𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 ✓

three ❀

that night, richie had cried. he cried so much that at one point he couldn't even cry anymore. he ran out of tears. how does somebody even do that?

he woke up the next morning, hoping it all was a dream - and stan was still alive, sleeping soundly in his bed or making pancakes in the kitchen downstairs.

richie smelled no pancakes, and when he looked, saw no stan in his bed.

stan's bed was made, as if the president was coming to visit and he wanted the house to be clean, even if he wasn't there.

richie's phone buzzed in his pocket.

"hey rich. hope your ok. xx, ben"

ben was the sweetest. it always made richie - and all of the losers - smile when he would sign his texts with "xx, ben" like they didn't already know ben was the one texting them from his contact name.

but ben's text only made richie sadder.

your.

it should have been "you're." as in, you are.

stan would have gotten so upset.

but stan wasn't here to be upset, and richie just had to get over that.

but of course, the worst thing about this flash on richie's phone screen was not this text, or the "your." it was the date.

wednesday, april 26.

—

richie googled.

he googled as fast as his fingers could type.

everytime he typed something new in - like, "repeating the same day," or, "going back to the same day," - he would get the same top result. a stupid one, really.

a movie. called "groundhog day."

eventually he gave in and read the description.

"Phil (Bill Murray), a weatherman, is out to cover the annual emergence of the groundhog from its hole. He gets caught in a blizzard that he didn't predict and finds himself trapped in a time warp. He is doomed to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right."

until he gets it right.

is this really what the universe wanted from richie?

to make this day, april 26, right?

and how was he going to?

how was he going to stop stanley from dying?

this should be done over a course of days.

but richie had one day, and one day only.

so he called the two smartest people he knew.

—

"richie, this is absolutely insane."

"he's right. richie, how can you be repeating the same day? it's just not possible!"

the sight in front of richie was enough to make him homesick. how much he missed all of his friends, last seeing them who knows how long ago.

maybe at stan's funeral, but richie still isn't convinced that was real.

"you are telling me that this day hasn't repeated for you guys?"

"no, we told you already."

"okay, the sass isn't needed, hanscom."

at this, ben scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"how do you want us to help?"

mike wanted to get right to the point. of course he wanted to find his friend and possibly keep him from dying, but he wasn't convinced this was actually possible. or that he wasn't just dreaming back in his own home.

richie shrugged.

"um, i don't know! i haven't worked it out yet. that's why i called you guys."

mike let his shoulders slump and let out a huff.

"so... let me get this straight. stan died and now you're trying to make him not die? and you can't go back to your normal life until he doesn't die?"

richie nodded enthusiastically.

"mike, if you want to help, you must stay with me when i explain things!" he scolded, causing ben to shake his head slightly and then rub his eyes.

—

"i still don't get the plan, rich."

mike and ben were on an air mattress on the floor.

"it's simple, ben! we wake up tomorrow at, like, twelve in the morning. then we go stop stan."

"we need more- mike, give me my pillow back!-we need more details. it's just not going to work."

richie huffed but said nothing more. mike was now snoring, so ben covered his face with a pillow.

"ben you're going to kill him."

"get off me you DIP SHIT!" mike suddenly shouted, sitting up as if he was possessed.

ben screamed, which caused richie to burst out laughing, and mike to slowly lower back onto the mattress.

"dude you sound like a girl!"

"shut up or i'm going to make you sleep in the same bed as possessed mike."

—

DOUBLE ALSO thank u guys for your comments, they make me so happy :,))