The scratch needed about 2 more minutes before it would be fully healed. That's when the wolf's eyes shot open, big glowing yellow eyes, and they were filled with furry. Eddie resisted the urge to jump back and tried to continue the healing process. The eyes landed on Eddie and he went stiff as a board. The boy on the ground let out a deep growl. He swung his arms off the ground, grabbed Eddie's shoulders and threw him off of him.

Eddie flew backwards landing flat on his back with a grunt a couple feet away. His beanie came off on impact, but Eddie hadn't noticed. He was too busy focusing on the pain that reverberated through his body.

Richie jackknifed, snapped upwards into a sitting position and without missing a beat, leaned over, grabbed his glasses and put them on. They were in plain sight, yet Eddie didn't see them. He leaped up and onto his feet, his yellow eyes magnified by the coke lenses of his glasses. They scanned the landscape, eventually falling on Eddie.

A deep, bone shaking growl erupted from his lungs that shook Eddie to the core. The boy leaned down, close enough for Eddie to get a clear view of his sharp fangs, hell, he could even smell his damn breath.

Richie's eyes moved from Eddie's chest up to his head, then he saw something. Something that shook him out of his haze of anger. Richie fell backwards, never breaking eye contact with Eddie.

"O-Okay, this isn't what it seems. I-I can't go back... Please, please don't tell the council" Eddie carefully sat up, worried that he'd spook the other boy.

Richie did a double-take, he shook his head "What? What are you talking about? Fuck the council those guys are a bunch of tree-hugging assholes" he shook his head again. Eddie could practically see the gears turning in his guy's head as he tried to piece together this puzzle.

"S-So you won't tell anyone that I'm here?" Eddie confirmed, he couldn't risk losing this new life he'd just started to live.

His voice seemed distant, "Yeah don't worry". Richie slowly got to his feet, he stood up and dusted himself off. "What are you even doing here? What even are you?" His voice was filled with confusion, yet he still offered his hand out to help Eddie up.

Eddie looked at the hand for a moment before he grabbed it hesitantly, Richie hoisted him to his feet. "I'm a hybrid. If you couldn't already tell" He gestured to the perky bunny ears, his cheeks reddened at the sudden attention they got.

Richie looked at them, mesmerized by the way they lightly swayed with the breeze, "They're cute" He said without thinking. His eyes went wide when he realized what he'd said, "Wait what the fuck are you doing here?" He quickly changed the subject in hopes that Eddie didn't hear what he'd admitted previously.

Eddie shied away, not only did the compliment make his ears red and his heart skip a beat, but he also didn't want to get into the whole 'if I didn't run away I would've died' thing. So he stayed quiet for a moment, opted to serve the area and make sure no one was watching them. No one was, thank god, even the cop car had disappeared.

"Well?" Richie asked, his patience was slipping as a headache formed around his forehead.

He didn't look up from his shoes, "I... was going to be killed" Eddie grumbled under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"I was gonna be killed" Eddie repeated, only slightly louder than previously.

"one more time" Richie requested, this time he put a hand to his ear.

"The council gave me the death sentence" Eddie snapped, his voice stern and serious. Only now did his gaze meet the one of the taller boys.

Shit, he's tall...

But it kinda suits him

"Fuck dude! What the hell did you do?" Richie asked a tinge of laughter in his voice.

The bunny rubbed the back of his neck, "Can we not get into this, especially here?" He glanced around at the very public area they stood in. "Fuck... I don't even know who you are" He sighed at the realization.

"Shit you're right" Richie almost gasped. He bent over and grabbed his red beanie off the ground, dust and dirt strained its red material, as well as... Blood? "W-What happened?" He breathed.

"Henry knocked you out. Shit! Dude, you're still bleeding" Eddie cursed and jumped up to reach up to Richie's forehead. The wolf swatted the rabbit's hands away and felt the scratch for himself. He looked at his hand and saw the blood.

"Shit... I can't go home like this. My mom would kill me, especially for putting up a fight like that" Richie groaned as he recalled using his strength to nail Bowers with the rocks.

