#in the future when eddie is part of the circle he brings up This Incident

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

“That one time Barnaby broke somebody’s jaw for going a little too far w/ insulting Wally & almost got expelled <3”

Full story please? <3

WITH PLEASURE!

for those who are slightly confused, this is for 'my' modern human au! well. modern-ish!

okay so when they were in freshman year / 9th grade, Barnaby and Wally are soldily Bonded. they are a set, do not separate. they receive a lot of shit for this, because some kids are assholes and that's especially true for 14yr olds. and it's 2006. so Wally and Barnaby get teased/bullied a lot for their closeness. at this point they're kind of used to it. they met early in 7th grade and have been inseparable ever since. most of it slides off of them

but what is Barnaby was having an especially stressful week? one of those weeks were everything is going wrong, nothing is working out. so Barn is at the end of his rope, and then one of the main kids who likes to bother them insults Wally specifically, and badly. like it's some next level So Bad Its Almost Impressive shit. at present Barnaby is walking to his next class with Wally and Poppy. so Barnaby just kind of stops in place, mentally chooses violence, turns, walks up to the kid, and punches him as hard as he can. it knocked the bully out instantly and broke his jaw.

and keep in mind that at this point in time, Barnaby isn't the big strong guy he is later on. he hasn't had his main growth spurt yet. and he still packed enough of a punch to do Damage - which makes him even more intimidating when he Does hit his growth spurt and towers over practically everyone

the pros of this event: Frank and Julie were watching, and Frank respected Barnaby's response so much that he allowed Julie to bring him to hang out with the growing friend group at lunch / asshole kids were less inclined to insult Wally and Barnaby (or his friends) to their faces

cons: Eddie was also watching and was too scared of Barnaby for the rest of their school career to try and talk to him or his friends / Barnaby nearly got expelled but did get suspended, and that's a permanent mark on his record

so the kid goes down, everyone freaks out. Barnaby is still too angry to feel anything other than pissed off vindication. naturally higher Authorities (teachers) come to get the unconscious student to the (i almost said vet) nurse's office, and to bring Barnaby to the principle's office. they call Ms. Beagle and have her come pick him up. Wally has stuck like glue to Barnaby pretty much the whole time, except for when Barnaby was in the office to get chewed out / interrogated. when Ms. Beagle is done w/ her conversation with the principle, she takes Barnaby and Wally home.

there, Barnaby is still worked up, and as "punishment" Ms. Beagle has him do some menial tasks alongside his usual after school chores. Wally tags along, of course, and asks why the hell Barnaby did that. in a nicer Wally way of asking. this is what breaks the camels back. Barnaby just sits down and starts crying, to which Wally is like "oh no. oh fuck. what do i do." cue a solid minute of him just standing and staring in panic before awkwardly sitting next to Barnaby in solidarity.

when they go inside, Ms. Beagle already has Barnaby's favorite dinner whipped up and ready. She gives him a talk where she's essentially says "blah blah blah violence isn't the answer. however, good job for standing up to that kid. he's an asshole and deserved a good wallop." (listen im a firm believer in ms beagle having been a Wild Youth that would have thrown bricks at cops). Moods are lightened, they have a good dinner. The next day or so they need to go have a meeting with the Injured Kid's parents. that's when they find out Barnaby fully broke the kids jaw (he feels a little bad for that) and that the parents are pushing for his expulsion and also juvie. Ms. Beagle manages to whittle down the sentence to a long suspension and then detention for the rest of the year, as well as her paying the kid's hospital bill.

tl;dr Barnaby punches a kid for insulting Wally, gets a new friend out of it, nearly gets expelled, and gains a mostly unfounded Reputation that dissuades most from outright messing with him or his pals

#julie: theyre fun people! come hang out with us! #frank: i dont want any friends other than you #frank: *witnesses The Incident* hm... ill allow it #this is all Important to me #because barnaby isnt violent? hes a laid back guy. & a wordsmith - he doesnt need his fists in order to deal damage #but then for the rest of his highschool career hes The Scary Guy #especially when he hits that growth spurt #i mean! at least it means his friends are messed with less! #but it also means he tries harder to be disarming and Funny. charming! with excellent self control #he had great self control to start with but yk. anxiety over People Talking #it also means hes less inclined to be rebellious of any kind since he doesnt want to push his luck #rambles from the bog #wh modern human au #in the future when eddie is part of the circle he brings up This Incident #theyre all able to laugh about it since its been like... over a decade at that point #but yeah <3 #and barnaby has not punched anyone since! #frank however.... #if there was a fight in their middle/high... he usually was at the center of it. or at least near the center #not that anyone can prove anything! he was very good at not getting caught

[cocastyle]

Change - Ch. 1 | T W E L V E

Pairing - Bill Denbrough x reader

Word Count - 4,288

A/N - ahhh the last chapter of the first half of this series 🙊🥺 writing the rewrite for the first It movie was so much fun and I absolutely cannot wait for the next movie as well! I plan on posting the prologue for the next half of this series soon, maybe tonight or tomrorow? please continue to leave feedback and leave any predictions that you might have for the upcoming movie rewrite :)) I hope you all enjoy!

if you would like to be added to the tag list for this series let me know!

C H A N G E

Change Series Masterlist

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T W E L V E - A Promise

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September

"I can only remember parts," Beverly said, her eyes flickering over her friends who were all currently sitting together in a circle near the river.

It was a week after the incident and everyone was finally on the mend. Stan's face and Y/N's chest were bandaged and each of the kids had scab marks and bruises that were beginning to heal. The only thing that hadn't healed yet were their minds and no matter how many times they tried to forget about the events that had taken place in the Well House, they just couldn't shake it off.

