hard times// eddie + richie // IT

fall festival

*big time skip*

fall is always my favorite time of year. richie and i walked down main street, hand and hand. i had taken one of richie's knit sweaters, and it was too big on me, so the sleeves draped over my hands. i didn't mind though, it kept me warm.
richie and i walk past the town graveyard. i shiver, and richie feels me shake. he gives me a knowing glance, but continues to walk.
"it's weird," i say to him. he nods his head.
"i know," he tells me.
it's much too cold to meet at the quarry, so the losers decide to meet up at the town park. before arriving, richie and i buy hot chocolates. the warmth of the cup keeps the wind from nipping at my fingertips. we see the losers gathered around a park bench, laughing and laughing and talking. bill sees us and waves us over.
"hey guys!" bill exclaims.
"you guys are really cute together," beverly teases. i blush.
"definitely," ben agrees.
"yeah. what's the plan for today?" mike asks, clapping his hands together, his mittens muffling the sound. richie gulps.
"i say we go to the graveyard," richie suggests. each of the losers have a different degree of horror on their face, and i feel an expression of disgust flash across my own.
"i don't think i can," beverly mutters. ben nods his head.
"i think it's too much for today," he tells richie. richie sighs.
"you guys are such cowards! it's just dead bodies!" he scolds us. i find myself staring at my shoes. richie glances at me.
"you'll go with me, won't you eddie?" richie asks.
i wasn't ready, i didn't think i'd ever be. it's just weird.
"n-not today, richie. let's try to have a fun day," i tell him. richie closes his mouth in defeat. mike immediately picks up the conversation.
"why don't we walk around. it is the fall festival, after all," mike tells us. we all nod in agreement and walk in a group towards the fall-themed carnival.
as we walk by the graveyard, i shiver again. richie and beverly stare out at it, searching. ben looks down at the ground, and bill holds back tears. mike tries to look away. we all pick up our pace, so we don't have to think about those things for very long.

finally, we reach the fall festival. we buy our tickets and walk in. i have to admit, the carnival is beautiful. richie grabbed my hand. i admired his black-painted nails. beverly had painted them a few days ago and he never took it off. i had to admit, i liked it. beverly smiled.
"i wanna go on the big rides!" she cheered. bill smiled at her.
"i-i'll go i-if you d-d-do," he answered. mike laughed.
"sure, why not," he stated. ben shook his head.
"no, i'm not a fan," he told us. i nodded.
"i'll stay with ben," richie smiled.
"yes bitches! let's ride this shit!" richie cheered.
the riders started to walk away. richie gave me a quick kiss before jogging after them. ben looked at me.
"wanna get some food?" he asked me. i nodded. we walked to a little food stand not too far from the meeting point. i bought another hot chocolate and a warm donut. we sat down at a small metal table. the cold metal chilled my arms, even through the thick orange wool of richie's sweater.  i ran a hand through my scruffy, unkempt hair. since summer, i had let it grow out.
"how have you been since.." ben started
"not good. richie and i haven't been sleeping much," i answer. ben nodded.
"i just can't believe things turned out like.. this," he stated plainly.
"it feels like there's something missing from all of us," i told him.
"well, there is, but we vowed now to talk about it," ben says. i feel the weight in my fragile lungs grow heavier. it hurt.
"i cried a lot, at first, but now i'm just numb. or, i'm paranoid, jumping at every little noise." richie and i were so broken, it hurt for a long time. now, i'm numb.
"it's just sad. i often find myself writing things about it, everything that i remember. especially everyone's faces." it started out as such a great day, but by night it had diminished into ash. i found myself holding back tears. i looked around me.
"i always loved fall. i think it's the orange in the trees, the cold weather, and the warm sweaters," i tell ben. he nods.
"fall is a time when everything dies. i always thought it represented the beauty in death. like, dying young. it's tragic, but there's beauty there, too." ben answered. i swallowed. the table under my arms was so cold. i wish i had richie's beanie. i could pull it over my face to hide my shock.
it happened in summer, and i'm still in shock.

"hey guys!" a voice called from a distance away. ben saw him first, and smiled.
"what's up, stan?" he says. i smile, too.
"just got done practicing for the day," he answers, breathlessly from jogging.
"you'll never guess what," i tell stan. he pulls a chair up to the table and takes a piece of my donut.
"richie wanted to go into the cemetery today. can you believe that?" stan shudders.
"i can't even walk by that place anymore. i regret watching Pet Cemetery so much," he says. ben and i gasp.
"we swore not to talk about it ever again!" i exclaim. stan gives me a sheepish look.
"whoops, right." stan looks at me.
"how are you and richie?" he asks. i feel myself blushing.
"w-we're great, stan. never been better," i answer. stan laughs.
"i can tell. you're wearing his sweater." ben laughs with stan. there we are, three boys, laughing at each other as the leaves fall around us and the cold wind nips our noses.
richie and the others soon join us. they all greet stan.

the sound of distant music distracts us. we follow it to find a band playing slow songs under a huge gazebo. many people are slow dancing in the square around it.
"may i have this dance?" richie bows to me and giggles. i take his hand, and he leads me out to the center of the town square. he takes his beanie off and shoves it on my head.
"you look cuter in it anyway," he tells me. we sway to the music, just laughing and whispering. i glance around, and see the other losers dancing, too.
bill and stan jokingly spin each other around. they're quite good dancing together.
ben and beverly gently slow dance, laughing when ben makes a mistake.
mike takes pictures of the beautiful moment with his polaroid camera. i'll have to ask for some of those later. but for now, i had a partner to dance with.
"do you love me, richie?" i ask him. richie smirks at me.
"that's a dumb question to ask, eds. i love you more than anything," he tells me. richie leans down and kisses the tip of my nose.
"i love you too," i say. he smiles.
"that's good to hear, hot stuff."
we swayed to the music for what felt like a minute, before the other losers ushered us to follow them.
mike gasped.
"ice skating!" he cheered.
everyone laced up their skates and got onto the rink. mike skated with ease, and stan tried to copy his movements. he busted his ass and it was the funniest thing. bill held onto the railing, and screamed if someone tried to peel him off of it. ben and beverly held hands and skated together, wobbly.
richie and i worked our way around the ice rink. he let go of my hand.
"watch this!" he yelled.
richie skated a few feet in front of me and attempted to spin around. it did not work. he fell on his butt. i laughed.
"it's harder than it looks," he said, sheepishly. that only made me laugh harder.
"you're killing me, you know that?" richie told me. i shrugged.
"you did that on your own free will," i answer. we skated for hours, just laughing and talking. i loved every minute of it. the cool winter air hitting my nostrils made me invigorated, and we stayed out at the carnival until it was dark.
the entire losers club stood at the entrance, gushing about how much fun they had had today. slowly, we all started to leave.
it just left richie and i.
"wanna go home?" he asked me.
"not yet," i tell him.
"what do you wanna do?"
"this." i cup his face in my hands and i kiss richie. at first, he's surprised, but he kisses back right after. it cold wind nips at us, but i can't help but feel warm inside.
"i love you," he whispers against my lips. i grin.
"let's go home. i'm freezing."

so... stan lives!!!
but how?
you'll find out in the next couple chapters!!
i totally got some of you guys with the graveyard thing >:)
i really wanted to do a fall episode, and my dreams are now complete.
i might do more fall episodes bc honestly i love them sm.
thanks,
laurenwrrites