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• W o n d e r i n g - i f - h e - e v e n - l o v e d -
h i m - n e a r l y - a s - m u c h •
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The two boys were searching their rooms for any decent outfit for their date that night.
They needed it to be perfect, although each one would love the other regardless of what they were wearing.
Bill was throwing on outfits as his best friend, the only friend that knew he was gay and had a thing for Richie, Beverly laid on his bed and gave her honest opinion.
While Richie did the same thing, only Ben was the one to give him his honest opinion. Beverly and Ben would text each other about how Bill, or Richie in Ben's case, was acting and how they felt about their date with each other.
Of course, to no surprise, they were extremely excited. It was a sight to see, to see your best friends over joyed in excitement over something that seemed like no big deal to them.
Finally, after many attempts, they each settled on a simple outfit, realizing the other would probably not notice what they were wearing anyway.
Bill had sent Beverly away, telling her he'd see her at the party. Bill had struggles with his weight, his father always on his ass for being underweight, claiming he would never be a man if he was too fat or if he was too skinny.
His father looked at him in disgust, being that he was so weak sometimes to even open up a fucking pickle jar.
Bill had ate less just to avoid being stared at by his father, and picked up weights. Henry, himself, had been helping Bill with that, of course it being a secret to the other losers.
So, Bill grabbed his backpack, that carried the clothes he'd wear to the party, and headed out his door, saying goodbye to Georgie and heading towards the garage to get his bike, Silver.
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A bike ride later..
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Bill pulled into a dirt road, parking his bike on the side and running as he glanced down at his watch every now and then to make sure he'd get there in time and still be able to make it to the party in time.
Henry leaned against a tree, his foot tapping the ground, humming along to a song as he heard the faint voice of his father in the back of his head.
Bill stopped, throwing his backpack on the ground and trying to catch his breath. "I-I'm here!" He said in between breaths, now catching Henry's attention as he moved away from the tree.
Henry chuckled and shook his head, "I'm surprised you even showed up after the movies. Y'know that was a dick move, Denbrough." Bill rolled his eyes, knowing he'd bring it up sooner or later, just hoping it would've been later rather than sooner.
"Hen—"
"I didn't have to come today, you do know that right? In fact.." Henry moved closer to Bill and smirked before circling him, "I could beat your ass up and leave you here to die." If Henry would've said this to bill a year ago, maybe, maybe he would've been scared.
But Bill knew Henry, a bit more than he liked, but he knew just what made Henry so evil. They both had asshole fathers who made their lives hell.
"Sh-Shut up, Henry. Let's s-start before we wuh-waist anymore time." Bill balled his hands into fists and put them up, parting his legs with his shoulders as he bent his knees.
Henry nodded and walked behind Bill, fixing his stance before he held the punching bag in front of him.
Bill gave a few swings, already starting to sweat and groan as he stared down at his knuckles that were turning red. Henry sighed and stopped the punching bag from swinging and hitting him before stopping in front of Bill.
"Let me see." Henry said, already trying to grab his hands before Bill moved away and turned away in embarrassment.
Henry rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Stop being a baby, Denbrough. Now let me see." Bill sighed and turned back, Henry now grabbing his hands as he examined Bill's knuckles closely.
Bill winced as Henry brushed his thumb against his knuckles. "Did you punch your wall or something?" Bill looked away, Henry noticing this, he rolled his eyes in annoyance before shaking his head.
"I thought we talked about this? You can't be hitting everything you see—"
"That's r-real rich cuh-coming from you." Bill scoffed, looking down at the ground as Henry looked back at Bill and sighed.
"I don't want to fight with you, Denbrough. That's not who I am anymore." Henry moved away and brushed off the dirt from his jeans as Bill sighed. Henry had changed, he was still a dick every now and then, but he was trying. Bill could see it.
Bill apologized and sat down on the only patch of grass that sat under the tree. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down at his hands.
"I didn't punch a w-wall." Henry turned to him, his interest now on Bill as he saw a different look in his eyes. Henry sat down beside him as his way of saying he was listening.
