Chapter Text
Richie felt his nerves coursing through his body as he opened the door to the comm building. It was the first day of classes, and while he was excited, he was also extremely anxious. Even though it was his second semester, it was still his first year, so he didn't have many friends yet. He worried about who would be in his class and hoped he wouldn't be completely alone. As he walked into Studio B, he was greeted with a very pleasant surprise: a class full of familiar faces. He had at the very least seen most of the people in the class, and he even had a few friends in there, too. Everyone was standing around and talking as they waited for their professor, so Richie made his way over to Bev and Mike.
"Ah! I am so excited you're in this class!" Bev squealed as Richie sat down next to her. The teacher had arranged some desks temporarily in the studio, all angled at a blank white board. Richie wondered if this was how the class was normally set up because he had never seen desks out in the studio before.
"Dude, this class is stacked. Like, this is a good group of people," Mike said, and Richie really took a moment to look around the room and take in everyone that was there. There were a few new faces, but he had been in classes last semester with a good deal of the people. Some of them he didn't know in person, but he recognized from instagram. His eyes landed upon this one boy, sitting on the other side of the room and talking with the people around him.
He looked so familiar, but Richie couldn't figure out from where he knew him. While he was looking, he couldn't help but think about how cute the boy was. He was trying to remember his name when Bev leaned over and whispered, "You've got heart eyes already, Tozier."
"I think I'm in love with that kid over there," Richie said, nodding his head in the direction of the nameless boy.
"Oh, Eddie? He was in our editing class last semester," Mike chimed in, and then it clicked for Richie.
" That's how I know him! I knew he looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. He sat at one of the neighboring computers, right? I remember talking to him once or twice, but we never really got to say much because he wasn't close enough for real conversation."
"That's probably better for you, because any extended conversation really ruins your chances at romantic interest," Mike said. Richie rolled his eyes at him and gave him a look before returning his gaze to Eddie. He was still preoccupied with Eddie when he looked over and caught his eyeline. Eddie smiled and waved, and Richie returned the gesture. As soon as Eddie turned away, though, Richie felt a blush creep over his cheeks.
Richie was about to say something to Bev when the professor walked in and greeted everyone. She was a middle aged woman with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair. Richie hadn't seen her around the comm building before, but he had heard good things about her class.
"Hello, everyone, I'm Professor Dalton. Welcome to multi camera studio production! I hope you all brought your lists of your top five TV shows of all time - I'll be writing them up on the board as I go down the roll. When I get to you, tell us your name, where you're from, what your major is, and then list your TV shows."
She started going down the list, and the students introduced themselves and listed their shows as she went. She stopped after the first show was listed and said, "Also, if you have ever seen even one episode of a show when it's mentioned, raise your hand when it's said. I like to see which shows are popular with my students."
Then she continued down the roll. Richie was only half paying attention to most of them, because he didn't particularly care that much about what everyone else was watching. He also knew he would just feel judgmental if he really listened to what they all liked. Some of them truly liked trash TV. Mike was the first person on the roll that Richie truly cared about, and Richie approved of the shows he listed: Community, Atlanta, Cutthroat Kitchen, Brooklyn Nine Nine , and The Good Place . Richie zoned back out until he heard Eddie's name.
"Alright, Eddie Kaspbrak?"
"That's me! Um, I'm Eddie, I'm from Derry, Maine, and I'm getting a BS in TV and Film Production. And then as for my top five shows: Schitt's Creek ," Eddie paused then, waiting for Professor Dalton to write it up on the board. Richie raised his hand to show he had watched it. Eddie was off to a very strong start, and if he kept listing shows Richie liked, he was definitely going to be in love by the end of this class period.
" Glee, " Eddie continued, and Richie stifled an appreciative chuckle. " The Good Place, " Eddie added, continuing with, " Bones ," and then finishing strong with, "and Killing Eve ." Yeah, Richie was head over heels for this guy already. He sits back and waits for the next interesting person, which happens to be Bev. She lists her shows: The End of the F***ing World, New Girl, Haunting of Hill House, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Broad City . Richie is happy to know he has good taste in friends. He goes back to staring at Eddie as subtly as possible until his name pulls him out of his trance.
"Uh, yeah. I'm Richie. I'm from Springfield, Massachusetts and I'm getting a BA in TV Production. Uh, what's next? Oh yeah, shows. Um, so my top five are Black Mirror , That 70's Show , Schitt's Creek , American Vandal , and It's Always Sunny Philadelphia ."
