Reddie Oneshots

Richie's Guitar Part 18

GUY I DIDNT KNOW THERE WAS ANOTHER CHAPTER
IMMA JUST ADD THIS REAL QUICK.
on ao3 by intouchwithhumanity

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'So, this is weird,' Richie said, his tone far from light-hearted as he hovered awkwardly beside Eddie. They surveyed out over the cafeteria scene. On one side, Bill and Mike, and on the other, Bev and Ben. Stan was nowhere to be seen, which was unhelpful.

'Yeah. Fuck,' Eddie agreed. 'What do we do?'

'I don't know. Pick a side or start our own faction, by the looks of things,' Richie muttered bitterly.

Even though the signs had been cropping up increasingly often, it still came as a shock to the Losers Club when Bill and Bev announced their break-up. Eddie had hoped, naively and selfishly, that maybe they would stay together until their final school year ended, but the chasm had cracked between them early.

As his eyes flicked between the two sets of his friends and his boyfriend, Eddie suggested, 'Or maybe we could take it in turns day by day.'

Richie frowned at the thought of dividing his affections so clinically. To buy him and Eddie some time, he went over to the condiments station and started loading his fries up with ketchup. 'I wish they could at least try and stay friends.'

'It's still very fresh,' Eddie defended, wrinkling his nose at the quantity of red sauce on Richie's plate.

'We managed when we broke up,' Richie reminded.

'You remember how fucking awful that was at first, right?' Eddie spluttered. 'It was so hard to be around each other.'

The scars on Richie's heart tore even to think about it. 'Yeah, I do, but I would have found it way worse if I'd not been around you at all. And not just you,' Richie strained. 'Look at this shit. I would have lost you and Bill and Mike and maybe Stan.'

'You wouldn't have lost them,' Eddie attempted feebly. 'It just would have been different.'

'I don't want it to be different,' Richie spat. 'We've finally been happy, Eds. For the first time ever. It's been easy. I know it's not fair but it pisses me off that they're taking some of it away. I feel like we've earned a bit of peace.'

Eddie wished he could hug him, kiss him and tell him that it was all going to be okay. 'I'm still happy, Rich.' He looked around the room again and groaned, 'Fuck it, I don't care. I want to sit with you so let's just sit by ourselves.'

Richie didn't argue and followed Eddie to a spare table in the back corner of the room. As he sat, he apologised, 'Sorry, I didn't mean I'm not happy anymore. I am. It's just sad to see my friends sad.' He shuddered, 'And I'd finally got to a point where I didn't want things to change and now they have anyway.'

'Change doesn't have to be bad,' Eddie said quietly.

Brow furrowing, Richie scoffed, 'Excuse me, but I thought I was talking to Eddie Kaspbrak? Winner of Mr Routine 1993?'

Eddie laughed, 'Okay, I know that might sound a bit hypocritical coming from me, but hear me out.'

'I'm listening,' Richie said, indelicately placing a ketchup-laden fry into his mouth.

'Your guitar changed basically everything in my life.'

Richie spoke with his mouth full. 'What? But it's my guitar.'

Eddie's voice was low, ensuring that nobody could overhear their conversation. 'I know, but you got the guitar and it meant you didn't spend lunch with me anymore. That was it. This tiny fucking change to the routine that I'd been stuck in for years.'