✓ | TEENS AND THINGS → richie tozier ²

zero

"I DON'T care that it's 8 in the morning! I'm here to pick up my girlfriend so we can spend our last day of freedom together before hell pulls up in a little pickup truck, tooting its horn and yelling, 'Alright bitches, all aboard the fuckin' pain train!'"

Ashley Brenner closed her eyes at the kitchen table.

Let her be imagining shit. Let her be imagining that she just heard the voice of Richie Tozier say, "fuckin' pain train" to her mother.

No such luck.

A few seconds later, her boyfriend came bounding into the room, stooping down to give her a swift kiss on the cheek.

Ash glanced up at him, wanting to blush and strangle him at the same time.

He was looking down at her, his brown eyes twinkling mischievously and his dark hair curling over his ears. He had grown at least a foot since the beginning of the summer and now looked long and lanky, a few inches taller than her.

Ash set down her glass, folding her arms. "I thought I was supposed to be able to sleep in on the last day of summer vacation, Tozier."

Richie wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Only if I were able to join. And I doubt your "Witch Head" mother in there would allow it."

He jerked his head towards the hallway, and Ash had to muffle a snort.

"You are correct."

She heaved a sigh, pushing back her chair and stood, walking over to the sink and placing her glass in it with a plunk.

She turned and faced him, leaning against the counter.

"So? What's the plan for today?"

"We're meeting the Losers by the field. The one by the train tracks?" He looked to see if she remembered this, and she blushed.

"I know where it is, Rich."

That was the place he had kissed her for the first time, silencing her with a short, exasperated, "Shut up.", before his lips had found hers.

They had only been dating for about three weeks, but were already inseparable.

The Asshole Duo was their official title, mostly commonly used by Stan "The Man" Uris and sometimes the rest of the Losers: Eddie Kaspbrak, Bill Denbrough, Mike Hanlon, and Ben Hanscom.

She took a step towards him. "How did that go again?"

He knew immediately what she was referring too, and his smile became wicked as he neared her also.

"I believe it went something like this."

He wrapped his arms around, drawing her in for a deep only-Richie-Tozier kiss, and Ash felt the warm glow of the early morning sunlight trickle in through the kitchen window.

She slipped her arms around his waist, sighing into the kiss, and was surprised to feel him pulling away right as her grip tightened on him.

It was very unlike Richie to stop after a five second kiss, usually almost always trying to turn what was supposed to be a quick gesture into a full-on makeout session, and Ash stared at him,

His face had contorted for the slightest couple of seconds into a grimace of pain, and he winced.

"Rich?" She asked hesitantly, scanning his expression, and he blinked a couple of times.

"Yeah?"

The pain was gone from his face, and Richie had forced a very unconvincing smile.

Maybe it would have convinced everyone else, but not the girl that had been in love with him for the whole summer.

"Richie, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing, nothing I just- fuck!" He let out a hiss of pain, having slapped his hands on his sides, and his fingers flew to it before he could stop himself.

"Richie." Ash said firmly, and before he could do anything to prevent it, her nimble fingers had closed around the hem of his shirt and lifted it up.

Blended together all up his rib cage were bruises and long gashes, dried blood caking around the skin, and different hues of purple bruises all fading into each other.

"Oh my God- Richie, oh my God!" Ash exclaimed, her hand clapping to her mouth.

He jerked away from her, the shirt falling back over the wounds as he said hastily, "It's nothing, really, I-I tripped and fell- that's it-"

But Ash was slowly shaking her head, realization hitting her like a tidal wave. "Your mom."

That was all she had to say.

Richie neither confirmed or denied it, instead looking away, running his long fingers through his hair.

"It's not a big-"

"Shut the fuck up, Richie Tozier!" Ash hissed angrily. "You know if this was happening to me again you would be the first person I-"

His head whipped around. "Is it?"

"No!" Ash said, shaking her head. "No, it's not! Screaming matches, yeah, but not that! Why the actual hell didn't you tell me?"

He hung his head, a bitter smile curling one corner of his mouth. "You'd think I was a coward. You'd think I was weak. How the fuck was I supposed to tell you that?"

His shoulders were trembling, and Ash hesitated before coming up behind him and interlacing her fingers with his, her head resting on his shoulder from behind.

"You're not a coward, Richie Tozier. You are many, many things but you are not that."

He was silent for a couple of seconds, digesting her words, and then mumbled, "Thanks, beautiful."

She placed a soft kiss on the top of his head, "Anytime. I'm going to get dressed. Meet you outside in five minutes."

Giving his hand a slight squeeze, she left the room, her long dark red hair swinging as she left.

Richie found himself staring at his palm, a slight tingle left there from her touch, and thought he must be the luckiest guy in the whole damn universe to have someone like her.

Speaking true to her word, Ash was outside in less than five minutes, dressed in her usual jean shorts, white beat up converse, and a tank top.

She wheeled her bike from the garage, slinging a leg across it, and Richie did the same.

As they rode to meet the rest of the Losers, Richie said, "I wish summer would never end. But no goddamn it, school just has to butt on in like, 'HEYA FUCKERS IT'S TIME!'"

Ash laughed. "Jesus Christ, I can't wait to see how high school treats you."

"Hopefully pretty damn good, so long as I have you."

She shot him a half thankful, half exasperated look, and he grinned.

"I love you."

She shook her head, turning back to the rode. "And how many times do I have to say it back for you to get it through that enormously thick skull of yours? I love you too, dipshit."

IT IS CURRENTLY 1:44 AM HERE AND I HAVE JUST FINISHED THE PROLOGUE SO I CAN SLEEP AND WAKE UP TO ALL YOUR COMMENTS WHICH NO JOKE MAKE MY ENTIRE DAY!

tomorrow i'm going to see IT again for the sixth time and i'm super happy and excited bc i'm going with my best friend who has never seen it before. . .*cackles evilly*

well, thoughts? votes? don't float without supervision, kiddos!