Keeping Secrets (has Never Been So Hard)

keeping secrets (has never been so hard)

(Okay wow, this ended up being so much longer than I anticipated but I can say it was so much fun to write! It’s just cute and fluffy and very sappy. @croke-park-princess I hope I did this justice and it was what you wanted!)

read it on ao3

Five times Eddie and Richie were almost caught making out, and then one time they were.

1. Mike

“Why are we all the way out here Richie?” Eddie asked, caution evident in his voice as he followed his boyfriend up the hill to the barn that Mike’s uncle owned. “I really don’t want to get into trouble.”

‘Don’t worry Eds, no-one’s up here at this time of day,” Richie informed him as he laced their fingers together, pulling him round to the back of the barn and pushing him up against the wall, hands cupping Eddie’s face as he brought their lips together.

Eddie’s brain short circuited for a moment before he broke the kiss, glaring at Richie, “R-Richie we- we can’t-“

“Sure we can,“ he winked and Eddie just sighed, a small smile playing on his lips before pulling him back in, this time running his tongue over Richie’s bottom lip, coaxing his lips open and his boyfriend eagerly obliged, hands resting on Eddies’ hips, rubbing soft circles into the skin beneath his shirt.

They had only started dating about three months ago. One night, Richie had come to his window just after 2am, after having had a fight with his mother once again about his sexuality. Richie had come out as gay when he was fifteen years old, Eddie being the first person he told when they were lying back on the grass of Eddie’s house, looking at the stars. At that moment Eddie wasn’t sure what his feelings were towards his best friend, but damn he knew they weren’t just platonic.

Eddie was just shy of sixteen when he came out to Richie, although no matter how much he wanted to, he didn’t say anything about how all he wanted to do was kiss that smirk off of Richie’s face.

The night that Richie had come by, he had barely been in the room two minutes before he’d pulled Eddie into a kiss and they’d never looked back. However, none of the other losers knew about their relationship, not yet anyway. Honestly both of the boys weren’t sure how they would react to seeing them as a couple, even though they were all perfectly cool with them being gay.

Richie broke off their kiss gently when the need for oxygen became too much and started a trail of soft kisses down Eddie’s jaw towards his neck when-

“I think I might have left it out back! Let me just go check!” The voice of their friend Mike echoed from around the corner and both boys jumped apart as though they’d been burned, Eddie running a hand through his hair and Richie fixing his glasses just as Mike appeared. He stopped when he saw two of his friends and blinked, “Oh hey guys. What are you two doing here?”

“Oh us? We were just looking for you Mike my man!” Richie stared talking, which always worked when he was trying to get out of a situation. It was a gift he said. “We couldn’t find you and thought maybe you actually fell down one of these holes out here!”

“Well, I didn’t. I’m right here. I just have to grab that bucket right there and then we can go yeah?“ He looked at both of the boys and they nodded simultaneously.

“Yeah, yup, sounds perfect Mike!” Eddie said quickly, cursing himself at how high his voice sounded. Mike just gave them one last look before he picked up the bucket and disappeared back around the corner. Eddie slumped against the wall and sent Richie a glare.

“So close, Richie.” Eddie said and Richie smirked.

“Your mom said the same thing to me last night!” Which earned him a much deserved smack.

2. Bill & Georgie

“This is nice,” Eddie commented as they sat in one of the back booths of the local diner. No-one questions why they are here alone as it was something they always did even before they’d gotten together.

Richie just smiled and sat Eddies plain vanilla milkshake in front of him before he started slurping at his own chocolate fudge one, “I love our friends, but it’s nice to be able to spend time just us.” This was one of the rare occasions that Richie didn’t ruin a moment with some sexual joke or a comment about his mom, instead he glanced around the empty diner and leaned across the table, kissing Eddie on the mouth.

The kiss was so gentle, almost innocent like and it made Eddie close his eyes and lean forward, his hand coming up to rest against Richie’s cheek. He felt Richie’s tongue run along his bottom lip and he parted his lips, extremely glad for the dark booth they were currently occupying.

Eddie was just about to suggest that they finish up here and go back to his house, since his mother was out at some sowing class when he heard a familiar giggle coming from the entrance.

