We're Lovers After All

Losers With a V

The Summer of '93

The Losers had all decided to gather near their favorite quarry spot and have a campout there. In a few weeks, they'd be starting their senior year together. Then, they'll be off to college and on into life itself. Where did the time go?

They all felt it, though, even if they tried to ignore it and have fun. To enjoy their last moments of freedom together. That underlining need to do something. Tell each other something. 

But either they didn't know what it was, or they were too scared to. None of them has revealed what their identifications were. Each one was hiding it in their own way.

Eddie, Beverly, and Stan all used makeup to cover theirs. Stan's was always hard to reach, but he managed, even if it didn't look perfect. It just let the others know not to ask about it. 

Richie, Bill, and Ben always used a bandaid, although Ben's looked like a sort of gauze type that you would put on a wound. 

And Mike simply wore a bandana at all times around his arm now. He claimed it made him look tougher, but they weren't buying it, but let it be.

Shockingly, it was Stan that broke the silence first, with just a little bit of sunlight left to spare them.

"You said we were still going to be friends, right, Bev?"

Beverly looked over sharply, nodding her head a bit hesitantly. "Yea, why?"

He shrugged, feeling self-conscious, "I've been thinking. What if... What if I don't want to be your guys' friend."

The group went silent, staring at him in shock before Richie piped up. "Geez, Stanley! Tell us how you really fucking feel."

His eyes widened at the harsh tone being thrown at him before it registered what he had just said. "No! No, that's not-Fuck! That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" Eddie asked, just as heated as Richie.

"What if I wanted to be more than friends?" This time a stunned silence fell over the group.

"W-wh-what?" Bill asked, completely perplexed.

"I just..." It was odd seeing Stan at a loss for words, "I like you. All of you. I don't want to lose any of you."

"I thought I was the only one who felt that way," Ben whispered in the silence, Bill nodding his head in agreement. 

Eddie soon nodded his head along with them, "me too."

"Yea," Richie hesitantly agreed, "I thought I was gross for wanting that. Wanting all of you like that."

"I thought I had finally given in to what everyone was saying about me." At the confused looks the others gave her, Beverly summarized for them. "A whore. I thought I had finally become a whore." At the protests from the others, she laughed a carefree laugh. "I know that's not true now! Especially since you all feel the same way."

She sniffles a bit, and a few of the boys closer to her lie a comforting hand on her.

"But," started Mike hesitantly, "what about our soulmates?"