The Phone Calls ☏ || reddie

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Wally's Motel, Derry, Maine
Wednesday May 8th 1990
6:16pm

Richie and Eddie lay on his bed and watched Saved By The Bell while Steve was asleep, again. They shared a bag of Lays Potato Chips.

Eddie laid on his stomach with a handful of chips, while Richie sat cross cross right beside him, every once and a while grabbing a chip.

He kept sparing a glance towards Eddie and smiling every time he'd laugh at something on the TV. He looked out the window, seeing how it was getting dark.

After Eddie got home from school, Richie arrived at his house and helped him pack a few things to stay at the hotel with him. Eddie left a note of the counter saying how he was spending the week at Stanley's house for an experiment that was important to doc every minute of, of course saying he brought his pills.

As the ending of the show came rolling by, Eddie sat up.

"So, where am I sleeping tonight?" He asked, stretching.

"You can sleep in the bed with me." Richie grabbed the bag of chips, moving it onto the nightstand.

"In the same bed, as you?"

"That's what I said."

"Are you sure?"

Richie laughed, climbing off the bed. "Yeah, why? Do you not want to? I can sleep on the floor."

"No, no, it's your bed..."

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"Nothing! I'm just gonna go get my pyjamas on." Eddie got off the bed, grabbing his bag and walking into the bathroom.

Richie took his shirt off, changing into a pair of black basketball shorts. He pulled the blankets down and grabbed the remote so it wouldn't be lost in blankets.

He sat on the bed, and decided that maybe he should call Jane. She was his other best friend, and he didn't even tell her about going to Maine.

He picked up the phone, dialling her number.

"Hello?" Jim Hopper, her adoptive father spoke.

"Hi, is Jane there?" Richie asked.

"Sorry, Richie, she's out with... Mike? Ya Mike."

"Like, my brother, Mike?"

"Ya, I thought you'd be there too?"

"No, sorry."

"It's fine, kid. Have a nice night."

"Yeah, you too." He hung up, pushing his glasses up.

Eddie walked out, still stuffing his shirt in his bag. He looked up at Richie, his face turning a bit red. Richie, thankfully, was looking at the ground, thinking as to why his friend would be hanging out with his brother.

"R-Richie, is everything o-okay?" Eddie asked, placing his bag down.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Let's just sleep, you have school tomorrow."

"Okay."

Eddie climbed into the bed first, back against the cold wall. Richie turned off the lights and climbed in beside him, grabbing the TV remote and laying down.

He flicked through the channels, finding that The Shining was on. He put it on, placing the remote beside him.

"Eddie?" Richie whispered, eyes still on the TV.

"Yeah?"

"Can I see your back?" He looked over at the boy.

Eddie was quiet for a moment. "Yeah..." his words were barely heard, but he sat up.

Richie pulled the back of his shirt up, revealing the horrifying cuts and bruises.

"Fuck, why the hell would she do this to you?" He asked as he gently rubbed his fingers over the skin.

"She thinks I like boys..."

"Do they still hurt?"

"Not as much..."

Richie put his shirt back down, placing his hand on his cheek, turning his head towards him.

"Eds, why don't you tell the police? She's abusing you." He whispered.

"Because, I love her. She's my mom."

"I know, but... but look at your back."

"I can't." He laughed.

"Very funny," Richie smiled, rubbing his thumb along his cheek. "You don't deserve to be hurt like this."

"I do, I clearly do, Richie. If I didn't then why would it have happened?"

"What?"

"I clearly deserve what I've gotten, I deserve to be hit and cut and have scars. I've broken the rules."

"What are you talking about, Eds?"

"I- never mind."

"How could you have broken the rules if you aren't into boys? You're not making any sense."

"I-I think I might be."

-

2530 Maple Street, Hawkins, Indiana
Wednesday May 8th 1990
6:47pm

"They don't want to do this, Went."

"I don't care, Karen. I will take you to court, I helped them into this world."

"I'm not going to force them to go, their old enough to decide for themselves."

"What? Their not that old."

"Nancy is going to moving out in a few weeks, she's transferring to a college in a different state."

"What? College there isn't enough?"

"Anyone who applies to this college gets accepted, you should just be happy she decided to go. And Mike and Richie are fourteen, they have their own problems to deal with, they don't need to hear about this."

"Karen, they're my kids too! I'm going to see them!"

"They're more my kids then yours! You decided to leave us! You decided to always yell and cause them to coward in their rooms, terrified of what you might do to me or them! It's not my fault you decided to walk out of their lives and make them hate you!"

"Karen, I fucking said I'm not like that anymore! I've been sober five fucking years, I finally feel good enough to see my kids and you're not letting me!"

"Mommy, can you tuck me in?" Holly asked, walking into the kitchen.

"I don't have time for this, Wentworth, I have to go."

"Yeah, whatever. At least get them to call me, Karen."

"We'll see." And with that she hung up the phone.

-

Hopper Residence, Hawkins, Indiana
Wednesday May 8th 1990
7:03pm

"Thanks for taking me out, Mike, I had fun." Jane smiled, as they stopped on her porch.

"No problem, I had fun too. Maybe we can do it again?"

"Yeah, totally, I'd love too!"

"You don't think this is weird, right?"

"What's weird?"

"The fact that you're like my brothers best friend and we've barely hung out and we just went to watch a movie?"

"Why would that weird me out?"

Because this was gonna be a date. "Because we've never really hung out before if Richie wasn't here."

"That's true, but who cares, I like hanging out with you." Jane smiled. "Well, goodnight, Mike." Jane walked a bit, kissing Mike on the cheek before walking inside.