now or never [reddie au]

20

Later that afternoon, the Denbroughs sit down for dinner. Bill wasn't talking much, but he was still in a good mood because of his phone call from Stan.

"What are you smiling about?," Zack Denbrough, Bill's dad asks. "Oh, I-I got a date to p-p-prom.," Bill answers.

"A date?," Georgie asks, looking at Bill. "That's nice! Who is it?," Sharon, Bill's mom, says before taking a bite of her food.

"Stanley.," Bill answers mindlessly. "Nice!," Georgie holds his hand up for a high five and Bill high fives him.

"Stanley Uris?," Zack asks, "Your friend?"

"Uh, y-yeah.," Bill answers as his smile fades away. The look that his parents exchange makes Bill's heart ache. Georgie, who has no clue what's happening and barely knows what a date is, tells Bill, "That's cool that you can go on dates with boys-"

" No, Georgie, it's not.," Zack interrupts, "It's disgusting."

"Wh-What?," Bill's voice cracks, his hands shaking. Sharon silently agrees with Zack, not wanting to make the situation worse.

"Tell Stanley that you can't go with him and find a different date. One that's a girl.," Zack tells him. Bill's eyes fill with tears and he stands up, quickly going to his room. Georgie stands up and follows him.

As soon as Bill slams his door, Georgie opens it and walks in. Bill sits down on his bed and Georgie joins him. "I think it's cool that you can go on dates with boys."

"Thanks, G-Georgie.," Bill smiles through his tears.

The two boys sit in silence until Georgie finally stands up and says, "I'm gonna go finish eating. I'll hang out with you later, Billy!"

"O-Okay, Georgie.," Bill says to him before Georgie leaves, closing the door behind him.

Bill then texts Beverly, "are you doing anything right now?" Quickly after, she texts back:

i'm with rich, eds, and stan rn. why?

where are you?

we're at jade of the orient
with richie's parents

shit nevermind then lol

come over here!

i don't want to bother anyone
anymore than i have already

richie said get your ass over here lol

do his parents mind?

they said you can come!
we just got here lol

okay, i'll be there, thanks :)

Bill wipes his tears and changes into a more presentable outfit. He decides on his usual flannel shirt and jeans. He then grabs his wallet and keys, quickly leaving his house without saying a word to anyone except, "I'll be b-back later, Georgie."

Bill gets in his car puts the key in the ignition, starting his car. It was so stupid for me to bring that up., Bill thinks to himself, I knew they would do this and I still said it. Now they probably don't want me to be around Georgie.

Bill's thoughts are interrupted by Richie's phone ringing. Richie was calling. He picks it up and puts it on speaker so he can talk and drive. "Hello?," Bill asks.

"What's wrong, Big Bill?," Richie asks, "What do you mean you don't wanna bother anyone? My dad says 'hi' by the way.

"T-Tell him I said hi back.," Bill tells him, "I'd r-r-rather talk to your dad than m-mine right now."

"And why is that?"

"Did S-Stan tell you-"

"About prom? I was there when he called you, yeah."

"Y-Yeah, about that-"

"You still wanna go, right?"

"Yeah, I-I-I do. I k-kinda told my f-f-family about it, though."

"They didn't give you a good reaction, huh?"

"G-Georgie did."

"I'm sorry. What did they say?"

"M-My dad told me t-t-to find a different date."

"Just tell them you're going with Beverly. Are you on your way?"

"Y-Yeah, I just pulled into the p-parking lot."

"Okay, I saved you a spot next to Stan. See you later."

Richie hangs up as Bill parks his car. He takes the key out and gets out of his car before entering the restaurant. Bill sees the round table, where there is an empty chair between Stan and Richie. Eddie sat on the other side of Richie, and Beverly on the other side of Stan. Maggie and Wentworth sat in two chairs between Eddie and Beverly. Bill approaches the table, and they greet him as he sits down.

"Hey, Bill!," Wentworth smiles at him, "How are you?"

"I'm good.," Bill answers. He turns to Stan, who was already looking at him. "Hey.," Stan awkwardly smiles at Bill. "H-Hi.," Bill smiles back.

"So, kids, graduation is coming up soon.," Maggie says, making small talk, "What are you guys gonna do after you get out of school?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that.," Beverly says, "I have no clue."

"Keep working, probably.," Stan says, "I might go to college."

"I wanna go to college. I don't know what for, though.," Eddie tells Maggie.

"You're going to college?," Richie asks.

"Probably, yeah.," Eddie answers.

"Where do you wanna go, Eddie?," Wentworth asks him.

"New York might be nice.," Eddie answers.

As everyone continues their small talk, Richie gets lost in his thoughts. Sure, he had asked Eddie to prom, but that won't matter if he doesn't tell him how he really feels before he leaves for four years. Maybe more if he decides to stay there. Richie wouldn't blame him if he did, though. Instead, he would just sit and wonder what would've happened between them if he had just been honest. He didn't want Eddie to leave, especially without expressing his feelings.

Eddie could see that Richie was upset. When the waitress brought their food out, Richie didn't even react. Eddie knew that Richie was upset about him wanting to go to New York after graduation. Eddie puts a hand on Richie's thigh, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. He looks at Eddie and smiles at him.