Lost ❄️ Reddie

13

The fumes from the bus made Stan want to vomit, but he decided not to say anything. Bill had talked to the bus driver who had agreed to drive them all the way to Hawkins, and they were nearly there. Stan just had to stick it out and hope he didn't puke all over Bill, who was sitting next to him and reading the journal.

"D-do you care?" Bill asked suddenly, pulling Stan away from his thoughts of not vomiting.

"What?"

"That R-Richie's gay?" Bill asked, sounding slightly nervous.

"Of course not," Stan said with a smile. "He's one of my best friends. I just hope that for his sake Eddie is alive somehow."

Bill nodded and continued to read the pages of the journal. He knew Richie would probably care, but he couldn't stop.

"H-he really loved Ed-Eddie," Bill whispered, closing the book and setting it on his lap.

"Eddie loved him, too. You could tell."

Bill took in a shaky breath. "Do you th-think it's possible th-th-that he's al-alive?" he asked in a small voice, his eyes meeting Stan's.

Stan glanced around at his other friends, who were all asleep before turning back to Bill. "I don't want to get my hopes up," he whispered, and that was all he had to say.

Bill understood.

They had watched Eddie bleed out in an underground cavern, Richie screaming at him to please stay alive. It haunted his dreams sometimes, hearing how terrified they both were.

It was strange, because after Eddie died, Bill didn't remember leaving the cavern. He just remember waking up by the quarry the next day, with all of the losers except Eddie laying beside him. No one remembered leaving, they just remembered losing Eddie and waking up.

"I h-hope he's alive," Bill murmured, watching as they passed a sign that said Welcome to Hawkins. "C-come on. We're h-here."

•••

The town of Hawkins was an interesting one. It seemed like Derry, but much more welcoming. Yet, none of the losers could shake the feeling that there was something bad there, and that they were being watched.

The five walked down the main road in the town, turning a few heads, but for the most part they were left alone.

"Should we ask someone?" Bev asked the group, receiving a few nods and shrugs.

They walked into a video store, the bell ringing to alert the workers of their presence. At the front desk there was a young lady, who glanced up at them and raised her eyebrows.

"Can I help you guys?" she asked, eyeing them up and down.

"We're looking for our friend. Have you seen him?" Bev asked, walking up to the desk and smiling at the girl.

"What's he look like?"

"He's sixteen, brown eyes and black hair, and he has glasses," Bev said, watching the girl think.

"Didn't Hopper find a kid like that earlier today?" a guy called from the back of the store.

He jogged up and stood next to his coworker, who glared at him.

"Yes, Steve, he did. He also told us that if anymore random kids show up we should try to figure out what they're doing here before we say we know where he is," the girl hissed, slapping Steve in the arm.

"Oh," the boy, Steve, said, looking slightly guilty. "Sorry, Robin."

"Where is he?" Mike asked, standing a bit taller to try to look intimidating.

"How do we know you're not psychopaths who are after the kid?" the girl, Robin, said, glaring at the group with her arms crossed.

"Why the fuck would we be psychopaths?" Stan asked with an eye roll. "We just want to make sure our friend is okay. He took off a few days ago and we've been trying to track him down."

"No, not him," Steve said, ignoring Robin who was glaring at him. "The other kid. The one that Hopper saved from th-"

"Shut up, Steve!" Robin snapped, slamming her hand over Steve's mouth. "Jesus Christ, I told Hopper that you shouldn't be allowed to know anything, but no, you had to know!"

"It's not my fault that I was involved! All I did was save Nancy and Jonathan from a multidimensional monster-"

"Oh, because that makes you so qualified!"

"It does!"

"Does not!"

The losers watched as the pair yelled back and forth, not really knowing how to react. The two seemed to know what was going on, but the losers didn't know how to approach the situation.

"Is our friend okay?" Mike shouted, his voice louder than the other two.

"Who?" Robin asked, clearly still trying to pretend she didn't know what was going on.

"Just fucking tell us where he is!" Stan yelled, clearly angry. He threw Richie's journal to the pair. "Here, read it! Our friend is broken because our other friend died and we need to make sure he's okay!"

Robin and Steve quickly read through the entries, and shared a knowing look. The lead the losers to parking lot and told them all to squeeze into the back of a car.

"Hopper's going to kill us," Steve grumbled, starting the car. "You know that, right?"

Robin rolled her eyes. "So? We have proof that they're not working with the lab. Are they still at Joyce's house?"

"Should be." Steve put the car into drive and began to make his way down the road. "Where are you guys from?"

"Derry. It's a town in Maine," Ben said shifting to try to make more space for everyone else.

They drove through the town and down a long, empty road. There was a one story house in a driveway off to the side, and everyone got out looking around curiously. There was a truck and two cars in the driveway, not including Steve's car.

Robin lead the group to the front door and knocked on it.

"Robin?" asked a girl who came to the door, before looking at the group behind her. "What's going on?"

"Proof," Robin said with a smile. "They know that kid that showed up here yesterday."

The girl nodded and opened the door wider, allowing everyone to walk inside. The losers looked around, stopping in shock when their eyes found the living room.

Richie was sitting on the couch, memory album in hand, smiling as he talked to someone sitting next to him.

Stan walked forward and into the living room, standing in front of the couch. Both boys looked up.

"Eddie?"