the downfall // richie tozier angst // reddie

2

They got to the clubhouse, Eddie staring Richie down the majority of the time. Richie took notice of this, but usually shook it off with a simple 'whatcha lookin at, Eds?' or 'damn I know I'm attractive but no need to rudely stare, Eddie spaghetti. What happened to your manners, my good sir?'

He didn't know how he could still pull a joke after what happened only a few hours ago.

They sat and chilled in their normal spots as they blasted music through the speaker off of Beverly's playlist.

The next song that played was 'daddy issues', and Richie sat there uncomfortably.

Go ahead and cry little boy

He squirmed a bit.

You know what your daddy did too.

Yep. He did.

You know what your mama went though.

What? Having to give birth to some shit child like me? Yeah.

You gotta let it out soon, just let it out, let it out.

As Richie listened to the lyrics, he began to tear up. Eddie shot a look at him and saw the tears in Richie's eyes.

Go ahead and cry little girl. No body does it like you do.

Richie looked as if he were on the verge of tears and Eddie grew concerned. He glanced at the speaker and back at Richie, believing he might know why Richie was about to snap.

I know how much it matters to you. I know that you've got daddy issues.

Eddie sat up, and hit Richie in the face with his comic. Richie snapped out of his broken trance, and blinked the tears away. 

"Hey. Are you seriously okay? You're about to cry," Eddie whispered, trying not to grab to attention from the rest of the losers.

Richie stared the boy in the eyes, and once he felt his eyes burn with tears he looked away, nodding.

"Mhm," Richie simply responded.

Eddie scoffed.

"I don't believe you. What's wrong?" he mumbled, scooting closer to Richie, who sat up to give Eddie space on the hammock.

"Nothing, Eds," Richie only said. Eddie clearly wasn't buying it, and he just grew more concerned by the second.

"Please, Rich?" Eddie begged, and Richie felt his stomach flip.

He sighed.

"Tonight. Maybe. Once everyone's asleep, maybe I'll tell you," Richie said, and Eddie nodded. At least he was to know soon.

As the day passed, Richie still looked like shit. He looked as if he were dead, and Eddie noticed. He felt pity for the boy, even if he knew it was the last thing Richie wanted.

Night neared and the losers were asleep. Eddie couldn't sleep, eager to know what was wrong with Richie.

He looked over at the taller boy, who leaned against the couch on the floor, staring up at the ceiling in boredom.

Eddie blushed a little, and scooted his way over to Richie, who soon put his head down and looked over at Eddie.

They met each other's eyes, and both blushed.

"What's. Wrong," Eddie stated, for it had sounded more like a statement than a question.

Richie sighed and wiped his eyes.

"Um," he only replied, rethinking telling Eddie about his home life. "Do I really have to tell you what happened, because.. I really don't want to," Richie mumbled, and Eddie was confused.

"Wh-why's that..?" Eddie was a bit confused, and yet a bit scared.

"It's.. it's a sensitive topic."

"Oh.." Eddie said. He sighed through his nose and they sat in awkward silence for a bit.

"But.. are you truly okay? I just want to know."

"No, Eddie. No I'm not," Richie snapped, hurt clear in his broken voice. He sucked in a breath, and Eddie stared at him.

"It's alright to cry, you know," Eddie said, and that officially broke Richie.

Richie hated himself for crying over as stupid of a reason as his shitty father. Even if it were a valid reason to cry, Richie put himself down for it.

He broke into a sob, and Eddie's eyebrows furrowed in a sad manner. He wrapped his arms around Richie and brought him close.

Richie buried his head into the crook of Eddie's neck, and Eddie placed his chin softly on the boy's head as he cried, stroking his black curls.

He gripped the back of Eddie's shirt in his fist as he sobbed. His glasses fell uncomfortably from his face, and he let himself melt into the smaller boy.

He felt weak, weak for crying about this. Weak in his body, like he couldn't stand. Weak in his throat from sobbing so much and screaming. Weak in general. And Eddie felt horrible.

Eddie felt bad for his friend. He wanted so desperately to know what was going on, but Richie just didn't want to talk about it. He knew it would only kill Richie more to have to talk about it.

He squeezed Richie tightly in his arms as he continued to sob.

Beverly, who lied right next to the two boys, squirmed in her sleep, and rose her head. She rubbed her eyes lightly.

"Richie? Eddie?" she whispered, and Eddie looked at her with sympathetic eyes and he continued to hug Richie.

Richie didn't stop crying, and Beverly sat up all the way quickly, scooting closer to the two.

"What? What's going on?" she asked in a low whisper, only receiving a shrug from Eddie and more sobs from Richie.

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern, and she rubbed Richie's back in comfort.

"It's okay, Rich," Eddie whispered into Richie's hair, and he only cried more.

Richie knew it wasn't 'okay'. It was far from okay. In fact, it was terrible. Suffering through the abuse of his father and the taunting of his mother? It was pure hell and no where near okay.

Richie cried and cried for minutes which turned into hours. Once his crying was leveled down to sniffs and very faint cries, he sat up slowly and wiped the tears from his cheeks that didn't stop streaming.

Eddie put his hands on Richie's shoulders. And looked him in the eyes.

"Are you feeling better now?" Eddie asked, and Richie sniffed and nodded.

He was still extremely upset over his shitty life at home, but he didn't want to upset or concern Eddie anymore. Richie looked over at Beverly, who smiled and rubbed her hand on his back.

Richie looked back at Eddie and to the ground again, fidgeting with his hands.

"What happened?" Beverly asked, and Richie sighed.

"I-I don't want to talk about.. it," he said, and Beverly understood, nodding.

"Okay, just know we're here for you through everything, honey, alright?"

Richie sniffed again and nodded, viciously wiping away the tears that freely rolled down his cheeks.

He put his glasses back on his face and looked around at all the losers, who were still, surprisingly, fast asleep, bodies entangled on the floor and couches.

He sighed out of his nose again, and fell back into Eddie's grip. Eddie looked at Beverly with a worried look, then back to Richie, hugging him.

Beverly leaned on Eddie's shoulder and he leaned against the couch, head on Beverly's. They all fell asleep, eventually, and the night went on.