I mean it is the 25 for me. 12:15 AM! HA
At the end of this one it isn't exactly happy cus ya know, funerals aren't a happy thing so uhh... yeah!
The song used in this doesn't belong to me, it's Good Grief by Bastille, it's the slowed version in this and I cried the first time I heard it (as in I saw it in a what if Eleven hadn't save Mike video).
I'm gonna post the epilogue a couple hours after this one so be on the look out!
"No!" Eddie cried, grabbing at his hair as he looked at Richie's still form. "How do I fix him? What do I do?"
"Kiss him." Ben said. Everyone turned to him. Mike helped El stand and walked over to them. Mike stared at Richie as Eddie leaned up and kissed him on the mouth for a couple seconds and pulled away. Nothing happened.
"It took a couple seconds when you did it, Ben, didn't it?" Eddie asked hurriedly. Ben nodded. It was another minute of complete silence and no one moved. Eddie let out a loud cry and sank to the floor, Bev rushing to him and pulling him into her arms. Mike's mouth dropped open and his heart sank. He made sure El was okay to stand and slowly made his way over to Richie, swallowing harshly. He reached both hands up and hesitated for a second, and put his hands on either side of Richie's head.
"I can't lose you, Rich." Mike whispered, his voice cracking even then. "Not again. Please... wake up. I want you to be in my wedding, you know? I... you can't if you don't wake up. Wake up." He put his forehead against Richie's and closed his eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. He didn't see Richie's eyes turn back to their normal brown, ones identical to his own. He didn't see the tears begin falling, or the wide grin that spread across his face. Richie moved his arms and wrapped Mike in a hug.
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you." He attempted to joke. Mike jumped back, hands slightly raised in front of him. Mike blinked a couple times, processing it. He smiled for the first time in what felt like forever and nearly tackled Richie to the ground in a hug.
"Richie!" Everyone exclaimed, and suddenly, he was on the floor in a mess of long and short limbs. Eddie had run at him and actually knocked them both down. Mike rolled away, letting out a soft huff of breath as Eddie cried into Richie's chest, hugging him tightly.
"You fucking asshole, never do that again!" He exclaimed, smacking his shoulder. Richie chuckled and managed to sit up.
"I can assure that I will never do it again. I saw El kill the fucker and a giant magic turtle told me it was over." Everyone stared at him. Mike sat up and furrowed his brows.
"What kind of drugs are you on?" Will asked, seeming genuinely concerned. Richie just grinned brightly.
"I will be glad to explain later, because Ed's here is about to squeeze me to death."
"Damn it, Eddie." Richie shook his head. They were on the way back to Mike and El's house, and Richie insisted that he was okay to drive as long as he had his Eddie Spaghetti with him. "I fucking beat a demon clown with a bat. Again."
"It amazes me that you thought to bring that thing." Richie chuckled.
"I was glad to have it. Felt like old times." Eddie rolled his eyes but noticed something.
"Try to calm down some, okay Chee? You're shaking." Richie then noticed just how bad he was shaking. "Take a deep breath." He took a couple deep breaths and the shaking ceased a bit.
"Why the hell am I shaking, Eds?"
"Nerves." He replied. "I'm shaking too. Adrenaline, I guess." Richie nodded and swallowed. They were quiet the rest of the ride. When they got to Mike and El's house, everyone was already inside. They rushed in, and everyone turned to look at them.
"Where's Mike?" Richie demanded.
"With El." Stan told him.
"Where is she?" Eddie asked, squeezing Richie's hand as he let out a breath of relief.
"She'll be fine." Hopper piped up from his position on the couch. "She just needs a lot of rest. She's upstairs sleeping."
"What about Holly?"
"We dropped her off back at home." Ben explained. "Figured it'd be better for her since we have a lot to talk about and she needs rest."
It was quiet for a while, while Eddie checked around on everyone, making sure they were okay. Richie sat on an arm chair, his face in his hands.
"What the fuck, Richie?" Bev demanded, walking into the living room. She'd been in the bathroom with Bill, cleaning up each other's cuts and bruises. Richie turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Why did you do that?"
"What? Save you from floating?"
