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Everything had been going fine.
It was Richie's birthday and all of the Losers had arrived at his house to party and spend most of the day hanging out with him. They had eaten pizza before piling onto the sectional in the living room, watching some scary movie about a clown they had all found amusing.
Richie and Eddie were huddled up against each other on the sectional while the rest of the Losers crowded them on either side. Eddie had grabbed Richie's arm a few times thanks to jump scares in the movie, but Richie was only too happy to let Eddie grab him. A small part of him had wished that Eddie would've grabbed his hand so that they could hold hands during the movie.
When they heard incessant knocking at the door, several of the Losers had started to move to get up and answer the door, but Maggie beat them to it. The door opened and Eddie's heart sank when he heard his mother's voice yelling for him.
"Oh god, why is she here?" he muttered, just loud enough for Richie to hear him.
Before anyone could say or do anything, Sonia came bounding into the room, her eyes darting around for a sign of her son.
"There you are, Eddie!" she spat. "You need to come home with me right now!"
"And why do I need to do that?" Eddie retorted, feeling brave because he had his friends next to him. He wouldn't have dared speak to his mother like this if they were alone.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that, Edward!" Sonia shouted. She rarely used Eddie's real name like this, so it meant he was in deep water.
"Come on, Mrs. K, can't this wait until after the movie at least?" Richie asked, trying to placate Eddie's mother. "We can bring him back home as soon as the movie is over."
"He's coming with me now!" Sonia snarled, leaning forward to grab Eddie.
"Hey, hey, you don't have to be so rough," Maggie said, having come back into the room.
"Don't tell me what to do about my own son!"
"You're in my house and you're going to treat your son better than that!" Maggie replied, yelling louder than Richie or the Losers had heard her in a while.
Sonia looked like she wanted to say something in response, but then thought better of it. She cleared her throat and withdrew her attempt to pick Eddie up from the sectional.
"Okay. But you still need to come with me right now, Eddie."
At once, the Losers started protesting, all talking over each other.
"Mrs. K, why can't it wait till after the movie?" asked Stan.
"He doesn't need to leave right this second!" Bev yelled.
"W-w-we can drop him ah-ah-off after the movie," said Bill.
"I'll bring him home myself!" said Ben.
"It's Richie's birthday; Eddie should be here to celebrate!" Mike shouted.
Eddie was touched by all of his friends sticking up for him. He was especially glad that Mike had pointed out it was Richie's birthday. But he also knew his mother. There was simply no way she would listen to the protesting and if they kept trying to fight her, she was likely to get more aggressive.
"It's okay guys," Eddie said in a resigned tone as he stood up from the sectional. "I appreciate you guys wanting me to stay, but I don't want this to get ugly. So I'll go."
Eddie smiled at the Losers, all of whom looked ready to start yelling at Sonia for ruining Richie's birthday. But they, like Eddie, seemed to know there would be no talking Sonia out of her demand to bring Eddie home.
Before getting up completely from the sectional, Eddie leaned over and pulled Richie in for a hug. He held his best friend tightly for several seconds.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into Richie's ear.
"It's okay, Eds," Richie whispered back. "I understand."
Eddie broke the hug and smiled at Richie, who was doing his best to smile back, though it was clear that tears were also threatening to start falling down his face.
"Happy Birthday, Richie!" Eddie said in a loud voice so that his mother would hear it.
"Thanks, Eddie," Richie replied, still fighting to stop the tears from pouring down his face. He didn't want Eddie feeling any worse than he already did and he didn't want to give Sonia the satisfaction.
Eddie turned to his mother and nodded. She made like she was going to grab Eddie's arm, but Eddie shoved past her, dodging her attempt to grab him. Sonia looked disappointed but she still followed Eddie away from the living room. Maggie followed the two of them to the front door.
Meanwhile, the Losers waited until they heard the front door close again before they launched into a triad against Sonia.
"That fucking bitch! Why did she have to go and ruin Richie's birthday?" Bev asked.
"Why does she have to ruin everything?" asked Stan.
"We would've sent him home as soon as the movie was over!" said Mike.
"I was serious when I said I'd give him a ride home; it's not like it would be my first time," said Ben.
