what if instead of richie digging into mike's spell books to find a way to revive eddie, he uses them to lock away all his memories of eddie all over again bc it's the only way he can move forward

which might seem like a good idea except for how between patty and the turtle, both stan and eddie are revived less than a month after they passed

patty and richie crossing paths in derry weeks after the others left-- richie working his way through mike's books for a spell, patty looking to fight god for some answers

they meet for a drink just the once, both heartbroken, both determined to do what they think is right to make that heartbreak go away

just a few weeks later patty's on the phone to bev telling her to call a meeting of the loser's club, she's got some news they'll want to hear

when she walks in the door with stan and eddie, everyone's faces freeze like a room full of masks ranging from horror to devastation

richie surges forward to hug stan leaving eddie to be swept up by mike, and right away patty knows he's done exactly what he set out to do

eddie's soft "hey richie" is met with a confused smile, richie still hanging off stan, his knuckles white with how hard he's gripping the back of stan's shirt

richie: uh. hey man. do i--

patty: mike from what i was told your place back home was basically derry library's own restricted section... if someone were to go looking what are the chances they might find a way to wipe away certain pockets of their memory

eddie: FUCKING WHAT

eddie: *ranting about literally cheating death and this motherfucker couldn't wait a goddamn MONTH???*

richie: *still confused as shit but equally charmed by the speedtalking and air karate chops*

jumping ahead coz i gotta talk about how richie confesses to eddie along the way that he feels like he's missing a part of himself, sometimes he wakes up reaching across the bed like he's searching for someone who should be there

"was that you? were we in love?"

and eddie can't answer because. i mean,,,, he's married, or he was, and richie never. they didn't. it's not like they. HE DOESN'T KNOW, OKAY

okay back to the loser's club~

mike shrugs and says well i guess we can go back to derry and--

he's immediately interrupted by 6 voices shouting NO and one very pointed eyebrow raise from patty

--okay well we have another option. i ran across this coven in north carolina...

bev: so...roadtrip?

ben: i feel like after the 3rd time we drop everything an disappear off the grid for days on end people are gonna start asking questions

bill: pretty sure the internet thinks we're a cult

richie: hey guys i'm the one who apparently needs the factory reset, there's no reason any of you have to be there to clean up my mess

eddie: if you think we're leaving you alone for more time than it takes for you to wipe your own ass you're delusional

richie: graphic yet terrifying, can't wait to know you again little dude, i feel like we're gonna get along

eddie: i'm gonna reach down your throat and tie your tongue in a butcher's knot

richie: hot

on day two of the roadtrip they're sharing a monster plate of fries in a truckstop diner & richie casually calls eddie "eds" without a single pause in the conversation

eddie is speechless, eyes burning with unshed tears, & richie is making a dick joke around a mouthful of potato

ben grabs richie's attention, "hey rich remember that time we all jumped off your roof?"

"yeah man i remember you going on about physics saying you knew exactly the right angle to jump so no one would get hurt. i still ended up in the ER tho so suck on that science"

"that had nothing to do with how you landed, that was because you tried to--"

"catch eddie." richie looks up, startled. "i tried to catch eddie."

"you remember that?" eddie says, voice flat like he's refusing to let himself sound hopeful

"i...don't know. i feel like... but i mean sometimes you hear a story and your brain just. fills in gaps. convinces you it's a memory you know, what if it's like," richie pauses, "you. you were in a green t-shirt? with stripes?"

"jesus richie," eddie breathes out like it hurts him, "it was 30 years ago there's no way i'm gonna remember what t-shirt i was wearing."

richie's looking at the table again, something far away in his eyes. "i think maybe i do, though."

"oh."