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s e v e n t e e n

"i don't know!"

eddie is laughing at something will said. the group is sitting in the restaurant still, though they had finished their food, so now they remained sitting and chatting.

richie had found his way closer to will and eddie, inconspicuously, taking the opportunity when it presented itself while everyone else shifted to better seat themselves for the conversations they were having. richie just happened to get the spot near eddie before anyone could, and no one noticed.

will mumbles something about a rat, and then says, "but my boss thought i was crazy."

eddie snorts, almost spitting out the water he had had in his mouth. his face is red from laughing, and he shakes his head. "i mean, you do sound pretty crazy."

"hey," will protests, but he leans and nudges eddie's shoulder playfully anyway, and it looks could kill he would be six feet underground by now with the way that richie glares. "i'm not crazy....though richie might think i am. what's up, rich?"

will points out richie's staring. he's doing it on purpose. he knows that richie is getting pissed, and jealous, but he also knows that he won't say anything in front of their friends, so why not just call him out in front of them when he can't defend himself, right? god, did richie hate will.

"huh?" richie pretends that he's just chimed in, and the look of gentle surprise is believable to all of their friends. "oh, nothing, i guess i zoned out for a minute. silly me."

will offers a glare right back, because his whole "call richie out" plan hadn't worked, and now eddie is smiling across the table at richie, and will no longer has his attention.

"hey, so what did you think of the rat thing?" will asks, and it's a pathetic grasp for attention, richie can see that, but eddie doesn't really, and he just laughs and replies.

"i am not gonna lie, i think i might side with your boss. i mean, i believe you, but i understand why he wouldn't."

will nods after a moment, and then says, "we laughed about it after. i'm lucky to have such a cool boss. he actually tried to set me up with this guy the other day, but i turned him down."

eddie looks intrigued, and asks to hear more about that story. richie is fuming, and his face is red. will knows that richie's boss is a homophobic asshole that would fire richie if he found out he was gay, and not only is will shoving it in his face that he gets along with his boss, but that his boss is so totally okay with will not being straight.

eddie doesn't seem to notice will's obvious attempts to fuck with richie's head, the attempts to make him jealous over his own fucking boyfriend. instead, eddie giggles, his bubbly personality allowing him to see the best in people, including people like will, that just don't seem to have his best intentions at heart.