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It was just after 8:30 when Richie dropped his bike in front of the school, looking around for the other Losers. He waved at Ben, who was sitting on the steps and hurried over. They were quickly joined by Stan, then Bev and Bill arriving together, and then Mike. Richie looked out into the street, concerned, wondering what might be taking Eddie so long. He was worried that maybe Mrs. K hadn't let him come to the dance after all. The only reason Richie agreed to come to this stupid thing was because Eddie said he would go.
He was just about to give up and head over to his house when he saw a figure bicycling towards them. He sighed with relief when the figure neared and he saw that it was Eddie. He tried, and failed, to resist the urge to laugh when he saw what Eddie was wearing. "It's a formal dance, Eds. Did you forget?"
Eddie looked solemnly at his polo shirt and jeans. "My mom wasn't going to let me go, so I told her I was going to Stan's house. This was as formal as I could get without her suspecting. I look like an idiot."
"Aw, I'm sure it won't be a big deal," Bev told him. Eddie didn't look convinced.
"Here," Richie said, slipping out of his suit jacket. His mom had made him dress up in a full-on suit, and he was honestly relieved to have an excuse to rid himself of some of it. He laid the jacket over Eddie's shoulders. It was too big on him, the sleeves were a little long, but Eddie seemed happy with it. Okay, so maybe seeing Eddie wearing his clothes was also a reason to do it.
As soon as they entered the gym where the dance was taking place, sadly covered in streamers and balloons, Beverly pulled Bill onto the dance floor and the rest of them made their way to the bleachers. Mike, who had never been to a school dance before, shot a quick look towards the crowd before looking back at them with a confused look. "What's the point of going to a dance if we aren't going to dance?" he asked.
Stan, who had sat down on the bleachers with a book in hand, squinted at him. "People watching," he told him as if it was obvious. To the rest of them, it was. Even Ben nodded his head in agreement.
"Feel free to join the lovebirds if you want," Richie told him, nodding towards Bev and Bill. He climbed up to the third row of bleachers, Eddie following close behind. Mike shrugged and joined Stan. Ben shot one more wistful look at the dancing couple before settling down as well. Richie had to support Bill in this arrangement, but he had to admit he felt for Ben. It sucked being in love with someone who didn't return your feelings. He reached across Eddie, much to his protest, to ruffle through the pocket of his suit jacket. He pulled out a flask and Eddie rolled his eyes.
"Of course you have that," he said.
Richie grinned and took a sip. "You don't have to have any. I know how you are with germs."
"Fuck you. I do what I want." Eddie grabbed the flask from him and took a large drink, wincing at the taste. "What the fuck is this? Is this vodka?"
Richie shrugged. "My dad was out of whiskey. Plus, I hate dances." Eddie shrugged and took another drink. Richie's eyes widened. "Eddie! That's gonna mess you up." He tried to take the flask back but Eddie leaned away.
"Maybe I wanna get messed up tonight."
"What the fuck does that mean?" Richie asked him but Eddie looked away and didn't respond. He handed the flask back to Richie and Richie stared at him for a few moments before taking it and drinking. A teacher glanced over at them and he quickly hid it in his pants pocket. She squinted at them but didn't do anything.
The song changed then to Whitney Housten's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", and he could feel Eddie perk up beside him. He didn't say anything, though, and Richie knew it was due to a slight embarrassment at liking the song. Richie didn't hesitate before saying," I love this song. Let's dance," and grabbing Eddie's arm. Eddie protested but allowed himself to be dragged onto the dance floor by Bev and Bill.
"Hell yeah!" Bev shouted when she saw them. "Finally!" She grabbed Eddie's hands and started moving him with her. He looked displeased at being forced into this, but he didn't move away. When the chorus hit, Richie stole him away and twirled him around, singing aloud loudly to the music. Eddie laughed along, and that was all the encouragement Richie needed to continue.
When that song ended, Lost in Your Eyes by Debbie Gibson started playing and all the couples grabbed each other. Richie and Eddie looked away from each other, and Richie hoped his face didn't look as warm as it felt. The two moved back to the bleachers. Stan had his eyes closed and was swaying to the music. Mike was smiling at the couples dancing. Ben was pretending not to be staring at Bev and Bill, who were clinging to each other. They were just about to climb up the stairs when a girl from their class approached them. She glanced back at her friends, who were giggling, and looked at Eddie.
