You shouldn't call people stuff, it's rude.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's got to do with that shit prophecy, ya know. The one about the brothers."

If there was one thing he knew for a fact that he did not regret, it was killing his dad. "Fuck no. I did the world a service by torching his ass.The only thing I regret is not killing him sooner."

The question sits in his mind for a moment. Marriage. He never thought about it, in all honesty. Sure, he and Seth joked about dying in the arms of a beautiful woman. But that was more Seth's speed than his. He couldn't imagine holing himself up in some isolated corner of the world, with just him and some girl. No. He needed to be doing something, needed to be great. "Not sure about the settling down part, but the married part?" He shrugs and takes a drink. "Maybe."

Why were so many people trying to figure out if he loved her? "Honestly? It's none of your business. Now stop asking."

"Gotta be more clear, dude. Lots of firsts you could be referring to. First dog was Peaches, if that's what you're asking. And how the hell do you know about Mary Palmer?"

He asked himself the exact same thing, later on, when his head cleared. He never liked underage girls and he wasn't lying to Kate when he told her that doing so was despicable. So why did he do it? He felt a bond, a connection to her (hell, he still does. But it's severed. Broken.) but that didn't explain why he kissed her. "It doesn't matter." It does, but he doesn't have the answer. He doesn't think he ever will.

Richie thinks of dark hair, red lipstick, bittersweet laughter, and the taste of blood. "Love?" He thinks of fevered nights, bites and kisses and scratches. Thinks of a confused face as he makes an expression or a joke, then the rapt interest as he explains. Thinks of a voice he still can't quite get out of his head. "Don't know." He thinks of her and he knows.

"Yeah, well. He's a big kid, he can make his own decisions. I didn't want him following me, I was happy with him gone." He's good at lying to himself. He was a goddamn mess when Seth went to prison. And then he broke Seth out and dragged him straight to hell. He didn't want Seth running things with him for two reasons. Reason one was because he was sick and tired of being the lesser Gecko Brother. The freak, the retard, the psycho. Being by himself, running his own operation, it's what he wanted for years. Reason two was because he knows one thing, if Seth dies, it's because he dragged him into this life. He doesn't think he'd be able to handle that, but he's not gonna think about that. Not now.

See, Richie wasn't the type to feel guilt. Didn't see the point of regretting the shit you did because the past was the past and unless you're goddamn Marty McFly, you can't go back and change it. But he felt guilt for what happened to Kate. He knew that he got her killed, that he could have done more to protect her, that it was because of him that she died, scared and in pain. But there's nothing he can do now. Except regret. He can sit and he can regret. "I know."

Send that symbol and question and Richie's dad will answer. "Did I want a bunch of worthless, no good sons of bitches who didn't do shit right? No, no I did not. Their whore of a mother wanted to keep them, I told her I wanted no fucking part of that shit. But she popped them out and fucked off to god knows where and left me with two worthless brats. They're lucky I didn't toss them in the streets. Fucking pathetic, no good, little shits."