Summer of '93 - Stozier

23

⚠️Homophobic slurs⚠️
⚠️Henry Bowers is his own warning⚠️

•*•*•*•*•*•*•

Richie stopped walking as soon as his eyes landed on a familiar pair of clean white converse that had just landed in front of him. His eyes slowly trailed upwards, cuffed faded blue jeans, black belt, signature blue button up, "Stan- I-"

"Tozier." Stan spoke coldly, his face expressionless despite the sadness in his eyes.

Richies eyes trailed a little to the right. Standing against a brick wall, much to Richies surprise and dismay, was the Bowers gang and- Patricia? He thought. The fuck is she doing with them? The fuck is He doing with them? He turned his attention back to Stan. "Please tell me you're not with them.."

"Whats it to you if i was," Stan dug his perfectly cut nails into the palm of his hands, not really believing what he was about to say. "F-fag?"

Richie felt like he had been punched- actually- He'd have rather had Stan punch him than say that. He felt his blood run cold and his legs felt like jelly, mentally praying that he didn't fall backwards, Richie tried to stutter out a reply. "What- I- Stan, why would you- I-" Tears brimmed in his eyes as he spoke. He'd have been fine with almost anybody else calling him slurs cause it would've been easier to brush it off.. but Stan.. The boy Richie- as Eddie so graciously put it- is in love with. Richie wanted to let himself cry, but he couldn't. Not with Them around. Them being the Bowers gang. "You don't mean that.." Was all he could think of saying.

"Shut up, Tozier." Stan rolled his eyes, Richie could see the sadness in them.

"Yeah, Tozier!" Patty yelled from a few feet away, laughing. "How bout you shut your fucking mouth for once in your useless life, worthless fagboy!" She giggled innocently, as if she hadn't just insulted him.

Stan snapped his head towards her, ready to defend Richie, but he caught sight of Henry slowly pulling the photo from his pocket so he forced himself to laugh.

"Stan, stop it.." Richie whispered quietly, but loud enough only for Stan to hear. "Why are you doing this? Please tell me what I did wrong.. Please.." A tear slipped down his face, which he quickly wiped with the sleeve of his denim jacket, apparently to no avail as another slipped down almost immediately from the other eye.

Stan closed his eyes for a second, suppressed the urge to wrap his arms around his best friend and apologise until he lost his voice. "I said shut the fuck up, fucking fairy!" Stan pushed his nails harder into the skin of his palm, no doubt drawing blood. His heart was pounding in his chest. He wanted to punch himself for what he was doing, and he wanted to punch Henry for making him do it.

"Fuck you, Stan. Really, fuck you! You're a fucking asshole!" Richie yelled, his voice cracking and tears falling down his cheeks as he pushed past Stan and bolted down the street.

Stan turned back and watched him run, his lip trembling and his palms stinging from how deep Stan had pushed his nails into the soft flesh of his hand. His sadness was replaced with anger as he listened to the others laugh. He bit his lip and let out a breath, their laughter seemingly getting louder and louder as Stans blood began go boil.

"Did you see his face?!" Vic laughed.

" 'Fuck you, Stan!' " Henry mocked, laughing as he did a shit impression of Richie.

Stan stomped over to them, grabbing Henry by the front of his shirt and pushing him against the brick wall, Stan was a few inches taller. "I FUCKING HATE YOU! YOU ARE A VILE, PATHETIC, WORTHLESS EXCUSE OF A HUMAN! I AM GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA YOU UNTIL YOU FUCKING SUFFOCATE, CHOKING ON YOUR OWN FUCKING BLOOD! YOU HEAR ME, BOWERS? I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!" He screamed.

The others backed up a little, obviously frightened. A look of terror flashed over Henrys face for a split second before he pushed Stan away from him, forcing a smirk onto his face. "Whats up, flamer? Sad cause you're boyfriend hates you now?-"

"FUCK YOU!" Stan screamed again, his voice hoarse with the effort to not cry. He sprinted away.

"Looks like the photos are going out?" Patty clapped, smiling, despite the fear still evident on her face.

"Nah, not yet." Henry muttered. "Im not done with him yet."

•*•*•*•*•*•*•

Richie burst into his house, slamming his door behind him, and bolting up the stairs.

"Richie? Richie! Whats wrong?" Maggie yelled from the living room, getting up to follow her son. She heard his bedroom door slam as she made her way up the stairs. Went peeked out of his bedroom, shooting his wife a concerned look, which Maggie returned with a shrug.

"What happened?" Went asked.

"Im not sure.." Maggie sighed stopping outside of Richies room. "I'll go talk to him, you stay out here."

Went nodded and creeped back into his own room as Maggie knocked on Richies door twice.

"Richie? Baby, you okay?" No reply. She twisted the doorknob to see if the door was unlocked. It was. Maggie opened the door and felt her heart shatter at the sight. Richie was sitting on the edge of his bed, sobbing into his hands and mumbling stuff to himself. "Richie? Whats wrong, sweetie?" She asked, closing the door and walking over to her son.

Richie didn't reply, he just looked up at her, choking on his sobs.

Maggie sat beside him. "You need a hug, baby?" She asked.

Richie nodded and wrapped his arms around his mom, sobbing into her shirt. Maggie kissed the top of his head and threaded her hand through his tangled mop of hair.

It look a while for Richie to calm down. Still crying but not sobbing. He sat back up and wiped his nose on his sleeve, sniffling.

Maggie took his glasses and cleaned them on her shirt tail. "You wanna tell me why you're crying, sweetie?" She asked softly, handing him back his glasses.

"B-bowers and-.." Richie let out another choked sob.

His mom began to rub his back soothingly, shushing him gently and telling him that it was okay.

"B-Bowers.." Richie said again.

"What'd that bastard do now?" Maggie tutted.

"Its stupid.." Richie muttered. He didn't want to tell his mom what Stan had did. Maggie loved Stan. And so did Richie, not in the same way his mom did though. His heart hurt remembering what Stan had said.

"No, Richie. Its not stupid, tell me, its okay." She spoke gently.

"Its just.. he called me a f- he called me fagboy and a fairy and stuff.." Richie whispered, wiping his still flowing tears.

"Aw, Richie.. Baby, you don't need to cry over that! Listen, He's just trying to get under your skin! You know its not true so you cant give him the satisfaction of making you cry-"

"But mom its true!-" Richie snapped his mouth shut. "Fuck."

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