𝔸 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝔹𝕪 𝔸𝕟𝕪 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖 - reddie

#𝟙𝟛: 𝕁𝕒𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝔼𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕤

A few (many) drinks later, we had all somewhat divided ourselves to simply talk and catch up. 27 years didn't seem like a long time on paper; but to people that you've spent most of your teenage years with, that have been absent from your life since then, 27 years felt like forever.

Ben was seated beside me, his chair turned a little so he had leeway to prop his legs up on another chair that was close at hand. We didn't even seem to care that this was a restaurant anymore; we were all far happier being in our own little bubble.

"Did you get married, Ben?" I asked softly, my eyes fixated on a small place setting that was nestled next to the fish platter. The vase was pretty and had small paintings of angels on the side. I glanced over at Eddie; he was well in conversation with Mike and Beverly. Watching him speak inaudibly with such ease and chill gave me desirable tingles.

Ben was playing with the base of his hand, trailing one pointer finger down the center of the lines in his palm. He took a deep, almost calming sigh, a soft expression on his face. "No, I didn't. I haven't had much time, recently. But, ever since the call, I've felt more free."

I nodded. I mostly asked for conversation, but I suppose a small part of me wanted to know. I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one without a partner among the group.

"What about you? I know you were joking about it earlier, but now I'm curious," Ben threw his head back and gently took more gulps of another round he had ordered. "Do you have your eyes on anyone?"

I'm not a fucking pair of binoculars, Haystack.

I don't know why my first thought instinct was to be defensive; he wasn't out of line in any way. In fact, he had hit the nail perfectly on the head. I did have my eyes on someone. Literally. Currently. As we conversed.

"I suppose so."

I wanted to respond with something subtle and vague, so maybe he'd change the subject, but once it was out and I had said it, I winced. I really should have just lied, there was no way I could get out of this without anyone intervening now.

Ben leaned forward with a smug smile on his face. "Oh yeah? Come on, spill, trashmouth. You always seem to go quiet when people want to talk about you."

"I'm more of a selfless romantic myself," I took this as an opportunity to turn it around. "But you can't pretend that you haven't been checking Beverly out this whole time we've been here. Your eyes are really fucking noticeable, man."

Ben straightened his back quickly at the sound of my words, as if trying to tell me to shut the hell up without making it seem obvious. He wanted to argue, because he opened his mouth swiftly, but then he leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. "How noticeable?"

"Really noticeable. I mean, you might as well tap her on the shoulder with 'I love the shit out of you, Bevvy' written on your forehead. I saw the way you two hugged out there. There's no way your dick stayed down for that," I folded my arms. It was back to the jokes. How else could I keep his attention elsewhere, though? "You like her, huh?"

Ben reddened from embarrassment, but it was hard to tell under the soft black hair that was his assorted on his face. "I don't think I'm the oblivious one here. I've fallen hard  for her since we were like, twelve."

I propped my arm up on the table and rested my head upon it, with a dumb, comforting smile on my face. "Young love. Ahh, silly kids. Just be safe, okay?"

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Richie."

"Whaaat, I'm just saying," I glanced over at Beverly, who was laughing loudly at something Eddie had said, who was only lightly chuckling at his own words. "Do you think she knows?"