"Hi, Eddie," she said.
"Hey, Rachel," Eddie said.
"Would you-" She glanced back at her giggling friends. "Would you like to dance with me?"
Richie's stomach dropped. He knew this day would come, that girls would notice how cute his Eddie was and want to be with him. He just didn't think it would be today. He was about to go up the bleachers alone when Eddie said, "No, thank you." Richie's head snapped over and a laugh escaped him.
Rachel frowned. Richie almost felt bad for her. Almost. "Oh. Okay. Well, bye then."
"Better luck next time!" Richie called after her.
Eddie elbowed him. "That was rude." But then he giggled, and Richie knew the alcohol was finally hitting him. Richie started laughing, too. Eddie grabbed his arm and dragged him up to a dark part of the bleachers.
They sat in silence for a moment before Richie couldn't resist anymore. "Why didn't you say yes to Rachel? Don't you think she's cute?"
Eddie shrugged. "I don't know. I guess." He paused before adding, "There's someone else I'd rather dance with."
"Oh." Richie looked out into the crowd, wondering who could have caught Eddie's attention. He hadn't told him about anyone he was crushing on. Richie was disappointed; they usually told each other everything. "Who is it?"
"Richie," Eddie said forcefully.
"What?" Richie asked, still trying to figure out who it was. Eddie scoffed, and Richie didn't understand why until he felt Eddie's hand on his. "Oh," he said again, his face getting warm. He felt his heart beating rapidly and looked over at Eddie. He had a nervous smile on his face and his eyes were big. Richie smiled back at him. They sat like that in silence for the rest of the song, occasionally glancing at each other. Richie honestly couldn't believe this was happening. It felt like a dream, like he would wake up at any moment and it would be that morning and Eddie would go back to just being his friend and oh God, what were they now? There was no way they were just friends after this. Unless maybe Eddie was holding his hand in a friendly way. Did people do that? Maybe not normal people, but he and Eddie had always been closer than most. Maybe this was just something like that. Or maybe the alcohol was affecting his brain and he was just being silly. People did stuff they didn't mean all the time when they were drunk.
The song ended and was replaced by one more upbeat that Richie didn't recognize. He slowly pulled his hand away and cleared his throat.
"What's wrong?" Eddie asked with a frown.
"Um. Nothing. I'm just gonna see what Stan and Mike are up to." He stood up and hurried down the steps to where his friends were sitting, talking about some rare species of bird Stan was insisting he saw in Derry the other day.
"They're only native to certain parts of South America," Stan was saying.
"It was probably just a pigeon, Stanley," Richie told him, settling down beside him.
Stan scowled at him. "What are you doing down here? I figured you were smoking up there."
"I never smoke around Eds," he said automatically. He glanced up at him. Eddie was staring out into the crowd with a stern look on his face. Richie sighed. "How much longer are we expected to stay here?"
Mike nodded at Bev and Bill, who were laughing and looking like they might stay out there forever. "Whenever they can break apart from each other, I guess."
"God, he's so fucking whipped," Richie said, looking at Bill.
"He'swhipped?" Ben asked with a scoff and Mike elbowed him. Richie raised his eyebrows at them but didn't say anything.
The four of them stared at the couple as if they could summon them with their thoughts. No luck. Richie offered the flask to his friends but they all shook their heads. He shrugged and took another drink, not bothering to check for chaperones. If they kicked him out then he had an excuse to leave early. He was just about to decide to leave on his own when the song changed to one that Richie recognized and not in a good way. He saw Ben look up in surprise and Beverly looked over at them with a big smile. She hurried over. "Come on, guys! You have to at least dance to this one song! All of us. Then we can go, I promise."
Richie scrunched up his nose. "Is this fucking New Kids on the Block?"
Bev glared at him. "Yes, and you're dancing to it. Don't bother trying to argue with me. Where's Eddie?" He nodded up at where he sat. Bev shouted at him to come join them, then grabbed Richie's arm and dragged him onto the dance floor, motioning for everyone else to follow.
