𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 // 𝙍𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚 {Completed}

✨ the party ✨

Richie held his breath. walking to the middle of the party, he felt his worries slip, he gazed over each face enjoying the ambiance of being in a drunken haze. All his attention was then brought to the front door as he saw Bev slide in, Ben walking in beside her. letting out a relieved sigh, Richie walked over to them, feeling his shoulders loosen and drop. he wasn't so alone.

"Hey Rich! how's the party so far?" Bev laughed as she hooked her arm around his shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze. "better now you're here" Richie had to shout over whatever hit song was playing through the speakers. "obviously," Bev smirked "How's the Alcohol holdin' up?" Richie gave a quick glance around, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. "like a charm." Richie smiled then detached from Beverly's hip to have a quick chat with Ben after she found someone from work to talk to.

"Hey Ed's, how ya doin'? didn't take you as much of a party animal." Beverly approached Eddie who nervously looked around, downing what was his fourth cup. "Huh? Oh, Hey Beverly" Eddie smiled at the girl now in front of him "trust me, i'm not but Bill and Mike wanted to come and where they go i go...i guess" Beverly smiled warmly, she could tell Eddie was tense. "Well don't worry Eddie, you'll have a great time, these parties are always the best." 

Eddie looked up at Bev, her only standing a few inches taller than him, "yeah, I've heard, thanks Beverly." Eddie let a small smile slip, instantly feeling calm in the girl's presence "Hey how about you come meet my friends, one of them will be working at the bar for a little while so it'll be good to meet them now." Eddie wasn't really up to meeting anyone new in the state he was in, having just finished his fifth cup in the time it took to talk to Bev, But he found himself shuffling along with her anyway.

"Hey Rich, Ben, stop flirting for a second and come meet Eddie! He works at the bar." Eddie diverted his attention from the red-head next to him to the two strangers that had started to make their way over to the pair. Ben smiled warmly at Eddie and stuck out his hand for him to shake "Hey Eddie, I'm Ben, Ben Hanscom, nice to meet you." Eddie instantly felt safe in his presence as he went to shake his hand, smiling softly at Ben.

Richie, However, made no attempt to even glance at Eddie. Rude Eddie thought as he stared down the raven-haired man in front of him. The air shifted in an awkward manner as Richie stared down at his docs and Eddie stared at his face. Thinking of it as a challenge, Eddie concluded that he would not be the first one to introduce himself to Richie. 

Bev looked between the two then her eyes shifted to Ben as he shrugged. Eddie then also shifted his attention to Ben "So...Ben, are you gonna be working at the bar for a while?"

"Uh, what?" Ben looked confused as it then became apparent to him. out of the two people in front of him, one was going to be working along side of him. He now knew exactly who that was and he was not looking forward to it. Eddie sighed in exasperation and turned towards Bev, swaying slightly, feeling the alcohol hit him. "Thanks for introducing me to your friends Bev," Eddie glanced at Richie "i'm gonna get another drink, nice meeting you Ben" 

Beverly looked up at Richie, shooting him a disappointed glare. "what's up your ass Rich?" Richie looked back down at the red-head, he felt stupid but he just panicked, he hated meeting new people. It was just one more person that would eventually just leave and cause the knot to tighten further. He did not want that. And maybe if Richie was thinking properly for just a second he would've registered the fact that Bev had said that Eddie worked at the bar. Meaning him and Eddie would be constantly working along side each other. 

But Richie wasn't thinking. He never was.

meanwhile, Eddie sat on the sidelines, his seventh cup in hand, slumping slightly due to the effects of the drinks he had consumed. Eddie wasn't a lightweight when it came to alcohol, him going on a slight drinking binge after moving out in an act of 'rebellion' against his overbearing mother. He didn't drink so much anymore but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to when it passed him by. 

so far it was working...he felt okay. He wasn't panicking, he wasn't scared, no he was okay. And maybe if he thought it enough, he would start to believe it. 'i'm Eddie Kaspbrak and i am perfectly and completely okay...i think.'

Eddie gulped, shifting in his seat slightly. He suddenly felt sick and maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the tightening of the panic attack in is chest. Eddie couldn't tell, the one thing he was sure of was that he was going to puke. Panicked, he scanned the room, feeling the bile rise in his throat. Seeing a small hallway, Eddie ran towards it, almost knocking over his chair as he pushed through all the mingling bodies to get to where he presumed was the bathroom. 

Eddie was right. falling into the bathroom, facing the toilet, Eddie emptied is stomach into the bathroom toilet. He let out shallow breaths as he grabbed some toilet roll and wiped his mouth and chin, disgusted by his own actions. Standing up on trembling legs, Eddie turned on the sink taps and let the freshness of the cold water cleanse his mouth as a tear slipped. he always cried when he threw up.

Richie was disgusted. he didn't even want to talk to Eddie but now said boy was passed out on his bathroom floor. it was now 1:15 am, everyone had returned back to their dismal lives, leaving just Richie and a passed out Eddie left in the apartment.

With no clue as to what he should do, Richie switched off the bathroom light and closed the door, leaving the problem to wake up and leave on his own. He hoped anyway.