#hanbrough imagine

[clownbrainrot]

there's something soooo nerd wish fulfillment about hanbrough... like imagine mike reading all bills books for years and years being his biggest fan bill is his favorite author and then they get together... and bill gets critique from mike all the thoughts & opinions he's had about his writing and the critique is actually happily received and implemented... mikey being first in the acknowledgments in his next book!!!!! heeeelp!

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

You should do hc for if one do the losers kids got hurt, like, badly, where they would need surgery or something, and how that ship/parent would deal with that, like taking care of them after it.

Thank you so much for the request. I hope you enjoy.

A/n: Okay, so for all of these I’m gonna have the same scenario in which the ships kid fell down the starts and hit their head, this cause them to be very disoriented and needing stitches.

Warnings: mention of blood and stitches

Reddie:

- Within Reddie, I feel like Richie is the one who freaks out the most, while Eddie is the level headed one

- Because of all the things his mom put him through, Eddie tends to minimise every sickness or wound he himself gets, and he tries to be cautious about how to react to his child when they get hurt, because he read an article that says that children pick up on their parents moods.

- Richie however is very Squamish of blood, so he’s in charge of keeping their kid calm and distracting then from the pain, while Eddie asses the damage.

- On this particular day, Richie and Eddie are in their yard, bating in the sun with Richie writing his jokes and Eddie reading a book, while their kid was upstairs to locate their phone.

- They vaguely hear a bang inside the house, but they don’t start to panic until they hear one, anguished scream

- They know their child and they know that they wouldn’t cry or yell out in pain if it wasn’t serious, so they’re instantly on high alert.

- As suspected, at the bottom step of the stairs a trial of blood drips down, and an open wound is gushing on their kids forehead.

- Despite their earlier screams though, they’re very calm and only let the occasional tear escape.

- Eddie’s instincts kick into serves as he inspects their wound. He’s level headed enough to determine that while they for sure need to go to the hospital, the blood mostly stems from the fact that they hit their head in a spot that is natural to bleed a lot.

- He runs to go get a towel and an ice pack, and is back as soon as possible to create a make shift bandage that will hopefully stop the blood flow until they get to the hospital.

- Richie meanwhile is tying their hair in a dot (if their hair is long enough for it) so their hair doesn’t get caked with blood, but he’s starting to really panic because their kid is barely responding.

- They’re saying yes and no, but they avoids answering if it hurts, and they almost seems to be looking through their dads, instead of looking at them.

- So they hurry to get them to the hospital.

- Richie is in the back with them, telling them stories about all the tomfoolery he did when he was still a kid. It coacs a chuckle out of them, but not a full laugh like it usually does.

- They get to the hospital and the doctors check then over and inform Richie and Eddie that they have a concussion, and that’s the reason they seemed so confused.

- Like a second after he says this they suddenly start crying in full again, and Richie and Eddie turn their full attention to them.

- The doctor is about to start stitching their skin back up, and though their child isn’t really scared scared about needles, they would prefer to not get them

- Richie is a bit Squamish about blood, but he holds their hand tight and hopes that is soothes them (it does)

- Eddie narrates as the doctor is doing things and explains things in a less scary way so they know what’s happening.

- They are required to stay overnight, but the doctors let both of their dads stay, and they spend the evening in the hospital playing board games or watching whatever is on the TV to distract them from their wound.

Hanbrough

- okay, honestly , Bill really tries his best, but he becomes so panicked he’s really of no use.

- Mike is essentially dealing with two people who need care and attention, but he can only really focus on one to begin with.

- Like Bill sees his child bleeding and gets flashbacks to Georgie and he much he must have suffered and he shuts down completely.

- Je starts to cry, and their child sees that, panics too and cries with him.

- He really can’t do anything besides pressing in the 911 number (he can’t even talk he’s that shaken up about it) while Mike is has to both calm their child and Bill, and talk to the operator.

- Bill hugs their child really close to his chest and rocks them back and forth, therefor calming them down albeit it being none intentional.

