Pain clouded Richie's senses, it was all he could focus on. Every movement he made sent a shockwave rippling through his nerves. Despite the pain, he knew he had to get to the safety of his room. He could tend to his wounds there, that thought alone kept him moving. With each agonizing step, Richie was closer to safety. One had was gripping the railing of the stairs, while the other was clutching his stomach. He knew it was going to take some time to heal, which was going to make hiding it that much harder.
He let out a sigh of relief once he took the first shaky step into his room, stumbling further in before soon collapsing by his door. He took in a few shallow breaths, ignoring the pain in his chest. With the last bit of strength he had, he pushed his door shut, reaching up to lock it. Once he knew it was safe, Richie let the tears flow, sobs escaping his lips, pain radiating through him with each gasp. Richie didn't even have the strength to make it to his bed, so he laid there, slumped against his wall, a mess of blood, bruises and tears.
As his adrenaline wore off, he let himself succumb to the sweet release of sleep.
He awoke to the sound of someone entering his window, he had no idea what time it was, though he could see it was still dark. "'Chee? Are you alright? You were supposed to meet up with us today..." he heard Eddie's voice call out. How long had he been out?
"Y-You shouldn't be here Eds..." He called back, his voice hoarse. "You should leave..." Richie knew damn well the words were pointless, especially when the smaller boy reached his side.
"Holy shit! What the fuck happened, Richie?!" Eddie gasped, staring down at the boy he cared so deeply for. "Can you stand? We need to get you into bed, then you need to explain what the fuck happened while I patch you up."
Richie couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle, Eddie was so cute when he was worried. "I think I can stand. But Eds, you should go. I'll be okay, I promise." He tried, not wanting Eddie to suffer the same fate he had. He knew his words meant nothing, he knew Eddie would never leave him like this.
Eddie wrapped his arm around Richie's waist, helping the taller boy stand. He led Richie carefully to the bed, propping him against the side so he could get a better grip on the boy. After much effort, the wounded Trashmouth was laying in his bed, a pained expression on his face. "There's not much I can do about the bruising, but I can patch up the gash on your head." Eddie said promptly, pulling some gauze and a small container of rubbing alcohol out of the fanny pack Richie always teased him for. Though now, in this moment, Richie had never been more thankful for that god awful fashion statement.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow at his friends silence. He had never seen Richie this quiet, it honestly scared him a little.
"I took a tumble down the stairs, s'all." Richie mumbled out, it wasn't entirely a lie, so he hoped Eddie would buy it. Thankfully for him, the smaller boy just scolded him about watching where he was going while he was being patched up.
He wished more than anything he could tell Eddie the truth, but it was too much for that small boy to handle. Hell it was too much for Richie to handle and he was the one going through it. He let himself drift off once more while Eddie continued to clean him up. He couldn't face him after lying to him like that.
