No One But You ✔️ Reddie

Twenty-Five

An hour and a half later, Richie ducked his head into the bathroom where Eddie was fiddling with his hair. 'Ready to go?'

Am I overdressed?' Eddie squinted, 'Or do you just always look underdressed?'

Richie grinned, 'It's a gift. Are you ready or not?'

'How do I look?' Eddie asked, flattening a crease in his trouser pocket.

'Awful,' Richie said, reaching for his hand and dragging him away.

'Richie,' Eddie whined.

Richie opened the front door. 'You look great and you know it. Let's go!'

'What is with the hurry?' Eddie chuckled. 'They're not going to run out of food.'

Eddie understood Richie's excitement the moment they arrived at the restaurant. Seated around the circular table were Ben, Beverly, Bill and Mike. They cheered and rose to their feet as Richie and Eddie swanned in, showering them with greetings and kisses. Eddie was astounded that Richie had managed to gather them all like this to surprise him yet again.

Ben and Beverly both looked wonderfully bronzed following their recent sailing trip. They talked incessantly about their new dog. They named the boat January. They named the dog Donnie.

Bill explained that Audra had been unavailable to join them for dinner due to being on set, but that he was delighted to be there. He told everyone the plot overview for his next book. He promised Mike that he was going to be true to his word and write a happy ending.

Mike gushed about how amazing it had been to finally leave Derry after all these years and recommended some historical monuments that Eddie should check out over his time in California.

Eddie blushed. 'I'm not exactly going to be in a rush,' he said cryptically.

Bev leaned on her elbows, 'What do you mean by that?'

Eddie swallowed. 'Well, I might just be staying here.' He linked hands with Richie on the table. 'Permanently.'

Bev's eyes sparkled. She looked at Richie, 'You asked?' Richie nodded, and she looked at Eddie, 'And you said?' Eddie nodded, and she squealed, 'Congratulations, guys. I'm so happy for you both.'

Bill chuckled, 'I can only imagine you two living together.'

Mike agreed, 'It's going to be chaos. I bet you can't wait.'

Ben leaned backwards on his chair, 'Can I ask you guys something?'

'Sure,' Richie shrugged.

'When did this actually start?' he narrowed his eyes. 'Because we all have different ideas.'

'I'm curious,' Eddie smirked. 'What do you all think?'

Ben went around the room sharing the opinions. 'Mike thinks this has been going on since the latter half of high school. I think that Richie knew as a kid, but it's new for you, Eddie. Bill thinks you both knew when you were kids but neither of you acted on it until now, but Bev thought that it was already happening when she met you, so,' he laughed. 'Settle the argument for us.'

'Wow you've all really discussed this, haven't you?' Richie laughed.

Richie and Eddie looked at each other. They both had the same thought: this is the first time that we're telling our story.

'No one is exactly right,' Eddie clarified. 'We actually got together about a month or so after we fought It. The first time.'

'Jesus,' Ben whistled. 'That long ago?'