T R U T H - it chapter two

F O U R T E E N

Making her way up the stairs she hears soft sniffling coming from Richie's room. " Richie? " She questions as she begins walking into the room. SHe sees Richie sitting on his bed, having exchanged his bloodied clothes for comfier and cleaner clothes. He looks up from the floor, eyes meeting with his best friend. " Hey. " He says softly, moving over in the bed so she could sit next to him.

" I know this is a stupid question, but how are you? " She asked while sitting down, knowing there was no way Richie could be doing alright. A sad and sympathetic smile spreads on his face, not wanting to make Macy feel bad, the smile fades as he lets out a loud sigh. " Shitty...so fucking shitty. " He answers, making Macy nod her head slowly.

Richie begins thinking back, back to a memory he forgot he had. " Do you remember? " He questioned, making Macy raise her eyebrows in confusion. " Remember what, Richie? If anything I remembered too much of this town." She asked through her confusion, thinking she had already remembered everything. Richie thought back to the week before he left Derry. " My room, the week before I left for New york. " He reminded, this making Macy remember everything.

The teenage Richie and Macy watched Eddie leave the room. The three teens had helped Richie pack up his room since he was due to leave for New York soon. " You ready to finally get out of this shithole town? " Macy questioned, lying back on Richie's bed, looking at the boy fiddle with his hands at the foot of the bed. " Yeah, I think so. " He mutters, picking up his head to look out his bedroom window. He watches Eddie get into his car and drive away from the Tozier house towards his own.

Macy looks at him confused, knowing Richie has always been the one most anticipating leaving Derry behind for good. " What do you mean you think so? I thought you'd be ecstatic about finally getting out of here. " Macy says, watching him look back at the floor and shrug his shoulders at the end of the bed. He doesn't say anything else, which was out of character for him, thus confirming to Macy that something was wrong with him.

" Richie, what's wrong? " Macy questioned, growing worried about the boy's sudden mood change. " I don't fucking know Macy! " He snapped, making Macy sit up from the bed. " Maybe the fact that I'm moving seven hours away in a week! I mean we're all leaving soon, and we're probably never gonna see each other again! " He continues, turning his torso around to face Macy, his tone catching her off guard. " Maybe I'm not ready enough, not mature enough! I haven't even finished the shit I needed to get done here. Like, going bird watching with Stan or reading one of the drafts of Bill's books! Fuck! I haven't even told Eddie that I'm pretty fucking sure I'm in love with him! How am I expected to just move on Macy? How? " Richie finished, now standing up from his bed, voiced raised as he looked down at Macy's wide eyes.

" Jesus, Rich. " She whispered, trying to process the bombshell Richie had just dropped on her. And suddenly everything had begun to make sense. From the constant teasing to the abundance of sex jokes... and the kissing bridge. With the R+E that had been carved into the kissing bridge that looked identical to Richie's handwriting. Yet every time Macy joked about it Richie got overly defensive.

Richie didn't even notice what he had just revealed to Macy, his best-kept secret now out in the open, all because of his trashmouth. " I didn't mean to snap at you... I'm sorry. " He apologized, seeing Macy's face not change at all. Looking at him she shook her head, trying to process everything. " You love Eddie? " She asked, watching Richie's eyes go wide as his ears turned red.

Rubbing his eyes through his glasses, Richie cursed under his breath. Wondering to himself how he just let that slip out. The silence in the room got harder to handle and he hoped Macy would still be his friend. " So the R+E was you. I knew it. " She replies trying to break the tension in the room, noticing how stressed out he looked. Richie lifted his glasses to the top of his head and let out a chuckle. " I did that shit when we were like thirteen you bitch. " He laughed sitting on the bed next to her.