Chapter Text
THE SUMMER OF 1989
Richie always hated the idea of killing It. He thought Bill was delusional for thinking they could defeat a monster that made him see what he did. After the battle happened, he decided to keep his friends closer, just in case something else that was much more horrible happened. Since the first day he and Eddie talked, he always had this gut feeling deep down that wanted him to pull Eddie in and hold him tight forever. He thought it was just clinginess to his friend, but that day, just a week before he moved, it all proved himself wrong. Before Bill entered that house, Richie always thought of him as boring. In the way that he always was safe, never taking risks. He’d like to think after Bev joined the losers, Bill gained a lot of courage. After Eddie broke his arm though, Richie couldn’t stand it. He broke and told Bill off so nothing could ever hurt any of the losers, especially Eddie, again. He felt bad about it, sure, but he knew that at least it wouldn’t matter because he was safe. Eddie wasn’t allowed to see his friends after that, but Richie didn’t care. Sneaking into his house wasn’t the easiest but Richie liked the challenge. Once, Eddie fell asleep on him while they were hanging out in his room, and Richie froze. He slowly pushed him to be sitting up while his face was fading to a pink. He gazed at him, while ‘sinful’ (as Bowers called it) thoughts rushed over his head, about Eddies face, and hair. He convinced himself it was all just normal friendly comments, but his heart held on. Just before he woke up, Richie planted a kiss, one so small Eddie wouldn’t wake up, yet enough to give that anxiety a rest in his stomach. Around 5 minutes later, Eddie jumped up, scaring the shit out of Richie. They laughed about it, until 7 pm hit and Richie was forced to sneak out. Richie gave Eddie a long hug that day, leaving Eddie confused yet happy. Richie hated himself for what he did, doing such acts that was so devilish. A few days later, he met Connor. Richie tried to keep Connor close, keeping his thoughts on Street Fighter. Until Henry showed up, Richie thought he was really cool. Connor liked the way Richie’s eyes looked under his glasses, and the way he got so focused on his game. When Henry showed up, Richie almost puked out of fear. He ran, so far that he thought Henry couldn’t find him. He saw It that day, yet never told the losers, because then they would have to know.
After the battle, the losers spent the rest of summer without Bev and at the quarry. Richie always sat with Eddie. He’d always put his arm around him or sit behind him with his chin on Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie always felt warmer then usual when he did that and always felt Eddie freeze when he touched him. He thought it was because Eddie hated it, yet he kept doing it because he thought it annoyed him. Eddie never complained though. A few days before school started, the losers were hanging out, and Richie and Eddie were trailing behind them. “I wonder if I’ll find a.. girlfriend this year.” commented Richie. He was nervous Eddie would catch his little pause. “Same, but if we don’t, at least I have you, Rich.” Eddie replied.
“Yeah, of course Eds.”
“Don’t call me that!”