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Chapter 12

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Richie's heart pounded in his chest as he led Eddie back toward their room. He couldn't fucking believe this was happening. He couldn't believe Mr. Salinger just walked in on Patrick pretty much raping Eddie right in front of him, and was still blaming Eddie for it.

Eddie was shaking uncontrollably under Richie's hands. He was still slightly wet from the shower, mostly from his hair dripping down. He wore only the same towel Mr. Salinger had wrapped hastily around him before. The house was pretty cold at night, so naturally Eddie must have been freezing.

"Are you okay?" Richie breathed, pulling Eddie close as they made their way up the stairs and into the upstairs hallway.

Eddie didn't answer. His breaths were shaking. Quiet tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Did Mr. Salinger hurt you?" Richie whispered.

Eddie shook his head no, but didn't elaborate. Whatever Mr. Salinger had said or done hadn't done Eddie any good. If anything, he seemed even more upset now than right after he had gotten away from Patrick. Mr. Salinger should have been comforting, should have gotten Eddie warm clothes, taken him to the hospital, promised him he was safe... But he hadn't. Whatever he had said or done had Eddie shaking even worse, refusing to speak, crying breathlessly.

Shaking his head in annoyance, Richie led Eddie into the bedroom, making sure the smaller boy made it to the bed before turning back and closing and locking the bedroom door. Maybe Mr. Salinger wouldn't like it if he came by to check in on them, but he'd just have to fucking knock.

Richie frowned when he turned around only to see Eddie heading for the closet, slipping inside and closing the door behind him. He could hear Eddie sobbing on the other side. He clearly needed to be alone for a moment.

Closing his eyes and exhaling, Richie sat down on his bed, watching the closet door, listening to Eddie's cries. He wanted to open the door, to ask Eddie if he was okay, to make the smaller boy tell him everything, to look him over and make sure he wasn't hurt... But if Eddie wanted Richie's help right now, he wouldn't have hidden himself. He needed a minute to himself, and Richie didn't want to force him to talk.

All day Richie had been wondering what it was Patrick had whispered to Eddie while they were walking to school. It had probably been a threat to do exactly what he'd been doing tonight. Poor Eddie very likely knew this was coming. He'd probably been worried about it all day.

Richie frowned and stared at the closet door, wondering at what point he should stand up, go knock, and ask Eddie to please come out. He wanted to give the smaller boy some space, time to cry if he needed it... He also wanted to be supportive. He wanted Eddie to know Richie was someone he could talk to if he wanted to. He wasn't like Mr. Salinger. He wasn't going to blame Eddie or be mad.

When Richie had woken up and found that Eddie wasn't in his bed, he had been worried immediately. Just seeing what he saw the first night after Richie moved in ere was enough for Richie to suspect Patrick was up to something. So he started walking the halls looking for the smaller boy. If Patrick was hurting him somewhere, Richie didn't want to just go back to sleep. He had to find him.

He headed toward the bathroom when he heard the shower running, had knocked, and heard Patrick's voice. He wasn't sure whether to persist at that point or not. Patrick could have easily been alone. Maybe Eddie had gone downstairs for a drink or a snack... But then Richie heard Eddie's terrified voice, and he couldn't just not do anything.

Richie had kind of freaked out. He started off just pounding on the door, trying the door knob... Eventually he was full-beating on the door, screaming, demanding to be let in. He couldn't stand the thought of Patrick hurting Eddie in there, with Richie right outside, doing nothing to stop it.

All of the commotion woke up the whole house, and Mr. Salinger had a spare key. Richie had honestly expected the man to see what was happening, call the police, and have Patrick arrested immediately. But he hadn't. He treated both Eddie and Patrick like they were equally wrong - and not even in that big of a way. Richie would have expected the same reaction if the man had caught them stealing sodas from a gas station. Like he was mad, disappointed... but that it wasn't that serious, that he didn't need to call the police or take Eddie to the hospital.

Richie exhaled and shook his head. "I'm right out here if you need anything, Eds. I locked the door. No one's getting in unless I let them."

Eddie continued crying softly, not offering Richie an answer.

