(Eddie) Chapter 14- Jeans

WARNING!: This chapter has some content others may find mature. If you are under the age of thirteen definetly skip this chapter. Thank you!

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Bev pours the popcorn into the bowl, throwing a few pieces into her own mouth. She hands me the bowl, and then picks up the 6 pack of coke. We walk into the dark living room, the TV being the only light source. Bill,Stan, and Ben sit on the couch together. Mike and Maria are able to squeeze into a large recliner. And Richie is sprawled across the floor,a blanket wrapped around him.

"My Edwardo Spagwerto, come here and make me warm!" Richie calls out to me, reaching his hands out at my feet. 

"I'm coming," I tell him, sitting down on the floor.

Richie lays his head in my lap, as Bev passes around the drinks. Bill gets up and puts in the movie. When he sits back down Bev lays across the three of their laps, her feet at Bill and Stan.  The movie starts and I feel Richie's hands grab mine. I feel the usual butterflies along with his rough fingertips trace letters into my soft palms. I....love....y...o...u...r....mom.

I slap his hand and then grab it again. I can feel him silently laughing to himself. He grabs my hand again, tracing letters; I'm....joking.....I....love....you.

I look down at him, and I hold back a smile. He looks ahead at the movie, it opens with a woman being chased by some creature. He's beautiful. His eyes are a dark, dark brown but glitter when he laughs. His messy curls fall in his smooth pale face. I smooth his hair back with my spare hand. 

And I think back to homecoming, and how I don't regret any of it. I don't regret kissing Betty. Because if I didn't I don't think Richie and I's kiss would have been as special if that makes sense. I knew after I kissed Betty that there was nothing there and that Richie is who I need. I especially don't regret going out to the parking lot to find him kicking his own car. Or the after party we had with just ourselves at the clubhouse. 

But then a wave of sadness hits. The fact that we can't really be together. No one but the Loser's can know about us. And then my mom comes to mind. The fact that if she finds out she'll most likely call me sick and send me to some sort of conversion therapy frightens me. And how she'll rip Richie and the others away, and drug me and just have me over constant surveillance. And how she probably won't even acknowledge my sexuality as a sexuality. How I'll just be sick. And how I need help. And how she can fix me.

***

"Eddie, kiss me!" Richie whines, leaning over my book. I roll my eyes, shushing him.

"My mom's home, Rich," I tell him.

"So? We can be quiet," Richie says, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Your annoying." I sigh.

"Then shut me up." He breathes. He kisses my neck, tickling me.

I gently shove him away, paranoid that at any moment my mom will come bursting through the door.

"Richie, stop." I huff.

He sits up, frowning.

"What's up with you today? Did I do something?" He questions.

"No, I just-" I stumble to say the right words.

"Hey," He places a hand on mine, "just tell me."

"I scared." I sigh.

"I know how you feel."

"Do you?! Because you have an amazing family, and a dad who's there for you, and a mom who isn't riding your ass twenty-four-seven!" I snap at him. 

He stares at me, his eyes sad. I regret yelling at him. I want to take it back. Take back the feelings I just unleashed on him.

"You're not in the mood I get it. I'll just show myself out." He tells me, getting up. He starts to gather his school stuff up.

I stand and walk over to him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I  grab his arm, not wanting him to leave. He turns back to me and I hug him tightly. He doesn't hug me back.

"Eds, I know I haven't gone through all the shit you have. But I'm your boyfriend. I'm here to at least try and understand, and I want you to realize that I'm trying." He tells me.

I hug him tighter. I don't want him to leave. Then I'll be left alone in this house, with my physio mom. 

"I know." I breathe, inhaling the scent of him. I'm not letting go, "I'm sorry. Please, don't go. Don't go, babe." 

His arms come around me, and he squeezes me back. 

"Hey, you wanna go do something less boring than studying?" Richie offers.

"You know I can't reject the opportunity to get out of this god awful house." I sigh.

He pecks me on the forehead, grabbing his bag again. He grins at me, grabs my hand, and opens my window to the tree Stan climbed up many nights ago. Richie climbs down with ease, but I guess practice makes perfect. Me on the other hand; I double-check every move I make, and cling to each branch tightly, never letting my hands leave them. I reach the part where the branches start and look down at Richie who's on the ground, looking up at me.

"Do you want help?" He teases, smiling.

