❝ so NOW i RISK it ALL,
just for the FEELING of JOY
you BRING me ❞
[ bill denbrough x oc ] [it 2017]
-
in which the sunshine girl of derry
offers six boys and one girl a friendship bracelet each,
ending up in a mess of a friendship and summer of...
THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF SUMMER HAD BEEN SOMETHING OF A DREAM to young April Ambrose. She'd wasted the days away clung onto Bill Denbrough's waist and around town with her newfound friends. Something that was all incredibly new and overall, the best thing that could've happened. It was after a long day at the quarry, swimming around and splashing, sat atop Bill's shoulders and getting pushed into the water. They had visited Ben Hanscom's newspapered bedroom, afterward.
And so, she found herself once again, clung to Bill's waist, cheek against his back as she listens to the comforting sound of his steady breathing and gravel under the moving tires of Silver. She hums softly in content, feeling the odd sense of ease encompass her. She''d always get this feeling when she was with him, pressed up against his back with a fuzzy feeling in her belly. "Billy," She mumbles, her eyes drooping tiredly as he turns a street corner.
"Y-Y-Yeah, Sunshine? Y-You t-tired?" He asks, noticing the way she shifted slowly, burrowing her cheek into his back more tightly as she increases her grip. It was cute, he couldn't help but think -- feeling her nestled against him.
She hums, nodding her head. "Very. Today was fun," She responds with a smile. "Thanks for letting me be part of your group, Billy," She adds quickly, desperate to let him know of her gratitude. Had he not of welcomed her in, she would've been lonely all summer and yet, here she was.
Bill Denbrough, in their short time of friendship, had easily become her best friend. She trusted him heavily and knew that she'd go to the ends of the earth for him. He made her feel confident, he made her feel on top of the world. Something that she wasn't exactly accustomed to. She felt most like herself around him and she wasn't sure why. Just that she did.
"O-Of c-course," He responds, feeling his stomach knot at the helpless way her voice wavered when she thanked him. He didn't have any idea why she didn't have any friends. She was the sweetest girl he'd ever met, she radiated happiness and being with her made him the happiest he's been since... Georgie. He knew that he could confide in her whenever he needed and he hoped that she knew that she could confide in him.
There was a lull of silence for a few moments. Bill pedalling Silver as April closes her eyes. It was peaceful, the sun still bright. The silence comfortable, keeping them at ease. It was as simple as that, being in one another's presence made them feel so complete. So safe. That is, until the peace was ruined unexpectedly.
April's eyes shot open, the feeling of the bike jolting startling her as she loses grip around Bill's waist and ends up getting thrown off Silver and onto the concrete. It had happened so quick, she wasn't even sure what had happened. Her mind in a daze as she looks down at her knees which were scraped lightly and elbows which had blood trickling down. A dull ache in both areas.
"O-Oh, f-f-fuck!" She's snapped from her state of shock as her eyes look up from her knees and towards Bill who got up hurriedly, dusting his pants and rushing over to her -- kneeling down to her sitting figure with worry painted on his face, not bothering to notice the scrapes on his elbows. She then sees Silver, on the ground, overturned the front tire split. The tire popped. That explained it.
Fussing, Bill look her cheeks in his hands, turning her face side to side as if to check if she had gotten any scrapes on her face. "Oh, G-God. S-Sunshine, are you o-okay?" He panics, his eyes widening at the sight of her barely bloodied elbows. "Y-You're bleeding!" He exclaims as April looks at him dazed.
She shakes her head, looking to his elbows and seeing the same scrapes. "Billy, I'm okay," She responds, her voice soft as she takes his hands off her cheeks and squeezes his hands reasurringly. "You're bleeding too, are you okay? What happened even? I was falling asleep," She asks as she gently fixes his sleeve which had become folded upwards and pushes a piece of hair from his face.
There was something about the way his eyebrows furrowed and the way he fusses over her which made her stomach do backflips. A sudden feeling of butterflies arising in her belly as his fingers brush against her arm worriedly. She wasn't sure what these feelings were, she had no clue. She only knew that they were exeeding the normal, 'friendship' expectations she had watched in television and read in books.
He looks at her worriedly again. "My t-tire p-popped," He responds, squeezing the hand that was still in his. "Y-You're hurt. L-Look at your k-k-knees, Sunshine," He goes on, fussing again as he fixes the skirt of her dress and stares down at her scraped knees. He was becoming increasingly more worried by the minute and staring at April's knees and bloodied elbows weren't helping.
He felt terrible. He should've seen that pothole and swerved away from it. But, he didn't and here he was, knelt down by the newfound friend he had gained just before summer. He had met her by her scraping knees, today he found out that she got a scrape on her arm so bad that it was covered in gauze somehow, and now, she had new scrapes all over her elbows and knees.
She was accident prone, not that she noticed. Others did. She never really thought anything of the extensive amount of bloodied scrapes she'd get on accident for seemingly her own mistakes. She was often too busy appreciating the fact that none of them ever got her into a cast or worse, truly injured.
Sighing, she smiles at him softly. "Billy, I told you. I'm okay. Don't worry. Let's just go to my house before curfew hits and my dad can fix your tire, alright?" She explains softly, attempting to calm him down taking his other hand in hers and taps her finger against it gently.
Nodding, he closes his eyes for a moment before squeezing her hands and standing up, pulling her up along with him. He looks down to her, smiling and brushing her hair down. "A-Alright," He sputters, fixing her backpack strap before letting go of her hands and going towards SIlver, grabbing the handlebars and lifting it up.
"You okay, Billy?" April asks, walking to his side and putting her hand on his forearm. comfortingly.
He looks down to her, smiling at her concern, her furrowed eyebrows and how her bottom lip is pulled under her top. "Y-Yeah, l-let's get you h-home," He responds as they begin walking, side by side all the way home.
It'd be the first time April would ever have a friend over to her house, having none to bring over before him. He didn't know it, at least April thought he didn't, but he had changed her life severely and she was sure it was for the better.
They began walking to her house. The time, 6:50 and curfew already rolling in. The only sounds surrounding them being the sound of their feet against the rocky concrete and the occasional suck of a breath. And, though, April would never choose to admit it, she had her hand brush up against his at every possible chance she got just to be able to feel the burning sensation that would spread across her chest at the feeling of his hand near hers.
