pretend; reddie

f i v e

"guess who's invited to my family dinner this weekend?"

richie sings his sentence, and the voice alone makes eddie want to scream. he refrains, though, shifting his books to his other arm and moving down the hallway with richie at his side. "who would that be?"

"it's you, my lovely boyfriend," richie coos as the two of them head towards eddie's class, and eds wonders why richie is joining his considering his class is at the other end of the school.

"i'll make sure i'm free," eddie attempts to keep his voice light and sweet.

"i hope you are. my parents are ecstatic to meet you," richie tilts his head so it's closer to eddie's ear, and then, out of earshot of their peers, hisses. "you better cancel any plans and be there. that was one of the rules of this deal."

eddie presses his eyes shut in order to stop himself from rolling them. instead, he whispers back. "obviously, dipshit. god, you're so annoying."

"you love me," richie is back to his normal tone of voice, loud enough for bystanders to overhear.

eddie wants to say you wish, but rather settles for, "you know it."

as they near eddie's class, eddie can feel the gaze of some of the sophomore students, watching them like hawks in interest. josie pine, one of the writers for the school's newspaper, stands amongst them, eyes trailing their moves as if she's writing an entire script about the scene in her head. she most likely is.

"okay," richie's voice distracts eddie from the gazes of others, and he turns to face his fake boyfriend as they come to a stop outside of the classroom. "have a good day, baby."

before turning to leave, richie seems to recognize something, and the look in his eyes hints at this. due to his somewhat realization, he leans in and presses the gentlest of kisses to eddie's cheek. his lips are warm and soft, and they leave eddie's face red and overheating.

eddie is slightly confused, because not many people are around them at this point - only about three, and so such an act of affection wasn't quite expected.

in the blink of an eye, richie is on his way, down the hall, away from eddie and to his own class, leaving eddie to wonder why that was so sudden.

however, when he turns to enter his class, one of the girls who hits on him constantly stops him in the doorway, a smile on her face and a curious look in her eyes. "you're with richie tozier, right?"

eddie pauses and nods.

"i thought so. you two are really cute together." she says nothing about him being attractive, she insinuates nothing about them going out. she just offers a smile and exits the room.

then, as he's shaking off the strange interaction and heading inside, his eyes meet with will's.

the football player leans against the wall near the window of the geography classroom, hair a beautiful mess, arms crossed, lips pursed. his gaze is trapped on eddie and the spot where richie would've just been, and he raises his eyebrows once they make eye contact, a small smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

then eddie understands.

finally, richie is holding up his end of the deal, as well.

it's about time.