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Chapter 20

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"Thanks, Richie." Eddie whispered as he watched the other boy work on the tape. "That's been on there for so long... I took it off the first time. Bowers got really mad... He put it back and threatened to kill me if I took it off again." He offered a strange, nervous laugh.

Richie shook his head angrily. Bowers had no right to be so fucking cruel. Richie couldn't understand it. Why would someone enjoy hurting someone else? And especially someone so small and harmless like Eddie? Eddie very likely wouldn't have said anything to make them angry... He probably even tried specifically to be polite when they approached him... And then Henry did all of this to him anyway. Taped his hands, threatened him, definitely hurt him in some way or another. He had marks all over his body.

"I've almost got it." Richie noted as he unwound the last bit of tape from his friend's wrists, frowning at the red marks around his arms. Eddie must have been struggling under the tape all this time, trying to get his hands free.

The smaller boy remained silent until the tape was all off, then exhaled and closed his eyes tiredly. "They forced me to get into their car." He whispered, looking down at his lap.

Richie nodded, relieved Eddie was telling him without Richie having to drag the information out of him, but anxious about hearing all of the details. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, as he was honestly terrified of what Eddie might say next.

"Then they took me to his basement. And they taped my hands, and feet, and my mouth." Eddie pouted. "They kept threatening me... and being really rough... They had a gun and a knife... I tried to get away, and Bowers got really mad and said he'd kill me if I tried again. I broke the window in the basement - to try to leave through it. That's how this happened." Eddie laughed nervously, raising his arm up and showing Richie a jagged cut near his wrist.

Richie inhaled a small breath as he took Eddie's hand in his own and gently traced the angry red mark. "I bet that really hurts..." He whispered.

Eddie laughed slightly. "I practically forgot it was there. Things got a lot worse than that... After I broke the window and tried to leave, Henry was so mad. I thought he was gonna kill me. Like, I don't think I've ever seen him more mad. He punched me, really hard. Then he said..." Eddie stopped talking and looked down at his lap.

Frowning, Richie reached over slowly and carefully, putting his hand lightly on Eddie's back. "What did he say?" He asked.

Eddie shrugged slightly, but still wouldn't look up. "That he was gonna... um... I don't know..." He whispered, shrinking down slightly as he tried to find the proper words. "He said... Well, he wanted to do something really, really bad, since I broke the window and he was really mad, and he threatened to... like do sex stuff. Like hurt me in a sex way..." Eddie's voice shook as he forced another very uncomfortable laugh, but still wouldn't look up.

"Oh my god..." Richie gasped. "Eds, are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Eddie whispered. "He said he would, but he didn't. I thought he would. He was acting like he was gonna... He pulled my shorts down and like had me pinned to the floor. I really thought he was going to do it. But I think he didn't really want to. He was just that mad... He wanted to do something really awful because he was so mad, but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. He didn't do it." Eddie looked up and forced a small smile. "He didn't do it... I'm alright..." He said in a tiny voice. His eyes shined with tears and he was still shivering.

"Eddie..." Richie whispered, feeling tears stinging in his eyes as well as he shook his head. He reached out and pulled his friend into a hug, holding him close. "I'm so fucking sorry all this happened..." Even just threatening to do that to someone was beyond awful. Eddie had believed that Henry was really going to hurt him like that. Richie couldn't imagine how terrified his tiny friend must have been in that moment - to have someone big and violent like Henry pinning him to the ground, telling him he was going to rape him. And Henry had actually pulled his shorts down during the whole ordeal? Of course Eddie had believed the older boy would really do it.

"It's okay... It's not your fault." Eddie whispered back, wrapping his arms around Richie and laying his head on the other boy's shoulder.

"I know what you're gonna say... But are you sure you don't want to go to the police?" Richie asked.

Eddie shook his head and pulled back. "Henry's dad? No fucking thanks."

Richie's shoulders slumped. "There's more cops than just him."

"I don't want to, Richie..." Eddie frowned.

"Alright... It's up to you..." Richie bit his lower lip as he stared at Eddie, waiting for the rest of this story. It didn't end here. The younger boy was covered in welts. His neck looked like someone tried to strangle him. Fairly dark bruises lined his arms... He had been gone an entire day and most of the night. A lot had to have happened in that time.

"The worst part was Patrick." Eddie finally continued. "He was being really creepy, and I think Bowers didn't like it. He tried to pretend like it didn't bother him, but it did. He kind of joked about it, but every time Patrick did something and Henry was there, he made him stop."

"Made him stop what?" Richie whispered, feeling his throat grow tight. What could Patrick have done that was worse than what Eddie just said Henry did? Henry made Eddie think he was going to rape him - he actually pulled down his pants. How could Patrick be worse than that?

