Richie rolled over his bed, grabbing the clock sitting on the desk near him.

2am

One thought that never once existed before crossed his mind, he'd very much rather be having a nightmare than not being able to sleep at all.

The reason behind his insomnia was embarrassing for him to admit, but he couldn't ignore it.

The remote possibility of Eddie Kaspbrak being gay made his bones shiver. He should be glad. He should be relieved while entertaining that idea, however, he was more terrified than ever.

If Eddie were just like him, then it'd be real. Not the possibility of them being together, of Eddie letting Richie hold his hand, or letting Richie kiss him while watching a dumb movie, but the possibility of being rejected.

While the image of Eddie was heterosexual in his brain, he didn't have to worry further than hiding his feelings.

After the conversation with Beverly, and Stanley, new worries kept on popping up in his mind, and he had no clue how to stop them.

He could bare seeing Eddie with a girl, but he wouldn't know what to do if he saw Eddie holding hands with another boy. His heart trembled picturing the scenario.

Being rejected because Eddie didn't like boys seemed comforting. Being rejected because Eddie didn't like him would be enough to kill him in the spot.

He didn't know what to do to get his mind out of it, so he didn't do anything. He laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, until the sun shone through the thin light blue curtains of his room.

He sat in his bed starring at the wall, grabbed the telephone, and dialed up Stan's number.

"Hello?" A very sleepy voice picked up.

"Hey!"

"It's seven in the morning, and it's a Saturday, you better have an amazing excuse, Richard, or I'll kill you."

"Come on, I can hear the birds already! What do you say we go out to watch some birds shit or something?"

"You want to go birdwatching?" Stan asked reluctantly.

"Yeah," Richie smiled to himself.

"Give me ten minutes!"

*****

Eddie Kaspbrak didn't enjoy waking up early on a Saturday. He usually didn't wake up early on Saturdays, however, his mother had asked him to go to the pharmacy as soon as it opened to grab her some new medication that allegedly would help her lose some weight.

And, the pharmacy opened as soon as the clock hit seven and thirty. The streets were mostly empty, but even so, Eddie didn't feel like risking crossing paths with anyone. He took a short cut.

The walk was silent. He could enjoy the sun on his face, the comforting loneliness, and the sound of the small birds singing. Amongst the silence, he heard giggles, and those certainly weren't coming from any bird.

Then, it hit him. He knew those giggles. He didn't have to see anyone to know those were Richie Tozier's giggles. He turned around, searching for his friend, unsure as to why Richie would even get up at such an early hour on a Saturday.

Richie never woke up early, not even when he had to. It didn't make sense, but Eddie was so certain of it he'd bet his life in the matter. 

When he heard another very familiar voice saying:

"Stop being such a dick, Rich, you'll scare the birds away!"

Eddie hid behind a tall tree.

He couldn't explain why he hid himself, but he did, and he remained hidden while he counted to fifty. There was no reason to be nervous. It was Stan, and Richie, those were his friends, yet he couldn't help as he struggled to breathe.

Eddie knew about Stan. Bill had told him a while ago, and made him promise not to tell anyone about it, so he didn't. Sometimes, he wanted to hug Stan, and tell him things were going to be fine, and tell him Bill was as lost, and confused in the narrative as he was, still, no matter how much he wanted to, he had made a promise he couldn't break.

He also knew Bill was going out with Mike. It didn't take much to put those pieces together, even though Bill hadn't told him yet.

So, it was possible Stan was going out with Richie.

He stopped at the thought.

He had never considered the option that Richie liked boys, just as he had never considered Bill, or Stan, or Mike. To be honest, Eddie never stopped to consider the option that they liked girls either. He ignored the topic for all those years, but now it seemed to logical to drive to the conclusion that Richie liked boys.

It made sense, in a weird way. Even if Richie never told him anything that could back up that idea, something inside Eddie knew it was true, and Eddie didn't dare doubt his own intuition.

The thought that Richie could be dating Stan bothered him. He didn't think much as to why in the moment, it didn't seem to matter much or to make a difference, so he brushed it away.

As soon as he regained the capability to breathe, and felt his heart beating correctly again, he fled as quickly as he could, heading straight to the pharmacy, pretending he had never heard Richie, and Stanley laughing together that morning.

On the way back home, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about what he had heard earlier.

Why did Richie wake up so early just to go birdwatching with Stanley? Richie didn't even like birdwatching! Eddie knew Richie thought birds weren't even real, he had said more than once that birds were just robots set up by the government to spy on everyone. So, why was he there? 

He couldn't be dating Stanley. He would have told Eddie if he was dating Stan, or if he was dating anyone else, as a matter of fact.

Eddie was usually someone who thought about every single thing he would do, and would say, but this time he didn't think much. Fairly, he didn't think at all.

He dropped the medicine at his house, told his mom he was going to library, and went over to Richie's place. He knew no one was home, so he sat in the stairs in front of it, and waited.

•••••••••••••
I was going to upload this chap was a Christmas's gift, but I ended up not finishing it in time oops. Hey! Now we have Eddie's POV as well, how fun is that?
Hope you enjoyed it, leave a comment, and a vote!
Love,
Liv💞