cash in. (au story)

chapter 18; coffee.

"what the fuck was that..?" richie asked himself, glancing behind his shoulder.

before the boy knew it, the sun was rising again, and he had somewhere to be.

though, as richie was walking to work, he felt that he could barely keep his eyes open. he entered the café right around the corner from the pharmacy, walking up to the front desk. to his luck, he found a twenty in his back pocket.

"what can i get for you, sir?" the lady at the counter asked.

"three cups of red eye, please," he asked, voice exhausted.

"alright. can i get a name?"

"richie."

"alright, richie, we'll call you when your order is ready!"

"thank you, ma'am."

she smiled at him and he left the line so that the next person could go and sat on the nice couch inside. richie was dangerously close to sleep as someone hit his shoulder, scaring him awake.

"your order's ready," the man said, walking away after. richie looked up at the woman holding his coffees, which were surrounded by a soft, cardboard container.

"looks like ya need this," the woman offered. richie stood and smiled at her weakly, taking the tray.

"thank you. have a good day, ma'am."

"you too."

richie left the café and trudged over to the pharmacy, downing some coffee. as he entered, he noticed kevin restocking a shelf, who rose an eyebrow as richie walked in.

"you planning on sharing or just drinking all three?" kevin suggested, turning his gaze back to the shelf.

"get your own coffee, needy fuck," richie regaled, placing the tray on the counter and taking another large sip.

"i told you to go to sleep."

"i wasn't home, it was impossible," richie groaned.

"weren't you with your friend, though?" kevin suggested, slightly distracted by what he was doing. richie leaned against the counter, chugging the cup of coffee that was almost gone.

"i felt weird so i left and went outside and smoked for like- an hour maybe," richie admitted, not willing to bring up the burning. he reminded himself to find a jacket there to cover his arm before anybody questioned it.

"i still find it hard to believe you smoke," kevin sighed, carrying the leftovers in the box back to behind the counter. richie hid his arm as kevin passed.

"welp, better get used to it, i guess," richie said with a shrug, finishing off the first coffee. it burned his tongue to drink it so fast, as well as his throat, but it was to the extent that richie liked the feeling just as much as the fire.

richie placed down the empty cup, belched, and picked up the next one, feeling the energy slowly begin to fill his body already.

"dude, slow down," kevin commented as he came back out of the storage room. richie's face was smothered with a cup as kevin walked out from behind the counter, who sighed and walked over to richie, one hand lightly on his shoulder and the other grabbing the cup.

"wh.. kevin, what the hell?" richie exclaimed after swallowing the coffee.

"no more. you already had one cup, that's far enough for your age," kevin said, taking the whole tray and putting the cup back in it.

"no, kevin, i need it, i need it," richie begged. "i haven't slept in two days so far, this is the only thing keeping me awake."

"what the fuck, richie? why haven't you been sleeping??" kevin exclaimed. richie sighed.