CYNOSURE | RICHIE TOZIER

XIV

Eliza had decided that she never wanted to be alone again. Or at least until that clown either decided to or was forced to take a break. It was haunting her. When she wasn't at Beverly's for a sleepover, Henry was made to camp out on her bedroom floor, occasionally joined by Victor. The Losers' Club hadn't all been together since the incident on Neibolt Street and she hadn't seen Richie once. However, she had spent a fair amount of time either at the quarry with Bill and Bev or bird-watching with Stanley. She had met Mike and Ben in the barrens once. But Eddie still hadn't been heard from and the remaining kids were still split in two, refusing to talk to each other. It was Bill and Beverly versus Stan, Mike, Ben, and Richie. Eliza refused to give her opinion, caring more about spending her summer with her friends than participating in an argument that she had tried and failed to end. She was the only Loser that still called herself a Loser, and the only one that had socialised with both sides. Sighing, she picked the ringing phone up off the hook.
"Hello?" a timid voice echoed through the line.
"It's me."
The voiced sighed in relief, brightening up a little, "Hey, El. I was scared it was going to be your dad or brother that picked up."
"Don't worry. It's always me that answers. Or Rena. Neither of them can ever be bothered. What's up, Stan?"
"I was going to go up to Bassey Park. Are you coming?"
She frowned, "I would, but I'm meeting Bev at the quarry at twelve."
"Oh. I guess I'll go find Richie. He's spent nearly every day in the arcade. He could probably use a break."
"Sorry, Stan." she apologised but grinned when she got an idea, "Come with me?"
"No way. It's summer and this is the first time since you and Bev showed up at the quarry I've actually kind of enjoyed it. I don't want to talk about that fucking clown anymore."
"Please, Stan!" she begged, "I'm sick of hearing petty arguments. I want to enjoy myself just as much as you do. Please. I promise you It won't be mentioned."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart."
"Fine." he muttered, but before Eliza got the chance to celebrate he chirped up again, "But under one condition."
She groaned, "What is it?"
"I can bring Richie."
"No!" she cried, "He is not coming!"
"I thought you were sick of fighting?" he reasoned, "Come on, El. He's sorry. Just let me invite him. He might not even want to come!"
"But-"
"Do it for me?"
"Fine."

Beverly sat up at the sound of approaching footsteps, "Bowers!"
"Marsh!" Eliza beamed, setting down her bag.
Bev got up to give her best friend a hug but froze, "Uris?"
"It was El's idea." he mumbled accusingly but still mirrored Bev's grin when she offered it.
The ginger winked at him, "Truce?"
"Truce." he agreed, now relaxed.
She kicked off her shoes, "I invited Bill but he had to go to some thing up in Bangor for his stutter. Are you guys coming in?
Eliza's smile faltered, "Uh, well..."
"We have to wait for Richie." Stan spoke for her.
"What?"
"That one, was Stanley's idea." El sighed, "Believe me, I'm not the happiest about it either, but maybe we should give him a chance to-"
"After what he said to you?" Bev asked in utter disbelief.
"He is sorry, Bev. He shocked himself just as much as everybody else. He didn't mean it." Stan defended.
She opened her mouth to respond but Eliza interrupted, "Please don't say anything to him, Bevvie. I know you're just trying to be a good friend and look after me and you are - you're the best friend I've ever had! - but I hate fighting with people. I miss us all being together. We can't just ignore each other like this. If we want to work this out we all need to put our differences aside and come together. We're not supposed to be fighting. We're all friends for a reason. Something put us together and we need to accept that and move on. Moving on for me means sorting things out with Richard, so please, can I do that?"
"Okay. I'm sorry. You're right."
"I'm always right." she beamed, "Aren't I, Stan?"
"I'm scared I'll get punched if I say no, so sure." Stan stated and all three began to laugh.
They were disrupted by a clanging sound from behind them. They all jumped and turned to see none other than Richard Tozier who'd just fallen off his bike.
"Hi." he coughed as he picked himself up and dusted off his knees.
Stan smirked, "As smooth as ever."
"Smoother than your balls."
El let out a soft snort, "Beep, beep, Richie."
He focused his attention on the girl he'd upset a few weeks prior, "I... uh... I'm... I just... Hi."
"Hi." she tentatively grinned, shaking off her grudge, "Now are we gonna swim or what?"
The four youths quickly stripped down to their underwear and leaped into the water, leaving Eliza with a vivid sense of déjà vu as Beverly instructed her to sit on her shoulders.
"Come on, boys!" the redhead giggled.
"You're really challenging me to a chicken fight, Marsh? Do you not remember our last battle?" Richie taunted, mounting Stan.
El grinned, "That was because you had me. You're in for some trouble, Tozier."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Angel Eyes."
All four laughed as they fought and it was the girls who eventually came out on top. They cheered as Bev set her friend back down. Richie and Stan began to bicker, each blaming each other for their loss.
"El?" Bev smirked, whispering in the blonde's ear, "Do you remember when you told me that you didn't like Richie?"
She groaned, "Shut up. Do you remember when you said you didn't like Bill?"
"Touché."
"You guys would be cute!" Eliza giggled, earning a playful punch in the arm.
"We would be cuter." Richie winked as he splashed his way over to the girls, throwing his arm over her shoulders.
Beverly smirked teasingly and gently elbowed her female friend in the ribs, leaning into her ear, "Go get 'em, girl."
The ginger swam to Stanley, leaving the pair alone.
"You wish." El twinkled, rolling her eyes in fake disgust.
Richie's voice dropped to nearly a whisper, "Yeah, I do."
They stood side-by-side in a semi-comfortable silence for what felt like an eternity as Richie tried to word his apology in his head.
"I'm sorry, El." he eventually spoke, "I didn't mean one bit of it. I promise. I was scared that if we went back for that fucking clown that I'd lose you again. Please forgive me."
"It's okay, Richard. I forgive you. I already had."
"Really?" he questioned excitedly and she nodded, "I guess I was jealous too: Bill is tall, and strong, and I'm not gay but he's got good looks and he can protect you and I can't. I wondered off and left you when we were in that house and Bill held your hand. I really like you, El, but if you want to choose Bill or Stan that's okay."
She laughed and he gave her a confused lop-sided grin, "I don't like Bill or Stan, Richard. I like you."
"You like me?!" he gasped, catching the attention of Bev and Stan who grinned wildly.
"Duh." she let out a giggle and pulled him in for a tight hug.
This embrace wasn't awkward or shy like any they had shared before. It felt natural when Richie's bare arms snaked around her waist and she buried her face in his neck. She had to stand on tiptoes but she didn't mind. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she couldn't wipe the happiness from her face. Eliza heard Beverly awe and Stanley gag somewhere in the distance and she shot a middle finger in the direction of the sound. All of a sudden, El felt something press against her inner thigh. Richie cursed under his breath and they separated. His hands flew to his crotch as he began to whistle nervously, looking at the sky. It didn't take her long to figure out what she had felt and she couldn't hold back the flood of laughter.
"It's not funny!" he whined, panicked, and turned to Stan for help, "Back me up, Stan the Man!"
"What-?" he started but realised the dark-haired boy's issue when he gestured to his underwear, "Seriously? Everything gives you a boner, Richie."
Eliza laughed so hard that she cried and all her friends, including Richie, couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

