now or never [reddie au]

10

Eddie and Beverly turn to each other, Beverly smiling at Eddie. "Why not?," Stan asks Richie, not exactly surprised after the phone call that they had the night before.

"He still hasn't told his family about us.," Richie adjusts his glasses, "I mean, I get why he wouldn't if the rest of them are anything like Henry. He probably wouldn't even like it."

At this point, Richie could cry had it not been for the fact that his friends- including Eddie- were there. He hated the way he was feeling because he didn't want to hurt Connor. It wasn't Connor's fault that he didn't have the best family, but eight months of keeping this huge secret from his family and Connor's family was starting to get old.

"Well, you can at least come w-wi-with us.," Bill tells Richie, "N-None of us will get a date, anyways."

"I was thinking about asking someone, actually.," Ben says softly, glancing in Beverly's direction. Beverly doesn't notice him looking at her, but Bill does. He knew that Ben had a better chance with Beverly than he did. It was obvious she liked Ben back, plus, Bill thought his stuttering would eventually drive her insane.

"What about you, Stan?," Mike looks at Stan, "Are you going to ask anyone to prom?"

Stan shrugs before changing the subject, "I can't believe you and Bill are still wearing those shower caps."

"I can't believe you're not. They were your idea in the first place.," Mike says to Stan. Bill slowly takes the shower cap off.

Eddie takes his phone out of his fanny pack and checks the time. "I should probably leave soon. My mom's going to have a panic attack."

"I'll drive you, Eds.," Richie tells him before looking at Beverly, "Bev, you should ride with us so you can come to my house."

"Um, okay.," Beverly shrugs as she, Richie, and Eddie stand up. They wave at each other as the three leave the clubhouse and make their way to Richie's car.

After taking the longer route, Richie drops Eddie off at his house before going to his house with Beverly.

When they get there, the two sit in next to each other on Richie's bed. Richie was ready to tell Beverly everything, but he didn't know how she'd react. Could she already tell he liked Eddie? Does she know if Eddie likes him back? Would she bring up Connor?

"So, what was it you were going to ask me about?," Beverly asks before Richie gets the chance to bring it up. Richie sighs and rests his head on Beverly's shoulder, "Can I get your advice on something?"

"Yeah. What is it?," She asks.

Richie takes a deep breath, "I love Connor, but I don't know if I want to be with him anymore, but I don't want to hurt him, and I also don't want to throw our relationship away for something that will probably never happen."

Beverly looks at Richie, "What?"

"Connor didn't do anything wrong.," Richie sniffles, "I just don't feel the same way I did eight months ago. And this feeling just came out of nowhere."

"Maybe it'll-"

"It's Eddie.," Richie takes his glasses off and wipes tears from his cheeks, "I've loved Eddie since middle school. But, he's going to go to college and forget about me and find someone else, and I'll still be with Connor and counting down the days until I can find an excuse to leave him."

Beverly's jaw drops. Richie continues, "Like, I don't even think Eddie would like someone like me, you know? He'd want someone smarter and a little nicer, like fucking Stanley or something, I don't know!," Richie lays down and puts his head in Beverly's lap as he starts sobbing.

"Hey, it's okay.," Beverly runs her fingers through Richie's curls, "You're overthinking, Rich." Beverly wanted to be a good friend and tell Richie to give Connor another chance, but she wanted to be an even better friend and get them together.

"It's not really my place to say anything, but all I'm going to tell you is that telling Eddie wouldn't be a bad idea.," Beverly tells him.

Richie looks up at her and wipes his eyes, "What do you mean?"

Beverly doesn't say anything. She just smiles and winks, and Richie realizes what she meant.

"Does he like me too?," He asks, sitting up.

She nods and says, "I didn't tell you that, okay?"

Richie feels his face get warmer. He felt as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He at least knew that if he left Connor to pursue a relationship with Eddie, he'd at least have a better chance. However, he wasn't sure what the outcome would be if he left Connor for the boy he told Connor not to worry about. He was related to Henry Bowers, after all.

"Oh, god, what do I do about Connor?," Richie asks Beverly as he adjusts his glasses.

"Tell him that if he can't tell his family about you, you don't want to be with him anymore."

"Okay, I'll try that.," Richie says before pulling his phone out of his pocket to call Connor. He dials his number and puts it on speaker, signaling for Beverly to be quiet.

"Hey, baby!," Connor answers his phone, "Guess what?"

"What?," Richie asks, impatiently waiting to tell Connor how he was feeling.

"I told Henry. He didn't seem too weird about if, but-"

Richie's eyes widen, "You told Henry?"

"Yeah! He didn't say much, but it wasn't anything bad."

"Just him? No one else?"

"He asked about it because he said you came by for me, like, yesterday or something."

"Oh, god, baby, he's going to kick my ass at school tomorrow!"

"No, he won't!"

"Get to the point!," Beverly mouths to Richie, and Richie sighs, "Connor, I really wish you wouldn't have said anything."

"You've been wanting me to, though.," Connor says, "Is something wrong?"

Richie takes a deep breath and looks at Beverly, mouthing, "What the fuck do I do now?"

Before Beverly can come up with anything, Connor asks, "Are you breaking up with me?"

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