Author's note: So our power went out this evening, and what else is there to do except read and finish a chapter? And what was I thinking considering putting this at the end of the last chapter? This is fucking enormous all on its own. I hope you enjoy!

Brave
Chapter 18 – Last Night in Derry

It was just edging on towards sunset as Richie parked along the side of the road and turned off the car's engine. The sun was a large ball of fire in the west, beginning to stain the sky in oranges and reds. This made Richie smile, because it reminded him of a little ring nestled inside a velvet box in the pocket of his pants. His hand cupped the small bulge in his jeans protectively, almost checking to make sure it was still there. That he wasn't imagining things.

"The Barrens?" Eddie asked as he surveyed their surroundings out the passenger's side window. He then raised his eyebrow at Richie skeptically and asked, "This is where you brought me for our last romantic night in Derry?"

"I want to show you something," Richie said, removing his key from the ignition and stepping out of the car. He came around to Eddie's side and helped him out of his seat.

"Did you carve our initials somewhere down there too?" Eddie asked, standing face-to-face with Richie and pressing his hands against the front of Richie's sweatshirt.

"Mm, not quite, but there's something else I want to show you." Richie took Eddie's hand and started leading him towards the steep embankment that led down into the Barrens.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Eddie said, stopping in his tracks and pulling Richie back by his hand. "I can't fucking go down there!" he cried, gesturing towards the line of trees. "Are you out of your mind?! I could fall, and split my scar open all over again, and set my healing back weeks or even months! You know there's greywater down there, and that could seriously impede my healing right now if I get it anywhere near my scar. You heard what the doctor said! I'm still prone to infections! I could end up with a staph infection, or listeria, or-"

Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie's waist, pulled him closer, and thrust his hips forward. "I'll show you a 'staff' infection," he said around a grin. "You know that's what I really wanted to do all those years ago when I held up that branch instead?"

"Richie!" Eddie cried indignantly, slapping his hand playfully against Richie's chest. "This is serious!"

"I won't let you fall," Richie softly, tightening his hold around Eddie's waist. He had seen Eddie's freak out coming a mile away when he originally came up with this idea, and he had been fully prepared to calm him down. "Promise. And we won't be going into the sewer either. Trust me."

"I do," Eddie said, his eyes darting past Richie to the steep incline that led down to the Barrens. He bit at his bottom lip. "I just…this is serious," he said again.

"And I'm being serious."

"You just made a joke about a 'staff' infection. That's not being serious."

"I mean about not letting you fall," Richie said firmly. "I'll never let you fall. Not now, not ever. It's why I wouldn't leave you down in that sewer to die."

Eddie's hands trailed from Richie's chest to his upper arms, squeezing Richie's biceps tightly. "Rich…"

"Trust me?"

The smallest of smiles flitted across Eddie's lips as he glanced down at Richie's chest for a moment. With his eyes there and his hands on Richie's arms, it was almost like he was sizing up Richie's strength to see if he really was capable of keeping Eddie safe. Eddie finally nodded, glanced back up to Richie, and said, "Yes."

Richie reached to take one of Eddie's hands in his own before turning and leading him towards the line of trees and down the steep embankment to the Barrens.

"I thought this was supposed to be romantic," Eddie complained just as they made their way to the bottom of the hill.

"And holding your hand down a steep hill isn't?" Richie asked, turning around to grin at Eddie. He was walking backwards now, still guiding Eddie along the forest floor. He put his free hand over his own chest and said, "You're hurting my feelings here."

"Watch where you're fucking going, dumbass!" Eddie snapped, pointing at the fallen branches and unsteady lay of the ground.

"I've got you," Richie said, stepping forward so that his body was flush against Eddie's again. He wrapped his arms around Eddie's waist once more. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He pressed his forehead against Eddie's, smiling down at him.

Eddie didn't like to be coddled and Richie knew it, but sometimes Richie just liked to reassure Eddie that he was safe.

"Besides," Richie added, "who already got stabbed by a fucking space clown and lived to tell the tale?"

