"Richie, you dickwad, give it back!"
"Not till you have some fun, Eds!"
Richie tauntingly held Eddie's spiral notebook just out of his short friend's reach, raising it above his head when Eddie jumped to get it. Eddie was fuming. "Give it to me!" He screeched, grabbing for it. "I have school work in there!"
"School work, smool work," Richie said, waving it off as if it were no big deal. "We have literally, like, a week of school left."
"Well I still have shit to get done!"
"You can finish that shit later."
"No, I want to now!"
"C'mon, R-rich, if he doesn't w-w-wanna s-swim, then he d-doesn't wanna swi-im," Bill called from the cliff over the quarry. He and the rest of the Losers stood in their underwear, waiting to have their usual afternoon dip in the water. Stan tapped his foot impatiently.
"Thank you, Bill." Eddie shot him a grateful look, nodding.
"But it won't be the same without my little Eddie Spaghetti!" Richie cooed, pinching Eddie's cheeks. Eddie swatted his hands away.
"Don't make me do this the hard way," Eddie warned, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, what're you gonna do, short-stack? Punch my knees? Stab my thigh? Twist my-"
Before Richie could make another joke about Eddie's height, Eddie reared his leg back and swung it to collide right between Richie's legs. He immediately doubled over in pain, dropping the notebook while doing so. The rest of the Losers burst out laughing,
"Ohh, that's gotta hurt!" Mike wheezed.
Richie rolled onto the ground, holding his junk. Eddie triumphantly picked up his notebook. "That's what you get, fucker!" He cackled, lightly poking Richie in the side.
Richie recovered enough to sit up and flip him off. "Oh, I'll get you back for that," he grumbled. Then, he turned to the rest of his friends. "You guys go ahead. I'll have to wait, like, 15 minutes for my dick to fully heal."
"Why so long?" Bev asked, an eyebrow quirked. "You seem fine now."
"Need a minute for each inch," the young comedian quipped, looking satisfied with the groans he earned from everybody else.
"Then you're going 14 minutes overtime," Stan stated bluntly. Then, before Richie could respond, he turned and took a running leap off the edge. One by one, the rest of the Losers followed, until it was just Eddie and Richie left.
Eddie got up to go sit at the edge and watch his friends splash and play while he worked, and Richie followed. Richie sat and let his legs dangle over the edge, while Eddie leaned against a rock across from his friend to where he was facing him.
Eddie worked silently for a few minutes, before he realized something; it was silent. Richie was with him, and he could actually hear himself think. Not normal.
"Rich?"
The other boy shook his head, as if being startled out of deep thoughts. "Hmm?"
"Something on your mind?"
"No." Lies, Eddie thought. "Don't you have work to finish?" He asked, gesturing towards the note book. "You should hurry, so you might still have some time to swim afterwards."
"I really doubt that's going to happen. I'm partners with Randy for that essay in 's class, and he can't write for shit. I told him I'd rather him do nothing and let me do the work so we could actually get a decent grade."
"Oh." Then Richie went quiet again.
Eddie tried to work with Richie being so quiet, but it was honestly kind of unsettling. Richie had never been this quiet, ever. Even when they were being terrorized by a killer clown, Richie would crack stupid ass jokes. He was never just silent. Something was definitely up.
He'll talk when he's ready, Eddie told himself. How about you try to enjoy Richie being quiet for once in his life?
Eddie could not focus for some reason, though. He kept finding his eyes drifting from his paper up to where Richie sat. He noticed how curly Richie's hair was today, and how his cheeks were pink from being sunburned the day before. Then his eyes wandered to his lips, looking full and slightly chapped. Kinda cute... Wait, what the hell? Eddie shook the thought out of his brain. Don't think like that.
But who was he kidding? He knew he wouldn't stop thinking like that. He'd been that way as long as he could remember; he would always find himself fantasizing about boys in his grade, appreciating boys in swim trunks more than girls in their bikinis, etc. He really did try to not think that way about people he actually knew, though. Chances are, they won't feel the same way, Eddie justified. All it could do is hurt you.
