Falling Inside The Black~It Chapter 2

It's Over/Happy Ending/Forever Losers

    (A/N:Yes, I changed the Benverly scene for Liv and Bev, so sue me)
  
   I felt hands shake me awake, but couldn't open my eyes, until I heard a loud crashing noise, and felt sunlight hit my face. I blinked, finding myself being held up by Bev and Ben, Richie screaming Eddie's name, and let a few tears fall, the feeling of Eds' hand in mine still there. They'd done it; They'd killed the fucking clown, while I was out cold. It was over at last.. I coughed hard, tasting blood, and Ben held me up, as Bev stepped in front of me, her fingers gently tracing my face, her hands shaking. "Liv? Can you hear me?" I slowly nodded, and shoved Ben off gently, my legs shaking for a second. "I can stand on my own.. Thanks." I offered him a sad smile, then found myself in Bev's arms as I fell backwards. She kissed my cheek, and whispered,"Maybe you should let me help you.. After all, you saved me first."

    I sighed, but let her help me, as we limped our way through town, stopping at the quarry. I rolled my eyes at the sign and railing that read,"No Jumping Or Diving at Any Time", and slowly kicked off my shoes, tightening the jacket around my wound, then held Bev's hand, as we both climbed over the railing, and jumped off the cliff, just like we'd done so many years ago as children, her laughter as brilliant and heartwarming as that day. We splashed into the water, the boys soon following behind us, and splashed each other for a bit, before cleaning ourselves off with the water. The water around me turned red, as I scrubbed myself clean, and looked at Richie, as he scrubbed Eddie's blood off his glasses. Ben whispered,"Know what, guys? Eddie would've hated this." Bill asked,"What? Cleaning ourselves with dirty water?"

   I laughed softly, as Ben said,"Yeah." Bev said,"He'd be telling us we'd get streptocochal something." We all chuckled a bit, and Mike remarked."Yeah, but he would've made us laugh, though." Bev nodded, and replied,"Yeah." Bill's face turned serious, as he said,"He'd be looking out for us.. He always was." I looked down at that, swallowing hard, and let a few stray tears fall for my lost friends. Ben asked,"Ain't that right, Richie?", to which we received tearful sobs. We all swam over to Richie, and hugged him, all of us sharing the same pain, but none of them understanding the way I did. I'd always known about the two of them, but it wasn't my secret to tell, and I'd take it to my grave.. Richie and Eddie both deserved peace, and I wouldn't ruin Eddie's rest of Richie's already painful life by telling anyone else. I held his hand, and whispered,"I'm so sorry, Rich", and he responded by gently squeezing my hand, and I think he knew I knew, and trusted me with that.

    After a bit, Richie sniffled, and muttered,"Thank you. I lost my glasses, so I don't know who you people are, but thank you." We all laughed, and he said,"I really did. I can't find my glasses." We instantly began all diving under to search for his missing glasses, and Bev swam over to me. She said,"They're right there." I peered down into the murky water, and frowned. "Where? I don't see them." She pointed, and replied,"Right there", and dunked me under the water. I saw the glasses, and wrapped my fingers around them, watching Bev swim in front of me, then went to resurface, when she caught hold of my shirt gently, and shook her head. I was confused, until she reached up, wrapped her arms around my neck, and pressed her lips to mine. I instantly wrapped my arms around her waist, and kissed her back, then pulled away and smiled, before resurfacing with her, and laughed, waving the glasses in the air. "We found them, Rich!"

    He swam over and snatched them out of my hand, then smirked. "As if I don't knoe what took you so long down there.. Was it salty?" I blushed, and gently smacked him. "Shush, Trashmouth." We smiled at each other, and then, after he put his glasses on, we all swam to shore, put our shoes back on, and walked into town. Bev stopped after a minute, and held up her hand. "Guys, look.." I looked at hers, and then at my own, as the boys looked, too. Mike said,"Nothing lasts forever..", as we all realised our scars made by a broken bottle, twenty seven years before, were gone, as if they'd never been there in the first place. We all slowly looked up into the glass window of a building, and our childhood selves stared back at us, the ones who had bonded that summer, a bond created deeper than blood and stronger than steel, that would last until our last breaths. No scar was needed to see or feel that..