Eddie smiled, letting his hands settle against Richie's chest again. It seemed as if Eddie liked putting them there, and Richie liked having them there. Liked the feel of Eddie relaxing against him.

"Me," Eddie said, frowning in determination. His eyes trailed down again, this time settling on his hands atop Richie's chest. "And I never told you why, did I?"

"Why what?"

"Why I lived," Eddie said, his eyes once again meeting Richie's.

"Yeah, 'cause I wouldn't leave you lying down there," Richie said, his voice bordering on pride. "And because the doctors were good at their jobs?"

Eddie thumped one of his hands against Richie's chest. "I don't mean that. I mean…I never told you what gave me the will to live." Eddie had started playing with one of the laces on Richie's hoodie, letting it thread in between his fingers.

Richie blinked at him, not really sure what Eddie was getting at. "No," he finally said. "I guess you didn't."

"Because believe me," Eddie said, swallowing hard, "if knew I was doomed to go back to Myra…I might have checked out then and there. What would even be the point of living only to go back to that? To a life, to a wife I hated. But…I didn't want to leave you." Eddie raised his eyes, holding Richie's gaze firmly. "Not when I just got you back. Not when I just remembered…everything."

Richie blinked, his breath catching in his throat. Even though his relationship with Eddie was slowly becoming his new normal, he still didn't think he'd ever get used to Eddie saying shit like this to him.

"So…I…I mean, you lived for me?" Richie asked quietly.

Eddie smiled. "For you."

"Even before…? Even when we were just still friends?"

"Even before," Eddie repeated. "Because I think…I had this crazy thought down there in the sewer that if we both made it out alive, that I would fucking tell you how I felt. Because we'd lost so much time and came so close to dying too many times to…not take that risk. We killed that fucking clown twice, which is the scariest thing I've ever done in my life by far, and I was afraid to tell you how I felt? It didn't make any sense. I…I think I would have told you even if you hadn't confessed everything to me while I was sleeping. I didn't want to die without you knowing."

"Fuck," Richie said, wrapping his arms around Eddie's back and hugging him tightly. "You're so fucking brave, you know that? You fought back from the brink of death just to…tell me you loved me." Richie let out a soft breath that ruffled through Eddie's hair. "Jesus, did I really mean that much to you?"

"Yes," Eddie insisted, pulling back to stare Richie in the eyes. "You haven't figured that out by now? Do…do I not tell you that enough?"

"No, you do," Richie replied. "It's just…I don't know. I still have a hard time believing that this is happening, you know? That of all the people in the world, you want to be with me. Me. My dumb annoying ass."

"I do," Eddie said, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smile. "No one else. Just you. It's always been you."

"For me too," Richie said, and tried not to focus too much on the fact that Eddie had said I do. That brought Richie's thoughts slamming back to the little ring hiding in his pocket, to the fact that he was about to ask Eddie to marry him, and that Eddie just might say those words to him at some point in the future under completely different circumstances. All of these thoughts swirling around in Richie's mind seemed to make his heart flip over multiple times in his chest.

Oblivious to the fact that Richie might be having a mild heart attack, Eddie tucked his head under Richie's chin and sighed contentedly. "Okay. So maybe this is a little bit romantic."

"Told you," Richie said. "And you had the audacity to doubt me." He pulled away from Eddie, grabbing his hand again and guiding him farther through the woods.

"Well, you know," Eddie said after him. "You're so full of shit half the time, I never know what to believe."

"Only when I'm making jokes! There's a difference."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Neither of them spoke again until they got to the stream and Eddie began to complain again.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered, and Richie felt Eddie's hand clench around his. "Greywater drains into this stream. Fuck, if I fall right now and my scar gets infected, I'm never forgiving you!"

"I told you, I'm never letting you fall," Richie replied. He slowed his walk until Eddie fell into step beside him. Richie then wrapped his arm around Eddie's back, looping it under his arms so that he'd feel more supported.

"So if you go down, I'm going down too," Eddie pointed out, his eyes locked on the rocks and running water underneath his feet. "Why do I let you talk me into this shit?"