- Mike runs to get a towel but seeing as the ambulance is on it’s way, he doesn’t really have to worry about whether or not the gaze is gonna stick or not.

- It’s not until the ambulance pulls up on their drive way that Bill snaps out of his panicked haze. Suddenly all he can think is that he is there to help his child, unlike he was with Georgie, and he’s not gonna let them down.

- So he calms down, slightly, and comforts his child as Mike helps the Emts to load them up in the wagon.

- They both are allowed to drive in the back with their child on the way to the hospital, and opportunity they both love to take.

- I’m the ambulance, Bill promises to write a bad ass character based on them in his next book, as long as they promise to be brave and not fight against the doctor. Which they obviously don’t.

- They do need both Mike and Bill’s hand in theirs though, just to feel extra safe.

- When the stitches are finally done and they’re escorted to an overnight room, Mike cuddles up both with his husband and his kid, thankful that their day is over.

Stozier

- in Stozier is kinda see the same dynamics as in reddie.

- Except Stan can’t handle touching any wounds that have blood pouring out them, out of fear of what germs are in there, so he has to coach Richie to do it for him

- Richie is (like I said before) still Squamish about the blood, but it’s his child so of course he’s gone to bite his teeth and push through.

- Stan, though he’ll try to hide it, is very concerned, and honestly feels like crying.

- He feels a bit like he failed to protect his kid, and that he somehow allowed them to fall down the stairs as if any of it was in his control.

- So he really spoils his kids in the hospital, by buying them all the food they want, all the toys they once upon a time mentioned they would love to have, until the point where it seems like they almost died.

- Richie gently tries to make Stan aware of this, especially since as soon as their kid so much as whimpers he’s out the door asking the nurses for more medicine so they can’t feel any pain.

- I just feel like Stan is very disappointed with himself if something happens to his kid, to the point where Richie will have to convince him for days that there was nothing he could have done.

- Stan just hates the fact that he can’t take their pain away. Richie hates this too by the way, he’s just better at putting it in perspective.

- Stan will follow the doctors orders to a T. If the doctor says they need to wait at least a week before doing any sports, you best believe they’re not going to either

- But his kids really loves him for it, because they know they can trust on their dad to keep them safe as much as possible.

- And they can count on Richie to be just as nurturing and kind.

[sevenkaspbrak]

HANBROUGH CANON?!?!?!

[beepbeepbuckaroo]

Eddie, Bill, Patty, and Bev: I'm small, but knowing.

Richie, Mike, Stan, and Ben: You don't even be knowing what the top shelf looks like

[in-my-clown-era]

people always write about the losers going to like disney or six flags or some shit but never cedar point, y’all really making me sad about that tho 🥺

[slightlyobsessedwitheverything]

Me, vibing to some cool song i found:

The song: ".......twenty-seven years ......"

Me:

[stansrichie]

send me an anon & i’ll do it 😳🤲

[anxiouss-princess]

A concept:

A show about the Losers but in the format of the Office

Like honestly— just imagine Richie saying some shit and the camera zooms on Eddie as he turns to face it like 😐

*chef kiss* 💋

[sunshinereddie]

idk if all mcdonalds do this but here in canada when you buy a hot drink there’s a sticker on the cup and when you collect 7 stickers you get a free drink.

so im imagining a hanbrough college au where they are classmates and lowkey have crushes on each other but both are too shy to do anything besides say good morning when they sit down beside each other.

bill is a very tired english student who spends more time writing essays than sleeping so every morning he goes to mcdonalds to get a coffee and he collects the stickers, sticking them on the back of his laptop.

one morning mike comes into class and sits down beside bill as usual, but then mike hands bill a mcdonalds sticker. bill looks at the sticker, then looks at mike, and mike just smiles and says, “i noticed you collect them. i don’t drink coffee that much, so i thought it would be better with you than me.”

and bill is just. 💓💓💓 an absolute mess because it is 8:30am and it is too early for mike to be making him feel these things meanwhile mike is also kind of internally panicking because he can’t believe he finally said more to bill than just “good morning.”

