✓ | BETTER WITH YOU → richie tozier ³

three

ASH RAN at Mike Wheeler and threw her arms around him, and he clutched her tightly before she pulled away, her face shining.

"Oh my God, you're really here! Holy shit!" She exclaimed, and he nodded, grinning.

"Yeah, we're here for the whole year, 'Ley." Mike said, and she smiled, giving him a look.

"'Ley?"

Mike shrugged. "Richie took the rest, so why not? Do you like it?"

Ash laughed. "I do. Thank you."

Mike smiled at her for a couple more seconds before turning away and catching sight of Richie.

"Rich!" He said, and Richie forced a grin, crossing towards him and pulling him into a hug.

"God, Wheeler, it's been awhile." He said, and Mike nodded.

"Too long." He jerked his head towards Ash. "So, you guys are back then?"

Richie nodded. "Finally."

"We're so screwed." Dustin mumbled, and Will kicked him sharply in the shin, making Dustin say, "Shit, okay okay!"

Richie cast a curious glance towards them and opened his mouth to say something when Lucas hurriedly talked over him.

"Anyway, so do you know where we get our schedules?" He asked, and Mike cast a look at Ash.

"Do you?" He asked her, and she nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, I could sh—"

"Oh, beautiful, class is getting ready to start!" Richie said quickly, and Ash shot him a strange look.

"Class starts in like five minutes, Rich, that's plenty of time."

Richie looked between her and Mike, biting the inside of his cheek, and Mike pressed his lips together to stop a smirk from appearing on his face.

"Rich, it's just schedules." Eddie said in a gentle whisper that only Richie could hear.

On hearing him, Richie relented. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you in third, gorgeous."

"Screwed, screwed, screwwwwed." Dustin groaned underneath his breath, and Will kicked him again.

"Okay. See you, Rich." Ash smiled before saying to the boys, "Come on, the main office is this way."

They followed after her into the school, and Richie watched her and Mike's retreating backs, his fingernails digging into his palms.

"Richie." Stan said, and he turned to see his best friends giving him knowing looks.

"I'm scared." He admitted, and Bill shook his head. "Yuh-you don't have to be, Richie. Ash loves you. She always has."

"And you have always loved her." Ben piped up. "Since you literally ran into her on the second week of school and she said, 'Watch it, dipshit!'"

Richie smiled fondly. "At that moment I knew she was head over heels for me. You can't fake that sort of passion!"

"Oh God." Eddie said, and rubbed his face with his hands. "Come on, we'd better get in there. And Rich? Don't work yourself up. We really don't need that."

He looked anxiously at Bill, Stan, and Ben, who all nodded slowly.

"I'm not going to get worked up." Richie said, and self-consciously rubbed his arms. "That's not me anymore, you guys."

They stared at him doubtfully, and Richie snapped, "I hate talking about that and you all know it. God, I've told you a million times to just forget about it!"

"We can't just forget about it, Richie, because you've been wrecked since that!" Stan replied, and Richie narrowed his eyes at each of them.

"You haven't told her, have you? She still doesn't know, right?"

They hesitated, and his expression went dark. "Right?"

None of them answered, and Richie's face flushed red. "Oh my God, how could you?"

"How could we not, Richie!?" Stan said angrily. "You tried to–"

"Fuck off!" Richie snarled. "God, have you all lost your goddamn minds!? I didn't want her knowing about this!"

"Richie, she was going to find out anyway!" Eddie said, watching him with worried eyes. "It was the right–"

"Why didn't you let me tell her? I would have told her myself! But no, she had to hear how much of a screwup I am from you!"

"Rich, you're not—" Eddie began, but Richie cut across him, his eyes blazing.

"And why the hell didn't you stop them!?" He spit at Eddie, who flinched. "Just shut the fuck up, Kaspbrak, Jesus Christ!"

Eddie's lower lip had the slightest tremble to it, and Bill noticed, saying swiftly, "Rich-Richie, we know you're u-upset but don't y-yell—"

"Don't!" Richie shook his head. "I get that I'm a fuckup and that it's hilarious to talk about how much shit I put myself and you all through—"

"RICHIE!" Stan exploded. "Are you even hearing yourself talk right now!? Why would you say that!? Who spent the last three years taking care of you for God's sake? Who spent the last years feeling terrified because we were afraid you were going to do something again!? We did!"

"I don't want to do this again." Richie said flatly. "I don't want to talk about that part of my life ever again, and here you all are, spewing it out to Ash, the one person who I care more about than anything in the world!"

"And if you care about her," Ben said. "You should tell her about it. She needed to know, Richie."

Richie folded his arms, his eyes flicking between each of them. "It wasn't your fucking place to do that. It's me, and my life. It doesn't matter."

"Those scars on your wrists matter a whole fucking lot, Tozier!" Eddie said sharply, and Richie eyes flew to him.

Eddie continued, his voice stormy, "Do you know how terrifying it is to see your best friend almost die right in front of your face? Cause I live with that every single fucking day."

Richie glared at him. "Well, I hope you get a real fucking kick out of knowing that you were the only person who could do anything for me. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

Eddie felt something drop in his chest with a thud, and his breath came out in a whoosh at Richie's words.

"Richie!" Bill said, but Richie didn't answer, pushing past them and heading into the school, his whole body trembling with anger.

Why would they tell her that? He had always hated making himself look weak in front of her. It had killed him having to go to her house when his mom was being impossible.

And now she probably thought he was a coward.

And that was the very last thing he wanted, especially now that Mike Wheeler had made his reappearance into her life.