take me home | richie tozier,

11

late september, 1992

'whAT is going on, el??!!' i screeched as i was looking through racks and racks of dresses, finding no luck

'well, maybe you should've thought about getting your dress earlier, like me!' she said smugly, obviously happy she didn't wait until last minute to get a fall homecoming dress

'lay off of her, eleanore' harry said to her as he came walking into the store, as we had planned to meet here

'i was just joking,' el muttered under her breath

i gave her a pleading look and she smiled again

el and harry don't exactly 'get along' that well, but they still, for the most part, tolerate each other

it wasn't that they wanted to not like each other, it just kind of happened

they're both just two polar opposites, not really clicking with one other

but, it wasn't serious, we can all hang out together and such, they just don't hang out with each other on any other occasions

'what about this one, hazza?' i asked him as i showed him a rose colored dress that went down to the floor with lace on it

'that's the one, now let me go help you try it on' he said with a smirk as we went to the changing rooms

'yeah, not today harry' i said to him as i closed the curtain in his face

i changed quickly into the dress and looked at myself in the mirror

'this is definitely the one' i said to myself as i took it off and left the dressing room to pay for it

i told el that i'd be buying it as we went to the register, but before i could pay for it, harry took out his wallet and payed for it himself

'heyyy, what did we talk about you paying for my stuff?' i asked him as we left the store along with el, headed to sonic for lunch

'couldn't resist, victoria' he said as we all went into his car and off to sonic for some late lunch since we never

i sat in the front with harry and el sat in the back since i had called shotgun back in the store

when we had gotten our food, we sat down at some picnic tables

'el, i still can't believe that you're going to the dance with dustin. not to be rude but it makes me laugh'i snickered with harry

'hey! we both know that i only said yes because i feel bad for him' she sighed

'and what about you huh? you haven't said yes to any of the guys that've asked you'

i gave her a look,'i guess the right person hasn't asked me yet'

she smirked and looked at harry, his arm lazily slung around me while he munched on fries

'hm? did you say something, elm tree?

'what'd you say, frog face?'

'you know what-' harry began to speak but i interrupted them both

'guys! come on' i spoke to them both

'why won't you guys just admit that you're dating? you guys literally are, you just have to put a label on it. you two do everything that couples do, and yes, i do see when you guys cuddle in the movie theatre when we go see movies. it's dark but not that dark'

i sighed and didn't answer as i sipped on my smoothie

she took the hint and began eating again, as it was clear we weren't in the mood do discuss our relationship

a few moments passes as i spoke up,'el, we're just friends.', and harry agreed with me

we started another conversation soon after but it was quickly interrupted when the rev of an engine came whooshing into the sonic parking lot

'who could that be?' el asked, harry was clueless but i wasn't

i knew exactly who owned that car

it was richie

as he stepped out, his eyes met mine and he shot me a quick smile

i sent one back to him as he walked over to us and sat down next to el, and across from me

'hey, vic' he said to me as i smiled at him again in response

as richie said that, harry's grip around my waist became slightly tighter

he whispered into my ear,'and who's this, love?'

my hand touched against harry's cheek and i answered him,'this is richie, he's and old friend, hazza'

he became less tense after my answer as richie spoke up again after greeting el

'who's this?' richie asked, pointing out harry

'the name's harry styles' harry said with a slightly angry undertone

'tHe nAmEs rIcHiE tOzIeR' richie mocked harry

'richie, that's rude' i scolded him

'relax, hot stuff; it was a joke' he said with a laugh, but it quickly stiffened when he saw the looks we were giving him

richie spoke up again after a few moments of awkward silence, that was most definently initiated by himself,'so uh, vic.. you never got back to me about those roses..?' he asked sheepishly

i sighed,'i know, i'm sorry rich. i've just been super busy'

he just nodded, us all having very much trouble reading the current conversation

there were more minutes of awkward silence, harry's arms still wrapped around me and my hands wrapped in his

el was eating food and richie seemed to be thinking about something

harry mumbled to me,'pass the fries, love' while he nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck

i took the fries that were on the other end of the table and gave harry the fries as he ate on them

richie cleared his throat and then spoke up again,'vic?'

i looked up,'yeah?'

'do you want to go to the dan-' he spoke but was quickly interrupted by harry

'victoria, love, look at the time' he said as he showed me his wrist watch

'oh shit! i'm so sorry rich and el, but we have to study for the biology test tomorrow we had already planned it! can we talk tomorrow at school before the dance?'

'yeah, sure.. see ya tomorrow vic' richie said as harry and i walked away and off to his car