(Eddie)Chapter 8- Okay

I stand on the sidewalk, Betty's hand entwined with mine. Bill, Bev, Stan, and Mike stand next to us. We watch the parade as it goes by. The marching band comes up, and I spot Ben in the center, banging mallets on his bass drum. And suddenly Richie comes sprinting in between the rows, bumping into a trumpet player. They glare after him before continuing marching. 

"Go, Ben!" Richie cheers, stopping in front of us. 

Richie turns, a grin on his face.

"You're a child." Stan sighs, shaking his head.

Richie backs up, standing in between me and Bill. My heart pounds in my head, and my hands start to get sweaty. I haven't been this close to Richie in a whole week. I want to let go of Betty's hand and grab Richie's. But I can't. I feel bad for our fight. Even though he was acting stupid, I shouldn't have pushed him. I shouldn't have confronted him either.  

I feel Richie's arm bump into mine and I glance over at him. He looks over at me, and we just stand there for a second, our eyes locked. He doesn't seem angry. I take my hand out of my pocket, holding the note in my hand. 

"Eddie, look!" Betty exclaims. I turn to see her pointing at the Sophmore float. It's covered in flowers, with people wearing bell-bottoms and peace sign necklaces. The theme was flower power, but it looks more like hippies. 

I make sure she's still looking at the parade and look over at Richie. He's turned towards the street, smiling at the passing floats, his arms crossed at his chest. And I slip the note in his jacket pocket without him noticing. I just hope he reads it soon.

"Hey, d-did you guys wa-wanna go g-get something to e-eat?" Bill asks, turning to us.

"Hell yeah, I'm starving!" Bev exclaims.

"I vote Joey's," Mike says.

"I second that." Richie chimes in, raising his hand in the air.

I turn to Betty," Do you wanna go?" I ask her.

"Yeah, of course. I mean, your friends are my friends." She tells me, a smile on her face. 

Betty came and apologized for bursting out at me on Monday. I honestly didn't listen to her as she went on this long speech that I think was probably rehearsed. I mean, Betty's not that bad. She's just....very emotional and isn't Richie.

***

Bill, Stan, Mike, Richie, Betty and I walk into Joey's and walk into the restaurant section. We sit down at a big table, leaving seats for Ben and Bev. Bev wanted to stay behind and give Ben a ride since he'd been marching in the cold for the past hour. I watch Richie closely, and I'm glad when he keeps his jacket on. I take my jacket off, draping it on my chair. I sit in between Mike and Betty, and across from Richie. A waitress comes over and takes our drink orders. When she goes away, Richie stands up.

"I'm gonna go for a smoke," He says, locking eyes with me. I take it as his signal.

I wait a few minutes, glancing at the menu, but really just watching the clock. Three minutes pass and I turn to Betty.

"I'm gonna use the restroom," I tell her, getting up. She nods, still looking at the menu. I make my way outside the restaurant area and look over my shoulder. No one's looking my way. I veer to the right and out the front doors. I walk outside and see Richie leaning against the brick wall to the left, a cigarette to his mouth. I walk over to him and he stands up straight when seeing me.

"What are we, in kindergarten?" He jokes as I walk up to him.

"Look, I'm sorry," I say, trying to keep my eyes on his.

"Oh, no, no, no. You're not apologizing. I'm sorry." Richie tells me.

"What? I was the one who started shoving you."

"Yeah, but I took it too far." 

I look at him questioningly. The smell of the cigarette smoke makes it slightly hard to breathe, or maybe it's the fact that Richie's eyes haven't left my face the whole time.

"Are we friends again?" I ask, shivering in the fall wind.

"Yeah-here, your mom would kill me if you got a cold on my watch," Richie says, handing me his cigarette and taking off his jean jacket. He drapes the jacket over me before I can say anything, and he takes back his cigarette. 

He leans back up against the wall, looking off into the distance. A few cars pass by, and some pulling in and out of parking spots but for the most part, there's no one around. I walk over and lean against the wall next to him, our shoulders brushing up against each other. My stomach flips as I feel his fingers graze mine. And I think I might die, as I interlock our pinkies together. Richie doesn't pull away, but I feel him tense up. He turns his head to lock eyes with me, and I feel this weird tug. The one I felt back at the stream when we were thirteen.

"No one's watching," I whisper in his ear. His lips part, his eyes drifting from my mouth to my eyes. I want him to kiss me. Oh god, I want him to kiss me. I'm afraid my hearts going to burst through my chest it's beating so loud.

"Richie, Eddie." Bev's voice makes me jump. I quickly push away from the wall, letting go of Richie's pinkie. My whole body feels frozen, my limbs numb.

"Bev." I chuckle, scratching the back of my head. Hoping that she didn't see us.

"Are the others inside?" She asks, looking between me and Richie.

"Yeah, tell them to go ahead and order without us," Richie tells her.

Bev nods, and she and Ben go inside. I start to make my way towards the door but I feel Richie's hand grab my arm. I turn around, fearful yet excited. His eyes look sad, but he smiles.

"Eds I-" Richie stops himself.

"Richie," I murmur.

"I-" I want him to get closer. To put his hands around my hips and in my hair, and kiss me until my lips start to bruise. I want him," I'm glad we're friends again."

I force a nod, choking down all the things I want to say. I turn, Richie's hand letting go of me. And I walk back into the restaurant, pretending like everything's okay. But nothing is okay.

________________________________________________________________________________

Oh, you thought! You actually thought they were gonna-no! You're so silly! But seriously, I apologize to give you guys this pain. I hurt me to write this chapter. But Richie and Eddie are on speaking terms. And I promise only 1 or 2 more short chapters. I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned, I post each week! Bye!

(I found pinkie holding fanart!)