"Yes! We could have lost you, idiot! Like honest to God lost you this time!"
"You can't say a goddamn thing, Beverly. You literally told me to go kill myself not even a week ago. You wouldn't miss me if I hadn't woken up."
"Yes the hell I would! You're my best friend. I don't know why I said that, Richie, and I'm sorry. I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you. I'll- I'll fucking go back to Derry with you and fight Greta or something if you want me to." She was crying, stomping her foot a little for emphasis. Richie rolled his eyes and sighed, looking at the other Losers.
"And you fuckers call me dramatic." He grumbled. He crossed his arms. "Look, I forgive you and all Bev, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. I was honestly gonna go find a bar and drink til I died or something." He shrugged. "I'd actually like a drink to be honest but it doesn't seem like the right time."
"I think I have beers in the fridge if you want one." Mike said, walking down the stairs. He was shirtless, a completely red bandage taped to his shoulder, harsh against his pale skin.
"What the fuck." Richie deadpanned. "Dude, if you think that's a good look for you, you've got it all wrong." Mike rolled his eyes fondly. "But I will gladly take you up on the offer." He made his way to the kitchen.
"Michael Wheeler, I told you not to put a lot of strain on your shoulder." Eddie scolded him, pulling him all the way into the living room and making him sit on the couch.
"I kind of broke down a door and got thrown into a wall a couple times so I'm not sure I could stop it, Eddie." Eddie sighed.
"True, sorry. This is probably the worst injury we have and it wasn't even from today. I mean Mike H dislocated his shoulder but it'll heal pretty quick since we popped it back into place."
"Oh that's what the yell was?" Richie yelled from the kitchen. "And here I thought someone was getting frisky with it!"
"Beep Beep mother fucker!" Eddie yelled, then cringed at the use of beep beep. He relaxed a little when he heard Richie laugh. "Ben, can you hand me the first aid kit over there?" He asked, pealing off the old bandages quickly. Ben nodded and handed it to him, whereas he placed it in Mike's lap. Dustin, Max and Bill watched him curiously as he cleaned the blood away and then dabbed at the cuts with alcohol.
"Are you sure it doesn't need to be stitched?" Joyce asked, worriedly, sitting next to Mike and taking his hand in hers and squeezing lightly.
"Positive. If he needed stitches I could stitch him up. Even if he did it'd be too late, the hospital would just do what I'm doing now."
"Have you ever thought about going to medical school?" Hopper asked. Eddie jumped a little at a particularly loud grunt coming from Mike and apologized.
"Uh, yeah but..." He glanced at him sheepishly. "I wouldn't be able to afford it on my own. My mom is kinda..."
"Fucking insane." Richie stated, leaning against the door frame with a half empty bottle of beer in one hand.
"Yeah, that. She agreed for me to go to school to be a pharmacist as long as I stayed in Derry, like to actually work."
"Well, Eddie, do you still wanna go to med school?" Richie asked. Eddie raised an eyebrow, noting how serious Richie was being as he'd used his actual name.
"Yeah, but-"
"No buts, Eds. Yes or no?"
"Yes."
"You're going to med school." He pointed at him with his free hand. Eddie stopped what he was doing and looked at Richie.
"But-"
"I said no buts." He took a swig out of the bottle. "I can take care of the expenses."
"Richie, med school is really expensive." Stan said, eyeing him idly.
"I'm well aware of that, Staniel. Did you forget that I was an only child and my parents, excuse me, adopted parents, were pretty damn well off?" He asked, tilting his head. Everyone felt the mood shift instantly at his words. "They had a shit ton of money in the bank already, a couple hundred thousand, and the bank said they'd help me figure out everything. And I'll have to sell the dental practice and the house, but I still need to go through it- Oh, Bev?" He turned to her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
"Come with me." He gestured for her to follow and went back in the kitchen.
"Were you serious about going back to Derry and beating Greta's ass?"
"I mean not exactly but I can?"
"I don't want you to do that." He said softly. "That be pretty funny though. I, uh, I could barely go in that house, Bev." He wouldn't look at her. "You know they got sober? The house was actually clean and there were pictures of me all over the place. I could only go to the living room and kitchen, couldn't even suck it up and go to my old room." He tapped his fingers on the counter for a second. "Um, I want to go through everything there but... I don't want to do it alone. And... I know I'll have Eddie but there's a lot of stuff in that house and everyone else will be back in school so they won't be able to help and I just can't deal with the memories of that fucking place by myself."
