cliché || reddie ✔️

twenty four

None of them are sure when it turned into a group effort, as it was originally Eddie and Stanley getting Bill's birthday party set up, but somewhere along the way all seven of them found themselves piling into Ben's mothers car with Richie behind the wheel.

"Are we sure this is safe?" Eddie asks, buckling up as he looks up at his friends. "What if with all the distractions Richie crashes?"

Beverly, who sits between Bill and Mike in the very back leans forward and places each elbow on Eddie and Ben's chairs. "Richie could get us to the moon before he gets into an accident," she says, smiling up at the boy in front before looking to Eddie. "We'll live."

She sits back and Richie adjusts the rear view mirror, him and Eddie making eye contact. "How could you not trust yours truly?" Richie asks jokingly, but the way he doesn't look away from Eddie hints to a deeper meaning of his words. Eddie doesn't look away and the two know exactly to what Richie is referring to.

"Anyway," Stanley says, then sighs deeply and he turns around in the passages seat with a sticky note in his hand. "We need streamers, balloons, cupcakes, candles... Okay, who put confetti on the list again? I told you that's too messy."

"What the fuck?" Richie asks, throwing a hand up in the air. "Confetti is fucking fun!"

"Fun for three seconds. That lasts longer than you in bed with anyone's mother," Stanley snaps back.

The car explodes with laughter, each teen (excluding Richie) drowning in each other's blissful giggles. Stanley's eyes glide over to Richie, a small, satisfied smile crossing over his face. The two make eye contact and Richie throws up a middle finger, receiving a full laugh from Stanley.

"You're laughing now, but just wait until I steal all your moms from their husbands," Richie says, distracting himself by putting the car in reverse to back out of the driveway they've been sitting in.

"Don't be cranky, Richie," Beverly says, smiling and giggling along with Bill.

"He got you good," Mike adds. Richie looks up at him in the rear view mirror and throws him a middle finger, to which Mike grins at proudly.

"Fuck you all," Richie says. "I could crash this car."

"Please do not," Ben says, his voice unintentionally pleading, and the car falls back into a burst of laughter.

~~~

The teens arrive at Target to make their quick evening store run. "Beverly!" Richie says as he slams his door shut. The girl looks over her shoulder and a small smile glides over her face as she watches her best friend jog up to her. The wind dances through her hair, like a breeze gliding around a soft flame.

"We are teaming up," he says and offers out his arm. She links her arm through his and he spins them both around to face the others, a small giggle escaping her mouth.

"Eds, you're with us," Richie says and offers out his other hand for the boy to take.

"No," Stanley interjects, pulling Eddie's eyes away from Richie. "Eddie and Bill are with me."

"Wait, we're teaming up?" Ben asks, oblivious.

"Apparently," Mike mutters, rubbing his arm as he looks between Richie and Stanley. The former drops his hand to his side and also the smile he held.

"Alright," Richie says, then turns to Ben and Mike. "You guys wanna join us in our quest to find.. whatever the fuck we're looking for?" Ben shrugs and departs from Mike to stand with Beverly while Mike joins, giving one fleeting look to the other group of three.