Chapter Text
It’s Valentine’s Day in five days and Beverly will not let up on trying to convince Eddie to find a date.
“Come on, it’ll be fun! You, me, Ben, and whatever nice-looking guy decides to come your way.”
Currently they are in Eddie’s room, sitting on his bed, and she is trying to convince Eddie to sign up for this matchmaker program where singles fill out a survey and it matches you up with another single who you meet at a special event so you have a date for Valentine’s Day. Eddie thinks it’s ridiculous.
“Beverly, I’m not signing up for some stupid matchmaker site. Who knows what kind of creeps are on those things looking for god knows what.”
“Pleaseeeee, it’s just for one night. Well, technically two, but the first doesn’t have to count. Come on, live a little!” she pleads.
“No.”
“It’s the same every year for you. You always sit at home by yourself on Valentine’s Day, and I’m left feeling sorry for you while I’m out having fun with Ben.”
“So now you’re guilt tripping me. Gee, thanks. Besides, who says I don’t like sitting at home by myself on Valentine’s Day?” Eddie lies—to some extent.
“I don’t mean it like that, I just think it would be fun if we did something different for a change, like going on a double date. I mean you could just join us, but then you’re left feeling like the third wheel. And what kind of friend would that make me?”
“A generous one for staying out of my love life.”
“You don’t even have a love life. But, if you listen to me, however-”
“Alright, fine! If I sign up for this thing will you finally leave me alone?”
“Yay! Eddie, this is going to be so much fun!” She wraps her arms around Eddie excitedly. “Maybe if you’re lucky enough you’ll finally get a boyfriend!”
Eddie puts an arm around her—less excitedly. “Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. I’m only doing this to make you happy, there isn’t going to be any long-term relationship happening anytime soon.”
“Stop being so negative. You never know what could happen—you might even find your soulmate.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and pokes Eddie’s side teasingly. Eddie pushes her away.
“As if those sorts of things exist,” Eddie says, although he would never admit that he does like to wonder sometimes if there really is someone out there, made just for him. "And I highly doubt that my ‘soulmate’” he makes air-quotes with his fingers “would just so happen to be on some matchmaker site.”
“Never doubt the work of Cupid, Eddie,” Beverly says with a wink.
“Whatever. Let’s get this over with I suppose.” Eddie gets up and makes his way over to his desk, and opens his laptop. “What’s the name of the website again?”
“It’s ‘www.cupidschoice.com’.”
“Kill me now,” Eddie says as he types the address into the search bar.
Beverly moves off the bed to hover over Eddie’s shoulder. “And then you just fill out all of your information and answer a few questions. Two days before Valentine’s Day it will email you your match, whom you will be meeting at the event that night.”
“How will I know what they look like?”
“You won’t. Everyone will have name tags and it will all be split up into different age groups. You’re eighteen, so you’ll be in the youngest age group.”
“Great, so I won’t even know if I’m meeting a psychopath or not. I could just be signing up for my death right now,” Eddie says as he begins filling out the information.
“What an optimist you are. Stop worrying, it’s at the Derry town hall and I’ll be on speed-dial, you’ll be fine.”
“Whatever you say, Bev. If I die, this is on you. And—even if he doesn’t turn out to be a psychopath—what if I don’t even like the guy? What if he’s a complete douche?”
“It’s just one date, Eddie—a double date at that. You’ll manage. If anything gets too out of hand, Ben and I will come to your rescue, but I’m positive this will work out. I only want to help you find someone worthy enough of your love, Eddie,” she says with a big smile.
Eddie can see that Beverly really does believe that this will work out. She looks so happy and thrilled that he’s finally putting himself out there. Eddie doesn’t want to destroy her happiness so he stops protesting and sighs as he presses submit on his answers.
I really hope this will be worth it in the end, Eddie thinks.
* * *
(1) unread email from Cupid’s Choice: The results are in!
Eddie stares at the notification on his computer, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He’s almost tempted to grab his inhaler off of his dresser. He doesn’t understand why he’s so nervous. It’s not like he’s waiting to hear the most important news of his life, but then again, it has been a while since Eddie’s been in the dating field.
“Here goes nothing,” he says as he clicks on the email.