"Richie, breath." She put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. He sighed and relaxed a bit.
"Sorry." He muttered.
"Don't be. I'll come back with you and we'll sort you out, okay? I promise." He gave her a smile and leaned forward, kissing her forehead and pulling her in for a hug.
"Thank you for saving me." She mumbled into his chest, gripping the back of his shirt.
"You're my best friend, I'd do it over and over again, Bev." He said. He felt her smile and smiled a little himself. After a couple seconds she pulled back, making a face.
"When's the last time you showered?"
"Rude." He grumbled. "Uh... Monday." He said simply. She stared at him. "I wasn't in my right mind at all this week, Bev." He shook his head. "Bill's parents probably thought I was mentally insane with the way I was acting, I didn't even make a joke the entire time I was there." She smiled sadly. "I haven't eaten since yesterday either." Her eyes widened at that.
"What the fuck, Richard?" She repeated Eddie's words from yesterday. He grinned sheepishly. "I don't understand how you can live alone most of the time."
"Me neither, honestly." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room, leaving the beer on the counter.
"Richie is gonna go take a shower because he hasn't washed in three days." She announced. Eddie made a disgusted face.
"Before any of you say anything, I had a bad week, cut me some slack." Most of them just rolled their eyes.
"You remember where the towels and stuff are?" Mike asked, leaning his head back and looking at Richie upside down. Richie chuckled and nodded, booping Mike's nose before heading upstairs to shower, grabbing a change of clothes from he and Eddie's shared room.
"While he does that, I'm gonna order food, what does everyone want?" Bev asked. Majority wanted pizza so she ordered a shit ton.
Nancy was waiting in the hall when Richie came out of the bathroom and he almost screamed. He let out a tiny shriek and covered his mouth. She laughed. He leaned against the wall and sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"You okay?" Nancy asked him. He chuckled.
"I'm fine physically..." He told her. "Mentally and emotionally? Not exactly." He slid until he was sitting on the floor so she sat next to him. She didn't say anything for a minute.
"Everything is fucked up, but you know what?"
"What?" He looked at her and she put an arm around his shoulders.
"We've got you back." She said simply. "I never thought we'd see you again, when you and Mike were born. I've got a picture somewhere at home of me holding the both of you. I was only three, but I'm pretty sure I had the biggest smile on my face." He stared at her so she continued, "And when I saw you again, that night, I never thought I'd feel as happy as I did then. I mean, I did when Nora was born, but you know what I mean. I got my little brother back, and then you left, and I really never thought I was going to see you again."
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Don't be, like I said, you had a job to do and you did it. You came back again, you helped us. If it wasn't for you walking in like you did with that damn bat, Bill would be dead. And Dustin would either be dead or missing an arm. You saved his life." Richie snorted quietly.
"All I did was walk in with a bat, it wasn't that amazing."
"Dustin thinks everything is amazing, Rich. Trust me. I danced with him at their eighth grade snowball and he thought it was the best thing ever." He chuckled wetly. "He's grateful. You can see it in his face when you look at him." Richie sniffed and bowed his head, burying his face in his hands.
"Sorry." He mumbled, sniffing again
"Hey, don't you start crying now." She said, nudging him lightly. "I'm the worst person to be crying around, I usually make it worse."
"No, that's me." He mumbled. He shook his head and stared at the wall. "Dad's dead." He said simply. "Dad's dead." He repeated slowly, as if just realizing what it meant. "I...I-What happened? I heard El say it but..."
"He got shot." She told him, her own tears prepared to fall. "Mike, Hopper and Troy were out on Mirkwood, searching the ditches and woods. Apparently, Troy was possessed by IT and was going to shoot Mike, but dad came up out of nowhere and he was shot instead. Troy dropped dead. This happened yesterday, and Mike hasn't been able to tell us everything dad said before..." He nodded for her to go on. "I know you were mentioned, but that's all he said. He died in Mike's arms, and he tried...he tried so hard to bring him back, and so did the paramedics but... Hopper had to hold Mike back, said he was screaming and crying." Richie didn't reply for a couple minutes.
