Chapter 1: Take Us All Apart
"I don't want to go," Eddie sobbed dramatically, purposely trying to cause a scene so his father would feel bad, and anxiously pulling on the sleeves of his oversized pastel blue sweater. "Can I just stay home today with you and mommy? School sounds boring. Please daddy, don't make me go," he pleaded, tears staining his chubby tan cheeks.
Mr. Kaspbrak let out a low sigh and kneeled down to his son's height. He lovingly ruffled his golden brown locks with one hand, and skillfully wiped away his tears with the other.
"If it was up to me, I'd have you stay home all the time. But you need to go to school and learn so you can be smart and go to college when you're older."
"I don't wanna go," the young boy whined. He stomped his tiny foot against the floor and grumpily crossed his thin arms. "I don't wanna go to college or to school. I just wanna stay home with you and mama and eat chips. If I go to school, I'm going to be all by myself. I don't have any friends. I'm nothing but a loser," he whispered sadly, his voice breaking at the end. The little four year old couldn't stop himself from throwing another crying fit.
Mr. K felt his encouraging smile quickly fall. The thought of his only child, who had a face so much like his own, being friendless hurt him more than any other pain he's ever felt. Mr. K pictured Eddie sitting alone at lunch, watching all the other kids laugh and smile as he awkwardly watched them from across the cafeteria. He didn't want his only son to be unhappy. School hadn't even started yet, and Eddie was already upset and in tears.
"That's not true, Eddie, everyone's going to love you," he said soothingly. He scooped the four year old boy into his arms and started carrying him down the stairs. Eddie rested his head in the crock of his father's neck, clutching the back of his sweatshirt and crying into his shoulder.
"How do you know?" he asked between raspy sobs.
"Because you're you, Eddie!" he reassured him. "You're funny, smart, creative, friendly, you're everything someone would want in a friend. I bet you'll be the coolest kid in school by the end of the week."
Mr. Kaspbrak suddenly felt Eddie perk up in his arms. "Really?"
"Really," he repeated.
"I am pretty great," he said confidently.
His father laughed and set the tan skinned boy down on the carpeted living room floor. "You sure are. Come on, let's go have breakfast with your mama."
Eddie nodded his head and trailed closely behind his father and into the kitchen. His mother was in front of the stove, preparing all of her son's favorite foods. There were stacks of waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, and her famous hash browns. As she cooked, Eddie noticed the subtle rise and fall of her shoulders, and he occasionally saw her wipe her face a few times.
"Mommy, are you okay?" he questioned from his seat at the kitchen table, clearly concerned.
Mrs. Kaspbrak made her way to the table with a perfectly prepared plate. She swiftly wiped away her tears and set the plate down in front of her son, kissing his cheek as she did so, a pained smile plastered across her heartbroken face.
"I'm fine baby, mommy just doesn't want you to go," she admitted. Mr. K took her hand in his own and effortlessly locked their fingers together. Eddie watched in amazement at the way his mother's shoulders instantly relaxed as his dad squeezed her hand. Eddie felt his grin grow wider as Mrs. K's frown slowly turned into a genuine smile.
"Don't worry mama, daddy says everyone's going to love me because I'm great. I'm not scared anyone."
Mrs. K raised an eyebrow at her husband, trying (and failing), to suppress her giggles. "Is that so?"
"Uh huh, daddy said I'm going to be the most popular kid in school by the end of the week. Everyone is gonna wanna be my friend."
"Of course they will sweetheart, just remember that your mommy's best friend, okay?" Mrs. Kaspbrak said in a playful tone that may or may not have been completely serious.
"I promise mama, you're going to be my best friend forever."
~Page Break~
Richie looked at himself in the mirror one last time before heading off to school. He had huge black bags under his eyes, but other that that, he appeared absolutely normal. In fact, he looked better than normal. His father was an incredibly successful man and the only dentist in Derry, so he had plenty of money to make sure his only child out shinned the rest. The pale skinned boy wore nice, clean, expensive clothing (his father may be neglectful, but he didn't want the citizens of Derry to know that), a brand new pair of Converse, and his hair was perfectly curled and freshly cut.
