freaks of nature - stenbrough

-25-

(A/N): this ended up going for longer than i was anticipating, so i'm not going to explore jason's storyline, sorry!!! for those who are wondering, he ended up going to a psychiatric hospital and although they couldn't do much about his permanent brain damage, he still communicated to the nurses via his mutation and was happy. that's pretty much what i was planning to write...sorry for any disappointment.

this is how i imagine betty's dress.
tw: death

——

Stanley knocked on Betty's door and waited for her parents to answer. He held the white and blue corsage in his hands as he stood nervously. The door opened and Betty's mother was there.

"Oh, Stan, you look so smart! Come in."
"Thank you, Mrs Ripsom."
"Please, call me Barb."
Stanley forced a smile, "okay."

Stanley sat on the couch and watched the stairs waiting for Betty. Barb walked to the bottom of the stairs and yelled for Betty to come down. A few more moments passed and Stanley heard footsteps.

"Woah," Stanley's jaw dropped.

Betty had come down the stairs wearing her prom dress, teen movie style. She had on a beautiful periwinkle floor length dress which she just looked absolutely beautiful in.

"You look amazing," Stanley smiled.
"Thanks," she blushed, "you look very handsome if I do say so myself."
"Oh...um," he opened the box with the corsage in and began putting it on her wrist, "this is for you."

Once he was done, Betty put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. It was just a quick peck, but it made Stanley blush.

"Thank you."
"Alright lovebirds, lets get you to prom! Betty, make sure your brother is okay to pick you up."
Betty frowned and sighed, "yes mom."
"Have fun!"

Stanley took Betty's hand and they went to Richie's car at the end of her driveway.

"Before you ask...mom won't accept that I came back and Josh didn't. She pretends he's still alive, he was always the favourite."

Stanley didn't know what to say. He just squeezed her hand and let her rest her head on his shoulder

——

"Alright, Derry High!" The 'DJ' said into the microphone, "find your dates and get ready it's time for a slooooow dance!"

Stanley turned to Betty and held out his hand. She took it and he led her to the middle of the dance floor.

Betty draped her arms around Stanley's shoulders. He held her waist as they swayed slowly in time with the music.

"I still don't know how to dance," he grinned.
"You did a pretty good job in my living room, now shush."

Stanley chuckled softly. They pressed their foreheads together and closed their eyes. Their breathing synced and a content feeling washed over them both. Betty connected their lips for a moment before they pulled away and left their foreheads together. In that moment, they felt as if no one else existed. The feeling was true serenity.

All of the serenity was lost when Betty suddenly jolted forwards and fell onto Stanley.

"Betty?" Stanley frowned, "are you okay?"

She didn't respond. Her legs fell out from underneath her and Stanley had no choice, but to lower her to the floor. When she was laying down he pulled away and noticed she was crying.

"Betty, wh-what happened?" He cupped her face.

He moved his eyes down to her stomach to see a bullet sticking out of her dress. Blood soaking through the material, he could also feel the same thing happening on her back. He held his hand out and used his mutation to pull the bullet, not wanting to physically touch it. Once it was out, Stanley slipped off his jacket and pressed it to her stomach. Nothing was working, whatever it was had gone straight through her torso.

It didn't take long for people around them to see. Everyone backed away and screamed. Richie came running over, dragging Eddie with him. When they realised what was happening, they ran off to go find a phone and call for help. Stanley looked up for a moment and noticed a MHA agent leaving through the doors of the gym. His lip trembled as he realised what had happened. All the other losers appeared. Stanley heard Beverly gasp and grip Ben's hand while Mike pushed everyone behind him as if he was their body guard.

Betty looked up and him. Tears rolled down her temples into her hair as she tried to form a sentence.

"St...Stan," she sobbed.
"You don't have to say anything," Stanley cried, "you're going to be okay."

Stanley wished he could believe his own words. It was a miracle the bullet hadn't hit him too. He held the side of her face and let his own tears fall down his cheeks.

"I love you, Betty...I love you so much."
"I love you too, Stan," she muttered weakly, placing her hand on his and squeezing it as tight as she could.

He wiped her tears and kissed the tip of her nose. Stanley wiped the hair out of her face and placed his hand back on her cheek. All the metal in the room started shaking as he repressed a sob. The table with the snacks and punch collapsed. The microphones in the stage crumpled or split in two. The door handles fell off or bent. He watched as the light left her eyes and her grip on his hand loosened. That's when he couldn't hold it back anymore. A sob escaped his lips and a force moved through the air pushing everyone around him to the ground. All the metal in the room crumbled, no matter what it is. The metal frame holding up the building began bending and eventually collapsed. Everyone ran out except the losers, who ran into the circle the frame had created around the two.

Richie and Eddie appeared soon after, saying a teacher had taken the phone from them. Stanley was in so much pain he hasn't even realised the others were there. He held Betty and sobbed into the crook of her neck.

"I love you, I love you so much..."
"Stan," Richie said through his own sob, "you have to let her go."
"No."
"Come here."
"I'm not leaving her!"

Richie grabbed his shoulders and tried to pull him away. Stanley held onto her tight and refused to let go. Beverly came over and helped Richie pry his arms off. He fell back into the floor. Richie grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. Stanley looked down at Beverly who covered her face with Stanley's jacket, not being able to look at her empty eyes any longer. Stanley thrashed in Richie's arms as he tried to get back to Betty.

"Let go of me!" Stanley cried, "let go...let me fucking go!"
"Stan, look around! You collapsed this fucking building! Calm down."
"It was them! I saw them! They did it I'm going to make them fucking pay! Let me go!"
"Stan, please!"

After a bit more of Stanley thrashing he looked down at Betty again. He stood still and felt his heart shatter. She was gone...she was really gone. He turned and collapsed into Richie's arms. He hugged him tight and sobbed into the top of his shoulder and Richie softly rubbed his back and held his own floodgates shut.

The MHA had taken Betty for the last time. And they were going to fucking pay.