'39 [Stanley Uris]

31: Can't Help Falling In Love Pt. 2

"Mike," Andi sighs, staring down at the machine on her floor. "I've been working on this thing for months now, and I still can't get the amount of energy I need to generate it."

"What does that mean?" He looks to her worriedly.

"It means if I don't get the energy I need, I can't go back," she sighs, grabbing a pair of goggles and using a screwdriver to prod at a part of the machine.

"G-Go back?" He mutters. "What do you mean? You aren't staying here?"

Andi freezes up, slowly looking up at him.

"What was your plan exactly, Andi?! Make us need you and then leave?!" He defensively questions. "You can't just leave! We need you!"

She stands up and slowly removes her goggles.

"Hey hey, calm down," she tries, only further angering him.

"Calm down?! This is serious, Andi! What about Stan?! If he doesn't kill himself over Pennywise, he damn well might over you!" Mike scolds.

Andi frowns deeply at his loud tone, never seeing the Hanlon boy angered before.

You ever hear those quotes?

"Demons run when a gentle man goes to war."

"There are three things all wide men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."

Point is, gentle people are scary when angered.

Andi swallows the lump in her throat before going to defend herself. In a way, she knows that he's right— but she also knows that if he knew her full story then he'd understand.

"Mike, I came back to fix what it did to my timeline. To fix what I did, too," she cautions. "Do you think its fair to make me stay in a place where I know what's gonna happen from here on out, but not be able to change anything about it?"

"But you can!" He argues. "You're doing it now, why can't you keep doing!"

"Because, Mike! I could mess up the entire world by changing bigger things!" She retaliates. "And you guys don't need me! You guys think I make you stronger, but I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" He insists.

The girl shakes her head and chuckles softly.

"No. I don't," She states. "Don't you see? You've always been strong, Mike. All of you have. You just needed someone to show you— and I did that. I can't stay here forever, can I?"

Mike stares at the girl with sadness. Was it wrong of him to selfishly want his friend to stay?

"What about Stan," he tries. "I thought you loved him."

"I do love him," she smiles. "The thing is, I don't think he loves me back yet. Which is okay. I can tell he's scared."

Mike doesn't say anything after that. He just sits down with a never ending frown, and watches as the girl pulls her goggles back on and gets back to work on the machine.

"I think killing pennywise will generate enough energy to get me to where I need to be," She mumbles.

He only nods in response, not really wanting to talk further about the topic.

As she continues to poke and prod at the machine, a knock at the door causes the two friends to look each other dead in the eye.

Mike rushes to throw the sheet over the machine and carry it back to the corner of the room, and Andi throws her goggles aside and tries to fix her hair a little.