Chapter Two

Eddie was out of bed the second his alarm went off, despite both struggling to fall back asleep and it being a Saturday - Richie was a lucky fucker, getting a weekend birthday - and could barely contain his grin as he threw on his joggers and polo-shirt, slipping across the carpeted hallway to brush his teeth and comb his hair in the bathroom before creeping downstairs.

He couldn't hear the TV, and he let out the breath he was holding when he peered into the kitchen to find that his mother wasn't in there, either. Sometimes she did wake early on weekends, but today she'd slept in. Eddie eyed the bowls in the cabinet, thinking about breakfast, and how hungry he was gonna be by lunch if he didn't have any, but the lingering fear of his mother putting a stop to his plans decided him.

The last thing he needed was for her to come downstairs before he had the chance to leave, and somehow wheedle him into staying. He had to pace himself as he got his shit together to leave, returning to his room to grab the backpack of stuff he'd been gathering, piece by piece, since Christmas. Excitement lit him up inside. This was gonna be sweet. Richie was gonna love it, he just knew it.

He slipped back downstairs, in such a good mood that he ignored his fanny pack, settling for shoving an inhaler in one pocket. Some day, hopefully soon, he was gonna get out of this stupid mental trap. But for the time being, the inhaler helped with what he could now recognise as anxiety, and that was good enough.

The sun was already filling the street with the promise of a good day as he wheeled his bike to the road, and Eddie's mood just kept climbing. He knew that most of his excitement was anticipation for the final product of a plan that had taken so long to come together, but there also the fact that he'd be celebrating a birthday with all his favourite people, eating junk food and playing dumb games. And of course, he admitted to himself as he started peddling in the direction of Bill's house, there was part of him that was giddy to see Richie's face when he was met with all their hard work.

The idea made his stomach flutter, and his gaze slid to the band of his watch, under which he could almost feel those two inked words.

Hey, Eds.

Hope would simply not be denied, and Eddie bit his lip hard as it threatened to overtake him. Hope was dangerous, because it brought fear with it, fear of rejection, fear of disappointment. And then, on the other side of that coin, fear that he was secretly right, and Richie really did belong to him. Fear that he might have to bare his soul and all his insecurities to the one person he was most afraid to seem weak in front of.

Sure, Richie almost certainly knew most of them. But that didn't mean that saying them out loud would be any easier.

Still, as Eddie turned into Bill's street he decided to push it aside, a puzzle for a later moment. For now, he had a party to put together, the contents of the heavy rucksack on his back to unpack. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to bossing the others around a little, too. Seeing all the pieces fit into place.

God, he was a dork.

Bill was the one to answer the door, his grin wide in greeting. Eddie felt less silly about the extent of his excitement, because Bill looked almost as excited.

"M-mornin', Eddie!"

Eddie grinned as he followed him inside.

"Heya, Bill. Stan awake?"

Bill nodded, leading him through to the kitchen where a sleep-rumpled Stan was sitting at the table, pouring milk into a steaming mug. He gave Eddie a tired, accusatory smile, and Eddie snickered.

"You look refreshed." he teased.

Stan rolled his eyes, lifting his coffee to his lips.

"This is your doing, you know." he hummed in return, seeming unamused when Bill and Eddie only laughed.

Bill was sitting bowls down, and he raised an eyebrow when he caught Eddie's eye. The shorter boy could feel his face flush a little as he shifted awkwardly. Bill smiled and turned back for another bowl.

"Glad you escaped." was all he said, and Eddie appreciated it.

They all knew what Sonia Kaspbrak was like, by now. Eddie had come clean about a lot of it in the aftermath of their near-death experiences with the hellish evil that lived in the Derry sewer system, and even though they were nearly sixteen, had killed a monster clown from space and faced all their worst fears, they understood that untangling himself from her clutches was still a work in progress.

It was much easier with their help and support, of course. He'd been rescued more times than he'd like, when he failed to show for plans over the last three years. They'd badgered his mother, talked her into letting him go through sheer determination, had scaled the tree outside his bedroom window to help him sneak out, had roped parents into calling to reassure her that they'd be safely supervised inside one home or another when in fact they were running the streets as they always did.

Bill and Richie's parents especially had been very adept at that particular ruse, and Eddie would always be grateful that not every parent in Derry was an asshole. Even though Sonia despised Richie with an anger Eddie couldn't fathom, Wentworth and Maggie were very persuasive talkers.

Stan yawned widely when thanking Bill for his bowl, and Eddie slid into a chair at the other side of the table, smiling gratefully when he was given his own. They sat quietly for a while, crunching softly on cornflakes and waking up properly, the smell of Stan's coffee warm and reviving. Eddie himself was wide awake, filled to the brim with anticipation, and the longer they sat at the Denbrough kitchen table, the more it seemed that his good mood was contagious.

Eventually, Stan drained his mug and stretched, his face overtaken by a yawn that made the other boys chuckle. He smiled faintly, rolling his eyes to the ceiling as he got up.

