[ eddie can't breathe. richie knows this, understands it, and yet he isn't willing to let go. there have been so many times (he remembers them now, every single one is coming back to him thanks to those three words) that eddie's said that and it hasn't been true, that he's just been fooling himself into believing he needs help to survive when he's always been brave and strong enough on his own.
richie's face crumples when he feels eddie press against him, and it takes absolutely no time or thought to bring his own hand up to press against the back of the other man's head, cradling him like he might break at any moment. ]
Yes you can, [ he whispers, the words issuing from his mouth at the same time they appear in his mind, along with -
eddie taking his hand as they walk through the streets of derry in the middle of the summer, past crowds of people visiting for the carnival. they're older now, high school seniors, and yet the fear that fills richie's heart is the same as it was that day in the arcade when bowers called him out. ]
Just breathe, Ed. [ richie swallows back the lump in his throat and tries his best not to give away the fact that he's shaking. how could this just disappear? how did he ever allow himself to let go? ] I'm here.
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richie's face crumples when he feels eddie press against him, and it takes absolutely no time or thought to bring his own hand up to press against the back of the other man's head, cradling him like he might break at any moment. ]
Yes you can, [ he whispers, the words issuing from his mouth at the same time they appear in his mind, along with -
eddie taking his hand as they walk through the streets of derry in the middle of the summer, past crowds of people visiting for the carnival. they're older now, high school seniors, and yet the fear that fills richie's heart is the same as it was that day in the arcade when bowers called him out. ]
Just breathe, Ed. [ richie swallows back the lump in his throat and tries his best not to give away the fact that he's shaking. how could this just disappear? how did he ever allow himself to let go? ] I'm here.