Richie: 18
Eddie: 17
Eddie POV
"Come on Eddie, it'll be fun! Just come to one concert. The lead singer is cute for you and he's single. You could meet him" Ben tries to convince me to go see his girlfriend's band concert.
"Richie Tozier is called a heartbreaker for a reason. He's notorious for one-night stands and promising girls he'll call but never does. Plus, he's not gay" I tell him.
"Bevvie says he's bi. Please? Bev really wants to meet you" he says.
"Then tell her to come over sometime. I need to study for my nursing exams. And it's gonna be crowded and loud." I counter.
"Exams are in a month. We get V.I.P seats since I'm dating Bev. I'll buy you Starbucks." Ben says.
"Fine, but only to meet Bev and for Starbucks" I finally give in.
"I'll tell Bev to save two seats." Ben says then walks out of my room. I roll my eyes. If I'm going, I might as well look nice. I change from sweatpants and a sweatshirt to a black crop top and jean booty shorts over fishnets. For shoes I put on my black boots that have a 2-inch heel and go to my knees. I spray my hair with water until it starts to curl. I then rub gel on my hands and scrunch my hair, making my curls stand out. I put on light pink lipstick and a light smoky eye.
"You ready?" Ben asks.
"Yep." We walk out to Ben's car, and he drives to the concert. The security guard recognizes Ben.
"Hey Mike" Ben says.
"Hey, is he your plus one?" Mike asks.
"Yep." Ben says. Mike lets us in.
"Hi everyone, I'm Richie Tozier—" a ton of girls scream "— this Beverly Marsh, Stan Uris, and a special guest, who is also Stan's fiancé, Bill Denbrough! And we're The Losers!" Richie says.
They play mostly covers, like Buddy Holly by Wheezer, but they also play some originals. I can feel Richie staring at me the whole concert. Once we made eye contact, but I quickly turned away, breaking the contact. Before I knew it, the concert was done. Ben drags me backstage to finally meet Bev.
"Eddie! It's so nice finally meet you!" Bev says.
"It's nice to meet you too. Ben talks about you all the time!" I say, giving her a hug. She takes us to the dressing room area.
"Is this the Eddie you were talking about Bev?" My body tenses at the voice, I automatically know who it is.
"Yep, it's him. Ben and I will leave you to talk" Bev says as she drags Ben to her dressing room. I follow Richie into his dressing room just so I have somewhere to sit. I take a seat on the couch. He sits across from me and puts his hand on my knee.
"Don't touch me" I say. Richie immediately removes his hand.
"Sorry" he says as he scoots his chair back so there's space between us. Maybe he isn't as bad as I thought. "What did you think of the concert?" Richie asks.
"It was good. I really liked the originals" I say.
"Thanks, that the complete opposite of what everyone else says. That's why we sing more covers. Most people say the originals sound stupid and the lyrics suck. It makes me not want to write music anymore." Richie says.
"You wrote the song?" I ask.
"Yeah, you're the only person who likes them" he responds.
"Maybe they don't understand that the songs are about child abuse, and drugs, and not having friends, and depression. The people who realize the meaning don't like it because they're about real-life problems not love songs or fake stories" I say.
"Thank you" he goes to hug me but remembers I said not to touch me. "Sorry" Richie says.
"It's fine. Come here" I open my arms for a hug. He comes over and hugs me. "You're a good hugger" I say.
"Thanks" he says as he sits down.
"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you want me to touch you" Richie asks. I look down at my lap and won't meet his eyes. "It's because of the rumors, isn't it?" Richie asks. I nod my head. Richie sighs. "I've never had sex and when I go on dates people only want to date me because I'm in a band, they tell me to never contact them again. They make up lies to get 10 seconds of fame." Richie says. I look up and see his eyes are full of tears. I scoot over on couch so there's room for Richie.
"Come here, Rich" I pat the spot beside me. Richie walks over and sits down. "I'm sorry for believing the rumors. You're actually one of the kindest guys I've met" I run hands through Richie's wild curls. Richie shifts so that he is laying down with his head in my lap.
"It's ok. I probably should address the rumors, so people stop" he says.
"I'm happy I came to the concert" I say, massaging Richie's scalp.
"Me too" Richie says. We sit in silence for a little bit. Richie starts falling asleep and yawns. "You're making me fall asleep." Richie says.
"You're cute" I whisper.
"You're cuter" Richie says. Someone knocks on Richie's door.
"Can I come in?" Ben asks.
"Yeah" Richie says rolling onto his side. Ben opens the door and sees Richie's head in my lap. He raises his eyebrow at me but doesn't comment on it.
"You ready for Starbucks?" Ben asks.
"Richie, do you want to come too?" I ask, looking down at him.
"Sure" he says, smiling contently up at me.
"Ask Bev if she wants to come too. She could ride with you, and I'll ride with Richie if it's ok with him." I suggest.
"Of course, it's fine if you ride with me" Richie says.
"I'll go ask her." Ben says. Richie and I go out to his car. Once we're in the car we blast Queen. He drives to Starbucks.