He packed himself a half-assed lunch consisting of a chocolate pudding cup, a poorly constructed sandwich, and a half eaten bag of gummy worms. As he walked towards the door, he caught sight of his mother passed out on the sofa, three empty bottles of wine lying next to her. The five year old shook his head in disappointment and began his lone walk to Derry Elementary School.
The raven haired boy didn't live far, the school was only ten minutes away by foot, but the journey there was incredibly lonely. It was the first day of school, and he saw countless other kids walking hand in hand with their mothers and fathers. He watched from afar as mother's desperately clung to their children, actively fighting back tears, and he noticed the father's wipe away stray tears from time to time. And then there was Richie.
When he finally arrived at Derry Elementary, he immediately bolted into his assigned classroom, and he was immediately able to breathe again. He didn't want to stand outside and watch his classmates tearfully kiss their parents goodbye. It made him sad seeing all the things he knew he could never have.
As he stood against the classroom wall, more and more students started to file in. By the time 7:45 rolled around, it was time to begin class.
"Hello children!" a cheerful middle aged blonde woman cooed, enthusiastically clapping her hands together. "My name is Miss Amanda! I know you all must be super excited to start learning, but before we can start today's lessons, I have to get you all seated first!"
Miss Amanda retrieved a clipboard from somewhere on her desk and started reading off names.
"When I call you're name, you're going to sit at the desk I point at. The desk are big enough for two people, so the person you sit next to is going to be your partner for the rest of the school year," she explained.
It didn't take long for her to say Richie's name. She pointed at a desk located in the first row, all the way in the back.
"Richard Tozier!" she announced gleefully.
"You can call me Richie," he said softly, only loud enough for Miss Amanda to hear, and shuffled over to his seat.
Miss Amanda made her way back to the top of the row, calling names off the list one by one. Richie carelessly kicked his legs back and forth, his huge eyes scanning the room for his future partner.
Eddie was standing all the way in the far corner of the room, his confidence from earlier in the morning now completely gone. He was absolutely terrified. What if his partner was mean, or dumb, or what if they just plain didn't like him? A million thoughts were racing through his mind at once. He was going to be friendless and alone and no one was going to like him.
"Edward Kaspbrak!" Miss Amanda called, pointing at the seat next to Richie.
The coke-bottle glasses wearing boy whipped his head to the side and searched for Eddie in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Eddie tugged on the sleeves of his oversized sweater (a coping mechanism he resorted to whenever he was feeling nervous), and slowly walked over to the unoccupied desk next to the awaiting raven haired boy.
Miss Amanda was already at the front of the second row, calling names, by the time Eddie reached his assigned seat. He stared down at the desk apprehensively, too afraid to make eye contact with Richie, who was now excitedly tapping his feet and wiggling his fingers.
After a whole minute of Eddie just standing there, Richie let out a high pitched laugh and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. Up until that moment in Eddie's life, it was the single most beautiful sound he had ever heard. His partner's laugh was so kind and inviting, and it was comforting, like the familiar sound of his mother's singing or his father's infectious chuckles.
"Are you gonna sit or not? I promise I won't bit 'cha."
Eddie had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. This boy was like an angel. The taller boy's big golden colored eyes stared at him intently, his coke-bottle glasses and unruly curls framing his curious face. Eddie was instantly drawn to his partner's interesting look. He was wearing dark wash Levi jeans (a fashion choice his own mother would never even dream of letting him wear), a graphic The Doors t-shirt (again, another piece his mother would prevent him from owning), a jean jacket with the Psychedelic Furs and the Beatles pins, and a brand new pair of classic black and white Converse. Needless to say, Eddie was kind of jealous and slightly intimidated by how cool the other kid looked.
