To those who wanted some more Reddie, well, here you go :D :D :D
Also, sorry this one took a while! Life has just gone to shit, but either way, we have a lot more of this story to get through, so it's not gonna be over any time soon :D
The very first thing Richie did when he got home was not go lay in his bed, nor did he go and take a shower. He wobbled his scrawny ass straight to the piano and sat down, cracking his knuckles and beginning to play before anyone could stop him. It was sort of difficult for him to do, considering he was used to slouching a bit as he played, and he was stiff straight thanks to the staples in his stomach, and of course because of the sling, but he played, and he played damn good.
"Holy shit." Bill muttered as the rest of the Losers filed in behind the Toziers, having headed this way the second they knew Richie was on the way home.
Richie didn't pay them any mind as he played. He didn't play for long, but he played "Make You Feel My Love" and no one said anything, just watched him quietly. When he stopped and looked up at them they clapped, grinning at him.
"Dude, you're so good!" Ben exclaimed. Richie shrugged a bit, his cheeks turning pink. "No seriously, you've got to play for us again sometime, like the whole song."
"Maybe, yeah." Richie agreed.
"And sing for them!" Bev sing-songed to him, leaning over a bit and resting her head on the top of his. He snorted.
"I don't think I could sing right now if I tried. You know, having had a hole in my diaphragm isn't really helping my singing career." Richie said, reaching up and patting Bev's head. He let out a sigh. "Now, who wants to help me up the stairs and help me shower? Cause I'm not allowed to by myself yet." he grumbled.
"I mean, any of us can help you up the stairs man." Mike said. "It's about who you're comfortable with helping you."
"Oh." Richie bit his lip. "I mean… it doesn't really matter cause I'm gonna wear my boxers so no one sees my junk, you know?"
"Jesus Christ." Eddie face palmed. "I'll help you though, Chee, if you're cool with it."
"Perfectly fine with it Eds." Richie squeaked and Eddie grinned. Bev shook her head at them with a fond smile.
"Well, while you go and get washed up, we're gonna get the couch all made up and comfy for you while your friends are here, since I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in your room." Maggie said, "Unless you'd rather be in your room, because I know that's where you'd all hang out… Which do you want?" she asked her son.
"My room. No offense but that couch is as uncomfortable as Satan's throne and I miss my bed."
"Jesus Christ." Maggie snorted but nodded. "Go take a shower and we'll get your room set up." she told him. He nodded and stood slowly, leaning down a bit and kissing her cheek.
"Thanks, Ma." he said, smiling at her sweetly. She smiled back at him and patted his cheek.
"Of course, Sweetie. Now go wash up, I'm tired of seeing your hair all matted up and gross." Richie rolled his eyes but nodded.
"I'm tired of the feeling." he muttered, making his way towards the stairs. The stairs weren't much of a challenge, it didn't hurt him any, he just got out of breath much quicker, and by the time he and Eddie reached the top, he had to stop and rest for a minute. "This is fucking stupid." he grumbled.
"I know." Eddie leaned his head on his good shoulder. "You'll be as good as new in no time, though, you heard the nurses, they can't believe you were able to go home today."
"I don't feel like it." he huffed. "I feel gross, and not just because I haven't showered."
"Well, I'm sure you will feel better after your shower. You can go ahead to the bathroom and I'll get you some clothes to change into, and I need to go get the plastic wrap and medical tape to put over your bandages." Richie nodded and slowly made his way down the hallway to the bathroom, sitting on the closed toilet lid.
Eddie quickly went and grabbed a pair of sweats, underwear and one of Richie's long sleeved button ups and took them to him, before running downstairs quickly and grabbing what he needed.
When he got back up stairs, Richie was tugging at the strings of his hospital gown, trying to untie them but wasn't getting anywhere. He huffed and looked up at Eddie when he came in.
"I can't even untie my fucking hospital gown, Eddie." he whined.