He definitely WAS NOT feeling any way toward Richie, though. No, he could never. Richie was his best friend, and also annoying, obnoxious, loud, stupid, everything Eddie wanted his special someone to NOT be.
Richie just... he was nice to look at sometimes, is all. It was completely normal to sometimes appreciate that your friend is a little hot, right?
He'd thought about telling his friends that he thought he might be gay before, but he had always chickened out. Plus, his mother had always talked about how most people who think they're gay are just "confused kids going through a sick faze." Even though his mom may not have been the best parent n the world and had lied to him about him being sick for over half of his life, he still wondered if she was right about that. If he was going to tell anyone, he wanted to be completely sure.
Eddie shook his head again, then closed his note book.
Rich turned to look at him. "You done?"
"No. But you're acting funny."
"Oh my God, Eds, did you just admit I'm funny?"
"Shut up, fuckface, no I didn't." Eddie rolled his eyes. "I meant you're acting weird." Eddie moved to let his legs dangle over the edge like Richie, and he felt their legs brush each other as he swung them. It sent chills up Eddie's spine, and he felt butterflies in his stomach. He ignored them. "Now what's wrong?"
Richie went to object again, but he stopped himself. He chewed on his bottom lip.
"Well?" Eddie lightly elbowed him in the ribs, noticing how serious his best friend suddenly was.
Richie took a deep breath. "I was going to tell you guys something today."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." He tossed a small rock over the edge, watching as it splashed into the water below. "I wanted to tell you guys over there," he told Eddie, pointing to the big patch of rock that they would sunbathe on after swimming.
"Is it serious?"
"I think so."
"What, did something happen?" Eddie's mind immediately went to a thousand different places. "Is it something bad? Are you moving? Switching schools? Wait, did you see the fuckin' clown again-" Eddie could feel his heart start to beat faster, and his breathing picked up at the thought of Pennywise. "I thought we killed It! How did-"
"Jesus, Eds, calm down!" Richie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, it has nothing to do with the fucking clown."
"Are you sick?" Eddie's mind flashed back to his father, who died of cancer when he was five. "Richie, please tell me you're not-"
"Oh my God, Eds, would you stop jumping to conclusions?" Richie asked, huffing out a laugh. "I swear, your brain runs at like, 100 miles a minute."
"Sorry," Eddie breathed. "I can't help it."
"I know, Eddie Spaghetti." Richie softly jostled his shoulder. "Don't worry, though; my life isn't in danger or anything." Then, after a beat, he said, "Actually, I take that back, considering we're in fucking Derry."
Eddie tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... Umm..." Richie was suddenly very interested in a loose string on his pants, and he twisted it around his finger. "I'm..."
"C'mon, Rich, spit it out."
"I think I might be..."
"You might be...?" Oh my God hurry the hell up.
"So, the thing is-well, I think I could be..."
The anticipation was killing him. "Oh my God, Richie, what?"
Finally, Richie took a deep breath, then admitted softly, "I'm gay."
The confession took Eddie by surprise. He sat silently with his mouth slightly agap, letting his mind process this.
"I. Am. Gay," Richie repeated. "Jesus, it feels so fucking good to finally say it out loud to someone."
Eddie felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips. I'm not the only one.
Richie fidgeted uncomfortably in the silence, and let out a nervous laugh. "So," he started, "uh, you don't hate me now, do you?"
"What?" Eddie asked, appalled that Richie would even consider such a thing. "Of course I don't, you dipshit!"
Richie let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. Sorry, I just, I didn't know what your stance was on that type of thing."
"I'm not a fucking homophobe, Richie," Eddie told him. "Even if I was, I could never hate you." Richie noticed the sincerity in his voice, and turned to give him a warm, grateful smile.
"Thank you."
