"come on, then, let me show you how i deal with these guys," your older brother, henry bowers, said to you as he approached a group of guys who all looked to be around your age.
you folded your arms over your chest and followed after him, even though you really weren't in the mood to witness the mistreatment of these strangers.
your eyes followed henry as he fisted a hand in one of the shorter kids' t-shirt, spitting insults in his terrified-looking face. he was brunette, wearing too-short shorts, and clutching an inhaler in his right hand.
the other guys were watching not henry, but you. their eyes wide, as if expecting you to make a move, too. you were simply trying to avoid any and all eye contact, settling on watching your brother lift the brown-haired boy off the ground.
"please, don't..." he whimpered, turning his face away and squeezing his eyes shut.
"don't? what are you going to do if i do? huh?" henry's lips twisted in a psychotic smirk.
"stop." the command slipped from your mouth before you could properly process it. and your brother turned away from the horrified kid to glare at you.
"what was that?" he spoke through clenched teeth, and you might've been a little more phased if you weren't already used to his aggressive behavior.
still, no matter how much he bothered you, you'd never stuck up to henry before this. it wasn't worth trying to level with a person as mentally unstable as he was. but, there was no turning back.
"i said stop," you repeated.
that's when henry dropped the kid and stepped towards you. you didn't move.
"stop? i'm trying to teach you how to deal with these freaks!" he was clearly frustrated as he pushed even closer to where you were standing.
there was a long moment of silence. the boys stared at you, seemingly in shock. you just lifted a brow at your brother. "maybe i don't want to deal with them," you spat, henry looked down at you in what could only be described as disbelief.
"you don't... you... what?" a suddenly very confused henry spluttered at your reply.
"i don't want to deal with them," you stated firmly.
"why not? they're losers," henry growled, tossing a hand back to gesture at the group of boys that were still just... standing there. why were they still standing there?
"so? why do we have to deal with that?" you continued to talk back, and the strangers just watched as the two of you argued.
"because... they're just... annoying and... yeah," he stammered. a weak response, but he was far too stubborn to step back and let you win the battle.
"you're being a jerk, henry," you said finally, taking occasional glances at the cluster of boys standing not too far away. seriously, they can leave? why aren't they leaving?
"and you're being unreasonable," he pointed at the same short kid from before. "just look at this little mother fucker," he mocked.
you did. you stared blankly at the boy for a moment and then slowly smirked. he tightened his grip on his inhaler, eyes locked with yours.
"i am looking at him..." you said softly, advancing toward the fearful fellow. "and i like what i see~" those wide brown eyes of his grew even wider as you stepped up next to him.
"i like this guy, henry." you smiled innocently at your brother. everyone else was staring at you, clearly confused and surprised with your confession.
your attention shifted to the brunette again. he was looking back at you with his jaw dropped.
"what's your name?" you asked calmly.
he didn't say anything, he just continued to stare. so, you tilted your head to the side, awaiting his answer.
he shook his head, and finally blinked. "uh... eddie. kaspbrak."
"i'm y/n," you smiled warmly at him and then faced henry, who didn't seem to buy any of this.
therefore, you took it just an itty bitty step further. your fingers twisted and tangled with eddie's. he took a whiff from his inhaler.
you could hear a few murmurs behind you, other boys had to be questioning what the hell was going on.
"i really like you eddie," you admitted, turning to watch him stare back at you in awe.
"y-you do?" he stuttered, a pink flush blooming on his freckled cheeks.
you nodded. out of the corner of your eye, you could just barely see your brother. he looked like he might explode.
"you're crazy..." henry said slowly. finally, he began stepping back. and, he ended up turning away completely before storming off.
once he was gone your smile dropped, you freed eddie's—awfully sweaty—hand, and you turned to face the brunette with your brows lifted. "are you alright?" you asked.
"i'm good," he assured you as his fingers fiddled with the dorky fanny pack secured around his waist. he cleared his throat. "um, were you serious? or..." he averted his eyes.
"oh, no. i mean, you seem cool, and all. but i don't know you," you smiled and put a bit of distance between yourself and the others.
"yeah, no, of course. that makes sense." it might've been your imagination, but eddie seemed a tad... disappointed?
you wetted your lips with your tongue as you considered what to say next. "though, i'd really love to get to know you all."
"you sure you and henry are related?" the boy with thick glasses asked, nose wrinkling as he squinted at you.
that earned a small laugh. "unfortunately, we are, yes." you nodded. "but i can assure you, i'm nothing like him."
"then w-welcome to the l-losers' club..." the tall one dressed in a red plaid flannel stammered.
"thank you," you said and looked to eddie, who apparently had his eyes on you the entire time you were conversing with the other boys.
with another little smile, you planted a barely-there peck on his warm cheek and waved goodbye to your new friends.
before you were out of earshot, you could hear someone yell, "go eds! get some!" and you looked over your shoulder in time to see eddie cover his face in his embarrassment.
—————
a/n: howdy, folks. quick question, WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? this book is awful. it's terrible. how can you legitimately read this garbage? anyway, since—for some reason—readers still engage with these one shots, i've decided to go through and edit just a tad. not too much, because i refuse to put that much effort into something so unredeemable, but just enough. if there are still typos, deal with it. i'm not god. and, just a heads up, i will not be writing any new prompts. the it fandom and i have parted ways, and i'm only here to give you people something actually sort of readable. also, i tried to avoid using pronouns, so that everyone can get in on this action. here's one down. who knows if i'll ever gather the motivation to fix another chapter? this might be all my brain can supply, unfortunately. but, that's all i have for you, so go away.
- milo
