𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏 • 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

A week had passed since the losers all went to Eddie's house to spend some time with the sick boy, and Richie hadn't done anything since.

He slept in until noon consistently, and then watched crappy TV shows for the rest of the day. He'd called in to check up on Eddie a couple of times, seeing if everything was going alright and if he was feeling any better. It seemed to Richie that everytime he called, the more anxious Eddie had sounded. He simply let it go for now, though, because he would be able to have a better conversation with him in person anyways.

Richie, no matter how many times he would deny it, tended to worry about Eddie more than anything else he did. He couldn't help it most of the time - it was just his natural instinct to worry about his best friend. He knew Eddie wasn't weak. In fact, he was anything but weak. But Eddie had been working his way into Richie's heart from day one, with his big brown doe eyes and sweet little freckles and feisty attitude. He cared about Eddie, therefore he worried.

The one day that week that Richie didn't wake up at noon, he woke up two hours earlier due to the home phone ringing like mad. He jumped straight up at the noise coming from beside him, his heart racing and his hair in a big ball of naughts. When he realized it was just the phone, he reached over to put on his glasses and answered the phone.

It had been the one and only Beverly Marsh. She wanted to meet him at their local coffee shop for breakfast. Richie whined and groaned about being woken up so early, but Bev had sounded so serious that he agreed anyways. He put on shorts and some random band tee from a concert he went to with Eddie two years ago.

And that was how he ended up sitting in an empty cafe across from Beverly Marsh at 10:30 on a Friday. As much as he had whined about it, he didn't really mind too much because Beverly was a great friend.

"You and Eddie seemed touchy while watching the movie, hm?"

Richie blinks. "Well, well, well Miss Marsh, you sure are one to get straight to the point aren't you? How unfortunate for Ben, he sure does seem to be one for the foreplay."

"Beep beep," she groans. "I'm here to have a serious conversation, dipshit."

"My bad, Bev. I had absolutely no idea," he grins slyly at her, a look of fake innocence upon his features. "Okay, serious." He straighten up in his seat and puts on a serious face. "What have we gathered here today to talk about, Miss Marsh?"

Beverly laughs despite herself. She had just opened her mouth when the waitress came over to take their orders. As soon as she was out of earshot, Bev started right up again. "So. You and Eddie?"

Richie shakes his head, and looks sadly at Bev. "He's got a boyfriend, Red. We've been over this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she waves her hand around in a dismissive manner. "I know all that stuff. 'Oh, Bev, I should have made my move when we were teenagers. Now he's settled and would never go for a gross turd like me!' See, isn't that what you were going to say?"

"That is not what I sound like. I must say, it's getting closer though. You've been practicing, yes?"

Beverly glares at him. "Stop trying to change the subject, Richie."

"Okay, okay, fine. Yeah, I'm in love with Eddie. Okay, so what? I have been for years, Bev. It's nothing new, and you know that." This is not what Richie thought he would be here for. He's regretting coming now. "What does this have to do with anything? It's old news. To you, anyway."