“Bill I want strawberry! Please!” Georgie Denbrough.

“S-s-sure G-Georgie,” came the reply. Bill Debrough.

Richie couldn’t contain his groan as he sat back down at his side of the booth and smacked his head against the table. Eddie sat back and braced himself for the inevitable, which came in the form of Bill’s 10-year old little bother Georgie. “Hi Eddie! Hi Richie!” He yelled when he spotted them and pushed himself into the booth next to Eddie.

Bill joined them a few minutes later with their milkshakes and even Richie couldn’t be mad at the younger Denbrough brother, just like everyone else, he had a soft spot for Georgie.

Everyone knew how protective the losers were over him too, especially after there was a scare a few years ago when he’d been swept up in the storm and into the sewers. Everyone thanked their lucky stars that there was a fisherman down by the barrens that evening who found him and called an ambulance. Bill’s never let him go out and play on his own during a storm again, even if his parents did say that Georgie would have learned from his mistake. He wasn’t taking the risk, and neither were any of the others.

Eddie met Richie’s gaze as he finally looked up from Georgie and he gave him a gentle smile, his leg reaching out to brush along Richie’s. Richie’s breath hitched slightly, unheard by Bill and Georgie and he felt a very faint blush cross his cheeks as the first thought that popped into his head was I love you.

Yeah. He was in love with Eddie Kaspbrak.

3. Beverly

They were in Eddie’s bedroom, legs tangled together and fingers entwined. Eddie was laying half on top of Richie and Richie’s hand had taken up a permanent position in Eddie’s hair, messing it up as he tugged on it. Their lips were firmly pressed together, tongues lazily dancing against eachother’s. Their kisses weren’t heated, not in that way anyway, but Eddie was becoming short of breath as he pulled away only for air, his lips staying a mere few inches from his boyfriends.

Even though Richie had his revelation that he was, to put it bluntly, head over heals in love with Eddie, he hadn’t actually figured out how he was going to tell him. He certainly didn’t want to scare Eddie off but he also wasn’t sure how much longer he could go without telling his boyfriend how he really felt.

“Did you know that tomorrow it’ll be exactly four months since we started dating?” Eddie whispered softly which earned him a rare smile from Richie.

“Four months eh? Maybe I’ll let you get lucky tomorrow Eds, you know, to celebrate!” His eyebrows waggled and Eddie scoffed, giving him a nudge, but not enough to actually separate them.

“You wish Tozier, and don’t call me Eds!” he quipped back, even though they both knew he secretly loved it when Richie called him that. Eddie knew it was all just playful teasing, as they had already had that discussion and they both agreed that they weren’t quite ready for that. They also agreed that if either one of them felt like they were ready for the next step, they’d talk to one another.

Richie just winked and nudged at his nose, tilting his head up so he could press their mouths back together, prying his lips apart and running his fingers back through Eddies soft, perfect hair-

“Eddie?” The voice of Beverly Marsh bounced off the walls of his bedroom and Eddie was  quick to throw Richie off of his body, sending him toppling to the floor as he sat up on his bed, smirking as Richie cursed in annoyance from his spot on the floor.

“Why? Why are our friends suck cock-blocks?” Richie groaned to himself, only to earn harsh ‘shh’ from Eddie and a pillow to the face as Beverly walked into the room.

“Sorry to interrupt your little hangout but I need help with my school project Eddie, it’s on health and I know you are the best person to talk to when it comes to that.” Beverly sat on the bed, on the spot that was previously occupied by Richie and he had to force back a growl. It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t know that they were in the middle of some EddieRichie alone time. 

“That’s my cue to depart!” Richie said dramatically, heading for the door, “I’ll be sure to give your mom a kiss on my way out Eds.” He laughed and ducked out of the door just in time before the pillow hit him again.

“Don’t call me that!”

4. Stan

It was one rainy Saturday and all of the Losers Club were sitting in Bills basement that had been renovated into some sort of den for everyone to hang out in. They were all spread out over the sofas and chairs as the movie played. They had all settled on watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which was everyones favourite Star Wars movie. They were about half way through the movie when Richie noted that they had run out of snacks. He’d seen the movie plenty of times so he stretched out his legs and stood up, “We’re out of snacks, I am going to go on a very important mission to retrieve more!” He announced, earning a few cheers from the group and Eddie glanced to the side and stood up also.