Eddie felt his stomach do a flip at the way Richie was looking at him, and he felt good knowing that he was the one to make Richie smile like that. Maybe I should tell him, he thought. At least the fact that I think I'm gay, so maybe then he'll know that-
"So," Richie began, shifting back to his normal, goofy manner, "just want to make it clear that this definitely doesn't change things with your mom. I still plan on fucking her brains out every night after you go to bed." The freckled boy beside him groaned, and Richie grinned his stupid ass grin he always does when he knows he's annoying someone.
"God, you can't stay serious for five fucking minutes?" Eddie laughed despite himself.
"Nope," Richie affirmed. "Just cause I'm gay now doesn't mean I'm suddenly boring, or I'm gonna quit fucking your mom-"
"You're gay?"
Richie and Eddie both jumped at the voice, and swung their heads the direction it came from. Standing behind them stood a tall teen, about their age. His tan, olive skin contrasted beautifully with his lapis blue eyes, and his hazel hair fell gracefully halfway down his forehead. The stranger was wearing khaki shorts and a plain, white t-shirt, but you could still tell he had a muscular build. He also had a jawline that could probably literally cut you. So, in short; he was hot as fuck.
Eddie and Richie stared at him in shock for a minute, half memorized by his looks and half shitting themselves because of what he said.
The boy cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Sorry, I was just walking up here to see what was up here, and then I heard you say something about fucking Eddie's mom even though you were gay?"
Hearing his own name snapped Eddie out of his trance. "How'd you know my name?" He questioned suspiciously.
"Oh, I go to your school," the Greek god look alike answered coolly. "I have been for about a month, now." Before Eddie could ask why he hadn't seen him, he added, "I've just stayed quiet in class, and I always have my hood up." He shifted his attention back to Richie. "So, you're gay?"
"Uh..." Richie paused for a moment, and Eddie noticed Rich had his let-me-think-of-a-lie-to-get-out-of-this look on.
"It's okay if you are," the other kid told him. "I won't tell."
"...Yeah. Yeah, I am." Eddie was surprised at how fast Richie gave in.
"Cool." The stranger smiled bashfully, before adding, "Me too."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, Eds, I'm not the only one!" Richie exclaimed excitedly, elbowing his friend in the ribs. Well you would have known that if over here hadn't interrupted us, Eddie thought. Richie stood up and stuck his hand out. "I'm Richie-"
"I know." The hot teen shook his hand. "I'm Niko."
"Niko," Richie repeated. "Niko. Niko nachos. Niko no-no. Niko knots..." Richie trailed off until he was mumbling to himself, brows furrowing in concentration.
"Um, what're you doing?" Niko asked, eyebrow raised.
"He's coming up with a nick-name for you," Eddie explained. "He has one for all of us."
"Us?"
Eddie pointed over the edge in response. Niko went and looked out at the rest of the Losers.
Richie's eyes followed Niko, and he looked his back side up and down, clearly checking him out. When Richie caught Eddie's eye, he fanned himself dramatically, mouthing "Hot!"
It made Eddie's insides churn, but he just rolled his eyes.
Eddie wasn't sure why, but he got a bad vibe from this kid. Maybe it's just cause of my clown trauma. To be fair, it is hard to trust people after you have to go against a clown who can morph into anyone it wants.
Niko turned back around. "Okay, you got a name yet?"
"I've settled on either Nini or Koko."
"I like Koko better."
"Nini it is, then."
Niko laughed. "Hey, fuck you, man!"
Richie stood a little taller at the sound of Nini's laugh, grinning. "That's the rules of nicknames," Richie insisted, shrugging. "You can't like it."
"Well it's not fair if you get to call me something but I don't get to call you anything," Niko voiced. "I get to have one for you, too."
"Okay, that's fair," Richie agreed. "What'll it be?"
"How do you like 'Riri'?"
"Ew. Gross."
"Then I guess I'll call you Riri from now on."
"Fine, whatever, Nini!"