"That's because those fucking things are pains in the ass in general." Eddie told him, reaching around Richie to untie the top and middle knots of the gown, the bottom one hadn't been tied. "There we go." Eddie helped him take off the sling and Richie let the gown fall off his shoulders.
"I don't think I even need that bitch." Richie said, glaring at the sling. "My shoulder feels fine. It's sore, but not enough to where I need that thing."
"I'd still wear it until Monday." Eddie told him, slightly nervous. "You don't want your shoulder to get all fucked up."
"Okay." Richie agreed. "What do I do in the shower, though?"
"Well it's okay if it's off for a bit, like in the shower, I guess." Eddie shrugged. "I think it'll be fine." he grabbed the hospital gown and pulled it off Richie completely and Richie immediately crossed his arms over himself, trying to hide the ugly, dark purple bruises covering his body.
"Rich." Eddie muttered softly. "You don't have to hide from me."
"I look disgusting, Eddie." Richie sniffed. "The bruises are ugly, the scratches, the cuts."
"You act like I've never seen it before."
"Yeah but not this bad."
"You're right. But you don't look disgusting. You look hurt, you are hurt. It's not your fault. You'll heal, the bruises will fade, the scars will fade, and you'll feel better." Eddie cupped Richie's face in his hands and ran his thumb under Richie's bruised eye. "This will go away, the split lip will go away, the cuts will go away." Eddie smiled at him. "The bruises don't make you ugly. You're beautiful with or without them, Richie. I'd prefer you without them, obviously, because it means your hurt but… you're beautiful no matter what you or anyone else thinks."
"Where has this Eddie been all my life?" Richie whispered, and Eddie thumped him lightly on the forehead.
"You are such an ass. I can and will gladly go back to being an asshole if that's what gets you off." Eddie said, standing up and turning on the water.
"Noooo don't do that." Richie shook his head, reaching up and tugging at the hair tie in his hair until it came out, and his hair fell down to his shoulders, sticking out in random places. "Good God that hurts." he rubbed at his head. Eddie frowned and ran his fingers through Richie's hair as best he could.
"You're gonna need a serious amount of conditioner on that hair." he said. "I'm not even gonna try to get the knots out." Eddie huffed. "Did no one actually think to brush your hair?"
"I was an asshole most of the time, Eds, I don't think anyone wanted to come near me with a hairbrush."
"I would. Fuck all this aftermath shit." Richie snorted. "Alright, well, let's get you armored up, I guess you could say, and then you can get in." Richie had already somehow managed to get out of his sweat pants on his own, before Eddie even got back. So he saw the bruises there too. A walking bruise, Eddie thought. That's pretty much what he is.
Richie just nodded and let Eddie work, his gentle, quick fingers taping the plastic wrap over Richie's bandages in no time.
When he was done, Richie stood up, and carefully stepped into the shower, still in his boxers, of course. He let out a satisfied sigh as the hot water ran over him, on top of his head, his hair getting soaked as well as in his face.
"Goddammit Richie, you're gonna drown yourself with your own hair." Eddie said, reaching in and moving it out of his face. Richie just grinned at him, and wiped at his face to get the water off.
"You have no idea how good this feels, man." Richie said. "I haven't showered in probably two weeks."
"You weren't even in the hospital a week?" Eddie cut his eyes at him. "Richard Wentworth Tozier, I know you didn't go that long without showering."
"I was sad, Eddie." Richie said, shaking his head. "I was sad and didn't feel like doing anything. I barely even ate anything, honestly."
"God, I'm sorry." Eddie bit his lip. "I should have done more. I could have."
"I wouldn't have let you." Richie told him. "Don't sweat it."
"Bull shit." Eddie rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna make it up to you, one way or another." Richie just smiled at him. He sat down on the little seat that was built into the shower and let Eddie get to work. He made sure Richie's hair was completely wet, before grabbing his own bottle of conditioner off the other seat, and poured what seemed like half the bottle into his hand.
