𝔸 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝔹𝕪 𝔸𝕟𝕪 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖 - reddie

#𝟚𝟞: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝔹𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕

-One Year Later-

"Hey, Eds. Yeah, I know, I know-" I chuckled softly and held my hands up, as if ready for another defensive argument. "I shouldn't call you that. I'm getting better at remembering, you have to admit that much at least."

I seated myself comfortably on the warm grass, watching as the leaves rustled in the trees surrounding us. I inhaled sharply, then exhaled, practically closing my eyes from the comfort that the spring brought me. 

"I'm sorry for bothering you again, cause I know I'm a frequenter for like, three days each week now, but this time I have good news, I promise," I smiled softly and picked at some of the soil that poked my legs as I spread them out along the ground. "You'll never guess where I was last night."

I heard a child playfully scream from somewhere across the field, and I glanced up. Children these days always reminded me of the few good memories I had of Derry; they had always reminded me of when my friends and I would forget about the clown and the curse for a while. We were just kids. We weren't heroes. We were just... kids. 

And that's exactly how it was supposed to be back then. We were kids that would mess around at the lake and go play in arcades and buy a hell of a lot of candy at sugar shops and drink milkshakes so fast it would make our head hurt, and dump soda on Henry Bowers and his goons at movie theaters and then make a run for it because we knew he'd kill us anyway. We were the types of kids that would buy grownup magazines and point out the different tit sizes privately in our rooms, and then quickly shove them under our beds when we heard our parents coming down the hall, and the types of kids that would go down to the barrens and practice slingshot shooting and use CocaCola bottles as targets. 

No responsibility. Just homework and each other. We were kids then.

I inhaled again through my gentle smile and continued. "Bev isn't Beverly Rogan anymore. She went from Beverly Marsh to Beverly Rogan, and now she's Beverly Hanscom. Yeah- you heard me right. Those motherfuckers finally figured out their feelings for each other. We called it, I think I owe you some money for that, actually," I sighed in relaxation, a low laugh on my tongue.

 "It was really, really good to see the gang back together again in a space like that one. Sometimes we'd have to ask for each other's names now and then, just to be sure, but it's practically like old times, you know?"

I focused my eye contact on a small pinwheel that rotated in flashes of pink and blue, nestled near a large oak tree. "But yeah, I was at Ben and Beverly's wedding. She finally left that asshole Tom, isn't that great?" I sighed and smiled at the thought of Beverly actually being happy with her family life. "And for the record, I think Beverly Hanscom sounds way better than Beverly Rogan, don't you?"

A calm breeze blew through my hair and caused me to clutch the tips of my elbows, pulling my large jacket around me a little bit more. I pushed my glasses farther up my nose, picking at a small spot on my tennis shoes. My smile faltered momentarily, but I knew I had to keep tears from my eyes, or I'd never stop crying. I breathed in deeply and regained my soft smile. "I just wish I had gotten the chance to marry you too."

I placed a small bouquet of assorted red roses and purple poppies that I had been holding down beside me, standing up from my spot on the earth in which I was sitting. 

I put my hands in my pockets, my chest heaving in the small breaths that I was subconsciously taking. I took one last look on the headstone and started back down the dirt trail, to where my car was parked behind the large cemetery gate.

I remember turning back one last time, though, to see how the flowers looked next to my slightly-dead ones from last Tuesday. It was nice. It added a soft patch of color to the rather dull and incomprehensible words that they shielded. 

                        ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠɪɴɢ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀʏ ᴏꜰ ᴇᴅᴡᴀʀᴅ ᴛ. ᴋᴀꜱᴘʙʀᴀᴋ

                                                      1947-1985

        "ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴍᴇᴀꜱᴜʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴇᴇᴅꜱ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ

                   ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɢᴏɴᴇ."

                                                 -ꜰʀᴇᴅ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