(also, mike literally only bought that coffee so he could give the sticker to bill.)

[throughthiseyes-iseetheworld]

Sorry, I just imagined a The Mummy AU with Mike as O'Connell and Bill as Evy all thanks to this.

okay hear me out but .. this mike with this bill

[i-love-sweet-william]

out of context pre-stozyers #1

I dunno how many of these I'll end up making and they definitely won't be in any particular order but fUck it I'm making the content I wanna see in this world! no one can stop me!!

now you may be wondering where Stan is, thanks for asking—no one asked, but let me dream.

so Stan's in like new york or some shit, but his exact location doesn't matter tbh. just that he's not in california with ryers. but ryers isn't even ryers yet, while stozier is established as Fuck.

it's still hella early here obviously, too early for Stan to have a reason to have any interest yet, and even at the point when stozier Does decide they have mutual interest, they still want to become closer friends with Will first...while also "subtly" (Richie's never heard of the word subtle in his life, but no one takes him fucking seriously) dropping hints to see how Will responds, if he even wants a relationship.....if he would even Consider this sort of relationship

Stan gains his initial "interest" just from Richie talking about him and thinking maybe he was Loser Material, and he builds on that interest upon finding out he's seen some of Will's drawings online and trying to imagine that fucked up art coming from Richie's exhausted roommate. when byeris (will/stan) starts messaging directly, Stan develops a more genuine interest as he steadily gets to know Will a little better, and it's solidified by the first time he meets Will in person, getting to hear him talk, watch him interact with Richie and the other Losers, learn his body language, etc

and through all of stozier pining, Will remains fucking oblivious. because even when he thought Richie was single, he didn't think any attempts at flirting were real, but rather "Richie's just like that". and when he finds out stozier is dating, he 735% does not even consider the idea of both of them deliberately trying to get closer to him, instead he thinks "so I guess the Losers are like that" since they're all close and soft and intimate with each other even between those who are """just friends""" (the whole Losers Club is stupid and this shit is lowkey pre-poly-losers too. but one step at a time. one step at a time.)

Will thinks the soft shit stozier does is just how they treat their friends. even tho the other Losers don't attempt to treat Will the same way....soft shit like...touching his hands and face and. blatantly hanging off him or. holding him like something small and precious. or silently staring at him with fuckin adoration and shit. n...not that Will notices all of that. but he notices at least a little bit......

anyway the self-indulgence is off the fucking charts in this one and stozier's "kiss" is pressing their foreheads together (it2 hanbrough love language god bless) and Will like......Acknowledges that stozier does it with each other and not the other Losers, and Recognizes that it's intimate, but he doesn't fucking. he.....

he doesn't. Comprehend. that Stan putting his head real fuckin close to Will's. is like. practically making out. or leaving an invisible hickey. he's. he can't imagine one (1) person having interest in dating him, let alone two (2). god. I need to stop before I just spiral into 478984 ways of calling Will stupid, while stozier pursues him under the Painfully Wrong Assumption that not only does Will know that they're dating, but also that they're Both deliberately making physical and/or emotional advances

[certifiablymadmax]

genuinely curious what you think about stenbrough and stozier!! (for the bingo ask game)

thank you i love and appreciate you! stenbrough is the magenta or whatever that is and stozier is blue!

ima info dumping along with these dhdjf so stenbrough i didn't use to ship romantically at all because i was so into hanbrough. i started multi shipping them earlier this year! but then dan and stan happened and they took a big back seat

stozier i broship really hard (hard enough that i went ahead and marked the siblings thing because can you imagine that au? my god and also they feel like that dynamic to me) but my reddie brain never let me go too romantic except for a few minutes here or there!

[s-oulpunk]

I can’t stop imagining Bill with a dog. Like a big black lab. And in canon Mike has Mr Chips so like…hanbrough dog walk/dog park dates anyone??

