Work Text:
Ruth Fleming walked through the halls of Hatchetfield High, when could school just be over?-
BANG BANG BANG!
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from the lockers, and a muffled “Hello?!”
Ruth continued to walk- wait, she recognized that voice
Richie Lipschitz.
She darted towards the locker, she removed a bobby pin from her hair and picked the lock carefully
Ruth swung the door open, and took Richie’s hand, slowly and carefully guiding him to sit on the ground next to her
Richie struggled to breathe, he managed to to squeak out a small thank you and wrapped his arms tightly around her, attempting to ground himself
Ruth drew small patterns on his back with her fingertips, before she pulled away slightly and put her hand up
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Five.” Richie gasped
Ruth put a finger down
“Four.”
And another
“Three.”
When she put all her fingers down he murmured
“None.”
He still struggled a little with breathing, but the warmth of Ruth and her touch seemed to calm him down
Richie clung to her sweater, crying into her shoulder
Ruth ran her fingers through his hair, her other hands rubbing circles on his back
“That’s it, deep breaths.”
“Thank you, Ruthie.” He sniffled
“Of course, love.” She smiled
Richie wiped his tears with his arm
“I’ll call my uncle to pick us up.” Richie muttered
“Okay, Richie.” Ruth kissed his forehead, her arm still around his waist, the other in his hair
Ruth leaned her head on his shoulder gently
“I love you.” She murmured, voice muffled by his shirt
“Love you too, Ru.” Richie cracked a smile, his shaky hand pressing on the contact “Uncle Paul” a blue heart emoji next to it, his contact photo is a picture of a young Richie and Paul.
Richie texted him a quick “are you busy” before pressing call
☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆
Ruth could hear a cheerful male voice on the other side, although he sounded a bit tired
“Hey buddy!” Paul exclaimed, Richie could faintly hear his coworkers arguing in the background
“What do you need?” Paul asked
“I need you to pick me up, can you do that?” Richie’s voice was trembling, he was still a bit shaken from the anxiety attack
“Sure.” Paul agreed
“Good, good, thanks.” Richie muttered
Richie could tell that Paul pulled the phone away from his ear, though he could still hear a little.
Richie could hear a conversation between Paul and a coworker who he recognized as Melissa
“Melissa? I need to go pick up my nephew, could you tell Mr. Davidson?” Paul inquired
“Yeah, sure Paul!” Melissa answered
Richie could hear the sound of Melissa’s shoes on the ground
Paul put the phone against his ear again
“I’ll be there soon, Rich, love you.”
“Love you too, Uncle.”
Paul hung up after that, Richie put his phone back in his pocket and pulled Ruth close, resting his head on her shoulder
“I’m so tired.” He murmured
“I’m tired too.” Ruth said as she kissed his neck
He tightened his arms around her and took a deep breath
He pulled out his phone from his pocket and clicked on Crunchyroll, pulling up one of his comfort shows
They watched an episode while they waited for Paul
Ruth pressed kisses to his neck or forehead every once and a while as they watched, sat not-too-comfortably on the cold hallway floor
☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆
After a couple minutes, Paul’s car pulled up and a text from him alerted Richie, he clicked on the notification which made Ruth whine at the interruption of the anime
“Richie!” She griped but immediately softened when she realized his still anxious expression
He put his phone back in his pocket
“Sorry.” She apologized, apologetically kissing his neck again
He hummed at the kiss, quickly pecking her lips “It’s okay, Ru.”
Ruth stood up and held Richie’s hand, helping him up
Richie wrapped his arm around Ruth’s waist as they walked, Ruth rested her arm on his shoulder
They walked outside and got in Paul’s car, they sat in the backseat holding hands, Paul greeted them
“Hey kiddos!”
“Hello.” Ruth waved sheepishly
Paul waved back at Ruth
“What happened?” Paul asked
“Got shut in a locker again.” Richie rubbed his thumb over Ruth’s hand nervously
“Oh buddy.” Paul’s expression softened, he reached back and pat Richie’s shoulder cautiously, offering him a soft smile
“I’m sorry, Rich.” Paul said
“And I h-had an anxiety attack..” Richie confessed
Paul seemed even more concerned now.
“Sorry, I don’t wanna be a burden.” Richie murmured
“You’re never a burden, buddy, don’t worry.” Paul said, starting the car and beginning to drive
“Is Auntie still at work?” Richie asked
Paul nodded
“Yes, Em is still at work.”
