✓ | TEENS AND THINGS → richie tozier ²

two

"WELL I'M so sorry I had to wait ten years for Eddie to get out of his mother's clutches!" Stanley whined.

"Oh, quit the excuses Stawn! Eds here says he was alllll pip pip and cheerio when you arrived at his house this fine morning." Richie drawled in a British accent, making all of them cringe.

"Don't call me that!" Eddie said sharply. "And quit it with the accent! You sound like horse shit!"

"He's got a point." Ash agreed, and Richie said, "Hey, babe, I love you, but who's side are you on?"

"Right now? The side that isn't idiotic."

Everyone snorted besides Richie, who gave her a look, and Ash grinned.

"W-well, here we are." Bill said nervously, and they all skidded to a stop in front of the high school, which up close looked much huger than Ash had previously thought.

"I wish Bev was here." Ben said softly, and Ash nodded.

"Me too." She agreed, and Stan chimed in, "And Mike. It's not really the same without all of us, y'know?"

Again, Ash agreed whole-heartedly. "It's like. . .we're not fully the Losers club."

"Hey, at least Bowers isn't here this year!" Richie inserted himself into the conversation, looking around at them all. "The bullying, the. . ."

He trailed off, his eyes flicking to Ash's stomach and back, and she winced slightly as his eyes softened around the edges and he grabbed her hand.

"The stuff that he did," He continued, looking up at them. "At least that's over."

Henry Bowers had been found in the sewers, mumbling nonsense, and admitted to all the child murders and was locked up. Only the Losers knew the truth, but none of them were going to come forward with it. It was a relief for all of them when he was locked away.

"Don't j-jinx us, Rich." Bill said darkly, glancing up at the high school. "There's bound to be a few. Maybe e-even worse than Bowers."

"W-worse?" Eddie squeaked, and Richie felt Ash flinch beside him.

"Hey, Bill, mind laying off on the dark shit? I kinda wanted to enjoy our first day, not cower in fear from everyone." Richie said, only half joking.

He hated seeing Ash scared; all the fire gone from her eyes, the shit she had been put through the previous summer all flashing in her eyes at once.

He could name it all, ticking it off on his fingers.

Bowers beating her up on the last day of school; Bowers carving his name into her stomach; her mom; being possessed by the clown; Neibolt, and their first fight; Richie saying he wanted her dead; the clown cornering her and almost killing her and completely destroying Richie inside when he had seen her so vulnerable; Bowers attacking her again; and being mind fucked with by the goddamn clown in the sewer.

It had obviously made its mark on her, and he didn't want her first day to be torn up by last summer.

"Oh, sorry Richie." Bill said, and the subject was dropped. Stan took a deep breath. "We'd better get on in there, huh?"

"Maybe we can just go home." Ben suggested, and they all smiled.

Richie squeezed Ash's hand in his own. "You ready, beautiful?"

She nodded, and tugged on it, leading him into the school.

~

"I only have lunch with you? Are you serious!?" Richie asked, his mouth dropping open, and Ash put a hand on his shoulder.

"At least your locker is literally two away from mine!" She reassured him. "You can meet me after every period if you want!"