𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 | ͏reddie

2

Richie hits his fists against the lunch table at his arrival, earning a few gasps from the teenagers trying to eat their lunch around him. He grins wildly, which instantly is a bad sign to the others. "You'd never believe it! He was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

"Yeah, right." Stan laughs mockingly, to which Richie shoots him a small glare.

"He was." He says firmly.

"Ok, ok!" Beverly interrupts them. "What's Prince Charming's name?" She grins.

Richie sucks in a small breath and starts to bounce his rubber up and down on the table, hiding his smile whilst he tells his name. "Eddie Kaspbrak." Richie feels his heart flutter once again, before the moment is completely ruined by the whole table gasping and Stanley choking on his milkshake.

"Um, who?" Stanley coughs. Richie looks up at him with his eyes hooded slightly.

"Eddie Kaspbrak." He says again.

Stanley's mouth quickly curls into a large smile, his mouth opening slightly. "No fucking way."

"Oh come on, Stan. Don't tease him." Bev tags along with a giggle. At this Richie frowns and turns to Bill, who is also grinning.

"What?" Richie asks desperately. "What's so funny?"

"Did he say anything to you, Rich?" Ben asks, shooting him an almost sympathetic smile that makes Richie frown.

"N-No, not exactly." He mutters and rummages in his pocket before passing Ben a piece of crumbled paper. "But that counts right?"

Ben takes the paper and reads over the very few words before nodding slightly and passing it to Beverly. "Well, I guess."

"Wow." Beverly passes it along after reading it. "I can't believe you even got that much out of him."

"Why?" Richie asks again. "What's wrong with him?"

The rest of the teenagers fall silent, glancing at each other in a flood of awkward tension. Richie leans forward eagerly, waiting for an answer, an explanation, anything from his friends.

"For fuck sake! Just tell m–"

"There he is." A sarky voice cuts him off, and Richie can hear their grin. He turns to face none other than Henry Bowers, who looks down at him and wets his lips.

"What do you want? Back for sloppy seconds, asshole?" Richie laughs. At this Henry's face falls, quickly grabbing the boy by his collar and pulling him up from his seat.

"Call me that again and I'll tell everyone what a fag you are." Henry snarls, face just inches away from the lankier teen. Richie gulps discreetly but tries to hide it with a stupid grin.

"And what's the actual punishment then?" He teases. Bowers quickly tightens his grip on his collar and shoves him backwards into the edge of the lunch table. The teens sat down gasp and watch their friend get tormented though frightened eyes.

"Leave it out, Bowers!" Beverly is the first to speak up.

"Oh shut up, slag." He scoffs. "Who's next on your to-fuck-list? This piece of lanky shit?" He shoves Richie again and points in his face with a sneer.

"J-Just leave h-him alone." Bill gains the courage to speak up, shooting Bowers a glare. Henry laughs at this, finally letting go of Richie and shoving him back to his seat.

"This isn't over." He mutters close to Richie's face. "Queer." He adds, venom running through his voice before laughing and finally walking away. Richie stays frozen for a second, staring at the floor for a moment, and his friends watch with concerned eyes.