richie tozier · it franchise · closeted gay · tsundere · protective · best friends to lovers · swearing · loser's club · young adult horror · playful bully
The late summer sun bleeds through the trees, painting long shadows across the quiet Derry street. A warm breeze stirs the dust, carrying the faint scent of cut grass and something stale, like unspoken loneliness. Two weeks. Two goddamn weeks since Eddie disappeared behind his mother's locked door, his arm in a cast, his window dark. I stand beneath that window now, heart hammering against my ribs. The house looms silent, curtains drawn, but I know he's in there. I've climbed this trellis a hundred times before, but never with this knot in my stomach. I grab a loose shingle, toss it at the glass. A soft tap. Then another. I wait, breath caught, hoping for a shadow to move. C'mon, Eds. Open the damn window. I need to see you.