richie didn't know where he was going. his feet pulled him away from the hell of a house he lived in, the cold air tangling with his already messy hair. he couldn't feel much of anything, only the warm, caked on blood that littered his skin. just his heart beating fast and hard against his chest as he ran with the wind. it was almost a half hour before he finally stopped running, tears running down his face and falling onto the concrete sidewalk beneath him, his hair a mess as he fell to his knees. he just sat there. the street that ran alongside him was dark, the lights that followed along the road then barely lighting up the scene around him. everything was dark. the smell of cigarettes and blood and it wasn't a good combination. he almost hated it. he looked up as a car passed, the passing light exposing a sudden memory.

richie sighed as he walked out of the familiar air-conditioned building of the pharmacy, a new pack of smuggled cigarettes in his pocket. quietly, he started his journey back home, his feed shuffling against the cracked concrete running below his feet. with his head lowered, curls hiding his pale complexion from the world, he walked until his zombie-like trance was broken.

"s-sorry!" the small boy stuttered.

richie jumped back to reality as he recognized the familiar figure. it was the boy from earlier at school. eddie kaspbrak. the memories of their not-so-pleasant talk sidelined by henry bowers filled richie's head and he frowned even more, if that was possible.

"you're good, kid," he mumbled, making sure eddie had collected all of his spilled medication bottles before continuing his walk.

richie waited a bit longer before walking again, his eyes this time following the shorter boy in front of him. he was so aware of everything surrounding the two boys; every individual being, every shrub, every piece of trash. he felt so protective of eddie and he had no idea why. eventually, his eyes followed the boy away from the sidewalk and up to a porch that laid in front of a small house that resembled richie's.

he looked away as eddie waved at him before walking into the house.

richie looked up from where he was kneeling, his heart beating a million times faster as some sort of emotion filled his veins after replaying the moment in his head. he couldn't recognize what he was feeling and it scared him. slowly, he pushed himself up off the ground and soon enough his feet were leading him across the street and down another road.

to eddie kaspbrak's house.

__________

richie took a mental photo of the way eddie's face was as he saw him standing outside his window. he didn't want to forget it. but he didn't quite know why. sighing, he waved at eddie as the other boy had to him that one day. eddie rolled his eyes and richie bit his lip, heart dropping as eddie walked away from the window. he couldn't just leave richie here, standing in the cold on his roof, could he?

"eddie please," he knocked gently on the window.

suddenly, the small boy comes running back with something in his hand, a finger covering his mouth as a sign to stay quiet, mouthing 'mom' from behind the fogged glass. eddie lifts his hand, revealing a flathead screwdriver that he used to nudge the window lock out. gently placing the screwdriver aside, eddie then lifts the window up and looks at richie with the same expression as before.

"tozier? what on earth are you doing here? my mom will kill me if she finds out i ha-"

"have richie tozier, the towns crackhead and girl pleaser in your room? yeah, i've heard it a million times before. can i please just come in," richie interrupts, his facial expression as serious as ever as he stares eddie dead in the eyes.

eddie says nothing else, sighing as he steps aside to let richie in the window, biting his lip as the taller boy crawls in through his window.

"how did you even get up there? the roof is nearly twenty feet up!" the small boy exclaims.

"carefully."

eddie rolls his eyes again, playfully shoving richie - which made the taller one tense up as he stepped away - as he closed the window, using the screwdriver to push the lock back in just in case his mother came up and questioned it.

"in all seriousness, what are you doing here," eddie sighs as he hides the screwdriver back under his dresser with a plethora of other banned household items, declared by his mother.

richie pushed away the hair that was in front of his face, revealing the dried blood that stained his skin to the smaller boy. he frowned as he watched the color drain from eddie's face as he came closer, tilting his head to look at the other side of richie's face, checking him for more injuries.

"take off the flannel."

"wha-?" richie stuttered, stepping back from eddie, "what the hell? why?"

"the hell do you think i'm gon' do?" eddie shook his head, reaching out and tugging at richie's infamous flannel, "take it off. i'm sure there's plenty more that i should take care of."

he points to his bed, making richie sit down as he grabs his first aid kid which sat by his bed stand. eddie's heart is racing as he walks back to the lanky boy that now sits on his bed, looking at the bruises and cuts that littered his arm with a concerned expression.

richie refused to make eye contact with the other boy as he sat there, feeling exposed and like a baby. his arms were littered with scars, bruises, and cuts. all gifts from his father. he winced as eddie's soft fingers traced a path from each cigarette burn to each bruise to each bloody cut. with his head lowered, he let eddie do what he needed, biting his lip.

"who did this?" eddie asks after a while, breaking the awkward silent that was drowning the two boys.

"my dad."

"i'm sorry."

richie shook his head, going silent once again and killing off eddie's attempt of trying to talk to him. he hates talking about his dad, always had. for years, before his mother died, he refused to see a therapist about his issues because he hated talking about them. richie tozier was not one to throw a pity party for himself or make himself vulnerable to anyone because that person could easily turn on him. richie trusted no one.

__________

eddie sighed as he finished cleaning out the cuts on richie's arms, applying ice to the bruises to help the swelling go down. no matter how stubborn richie was, eddie still felt like he had to help. even if it meant possible death for eddie if his mother found out. god, if his mom walked in right now. all eddie could think of the whole time he was cleaning out the cuts on richie's arm was the fact he wanted to punch the shit out of his dad and how terrified he'd be if his mother walked in on them right now, sonia screeching as she saw her pure, innocent, eddie bear with the towns crackhead.

richie spoke up after a bit of silence between the two, which surprised eddie, as he didn't think that richie would ever voluntarily talk to him anyways.

"thanks."

"what did you think i'd do? just kick you out and leave you to bleed to death?"

"i wouldn't have bled to death, but yeah."

eddie went silent for a bit, chewing nervously on his lip at richie's work. he really didn't know anything about tozier, did he? he was just like the mystery boy he thought he was.

"they still could've gotten infected. and plus, you saved me at school so i'm just returning the favor."

richie shrugged, looking up at the brown haired boy, "yeah, i suppose so, eds."

"don't call me that."

"what're you gonna do, shortstack? attack me with your screwdriver?" richie chuckled.

the sound of richie's laugh warmed eddie in some way he couldn't explain, smiling in return to his dumb comment, sitting down on the bed. he shoved himself into richie, glaring at him as he crossed his arms.

"yeah, watch me." eddie pouted, looking away from richie.

the older boy leaned into eddie, causing him to fall over onto his side, with richie on top of him. though the boy looked like a stick, he was a lot heavier than eddie had thought and he couldn't wiggle out from under richie, instead starting to laugh as richie didn't move.

"get up you golumf!" he shrieked, trying to push richie off of him.

"golumf?" richie raised an eyebrow, smiling.

eddie's heart stopped at the site of richie tozier smiling, nodding and smiling in return to the other.

"golumf."