That's why Bill had decided it was best for the group to sit down and talk about what had happened which is how they ended up where they were today. The talk was hard for them, but they finally managed to get through it until they ended up with Beverly who was now explaining her time trapped in the dead lights as the group had come to call it.

"But, I thought I was dead. That's what it felt like," Beverly whispered, letting out a shaky breath while her friends all gazed at her. "I saw us, all of us together back in the cistern, but we were older, like, our parents' ages. And there was this young boy-“

Beverly fell quiet and she hesitated before letting her eyes flicker over to Y/N who sat in between Bill and Stan. It almost looked as if she was beginning to realize something, but the red head was quick to shake her head and look away.

“Am I still handsome as an adult?” Richie questioned, putting his hands under his chin and forcing a smile.

“Still? That would have to imply you are handsome now,” Y/N teased earning a round of chuckles from the group while Richie turned his attention to the girl.

“No need to hide that you find me utterly attractive, darling,” Richie smirked. “I already know you’re helplessly in love with me.”

Y/N rolled her eyes and went to respond, but Beverly was quick to stop the two as she said, “You grow into your looks.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Richie chuckled while the others couldn’t help but smile.

“What about me?” Stan questioned, his eyes hopeful as he looked to the red head.

Beverly hesitated for a moment and Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, but the red head was quick to act as if nothing had happened as she gave the boy a soft smile, “Like now, but taller.”

"Wh-Wh-What were we all doing there?" Bill questioned.

Beverly was quiet for a moment and she shook her head slightly as she tried to remember, but it felt like the harder she tried to grasp for the memory the further away it got. "I just remember how we felt. How scared we were. I don't think I can ever forget that," she muttered.

Y/N looked away at that, a sickening feeling washing over her once again as she glanced at her cousin. Stan's eyes locked with hers and he gave her a nervous look to which the girl responded with by reaching out and linking her arm with his. Stan instantly relaxed at the touch and leaned into his cousin more.

There was no need to worry right now. What Beverly saw wasn't for sure and even if it was, they would have twenty seven years to figure out a plan before It could reappear.

Bill glanced at his friends, taking in all of their nervous demeanors before he caught sight of a shard of glass on the ground. He took in a shaky breath before standing up and bending down to pick the glass up. Everyone's eyes flickered over to the boy and he gave them all a serious look as he said, "Swear it."

Y/N blinked in surprise and confusion as she looked to Bill and he momentarily glanced at her before gulping and gripping onto the glass shard harder. "S-S-Swear if It isn't dead, if It ever comes back, we'll come back, too," Bill told them.

Everyone froze, Bill's words ringing in their heads and the idea of It returning finally registering for all of them. It was scary to think about, but they all knew Bill was right. If It did come back, they had to be together. That was how they managed to defeat It now and it would be the only reason they would be able to defeat It in the future.

Y/N let out a shaky breath as she let go of Stan's arm and stood up, her actions making everyone look over to her. Her eyes locked with Bill's green ones and she gave him a small smile and a nod.

For a moment Bill flashed back to when he had been about to go into the Well House for the first time. How Y/N had stumbled up the stairs with her scratched calf before gripping onto Bill's arms tightly and whispering a set of words that he could practically hear whispering in his ears right now.

I'm with you.

Bill gave the girl a small nod in return before looking back at his friends, watching as they all glanced at one another before slowly beginning to rise and join the two. Once everyone was up, Bill looked down to his left hand and held the glass shard against his palm. He didn't even hesitate before pressing the shard into his skin and cutting a long line across his palm with a wince.

Bill stared at his hand for a moment, watching as the blood began to pool in his palm as he committed fully to his promise to return. The boy looked up and moved over to Richie who stood beside him, taking the boy's left hand and cutting into it. Richie cringed from the pain and began to shake his hand with a hiss as Bill began to move along the circle.

Eddie was next and had to look away as Bill cut his skin wincing at the pain that came with it. He didn't turn back around until Bill had moved onto Mike who let out a soft groan of pain and quickly grabbed onto his wrist.

Bill moved onto Ben who let out a quick grunt in pain as Bill cut his palm before moving onto Beverly who winced momentarily but acted as if nothing had happened while the other boys continued to wince and stare at their hands.

Stan was next and Bill and him locked eyes momentarily before Stan held his shaky hand out to the boy. Bill let his gaze flicker down to Stan's hand before he gently took it. The curly haired boy closed his eyes as tight as he could and gritted his teeth in pain as Bill cut his hand and only opened his eyes once he felt the pressure of the glass and Bill's touch disappear.

Bill took a step away from Stan before letting his gaze fall upon the last person of the group. He hesitantly took a step forward until he was standing right in front of Y/N. The two stood there in silence, their breaths mingling together as they stared at each other.

Bill probably wouldn't have moved if it hadn't been for Y/N slowly moving her hand up and holding it out for the boy. Bill inhaled sharply before reaching out and lighting taking ahold of her hand, his own hand gently holding onto her wrist before he lowered the glass to the skin of her palm.

Much like the others, Y/N let out a small hiss of pain, but she didn't flinch as Bill drug the glass across her palm. Once he was down, his eyes quickly flickered up to lock with her own and he seemed to be questioning her.

But then she was giving him that Y/N Uris smile of his and Bill felt his stomach do a flip at the sight. She was beautiful that was for sure and in that moment Bill added a small part to his promise. He promised then and there that no matter what happened or where they ended up, he was always going to protect the girl in front of him just as he would always love her.

