pretend; reddie

t w e l v e

"prom is in a few months."

richie looks content while he states this, fixing his hair in the mirror in front of him.

"yes, i'm well aware," eddie replies, and he seems kind of annoyed. "and that sucks."

"why does that suck?" richie questions, turning to his fake boyfriend with a confused expression. "i thought you were coming over that night to take gay pictures to piss off my parents."

"well yeah, i am. but it sucks because maybe, just maybe, will would've asked me to prom, right? we've been hanging out a lot. he seems to like me, kind of? i wanted to go with someone i genuinely like."

"gasp, baby," richie states overdramatically. "that stung."

"shut up," eddie shakes his head impatiently. "anyway, this whole fake boyfriend thing better be over by then. i'm not spending my prom with some loser."

"i hate to break it to you, eds, but you're the loser."

"you know what-"

"what?"

"i swear to god-"

"boys," will enters the school bathroom. he's smiling. he's staring at eddie. "eddie."

"will!" richie coos, and he only does it to annoy his boyfriend.

"hey, will," eddie's voice is calmer, shyer, and he tries to act nonchalant, peering into the mirror and straightening out his shirt.

"we still on for tonight, kaspbrak?" will asks, and he goes to wash his hands.

"yeah, we sure are, byers."

will laughs a little bit. "i'll talk to you later." he leaves the washroom not a second later

"we sure are, byers," richie mocks, voice all high pitched and annoying. he rolls his eyes, pulling his backpack further up on his shoulder. "you know, i'm starting to think will likes you."

eddie stares for a moment. "well, this is the third time this week we've hung out outside of school, so i'm surprised it took you so long to figure that out."

"no, i know," richie shrugs, keeping his gaze in the mirror and avoiding eddie's eyes. "but i just- i don't know, it bothers me."

"why, are you jealous?" eddie teases.

"shut the fuck up. no. it's just, will is my best friend. so say that this was a real relationship – which it obviously isn't, obviously – but if it was...would be still be so into you? i mean, as far as he knows, you're my boyfriend. unless you've told him this is just a deal."

"no, no, that's one of the main rules," eddie leans against the counter. "obviously i didn't tell him."

"then he knows you're my boyfriend, and he's still making a play on you — that's kind of suspicious, isn't it?"

eddie pauses for a few moments, letting the words register, thinking over what richie had said. richie really thinks he gets it until - eddie snorts a bit, shrugging it off. "it's not that deep, tozier. don't worry too much about it."

eddie leaves the washroom then, too, the door swinging shut behind him, leaving richie alone.

don't worry too much about it, he's said.

richie is worrying about it. and he's not quite sure why.

-
do u ever just love someone so much that it physically pulls on ur heart???? being in love sucks