“Alright.” Richie muttered, tapping his free hand on his knee
“Remember to take your anxiety meds when we get home.” Paul reminded, looking back at Richie for a quick moment
“Thanks.”
“No problem, kiddo.”
Ruth reached over with her free hand and gently ran her fingers through Richie’s hair, trying to further calm him
He leaned into her touch as much as he could with his seatbelt on, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder
Paul continued to drive up to the Lipschitz Perkins-Matthews house.
☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆
The house was a one story building, the outside made of red brick and the inside a light blue, one of the lights was on and Richie supposed one of his brothers was home.
“We’re here!” Paul exclaimed, as he looked back and saw Richie resting in the backseat
Ruth gently shook Richie’s shoulders
“Wake up, sleepyhead!”
“I’m up, I’m up!” Richie chuckled, getting out of the car and taking Ruth’s hand in his once they were in front of the car
Paul smiled at the couple
The man removed the house keys from his pockets and unlocked the door, ushering Richie and Ruth in
“Can I stay for the night?” Ruth asked
“It’s not like I care about being home alone, I’d just prefer my sister be there and I don’t know when she’s getting home tonight, she’s still uhh, spending the night” Ruth did air quotes as she said that “at her coworkers house almost every night.”
Richie snickered at the implication of that and walked over to the couch, sitting down and turning on the tv
“Sure, Ru.”
“Thanks, Rich.” She sat next to him and wrapped her arm around him
“Oh crap.” Richie muttered, getting up and running to the kitchen to take his medication
Ruth glanced at the doorway that he disappeared into
“You forgetful geek!” She laughed
“Says you, ADHD ridden nerd!” Richie quipped
“You have it too idiot!” Ruth exclaimed
Ruth couldn’t see him but she knew he was smiling
Ruth wanted to continue the banter but was more focused on the tv instead, trying to find something to watch
Richie walked back into the living room and sat down next to Ruth, who pulled him into her lap
He rested his head on her shoulder
“What we gonna watch?” Richie asked
“Little shop of horrors.” Ruth said
“Do we have to?” Richie whined
“You wanna watch Evangelion for the thousandth time?”
Richie nodded eagerly
Ruth grinned and turned on the show
Richie turned around and snuggled into Ruth, wrapping his arms around her
They were on episode three when-
They heard the front door open and a soft male voice
“Hey guys, I’m home!”
Richie looked back and saw his younger brother, Daniel.
“Oh hey Danny!” Richie said, getting up and hugging his brother before ruffling his hair
“Don’t mess up my hair!” Daniel laughed
Richie stopped, walking back over to the couch
“Where is everyone?” Daniel asked
“Oh and, hi Ruth!” He waved
She waved back
“Hey Daniel!”
“Aunt Emma’s still at work, Uncle Paul is in his room, and Trevor is at an audition.” Richie explained, sitting back down next to Ruth.
Ruth’s eyes lit up
“Trev’s at an audition?” She inquired excitedly
Richie nodded “Yeah, I think he’s auditioning for, uhh.. what’s his name, the main character in little shop?”
“Seymour!” Ruth exclaimed
Daniel sat on the couch next to them, sitting criss cross
“How was school?” Danny and Richie asked at the same time
“You go first.” Richie muttered
“School was fine, boring as always.” Daniel muttered
“School sucked.” Richie confessed “one of the jocks put me in a locker again, and I uhh, had an anxiety attack.”
Daniel’s expression softened
“Oh.” Daniel said, resting his hand on his brothers shoulder “I get that.”
“You better now?” Daniel asked
“Yeah.” Richie replied “thanks for asking.”
”No problem, bro.”
“Well, I’m gonna go to my room, have fun!”
Ruth and Richie waved him goodbye for now, and Richie turned to his girlfriend
“Can I lay my head on your lap?” He asked
“Sure!” Ruth replied
He did so, and she ran her fingers through his soft brunette hair, admiring the blue dye in it
She remembers helping him dye it months ago, she smiled
“Can I turn the show back on?” She asked
“Yeah, I’ve watched it so many times I can pretty much understand it all without subtitles.” He chuckled
“Okay.” Ruth unpaused the show and leaned down to kiss him
He reciprocated and smiled into the kiss
“Dork.” She muttered against his lips
He rolled his eyes and kissed her again before pulling away
“Love you.”
“Love you too, Ruthie.”
Richie and Ruth fell asleep cuddling on the couch that night.