richie grinned, walking arm in arm with bev up to the bar. eddie and bill were already slow dancing to a much too fast song, and mike had wandered off somewhere that was probably close to the dj booth. ben was home sick (or so he claimed). at that moment, it was just bev and richie.

richie flirted quite a bit with the bartender before finally procuring the two shots of whiskey he'd set out to order. bev rolled her eyes at him, downing the shot in one sip.

"bev, you gonna get out there? bet some cute guy or girl would die to take you home," richie suggested, following suit shortly after as he tossed the shot down his throat.

"rich, two things. one, this is a gay bar. the chances of me finding a man are slim to nil here. two, i identify as fully lesbian now."

richie grimaced, placing a hand on bev's arm in a sort of apology. "you're right, bev. i'm sorry. i totally forgot — i mean, it feels like just yesterday you and ben were dating," he added, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. bev was never really one to show her emotions, and he wanted to be sure she was okay.

"fuck, don't remind me. i feel awful. i ruined my friendship with him because i wanted my feelings to be real but god, they weren't." she sighed, turning to look at richie. "i wish things would go back to normal," she admitted, and he made a disapproving noise.

"we're the losers club, bev. this is our normal."

the redhead shot a grin at him then. "yeah, you're right," she told him, but her attention was suddenly elsewhere. he followed her gaze to a shortish boy with curly golden-brown hair and a cute nose dancing a bit awkwardly to the music, his eyes closed, kind of separated from the other party goers.

"gotcha," he joked, knowing she was about to suggest he go say hi. "wish me luck, marsh."

"you don't need it, tozier," she called, and he chuckled, already making his way over to the boy.

he tapped the boy's shoulder gently, and his eyes snapped open, locking him in a quizzical yet quite assertive gaze.

"i'm richie," he introduced, offering the boy his hand.

the boy stayed quiet, eyeing him almost warily before seeming to decide he wasn't a threat. "dance with me," the boy said, more of a command than a question, though richie nodded all the same.

the boy took his hand, and they danced there for a while, neither of them exactly good, though not entirely awful, either.

"you seem familiar," richie said, after a while. "have we met before?"

"definitely not," the boy responded, looking up at richie. "i'd remember your eyes." the shorter boy flushed a little then, realizing it might have come off odder than he intended.

"you have nice eyes," he added, though his gaze seemed to sink a little, down to richie's freckles. "the glasses are a nice touch. i like the way they magnify your eyes."

"i like your curls," richie responded with a grin. "anyways, i kinda need the glasses to see."

they remained silent for another long while, before richie spun the boy about him and almost crashed into someone.

"it's tight in here," the boy warned, and richie smirked.

"that's what i said to your mom last night."

"i'd like to see you meet my mom," the boy retorted, shooting richie a glare. "the name's stan, by the way."

"short for staniel, i'm guessing," he joked, and stan laughed briefly before being spun around again.

"just like richie is short for dickard, clearly."

richie chuckled. "damn, stanthony, how'd you guess?"

"intuition," the boy said, his face straight. richie was determined to get a reaction out of him, though it seemed he might have some trouble.

a bit of a slower song came on — as slow as you'd get at a club, at least, and richie drew stan closer to him, placing his hand on the other boy's hip before edging it around his waist. their faces were nearly touching then, and richie let his forehead touch stan's for a brief moment before cracking a smile and twirling the boy once more.

stan placed a palm on richie's chest, breathless, looking deeply into his wide, soft eyes. he seemed about to kiss richie before he drew away.

"shouldn't i take you out first?"

stan glared at richie, and richie smirked, cupping the boy's face in his palm.

without a word, he pulled stan to him, and they kissed, long and gentle and almost mischievous on richie's part.

they broke apart after a moment, stan's hand wrapped tightly in the fabric of richie's shirt. he noticed soon after and let go, smiling sheepishly.

"your mom couldn't resist me, either."

stan rolled his eyes, pressing his lips to richie's one last time before completely detaching himself from the much taller, paler boy. he dropped a slip of paper in the front pocket of richie's rather out of place hawaiian shirt and turned to the door, leaving richie gaping behind him.

richie had never been rejected before. or whatever it was. either way, he'd never been walked out on, and he was determined to fix it.

he withdrew the piece of paper, smirking down at the tidy handwriting that spelled out a number the stranger probably knew by heart.

"game on, staniel," he whispered, tucking the paper back in his pocket with a grin. "game on."