p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Nunito,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Game Day/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hello, my adoring fans. Don't ask for autographs, I have a hand injury from last night with our dear Eddie's mother."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ew, shut the hell up, Richie."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Aw, Eddie-spaghetti, it's alright to be sad when you hear me make sweet love to your mother, but don't let it affect you all day, okay, champ?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Richie, why are you always fucking late?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie hated how Richie always showed up five to ten minutes later than he promised. Once he had told Richie to show up to a movie at three and he rolled into the movie exactly forty minutes late, calling out for Eddie so he knew where to sit. To say the least, he managed to not shut up and ruin the entire ending for everyone as he goofed off. That was just one of the hundreds of times Richie had been too focused on being the center of Eddie's attention to see that Eddie didn't want the spotlight on either of them. The entire relationship that exists between the two young teens was Richie silently pleading for Eddie's love while Eddie was annoyed with Richie; an unfortunate set of misunderstandings that were years long. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I set no alarms, forgot to pack until I woke up, and still had to take time to make breakfast for myself. I am here though, so I consider this event already a success."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The other Losers simply rolled their eyes and told Richie to 'beep beep' as he forced his way into the hammock, ignoring Eddie's insistence for him to sit elsewhere. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Richie, I swear to god, can you for once sit somewhere that isn't next to me? We do this every game day and you ruin every game by whispering weird shit into my ear. Last time it was about nachos being the murder victims of tacos."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, but you'll need to know the important facts I share with you. They may save your life someday when the angry parent of a nacho come to murder you."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie just looked at Richie, who was now laying in the hammock across from him with a look of pure disbelief at how stupid his best friend could really be. Beverly just sighed and decided to ignore their abnormal dynamic by moving on./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Alright, let's start our official Losers Club game day with the classic: Monopoly. The four we have playing today would be Stanley, Mike, Richie, and myself. Bill and Eddie will be doing properties and the bank. I will be ensuring a fair game."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Damn, I was hoping to get payback for Eds here stealing my dear Park Place last month."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How can you remember that stupid fact but not to set an alarm?!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie's comment earned some laughter from the Losers as he started to deal out money while Bill gave out characters./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie and Richie constantly were the dog and the thimble. Richie chose the dog because he liked the wild aspect of being an animal and Eddie chose the thimble because it reminded him of how he kept the others safe from harm. Of course, once he was mindlessly messing with the thimble in his hands, he realized that he wasn't even playing this time, so he set it back down. Richie saw this all happening as his eyes never strayed from Eddie for longer than a few minutes when they were together. He grabbed the thimble and put it on start. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I will be playing for m'lady Eds. May his blessing be upon me as I try to champion this real estate game in his honor."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie was annoyed as usual but also, he felt a strange note in his mind, as if a part of him actually liked Richie as a knight courting him. So he chose the neutral answer instead of a harsher one./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Beep beep, Richie."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie knew that Eddie wasn't actually angry when he said 'beep beep' so he took that small acknowledgement as his proudest action yet. He smirked as the game started. The Losers were mean and serious when they played Monopoly; whoever won got the best sleeping spot, which was the hammock. So far, Eddie had the most times won in the hammock because his skills in finance and property control were so much better than the others. Richie, using his skills of randomness, had never won the game. He knew that sleeping on the floor wasn't that big of a deal, but to him, seeing Eddie sleep alone in the moonlight with a frown on his face wasn't acceptable. So for the first time ever, he wanted to take this as seriously as Eddie did./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My dear lady Eddie-rella, can I please have the deed I just purchased?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie was shocked to see that Richie had purchased the spot he never used to buy because he said it 'wasn't cool like the others.' But as Eddie leaned over to hand Richie the property, Richie whispered to him quickly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Blink once if I should buy all of the greens and twice if I should get the oranges."