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"you excited to see everyone?"

eddie is nervous; richie hadn't seen any of their friends since he'd broken the news of their break up, and he isn't quite sure how they'll react after the story the two boys had created.

"yeah," richie says, but he chuckles a bit. "though i'm sure they hate me right about now."

eddie's eyes soften as they turn the corner on their way to the pub. "they don't hate you."

"it's whatever," richie says, raising his eyebrows is some sort of amusement. "who will all be there, anyway?"

"everyone," eddie stops short of the pub parking lot and pulls into the one of the convenience store beside it; of course, they can't be seen entering together. "dustin, lucas, max, ben, beverly, ell, mike, stanley and bill."

"and are stan and bill...?"

"off again," eddie reminds his boyfriend and the car comes to a stop. "now, remember the story. we argued over dishes, it got worse, you asked why i wouldn't break up with you and i said maybe i should. you left, and we haven't seen each other since. got it?"

"got it, sweetheart," richie says, leaning across the centre console and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "you can go in first."

"okay," eddie says, his tummy turning something funny at his boyfriends presence, and he ducks his head down, getting out of the car.

the pub is crowded, but he spots his group of friends quite quickly. not everyone is there; max and lucas are over at the bar, getting them drinks, mike and stanley are immersed in conversation with ben, el is sitting next to an unnamed girl that eddie had never seen before, and beverly is talking to the two with a friendly smile on her face. bill and dustin are so far no where to be seen.

as soon as eddie walks in, beverly's face lights up. she motions him over, and so she joins the three girls; the unnamed one is pretty, with blonde waves upon her shoulders and gentle green eyes that greet him kindly. "this is el's girlfriend, bree."

el's face blooms red, and then eddie sees the two of them holding hands under the table. he offers a comforting smile. "it's great to meet you!"

"you too," she says, and she has the slightest irish accent laced in with her words. she's nervous.

the door swings open and bev's eyes widen a bit, and when eddie turns he sees richie walking in. he's just as beautiful as always, but he has to remind himself not to stare.

"you sure you're okay with this?" el questions after seeing the pained expression on eddie's face, but he just nods with a shrug, taking a seat at the end, beside bev and across from an empty seat. he hopes richie takes it.

instead, mike calls him over. he makes momentary eye contact with his boyfriend before being dragged into a conversation with their other friend.

dustin and bill end up showing up around the same time, immediately falling into easy chatter with ben and lucas. eddie thinks that that's all of them;

but then, the door swings open again. in comes a familiar mop of brown hair, and a disgustingly charming smile. "eddie," he greets, eyebrows raised in interest and amusement.

"will?"