It was the day of the sleepover and Eddie had just finished packing his clothes and pills for the night. It's just another one of our regular sleepovers. He thought. As friends. He checked his watch in anticipation. 5:45. He grabbed his backpack with all of his stuff in it and made his way to the door.

"Eddie, bear!" a voice called out from the living room. "When will you be back tomorrow?"

"Um," Eddie couldn't come up with an answer because he wanted to hang out with Richie as much as possible. "I'll call you after we wake up and I'll let you know."

"Okay. Bye, Eddie bear! Be safe, I love you."

"Love you, too, Mommy!" He called out as he shut the front door behind him and excitedly got on his bike and started pedaling away.

By the time he arrived at Richie's house it was a minute before six. His heart started racing with anxiety. It's just Richie. It's just Richie. He kept telling himself as he walked up the steps to his door. Right when his watch hit six, he rang the doorbell waiting for Richie. When Richie opened the door all the anxiety within him had subsided. They smiled brightly at each other.

"Hey, Eds!" Richie greeted him ecstatically. "What do you wanna do first?"

The two started to do everything you could imagine they would do together. Played video games, played board games, watched movies, read comics, and ate lots of junk food. When midnight rolled around, the two of them decided to get into their pajamas. Richie wore loose, flannel patterned pants and a hoodie, while Eddie wore grey sweatpants and his blue Derry shirt. Eddie noticed that Richie was staring at him and blushed a little.

"Wanna watch a horror movie?" Richie asked.

"Sure." Eddie said, smiling.

When they went into the living room, they found Richie's mom sleeping on the couch with a bottle of wine in her hand. Richie sighed and tried to take the bottle but her grip was too tight so he pulled harder. When she finally let go, Richie had pulled too hard and accidentally spilled some wine on Eddie.

"Oh, shit!" Richie winced when he turned around to see the damage. It was all over Eddie's shirt and sweatpants. "I am so sorry, Eddie. I-"

"It's fine," Eddie said. But it wasn't fine. Eddie wanted to cry. He hated the scent of wine because it reminded him of his dad. "Can I shower? Please."

"Y-yeah," Richie struggled to say, taken aback by how calm and numb Eddie was acting. "I'll get the stuff ready. Ah-and I'll leave a pair of pj's for you on the counter." Richie rubbed the back of his neck with his hand about to say something, but instead walked off into the bathroom to get Eddie's shower ready.

Once everything was ready, Eddie headed inside the bathroom. He shut the door and slumped down against it. Fuck. He thought. Don't cry. Please don't cry. Tears started to fall down his freckled face and he softly sobbed into his hands.