It felt like an eternity went by as Bill stared at the girl, but it was merely a microsecond before he had moved to stand back in his spot between Y/N and Richie in the circle.

Bill glanced over at the girl beside him and held out his right hand, his eyes never leaving her face as he did. Y/N's gaze flickered from his hand to his eyes before she softly smiled and took his hand in hers, the cut on her hand being pressed between their hands as her blood sealed them together.

Y/N looked to her right and at Stan before holding a hand out to her curly haired best friend. The boy stared at her for a moment before reaching out and locking her hand with his.

Stan then turned to Beverly who also took his hand before the group slowly begin to move down the line. Next came Ben, then Mike, then Eddie, until finally it was only Richie and Bill who had to lock hands.

As soon as Richie and Bill's hands came together, bringing the circle to a close, the group all felt a small change within themselves. They all looked at each other, no one speaking any words as they let their blood bind them together.

Their blood dripped down from each hold and onto the ground below, but no one seemed to care. The Losers all just embraced the moment, knowing that no matter what happened to them they would always have this moment together.

This moment where the Losers' Club was bonded together forever.

Y/N thought back to everything that had happened that summer, everything that had led up to this moment right here. It was definitely not a summer she had been expecting, but she would do it all again, clown and all, just because of the simple fact that it had given her the people standing in this circle with her today.

It had brought her closer to her cousin. It had strengthened her friendships with Richie, Eddie, and Bill. It had given her Beverly and Ben and Mike.

It had given her the Losers' Club.

Y/N knew then and there she wouldn't have traded any of it for the world. These people were her best friends, the only friends she had ever had and she would be forever thankful for the summer of 1989 for it had been one of the best and worst summers of her life.

Seconds passed by before the Losers all let go of each other's hands simultaneously. Each of them stood in the circle for a moment, letting their eyes flicker over each other as they realized this would be the last time they were all together.

Beverly was leaving in the morning and Y/N only a few hours after that. They weren't sure when the Losers' Club would be together again, so this moment meant more to them than any of them would let on.

"I gotta go," Stan finally said causing everyone to look at him. Stan let his eyes flicker over the group before he said, "I hate you." Bill looked down at that, slightly stung by those words, but Stan broke into a smile that indicated to the group he was only joking.

Ben was the first to react with a grin before Eddie began chuckling. Before they knew it, the whole group was laughing softly as smiles dawned their faces. Stan looked to Bill and gave him a small nod and a smile to let him know everything was okay, a gesture that meant more to Bill than Stan would ever know.

"I'll see you later," Stan said as he looked at his friends. His eyes flickered over to his cousin and Y/N subtly glanced at Bill before looking back at Stan. Stan took the hint and gave her a small smile in understanding before saying, "Y/N, I'll meet you back at home."

"Bye, Stanley," Y/N said, her eyes silently thanking the boy who just continued to smile at her before he turned to leave.

"Bye, Stan," Bill called out as the boy walked away and Y/N didn't bother turning to watch her cousin, knowing that he was waving at the group. Instead her eyes has flickered over to Eddie who had turned and was hugging Richie.

Richie patted the boy on the back and hugged him back before Eddie pulled away and looked over at Y/N. She gave him a small smile and Eddie was quick to go over and hug her as well, his arms wrapping around her as he made sure not to get blood on her clothes. Y/N hugged the boy back as Eddie whispered, "I'll be there tomorrow to say goodbye to you, okay?”

The two pulled away and Y/N gave the boy a small nod before he began to back away. "Bye, guys," he said before leaving.

Mike went next and him and Y/N shared a small smile before he began to walk away. "Bye, Mike," the remaining Losers said.

Mike couldn't help but grin as he looked to his friends. "See you later, losers," he whispered happily before walking away.

Next came Richie who wrapped an arm around Y/N's shoulders in a small hug as he said, "I'll be there to help send you off tomorrow. Don't miss me too much, sweetheart."

"I'll try my hardest," Y/N sighed dramatically while Richie stared at the girl fondly. The two smiled softly at each other before they shared one last fist bump as the boy went to walk away.

"See you, Rich," Bill said and the boy gave Bill a small smile before disappearing within the tall grass as he left.

It was a little while later before Ben and Beverly went to leave, the four having sat down on the logs that the whole group had occupied not too long ago. "See you guys later," Ben said as he waved goodbye to the two before backing away to allow Beverly to say goodbye.

The red head gave Bill a hug before turning and stopping in front of Y/N. The two girls knew this would be the last time they saw each other for who knows how long and both began to tear up at the realization that this was it.

Beverly quickly wrapped her arms around Y/N's neck, hugging the girl tightly as she struggled to hold back her tears. Y/N was the same way and held onto Beverly just as tight.

Neither of them had ever had a girl best friend before, so the fact that they were having to split up after only having a summer together broke both of their hearts. They couldn't help the tears that began to fall as they pulled away, but both let small smiles cross their faces as they let out shaky breaths.

"Bye, Bev," Y/N whispered, a part of her hoping that Beverly's vision would be true just so that she could see the red head again.

"Bye, Y/N," Beverly whispered back before she pulled away and glanced at Bill. "Bye, Bill." The boy nodded a goodbye at her and Beverly gave the two a small smile before turning and going to join Ben who was still waiting for the girl.

Y/N sat back down and wiped away her tears as she watched Ben and Beverly walk away together, a small smile appearing on her face as she watched Ben slip his hand into Beverly's before they disappeared from view.

