[11.14]
Eddie arrived at Mike's barn at eight-ten.
It took a lot of convincing for his mother to allow him to go, but after thirty minutes of pleading, he finally pulled the 'it can be your birthday gift to me' card, and she sent him off with a scoff and reminder to be home by midnight.
He was greeted with a loud yell of "happy birthday!" as soon as he stepped in, his friends stood in a semi-circle with matching grins on their faces.
They had decked out the barn in terms of decoration; the inside had been covered corner-to-corner in streamers and fairy lights; the ping pong table stripped of its net in order to hold a concerning amount of snacks, soda and (not surprisingly) alcohol.
There was a twister mat open behind a teal sofa in the middle of the room, as well as a yellow circle rug with a coffee table in front of it, and Eddie was able to spot a few board games open and ready to be set up.
Before he could take in the rest of the barn, his friends were forcing him into a group hug, Ben gently shoving a party hat on his head.
Richie visibly didn't participate in the group hug. He instead remained sitting on the arm of the bring blue sofa, wearing his signature grin and holding his phone in one hand. Eddie tried to ignore the ache in his heart as he squeezed his friends.
It seemed almost as if Richie could read his mind, because as soon as the others pulled away, Richie stepped forward and threw an arm around Eddie's shoulders, ruffling his hair as best he could with the party hat in the way.
"Look at you, birthday boy!" Richie said cheerily, draping the arm that held his phone over his shoulder as he dragged them both over to the snack table. "Ten minutes late to your own bash! Tsk-Tsk, Eds. We gotta give him the strongest drink we've got, don't we, Billy?"
"A-Absolutely," Bill agreed somewhere behind him, his other friends laughing along. "How's beer pong sound? Or another drinking game?"
"Beer pong?" Bev said, "Oh, it's over. I got you losers beat. Bring it on!"
"I call Bev's team," Richie called as his friends began to clear the snack table to set up beer pong. Before Eddie could retort, Richie's phone, that was resting against his arm in their position, vibrated a concerning amount of times.
Richie furrowed his eyebrows as he removed his arm from around Eddie's shoulders. Eddie tried not to look too devastated at the lost as Richie stared at his screen. "Who's that?"
He blinked at his phone a few times before shutting it off and shoving it into his back pocket and throwing a smile Eddie's way.
"No one," he said. "Now, who's ready to lose?"
⊞
It was eleven thirty when Mike slid up beside Eddie who was leaning against the wall of the barn, a beer bottle in hand. Eddie smiled at him easily, the alcohol from earlier that night leaving a pleasant hum running through his viens.
The others were sat in a deformed circle at the center of the barn, either sat on the teal couch or on carpet below it, their loud laughter and banter echoing around them as they engaged in what seemed like the 100th game of 'drunk never have I ever' that night.