"I barely knew him."
"I know." She said quietly. "He wasn't always the best dad but he was there for us and loves us. At least you two got to meet." He nodded, biting his lip.
"I'm glad we got pictures, too." He said. She nodded in agreement and laid her head on his shoulder. They sat that way for a while until they heard Max yell at the top of her lungs,
"PIZZA'S HERE!" Her voice cracked at the end and Nancy snorted. The two got up and when they did, Mike and El's bedroom door opened and an exhausted looking El walked out. Her face was cleared of blood and dirt, and Richie figured Mike had cleaned her up while she slept.
"I'm going to kill her." She grumbled, walking ahead of them. "But I'm hungry and I love pizza so she might live." Richie giggled and Nancy shook her head fondly. There was a stack of pizza's on the coffee table and everyone was sitting on the floor passing some around, holding either paper plates or paper towels. Everyone had cleaned up as much as they could considering, and Mike was wearing a tank top now, his shoulder freshly bandaged. He looked up and saw El, and immediately scooted over as she made her way over to him, grabbing her some pizza and handing it to her. She smiled at him and sat down, curling up next to him and taking a bite out of a slice. She pointed it at Max and said, "When I go back to sleep after I'm done eating, if you yell like that again I will hold you over the cliff at the quarry."
"That'd be pretty cool though." Max said cheekily.
"Try me." She looked at everyone else. "That goes for the rest of you. I'm gonna do it to Richie just for tying to sacrifice himself."
"Excuse me." Richie pouted. Then he grinned, taking a giant bite out of his pizza and sitting next to Eddie. "That would be pretty cool." El whined.
"Why is it Mike's the only one afraid of heights. You people are no fun."
"Yeah but Mike has a good reason to be." Dustin pointed out.
"Bite me." She rolled her eyes.
"That's Mike's job." He retorted. She threw a pillow at him and knocked his hat off. Everyone made small talk as they ate, that is, until Bill asked,
"Are we g-gonna talk about it?"
"About what?" Jonathan asked.
"Um, w-well, the fact th-that we think R-Richie's on drugs." Richie laughed at that.
"I think I talked to a turtle one time, too, come to think of it." Bev said. "When I looked into the lights, I mean. I felt scared, like I did today, and I know we were older then but I didn't know we'd be this age. What did you see, Rich?" Richie had a dazed look on his face.
"We... We're free." He said, looking at them. "It's all over, everything. The Upside Down, IT, paranormal shit, it's done. We can have kids now."
"Huh?" Almost everyone gave him a weird look.
"We wouldn't have been able to have kids until after we killed IT for real. I don't know, ask the turtle. I just know that life is gonna be good." He made a face. "God, I do sound like I'm on drugs." He looked at Mike, then Hopper, "I've said it, probably a hundred times, but I'll say it again, I've never done anything other than drink and smoke cigarettes, no need to arrest me, Chief Hoppy and Officer brother sirs." Mike closed his eyes and sighed, raising his eyebrows as he opened them again and gave Richie a look, resulting in him giggling like a little girl.
"Hey Stan?" Steve asked. Stan turned to him.
"Yeah?"
"Richie called you a stupid little bird man." Richie's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Stan glared at him and everyone else laughed. Richie pouted and glared at Steve.
"Snitch."
Friday, June 22, 1992
"So where do we go from here?" Lucas asked the next day, when everyone was well rested and decided to meet up at Bev's house and then to the quarry to celebrate.
"Well..." Bill said. The Losers looked at each other, "I'm starting my last year of college this fall, and when I graduate I plan on moving here."
"I'll be starting my last year too, so's Stan." Ben said, gesturing to him. "Not sure what I'm gonna do after, though, maybe travel around, sight see..."
"Look for love." Dustin added. Ben rolled his eyes.
"I might move here too." Stan said, shrugging.
"The three of us are in our last year too." Will said, gesturing to himself, Lucas, and Dustin.
"I will be planning a wedding." El grinned lazily at Mike, who grinned back.