"If I go down, you'll fall on top of me," Richie said reassuringly, "and you'll be safe from the spooky greywater."

"I'd knock you down into said greywater right now if I wasn't afraid for my life. And you know what? It's official," Eddie muttered, still not taking his gaze from the path his feet were making through the water. "I've lost my damn mind. I let you talk me into this nonsense, and I've decided I want to move in with you. I'm not firing on all eight cylinders anymore, so be very afraid."

Richie snorted. "When have you ever been firing on all eight cylinders?"

"Fuck off."

"Eds?"

"What?" Eddie snapped.

At long last, Richie stepped onto the soft grass where the stream turned sharply to the right. He turned towards Eddie, carefully helping him with his last few steps across the uneven rocks until he was on solid ground as well.

"We made it," Richie said, grinning and wrapping an arm around Eddie's waist again. "You can stop complaining now."

"We still have to cross it when we go back out, asshole!" Eddie yelled, gesturing back the way they had come. "And I'm never going to stop complaining."

"Okay, good," Richie said. "The only time you've ever stopped complaining in your life was when you were in a medically induced coma, so I'd actually be worried if you stopped."

Eddie narrowed his eyes at Richie. "Do you want to show me something or not?"

"Yeah, I do," Richie said. "I told you, I want to show you a 'staff' infection." He pressed his hips forward into Eddie's once more, just like he had done at the top of the steep hill.

"Oh my god, I get it – 'staff' infection," Eddie muttered, rolling his eyes. "You're so hilarious. And fucking annoying." But Richie didn't miss the tiniest smile that twitched at Eddie's lips, so Richie only ended up wrapping his arms around Eddie even more tightly. "Why are you like this?" Eddie demanded.

"It's what I do when I'm nervous," Richie admitted before he was fully aware of what he was saying. "You know that by now."

A puzzled expression suddenly swept across Eddie's face, his earlier frustration seemingly forgotten. "What the hell are you nervous about? It's not like it's even our first date anymore, and…it's just me. We're never nervous when it's just us. That's why…that's why this works. Because it's comfortable. Because you feel like home."

Richie swallowed hard, his throat feeling tight, and he wasn't sure if it was because of his words or Eddie's. Richie was just suddenly aware that he'd said too much and that his secret was bound to coming spilling out at any moment if he kept up his conversation. Finally relinquishing his hold on Eddie, Richie continued guiding Eddie through the Barrens by the hand.

"You're still not telling me what we're doing?" Eddie asked.

"Nope. You'll see."

"Rich…"

"What?"

"Jesus Christ."

This made Richie smile, because he loved this man so fucking much it almost hurt. How had he forgotten about this for so long? How had he forgotten about Eddie, and the way they always bickered, and the way they fit together like two puzzle pieces, and just Eddie? The bickering that Richie now knew was what they had always done instead of flirt. Richie's dad had always told him that that was what he did with girls in his class that he had liked – teased them – but Richie had never understood that. He didn't even understand it himself when he had first started doing it, because he was doing it with Eddie, and that would have been all kinds of wrong. And it had just become another way for Richie (and apparently Eddie too) to hide what was really going on.

And now…just as Eddie had said, it felt like home. Richie burrowing underneath Eddie's skin, because it kind of felt safe there. When Richie didn't know who the fuck he even was, or how to be comfortable in his own skin, at least he found a home with Eddie somehow. And as much as Eddie would get annoyed and frustrated with him, they both knew it was never really serious, and it would always be forgotten a few minutes later. Lost in the chasm that still existed between them and that had only finally been closed when Eddie had first kissed him in the hospital.

But here they were, still bickering and trying to annoy the shit out of each other, even though they really didn't need to flirt anymore. Or maybe they did and it was part of their courtship. Richie wasn't sure, but either way, it was who they were as a couple. It was who they had been, even back then, and it was comfortable.

"Okay," Richie said when they finally got to their destination. "Wait here for a minute, okay?"