There are only a few more names after Richie, so it's not long before the white board is completely covered with various TV shows. The professor then starts going over production connections between the shows, like how some are shot in a studio whereas others are shot in the field, or how some have a live audience and others don't.
Richie listens with actual interest. He's always been smart; he's the kind of kid that doesn't really have to study to get an A. And he wouldn't study, and he wouldn't really like school all that much, either. But ever since he got to college, he's been finding that he's enjoying school. Sometimes he even wants to study. On more than one occasion, he's been excited to do his homework, which, to be honest, is weird.
The time flies by. As a class, they had moved to the control room to learn about the technical equipment in there, and before he realizes it, they're halfway through the two hour class. Professor Dalton gives them a five minute break to grab a snack or go to the bathroom.
Bev tells Richie that her and Mike are going to run to the Starbucks right next to the comm building, but Richie declines the invitation. He's already had too much coffee, anyways. His eyes are trained on Eddie, who is sitting in the back corner of the control room and scrolling through his phone. Richie decides to use the time to have their first real, actual conversation.
"Hey, uh, Eddie, right? I'm Richie," Richie says nervously as he plops down next to Eddie.
"Yeah, I know that. We had a class together last semester."
"I'll be honest, I was 100% positive that your name was Eddie, but it seemed weird to walk up and be like 'Hello, I know for a fact your name is Eddie and I am assuming you know my name,' so instead I went with the whole not sure act," Richie jokes, and Eddie smiles. And okay, now Richie is taken aback by just how goddamn cute Eddie looks when he smiles.
"So, I see you are a fellow fan of Schitt's Creek ," Richie says. Eddie grins even wider and says, "Of course I am. It's fucking hilarious. Who's your favorite character?"
"Obviously David. That's the only valid answer."
"Good choice. David and Patrick's relationship literally makes me cry. Like, I started the show for a good laugh, and now I'm crying in my bed because Patrick is talking about his identity as a repressed gay. It hits too close to home, man," Eddie says, and Richie takes note of his subtle comment alluding to him being gay. This technically means that Richie at least has something of a chance.
"I know. Dude, when Patrick was like 'That's the first time I've done that with a man' when David kissed him? I truly died. I had to pause the fucking show so I could scream."
"A-fucking-men. I love them," Eddie says. Then, they fall into a bit of silence. Richie is racking his brain to try to think of other things to say, but he can't. Thankfully, the professor walks back in and resumes class, stopping Richie from having the chance to say something truly stupid.
Pretty soon, it's 4:30 and the class is over. As everyone starts packing up, Professor Dalton says, "On your way out, make sure to grab a copy of the rotation schedule. This is how we know who has what job and when. I randomized the names and gave them numbers, so just look at what your number is and then you can find where you are on a given week."
As Richie heads out the door, he grabs a sheet and starts to look at it. The first thing he sees is that because of the randomization, he and Eddie have ended up with consecutive numbers: Richie is 6 and Eddie is 7. And because of how the jobs fall location-wise, it means they will frequently be in the same room.
He's standing in the hallway waiting for Bev and Mike while he makes this connection, and his excitement must be evident, because Bev says, "Hey, lover boy, what's got you all smiley?"
Before Richie can answer, Mike says, "Just take a look at the rotation schedule. Richie and Eddie are next to each other."
"Professor Dalton is the ultimate wingwoman," Richie says as they all make their way outside.
"The real challenge, though, is going to be spending that much time with him without saying something insanely stupid," Mike replies, and he earns a laugh from Bev.
"You are sadly very right. I'm going to need to buy a book on how to have a conversation with someone you immediately fell in love with when you are an idiot in real life. Do either of you know of such a book?" Richie asks. Bev and Mike pretend to think for a moment before shaking their heads, and Richie sighs.
"I talked to him today for less than five minutes but it was the best conversation of my life. We talked about Schitt's Creek , and he dropped a very big hint at him being gay, so things are looking good."
"Richie. You cannot seriously think there's a chance he's not gay. One of his top five shows of all time is Glee . While a straight man can watch Glee and enjoy it, only a gay man can include it in his top five shows of all time. It's just the rules of homosexuality," Bev says with a shrug.
