Demons | Bill Denbrough

9. Flicker

"Billy," 13-year-old Katherine spoke as the thunder from outside nearly drowned out her voice.

Bill Denbrough was asleep at his desk, his head rested on his drawing.

Katherine didn't want to wake him up because this was probably the first time in a long time that Bill had gotten any sleep since Georgie disappeared but she'd knew his back and neck would be hurting in the morning.

Her eyes looked over Bill's features. He didn't look stressed or scared. He even looked at peace.

His body language was the same. His shoulders weren't tense or his fists weren't clenched. He was completely at ease.

Katherine hated herself when she had remembered that she needed to wake him up and move him to his bed.

She gently shook Bill's shoulder. "Bill," she called softly which caused Bill to squint his eyes tightly as he was still asleep. "Billy, wake up..."

Bill's hand automatically reached up and grabbed hers, grasping it as his eyes shot open with a quiet gasp.

Bill relaxed once he saw it was Katherine who had awoken him. "Kat," he mumbled, releasing her hand and rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry, bud," she told him. "I just came through the window and saw you sleeping this way and...I know your back hurts when you fall asleep at your desk."

"Oh," Bill said. "Thanks." He looked over Katherine as he realized that she was at his house in the middle of the night which means something must've happened at her house. "Are y-y-you okay? Did M-M-Meth Seth-"

"He brought a gun to the house," Katherine answered. "Waved it in my face even though he laughed and said it was empty." She shook her head in dismay. "I don't trust him."

"I know," Bill told her, standing up, forgetting about his drawing on the desk. "H-He's an asshole."

Katherine nodded in agreement before her eyes moved to the drawing on the desk.

It was another great life-like drawing of Bill's. It was a girl who had a small tear running down her right cheek as her bright blue eyes only stared into a dark abyss near the end of the page but her hair was a nice beautiful yellowish-golden color that went inches past her shoulders.

"Who's this?" Katherine asked Bill who was still trying to wake up out of his tired state.

He glanced back and saw Katherine looking at the drawing. He panicked and closed the book. "It's R-R-R-R-Rapunzel," he lied.

Katherine chuckled as she sat on the edge of his bed. "I didn't take you for the princess type, Billy."

"I'm n-not," Bill answered, sitting beside her. "But I r-r-really her story. It's n-not like anything else I've read." His eyes watched her body language and noticed she was fidgeting with her fingers. "Are you g-g-going to stay here because of..." he trailed off.

"Yeah," she replied. "If that's okay with you."

"Always," Bill told her. "You can s-s-sleep in my bed."

Katherine frowned. "What about you?" she asked. "We can share the bed like we've always done."

"I don't w-w-want to invade your space because you've been c-coming over a lot," Bill replied, standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll j-j-just grab a sleeping bag from the c-closet."

"Bill," Katherine spoke, almost in a pleading tone. "Please lay next to me like you always do. On the bed. It's a thunderstorm out there and I just...don't want to feel alone or...cold."