The Losers miss Richie. With every day that passed, they missed him more and more. There are moments when they expected to hear a stupid joke or a cuss word, which made them groan annoyed, and fond at the same time as they said Beep Beep Richie. They missed the fact that he was full of energy when all of them were zombies. Always running around in circles around them, or biking in circles around them. Or babbling nonsense. But this was over. Eddie felt guilty the most. And he wonders how the others had forgiven him so fast. If he hadn't been so stupid to say what he has said then Richie wouldn't have gone home early and none of these would have happened.
Besides Eddie, Bev was the second one who felt more guilty. Even if she doesn't know him as long as Stan, Bill and Eddie, she's familiar with fucked up parents. She should have seen the sign. Should have seen that most of Richie's smiles were fake and all his jokes are just a poor cover to hide his true hurt self. She wonder if another family had taken him in. If she was happy. If his new family was better than his old one.
The others had tried to replace the emptiness that Richie had left them by saying jokes instead of him. Richie jokes. But it was not the same. When they say it it was just cringe and they stopped immediately. And if that was not enough when they started high school, the bullies started saying things like "The little fairy had finally run away with other fags?" or " Did he leave in the fairyland, riding on a rainbow?" It made them angry and more than once one of them punched the bastards in their smug faces. It was either Stan or Bev. One time even Bill did it.
It was hard without Richie. And they all wondered if they would be able to see him again one day.
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"What if we leave on a road trip?" Bev asked one day from where she was lying on the hammock.
"B-But we didn't f-finished school yet," Bill said. "We still have a f-few m-more w-weeks"
Bev shrugged. "We finished all the exams. These few weeks would be weak. And we have all passing grades"
"What about money? And a car?" Mike asked. "None of us have a car or driving license.
"We fought a demon clown three years ago. And you would let a driving license stop you?"
"Bev is right," Ben said. "These years had been stressful and we need some relaxation. I think that I can ask for some money from my parents"
"Same here," Stan said. "And my father would let lend me his car if I told him that it's to be prepared for when I take the test for the driving license. By the time he would figure out we would be long gone"
"So. Are you in?" she asked with a smile and all of them nodded without hesitancy. Their parents would lend them some money If they convince them that it was for a school trip. And when they would run off, they would find a way to get more at that time. It was Friday now so they planned for all to leave on Sunday morning. It wasn't hard to convince their family of the school trip. And if they would find out, it would be too long. Yes, they would probably be in trouble when they would return home, but it would be whort it. Eddie's mom was the hardest to convince, which was no surprise. But Eddie had managed to bullshit her by telling her that the trip would be in a very safe environment. In the end, she had give in and handed him some money. Sunday morning around 7 in the morning the Losers climbed in Stan's car and left Derry.
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Their first destination had been Las Vegas. They even managed to get into the casinos with fake IDs. What stupid the people were there. In the beginning, they didn't know what to do there. But as they watched other people play, they got the hunch and started playing as well. There were people who looked at them suspiciously, but their suspicions turned into awe when they started to win. In the end, they had left the casino with more money than what they had when they left. They stayed there for a week. They rented a motel room with two beds and slept three in a bed. They went to the casino two more times and besides that, they visited the arcades and other attractions. Eat in restaurants and watched movies in the cinema. But stayed away from clubs.
Their next destination had been New York. They hadn't stayed there as much as they did in Las Vegas because they didn't find it too interesting. While they enjoyed the Statue of Liberty and Time Square and the food, there were too many rude and creepy people. Especially in the subways.
Their next destination had been California. And there. They enjoyed it maybe more than they did in Las Vegas. There may be more traction and fun places to visit in the town. But they ignored it because they spent most of their time there on the beach. They had a sandcastle between them, they lounged on the sand and bathed in the sun. And they even went in the water to swim. Eddie was the one who was more hesitant to get in because apparently, it was different than at the Quarry. "There can be sharks. or jellyfish. Do you know how dangerous jelly fishes sting is?" He rambled and the others looked mischievously at each other. Bill and Mike grabbed him by the legs and arms and they threw Eddie into the water. Eddie went in the water with a yelp and when he resurfaced they laughed as he cursed them. They spent more than a week there.
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"Hawkins?"Mike asked from where he was sandwiched in the backseat between Ben and Eddie. "Why here? It doesn't look like an interesting town"
"I didn't even know that it existed", Ben pointed out.
"I don't know. There's something here that made me drive" Bev said from her driver's seat. They always change the driver when they leave the town. And they all managed to drive smart to not be caught by the police.
"I h-hope that it n-not sh-sh-something bad"Bill said from where he was perched on Stan's lap. Unfortunately, the car was not big enough so the one who rode in the passenger seat was forced to take someone on the lap.