Like just imagine it. Mike and Bill take long walks/hikes up into the hills, holding hands and holding their dogs’ leashes in their free hands. Stealing kisses every time the dogs stop to sniff something. They bring a picnic to the quarry and make out and feed each other snacks as the dogs swim and chase squirrels. The dogs beg them for food every time they go out to eat and every time Mike tells Bill it’s bad for them and yet every time Bill ends up sneaking them table scraps under the table. The dogs running around the Hanlon farm because they’re best friends while Bill helps Mike with his chores (and definitely does not try his hardest to distract him so he can steal a few kisses).

[infinitysynths]

i really really wish hanbrough was more popular. it deserves just as much hype as stenbrough. i honestly think it should be up there with reddie. it has a softer dynamic than reddie, but it’s still an insane himbo with a somewhat put together boyfriend (even though eddie isn’t as put together as mike.) and also! bill and richie are best friends and eddie and mike are best friends! imagine the dynamic hanbrough and reddie would have on double dates and stuff. i’m going to singlehandedly revive this fandom by making everyone ship hanbrough and reddie

[acciohanbrough]

imagine : the sterek malec merthur cherik drarry johnlock reddie hanbrough klance zukka and destiel fans .. all active at the same time .. now THATS A THRILLER aka this will be it in a week i’m waiting on the news they are all getting a new season , see ya in a week or so ❤️

[loserslibrary]

pairing: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier [Reddie], Stanley Uris/Patricia Blum Uris [Stanpat], Mike Hanlon/Bill Denbrough [Hanbrough] & Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh [Benverly]  written by: Ashley rating: Teen word count:  2,905 prompt: from @ticomat​ “Ok, so, for a prompt, how about the Losers having a Dinner night in which all pairings have big news they planned to tell the others, and end up collectively stealing each others thunder?”

Eddie knew that he and Richie were the boring friends. They had been for years, and Eddie supposed that was normal. When you’ve been in a serious, committed relationship since… well, forever, it seemed only natural that they wouldn’t have as many crazy stories as their friends. Especially since Richie had been banned from telling sex stories. Eddie didn’t mind, he was never bored with Richie, and he much preferred the most adventurous part of his month being he and Richie trying a new brand of pasta sauce that gave Richie stomach cramps over failed Tinder dates or coworkers setting him up on blind dates with horrible, poorly smelling people. 

Eddie and Richie have been together officially since he turned sixteen, but they’d practically been together for years before that. They’d had their rough spots like any other couple; choosing colleges had been one of the lowest points that Eddie could remember and he still sometimes felt sick when thinking about how close he and Richie had come to ending things when it came down to New York City vs Los Angeles. Richie had crawled through his bedroom window, crying and swearing to go to with him to New York City- or “wherever the fuck in the world he wants to go”- and Eddie couldn’t imagine them ever living anywhere else.

So, no. Eddie didn’t feel any lack luster in his life and he didn’t envy his friends’ wild stories whenever they got together the past couple of years. As they rapidly approached their thirties, Eddie was more than content with being settled down and married. Job he liked, financial stability, a loving husband in a surprisingly spacious New York apartment. It was more than Eddie had ever thought he’d be able to have growing up, and he wouldn’t trade it up for all the dating scene moments in the world. He wasn’t sure why anybody would. 

There was, admittedly, one thing in his life that he and Richie had been discussing. Something that could only make things even more perfect. And tonight, Eddie was sure that he and Richie would finally have the most exciting news at the reunion table. 

“You sure you want to tell them?” Richie asked, rubbing his hands between Eddie’s shoulder blades as Eddie used the mirror to do up his tie. Dressing up to Richie was a button up shirt with jeans that didn’t have rips in the knees or thighs, but Eddie always tried to go that extra mile when they were going out for a meal. Especially one that felt as important as this one.

“Yeah, of course.” Eddie said, finishing up the tie and pressing a quick kiss to his husband’s cheek. “I know that maybe we should wait until we have more news but- the Losers are as much family as your mom and dad, Rich. I want them to know.”

