"Thanks for taking me out on friday, Richie."

"No problemo Eds! Next time you wanna meet up, just say the word!" Richie jokes and dodged out of the way of Eddies tiny little fist. "Richard, don't call me Eds." Eddie reminds him once more and rolls his eyes. "I swear, you're like a little kid."

"And what if i am?" Richie winks.

"Then god help me." Eddie sighs.

The pair continue chatting leisurely, not seeing a tall familiar figure creep behind them, it's face twisted into a grotesque smile.

"Hey fags! How was your date?" Henry Bowers taunts nastily, pushing Eddie from behind, the weight of his backpack causing the brunette to land face-first onto the cold dirty floor.

Eddie being Eddie, quickly shrugged off his huge backpack and unzipped the compartments, taking out a small bottle of hand sanitizer and squeezing large amounts of the gel onto his hands. "Aww, your little boyfriends got his hand cream out! Whatcha gonna do to me, Fairy boys? Beat me?" Henry continues taunting Richie and Eddie. His blue eyes glimmering with a cold maniac amusement.

"Oh i'll show you what i'm gonna do with you, fuckface Bowers." Richie lets out a yell before his fists comes raining down on Henry's face, the blond getting attacked by Richie straddling him and hurtling more and more insults and harder punches on his face and body.

Richies face is maniac. Droplets of blood decorated Henry's face as he tried to heave himself up. The raven-haired boy was having none of it, refusing to let the blond escape him, he slams Henry back down, hearing the satisfying noise of skin and bone colliding with hard tiled cement.

Henry is tucked in in himself, trying his best to defend his body from the hard punches landed on him by Richie. Once satisfied, Richie stood from Henry's whimpering body and turned around to help Eddie up, cautiously letting Eddie lean on him as they continued the walk towards their english class.

"Are you really okay, Eds? We can skip school and i'll take you to my house to bandage you up." Richie pleads, his warm voice cracking as he gazed down at the scrapes and a particularly nasty long one on the inside of his arm.

"No, Richie. We can't skip school! That'll only add fuel to Henry's fire! and what if he...what if..."

"What if he calls us fairy boy?" Richie finishes for Eddie. The brunette nods silently, almost feeling ashamed for even thinking so. "Ah, fuck him. I don't care what Bowers thinks. I care about you, Eds. If Henry wants to spread rumours and be a little bitch about his beatdown, let him. Whenever he insults you ever again, lackeys with him or not, i will beat the shit out of all of them until their just as bruised and messed up as this damm town." Richie spoke savagely, spittle flying out of his mouth at his passion.

Richie calms down before looking back at Eddie. Into his soft brown eyes that are the same shade of that chocolate ice cream cone he had so many years ago. He even remembered how the chocolate ice cream had made him feel, happy and warm despite it being cold. That's how Eddie made him feel. Despite the cold and cruel world, Eddie was his crutch to recovery, his naked lightbulb in the blind darkness. Eddie was warmth and molten sunshine.

Eddie was everything to Richie and it only took two weeks for him to fall half in love with his adorable boy who loved taking care of others and practically worried about everything. He has tried to deny it of course. But staring into Eddie Kaspbraks bottomless brown orbs now only made it more real, so much more amplified, that he is in love with Eddie. He really is.

In such a short time, this boy has become Richies world. And he can only hope that one day, he would be Eddies too. Nothing but them and the spaces in between.

"Richie..." Richies heart stutters when he feels a soft warm palm resting on his cheek, the radiating heat from that one tiny hand spreading throughout his entire body, magnified and amplified so deliciously that Richie couldn't help but let out a little moan of delight.

Richie opens his eyes to find Eddie staring at him with the most loving expression. Tender and soft, as if he was touching a wild animal. "Richie..." Eddie whispered again and Richie felt his minty breath tickle his sensitive skin. "Eds..." Eddie gulps and Richies intense gaze follows the gulp and stares at his bobbing Adam's apple.

"Let me take care of you, Eddie. Please." Richie begs one more time, raising his arm and grasping gently at the hand on his cheek, the feeling of warmth flooding his cold and bruised hand. Both boys inhale and exhale slowly, the tension so thick, nothing would be able to cut it. Not even metal.

Eddie doesn't say a word but quietly nods his head, letting Richie take the wheel. "Thank you." Richie thanks and does the most absurd thing, but the best, he has ever done.

Richie leans down and kisses Eddies forehead delicately and fleetingly, cradling his smaller hand in his larger hand. Both walk hand in hand together to the parking lot, never knowing just how much their hearts had given in to each other. Never knowing how much trust they both had in one another.

For their hearts loved and built their houses. And their houses were named Eddie and Richie.