Eddie's eyes went to the hole in the ground and then back up to Richie again. "The clubhouse?" he asked, one of his eyebrows going up.

"Jesus Christ, Eds. Where did you think I was bringing you?" Richie asked. "Did you really think I was going to take you into the sewer for a romantic date or some shit? Or into the quarry so you could get your scar all nice and infected? Where else is there down here that's safe for you right now?"

"I don't know!" Eddie cried, throwing his hands up. "This is a Richie Tozier idea. I never know what the fuck to expect from you."

"Well, close your eyes, okay?"

Eddie huffed out a short breath before crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes.

Fuck, and Richie suddenly felt nervous all over again, even more nervous than he had when he'd admitted it to Eddie. His heart had leapt up into his throat, and Richie could feel his heartbeat pulsing in his ears. He felt very hot all over, even though it was already well into autumn in Maine, and there was a comfortable coolness in the air.

Richie left Eddie standing there before making his way down into the clubhouse, trying his best not to fall down the ladder, because his legs felt like they were full of jelly. Richie was reminded of how he had felt in the hospital right before Eddie had kissed him – scared to death and exhilarated all at the same time.

When Richie set foot on the dirty floor of the clubhouse, he took a moment to try and gather himself. He took a few deep breaths, rubbing his clammy hands on the legs of his jeans. But then when he took a look around at what Ben and Bev had left for them, Richie's heart began to pound all over again. It was everything that he had asked for and more, because apparently they had decided to add a couple strings of little Christmas lights all along the ceiling.

Richie reached a hand underneath his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, feeling a sudden burst of emotion coming on. How had he ever in his life thought that his friends wouldn't accept him for who he was? And not only were they accepting him, but they were doing everything in their power to create romantic date nights for him and Eddie. What the fuck had he ever done to get so lucky? He shook his head to try and quell the feeling before straightening his glasses on his nose.

The Christmas lights weren't on, so Richie found the very end of them where he located a little switch. When he flipped it, they sprung to life, flooding the tiny and gloomy clubhouse with soft white light.

"Oh, shit, fuck," Richie muttered when he took in what else they had set up in the middle of the clubhouse. "Oh my god, what am I doing?" He ran his hands through his hair, trying desperately to keep from freaking the fuck out. He suddenly felt like Eddie on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Rich?" Eddie called to him from up on the forest floor. "Everything okay down there?"

"Yeah," Richie replied, his voice cracking on the word. He cleared his throat and repeated, "Yeah. Come down."

"Do I have to keep my eyes closed for that too?" Eddie asked. "Because I'm liable to break my neck trying to navigate to a massive hole in the ground, let alone tearing my scar wide open."

Richie smiled a little at this and then said, "No, but try not to look until you get down here, okay? Keep your eyes on the wall when you come down."

"On the wall," Eddie repeated as he came over to the ladder. He turned around and dropped to his knees before he started to put his feet on the first rung. He paused then and asked, "You're going to make sure I don't fall, right?"

"I'll never let you fall."

Eddie remained in his position a moment longer before taking a deep breath and slowly descending the ladder. Richie reached up and held his hands just below Eddie in case he started to fall. Then when Eddie was within reach, Richie firmly and comfortably placed his hands on Eddie ass.

"Richie!" Eddie squeaked, freezing in place. One of his hands flew out, probably to try and swat at Richie, but then he thought better of it. He placed it back on the side of the ladder as if he was holding on for dear life.

"What?" Richie asked, trying his best to sound innocent. "I'm making sure you don't fall."

"Fuck you! That's not the way to do it!" Eddie snapped, still slowly coming down the ladder. "You almost made me fall off the ladder, asshole!"

"I would have broken your fall, don't worry."

"Keep it up and I'm going to break you in a minute."

Richie helped him down the last few rungs of the ladder until Eddie was standing on solid ground again. He placed his hands on his knees, taking some deep breaths to try and calm himself from his little scare.

"Can I look now?" Eddie asked when his breathing had evened back out again.

Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie's waist from behind, placing his chin on Eddie's shoulder. "Yeah," Richie whispered in his ear. "Look."

