Title//Reddie

Part 7

The clear sound of the doorbell rang through the air as Bev finished counting up the points, Richie had won. She muttered a small "fuck" and ran to open the door.
"Hey- Holy shit" She said, dissolving in a fit of giggles at the delivery boy.
"Bev what is it- fuck" Richie said, starting to blush.
Richie remembered why he liked reels so much.
Standing at the door, was Eddie. Wearing tiny little red shorts and a red polo that said reels on the side.
"Holy shit it's Richies crush-ed box of pizza!" Bev caught herself quickly.
  "I wouldn't say the pizzas that crushed, I mean I rode it 10 minutes on my bike. It's kinda to be expected" Eddie explained. 
  "Well Bev you pay, I'll be... not here- Ow!" Bev pinched him as he tried to walk away.
"Wouldn't you like to talk to Eddie?" Bev encouraged.
  "Not really no" he said honestly.
  "Thanks, asshole" Said Eddie "Look I would spend my break here if you guys wanted to talk, but I already promised my girlfriend that I would spend it with her".
  "Girlfriend? Like as in you're dating?" Richie asked, starting to recall something Eddie told him, which to be honest he had blocked out.
  "Yeah. Remember? Angela, works at the pizza place, is in your drama class. We've been dating for a week, I could swear that I've already told you" Eddie said, he was definite that he had already told Richie.
"Oh yeah right, your girlfriend" Said Richie, his vision starting to be clouded by tears. He was lucky, his glasses hid his teary eyes. A week ago when Eddie had been rambling on about disease, he had mentioned his girlfriend. Richie had blocked out any memory of Angela. But now knowing that Eddie would rather spend his time with Angela, then with him. Well that hurt. He was right, Eddie wasn't gay like Bev had said. Eddie wasn't gay.
Beverly patted his back comfortably.
"I bet she's ugly" Bev whispered into Richies ear.
"Bev I've seen her" Richie whispered back "She's hot as hell"
"Says the gay guy" She countered.
"I can be gay and think girls are hot. Why do you think I like you- ow! Stop hitting me" Richie shout-whispered.
"Well I gotta get back. My boss is crazy. Bye guys" Eddie said before closing the door and riding back to the pizza place.
  "...... he's probably still gay. Angela could be a dude" Bev said in a attempt to comfort Richie, it didn't work.
"I could care less about who it is, I just care that's he's dating someone else." Richie explained to Bev.
  "Yeah sorry man, I know how much you like him" Bev comforted.
  "I'm fine, plus I barely even like him" Richie lied.
  "First of all; you're very clearly not fine. Come on, your parents turned out to be homophobic shitbags and then you found out your crush has a girlfriend. And second of all; you're completely whipped for Eddie, I can tell you really like him." Bev said, she knew Richie was a pretty private person. She wanted him to be comfortable enough to come out of his shell around her.
"That obvious huh?" Richie asked with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah, it is" Bev said.
"Well, I think I'll just go to bed" Said Richie, worried if he stayed around Bev she might see right through his walls.
"Rich. It's only 7:30" She told him.
  "I'm just going to sleep, okay Bev?" He said, feeling a little bad at the way he raised his voice. He felt worse after seeing Bev flinch at the loud noise. He had heard stories from the other parents about her dad, he didn't want Bev to be afraid of him too.
"Look I'm sorry, I just-" he started before sighing in defeat, he had no idea what to say "Night Bev"
"Night Rich"
  He went over to the guest room Bev had supplied for him. The bed was a little springy and it was freezing, but he was grateful to have somewhere to sleep. "Sleep". He just lied in bed, unable to fall asleep. He just kept thinking about Eddie, Eddie and Angela. Stupid Eddie and Angela. God why didn't Eddie like him? Was he too skinny? Too annoying? Too disgusting? This one relationship had destroyed his self esteem, and all the reasons he didn't like himself came flooding back. He tried to clear his mind but the same insecurities came back in just as fast.
A few hours later, when it was a normal time for someone to sleep, Bev came to say one last thing.
  "Night Rich. But just remember, it's just one girlfriend. She won't last"

Angela lasted a month.