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❀ t w o ❀

"Let's do something, losers," Beverly says, standing up.

"Okay!" Ben replies, a little too quickly and enthusiastically as he jumps to his feet. God, Richie hopes he hadn't looked like that when he was looking at Eddie. His infatuation is so obvious.

"Wha-What do you want t-to do?" Bill asks, standing up too.

"How about..." Beverly fake ponders as she walks over to the bag she brought, "this!" she says excitedly, holding up a bottle of vodka.

Eddie's eyes widen in shock. "Beverly! We're underage!" he shrieks.

"Barely," Beverly says nonchalantly, "and everyone our age drinks"

"Well I, for one, would love some alcohol," Richie states, grabbing the bottle. The rest of the group stares nervously. They'd never drunk anything like that before. Let alone hard alcohol.

"Did you know there are like zero health benefits to drinking alcohol?" Eddie inquires, "In fact, it's really damaging to your liver and brain, especially if you're underage" he emphasized that last part, eyeing all of them.

"Actually," Ben says, "Moderate consumption can reduce your risk of heart disease or stroke." They look over at Ben in shock, surprised he is actually on board with this idea, but then again, it was Beverly who suggested it.

Eddie glares at him, "if you want permanent brain damage, be my guest." He goes back to his homework, angry his friends weren't listening to him as he scribbles furiously.

"Oh Eds," Richie tries, "a little alcohol never hurt anyone." Eddie ignores him and continues writing. Richie tags a swig from the bottle. "Bill? Stan?" he asks, wiping his face with his arm and holding out the bottle. They stare at him nervously.

"Come on guys! It's a Saturday night! We're teenagers, let's live a little!" Beverly says, plopping down between them on the dusty couch they stole from the junkyard and wrapping her arms around them. The losers do their best to keep their clubhouse nice, but it is underground after all. The string lights and tapestries Beverly brought definitely help to liven the place up a bit, and Stan is constantly cleaning everything he can. Bill always brings the best snacks to keep down there too. But the furniture had to be free, or they couldn't afford it. Stan scrubbed the shit out of the junkyard couch, yet Eddie still refuses to sit on it.

"I-I will if y-you will," Bill states, looking at Stanley. Eddie glances over at them, shocked they might actually do it.

"Fuck it," Stanley rolls his eyes, "let's have some fun." He reaches out and takes the bottle from Richie, taking a sip. "That's fucking disgusting!" he says, coughing. "Why the fuck would anyone drink that?!"

"L-let me try," Bill says, grabbing the bottle and tipping it back, "Bleh! That's r-really gr-gross."

"You just have to get used to it," Beverly says, trying her best not to make a face after taking a drink.

"I want to try," Ben says and Beverly hands him the bottle. "It's worse than I thought," he states after taking a drink much bigger than he intended.

"More for me then!" Richie eagerly grabs the bottle, taking another swig.

"D-Doesn't it b-burn?" Bill asks Richie, amazed at how he's still drinking.

"I'm just not a pussy," Richie shrugs. "But hey, at least you guys tried it, someone over there couldn't even do that," Richie says, purposefully bringing the attention back to Eddie.

"Fuck off, Rich!" Eddie exclaims, narrowing his eyebrows. There he is. The fiery little Eddie that Richie has come to love. As a friend, obviously.

"C'mon Eds, one sip won't hurt you!" Richie begged, walking over to him with the bottle.