"Stop being negativist. I'm sure that nothing bad would happen here" Stan said reassuringly. Unfortunately, as if he had jinxed once they entered in the town, a noise had come from the engine that made the car shake.
"What was that?"Eddie asked.
"The engine. Shit" Bev said as the car died down in front of a neighborhood of houses that can only belong to rich people.
The Six Losers climbed out from the car and Stan lifted the hood of the car and smoke come out from the car. "Shit. My dad's going to kill me"
"Kind of impossible if we can't get home" Eddie pointed out. "Do you know how to fix this"
"Hell no. I don't even know what's wrong" Does anyone know?" he asked but all his friends shook their heads negatively.
"We can ask for help from one of the houses," Ben said.
"This a rich people neighborhood. Do you freely think that anyone would bother to help us"
"It's w-whort the try," Bill said and Stan closed the hood. The six of them walked to the first house that they saw and Bev knocked at the door. It took a couple of minutes but the door opened revealing a man, not that much older than them with brown wells styled hair. He was shirtless with only a pair of shorts and all of them could see the scars on his torso and neck. The one from his torso looked like bites. Not that different from Stan's ones from his face. Only slightly bigger.
"Yes. Can I help you?" he asked politely.
"Yes. Sorry to bother you. But our car engine died down and we don't know what to do. Can you help us?"
Before the man could answer another voice come from behind him. A painfully familiar voice. "Steve what are you doing there? How long does it take you to bring some drinks?"
Their eyes widened. They didn't imagine the voice. Right? "Richie?" they all said.
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Mike froze when he heard very familiar voices calling his old names. He walked closer to Steve and here they were. The Loser Club at Steve's doorstep. All of them were frozen. Bev was the one who moved first and she shoved Steve away. Rude. She rushed inside and stopped in front of him. "Richie?" she asked uncertainly. He was him. Right? Not someone that looked like him. Yes. He looked different. He was taller, he didn't have glasses anymore and his hair was long and curly. But he was him.
"Bev", he all but whispered and that was enough for her as she launched herself at him and she hugged him tightly.
"Richie. Richie," she said with a sob. "You fucker", she said pulling away and hitting him on the arm making him wince. After that, she hugged him again. "I was so worried about you. So worried" she said and soon enough Richie was enveloped by 4 more pairs of arms.
"Richie. I can't believe that it's you"Mike
"We missed you so much you little shit" Stan
"We've been so worried about you. Scared that something bad happened to you" Ben
"I th-th-though th-that we won't see y-you ag-again" Bill. His stutter was worse when emotional compared to when he's angry where it was better.
When all of them pulled away Mike realized that the only one who didn't hug him was Eddie. He was staying away feeling awkward. Mike's heart hurt. Does Eddie still find him disgusting and doesn't want to touch him again? "Eddie Spaghetti", he started but it was more anxious than teasing. "You are not going to hug me? You didn't miss me?" he asked and Mike expected for the boy to scoff and walk away. Instead, Eddie threw himself at him and he hugged him tightly. Mike was taken by surprise but he hugged Eddie back.
"I'm sorry. I',m sorry"Eddie continued to say against his chest gripping his shirt tight.
"It's ok," Mike said with a small smile. Eddie pulled away when Steve cleared his throat. Mike looked to see that everyone had walked in when they heard the commotion.
"So Wheeler," Steve said. "Mind telling us who these people are and why they called you Richie and you answered to the name?"
"It's a long story"
"We have time"
"Alright. First thing first. These are my friends from the city I lived before moving to Hawkins. Guys. These are Bill, Stan, Bev, Mike, Ben, and Eddie" Mike said as he pointed to each person from left to right. "Me and they were known as The Loser Club in Derry"
"Loser Club" Lucas asked confused.
"Ah, y-yes. We are c-called l-losers in school so we kind of a-adopted it as our nickname" Bill said and Mike smiled widely.
"Wow, Big Bill. Your stutter got better I see. I thought that you would remain a stuttering bitch all your life", he said as he patted his shoulder. His friends from Hawkins all gasped at Mike's words, not believing that he had insulted his friend. But the Losers knew that his words are not malicious or insulting.
"Beep Beep Richie," Bill said with a fond smile. They missed this. All of them. The others were still confused by Mike ignored them.
"Anyway. Yes. We were the Losers Club. In the beginning, it was just me, Bill, Stan, and Eddie. But later Mike, Bev, and Ben joined as well, by becoming our friends"
"And we didn't regret it one second," Bev said.
