Eddie Kaspbrak (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ekaspbrak) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} snapthread, |
And there he was. Appearing out of nowhere as if he'd been conjured into existence by Eddie's increasing feelings of isolation... or like he'd just been over by one of the tables. The drink table, by the looks of it. One of those places he hadn't actually gone over by because he was already a Loser at a party. He didn't also want to be the weirdo studying ingredients lists for allergens.
He was happy to see Richie, he really was. He was that rare over the moon sort of happiness he only seemed to be around his best friend but he couldn't actually let the other know that. That felt entirely like admitting to something too big and too scary to even think about. He placed his hands on his hips, deciding that it was best to act like he was still annoyed. "I-" He stopped, words dying on his tongue as he turned and actually looked at the other.
His hair was different. Neater. Brushed down in that way he'd only ever seen it in an valiant initial effort for class picture day. It never lasted. Mostly because Richie hated it. Beyond that, however, he was also wearing a tie. It wasn't actually tied correctly but the effort was clearly there and, for some reason, that seemed to matter. A lot. "Where did you get a tie from?" He asked, cheeks heating up a little as he reached out to try and fix the tie. He wasn't that great at it either and he really couldn't look the other in the eyes when he was doing it but the smile was there. Bright and warm and maybe just a little shy.
His hair was kind of adorable like that but it didn't look right. Reaching up Eddie was brave enough to slip his fingers into his best friend's hair and disorder it gently. "You didn't have to do that." And maybe he was reading too much into this. Maybe this wasn't for him at all. Maybe this was all for the party and for the benefit of everyone else who wasn't Eddie Kaspbrak and who could take his place.
"I like you." The words felt too big but they were true.