The losers watched Richie basically lose his mind before school. They had all done everything they could to calm him down. Eddie had done the most but Richie refused his help. Stan knew that they liked each other and thought it was funny.
They hadn't even left Richie's house yet. "Richie! Get it together! We're all going to be late at this rate!" Ben said slightly annoyed. "Oh, I'm sorry Ben, am I wasting your time? What if I told the entire school about your crush on Bev!" Richie shouted. Ben turned bright red. Beverly knew but that didn't make it any less embarrassing.
"R-Richie c-calm down. T-they probably a-already f-f-forgot," Bill tried to reassure. Richie turned to look at him. "They most definitely did not! Who would forget that?! Who would forget the person Henry tormented for being gay, is actually gay?!" Everyone shut up."Yeah, exactly."
Richie threw on his backpack and adjusted his not buttoned up button-up shirt. He stormed out of his house and the rest of the Losers followed him out. Richie got on his bike and sped off, not even waiting for his friends. Stanley shook his head and took off after him.
When everyone caught up with him he was stopped down the street from the school by where they hid their bikes. Eddie was first to go over to him. "Hey, Spaghetti. Remember when you freaked out about aids going around?" Richie asked not even looking at him. "Um, yeah why?" Richie turned around. "You aren't gonna be the only one now!" He said half-joking. Eddie heard the sadness in his voice.
Eddie hugged him. Richie's eyes went wide. Riche instinctively pushed him off. "Oh, sorry Eds," He whispered when he saw a look of confusion on his face. The rest of the Losers joined them and hid their bikes.
They made their way to the front doors and Richie could feel eyes following him. Stanley and Beverly were on either side of him, Bill was in front, and Ben and Eddie were behind him. It was like he had a personal group of bodyguards. When they all walked in they all heard whispers coming from everyone. Bill got pushed out of the way and it felt like everyone had been separated from Richie, and he was standing in the middle of the hall where everyone could see him.
(Play Mother Mother- Back in School)
Right, when he felt like he was going to have a panic attack, Victor appeared out of nowhere. He put his arm around Richie's shoulder. "We have a problem, everyone?" Victor called out. No one answered. "I'm 90% sure we weren't forced to come here today for everyone to stare at him," Victor said pointing at Richie with his thumb.
The entire school was scared of those who were part of Bower's gang at one point because of what happened. Everyone backed off. "Come on," Victor whispered to Richie. They started walking and Richie felt relieved. "Thanks..." Richie whispered. Victor nodded but didn't say anything else.
The entire day dragged on like that. People would start talking and Victor would appear out of thin air. Richie was glad he didn't have to deal with it himself. At lunch, Victor sat at the very end of their table watching in case someone tried something.
Richie had clearly already dealt with some shit, as his nose still had a slight bruise. Victor felt bad for the kid. No one wants to be outed like that. That's why he was so glad Henry and Patrick were gone.
When school was over Richie didn't even wait for his friends, he went home faster than a kid gets up for Christmas. He was glad his parents weren't home. Richie ran into his room and cried. God, why did this have to be so hard? Richie just wanted to be normal. Being gay wasn't normal.
Richie almost freaked out when Eddie walked into his room. Goddammit! He just wanted to be alone. "What, Eddie?" He asked when he saw him in the doorway. Eddie shook his head and walked over to his bed where he was sitting. Eddie wrapped his arms around him tightly, so he couldn't push him away this time.
"Don't cry on me. I don't want your germs on me, have you even washed your face ever?" Eddie asked. "Yes, after me and your mom-" Eddie smacked Richie on the side of the head, making them both laugh. Richie relaxed. Being in Eddie's arms felt natural like it was meant to be that way.
Richie felt sad, thinking Eddie would probably never like him in the way he did. The kiss was probably an accident, like the other kiss they shared. Richie started crying again but Eddie held him tighter.
"You're loveable Richie. So loveable. There's nothing wrong with being gay." Richie shrugged. "Richie I'm serious! It's fine that you're gay!" Eddie insisted. Richie shook his head. "Well... I... I think I'm gay. Does that make me bad too?" Richie put his head up from Eddie's shoulder. "Are you serious?" Eddie nodded.
"Richie... I... I think I like you too-" Eddie was once again cut off. Why does this always happen? The rest of the Losers walked into the room. "Great," Richie mumbled.