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The weeks following their detention had been full of love and laughter for the Losers, but it also included some very emotional moments as well. For Richie and Eddie, most of those moments happened at some god awful hour in the morning when Richie snuck in through his window.
(The first time, of course, Richie had fallen out of the tree he’d tried to climb, but by now, it was second nature.)
It had gotten to the point where Eddie would leave his window unlocked and cracked so that Richie could get in without Eddie having to get out of bed.
Tonight had been different.
Tonight, Eddie hadn’t been asleep -- hadn’t even been trying to sleep. He had been sitting on his bed, ukulele in hand as he tried to find the right chords to finish a song he’d been trying to learn when his window was opened.
“Richie,” Eddie breathed, setting his ukulele down on his bed as he turned to look at him.
“Hey, baby,” Richie mumbled, walking over to the bed and looking down at Eddie with a sigh of relief as his hand moved to Eddie’s cheek. “Was I interrupting you?” He asked. This was a side of Richie only Eddie got to see. He was so soft, so sweet, and Eddie wondered how he could have ever thought bad of him.
“No,” Eddie smiled, closing his eyes when Richie leaned down to kiss him softly. Once they’d pulled away, Richie climbed into the bed as well, sitting facing Eddie with the ukulele between them. He reached out and plucked each string gently before he was looking at his boyfriend -- his boyfriend, he still couldn’t believe it -- with a smile.
“You should play for me,” Richie suggested. They’d been dating for a few weeks at that point but Eddie had still never played for Richie, despite promising time and time again that he would.
“Right now?” Eddie asked, voice trembling slightly at the thought. “I… I don’t know any songs that I can play without singing.”
“Even better,” Richie grinned, picking up the ukulele and holding it out for Eddie. “Sing for me.”
Eddie took the ukulele after a moment of contemplation and nodded his head.
“Okay, sure, but -- but don’t laugh at me. I know I’m not the greatest,” he said quietly, cheeks already pink as he strummed lightly to make sure his ukulele was tuned well enough. He glanced up at Richie through his lashes, then looked back down at his ukulele as he began strumming out chord after chord.
“Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can’t help falling in love with you,” Eddie sang softly, not daring to look up at Richie. He didn’t know if he really wanted to see his reaction to this. His voice was trembling slightly, but the tone came out nearly smooth -- sweet and in a key that was oh so flattering to his range. Richie was so fucking in love with him. “Shall I stay? Would it be a sin if I can’t help falling in love with you?” This time, Eddie did look up at Richie, and the look in his eyes almost made him stop playing because he got so distracted. It wasn’t a bad look, no, quite the opposite. He was looking so fondly, so softly, that Eddie would have thought he was looking at whoever hung the stars in the sky.
Eddie sang through the whole song, barely getting the final word out before Richie was leaning over, kissing him deeply. Eddie giggled against his lips, allowing Richie to take the ukulele from him and set it gently on the floor before they were laying in the bed. Eddie was laying flat on the blankets but Richie was hovering over him, one arm holding himself up while the other hand brushed over Eddie’s cheek.
“I love you,” he said, smiling down at Eddie. “Jesus, fuck, I love you.”
“Yeah?” Eddie said breathlessly, eyes bright as he looked up at Richie.
“Yeah,” Richie responded, and neither of them said another word for a while after.
“I love you too,” Eddie finally whispered, and Richie’s grin grew wider before he leaned down to kiss Eddie once more.
Later on that night, when they were curled up together in the darkness, Richie spoke again.
“You should teach me something,” he mentioned, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile.
“Maybe tomorrow, Trashmouth.”