He felt like a giant loser in his stupid overseized pastel blue sweater, white short shorts, and matching white tennis shoes. His hair was perfectly combed and boringly straight, whilst his partner had natural curls that, in Eddie's eyes, made him look like an awesome rock star from the 60's.
"I-I know," he stammered nervously in response, finally sitting down.
Richie eyed his partner from head to toe, a small smirk pulling on the corner of his lips. He looked too perfect. In all honesty, he thought the shorter boy looked really cute, but he would never share that out loud. He knew he could call girls in his class pretty, but if he called a boy beautiful, he would either get beat up or in trouble.
But oh man, he wanted nothing more than to call the boy next to him beautiful. Richie felt like his partner deserved to know how adorable he was. Richie was entranced with his long, dark eyelashes, girly fashion sense, gorgeously tanned complexion, and he especially loved his golden brown eyes, which were hinted with specks of green, red, and hazel.
"My name's Richard Tozier," he stated, extending his hand out to Eddie. The shorter boy blushed and took Richie's hand in his own. Richie's smile grew even wider than before, the sensation of Eddie's soft hand in his own causing butterflies to go crazy in his stomach. "But everyone calls me Richie."
"I'm Edward Kaspbrak," he replied in a soft voice.
"Edward?" Richie repeated. "Edward... Can I call you Eddie instead?"
"If you want to," he said shyly. The two boys had stopped shaking hands, but their fingers were still intertwined above the table. Eddie didn't have the heart to break the contact and Richie didn't seem to mind.
"You seem really shy," Richie started bluntly. "Now that we're friends, I'm going to make you talk a lot more."
"I am not shy," Eddie responded, his voice much more confident than before.
"Oh yeah?" he insisted, leaning in just a little bit closer to Eddie. The sudden closeness was enough to make Eddie's cheeks burn bright red. "Then why are you blushing so much? My parents say people blush when they're shy or nervous."
"Stop it, Richie," the smaller boy said, obviously embarrassed.
Richie smirked as he slowly sank back into his own seat. He didn't want to push his new friend too hard, yet. "Okay, I'm sorry. You aren't shy. You're just kinda quiet."
"Or maybe you're just really loud," Eddie countered.
Richie let out a low whistle that made Eddie giggle. The girl in the row in front of them, a mean looking red head with icy blue eyes, turned around and gave the boys a disgusted look.
"Why are you holding hands?" she snapped. "My dad says boys who do that go to hell."
Eddie froze in his seat. He numbly pulled his fingers out of Richie's grasp and placed his head against the desk. He was too ashamed to meet the girl's judgmental glare. The young boy felt hot, embarrassed, frightened tears about to spill over. He mentally yelled at himself to stop being such a baby. He did not want to be that kid, the one who cries their eyes out on the first day of class.
"You're Leslie, right?" Richie asked, giving the girl a pointed look.
"Yeah, why do you care, homo?" she replied in revulsion.
"Oh trust me bitch, I don't care," he spat honestly. Leslie was visibly taken aback by his harsh words. Eddie lifted his head back up but watched the encounter in total silence. His hazy brown eyes were wide from shock. "What I do care about is that you're being mean to my friend. How about you fuck off and mind your own damn business before I tell the teacher on you?"
Leslie turned around without another word. Eddie noticed the way her shoulders would rise and fall, like his mother's did earlier this morning, but he didn't care that the girl was crying. She was mean and nasty and deserved no sympathy.
"I can't believe you said those words," Eddie whispered in bewilderment. "How do you even know what they mean?"
The taller boy shrugged his shoulders. "I hear my parents say words like that all the time. I guess I picked all that stuff up from them."
Without hesitation, Richie took Eddie's hand in his own again and started tracing little patterns across his palm.
"What are you doing?" he muttered uncomfortably. "Someone's going to see us again."
"What?" he deadpanned, his grip on Eddie's hand tightening. "Do you not want to hold my hand anymore?"
"No, I do," Eddie confessed, a light pink blush starting at the nape of his neck and rising all the way up to his cheeks. "But I don't want to get made fun of again."
