"Ever since, like, the second day of summer, you've been acting weird. You don't make that many jokes anymore and whenever any of us guys try to touch you, you nearly punch us in the fucking face. What's wrong with you?" Richie was brought to the reality of how he was truly acting, and Eddie noticing this made him so fucking scared. 'Does he know what Patrick did to me?'

yes more angst tw: sh, suicide mentions, school sh00ting, trauma, unhealthy habits, bad parenting. this book kinda revolves around the whole school shooting thing. basically, richie is in the middle of a school shooting the exact day that the losers decided to skip. only sixteen kids out of the thirty-seven at school survived. and now richie has to live with it.

"So, when are you going to tell Eddie?" The question threw him off guard, his body physically flinching back. "W-what?" He stuttered. "Oh come on," Nancy huffed a laugh. "I may have been keeping my distance but I still know you, Steve. I see the way you look at him and he's driven you to school everyday for the past two weeks. If you're not together then you're at least crushing hard," she smiled. "It's okay, you know? I love you and I want you to be happy."

A few weeks after beating Vecna, Steve finds himself struggling with nightmares. Again. Little does he know, Eddie is in the same boat. (A/N: Its a bit slow at first, but after the first couple chapters it'll speed up a bit. Thanks for reading!)