Richie smiled and pulled Eddie in for a quick kiss, and rubbed their noses together as he pulled back. “Alright, then I guess we better get going then. Bev is going to talk our ears off the second she sees us. Since the dweeb skipped Christmas.”

“I’m sure that her finishing the designs for her first leading collection  was more important than our Boxing Day dinner.” 

“You sound just like her.” Richie swung his car keys around his fingers as Eddie slipped into his jacket. “You’re such a sham, Edward Spaghetti Kaspbrak. You don’t need a jacket from here to the freakin’ car. You just wanna show off your nice threads to our friends when we get there.”

Eddie buttoned up the jacket up and beamed at Richie. “So what if I do? My husband has a big fancy Saturday Night Live job now, so I can spend my salary on whatever I want. Jackets included.”

Richie rolled his eyes and guided Eddie out of their apartment door. “Yeah.” He said in a soft voice. “For now.” Eddie never thought he’d be so happy to have financial restrictions.

Bill and Mike were already sitting around the table when Eddie and RIchie were shown to the Losers’ usual table. “Hey guys!” Richie half-jogged over to them as Eddie thanked their hostess. He tossed an arm around Bill’s shoulders and tugged him into his side. “Mikey, I swear you get hotter every time I see you. How do you do it?” 

Bill yanked away from Richie and punched him in the side. Richie made a loud, wounded noise and Eddie came over to give him a patronizing pat on the cheek. “Hush.” He said softly, before smiling at their friends. “How was Florida?”

Bill and Mike exchanged small looks that made alarm bells start ringing in the back of Eddie’s mind, but they both quickly replaced the looks with smiles. “It was amazing!” Mike said happily, waving towards the entry of their private room as Stan came in with Patty on his arm. 

Stan had started dating Patricia Blum about three years earlier, and she had been an instant click with their tight knit group. It was rare for anybody to connect with the other Losers so quickly, more often than not the Losers’ partners found their little group hard to fit into. Patty hadn’t been like that, thankfully. She and Richie had been practically best friends by the end of their first meeting. 

This was made apparent again, as Richie launched himself from Bill’s side and rushed through the little room to scoop Patty up in his arms and spin her around. 

“I swear, Richard.” Stan rolled his eyes but there was smile spreading across his face. “We saw you not even two months ago.”

“Awwe.” Richie cooed, putting Patty back on the ground and moved to kiss Stan hard on the head. “You know me, Manly Stanny. I’m like a dog, waiting for you to get back from work. Very over excited when you come back inside because you forgot your keys.” 

Stan chuckled at Richie’s awkward analogy and flicked him in the face. “Yeah, you’re a big oversized lap dog. I don’t know how Eddie puts up with you.”

Eddie walked over and wrapped his arms around Richie’s mid section and stuck his tongue out at Stan. 

“I told you we’d be the last ones here.” Ben said, quickly undoing his scarf and giving everybody a forced smile. “Sorry, sorry! Somebody claimed the traffic wouldn’t be that bad.”

“Don’t blame me!” Beverly said, swooping into the room in all her usual beauty. She pressed a kiss to Mike and Bill’s cheeks before turning to look at Ben with her arms on her hips. “I live in New York! I don’t drive. I take the subway like any self respecting New Yorker.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Richie cheered, despite none of them having ordered any drinks yet. The group all started moving towards the big round table, chattering amongst themselves. Richie bumped his hip against Patty’s and grinned at her.

“Take your hand out of your pocket, baby doll.” Richie whispered in her ear. Patty turned him, cheeks turning a little pink even under the red tinge of the dining room. She just shook her head and Richie leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Well, congratulations. Even though I’m not supposed to know.” 

Patty smiled to herself, and reached out to grasp Stan’s hand under the table with her own. Richie couldn’t hide his own grin as Eddie took the empty seat next to him. Never one to disguise his affections, Richie leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Eddie’s cheek. 

Beverly made overly loud gagging noises and Richie rolled his eyes lovingly at her. “Cram it, Marsh. Let me love on my husband!” 