"Shut up and catch me," I tell him, readying to dropdown.

He opens his arms up, coming closer. I take a deep breath before sliding off. I hit the ground feet first, and crash down on top of Richie. I'm sore but am distracted by his obscured glasses. I straighten them, and he puts a hand to my cheek, a grin on his face. I grin back at him, remembering the junkyard morning weeks ago, and how different everything is now.

"Remember the junkyard?" I question, not making an effort to move.

"Yeah, except I can do this now," Richie says, bringing me closer and kissing me on the lips. I'm terrified at first, scared someone will see. Or that my mom will see. But I soon melt into his touch, tasting his cigarette breath.

Richie pulls away, gazing into my eyes.

"What is it, Tozier?" I question.

"You're my future husband." He tells me.

"What?" I scoff, getting up quickly. The thought of marriage hadn't crossed my mind, and I'm flustered by the thought. Richie stands up, brushing himself off.

"Oh, calm down Spaghetti, we have time. It wasn't even a formal proposal. Besides, I'll probably be your third spouse," Richie says.

"What happened to the first two?" I question, curious.

"Nothing you or the FBI can prove." Richie laughs.

I playfully shove him, but he brings me closer to him. He pecks me on the cheek and then walks away casually. 

"How do you know I wouldn't purpose first?" I ask, starting to like the idea.

"Well, first of all, you're a pussy. And second, it's not legal and you hate to break rules." Richie tells me, as we reach our bikes sitting in the driveway. 

"Hey! I would break the rules for you," I say.

We get on our bikes, turning to ride out of the driveway.

"Do you think they'll ever make it legal, gay marriage?" Richie asks me, his grin dropping.

"I don't know."

"Maybe we should become activists, then we could help get it legal. And we could even be the first ones to get married!" Richie exclaims, his smile coming back at the idea.

"Yeah." I breathe, imagining it myself. 

They'll be parades with arrays of bright colors. People of all different backgrounds will gather together, all holding hands and smiling and telling each other how beautiful they are. Couples will have their own kids who brag to the others at school that they have two dads or two moms. Celebrities will come out and get publicity about how brave they are. Soon churches will support it, stating that God loves everyone. And bullies like Gordon will be brought to justice and looked down upon for picking on those who are different. And maybe no one will have to be different. There won't have to be any more coming out. No more default, or norms. Everyone will just be a person, no matter who they love. I think that would be pretty fucking amazing.

***

I sit in the back of Richie's car with Mike. Bev and Richie sit upfront, both smoking. Mike doesn't care for smoking like me but slightly enjoys the smell. 

"Maria seems nice," I tell him.

"I'm glad you guys like her. I know she likes you guys. She was worried you'd be stuck up," Mike says.

"Us, stuck up? She apparently didn't know just how much of losers we are." Richie chimes in. We drive down the roads outside of town, speeding past the forests of trees. 

"What do her parents think about you two dating? Them being religious and everything?" Bev asks.

"Well, they don't like that I'm black," Mike says.

"Of course." I sigh, rolling my eyes.

"And the fact that my family doesn't have that much money. But mostly the black part." He tells us.

"Why the fuck does it matter?!"Richie exclaims.

"God that pisses me off!" Bev fumes.

"Why would that even matter?" I ask.

"They think I'm violent and whatever other racist stereotypes they can think of." Mike sighs.

"Violent?! Your the mom of the group! Jesus Christ, people!" Richie shouts.

"You wouldn't hurt a fly! I mean your too nice to even smack Richie!" Bev exclaims.

I grin at Bev's comment.

"Hey!" Richie exclaims, acting offended.

"Don't take it personally sweetie, your just a trashmouth," I tell him.

"Do you and Maria have pet names for each other like these two idiots?" Bev asks Mike.

"Uh, yeah," Mike chuckles, "I call her my daffodil."

"What does she call you?" I ask.

Mike scratches the back of his head, "Uh," He coughs something under his voice.

"What was that Mikey?" Rich questions, looking him in the rearview mirror.

"She calls me her little soybean," Mike mumbles.

The car bursts into laughter, and shrieks. Rich slaps the steering wheel, gasping for breath. Bev drops her cigarette out the window by accident, not caring. And I'm afraid I'll have an asthma attack. 

"Oh, stop it!" Mike whines, hiding his face in his hands. 