"Hey, I got fucking work I've got to get done here," Eddie suddenly snapped, surprising the other two boys and himself. He grabbed his notebook and pencil and leaned back against his rock. "And I can't focus for shit with you jabbering on about fucking nick names."
"Geez, grouchy Eds today," Richie responded, holding his hands up in faux defense. "Fine, we'll leave."
"Don't fucking call me that," Eddie grumbled.
"Where do you wanna go?" Niko inquired.
"Well, you can go where you want, but I'm going swimming," Richie declared. He stripped off his shirt, exposing his pale but toned stomach. Ever since Richie had started basketball (so he could actually get something out of his height and long limbs, according to him), he had started to gain some muscle on his skinny frame. His shoulders were more defined now from lifting weights, and his pecks looked strong and firm. Eddie couldn't help but stare at him from the corner of his eye. I he'll have a six pack by the end of the summer.
"In what? Did you bring swim trunks?"
Richie answered him by slipping off his jeans, and tossing them to the side. "Us Losers don't need swim suits, Nini."
"Losers?" Niko cocked his head to the side like a dog.
"Oh, yeah, that's what we call ourselves," Richie explained. "That's Losers with a capital 'L'."
"Losers," Niko repeated. He grinned. "I like it." Then, he stripped off his shirt, too.
Niko looked like a had been working out his whole life plus another hundred years. Rock hard abs, huge arms, broad shoulders; he could have been mistaken for a Greek model. Eddie's eyes widened, and he glanced at Richie, whose jaw was practically on the floor. When Niko began to tug off his pants, Eddie watched at Richie's cheeks turned pink and he turned away.
Is Richie fucking blushing right now? Since when does he blush?
"What?" Niko teased. "You like what you see?"
Richie's cheek darkened even more. "No," he quickly responded. "I prefer granny bods."
Niko snorted.
Richie took off his glasses and held them out to Eddie. "Watch these for me, would you, Eds?"
Eddie silently took the glasses, setting them beside him.
"Thanks, Spaghetti." Then he turned to Niko, and in a terrible British accent said, "Come, my good lad, to meet my fellow chaps!"
"Off we go!" Niko replied in a perfect accent. Richie grinned wider. Eddie dug his nails into his skin.
After that, Richie jumped off the edge, and Niko followed. Once he heard them splash at the bottom, Eddie peeked his head over the edge and watched them as they made their way over to the other Losers. As they swam, Niko said something to make Richie laugh, and Eddie found anger bubbling up inside him.
"Fuck you, fucking Niko," Eddie mumbled to himself. "Oh, 'off we go!' Fucking bullshit." Suddenly, Eddie realized what he was saying. What the hell is wrong with me? It's not like Niko ever did anything to me.
He glanced down at them again, and saw that they had made it to the rest of the Losers. Niko was shaking hands with all of them.
"Maybe it's just because Niko looks like a damn movie star," Eddie reasoned with himself. "I'm just not used to seeing people like that in real life. Jesus, I didn't think people who looked like that were even real. I bet that's what I find so off about it. That's it."
However, Eddie kept having this feeling in his chest anytime Niko would touch Richie, whether it was getting on his back for chicken, dunking him under water, or even just giving him a high five for a dumb joke. It was a different feeling than earlier, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
Still, he tried his best to push away the feeling, whatever it was. Eddie continued working, motivating himself by muttering, "As soon as I'm done, I can go be with Richie, too. Er, um, everyone else, I mean."
Despite Eddie working nonstop for about an hour, he still didn't finish in time to go down for the quarry. Before he knew it, he heard his friends chatter getting close to him, and he looked up to find them all heading his way. They were all cracking up at something.
"I can't b-believe y-you sc-sc-scared him that e-easily!" Bill was saying to Niko, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I wasn't scared!" Richie claimed. "I just don't like fish!"
"Okay, whatever Mr.Fuck my titties!" Bev chortled, and everyone started laughing again. Even Stanley's face was red from laughing so hard.