"Losers. These are my friends from Hawkins. Will", he pointed to the boy that was closer to him. "His brother Jonathan and sister El and his best friend Argyle" he continued to the people closest to the outside door that was taking you to the pool. "These are their parents Joyce and Hopper", he pointed to the only grown-ups there. "The others are Dustin, Lucas, and Max", he said pointing to the other kids his age. "Steve", he said pointing to the man who opened the door. "Steve's whatever" Boyfriend or friend none of them knew. "Eddie", he pointed to the man closer to Steve. "And Steve's best friend and my cousin Nancy", he said pointing to the only older girls there"
"Wow. You made a lot of friends here Richie. You must be popular" Mike said and Richie chuckled.
"Not really"
"Great. So we have two Eddies and Two Mikes for now. That would be fun" Steve said.
"What do you mean two Mikes? I'm the only one names Mike"
"Yeah. About that. You asked me why they called me Richie. Well, the truth is that my real name is actually Richie Tozier. I had some problems with my parents at home in Derry" Problem was lightly put. "The CPS got involved and they were arrested. I've neem taken in by my aunt, who I didn't even know that existed 3 years ago. That's why I moved to Hawkins. And when I moved I decided to change. New town. New life. New family. New me. So I changed my name, the way I dress, and exchanged lentils over glasses"
"I see that you gave up on your trash mouth too" Stan pointed out. And was that disappointment in his voice? Wow. Mike never thought that the Losers would miss his foul language"
"So. How should we call you then?"Max asked.
"You can still call me Mike. The Losers can still call me Richie. I don't mind. But to not be confused call me Richie too when the Losers are here" Mike said and the others nodded. Then he turned to his friends.
"Why are you guys here? How are you guys here"
"We are on a road trip. Bev idea" Eddie said.
"Y-yes. W-we've been in Las Vegas, N-New -Y-York, and C-California till now"
"Wow. In so many places. When did you guys leave?"
"A few weeks ago," Bev said.
"But what about school"
"We already had ur exams finished and all passing grades. So we decided to go out and have some fun"
"What about your parents? What did you tell them?"
"That we are going on a school trip, "Ben said.
"And they believed you?" All of them nodded. He looked at Eddie. "Even your mom, without my amazing self, spending the night with her to convince her to let you go?" he asked with a smirk and the others scrunched their noses but Eddie only laughed.
"Beep Beep Richie. But yes. It had been a little hard but I bullshit her into letting me go"
"You said that your kids' car is broken?"Steve jumped in the conversation
"Yes. Can you help us?"Ben asked. Steve looked at Hooper.
"Can you look at it, Hop?"
"Sure kid, "The man said and he walked out from the house.
"In the meantime, you can stay here if you want to"
"Noo. No. No. We don't want to impose"Stan said.
Steve smiled at them. "Nonsense. Any friend of Mike or Richie or whatever your name is is a friend of us"
"C'mon guys," Mike said as he guided his friends to the pool.
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The Losers started to get along with the others. They are all very friendly. They all stayed at the pool and talked with each other. The Losers telling them about their lives in Derry, keeping IT out from the stories. Like the others kept the Upside Down out from their stories. They also noticed how close was Richie was with the boy Will. Their touches and looks were more than friendly. And they also noticed how Eddie looked away every time when he saw Riche laughing with Will. Both regret and jealousy in his eyes.
"I'm afraid that I have bad news kids," Hopper said as he walked back to the pool. "The engine is burnt. I called the mechanic but he can get here until next week on Wednesday" He said and the others groaned. Hopefully, he would be able to fix it. At least they don't need to worry about the money. "Do you have where to stay?"
"We can get a room at a motel. We stayed in these in the other cities too" Eddie said.
"Nonsense," Steve said as he walked towards them with a smile. "You all can stay here. It's better than in a cheap ass motel."
"Are you sure? We don't want to impose?"Mike said.
"I'm more than sure," he said and Richie sent Steve a grateful look.
They spent the day, playing in the pool, talking and getting to know each other, and eating. Luckily it was enough food for everyone. Soon then they all wanted, it started to get dark and it was time to get home. "Richie. You want to stay here or go home with Nancy?"Steve asked.
"Here" He answered without hesitancy.
"Alright then. I have three more free rooms. The Master bedroom which is my parents' bedroom. They are never home, so Stan, Bill you would stay there. Ben and Eddie one room and Bev one more."
"Actually. I want to stay with Richie tonight"
"Ahh" Steve looked confused and he turned to look at the said boy. Richie nodded. "Alright. You can stay with him. Eddie, you get Bev room tonight" he said.
Mike saw Will's disappointed look when he agreed with Bev to stay in his room. "I will walk you out", he told his boyfriend and he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and walked him out from the house. "Are you alright?"
