PLEASER | r. buckley

xxv. deal

PLEASER !

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE - DEAL !

REAL LIFE !

"RICHIE'S DYING OVER here!" robin, who was standing over richie's body and pointing dramatically at him, exclaimed to addi.

"she's right," he agreed, purposefully making his voice raspier than it had ever been in his life. "i'm dying over here, ads."

"stop encouraging him!" addi scolded robin before focusing her attention to richie. "and you. you need to finish blowing these balloons before eddie gets back from the store. if you don't then you really will be dying."

"i've done, like, 20! i'm done! my poor oxygen is going to waste here. there's only 9 of us! we don't need that many balloons," he whined for the umpteenth time that day.

while it was true that twenty balloons seemed like more than enough to have around the small apartment for the small amount of people that were going to be in it, addi wasn't willing to argue with eddie about it. she wanted to live to see the next year, thank you very much. one look at robin told her that even if she wasn't encouraging richie's jokes, she wasn't going to actually go against eddie's wishes either.

maybe if she got ben to ask him . . . but no, she didn't want sweet ol' ben to take the fall just because her fingers hurt from tying balloons. bill, however . . .

a knock at the door took her out of her thoughts, and richie, forever looking to get out of his chores, ran to open it.

"my heroes!" richie squealed in his go-to damsel in distress voice before anyone even got the chance to come inside. expectedly, everyone (re: beverly, ben, mike, stan, and bill) looked to her for an explanation.

"no comment."

they looked to robin next.

"i'm with addi."

without bothering to ask richie, the group shrugged and settled into the apartment.

—✧—

within a few hours, the place was decorated just as eddie had envisioned. addi had to admit, he had a talent for interior design. their home looked beautiful, with shiny gold and silver decorations balanced by white and blue ones. a specific shade of blue which coincidentally reminded her of a certain someone.

almost as if she knew addi was thinking of her, robin suddenly appeared by her side, a glass of cider in hand.

"you do realize," she leaned in closer to her to whisper in her ear, "that we could try to sneak champagne in our glasses instead."

"'try' being the operative word," addi whispered back.

the girl pulled back with a pout. "they're under 21 too. not that i actually want any, but still. unfair."

"true, but they're responsible for us and bev is taking that seriously."

"oh, the joys and sorrows of having an older sister figure." robin sighed wistfully.

"you have steve," addi pointed out. "he's like your older brother figure."

"actually, i think i would be his older sister figure."

addi hummed thoughtfully. "yeah, you're right."

"of course i am." robin grinned. "that reminds me. since we're over here in the corner looking like we're conspiring with each other—what were you and bev talking about earlier?"