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie sat back slowly, thinking about his usual plan that he used to win, and then he blinked twice very deliberately. Beverly wasn't sure what had just happened, so she ignored it and didn't even realize that Richie had just cheated. She assumed he was whispering sweet garbage into Eddie's mind like usual. Beverly knew about Richie's sexuality and his serious love for Eddie but never said anything towards them in front of the others. She respected Richie for having to take his time to realize how to say it to everyone and she felt very proud to be the first person he ever told because he was a good person behind his huge glasses and poor respect for seriousness. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"An hour passed as the game proceeded and in a miraculous turn of events, it was down to just Stanley and Richie. Richie had bought the best properties he could and invested in houses and hotels while Stanley had focused into three key things; railroads, companies, and the blue properties. Richie was holding the dice, knowing fully well that if he landed on either Park Place or Boardwalk, it would be the end of the game. So he led the dice out to Eddie, checking with Beverly if it was okay with her for him to get some luck. She just shrugged and Stanley didn't seem to care as he was counting his money to see if he could survive Richie's hotels on the light blue section. Eddie had no idea why, but he felt a skip in his heart as he rolled his eyes and blew on the dice. Richie's pleased expression earned another jolt through Eddie's soul. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""With this roll, I will become your knight in shining armor!"/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The other Losers had been excited by the way Richie and Stanley had been playing, so the tension was turned into crazed cheers and chatter as the dice landed perfectly for Richie to get double on Start and avoid the other properties. Stanley had counted his money to realize that it would make no sense to try and fight it if Richie had succeeded in dodging his treasured hotels, so he did what he found to be sensible./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Richie, I don't know how, but you win. I don't think I need to keep playing to know I'd lose."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie's entire face was covered in a grin as he sprung up. Eddie's laughter reminded Richie why he had done it all. So he walked around to where Eddie had stood up to help Bill put away the pieces and got down on his knee. Beverly almost spit out the soda she had been drinking and the other Losers all paused to see what new teasing Richie had developed for Eddie. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My fair lady, I have quested far in the world of metropolitan real estate to claim for you a fine white hammock for tonight's feast. Please accept my humble offering and dub me as your favorite Loser."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The others laughed, thinking Richie was kidding, only Eddie remained silent. That's because he saw the way Richie's face faltered for a moment, wincing as his friends thought his true affections were more of his jokester personality. Eddie didn't know what he was thinking, but he knew that deep down, Richie really had planned to win the hammock just for him. He knew that the dirt and spiders bothered him; the hammock was his safest place in the clubhouse. He placed an arm down, tapping one of Richie's shoulders, then the other as his huge eyes shot up to face the little prince he was being touched by. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I dub thee, my favorite Loser and knight. Stand now, sir Richard, for my noble blessing."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie almost forgot to move; having your crush play into a fantasy you had created for them made him freak out internally. As he finally managed to stand up straight, Eddie made the choice to tease Richie back for all those years of fake sex jokes. He kissed Richie's cheek quickly and then stepped back to see how disgusted Richie would be so he could laugh. Eddie didn't realize in his childish act that Richie was gone with that act. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Eddie. Did you just kiss me?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie never understood Richie's emotions fully but he could see clearly that Richie was deadly serious at that moment. The other Losers had stopped moving completely, opting to watch what was about to happen between Richie and Eddie. Half of them suspected this would end in tears, the other half in anger and yelling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, my lips aren't just for your sister. I think I'll try them out on your mo-"/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie didn't know his body could move that fast without giving him a heart attack, but he did. His hand moved to cup Eddie's still chattering face and forcefully placed his lips onto Eddie's mouth. The gasps and sudden reactions of the others happened while Eddie lost his mind. He had not expected this to be what Richie did, he wasn't gay because he liked a few girls and he didn't want to give his first true kiss to Richie the trashmouth...but he also felt something in him accept that the unsteady heartbeat, the changed attitude where he joked back with Richie more, and the kiss on the cheek, were things he liked. He enjoyed Richie's company and he cared for him more than the other Losers. So in the heat of the moment, he kissed back, earning an encore of shock from the Losers as they watched Richie and Eddie make out until they had to stop for air. Beverly couldn't contain herself anymore, so she broke the lustful silence between the two. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You guys are Reddie! Richie plus Eddie is Reddie."