mixtape (reddie)

Chapter 26

Richie sits with his head in Mike's lap, headphones covering his head as he tries very, very hard to ignore the closet door located five feet to the left.

"Three minutes!" Stan exclaims, laughing brightly.

"F-F-Fuh-Fuck off, d-dipshit," Bill's voice comes from the other side of the wall.

Richie sighs, closes his eyes, and turns the volume up on his Walkman. He can't stop listening to sad songs sung by female artists, his recent favorite has been Time After Time by the infamous Cyndi Lauper.

Mike's hands idly run through Richie's hair, soothing and comforting the broken up boy. Before he had arrived, Bev had warned the losers to be gentle with him. None of them asked why, they just nodded and understood. Then, they went to the den to mess around on the piano, but Eddie stayed behind in the kitchen. It was Friday, just after four o'clock, so the kids all ravaged the Denbrough pantry to find after school snacks. While the clattering bangs of the piano could be heard drifting through the air, Eddie remained leaning against the counter and stared at his untouched PB&J.

"Everything alright, Ed?" Beverly had asked, slowly lingering in the doorway to check on the smaller boy.

Eddie looked up with a startled expression, but he quickly recovered. "Huh? Yeah. I'm fine, Bev. Thanks for asking."

Normally, Beverly would have shrugged it off and joined the rest of the boys, but she had flashbacks to the night Richie scolded her for not being active in her friends' emotional matters. She approached Eddie and leaned against the counter with him, then stared out the kitchen window and watched the fluffy snowflakes sprinkle down on Derry like bright glitter bombs.

"Is it about Richie?" She asked.

Eddie looked at her and didn't respond, but sometimes silence speaks volumes.

Beverly nodded and nudged him with her shoulder. "Whatever he did, he's sorry. He gets real moody sometimes, y'know? And sometimes he gets clingy. You just gotta learn to go with the flow when it comes to Richie. He... He genuinely means well, even if it doesn't come off that way."

Eddie bit his tongue. After a moment of silence, he turned and asked "Is he okay?"

And then Beverly had explained the note from Richie's father, and how Richie had called the Marsh house and begged to see Bev, and how he cried on the floor of their laundromat because everything in his life was going wrong and he felt so entirely lonely.

"He's lonely?" Eddie had asked.

Bev looked at him with sad, sympathetic eyes. She said in a very quiet, very soft tone, "Honey, you've gotta understand that Richie Tozier is one of the loneliest men in the world. Don't let the Voices and jokes fool you."

Now, here they are, pumped full of junk food and sleep deprivation. It's reached the point in the sleepover where everyone is willing to try anything all because their brains are clouding their judgement. Richie has been nearly silent all night, staying to his own and listening to his tapes.

When Ben suggested 7 minutes in heaven, Mike came over to offer comfort to the boy who visibly started shaking.

"Six minutes!" Stan calls out.

Richie squeezes his eyes shut and tries to not be bothered by any of it. It's not as if he has a right to be angry, no, he lost that right the second that Eddie threw the first insult at the movies merely two days ago.

Beverly speaks up and says, "Ah, just let 'em out of the closet, Stanley. This game's a mess when you play it with a group full of guys."

Stanley glances away guiltily, an expression that Richie definitely mirrors. Ben and Mike don't seem affected by her statements, but why should they? They're not the gay ones in the room.