Eddie looked down again, forcing a nervous laugh and shrugging. "I don't know... Just gross, like, sort of like Henry said... Trying to grab me... Um..."

Richie frowned. "Trying to grab you?" He repeated.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah." He whispered, his eyes brimming with tears. "Like... in a bad way. Like what Henry threatened, but Patrick really meant it." He hesitated, looking down again and shrugging. "He pulled down my shorts too..." Eddie spoke, his voice small. "He wasn't just trying to scare me. He wasn't mad. He was really going to do it. He was gonna make me do things... But Henry made him stop."

Richie exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Did he hurt you? Before Henry made him stop... did he do anything? Did he make you do anything?"

Eddie shook his head. "No. Almost. He got really close. I kept fighting back the second time, and he got really mad... Pushed me against the wall with my pants down... It was so embarrassing, Richie... He was gonna..." Eddie stopped himself, inhaling a small breath and sniffing back tears. "He kept kicking my ankle, and I think heard him unzipping his pants and maybe he was touching himself back behind me. I don't... I couldn't see what he was doing... But... I mean, I know what he was gonna do... I'm not stupid. But Henry came downstairs and got mad and made him leave."

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Richie stared down at his friend. Eddie seemed very nervous, sort of out of breath, like re-telling this was frightening for him - and of course it was. Patrick was still out there. He probably told Eddie to keep quiet...

"He's not going to get near you again, Eds." Richie promised. " Neither of them are."

"Course not. I'm gonna be locked in my room for the next five years." Eddie forced a dry laugh.

Richie smiled slightly as well. "And if your mom ever lets you out, you stick by me. I'll fucking kill Patrick if he ever touches you again. Henry too."

Eddie laughed softly. "Thanks, Richie."

"I mean it." Richie frowned. And he really did. He hated Patrick for trying to hurt his best friend like that. That was even worse than Henry indiscriminately picking on smaller kids or doing things just to scare people. Patrick was a fucking monster. Eddie was so sweet and innocent. That was probably why Patrick wanted to do it. He probably got greater pleasure thinking about sexually assaulting someone who was so naive about sex in general - someone so young and small and kind...

"There's something else too, Rich..." Eddie spoke up.

"Yeah?" Richie frowned, hardly wanting to hear more about this nightmare, but also needing to know.

"You can't tell anyone this..." Eddie started, hesitating and looking up at Richie with wide eyes.

"I won't." Richie promised.

"I mean it. It's about Henry... You can't tell anyone. Not even our friends." Eddie went on.

"Okay." Richie nodded. "What is it?"

"His dad... I heard them yelling and slamming things around upstairs... Richie, his dad is really cruel to him. Henry told me he was going to show me what his dad did to him. That's how I got these marks." He gestured to his back. "He hit me with a belt - and that's what his dad does to him, I guess."

Richie frowned, shaking his head sadly. "He shouldn't have done that to you, Eds. That's so messed up. Just because his dad hurts him doesn't mean he can hurt you... or anyone else."

"I know..." Eddie shrugged. "But it does make me feel bad for him... and I think he felt bad for me too. That's why he let me go. Patrick kept trying to hurt me, and I think it scared Henry enough to call the whole thing off. I think he felt guilty after the belt too. I was really upset. I tried not to, but I cried a lot... Because it really hurt. And I think he legitimately felt bad."

"I don't feel bad for Bowers though." Richie disagreed.

Eddie shrugged and laid down on the couch, resting his head on Richie's thigh. "I do. It wasn't okay that he hurt me... but it's sad how his life is... I know he wouldn't be how he is now if really bad things didn't happen to him."

Richie shook his head as he put his hand lightly on Eddie's head, brushing his hair back carefully with his fingertips. "Everybody's life is fucked up in some way or another. He has no right-"

"I know that." Eddie shrugged again. "Still sad though."

Richie exhaled. "I guess." He finally agreed. Of course it was sad that Henry's circumstances turned him into a cruel bully. But it was more sad that he hurt people like Eddie because of it. Just because the older boy had a messed up life didn't mean he could get away with being abusive himself.

"Richie..." Eddie spoke up after a moment, pulling the other boy's jacket closer around his shoulders as he snuggled against his friend.

"Yeah?" Richie reached down and rubbed his hand up and down his friend's arm, trying to make him warmer, as he still shivered slightly.

"The clown showed up too. Twice." Eddie told him.

"Really?" Richie frowned. "What did he say? What did he do?"

"Kept asking me to come with him. He kept saying stuff like he had a warm bed and food and water and stuff... He said you'd be there. And the others. He came right after Henry hit me with the belt, and right after he left me tied to the tree - which was right after Patrick tried to hurt me. Both times the clown showed up I was completely terrified, in pain. He knew exactly when to come - like he knew I was really scared and hurt... like he knew I might be scared enough to agree to go with him." Eddie whispered.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't, Eds." Richie hugged his arm around Eddie.

