Thanatophobia | Richie Tozier [COMPLETED]

27

"Richie!" I hiss.

"Don't worry Marie, he's got a point." Dad says, visibly amused from me and Richie's interaction.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming down the cellar stairs.

"Oh no." I said to Dad. "Is that Mom?" Dad just shrugs.

Thankfully, it was just Eddie.

"Did he wake up yet?" Eddie asks from the staircase.

"See for yourself!" I call out, smiling. This must've gotten Eddie very excited, because the footsteps on the stairs suddenly became very fast, and he ran to where we were. When he saw Richie, a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Long time no see, Eddie-Spaghetti." Richie smirked, and Eddie bent down to give him a hug, before saying, "Don't call me that!"

"Did the others go home?" I asked Eddie.

"Yeah, but they said they'd be back tomorrow." Eddie responded, sitting down across from us. Dad walked over and sat next to Eddie.

"Ok. Family meeting time." He said, clapping his hands.

"You're going to have a family meeting without Mom?" Eddie asked, confused. Dad just nodded. "But don't you want to see her?"

"Of course I want to see your mother Eddie, I just want to wait a couple decades." Dad chuckles.

"Ok, I like your dad now." Richie says to me, bumping my shoulder with his.

I giggle and bump his shoulder back. "I'm glad."

"Dad, can you tell them to stop being all cute during the family meeting?" Eddie whines.

"No Eddie, because this is exactly what I wanted to talk about." Dad states, which catches me and Richie's attention.

"It is?" I question.

"Yes. Richie, right?" Dad asks, and Richie nervously nods. I know that Dad knows his name, he's just trying to freak Richie out more. "Well son, I just wanted to say that I brought you back to life, and if you ever hurt my daughter , I won't hesitate to kill you off. Capiche?"

"Dad!" I exclaim, suddenly embarrassed. "He's not going to hurt me!"

"Well I sure hope so, because he seems like a nice boy. It would be a shame to see him go."

"Daddy..." I groan.

"What?" Richie asks, smirking and I gently hit him again.

"Richie, did you seriously just call yourself Daddy in front of my brother and my father?"

"No, you called me Daddy, I just responded." He winked.

"I was talking to my father you dummy!" I cry.

"Hey, don't talk to your Daddy that way!" Richie warns, shaking his pointer finger at me.

"You're unbelievable." I groan, rolling my eyes.

"That's not the first time she's said that to me." He says, winking at Eddie, who just looks disgusted.

"And we're done here! The family meeting is over." I exclaim, covering Richie's mouth.

"What a shame, I was just getting to know your boyfriend." Dad said shaking his head.

"You see what you did? You suck at making good first impressions Rich." I tell him.

"Yeah, I only want the best for my Princess." My dad states.

Richie somehow manages to pull my hand off his mouth before saying, "But I'm dating your daughter sir, not Eddie." I try to look disappointed but a little bit of my laugh comes out.

"Haha, good one Richie." Eddie laughs sarcastically. Richie and Eddie started to argue, but all I could focus on was Dad's legs.

"Dad, your legs. They're fading." I say, worried. Eddie and Richie immediately stop. Dad looks down at himself.

"So they are." He concludes after a moment. "It looks like my time in this world has expired, for the second time."

"No, please stay Dad!" I cry, tears forming once again.

"I'm sorry kiddo, but I can't. I love you two."

"We love you too Daddy." I say for Eddie, since he seems to be in shock.

And then, just as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone. And the machine disappeared with him.

"Can we please get out of this basement now?" Richie asks. "It's giving me the creeps."