Chapter Two
"Your mom is sending you where!?"
Eddie cringed, shrinking away from the rising volume in Richie's voice.
"Camp. It's some weird Christian place."
Richie's hands pushed up into his dark curls, a grimace twisting his features.
"What? What!?"
Eddie shrugged helplessly as he waved his hands around in the water, trying his best not to allow his own expression to crumple. He was gutted about camp, as gutted as Richie and maybe more, terrified about being sent away without his friends, without anybody he knew. Four weeks of new faces and new bullies, and god knows what kinds of bacteria, and-
"What do you even do at a camp like that?" Ben asked, swimming closer and looking at Eddie sympathetically.
Eddie shrugged.
"Pray, or something. Mom says it'll be good for me, and my soul. And they teach music, too. I might get to practice piano."
"That could be good," Bev said quietly, giving him a soft smile when he met her gaze.
"No it won't! This is stupid! Why are you going to some dumb Christian Camp instead of spending summer here? We had everything planned!"
"I'm sorry, Rich." Eddie replied, his voice wavering, "It wasn't my idea."
"I know." Richie finally sighed, slouching where he sat on the rock, "It's just…"
"We'll miss you." Bev finished, when Richie was quiet too long, "But we can do all the things we were going to when you get back. We'll still have half of summer left."
Eddie smiled gratefully at her.
"Are we playing chicken, or what?" Stan asked after a moment, his voice soft even under his usual snarky edge.
"You bet!" Mike cried, immediately pushing a small wave over Stan's face and splashing away when he yelled.
Eddie giggled as the screams and yelling broke out, alliances instantly forging, backing away until he bumped into the rock Richie was still perched on. It wasn't like the dark-curled boy to be late jumping into a water-fight, and when Eddie looked up at him he caught the strange expression on Richie's face just as it disappeared beneath a grin.
"You and me, Spaghetti?"
Eddie felt the anxious weight in his chest shrinking, relieved that Richie wasn't going to be mad at him all day.
"You know it." he answered.
And even though Richie laughed and kicked water in his face as he dropped down, the hand he slipped into Eddie's beneath the surface, to tug him toward the others, squeezed reassuringly.
~.~
"It won't be so bad at camp." Ben said as they reached their hideout.
"I bet you have fun." Mike agreed, dragging open the hatch and stepping back to let Bev go first.
She rolled her eyes and nudged at him for the gesture, making him laugh.
"Just-" Richie started, before breaking off to laugh at Mike play-slapping Beverly.
"D-d-don't replace us." Bill finished with a smirk, "Th-there's gonna be a whole b-b-bunch of losers there. We're b-better."
Eddie laughed, punching Richie's arm with a wide grin when the taller boy slung it tightly around his shoulders in a loose headlock.
"Like I could."
"Awwh, Eds just loves us soooo much!"
"Fuck off, dickwad," Eddie laughed back, wriggling out of the embrace but staying close, scowling gently as he fixed his hair best he could, "I'd replace you in a heartbeat."
Richie's mouth dropped open and he threw a hand over his heart as though mortally wounded, making them all laugh.
"Edward Spaghettward! You'd throw away what we have for someone else?"
Eddie grinned brightly at him, sure he'd miss Richie more than he knew.
"In a heartbeat."
Beverly lost her balance as she descended the ladder because she was laughing so hard and Ben rushed down to help her up, only succeeding in ending up laughing powerlessly with her. Her giggles were too infectious, the whole lot of them laughing for ages after, setting one another off again every time it grew calm. Richie tugged Eddie down into the hammock with him, and they settled as they always did in a pile of tangled limbs, weak kicking, and familiar insults.
~.~
They were long dry by the time the sun had begun its descent, and the Losers had parted ways. Most of them had made plans for next day, but Eddie wouldn't be joining them. His mother had already warned him he'd be busy, and though he was loathe to agree with anything she said he knew he did still have things to pack.
Each Loser hugged him a hard goodbye, but the mood was kept light. They didn't act like they weren't going to see him for a month, and Eddie appreciated it. But now, walking home in a familiar, quiet lull with Richie, Eddie was starting to feel the expanding anxiety in his chest again. The day had been good. Warm and summery, the perfect kind of day to spend in the Quarry with his favourite people, the perfect kind of afternoon to lie on the shore before returning to the Clubhouse. Eddie was sure there were other perfect ways to spend days, but his favourites were ones like today.
"Whatcha thinking, Eds?"
"You know that's not my name." he answered instantly, half-smiling at the sound of Richie's predictable answering chuckle.
"You love it." he grinned, one arm landing around Eddie's shoulders.
The shorter boy rolled his eyes but didn't pull away, and they walked for a minute more in silence before Eddie gave a soft hum. Richie's fingers tightened almost imperceptibly on his shoulder, and that was what did it.
"I don't want to go." he admitted without looking up at his friend, "I'd rather be here in Derry."
After a beat, he added, "Jeez, that's fucked, huh." and Richie snickered.
"I'd rather be anywhere than Derry." he answered with a snort, and even under the teasing lilt, Eddie could hear the bitterness.
The feeling was mutual. Amongst them all, like it always had been. But as time went on, Eddie had begun to realise that he didn't just wish to escape Derry. He wanted to escape Derry with the Losers. He dreaded the day, still years in the future, when they'd all go their own ways. But that was ages away, and Eddie needed to remember that. Still, it met the sad ache in his chest at the thought of leaving them for the dumb camp, for a whole month.