Richie kept his arms around Eddie as they turned around together, Eddie let out a soft breath as he took in the clubhouse around them. His eyes traveled around the ceiling at the Christmas lights, then back to the center of the room where the main attraction was.

Ben and Bev had attained a brand new hammock, bright red in color, and had strung it up between two of the pillars, just like it had been when they were little. This hammock was a little bigger, however, better to accommodate two adults rather than two small and scrawny children.

"Rich," Eddie said, his voice quiet and breathless. "When did you do all this?"

"Again, I can't take the credit for it," Richie admitted. "I told Ben and Bev what I wanted and…they're fucking amazing. We should do something nice for them."

Eddie hummed in agreement before he said, "We're going back to LA, you know." He turned around in Richie's arms, placing his hands on Richie's chest again before he said, "What are you going to do when they're not there to bring your ideas to life?" He was smiling and there was a little glint in his eyes.

"I'm not completely helpless," Richie said. "I'll take it over from here. This was just easier, because I just didn't want you to know what I was planning, and it's hard to keep things quiet when we're living in a single room."

Eddie let out a soft breath before standing up on his tiptoes to press a quick kiss to Richie's lips.

When they broke the kiss, Richie let go of Eddie before going over to the hammock. "Want to sit in the hammock with me?"

"Is…is it safe?" Eddie asked warily. His eyes went up the pillars, carefully examining the way the hammock was affixed to the wood. "That would definitely rip my scar open if it fell while I was on it."

"Perfectly safe," Richie reassured him. "Ben's a fucking architect. Don't you think he knows what he's doing by now? And Ben and Bev both tested it together and they assured me that it's not coming down. And how come you never cared about it falling when you were fighting me for it when we were kids?"

"Because we were kids!" Eddie snapped. He was now pulling at the sides of the hammock and checking to make sure that its fastenings were secure. "Falling a couple feet at thirteen is way fucking different than falling a couple feet at forty! Especially after one of us had a big, gaping hole in his chest."

"I'll test it for you," Richie said, pressing a kiss to Eddie's cheek. He carefully climbed into the hammock and stretched out, just like he used to do when he was little. Then he held his hand out for Eddie. "Come on."

Richie could see Eddie swallowing, his eyes still flitting between the two pillars where the hammock was secured. He slowly stepped forward, placing his hand inside Richie's. A moment later, Eddie carefully and turned and sat down in between Richie's legs.

He apparently wasn't quite ready for the hammock to droop so much, because his hands flew out and his eyes grew as large as quarters. "Oh, shit," Eddie said just before he stilled in the cradle of the hammock.

"You okay?" Richie asked, leaning forward and placing a hand on Eddie's arm.

"Yeah," Eddie said around a gulp of air. "I guess I…you know, kind of forget what it felt like to be in a hammock. It's…been a long time. And I weigh a lot more now than I did when I was thirteen."

"It's all muscle now," Richie said, squeezing Eddie's bicep. "And…was the last time you were in a hammock down here with me?"

"Yeah."

"Me too," Richie said before tugging on Eddie's arm. "Come over here."

It took some maneuvering, but eventually Eddie was seated facing Richie. They had both dropped their legs over the edge of hammock, their feet hanging down towards the ground. Eddie's thighs were over top of Richie, and he was seated in that little space in between Richie's own thighs.

"Remember when you said you first wanted to kiss me when we squeezed into the hammock together?" Richie asked, leaning forward. He placed his hands over top of Eddie's thighs, just like he had wanted to do all those years ago as well. Then he kissed Eddie.

Eddie hummed with pleasure into his mouth, first settling his hands against Richie's chest and then wrapping them around his neck. When Richie broke the kiss and pulled away, he settled his head back against the hammock and stared at Eddie. Because fuck. He didn't think he'd ever be back here – in the hammock in the clubhouse with Eddie actually kissing him instead of just wishing for it. To have Eddie's thighs underneath his hands instead of trying his very best to keep his fucking hands to himself.

