Chapter Text
The first time it happened was the first day of actual Spring. It had been raining for the last couple of weeks and the city was still recovering from the frost of late February.
It is common knowledge that winter can lead humans to the edge of their minds, and that applies particularly well to Derry. So it was no wonder that, when the sun came up on that day of mid-March, every citizen – from Mayor Frick to Beverly Marsh's dad in Lower Main Street – got out of their houses as well, glancing at the sky as if there were some extraterrestrial entity. There was not. (yet)
And as the sun kept rising their hearts grew lighter and lighter, glad to have survived another cold season in Maine.
On that particularly blissful day, a kid named Eddie Kaspbrak was coming up Jackson Street.
He was walking slowly and aimlessly, looking up with an absent-minded smile on his lips. He was quite a nice kid with quite a childish face, still free of the pubertal features some of his classmates were starting to show. The school day had ended early and Eddie was enjoying the prospect of having the afternoon all for himself, since his ma was at work till six o' clock. He had thought to ask Bill, his best friend, to hang out for a while – not to go to the Barrens, of course, they'd be crazy with all that mud and bugs and quicksand. They could have a ride through the city and enjoy the weather, though. But Bill had run away just after classes to attend his speech therapy thing. His stutter had got a lot worse since his brother had… died.
Eddie dismissed the thought with a shiver. He wanted to believe he was still too shocked to think about George Denbrough's death, or about the fact that a six-year-old child could actually die, but it was not quite that. It was as if his mind refused to think about that, like there was some barrier, a voice saying…
Eddie let out a muffled scream. Someone had crashed into him and for a dreadful moment he was sure it was Henry Bowers and his bullyboys ready to beat the hell out of him, but the blind terror vanished as soon as the other person opened his mouth.
"Dear Gawd, isn't this Eddie Kaspbrak?!"
"Aren't you wearing your glasses, Richie?", Eddie asked in return, half-smiling. Half because he could already feel the bruise spreading on his right arm the day next, but he was glad he had met someone to walk with.
Richie Tozier was quite a type, it was true, but Eddie found him sort of amusing. Well, not always in the positive sense of the word, but he was definitely a good company. They had attended the same gym class during first grade, but they had never really talked because Eddie was too shy and Richie was a little bit too over the top. They had met halfway a few years later when they started hanging around with Bill, their mutual acquaintance. At that point, Richie had learned the basic rules for social acceptability, while Eddie had understood he wouldn't have died if someone new had approached him. So it turned out they formed a great team – Bill as well, of course, but that was implied. Bill had always been the best.
"Oh sweet Lord, I think he just Got Off A Good One!", Richie laughed, but as soon as he realised there was no one else around to entertain, he put himself together. "Howdy, Eds?"
Eddie shrugged. "Not so bad, I guess".
He decided not to tell anything about the pet name. It was not like he hated that, but it was always a bit hard to tell when Richie was joking and when he was not, and that somehow made Eddie nervous. Actually, few things didn't make him nervous, but that was his nature.
Eddie realised he was clutching his aspirator, not sure if it was to hit the person he thought was Bowers or to use it before he died. He put it back in his pocket, a little embarrassed, and Richie grinned kindly. He sometimes cracked a joke or two about his asthma, but not in a mean way like some of his classmates. Eddie was very glad elementary school was almost over.
Now they were going side by side towards Bassey Park. In the first three seconds of their stroll, Eddie had thought Richie was a little bit quiet, but soon he had started to whistle a tune Eddie couldn't quite catch. Actually, his musical ear was rather slow compared to Richie's, who could guess a song from the very first note and knew a lot of different artists. It was truly a gift.
Suddenly, Richie stopped in the middle of the street and smacked his lips. Eddie stopped as well, puzzled. "What's up?"
"I'd like to eat some candy. How about that?"
Eddie shook his head. "I've got no money. But I can go along with you if you like."
Richie put on a grin and opened his right hand. He was holding a few crumpled banknotes. The amount was no more than two bucks and a half but that looked like a treasure to an eleven-year-old boy like him.
"Don't you worry, kid. I've got your back."
Ten minutes later they were sitting on the bench on the side of Costello Avenue Market with a paper sack full of licorice whips, a couple of root beer barrels and a lot of Atomic Fireballs, Richie's personal favorites. Eddie was licking a lollipop Richie had generously bought for him, not the Jolly Rancher type, but an actual lollipop, the one with the spiral and all. The storekeeper had shot a suspicious look at them, probably wondering why two kids like them were in a grocery shop and not at school. Eddie had hoped his ma would have never heard about that or else he would have been grounded for the rest of springtime: first of all, because he was not allowed to eat sweets before dinner, secondly because she didn't like Richie very much. While they were standing at the counter Eddie had started to regret the decision to wander around instead of coming straight away home, and in the end he couldn't help but use the aspirator.
But now it was all right: he had his lollipop and Richie and him were enjoying the sunny afternoon.
"How did you get all those money?", Eddie asked, genuinely curious.
"Mmmh. M'wing deh law", Richie muttered.
"What?"
