Richie and grabbed his elbow. Richie jumped and looked down, his frown quickly melting into a wide grin. "Eds? Oh, so you want your ass kicked next--"
"Fucking no, I'm just reminding you that you promised you wouldn't overdo it tonight!" The crowd slowly began to migrate into the living room, leaving Eddie and Richie alone in the kitchen. Richie waved him off and reached for one of the cups on the table.
"Quit your worrying, Spaghetti man! You're acting like I'm some sort of fucking lightweight."
"No," Eddie snarled as he poked Richie hard in the chest. "You're not a fucking lightweight, you just get really fucking whiny and always end up in my bed!"
Bill and Stan suddenly appeared in Eddie's peripheral and he facepalmed when Bill threw his arm around his shoulders and said, "Oh ho ho, does he now?"
"So is this," Stan gestured between him and Richie. "Is this happening now? Are you two finally together?"
"What?!" Eddie screamed just as Richie yelled, "Dude!"
Eddie shook Bill off and glared at his two friends who now sported sly grins. "No, we are not happening now! What the fuck? I was talking about how when Richie's drunk--"
Stan held his hand up. "Cut the bullshit, Eddie. We see the way you two look at each other, don't we Bill?" Stan rolled his eyes when Bill gave him a look of confusion. "Well, I see it anyway."
Eddie felt his face heat up as he stuttered out his words. "I-I- I don't- W-We don't- We- We don't look at each other-- Richie say something!"
He looked to Richie for help only to find him blushing harder than a virgin who had just looked at their first nude magazine. His silence caused Eddie to furrow his brows in confusion.
"Richie?"
Bill suddenly pulled him into a tight hug and cooed as he started rubbing his hair, making it look disheveled. "Oh, it's so cute when you try to deny your feelings for each other."
Eddie deflated against him, silently admitting defeat and concluding that there was nothing he could say to change their minds.
A loud bang suddenly came from the living room and Bill quickly let go of Eddie, running to go see what broke. Stan gave them another knowing smile and turned to go follow after Bill.
"Fucking Bill." Eddie grumbled, smoothing his hair back down. He glared up at Richie, pressing his lips into a thin line and shook his head.
"What?" Richie asked, confused.
"What the actual fuck, Richie? Why didn't you say anything? What happened to you?"
"What could I say? They already have it in their heads that we're screwing around."
Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. "But we're not. You fucking could've told them that, asshole."
"Well I didn't hear you telling them that! All I heard was you stuttering worse than when Bill used to and I didn't think that was fucking possible!" Richie giggled. He laughed even harder when Eddie flipped him off.
Did the rest of them really think that him and Richie were messing around? Honestly, what would make them think something like that? Eddie always thought that his and Richie's interactions made people think they wanted to kill each other.
Although, there was a part of him that sometimes wished that him and Richie were more than just friends. He would never push the issue though because one: Richie was one of his best friends. Their friendship was something Eddie cherished very much, so he would be damned if he ruined that because of his frivolous feelings.
And two: Richie was a huge flirt. It already made Eddie sick with jealousy whenever Richie would pay more attention to whoever he thought was cute in class, so he knew that if they were to start dating, his jealousy would be through the roof.
So he decided to keep all those feelings locked away in a safe in the deepest crevice of his mind, occasionally letting them leak out in small increments. He would catch himself touching Richie more than necessary, staring at him longer than intended or laughing just a little too hard at a joke Richie told.
Even though Richie never noticed any of it, he still felt that pang of embarrassment shoot through him like lightening.
"Well at least I fucking tried to speak up. You just stayed silent, which is really fucking rare for you," Eddie smirked as he thought of an idea. "Maybe we should start putting you under more stressful situations, since they seem to get you to stop talking."
"Oh, my dear shortstack. That's not going to keep me from talking if anything I run my mouth more under stressful situations." Richie said, ruffling Eddie's hair. He laughed as he messed up all the hard work Eddie did to smooth it down.
"Wha-- fuck! Stop, Richie! Stop fucking up my hair," Eddie began smoothing it down again. "And you lied just now. What happened with Bill and Stan was a pretty stressful--"
"Welp, will you look at that! My cup is empty. Sorry, Spaghetti head! Would love to continue this conversation, but I think I hear Bev calling my name. See ya later, dude!"
Richie rushed out of the kitchen before Eddie could finish what he was saying. He sighed again and looked down at his watch, seeing it was almost one in the morning.
"Fuck, I gotta go home."
He threw his cup in the trash and made his way through the crowd again to get to the front door. He bumped into Stan and Mike dancing with each other and gave both of them a hug as he told them he had to go.
He was extremely grateful that his and Richie's place was only a few houses down from where Bill, Stan and Mike stayed.
Once he made his way inside, Eddie took a very hot shower, changed into some clean pajama shorts, and turned on his humidifier. Eddie's eyelids suddenly felt heavier as he snaked his way into bed, the dulcet voice of sleep calling his name.
