𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲

( 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 )

iv - from the dining table (harry styles)

richie's not entirely used to meeting new people, let alone new, fancy families. well, growing up, his family had just kept a tight friend group of a couple families and that's it. there was never really anybody new that came into the picture that ended up being as close or as bonded as the people he had from the start. after his mom left, a few of those friends ended up leaving as well, ignoring him and his father whenever they tried to say hello or start a conversation. richie doesn't think he's ever going to understand why everyone leaves him. especially his own mother. after all, why would you bring a child into the world and then vanish out of thin air like they never even mattered to you?

that's the least of his worries at the moment, though, as he combs through his hair and tries to make it look presentable. he's got a black denim jacket over a plain white t-shirt and some new blue jeans that he's only worn once or twice for special occasions. he considers this a special occasion - meeting eddie's family - and he hopes he puts on a good first impression, otherwise he really has nobody to talk to in this pretty little town.

he sets his brush down on the pristine bathroom counter and looks in the mirror with his hands in his back pockets, dragging his eyes up and down his reflection and taking in just how absolutely stupid he looks in this outfit. he hopes he's not under-dressed, god forbid if he walks in and eddie's parents are in evening gowns and tuxedos he's not sure he's going to make it through dinner without anxiously, embarrassingly blowing chunks all over the dining table.

just as he's about to pick up his phone to send a text eddie's way and let him know he's about to leave the house, a notification from said boy pops up at the top of his screen. he opens it with a slightly jittery hand and smiles a little at the smiling eddie holding up a peace sign in the mirror. the caption reads 'ready yet? here's my fit check it out;)'.

he's sporting a blue jacket and a pink shirt underneath, and he's got some black pants on from what he can see from the mirror shot. he sighs out of relief that he's not going to be under-dressed in the slightest but still takes a picture in the mirror as well and types out 'sure i dont need to change or anything?'.

eddie sends a snap of him smiling with an eyebrow quirked. 'you look great richie'.

'u look better' richie sends a selfie of him winking back and sends it before he double snaps - he never though he'd be on double snapping terms with a cute boy in france! 'on my way pls wait 4 me outside so i dont have to completely embarrass myself in front of ur folks'.

all he gets in response is a shot of eddie giving a thumbs up and a cheeky smile before he puts his phone in his back pocket and slips on his vans, letting his dad know he's leaving before he shuts the front door and hops on his bike. he listens to some weezer in his airpods on his way there and makes sure he doesn't get absolutely annihilated by a car on his way down the small street.

-

as soon as he sees eddie standing outside of that suburban white picket fence, richie tozier picks up the speed on his bike and crosses the street to get there, parking it at the very edge of the yard, careful not to ride over the newly cut grass at all. he sets his airpods in his backpack and leaves that hanging at the edge of his bike as well, getting off of it and making sure it's not going to tip over before he turns toward the brunet with a smile. "you waited for me," he quips, smiling a little.

the smaller boy doesn't respond at first, just inches forward and leans up on his tiptoes to brush richie's unruly hair away from his face. it must have gotten blown around in the wind on the way here, richie thinks. "course i did," he scoffs, and then he finally gets done fixing his hair and he smiles back at him, holding his hand out for richie to take in his own. "you ready?"