"I knew not to believe him, but he painted a pretty picture... He kept talking about pancakes." Eddie laughed dryly. "I think he read my mind... Because I was thinking about your mom's pancakes a lot. Not how you think about my mom's pancakes..."

Richie felt a smile tugging at his lips. "Was that a dirty joke, Eddie Spaghetti?"

Eddie shrugged.

"What are you gonna tell your mom?" Richie asked. "We need our story straight if we're gonna avoid mentioning Bowers and Patrick."

Eddie exhaled and closed his eyes. "I think your fire's working." He noted in a small voice.

"Yeah..." Richie smiled slightly, reaching his hand up and brushing Eddie's hair back again. It was starting to finally dry out a bit so that it didn't hang in dripping, wet clumps anymore.

For a moment, Richie simply stared down at his friend. Eddie's eyes were closed and he looked pretty calm now. The small amount of light coming from the fireplace and the slowly rising sun allowed Richie to notice smaller details, like the faint tear-tracks down Eddie's cheeks, dried flakes of blood under his nose, pale, purple bruises on his cheek, jaw, and neck.

Richie gently reached up and ran his fingers lightly over the bruises on his friend's throat. It looked so violent. He wondered which of their bullies did that to him. Maybe they both did. They had to have squeezed so hard to make bruises like that - dark, finger-shaped marks... Poor Eddie probably couldn't breathe.

"I think Henry was drunk when he did that." Eddie whispered, keeping his eyes closed. His voice was so even and calm, like talking about this didn't really bother him. "He came downstairs and started talking about his dad and what it would be like if I was his brother. It wasn't too scary at first. Then he got madder and madder and started choking me." Eddie frowned, but didn't open his eyes. "I couldn't really de-escalate it... He just kept talking and made himself mad. I wasn't even saying anything, really. Not much anyway. I tried to calm him down... He was drunk. I could smell it on him."

"I'm sorry, Eds." Richie breathed. "Bowers is fucking crazy. You must have been really scared."

"I was." Eddie shrugged slightly, reaching his hand up to hold onto Richie's. "I'm okay now."

Richie nodded. Eddie was right. He was okay now. That was what was important.

Richie smiled as he continued looking down at his friend, taking note of more pleasant details this time - Eddie's dark eyelashes resting against his cheeks, the little freckles peppered across his nose. The smaller boy's mouth was almost smiling, maybe because he felt content being here with Richie. Richie hoped so. He hoped he made Eddie feel safe.

As he continued staring at Eddie's closed eyes, tiny smile, freckled nose and cheeks, Richie breathed out softly. For a while during the past day, he wondered if he'd ever see Eddie again. He had a real fear that Eddie might have been gone forever. Richie would have never gotten to see him again, never gotten to joke about his mom, make gentle fun of him for being so neat and careful. He'd never get to see the little details of his face - his freckles, his eyelashes, the way his nose looked like a little kid's...

In fact, a lot of Eddie looked like a little kid. Eddie was so small - hadn't quite hit puberty yet. In a lot of ways, he still looked like a little boy - more-so than Richie did. More than any of them. Eddie was the same age as the rest of them, but he just looked so little... He was so scared of things. Even with him being more careful than anyone, he still seemed to get hurt more easily than the rest of them. Naturally, the whole group was protective of him.

"I guess we'll have to go back into town soon..." Eddie frowned, blinking up and staring at Richie.

Richie couldn't help but to smile as his eyes met Eddie's. Eddie smiled too, but sort of wrinkled his brow like he was confused, yet amused by Richie staring into his eyes.

"What?" Eddie laughed.

"Nothing." Richie smiled. "Just happy you're okay. Happy to be here with you, Eds."

"Stop calling me that." Eddie reached up and pressed a finger on Richie's nose.

Richie leaned into Eddie's finger, letting the smaller boy squish his nose down in a way that he hoped would look funny. He grinned with he heard Eddie laugh.

"Let's make sure we're on the same page about what happened." Richie suggested. They couldn't go back into town until they agreed on that much.

"I already told you, Richie." Eddie pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and snuggling against his friend's leg again, turning slightly on his side. "I don't want to say it all again... I told you pretty much all of it."

"I don't mean me. I mean what we're gonna tell your mom... The police if they ask." Richie clarified.

"Oh." Eddie's voice was small.

"So what are we gonna tell them?" Richie asked again.

Eddie exhaled tiredly and shrugged.

"We can still tell them the truth if you want." Richie noted.