“I’ll help, there is no way you’ll be able to carry all those snack down the stairs without spilling them everywhere and we can’t have that can we?” He stood up and all but dragged Richie out of the room and up the stairs to the kitchen. No-one seemed to have noticed thank goodness, and Eddie was glad that Bills parent’s had taken Georgie to swimming lessons this afternoon.

The second the kitchen door swung shut, Eddie was pulling Richie down by the collar of his shirt and pressing their mouths together. Richie, albeit surprised, went along with it, never passing up an opportunity to make out with his boyfriend. He pushed him back towards the counter and Eddie jumped when his back collided with the counter.

Without putting too much thought into his next move, Richie’s hands moved down to Eddie’s thighs and picked him up, settling him down on the counter, without even disconnecting their lips. When Eddie let out a squeak at being lifted, Richie took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, moulding their tongues together. He groaned as he felt Eddie’s fingers in his hair and he pulled apart for air, kissing his way down Eddie’s jaw to his neck. 
 “N-no marks remember,” Eddie breathed out and Richie just hummed.

“Got it sir.” He used a hand to mock salute him and placed soft kisses all the way down to his collarbone and back up again to his lips. His other hand went into Eddie’s own hair, messing it up. He broke apart again and Richie looked at Eddie with soft eyes, “Eddie I-“

Suddenly the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs vibrated through the kitchen, cutting his words off and Richie wretched himself away from Eddie, quickly putting the popcorn onto the stove and he tried to make it look like he hadn’t just been making out with Eddie.

Stan appeared into the kitchen and stared blankly at the two boys, faces flushed and hair sticking up. He frowned and went into the fridge for a bottle of water, eyes never leaving his two friends until he cleared his throat speaking up, “Were you two fighting?” He asked curiously and Eddie scoffed. 

"What? No- Richie was just um-“ Eddie found he didn’t even have a decent excuse for why they were in the state that they were, and he was about to sigh in defeat and admit the truth when Richie spoke up.

“I was tickling him, we all know how much Eds hates to be tickled, eh Eddie Spaghetti?” He winked in his direction and Eddie relaxed, and so did Stan. He just rolled his eyes at them both and retreated back to the den with his water with a call of,

“Remember the snacks!”

5. Ben

To say that Richie Tozier hated homework was the understatement of the century. He was currently huddled up in the library, surrounded by loads of history books that he needed to use for his extra credit class. He needed this grade in order to graduate high school in the summer. He’d be damned if he was staying in Derry one more year.

His eyes just happened to look up to the door just as his favourite person in the world walked in and smirked in his direction and nodded his head towards the bookshelves as he disappeared. God, his boyfriend was going to be the death of him. He closed up his books, being careful to mark the pages and he followed Eddie to behind the dead section of the library. “I thought you were volunteering today?” Richie asked.

It was a Friday evening and Eddie always volunteers at the local animal shelter for two hours, as his own form of extra credit. “I was, but we shut up early tonight, apparently there’s a storm coming. I came here to ask if you wanted to spend the night since your parents are out of town?”

Instead of answering, Richie leaned in and closed the distance between them, prying Eddie’s lips apart softly as they kissed. This one wasn’t like any of the other ones they’d shared over the past few weeks, this one was more…caring. More loving.

The kiss made Eddie shiver and he reached up to ground himself by clutching to Richie’s shoulders. He closed his eyes and moved a hand around to the back of Richie’s neck, fingers playing with the curls that rested there. “Richie? The other day there…in Bills kitchen you were going to say something, what was it?”

Richie froze and he racked his brain for a response, “I was just going to ask how your mom likes it in bed,” he blurted out before he shook his head, interrupting Eddie’s response that was about to come from the smaller boys mouth. “Wait no, that’s not what I was going to say. Fuck-“ he cursed and ran a hand through his hair, “Eddie, the thing is I think I’m-“

“I think the book is round here Mrs James,” Ben’s voice filled the silence and Richie cursed at being interrupted during an important conversation again, but he composed himself, and grabbed a book from the shelf, just as Ben rounded the corner, eyes brightening up when he saw them. “Hey guys! Oh Ritchie look you’ve found just the book I was looking for!”