"I am not dancing to this shit," Richie told her.
She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Rich."
"Yeah, Richie," Mike said, moving to the beat. "It's fun. Look, Ben's into it."
Richie watched as Ben danced to the song, looking lost in the music. "Well, these are New Kid's people. It suits him. Back me up, Eddie." He looked over at Eddie who had finally joined them, but Eddie was already jamming to the song. Richie threw his hands up. "There is no loyalty in this club."
"It's really not that bad, Rich," Eddie said. He reached out to grab Richie's arm, then seemed to reconsider and dropped his hand.
Richie frowned, not willing to miss out on an opportunity to be close to Eddie. "Maybe you're right. But just this once." Eddie smiled and grabbed his arm and Richie joined in on the dancing. Bev cheered in celebration. Richie had to admit that he was actually enjoying himself.
Then Eddie pulled him down to whisper in his ear, "I need some fresh air," and then gave him a look and left the gym. Richie stared after him, mouth wide open. Was he supposed to...follow him? What was happening tonight?
He tapped Bev on the shoulder. "Eddie needs some air, so we'll be outside when you all are done grinding up against each other."
Bev rolled her eyes. "Alright. Is he okay?"
Good question. "Yeah, just the usual. All these bodies in this tight space breathing up on each other. Just...need some air. See ya." He left the gym and then realized he didn't know which direction Eddie had gone. He had kind of expected him to be waiting in the hallway but the other boy was nowhere to be found. He decided to try the front entrance. "Eddie?" he called once he got outside. There was no answer. He started to worry. He knew It was gone, but he suddenly wondered if maybe he wasn't, that maybe he had come back and taken Eddie, or Eddie wasn't ever here and it was just It messing with him and now he was drawing Richie away from his friends to kill him.
No, he told himself. It was gone. There hadn't been a sighting or a disappearance since that night at Niebolt. He was gone. It didn't make facing Eddie any easier.
"Eddie?" he called again, walking down the front steps. Something reached out and pulled him behind the bushes. He screamed but tried to calm himself down when he realized it was Eddie. "Shit, man, don't do that to me." He grabbed his racing heart, trying to steady his breathing.
Eddie grimaced. "Sorry." He looked down, grabbing Richie's hand. "I wanted to talk to you. I've been wanting to talk to you, but I've never been able to find the words, which is unusual, cuz I usually have no trouble finding words." He took a deep breath, not meeting Richie's eyes.
Richie's heart was still beating, but now it had nothing to do with being frightened. "Eddie..."
"No, don't...don't say anything. Not until I'm done."
"Eddie, I-"
"Would you shut your mouth for once in your goddamn life so I can tell you that I like you!" Eddie yelled. Richie stared at him in shock. Eddie took another breath. "I like you, Richie. Not as a friend, but something else, and I've felt this way for a while, and after everything that happened this summer...I realized I didn't want to die without ever getting the chance to tell you. And we didn't die, so I'm telling you now. I like you, and I understand if you don't like me back, but I needed to tell you that."
"Eddie, you're drunk." Richie couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this was happening. There was no way this was happening. This wasn't just holding hands in a dark gymnasium. This was...this was a confession.
Eddie finally met his eyes. "You're damn right I'm drunk, cuz if I was sober I would never have the courage to tell you any of this. That doesn't make it any less true, Rich."
Richie pulled his hands away and ran them through his hair. "This is crazy, Eds. You're not...you don't...this is crazy. You don't know what you're saying. This isn't you. You're drunk."
Eddie groaned loudly. "Jesus Christ, Rich, shut the fuck up!" Eddie grabbed his face and kissed him. Richie froze, paralyzed by shock. This was so much more than he ever thought he would get. Eddie Kaspbrak was kissing him, and nothing else mattered. Eddie pulled back to say, "See? Would a drunk person do-" but Richie didn't care about that anymore. He grabbed Eddie and kissed him again. Even if Eddie was drunk, if this was all a mistake, he would allow himself this one last night before everything went back to normal tomorrow. He would wake up and Eddie would be his friend and this would all be a dream. But it would be a damn good one.
