it chapter two | reader insert [✔]

sixteen | home, sweet home

1 MONTH LATER

You finish placing the last of your boxes in the boot of your car as you heard the familiar tone of your phone start ringing from the front seat. You jogged around your car, picking it up, and once you saw the familiar name you answered it immediately. 

"Bill, baby. How are you?" You asked as Bill chuckled. 

"I'm good. Just thought I'd check up on you."

"Well, I should be the one checking up on you. Have you finally learnt how to finish a book for once?"

Don't get me wrong, you were the most loving girlfriend you could be. That didn't stop you from being brutally honest, though, and that's one of the things Bill absolutely adored about you. 

He laughed through the phone. "I just finished the first chapter. And I think I know where I'm going this time."

"That's good." You commented, shutting your boot and bending your neck to hold your phone against your shoulder. "How's Audra?"

"I don't know, she hasn't spoken to me since the divorce papers finally got finalized. Can you believe it took them almost 6 months just to complete the paperwork?"

That's the thing that Bill hadn't told you about when you'd met for the second time- Him and his then wife, Audra, had already signed for divorce. Audra was the one refusing to sign the paperwork, and once she saw that Bill had moved on with you, she caved in and it was finally finalized. 

You knew it wasn't a good thing, divorce never was. But it made you feel less like a homewrecker. 

In your defense, you did know Bill first, though. 

You climbed in the driver's seat of the car, and started the engine. Bill must have heard. 

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes. Just picked up all my stuff from Josh's house."

He paused. "I'm sorry about that prick."

"It's fine. I don't know why I wasted so much of my life with him, anyway."

He hums, and you both go quiet for a few moments as you begin driving away from your old house. You begin the 5-hour-journey to Bill's countryside home, where you were moving in with him. 

You steal a glance at the old house, before turning a corner, and never seeing it again. 

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Bill asks, and you hum. 

"Why do you think we're not forgetting? Y'know, like last time?"

It takes a while for you to think of an answer. "Maybe because It's dead. Maybe because we have more we want to remember then more we want to forget."

You take a glance down at your hand, the one that used to hold the scar that stretched along your palm. Beverly had alerted you all on the fact the scar had disappeared on each of your hands on the way back to the townhouse from the quarry.

Bill pauses for a moment, before chuckling quietly. "You sound a bit like Mike. But I like the last one."

You laugh out loud, putting your phone on speaker as you make it onto the highway. Your mind is suddenly drawn back to the events of earlier this morning, and your shaky voice alerts Bill. 

"Did you get the letter?"

Your hands grip the steering wheel and they drain of color from the force. Your boyfriend sounds confused. 

"What letter?"

"You'll know once you read it."

"Wait, I just collected the mail, hold on." You hear him moving around on the other side of the phone, and you sigh. You were sure he wanted to be alone when he read the contents, just like you had been.

"Just... Just read it." You murmured. Bill paused. 

 "Okay. I love you, (Y/n)."

"I love you, too, Bill."

When you reached over to hang up the phone, you could almost hear Stanley's voice reading the same letter you'd found this morning in your mail box. 

Dear losers, 

I know what this must seem like, but this is not 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, 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 want to 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.

---

fin <3