Richie looked down at the book, and made a face as the title read, “Fun games to play with your pussy.” He snorted and handed over the book to Ben, who handed it to an older lady. “Fun games alright, I bet she doesn’t even have a cat!” He nudged Eddie when the lady had gone, earning a look from Ben.

“Actually she has five.” He paused, “See you guys later!” He waved and vanished as quickly as he had arrived. Richie turned to Eddie, hopeful to finish their conversation, only to find Eddie was already making his way back into the public eye.

Maybe next time.

+1. Georgie + Everyone

School dances sucked, it was all about dressing up in nice looking clothes and drinking awful tasting punch as your teachers made sure you weren’t doing anything inappropriate in the empty hallways. Richie thought they were cheesy and uncomfortable, but Eddie, Eddie loved them. He liked being able to go to the dances with all his friend and have a good time.

So Richie went along with it. Even though they weren’t going together they were still going and Richie would be damned if he wasn’t sneaking in a dance with Eddie at some point during that night.

They were all meeting at Bill’s, since his parents were the most invested of all their parents and they insisted on taking photos. Richie stood on their porch, tugging at the tie he’d borrowed from his dad around his neck. His palms were sweaty and he reached up to knock on the door and a few minutes later it was opened by Georgie, who was grinning.

“You’re the last one to get here!” The ten year old announced and pulled him inside the house. The second he passed through the doors his eyes landed on Eddie and he swallowed thickly. It was becoming harder and harder to hide their relationship from everyone, just as hard as it was becoming for him not to scream out how much he was in love with Eddie for all his friends to hear.

His thoughts were interrupted by Bill’s mom as she nudged him forward, camera at the ready to take some pictures of the group. Once all the pictures were taken everyone headed down to the den for a bit as the dance didn’t start for a few hours. Eddie and Richie stayed behind, in the Denbrough’s living room as Bill’s parents left to go up to their bedroom.

“You look really good Richie,” Eddie said softly.

“I love you.” Was Richie’s response, making Eddie choke on his own breath slightly. He was glad in that moment at he didn’t need to use his inhaler anymore.

“W-what?” Eddie gasped out, trying to regain control and Richie repeated his words.

“I love you, I have done for a while now, that- that’s what I wanted to tell you earlier in the librar-“ his words were cut off by Eddie’s mouth on his and before he could even return the kiss a voice broke through.

“I knew it!” The voice belonged to Georgie, who was jumping up and down clapping his hands. “I knew it!”

Eddie’s face had gone bright red at the realisation that the cat was indeed, out of the bag and they had been caught by a ten year old. Georgie didn’t wait before dashed off down the stairs, off to tell everyone else of his knew found discovery. Eddie quickly turned to Richie, a smile on his face and as he could hear the multiple footsteps running up the stairs he whispered back, “I love you too.”

Richie’s face broke out in a shit-eating grin and he moved closer to Eddie and whispered, “Fuck it,” pulling Eddie into, what he would describe as and earth-shattering kiss, just as the rest of the loser’s club piled into the living room.

“You owe me twenty bucks guys. I told you Richie wasn’t ‘tickling’ Eddie that day when we were watching Star Wars.” Stan’s voice broke through the haze and both boys turned around in shock. “Seriously, you guys need to work on your lying skills.” All the losers groaned and each of them handed Stanley twenty bucks each and turned on his heels, handing the money to Georgie, who grinned.

“I knew way back when we joined you for milkshakes. You were nudging each others feet under the table. I remember watching a movie with mommy and the couple in that were doing that.” He explained and everyone groaned.

“I guess we weren’t so subtle after all, eh Eds?” Richie nudged him and he flushed red.

“Don’t call me Eds,” he shot back before his face softened. “No, I guess we weren’t.”

They heard the car that had come to pick them up for the dance honk outside and one by one each of the losers headed outside and piled into the car, leaving Eddie and Richie alone again. “I love you Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie said fondly and instead of correcting him, Eddie just smiled.

“I love you too trashmouth.”