"I'll be making El's wedding dress." Bev gave her a pointed look and El giggled.
"The farm is kinda... on it's last leg so I might move here too, I like it here." Mike H said, smiling a little. The others grinned.
"We'd love to have you out here, all of you." El told them, resting her chin on Mike's head, standing behind him.
"Our dad's funeral is on Monday." Mike said quietly, as if just realizing it himself. He shook his head. "Sorry to bring the happy mood down but..."
"Do you need to talk about it, Mike?" Will asked softly. Mike shook his head.
"No, I just thought I'd mention it."
"Speaking of that, um..." Richie fiddled with his fingers and glanced at the piano in the corner. "I wrote a song, over the week, that applied to Went and Mags but it applies to dad now too, and everyone else we've, all, lost. I wanted you guys opinions on it." He was visibly nervous, which was rare for anyone to see. He looked at Mike, who nodded encouragingly. Everyone else nodded in agreement. He nodded once and stood up, walking over to the piano and taking a seat. "Uh, let it be known that this is incredibly sad." He said, his fingers beginning to drift over the keys.
Watching through my fingers, watching through my fingers
Shut my eyes and count to ten
It goes in one ear out the other, one ear out the other
Burning bright right till the end
Now you'll be missing from the photographs, missing from the photographs
Watching through my fingers, watching through my fingers
In my thoughts you're far away
And you are whistling the melody, whistling the melody
Crystallizing clear as day
Oh, I can picture you so easily, picture you so easily
His voice was deep with emotion, and everyone else had tears in their eyes.
What's gonna be left of the world if you're not in it?
What's gonna be left of the world, oh
Every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Every stumble and each misfire
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Monday, June 25, 1992
You might have to excuse me
I've lost control of all my senses
And you might have to excuse me
I've lost control of all my words
So get drunk, call me a fool
Put me in my place, put me in my place
Pick me up, up off the floor
Put me in my place, put me in my place
Every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Every stumble and each misfire
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Watching through my fingers, watching through my fingers
'Cause every minute and every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Richie's fingers slowed over the keys as he felt tear drops fall on them. He could hear his little sister crying, he heard the sniffles of his brother and older sister, his mom sobbing. He stilled for a moment as the last notes faded away and made his way back to his seat. Eddie rubbed his arm comfortingly and squeezed his hand. Richie felt another hand find it's way to his and glanced to his right, where Mike had grabbed his hand. He squeezed gently and Mike looked at him, and nodded.
"You did good." Mike whispered to him.
"Thanks." Richie whispered back. He'd have said more but the priest stood and he turned his attention back to the front, where the casket was.
"Let us pray."
For the second, technically third time in a week, Richie dropped a single rose into a grave, after Nancy and before Mike did. The family of what had been six for such a short time, now five, stood huddled together as they covered the casket.
Richie didn't full on cry until he was alone with his mom for the first time since Ted died. The two were in the basement, her having asked Richie to help her with something.
"I didn't actually need help." She told him, sitting on the couch and patting the space next to her. He raised an eyebrow but sat down. "I just wanted to talk to you, privately. No one's told me where you went last week or why, and I just want to make sure you're okay." He didn't say anything for a minute or so. He wouldn't look at her, but when he did, tears were falling.
"You're not allowed to die." He whispered. "Not yet. I can't lose you too." Her mouth dropped open a little in shock and threw her arms around him, pulling him close as he cried into her shoulder. "This w-was the s-second funeral in a w-week." He hiccuped. "Went, M-Mags, dad... they're all gone and I-I don't know what to do, mom." She didn't reply, she just ran her fingers through his hair gently as he cried, comforting him in a way only she could. He cried for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes. When he calmed down enough, she said,
"There's nothing you can really do, baby." She said softly, resting her cheek on the top of his head. "They aren't suffering anymore. They're happy where ever they are. Your father loved you, Richie, so much. I know he didn't seem like it most of the time, but he was a good man. And Went and Maggie, they're not killing themselves anymore, they're happy too."
"They were sober when they died." He hiccuped. "Six months clean. It was another drunk driver that killed them."
"At least they got better." She offered. He sniffed and nodded into her shoulder.
"Yeah."