Afraid - reddie ✅

t h r e e

***trigger warning, contains abuse***

when richie came home that day, he ran upstairs, avoiding his mother. he shut the door in his room and sat on the bed. suddenly he heard footsteps, coming up. 'fuck' he wispered under his breath, while he showes his cigarette packs under the bed.

richie's mom opens the door, she's clearly drunk and is holding a wine bottle. she takes a clance under his bed, she pushes richie out of the way and takes the cigarette packs. "were you smoking?!" she asks, angrily, "n-no ma" richie says, with tears in his eyes, his mother throws the packs across the room, and punches richie in the face, richie falls on the ground and she starts to scream, and kicks him. "you piece of shit! you are just like your father! you deserve to die!"

it has been like this for years, his father left them when richie was eight, he left right after his mother miscarried a child that would've been richie's little sister. richie always had hide spots when he was little, every time his mother got angry, or drunk, but now, he stopped hiding, he knew this was going to be his life for years, until he turns 18, or when he has the money to move, so he gave up, and he couldn't fit in his old hide spots, anyways.

the next day, richie went to school with bruises all over his body, and his face, he used his mom's makeup to try to hide most of it, but the tears kept washing it all off. when he walked down the hall everyone looked at him, with their jaws dropped.

"holy sh-shit what h-happened to you?" studdering bill asks. "got in a fight" richie says, annoyed "with who?" max and lucas say at the same time "with bowers" richie says "not the first time" beverly says, and grins, richie had used this excuse more than once. stan rolls his eyes, and lights up a cigarette.

"hey, there's the loser in english class" stan says, and points at eddie, they all laugh and max starts to walk towards him. "hey, eds" max says, and grins. "don't call me that" eddie responds, annoyed, max laughs, and spits her gum in eddie's lunch, and then she walks to her friends, who were laughing. richie looks at eddie, who takes the gum out of his lunch, in disgust, and then throws his lunch in the trash, and walks away.