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie only turned to face Beverly and spoke in a calm, gentle voice that nobody had seen Richie use before; it was a product of losing his tense feeling for having secrets from Eddie and from his closest friends./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That's cute, right Eds?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie didn't realize it, but seeing Richie turn back to him smiling only for his face to drop instantly and his hands to cup Eddie's cheeks made the little teen know he was crying. He crumpled forwards into Richie's arms for comfort while the others all came over to place supportive hands on Eddie. Something they usually did to feel better was all hug, but the others knew he had chosen Richie for that moment. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, Eddie, what's wrong?! Oh shit, fuck...I took your first kiss didn't I?! I'm sorry."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It wasn't often that Richie would apologize and that only made Eddie's sobs grow stronger and louder. It left Richie broken to think that his usually loud and fun personality disappearing to a serious and flirty one that did selfish things made Eddie so upset. Eddie finally took a deep gulp of air and told Richie why he was crying./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I d-don't want my m-mom to kick me o-out for liking you."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, Eddie, I'd take you home in a heartbeat if that happened. I make big jokes about it but seriously, fuck your mother. She's messing you up with the placebos and lies about your health. I probably shouldn't focus on this after kissing you, but I like you too. I like you so much that sometimes I forget to breathe when we touch. I like you so much that I crash my bike while thinking about you. I like you so much that I want to be with you."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie couldn't help but caress Eddie's soft freckles as he wiped away silent tears. He knew that he had already passed the threshold of being honest, so he asked the question he had rehearsed for years without ever planning to actually say it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Eddie Kaspbrak, I've been in love with you for so many years, so will you go out with me on a real date?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie's tears still existed, but he knew that they weren't a bad thing anymore. Sure, he was scared as hell that Richie was still joking or that Bowers or his mom would kill them both if they did go out in public together, but he didn't care in the moment. All he had to know was Richie actually loved him and cared for him and wanted to be with him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-7e5bd8ec-7fff-5556-f4fe-fa98e70ce70c"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'd love to, Richie Tozier."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hello, my adoring fans. Don't ask for autographs, I have a hand injury from last night with our dear Eddie's mother."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ew, shut the hell up, Richie."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Aw, Eddie-spaghetti, it's alright to be sad when you hear me make sweet love to your mother, but don't let it affect you all day, okay, champ?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Richie, why are you always fucking late?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie hated how Richie always showed up five to ten minutes later than he promised. Once he had told Richie to show up to a movie at three and he rolled into the movie exactly forty minutes late, calling out for Eddie so he knew where to sit. To say the least, he managed to not shut up and ruin the entire ending for everyone as he goofed off. That was just one of the hundreds of times Richie had been too focused on being the center of Eddie's attention to see that Eddie didn't want the spotlight on either of them. The entire relationship that exists between the two young teens was Richie silently pleading for Eddie's love while Eddie was annoyed with Richie; an unfortunate set of misunderstandings that were years long. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I set no alarms, forgot to pack until I woke up, and still had to take time to make breakfast for myself. I am here though, so I consider this event already a success."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The other Losers simply rolled their eyes and told Richie to 'beep beep' as he forced his way into the hammock, ignoring Eddie's insistence for him to sit elsewhere. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Richie, I swear to god, can you for once sit somewhere that isn't next to me? We do this every game day and you ruin every game by whispering weird shit into my ear. Last time it was about nachos being the murder victims of tacos."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ah, but you'll need to know the important facts I share with you. They may save your life someday when the angry parent of a nacho come to murder you."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie just looked at Richie, who was now laying in the hammock across from him with a look of pure disbelief at how stupid his best friend could really be. Beverly just sighed and decided to ignore their abnormal dynamic by moving on./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Alright, let's start our official Losers Club game day with the classic: Monopoly. The four we have playing today would be Stanley, Mike, Richie, and myself. Bill and Eddie will be doing properties and the bank. I will be ensuring a fair game."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Damn, I was hoping to get payback for Eds here stealing my dear Park Place last month."