"Oh," Richie said, his eyes going a little glassy despite his best efforts because Eddie was being candid in a way he normally wasn't, and it was -- it really was just very nice to hear that he didn't have to try changing who he was in order to be what someone wanted. Who Eddie wanted. And it wasn't like ... he didn't know. He did, mostly (even if he didn't always know why). But it had been a rough few days and the reassurance was just as nice as the pressure of Eddie's palms against his cheeks. It was grounding, and yeah, maybe a little sappy but it shouldn't have been a surprise to Eddie at all that Richie was not-so-secretly romantic as hell.
"I love you," he said, but it was mostly swallowed up in a kiss. And maybe that was for the best -- Eddie knew, and frankly the two of them were entirely too chatty sometimes, and they'd never get anywhere at all if they didn't just shut up for a second and let their hands do more talking than their mouths.
Squeezing Eddie's perfect as was all well and fine, but Richie, rather emboldened by how this was working out so far, decided to press his luck a bit further by hooking his thumbs in the waistband of those little shorts and inching them down.