Hidden Truths||Reddie||

•Two•

"Richie come on, tell me what happened." Eddie begged Richie, concerned. Eddie hadn't seen Richie for three days, he tried calling him but he would never answer. None of the other losers had seen him either. Now here he was, sitting on the ground, his eye was purple, his cheek had a small scratch on it.

Richie remained silent, his head hung low.

Eddie sat down besides Richie, still worried. Richie didn't answer a single question Eddie had asked him, he just stared at the ground, kicking his skateboard around with his foot.

"Did you get into a fight?" Eddie asked. Still, no answer.

"Look at me, Richie." Eddie said, wanting to see how much damage his eye had taken. Richie refused to answer Eddie and remained silent, still staring at the ground as if it were so interesting.

Eddie took Richie's face in his hands and made him look his way.

Richie's eyes looked distant, and red. Eddie could tell he'd been crying before.

He examined Richie's eye, it would heal in a few days, it wasn't that bad.

"What happened Richie?" Eddie asked, Richie's face still in his hands.

Richie blinked and turned away from Eddie. It was as if he'd been lifted from a trance.

"Nothing...I just fell trying to do a trick on my skateboard..." Richie answered, standing up.

Eddie frowned, he had never seen Richie fall off his skateboard, in fact, Richie was the only good skater Eddie had met. He knew Richie wasn't telling him something and it bothered him, Richie told Eddie everything, and Eddie told Richie everything as well.

Something's wrong... Eddie thought, he also stood up, glancing a look at Richie, who was getting onto his skateboard.

"I'm gonna head home..." Richie mumbled.

"Home?" Eddie sounded surprised, Richie had never wanted to go home.

Richie heard the surprise in Eddie's voice and tried to make up a believable excuse.

"Yeah, home. I gotta fix my bike." Richie rode off without hearing what Eddie had to say.

Eddie stood there, confused. Richie didn't ride his bike anymore, so why bother fixing something you never use?

Eddie sighed and headed to Bill's house, where Beverly was hanging around at.

They were sitting on Bill's porch, laughing. Eddie felt like he was interrupting something by appearing there, he started to turn away from Bill's house and head home, when Bill called out his name.

"Hey Eddie!" Bill waved Eddie over.

Eddie walked to the porch, saying hello to Bev and Bill.

"W-what's up? H-have you seen R-Richie anywhere? H-he hasn't c-called any of us, w-we're all starting to w-worry." Bill said, frowning

"Yeah, we met up just now, he looks horrible, he has a black eye and some scratches on his face, he would barley answer any of my questions, when he did, he told me he had fallen off his skateboard." This time it was Eddie's turn to frown, remembering his and Richie's meet up.

"Really? That doesn't sound like Richie at all, I thought he was off with some girls, you know how he is. Always messing around, I didn't know he'd gotten himself hurt." Beverly raised an eyebrow, thinking.

Eddie's hurt sunk, whenever one of the losers mentioned Richie being around girls, he felt a pinch in his heart. Richie had always liked girls, he'd always say how he kissed on or slept with one, but none of the losers had ever seen him with a girl. Richie liked believing he was famous with the ladies, when in reality he couldn't even get a date with one. Something was holding him back...someone to be specific.

Eddie didn't want to like Richie, he knew Richie would never feel the same for Eddie. He knew Richie only saw him as a friend. We can't all hide our feelings forever though.

Eddie shook the thought out of mind and looked at Bill, who was tapping his foot nervously now.

"If he had an accident on his skateboard, why would he be gone for three days?" Bill asked.

"That's what I was thinking, he left before I could ask him, he said he had to go home. That's weird, Richie never wants to go home." Eddie sighed, frustrated.

"Home? Something's definitely going on. You should try to talk to him again." Beverly suggested.

"Why me?" Eddie asked. He knew they were best friends all, but the other losers could call him as well and talk to him. He wasn't Richie's only friend

"Because Richie trusts you the most, and you guys have known each other the longest. Plus, you two have something going on." Beverly answered, grinning. She knew Eddie liked Richie, she could see it from the way Eddie looked at Richie, with a big smile and eyes filled with love.

Eddie's face flushed. "We don't have anything going on. We're just best friends." Eddie answered, trying to hide the small smile that crept upon his lips.

"Sure. Tell yourself that Eddie, but we all know you two are more than friends." Beverly raised an eyebrow, challenging Eddie to argue with her.

Eddie rolled his eyes, trying to hide his blush. He hung out with Bev and Bill for a while, then he headed home, heading to his room.

He wanted to call Richie, to ask if he was okay. But he knew Richie wouldn't pick up, he hadn't an hour earlier.

Eddie sighed as he looked out his window, closing his eyes and remembering the past, flashing back to when Richie and him were kids.

He was afraid that Richie had changed...in a bad way.

• • •

Richie Tozier layed on his bed, staring up at his ceiling, sure his eye hurt, but it was his heart that throbbed the most.

He hadn't had problems with his father before, the only problem was that he hadn't cared, and that didn't bother Richie much at all, he'd been ignored by his parents his whole life. But this was different, he didn't know things would ever come to this.

He didn't want the other losers to see him all beaten up.

He had gone to see Eddie earlier, but he could barley talk to him. Richie could never tell Eddie what was happening at home, it would worry him to much, and Richie hated to worry Eddie. He cared to much for him to worry him. So he lied and told Eddie he had just fallen off his skateboard, before Eddie could ask anything more, he'd left.

Richie could hear his phone ringing on his nightstand, but he ignored it, knowing it was Eddie. He didn't want to talk to anyone that day, not even Eddie.

Maybe he could call him back later, he just wanted to think, he was still shocked from what had happened a few days ago. The pain he'd felt when his Father's fist met his eye. It was horrible,  he hadn't felt it right away, he was surprised, he only felt the pain later on, when he curled up in his room and cried for hours.

Richie was a tough one, everyone knew that, but everyone breaks at some point. Even the tough ones.
• • •
End Of Chapter Two

(A/N: Heyo,  so sorry if this story is boring! I'm trying!)