"hey, some frat over at columbia are having a party. we should go." bev sat down on the couch next to eddie, grabbing the remote to turn the t.v off. eddie let out a sigh.
"i don't really feel like going out. maybe another time." bev let out a loud sigh and shook her head as she stood up, grabbing eddies arm to pull him up with her.
"youve wasted two years of college eds, you're supposed to be having fun. he is." eddies heart dropped. she was right, and everyone knew it. he was having fun, it was almost as if eddie didn't happen.
two years. had it really been two years?
"fine. fine, bev. just this once okay?" bev clapped her hands and ran to her room. eddie sighed and decided that if he was going that he should get ready.
eddie hadnt changed all that much. he pulled out of princeton and applied for nyu last second when things crumbled with richie. bev was going to nyu and they both thought that it would be good for them to have a familiar face while away from home.
the two rented out a loft and in that time they grew to be extremely close. they hadn't hung out very much when they lived in maine, though they had always gotten along.
it was only when they had to share a small space that they realized how similar they were. they became one in the same.
eddie had called bev that night, out of breath from running the whole way home. bev snuck through his window and stayed with him. she made sure he knew that it wasn't his fault.
beverly marsh knew that she needed to make things right in eddies world, so she decided to take him in. she felt like she needed to protect him, even if that meant cutting richie tozier out of her life.
she didnt want friends like him anyways. bev would never understand how someone could be as cold as richie tozier was.
when bev confronted richie about what happened, he seemed to not care. he didnt even blink when bev told him the horrible things that she'd heard from eddie the previous night.
"he said that he didnt know what he did to make you do something like that richie. he risked everything for you. he told me that he tried so hard to be perfect for you, rich. he wanted to be everything that you wanted."
"yeah, well i guess he didnt try hard enough, red. because he was far from perfect, and even farther from everything i wanted."
bev would never repeat that to eddie. she wouldnt even think to say something like that to him. it was sick.
the golden rule in the marsh-kaspbrak residence was that richie tozier was not worth anyones time, especially not theirs.
beverly knew the risks of taking eddie to a columbia party. richie had somehow gotten reaccepted to columbia, and the chance of him being at this party was insanely high. but if they saw him, they would ignore him. act like he didnt exist. it was better like that.
eddie walked from his room at the same time that bev was grabbing her keys.
"hey, ready to go?" eddie nodded and followed her out.
eddie was terrified. he hates parties. which is funny because he used to love them. he would go to parties all of the time in high school.
bev left eddies side almost immediately after they got to the party. he expected that. he had a seat on the couch, some girl starting a conversation with him.
"excuse me? eddie?" eddie looked away from the girl he was talking to, and towards to voice. his eyes widened and he couldn't seem to compose his own words.
"stan?" eddie finally managed. stanley uris. eddie thought he'd ended up in connecticut or something. the last person he expect to see in new york was stan uris.
"hey. um, bev said you were around here somewhere. can we, would you mind if we talked?" eddie stared blankly at stan. some nerve. stan had really grown a pair since high school. eddie stood up and nodded, though. not wanting to cause a scene in the middle of this party.
the two walked up the stairs and into one of the bed rooms, where stan sat down on the bed.
"this is the free room, so don't worry about anyone coming in." eddie nodded and looked around the room. why would he worry if someone came in? he didnt care. he couldnt care less. it would actually be good if someone did come in, it would give him an excuse to leave.
"never saw you as the type to be in a frat." eddie breathed. after a moment of silence he spoke up again.
"what did you want to talk about?" stan leaned stood by the door, hand in his pocket.
"i just wanted to apologize for everything that happened. back in derry, i mean." eddie shook his head.
an apology was not something that should come from stan. sure it was accepted, and stan had hurt eddie too. but richie was the tie to eddie, not stan. stan didnt cheat on eddie. richie did. regardless of how wrong it was, stan wasnt the one at fault.
"dont worry about it, stan. its not your fault. plus that was a long time ago. no hard feelings." stan looked away from the floor, something tightly wrapped in his hand. he looked up at eddie and extended his arm, eddie reached out his hand.
"it was wrong, eddie. we were friends. i held onto this for you, since i heard that you moved here from ben. i kept it just in case i ever ran into you. " stan dropped a ring into eddies palm. his promise ring. it looked exactly the same as it did when he left it on the diner table.
"oh. do you still talk?" stan thought for a moment, and then opened his mouth to talk.
"with richie? yeah, we share some classes. we've stayed close." eddie nodded.
"are you two still together?" stan shook his head slightly.
"we never got together, it was never official. bill and i talked before we started college. we got together." eddie sat next to stan. they never got together officially? why would richie do that and ruin them all over something that would never be official?
"is he here?" eddie felt himself growing curious. he wanted closure. he didnt know why, after all this time he had begun to want it. he didnt know why he couldnt just get the fuck over it.
"i dont know. i know that he was invited, but i don't know if he showed. i can call him if you want?" eddies heart dropped. he couldn't see him. he didn't want to, but he wanted to.
"no. it's okay. i haven't talked to him since that day. bev and i don't even say his name." stan nodded, walking over to the desk in the corner and grabbing a pen from a cup. he scribbled something down into a scrap paper and folded it.
"here's his number, if you want it." stan held his hand out and eddie reluctantly took the paper.
"sure." stan nodded and walked to the door.
"i'm gonna go back to the party, okay? you're welcome to stay here and think over stuff if you need to. if i find bev i'll send her up." eddie smiled at him and looked at his hand while stan walked out of the door.
why was he doing this? why was he acting like he cared how eddie felt? why would ben tell stan that they went to new york?
why did stan give eddie his phone number?
why?