"Are you okay, Ruh-Ruh-Richie?" Bill asked, turning to Richie, who still hadn't said anything.
Richie looked away as if ashamed of himself. His body started shaking. It was clear he had finally started crying.
"Oh Richie," Bev said in a soft voice, leaning over him and pulling him up. She wrapped her arms around him protectively as Richie started sobbing.
The rest of the Losers crowded around Richie and Bev, all of them rubbing Richie's back, his arm and anywhere else they could reach while Richie cried into Bev's shoulder. They all whispered words of comfort into Richie's ear while he cried. It took several minutes for Richie to calm down from all of the crying. Finally, he leaned up from Bev's embrace, sniffled and wiped away the last of his tears.
"Sorry guys. I just really wish Eds was still here."
Had the Losers not been busy consoling Richie, they might have noticed Maggie watching them, tears forming in her eyes. She watched her son be comforted for a few moments before she resolved to do something about what had just happened. She grabbed her coat and her purse and left the house.
Eddie had gone straight to his bedroom when he and Sonia arrived home. Sonia had half-heartedly protested Eddie going upstairs, but she stopped when she heard his door slam. She instead went to the living room and sat down in front of the sofa, turning on the TV and catching up on one of her sitcoms.
About half an hour later, the door bell started ringing. The ringing wouldn’t stop, so Sonia sighed to herself as she picked herself up off the sofa and went to the door.
"Oh, Maggie, hello," she said.
"Hi there, Sonia," Maggie said, smiling at Sonia. "Can I come in?"
"Sure, is everything all right?" Sonia asked as she stepped aside to let Maggie into the house.
"I just wanted to come and check on Eddie. You two left in such a hurry and you wouldn't even say why he needed to come home."
"Because I needed him here," Sonia replied, sounding annoyed.
"May I ask why exactly?" Maggie asked. "I don't see him around. Your house is pretty clean, so it's not like you needed him to come home and clean. Why did you have to take him away from Richie's party?"
Instead of answering, Sonia turned toward the stairs and shouted, "Eddie, come down here!"
They heard a door open upstairs and Eddie's hurried footsteps down the stairs.
"Maggie?" Eddie asked when he spotted her. "What are you doing here?"
"I just came to check on you, kiddo. What happened when you got home?"
"Yes, Eddie, tell her what happened when we got home. Tell her what an ungrateful son you are for me getting you away from all of those friends who are a bad influence on you."
"Hold on, hold on," Maggie said, throwing up her hands. "Since when are Eddie's friends a bad influence on him? And why on earth would Eddie need to come home with you if he’s just upstairs in his room?”
"Why don't you apologize to Maggie for making her drive all of this way to check on you?" Sonia said, ignoring Maggie completely. "She went out of her way to come over here, the least you can do is apologize!"
"Hey, Eddie isn't the one who interrupted a party just to come home for absolutely no reason!" Maggie yelled. "Everything was going just fine until you showed up, Sonia!"
"Listen to me," Sonia said, finally turning to Maggie with a look of venom. "I don't want you, butting in, telling me how to raise my son! How about you take a look at the two failures you're raising instead!"
There was a moment where Maggie simply stared at Sonia with a look of bewilderment on her face.
"Oh, I'm in this now," she said as she stepped forward and got right into Sonia's face. "You know, if your kid wasn't here, I would take the opportunity to remind you that people who live in glass failure houses shouldn't throw stones. You're lucky Eddie hasn't run away from home, the way you treat him! You're a garbage parent and you need some serious help."
Sonia smirked slightly, not willing to rise to the bait.
"All right, all right, will you two stop?" Eddie said, stepping between the two women, who looked ready to start throwing punches. "It's over, Mom. And I won't ever run away. I promise."
"I'd like to see you try and run away from home," Sonia said, staring directly into Eddie's eyes. "You think you could survive for two minutes out there in that world, unless I was taking care of you? You are worthless! You are a worthless little bastard!"
Eddie didn't say anything. He took a shaky breath and was close to tears.
"Okay, I've heard enough," Maggie said. "Eddie, you can come and live with us if you want to."