What if they replaced him? It seemed stupid, to worry that, but what if they made a new friend and everything was different by the time Eddie came home? What if-
"Mike's right." Richie interrupted his internal panic, smiling a little when Eddie looked but not quite meeting his eye, "it probably will be fun."
"Maybe." Eddie hedged.
"Sure," Richie continued with a laugh, "there won't be anybody there half as cool as me, but you'll probably survive."
Eddie elbowed him and Richie laughed with him as they turned the next corner. One more street and he'd be home, and it'd be a whole month before he saw his best friend again. His hand itched to reach out, but he couldn't. Not here in public, on their own, when anyone looking could see. He didn't need his mother having another reason to hate Richie. He had a hard enough time getting out of the house when she knew that dirty Tozier boy was gonna be there.
As they had grown, so had her hatred for Richie. No longer was he welcome in the Kaspbrak house. She lost her shit if he was on the doorstep to pick Eddie up for school. Most days now, Richie met him at the corner to keep the peace. Unless she'd been hard on Eddie the day before. On those days, Richie always seemed to show up on the doorstep, early and dressed in the loudest fucking shirt he had, his hair looking like it'd never seen a hairbrush, and his grin as wide as could be.
He'd bring pop tarts, too. Eddie wasn't allowed pop tarts. But Richie'd bring them, holding one right there in his hand while he ate his own, as though daring her to question whether he intended to give it to Eddie. Doubly galling, that it would be unwrapped already.
It didn't help, to piss her off like that. But it was Richie's way of showing her he didn't give a shit how much she hated him. And it always made Eddie feel better. Even if he scurried out of the house as fast as possible, even if he bitched at Richie causing trouble. They'd walk to school eating pop tarts and Eddie would be ready for the day ahead by the time they got there.
He wished he could say out loud how much he loved Richie. But fuck if there weren't a bazillion reasons not to.
"Eds?"
"Don't call me that." he snorted back automatically.
Richie's wide grin settled a lot of his nerves. He always did that, made shit better just by pretending everything was normal. Eddie felt his mood lifting, even with the dreadful looming of his home coming into sight down the next street. His feet slowed. Richie slowed beside him, suddenly much closer than before as he walked him. He probably didn't even know he'd done it, but Eddie noticed.
It was one of Richie's protective moves. It had popped into Eddie's head once, when Connor Bowers had taken up his cousin's mantle and was giving the Losers the same shit he always did. He'd lunged forward to take a poke at Eddie, and Richie had put himself in between them, taking the blow to his gut and shrugging it off.
Connor had some choice words for Richie, words that made Eddie's gut hurt, but Richie didn't even look at him. He walked real close to Eddie instead, tense and wound like a prowling wildcat, and the shorter boy could practically feel the urge that Richie was holding back; to throw an arm over Eddie's shoulder and draw him close.
As soon as they were out of sight, Eddie had ducked close, bumping their hips together and butting his head under Richie's armpit. Richie had softened and complied.
Eddie had noticed from then on how close Richie was when Bowers was around, and then at other times. When Connor's goons were around, when any other danger was. When Eddie was panicking, or worrying, or heading home to his psycho mother. Richie made him feel safe. Eddie wished for the hundredth time that he wasn't going to camp on Monday.
The street dwindled, even with their slow pace. Eddie felt the shadow looming, stretching out across the asphalt to reach like thick dark fingers for his toes. A shiver raced up his spine. They paused, on the edge of the sidewalk. Eddie could feel his mother's gaze from her chair in the lounge. He shifted until his back was mostly to her, and he fiddled with wristwatch while his eyes flickered upward.
Richie stood close. Closer than normal people would stand, just like the rest of the Losers often did. Eddie had been noticing it for months now, how close Richie was to him at any given time. The thought of being so many miles away for a whole month was making him nauseous. When their eyes met, Richie's mouth slipped up on one side in a half-grin.
"Don't say it," Eddie grumbled quickly, reading the light in his best friend's eyes, "whatever you're gonna say about my mom, don't you fucking dare say it."
Richie's hair shone with brown notes in the falling sun, giving him an oddly angelic kind of look. Eddie smiled back. He could feel the sharp gaze, burning into his neck, and he finally sighed.
"I gotta go, Rich."
Richie looked pointedly over Eddie's shoulder, and Eddie hid a wince. Always so bold, so unabashed. Eddie felt that old, brief envy as it tickled his throat. Some day he'd have the confidence that Richie did. Richie's eyes dropped back to his, and he grinned wide.
He tossed his arms theatrically around Eddie, caring naught for Mrs Kaspbrak glaring at them through the thin lace of the curtain. He ignored Eddie's surprised yelp as he toppled the smaller boy into his embrace, and only chuckled instead. Eddie almost wriggled away instantly, but the knowledge this was the last time until he got back from camp was an ice-cube in his belly. He pressed close for as long as he dared, digging his fingers into Richie's back.
When he was pulling away, Richie ruffled his hair and smiled at him in that gentle way that Eddie liked best, stripped of his teasing edge and mischief.
"I'll miss you." he mumbled with the last of his fading courage as he turned away towards the house.
He'd kept his mother waiting long enough.
"We'll be together again before you know it!" Richie chirped back, half-slipping into a dumb British accent, and Eddie spared him a grateful glance before opening the dreadful front door.
~.~