"I was almost going to take you to the Kissing Bridge tonight," Richie told him, "but after what happened there the last time, I decided against it."

Eddie hummed in response, smiling. "This is nice too. So are we just going to sit in the hammock and make out all night?" Eddie asked. "Not that I have a problem with that, because I don't." Eddie pressed his lips against Richie's again as if to prove his point.

"That was part of it, yeah," Richie said, grinning as Eddie broke the kiss. "But that's not all of it."

Eddie stared at him. "Don't even think you're going to seduce me in a hammock in this dirty ass clubhouse! Because I shudder to think about what kinds of bacteria and germs are down here, which is the least conducive place for sex, and I'm not supposed to be having sex anyway!"

Richie couldn't help it. He threw his head back against the hammock and laughed. He laughed so hard, it felt like his stomach might explode.

"Shut the fuck up!" Eddie cried, swatting at Richie's chest playfully. "Is having sex with me really that funny?" He was frowning deeply, then he brought his arms up to cross them over his chest.

"No!" Richie cried, wiping away the tears that had started pouring out of the corners of his eyes. "Not at all." He reached out for Eddie's hands, uncrossing his arms and gripping his hands tightly in both of his. "Believe me, if we ever got to that point where we both feel ready, I'd probably die and go to heaven."

Eddie diverted his gaze from Richie's for a moment, frowning a little bit at Richie's words and biting at his bottom lip.

Richie paused for a moment before he quickly added, "Not that I'm not happy now! That's not what I meant. Because I am happy. I told you, I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. We don't have to be having sex for this to be the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Eddie smiled at Richie's words. "I know," he said. "But…you really don't care that I'm not…ready to jump into the bed with you?"

"Fuck no!" Richie exclaimed. "I told you, if all we ever do is share a mattress – or a hammock – I will die a happy man. Okay? I've been a sexually repressed gay guy for forty fucking years. I want you to take as long as you need, because believe me, I'm perfectly okay with waiting. And I'm more than happy with what we're doing now."

"Me too."

"And why do you always act like I don't know you?" Richie asked dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. "Like I would try and seduce you down here of all places. Trust me, I have no desire to give you a fucking panic attack while we're trying to get it on."

Eddie let out a soft laugh before he asked, "So what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Richie said, drawing out the sound to try and give himself a moment to gather his thoughts. "I was just thinking about some things and…I wanted to tell you something."

"Tell me what?"

"I just…know you've been sort of unsure about whether or not this is really what I want."

"Richie, I'm not…" Eddie began, but then he stopped, pressing his mouth closed. Then he closed his eyes before he said, "No. No secrets, right?"

"No secrets."

"Okay, so I am," Eddie admitted, opening his eyes again. "I get fucking worried about losing shit like this. I worry about losing things that make me happy and…I worry about losing the best fucking thing that's ever happened to me. But that has nothing to do with you, okay? It just has everything to do with my mother and…I'm trying my fucking best to accept the fact that you're not like that. I know you're not. You're not like her and you never will be."

"I'm not," Richie repeated. He suddenly let go of Eddie's thigh and reached underneath Eddie's leg. Richie squirmed a bit to fit his hand into his pocket from this position, but he finally did, enclosing his hand around the little velvet box there.

Eddie watched him curiously as Richie freed the ring from his pocket and held the box up for Eddie.

"Oh," Eddie whispered, his mouth hanging open.

"I want you know that I'm committed to this," Richie said, trying his very best to keep his voice and his hand from trembling. "I'm committed to you. I'm committed to us. I'm not going to give up and run away if shit gets hard, because…that's all I've been doing my entire life. Running away, and I'm tired of it. I'm certainly not going to run away from the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I…just want to be me. And Richie Tozier wants to marry Eddie Kaspbrak. If you'll have him." Richie held his breath as he reached up with his other hand to open the box, revealing the silver and fire opal ring inside. He looked back up at Eddie and asked, "Marry me?"

"Oh, shit," Eddie gasped, his eyes wide and his mouth still hanging open. His expression hadn't changed throughout Richie's speech, and Richie was really beginning to wish that Eddie would give him some kind of sign as to his thoughts right now.