Richie swallowed the Fireballs. His lips were very red. "I had to mow three whole lawns for that money. Basically, it's all because of me if this shitty town has not become a jungle yet."
"And you are not afraid to carry them with you? I mean," he added. "If Bowers had bumped into you…"
Richie raised an eyebrow. "Bowers? That turd? He thinks he's the king of the world when in fact he's just the missing link between apes and humans."
Eddie found that idea so amusing he nearly choked on a piece of candy. Richie was chuckling too, not knowing that he wouldn't have found it so funny the day after, while running away from the same he had just called a monkey (plus his gorillas) in the toy department of Freese's.
"I just believe there are things worth the risk", Richie concluded solemnly.
"Such as candy."
For a moment Richie looked like he was caught off guard, then he pushed his glasses up on his nose and nodded. "Such as candy, yes. How's the lollipop, by the way?", he reached out toward it.
Eddie shifted the stick from right to left hand. He knew that moment would have come sooner or later, but he only had that lollipop while Richie had a whole bag of sweets all for himself. Also, he didn't really share food. Not because he was greedy, but because of germs. Although that was Richie…
The door of the store burst open and a tune came out together with a big-boned middle-aged lady who walked away without even seeing them. The song hovered up in the air but Eddie did not pay attention to that; instead, he seized the moment and finished the lollipop with a big bite.
"I can't believe you really did that", Richie said glancing sadly at the plastic stick Eddie was holding. Now the door was wide open and Eddie could hear the tune clearly. He finally managed to identify the voices on the radio: it was The Chordettes.
Eddie smirked. "It was very good. It's a shame I finished it and you'll never know what flavor was that."
Richie's eyes widened with surprise and amusement.
"Maybe another day, you know… after two or three other lawns", Eddie continued.
They looked at each other for a moment and burst out laughing. It was a very lovely moment and for a second Eddie forgot about his mom, the aspirator, the possibility of the bullyboys popping out of nowhere and pantsing them, leaving them hanging from the door of the shop…
He was so lost in those visions of tragedy, that he almost didn't get what happened next. All of a sudden, Richie did something he could not quite catch, but only because he had never experienced that from his own perspective. He leaned towards him and pressed his lips against Eddie's.
Eddie had watched a good number of love stories with his mother on their television – better, he had watched them alone till the end since she usually fell asleep during the first ten minutes. He would have never ever admitted that, but he enjoyed romantic movies and especially the resolution after all the obstacles the couple had to face. His most favorite was Casablanca. It was more a tragedy than a love story, but Eddie liked to think that Rick and Ilsa went back together after the War, when Ilsa would have realised he didn't love his husband. And their kiss in Casablanca… it was something, but a something that Eddie had not fully understood, until that day.
At first, he just stood there, paralysed, his heart now racing at breakneck speed, his hands suddenly sweaty. It lasted no more than one second and a half, but Eddie thought of a lot of things in that short everlasting moment. But the only thing he managed to say out loud as soon as their lips parted was: Huh.
Richie held his breath for a moment and gave him a bright smile. Eddie noticed that his cheeks had turned redder than his lips and at the same instant he realised with a sense of both terror and exaltation that he could taste the Atomic Fireballs, although he had not eaten one of them.
"Strawberry", the word came out from Richie's mouth in a slightly high-pitched tone.
"What?", Eddie asked politely. What was the matter anyway? It was just a dream.
"The lollipop. It was strawberry flavored, wasn’t it?"
Eddie, who had completely forgotten about the lollipop, lowed his gaze and saw the plastic stick on the grass. He had no memory of letting it fall to the ground. He raised his eyes to Richie again, who was now gathering his stuff – books, yo-yo, and glasses, precariously on the tip of his nose. Eddie looked around, worried. He felt sort of light-headed but also very bad, as if he had been caught doing something he should be ashamed of. But Costello Avenue was deserted. Not even the storekeeper was in sight. The Chordettes were still singing.
"I really regret not having a lollipop for myself", Richie said, as if the conversation had never stopped. "But it's too late, I guess."
"Well, I owe you one", a voice that was not really Eddie's voice came out of his mouth.
Richie turned his head so quickly that his glasses slipped down again.
"When I've got some money, I mean", Eddie added quickly and blushed again.
"I sure hope you do. Muchas gracias senhorr, now I've got to go."
"You going?"
"Yeah. Don't you worry, we'll vemos muy soon", Richie winked. "But now my Lawn Boy duties are calling me and I made a vow I cannot break."
Eddie rolled his eyes theatrically. "Of course."
Richie laughed out loud and pinched his cheek. "How cute! Bye-bye!", and before Eddie could think of an answer, he had already hopped away and vanished around the corner of the street.
Eddie blinked a couple of times, then, like in a dream (he really believed it was a dream, and so he would have for the following months), he picked up the plastic stick and went home.
Some people saw him on his way home and greeted him (Mrs Van Prett, for instance, their neighbor) but neither they nor even Eddie would have realised his feet were not touching the ground, his aspirator now abandoned in the pocket of the jacket his mom had recommended him to wear.