Eddie pulled his beanie back on, "Come to my place" he offered innocently. Sure Eddie had just met this guy but there was obviously more to him then he was leading on. He wasn't even sure if it was just because Richie was an Ancestor, or if it was his contagious laugh, but Eddie had already begun to trust him. Also the wolf was bleeding, and Eddie always had an urge to help the wounded... Just like his father.

Richie's eyebrows scrunched together as he did the same with his beanie, "Listen Bunny, you don't even know me, okay? So don't-".

"I know you're hurt, and I can help! Plus you can't go home like that, your mom would kill you" Eddie mocked, which earned him a playful shove from Richie.

"God, you're a stubborn little bunny aren't you?" Richie nudged Eddie again.

"Stop calling me that" Eddie rolled his eyes.

"If I knew your name-"

"Eddie. Eddie Kasbrak" he stuck out his hand before him.

Richie's lips curved into a warm smile, he shook his hand "Hiya Eds, I'm Richie Tozier" He said with a wink.

"Uh" Eddie groaned, "Don't call me that".

Richie let out an over dramatic sigh, "uhh, then what can I call you?".

"Eddie?" He suggested.

"Boring" Richie sang out, "Whatever, I'll figure it out as we go. Anyways, you said something about heading back to your place?" Richie offered and Eddie nodded. "Are you sure? What would your parents-"

"I live alone" Eddie stated before Richie could finish his sentence. Then he began to walk, Richie watched only for a moment before catching on and running to catch up to him.

At first Eddie was going to walk Richie all the way back to his place. The walk was about 45 minutes. "No way am I walking that far. My car is parked in the parking lot. I can drive" Richie offered. The idea of stepping into a car stopped Eddie all together, he'd never been in a car before, and the idea terrified him. Fast, metal objects speeding towards an unknown destination. The only stories Eddie had heard of cars were when they hurt someone from the village.

Richie noticed and stopped as well, "You good, Eddie?".

The bunny's eyes were wide as he imagined the car they'd ride in. Some big hunk of junk with dried blood around the tires. He shook at the thought. "I-I... Have never been in one before..." his voice drifted off.

"Oh?" He coaked an eyebrow, "oh..." He said in realization. "It'll be okay. I'll take it easy" He put a reassuring hand on Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie's gaze went from the soft hand on his shoulder to the boy in front of him, "Okay" He whispered.

Richie carefully led Eddie off the school's property and down the street to where he had his car parked. He drove a CJ5 baby blue jeep, "Eddie, this is Roscoe. Roscoe, meet Eddie!" He happily motioned over to his jeep.

"Roscoe?" Eddie asked.

Richie smiled at Eddie, "Yepperoni! She's my baby" he rubbed the hood of the car. "Trust me alright? It'll be a blast" He insisted as he helped Eddie into the car.

At first, Eddie kept his mouth shut. He watched Richie's every move, how his hands held the steering wheel, how he tapped his index fingers on the dash during red lights, and how his eyes always found their way over to the boy in the passenger seat.

"How are you enjoying it?" He asked Eddie after 5 minutes of odd silence. Eddie almost thought he was enjoying it until he noticed how tightly he was clenching his fists. Hesitantly, he opened up his hands and saw the dark red semi-circle marks left on his palms by his fingernails.

Richie noticed this as well, he watched as Eddie examined his hands. He forced his eyes back onto the road right on time, as he didn't notice how quickly he was approaching a red light. He slammed on the breaks and the car slammed to a stop.

Both of the boys were breathing heavily. Richie, because this is a bad habit of his and he's worried that it'll cost him one day. And Eddie because he was sure that this was how he was going to die, he didn't even notice the way his hand had gripped onto Richie's thigh, as if that would've helped him. Richie only noticed when he saw Eddie glancing at it.

He kept his eyes on the light but he moved one of his hands from the steering wheel down to where Eddie gripped his thigh. "Hey... Eddie, It's okay" His voice was calm and warm, like the soothing tea that Eddie's mom used to make to calm his nerves during a thunderstorm.

