Chapter Text
The Night of Richie’s 13th Birthday
Everyone knows that at midnight on your thirteenth birthday you get a tattoo. It really doesn’t look special. It’s a simple black tattoo. It’s a simple black tattoo that can change everything though. It’s a soulmate tattoo. On your soulmate’s birthday, they wake up with the exact same tattoo. Maybe that’s magical.
The most magical part though? When you make eye contact with your soulmate for the first time after you both have your tattoo it changes color. Sometimes the tattoo is unique, meaningful. Other times it’s just a regular tattoo. But the color, that’s always unique and that’s how you know.
And on the night of his thirteenth birthday, Richie couldn’t stop thinking about the tattoos. His friends had wanted to throw a party, but he refused. They’d pestered him repeatedly, but he knew how he wanted it to go the first time they saw the tattoo. Well, the first time Eddie saw his tattoo.
He’d always believed in soulmates, despite his parents not marrying theirs. Hell, his mom had never even seen hers until four years after they were married. They didn’t care what some ink said, they loved each other. And that was fine for them.
Riche knew though, he knew who his soulmate was. He knew from the first time he met him. He’d met Eddie in kindergarten. The kid had tripped and scrapped his knee. When Richie told him that he’d kiss it to make him better, Eddie nearly gagged.
He smiled, remembering the day. Every time he thought of it, he was reminded why he had to wait to show the Losers his tattoo. He wanted the first person to see it to be Eddie and he was going to be the first one to see his.
He laid watching the clock. 11:48. 11:49. 11:50. What was the tattoo going to be? 11:51. 11:52. 11:53. There were a million memories that it could represent. 11:54. 11:55. 11:56. He half hoped it’d be something to embarrass Eddie, something that he’d blush about every time he saw it. 11:57. 11:58. 11:59. But more than that, he wanted it to make Eddie happy when he saw it. 12:00.
There was a warmth on his right arm. It started as a slight tingle, twisting down his upper arm from his shoulder to elbow. Just as it started to become painful, the burning stops. He stared at the ceiling, bracing himself to look.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before looking down. The tattoo was a chain link. Richie knew exactly what it was from. It looked exactly like the links from the handcuffs Bowers had used to cuff him and Eddie together a few years ago.
December Three Years Earlier
Eddie and Richie had just gotten out of the theater. They’d seen some awful horror movie about a clown. It was somewhat of a compromise. Richie hated clowns; Eddie hated horror movies. Richie was confident Eddie hadn’t seen a second of the movie. His eyes were tightly closed as he clenched the arm rest until his knuckles were white.
It was starting to snow, the fluffy flakes landing in Richie’s dark hair. He turned in time to see Eddie catching one on his tongue. They’d decided to walk to the coffee shop down the street for hot chocolates before going home. Well, they hadn’t decided, Eddie told Richie he wasn’t going to the movie if Richie didn’t buy him one after.
They were walking through the park when they heard a crunch in the snow behind them. They turned at the same time, seeing Patrick Hockstetter behind them. He had a sinister grin on his face that made Richie’s stomach drop. Richie and Eddie took off. Just as they passed a park bench Belch Huggins and Henry Bowers stepped out from behind a tree.
“Lovely to see you again Reginald and Henrietta,” Richie said in a horrible English accent. “But you will have to pardon us good sirs as we are off to have some tea.”
Richie grabbed Eddie’s wrist, pulling him as he ran towards the street. He barely made it two steps before Vic Criss’s fist connected with his face. He stumbled backwards, glasses flying a few feet away. He barely had time to process the punch when another one came. It wasn’t long before he fell, unconscious, to the ground.
- - -
Richie blinked. He was cold. There was a layer of snow over him. With a groan, he pushed up on his elbows. He was going to have a million bruises in the morning. His glasses lay forgotten in the snow. They were too far away to reach. He tried to roll over to them but was stopped by a pull at his wrist.
He squinted, barley making out the handcuff attached to him. The chain was wrapped around the bench once and attached to the other end was Eddie. He silently cursed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. He had to get Eddie out of the snow before one of them got frost bite or something.
Richie crawled under the bench, trying to maneuver over Eddie. His knee collided with his side and Eddie flinched. “Sorry Eds. Just trying to untangle us.” Richie made another loop under around the bench until they were free. Well, almost free.
“Don’t call me that.”
“But Eddie my love, I was so worried about you. How could I live without you?” Richie proclaimed.
Eddie jerked the arm the handcuff was attached to, making Richie fall into the snow. “Keep it up and you won’t have to trashmouth.”
The Night of Richie’s 13th Birthday
Richie smiled as he traced the chain link pattern. He’d been 100% certain Eddie was his soul mate, but now. Now he was a million times more certain. He grabbed his phone sending Eddie a message. He slumped back against his pillows, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for the rest of the night.
The Morning of Richie’s 13th Birthday.
Eddie rolled over, looking at the clock. Four in the morning? He’d had a terrible night’s sleep. Richie had refused to let anyone stay over to see his tattoo. He’d even said he wasn’t showing it to anyone until he could see Eddie’s. The idiot.
So maybe it was based on a promise they made. A promise you made when you were five. Eddie looked at his iPod sitting on his nightstand. He knew Richie was probably still up or at least stayed up until midnight. That meant he’d have a text from him.
Richie used to write down his first thought of the day then bring it to school to tell Eddie. Then, when he got his phone last year, he gave Eddie his old iPod so he could message him the thought when he first woke up. Eddie was grateful Ben was his neighbor so he could use their WiFi.
Richie was always up before him. Every morning, it was the first thing he checked. He’d never admit it to anyone, but it was the best part of his day. Eddie sighed, grabbing the phone. He wasn’t going back to sleep tonight anyways.
Trashmouth Tozier (12:00am): Morning Sunshine.
Trashmouth Tozier (12:01am): All I can tell you about the tattoo is…
Trashmouth Tozier (12:04am): I look sexy as hell.
Trashmouth Tozier (12:10am): I mean so sexy.
Trashmouth Tozier (12:30am): You won’t be able to keep your hands off me once you see it.
Eddie scoffed, rolling his eyes. He could actually see Richie’s thought process as a new idea came to him. He shouldn’t text back. He really shouldn’t.