Lost ❄️ Reddie

17

Richie's vision was blurred when he woke up. He grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and put them on, then realized his side was cold. He glanced down and realized Eddie wasn't there.

Richie assumed that Eddie must've had to pee or went to eat. After all, it was nearly eleven in the morning. So, he slid out of bed and walked into the main room, then realized that no one else seemed to be up.

"Eddie?" he called out, looking around anxiously.

When there was no response, Richie ran back to the room he'd slept in, hoping for a sign. That's when he found the journal and recognized Eddie's tidy handwriting. He read the note and felt his heart drop, before running into Bill and Stan's shared room and diving on the bed.

Stan screeched in shock and Bill shot upright, eyes wide.

"What the fuck, Richard?!" Stan all but yelled when he realized who had leapt onto him.

Bill was about to give Richie a piece of his mind when he saw how upset his friend was. "Wh-what happened?" he asked, watching as Richie's face crumbled.

"Eddie ran away."

"What?" Stan asked, his previous anger gone and replaced with fear.

"Look," Richie said, handing Stan the journal.

He and Bill quickly read the message before getting out of bed and throwing on their clothes from the day before. They left the room without saying a thing to Richie and started for the front door.

Joyce was at work and Jonathan had left earlier in the day, before they'd woken up, so no one was there to stop them.

The three started down the road, not speaking, until they made it to Mike Wheeler's house to find out where Hopper lived so they could gather the rest of their friends. They'd been told where he lived the day before in case anything was to happen, and as it was a small town, it didn't take the three long to find the house.

Richie slammed his hand on the door and a woman opened the door. Her eyes widened when she saw Richie, but he didn't have time for any talk about his and Mike's identical appearances.

"I need to talk to Mike," Richie said instantly, but the lady was in too much shock to say anything.

"I... I don't believe it," the lady said quietly, gaping at Richie.

"Where's Mike?" Richie demanded, ignoring her rambling and shock. "I need to talk to him!"

"I, uh, he's downstairs with Will," the lady mumbled, and Richie walked inside and down to the basement.

"Richie?" Mike asked when Richie came stomping down the stairs, followed by Stan and Bill. Their faces all held grim expressions, so Mike knew instantly something had happened. "What's wrong?"

"Eddie took off to get his memories back. Where's Hopper's house? I need to get the others and we need to go find him!" Richie explained urgently, already jogging back up the stairs.

Mike didn't complain and followed him, but was stopped by his mom. "Mom? What is it?"

"I need to talk to you."

"No offense, but we really don't have time, Mrs Wheeler. We need to go," Richie said, getting increasingly more impatient with Mike's mom.

Mrs Wheeler didn't say anything but grabbed Mike and Richie's arms and pulled them to the living room, ignoring Richie's protests.

"How are you here?" Mrs Wheeler asked, her focus on Richie.

"I took a bus to find my friend."

"It's insane," she whispered. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"What are you talking about?" Richie demanded, his desire to find Eddie quickly being overrun by his curiosity.

"I'm your mother," she said, making Richie shake his head and scoff.

"No you're not. I have a mom and a dad in Derry," he said.

"She's not your mother, Richard. Your father was a bad man when you and Mike were born. Drunk, psychotic, and unwilling to change." She spoke quickly, as if she was afraid Richie would cut in. "When you two were born, I wanted to leave him, so we divorced, but he wouldn't let me take both of you. He demanded that as your father, he got to keep one of you, and if I didn't agree, he'd battle for custody of you both. I couldn't do anything, but I made him promise to actually be a father, then I left. I didn't think he'd listen, but it seems as though he did."

Richie shook his head, glaring at her. "No, that's not true. You're not my mom," he snapped.

None of it was out of hatred for Mike's mom, but more out of shock that Maggie didn't tell him that she wasn't really his mom. His whole life seemed like one big lie.

"I am, sweetie," she responded softly, putting her hand on Richie's shoulder. "And I'm sorry that you didn't know before."

Richie had tears in his eyes. He was angry, betrayed, and he didn't know what to think. He didn't say anything else and walked toward the front door, leaving before anyone could stop him.

•••

Mike led them to Hopper's house, everyone staying quiet since Richie was still fuming. When they reached the house, Mike narrowed his eyes.

"That's weird. Hopper doesn't work today. He should be home," Mike said, looking at the space Hopper's truck should have been in.

Will shrugged. "He may have gone into town for groceries or something."

They knocked on the door and Bev answered it, looking at her friends with a confused expression. "What's going on?"

"Eddie ran off. Where's Hopper?" Mike said, not bothering to let Richie tell the whole story since he was eager to find Eddie.

"He was gone when we woke up," Ben said, appearing beside Bev.

"What about El?"

"She's gone, too," Bev said, shrugging. "I'm not sure."

"If Eddie took off, she might've figured out and went after him," Will said, knowing how El's mind worked. "Why would Eddie take off?"

Richie felt his heart drop. "The doctor. He said in his letter that he wants his memories back, and last night he told me the doctor that had him took them away."

Mike's eyes widened. "We need to find them. If El and Eddie took off and Hopper can't find them in time, they'll be in danger."

"Let's go then," Richie said, but the others stopped them.

"We don't have a driver," Stan said."

"I have one. You guys stay here. It's safer if we bring a small group," Mike said as he and Richie ran toward the town.

"Are we just supposed to wait here?" Bev asked as they watched the pair run off.

Will shook his head. "No, but we can't follow them. We should try to gather as much information as possible," he said, leading the group out of the house.

No one knew exactly what he meant, but they followed anyway.