Chapter Text
Richie POV:
They did it.
IT was gone.
It still felt unreal and fragile, like if he said it too loudly the earth might crack open and let something truly awful crawl back out. But it was real. They had survived. Every single one of them walked away breathing. Well not everyone did but their group did.
That should've been the end of it.
Instead, it was the beginning of losing each other.
Beverly was the first to go.
Her leaving was inevitable in hindsight. Derry had never loved her, only trapped her. Richie watched her pack with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Watched as the social workers car drove her away to start a new life. She didn’t look back. He didn’t blame her. Not even a little.
Bill followed soon after.
That one was less expected but understandable. Their son was missing. Presumed dead. They couldn’t handle the strain of living in the same town that had killed him.
Stan’s family moved not long after Bill for reasons unknown.
Then Ben.
Then Eddie.
That one almost broke him.
There wasn’t even a goodbye. One day Eddie was there.
Alive.
Panicked.
So perfect.
And then he was gone. Shipped off by child services after his mother was deemed an unfit guardian. All Richie knew was that he was sent to his uncle from his dad’s side of the family.
Richie never got to tell him about how he wasn't attracted to girls. Never got to listen to Eddie’s inevitable rant about all the diseases he could get if he wasn't careful. He would never know if Eddie would have accepted him.
The silence Eddie left behind was the loudest thing Richie had ever experienced.
And then there was just Richie and Mike.
Then his dad got a promotion at work. One where he was promised a bigger office, better pay, a fresh start. The only catch? They had to be close to headquarters.
Thus began the move.
Richie didn’t even argue. He didn’t think he could’ve stayed even if he wanted to.
So now he stood behind his father’s car, stuffing the last of his things into the trunk. Boxes, clothes, and a few comics. The rest being in the moving truck that his father would be following them in.
Now that he was leaving the town felt unbearably heaving, weighing him down pressing in from all sides.
Richie slammed the trunk shut and rested his forehead against the metal for a second longer than should be necessary. God he was so tired he couldn’t wait to get to the new house.
Richie looks through the back window at the town circled on the map.
Hawkins, Indiana.
Another small town. Great.
He climbed into the passenger seat, and stared out the window as the car pulled away from the only place he’d ever known.
Derry disappeared behind them.
Richie didn’t look back.