"I didn't mean for Mr. Salinger to find out... I wasn't trying to tell him or anything... He just heard me... I guess I was loud." Richie explained. "I'm really sorry..."

After a moment, Eddie's sobs died down into soft sniffles. Richie stood up and walked over to their shared dresser, opening up Eddie's drawer and finding some boxer shorts, a shirt, and socks.

"Got you some clothes, Eds." Richie commented as he knocked lightly on the closet door. "I'll leave 'em right here outside the door." He noted, placing the clothing on the floor in front of the closet, then walking back to the bed and sitting down, watching the door.

After a moment, the door opened very slightly. Eddie's small hand reached out, pulled the clothes back in, and the door closed again. It took another couple minutes before Eddie finally opened the door and emerged.

"You okay?" Richie whispered, scooting over on his bed. "Wanna sit down?"

Eddie nodded, sniffing back tears and sitting next to Richie, but keeping a couple feet of space between them.

"Are you hurt?" Richie wondered. He wasn't sure how far Patrick had gotten. Eddie was so tiny. Patrick was pretty big. If he did too much, Eddie would probably have internal injuries. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" Richie whispered. "If Mr. Salinger won't take you, and you need to go, I'll go with you. We can sneak out. Go to the police and everything. You shouldn't have to fucking put up with this."

Eddie shook his head no.

"You sure?" Richie frowned.

Eddie shook his head again. "He barely did it." He whispered.

Richie's eyes were wide as he stared back at Eddie, who was still looking down at the floor. He wondered what exactly Patrick had done, how far he got... whether Eddie was truly okay or not. He didn't want to ask for graphic details, but he did hope Eddie wasn't lying when he said he didn't need medical attention.

"If you want to go to the hospital, or the cops... Or call your social worker or-" Richie started.

"No." Eddie interrupted, staring at Richie with a frown. "I can't tell anyone. Things will get worse."

"They might not." Richie pouted. "If you tell enough people, you're bound to tell the right one eventually."

Eddie shook his head. "There is no right one. Everyone in the world fucking sucks."

Richie exhaled. It certainly felt way sometimes... and Richie couldn't even promise with confidence that Eddie was wrong. Telling people truly might not do him a damn bit of good. "If you do change your mind, I'll go with you. I think I've seen enough that I'd be a useful witness, and I'll definitely speak up on your behalf. I'll go with you to the hospital, testify in court. Whatever has to be done."

Eddie laughed a soft, dry laugh. "I'm not doing any of that. I just wanna leave. I just want to be somewhere where I can feel fucking safe for once. Is that too much to ask?" His eyes shined with tears as he stared at Richie. "Am I asking for a miracle? I just wanna feel safe."

Richie shook his head and frowned. "It's not too much." He answered, moving his arm out so that Eddie could lean against him. He hugged the smaller boy against his side, glad that Eddie was allowing him to do so. "We can try to work on that, Eds. There's got to be some place in the world for us. Some place better than this and everywhere else we've been. We just have to find it. There's good people still left in the world. I know it doesn't seem like it-"

"You're a good person, Richie." Eddie whispered. "Problem is you're as trapped as I am. You're a kid too. You want to help, but there's a lot of ways you just can't."

Richie smiled slightly. Just two days earlier when they first met, Eddie wanted nothing to do with him. He acted like it would take him a lifetime to learn to trust another human being... But it hadn't taken long at all for him to start to trust Richie. Now he was accusing Richie of being a good person, letting him hug him.

"Do you-" Eddie started, snapping his mouth back closed and sniffing as he shook his head slightly. "Never mind..." He whispered.

"What?" Richie frowned. "What is it, Eds?"

Eddie shook his head again. "It's just... Do you think, maybe... Do you wanna run away?" Eddie turned and looked at the older boy. "I sometimes think about just leaving. Seeing how far I can get. Sleeping at libraries and subway stations and on park benches. We could go to the train station, ask people for spare change until we have enough to go somewhere really far away, a whole different state. We'll change our names so no one knows who we really are and they can't make us go back. There's trains that run late, and that go really far. If we get enough money, we could get on one and sleep while it drives. We could sleep for a long time, and no one's gonna hurt us on a train. They can't. There'd be too many people around. Would you come with me?"