This time, when Richie held Eliza's hand, it was not because he'd lost her, but because he'd got her. ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, he thought to himself, we have a show for you tonight! would you believe it, folks? trashmouth gets the girl! yes, you heard me correctly. not bill, not stan, not even mike, but the richard tozier! the bucky beaver! the fuckface! the four-eyed faggot! it's the biggest plot-twist in derry history! His little incident at the quarry had prevented him from actually asking her to be his girlfriend but he was still over the moon.
"I was going to invite you both to my Bar Mitzvah but I don't really want you to just make out the whole time." Stan joked as he strolled beside Richie and El.
Beverly had had to go home but the remaining three had decided to dump their bikes and walk to the Aladdin. Eliza had begged them to see The Karate Kid Part III with her because 'Henry wouldn't' (She and Stan both knew the biggest reason was actually that she had a huge crush on Ralph Macchio and didn't particularly like the idea of drooling over him with her brother sat next to her but she didn't want to tell Richie that).
She bit back a grin and rolled her eyes in fake annoyance, "Come on, Stan. We both know it's him that's the problem."
"Who's 'him'?" Richie questioned obliviously.
El giggled and Stan placed a finger on his chin, pretending to think, "Well... he has dark hair, glasses, is terrible at accents... I think his name begins with an R... Robert, is it? Or is it Riley?"
"I thought it was Ricky but I could be wrong." Eliza sighed, playing along,
"I'm pretty sure his last name started with a T though."
Richie finally caught on and cried out defensively, "I'm not a problem! You guys are obviously both just jealous."
"Of what?" Stan chuckled.
He began to stutter, "My... uh... well..."
"We'll be on our best behaviour, Stanley." El promised, saving Richie from further embarrassment.
Stan smiled and nodded.
"What she said." Richie agreed.
"Now come on, boys." Eliza hurried, "We're going to miss the movie!"

A/N: is it obvious i didn't have a plan for this chapter? i went back to school a few weeks ago so i've been kinda distracted and i'm sorry. i'm not sure how often i'll be able to update but i'm hoping it will stay fairly regular once i get back into the swing of things (fingers crossed) but i'm not sure how long it's gonna take me to finish this book, and the longer it goes on, the less often i'll be able to update. i'm probably only gonna be able to squeeze a few more chapters out of it though because i'm getting super close to the final battle with pennywise. i kinda have an ending worked out roughly and i've got a shit ton of ideas for a sequel but i don't want to make empty promises or put too much pressure on myself. i'm already thinking of a finn wolfhard book based off this. if i did write one with the losers as adults though it would probably be based on the miniseries because chapter two of the movie doesn't come out until september 2019 so i'd have to wait ages and ain't nobody got time for that.