Stand Together (a Stand By Me fanfiction)

The Tree

  "TRAIN!" 

  I saw the giant, black train coming at me at what felt like a hundred miles an hour. My feet broke out into a run, and suddenly, my footing got lost and I was on the tracks, rolling. When I stopped tumbling, I got up and started running again. By that time, Teddy and Chris had already made it to the end of the tracks and Gordie and Vern were right behind me. I kept running, until I heard Gordie cry, 'JUMP'. I reached for Gordie's right hand and Vern's left, and we jumped off the tracks.

   I landed right in between Gordie and Vern, thankful we made it.

  "Hey, at least now we know when the next train was due," Chris said, smirking. He jumped into the small hole we were in and grabbed my hand. He pulled me up, and I wrapped my arms around him immediately. I had never been so scared and confused in my entire life up til that moment.

  "Shh, shhh. It'll be okay," Chris whispered, as he wrapped his strong arms around me. I felt safe with Chris. He was my best friend and he was always there for me, I think I loved him.

  I came out of the embrace as Chris did the same. He grabbed my hand and we continued our journey on the tracks again.

                                                                                ******

  We found a nice, shady spot to rest for the night. The sun was setting as we set up camp. In the hours since we had 'had the most epic train dodge' as Teddy put it, Chris had never left my side, and I didn't want him to. We unrolled our bedrolls next to each others' and sat next to each other by the fire. As we cooked our meal, we talked. Not like the things you would talk about as an adult, or a child. The kind of stuff you talked about before you know love; for most of us.

  "So Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog, what the hell is Goofy?"

  "He's definitely a dog."

  "He can't be a dog. He wears a hat and drives a car."

  "That's weird. What the hell is Goofy?"

  "I know! Goofy's a dog, and Pluto is his mentally challenged brother," I concluded, getting laughs from everyone. We talked into the night, none that made sense. Until we asked Gordie to tell us a story. He told us about a guy named Lardass Hogan. Lardass was completely overweight because of his glands or something. His real name was David, but since he was so big, everyone called him Lardass. Now, Lardass entered into a pie eating contest, not because he wanted to win, but he wanted revenge. Before the contest, Lardass ate raw eggs and drank castor oil. The contest started, and Lardass ate his way to the top. By his fifth pie, there was a low, rumbling sound, like a big truck coming at you at a hundred miles an hour. He leaned, wobbled and before Bill Travis knew it, he was being puked on by five pies worth of used blueberries. Then, the rest of the contestants were barfing on each other. But by the time the smell hit the crowd, everyone went berserk. Girlfriends threw up on boyfriends, a fat lady threw up in her purse, the Donaly twins threw up on each other. Lardass just sat back and watched what he created; a total barf-o-rama.

  Gordie finished his fictional story, and we all cheered. At the time, those kind if stories, especially Gordie's, were always held in high regard.

  "So what happened then?" Teddy asked, as if there could be such a better ending.

  "I don't know... uh... maybe he went home and celebrated with a couple of cheeseburgers," Gordie answered.

  "That ending sucked. How about he goes home, shoots his father, and joins the Texas Rangers? How about that? Huh?"

  "Teddy, why can't you just accept the ending that Gordie wrote? I thought it was good," I said.

  "Yeah Teddy."

  By that time we were tired enough to go to sleep. I laid down next to Chris in my own bedroll, and went to sleep. About  ten minutes later, we heard some kind of howl. I hugged Chris tightly as he pulled out his gun and gripped my waist.

  "What was that?" I asked.

  "It's the ghost of that Brower kid," Teddy said, "I want to go look for it."

  "Teddy sit down!"

  "Oh God, don't say that. Please don't say that." 

  "Sounds like a woman screamin'."

  "It does not! I'm a girl and I know that women do not scream like disembodied wolves," I reasoned.

  "How do you know? You're not a woman, you're a girl," Gordie said, laughing. I rolled my eyes and laughed. 

  "We should take shifts," Chris said. I nodded my head.

  "Give me the gun. I'll take the first watch," Teddy said, holding his hand out. Chris reluctantly handed the gun over. Teddy kept mumbling things about being Corporal Teddy Duchamp, but I was too tired to listen. I was facing Chris, and his arm was slung around me, as if protecting me. 

  Chris lifted his arm off of me and I felt a sudden cold. He pulled up my blanket around me and I felt sudden warmth. I couldn't sleep after that, so I went and sat next to Chris. He put his arm around my shoulder.

  "You can go into the college courses with me and Gordie. You'd be good at it," I said.

  "They won't let me. It's what my family thinks of this town. It's what they think of me. I'm just one of those 'Low-life Chambers kids," He replied.

  "C'mon Chris. I don't care-"

  "No one even asked me if I stole the milk money that one time. I just got a three day vacation. And maybe I was sorry and I tried to give it back," Chris said tears forming in his eyes. I pulled him close to me and held him while he started crying.

  He lifted his head up.

  "I just wish- I-I just wish I could go somewhere where nobody knows me," He said, "I guess I'm just a baby, huh?"

  "No way Chris. No way." I had never seen Chris cry before, and I couldn't bare to see him cry now. He cried for a few minutes, and then stopped.

  "Lauren, I'm in love with you," Chris said suddenly. The whole world seemed to stop as he look up at me. I kissed his forehead; something I've wanted to do for years now.

  "Chris, I'm in love with you."

Hey guys! So this got reeeeaaaallllllllyyyy juicy. I hope you liked it! I was writing for like, two hours today (lol i have no life as you can tell) just to make this chapter perfect. Make sure to vote and comment! I love reading what y'all have to say!