"Getting some air, huh?" Richie and Eddie pulled away faster than should be humanly possible. They turned to find their friends looking at them from the opening between the bush and the school. Bev and Mike had huge grins on their faces. Bill looked almost proud. Ben looked kind of jealous. And Stan, who had spoken, looked annoyed.
"I was just...we were..I..." Richie stumbled to find the words, any words, to explain the situation. Eddie's face was bright red, but he looked more embarrassed than panicked.
"It's about fucking time," Stan told them. The others broke out laughing. Eddie put his face in his hands but appeared to be laughing with them.
Richie just stared at them in shock. "I just...we...huh?"
Mike smiled at him, that big bright smile he always wore. "We've been waiting for you two to realize you had feelings for each other for months."
"Years," Bill corrected. "Stan and I have known since the f-fifth grade."
"I thought for sure you would realize after that day in the clubhouse," Mike said.
"I was certain after that first time at Niebolt," Bev told them.
"At least the second time," Ben added.
"Do you realize how much of a headache you two have been to me?" Stan asked. "You've driven me insane. I've had to deal with your constant bickering and touching and googly eyes for years without you two ever realizing you were in love with each other. I just-" He put his head in his hands with a sigh. Mike rubbed his arm softly.
"If we had known alcohol was the final key," Bev said, "we would have tried that months ago."
Richie was still staring at them. "You...you really all knew?"
"We s-suspected," Bill said. "We didn't actually know until now. I'd say kissing each other is pretty good p-proof."
Eddie, face still buried in his hands, leaned his head against Richie's shoulder. "I think we should all go home now."
"Home?" Richie exclaimed. "But the fun is just beginning! I'm just having a grand time this evening. Aren't you all having a grand time? I'm having a grand time."
"Yeah, maybe we should get going," Bev said. "These two have a lot to...talk about." She grinned, grabbing Bill's hand and pulling him away.
"Goodnight, guys!" he shouted after them.
Mike, Stan, and Ben left together as well, continuing a conversation about birds native to New England. Mike gave them one last big smile and a thumbs-up before disappearing around the corner. Richie and Eddie were left alone again. Eddie slowly pulled his face out of his hands, his face still pink. "Well that was...unexpected," he said.
"Yeah," Richie agreed. "Did you know they knew?"
"I didn't even know I knew until recently," Eddie admitted. "I certainly didn't think you felt the same way. I was worried I'd ruin our friendship if I told you. The only reason I did was because I had some...assistance."
Richie couldn't fight the smile that appeared on his face. He offered his arm. "Shall I walk you home, my good sir?"
Eddie's eyes widened. "I don't think I should go home like this. My mother will kill me." He paused. "Do you think I could stay at your place?"
"Y-yeah," Richie said. He felt butterflies in his stomach. They had stayed at each other's places, even slept in each other's beds, a thousand times. In fact, it was a habit of Richie's to go to Eddie's house late at night and sneak in through the window. This wasn't something that should have felt weird, but it did.
The two of them grabbed their bikes and began walking in the direction of the Tozier house. Richie didn't trust either of their abilities to ride a bicycle at the moment, and it was nice to have the time in the fresh air. By the time they got there, both of them had sobered up significantly. As soon as they got inside, greeted Richie's mom, and made their way to Richie's room, Eddie grabbed Richie and kissed him. When they pulled away a minute later, Eddie smiled. "Just in case you thought it was just the alcohol. I still like you."
Richie smiled back at him. "Good," he said, grabbing Eddie's hand and leading him towards his bed. They sat down and Richie kissed him again. It felt so weird, to be kissing his best friend, but at the same time so right. It was like they had been doing it forever. In a way, they had. They had done just about everything couples did except kiss. It was the missing piece of their relationship that had finally been put into place. It was like everything was right in the world.
Richie knew it couldn't be like this always. When they went to school on Monday, they would have to pretend to be just friends again. It wasn't safe in this town for them. They both knew that. But when they were alone, or with their friends, they could have this. They could be happy. Nothing could ever take that away from them. Richie refused to let that happen. They had won bigger battles than a close-minded town. There wasn't a thing in this world that could stop them.