(1 bc oops now I GOTTA) "What about you?" Bev turns to Richie, and he struggles to tamp down on his glee, waiting on the question he knows is coming. He'd gotten Eddie to agree to play along, even though he'd called the whole idea stupid, and Mike had assured them both they could come out on their own time, though when he'd first promised, he was expecting something else... "Did you ever get married, Rich?"
(2) “I did, yeah.” He grins– and it’s warm and lovestruck enough, when he catches Eddie’s eye, that he doesn’t think anyone catches the mischief in it. “I, uh… I’ve been married a while. You know, I need someone who won’t take any of my shit to keep me in line. So… yeah. We’ve got a nice place. No kids, we, uh… we can’t– you know. I mean we know we can’t, but we have a lot of fun trying.” He laughs, catching Eddie’s glare. “What about you, Eds? You marry someone nice?”
(3) “I’m considering a divorce.” He deadpans, making Richie laugh– and making everyone else horrified that Richie would laugh. Eddie notices their stares and dropped jaws and he runs a hand over his face. “No– that was– that was a dumb joke, I’m… I’m very happy, it’s– it’s an inside joke that of course none of you would get, I would never– I’m married to the love of my life, I’m really happy, thanks.” He hunches in on himself a little, and Richie nudges at his foot under the table.
(4) The conversation moves on– no one has any kids, which means no one thinks for a second that Richie and his mystery spouse haven’t been able to conceive due to the lack of a uterus between them. No one twigs it when Eddie shouts ‘let’s take our shirts off and kiss’, which was the point at which Richie was sure the jig was up, or when he all but ignores everyone who isn’t Eddie when things get weird. Whatever their memories are like, they take it all as normal.
(5) For all the things they say and do, everyone treats it as the same old same old, and he’s burning to know what they were really like– did he really always revolve around Eddie to the point that all their friends have become desensitized? He smacks Eddie’s ass on the way to the car and holds the door open for him even though Eddie is the one driving and no one says a damn thing. It’s not until they’re back at the town house, when Ben sees them at the same door.
(6) “Are you going to bed together?” Ben’s brow furrows. There’s no point denying it– Eddie is fumbling with the key, they’re all over each other, Richie too busy trying to kiss his neck to say ‘let me’. “What about your wives? All that talk about trying for kids and the love of your life and you set foot back in Derry and you’re just going to fall into bed together because– what? Because you had a thing when you were kids? Guys… I’m disappointed.”
(7) “The jig is up.” Eddie sighs, leaning into Richie. He drops the key into his hand– a real fucking… metal key. “And you get the door. You’re–” He cuts himself short, his cheeks go a little pink and his smile goes a little soft and he shakes his head, one hand coming up to cup Richie’s cheek, thumb stroking a gentle arc. “Come on, Rich… time to come clean. Unless you want to swear Ben to secrecy…”
(8) “Okay, fine. First of all, Haystack, I never said I was married to a wife, I just said I was married and we couldn’t have kids and…” Richie reviews the things he’d said over dinner. “That I was married to a real cutie. That we both come from a small town in Maine so we get each other… It’s Eddie, Ben, Eddie’s my wife. My husband.” He drops a hand down to give Eddie’s ass a squeeze. “I just wanted to see how long it would take everyone to figure it out. Mike knows.”
(9) “You’re an asshole.” Ben laughs, the relief clear. He pats Richie’s shoulder, then Eddie’s. “Sure, I’ll play. A few things make more sense now, actually… How did you guys… how did you hold onto your memories, how did you find each other again after leaving Derry? After I left, I could barely remember anything about being here… I knew I had these feelings, but anything I tried to look back at, it was like trying to cup water in your hands.”
(10) “We didn’t.” Eddie admits. “I didn’t– I didn’t remember anything. I met Richie at a party. Someone broke his nose, I drove him to the hospital. He, uh… He was holding my hand and I couldn’t even understand what he was saying, and then I just… stayed. I spent all night in the ER, and he offered to buy me breakfast, and… After that, we were just…” He smiles over at Richie, leans into him. “After that, we were together. Inseparable.”
(11) “My tiny little knight in shining armor.” Richie kisses his cheek, before getting the door open. “My hero, my angel. My sexy nurse.” And Eddie had been… He’d been so fun, so sweet… Richie hadn’t been able to eat, his face was swollen and aching, he’d taken Eddie to a diner and he’d had a milkshake while Eddie picked apart an omelette and talked and talked… He’d wound up coming over to Richie’s place to fuss over him, and then he’d just… stayed.
(12/12) They wind up telling the story over again the next morning– Bev catches them not because of anything they do, but because when Eddie does lean over to do some little thing for Richie, Ben makes a noise like he’s looking at a puppy, and that clues her in, and then she clues Bill in… But it’s fine– they had kept it going a while. Anyway, it’s been a little bit of a fun distraction from everything they have to worry about…
ANON IM ABOUT TO GO FERAL THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!! THANK YOU!!!!! <3
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