With those two gone, Y/N and Bill became the only ones left as they sat next to each other on one of the logs. The two sat in silence as Y/N leaned her cheek against Bill's shoulder, the boy resting his head on top of hers as their interlocked hands laid on top of his knee.

Bill was silent as he rubbed a thumb over the soft skin on top of Y/N's hand before he finally let out a shaky breath and asked the question he was dreading to hear the answer to, "When. . .When are you leaving tomorrow?"

Y/N sighed and nestled closer to Bill as she stared at their hands. "The morning," she whispered while Bill inhaled sharply beside her.

There was another silence before Bill asked, "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know," Y/N admitted, a hint of sadness in her voice. "I talked to my mother on the phone and she didn't sound too enthusiastic about letting me come back soon, but maybe next summer?"

The girl moved her head so that her chin was resting on the very edge of Bill's shoulder, allowing the boy to look at her with their faces so close that their noses brushed together. Both of them would've blushed at how close they were if it weren't for the heavy topic they were talking about.

"Hopefully next summer anyways," Y/N told him, her eyes flickering over the boy's face as if she were trying to memorize every little detail. Which maybe she was because Bill knew he sure as hell was doing that especially since there was a good chance he wouldn't see Y/N for a long time after she left.

The idea of her leaving was enough to make his heart ache, not wanting the girl to be that far from him. He could barely handle her being a few feet away. How was he supposed to handle her living in another state and being away from him for who knows how long?

"Did you mean what you said?" Bill suddenly blurted out, wanting nothing more than to know if what Y/N had said at the Well House was true and if there was even a possibility that she returned his feelings.

Y/N sat up at that, but still leaned against him as she gave him a confused look and questioned, "What?"

"At the Well House," Bill explained. "You said that you couldn't live a happy life if-" He stopped almost instantly and his eyes flickered to the ground while Y/N stared at him for a moment before a soft smile appeared on her face.

"If you weren't in it?" she whispered and Bill hesitated before allowing his eyes to flicker back up to her, nodding softly. "Yes, I meant it. I never feel like a loser when I'm with you."

Y/N leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Bill's cheek which made the boy close his eyes and lean into her touch. The girl pulled away and gave him a soft smile as she whispered, "You make me happy, Bill Denbrough."

Bill swore he about passed out right then and there, his heart beating so fast that it felt like he was having a heart attack while his face grew redder by the second. He could only stare at the girl agape for a moment before looking down bashfully while Y/N just watched the boy silently.

An idea then popped into her head and the girl pulled away so that she was sitting shoulder to shoulder now with Bill. Y/N took in a shaky breath and looked at her hands before nervously asking, "Can I try something before I leave?"

Bill looked up at that and tilted his head slightly as he gave the girl a confused look. "What is it?" he questioned, squeezing her hand slightly to let her know she could tell him whatever was on her mind.

Y/N stilled before allowing her gaze to move to the boy. She let her eyes glance over his face before she sucked in a breath and whispered, "Don't freak out.”

Bill furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and opened his mouth, ready to question her, when suddenly Y/N had leaned forward and captured his lips with hers.

The boy stilled almost instantly, his eyes wide as Y/N kissed him. The feeling was enough to warm up his whole body, his mind going fuzzy as he tried to comprehend the fact that Y/N Uris was kissing him.

It was a short kiss and before he could even move the girl had pulled away, her eyes wide in fear and a blush of embarrassment dusting her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Y/N rushed out as she quickly pulled her hand away from Bill's and jumped onto her feet. Her eyes were wide and she watched as Bill just stared at her agape, nothing but his eyes moving as he watched her take a few steps back.

The feeling of rejection began to wash over her and Y/N suddenly felt sick and silently cursed herself for ruining her friendship with Bill. Not wanting to stand there and hear the words of rejection that were bound to fall from Bill's lips, the girl began to back away and bowed her head as she said, "I'll. . .see you tomorrow morning."

Y/N turned on her heels and began to walk away as fast as she could while Bill stared after her in shock. He shakily brought a hand up to his lips that were still tingling from the feeling of Y/N's lips against his. His eyes shot back over to Y/N's retreating form and he didn't even hesitate to push himself up off the log.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Y/N muttered as she glared down at the ground, wincing at the pain that followed when she clenched her cut hand into a fist. Why was she so stupid? Why had she been dumb enough to believe that even for a second Bill could like her back?

Y/N was just about to disappear into the tall grass of the field when a hand was suddenly grabbing onto her wrist. The girl jumped, but didn't even have time to look back before she was suddenly spinning back until her hands came in contact with someone's chest.

Wide eyed, Y/N looked up at Bill whose face was a mere couple of inches from hers. His arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her close to him and all Y/N could hear was the pounding of her heart in her chest as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

Y/N didn't even have time to blink before Bill had moved his head the extra inch or two in order to press his lips to hers, initiating what was now the couple's second kiss.

The h/c girl blinked in surprise, her eyes wide as she stared at the boy who was kissing her. Once she seemed to register what was happening, Y/N found her eyes falling closed as she moved her blood-covered left hand up to rest on Bill's cheek and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss as she began to smile.

Y/N had never felt so happy in her life and she felt as if her heart was going to burst from the feelings that were consuming her. This was the kiss that was going to set the expectations for every kiss she had in her whole life and she knew without a doubt that nothing, nothing, would ever come close to a kiss from Bill Denbrough.

When they pulled away, Y/N let her eyes flicker open only to find that Bill was already staring back at her. The two were frozen in place as they stared at each other, both still in shock from the fact that they had just kissed each other. It felt like a dream and neither of them wanted to wake up.

