The End Of Us || losers club ✔️

two

two - into the night

Finally, Richie got Eddie to his feet. It took a lot of gentle persuading and tugs of his arms, but he's standing. He's run out of tears to cry and now he looks limp and exhausted. He wordlessly picks up his bike and gets on, eyes glued to the ground ahead of them. Whenever Richie looks at him, all he sees is a sickening sad face and eyes as empty as Paul Bunyan's.

It scares him.

Richie gets onto his bike and leads the way back, never straying farther than a few feet from Eddie. He's not sure what he's afraid of, either the boy biking away or falling over. Both are unlikely to happen, but not impossible ideas.

The trek back is long and painful, having to bike up steep hills in the ruthless late summer heat. But they make it back. Eddie stays on the sidewalk leading up to his house, eyes darting from the street to the dark windows and back again.

The thought of Sonia's body within those walls burns into Richie's mind. It disgusts him to think he was the cause of it, but also brings along paralyzing terror. Every few minutes his mind would snap to the police and what would happen when someone realizes they haven't seen the woman in a while, or if the smell of a decomposing body would hit first.

Thankfully, before Richie could summon up the courage to walk through the front door, it swings open and Stanley runs down the steps. Mike is right behind him.

"I can't- Mike, no! I wanna go home! We can't.. I'm not.." He says loudly, announcing it to the whole street. He gets to the middle of the driveway, eyes wide and frantic. His hair falls down his forehead, messier than it was only mere hours before. Mike runs out after him.

"We all did this, Stan," Mike says, a hand reaching out to take hold of Stanley's shoulder. "We all have part in this. You can't go back home, none of us can, alright?"

"And why not?" Richie asks. He's not sure if he's heard, his voice sounding far too soft to his own ears. He's scared of what they're talking about, of what Mike could be implying.

Apparently he was heard, as Mike's eyes glide over to him. Then Mike looks at Eddie and it seems like all his words get caught in his throat. His lips part, then close again for good.

"Mike, I wanna go home," Stanley says again. "We just- Shit, we fucking..." And he brings a hand up to his mouth, his shoulders shaking as the tears spring up.

"And what happens when the cops go to your house? What are you gonna say then, Stan?" Mike asks, his hold on Stanley's shoulder never breaking. "You can't lie. Eddie will be taken away, do you want that?"

"No," Stanley whispers. Tears run fast down his face, easily mixing with the splatter of blood planted on his jaw. "I don't want Eddie taken away."

Just as Mike nods and releases Stanley, the storm door slowly squeals open. Beverly steps out onto the porch, hands pressed up against her chest and in the dim light Richie can see her tear-streaked face. Her eyes lift to Eddie, and her bottom lip puffs up in a pout.

Richie knows what she's thinking. They all know what she's thinking because her thoughts are the same as theirs. Sonia Kaspbrak is dead and they're the cause. Whether they like it or not, each of them know deep down life for them can never be the same. They can't go back to their normal lives- going to school in the fall or sleepovers every weekend, that's gone now. It's all over.