She grabbed Eddie's shirt and pulled him away from Sonia, who looked too shell shocked to say anything.
"Are you trying to steal my son?" Sonia asked.
"Oh, this has nothing to do with stealing anything," Maggie replied in a harsh tone. "Whether he runs away, or comes and lives at my place, he is not gonna stay here with you!"
Sonia stepped closer to Eddie, reaching out to stroke his cheek. Eddie flinched away from her.
"That's not true, is it, Eddie?" Sonia asked in the softest voice she had ever used.
"I want to go live with the Toziers," Eddie replied, his voice shaking.
"Look, you know that I don't mean it when I do this, Eddie-bear," Sonia said, starting to cry, although no tears were falling down her face. This wasn't the first time she pulled out the crocodile tears to get sympathy from Eddie. "I'm just, I'm going through a tough time now, okay? I...I won't talk like that again, I'll never say it again! Don't you love me!"
Eddie sniffled before he responded.
"I can't keep doing this," he said.
"Fine," Sonia scoffed. "Get out. GET OUT NOW!" she stormed off to the stairs and started running up them as fast as she was able. "NOW!" she yelled behind her back as she stormed off.
Eddie turned to Maggie with tears in his eyes. She pulled him in for a hug as Eddie finally let the tears fall from his face. He held onto Maggie for a few moments before he calmed down and wiped away the tears.
"It's okay, Eddie," Maggie said, giving him a warm smile. "We'll come back and get your things later, okay? Let's go home."
Back at the Tozier household, Wentworth was in the kitchen to greet Maggie and Eddie on their return.
"Hey, you managed to bring Edster back to the party!" he exclaimed, clapping Eddie on the back. "Good to see you back, Edster. I know Richie will be excited!"
"Is everyone else still here?" Eddie asked, sounding slightly timid.
"Sure thing, kiddo, they're all in the backyard hanging out while the grill warms up. You can go out there and join them if you'd like."
"Thanks, Went," Eddie said with a smile. He turned to Maggie and gave her another hug before he turned and headed to the back door.
"We'll see you in a little bit, Eddie," Maggie called after Eddie, who waved at her. Once the door was shut, she turned to her husband. "Went, we gotta talk."
"Sure we got a few minutes before the grill is heated up. What's going on?"
They sat down at the dining table. Maggie sighed, not really sure how to begin to tell her about the change to their lives.
"Eddie is gonna be staying with us for a while."
"Oh, like tonight? Sure he's welcome to stay the night."
"No, I mean, he's gonna be here long term."
"How long is long?" Went asked, frowning.
"I don't know, but he is not going back with Sonia. Not if I have anything to say about it."
"Why? What happened?"
"It's a really messed up situation, Went. And I don't mean messed up like we sometimes mess up with our kids. I mean really, really, really awful. I grew up in a house like that."
Went's mouth opened in surprise.
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah. It was awful. The way Sonia was talking to him, I just couldn't leave him alone with her. He wouldn't be safe in that house anymore. And you know Eddie, he's not gonna speak up for himself against that monster of a woman. I just had to get him out of there, Went. I'm sorry I made the choice without you."
"Hey, hey," Went said, reaching across the table and grabbing Maggie's hand. "You did what you had to do, honey. I probably would've done the same thing if I saw how bad it was. Eddie is a good kid. He needs someone to look out for him. And I'm happy to give him a home. I know Richie will also be happy to have him here."
Maggie smiled. "Yes, that definitely played a factor in my choice. But more than anything I needed to get that out of that house and away from her. Do you think you can go and take Eddie over there in a day or so and get his belongings? I don't want to be around that woman again. I may kill her."
"Well, we can't have that now can we, Maggie?" Went said with a smile. "Yes, I'll take Eddie over there and keep her away from him."
Hours later, after the other Losers had left Richie's house, Richie and Eddie were laying together in Richie's bed. Although Maggie and Went had put an air mattress on the floor of Richie's room, both Eddie and Richie had conveniently ignored it and instead opted to hop on Richie's bed.
They were practically cuddling. Richie had his arm wrapped around Eddie, who was curled up into Richie's embrace.
"You doing okay, Eds?" Richie asked after they had been lying together for a while.