Bill was the first to move and he gently brushed his hand against the girl's cheek as he went to push a strand of her hair behind her ear. His green eyes flickered over her face and Y/N felt as if she couldn't breath. She had never loved the color green more than she did right then and she felt as if she could've stared into those eyes for as long as she lived.

"C-C-Can I walk you home?" Bill finally whispered, his voice slightly pleading because he didn't want to leave the girl's side just yet.

Then she was giving him that Y/N Uris smile of hers, the smile reaching all the way up to her eyes and making them sparkle as her nose crinkled ever so slightly. "I would love nothing more," Y/N whispered and Bill couldn't help but smile at that.

His hands slowly trailed down her arms as the two watched each other before his hand finally came in contact with hers, their fingers lacing together almost instantly as Y/N leaned forward to press one more lingering kiss to Bill's lips that left him breathless.

Bill couldn't stop the goofy grin that crept onto his face as he pulled away and Y/N returned it before the two turned and began to walk away from the river.

And with that, the two started their walk to the Uris household with their hands intertwined and one thing on their mind—how thankful they were that Y/N was in Derry for the summer.

* * *

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[takealottodragmeawayfromreddie]

Whatever floats your boat - Chapter 2

Summary: When they were fourteen years old, Richie climbed through Eddie’s window with the excuse of having another secret sleepover and they had the longest conversation in their friendship history instead. He got tangled in what he was trying to say a million times, went forwards and backwards in his explanations too much and even cried a bit. But at the end, it was clear, and Eddie understood

At the age of fourteen, Richie Tozier was impossibly aware of the fact he was gay. Then, why did he start dating a girl when he turned seventeen? And why was Eddie so mad about it?

Prologue, Chapter 1

Warnings: Internalized homophobia, referenced sexual abuse, referenced underage oral sex.

AO3 LINK

Proofread by the amazing @aizeninlefox

Chapter 2

Derry, Maine; 1994.

In their last year of high school, Richie started dating someone. It surprised a lot of people, but not Eddie. He knew it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

A year ago, Richie went to a summer camp that would help him to improve his grades and capacity of learning. His parents decided to send him when they found out he wasn’t doing well in school anymore, and not even remedial classes would fix the situation.

Richie, of course, hated that solution. He spent his last days of freedom complaining about it, responding to everything with insults and rejecting any kind of condolence for his lost vacations.

But the funny thing was that when he came back he didn’t seem angry at all. In fact, he looked satisfied with the turn things had taken. The Losers interrogated him about it, and he just shrugged and said there were some hot girls and all of the campers went to swim together in a lake when it was free time. The only one who knew the true explanation for his joy was Eddie.

For the first time in years, Richie snuck into his room at night to have a private chat. Eddie immediately got stiff, fearing the worst. Richie’s gladness should have been a good indication, but it was two in the morning and he was too sleepy and nervous to understand.

“Okay, Eds, I know this is all so disgusting and traumatic for you, but I got to tell someone,” Richie’s voice sounded fast and excited as he walked around the room, incapable of sitting down.

“Can’t it wait?” Eddie drowsily asked, rubbing his eye.

“Hell, no. I went to Bev first and she told me to go to sleep.”

“Bev is a wise woman, you should listen to her,” He muttered, getting into bed again and pulling the blanket over his body, including his head.

“Come on, Eds, don’t you wanna hear about my summer romance?”

Eddie exhaled a bitter laugh.

“You? Romance? One of those girls who swam in the lake, I guess.”

“Nah, a super-hot guy.”

That was all it took for Eddie to get out of his cave of sheets. At the mere sound of the words, he quickly sat up and looked at him with a death stare.

“What the fuck?”

Richie’s chest inflated with pride.

“Yep,” He confirmed, casually exanimating his nails, “A super-hot guy who was basically begging for my—”

“And you were planning to tell Bev?!” Eddie snapped, doing nothing to hide his angriness, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

All the arrogance in Richie vanished. Now he looked confused and vaguely embarrassed.

“She’s…” He started, his voice fighting for leaving his throat, “She’s my friend, Eddie.”

“And what about me? I’m not your friend? I don’t have any say about… this?”

He left bed again and walked towards Richie, whose eyes were opened wide in complete confusion. It almost hurt seeing him taking a step back when they were face to face, as he was scared of Eddie injuring him.

“This is not some silly game, Richie. This is not something you wear in your forehead like it’s something you’re… proud about. It’s your future, your health, your whole life.”

“I can trust Bev.”

“You can’t trust her about everything. In fact, you shouldn’t trust anyone about this. Not even me.”

Richie looked in the verge of tears for a few seconds. A brief tremble of his lower lip wouldn’t let him pretend he didn’t care, like he always did. But nothing happened. He just stared into Eddie’s eyes like he did the Monday after the college party, thickened his skin and acted.

“You’re right,” Now his voice was more like the straight line in a monitor that announces the death of a patient, “I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

Then, he started walking to the open window, so decisive Eddie thought nothing could stop him. However, he did stop at the last minute.

“And for your information,” He said, turning back in Eddie’s direction, “I wasn’t going to tell Bev it was a guy. Don’t worry, no one knows your best friend is a faggot.”

After that, he initiated his already dominated descent through Eddie’s house façade.

“Wait!” Eddie called out, trying to not being too loud, sticking his head through the window, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Richie ignored him.

“Come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that!”

“No, Eds,” Richie finally answered, looking up at him, “I don’t know. Fuck you.”

Eddie felt panic getting its way into his chest.

“I’m sorry, Richie! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be an asshole. Please, come back. Please tell me about that… super-hot guy.”