Thank you for signing up with Cupid’s Choice! You have been matched with:
Richard Tozier
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Interests: Music, comic books, your mom
Bio: Richie Tozier is my name, doing Voices is my game. My friends call me Trashmouth, but you can call me anytime. Ha! Looking for someone who’s willing to have a fun time ☺
Congratulations on your match! We look forward to seeing you tonight!
Eddie isn’t sure whether he’s relieved or not. He doesn’t sound like he’s a serial killer, which is a relief, but he doesn’t quite sound all that serious either. Eddie snorts and rolls his eyes at the ‘your mom’ part, and at the cheesy pick-up line.
What am I getting myself into?
Tonight, and one date. That’s all. He can do this. One night of fun with a total stranger and two friends won’t hurt, right? Even if he is an asshole, Eddie never has to see him again after Valentine’s Day if he doesn’t want to, anyways.
Unless he’s a stalker.
Eddie pinches himself.
Stop worrying about every little thing! Like Bev said, you’ll be fine!
Richie sounds like he could be a nice guy, or at least Eddie hopes he is.
Here’s to hoping he’s cute, Eddie finds himself thinking as he calls Beverly to tell her the news.
“Sooo, what’s his name?”
“Richie Tozier.” The name sounds oddly nice coming from Eddie’s mouth. He decides he likes saying it. Richie Tozier.
He’ll never tell Bev this.
“Interesting. Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak. Richie and Eddie. Eddie and Richie. I like it! It has a nice ring to it. You guys already sound like the perfect couple!” she beams.
“I haven’t even met him yet!”
“But you will tonight! I’m so excited for you, Eddie!”
“You’re probably more excited than I am. You should get a load of this dude’s bio.”
“I think you’ll feel better after you meet him. Then the real fun begins on Valentine’s.” Eddie can guess that she’s currently wearing an evil looking smirk.
“Right. Well, I guess I better figure out what I’m going to wear.”
“That’s the spirit! Knock ‘em dead, Eddie.”
“Talk to you later, Bev.”
“Bye, can’t wait to hear all about it!”
Eddie sighs as he hangs up. What is he going to wear? He hopes Richie isn’t one to care too much.
* * *
Eddie decides on wearing jeans and a blue, knitted sweater. Nothing too fancy—this isn’t the actual date after all.
Beverly has just dropped him off at the town hall after picking him up from his house, looking giddy with excitement. Eddie had to tell his mom that he and Beverly were going out to see a movie in order to avoid suspicion. It’s most definitely better for her to not know what he’s actually doing right now.
Eddie enters the hall and looks for his age group. He sees that there is actually quite a bit of people here, ranging from all ages—the youngest being his age.
Richie could be any one of these people.
He spots his age group—18-21—near the back and makes his way over to the table where they give him his name tag.
“Name?”
“Eddie Kaspbrak.”
“ID? We have to confirm your age and identity.”
“Oh, yeah. Here.” Eddie fumbles with his wallet and hands over his ID.
They look it over and check his name off of a list. “Here you go, and here’s the name tag. You’ve been matched with Richie Tozier who, I believe, arrived not too long ago.”
“Great, thank you.” Eddie takes the name tag and sticks it on his chest. He moves over to the side and tries to look through the sea of people for a boy with the name, Richie Tozier.
No luck.
He decides to walk around instead to see if he can find him, when all of a sudden, Eddie turns around as someone walks right into him, causing Eddie to fall on the floor.
Eddie is furious. “Jesus Christ, don’t you have eyes? Watch where you’re fucking going next time.”
“I do have eyes, actually, but they’re pretty shit, however, so that’s why I wear glasses. That’s kind of what they’re for, in case you didn’t know,” a male voice sneers. “Wait… Eddie? Is that you?”
Eddie’s head snaps up at his name. He looks at the boy’s name tag. Standing in front of him is none other than: Richie Tozier.
Richie offers him a hand to help him up. Eddie takes it. “Yeah, well, maybe you should learn how to use them next time.” As Richie pulls him up, Eddie notices how tall he is. He’s got to be at least six feet tall. Although tall, he’s quite lanky as well, but the leather jacket he’s wearing compliments him very well. At the same time, Eddie can’t help but notice how cute he is too.
Well, that’s one good thing at least.
He likes Richie’s messy, dark, curly hair, and the glasses he’s wearing that magnify his dark eyes. Eddie also takes note of the freckles that are scattered across his nose and his cheeks.
Very cute, indeed.
That is, until he opens his mouth.
