They all went up into Richie's room and saw how bad Henry had hurt him. "Jesus Christ…" Ben looked at how pale and bruised his face was. "What the hell happened to him?" Stanley asked.

"Bowers…" Eddie said softly and the Losers' eyes were all on him. "Bowers fucking did this to him… And it's my fault." Eddie put his face in his hands.

"Eddie, this wasn't your fault-" Mike tried to comfort him but Eddie rejected the help. The guilt was starting to overwhelm him, and it only got worse as he looked at Richie's tired and bruised face. He felt horrible for what he did, and so desperately wanted to go back in time to change how things played out. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible, and the thought of it was too much for Eddie to handle. "Yes, it is!" He stood up and Mike tried to grab his shoulder but Eddie shoved past him and went outside.

The Losers stood in shock at Eddie's outburst, no one saying a word. Mike wanted to follow him, but he knew it was probably best to leave him alone. Beverly looked over at Richie, then back to the group.

"Bowers attacked him last night and stabbed him. I patched him up but he's going to be in pain for the next week or so." Beverly looked down. "We need a plan," Beverly told them and Bill nodded. "Richie's parents aren't going to be home for another week and a half. If we figure out a way to each look after him, alternating shifts, we can make sure his bandages are changed and that he doesn't get an infection. Each day, one person stays with him and no one goes home alone."

"W-We have to stick together… a-and make sure we stay away from B-B-Bowers." Bill added.

They sat and discussed who would take care of Richie on what days when he began to stir. Beverly stood up, as did everyone else, and went to his side. Richie moaned as he squeezed his eyes tight before opening them. "I-I didn't know… I was hosting a p-party." He said weakly, a small smirk gracing his lips.

"How are you feeling?" Ben asked him.

"Like absolute shit… what happened?" He looked up at the group and noticed Eddie was gone. "Eddie?"

Beverly put a hand on his shoulder. "I was able to stitch you up, I'm not a doctor but it should be okay until the wound heals. Eddie… just needed to be alone." Bev told him softly, almost motherly.

"I need to t-talk to him…" Richie tried to get out of bed but the wound on his side stung with the movement, he hissed in pain as Beverly put both her hands on his shoulder and laid him back down. "Don't even think about it. You need to stay in bed."

Richie reluctantly nodded and relaxed again. After an hour of them talking, Eddie soon came back into the room with the now clean sheets. "Eds." Richie smiled but Eddie only gave a sad one back.

"Okay, let's try and get these sheets on without moving him too much," Ben said and it was easier with multiple people helping Richie get the sheets on, trying not to cause too much pain. Richie felt utterly useless for making his friends take care of him because he was stupid enough to go to the Kissing Bridge alone at night.

After a while, the Losers set up some sleeping bags and watched some horror movies until they all fell asleep. The next morning, the Losers were awoken by Richie's alarm clock. Beverly sat up and quickly hit it to stop the annoying sound. They all sat up, rubbing their eyes and stretching while Richie put his pillow over his head, trying to get rid of his blaring headache.

"I'll keep an eye on Richie today," Eddie told the group and they all nodded. "Y-You guys seriously don't have to do this," Richie mumbled. "I'm fine… I just need some sleep."

"Dude, you got stabbed, someone needs to keep an eye on you for a while." Stanley stood up and fixed his hair. "And you're on bed rest so someone has to be here to get you food and water."

"You know…" Richie tried to think of an insult but Stan was right. He could barely move without pain, let alone go downstairs and back up by himself. "You're an asshole when you're right." Richie rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Stan pat Richie's shoulder. "We'll be back to check on you later." He smiled and then the rest of the Losers left the house to get to school. Eddie went back upstairs after locking the front door and returned to Richie's room.

Richie wanted desperately to sleep but he knew that this was his only time to talk with Eddie and apologize. "Eds… I'm sorry for… kissing you. . It was stupid and I understand if you hate me now."

Eddie rolled his eyes and sat on the bed. "I'm not mad at you." He told him and looked at his hands. "I thought you would be mad at me for what I said to you. I didn't mean it like that... I was just…confused and shocked." Eddie looked at him and Richie didn't know how to react.

"Look… Let's just forget about what happened." Richie knew that he would never forget it but for the sake of his friendship with Eddie, he would be willing to let it go.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, I think it's best."

Throughout the day, Eddie made sure Richie was able to get enough food and water and disinfected his wound, changed his bandages, and let him rest. Richie's babysitter came to "check" on him but in reality, she only came inside to drop off some money then leave. The Losers checked upon him again before they went home in a group. Eddie and Richie watched movies until midnight and watched a comedy.

They laughed and repeated the lines back and forth, pretending like they were actually in the movie. Eddie didn't notice how close they got while watching the movie. They were inches apart from each other and when Eddie tried to get up, he accidentally brushed his arm over Richie's wound and he gasped in pain.

Eddie quickly turned around, unable to support himself with his one hand, so the other landed on the other side of Richie, causing them to be face to face. "Holy shit! I-I'm so sorry. Are you bleeding? Did I break one of your stitches?" Eddie said with a panicked look on his face and Richie smiled.

"Eds, you're paranoid." Richie soon started to laugh again, and Eddie couldn't help but laugh too. "You're an asshole." Eddie smiled then his face turned serious.

Richie looked him in the eyes and saw his expression when suddenly, Eddie's lips came crashing into his. Richie didn't know how to react but he didn't stop him. Richie put a hand on the back of Eddie's head and kissed him deeper, wondering to himself if this was a dream.

Eddie didn't know what took over, but he felt like everything was right when he was with Richie. He felt that he needed to reject his true feelings because he knew that Derry didn't accept gay people, but it wouldn't change the feelings he had always felt around Richie. He felt at home and peace, away from everything that was going on. Eddie soon broke the kiss and continued to hover above Richie.

"Wow... That was even better than what I did with Mrs. K." Richie smirked. "Annnnnd you ruined it." Eddie moved over to lay on Richie's side.

"So what does this mean?" Richie turned his head towards Eddie and Eddie looked him in the eyes.

"I don't know… Derry doesn't accept gay people… and… I just need to figure things out but for now… can we keep it a secret?" Eddie told him softly. Richie softly grabbed his face and planted a light kiss.

"Take as much time as you need." He smiled and Eddie grinned back at him. They finished the movie before both of them fell asleep.