𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫

28. The Connection

December 19, 1984

Everyone sat around Richie anxiously as he slowly sat up from the couch. "Richie please be careful." Nancy said, worried he still isn't well. Hopper made his way towards Richie handing him a shirt.

The boy grabbed it and looked down at his shirt seeing it was soaked with blood and sweat. He slowly started to remove his jean jacket, completely forgetting he had fresh cuts from this morning. Everyone noticed them but they just figured it happened to him in the void and that could be why he yelled out in pain.

Richie sighed as he began to remove the destroyed shirt. Everyone was surprised. They knew Richie was fairly skinny but they didn't think it was this bad. Lucas decides to cut the silence. "So what exactly happened in there." Max threw him a glare and hit his shoulder. "What?"

"Shut the fuck up." Max whispered into his ear. A frown made a way onto Lucas's mouth.

Richie looked towards the couple as he started to bottom-up the flannel. "It's fine Max. Well obviously El and me were looking to see if It was at the lab." Richie stopped talking as he started to roll up the sleeves of the shirt.

"But then we noticed Pennywise in the front of the lab. He, he had killed Troy. It started to come at us and that's one El tried to use her powers on It." He then stood up his legs slightly wobble. Then he began to tuck in the shirt.

"When she started using her powers on It my chest started tightening and then it turned into pain and it just started to grow worse and worse. I just don't understand what was happening. This had never happened whenever me or my friends hurt it."

"Do you have any idea of what it could mean?" Dustin asked.

Richie started to shake his head then he slide down to the floor setting his fingertips onto his temples. "I have no idea. This just doesn't make any sense to me."

Everyone in the room sat in confusion until Mike let out a loud gasp causing everyone's head to turn towards him. "Mike?" Eleven asked him full of worry.

"What's wrong?" Will said.

"This is just a theory but what if Richie was somehow connected to it. This is why he felt pain when El used her powers on Pennywise. Just like how Will was with the mind flayer."

"It's definitely possible." Jonathan answered.

"But that just doesn't make sense I've used my powers on it my friends have hurt it too. Why would El be different?"

Mike answers quickly. "Will only got hurt when he was connected to the mind flayer when it was hurt with fire. Maybe you are you feeling pain when it's hurt by Eleven. The deadlights are what made up connected to it."

"I mean that makes sense I guess." Richie answers.

Nancy spoke for the first time in a while. "You're saying Eleven wasn't just hurting Pennywise but Richie as well?"

"Yeah, I think that's what was happening." Mike says.

"So El's not going to be able to help us unless she wants to hurt Richie in the process?" Max questions her eyebrows scrunched together.

Mike starts to nod. Then Richie sighs. "Shit."

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Richie makes his way to his room and starts to change into sweatpants and an ACDC shirt. He went over to the window and opened it. Allowing the night breeze to come into his room.

He went and grabbed a cigarette from his nightstand. He slides down the side of his bed and starts to inhale the smoke allowing it to fill his lungs. But that enjoyment didn't last long as his door was slammed open, worried it was his Aunt he tried to hide the lit cigarette.

But he let out a breath seeing it was just his two cousins. "Rich, are you smoking?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah, and?" Mike closes the door quickly not wanting his cousin to be caught with a cigarette by his mother.

"I just never knew, I mean I should have guessed since you sometimes smell like smoke, you know what never mind."

Mike stopped Nancy from talking any further. "We were just wondering if your friends know when they'll be here?"

Richie starts to nod then lets out a inhale of smoke. "Bill called and said they couldn't get a train for tonight but they got one for tomorrow night." Richie gets up from the floor and throws his cigarette out the window. "I'm going back to the lab."

"Wait what?" Mike and Nancy ask together.

"Relax I'm just going in the void I want to make sure that really is where it's hiding."

"Richie I don't think that's the best idea with everything that happened last time."

"Well then just stay here and make sure everything is fine." Nancy started to saying something but then Richie disappeared from the room appearing a few seconds later with a towel in his hand. Causing both of his cousins to jump.

"Jesus." Mike yells causing Richie to chuckle.

"Maybe give us a warning next time." Nancy says.

"Well, Nancy Drew I'm not sure how I would be able to do that." Richie says through a laugh while tying the towel around his head.

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Author's note

Y'all I started watching Friends for the first time and I love it so much lol.