Anaphylaxis [IT 2017]

22

After making out for quite a while, the two had decided on playing some pool games. It consisted of mostly splashing at first, but now they're playing Marco Polo.

"Marco!" Eddie calls.

There's a few minutes of silence, and he listens closely.

"Polo," Wren whispers from behind him.

She lets out a small giggle as he turns around and desperately tries to feel around him. She can tell he's tempted to peek his eyes open.

"Marco?"

"Polo."

A thought runs through her mind as she watches Eddie struggle to find her. She smiles deviously.

She's gonna prank him.

"Marco?"

She doesn't respond. Instead, she sinks under water, and decides to see how he'll react to her disappearance— if he'll even realize she's gone.

"Marco?" Eddie calls again, quickly noticing the eerie silence around him.

He knows he shouldn't peak his eyes open though.

"Polo," a taunting voice responds. His eyes shoot open as he immediately recognizes the voice to be Pennywise's. Now full of fear, he looks all around him for Wren, thankfully not seeing Pennywise when he opens his eyes.

"Wren?!" He calls, feeling his heart beat out of his chest. "WREN?!"

Now he's hyperventilating, and he's thinking of all the worst possibilities ever. What if the clown got her? She said she didn't know anything about the clown, but what if he got her just to ruin him?

As tears prick at his eyes, the girl emerges from the water gasping for breath.

His eyes widen when he realizes that she's laughing. Did she see the clown? What is going on? It takes him a few minutes to realize that she didn't see the clown. She just pranked him.

"Bee, that is so not funny!" Eddie yells, swimming after Wren.

Her laughter echoes as she attempts to out swim him.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" She chants, allowing him to catch up to her.

He wraps his arms around her waist, and buries his face in the crook of her neck. It's only now that she realizes that he's seriously upset about what she did. His heart is racing, and she can feel it pounding against her.

Wren frowns and wraps her arms around him, returning his hug.

"I was just kidding, Eds. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd get so spooked," she apologizes.

To her surprise, he actually lets out a soft whimper. He actually begins to cry a little.

Quickly, she pushes back a little to look him in the eye. She's disappointed to see that tears are flooding down his cheeks, and it's all her fault. It was only a harmless joke, she didn't know he'd get so bent out of shape about it.

"Baby, why're you crying?!" She frowns, wiping his tears away. "I'm fine, I'm right here."

She can tell he's having a hard time forming sentences, so she immediately helps him out of the water.

Soft sobs are still leaving his lips when she wraps him in a towel, and she quietly tries to decipher why he's so upset. She figures– Maybe he has separation anxiety or something?

She is oblivious to the clown ruining Eddie's summer.

Not once did Eddie even consider the fact that the damn clown could easily take Wren to scare him. It's gonna worry him all summer now. He doesn't want anything to happen to his girlfriend.

Once his breathing calms, and his grip on her hand loosens, Eddie begins to softly explain himself. Through a lie because he feels like the truth will only do her more damage.

One day he'll learn that the truth is the better solution.

"I-I just don't want anything to happen to you," he says. "Especially not under my watch."

Wren nods lightly.

"Sorry, I didn't know you'd get so upset. Let's go back to the car, alright?"

Eddie nods, standing up and following her. The entire time, his hand stays linked with hers, and he stays closer to her than normal. She doesn't seem to mind though.

"What time is it?" She hums.

"It's 2:30am," he replies with wide eyes. "I've never even stayed up this long before."

She laughs and hops onto the of her car once the get to it. Eddie copies her actions, laying back next to her on the car.

Both of them look up towards the sky, admiring the stars and how brightly they shine down on them. Wren especially likes the way it makes Eddie look so calm. She really hopes she never has to see him cry ever again although it's unrealistic to hope for that.

The two of them stay laid out watching the stars until 4am.

Then, Wren drives Eddie home. She helps him through his window and turns away when he changes into clean clothing.

When he's finished changing, he falls back into his bed exhaustedly.

"You should stay," he insists. "You could leave in the morning."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"Yes."

He still can't get the image of Pennywise taking her out of his head.

"Can I borrow some clean clothes?"

"Sure," he nods. He gets back up from his bed, and quickly goes to pick out some clothing. They're about the same size, Wren is slightly smaller— frame wise.

"Here," he throws her some clean clothes and turns away. "I-I won't look..."

"You can look if you want," she laughs. "I don't mind."

His eyes widen, and he debates whether she's just kidding or not. Even if she isn't kidding, he doesn't really know what he wants. Yes, he wants to look, of course he does! But, should he?

"U-Uh...I think I'll wait," he finally decides.

"Okay," Wren smiles. She likes his patience.

Quickly she changes into his clothes, setting her previous damp clothing neatly folded on his dresser. Then, she makes her way over to him and wraps her arms around his waist.

He takes the hint that she's done changing, and turns around in her grip. When he looks down at her, his eyes seem to light in excitement.

"You look...p-pretty," he mutters.

"Thanks," Wren smiles. She kisses him lightly before walking towards his bed and plopping down into it.

Eddie follows and wraps them both in covers.

As soon as his arm wraps securely around her, they're out.