“Oh I’m sure that you smother Eddie enough in the privacy of your own home.” Bill said with a chuckle. 

“It’s not smothering!” Eddie shot to him, before pressing an almost rough kiss to Richie’s stubbly cheek. He immediately pulled away and wiped his hand across his mouth. “Oh god, Richard, you need to shave. I’m not going to keep kissing you if it feels like rubbing my face against sandpaper.”

Richie tossed his head back and cackled, wrapping an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and pulling him against him. Eddie whacked at his chest lightly, and Richie kissed him on top of the head.

“Truly disgusting.” Bill said with a roll of his eyes. “But enough of Dad and Dad’s domestic crap. How have you guys been. Some of us haven’t seen each other since the summer.”

“How targeted.” Beverly laughed, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher in the middle of the table. “But I’ll admit, I actually do have some news since the last time I saw you guys. And before you ask, no, it’s not about my new line so you don’t have to pretend to understand what I’m talking about.”

There was a moment of relief around the table, as they all smiled at their childhood female friend. Even after they’d started having more women in their group, Patty, or Bev’s roommate from college Kay, or Bill’s ex-girlfriend Audra whom he was still friendly with, they’d never really joined forces with anybody who was on Beverly’s level with clothes or trends. The closest was probably Richie- and only because with his career, he has to at least attempt to keep up.

Beverly reached out and tangled her hands with Ben’s on the top. Eddie looked at Richie from the corner of his eye, getting a raised eyebrow in return. Ben and Beverly had been having the ultimate will they or won’t they story in the history of the world, tracing back all the way to the eighth grade. They’d dated off and on all throughout high school, somehow always finding some sort of reason to break up, and then another to get back together. Two years earlier, they had rekindled the high school relationship and the Losers had been sure that they were going to be in it for the long haul this time. Then Ben’s job had promoted him six months into the relationship, sending him to live in Chicago, and they had broken it off once again. Not feeling as though the long distance could work for them. Though the two years had passed since then, the Losers could all tell that the feelings still lingered. Would possibly always linger between them. It was one of the few things that they all knew better than to interfere with. 

Ben smiled sheepishly, rubbing his thumb along the back of Beverly’s hand. “My company are starting a new project to create affordable living in New York City. They want me to head up the project.” His sheepish smile broke into a full blown grin. “I’m moving back. For good.”

The table erupted into cheers, which were quickly and embarrassingly quieted when the waitress came to take their drink orders. As she left, the gang all turned their attention back to Ben and Beverly, whose hands were still clasped together on the table. 

“So…” Richie sang, wagging his eyebrows. “Somebody’s gotta address the elephant in the room-”

“Jesus, Rich.” Bill groaned, though his voice hinted at laughter.

“Are you guys gonna be New York’s Next Hottest Couple or what?” Richie barrelled over top of Bill as though he hadn’t spoken. 

Ben and Beverly glanced at each other, stars in their eyes, before Beverly looked back at Richie and nodded. “That was my news. Ben and I are back together- and we’re moving in together.”

Softer, but no less enthusiast, cheers broke out then. Mike reached over and clasped Ben on the shoulder. The other man’s face had turned a bright red under the attention, always a shy boy deep in his heart, and started waving the others off. “Thank you guys! Really! But Mike and Bill! How was Florida?”

“Yeah!” Beverly jumped onto Ben’s attempts to deflect. “We want to hear all about it!” 

Bill cleared his throat. “It was great. You know, it’s always nice to go somewhere warm and know that your friends are all somewhere else freezing their asses off.”  

The group all grumbled and complained, while Eddie narrowed his eyes at his oldest friend. His hand was clenched around his glass and he used it to gesture towards Bill. “You’re holding back. Something happened. What is it?”

Bill and Mike glanced at each other. “Welll…” Mike said slowly. “I sort of feel like we’re stepping on Ben and Bev’s toes here but… Yeah, something did happen.”