But this was Eddie, and Eddie was going to leave Richie out to dry for a little while longer.

"Rich…" Eddie gasped out, his eyes going to the ring box in Richie's hand and then back up to Richie's face. "When did you get this?"

"This is what I was doing when I said I was at Mike's," Richie finally admitted. "I was shopping for your ring."

That faint frown line appeared in between Eddie's eyebrows and he asked, "So you lied to me?"

Richie swallowed hard, his stomach flipping uncomfortably. "Um…well, yeah, I did, but…I just wanted to surprise you, and I didn't know how and-"

Eddie's frown suddenly gave way to a grin and he snickered. "I was teasing. Relax. A surprise like this is a perfectly acceptable reason to make up a stupid lie."

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Richie said. He let his head drop back against the hammock, staring up at the ceiling of the clubhouse. "You know, I'm already enough of a nervous wreck. You don't have to try to give me a heart attack too. I already kind of had a small one of those today. Shit."

"You know I had to try and get you back for dragging me down here."

"So is this not a good enough reason to drag you down here?"

Eddie was still smiling and then he leaned forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Richie's neck. Eddie didn't say anything, but he just held Richie, turning his head to place little kisses along Richie's cheek.

"So…um," Richie asked, still slightly perturbed at Eddie's lack of an answer, "is that a yes or what?"

Eddie shook slightly against him, and Richie wasn't sure if it was from laughter or from tears. Maybe it was a little bit of both. Eddie pulled away, still keeping his arms around Richie's neck as he smiled down at him. Just as Richie had suspected, there was the glimmer of tears in his eyes.

"It's a yes," Eddie whispered.

All at once, Richie's heart felt like it had plummeted down into his stomach before it settled back into his chest and started beating normally again. "Yeah?" Richie asked hopefully.

"Yes," Eddie said again, his tears now evident in his voice.

"You…you don't think I'm crazy for not waiting until your divorce goes through?" Richie asked. "You don't think I'm rushing things or-"

Eddie placed a finger over Richie's lips to silence him. "I told you this morning back at the inn," Eddie told him. "Things are moving fast, but…that's okay. I mean, it's been a long time coming, you know? We didn't just…start feeling these things overnight."

"But you know what I realized?" Richie asked. "You know why I really wanted to do this?"

"Hm?"

"Yeah, I was always in love with you," Richie said. "I told you, I have been basically forever, but…that was when we were kids. We were different people then. I've kind of realized that we really didn't know each other as adults, and since we've been back in Derry…" Richie paused for a moment, taking one of Eddie's hands in his free one. "I've fallen in love with you all over again." Richie let out a soft breath before he added, "I didn't even think it was possible to fall this much more in love with you."

Eddie's chest was heaving slightly from emotion, and he leaned forward again, pressing his lips against Richie's. Richie could feel the tears that had been clinging to Eddie's lips, sliding between their skin, could taste them, salty on his tongue.

"I didn't either," Eddie whispered against his lips. He pulled back slightly before he added, "I thought what I felt when I was thirteen was intense, but…shit. It was nothing compared to this."

"Nothing."

"Is it wrong to say that I didn't know what love was until now?" Eddie asked. "Because I'm sure I did. I can't describe what I felt for you back then as anything but love, but…"

"I know," Richie agreed, his free hand drifting across Eddie's thigh to grip his waist.

"So are you going to put it on or what?"

"Oh, shit," Richie said, the ring momentarily forgotten in his euphoria from Eddie's answer. Eddie pulled back farther as Richie fumbled with the box, pulling the ring from its velvet cocoon. Richie let the little box drop to his lap while he sought out Eddie's left hand with his free one. But then he paused and said, "Look on the inside."

Eddie took the ring from Richie for a moment, slowly turning it over in his fingers. "R+E," Eddie said quietly. And then he added, "And a heart on the other side." His voice cracked on the word heart. He pressed his lips together to keep them from quivering before handing the ring back over to Richie.