Richie carefully laid his hand on top of Eddie's tense fingers. Usually if someone he'd just met pulled this move on him, he'd slap their hand away with disgust. This was different, Eddie was different. So he only slightly surprised himself when he pulled Eddie's hand off of his thigh and gently laced their fingers together. "You're okay" Richie assured him again. They spent the rest of the ride like that.

After another five minutes, they finally pulled up to a dead end. Richie looked at Eddie with curiosity as the bunny undid his seatbelt, something he watched Richie do before. "We walk from here," He explained in a soft voice. Eddie slowly slipped his hand out from Richie's grasp and got out of the car, as he tried to make it look like he wasn't terrified of the thing he'd just been sitting in.

Richie noticed almost immediately the way Eddie's mood changed. Inside the car, he was quiet and tense, but not even a minute after they began walking through the forest did Eddie seem lighter. He's in his element. Richie thought and looked around at the forest they were in.

The two walked in comfortable silence through the forest. Eddie led Richie through every twist and turn until he stood in front of an open meadow. "Here she is!" Eddie smiled and opened his arms up wide to gesture at the open field.

"Uhh- Eds there's nothing here" Richie pointed out awkwardly.

"Hm? Oh! Right," Eddie said as if he remembered a vital step of the process. Richie watched the boy turn around and place a hand on something that wasn't there. "Hey, you can trust Richie. He's my friend, I think..." He thought about it before he turned around, "We're friends right?" He asked.

"Yes! We're friends" Richie called out as if he was trying to prove something to some unknown force.

Friends, Richie liked the sound of that.

His face dropped, his mouth turned into a shocked 'O' as he watched a house materialize before his very eyes. "Woah" was the only word he could muster. Finally, he saw the thing that had kept this house a secret, the forcefield. It was almost transparent, but he could vaguely see it reflect the sunlight when he tilted his head.

"Here we are!" Eddie announced.

"Here we are..." Richie repeated and followed Eddie through the forcefield and onto his property. After he stepped inside the house he felt the initial shock of a magically appearing house begin to fade. Eddie ushered Richie into the kitchen. He sat the wolf down at the table and got back to work on healing Richie's cut.

Richie watched in awe as Eddie began to heal his wound. "So what about your family? Are they here with you?" Richie asked at the sound of a seemingly empty house.

"No... It's just me" Eddie ended the conversation pretty quickly as he wasn't in the mood to talk about his overbearing mother or his dead father. He kept his eyes on the healing scar, watching as it slowly stitched itself back together. Once it was done, he leaned away to admire his work.

"It's cool! Really cool..." Richie tried to lighten the mood, so he took his beanie off as a sign of trust. His wolf ears now out in the open.

Eddie noticed the gesture and couldn't help the way his cheeks began to heat up. Carefully, he tugged the beanie off of his head and revealed his two bunny ears. "Wanna see something else?" Eddie asked with a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

Richie only nodded, unsure of what Eddie was planning next. What he didn't expect was for the boy to lift his hands over his head, he stretched and closed his eyes for a moment. Riche couldn't help it as he glanced down and noticed how a part of Eddie's midriff was showing. His cheeks turned the same shade of pink as Eddie's. Once the boy leaned back into a normal stance, he turned around. Richie stared at his back before he noticed something twitch.

"Awwww" Richie cooed at the sight of the small bunny tail that peaked out from his pants, "It's so cute! And small...".

"Small?" Eddie turned on his heels to face Richie, "Compared to what?" He asked with curiosity.

"THIS!" Richie arched his back and hastily moved his shirt and revealed a brown fluffy wolves tail. Which was indeed, much larger than Eddie's.

Eddie laughed at Richie's choice of movements and at how Richie's tail was indeed bigger, and cute. Richie watched for a moment, unable to hold back his own giggles as if Eddie's laughter was contagious.