Richie inhaled a small breath. Would he? Should they run away? He hadn't really thought about it... On the one hand, it made more sense to him to just call the police, or talk to his social worker... but that process might be really slow, and potentially useless, and Eddie was in danger now. Eddie needed out of here immediately.

"Never mind... Forget I said it." Eddie shook his head and laughed nervously.

"No, you're right." Richie spoke back up. "We should leave..."

"Really?" Eddie's eyes lit up. "We could go to the train station right now. There might not be that many people out... But we can try. And just hang out until we get enough money. I've gotten people to give me money in the past just by looking pathetic. I'm sure I can manage to do it again."

"We can do something like that... But how about tomorrow after school? Then we can look around for money, see if we can take some food with us, try to plan better where to go." Richie suggested. Going now, in the middle of the night, with no money or food sounded really needlessly reckless.

Eddie frowned and looked down. "Okay." He breathed. He looked and sounded so disappointed.

"We'll go, Eds... I'm not gonna let him hurt you again... I just don't think leaving right now is the best idea. I don't want to move too fast and end up screwing up. If we leave right now, we'll just be lost, hungry, unable to afford anything. Wait until tomorrow, after school and we'll have a bit of daylight. We'll have more supplies, hopefully some money..."

Eddie still stared at the floor, but didn't argue.

"We're gonna figure it out, Eds." Richie promised. "Whatever we do, it's gonna get better. We're not staying here if Mr. Salinger allows Patrick to hurt you and then blames you for it. We'll get the fuck out."

Eddie leaned more heavily against Richie. He was shaking still, probably cold, definitely still scared.

"Is it okay if we get under the blankets?" Richie whispered. "You're shivering."

Eddie nodded silently and let Richie pull the blankets back. They both climbed under and Richie cautiously wrapped his arms around Eddie, pulling the smaller boy close against his chest.

"It's fucking freezing in here." Richie noted, rubbing his hands up and down Eddie's arms. "You'd think he could turn up the damn heat."

Richie frowned when he realized Eddie was really still, really stiff in his arms. Richie leaned back slightly, furrowing his brows as he stared down at the smaller boy. "Is this okay?" He asked.

Eddie swallowed, hesitating for a moment. "I think so..." He whispered.

Richie blinked. "You can go back to your bed... If you're not comfortable sharing mine..."

"No, it's just..." Eddie looked down. "I think it's okay."

"Alright... I wouldn't ever try anything. You know that, right? I'm not gonna try to hurt you." Richie promised.

"I know." Eddie's voice was small.

"Okay. Just... You're shivering, and I know you were really scared when Patrick was hurting you. I'm trying to be supportive... It's warmer with two people under the blankets. And if anyone comes in, you can wake me up faster if we're together. I don't want to make anything worse... I promise I won't try to do anything." Richie bit his lower lip. "Just tell me if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"It's okay." Eddie whispered, snuggling close against Richie's chest.

Richie frowned and looked down at his tiny friend, feeling a twisting feeling in his chest. He barely knew Eddie, but for some reason he felt so fucking protective of him. He never wanted this boy to feel another second of pain or fear or betrayal in his life. He wanted to save him.

"Thanks for checking on me." Eddie's voice was so small Richie could barely hear it. "He would have really hurt me bad if you didn't."

"I guess I woke up Henry and Mr. Salinger while I was pounding on the door and yelling... Mr. Salinger had the key to the door. I know he was a bastard once he got in, but he kinda saved you." Richie noted.

"No." Eddie shook his head. "You did."

Richie smiled slightly, pulling Eddie closer and closing his eyes. He didn't know if he'd truly run away with Eddie, or if he'd talk to his social worker, or the police, or maybe a teacher if any of them seemed trustworthy. He didn't know what he was going to do... But he did know he had to do something. He couldn't let this precious person snuggled up against him be hurt any longer. Eddie deserved so much better.

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