The End Of Us || losers club ✔️

nine

nine - gone

Richie waited outside with Eddie until he was ready to get back in the car. He endured the rocks pushing into his skin, the hard ground, his heavy eyes, the horrible silence that forced them into their own little, lonely world.. he endured it all until Eddie had sighed and stood up.

Richie isn't sure when he fell asleep, body hot and just as uncomfortable as he was before he left with Eddie, but he remembers waking up to the sudden jerk of the car and his head smashing into the seat in front of him.

"Isn't it illegal to drive when someone isn't buckled?" Richie spits out as he sits up, hunched over and rubbing his forehead where it connected with the seat.

Beverly looks down at him and asks, "Isn't it illegal to run from police?"

"Touché," Richie says. He lifts himself out from the cramped space between the seats and falls into the empty spot next to Beverly. "How long have we been driving for?" He asks.

Beverly sticks her hand out the window, the sunlight splashing over her face. "It's almost ten now.. so.. three hours? Give or take," she says. Richie simply hums and lays further down, his knee gently knocking with Mike's.

"We've been passing by a lot of abandoned looking farm houses," Ben says from up front.

Richie's eyes are closed, still heavy and dry from the little sleep he's gotten. "Wow," he mutters, "Thinking of breaking into one?"

"No.." Ben says, but the way his voice trails and words linger hints otherwise, "I'm just pointing them out."

Richie leans in closer to Beverly, feeling as the wind nips at his face. Maybe it could wake him up some
more, not feel as drowsy. From the looks of it, everyone else is either asleep or close to it. It makes Richie wonder if they had just as bad as a night as he did.

"Maybe we could stop at one. Go exploring, you know?" He offers.

Beverly turns her head to look at him, the wind brushing through her curls. She smiles, happy and excited. Even with her uplifting nature, Richie can't help but feel this sickening dread filling his bones. Perhaps Eddie was right, they're all much too casual about this.

"We should do that," she says, then looks over the seats to Ben, "Next time you see one, pull over."

He throws her a thumbs-up and continues driving. Beverly continues wafting her hand through the wind, eyes closed and looking.. peaceful. The sun settles across her face, warming it as the rushing air pushes back her curls. Richie wishes he could feel as peaceful as she looks.

Soon enough, minutes after both Mike and Eddie began to wake up from their light slumber, Ben lets out an excited "Oh, look!" and starts to slow the car. He pulls off the side of the road, putting it into park a few seconds too early and the whole car forcibly jolts forward.

"Great driving," Stanley mumbles, eyes still fluttered closed.

"What are we doing?" Eddie asks, his tone accusing. He sits up straight and settles a hand on the windowsill, peering farther down the fields of tall grass. There's a house in the distance, white with patches of brown where the paint has peeled. A few trees grow around the farmhouse, tall and above the roof with leaves expanding far out. It would be quite beautiful, Richie thinks, if it weren't collapsing in on itself.