the untold 'dirty little secret.'

ch 4; blood and strings.

The losers all gasped sharply, and Pennywise turned his head, growling. Richie's screams continued as he struggled out of the clown's grip.

It snipped off the rest of the string, causing Richie more pain by the second.

"Beep beep, Richie," the clown said, and disappeared in thin air.

He sat there crying on his bed, one piece of his lip sewn shut.

The losers sprinted over to their friend, and Eddie made his way to the front, holding Richie's face as he looked at his lips.

"Holy fucking Christ," he breathed out, and Richie screamed more.

"GET IT OFF, GET IT OUT! PLEASE!" he screamed, and almost every loser was in tears by now.

Maggie and Went had left for work that morning, so there wasn't much they could do. Besides, they couldn't see the damage the clown had done.

Eddie took a deep breath for his friend.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to pull the thread out. It's gonna hurt pretty bad, I'm warning you," Eddie spoke, and Richie was calmer at the voice of Eddie. Not calm, just calmer.

He nodded slightly, closing his eyes tightly as sobs still escaped his bloody lips.

Eddie sighed, and placing his fingers around the middle of the thread at held his best friend's lips together.

Richie tried hard not to scream a blood-curdling scream in order to not hurt Eddie, but it hurt so bad. The feeling of the thread rubbing against the hole in your lip hurt, plus it was a thicker string than just some skinny one.

As Eddie pulled it out, Richie squeezed Beverly's hand, wincing and whimpering at the pain.

"Good, bottom lips done, Rich, you're gonna be okay-" Eddie tried to reassure him.

"No no stop! Stop it please! Please just.. just leave the other one in please," Richie begged, his voice cracking loudly as he yelled.

"I have to, Rich, I'm sorry," Eddie said, his eyebrows almost touched due to how much they furrowed in sorrow and concern.

Richie just let out a painful sob and hesitantly nodded. Eddie sighed through his nose once again, closing his eyes and opening them again.

He gently but quickly pulled the thread out of Richie's bloody lips for good, and he yelped.

Richie reached for his lips, but Eddie pulled his hand away.

"No, no you can't touch it yet, let me clean it," the smaller boy said, and Richie shook his head violently.

"NO! No don't! Beverly don't let him!" Richie begged, and Beverly couldn't help but cry.

"He has to, baby, I'm so so sorry, it'll be over soon, just hang on," she reassured her friend, but this time, Richie didn't nod.

He tossed and turned his head, trying to rid of Eddie's attempt at cleaning the bloody holes in his lips.

"NO!"

"Richie!" Eddie said, holding his face in place. He stared into the crying boy's eyes once they opened, noticing how frightened, yet beautiful they were.

Eddie sucked in a breath.

"Once it's done, it'll feel so much better, and we can cover it so that it doesn't get infected, okay? Just trust me, I am Dr. K, remember?" Eddie said, grinning as he winked at the taller boy.

Richie sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess you are," he mumbled and let out a breathy laugh.

"Okay, calm down, alright? It'll be over before you know it."

Richie took a deep breath through his nose, holding Beverly's arm close to him. She didn't mind if he squeezed the shit out of her arm or hand, as long as her best friend was okay, she was too.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and Bill put one on his knee as he watched.

Ben looked away, and Stanley did so as well. Mike watched in sympathy as Eddie cleaned Richie's wounds, who squirmed uncomfortably.

"Mmh, Eddie that hurts," Richie warned, tears forming in his eyes and Eddie paused. He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Richie. I'm really close to finishing, okay? Just hand in there with me," Eddie said, and Richie sighed through his nose again.

Eddie continued to clean the last blotches of blood, and patched up Richie's lips.

"There, I'm done," the smaller boy said, and smiled.

Richie blushed a bit, and looked away. This boy's smile was the cutest thing Richie's ever seen. He would stare at it for hours or even days. He could stare into Eddie's eyes and get lost in his beautiful, chocolate brown doe eyes. He loved everything about this boy.

"Thank you.." Richie whispered, and Eddie immediately brought him into a hug.

"God, we missed you so much, Rich," Eddie said, and Richie smiled slightly, his lip aching from doing so.

"I missed you guys too," Richie said, and Eddie pulled out of the hug, confused.

"Why were you ignoring us? And why haven't you come to school in two weeks? Rich, we were worried sick about you," Beverly admitted, and Richie looked down.

Stanley and Ben joined back in, listening closely.

Richie sniffed and wiped the tears from his cheeks again, sighing out of his mouth.

"That stupid fucking clown," he whispered, barely audible.

"I'm sorry?" she asked.

"That clown. It tricked me. It made me see something about you guys and made you all say something you didn't wouldn't, and Beverly, It made you tell everyone else about Eddie."

Beverly looked at Richie wide eyed, and furrowed her eyebrows.

Eddie was confused, but also shocked. Everyone else was also wide eyed, some mouths even hung open slightly.

"I'm sorry, honey, I hope you know that we love you, and I would never do that to you," she mumbled, hugging Richie and he placed his head on he shoulder, hugging her back.

"I love you guys too," he said, sniffing, and they all brought into a group hug.