Work Text:
—M—
"Yo, dude, you ever notice how much hotter girls look with eyeliner?" Max asked to one of his friends, Kyle, while walking to their remedial algebra class.
Kyle looked at him weird for a moment, raising an eyebrow. Oh. Right. Kyle knew 0 shit about makeup.
"Like, uh," Max pointed vaguely towards his eyes. "The shit girls put above their eyes. Yknow?" He explained.
Kyle nodded, seeming to understand after that. "Huh. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Brenda wears that.." He trailed off, remembering Max's 'rule' of Kyle not being able to date the previously mentioned girl.
Max huffed, crossing his arms as he looked at Kyle "You realize I don't give a shit who you date?"
Kyle looked dumbfounded. It was amusing, to Max.
"Wait, really?" He asked, looking at Max for confirmation that he didn't just dream that sentence up.
"Yeah, dude. As long as you don't date, like, a nerd or something." Kyle nodded, seeming to understand that— since, well, they bullied the needs. It wouldn't feel too good to bully your significant other.
Kyle nodded again, stepping back a bit. "I'm gonna go find Brenda. See you at lunch, dude." He seemed to forget the fact that everyone was currently getting to their classes, but Max wouldn't nitpick that— not right now, atleast.
—R—
Eyeliner. Apparently, Max Jägerman had a thing for eyeliner, or something? Richie couldn't remember the conversation well, mostly because he only heard one sentence from a distance, but he didn't want to be spotted by Max!
So, yeah, eyeliner. Richie had heard Max talking about it to Kyle yesterday, some time in the morning?
It was a stupid plan, there's no way Max would just leave him alone if he wore eyeliner once. There's many reasons! One, and the most obvious, he isn't a girl. Two, he's still a nerd! So, yeah, stupid plan.
But, Richie did have a lot of makeup, mostly for his cosplays, and it was worth a shot.
He rummaged through the drawer where he stored most of his supplies, and ended up with a dark blue— almost black, actually— shade of eyeliner. It looked good for most cosplays, and he knew it'd give a small compliment to his highlights.
He usually didn't wear makeup to school— Brad would call him endless slurs if he did— but assuming the thing with Max worked? Brad would probably (hopefully) be pressured to not bully Richie too, even if only for a day.
He sat infront of his small vanity, unlocking his phone and setting it on the desk incase anyone (Pete or Ruth) texted him. They usually did, atleast in the mornings.
It felt a bit weird, applying makeup when he knew he wasn't going to cosplay with it.
—R—
It was nearing lunch time, and the nerds had somehow avoided Max so far. A part of Richie didn't want to avoid him, atleast not today, so he could see if his plan worked. The other part of his brain told him that he was being stupid and it was a good thing he had been able to get away from Max today.
The first part of him won when he accidently bumped into the jock during a passing period.
Richie stumbled back, clutching the straps of his bag. Last time he had bumped into Max, the bully had grabbed his backpack and poured out everything. It took atleast ten minute to clean up, and Grace thankfully seemed understanding and didn't give him a tardy slip when he had been late to his next class.
Max whirled around, winding his hand back as if he were about to punch Richie— the nerd wouldn't doubt it.
But then the jock paused, stiffening slightly. Weird.
—M—
Max paused, staring at Richies face.
It looked different, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
Then it clicked.
His eye lids— there was.. stuff.. there.
What was it called again?
Right. Eyeliner.
Why the fuck was Richie wearing eyeliner? That was girls shit.
And it definitely shouldn't look good on a guy. Especially a nerd.
Max lowered his hand, still inspecting the eyeliner on Richie.
It was looked dark, maybe black? Max couldn't tell, not in this lighting, atleast. I could be brown, since the nerd probably wanted it to match with his hair.
But it didn't look brown. Almost a blue? Like the schools type of blue, but a darker shade. It looked... nice.
...good.
...really good...
Okay, fine, it looked attractive.
But Max couldn't understand why. It couldn't be because of who was wearing it, because Richie was wearing it, and he couldn't be attracted to Richie. Maybe it was the color? No, it wouldn't look good on its own. It was nice, but not 'attractive' nice.
It couldn't be Richie.
It could not be because Richie was wearing it.
It'd still look good if it was on a girl!
