richard hayden x reader (tommy boy)

ch 7

you woke up in a rest stop, richard leaned back in his seat snoozing away. you laughed softly to yourself. for once, he didn't wasn't wearing a scowl or some other sour expression. you noticed how soft his hair looked, and you smiled.

tommy was snoring loudly in the passenger seat, still clutching onto his funyun. you held back a snort at the sight.

you decided you'd let the boys catch up on their sleep, but you were ready to go. mckeesport wasn't going anywhere, sure, but potential buyers sure were.

you reached over richard's slumbering figure to unlock the doors, slipping out of the back. you stood outside of the car for a moment, basking in the crisp pennsylvania air.

"god, who would've guessed i'd be right back where i started. tagging along with tommy and richard again, riding in the passenger seat of the same car richard's had since high school," you mused, laughing to yourself over the irony of it all.

you sucked in a deep breath before slowly approaching the lack of a driver's side door. you nudged richard gently, watching him squirm away from you.

"tommy, get off, it's not funny. i drove for hours, let me rest..." he whined. you put a hand over your mouth, laughing at the man's disgruntled state.

"richard, it's me. here, move to the backseat so i can drive for a while."

richard's eyes popped open immediately, gazing up at you with stars in his eyes.

"god, thank you, y/n. you're an angel! i'll pay you back for this, promise!" richard stuttered along his sentence, crawling into the backseat. you just chuckled at his dazed state, finding the way he acted while tired to be endearing.

"it's nothing, richard. i woke up, which means i won't be able to go back to sleep at all. seriously, you've done plenty for us this trip already. if anything, this is me paying you back."

richard rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss for words. "s-still... thanks a lot, you know?"

his words hung in the air for a moment, clear that richard still had more he wanted to say. however, he never said it.

you shrugged, starting the car and getting ready to get on the road.

you fumbled around in your suitcase for a moment as you pulled it from the backseat. richard stared at you, laughing incredulously.

"what are you doing?" he asked. you huffed in frustration.

"my cassettes! i had two in here, but i can't find them!"

you stuck your tongue out in concentration, furrowing your brow as you continued to blindly dig through your things. "what were they?" richard prompted.

you sighed in exasperation, closing the suitcase and dropping it in the seat behind you. "ugh, my favorites! i had hall & oates' private eyes and aerosmith's draw the line albums both on cassette! i figured i'd get a chance to play them, but now i can't find them. could you look for them in there, if it's not too much trouble?" you asked, pushing the suitcase towards richard halfheartedly.

the man laughed, seeming bewildered. "y/n, there's no need. just check the glovebox," he chimed. you did as he said, and to your surprise, there were plenty of cassettes in there. two of which stuck out to you the most...

"hey! draw the line AND private eyes! damn, richard, you have quite the collection! and some good taste," you complimented. richard smiled sheepishly.

"well, some of those are cassettes from high school, and... you liked those two albums so much back then, i went and bought the cassettes for when we'd drive around together."

you smiled giddily at richard's response. "so all those times you popped those casettes in were because of me?!" you exclaimed. richard nodded, shy at your realization.

your grin stretched wider as you popped draw the line in. "richard, i gotta say, you've always been an amazing friend. even when you're a smug asshole... you have just enough of a soft side to show you really care."

your confession went unanswered, and by the time you'd checked the rearview mirrors after hitting the road, richard was asleep against the window.

you chuckled softly to yourself, grabbing the opened bag of funyuns which sat in the middle console.

"hell yeah, steven! sing that critical mass!" you exclaimed to yourself, nearly missing your exit from how much you were enjoying this.

you heard shifting from the seat next to you and the crunching of a funyun, followed by a defeated noise.

"my funyun..." tommy wailed weakly, the ring crumbling in his hand.

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you and richard had switched out for driving after you had driven for four hours straight. by this point, you were thoroughly exploring the collection of casettes the man hid in his glovebox.

"why didn't you tell me you had the grand illusion, richard?! come sail away is a hell of a masterpiece, i would've killed to listen to that over some radio show bullshit!" you groaned. richard scoffed.

"hey, how come you're the passenger but not the one with the map?" he teased. you huffed.

"i hate directions! it's all pointless, anyways."

"sure, so have tommy do it instead. great reasoning, y/n."

"i don't see any mckeesport!" tommy shouted from the back seat. you crossed your arms as you popped in another casette, choosing to listen to some styx as you cruised through the countryside.

richard rolled his eyes. "it's the next town, tons of fun. it's gotta be there."

you busied yourself by singing along to fooling yourself (the angry young man) as the two argued.

"hey guys, shut up, the best part's coming on! get up, get back on your feet!-"

you go silent as you see the obstacle on the road ahead of you, richard still busy arguing with tommy.

"guys! deer!" you shrieked, tempted to jerk the wheel from richard's hands as you barreled towards the animal.

he looked back in time, somehow avoiding killing all of you.

as all three of you got out to survey the damage, you saw the deer crumpled on the ground and gasped.

"holy shit!" you exclaimed. tommy and richard followed suit, and soon the three of you began to cry.

"y-you guys saw it happen! t-there was nothing i could do, right?" richard wept. tommy sniffled.

"maybe if you didn't lean over to insult me and y/n didn't bury herself in the glovebox you two would've seen it coming."

"shut up, tommy!" both of you spat, as richard added, "it's not my fault!"

you wiped a tear with your sleeve, feeling lost. "poor little furry thing..." you trailed off. richard gulped.

"i've never seen one up close before!" he admitted.

"what are we gonna do, we can't just leave it here!"

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you and richard sat up front as tommy sat with the dead deer.

"oh, no! loading it up took us over an hour... now we've only got twenty minutes before brady automotive closes!" richard cries. you sigh, massaging your temples as you look out the window, the soothing keyboard of come sail away drifting through the car.

you groaned, opening a window. "this thing smells awful! where are we gonna take it?" you grumbled. richard shrugged.

"i don't know, the vet?" he threw out. you snorted and tommy chimed in with, "you take dead animals to the vet?"

richard replied without missing a beat. "why not, i'd take you to the vet."

you let out a chuckle at that, listening as tommy attempted to make a comeback. "yeah, i'll take you to.. you'll get taken... i'll take you to the..."

"got that?"

"shut up, richard!"