august 1989
their relationship hadn't progressed a bit since their last fight. richie had really tried to explain himself to eddie after he found out about richie cheating on him with gretta (which was a pretty downgrade) and even though richie wanted eddie to forgive him; he found his reaction pretty understandable.
so, yeah. him and eddie didn't talk anymore: eddie rejected all of his calls, he never answered at the door... eddie didn't even show up when they we're hanging out with the losers club so he could avoid him.
it was all fucked up.
until the clown came back and forced them to be united again; except it wasn't the way they planned.
"richie." bill said running towards him.
richie was focused on the screen of the videogame inside the arcade: where he had spent most of his summer time since eddie broke up with him.
"what do you want?" richie said hitting the buttons with anger. he was obviously playing street fighter. "see that guy i'm hitting? i'm pretending it's eddie."
"w-what the hell-?" bill asked trying to control his stutter after running from his house to the arcade. "you kno-ow you would ne-never do that."
silence ruled again until richie finally talked again.
"fuck. you're right." he muttered.
bill was completely red and was starting to sweat; so he decided just to say it without hesitation.
"I-It got Beverly."
"what are you talking about?" richie asked continuing with the game.
"It, richie." bill repeated. "It got Beverly."
suddenly, richie stopped playing and the screen of the game, followed by a decreasing sound, told them richie had lost the virtual fight.
he finally turned his eyes back from the videogame to Bill.
"fuck me gently with a chainsaw." richie said before running out of the arcade with bill.
//
so it was finally it: richie and eddie seeing themselves after two weeks without talking to each other. the perfect situation to save one of their best friend's life.
"are we gonna get in or-" stanley said standing in front of the creepy house in neibolt street.
the losers club were completely sure after the last fight against pennywise that he lived in there; more specifically inside the well in the basement.
"i don't think this is a good idea..." mike confessed.
"do you want beverly to die, mike?" ben asked him raising his voice.
ben sounded extremely annoyed by mike's comment so he just shook his head silently.
"chill out, hanscom." richie warned him.
"oh, you aren't the one to say that, trashmouth." eddie finally talked.
richie looked at him on the opposite side of the line they had made and glared at him. it was the first time in nearly fifteen days he had said anything to him and wasn't going to lose the opportunity.
the richie of last week would probably have begged eddie to forgive him again or would've tried to be nice at him so they could get back together but after all that time without eddie by his side, he realized he had maybe been wrong all this time and he was exaggerating. his sadness had become anger with a surprisingly speed.
"oh, so now mr. innocent talks to me?"
"fuck you, richie!" eddie scoffed and broke the line, walking towards him. "don't try to make ben feel bad for worrying too much about someone he cares!"
richie imitated him and when they were in front of each other, they suddenly stopped.
"you don't think i know how he fucking feels? for fucks sake, eds! i saw pennywise hurting you all summer! i also want to kill him."
"don't make this about you." he replied angrily.
stanley, ben, bill and mike stared at them with confused looks.
"should we stop them or-" mike started to say.
"no." stanley interrupted him. "i want to know how much time will it take for them to make out."
"th-they broke up, stan." bill informed him.
stanley shrugged without taking his eyes off them.
"they broke up like five times, already." Stanley continued. "what was the reason this time?"
"richie had sex with gretta." ben said with low voice.
Stanley opened his eyes wide and looked at Ben.
"well that's fucked up." mike opined.
richie and eddie kept arguing loudly until one of Beverly's screams made them forget about their stupid fight: bev could be dying inside and their relationship was already dead anyways.
"w-w need to-to get in-inside now!" bill said stuttering.
they all nodded and without time for confirming it with words, the rest of the losers club run inside the well house and went downstairs to the basement.
when they finally got in front of the old stoned well, they froze and analyzed the profundity it could have; they couldn't see the end or even the way to get down there.
"hey eddie, you got a quarter?" richie joked.
"yeah, i'll wish for you to disappear, dumbass."
"shut the fuck up both of you or i'll throw you down the well." Stanley objected.
he wasn't well-known for being brave but that time he really had the guts to do what he had said. richie and eddie were getting more annoying every second and he was sick of it; they all were.
"Beverly?" ben shouted though the well. it echoed.
"how are we supposed to get down there?" mike asked.
they all looked around, focused on trying to find something to let them get down there: bill was the first one to see a rope and after mike has rattled it, making sure it was nearly safe; they went down the well.
inside the dark tunnels was more difficult to see and only lightened by some lanterns, they kept walking without a clue were to go.
"i don't think anybody has been here before." stan believed.
"i th-think we are in the s-sewers." bill said.
"yeah, this are definitely greywater." ben added trying to joke on eddie but he wasn't listening: eddie was concentrated on richie's steps like a maniac.
"anyway we'll get lost soon if we don't know where we're going." mike talked.
two minutes later they stopped in the middle of a round center with multiple tunnels to choose.
"eddie y-you're the one with a g-good orien-entation sense. you ha-have to guide us." bill asked him.
eddie turned around and stared at his face: bill was looking older inside those tunnels like 27 years had passed by without any of them noticing it. but bill was right: if there was someone to always guide them that was eddie and he wasn't going to fail them.
he shook his head to take bill's adult face off his mind and started to walk forward.
"you really know where we're going, eddie?" ben asked doubting a little bit.
"you haven't seen him in action." Stanley comforted him. "eddie has orientation in his veins."
"i don't think that's-" eds tried to say but someone bumped.
"can we focus on the fucking way?" richie said. "we're here to save bev, remember?"
they shut up and kept walking through more greywater. 'asshole.' eddie thought. he still couldn't believe how he once thought being in a relationship with richie could actually work. it was completely nonsense and the only thing it had done to them was breaking their friendship, probably forever. that feeling had haunted eddie for the last past weeks.
"hey losers! i see you want to join the circus too! ha ha ha!" the clown's voice said at the other side of the tunnel.
without hesitating, and with a macabre laugh as a soundtrack, they ran faster until they got into the other side and none of them could believe their eyes: all of the missing kids were floating in the sky in a circle.
pennywise was in a corner, standing in front of Beverly's body floating.
"get off her!" ben yelled with anger at the clown.
but before ben could reach them, he felt a terrible force against him and fell into the ground. his head hurt and without even being able to stand up, pennywise was already on top of him.
"time to see the lights, fat boy."
"no!" mike said grabbing a knife to defeat him. "leave us alone!"
pennywise laughed again and looked up at Mike, still on top of Ben. the fat teenager was starting to feel his mortal weight on top of him and breathing was becoming a difficult action.
"you're never going to get ride of me, losers. i'm everywhere!"
"no you're not." richie said walking bravely to him. "and if you are we all have a savior who would sacrifice itself for you to die."
"oh please don't make me laugh." the clown joked sarcastically while standing away from ben. "you have none by your side, richie. everybody hates you."
richie gulped and tried to stay still. 'i know you're mad at him but you've to do this for eddie.' he told himself.
"fine. whatever you say, pennywhore." he continued. "but if they hated me, why are they here with me?"
"because you're all stupid. you think the power of friendship is going to kill me?"
they all step in front next to richie and bill put his hand on his shoulder.
"it's not friendship what you're afraid of. it's unity." Bill said without stuttering.
"maybe you're right, fools." he threatened while becoming bigger. "but you're not united here! at least two of you aren't. i can feel it!"
they stepped back and pennywise ran to them; now he was nearly five meters tall.
"where are all your saviors now, huh?" and he fucking laughed again.