"eddie-bear!" yelled the shrill voice oof sonia kaspbrak. 

eddie quickly dropped the homework he'd been working on and went down stairs. his jaw dropped when he saw a knocked out and very rough looking richie tozier lying on his kitchen floor. 

"mom... wha-" he began. 

"he knocked and when i answered, he only made it a few steps in before he collapsed."

eddie ran over and sat by richie's side. 

"mom- call 911." sonia nodded. she hated that tozier boy of course, but when a terrified boy knocks on your door and collapses in your kitchen, theres not much else you can do. 

eddie took richie's hand and squeezed it for the whole ride to the hospital. he was pretty much bawling his eyes out in fear. he knew his parents did this. he didn't care what the nurses said. if Richie was truly hurt he wouldn't leave his side for a second. 

turns out that he ended up alone with his mother in the waiting room. he had no idea where they took richie or what was going on, but he needed his support group. While eddie waited at the hospital he called each of the losers to tell them what had ha ppened. each of them was on their way.

for the first hour of sitting around in an empty waiting room, Sonia stayed. but, she evntually got too bored and left to go grocery shopping. each of the losers were relieved when she finally left, because all of them hated mrs. kaspbrak, and it was extremely awkward with her around. 

"so, what do you think happened?" whispered Stan. eddie, of course, had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but it wasn't his story to tell. 

"bowers?" asked Ben. 

"i duh-don't know, but i huh-hope he's okay." 

"are you okay Eddie?" asked Bev, seeing the conflicted look on his face. 

"umm.... i guess.. i'm fine, really just... scared." 

"i fuh-feel so bad... i knu-know he's been dreading today since like.... his luh-last birthday." everyone nodded in agreement. 

"yeah... I can't imagine what it would belike to lose a brother." Stan gasped when he realised what he'd said. 

"oh my god, bill, i'm so sorry, i wasn't thinking! i-"

bill shook his head. all of them had a really bad feelng in the pits of their stomachs.

"no.. its fuh-fine. i'm not important right now."

it was about two more hours when the nurse came to get them. they all fell silent. 

"where's mrs. Kaspbrak?" she said, confused.

"she um, left.. got a call from wdork or something." Eddie lied. 

"okay...... well.. your friend is okay. the left middle finger is broken and he has a possibe concussion. he has bruises on his right thigh and hip and on his face and arms. but... he's awake. so, you can go see him. just, don't be too loud or rough with him. he's pretty fragile right now..." 

at this the losers jumped up and ran to go see him. when they reached the room, they all wanted to run in and talk to him, but Bev offered for Eddie to go in alone first.

"eddie... your the one he trusts the most and he tells you everything.... you should go in first." eddie smiled gratefully and walked into the room. as soon as Richie saw the smaller boy his face lit up. 

"hey spaghetti-o! missed you bunches!" he said half heartedly.

"hey rich.... you okay?" richie shrugged.

"was it..." his face darkened and he nodded, "chee, i'm so sorry.. you're sure your okay?" both boys' eyes glistened with tears. 

eddie grabbed Richie's hand and squeezed it. but then he saw something that made his blushing face go pale. there were little thin lines lining Richie's wrists that went all the w

ay up to his elbows. that would explain why he was never caught in shortg sleeves and why he refused to go into he quarry. he never even wore hawaiaan shirts anymore. richie's eyes followed eddie's gaze and his face went red. he jerked his arm away and looked into his lap. 

eddie was speechless and ever more terrified. richie wouldn't look at him. tears clouded Eddie's vision. 

"i don't- you can't.... why?" he said, trying to hold back tears. he saw how as the scars went down his arm they continually got deeper, and looked very, very bad.

"i can't.... Eds? do you... love me?"

"i- what?!

"do you?"

"of course! why do you think i wouldn't?!"

"he just said... nevermind."

eddie nodded slowly. 

"j-just promise you'll stop."

"i.... i can't."

"promise me!"

"i- promise." eddie leaned down and hugged Richie tightly. he would never stop loving him. ever. and while they hugged they cried too. eddie cried because he knew that his best friend had parents that hit him. parents who neglected him. he cried because of the times where Richie's shirt would ride up and he would get a glimpse of his twing thin stomach that was littered with bruises. he cried because he couldn't do anything about it. and he cried because he knew that Richie would never love him the same way as Eddie loved him.

richie cried because of the times where he would be kept up at night because of his parents screaming. screaming about him. he cried because they hurt him, neglected him, and because they disappeared for long periods of time. he cried because he cut himself at night, despite the loving family that he'd made himself and that cared about him more than anything else. he cried because of how selfish it seemed that he wanted to die, all because of two people in his life that shouldn't undo the losers' love for him. 

they stayed like this for a while, until the losers pounded on the door, desprate to find out what had happened. 

"hey rich... do you think we should invite the others in so they can visit? because i know if it was me i would be worried af."

richie smiled and laughed, then asked, "wait... i didn't even know they were here."

"yeah... they told me i could come see you first..."

"oh... okay. go on, get me other mates then!" richie said in a  terrible brithish accent.

eddie nodded and awkwardly went to get the other losers.

"what's wrong?!" asked bev, her face screwed up in confusion. 

"oh i um... can't tell you. its complicated." answered Eddie.

"okay lets go then!" said stan, and the six clambered into the room. 

"losers! hola!" 

"richie seriously, what ha-happened?!"

"yeah, who did this to you?" asked Stan.

"i'll kill them!" shouted Bev.

"was it Bowers?" asked Ben.

"umm no. not bowers... its... complicated."

"that is exactly what Eddie here said, so Tell us! please? were worried about you!!" said stan.

"richie... you know you can tell us, right? we wont judge you." said Mike.

"it was... uh, my um... it was my parents." richie wiped away his tears quickly and the smile washed away from his face.

the losers gawked at him.they knew his parents were pretty shitty, but... they didn't think they would go as far as putting him in the hospital. forget a few meals, maybe, but this?

"rich.... i'm so sorry. i don't know... what to say." said Bev quietly.

"its okay... i'm fine."

"holy shit rich, you're not fine! this is not okay!"shouted stan.

"he was mad. really mad. they all were. 

richie looked down at his lap. he knew it was wrong, but he wished they wouldn't make a big deal out of it. 

all of the losers were close to tears. it was Beverly first who knelt don to give him a tight hug, eddie straight after, then bill, stan, ben, and finally mike. beverly let one big tear fall down her cheek.

"i'm sorry richie. i don't really deserve to be crying right now. i mean... i got away from my dad. but to see you hurting, when i can do absolutely nothing bout it? it really pisses me off."

soon all of the losers were crying. they should of known. they should have picked up the signs. richie would come into school and devour their food like it was the first meal he'd had in days. in fact, it probably was. there were times when the subject parents would come up and he would be uncharichtaristically silent. he was always twig thin and covered in bruises. the bruises he would entirely refuse to tell them where they were from. he slept throughall of their classes. how were they that dumb?after a while a woman knocked on the door and interrupted their conversation. they all looked up at her. she didn't look like a nurse. 

"may i talk to richard?" she asked. the losers nodded but didn't move. 

"alone." they locked eyes and slowly stood, then walked out of the room. 

they had a really bad feeling about this...