derry, maine | it imagines ✔️

34. comfort - mike hanlon

Requested?:
Yes: [✔️] ; by @-laurbearr
No: []

Song?: No

a/n: im sorry for being shitty at updating and for not updating in a long time. also trigger warning in this imagine

Lauryn dodged a cigarette bud thrown at her by Henry Bowers from Belch Huggins' car. She turned and glared at the boy, throwing him nasty look that was worse than any curse word she could've used. She continued down the sidewalk on her bike, heading towards her home, a farmhouse outside of the main area of Derry.

The blue car rolled up next to her, inching along beside her. "Where you headed, homeschool?" Henry called, spitting the last word like it was poison. "Going home to where you have no friends?"

"Shut up, Bowers," Lauryn responded. "It's none of your business. Leave me alone," she continued, trying her best to ignore the four boys in the car. Patrick Hocksetter reached out to grab her handlebars, but she swerved away from them. "Piss off, Cockstetter," she growled.

Patrick snickered at her comment, obviously not taking offense to the insult. "Hey, Henry, I bet she's fucking the other homeschooled kid," he told the shorter boy. "Homeschooled weirdos gotta stick together, you know."

Henry nodded, Patrick's statement obviously intrigued by this false accusation. "Yeah," he said quietly before shouting at Lauryn again, "Are you fucking Hanlon?"

"No!" exclaimed Lauryn, flustered by this. She pedaled faster, her long black hair flying behind her. The blue car only sped up, matching her pace. "Just leave me alone, you assholes!"

Henry rolled his eyes at the girl, replying with a smirk, "Patrick, she's probably fucking her uncle or something if it's not Hanlon. She's homeschooled. You know, they're probably into all that incest shit."

Patrick started laughing, distracting Belch, who was driving, and Lauryn took that chance to make a sharp turn down a new road, causing the car to drive right past. She could hear Henry yelling at Belch, but she didn't care. Her face was wet with tears falling from under her glasses, down her cheeks.

She rode down her driveway to her family's farmhouse, hopping off her bike and letting it fall onto the gravel. She ran up to her room, avoiding her parents for the whole night, which included skipping dinner.

She hated Bowers! She hated all of them! She hated what they said about her. All of it. She wasn't a homeschooled freak. She was just like everyone else. But, just because she was homeschooled, she got bullied for being weird or into weird shit. Lauryn knew Mike Hanlon, her neighbor, got the same treatment for being homeschool, as well as because of his race. She felt like a slut when Henry and Patrick accused her of messing around with Mike. Not because she had, but because she had a crush on Mike. He was the only one who was really nice to her, and he was her best friend.

She felt so alone when this happened, considering it wasn't the first time Henry and his friends had tormented her. It always left her feeling cold, like every other emotion and feeling had abandoned her.

The girl snuck from her room, her brown eyes flicking back and forth across the hallway, checking to see if anyone was around. She crept to the bathroom, closing the door silently and locking it. She sunk to the floor, tears pouring from her eyes. She shuffled across the floor, grabbing a razor from under the sink.

She dragged it across her tan skin, leaving straight lines on her wrists that began to leak out metallic red blood. Some made new cuts, while others opened up old ones. This wasn't the first time she had done this to herself. The pain didn't bother her; at least she could feel something. She winced at the final cut, and she threw the blade to the ground.

Tears fell onto her bloodied wrists, mixing them together. Lauryn shakily stood up, turning on the faucet. She washed off the razor, watching the red color slip into the drain. She cleaned off her wrists, the water stinging the fresh wounds. She wrapped them in toilet paper, because that's all she had to bind them.

The room felt stuffy, and she couldn't breathe properly. Her breaths were sharp and dry, and they did nothing to help. She scrambled out of the bathroom, coughing as she ran to the front door. The chill air slapped her face as she ran into her safe place, free from everyone: the woods.

She ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. The tears never seemed to stop. She cried as she sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. She pulled her knees to her face, burying her eyes in them. Her muffled sobs sounded so loud in the quiet of the forest.

Lauryn didn't know how long she was out there. It was dark, the moon only giving off a slight ray of light, and the leaves of the trees above didn't much of it through. A crackle came from all around, echoing. Her head lifted, gazing around aimlessly in the dark. A beam of light fell upon her. "Lauryn?" a voice called.

Her eyes shifted and adjusted to the light. "Mike?" she asked, her voice rough from crying and coughing. The boy nodded slowly, dropping the light away from her tear-stained face. "What are you doing here?"

"My grandfather saw you run across the back into the woods. Told me to go after you," he replied, sitting down next to the girl. "Are you okay?" The girl shrugged in response, holding her knees tightly to her chest. Mike's dark eyes fell to her hands, where a sliver of toilet paper was sticking out. "Laurie," he started, using her nickname, "what's that?"

Lauryn followed her gaze to her wrists, and she pulled down her sleeves. "Nothing," she answered, but Mike took her arm in his hands delicately, careful not to apply pressure. He lifted her sleeve to her elbow, looking down at the toilet paper, which had stains of red on them. His eyes saddened at the sight of the scars that lined her wrists as he unwrapped the paper from around them. Lauryn pulled her arm away. "I'm sorry." Her face dropped, eyes looking at the ground.

Mike lifted her face with his finger, tears in his eyes. "Why?" Lauryn sighed and explained everything to him, including what Henry and Patrick had said about her and him. Mike's eyes widened when she accidentally let her crush slip from her lips. She covered her mouth, and he laughed quietly. "Don't do that," he lowered her hand. He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I like you too." Lauryn's lips curved into a small smile. "Just, please, don't do this to yourself. I care about you, and I don't want to see you hurt. Even if it's from yourself."

Lauryn nodded, "Okay." She sighed slightly, and Mike wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her temple, before standing and pulling her up. He didn't say anything, but held her hand as they walked out of the woods together.