𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 [R.Tozier]

X. Almost Is Never Enough

Richie and Alisa spend the night talking and arguing about whatever it may be, completely forgetting their awkward moment just a few hours ago. Or, at least trying to forget.

Meanwhile, next door, Bill is having problems of his own, yet he wouldn't let anyone know.

"Yeah! So then he shat in my backpack and let's just say I carried my books for a while after that." Richie finishes telling Alisa about the time where Henry had absolutely ruined his bag just a few months ago. "That's honestly disgusting." Alisa laughs, placing her hand onto Richie's shoulder.

"Woah, you alright there, Pippi? You look like you're having a seizure." Richie asks, chuckling. "I'm so grateful that you care about my health, Glasses." She rolls her eyes, finally calming herself down. "Okay, okay." She takes in a deep breath.

"Once, Greta Bowie slapped me so hard. I swear, my mouth started bleeding." The red head says, earning a shocked look from Richie. "Why'd she slap you? I'd never slap such a beautiful face." He joked, earning a soft slap to the face from Alisa. "That, my dear friend, is classified." She chuckles, mischievously holding a pillow behind her back and whacking it at the black haired boy.

"Woah! What was that for!" He shouts, grabbing another pillow and holding it in front of him as she continues to whack the pillow at the poor boy. Richie begins fighting back. The pillow fight only lasts only a minute before Alisa falls off the bed, hitting her arm. "Ow! Shit!" She screams out, lying on the floor.

Richie stops for a moment, then gets off the bed, crouching beside the girl and looking down at her. "You alright, Pippi?" He asks. Alisa pauses for a moment, then bursts into laughter. "What's so funny?"

"That was so pathetic. I fucking fell off my bed." She continues to laugh uncontrollably, then sitting up. As she sits up, she finds her face once again close to Richie's. Not so sure of what to do, Alisa just stays put, looking right into his brown eyes, feeling his breath hit her skin.

Right as Richie begins to lean in, the front door is heard opening, startling the two. The two pull away from each other, quickly getting up from the floor and peaking over the railing of the second floor.

"A-A-Ally? Richie? You guys here?" Bill calls out from downstairs, causing the two to dash down. "Bill, it's late, what are you doing here?" Alisa asks, out of breath as she holds on tightly to Richie's hand.

Before Bill explains himself, he glances down at their held hands, causing Alisa to quickly look down and yank her hand away from the boy.

"I s-saw G-G-Georgie and the basement, it was f-flooded. Then there was this- this- a c-c-clown!" Bill begins, trembling, eyes wide. "A clown?" Alisa asks, moving farther away from Richie and wrapping her arm around Bill. "I saw one too." She hugs him, causing Richie to feel a little uncomfortable and jealous in the situation. "Hey, where's my hug?" He jokes holding his arms open.

Alisa rolls her eyes and let's go of Bill, sending him a sympathetic look. "Do you wanna spend the night too? We've all had it rough recently." She offers, earning a shake of the head. "I can't, I'm not s-s-supposed to. I'll just come over tomorrow, a-a-alright?"

"Yeah, of course. If anything else happens, don't be afraid to come over. I'd say call, but my parents haven't paid the phone bill." Alisa gives him one more hug before sending him off. "Shit. This is terrible." She turns to Richie after the door was shut. "It's probably a coincidence! I mean, I'm afraid of clowns and I haven't even seen one in my nightmares." Richie argues, wrapping his arm around the red head.

"Now, where were we before someone interrupted?" He smirks, staring at straight at her blue eyes. "We we're just about to get to sleep, Glasses. Come on, I have the mattress set up on the floor." She sighs, making her way up the stares.