"Then we'll just do this."
Richie brought their hands down beneath the desk. Unless someone was standing directly behind them, their intertwined fingers were entirely out of view from the rest of the class.
"How are you supposed to write stuff down?" Eddie questioned.
"I write with my left hand, but most people write with their right hand. I'm guessing that's the hand you use, right?"
"Right," Eddie answered.
"Good," the pale skinned boy said with a mischievous smile.
~Page Break~
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Eddie and Richie held hands for most of the lesson as Miss Amanda taught them the alphabet, colors, numbers, and all the other preschool basics. Leslie didn't give them anymore problems, and she even avoided them during snack time, lunch, and recess. By the time school was over, both boys were secretly filled with an overwhelming sense of sadness. Neither of them wanted this day to end. Richie didn't want to go home to his verbally abusive, alcoholic mother and absent father, and Eddie didn't want to leave his new friend for the rest of the day.
"I should go," Richie said as he, Eddie, and their classmates exited the classroom.
"Wait," Eddie called after him, gently tugging on the sleeve of his denim jacket to keep him in place. "Do you want to wait for our parents together?"
This time, it was Richie's turn to blush. The way Eddie's golden brown eyes practically begged him to stay made his heart do a mini gymnastics routine.
"I'll only stay for you, Eddie Spaghetti."
"What did you just call me?" he asked with a laugh.
"You heard me, Spaghe-" Richie was cut off by Eddie's loud gasp.
"There's my dad!" Eddie beamed proudly, pointing at a man with chocolate brown curls, matching golden eyes, tan skin, and a warm smile. Richie looked back and forth at Eddie and his dad in utter astonishment. They were practically twins.
The young boy sprinted forward and eagerly jumped into his father's awaiting arms. Mr. Kaspbrak spun his son around in the air, Eddie throwing his head back in laughter and playfully yelling in the wind. Richie stood back, his heart suddenly a billion times heavier in his chest. Eddie Kaspbrak, with the sunlight cast across his pretty face, with his adorably short legs dangling in the air, with his oversized sweater hanging off his right shoulder, looked like the cutest damn thing Richie Tozier had ever seen.
"I missed you!" Eddie cried happily.
"I missed you too baby," his father replied.
Richie watched in awe as Eddie's father, Frank, placed Eddie back on the ground. The little boy instantly took his father's hand in his own and ran back to Richie.
"Dad, this is Richie!" he cheered brightly. He resorted to wrapping his arm around Richie's slim waist because the pale skinned boy was too tall for Eddie to throw his arms around his shoulders. "He's my new best friend, but don't tell mom because I don't want her to get jealous. Richie, this is my dad."
"Richie, huh?" the man asked, kindly extending his hand to ruffle the boy's hair. His eyes went wide when he saw Richie flinch. "Where are your parents, Richie?"
"They'll be here any minute now," Eddie responded for him, protectively pulling Richie closer to his side as he did so.
"No, they aren't coming," he confessed solemnly. "I have to walk home by myself."
Mr. K took a closer look at Richie; he saw the deep bags under his eyes, the way he wouldn't make eye contact with him, he even noticed the way his clothes were a little too baggy for a boy his age. In an instant, everything clicked in his mind. Richie was no ordinary kid, no, he was far from normal.
"Nonsense son," Mr. K said cautiously. "Are your parents home right now?"
"No," Richie lied. He didn't want to admit his mother was indeed home, but she was probably too wasted or passed out to take care of him. "My parents are both working right now."
"Well then, would you like to stay over at our house until your parents come home?"
"Please say yes!" Eddie pleaded, his eyes dilated and full of life. "It'll be so much fun!"
It wasn't even a question. Richie said yes, and from that day on, his life changed for the better.
End of the first chapter!
I randomly had this idea the other night, so here you go (: I promise it'll get better and more fluffy and romantic! If you guys could leave comments, favorites, or even follow this story, it'll make me so damn happy and give me more inspiration to continue writing.
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Thank you all for reading!