"Mhm. I would have wished to stay with you tonight"
"Next time, "Mike said with a soft smile. "We are still on about tomorrow?"
The disappointment died down and was replaced by happiness. "Definitely."
Mike leaned over and he kissed Will lightly on his lips. Alright. Goodnight love"
"Goodnight baby", he said and he climbed into Jonathan's car. Mike walked back into the house where he was waited by Steve.
"Your friends are already in their rooms"
Mike nodded. "Thank you, Steve. For letting them stay here"
"No problem kid. I'm turning in. See you tomorrow "Mike bid goodnight to Steve and he walked into his room where he saw Bev on the bed, leaning against the headboard.
"Nice room", she said as she looked around admiring the decorum. Which was not that much. This is not his official room. Is a place where he stays sometimes. One day he heard his aunt and uncle making ill-mannered comments about the queer people and he yelled at them to stop it. His uncle accused him of being one. Which is true of course. But Mike didn't said anything. He left home and asked Steve if he can stay with him for a while. He agreed and gave him this room. And now every time he wants refuge from home, he comes here. "This is where you live?"
"Not always," Richie said as he climbed into the bed and crossed his legs as he sat in front of her. "It's my refuge from my home," he said and he could see his friend's sad look.
"Do you live in a bad place?"
"You can say that. My uncle and aunt are not accepting of different things. They didn't hurt me or anything. But they make commentary. So sometimes when I feel overwhelmed I come here"
"Your friend is a good person if he let you live here. He let us live here too and he barely knows us"
"That's Steve for you. He used to be an asshole in high school. But he had changed because of some circumstances and now he's the kindest person you would ever meet"
Bev chuckled. "I believe you" Her smile died down and was replaced by sadness and regret. "Richie. I'm sorry"
"Huh? For what?" he asked confused.
"That time when you didn't show up for two days we went to your house to see if you are alright. We feared that IT was back. When we got there your neighbor told that about your parents abusing you and that they've been arrested and you were taken away"
"Oh" Richie looked away and he rubbed his arm. "It's not your fault. There's no reason to apologize."
"No. I should have known better. I should have seen the sign sooner"
"Can you drop this Bev? Please. I don't want to talk about this anymore", he said and he looked pleading at her. He really wanted to forget about them. But even all these years it's harder then you think. Especially when you suffer from nightmares.
"Right. Alright," she said and for a few minutes, there was nothing but silence. "I see that you and that boy Will are pretty close", she said and Richie tensed. Shit. He had thought that he was being careful. "Are you two together?"
"N-no. N-no. We are just friends"
Bev chuckled. "You are turning in Bill, Richie? So unlike you. It's alright if you two are together"
"Really?"
"Mhm. Love is love. It doesn't matter who you love as long as you are happy. Plus is cute", she said and Richie giggled
"Yes. He is. And very talented too. Thank you, Bev."
Bev nodded. "Soo. Do you want to see if the others are awake"
"Hell yes," Richie said as he jumped from the bed. The two of them walked out from the room and tiptoed when they passed Steve's room. When they arrived in front of the master bedroom they heard multiple voices coming from there. When Richie opened the door he saw that everyone was there. "Hey Losers", he said with a smirk.
"Richie. Bev. W-we w-were a-about to check if y-you are awake"
"Well, here we are. Awake", he said and he walked into the room with Bev and he jumped in the bed. The seven friends talked with each other telling Richie what he missed in Deery. None of them knew when they all fell asleep.
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Richie was walking in the forest. It was dark and cold. He crossed his arms and rubbed his bare arms up and down. He barely saw anything in front of him and he didn't know where he was going, At some point, he stumbled over something and he fell to the ground. When he turned to see what he stumbled over his eyes widened when he saw a mutilated body of a boy. He can't be older than him. He gasped and he crawled backward. Then he saw a shadow through the tree and he feel a shiver running down his spine. "Soon", a voice whispered in his ear.
Richie woke up with a gasp, and he stood up hugging himself shivering. It was dark and for a second he thought that he was still in the forest. "Mhm. Richie?" he jumped as he heard a voice beside him. "Richie?" the voice asked again and a hand touched his arm. He looked to see Eddie. Right. He was in the Master Bedroom, in Steve's home. They all fell asleep there. The bed might be big, but not enough for seven teens, and yet they made it work. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Yes. I'm fine. Just a nightmare"
"Are you sure?", he asked worriedly.
"Yes. Sorry for waking you up", he said and he laid back down with his back to Eddie. He felt Eddie laying back down and he wrapped a hesitant arm around his waist. Richie tensed in the beginning but before Eddie could remove his arm, he relaxed. Richie closed his eyes trying to get back to sleep and forget about the dream. It had been just a dream. Right?