Delusional. {IT 2017}

8.

With a long sniff, Richie pulled away, gnawing on his finger nails. He hated his vulnerable side being shown, it made him feel weak, helpless.

"Are you okay, Richie?" Bill asked gently. Richie swallowed and nodded.

"I'm okay, Bill. Thanks for.. helping me. Last night. I really appreciate you guys."

"It's no problem, Rich. Please, never do that again," Eddie replied, and Bill nodded in visible agreement.

"I won't," said Richie. 'Let you find out next time. That won't happen,' he thought, his eyes trailing across the floor. They darted to Bill's doorway, and for a brief moment, Richie could've sworn there was some sort of shadow. He swallowed thickly, dissolving any thought of him being insane.

"Wanna get b-bre-breakfast? Downstairs?" Bill offered, and Eddie nodded, Richie too distracted to hear.

The three stood, leaving the odd feel of the room behind as they left to head downstairs.

"Woah! Hi!" Georgie greeted cheerfully, unaware that Eddie and Richie were there as well.

Richie limped to the table, his whole body hurting from the hangover. He felt as though he might throw up, careful of his surroundings.

"Hi, Georgie," Eddie said with a kind smile. "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes and waffles, by chef Billy!" Georgie said, introducing his brother, who bowed.

"Yes, th-thank you, thank you," Bill flattered, and Eddie chuckled, Richie smiling.

"Need help over there?" Eddie whispered. Richie shook his head and slowly plopped into the seat.

"Ugh.. I feel like shiiiiit," Richie groaned, folding his arms onto the table and letting his head fall into them. Eddie rubbed his back as Bill set plates down for the two and himself, glancing up at Richie with concern.

Eventually, after a few hours of Bill and Eddie doing what they could to provide hospitality towards their friend, Eddie and Richie had to go home.

"Bye, Rich," Eddie said with a smile, and Richie sent one back, dropping his bike in his front yard and limping towards his house. He felt unstable on his feet, and Eddie took note, staying outside of the building until Richie had made it in.

Once the front door had slammed shut, Eddie sighed, biking off. He felt pity for his friend, unknowing of if he was still unsafe at his house.

"Hey, Richie," Maggie sighed.

"Hi," Richie mumbled, slugging as he walked slowly to his room. Maggie spared a quick glance at him, continuing her work.

As Richie entered his room, he opened his tired eyes to Jessie sitting on his bed with crossed arms. Richie cocked an eyebrow and shut his door slowly.

"What the fuck..?" Richie whispered. "Jessie?"

"So, Richie. Mind explaining where you went the other night?" Jessie asked, standing up. Richie swallowed hard and blinked a few times.

"Um.. I-I was at a friend's house," Richie stuttered, trudging over to his bed and trying to avoid eye contact with Jessie, who stared him down.

"Mhm. And you didn't, I dunno, try and.. go off to an underage drinking party?" Jessie asked. Richie face dropped and he looked up at the boy.

"What??"

"Don't even try to lie."

"How- Wait, who told you that?"

"I know Mindy. She's a bitch. Old friend. And I know what she's like. This town is small, that party spread pretty quickly amongst the teens. And it just so happened to be on your calendar?"

"Why the fuck were you in my room?!" Richie yelped.

"Why the fuck were you at a party?!"

"That's-" Richie sighed roughly, wiping a hand over his face. "I swear to fucking god, Jessie, if you go telling my mother about this-"

"I wasn't planning on it." Jessie sighed and walked up to Richie. "You're annoying, but you're also very closed off. But I'm stubborn too. I wanna know why you went."

"I don't have to tell you shit."

"Richie, I fucking care about you, kay? I'm not sitting around with the fact that you were getting drunk at a party lingering in the air!"

"Since when? Have you cared about literally anyone?" Richie mumbled, crossing his arms.

"I don't show it. I know. Because all that lovey-dovey-showy shit is all stupid bull. But I do care about you, and all of my siblings. Ugh, that sounds so gross to say," Jessie commented, Richie chuckled lightly.

"I'm just stressed about everything and I wanted an escape, okay? That's it," Richie said, sitting down on his bed. Jessie clicked his tongue and sat next to him, folding his hands behind his head and leaning against the wall.

"You mean the shit with your dad?" Richie just looked back at him, and Jessie cocked an eyebrow. "What?? Am I wrong?"

"No. Yes, Jessie, the shit with my fucking.. dad." Richie breathed out aggressively, wiping a hand over his mouth and staring at the floor. Jessie awkwardly chewed up the inside of his cheek, breathing in and sitting up, placing his forearms on his knees.

"Uh, I'm sorry 'bout what happened. It's real shitty."

Richie looked over at him. "Thanks, Jessie."

"Mhm. I'm glad that he's in jail though, he was a bitch. Hurting his kids and his wife's sister's kids just to impress her, when it truly never worked. God, so annoying. GOD. SO glad he's in jail."

Richie breathed a chuckle out of his nose and continued staring at the floor.

"Yeah. Me too."

Jessie looked at Richie. "Did he ever hurt you outside of us being around?" Richie looked at Jessie, and he made a sour face. "Oops.. should I not have said that?"

"No, it's fine. But yeah. Yeah he did."

"Oh," Jessie mumbled, and silence washed over the two. "What an asshole."

"Mhm."

"Did your mom do anything?"

"No."

"What?! Why??"

"She didn't know, could you blame her?"

"See, how the fuck would she not fucking know that for years, her husband has been hitting her kid under their roof and just in the other fuckin' room??" Jessie exclaimed, and Richie internally agreed.

"I know. It's stupid. I wish she had figured out when it had first started so it never had to get this far. Or, furthermore, involve your family."

"I just wish it had stopped early so that you didn't have to go through all that trauma shit at a young age."

"Ah. Young age. It fucking pisses me off that Wentworth hurt your younger brothers. Even so much as to slap them, they're so fucking young, especially because they joined this vacation torture three years ago. Like what the fuck?"

"I agree. What a cunt, honestly, like how the fuck could a grown ass fucking adult slap or punch or shove a little kid for not doing anything. Like, I can get wanting to slap your kid for being an annoying piece of shit, but let's be real here, they never did anything to Wentworth," Jessie added, and Richie nodded.

"Yeah. None of us did. I don't get why he did what he did. it's not like he was winning anything. Did he find joy in watching his family scream and cry? Was that just music to his fucking ears? A goddamn crime scene?"

Jessie sighed and rubbed Richie's shoulder, noticing his distress causing his breath to pick up. Richie took a deep breath to gain composure.

"Your dad was a dick of a man. And I'm sorry for what you went through, dude. I dunno how much longer we're staying for, but I hope we can all help each other at some shitty vulnerable point," Jessie admitted, and Richie grinned.

"Wow. I didn't think of you to have this kind of a nice side," Richie joked, and Jessie punched his shoulder with a short laugh.

"Oh shut it, asshole."