"We don't have to talk about it, Rich. And you know not to call me that," Eddie said, with no bite in his tone. " You don’t have to worry about me. Besides, it's still your birthday."
"I know, Eddie, but I still wanna make sure that you're okay. I mean, I'm happy you're gonna be living here and all, but I'm still worried about you. I don't wanna be overprotective or not give you space, but I'm here if you wanna talk."
Eddie sighed deeply before he sat up in Richie's embrace to get a better look at him.
"It was bad, Richie," he said. "I mean, Mom has always been pretty bad, especially after she and Dad split up, but it's never been like this. I'm honestly surprised she didn't hit me. I don't know if I could've taken that."
"You shouldn't have had to take any of it, Eds."
"I'm okay."
"I know, but still, you shouldn't have had to deal with that. Nobody should have to deal with that. My Mom had some bad fights like that with her parents when she was younger. If what she saw was bad enough for her to get you out, then I believe it."
Eddie nodded. "I'm really glad she got me out. I'm just nervous about going back there to get my things."
"Mom and Dad will help you with that. And me too, if you want me to."
"God, yes please," Eddie said as he lay back down in Richie's embrace. "I have a feeling I'm gonna need you there, Rich."
"Of course, Eds. I'll be there. However you need me, I'll be there."
There was a beat where they just held each other. They were both content.
"Have you called your Dad?" Richie asked.
Eddie sighed. "Not yet. I know he's out of the country on business, so it's hard to get a hold of him. But I'm definitely gonna call him once I know he's back in the states."
"Do you wanna go live with him?" Richie asked in a small voice.
"And leave you behind? Absolutely not. I'm sure he'll ask me if I wanna move, but I don't want to leave you, Rich. I don't wanna leave the Losers. Besides, I gotta stick around for a few years so I can keep driving you crazy before we're all off to college."
The two boys shared a laugh, feeling lighter than they had most of the day. They were about to settle in for the night when a thought occurred to Eddie and he sat up.
"Shit, I forgot to give you your birthday present!" he exclaimed as he stood up and strode over to Richie's desk chair, where his jacket was hanging.
"Eds, you already gave me a present," Richie said, sounding amused.
"Richie, did you really think I was just gonna get you some shitty keychain?"
"Hey, it was Star Wars and you know me, I'm all about Star Wars!"
"Yeah, but this one is a little more personal," Eddie said, handing Richie a small brown bag.
"Thank you, Eddie," Richie said as he sat up.
"Shut up and open it."
"Aye, aye, captain!"
Eddie rolled his eyes fondly as he watched Richie open the small bag. Richie took out a necklace that was a guitar pick from one of the guitar players in his favorite band. He stared at the pick, mesmerized.
"Holy shit, Eddie," he said breathlessly. "That's so fucking cool!"
"There's an engraving on the other side," Eddie said shyly.
Richie excitedly turned the guitar pick over and his heart skipped a beat. Engraved on the back of the pick was R + E
Richie glanced up at Eddie, who was blushing slightly.
"I know how much you love the band, Richie, and I wanted you to have a way of remembering that show we went to together. Do you like it?"
"Like it? Eddie, I fucking love it!" Richie exclaimed.
"Beep beep, Richie," Eddie said with a fond look on his face.
Richie grinned and put on the necklace. When he had it on, the side with R + E was dangling off center, as if right above his heart.
"This was such a thoughtful gift, Eddie. Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, Richie," Eddie replied.
As one, they went back to laying down in the same position. Once Richie had wrapped his arm around Eddie again, they both felt sleepy. Eddie yawned first, which caused Richie to yawn too.
"I'm really glad you're here," Richie whispered.
"Me too," Eddie replied as his eyes started to droop.
"Eddie?" Richie said in an even quieter tone.
"Yeah, Richie?"
"I love you."
Eddie smiled into Richie's embrace as the tiredness was about to overwhelm him. "I love you, too, Richie. Happy Birthday."
"Thanks, Eds," Richie said as he leaned down and gave Eddie a quick kiss on the forehead. He then settled more comfortably into bed, his arms still around Eddie, holding him tightly. "Good night, Eddie."