Maybe Stacy would look good with it? Eh, no, it didn't compliment her style enough.
Maybe Steph? Nope. She was like a sister to Max, she'd never be attractive. Cool looking, maybe, but also green suited her better.
Brenda was off-limits now, so Max 'couldn't even think about it', according to Kyle.
Alice? Eh, Max barely remembered what she looked like anyway, plus she looked better with pink, not blue.
That one hot barista at Beanies Max had seen a few times? Nah. She looked better with those uniform colors, blue would clash with that.
Huh. Max, despite his popularity, he didn't really know too many girls, atleast not that well. And he didn't know too many girls that would look good with the eyeliner that Richie had on.
Okay.
Okay....
Maybe it was Richie?
No, he wasn't attractive.
Well.. he was, but only with the makeup!
It's not like Max would stare at him when he didn't have it on. He didn't. Mostly. He tried not to.
—R—
Max was staring at him.
It felt.. weird, in all honesty. He wasn't used to Max staring at him without being hit.
How long had it been? It felt like hours. Richie cautiously pulled out his phone, his eyes flicking down to his screen. Oh.
It had been 5 minutes.
For five fucking minutes Max had just been... staring at him..
His stomach felt weird.
Not... not a bad weird, strangely.
Usually he hated being stared at. It made him feel like he was going to throw up. For some reason this was different. It made him feel... good? Really good, actually. Why the fuck did being stared at by Max feel good? It should make him feel worse!
"Uh.. I'm gonna.. go." Richie whispered taking a step back. The halls had luckily been empty, dude to Max being there and also because everyone else was now in class.
"What?" Max asked, blinking one too many times to wake himself up from whatever trance he had been in. Richie would've found all of this a bit amusing, if it had happened to anyone else but him.
"It's been, like, five minutes. I don't wanna get yelled at for being even more late to class." Richie explained, still backing up.
Max grabbed his arm.
He was doomed, for sure. Max would kill him right there.
"You look good."
Oh.
What the fuck?
Maybe Richies plan worked a bit too well. Max was supposed to spare him from bullying for a day, not fucking compliment him.
"Excuse me?" Richie asked, staring at the jock like he had three heads.
"You should wear eyeliner more."
Seriously?
Richie felt like he was in a goddamn rom-com, or one of those random romantic animes that Trevor and Rudy had forced him to watch.
"Um.. yeah. Sure." Richie nodded awkwardly, going to turn away before Max tugged on his arm again.
"Please. You look... really good." Max's voice could be something akin to desperation.
Holy fucking shit. Richie needed to tell someone about this. Max was practically begging for him to wearing some stupid, shitty eyeliner.
It was... weirdly arousing?
Richie would never admit that, of course.
"Will do, if you like it that much." Richie let himself tease Max, even if it was a bit subtle.
Max's face flushed— whether that was from anger, embarrassment, arousal, or whatever, Richie wasn't sure. He slightly hoped it was the third option, but that was dumb. Max would never actually be attracted to him, he probably just liked how the eyeliner looked on him.
Max finally let go of his arm, stepping back. He looked.. awkward.
Richie didn't even know that Max could look awkward.
—Nerd GC—
Richie: holy shit
Yall would not BELIEVE what just happened to me.
Ruth: YOU GOT LAID!?
Richie: ....
No
He definatrly wanted to tho trust me
Ruth: WHAT
HE?
WHO
GIVE ME ANSWRRS I NEED FANFIC FUEL!!!!
Pete: I'm in class. Talking with Stephanie. Please talk in your own chats.
Richie: NO
you both need to hear rhtis
Ruth: ANSWER ME PLS
Richie: Maxwell Jägerman.
Ruth:?????
Wait what
:(
Did he beat u up again??
Richie: Nope!!
So. I wore eyeliner today
Ruth: ooh yeah i noticed that!!
Super cool btw
Richie: tyty ikik
BUT.
he COMPLIMENTED ME???
Ruth: WJHAT
NOW AY
FR?
Richie: Yup yup
So ig I'm just soooo cool now..
Ruth: Nope, nuh-uh, you ain't leaving me and Petey
Richie: I was joking!!
I'd never leave yall <<33
Ruth: awwww.
But did you two like fuck or smth
Richie: NO.