possibilities ( it: chapter 2 )

ELEVEN.

☆彡
eileen had been drowning in her own thoughts as she stared at the hotel room ceiling. she couldn't sleep at all, afraid that her dreams would be polluted by it. richie couldn't sleep either, so many things were on his mind—jade, how to stop that stupid fucking clown, how he felt when he saw his childhood friends again, one in particular. he should come clean, he should tell eileen.

"e?" richie broke the silence that had been floating through their room for nearly an hour. he looked over at his wife as she stared at the ceiling.
she hadn't blinked yet.
"eileen?" he repeated, this time she blinked. she turned her head to look at him.

"yes, rich?" she spoke.

he didn't know how she would react, he loved his wife with every ounce of his being. but he was also done with keeping secrets, he needed to get at least one thing off of his mind.

her blue eyes, god, richie could get lost in them. eileen stared at richie, waiting for him to speak. he was remembering how he would sneak out at night to go spend time with her, to get lost in her eyes.
"richie?" her eyebrows furrowed.

"i love you." was how he started. he could feel his heart rate as it started to pick up.
"i love you too." she returned the delicate words.

"can i tell you something? something that i should have told you years ago?" his voice lowered, almost to a whisper.
"you can tell me anything." she nodded.

richie tozier let out a long sigh, he didn't know why he had kept it from her for so long.
"i don't know how to say it, but...almost every summer when you would leave for camp, before you and i started dating, i would hang out with eds—eddie, sorry. and um, god get it together richie, we would, i don't know, we were a thing i guess." richie rambled through his words.

eileen's face twisted in confusion, what was richie trying to tell her?
"a thing? as in like, a couple?" she raised an eyebrow.

"i-i guess so. i loved him, b-but i also loved you when the time came." richie responded.
"when the time came? rich, i'm confused. are you....huh? are you gay? why didn't you tell me this? do you still l-" richie cut off eileen.

"obviously i'm not gay, eileen. i married you, i have kids with you." richie defended.
"do you regret it? are you still in love with eddie?" eileen asked. she was beyond scared of what his answer would be.

her mind was racing.
does richie still love her?
what if he never loved her?
would he divorce her?

"what?! no! eileen, i love you! i loved eddie, yes, but i love, i'm in love with you," richie explained. "i liked boys, but i also liked girls." he further continued.

eileen was now sitting up in the bed, and she turned to face richie.
"so....you're, what is it?" she tried to think of the word.
"bisexual." he answered.
"yes, bisexual." she nodded.
"yes." richie agreed.

eileen pouted slightly, her blue eyes softening as she looked at richie.
"why did you wait twenty-four years to tell me?" she asked, holding out her hand.
richie looked down towards her hand, seeing the gold band on her ring finger. he grabbed a hold of her hand.

"i didn't want you to freak out, i didn't want to lose you, e." he revealed. he remembered all of the names that the bullied would call him, the slurs, the constant ridiculing.

"i wouldn't freak out, richie. i love you. then, now, and always. you know this. you're forgetting that before you were my boyfriend, you were my best friend." eileen gave his hand a light squeeze. richie stared up at her and smiled.

"you were my best friend. then, now, and always." he nodded. eileen laid back down besides richie, and he wrapped his arms around her. eileen leaned against his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

and before she knew it, she was sound asleep.

—
i hope you liked this chapter,
i didn't want to invalidate
reddie but i also didn't want to
throw richie and eileen's relationship
down the drain, idk.
reddie shippers pls don't be mad at me
also, i still have to watch it chapter 2 oops