"No." Eddie yawned. "Just... We'll say I've been lost. I fell down and got scraped up by bushes and branches and rocks and stuff. Hopefully they don't look too hard... I could just refuse to go to the hospital... She can't make me, right?"

Richie bit his lower lip. "I don't know..." He answered. Eddie's mom probably would make him go to the doctor. He doubted his friend would fight her too hard on it. He'd probably give in pretty easily.

"If I have to, I'll just refuse to fucking talk." Eddie spoke. "They can't make me tell."

"True." Richie agreed. He kind of wished Eddie would just tell the truth though. Maybe all of their friends should have been telling the truth about Bowers and his gang this whole time. Maybe they should have spoken up sooner. It had clearly spiraled into something unmanageable. What was the point of keeping quiet to avoid worse things when Henry and Patrick were going to escalate to this? They couldn't do much worse than what they did to Eddie. Not unless they actually raped him... or killed him.

"So... You got lost in the woods then? I snuck out in the middle of the night to keep looking... and finally found you? That's our story, right?" Richie asked after a moment. If they were going to lie about this, they needed to make sure their lies added up with each other.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah." He agreed in a whisper, clearly starting to fall asleep.

Richie exhaled as he leaned back against the couch himself, suddenly realizing he hadn't really slept yet. He felt just as exhausted as Eddie looked.

Trying not to move Eddie too much, Richie maneuvered himself so that the two boys were lying next to each other. He wrapped his arms around his small friend and pulled him close, smiling as he felt Eddie snuggle down against his chest.

"I wish I could just take you back to my house... Have my mom make you those pancakes..." Richie whispered. Eddie had to have been starving by this point. Richie doubted Henry or Patrick made him meals during this horrible ordeal.

"Me too." Eddie's small voice said back. "I knew not to believe the clown when he said he had pancakes. I knew he was lying, just trying to trick me... but I did really want those pancakes."

"I'll bet." Richie laughed softly. His mom did make some pretty damn good pancakes... Hopefully Eddie's mom didn't keep him hidden in his house forever after this. The smaller boy had more than earned those pancakes after this horrible nightmare he'd just endured.

Richie put his hand against the back of Eddie's head, pulling him close so that he could rest his chin against the smaller boy's soft, slightly damp hair.

He didn't want to speak his thoughts out loud, but in a strange way, he was really grateful to Henry Bowers right now. Sure, Henry was the reason all of this happened. He flat out kidnapped Eddie, held him captive, beat him, threatened him, left him tied up in the rain... But he could have done worse, and he chose to hold back, to retreat, to let the younger boy go when he saw his friend taking things too far.

Henry had gotten Eddie into a very serious, scary situation, and Richie fucking hated him for it... but Henry eventually decided to help Eddie out of the mess he'd created too. He didn't have to. He could have let Patrick hurt him. He could have left him in the woods without telling Richie... But instead, for once, Henry had chosen to do the right thing. It was scary that Henry had that power over Eddie tonight... but he did... and he eventually chose to use it in Eddie's favor.

It took him way too long to grow a conscious, but he did have some hint of humanity somewhere deep inside him. Something in him saw that Eddie didn't deserve all this, and he backed off...

Closing his eyes, Richie moved one of his hands carefully down Eddie's back, being mindful of the painful welts there. He smiled as he felt his small friend's steady, even breaths. They probably weren't so calm before.

Richie wanted to cry when he thought about how scared Eddie must have been when the two older boys had him down in Henry's basement... When Henry was hitting him, threatening him with sexual assault, when Patrick was trying to hurt him. Eddie's breaths were probably frantic then. Richie wondered if he had to use his inhaler, if the older boys would have let him use it.

He also wondered why the clown hadn't just taken Eddie with him when he had the chance. He could have. As far as Richie knew, Pennywise didn't ask other kids before he took them or killed them. Maybe he was teasing Eddie - testing him, seeing if he could get him to come willingly, just for his own amusement...

"I thought about you more than the pancakes though, Richie." Eddie finally spoke up with a tired yawn.

Richie frowned and pulled back slightly, trying to see if Eddie was fully awake. The smaller boy's eyes were closed. He looked generally peaceful. He had been quiet for so long at this point, Richie honestly thought he was asleep.

"The clown said you'd be there too... I wanted to go so bad." Eddie went on, his voice so small Richie had to lean down closer to hear him.

"I'm glad you didn't, Eds." Richie whispered back.

"I knew you weren't really with him. That it was a trick." Eddie spoke, his voice still barely above a whisper. "But he said you'd protect me, and he was right... just not about you being with him."

"Yeah." Richie whispered, hugging Eddie close again. "Of course I'll protect you. I'll always protect you."

"I know." Eddie whispered.

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