"She's right. And as bisexuals, you and I could have it in our top ten shows of all time, but not our top five," Mike says to Richie, and Richie has to laugh, because that was so fucking clever.
"Okay, okay. You have a point. Perhaps he is gay," Richie concedes as they arrive at their dorm building. The three of them all live in the same building, though on different floors. They swipe in and head for the elevator, pressing the 4, 7, and 10 buttons. They continue their conversation until the doors open on the fourth floor and Richie steps out, mock-saluting his friends as the doors close behind him.
He turns down the hallway and walks to his dorm room, sliding the key into the lock and twisting while he pushes. His door is weird, and if you don't push at the same time as you're turning your key, the door just won't open.
Inside, he sees Stan seated at his desk, with his calculus textbook open, his calculator on, and his hand moving fast as he solves problems in his notebook. Richie slings his backpack into his own desk chair before climbing onto his bed and sighing.
"Staniel… I'm in love."
Without looking up, Stan says, "Are you, now? Who's the unlucky man or woman?"
"Ha ha, very funny. His name is Eddie. He's in my multi camera production class, and he was in my editing class last semester, though we never really got to talk. It's a shame, too, because he is perfect, and if I don't kiss him soon, I might die."
"So does that mean you're going to make a move?" Stan asks skeptically.
"Of course not, Stanthony. You know my game: I flirt relentlessly for weeks and constantly doubt that he could ever be into me, and then eventually when I'm drunk or high or just feeling confident, I send him a text that says something like, 'lol hope this isn't weird but i really like u and wanna take u out on a date,' and then I get friendzoned and attempt to move on. You've seen this happen plenty of times."
"Nice to see you're sticking to your brand," Stan says. His eyes are still on his notebook, and Richie realizes he's been solving problems during their conversation. Sometimes he forgets that Stan is literally a math genius . Now, Richie knows he is also a math genius, but he just doesn't care about that fact and instead focuses his energy on trying to write a funny TV show.
"But my professor is a fucking incredible wingwoman," Richie says, and now Stan looks up with a questioning look on his face. "What does that even mean?" Stan asks.
"I'm glad you asked, Standrew. You see, for this class, we are learning how to use the different equipment in a television studio. So we have been given this rotation schedule that shows who is working what job and when. And to make the schedule, she randomized our names and assigned us numbers, and then just went down each column diagonally and assigned the jobs. And somehow, either she or God or both of them want me and Eddie to end up together, because I'm number 6 and he's number 7. And because the jobs are located in different rooms and are grouped by location, that means almost every class we will be working in the same room. Of course, there will be a few tragic class periods when I move to the next room while Eddie is still in the last room, but then the next class he will move back to the same room, and order will be restored to the universe."
"So this is how you plan on making him love you?" Stan asks.
Richie nods, saying, "Of course. Spending weeks with the Trashmouth is a gift that many don't get to experience. I will be saving all of my best jokes for him, and by the end of the semester, I will have gotten him to fall in love with me. And then we will be boyfriends and I will hold his hand and kiss him and probably also fuck him, but right now I'm really just focused on the hand holding and kissing."
"Interesting. I'd tell you to keep me updated, but I know you will anyways, so I don't really have to say anything."
"Correct! You will be getting updates every Tuesday and Thursday, Flat Stanley."
"Great, I can't wait," Stan says, and it's slightly sarcastic, but Richie knows his best friend, so he knows that Stan actually does care.
"What about you, Mr. Uris? Has anyone caught your eye?"
"Well, there's someone cute in my rhetoric class. He's an English major, but that's all I really know. He sits next to me, though, so hopefully I get more chances to talk to him."
"Now this is exciting. Perhaps we can go on a double date!" Richie exclaims, and Stan grimaces.
"You think I would voluntarily expose someone I like to you for an entire date?"
"Hey, I am funky and fresh. It would be lucky for them to even get to meet me," Richie says defensively, and Stan chuckles.
"I'm not saying it's a definite no, but I would have to really have this guy locked down before I let you talk to him for longer than five minutes."
"I have no choice but to respect that decision. Now, I believe it is time for my 5:00 nap that will inevitably fuck up my sleep schedule beyond repair. I will see you whenever I wake up!" Richie says as he starts to wrap himself up in his blankets. He buries his face in his pillows, but he still hears Stan say he's going to the library to avoid Richie's snoring.