“You don’t wanna hear it, trust me,” He said, getting his feet on the ground and walking towards his bike, “We spent the whole summer sucking each other’s dick.”

Eddie choked, trying to resist the urgency of puking. Richie left.

Even if their first try to openly talk about Richie’s romantic life failed, Eddie got the chance to properly apologize and Richie, in a less emotional mental state, paid the incident no mind and agreed to talk about it when they got to meet without the rest of the Losers.

It turned out it wasn’t as simple as a ‘whole summer sucking each other’s dick’. The super-hot guy had a name and Richie found himself repeating it a lot more than necessary. He couldn’t disguise that little glitter in his eyes every time he mentioned it.

“So, his name was Jake and he wasn’t just hot.”

“He wasn’t?”

“No, I mean, yeah, he was hot. But he was also super funny. Like, the funniest dude I ever met? I know it’s hard to imagine a guy who’s funnier than me, but…”

“I can imagine it.”

“Mean.”

“Go on.”

“Right. And he was tall. He said he was in the basketball team of his school and his mother sent him to the camp ‘cause his grades sucked and the coach was going to kick him out if they didn’t get better.”

Richie went on and on about Jake and how much they kissed every time they could be all alone. And what an amazing kisser he was. And he gave the best blowjobs in the world. And you don’t know how Heaven looks like until Jake Parker gets his hand inside your pants.

“Will you ever see him again?” Eddie asked when he was done. It wasn’t the kind of question a good friend dreamily brings up when you meet someone new, but a nasty challenge to look at him in the eye and say his little summer fling meant something for the other guy, too.

“He told me he’d call me when he got home,” Richie said, not very convinced, “He’s from Portland, so…”

Eddie felt guilty for seeding that doubt on his mind.

“It’s been two weeks, Rich,” He gently commented, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Richie nodded.

“I know.”

Of course he knew. He wasn’t stupid. And Eddie wasn’t stupid, either. All he could do was keep rubbing comforting circles into his friend’s shoulder and respecting his silence.

Jake never called back.

Although it didn’t end well, none of them could deny it was serious. Before that, Eddie couldn’t imagine Richie actually liking someone. He wasn’t exactly the kind of person who would give up his eternal childhood to satisfy all the expectative of a formal relationship. Sure, he was capable of wanting —his whole summer was about oral sex, anyway—, but the deep desire of being with someone didn’t seem like something he could feel.

Jake proved Eddie wrong. Richie had feelings just like anyone. The kind of feelings you would expect from any teenager. Eddie realized he never stopped seeing Richie as the sarcastic, dirty kid he grew up with. He also found out that hearing him talking about how he wanted to get into somebody’s pants, didn’t feel as shocking and wrong as picturing him wanting to wrap his arms around a waist from behind and resting his chin on a shoulder.

What was Richie’s type, anyway? Did he really had a type? What made Jake different from all the boys he had met in his life? How could Richie like someone who was funnier than him? Wouldn’t he feel humiliated? Or was it all because Jake was tall? Did Richie like basketball players? If Richie met another guy who was funny and tall and a good kisser, would he fall again?

Eddie didn’t mean to ask himself all of these questions, but he couldn’t help but think about them every time he tried to close his eyes and sleep. The only conclusion he got from all this wondering was that Richie’s type was a guy. Simple as that. That was the secret.

So Richie dating someone a year after wouldn’t be that alarming. Except for the fact that that someone was a girl.

Nobody knew when it started. Richie was very private about it and not even Beverly was aware of his relationship. But most of them noticed weird things before it was made public.

The first signal was when they were standing in the line of the cafeteria and a group of girls stopped behind them. At the start, they didn’t paid them no mind, but after a short time, they heard them giggling.

Although it was obvious they were trying to hide their amusement, they weren’t doing a good job and soon their voices turned into a choir of hysterical and poorly controlled laughs.

“There,” One of them whispered, “The one in glasses.”

“Oh, my God,” Another one giggled.

“Shut up, you idiots,” Said a third girl, even if she was taking part of the fun.

Eddie felt his blood burning. It wasn’t unusual for them being the brunt of constant jokes, but there wasn’t anything subtle about the way those girls were acting. For all he knew, they may very well be sharing those stupid rumors about Richie and Bev, and they didn’t care about respect enough for trying to be more discrete.

All of the Losers noticed too. Mike turned around and gave them a serious, but yet sympathetic look.

“You need something?” He asked.

The girls stared between the others and giggled again. The taller one dared to answer.

“No, we’re fine, thank you.”

Mike solemnly nodded and took his tray, ready to go and find a table. Now Richie was closer to the group, too focused on choosing his dessert for notice the way he seemed to be the topic of their conversation.

Eddie quietly observed how one of the girls pointed at Richie, while her gaze travelled to the opposite side of the room. To a particular table. She smiled and winked, as her friends kept laughing.

He tried to see who was the receiving of the comment, but his short stature and how the cafeteria was full of people and the line was moving didn’t allow him to find out.

“Eds,” Richie, who had already made his decision, was standing a few feet away with his tray and an impatient look, “Are you gonna stand there the whole lunch or what?”

Eddie looked at the girls again. Now they looked serious and quiet, like they didn’t even know each other. He turned back to Richie.

“Shut the fuck up,” He said, taking his own tray and hurrying to follow him.

It happened again a few times. Those girls couldn’t be around them without whispering that secret joke that had something to do with Richie. And it soon extended to a couple of people who haven’t even noticed his existence before.

