Don't Speak(Reddie)

Chapter Six

Richie

Trigger warning: Hints at molestation

It's been 6 months now since Eddie and I first met. School started back so we spent a little less time together, but if Bill, Stan and I weren't at school we were hanging out with Eddie. Bill and Stan had finally admitted their feelings for each other. They'd been dating for almost a month. Eddie and I were both happy for them but Eddie was over the moon. He'd been waiting for them to get together since they were 14 and when it finally happened he was ecstatic. Whenever they would kiss in front of us he'd giggle and give them both a thumbs up. 

We spent time alone together too. I'd sneak a kiss in here and there. There were times where we'd kiss like the day he spoke, but it never really went any further than that. We weren't dating or anything, we just simply spent all of our free time together. We were inseparable and I wouldn't have it any other way. All I wanted now, more than anything else was to get him to actually talk.  Not just giggles and cute little sounds.  No whispers. I wanted his voice. I also wanted to know why he'd taken the vow of silence in the first place. 

He was over at my house now and I was tempted to ask him. He'd mentioned his incident a few times but he never elaborated on it and I'd never asked him to. I felt like we'd known each other long enough now for me to know. We were going back and forth about something until I finally said something that flustered him enough to make him stop typing at me on his phone.  In this silence my urge to ask grew and broke out.

"Eds I think it's time we talked about this vow of silence." His eyes got big for a second and then it looked like he got lost in thought for a little while. He picked his phone up and started typing, he didn't stop for awhile. He passed me his phone and I read what he wrote. 'As much as I don't want to talk about it I guess I trust you enough to tell you. When I was 12 years old I went to live with my aunt to escape my mother.  Little did I or anyone else know that my aunt was a whole lot worse than my mom. She... She molested me. A lot. When I tried to tell people they just didn't believe me. My uncle didn't believe me, fuck my own mom didn't believe me. They still don't. So when she finally made me go back to my mom I decided that if no one wanted to listen to me then I just wouldn't say anything at all. Since then  I haven't spoken a word, except for that day we kissed.' 

When I was finished reading I felt a mixture of emotions. I was happy that Eddie would trust me with such a personal story, I was angry at everyone who didn't believe him, I was fucking livid with his aunt for ever laying a hand on him in that way, more than anything I was sad that this sweet, pure boy had gone through so much that he didn't deserve. I sat his phone down between us and pulled him into my arms. "I'm so sorry all of this happened to you Eds. People can be fucking filth. I get why you had such a hard time trusting me at first. I don't think I'd ever be able to recover from something like that. You're such a strong person."

He pulled away from me and picked up his phone, typing frantically. 'If I was so strong I wouldn't have let them take my fucking voice away Richie! I did what I did out of fear when I should be screaming from the fucking rooftops about what these people did to me. How they broke me, how they took everything!'

"The do it Eds, scream to your hearts content." Then he did something that really shocked me, he took my advice. He tossed his phone to the side and stood, letting out a loud yell once he was on his feet. It was a little more high-pitched than I anticipated. "You took everything from me! You took my fucking childhood, you took my happiness, you took my voice, you took it all and you didn't even fucking care. And mom... I'm your fucking son! You're supposed to stand by me if I tell you something like that happened! Not make me out to be a fucking liar that's sick in the head! I HATE YOU ALL SO FUCKING MUCH!"

My mouth fell open at the sound of his sweet voice saying such passionate words. He was letting all of the anger he'd been holding in out of him and I was hoping he'd feel a lot better afterwards. He kept talking and yelling into the wind as if the people were actually there, letting everything out. Once he was done he sat back down next to me and he was quiet again. I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into my side.

"Feel better?"

"Better than I've felt in years Richie. Thank you." I decided then that hearing him say my name in his sweet, angelic voice was my new favorite thing. "So does this mean you're always going to talk now? Because I really love the sound of your voice Eds." He blushed and let out a little giggle that made my heart flutter. "Yes it does Richie. Thanks to you I'm not going to let them control me anymore. I'm not going to let them take my voice again." His voice was soft and light. You could tell he hadn't used it in awhile. 

"Stan the Man and Big Bill are going to freak out. They'll probably also question you endlessly about what made you decide to speak up. What are you going to tell them?"

"The truth. I've kept it from them for so long. I never told them about what happened with my aunt. I'm going to tell them everything. But I want to do it alone because I have to ask Bill and Stan something. Best-friends only." I clutched at my chest dramatically. "B-But I though I was your best friend!" 

"You thought wrong Tozier!"  I smirked at him and dug my fingers into his sides causing him to fall over into a mess of giggles. "If you say I'm your best-friend I'll stop!" 

"F-Fine you're m-my best-friend!" He squealed and I halted my movements on the spot. He sat back up and looked up at me. "But I'm still talking to them alone and you'll just have to get over it." I pouted but I knew he wasn't budging on this one so I didn't press it further. I wondered what he could possibly need to talk to them about other than his past?

A/N: Oooo what is he gonna ask them? Who knows man~ ALSO EDDIE IS TALKING AND I LOVE IT. I'M SO HAPPY GUYS