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How can you remember that stupid fact but not to set an alarm?!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie's comment earned some laughter from the Losers as he started to deal out money while Bill gave out characters./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie and Richie constantly were the dog and the thimble. Richie chose the dog because he liked the wild aspect of being an animal and Eddie chose the thimble because it reminded him of how he kept the others safe from harm. Of course, once he was mindlessly messing with the thimble in his hands, he realized that he wasn't even playing this time, so he set it back down. Richie saw this all happening as his eyes never strayed from Eddie for longer than a few minutes when they were together. He grabbed the thimble and put it on start. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I will be playing for m'lady Eds. May his blessing be upon me as I try to champion this real estate game in his honor."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie was annoyed as usual but also, he felt a strange note in his mind, as if a part of him actually liked Richie as a knight courting him. So he chose the neutral answer instead of a harsher one./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Beep beep, Richie."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie knew that Eddie wasn't actually angry when he said 'beep beep' so he took that small acknowledgement as his proudest action yet. He smirked as the game started. The Losers were mean and serious when they played Monopoly; whoever won got the best sleeping spot, which was the hammock. So far, Eddie had the most times won in the hammock because his skills in finance and property control were so much better than the others. Richie, using his skills of randomness, had never won the game. He knew that sleeping on the floor wasn't that big of a deal, but to him, seeing Eddie sleep alone in the moonlight with a frown on his face wasn't acceptable. So for the first time ever, he wanted to take this as seriously as Eddie did./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My dear lady Eddie-rella, can I please have the deed I just purchased?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie was shocked to see that Richie had purchased the spot he never used to buy because he said it 'wasn't cool like the others.' But as Eddie leaned over to hand Richie the property, Richie whispered to him quickly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Blink once if I should buy all of the greens and twice if I should get the oranges."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie sat back slowly, thinking about his usual plan that he used to win, and then he blinked twice very deliberately. Beverly wasn't sure what had just happened, so she ignored it and didn't even realize that Richie had just cheated. She assumed he was whispering sweet garbage into Eddie's mind like usual. Beverly knew about Richie's sexuality and his serious love for Eddie but never said anything towards them in front of the others. She respected Richie for having to take his time to realize how to say it to everyone and she felt very proud to be the first person he ever told because he was a good person behind his huge glasses and poor respect for seriousness. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"An hour passed as the game proceeded and in a miraculous turn of events, it was down to just Stanley and Richie. Richie had bought the best properties he could and invested in houses and hotels while Stanley had focused into three key things; railroads, companies, and the blue properties. Richie was holding the dice, knowing fully well that if he landed on either Park Place or Boardwalk, it would be the end of the game. So he led the dice out to Eddie, checking with Beverly if it was okay with her for him to get some luck. She just shrugged and Stanley didn't seem to care as he was counting his money to see if he could survive Richie's hotels on the light blue section. Eddie had no idea why, but he felt a skip in his heart as he rolled his eyes and blew on the dice. Richie's pleased expression earned another jolt through Eddie's soul. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""With this roll, I will become your knight in shining armor!"/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The other Losers had been excited by the way Richie and Stanley had been playing, so the tension was turned into crazed cheers and chatter as the dice landed perfectly for Richie to get double on Start and avoid the other properties. Stanley had counted his money to realize that it would make no sense to try and fight it if Richie had succeeded in dodging his treasured hotels, so he did what he found to be sensible./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Richie, I don't know how, but you win. I don't think I need to keep playing to know I'd lose."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie's entire face was covered in a grin as he sprung up. Eddie's laughter reminded Richie why he had done it all. So he walked around to where Eddie had stood up to help Bill put away the pieces and got down on his knee. Beverly almost spit out the soda she had been drinking and the other Losers all paused to see what new teasing Richie had developed for Eddie. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""My fair lady, I have quested far in the world of metropolitan real estate to claim for you a fine white hammock for tonight's feast. Please accept my humble offering and dub me as your favorite Loser."