"I guess I should get dressed."

Bill watched him walk across the room with a chuckle.

"No r-r-rush. I b-bet Richie isn't even awake yet."

Stan's laugh of agreement floated gently down the hall as he headed for the stairs.

"What d'you think?" Bill turned to Eddie, eyebrow raised in amusement, "Think he's up y-y-yet?"

Eddie smirked, shaking his head as he swallowed the last of the milk from his cereal bowl. Bill laughed.

"Yeah, me n-neither."

Eddie grinned, gaze falling to his watch at the thought of Richie. He knew it was psychosomatic, but whenever he thought about Richie, he thought about the new marks on his skin, and whenever he thought about them, they seemed to tingle.

"He b-b-better appreciate all the work, Eddie."

Bill was smirking when Eddie looked back up, fiddling with the new wristband his parents had given him on his sixteenth, back in January. It covered the marks Eddie knew would be there now, as was its purpose, but it was also made of a soft leather and looked really good on him. Bill caught him looking, and his smile went that same kind of tight way it always did when anybody asked about it.

The Losers, in their mutually understanding way, never brought it up. Not after the first time, when Richie had opened his mouth in the Clubhouse the day after Bill's birthday and asked if he was gonna show them. Bill got uncomfortable and defensive and Richie, being Richie, didn't recognise it until Bill had nearly punched him in the face and Stan had had to step between them.

Eddie smiled apologetically, and the look in Bill's eyes vanished. He almost blurted out that he had one now, too. Like maybe it would help Bill feel less self-conscious about being the only one to have one yet. But Eddie was worried that maybe he'd notice the timing, and put the pieces together, somehow knowing that Eddie hoped it was Richie. Well, maybe that was kind of paranoid, but if he told him he had one, then he'd end up probably having to show it, and then Bill would guess for sure.

Who else called him Eds? Who else was likely to? Best he kept it to himself, for now. Especially if it turned out not to be Richie. Handling that disappointment would be crushing enough without having to deal with Bill feeling bad for him too.

"Do you think Richie will show us his?" Bill suddenly asked, real quiet and slowly.

He wasn't looking at Eddie anymore, instead chewing his lip and staring at the covered skin of his wrist. Eddie's stomach lurched and he felt a cold chill all over.

"I- uh, I dunno." he stammered, shrugging when Bill did look up, "I mean, he might. I mean, it's Richie. He tells us how big his dick is every fucking day."

Bill spluttered a laugh, surprised by the sudden confidence and change in Eddie's tone, his eyes glinting.

"T-t-true. It'll b-b-b-be funny if he has s-somethin' embarrassing."

Eddie sniggered with him. He hadn't actually thought about what Richie might have woken up to see written on his wrist. Suddenly, he was hit by the thought of Richie being woken at midnight, like Eddie had been. Had Richie woken, with a burning heat in his wrist? Had he lain as long as Eddie had, staring at the words and wondering who would say them to him?

Eddie's heart twinged strangely in his chest. Jealous of the unknown person who would say the words forever tattooed into the pale skin of his best friend's wrist. Somehow, the thought managed to chip a piece of his excitement away.

"I hope he doesn't," he said before he could stop himself, "I mean we'd… never hear the end of it, you know?"

Bill hummed, his eyes clouding with thought.

"Y-yeah, I guess."

Eddie's wandering gaze found his empty bowl, and so for something to do he took the three of them and washed them against Bill's protests, rinsing Stan's mug too and setting everything neatly on the draining board just as Stan reappeared.

"Ready?" Bill asked, grinning again.

Stan gave a deep sigh, but a smile toyed at the corner of his mouth.

"I suppose. Eddie?"

Eddie grinned.

"Where first?"

"Ben's. Bev and Mike are j-just gonna m-meet us there."

That made sense. The Hanlon farm was too far out for it to make sense for them to make the ride, and Bev's dad would kill her if she was picked up by the gang of boys he so hated her being seen with. It definitely seemed like he'd been better since It had been defeated, but bad people were still bad people, and none of them dared risk it.

"Then let's get this over with." Stan hummed, finally breaking into a grin when Bill elbowed him with a chuckle.

"Lighten up, Uris."

Eddie collected his rucksack and followed the two into the yard. Stan was in a good mood, despite what he might say, and Bill's eyes danced with the same excitement that fluttered around in Eddie's belly. They'd collect Ben, and then they'd only have the Tozier house to go, where hopefully they'd find Wentworth and Maggie and no Richie. Maggie had promised she'd get him out of the house, and Eddie knew how persuasive she could be, so they'd be fine.

The sun sunk into his skin as they rode, and made him feel like nothing could go wrong, not on a day like this. When they crested the hill into downtown Derry, the three boys whooped loudly into the sky, and it was hard to believe they wouldn't be kids much longer, with the childish glee that bloomed in their chests.

~.~