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the_trashmouthDated December 30th. Takes place directly after this. Warnings for homophobic language and violence.
Richie pushes the bar of the arcade door with both hands and stumbles into the street.
The street in Darrow, just like he never left. He can still hear the kids inside who jostled past him through the doors, the music from the arcade cabinets just inside. The air is cool, and it looks like it might rain later.
He's back.
"Fuck," Richie breathes, and he doesn't know what to do first. Should he call someone? Is everyone still okay?He's gonna be pissed if it's like that thing where they all went home with Regan and Jamie. Did everyone have to go through this shit?
He pulls out his phone and texts the first person he can think of, asking them to meet him, even as he starts heading down the street, towards the park, if only because he can't think of anywhere else to go. He can't go back to the Home, not yet. Not like this. Tears are stinging at his eyes, and he reaches under his glasses to wipe them away.
People knew. They heard Bowers and they heard him. He'd practically shouted it in front of everyone, even if had been a Voice not his own.
Richie remembers when he'd first started thinking it, and how fast he'd pushed the thought away. And in the arcade, his stomach had flipped, playing Street Fighter with that other kid. And just a few weeks ago, that fucking thing with Steve...
"Fuck," he repeats, and sinks down onto a bench in the park, and he's so distracted by all the shit that he just went through that, at first, he doesn't even notice there's a statue there that hadn't been there before. Giant and looming, Paul Bunyan peers down on Richie Tozier, sitting on his bench. Paul Bunyan, who Pennywise had used to torture Richie at his lowest moment, after he had been chased out of the arcade by Bowers.
When Richie looks up, he nearly jumps out of his fucking skin, letting out a shout of surprise.
Richie pushes the bar of the arcade door with both hands and stumbles into the street.
The street in Darrow, just like he never left. He can still hear the kids inside who jostled past him through the doors, the music from the arcade cabinets just inside. The air is cool, and it looks like it might rain later.
He's back.
"Fuck," Richie breathes, and he doesn't know what to do first. Should he call someone? Is everyone still okay?He's gonna be pissed if it's like that thing where they all went home with Regan and Jamie. Did everyone have to go through this shit?
He pulls out his phone and texts the first person he can think of, asking them to meet him, even as he starts heading down the street, towards the park, if only because he can't think of anywhere else to go. He can't go back to the Home, not yet. Not like this. Tears are stinging at his eyes, and he reaches under his glasses to wipe them away.
People knew. They heard Bowers and they heard him. He'd practically shouted it in front of everyone, even if had been a Voice not his own.
Richie remembers when he'd first started thinking it, and how fast he'd pushed the thought away. And in the arcade, his stomach had flipped, playing Street Fighter with that other kid. And just a few weeks ago, that fucking thing with Steve...
"Fuck," he repeats, and sinks down onto a bench in the park, and he's so distracted by all the shit that he just went through that, at first, he doesn't even notice there's a statue there that hadn't been there before. Giant and looming, Paul Bunyan peers down on Richie Tozier, sitting on his bench. Paul Bunyan, who Pennywise had used to torture Richie at his lowest moment, after he had been chased out of the arcade by Bowers.
When Richie looks up, he nearly jumps out of his fucking skin, letting out a shout of surprise.
