𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 | 𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕖

chapter fifteen: i want to hold your hand

The drive to Illinois was an awkward, degrading, and embarrassing experience for Eddie.

All Will and Mike did was flirt with each other, and then imply that Richie had a crush on Eddie. There was no way! His messy hair was disgusting and gross and pretty- no, no, no, go away feelings!

Within a few hours, Eddie was almost certain he was in love with the lanky teenager. And love really scared him.

Growing up, Eddie had always been told 'you'll marry a beautiful woman and be intimate with her.' When he asked his father what 'intimacy' was, he simply replied, 'in this case, it would be sex.'

Oh, Eddie understood sex to a degree. His knowledge mainly came down to: penis goes in vagina. But for a very odd reason, Eddie really didn't want that. He didn't want to feel controlling or dominant, he wanted to be safe and secure and warm.

And when Eddie zoned out in the car, he finally knew what was happening to him.

So he spoke it to himself in his head,

'I will never be with a woman.'

★

"You helped the hostage?" Henry Bowers spoke to Victor Criss, who was a whole foot shorter than him.

"I-" Victor barely got a word in and he knew he was in for it.

"That was our ticket to sittin' pretty for the rest of our lives!" Henry shoved Victor again and again with each pungent word that left his grotesque mouth. "You just threw it away and for what? You are a pussy! You disgust me-"

"Henry, stop it." Belch Huggins cut off the bully.

Reginald Huggins was a very complicated young man. Known for his disgusting burps, he was branded with the nickname, 'Belch' by Henry, which essentially meant that he was going to be stuck in a gang for a while. He only let Victor call him Reggie, for reasons he couldn't comprehend with his lack of higher education from people who would actually care about him. Reggie really wanted to just take Victor away so they could live in Hawaii and live a life free of tension and guilt.

Henry turned slowly to see Belch and Patrick. "Why should I?"

"You're a horrible person and a worse friend, just cut the shit." Belch stood up to the tall teen. He was feeling strong and brave, "let's get out of here, Vic."

Victor nodded, "fuck you, Henry." Then they left, leaving Henry and Patrick to stand in the abandoned building.

"Motherfucker." Patrick muttered.

Henry and Patrick were very complex people.

Henry grew up with a dickhead of a father, abusing him in every way he could. His mother wasn't in the picture, but he thought that she probably would've been a bitch anyway. He was rather small when he was born, very slightly premature, and weak. He'd been told all his life that he was weak and so he sought out to prove everyone wrong any way he could.

Patrick was a mystery to anyone on Earth. The only person who knew the true inner workings of his mind was himself and perhaps some sort of God looking over them. He was a deranged person with torturous tendencies, which began as soon as he was born. He must've been a psychopath because he'd had it easy all his life, he was born with no emotion. All he wanted to do was destroy everything.

"We're gonna find those fags." Henry assured Patrick after seeing two of his henchmen leave him.

"Who cares about a fucking reward, Hen? Let's just kill the bastards and rob a bank." Patrick spoke with voice of certainty, which somehow scared Henry.

"Kill them?" Henry was having second thoughts about letting Patrick in the gang. Perhaps he was just too deranged. "Are you crazy?"

"Crazy? You hate them, I hate them. Two less gays in the world is good in my book." Patrick started to leave the building and Henry began to follow behind.

And with the look on Patrick's face, Henry knew for sure.

Henry knew he wasn't the leader anymore.

★

"Alright, let's grab something to eat." Mike pulled up to a small restaurant with a sign that read, 'Hopper's Burger Bar'. "I know this place, pretty good etiquette if you ask me."

"Won't we be recognised?" Eddie asked, worry coursing through his veins. "We've come too far to be taken back to the start now!"

"It's fine, Eds." Richie calmly reassured the small boy, "This'll be quick, then we'll be on our way."

They all got out of the car and went into the restaurant, were they saw a big burly man at the counter, reading a book called 'Is My Daughter A Lesbian Or Is She Just A Tomboy?'

'I Want To Hold Your Hand' was playing on the jukebox softly.

"Oh, customers! Jane, come serve them!" The man seemed excited to see them. "We have celebrities in our midst."

Jane revealed herself and looked at the book that her father was reading, "dad, I told you, I'm not a lesbian!"

"But aren't you?" The man had a name tag that read, 'Jim'. He chuckled as the teenage girl threw a newspaper at him, as he hit it away in a fit of laughter.

"I feel like we're in the danger zone right now." Richie whispered to Eddie.

Eddie nodded, "maybe we should take it to-go?"

"Would you like a booth?" Jane asked the group of boys.

Jane Hopper had a dark past.

In The USA, you were not a person, but just another pawn in the government's fucked up chess game. And it was all about whether you were one of the white pieces, or one of the black pieces. Always pawns. The pawns are expendable, useless in the end. They're there to be sacrificed for the good of the wealthy and powerful. And although many people from this time thought that in the future, the chess game would be broken, they would most certainly be wrong about that.

Jane was more like a knight. Now, they weren't too important, but they were definitely needed in the start of the chess game. They were needed because they were strong and unique, but in the end, the only one who truly mattered was the king.

She was tortured and experimented on like a weak rat. She was electrocuted, and brainwashed, and all sorts of other fun things.

All this, because she liked girls.

It wouldn't matter if she died, she wasn't important for the economy anyway. That's what the scientists would say.

But now, Jane's Brain was near fried, still gaining intellect and function.

Luckily, Jim Hopper adopted her when she was found outside the facility, covered in blood and dirt.

They don't talk about that anymore.

"Yes, thank you." Mike spoke. "How about that booth in the corner?"