"Jesus." Richie muttered.
"You need it." Eddie snorted, and got to work.
Once he was satisfied with the conditioner, he put it in a ponytail to hold his hair out of the way so he could wash Richie's shoulders and back. Richie huffed a little as Eddie ran the wash sudsy wash cloth over his shoulders, annoyed that he physically couldn't do it himself.
Same with his legs. The only thing he could really wash himself was his privates, which, he was glad he could do that and Eddie didn't have to.
"I'll wash the goods before I get out." Richie told him. Eddie rolled his eyes but nodded.
Eddie rinsed the conditioner out and it was much easier to run his fingers through, so he took a comb and ran it through to get extra knots out, and then used shampoo to wash his hair- which he did twice, and then conditioned again but with less product.
As much as Richie hated he couldn't do it himself, he was enjoying himself probably a little too much. He knew this type of thing wouldn't last long, once the staples were out and the incision healed more.
Once Eddie was completely done with Richie's hair and the rest of his body, they looked at each other, Eddie a mostly brown blob to Richie.
"So… how are we gonna do this?" Eddie asked.
"Um… well I know I can get out of my underwear and all…" he said.
"No I know, just… how are we gonna get you dried off?"
"We'll figure it out then?" Richie offered. Eddie snorted but nodded. Richie stood up as Eddie closed the shower curtain and he heard him moving around some, and then heard a lot of water hitting the ground and Eddie realized that Richie was probably ringing his underwear out before he threw them into the hamper. He was correct, and Richie threw the balled up underwear over the shower curtain and into the hamper. "Did I make it?" Richie asked.
"Yeah." Eddie chuckled. He heard Richie whisper "Yes!" and shook his head. He sat where Richie sat earlier, two towels in his lap.
"I can wrap a towel around my waist." Richie told Eddie. "When I'm done, and you can do the top or whatever."
"Okay. I have two towels." Eddie told him. Richie hummed in response, and a minute or so later, the water turned off and he poked his hand out of the curtain. Eddie handed him a towel, and after a couple more minutes, Richie stepped out onto the shower mat. Eddie hopped up and let Richie take his place. Without a word, Eddie unfolded the towel and towel dried Richie's hair a bit, before gently running it over his upper body.
It took a while, and a few tries, but they got him dried off and dressed without any slip ups of any kind. They decided to leave Richie's shirt unbuttoned and let him breathe some, and they were gonna ask Maggie if they needed to uncover his incision for a while
"I need a fuckin' nap." Richie muttered, sitting on the toilet lid again. Eddie chuckled.
"I'll go see if your beds ready." he told him, and kissed his cheek before darting out of the bathroom. Richie smiled.
It didn't take long for Eddie to come back, and when he did, he said,
"This is gonna be heaven for you."
"Oh really?" Richie asked. Eddie nodded.
"Lot of pillows and blankets." he told him. Richie grinned and stood up, and the two made their way to Richie's room, where the rest of the group were waiting with snacks and drinks in hand.
"We're gonna have a movie night." Bill said, bouncing up and down a little. "We haven't had one in a while, so…"
"I'm all for it." Richie said. '"Definitely."
"You guys make sure Richie doesn't bust his ass trying to get into bed again, I'm gonna go ask Maggie if I need to take his bandages off." Eddie said. They either nodded at him or gave him a thumbs up, and he kissed Richie's cheek before darting down the hallway.
"Awe look at him, he's blushing!" Bev cooed. Richie flipped her off and went into his room.
"Goddamn." he muttered, walking to his bed. Eddie wasn't lying. He didn't know there were this many pillows and blankets in the house. He pulled the blankets back, and managed to crawl/scoot his way to the corner where the wall was without bothering his staples. He leaned against the pillow and let out a breath, closing his eyes and resting for a moment. The moment was ruined by Bill, however, who jumped on the bed next to him and asked,
"So, whatcha wanna watch?"
