Lollipop // Richie Tozier x OC ( IT 2017 )

Bye Richie (17)

It was getting later in the evening, but the air was damp with humid heat. Lolly wondered how it could be this hot with no sun. The once light and airy fabric of her dress felt sticky and thick against her warm skin. Lolly's brain was racing, and her feet weren't fast enough to run from her thoughts, 
"They don't really like you; you know that?"  
I knew it was too good to be true. 
"Those boys just think" 
I can't believe I really thought I made friends. 
"You're an easy little" 
I'm such an idiot. 
"SLUT"

She felt like she was running, running so fast that her calves were aching and her breath was short, but she was walking slowly. One step at a time, with tears sliding down her face every-so-often. Richie saw her from far away at first, but it didn't take long for him to catch up. His legs were longer than hers on a good day, and her steps tonight were slow and paced. A hand clasped around Lolly's wrist, and she let out an audible scream. She'd partially regretted walking alone in the dark, especially since she imagined Henry Bowers temper was at red-hot after his literal run-in with Ben Hanscom.

"The fuck's wrong with you-" Richie started before he noticed a tear running down her cheek, "Oh look, I'm sorry I didn't mean to swear at you,"
He'd never been in this situation before. He didn't have many female friends. He wasn't the one you went to when you were upset. He'd expected Lolly to give him a verbal lashing for following her, not for her to start crying.
"I can go get Bill. Let me go back and get Bill,"
"No. I don't want to see anyone Richie, I want to go home."
"First, you didn't dance with me, then you wouldn't let me walk you home, next you're going to tell me you're not going to kiss me,"  He let a joke out into the air to lighten the mood
"See! That's all you guys care about, you don't care about me! You just think I'm a slut!"
Tears were streaming down her face now. A panic alarm went off in Richie's brain, and he took a deep breath.
"What the fuck are you on about? Of course, I care about you! We all do, Beverly, Bill, Mike, Stan. Especially Stan,"
Richie's left hand stayed on her wrists, he comfortingly rubbed his thumb across her forearm. He stuffed the other hand into his shorts pocket and yanked out a handkerchief.
"But Henry said-"
"Henry Bowers? The same guy who nearly turned Ben into mincemeat? That guy? You're listening to what he's saying?" He smiled, "You're listening to him over me? Ouch, I thought we had something special,"
Lolly hiccuped, and Richie used his free hand to wipe her face with his handkerchief.
"Tell me what happened," Richie said 

Between hiccups, Lolly told Richie how she'd tried to be civil and let him down easy, and then what Henry had told her, word for word. With an emphasis on the word slut. She'd bit her lip, and mentioned her insecurities about being disliked, it felt so good to finally tell someone. After a year of being on Greta's shitlist, she'd had people she could turn to and she was scared of it all being fake.

"He's a jerk. He's just pissed that you tried to say no, he probably thought since you danced with him that you were just going to agree with everything," Richie smiled weakly, "speaking of Henry, and the whole situation that got you involved with him in the first place... I guess what I'm trying to say is, thanks. Thanks for covering for Stanley and I that day. I never said thanks. I should've," He shrugged his shoulders
Lolly shook her head, "I don't care about that, I'm happy I met you guys, "
"I'm happy we ran into you on the last day of school too. I always thought you were hot, I never knew you had such a trash mouth,"  
"I don't think that's a compliment, trash mouth Tozier," she smiled, "at least it's not when people say it about you,"  She bit her lip, "but you like being around me for more than just being hot, right?"
"I wouldn't hang out with you if I didn't like you, there are a lot of hot girls. Personally, I've already dated most of them anyway, so it's cool to just have a friend who's a girl," 
"Can I ask you something, Richie?"
"Yeah?" 

This is the moment Lolly had been waiting for. She'd been desperately trying to work up the courage, and then figure out how to get him alone. It was now or never. She'd wanted to hold his hand since the first day she'd noticed his brown eyes underneath his dinner plate glasses.

"Could you ever see me as something other than just a friend who's a girl?"

Richie squinted his eyes, he wasn't sure he heard her correctly.

"Can you say that again?" He said
"You wear glasses, not hearing aids Richie,"
"And you call me a trash mouth," 

Richie realized he was still holding onto Lolly's wrist, and he slid his hand down to hers.
Lolly's insides squealed, she could feel Richie holding her hand. She'd been waiting for this, was this a yes?

"Honestly.." He sighed, "It's not that I don't like you,"
"Okay?"
"I love that you'll argue with me, and your trash mouth is almost as trashy as mine, and I'd have to be stupid not to think you're pretty...." He paused, "but there's someone else,"
"Is it Beverly?" Lolly's heart dropped, it felt like it landed in her stomach
"No, not like that," He squeezed her hand, "there's someone else who likes you. Just as much as I do, actually, maybe more than I do,"
"This isn't really the answer I was hoping for," Lolly admitted
"I can't do that to a friend,"
"Damn Richie," hiccup, "When did you become the good guy?" She laughed before a few more hiccups escaped from her throat.
"Being a good guy sucks,"

Lolly nodded. She wriggled her hand away from Richie's grasp, she knew if she left it there any longer she'd never want to pull away.

"Well," She smiled weakly, "This could've gone worse,"
"I could've told you I liked Beverly,"
"You don't, do you? You just told me you didn't,"
"No, but I could've told you that I did,"

Lolly shook her head and laughed, same old Richie.

"I'm going to kiss you on the cheek now and walk away, okay?" She said
"On the bright side, I already saw you in your underwear,"
"You're ruining it,"

She pressed her lips lightly to his cheek, "Bye, Richie,"

Richie watched her walk away, "Stan owes me a fucking rootbeer float for this. No, he owes me two fucking rootbeer floats. And a slice of pizza".