ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀɢʟᴏᴡ || ʀɪᴄʜɪᴇ ᴛᴏᴢɪᴇʀ

~ Leaving ~

Elaine sat alone against the entrance of the restaurant, her head resting between her closed thighs. She dozed in and out of consciousness, once in a while eyeing her red heels placed by the wall. It had been so long since she'd even thought about the clown. It didn't seem real. Terrified of what was going to happen next, she prayed that she'd wake up in her bed sprawled out on her mattress. Like if she was having a bad dream or something.

She was brought back to reality by six panicky adults abruptly swinging the doors open beside her. Richie crouched down in front of his wife, catching her attention. "Hey, you okay?" Richie asked his calmly, throwing an arm around her to help her up from the cold cement. He could tell she most definitely wasn't okay from the puke by her feet and her pale almost green face.

She wiped her mouth lazily, hoping there wasn't any vomit left from earlier. "Better," She nodded, still barefoot as she leant into him. Turning towards Beverly, they all listened intently to the conversation she was having on the phone. "Hello Mrs. Uris, my name is Beverly Marsh, I apologize for calling but I'm an old friend of your husband's," Eddie restlessly walked towards Mike, standing in front of Bev.

"You lied to us, that's not okay!" Eddie yelled to Mike, his voice so loud that the others near him couldn't hear Beverly on the phone. Bev moved away with Ben and Bill, not wanting the women on the other line to hear Eddie's screaming. Richie joined in, equally pissed off as Eddie, "Yeah, the first words that should've come out of your mouth should've been, 'Hey man, you want to come to Derry and get murdered?!'" Richie spoke harshly.

Elaine shivered, she most definitely did not want to get murdered by a killer clown. Richie crossed his arms, "Because I would've said no!" Patty Uris, Stanley's wife sniffled from the other line, "Oh, he passed." Elaine felt her eyes fill with tears. "Oh my god." She covered her mouth and let out a muffled sob. Stanley was dead, just like they were all going to be soon.

"When did it happen?" Beverly choked out, her voice wobbly. "Yesterday. It was horrible, the way he died," She whimpered, her words barely audible through the wails on the line. "His wrists, in the bathtub." She choked, she and Beverly saying the last part in unison. Elaine wretched, vomiting again at her and Richie's feet. She quickly covered her mouth, wiping her face in embarrassment.

Everyone stepped away, not wanting to catch what she had. Eddie groaned at the sight of puke on Richie's shoes, "Well, those are ruined," Elaine cried harder, "Oh god, I'm so sorry," Richie pulled her hair away from her face, ignoring the vomit on his shoes. "It's okay," He hummed, hugging her as she cried into his shoulder. Richie was still in utter shock, not caring about his ruined shoes when he had thousands at home.

"It's okay," He droned on, holding Elaine tightly.
He knew she and Stanley had been close growing up. Sure that made fifteen-year-old Richie more or less jealous, but now he was older and mature enough to realize they were only ever friends. They understood each other, in a way that his immature self couldn't comprehend. So, he stood uneasy, rubbing circles along his wife's shaky cold body. He couldn't believe Stanley had really killed himself.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Patty sniffed. "We're all very sorry, Patty," Beverly apologized, the women thanking her and hanging up. Elaine couldn't believe this was happening. "Oh god," Eddie yelled, his voice echoing through the now-empty parking lot, "Stanley!" Elaine jumped, wiping her eyes and looking toward him. "Pennywise knew! He knew before we did!" Mike interrupted him, clapping both his hands together. "We have to stop him! I have a plan!"

Richie gave the man a look of disgust, "I got a plan, get the fuck out of dodge before this ends worse than one of Bill's books. Who's with me?" Both Elaine and Eddie raised their hands arms in unison. Mike sighed with disappointment, "We made a promise to each other!" Richie cussed, "So.. let's unmake the promise!" "Richie, other people are going to die!" Ben tried, but Richie only scoffed at him.

"So? People die everyday, man. We don't owe this town shit!" He walked away angrily, "Plus, I just remembered I grew up here like two hours ago, so I'm fucking leaving!" He pulled Elaine toward his red sports car, "Fuck this, I'm going home and you're coming with me!" Elaine sniffed, following her husband to their car. "I'm sorry Mike but Richie's right, it's not worth it..."

"Eddie, are you coming?" Richie yelled impatiently from his window. Eddie quickly jogged over and threw his seat belt on before Richie took off. Elaine sat shaking in her seat, holding her red heels and purse. Richie placed a firm hand on his wife's bare knee, stroking patterns against her soft skin as he tried to cease her shaking. "We're going home." He assured, driving off to the motel.