Language~ Richie Tozier {1}

03. New Friends

The 5 kids rushed to the pharmacy, Ben on the back of Bill's bike. On the whole ride Eddie was informing his friends about AIDS and how easy it is to contract.

"AIDS. Why does that disease sound familiar?" Vic asked as everyone stared at her with concern.

"I don't know....why does it sound familiar?" Stan nervously asked.

"Oh wait, I know! That's the thing that Freddie Mercury has!" Victoria explained.

"Oh thank god! You really made it sound like you had AIDS" Eddie sighed. The kids all stopped in the alley next to the pharmacy, setting Ben down on a pile of boxes and wood.

"Richie! Vic! You wait here!" Eddie yelled as he, Stan and Bill ran into the pharmacy.

"Im glad I got to meet you before you died" Richie sarcastically said to an unamused Ben.

"Don't mind him. He never knows when to shut up. Im Victoria Peña and this is my partner in crime Richie Tozier! You're Ben Hanscom right? The new kid?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you" Ben weakly replied.

"Hold on! Who's the sidekick in our relationship?! Cause' no offense but im more of a Batman and you're more of a Robin" Richie said to Victoria as she scoffed.

"Why would being called Robin be an insult? Oooh! Can I be Jason Todd?!" She excitedly yelled. Red Hood (a.k.a. Jason Todd) was her favorite comic character and he was her favorite out of all the Robins.

"Sure. You can be Jason Todd"

"Okay but I feel like we're less of a Batman and Robin and more of a Arsenal and Red Hood. I'm definitely Red Hood" She said as he nodded in agreement.

"Sure. I can live with that" He nodded.

"Wait a minute. Who's Jason Todd?" Ben asked as Victoria gasped in shock. Richie just rolled his eyes, knowing about her obsession.

"Well.....Jason Peter Todd was the second Robin after Dick Grayson stopped being Robin to become Nightwing. He was killed by The Joker...that asshole but was resurrected in the Lazarus Pit by Talia Al'Ghul. When he was revived he returned to Gotham as the Arkham Knight. He wanted to kill Bruce for refusing to kill The Joker, which ultimately led to his death in the first place. When he returned he was even more angry because his role as Robin had been replaced by Tim Drake. He ended up not killing Bruce and became the vigilante known as Red Hood who then started 'The Outlaws' which includes Arsenal a.k.a. Roy Harper, his best friend and Koriand'r a.k.a  Starfire but also in Vol. 2 the outlaws includes Artemis and Bizarro" She explained as Ben sat there shell-shocked at what he had just learned.

"You shouldn't have asked in the first place" Richie said to Ben as Victoria rolled her eyes. "Or you know what? Forget what I said. We have more of a Catwoman/ Batman thing going on" Richie winked at Victoria.

"Although I do love Catwoman i'd rather be Red Hood" She laughed as the rest of their friends came rushing back into the alley.

Everyone had silently agreed that Eddie would be the one to help patch up Ben's wound.

"Here. I'll help you Eddie" Victoria offered as he smiled thankfully. They both kneeled before the boy and began to inspect his cut.

"Ben from soc?" Beverly asked, arriving to the scene.

"Hey Beverly" He smiled as if he had forgotten about his injury.

"What happened to you?" She worriedly asked.

"Oh, I just fell"

"Yeah. Right into Henry Bowers" Richie scoffed.

"Ben, you sure they got the.....right stuff to fix you up?" Beverly winked as Ben blushed madly.

Victoria and Eddie continued to ignore their surroundings as they tried to patch Ben up. Richie was staring at how close the two were and decided to speak so he could distract their attention from each other.

"You have to suck the wound Eddie! Didn't anyone ever tell you that?!" He yelled as Eddie shook his head no.

"Shut up Richie!" Eddie yelled.

"What?! Why are you yelling at me?! It's not my fault you don't know basic first aid!" He defended.

"Richie, get me my bifocals. They're in my second fanny pack" Eddie said as Victoria bursted out into laughter.

"What the...." She paused to continue laughing. "Why do you have two?! Or more importantly why do you have bifocals?!"  She choked out in between laughs. She was practically rolling on the floor. Richie smiled at the girl as Eddie continued to help Ben.

"Oh man....im sorry but that was great" She sighed, wiping her tears. Richie picked her up from the ground and put his arm around her as they watched Eddie in action.

"Are you guys dating?" Beverly asked the best friends.

"Nope. He sure wishes though" Victoria smirked although her heart fluttered on the inside.

"Yeah I do" He said, giving her a wet kiss on the cheek as she tried to push him away.

"Don't mind them. They're always like this" Stan sighed referring to Richie and Vic.

"You love us" Vic smiled.

"Well I gotta go. I'll see you guys around" Bev said, beginning to walk off.

"W-wait! We're going to th-the Quarry tomorrow if you wanted to c-come" Bill said as she nodded.

"Okay, sure!" Bev smiled before she left.

"Have you heard about all the guys she's slept with?! The list is longer than my wang!" Richie gossiped.

"That's not saying much" Stan commented.

"Can't talk shit about what you don't know" Richie defended.

"Well I do know and Stan's right" Vic smirked as the boys widened their eyes.

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone you bitch!" Richie yelled, sending the boys into laughter.

"Well im sorry! Usually when you knock on someone's door and they say 'come in' that person isn't in the process of changing!" Victoria yelled as the boys laughed even harder.

"Let's go!" Richie said, grabbing Victoria by the hand and dragging her away.

The ride to their houses consisted of Victoria saying sorry and dick jokes. Thankfully, Richie wasn't too mad at Victoria for exposing him. When they arrived the two of them threw their bikes on the ground.

"Do you wanna spend the night?" Richie asked, hoping she would say yes.

"Yeah, come with me so I can pack" She said, dragging him into her house. Her mom was sitting on the couch, drunk as usual. "Im staying at Richie's tonight" She said as her mother just nodded in response. Victoria tensed up at how quick her mom was to say yes, she didn't ask any questions, she just wanted Vic out of there.

They went up to her room and Richie sat on the bed as she packed quickly. She quickly pulled out her sisters necklace and looked at it hesitantly. She wrapped it around her neck and sighed.

"You okay?" Richie asked, getting up.

"Im fine" She smiled but he wasn't buying it. He pulled her into a hug as she began to cry softly.

"Im always gonna be here. You can always tell me what's going on" He comforted as she nodded into his shoulder. They pulled away, she had slightly teary eyes but she wasn't crying. He wiped them off and she smiled thankfully.

"Thanks Rich"