He yawned and snuggled his face further into his cool pillow, letting the low hum of his humidifier pull him into deep, peaceful sleep.
A startled gasp left Eddie's lips as he was jostled awake by a body flopping down into his bed. His hand reflexively reached out and he sighed in relief when it met the familiar softness of Richie's dark curls.
Using his other hand, he reached over to grab his phone off the nightstand, wincing from the brightness as he checked the time.
4:34AM glared back at him and Eddie frowned, mumbling a curse under his breath. He tossed his phone back on the nightstand and turned his attention back to the mess of curls in his other hand. He pulled on the curls firmly, causing the taller boy to groan softly.
"Eds--"
"Richie, how many fucking times do I have to tell you to stop flopping in my bed so early in the goddamn morning?" Eddie whispered harshly. He felt Richie move and grunted out loud when all his weight landed on top of him.
Being 6'5, Richie was constantly "forgetting" that he was twelve inches taller than Eddie, so whenever he tried to lay on him, Eddie always ended up with a face full of Richie's chest.
"Richie! Get the fuck off of me, asshole! Rich-- Richie! You goddamn tree! Get the fuck off!" Eddie hissed. Richie hit the floor hard when he finally succeeded in pushing him on the floor.
"Owww, Eddie...why?" Richie whined, his slurred speech becoming more evident to Eddie's ears. Eddie sighed and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
He looked down at the mess of long limbs that belonged to Richie on his bedroom floor and poked at his leg with his foot. "Richie, you're drunk."
"I did not." Richie slurred.
Eddie pushed himself off the bed and started towards his door. "I'm going get to you some water and you better fucking drink--" He stopped short when he felt Richie's large, warm hand wrap grab his calf.
"No. Eddie just let me cuddle with you, please?" Richie asked, still slurring his words. Eddie thought it was cute whenever Richie wanted to cuddle with him, he always used a soft, almost childlike tone.
He could imagine Richie poking out his lip and attempting to make puppy dog eyes at him (slightly failing only because his glasses already made his eyes huge and they would look like they were kind of bugging out) and speaking to him in that soft voice.
Eddie wasn't going to cave this time though, not without an ultimatum. "I'll let you cuddle with me, if and only if you drink some water."
Richie groaned again and slurred, "Fine, fine. I'll drink the damn water...I'd drink your bath water too." Eddie rolled his eyes as Richie began snickering to himself, thinking he just said the funniest thing in the world.
He was used to Richie hitting on him when he was completely trashed and he already figured out that tonight was no different. He padded his way down the hall and into the kitchen, gently opening the refrigerator to grab one of the bottles of water inside.
He walked briskly to his room, his breath catching in his throat as he entered and saw Richie's clothes haphazardly strewn all over his floor. He toed at Richie's pants and kicked them over to where his shirt was.
"Why did I do that?" Eddie muttered to himself. Something whispered to him in the back of his mind, it's low voice laced thick with a suggestive playfulness that sent a shiver down Eddie's spine.
You know why…
Eddie slowly approached the bed, his hand trembling as he reached out to touch Richie's bare shoulder. He shook it once and the taller boy stirred slightly. "Mmmm...stop rocking the hammock, Eds. You're gonna make us both fall out."
"Richie...I got your water." Eddie shook his shoulder again, this time a little harder and Richie shot up. Eddie screamed and jumped back.
"Why are you screaming?" Richie grumbled.
"Why the fuck did you sit up so quickly like that?!" Eddie shot back. Richie yawned and stretched, moaning a little as his joints popped.
Eddie silently thanked whatever higher power that was currently watching over him that the lights were off or Richie would've definitely seen Eddie blushing hard at the sounds he made.
"Here," Eddie groped his bedsheets for Richie's hand and quickly thrusted the bottle into it when he finally located it. "drink this. Get some water into your system."
Eddie climbed into the bed as Richie opened the water and began noisily gulping it down. The bottle crinkled loudly signifying that Richie was done with it. Eddie blindly reached for the empty bottle before Richie could think about tossing it on the floor and got up to throw it away.
"Wha- Wow, Eds. I was going to throw that away." Richie slurred. He sounded affronted, so Eddie decided to humor him.
"Right, and by throw away you mean you were going to try to throw it into the trash can from where you're at, yell 'Lebron' or some shit and fucking miss. And it was going to stay there until I picked it up."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Show some respect, Eds. People are still yelling 'Kobe' out here, okay. May he rest in peace." Richie said. A loud hiccup from Richie suddenly echoed throughout the room and Eddie giggled.
"Okay, well you would've yelled 'Kobe' and missed. Point is the bottle would've been on my fucking floor until I picked it up. Now," he fluffed his pillow and laid down. "Are we cuddling or what?"
Richie said no more as he scooched down into Eddie's bed, his long legs bending at the knees, so he could fit. He wrapped an arm around Eddie's waist and tangled a leg with his, resting his head on Eddie's chest.
