Demons | Bill Denbrough

3. What Comes After

Katherine had been latched onto Bill's arm as they exited the restaurant. She had left a large tip for the waitress, mostly for the damage that was caused.

"That's just what Pennywise does, right?" Eddie asked. "He fucks with us. So Stanley's probably fine."

Beverly began to dig in her purse. "Hey, Mike. Do you have Stan's number?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mike answered.

"Hey, Richie," a voice called.

The losers all stopped to see a young boy, Dean, standing there, looking up at the comedian.

"How you-How'd you know my name?" Richie asked him.

Dean pulled his lips back in a smile. "The fun's just beginning. Right?"

The moment of what happened not too long ago got to their heads. Eddie questioned anxiously, "Is that-"

Richie lowered himself face to face with Dean. "Listen, you think this is funny? You think this is some sort of game, huh?" He grabbed Dean by the arm. "Well, fuck you, all right?!"

"Rich, be careful," Bill told him.

"Fuck you! I'm not afraid of you!"

Dean had a horrified look on his face. "' The fun's just beginning'," he quoted. "It's a line from your act, dude. I'm a fan."

Katherine walked over to pull Richie's hand off the boy. "I don't think jail's a fun place to be," she whispered to him.

He ignored her and asked Dean, "Are those your parents?"

Dean glanced behind him to see two adults and a little girl approaching to which he answers, "Yeah."

Richie's expression changed into a small smile. "You want a picture?"

"I think I'm good," Dean answered but saw Katherine pulling Richie back. "Wait, Katy Angel?"

Katherine's flustered expression turned into a friendly look. "Yes?" she asked softly.

"Can I have your autograph?" Dean asked her with a sweet smile.

"Sure," Katherine answered as Dean handed her his notebook, probably for drawing or doodling while he was waiting for his food to come.

Katherine signed the notebook, sending Dean a wink before giving back the notebook.

As Dean walked back to his parents, Richie called, "Okay, cool. He's a cute kid."

As the family walked away from them, Katherine's kind smile faded into her worried expression as they also walked out of the restaurant.

"Jesus, Richie. You don't remember a line from your own show?" Ben asked.

Richie slouched forward. "I don't write my own material," he admits.

At the same time, Eddie and Katherine spoke:

"I fucking knew it!"

"Called it!"

As they exited out into the warm weather, Beverly got in contact with someone. "Hello, Mrs. Uris. My name's Beverly Marsh. I apologize for calling but I'm an old friend of your husband's."

Katherine clutched onto her husband's hand. "Billy, I have a bad feeling about Stan," she told him quietly as Richie and Eddie blamed Mile for lying to them.

Bill rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand to try and calm her. "I'm sure S-S-Stan just got..." He tried to think of something. "I'm sure his flight got delayed."