(If you want to skip Richie and go right for the "something" Bill wanted to tell Stan, then go ahead and skip this chapter:))

He saw two boys hop on their bikes before he could escape the crowd of teenagers, rushing home for the day. They peddled at least two blocks before he considered was close enough to call out to them. He slumped over moodily to his own bike and yanked it from its place on the rack. Where the hell did all my friends go?

"Hey, Richie," a voice squeaked behind him. It wasn't high enough to be a girl's voice, but damn was that high for a high schooler. Richie turned around and saw none other than Ben Hanscom, the plumpest of the Losers Club. Richie had been yelled at numerous times for calling Ben that, but it was true! Ben had plenty of time to grow anyway. All the fat would turn into height soon enough, so Richie didn't feel that bad. He could call him worse; don't they realize that?

"Hey, Ben," the spectacled boy said, unintentionally deeper than his usual voice.

"Have you seen Beverly around?," the shorter boy asked hopefully. Richie shrugged. "Oh," Ben mumbled, failing at hiding his disappointment. Just then the door swung open again and revealed a tall, ginger girl. Her tight, dirty-red curls were just past her ears and her eyes were a captivating blue. "Bevvy!," Ben shouted happily. She spotted him too, and smiled with an unmistakable charm. She walked towards them.

"Hey, Benjibow," she purred, not seeming to notice Richie was still there.

"What?," Richie didn't hold back; when did he? Beverly finally noticed him.

"It's a nickname I gave him a while back," she explained.

"What in hell possessed you to come up with that?" Ben and Beverly looked at each other and shrugged.

"Just did," they chorused sweetly; sickeningly sweetly.

"Glad one of us gets to see their boyfriend today," Richie blurted. Why did he have to be so careless? He thinks it makes him look cool but it's just gotten to the point where he ruins his own life. Ben looked to be blushing at the muttered comment but Beverly smirked.

"W-We're not, um," Ben stumbled over his words. Seriously? He's taking that out of what the life ruining comment had?

"Eddie absent again today?," she asked casually. Why, you little...

He sighed, defeated. "Yeah, he was." He shrunk into himself. "I'm worried about him," he said softly after a moment. Beverly stepped closer to him and rested a reassuring hand on his forearm.

"If Eddie's ever safe, he's at home. God knows that his mother probably quarantined his room because he coughed. I bet he's well looked-after." She was probably right, Richie thought, but just couldn't shake the worried feeling in his chest.

"What if...," he paused, trying to think his next words carefully. "What if his mom..."

"Found out?," she questioned gently.

"What?"

"Found out... about you two?"

"What? No! It's not like... like... like we're dating or anything." Richie's mind started to reel. What if Mrs. Kaspbrak did have a suspicion and thought her son was gay? What if she could tell that he was in love with Eddie? Oh my God. He imagined Eddie's inhaler then, and thought about if one would help him get his breathing rate down.

"Hey, hey, hey, you two aren't a couple. I know that. And it's not your responsibility to deal with his mother's paranoia, got it? She wouldn't hurt her own son, especially if she's that crazy to protect him." Beverly had her hands on his shoulders at this point, trying to comfort and not smother him at the same time. He looked so horrified by the possibility she had suggested, she felt responsible for what happened entirely. "Hey. Why don't we go see him, huh?" That visibly seemed to calm the noiret down.

"See... Eds?"

"Yep! We can go see him. Even if he's sick we'll say it's important."

"See... Eds."

"Mhm," she hummed as she got her own bike from the rack and started walking it on the path. Richie snapped out of it finally and followed her lead. Ben hurried with his short legs after them.

Richie peddled past Beverly, not realizing he was speeding up even after he had past her. He only thought of seeing his best friend, alive and yelling at him for saying something about his mom. He loved it when Eddie yelled at him. Sometimes he'd even pull his fist back like he was about to punch him. That was the most thrilling moment of his day, even though he never actually hit him before. Bill had punched him once; it was exhilarating. He could only imagine what it would feel like if his Eds punched him, the pain, the adrenaline. He almost completely missed the Kaspbraks' walkway but put down both his feet before he past it. He left his bike on the lawn and ran up the steps to the door. He composed himself and knocked on the door three clean times.

The door whipped open to reveal a stout woman with accusing eyes and thick glasses.

"You," she spat at the freckled boy at her door. "I bet you're the one who's infected my child! What are you here for? To finish the job?!," her voice cracked with paranoia.

"I'm not sick, Mrs. K, I swear on my father's grave," Richie put on the charm and raised his hands in surrender. She cracked the door open a bit more and examined Richie with a suspicious, beady eye. Then she grabbed just below his shirt collar and dragged him inside, shutting the door as Beverly and Ben pulled up.

Beverly smiled and turned her bike around. "Wait, what are you doing?," Ben had saw what had happened but didn't wanna leave just yet.

"He'll be fine," she said dismissively.

"But...," Ben trailed off. Beverly looked over at her friend.

"Hey, Mrs. Kaspbrak is crazy, I'll give you that, but she's no homicidal maniac. Just overprotective." Ben still looked at the house worriedly. "You should be worried for Eddie," she said off-handedly, "He's trapped in a house with his mother and Richie." The redhead walked away with her bike and after a moment the short blond followed her lead.

AN:

Some vocabulary that I learned from reading fanfics (or maybe Tumblr) that are featured in this chapter are:

Noirette/Noiret - Raven haired/black haired person.

Blonde- female-blond- male

(And I'm not positive but I think longer ending hair-describers are female and the shortened one are male as well)

Also, I have many chapters hostage for this story. MWAHAHAHAHA. We'll see how you like it. There may be deception ahead, you may leave this experiment at anytime. Happy Monday! See you soon~