    Eddie muttered,"I can't go home like this, guys. My Mom will freak out." Richie told him, "Dude, you've been gone for twenty four straight hours. Your face is definitely on a milk carton by now. You smell worse than your Mom's slippers." Eddie muttered, as we all began walking our bikes,"First off, my Mom's slippers smell like potpourri, asshole." Stan told him,"No, they don't." Eddie replied,"Yes, they do, and how would you know what they smell like in the first place?" I laughed, and whispered,"We stole them when you weren't looking, Eds." Bev playfully smacked me, and I gave her a dirty look. "Watch it, Firecracker, or I might steal your socks in the middle of the night, and you'll get cold feet.." She replied,"I'll just stick my toes to you, and they'll warm up. You're a warm person." She laughed, as I blushed and went quiet, the others all still arguing over Eddie's Mom's slippers, and we all walked off into the summer sun..

    *A Few Weeks Later*

   I sighed, wincing, as I chased the cat around the kitchen of the apartment, my hands all soapy and wet. "Cuddles, come back here, damn it! I'm not supposed to run around too much! You're dirty, and it's bath time, and you're not getting any fucking treats if you don't let me give you a bath!" Right then, I slipped on a wet spot and fell backwards, moments later, a laugh coming from the hallway as Cuddles perched on my chest, giving me a dirty look. "Please help me, babe.. This cat is pure evil." Bev laughed harder, and gently pried the cat off, helping me stand, then kissed me softly. "You've got soap in your hair, Liv.. It's supposed to go on the cat." I blushed, and sighed. "Tell that to her." I stuck my tongue out at Cuddles, and she turned up her nose and stormed off. I helped unload the groceries in my newly-remarried-to-me wife's arms, then froze, as she wrapped her arms around my waist, and whispered in my ear,"So, when were you planning to tell me there's a bun in that still healing oven, babe?" I turned in her arms, and raised an eyebrow. "You ruined my surprise! The paperwork went through okay, and the doctor did the procedure a few days ago, and I checked today, and it was supposed to be a-" She silenced me with a heated kiss, and shook her head. "I'm sorry I ruined it.. I found the box in the bathroom, and you know I can't help being curious."

    I slowly smiled, and kissed her forehead, then gently put one of her hands on my stomach. "This time, I'll do everything better.. This time-" She whispered,"We'll do it together." I nodded, and let her pull me into her arms, her fingers softly stroking my hair. "I'm never leaving you again, Liv.. Not ever. You're my forever and always, and always have been, since the day I met you.." I smiled, and then blinked, as I saw a letter addressed to me and one to Bev stacked on top of the mail. "We should probably read those.. They're from Stan's wife." She sighed, and grabbed them, then followed me to the living room, sitting next to me on the couch, as we opened them, and began to read.

   "Dear Losers, I know what this must seem like, but this isn't a suicide note. You're probably wondering why I did what I did. It's because I knew I was too scared to go back. And if we weren't together, if all of us alive weren't united, I knew we'd all die. So, I made the only logical move; I took myself off the board. Did it work? Well, if you're reading this, then you know the answer. I lived my whole life afraid; Afraid of what would come next, afraid of what I might leave behind. Don't.. Be who you wanna be. Be proud. And if you find someone worth holding onto, never, ever let them go. Follow your own path, wherever that takes you. Think of this letter, as a promise. A promise I'm asking you to make.. To me, to each other.. An oath. See, the thing about being a Loser is.. You don't have anything to lose. So, be true, be brave.. Stand. Believe. And don't ever forget, we're Losers, and we always will be." Tears fell from my eyes, as I finished reading the note, and I looked at Bev, who had tears in her eyes, too. I whispered,"That's our Stanley.." She smiled tearfully, and nodded, then pulled me into her arms, and kissed me, before picking me up, and carrying me to our bedroom. She set me on the bed, and closed the curtains, then pulled the blankets over us, and slid in beside me, and I'm sure you know what happened after that, but that doesn't matter. What matters is what Stanley wrote, and this; Be loyal to those who are loyal to you. Fight for the ones you love, and stand strong in the face of fear. Oh, and by the way, welcome to the Losers Club..

                    THE END