“So, you’re the famous Eddie Spaghetti! Wow, I’ve really hit the fucking jackpot with this one!”
Living up to the name ‘Trashmouth’ I see.
“Yeah, and how did I get matched up with you? There’s clearly a flaw in the system. And don’t call me that!”
“Ouch. Wish I’d known I’ve been matched up with a clumsy, feisty, little one. Would’ve prepared better.”
“I’m not clumsy. You’re the one who walked into me!”
“I was only eagerly searching for my prince charming, Eds. Now that I’ve found him, he doesn’t seem quite so charming after all. Although, I will admit he’s pretty cute.” Richie winks at Eddie.
Eddie’s stomach flutters at that.
No! You will not give in to his flirting! Stop that!
“Don’t call me that, either! I’m telling you now that I’m only here because my friend made me sign up. She wants me to find a date so I can join her for a double date on Valentine’s Day, and I want to make her happy. And I guess I’m stuck with you for now, so don’t think I’m actually interested in you.”
“Wow, we’ve only just met and you’re already asking me out on a date! Let a man breathe, Eds!” Richie pretends to swoon.
“Forget it. I’ll tell her you didn’t show up or some shit like that. Surely I can find someone better than you—someone less annoying.” Eddie makes his way towards the door.
“Wait!” Richie grabs Eddie’s arm. Eddie looks at Richie’s hand on his arm; a tingling sensation is left where he’s touching him. “Look, you see, I’m not exactly here for the right reasons, either. My ex showed up the other day, begging me for a second chance. She keeps asking me to go out with her on Valentine’s Day and I’ve had enough of it, so I told her I was already seeing someone else, which, was a lie. Long story short, she doesn’t believe me, so she wants proof. I panicked, and I ended up here. It sounds stupid, I know, but just, anything to get her off my back will do.”
“So, it looks like we could both benefit from each other then.”
“Ding, ding, ding! You’re correct!” Richie aims finger guns at him.
“What kind of ‘proof’ is she looking for?”
“Anything that proves I have a new boyfriend or girlfriend. She works at a café downtown—maybe if we go down there tomorrow and act all couple-like in front of her, she’ll finally leave me alone. Then I can join you on this double date on Valentine’s Day. It’s a win-win situation.”
“Basically, what you’re saying, is that now I have to suffer through two dates with you?”
“We don’t ever have to see each other again after this, if you don’t want.” Something in Richie’s voice makes it sound like he doesn’t want to never see Eddie again, but he’ll do whatever it takes to convince Eddie to go on this ‘date’ with him in order to get rid of his ex.
Eddie thinks this over. Richie seems pretty desperate to get rid of his ex, and what harm could it do to help him out while he helps Eddie get Beverly off of his back about finding a date? He supposes it is a win-win situation, besides the fact he’ll have to deal with Richie’s trash mouth for the next two days, and acting like a couple in front of his ex could be interesting.
Eddie find’s himself agreeing. “Fine. It’s a deal.”
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
“Yes! Thank you!”
“On one condition: you don’t call me any more stupid nicknames.”
Richie laughs. “Where’s the fun in that? I can’t promise you that one, Eds.”
“Then the deal’s off,” Eddie jokes. Half-jokes.
Richie sighs. “Fine.” Suddenly, Richie gets down on one knee, grabs Eddie’s hand, and places a hand on his heart. “I solemnly swear to not call you any silly nicknames, or so help me.”
“What are you doing? People are staring.” Richie really is beyond like any other person Eddie has ever met.
A true wonder he is.
“So? Let ‘em stare.” Richie stands up and releases Eddie’s hand. “I guess I’ll pick you up around noon, tomorrow. Oh, here’s my number, by the way.” Richie grabs a pen and a slip of paper from the table and quickly scratches his number down. He hands Eddie the paper.
“Okay. I’ll text you my address.”
“Great, see ya then, Eds.”
Eddie frowns. “You just broke your promise, dumba-”
Eddie is cut off before he can protest any longer by Richie leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Eddie instantly goes bright red, failing to hold back his blush, his heart beating faster.
“Wh-what was t-that for?”
“If we’re going to be the perfect couple we gotta start somewhere, Eds,” he says with a bright, teasing smile. With that, Richie heads out the door, not letting Eddie have the last word.
Eddie stands there with his mouth open.
What did I just agree to?