lightning : reddie

9

"mel's coming by tonight, by the way, he said he'd call you when he was on his way." eddie was driving richie and himself to the campus, richie nodding as he turned the radio up. he sang along and eddie snickered.

"so do i get to be introduced to your friends? other than stan the man, obviously." richie asked, leaning back into the car's passenger seat. he put his arm out the window, feeling the wind.

"um, sure, if you want. thank god you're not wearing bill's clothes anymore," richie had changed back into his original jeans and shirt, which had dried in eddie's bathroom. and sure, they were a little crunchy, but it was better than nothing. 

"fantastic. i am going to make the worst impression ever." richie drummed his fingers on the dashboard, eddie laughing as he shook his head. 

"you'll probably like beverly the most. you remind me of her." eddie thought of her, flipping her now grown-out hair behind her shoulder as she scoffed dramatically.  

"oh goodie me," richie said.

if richie was going to say anything more, eddie cut him off, "how'd you and stan become friends? you're like, completely different people." 

"oh, yeah, well it's funny. we've known each other since like seventh grade, just 'cuz we were sat next to each other in class. tozier and uris. it was by last name. and i pissed him off, don't get me wrong, but he was an ass back to me, so it was fair. you said he's an asshole but you love him 'cuz of it? yeah, our friendship was sorta like that. last i knew, though, he was going to harvard, i thought." richie explained. eddie noted that he really liked the sound of richie's voice. 

eddie nodded, "oh, he was originally going there, but he transferred like literally a week into it. he hated the people, i think. a bunch of stuck up assholes." 

"i would've thought stan would fit right in, then," richie said, eddie letting out a small snicker before swatting at him. richie laughed as eddie's hand batted at him.

"shut up. he's nice when he wants to be." eddie defended stan, returning his hands to the wheel and taking a left turn.

richie tutted, "yeah, i know. he's a good kid." he meant to ask another question about stanley, to catch himself up, but eddie spoke first. eddie asked what he'd been thinking for the past couple days.

"how'd you get so comfortable with yourself?"

"what?" richie was a little surprised.

"like, you seem so... you. like no one could stop you from being you. i don't get that. standing up to anyone makes me want to fold like a fucking pool noodle. how do you... get good at being yourself?"

"oh. i used to get bullied pretty bad, so i sorta had to learn to be me comfortably or... like, fucking die, i guess. stan can attest. i mean, we all got bullied. but this dude hated me. a common thread in my high school career, it seems. anyway, he bullied me for being gay before i ever knew i was. so maybe he had something to deal with himself, you know?" richie said, and even the casual tone with which richie talked made eddie jealous. 

"i'm sorry." eddie sympathized, though richie waved off his concern.

"it's fine now, obviously. now i'm smoking hot, and nothing could ever hurt me," richie said, stretching his legs as far as they could go in the space beneath the dashboard. he went on, "anyway, if you wanna be comfortable with yourself, you sorta have to realize you have no other choice. dreary, but it's either be miserable or just accept that you're kinda lame."

"huh. i never thought about it like that." eddie seemed to loosen his grip on the wheel. richie noticed.

"you're welcome." he smiled.

-

"he seems nice," beverly called out to eddie, who was running around the track. she was sitting on the grass directly next to the track, spreading out some papers for an economics class she was taking. 

eddie was running, as he mostly was in his free time. they'd gone to lunch with richie, bill, and ben and everyone had split off to their different classes. beverly and eddie sorta kept this moment as a tradition for the two of them, so it was quite nice to run and gossip.

eddie neared her, "who, richie?" his face was red and it was clear he'd been running for a while, but he kept going. the two kept conversation while eddie ran.

"yeah. he's cute, too. good for you!" beverly said pointedly.

"thanks. he is nice. and cute, god. the bastard." eddie passed her and kept running, causing a two minute break in between every portion of their conversation. 

"what do you think bill thought of him? bill's being such a dick, recently." eddie said the next time he came around, slowing his pace for a little bit. beverly inhaled sharply.

she let out a bit of a laugh, "god knows what bill thought of him. definitely not a huge fan, though. what'd you chew him out for?"

"he was just... being annoying. asking about richie and telling me he wanted to get back together over and over. it was like the third time this week. it's been months, it's not fucking happening, y'know?" eddie said. beverly nodded, and eddie's pace sped up again. 

"yeah. so he's not over you?" beverly called out to him, prepared to wait another minute or two for him to answer. instead, she was surprised when he yelled back at her.

"no fucking shit!" he screamed, probably concerning some of the people in the stands. beverly couldn't help laughing.

eddie finally came to a stop on his next way around, and he sat down beside beverly to start stretching. 

"so, you gonna ask richie out?" beverly said, twirling a pencil in her fingers. eddie's face was already red from running, but if it could have gone redder, it would have gone redder. 

"what?! are you insane, absolutely not. he can ask me out, if he wants to." eddie said, reaching to one side of his body, stretching towards his left leg. beverly chuckled.

"oh, okay, so you're telling me that you're not brave enough to ask out the guy who you've been watching at every track meet and calling the cute stalker and who is currently living in your apartment? no, i'm totally sure he isn't into you. he only laughs at everything you say and looks at you like he fell in love at first sight." beverly went on, eddie letting go of his stretching to fall back on the grass. the grass tickled him up his arms and legs. 

he could hear him mom, telling him to get off the grass. the bugs, eddie! the bugs are going to bite you, eddie-bear! get off the grass, don't you know dogs pee in there? what's wrong with you?

"does he really look at me like that?" eddie asked, staring at the clouds. it was still overcast, the after effects of a storm. it would probably continue to rain, if eddie had to guess. he was glad he got his running in beforehand.

"well, if it's any evidence, bill glared at him everytime he caught him looking at you." beverly said, scribbling something on her sheet about theory of markets.

eddie hummed. he sat up suddenly, calling beverly's attention. her head looked up at him. he bounced his hands on his legs. "he gets his replacement key tonight. so... i don't know. i'm not brave enough, bev." 

"you're stupid, eddie. he likes you, you like him, fuck bill. i'll deal with bill. ask him out," beverly's voice was more genuine than it had been the entirety of the day, and eddie groaned. she was right, of course.