Drops of Heaven

02

Eddie and Richie always fought for the front seat, and despite being a bit shorter than Richie, Eddie almost always won. All he had to do was pout out his bottom lip and beg Richie to let him and Richie turned into a puddle of mush and moved out of the way.

Only after he got the front did Eddie cackle and tell Stan or whoever was driving that Richie was a mess who couldn't fight back against a pout.

Richie always scowled because Eddie was right, but he didn't know that he was the only one whom Richie would give in for. He didn't even give in for Bev, and she was the only girl in their little group.

The same thing had just happened: Stan was driving, Eddie was gloating in the passenger seat, and Richie was laying down in the back.

"Richie, you shouldn't lay down. What if I got into an accident?" Stan asked, his eyes focused on the road.

Richie didn't sit up. "Then I'd be more impressed than anything. The fastest road here is, what, twenty five?"

"Richie, sit up," Eddie begged and Richie slowly moved to a sitting position. "Do you know what could happen if we got into an accident?"

"Enlighten me. Would my brains explode?"

"You could get a concussion which could lead to long lasting brain damage-"

Stan cut him off. "Look at him, Eddie. He's clearly already got some kind of brain damage."

Richie placed his hand over his heart and gasped dramatically. "Staniel, how dare you?"

"I'm an honest person. Sorry. Not sorry," Stan responded, stopping his car at the small convenience store on the corner of the street.

Both Eddie and Richie peeked out the windows before actually getting out. It was clear they were both working to avoid the Bowers gang, especially since they were known to take revenge.

"Stan, you know you can go in alone, right?" Richie asked.

"Uh, no way. I know those fuckers will break my windows to get to you two and I don't need my dad to get pissy with me," Stan growled. "Out. Now."

Eddie and Richie both groaned irritably and climbed out of the car, walking into the store right behind Stan. As in, they were both clinging to him and using their friend as a human shield, which Stan did not appreciate, but he didn't comment on it either.

"I want gummy bears," Eddie said, pouting out his bottom lip. "Your parents give you an allowance, right Stan?"

Stan huffed. "Yes, but I'm already buying Bill snacks. Bev, Mike, and Ben are on their own and so are you two."

Eddie turned to Richie pleadingly.

"You're on your own."

"I got you snacks last time!" Eddie exclaimed.

Richie ruffled Eddie's hair. "Should've hit Bowers with the rock."

"Hey, don't touch my hair! Come on, I make less than you!"

Richie sighed. "Fine, Spaghetti. Get your damn gummy bears."

Eddie grinned and grabbed his snack, tossing it to Richie.

Stan met Richie's eyes and gave him a knowing look. As much as Stan denied wanting anything to do with Richie, they were close friends and Stan was the only one who had picked up on Richie's crush on Eddie. Their friend group knew both he and Eddie were into guys; that wasn't a secret.

The big secret was the fact that he was head over heels for his best friend. Stan, of course, kept it quiet and never brought it up to anyone except Richie, which led to Richie sobbing in Stan's bedroom and Stan trying to comfort him.

Richie looked away from Stan so his face didn't turn red, because he knew exactly what Richie was thinking about. He grabbed his and Eddie's snacks and ran off to the checkout, leaving his friends behind.

They got back into the car once they'd checked out and drove to Bill's house. Mike's truck was already there even though they weren't supposed to show up for a couple of hours.

The losers never did anything on time when it came to their group anyway; they always showed up hours early for sleepovers because they loved to spend time together.

Stan walked in without knocking and slipped off his shoes, and both Richie and Eddie followed suit. They went right down to the basement after greeting Mrs. Denbrough and found the others already in a heated debate about their big move and who would drive first.

"Make Stan drive first," Richie chimed in, interrupting them. "He won't hesitate to run over anyone who steps in front of the car."

Stan shrugged, not bothering to defend himself.

Especially since Richie was right.

"Not too much longer," Bev cheered, leaning back against Ben's legs. "I'm so excited... those extra hours at work were totally worth it!"

"Yeah, but we're going to be cramped as hell in the apartments," Mike said, wincing at the thought of it.

Richie laughed at his wince. "Not everyone got to grow up on a big ol' farm, Mikey. Besides, you don't have Eds as a roommate."

"What's wrong with me being a roommate?!"

"You're going to make our room look like a hospital room. Tidy and covered in white linens."

"You volunteered to share with me!"

Richie shrugged. "Better you than Stan. He's ten times worse than you."

They had gotten two apartments that were close together. Both were two bedroom apartments; Richie, Eddie, Stan, and Bill were staying in one and Bev, Mike, and Ben were staying in the other. Bev got her own room, even though she would have shared if it made it cheaper, but it ended up not mattering in the end.

"One car, two apartments, seven college students who are running off... wow, we're a great set up for a shitty story."

"How would it end?" Bill asked. "Do we make it to Portland?"

In middle school, Bill had a stutter that he struggled to overcome, but thankfully his parents got him into a speech therapy group. He now only stuttered when he was really nervous or lying, and both were a rare occurrence for Bill.

Richie nods. "It actually ends pretty well. You end up banging Stan."

Stan choked on his soda, getting it all over his shirt. "Richie!"

"What?"

"That's..." Stan blushed and looked away from Bill. "You're so annoying."

Bill nodded. "Yeah, fuck off, Richie. I bet you would want to rail Eddie in your stupid story."

"Obviously, Billiam," Richie tried to joke, despite being red in the face. "Have you see his ass? Eddie's got more cake than all of the girls in our school."

Eddie flicked his ear. "You're annoying as hell."

"You love me, Spaghetti."

"I'm going to put spider eggs in your pillow case."

"Fuck you."

Stan and Bill shared a look, as did Bev and Mike. Ben just watched the show, snickering as the two bickered.

"Fuck him yourself," Stan mumbled, drinking from his soda cup. "Coward."

Richie pulled Eddie into his lap. "Mrs. K is too good, Stan. I could never cheat on her."

"Can we just choose a goddamn movie?" Eddie asked, cutting the group off. "Please?"

Bill handed him the remote. "Go for it, Eddie."

Eddie didn't move from Richie's lap for the rest of the evening, but no one commented on it.