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The others laughed, thinking Richie was kidding, only Eddie remained silent. That's because he saw the way Richie's face faltered for a moment, wincing as his friends thought his true affections were more of his jokester personality. Eddie didn't know what he was thinking, but he knew that deep down, Richie really had planned to win the hammock just for him. He knew that the dirt and spiders bothered him; the hammock was his safest place in the clubhouse. He placed an arm down, tapping one of Richie's shoulders, then the other as his huge eyes shot up to face the little prince he was being touched by. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I dub thee, my favorite Loser and knight. Stand now, sir Richard, for my noble blessing."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie almost forgot to move; having your crush play into a fantasy you had created for them made him freak out internally. As he finally managed to stand up straight, Eddie made the choice to tease Richie back for all those years of fake sex jokes. He kissed Richie's cheek quickly and then stepped back to see how disgusted Richie would be so he could laugh. Eddie didn't realize in his childish act that Richie was gone with that act. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Eddie. Did you just kiss me?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie never understood Richie's emotions fully but he could see clearly that Richie was deadly serious at that moment. The other Losers had stopped moving completely, opting to watch what was about to happen between Richie and Eddie. Half of them suspected this would end in tears, the other half in anger and yelling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah, my lips aren't just for your sister. I think I'll try them out on your mo-"/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie didn't know his body could move that fast without giving him a heart attack, but he did. His hand moved to cup Eddie's still chattering face and forcefully placed his lips onto Eddie's mouth. The gasps and sudden reactions of the others happened while Eddie lost his mind. He had not expected this to be what Richie did, he wasn't gay because he liked a few girls and he didn't want to give his first true kiss to Richie the trashmouth...but he also felt something in him accept that the unsteady heartbeat, the changed attitude where he joked back with Richie more, and the kiss on the cheek, were things he liked. He enjoyed Richie's company and he cared for him more than the other Losers. So in the heat of the moment, he kissed back, earning an encore of shock from the Losers as they watched Richie and Eddie make out until they had to stop for air. Beverly couldn't contain herself anymore, so she broke the lustful silence between the two. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You guys are Reddie! Richie plus Eddie is Reddie."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie only turned to face Beverly and spoke in a calm, gentle voice that nobody had seen Richie use before; it was a product of losing his tense feeling for having secrets from Eddie and from his closest friends./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That's cute, right Eds?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie didn't realize it, but seeing Richie turn back to him smiling only for his face to drop instantly and his hands to cup Eddie's cheeks made the little teen know he was crying. He crumpled forwards into Richie's arms for comfort while the others all came over to place supportive hands on Eddie. Something they usually did to feel better was all hug, but the others knew he had chosen Richie for that moment. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey, Eddie, what's wrong?! Oh shit, fuck...I took your first kiss didn't I?! I'm sorry."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It wasn't often that Richie would apologize and that only made Eddie's sobs grow stronger and louder. It left Richie broken to think that his usually loud and fun personality disappearing to a serious and flirty one that did selfish things made Eddie so upset. Eddie finally took a deep gulp of air and told Richie why he was crying./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I d-don't want my m-mom to kick me o-out for liking you."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, Eddie, I'd take you home in a heartbeat if that happened. I make big jokes about it but seriously, fuck your mother. She's messing you up with the placebos and lies about your health. I probably shouldn't focus on this after kissing you, but I like you too. I like you so much that sometimes I forget to breathe when we touch. I like you so much that I crash my bike while thinking about you. I like you so much that I want to be with you."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Richie couldn't help but caress Eddie's soft freckles as he wiped away silent tears. He knew that he had already passed the threshold of being honest, so he asked the question he had rehearsed for years without ever planning to actually say it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Eddie Kaspbrak, I've been in love with you for so many years, so will you go out with me on a real date?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora,serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eddie's tears still existed, but he knew that they weren't a bad thing anymore. Sure, he was scared as hell that Richie was still joking or that Bowers or his mom would kill them both if they did go out in public together, but he didn't care in the moment. All he had to know was Richie actually loved him and cared for him and wanted to be with him./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-7e5bd8ec-7fff-5556-f4fe-fa98e70ce70c"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'd love to, Richie Tozier."/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lora, serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"br /span/span/p