loser, it ✔

chapter seventeen

not edited

Bill stood next to Alice, helping her walk as they made their way toward the entrance of the sewers, who knew how long it'd take considering they came down and they're leaving the way they came when they first met Ben.

"D-did you mean e-everything back th-there?" Bill finally asked, gaining the courage to lean down and intertwine his fingers with hers. He sighed in relief as she locked hers with his, smiling up at him.

It was a real smile this time, and it was a wonder to Bill that she could smile at him when she's pretty much broken. 

"Which part?" Alice asked, looking down to see the bandage on her ankle all dirty. "I really need to change this before it gets infected."

"You s-sound like Eddie." Bill joked, but stopped with her anyway. "H-here, I'll help." She took her backpack off, getting out a replacement bandage for her arm and ankle. She didn't need to change the one from her head, the beanie protected it most of the time.

Alice leaned against the side of the sewers walls, taking off the old bandage and wrapping another one around her ankle as Alice ripped the small bandage off of her arm and applied healing ointment, before adding another bandage herself.

They were far behind the group, but neither of them really cared. They both liked spending time with each other, so neither of them were going to complain.

"Th-the kiss, n-never leaving me." Bill stood up, and the two started to walk again. "Yeah, I meant all of that." Alice said, connecting their hands once again. "Th-then why'd you i-ignore me? For so long?" Bill asked, looking over at her.

"I thought you liked Beverly. I heard you guys all happy and talking in her bathroom and I just- I don't know. And when Pennywise attacked me in the house, you didn't seem to care. You just wanted to go back and kill It and never called or came by." Alice said, avoiding eye contact with the tall boy. "I just didn't think you were interested."

"I-I've always been interested, A-Alice. I talked to B-Bev about y-you, how much I l-like you. I didn't call b-because I thought you were mad at m-me too along with some of th-the others and I f-felt as if it were my fault you got h-hurt." Bill replied. 

"It wasn't, but at the same time it was. I probably wouldn't have gotten as hurt as I did if I stayed with you, or outside, but I wanted to go with you. And I wasn't going to leave Eddie alone, so I stayed with him since you had Richie with you. So it's also my fault. But at the same time it's neither of our faults, it's Pennywise's because that fucking clown was trying to hurt us." She said, as they finally got to the entrance where the others were waiting.

"What happened to you guys? Stop for a quickie or something?" Richie asked, earning a smack on the back of the head from Eddie. "Stop that, I don't wanna imagine Bill and Alice doing stuff like that." He scolded, as they all made their way toward the house.

Their bikes were still on the front lawn of the house on Neibolt Street, but they'd left in the entrance way near the barrens so it was quite a walk to get their bikes. They all got weird looks, considering Eddie had disgusting stuff all over his entire body, Beverly was REALLY dirty, Mike, Ben, Bill and Richie were covered in a little dirt, Alice was all beat up and limping really bad, and Stanley was dirty but also bleeding out of the side of his face.

But at the same time, the adults didn't care. They just gave them a weird look, then went back to their own business. 

"You know, I think we should actually enjoy our summer now and be the kids we are. And not go after another monster trying to eat and kill kids." Richie said, as they approached the house. They each grabbed their bikes, hopping on and riding together.