unsurprisingly to beverly, eddie didn't care when she said that she and richie wouldn't have a magical rekindling moment, because when bev woke up the next morning, richie was making her breakfast in her own kitchen.
eddie had left him there when he went to work, and richie decided to try and make things up to her for, well, everything.
"you like your coffee the same way?" richie said as bev sat down at the bar.
"you remember?" richie nodded at her words, taking a moment to silently make her a cup of coffee and slide it across the bar to her.
"of course i do. you were my best friend first, y'know." bev shot him a dirty look.
"don't do that."
"i know i did something shitty, bev. you don't have to torture me forever."
"i cant just forgive you. i'm not like him." bev shook her head while she spoke.
"i'm trying to fix it with him. i'm making things better." bev sighed and met richies gaze, trying to ignore how uncomfortable it was.
"fixing things now doesn't erase everything you did to him. it didn't have to be that way, you made it that way."
"i know it doesn't erase it, bev. and i'm sorry. i'm trying my best." richie was looking straight into her eyes, a look of desperation on his face.
"i know you're sorry. i just, i hate how things happened. i hate that you didn't call."
"i knew you took his side. i couldn't." bev shook her head.
"he would've taken you back at any point. two years later and he took you back. you could've fixed it immediately afterwards, rich."
"you wouldn't have." bevs face dropped. her eyes darted across richies face, her lips pursed as she tried to rebuttal.
"you know how i am, richie. you've always known."
"i know."
"eddie and i had this exact conversation yesterday so i would really like to skip the-"
"i'm going to make it up to you." richie interjected, cutting bev off swiftly.
"i'm sure."
"i will, i promise. i swear." richie could feel the tears brimming in his eyes, but he refused to cry. how embarrassing would it be to cry in front of your ex best friend in their kitchen. richie refused.
"i know you'll try, rich" bev felt empathy, even though she wished that she didn't. she wished that she could hate richie tozier in her heart as much as she did in her brain.
she knew that she never could. she'd been trying to for years. bev knew that she'd love him forever, she'd known since they stopped being friends.
"i'll die trying. i'd do whatever it takes. you mean everything to me, beverly. you always have."
"you know that isn't true."
"you know that it is."
the silence was loud, and not in a funny way. bev hated eddie in this moment. she knew he would do something like this. leave them alone together after she had just said that she did not want to be friendly with richie.
"can i just say something?" richie broke the silence after what felt like hours.
"you're going to anyways."
"i'm not going to hurt him again. if i can really, really prove that to you and make things better and make it up to eddie, i think you'll trust me again." richie turned around, his back facing beverly who sat quietly, babysitting her cup of coffee that was now barely warm.
"don't just do it for me." bev warned, hating that it came across like richie was only making things better with eddie to mend their friendship.
"that's not what i meant."
"i hope not."
