richie tells only the truth.

ladies and gentlemen; he's outta the closet.

richie brought his hands to his face to cover the mess he was, not able to stop crying. he didn't need people seeing him like this, loser or not.

"shit," a voice said. richie just slammed his still-covered face into his knees and cried, trying at everything to calm himself. at least the sobs deterred his ability to talk.

"uhh.. r-richie?" another voice said, though, this time it was a female.

"i said, fuck. off," richie said between sobs, wiping at his nose and eyes and trying to calm himself.

"fuck.. you okay?" a boy asked, the most familiar voice this planet had to offer in richie's life. the sound of crunching leaves and grass became louder and louder, and he could hear someone kneel next to him.

"come here," the girl said genially, putting her hands on his shaking shoulders and bringing him into a hug. he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into the crook of her neck.

"richie, what happened?" mike asked and rubbed the boy's back.

richie didn't respond. he only continued to cry into beverly, tired and exhausted.

"i'm sorry, i- i-i," richie sobbed, trying to tell them that he just needs to be alone. although, he didn't want to risk exposing himself.

"shh," beverly hushed him, trying to calm him.

"i'm sorry, bevvie," he sobbed into her, scrunching up his face in anger. he hated how weak he was being. he felt weak.

"don't be sorry, hun. it's alright to cry," she mumbled to him, holding the boy close. richie shook his head and stood wobbly, leaving the losers sitting on the ground in concern.

"what're you-" stanley started to ask, only to watch richie sprint away from everyone while bawling his eyes out.

"richie! richie, come back," eddie called after him, standing and running as well.

"let him do his thing, we'll catch up l-later," bill instructed after everyone looked at him to tell them what to do next.

"richie!" eddie yelped as he ran as fast as possible, almost able to grab richie.

"leave me alone!" richie screamed. eddie grunted and jumped forward, tackling the sobbing mess in front of him as well.

they landed, both with a hard yelp, in the grass. richie tried to crawl away, back up away from eddie, but the shorter boy climbed on top of him and held him down.

"what's wrong?! why are you so upset?!" eddie asked.

"get off of me!" richie screamed, voice cracking.

"not until you talk to me!" eddie grunted, struggling to keep richie still.

"i don't wanna talk to you! i just wanna be left alone!" richie cried.

"i get that, but you clearly need someone-"

"i don't want someone! i want no one! i want you to get the fuck off of me and let me run away and kill myself on my own time!" richie sobbed.

"ri- richie what the actual fuck?!" eddie yelped, terrified of what richie just said.

the boy only started sobbing even harder, giving up on trying to run away and slamming the back of his head into the grass. eddie furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes still wide open, bent down far enough and hugged richie as hard as he could.

"i'm sorry, eds," richie cried, hugging the boy back.

"don't apologize, just don't say that kind of stuff."