He sighed happily when Eddie began combing his fingers through his curls, his nails raking gently against his scalp. Their slow and steady breathing filled the room until Richie asked, "Why did you leave the party, Eds?"
The corners of Eddie's mouth pulled down when he heard how sad Richie sounded. He scratched at Richie's scalp again and said, "I left because I have a class that starts at the ass-crack of dawn."
He felt Richie shiver against him when he trailed his hand down to play with the hairs on the nape of his neck.
"Oh. I thought you left because…" Richie trailed off.
"Because of what?"
"Because of what happened in the kitchen earlier." Richie said softly. His voice was so low that if Eddie wasn't paying close attention to what he was saying, he might've missed it.
"What? Me going off on you about how you didn't speak up when Bill and Stan accused us of being a couple?"
Richie didn't say anything. Eddie just took that as his cue to explain again the real reason why he left. "No, Richie I didn't leave because of that. Like I said, I left--"
"I thought you were mad at me." Richie suddenly blurted out. Eddie was caught off guard by Richie's statement. He moved his other hand to Richie's back and began to gently rub it, getting the sense that Richie needed to be comforted.
"What? Richie, no. I could never be mad at you. What I said in the kitchen, I didn't mean any of it, you should know that." Eddie assured.
He felt Richie squeeze his waist a little tighter as he slurred out , "I- I didn't mean-- I didn't like that I froze up like that, Eddie. I wanted to say something, but…fuck, this is so stupid."
Richie suddenly sat up, taking all his warmth with him. Eddie sat up too and looked in his direction. His room took on a pale blue hue; illuminated by the moon outside. He was able to make out Richie's slim figure slightly rocking back and forth with his face in his hands. Eddie gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Richie, are you alright?"
Richie shook his head and groaned low in his throat. He sniffled and removed his hands from his face. "No Eddie, I'm not alright and I won't be until I tell you something and get this heavy weight off of my chest."
Anticipation slowly started eating away at Eddie's nerves as his heart began beating wildly against his ribcage. He suddenly felt Richie's warm hand envelop his and he squeezed it lightly before he started talking again, talking slowly so that he wouldn't slur his words as much.
"Eddie...now-- now when I tell you this, you don't have to respond right away," He paused for a moment, inhaling deeply before saying, "the reason why I froze up back there is because I do wish we were a couple. Eddie, I have been wanting to ask you to be my boyfriend ever since I first found out what the word meant...which was like in the fifth grade."
Eddie's mouth dropped open at what he was hearing. He couldn't believe it! Richie was confessing his feelings for him! He had feelings for him and apparently he had these feelings ever since the fifth grade! Eddie just sat there stunned as Richie continued to prattle on.
"There are days where I want to just grab you by your sweet face and tell you how much I really care about you and how cute you are when you're mad and how you make my heart sing when you snort and how when I pick on you for being 5'5, I'm really trying to tell you how adorable I think you are and how--"
Eddie couldn't help but wonder with Richie being drunk, does this confession really count? Should he stop him while he's ahead and have him repeat it when he's sober? Nah...too much work.
Plus, there is that saying where a drunken man's words are a sober man's thoughts. Eddie focused his attention back on Richie when he said his name.
"So Eddie, I said all of that to tell you that I like you. I like you a lot actually. Y-You could even say...you could even say that I love you." Richie rushed out the last bit before burying his face into his hands again.
A million responses swirled around in Eddie's mind, but when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out. Richie huffed a laugh, sounding more bitter than amused. "I knew this was a bad idea. Goodnight, Eds. I'll sleep in my own room tonight."
Panic surged through Eddie's body as he felt the bed shift when Richie got up to leave. Before he knew what he was doing, Eddie grabbed Richie's arm.
Everything around them seemed to move in slow motion as Eddie sat up on his knees, placed his hands on the sides of Richie's face, closed his eyes and pulled him down. Eddie's lips brushed against the side of Richie's mouth, clearly misjudging the angle.
He felt his nose bump against Richie's, but he was determined to keep going. He could feel like vibrations from Richie chuckling as he moved his mouth into position. Richie tilted his head so that their lips could slot together perfectly and Eddie sighed happily through his nose.
The kiss quickly became heated when Eddie eagerly accepted Richie's tongue into his mouth, catching the faint taste of the many alcoholic drinks Richie had at the party.
He moved his hands from Richie's face up into his curls, pulling slightly and smiling against his lips when Richie moaned into his mouth. Eddie's whole body tingled, the feel of Richie's large hands landing firmly on his hips felt almost forbidden.
They broke apart momentarily, gasping and panting into each other's mouths. Richie pressed another sweet kiss to Eddie's lips before saying, "So does this mean you feel the same?"
Eddie rubbed his nose against Richie's, smiling at the cute whine that escaped his lips. He pressed their foreheads together and nodded. "Yes, Richie. I love you, too."