real; reddie

t h r e e

"i just didn't get any sleep last night."

eddie hates that all of his friends' eyes are on him. he'd been doing his best to contribute to the sleepless conversation they'd been having before he arrived and made a scene, but none of the four peers were able to take their attention off of him. their curiosity about the situation is palpable. eddie hates it.

"eds, um, if you don't mind me asking," mike says, and he's so uncomfortable that it shows in his voice. he scratches the back of his neck, obviously uneasy. "what's going on between you and rich?"

he'd been waiting for someone to ask.

"yeah," beverly pipes up, voice soft but inquisitive, careful not to trigger any unsettling reaction from the boy in front of her. "i was going to ask the same thing. but don't feel like you have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"oh, it's nothing," he says slowly, trying not to stumble over words. they hadn't picked an exact plan on why they had 'broken up' other than a ton of arguing. eddie doesn't really know how to explain that. "he's just been really touchy lately. snapping at me and such."

"oh," bill raises his eyebrows. of course, he'd always been on and off with stanley, so he's not a stranger to arguing, however he didn't expect that in richie and eddie; none of them did. after revealing that the two of them had been pretending at first, and admitting that they were an actual couple, they'd seemed like the poster children for a healthy relationship. and they were, except their friends couldn't know that. "i'm sorry, man."

"yeah," stan adds, leaning into his boyfriend slightly. "i'm sure it'll all blow over soon."

"i'm not sure about that," eddie mumbles, because though he'd love to stop talking about it, he knows he really needs to sell it to their friends. if they can't do that, what can they do? "it's been really bad."

"what do you mean?" mike asks, tugging his bag further up his shoulders.

"i dunno," eddie says, and his uneasiness helps to sell the mess that is supposedly their relationship. "a lot of arguing. we haven't been able to agree on anything. at first i thought it would just blow over, like you said, stan, but it hasn't."

"at first?" bev wonders, and her eyes are so sympathetic. eddie feels bad for playing her; she'd always been their number one supporter. "how long has this been going on between you two?"

eddie's eyes are downcast, his voice strained. he wishes richie was by his side. "too long. two months, maybe. it used to be just little quarries, but now it's full on fights. i don't know what happened to us. we used to be so solid. suddenly, it was like someone flipped a switch."

eddie's eyes are watering, just imagining this actually occurring. he's embarrassed at first, and goes to wipe away his tears, until he looks up and sees the look of pity in all of his friends faces, and bill reaches out to pat his back, and he knows he sold it just fine.

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