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"so should we pretend that we're not dating?"

eddie doesn't sound too happy about this possible option, but he doesn't really see another one. or, at least, another plausible one.

"what?" richie's eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. the two boys are sitting in the middle of one of their coffee shops near their college, across from each other, when the smaller boy proposes this offer. he obviously isn't quite fond of the idea, either.

"well, as much as i hate to admit it," eddie says quietly, and he looks just as uncomfortable with the situation. "it would be ideal for the situation that we're in."

it takes a long moment for richie to answer. "i guess so," he says after some contemplation. "but i'm just not sure i'm comfortable with that."

"trust me, rich," eddie sighs after a second, his short fingers wrapping around the mug in his hands. "i'm not, either. but, this town. . .you know how it is. plus, my parents."

richie grimaces at the mention of his parents. or, more, the thought of how mrs. kaspbrak reacted when she had found out that richie and eddie were dating. she had basically flipped her shit, in the simplest terms. she had thrown things around and screamed and yelled until eddie had left the room to let her calm down. and so, to salvage the situation, he'd reassured her that they had 'only been pretending' the whole time, and were not actually gay.

that had calmed her down, however she wasn't too fond of richie afterwards.

and as for the town that they're in; richie had taken an apprenticeship rather than enrolled in classes. he figured that it would work out better for him, as he prefers to be more hands-on, and classes were never really his thing. and so when he found something perfect in his field, and so close to where eddie had enrolled for college, he'd jumped at the opportunity.

however, it had only taken a few days for richie to find out how homophobic his boss was. not only did he make snide comments about gay people, but he also admitted, and proudly, to firing multiple interns and refusing apprenticeships once finding out that the clients were homosexual.

and so, no matter how much richie had wanted to fucking attack that man, or at least tell him off, his better half had continuously suggested to keep calm and attempt to deal with it, at least as long as the apprenticeship goes for. that way, richie will have the experience he needs, and it'll be that much better to come out to the boss after a few months of actually working with him.

these are the reasons that it would be much smarter for the two boys to pretend to not be in a relationship. and, of course, they had lots of experience in pretending. so why not switch it around and pretend that nothing was real?

what could go wrong?

eddie looks a bit sad about this whole thing, but also kind of hopeful, because maybe, just maybe, this could work. "so, do we have a deal?"

richie offers a comforting smile after a moment, and he shrugs then, sipping his coffee. "deal."