[ christ. christ. he'd known eddie was struggling, no matter how much he'd tried to keep richie distracted, to get him thinking about other things, the honest desperation that had been in eddie's eyes and voice when he'd first run up to hug him has been stuck playing on rewind in richie's head ever since.
he knew, that despite all of eddie's squawking and bitching about things like grey water and tetnus and poison ivy, if something was really bothering him he would keep quiet. like he felt his concerns wouldn't be taken seriously even if he did speak up so he just kept it to himself and stewed in the feeling of it. even more than whatever paranoid fears eddie's mom fed into the other boy on a daily basis, richie really thought it was the bottling, more than anything, that got eddie so sick sometimes.
or no, not sick, that was just the face mrs. k liked to put on it. but eddie had the capability to pull things in on himself so tightly that he started to choke on those feelings. most of the time, richie only had to get him yelling to release some of that tension, and he has a particular talent in doing just that but.
this was different, he could tell. more serious. and so he'd tried for honesty and now eddie was crying over it. a thought, a feeling lodges in his throat as he watches eddie try to disappear into himself, and now richie is having trouble breathing but he's got more important things to worry about right now.
richie brings both hands up to cup at eddie's face, the familiar gesture coming off a bit more awkwardly than usual because he refuses to let go of eddie's hand to do it. he gets the other boy focusing on his face, makes sure he isn't about to just drift away, but looking eddie in the eyes like this only gives the feeling in his throat a clawing quality, and eventually he's forced to release both eddie's face and hand so he can wrap his arms fully around him and pull him close. so he can envelop eddie completely, one hand spread flat across his back and the other cupping the back of his neck. ]
Start wherever you want, Eddie, I've got the time. I'm not going anywhere, remember?
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he knew, that despite all of eddie's squawking and bitching about things like grey water and tetnus and poison ivy, if something was really bothering him he would keep quiet. like he felt his concerns wouldn't be taken seriously even if he did speak up so he just kept it to himself and stewed in the feeling of it. even more than whatever paranoid fears eddie's mom fed into the other boy on a daily basis, richie really thought it was the bottling, more than anything, that got eddie so sick sometimes.
or no, not sick, that was just the face mrs. k liked to put on it. but eddie had the capability to pull things in on himself so tightly that he started to choke on those feelings. most of the time, richie only had to get him yelling to release some of that tension, and he has a particular talent in doing just that but.
this was different, he could tell. more serious. and so he'd tried for honesty and now eddie was crying over it. a thought, a feeling lodges in his throat as he watches eddie try to disappear into himself, and now richie is having trouble breathing but he's got more important things to worry about right now.
richie brings both hands up to cup at eddie's face, the familiar gesture coming off a bit more awkwardly than usual because he refuses to let go of eddie's hand to do it. he gets the other boy focusing on his face, makes sure he isn't about to just drift away, but looking eddie in the eyes like this only gives the feeling in his throat a clawing quality, and eventually he's forced to release both eddie's face and hand so he can wrap his arms fully around him and pull him close. so he can envelop eddie completely, one hand spread flat across his back and the other cupping the back of his neck. ]
Start wherever you want, Eddie, I've got the time. I'm not going anywhere, remember?