Culraphobic [Richie Tozier x Reader]

Another Rainy Day In Derry

You got up and looked at a worn out watch you wore on your wrist. 1:38 p.m. About 5 hours and 22 more minutes till curfew, but who's counting?

You walked around the park holding both your hands in front of you. If mom was home right now, you wanted to take any chance you could to avoid being there. You were one of the only people in the park at the moment. You felt like the only one on the entire block-which you weren't, but you felt like it.

The wind was blowing and the clouds were grey. It looked like it was going to rain again, but the sun was still out. Kind of.

It rained a lot in Derry. You bet your fur on that.

You decided to sit down in the area of the park where the Paul Bunyan statue was. Why? Who knows. Maybe it was to shield you from the rain, in the event it actually did rain. The statue always gave you the creeps though. You remembered Richie talking about how he saw it "come to life" once.

It started to sprinkle and the statue did indeed block the rain. Well, most of it.

You looked up and the clouds were getting darker. 'Don't tell me it's going to rain harder.'

The wind was blowing your hair in your face and you heard a faint sound of thunder in the distance. You looked up at the sky and questioned whether or not you should go home now or seek shelter in a building somewhere nearby until it was clear.

In the corner of your eye where the head of the Paul Bunyan statue stood smiling eerily into the distance, you could've sworn you saw it's eyes roll down to look at you. You shuddered and looked around the square to see if any place was open.

There was the drugstore or the movie theater closest to you, and there was no way in hell you'd be alone with Mr. Keene waiting out a storm for god knows how long.

As the rain started to drop down harder, dampening your hair and clothes, you ran toward the theater, a loud boom of thunder scaring you and forcing you to pick up your pace.

Once you were inside, you shut the door behind you and brushed the hair out of your face. The lights in there were flickering. Around this time of day, the sun would've lit up the entire lobby, but it was dark and rainy outside so this was all they had.

You spotted a Street Fighter game next to a bunch of other game machines. You thought of how Richie liked this game and would talk about taking you to the arcade to show you how awesome he was at it. You'd always laugh because Bill would tell you he actually sucked at the game and was just trying to impress you.

There was almost nobody in the theater except for a couple of uninterested teens working at the concession stand. They didn't even look up when you came in. You looked outside and saw the wind was blowing harder and the leaves were flying off the trees into the dark grey sky. You could still hear the loud noises of the thunder and rainfall, getting louder by the minute.

Across the street and in the park right in front of the Paul Bunyan statue, your eyes widened and your breathing momentarily stopped as you saw it.

The clown. Skin as white as a ghost, eyes glowing orange with an ungodly grin on his face. He was slouched with his head tilted downward, but his eyes directly on you. His mouth was parted open just slightly, drool running down his chin as he held a balloon in his hand which was not fazed at all by the harsh winds.

You wanted to move, but you were frozen in place. You tried with everything you had to even just take a step back, but you couldn't. Your heart raced and terror ran through your body, making you break out in a freezing cold sweat that gave you such bad anxiety that you wanted to scream.

But you couldn't. You couldn't even blink.

Your breathing was fast and your entire body was shaking. Your eyes were glued to the hungry clown that was now making his way towards you step by step, beckoning for you with his other hand.

Want a balloon, (Y/N)?, it asked you.
We all love balloons here. Come join us.

He was now almost right across the street from you now and you tried your hardest to move, but still couldn't.

You continued to look at the clown until he vanished. Your heart stopped considering the possibilities of where it went, and you jumped when you heard footsteps running up to you from behind.

"(Y/N)!," you heard a familiar voice say. You turned around and was immediately engulfed in a warm embrace you missed so much.

Richie wrapped his arms around you tight and you heard him breathe out, sounding as if that's the first breath he's taken in his life. You smiled and nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck, a weight being lifted above your shoulders.

"Thank god," he said, sounding more relieved than you were. "Hello Tozier," you said with a soft laugh as you hugged him back. He smiled. "You scared me there. I thought it would've-"
"Don't think like that, Rich. It'll take a lot more than that to kill me," you joked, although deep down you were scared too.

"I'm so sorry," he said, pulling away from you and keeping his hands placed firmly on your shoulders. He looked like he was about to cry. "I shouldn't have said any of that, and when I saw you today with Eddie I-I don't know, I got a little mad and I just wanted you to be with me again and there's so many things I've wanted to say to you and I just went and fucked it all up and-"

"Beep beep, Richie," you said, opening and closing your hands as if it were a mouth talking. He rubbed his hands over his watery eyes and smiled. "Heh, you're right, I should shut up," he said, rubbing the back of his head. You smiled at him and pulled him into another hug. "I missed you, Tozier."

He hugged you back tight, as if you'd fly away from him if he ever let go.

"I missed you too, (Y/N)."