Losers Club | IT Imagines

Richie Tozier | The Ice Cream Parlor

English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes.

Warnings: still some lil shits hating on our boys but not too much; also Richie being a bit soft towards his crush.

Characters: Richie/male!Bowers!reader. The Bowers family is mentioned.

Word Count: 2702 words.

Part 2 of The Arcade.

(Y/N) took a deep breath one last time before crouching down; taking a few steps forward as his hand gently grabbed the door handle to open it slowly. He poked his head into the ice cream parlor, carefully so that no one at the tables could see him. The attendant at the counter was the only one to notice him there and gave a small smile to the young boy - (Y/N) then smiled back, trying to suppress a laugh as he thought how ridiculous he must be looking.

After a quick look around the establishment, he turned back to see Richie crouching behind him. The boy bounced with expectation as he had a humorous grin on his face, which only made (Y/N)'s smile widen.

"Okay, I think it's clear." the Bowers boy whispered, waiting for some confirmation from Richie that they should go in.

The Tozier boy, however, shook his head, grin still on his face as he pushed his friend lightly. "You need to be sure, grasshopper."

(Y/N) rolled his eyes, poking his head into the store once more. This time he took the time to look at all the people sitting at the tables – there weren't many, just a couple (that couldn't stop sucking each other's faces) and a group of girls around his age. (Y/N) also made sure to look at the corner tables but he was right - his cousin Henry wasn't there.

He turned back again, raising his right hand to the side of his head to salute Richie. "I am sure, captain."

Richie snorted before copying his movements. "Aye aye."

That was the confirmation (Y/N) was waiting for. In the next moment, the two boys were already up and eagerly walking into the parlor, hurrying to see which ice cream flavors were on display that day.

Surprisingly, after that incidente in the arcade, Richie and (Y/N) seemed to have grown closer than before and started hanging out even more often. They stopped showing up at the arcade, though, afraid that Henry would be waiting there to bother them. Together they began to explore more places around the town where they could have fun.

But every time, before going in somewhere, they would check if Henry wasn't around - that was the last thing they would want. Richie kind of turned it into a game, saying that they should pretend they were spies or something – which would be the only explanation to their weird behavior of crouching down and checking every place before entering. (Y/N) appreciated that Richie'd tried to make this situation fun, trying to disguise the real reason why they did that: they were terrified that Henry and his goons would beat them if they saw the two boys together.

Even though Richie had made fun of (Y/N) the first time they went there, both of them loved to go to that ice cream parlor. Firstly, it was almost always empty, so they felt free to talk and just be themselves as much as they wanted. And secondly, it was certain that Henry would never go there, this was a place Henry wouldn't be caught dead. It was a very cozy and private place, the kind of place that mostly just couples would go to - or a place you would go to find you someone.

That was one of the facts that was making (Y/N) particularly happy and giddy that day. Of course he and Richie had been there several times, but it was indeed a place for couples to hang out - and Richie had been the one who had invited him there that day. (Y/N) couldn't help but let a smile widen on his face at that thought, seeing Richie analyzing the flavors there.