.: Friday I'm In Love :|: Reddie :.

The Biggest Milestone

"Bill, calm down, alright? Of course I'll help you look, did you seriously think I was going to say no?" Eddie laid back on his bed, propping his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he lifted his foot into the air, tying his shoe with immense difficulty as Bill stuttered through the receiver like mad.

He wanted to search for Georgie. It had been a week since the boy had been proclaimed missing, and the teen still had hope for his little brother. Eddie could understand that. It wasn't like a body had been found, and only a week had passed. His opinion might have been different if it had been a month or two, but he would be there if his friend needed him, regardless of his own opinions.

"N - No, I guess not.. S - S - St - Stan is helping, and s - s - s - so is Bev. Everyone else w - w - w - was b - busy." Eddie hummed softly in response, finally wrestling his shoelaces into a messy knot and getting to his feet. He grabbed his fanny pack and clipped it around his waist before picking up his empty backpack. He shoved any medical supplies he couldn't fit in his fanny pack into the bag, which included a first aid kit and a brace he had received when he rolled his ankle once and his mother freaked out. The hospital refused to give him anything for it after taking x-rays and insisting that rolling your ankle was normal. Eddie had tried to tell his mother that it didn't even hurt anymore, but she insisted on buying him the brace.

He also grabbed all the flashlights in the house and a pack of batteries, then filled the bag with snacks and water bottles. He tied a sweatshirt around his waist just in case they would be out late. He had been eating lunch when Bill called, so it was already noon, and Eddie wasn't planning on giving up after only an hour or two, so he came prepared. Bill seemed to have had a similar idea, because when Eddie got there, he was all packed up, too. Stan had packed a lot lighter, just bringing a drawstring bag and filling it with a granola bar for each of them as well as a few mini water bottles. Bev just brought her phone and a water bottle in a drawstring bag.

"I vote that we have one person drive just in case someone gets lost, but searching for people on side roads or in the woods would be easier on a bike, so the rest of us will bike." Stan crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow. The question hung in the air. Who was going to drive, and who would help search? Part of Eddie wanted to stay in a safe, locked vehicle, but he was afraid to say so.

Bev offered before he could decide, so he tried not to look nervous as she closed the car door and the rest of them climbed onto their bikes. Bev drove off, leaving Bill, Eddie and Stan lined up at the end of the Denbroughs' driveway.

"Everyone keep your phone on so we can text each other. If you go into a dead zone, be careful. Don't stay too long. Stick to the places you know well, and don't go anywhere you've never been unless you're with someone." Bill and Eddie nodded, silently agreeing to Stan's ground rules. Well aware of the fact that Stan and Bill were going to stick together anyway, Eddie took off with a sick feeling in his stomach that wasn't much different from the one he had felt just a week before when Bill had told them all what happened.

He sped up his pedaling, eyes wide as the wind whipped his face and he began his search. At first, he felt ridiculous for riding through town and calling out a missing boy's name like he would just come running out of the woods with a big smile on his face and run into his arms. But with time, it got easier, and his heart grew heavier. He had searched his entire neighborhood, driving by every house three times, and searching down every side street and dead end.

Derry was quiet. Not even the police had found anything they could work with, and Eddie found himself asking what he was doing. How was he supposed to find this kid when trained professionals couldn't even find a lead? But he pushed on, ignoring the uneasy feeling of being watched. He approached a street he had never gone down before, on the far side of town, and paused. There was a bad feeling on that street, and he wasn't sure that now was the time to find out why. He had spent three hours looking for Georgie in his own neighborhood, and he wasn't in the mood to break Stanley's rules. Not alone, not right then.