A certain day, it reached an unexpected height when the Losers were standing next to Ben’s locker, waiting for him to get all of his books, and one of these out-of-nowhere laughers and her friends walked besides them and stared directly at Richie.

“Hi, Romeo,” She casually said, gaining more giggles and even some ‘oh, my God, you really said that’ from the rest of the group.

“What was that?” Stan frowned in confusion once they had left.

Everybody turned at Richie, silently interrogating him. He limited to shrug.

“How am I supposed to know?” He replied, glowering, “Maybe they just find me that hot.”

He shrugged again. They were planning to keep digging for an actual answer, but Ben got the rest of his books just in time and they didn’t have any option but to head to their classrooms.

Eddie told himself to forget about the whole thing. Even though he knew it was stupid, he couldn’t stop turning it over in his head. Definitely, those girls didn’t want Richie. There wasn’t any flirting intention to the way they talked to him. It was more like a mockery. But why would they do that? Richie wasn’t attractive at all and that never been a secret. Why would they wait so long for start making fun of him for not having dates?

The answer came sooner than later. As he walked to his classroom, he realized Richie and Bev were going in the same direction, just a few steps behind. And they were talking.

“Are you sure that’s it?” She said, a knowing smile audible in her tone.

“Yeah, why not? It’s a very natural reaction,” He responded.

Beverly stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“Fuck, what is this? The Holy Inquisition? I don’t know!” Richie kept defending himself.

“Oh, well, I thought you may have an idea…”

“What are you implying?”

“You see, I saw the most interesting thing today…” Her voice revealed pure evilness.

“And what was that?” Richie sounded plainly exasperated at this point.

Beverly took her time to let air fill her lungs before exhaling the magic spell.

“Fran Cobb.”

Eddie got tense at the mention of the name, and he could feel Richie also got tense behind him. He didn’t recognize who Fran Cobb was, but such a powerful energy emerged from the only implication of her existence that he felt immediately overwhelmed by it.

He suddenly understood how private this conversation was, how full of meaning it was getting, and he realized he shouldn’t be listening. But he couldn’t un-hear it. He just couldn’t. He had to know what was so interesting, so important about that mysterious presence in Richie’s life. So he slowed his steps down just enough to get closer to his friends without them noticing it.

“What about her?” Richie questioned.

Yeah, Eddie thought. What about her?

“Nothing special,” Bev continued, “I just sat behind her at Biology today and, I could almost swear, she was wearing an… oversized Hawaiian shirt?”

Eddie heard Richie gulping.

“A woman with good taste,” He casually replied.

“That’s what I thought,” Beverly chuckled, “By the way, where’s your shirt?”

“I didn’t wear a shirt today.”

“Richard…”

“What?”

“Nothing,” She sighed, carefree, “Romeo.”

Then, she speed her walking up and passed by Eddie’s side, giving him a side smile. He hurried to pretend he was tying his shoes and barely reached to see Richie half-running and half-waddling to follow his best friend, ignoring him and mumbling excuses for the fact that Fran Cobb, whoever she was, was indeed wearing his shirt.

Richie didn’t say a word until two weeks later. Two weeks full of cancelled plans of hanging out or doing something together, coming up with lots of explanations that seemed to get more and more ridiculous as they days passed by. Two weeks of the question of ‘what were you doing the other day?’ going vaguely answered or practically ignored. Two weeks of getting extra suspicious every time Bill talked about Audra, the girl he was dating.

But it all had to come to an end and, when it happened, it wasn’t Eddie or Beverly who were informed first. For some reason, Richie decided to trust Ben about what was going on. Or, in better words, he had no other option.

Noticing how weird Richie was acting recently, Ben managed to meet him alone and have a heart-to-heart talk. He wasn’t pressuring him or forcing him to open up, he just wanted to make sure his friend was doing well, and it surprised him to find out Richie needed to be honest about the matter more than anything.

Nobody knew what was said in that conversation, but it proved to be very effective because, two days later, Richie sat at their habitual table at the cafeteria and formally announced it.

“So,” He started, pretending to be focused on his piece of chicken, “You know Fran Cobb?”

All of the Losers considered the name for a little while, except Eddie, who didn’t feel comfortable with thinking about it, and Bev, who looked ready to burst out laughing.

“I-isn’t she in th-the D-Drama Club?” Bill ventured to guess, “A-Audra had mentio-mentioned her a f-few times.”

“Yeah,” Richie confirmed, so quickly it was clear he was nervous, “Yeah, she is.”

“Cool, so, what about her?” Stan asked.

Richie left out a sigh, as he was preparing to speak in public for the first time in front a crowd of a thousand people.

“Well,” He started, “I mean, don’t get super… It’s no big deal, just…”

“They’re dating,” Bev interrupted, rolling her eyes.

Their friends stayed in silence, looking between the others in search of a hint this was a bizarre dream, as Richie’s face turned red. He almost dropped his fork and hurried to recover his hold of it before it fell.

“No,” He instantaneously said, “Not exactly. I mean, I don’t know, it’s not…” The confusion in everyone’s faces told him he needed to explain himself better, “Nobody said the word ‘dating’, we’re just… We haven’t fucked yet, but we do kiss and go out and…”

“ Date ,” Beverly whispered, like it was some kind of big epiphany.

“Is she deaf?” Stan joked.

“Fuck you, Stanley,” Richie bitterly answered.

“Well, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy for you,” Mike smiled.

“W-when will you intro-introduce us?” Bill enquired with kind curiosity.

“Shit, I don’t know, Big Bill,” His friend teased, “Like, she thinks I’m so cool and amazing and hot. What would she think if she knew I hang out with a bunch of losers?”