“Oh shit, did you guys fuck?” Richie blurted out. Stan let out an exasperated “Richie” while Eddie swatted at his arm. “What!?! We were all thinking it!” 

“That’s not exactly the tactful way the rest of us would have put it.” Eddie said before knocking back the rest of his drink. 

Richie just rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat, pouting until Eddie reached over and rested his hand on Richie’s knee. Richie dropped his hand on top of Eddie’s and squeezed. 

“Okay, so that’s not exactly how we wanted to say it either.” Mike said with a small smile. Bill was watching him from the corner of his eye, leaving all eyes on Mike. “But yes. We’re dating now. We’ve taking it slowly because we weren’t sure what this was, so please don’t be upset that we didn’t tell you right away-”

Eddie burst out laughing. “Billy. Richie and I were together for like two years before you we told you guys. We’re the last people be mad about that.”

“We weren’t talking to you.” Bill said happily with a toothy grin. “We were talking to all our normal friends.”

“Well, that’s fucking rude.” Richie muttered under his breath. A small rumble of laughter moved through the group, even Eddie chuckling. “Whatever. I haven’t decided if I saw this coming or not, and my gaydar is definitely a little off, but I’m so happy for you guys!”

“There’s no such thing as a gaydar.” Ben said with confidence.  Eddie, Mike and Richie all exchanged looks and Beverly kissed Ben gently on the cheek. 

“Well…” Patty spoke up then, her face looking like her cheeks were about to burst with joy. Richie nudged Eddie and wiggled his eyebrows, while Eddie frowned at him. 

Patty lifted her hand up away from Stan’s and held it out towards the table. The light coming from above them reflected off the rather large diamond on her left hand.

“Oh my God…” Beverly whispered. A hush fell over the table following Beverly’s words, everybody silently awaiting the confirmation of what they’d already pieced together. 

“We’re engaged.” Patty said softly. Stan’s ears and the back of his neck were both a deep red under the attention. The group remained quiet for a moment, then broke into cheers so loud that Richie was surprised they weren’t kicked out of the restaurant altogether. 

Everybody jumped to their feet, quick to hug the happy couple. Richie scooped Patty up in his arms and spun her around slightly, nearly sending their table flying. Both laughing, Richie sent Patty off into a teary Ben’s awaiting arms and turned to find himself facing Stanley. Stan’s cupped the back of Richie’s head as he pulled him into a hug. 

“You’ll be my best man, right?” Stan whispered directly into Richie’s ear. Though his friends would often say he had none, it took every inch of Richie’s self control not to immediately burst into tears as he nodded into Stanley’s shoulder. 

It took a couple minutes to get everybody calmed down and back into their seats, and their poor waitress came in to take their food orders. Richie was sure that once they sat back down all the couples were holding hands under the table. They all gave small chit chat until their meals showed up, and Richie dug in excitedly. 

“Oh, wait!” Beverly lowered her spoonful of pasta and blinked dramatically. “We totally forgot! Eddie, Rich, what’s new with you guys? Anything big happening in your lives since the last time we all hung out?”

Without even needed to look at his husband, Richie knew exactly what to say.

“Nope. You guys know us.” Richie draped his arm around the back of Eddie’s seat. “28 going on 88. Watch the news, in bed by 7.” 

The table all laughed, and dinner carried on without anymore cheering. The meal was peaceful and comfortable, Richie feeling almost blissful with Eddie’s heat pressing into his side while surrounded by their closest and most beloved friends. 

After saying their goodbyes, Eddie and Richie walked hand in hand to their car. “So,” Eddie started, with a smile in his voice. “Not ready to tell them after all?”

Richie laughed. “Nah, we’re ready.” He said. “But I didn’t wanna steal anybody’s thunder. We got enough news tonight. Ours can wait.” Richie pushed Eddie up against the car and kissed his jaw lightly. “What do you say? Let’s keep it our own little surprise. Just show them all by posting it on Instagram. Show up at the next get together with a baby.”

Eddie grinned. “We wouldn’t be the boring friends anymore.”

“Hell the fuck no.”