Eddie stood up, eager to get in on the joke. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Stan stated, waving him off while still chuckling. "You had to be there."
Eddie frowned.
"Did you finish?" Ben asked.
"Almost," Eddie answered. "It was more work than I thought it would be." His attention shifted to Richie, whose entire body was red as a tomato. "Jesus, Rich, did you use any sun block?"
"Nope," he replied nonchalantly. "I forgot it at home."
"Well you could've just asked me! I always carry some with me, right in here." He gestured to his red fanny pack around his waist. "Do you even know the skin diseases you could get from sunburns? There's actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, benign tumors-"
"Geez, dude, take a chill pill," Niko interrupted. "I never use sunscreen, and I'm fine."
Eddie glared at him. Fucking rude. "You're fine for now."
"No, actually, I think I'm good." He glanced around at the rest of the Losers. "Is he always like this?"
"Yup, that's Dr.K for ya," Richie affirmed. "Risk analyst and germophobe." He stepped up to Eddie and ruffled his hair. "But he's our risk analyst and germophobe."
"Stop, dipshit, you're messing up my hair!" Eddie whined. He wiggled his way out of Richie's grasp, half annoyed and half touched about how fondly Richie had just spoke of him.
"Oh, and perfectionist," Richie added.
The Losers rolled their eyes at the boys' banter and began to get dressed.
Once they were all dressed, they all said their goodbyes for the night, and started to make their way home. Bev paired off with Ben, Bill went with Stan and Mike, and Eddie went and sat on his bike at the beginning of the road while he waited for Richie. Since Eddie's house was on Richie's way home, they always ended their days riding back together. Richie would drop Eddie off, make a joke about fucking Eddie's mom, then leave. It used to be because they were both still a little too shaken to travel alone after defeating Pennywise, but now it was just their routine. Eddie would never admit it, but he always looked forward to their bike rides alone.
"Richie, would you hurry the hell up?" Eddie called. "My mom is gonna flip if I'm not home in like, twenty minutes!"
"I'm coming!"
Richie emerged with Niko following close behind.
Eddie tried to hide his annoyance that Niko was there, and he held out Richie's glasses. "Here."
"Aww, thanks, Eddie, my love," Richie cooed. "You're such a darling."
"Shut the fuck up. You're lucky I didn't break those." Eddie kicked the kick stand up on his bike. "Now c'mon, slow poke, lets go."
"You're actually gonna have to travel this one by yourself, Kaspbrak," Richie told him. "Niko here is gonna show me where he lives so I can go get him when the rest of us go do stuff."
"Oh, so he's like officially part of the group now?" Eddie asked through his teeth.
"Yup," Richie certified.
"Yeah, I'm officially a Loser," Niko stated proudly, smiling smugly. It's as if he knew it would tick Eddie off.
Eddie forced the best fake smile he could muster. "Great. That's great."
Richie noticed the strain in his voice. "Hey, you good?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Eddie lied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Just making sure." Richie picked up his bike by the handle bars and hopped on. He patted the pegs sticking out of the wheels, gesturing for Niko to stand on them. He did, steadying himself on Richie's shoulders. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Eds," he said, starting to peddle in the opposite direction.
"Don't call me that," Eddie replied, not even thinking about it.
"Yeah, see ya, Eds!" Niko yelled.
Eddie's hands gripped the bars until his knuckles turned white. Niko smirked at him again. There was that off thing again; Eddie was convinced Niko did that just to make him mad. Not like, in the way that Richie did, but he actually wanted to piss Eddie the fuck off.
"Don't you dare fucking call me that," Eddie growled, even though Niko couldn't hear him.
It was then that Eddie decided he didn't like Niko.
No, he didn't like him at fucking all.
okay, there's #1. number two is coming soon, really, really soon...
as in right now. nothing really happened in this chapter, so i decided to go ahead and post the next one, too.
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what're you still doing here? go read the next chapter!