after the final return to derry, richie calls his parents and comes out to them over the phone, hands shaking, frequently muting the call so he can dry heave into his kitchen sink.
his mother cries, but not for the reasons he thought she would, and she says she wishes she could crawl through the phone and hold him. she says she’s so sorry that he had to carry that secret around for so long, and that it must’ve been so lonely. his father is quiet for a long time, and then says he didn’t know, asks if he’d ever made any insensitive comments while richie was growing up that made him feel like he had to keep this all bottled up from them. they tell him that they’re sorry. they tell him that it’s okay.
they ask him to come stay for a weekend, just so they can see him, because it’s really been too long, honey, it’s been so long. he says okay, but asks if he can bring...a friend. his mother asks what kind of friend--a friend, or a friend--and richie is too good at dodging the question.
he turns up to his parents’ home in santa barbara (derry is too cold, that’s what they always said, but he knows that they moved there so they could be close to him, even though he was busy, even though he never called) and there’s a little rainbow flag hanging up in the guest room window. his father’s car has a ‘coexist’ magnet on the bumper. it looks new. the door opens and his parents catch him as he tumbles forward (too long, honey, it’s been so long). he never realized how much he missed them until he was in their arms again.
(he doesn’t know why he didn’t call. they were never mean to him, never cruel, never particularly neglectful. sure, his mom didn’t like his music, and his dad didn’t understand most of his jokes, but they loved him, despite the distance.)
maggie pushes past him, excitedly demanding to get a look at the friend he’s brought home. she doesn’t remember much about her son’s childhood friends. (she remembers making them pizza rolls, and she remembers a little girl who used to show up on the doorstep late at night, covered in bruises; maggie used to lend her a spare nightgown, and brush the tangles out of her short hair. she remembers that she used to sleep in richie’s bed, but she never remembers wondering if they were a thing. she knows well enough by now why that is.) she doesn’t remember much, but it all comes flooding back to her when richie’s friend gives a little wave and says “long time no see, mrs. t.”