All of them laughed, even if Eddie didn’t find the joke that funny.

“Our little boy is growing up,” Bev said in a high-pitched voice, putting her arms around Richie and shaking him a bit.

“Sorry, Marsh,” He smirked, “I know you’re disappointed, but you’ll find a man for you someday,” He brought the fork to his lips and didn’t bother to swallow the food before adding, “Hanscom, for example, is still single.”

Now it was Ben’s time to blush, but the topic didn’t stay around enough for it to become a problem. Eddie imagined Richie and Ben talking about their crushes, about how stunning the girls they liked were, as they were best friends, as Ben had the right to know before anyone what was going on. As Richie was straight.

At the end, no one talked about meeting his girlfriend for a while. They just started excusing him when he couldn’t be with them and moved on. Eddie felt stupid for not being able to ignore it, like everybody else did.

His mother always said love could save almost anyone. She always talked about how beneficial finding a good wife could be for men who dealt with ‘deviations’. When he was a kid, every time he complained about people making fun of him for being too small or too weak, she would say the he’d grow up and find someone who allowed him to be normal, to be healthy . Of course she realized her mistake a few years later and changed to the ‘I’m the only person who loves you’ tactic, but Eddie knew what the truth was.

However, he felt inexplicably betrayed by Richie’s change of heart about his sexuality and how he was managing it. It wasn’t like he would have enjoyed listening, but at least an effort for talking to him about it first would have been appreciated. It felt almost like an insult that Richie wouldn’t mind to tell him about his blowjob summer with all the dirty details, and still he didn’t trust him enough to let him know he had a girlfriend.

After all the trouble they went through, after the 3:00 AM talks, even after the college party —as rude and hurtful it was to think about that right now—, finding out Richie was forgetting all of that just for a girl seemed unfair. Eddie couldn’t un-hear his sobs, Eddie couldn’t retire that hug when they were fourteen, Eddie couldn’t forget the gentle pressure of that college guy’s lips against his own, and he couldn’t forgive himself for not even remembering his name when he saved him from hell itself.

Richie was getting over everything. No matter how hard life hit him, he would always fall in his two feet, like a fucking, lucky cat . He didn’t have to face consequences, he didn’t have to take responsibilities for the choices he made. He could always take it all back and move on, and no one would ever say anything. Nobody cared. Eddie was the only one who did. Even Beverly was worried for just a few days after the party incident, when that was still everything Eddie could think about three years later.

He shouldn’t care about Richie. Richie didn’t need anyone to protect him. Everything was a reversible joke for him, an endless comedy show that went from one act to another burning the ones that stayed behind. The rest of the Losers knew, and Eddie had to learn it, too.

But he couldn’t. Not caring wasn’t in his nature. And, most of all, he felt curious. If it was true that the perfect girl could save the sickest man alive, he needed to know who could be the perfect girl for Richie. So he grabbed his yearbook, flipped through the pages until he was at the Drama Club part and started searching in the photographs.

The only faces he could recognize were Audra’s and the insufferable group of people who would giggle whenever they saw Richie. It was obvious they were Fran’s friends and they knew she was seeing him. Eddie frowned at the thought of Richie’s girlfriend divulging their relationship while he was clearly not ready to make it public.

The central picture showed the whole club sitting at the stands of the football camp, around the old, bohemian woman who was their teacher. Eddie quickly examined the list of names and it didn’t take him too long to find the name that still managed to make his stomach turn. Francine Cobb . She was sitting at the first row, only two seats away from the teacher.

He was nearly disappointed. She wasn’t ugly, not at all, but she also didn’t look like the kind of girl who would have Richie going crazy for her. Even though the blonde, wavy hair falling over the shoulders was considered attractive most of the time, hers looked grungy in a very Courtney Love-style that he didn’t find nice. Her pale face seemed too round and childish, even when her features weren’t unappealing, and her full lips felt like almost too much, just like Richie’s did.

In addition, her figure couldn’t decide between growing up into a woman’s body or stick to childhood. Respectable breasts raised under the dimer overall —‘typical cool kid clothes’, Eddie cynically thought—, but she didn’t have an actual, defined shape aside them. Her legs and arms seemed too long for the rest of her constitution and the way she sat, slightly arching her back, gave her a funny appearance.

If Eddie was confused before, he was definitely astonished now. The other pictures showed Fran as a very joyful person, always smiling in that open way that built winkles around her eyes, always throwing her head back when she laughed, always sitting in the floor with her legs crossed or taking the stage to make everyone cackle.

What did Richie see in her? He was so disgusted by girls like this when he was younger. Girls who worked so hard for being funny, and to fit in. Actually, he was disgusted by any kind of girl who wasn’t opening her legs in the centerfold of a dirty magazine. And those girl didn’t exist in the real world.

But there was Fran. The girl from the Drama Club. The girl who had hobbies and went to school with them. The girl who laughed out loud and showed emotions aside of pretending to be turned on by a camera. She had a name, a house in their town, and a personality. She was a complete human being. And she was Richie’s girlfriend.

Eddie felt sad for her and didn’t know why. He hoped Richie would never introduce them, because he knew that as soon as he was were face to face with her, he couldn’t hide it anymore. And he didn’t know what he was hiding, either. All he could tell was that he felt sad, disappointed.

He felt betrayed.

Taglist: @beepbeepbeleven @irl-tozier (please let me know if I forgot about someone or if someone else wants to be added)

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #fanfiction #it fanfiction #reddie fanfic #it (2017) #whatever floats your boat #my writing