Once the boys calmed down from their little laughing fit, Eddie took Richie on a tour of his house. He gestured to each room and explained his plans for them, or mentioned how it was empty and he had no clue what to do with it. When they entered Eddie's personal room, Richie noticed the small things he had lying around. Of course, it wasn't much as Eddie had only been living here for a couple of days, but he took note of a couple of books he had, the clothes he had laid out, and the map on the wall.

He examined the piece of paper, tainted yellow with time, and located The All Lands. He tapped it with his index finger "This is where my dad was from".

Eddie noticed that he was looking at the map and walked to stand by his side. "Really? Why'd he leave" He asked cautiously, unsure if this was a touchy subject or not.

The wolf's eyes didn't leave the map "He didn't leave. He was banished" Richie explained solemnly. Shit, maybe this is a touchy subject, Eddie thought as Richie continued "Fell in love with a human, my mother. So the council made him choose. The All Lands, or the love of his life... Who the fuck does that?" Richie turned, only slightly, to look at Eddie, but his eyes were closed, as if he was trying to forget a bad memory.

Eddie opened his mouth to speak when Richie opened his eyes, "But it's fine... Hey if they never left that shithole they would've never had me. That would've been a travesty."

"Yeah... Sure" Eddie rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide the hint of amusement that settled over his face.

This earned him a playful nudge from Richie, "oh come on Eddie Spaghetti, you love me" he drags out the O in love. Just the mention of the L Word made Eddie's heart skip a beat. Yes he knew that they just met, and they were just friends, but he still blushed. He tried to hide it by looking at the map, mirroring Richie.

They stood in a comfortable silence for a couple of moments. "My dad was killed at the hands of the council" He took a shaky breath and continued, "He helped a human who was dying. They claimed he put our village at risk, Everfalls" Eddie points to his village on the map. He's never had to tell anyone about his father before, since everyone else in the village had already heard the story, and it's not like he wanted to talk about it. Richie had told him his story, so he thought it was only right that he tells him his story in exchange.

Richie's eyes softened at the news, "Awe, Eds I'm sorry about-"

Eddie snapped, "I said, don't call me that" he shook his head then turned and went to go sit on his bed.

The curly-haired boy stood still, frozen in shock as he's never seen Eddie like this. There was a sharp inhale, it pulled Richie out of his thoughts. He tilted his head up to see Eddie's eyes were red with his hand held up over his mouth as he tried to stifle a cry.

The wolf acted quickly, he sat on the bunny's bed and slid towards him. He wrapped an arm around Eddie's shoulder, he desperately wanted to pull him closer and hold him close. He forced himself not to.

Richie you literally just met this guy, so take it easy. Plus he's probably straight. You're not lucky enough to find a guy who shares the same secret as you and have him be gay. No way.

So he just opted for the shoulder hug. It was Eddie who made the move and leaned in, he rested his head on Richie's chest. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him, it filled him with warmth.

Eddie tried so hard not to cry, but he couldn't hold the tears back any longer. He had cried over his father's death back when it happened, but he never had a shoulder to lean on. Sure his mother would envelop him in one of her rib crushing hugs, but those were always for her own sake. So when Richie sat down and put his arm around him, he knew he couldn't stop the waterworks. Someone had finally offered him that shoulder he craved.

"I-I'm sorry I shouldn't get so worked up over this" Eddie sniffled and tried to pull back and out of Richie's grasp.

"Eddie, it's okay, ya know, to cry. You've gotta do it at some point" Richie looked down at him and with one hand he pushed his big glasses up the bridge of his nose. The shorter boy opened his mouth to protest but Richie had already wrapped him up again, instead Eddie let out a shaky breath. "It's okay, you're okay..." Richie whispered to him while he rubbed circles into his back. Eddie melted into his touch. 

Word Count: 3220

I adore these boys so much! I had a blast writing this chapter, especially the scene where they're comparing tails lol.

I hope that you guys are enjoying this fan fic as much as I am! Don't forget to like comment and share, it's a great way to show your support and it inspires me to keep writing. 

That's all from me, I will see y'all next week with chapter 5!

Until next time 

So Long and Goodnight.