Chapter Text
Richie didn’t get it.
Eddie was such a spastic shit.
Yet there he was, kissing Bill in the middle of the fucking school.
Richie, Bill, and Mike, had been hanging around Bill’s locker, waiting for Eddie to get out of his Language Arts class so that they could all head to lunch together. Despite all the students hurrying to the cafeteria the three of them had formed a little undisturbed bubble. Bill had handed one of his journals to Mike to read what he’d gotten down of his latest short story. In return he’d gotten to look through the portfolio that Mike had been building.
Then there came Eddie, hurrying around the corner and making a beeline for the little group.
As soon as they were in arms length Bill started leaning down and Eddie started leaning up. They met in the middle for a short, sweet kiss before Eddie’s arm wrapped around Bill’s waist. It was cute but Richie still felt a little twinge of jealousy and nervousness pinch at his gut. No one seemed to be looking but it was Derry. Owning up to being some sort of queer was like painting a target on your back.
That was why Richie always declined to engage in any sort of PDA with either Bill or Eddie. Or at least that’s what he told himself.
“Alright, lovebirds. Come on,” Mike said, snapping the journal closed and trading it for his portfolio.
Just like that, they started off toward the caf, Bill and Eddie holding onto each other like it was fucking nothing. So far as Richie could see noone was staring and it wasn’t even public knowledge that he was dating both of them. Still, he felt the weight of a thousand eyes on his back as they walked.
Eddie was entirely unaffected.
That bitter twinge of jealousy was back.
How did he fucking do it?
Eddie wasn’t shy, per say but he was twitchy. He and Stan were always ready with a lecture whenever it came to anything fun.
“You really shouldn’t jump off the roof and onto the trampoline, Richie.”
“You can’t just pierce your ears in a latin class, Bev! That is how you get an infection!”
“Do you really think I didn’t see you weaving in and out of traffic on Silver today, Bill? Really? Are you trying to die?”
So how did he so easily throw caution to the wind and love on Bill every chance he got? It hadn’t even been a full week since the fight with Joshua and his cronies. The scrapes on Bill’s face were healing but still showed darkly against his cheekbone. Eddie wouldn’t even drink out water fountains half the time! Surely he could hear his mother’s voice droning on in his head about AIDS and all the other horrors of being gay!
Richie could certainly hear his.
“Why are you like this, Richie?”
“Are you sure? Maybe you just haven’t met the right girl!”
“Why can’t you just be normal?”
“And here I was worried you’d get some poor girl pregnant in high school! Now I might not have grandchildren at all!”
That was the real reason he wouldn’t show Bill or Eddie any affection where others could see. His mother would lose her mind if she found out about him like guys. If she found out about Eddie and Bill she’d probably take that final step into full on hating him. She already hated everything about him.
Richie had no doubt that his mother loved him. Sure she did. But she didn’t like him.
She hated his music.
She hated his sense of humor.
She hated the movies he liked.
Sometimes he was even sure that she hated his friends.
That hadn’t started right away. Before they had gotten to be around 15 she loved Beverly, Bill, Eddie, Stan, Mike, and Ben. Then they had gotten older and started getting into mischief, a teenagers are wont to do. The fact that she’d caught him sneaking into the house, drunk, after breaking curfew to hang out at the quarry with Bill and Beverly one night hadn’t helped anything.
“Are y-you alright, Ri-Richie?”
Bill’s voice snapped him out of his musings and Richie found himself a little surprised that they’d made it all the way to the cafeteria. He even had a fucking tray in his hands. It had food on it! Bill frowned at him as he put a little cardboard box of tater tots on Richie’s tray beside the mostly flat and highly questionable burger.
“What,” Richie asked, giving his head a little shake and then grabbing his own jello when they shuffled down the line. “I’m fine. Just zoned out, I guess.”
“I-If you say s-so,” Bill said, giving him a smile that looked more uncertain than satisfied. He wouldn’t push him, though. “Y-You coming to the qu-quarry with us later?”
“Why’re we going there? It’s too fucking cold to swim,” Richie asked, frowning as he paid for his food. Behind him Mike laughed and slapped him on the back.
“You really haven't been listening, have you? Bill convinced Eddie to let us get him drunk,” Mike said with a grin.
“Oh is that so? How many blowjobs did he have to promise you for that to happen,” Richie asked, smirking as he joined Bill and Eddie where they were waiting for him and Mike.
“Shut up, Richie! Jesus. He wasn’t talking before, why’d you have to go and ruin it, Bill,” Eddie asked, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and annoyance. “Besides, Richie, he can’t bribe me with something he would have done for me anyway.”
“The boy has a point,” Mike said as he caught up with them, a grin on his face.
Bill blushed but the comments weren’t able to wipe the grin off his face as they started trudging toward their usual table. And as Richie followed him and Eddie, he couldn’t help but think that he loved how the two of them looked with their cheeks painted red. When they reached their destination, a quite table toward the back of the room, he plopped down beside Mike while Bill and Eddie sat opposite them.
“So if you’re not doing it for the blowjobs then why’re you letting us get you drunk,” Richie asked, unwrapping his burger and taking a monstrous, bite. Eddie looked absolutely appalled and threw a napkin at him.
“There’s no reason! It’s just what teenagers do, ya know,” Eddie said, his excuse sounding more feeble as he went on. At the unbelieving stares he got from Richie and Mike, he frowned. “What? I mean sure, Stan doesn’t drink. Like at all! But even you and Ben have gotten drunk before.”
MIke shrugged and inclined his head concedingly.
“Why is it so unbelievable that Mike and Ben drink but you don’t have anything to say about me and Bill,” Richie asked, just barely having swallowed his food before speaking. Sometimes he would talk with his mouth full just to irritate Stan or Eddie. “You’re making us sound like some sort of troubled youth!”
“You’re nothing but trouble and a terrible influence on all of us. Bill is a writer. Why would I be surprised? My point is most normal teenagers seem to experiment with drugs and alcohol at least once I figured why not,” Eddie said, staring down at his salad and giving it a few irritated stabs.
Mike, Bill, and Richie exchanged glances.
“Most normal teenagers”. There was their answer.
As he got older Eddie had started to make a hobby out of doing things that would have made his mother shit bricks. He didn’t usually let her know he was doing those things. But he seemed to get something out of the rebellious action all the same.
“Alright,” Richie said, tilting his chin in Eddie’s direction. “I’ll be there. Not drinking, though. I can’t stay at Bill’s tonight and my mom always catches me when I go home drunk.” Standing from his seat, he leaned over the table to ruffle up Eddie’s hair. “Besides I can’t miss our Eddiekins first time drinking!”
Eddie slapped his hands away and flipped Richie the bird, making him laugh. Bill was trying to hide his laughter by snickering into a can of grape juice. He still got caught by Eddie’s dirty look and ducked his head a little, unable to hide his smile. Beside Richie, Mike shook his head, looking at his phone while the other three had their moment.
“You three are like some old married couple and their dog,” Mike said, picking at one of those rectangular school pizzas that Richie couldn’t stand. Bev’s coming. Stan’s coming to ‘keep us from drowning in the quarry’. Ben hasn’t said anything yet.”
“Ben’s going to be there if Bev is,” Richie said, slinging an arm around Mike’s shoulders and giving him a little shake. “Sounds like we’re having a party, boys!”