We keep laughing to ourselves. And I know Richie will never let Mike live this down.

***

We walk through the grocery store, Bev pushing the cart and us boys following behind her. Its dark outside and the store will probably be closing in an hour. But she needed to go shopping for her grandmother. We volunteered to help, Richie having a car and all. I simply just wanted to get out of the house, and Mike's family finally finished the fall harvest. We're in the cereal section, looking at the varieties.

"Your mom's gonna kill you, Eds. You know your curfews six." Richie teases, pinching my cheek.

"Shut up." I grumble, shoving his hand away, "My mom can deal with the fact I went late-night grocery shopping." I sigh.

Bev and Mike walk further down the aisle, I move to follow but Richie pulls me back.

"I wanna take you somewhere after we drop these guys off." He whispers to me.

I don't say anything as we follow the other two down the aisle. But my stomach can't settle while Richie's hand brushes against mine every step we take.

***

"Bye, my little soybean!" Richie coos as Mike gets out of the car. Mike flips him the finger, shuts the door and walks up to his house.

I crawl up into the passenger seat and buckle myself up. I turn to Richie, who starts to pull out of the driveway.

"Where are we going?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow.

"I told you; somewhere," He says.

I roll my eyes.

"Oo, I could feel that one." Richie jokes.

"Your insufferable, where are we going?" I ask again.

"Five dollar words," Rich comments," We're going where your mom and I did it last night."

"Just tell me."

"That would take away the surprise factor."

I sigh, looking out the window. I'm exhausted. I've been studying for my biology test all night except for when Rich called up and said we were going grocery shopping with Bev and Mike. The cars nice and warm, with the air blowing on me. Elvis faintly plays on the radio, and I can hear the sound of the gravel crunching under the car tires. I fight to keep my eyes open but fail. I slowly start to drift off into a deep sleep.

***

I wake to Richie kissing me on the cheek. I smile, leaning into him. I feel him chuckle, ruffling my hair.

"Were here." He whispers.

I force my eyes open to look out the windshield. We're at the quarry, looking out over the water.

"The quarry? Rich, we come here all the time." I groan, wanting to fall asleep again.

"Yeah, but look at the sky, Eds." He tells me.

I look up to see the stars shining bright. The moons full too, illuminating everything below it. Richie scoots over into my seat, setting me on top of him. His arms are wrapped around my waist, and mine around his shoulders. We look out the windshield together, silent. It's beautiful and calming, and seemingly perfect. 

"Edward Spaghetti Tozier." Richie breaths.

"Hey, why do I have to take your name?" I question turning to him.

"Who said I wouldn't take yours?" He says.

"Richie Trashmouth Kaspbrak." I murmur.

"Not the same ring as Trashmouth Tozier, but I could make it work." He tells me.

"Whats Trashmouth Tozier for? You act like it's gonna be a big title or something," I say.

"Well, I haven't told really anybody yet but, I wanna be a comedian." He tells me. 

"Why can I see that?" I laugh in his ear.

"And I said that's not a camel, that's my hus-"

I cut him off, kissing him. He kisses back, pulling me closer. I turn in my seat, to fully face him. I run my fingers through his hair. Electricity pulses through my chest all the way to my toes. I take his glasses off him, throwing them in a cup holder. But I soon realize kissing isn't enough. I want him. I drop my hands down and yank on the hem of his shirt. He almost instinctively peels in off, and I can feel him shiver from the touch of my cold fingers. He pulls away, gasping for air. I pant, reaching back and pulling off my sneakers.

"You sure?" He asks.

"Yes."

"Okay."

I let him slip away, watching him crawl into the back seat. He throws off his sneakers, and I pull my other one-off. I slip my socks off and crawl in the back with him. And as we keep going further and further, hands traveling, teeth against teeth at times, nothing else seems to matter. My mom doesn't exist. The Losers aren't here. Pennywise never even happened. And I don't even care about breathing anymore. Just Richie's calloused hands, and his nose bumping into mine, and our jeans being thrown aside. 

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I apologize for those few who saw this last part as cringy or too mature. I tried to keep it pg-13 I'm sure I got a little overboard though. But I up you guys liked this chapter. And I have decided that I will be making a Stenbrough (stan x bill) fanfic in the future. It will probably be after I finish this one. Stay tuned for the next chapter though. Bye!