Richie's hands were shaking again, especially when he glanced up into Eddie's face and found his eyes swimming with more tears. But then as Richie slid the ring onto Eddie's finger, he could feel Eddie's hand shaking in his, so at least he wasn't alone.

"Do…do you like it?" Richie asked nervously, still not sure if he had chosen the right ring or not. "Does it fit okay? If it doesn't, the lady said we could bring it back to get it resized-"

"It's beautiful, Rich," Eddie said, sniffling and holding his hand out to stare at the ring. "I love it. You know what I like. It's fucking perfect. And it fits perfect."

"I wasn't sure, because…I told you," Richie said, still stumbling over his words, because he was still in shock. "I knew what you liked when we were kids, but…I've been getting to know you now, and…I wasn't sure."

"I love it," Eddie repeated, leaning forward and kissing Richie so fiercely, Richie thought his brain might have broken at some point. None of this seemed real. None of this felt like it was actually happening to him, because shit like this never happened to him. Ever.

Eddie leaned forward into Richie's chest, laying his head and his left hand there, his ring glinting softly in the white Christmas lights. Eddie wound his other arm around Richie's waist, hugging him tightly. "I love you," Eddie whispered.

"I love you," Richie said, wrapping his arms tightly around Eddie.

Richie took a moment to look down at Eddie in his arms then, at the ring sitting around Eddie's finger. The ring that Richie had bought him, and Richie didn't think he'd ever been happier in his life than he was right then. He also didn't think he'd ever tire of simply staring at the ring on Eddie's finger, knowing that Eddie fucking wanted him out of all the people in the world. Richie suddenly wanted to capture to moment, so he reached into his other pocket, fishing out his phone.

Eddie glanced up for a moment before he asked, "Are you taking a picture?"

"Yeah," Richie said. "Don't move."

Eddie tucked his head back underneath Richie's chin, a smile growing over his mouth. Richie laid his cheek over Eddie's head to get in the frame and squeezed his shoulders tightly. Richie made sure to get Eddie's ring in the frame too and smiled softly before snapping the picture. Then he held it up for Eddie to see.

"Mm," Eddie hummed sleepily. "You look happy."

"You do too," Richie said. A moment later, he laughed as a thought struck him. "Should we send this to Myra, do you think?"

Eddie snorted against Richie's chest. "Yeah, okay. If you really want her to kill me, because she'll probably chop me up into tiny little pieces for this."

"You watch too much true crime shit, Eds." Richie paused, looking at the menu on his phone. He had the most absurd idea ever. "What about Twitter?"

"What?" Eddie asked, lifting his head to stare at Richie. "You can't possibly be serious."

"With like a little caption that says, 'In case you've been wondering where I've been, I got engaged! Isn't he cute?!'" Richie suggested.

"Rich," Eddie said, placing both hands on Richie's chest and holding his gaze. "You know I support whatever it is you want to do, but…don't you think some formal announcement or some shit would be best?" Eddie eyed Richie's phone out of the corner of his eye. "All hell might break loose. Are you really ready for that?"

"No," Richie said around a sigh. "Not really. Sometimes I just really wish it was that easy, you know? That I could post this sort of thing like normal people without having to think about it. But you're right. And my manager would really want to kill me too if I suddenly fucking came out on Twitter without warning. I'm just…it's because I'm excited and I want to scream it from the rooftops that you said yes. That you're making my fucking dream come true."

Eddie giggled, tucking his head back underneath Richie's chin. "Mine too."

"I'm going to make you the happiest man on the face of the earth," Richie promised, tightening his free arm around Eddie's shoulders.

"You already have," Eddie replied, squeezing his own arm around Richie's waist. Then he suggested, "You could send it to the rest of the Losers. And send me a copy."

So that was what Richie did. He sent it off to each of the Losers with the caption, "He said yes!" It wasn't the rest of the world, but for now, it didn't really matter. It didn't matter, because Eddie was his fiancé, and that was all Richie had ever fucking wanted in his life. Except for marrying him, but that would come later.

To be continued…