𝔸 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝔹𝕪 𝔸𝕟𝕪 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖 - reddie

#𝟙𝟘: 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝔾𝕦𝕪𝕤 ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟'𝕥 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝔹𝕚𝕥

The plane ticket was worth the cost. Despite the fact that I had quite literally vomited again once I had read the letter and gotten the call from Bill, I was ready. I think I had been ready. No one threatens any of my friends. Especially not Eddie. 

I told myself I was prepared to kill this thing, and watch it die, and laugh while it suffers, but I couldn't deny that I was scared shitless out of my mind. It always seemed to be watching me; always. It seemed to have a hypothetical hook on me, attached to a line, where it followed wherever I seemed to go.

It had come to a dead end, though, I suppose; because now I was in Derry. It had nowhere else to follow me except home. Well, I wouldn't call it that. Not anymore.

I tried to remove myself from the picture too, but not in the way Stan had; almost all of the other losers had tried, too. They- well, we- thought that taking ourselves out of Derry would take ourself out of Pennywise's field of mind. Oh, how wrong we were.

I clutched a small passport in my left hand and slowly stepped out of the taxi cab I had taken. I stood directly in front of Jade of the Orient; it was a quaint yet exquisite mandarin joint that I don't seem to remember as a kid and a teenager. I took a shuddering breath.

They'd all be there. In that building. 

Well, except for Stan, my heart rate increased a little bit. May his soul rest in clownless peace.

My friends. My old friends, my childhood friends. Trauma brings fondness, I always say. And these guys, well shit; they'd been through it all. Each and every one of them, individually, in different ways. We were The Loser's Club for a reason. We'd been getting dumped on by everyone else, except, we were getting dumped on together.

I scratched the back of my head. I came in the clothes I had slept in. Well, I didn't really "sleep" in them, I had just been wearing them for the past three days. Getting that call really fucked me up. No sleep, not much eating, just a lot of booze and throwing up. The more I thought about it, the less I knew why I had agreed to this in the first place. I guess revenge was sweet.

I simply seemed to stare at the neon-lit restaurant, as if I was waiting for something. Waiting for a sign to tell me to leave and never come back, or waiting for Pennywise to pop out and scare me so bad that I sprinted the whole way back to LA. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was mostly nerves. I didn't want to reunite with Eddie for the first time in 27 years looking like a guy you'd find asleep on bus stop seats.

My eyes were distracted momentarily, however, when I noticed two people, a man and a woman, embrace by the entryway doors of the restaurant. They seemed to have a familiarity that pulled my attention to them. I widened my eyes and began to walk toward the two, with a cautious stride, just in case I was mistaken. But then I knew for sure when I was truly up close. It was Beverly and Ben.

Holy shit..

I almost fumbled over my words like one naturally would in a situation like this, but I stuck to what I knew to get their attention. "Well, you guys look amazing," I spoke up, my hands jammed in my pockets. It was so cold that I could see my breath. "What the fuck happened to me?"

Beverly's head turned to my direction, and a confused expression lingered on her face, until it collectively softened. She almost gasped without sound; her mouth dropped open in surprise. Yeah, there was no doubt about it, it was Beverly Marsh. She had the same soft blue eyes that were daring and gentle, and the same strawberry golden hair, that simply drove Ben crazy. She was wearing a soft gray blazer and matching slacks, with shoes that pointed at the toes. Her red lipstick was a little too bright, but it complimented her eyes. She opened her arms without question. "Well, look who it is."