Bill shook his head as the memory started to fill his head. He promised himself he'd never talk about it again and he'd never be able to find it in himself to tell the losers.
"Jesus, Denbrough. I'm not gonna like.. tell anyone. No one can find out we're hanging out-" Bill shot him a glare, "Not yet! Not yet, I mean."
"These g-guys.. I-I don't know who they wuh-were, but they didn't luh-like the fact that I'm g-gay." Henry nodded, knowing exactly what he meant by that. It was no secret that Derry didn't support the gay community.
Henry had a very homophobic father, but he had learn to love the gay community since they were just as human as any straight person.
"I'm sorry, Bill." Henry knew there wasn't really anything he could do for bill since the incident already happened, but he could help him get stronger. He could help him be happy with himself.
Bill scoffed, "It's f-fine. Just- duh-don't tell anyone." Henry nodded before silence consumed the air around them. The sound of the trees swaying being the only sound around them.
Henry scratched the back of his neck, "Well, you're not punching anything with your knuckles like that. Why don't you come over? Get cleaned up." He suggested, now standing up as he cleaned off the dirt from his butt.
Bill chuckled, "But what about the p-party?" He asked, now standing up with Henry. They would both admit that their relationship was rather odd being that they were both technically "friends" to get something out of it.
Bill wanted to get stronger and be able to defend himself like Henry, whereas Henry just wanted help being a better person, for whatever personal reason he had.
Bill never asked since it wasn't his place just like Henry didn't ask. But they had been taking two hours out of every day since last summer when Henry saw Bill getting his ass beat by some other bullies.
They agreed that it would stay between them, Bill getting one hour of exercising and being taught self defense, Henry getting the other hour of speech lessons and just being taught how to be friendly and controlling his anger.
Of course ironic being that Bill had stuttering problems, but Bill was the nicest person in all of Derry, not one person hated him. Except for the homophobic people.
"You can help me set up." Henry said, a smile now forming on his face as he wiped his forehead with his handkerchief.
Bill took a step back and shook his head, "I d-dunno.. what if the luh-losers f-find out?" He asked, picking up his backpack from the ground.
"Would it be so bad?" Bill stayed silent. "Chill, Denbrough. No one will find out, will you just stop being a pussy and live a little?" Henry threw his sweaty rag at Bill as Bill quickly dodged it.
He chuckled and put his hands up in surrender, "Okay, Okay."
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At Henry's...
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Bill sat down on the couch as Henry flicked through the channels, the clicking slightly making Bill more nervous than he already was.
He couldn't believe he'd have his first date with Richie in an hour and he was spending his time before at Henry Bowers house. I never thought Henry and Richie's name would be in the same sentence and it was a good thing. Bill chuckled to himself, Henry now fixing his attention on him.
"What are you laughing about?" Henry smirked, turning towards him as he lowered the volume to the tv.
Bill sighed, "I was just th-thinking.. it's wuh-weird how I'm at Henry B-Bowers house and having my fuh-first real d-date with Richie." He confessed, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as he thought of Richie and the fact that he loved him back.
Henry smiled at this, not ever seeing himself admitting it, but he loved when people could talk about things they loved and be so passionate about it.
He could see it in Bill's eyes, he was crazy for Richie. But Henry knew the shit that came along with loving another male, the horrible shit that could get you killed. He'd never admit this, but Bill was growing on him, sorta like a little brother.
The last thing Henry ever wanted to see was him get hurt. How fucking ironic. He thought to himself, he couldn't believe his heart hurt at the thought of Bill getting hurt, yet he was part of that hurt before.
"You and Richie, huh?" Henry chuckled and sat back, throwing his head back as he stared at the ceiling.
Bill nodded with dorky smile, bitting his lip as Richie's beautiful face entered his brain. He wondered what Richie's thoughts were, wondering if he was as excited for this date as Bill himself was.
Wondering if he even loved him nearly as much.