Reddie: Richie Returns

1: An Old Friend

It had been a year and a half since The Losers had last been in Derry together, but to Richie Tozier it always felt like yesterday. He had struggled to cope with the grief of losing the one person he loved the most, and he had to put his comedy to one side while he took some time to recover. Most days he spent alone in his apartment drinking the days away as it rained hard outside, and it was the only way he could get through the day without feeling completely broken.

As usual, Richie sat in his sweatpants on the couch. He held a bottle of vodka in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. He hadn't eaten properly in a while and it was beginning to show that he was neglecting himself. His face had become tired and grey, and any form of happiness or laughter in his expression had been long gone. All of this was accentuated by the fact he hadn't shaved for a few days, and he looked as though he'd aged ten years. He felt heavy and numb, but he felt that way most days now. It had become a normal feeling for him, but every minute that passed felt like a lifetime to him and he felt that even just existing was exhausting.
He was staring blankly out of the main apartment window as the rain gently tapped on the outside, and he watched the raindrops racing each other down the glass. His phone hadn't stopped buzzing for days as it filled with various missed calls and messages from people trying to get hold of him over the last few days. But he couldn't bring himself to talk to anyone. The one person he really wanted to talk to was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. Richie always blamed himself for what happened to Eddie. It was always painful to remember that day, but everything Richie did from then onwards, he always thought of Eddie. He continued to sit in his apartment without a sound, just watching the rain gently hitting the windows and breathing deeply in sorrow...

The moment of numb silence was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door, causing Richie to snap out of his entranced-like state. Even just turning his head to acknowledge the door felt exhausting to him, and it took every ounce of energy left in him to stand up and slog his way to the door. He wasn't expecting anyone to come and find him, and he didn't want them to either.
He quietly peered through the peephole in the door and was surprised to find Beverly Marsh's fiery hair standing in the hallway. Frowning in slight confusion as to why she'd come all this way after so long just to find him, he decided he wouldn't answer.
"Richie, I know you're in there" he heard through the door. "Please let me in"
Richie rolled his eyes; he didn't want to deal with this now.

"What do you want?" he asked eventually. He just sounded sad more than anything else.
"I just want to see if you're okay... Please let me in Rich" she replied soothingly.
He let out a hard sigh and rubbed his forehead as he tried to convince himself to open the door. He knew Beverly was stubborn as hell and wouldn't leave without a protest first, and he decided that dealing with that was much more exhausting than letting her in. The sooner he let her in, the sooner she could leave.

Beverly stood quietly with both hands inside the pockets of her navy jacket; she waited patiently in the hallway for another response from Richie. She cared deeply for him, and had always had a soft spot for him even when they were kids and he'd constantly wind her up. He did that a lot. But she knew he'd been hit hardest by the loss of Eddie, and had been worried about him ever since they left Derry.

In the year and a half since they all parted ways, Beverly and Ben lived happily together now and even had a dog to keep them both company. She was finally living the blissful life she deserved and was now sharing it with someone who always took good care of her. She finally felt safe and loved, and was finally able to know what true happiness was. Something her childhood had always lacked. But she had always worried about Richie in the back of her mind as they all moved forwards and continued their lives outside of Derry.
She had eventually plucked up the courage to sit down with Ben one evening to talk about what was on her mind over dinner, and they had both agreed that maybe it would be good for Richie if he stayed with them on their boat where he wouldn't feel quite so alone. The Losers had all grieved the loss of their close friends Stanley and Eddie, but Eddie's death had hit Richie the hardest by far. They all knew that deep beneath the constant bickering and arguing as kids, Richie and Eddie cared deeply for each other. Beverly had spent days on end trying to get hold of Richie, which only secured the decision in her mind that having him to stay with them would be good for him. So she decided that she would go and see him.

"Richie, I'm worried about you... we all are." she said softly as she leaned in, she placed her hand gently on the door ready to knock again incase he'd walked away.
Richie still stood with his back against the door and exhaled heavily "Fuck sake Bev" he whispered to himself as he leant his head back on the door in surrender. Richie finally opened the door to greet her. He looked a total mess, and he knew it. But he didn't care.
As he opened the door, Beverly was greeted with the stench of alcohol and could immediately tell that Richie hadn't been looking after himself. He stood in the doorway with his half empty vodka bottle, and looked as though he'd not had a single nights sleep since they left Derry.
She wanted to greet him in their usual way of "Christ Richie, what the fuck happened to you?" but instead she decided to hug him tightly. Of course, Richie wasn't particularly pleased about this and was reluctant to reciprocate the hug, but accepted it nonetheless. He knew he hadn't showered for a while, he felt just as gross as he looked, and he could see that Beverly was taken aback slightly by the smell of alcohol and cigarettes as he showed her into his messy apartment.

"How've you been?" Beverly asked softly. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it. She watched Richie with concern as he began to slink heavily back to his place on the couch. There were various beer and vodka bottles dotted about the place and empty cigarette packs on the glass coffee table in front of him with a small blue lighter.
"Take a wild guess" he replied roughly, even his voice sounded heavy and grey, and it instantly broke Beverly's heart. She tried not to show Richie how upset she felt seeing him in such a vulnerable state as he lit another cigarette, but it was hard to fight back the concern for him. She carefully perched on the couch next to him and took the cigarette from his mouth. She knew he wasn't okay when he didn't even try to stop her from taking it. Normally he would have tried to bat her hand away or take it back from her while making a rude remark to try and be funny, but he didn't this time.

They both sat silently together on the couch for a moment, and it wasn't long before Richie finally broke the silence with a quiet sob. It hurt Beverly to see that he was still just as distraught as he was on the day Eddie had died, and she felt her eyes begin to fill with tears of empathy for him. She had grieved for Eddie too, but she knew that Richie loved him so much more.
"I'm here Rich... If you want to talk..." she reassured him softly.
"What's the point?" he replied amongst his sobs. "Talking won't change anything" he added, "Eddie's still dead. Talking won't change that" he began to angrily unscrew the lid of the vodka bottle, but was interrupted by Beverly snatching it from his hands. She stood up from the couch with the bottle in her hands, and walked quietly to the kitchen. "Bev, don't" he said with an apologetic tone. Ignoring his plea, she emptied the last of the vodka into the kitchen sink.

Richie watched Beverly take her place back on the couch. He knew she was trying to help, but he didn't really want it. "Come and stay with us Richie... You need to get out of this place" she said to him softly "It'll be good for you to get some fresh air and a change of scenery", she looked at him hopefully, but it only broke her heart more to see him so depressed. "I know you miss him, we all do", she added softly as she placed her hand reassuringly on his knee.
Richie quietly leaned his head on Beverly's shoulder and sighed deeply as she placed her other hand on his to reassure him "Please come" she whispered again.
"I'll just be in the way" he sighed a defeated sigh.
"Ben and I want you to stay with us... you don't exactly have a choice right now" she gave his rough hands a gentle squeeze and leaned into him. "Please, Rich..." she whispered.

Richie gave a long hard sigh and finally gave in "fine, I'll come. I won't be much fun to be around though". He sat up and pushed his glasses back up his nose and gave Beverly a small but sad smile. She gently brushed a messy curl away from his face and looked deep into his dark, sad eyes for a moment... "You really need a shower" she smirked as he gave her a gentle shove in response. Richie eventually returned the mischievous smirk Beverly once knew and loved, and he nodded in agreement.
She watched him get up from the couch and he headed towards the bathroom, "a shave wouldn't hurt either" she added amused by her own jab at him. Richie responded to her with a rude hand gesture thrown over his shoulder as he disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.