now or never [reddie au]

1

Eddie and Beverly lay on their stomachs across from each other on Beverly's floor. They had made it a tradition to have a sleepover at least once a week, and this tradition had lasted at least two years.

And in these two years, Eddie and Beverly told each other everything. They knew things about each other that none of their other friends knew- and that would possibly never find out, either.

Eddie knew that Beverly was stuck in the middle of a love triangle with their friends, Ben and Bill. Beverly thought that Bill was really cute, and she thought that Ben was one of the sweetest boys she had ever met.

Beverly knew that Eddie had struggled with his identity for a while. If someone asked him what he looked for in a girl, he'd just smile and say that he wanted a girl with a nice personality. In reality, not a single hug or kiss from any girl would never make him feel the way he does when he's around his life long best friend, Richie Tozier.

Beverly and Eddie were on their phones, opening and closing different social media apps while trying to come up with something to do. Suddenly, a photo on Eddie's instagram feed made his heart sink.

"trashmouth_tozier: Somehow this motherfucker's put up with my shit for eight months so he must be dating me for my looks ;) (Just kidding, Connor, I love you <3)," the caption read under a selfie of the two boys taken at an unflattering angle.

Eddie remembered the day that Richie told his friends that he was bisexual. Richie had said it because he liked a boy. Eddie was almost certain that it was him, and had almost worked up the courage to tell Richie he loved him. Fast forward a month, and Eddie saw Richie holding hands with Connor Bowers in the hallway. No one had any idea that Richie likes him, and Eddie had never even seen the two together before that day. Eddie's confidence shattered and he still has yet to come out to his friends, minus Beverly.

Eddie closes instagram and locks his phone. Beverly has also come across the picture on her home page, and immediately turns her attention to Eddie. "I got this new nail polish the other day.," Beverly tells Eddie in an attempt to get Eddie's mind off of Richie, "Can I paint your nails?"

"Yeah, why not?," Eddie shrugs. Eddie didn't mind when Beverly had a new product or a different technique that she wanted to try on Eddie. Of course, she would also try these things out on herself, but she also wanted to be better at doing them on other people, and the rest of their friends didn't want her to do it on them.

Beverly gets up and grabs the bottle of nail polish, sitting down cross cross in front of Eddie as she shakes the bottle. Eddie puts his hands on Beverly's legs as she opens the nail polish.

"I think I figured it out.," Beverly says as she begins painting one of Eddie's nails, "With Ben and Bill, I mean."

"Oh, yeah?," Eddie looks up at Beverly.

"They're both my friends and I love them, and I may have known Bill longer, but he's just cute to me. The more I think about it, the more I think that I don't feel the same way about Bill that I do Ben."

"Good for you.," Eddie smiles at Beverly, "It must be nice having all that figured out."

Beverly shrugs as she begins painting a different nail. "So, how have you been?," she asks Eddie.

"The usual.," Eddie answers as he watches Beverly brush the black polish onto his nails, "Trying to get over the boy I've been in love with since middle school because he's in a relationship while trying to maintain a friendship with him because I've known him forever and don't want to give up a close friend over something so stupid and selfish."

"Hey, your feelings aren't selfish. Besides, high school will be over soon, and you'll go to college and find a boy that loves you and you'll look back on this and think, 'Ew, why did I like Richie?'.," Beverly jokes.

Eddie softly giggles and shakes his head at her before saying, "I think that the only way for me to get over Richie is to just get it off my chest. I've been wanting to for so long, but I gave up as soon as Connor came along."

"What's stopping you?," Beverly finishes painting all of the nails on one of Eddie's hands and continues on the next hand.

"I don't know.," Eddie shrugs, "I just don't want to lose him."

"Don't worry about that. He's one of your best friends. If he wants to ignore you because of it, that's on him. Trust me, he might not like you back, but he won't hate you."

Beverly was right, as usual. If Richie got mad at Eddie for something as dumb as this and ended their friendship over it, then Eddie wasn't going to be upset about it.

"I'll tell him eventually.," Eddie says to Beverly. "Well, good luck.," Beverly smiles at Eddie as she finishes painting Eddie's nails.

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hi! i'm so excited for this story i've had this idea for a few days and finally had the time for it :) it's way different than the kissing bridge and i really liked how this chapter turned out and i have high hopes for this one ;) tell me what you guys think of it so far! i love reading the comments on mine and other people's stories <3