Eddie | Richie
Under normal circumstances, hearing that he'd been right all along would turn Eddie's soft little smile into a smug one. He might even gloat a little because he'd been sure Richie hadn't wanted to ask Tony. That he'd been weirdly jealous of the kid in a way that didn't make sense because, obviously, Richie wasn't jealous. He would've pointed all of that out without a second's hesitation any other day. This time, however, he didn't. His smile remained soft and his fingers remained in Richie's hair. "I still can't believe you went and found one." That's what made this different. The tie. The effort. The fact that Richie had gone out of his way to do or find something simply because Eddie had asked for it.
That actually was kind of romantic even if Richie probably hadn't intended it to be. As impressed as he was by this entire thing doubt still had its hooks in him. Fear too.
Fear had his smile falling just a little as Richie looked up at him. It had him expecting a joke about his mother because that's what always happened, right? They had a moment and Richie, inevitably, stomped on the brakes and pushed him away. He expected it to happen this time. Dreaded it a little because that meant this moment was coming to an end. Richie, however, surprised him yet again. There was no joke. No voice. Just Richie who'd gone a little pink in the face (that was fine, they matched now). "Yeah... of course I do. I've always liked you." And because Richie was brave enough not to push him away with a joke, Eddie was brave enough not to do the same by bringing up their friendship.