.: Friday I'm In Love :|: Reddie :.

Lose The Backpack

"Shit! Oh, fucking hell..." Eddie struggled to get his shoes on his feet and fell onto the floor of his bedroom in the process. He cursed more quietly this time, sure that he had woken up his best friend, but when he listened for the shift of the covers, there was nothing. He thanked the lord that Richie was a deep sleeper.

After checking his watch, Eddie realized that he was already a few hours late. He had planned to start looking for Georgie again as soon as he ate something, but Richie had showed up, and he slept for three hours. It was almost 4:00, and since Eddie had promised no more all-nighters, this was a serious setback. Technically no all-nighters just meant he had to get some sleep, so he could still stay out later than most. Upon finally getting his sneakers tied, Eddie cast a glance back at Richie.

His best friend in the entire world was laying splayed out across Eddie's bed, face mushed into the pillow with wild curls tumbling over the white sheets. A surge of affection hit Eddie like a bus, and he smiled so wide that his cheeks hurt. That boy was his best friend. He got to spend every day with him. Even if he ever got married one day, Richie would come before all. Maybe that wasn't right, but it was just the way it was. Scooting over as quietly as he could, Eddie brushed a few curls out of Richie's face and kissed his forehead.

Leaving the house was the easiest part.

Glancing at his friend's discarded bike, Eddie got on his own, swinging his replenished backpack full of supplies over his shoulders and rolling out into the street. His muscles ached from his ride the day before, and his eyelids were still heavy with sleep and exhaustion. He pushed on anyway, starting once again with a quick sweep through his own neighborhood. He didn't spend too much time there, since he had already searched, but when he reached the street that had given him a weird feeling, he stopped. He stared at the sign on the corner for a moment, frowning.

He shook the feeling, heaving a great sigh and began pedaling once more. He wasn't planning on going down there alone, not right then. He directed himself instead in the direction of the woods at the edge of town. What were they called, again? The teachers who were closer to his mother's age called them the barrens. They used to play down there as kids, they all said.

It was pushing his luck, and Eddie had never been there except for Bill's trip to the quarry, but he figured they felt safer than that street for the time being and he'd rather go anywhere else. He dropped his bike on the side of the road and walked down the slope into the trees. There was a ridiculous overgrowth of plants, and there was absolutely zero percent of a chance that Eddie was getting out of this without poison ivy. His breath hitched at the thought, and he began sweating.

He took a puff of his inhaler just to be safe and pushed on. He got lost multiple times and found the road multiple times over the hours that he spent in the woods. He called Georgie's name, jumping at every rustle in the leaves or branches. He got poked, prodded and cut by every thorn in that place, and almost fell in the river. He didn't want to know what was in the water, but judging by the smell, it was nothing pleasant. He saw an entrance to the sewers while down there, but had absolutely no interest in checking that out.

It was 2018, nobody got killed in the sewers anymore. Plus, what would Georgie have been doing in them, anyway? He was twelve years old. Where had he even been on his own long enough to be taken? Eddie pondered these things while the sun began to sink behind the very trees he was lost in. He was supposed to be good at navigating, but he was losing his way rather easily.

After what felt like days, he could hear cars. He hurried in the direction of the noise, managing to scramble up the steep hill and onto the side of the road. Of course, his bike was nowhere to be seen. He came out of the woods very far from where he had entered them. He was on the other side of his neighborhood, almost in Ben's. With a heavy sigh, Eddie began his long trek. He pulled out his phone, and the screen opened to multiple missed messages from his mother and Richie. He ignored Sonia and opened the ones from his best friend.