T R U T H - it chapter two

T H I R T E E N

Richie's chest rises and falls faster than before as he hears what Macy had said and a sob escapes his throat. The losers walk closer to him before wrapping their arms around the man as he cries. Macy wraps her hand around his arm, holding it close to her. " I miss him. " Richie says through sobs. " I know, Richie. " Macy whispers as he pleads for Eddie through his sobs.

This time all the losers hold onto Richie as his cries soften, with him feeling comforted in the arms of his remaining best friends. He lifts his head up, allowing himself to look around at his best friends. A sad smile spread across his lips as he looked at their blurry faces. " T-Thank you. " His shaky voice whispers, making all the adults look up at him. " I don't have my glasses, so I don't know who you people are, but thank you. " He laughs, having made a joke to hide his vulnerability.

The losers detach from him, noticing he really did lose his glasses. " I like legit can't find my glasses. " Richie says again, stressing the fact that he couldn't see. " Are you serious? " Macy questioned, wiping her tears with the back of her hand while trying to look through the cloudy water for any sign of his glasses. " Yes, I'm serious. " He shoots back splashing water at her, making a chuckle slip past her lips. " Asshole. " She laughs, watching Richie smile a bit before going underwater to look for his glasses. Macy looked around the quarry and noticed how everyone was already underwater. She took in the moment of silence before taking a deep breath and going under the water.

With her eyes opened Macy looks around for any sign of Richie's thick glasses. She looks down, with her eyes falling on the pair of dark frames that belonged to Richie. She shook her head slightly before swimming down to grab the glasses. Macy's hands wrapped around them but her hands weren't the only hands-on the glasses, causing her to look up to see Mike staring back at her. She lets out a laugh from under the water, watching the air bubbles exit her mouth and reach the service. Mike lets go of the glasses and the two come up to the surface, catching their breath as the air hit them,

" I got them, Richie. " Macy calls out, seeing the man come up from under the water rubbing his eyes. He squints and looks at the glasses in Macy's hands before swimming over to the woman and grabbing the glasses from her hand. " Thank you, Mace. " Richie mutters, a sad smile spread across his face. Macy nods, not thinking too much about the small action she did for Richie. " It's nothing Richie, I'm just glad you can see me again. " She jokes, watching Richie chuckle while putting his glasses on.

" Not just for this but, for everything. " He starts, making Macy raise an eyebrow. " I guess I forgot what it feels like for people to care. " The words take the woman by surprise, she pauses for a moment before placing a hand on Richie's shoulder. " I'm glad I could help you remember. " She smiles, giving his shoulder a squeeze. He looks at her and smiles softly, yet Macy could see the sadness that lingered behind it. " Come on you two! " Beverly calls out from outside the water, with the other three losers by her side. Macy removes her hand from Richie before the two make their way out of the water. Once the losers were fully ready again, they immediately began venturing through the Derry streets for the last time.

There was silence between the losers as they walked down the main street of Derry. Yet the silence was broken once Beverly called out for them. Macy turned to face the woman, who was looking down at the palm of her hand. On the same hand that the blood oath was performed with, the one that bound them together. Beverly faced her palm towards the losers, causing them to walk closer to her hand, noticing no sign of any scar on her hand.

Macy looked down at her own palm and was surprised to see only the natural creases of her palm and not the scar that once ran down it. Looking around at the losers she realized they all had noticed the same thing about themselves. " Nothing lasts forever. " Richie spoke, finally breaking the silence, his eyes fixated on the spot where his scar used to be. The words settled in Ben's mind before he looked up from his hand. His eyes fell on Beverly at first and felt the same love he felt all those years ago. Then his gaze changed to look at Richie, who although just lost Eddie, still loved him after all these years. Making him realize one thing. " Except maybe for love. " Ben adds, knowing it had to be true. Richie smiled at his hand at Ben's words and through his heartbreak thought of all the great times, he had with Eddie.

Each loser looks up from their palms simultaneously. With each pair of eyes falling on their reflection in front of them. They each looked at themselves staring back at them and their mind stopped at one moment. That moment being when they first defeated Pennywise twenty-seven years ago. Yet that time the losers club stood at eight members, now it was so much different.

The teenage members of the losers club looked at their dirty reflections through the shop window. Eddie looked at the dirt and grime on him in disgust, shaking his head at the thought of his mother's reaction. " I can't go home like this guys. My mom will kill me. " He says nervously, knowing he had already pissed his mom off when he left for Neibolt.

Richie turns to him, looking confused at Eddie's panicked state. " Dude, you've been gone for twenty-four straight hours. Your face is definitely on a milk carton by now. " Richie states, making Eddie shake his head. " Also that puke smells worst than your mom's slippers. " He jokes, making the losers roll their eyes. Through her exhaustion, Macy looks at Richie and shakes her head. " Richie shut up. " She sighs, still shaking her head.

Eddie feels himself getting defensive and takes a deep breath." First of all my mom's slippers smell like potpourri! Asshole! " He huffs, turning his bike as they walk away from the store window. Stan looks at Eddie, knowing he's lying. " No, they don't. " He states, watching Eddie look at him in disbelief. " Yes, they do! And also, how would you know what they smell like in the first place? " He questions, making Stan shrug his shoulders.

Macy laughs at the bickering and looks up at Mike, watching him sigh to himself. " Can we just keep it quiet, please? " He pleads, being too tired to deal with the arguing of the losers club. " There's potpourri literally all over my bathroom. " Eddie says to Stan, ignoring Mike's plea for silence. " Potpourri is literally a french word for rotten pot. " Ben notes, causing Eddie to become more defensive.

The adults snap out of their forgotten memory and look at each other before walking away from the window and towards the Derry In. The memory of that day replaying painfully inside each of their minds.