You and Richie hadn’t always been this close.

You were both friends with Mikey, so of course you both knew about each other. But you wouldn’t go as far as to say the two of you were friends.

You and Richie would accompany Mikey whenever he would have a smoke break. The three of you would stand around, talking, smoking, coming up with new ideas for The Beef.

Mikey was your best friend, but he was also Richie’s best friend.

So when everything got too much for Mikey and the fateful event occurred, you and Richie were brought closer together. It was definitely unwillingly at first, but as time went on and you were both mourning the loss of your friend, the two of you found that you were seeking comfort from each other pretty often.

You kept the smoke break tradition alive, even if it was now just you and Richie who would sneak off to the alley. You made sure to keep The Beef as Mikey would have wanted it to be — even if it wasn’t making enough money to remain open. Neither you nor Richie wanted to shut it down.

As the months passed, you and Richie grew incredibly close. Not too close — he was still finalising his divorce from Tiff — but definitely closer than before.

The clock drew closer to 2pm, meaning it was almost time for your break. With Mikey’s younger brother Carmen running the restaurant now, Richie regularly ended up badmouthing the youngest Berzatto during your breaks. Everyone knew Richie was pissed that Mikey left The Beef to Carmen rather than himself.

“Yo, break’s in five.”

The familiar voice broke you out of the work-induced trance you were in — washing vegetables, cutting those vegetables, making sure you didn’t cut your hand — and you looked up. He nodded towards the door, subtly waving a carton of cigarettes when he saw you glance at him.

“You comin’?”