Eddie didn't discourage Richie crowding him, and if anything encouraged it by meeting him once he was close enough. At first it was just sort of...touching. He brushed a hand down his cheek, back up through his damp hair, down his chest, across broad shoulders; making sure he was real and warm and alive. He'd looked so different before.
He leaned in and kissed him, holding him close and wrapping his arms around him. "You're really okay?" he asked, lips still against Richie's and so quietly it was barely heard even though they were so close. Somehow acknowledging it out loud felt like it might break something, but he needed to hear it too. Needed to know Richie wasn't hiding to protect him.