Fears, chapter two.

~ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞

Lydia's stomach felt as if it had a long string in it, constantly twisting and turning, tying itself into knots upon knots.  And the rope was getting shorter and shorter. She would either vomit or burst into tears when the rope would become too tight or run out.

She yelled Stanley's name again and again. Hearing Mike call his name out every so often behind her too. He stayed close just incase anything happened, but far enough so they could check the rooms quicker.

But every time they yelled out, there was no response. Lydia's mind was racing, too many thoughts coming up. What if something happened? She thought of how she'd have to tell Connor and Mia. How she'd feel. How much she really did still care for him. How she still lo-

"Lydia!" Stanley shouted, though he seemed to be in the distance. Both Lydia and Mike quickly turned to look at eachother.

"Stanley?!" Mike yelled, none of them moved. Just incase it wasn't really him. "Is it you?!" Mike continued.

"Yes! Yes it's me!" He yelled back. Although it may not have been him, Lydia quickly ran toward where his voice was coming from. Mike quickly following behind her.

As Lydia turned down a new hall, and went to walk through the door of a room, she bumped into someone's chest.

Stanley.

All three of them let go of a breath they seemingly had been holding.

"Lydia." Stanley spoke, letting out another breath. He looked like he had been crying, or he was going to. Without a thought, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and shut his eyes. "The clown. He- he showed me stuff. I thought I lost you."

Lydia stood awkwardly with her arms down beside her sides for a moment. Just out of shock. Once she heard his words and had enough time to gather what was happening, she wrapped her arms around him. "I thought I'd lost you too."

Mike stood quietly in the corner, unsure of what to do. He looked at the both of them and smiled slightly. Finally, they had made some kind of move.

He decided he'd let them have their moment and so he quietly backed out of the room.

"Are you okay? Did anything happen down there?" Stanley asked, quickly pulling away from her and holding her out, looking around her body for any signs of an injury.

"Well.." Lydia spoke, unsure of how exactly to tell him she had seen the head of a young him grow legs and attack her, Bill, Eddie and Richie. It wasn't really something you say everyday.

"What happened? Are you injured? Did he hurt you? Did he do anything?" Stanley quickly asked

Lydia shook her head, "No, no I'm not injured. I was stuck in a room with Bill, Ed's and Rich and obviously the clown came for us. But as I said, no injuries. Except Rich may have a few. Are you okay?" She questioned, looking at his cheek, where a small cut was. It had blood dripping down from it but it wasn't anything major, otherwise Lydia would have been freaking out.

Stanley reached his hand up to his cheek and nodded "yeah- yeah I just.. I fell at one point and turned or something and well.." he explained, pointing at the cut.

"I'm really glad to see you okay Stanley. I- the things IT said. I really thought I'd lost you and-" Lyds began, stopping herself and just quickly pulling him into a tight hug again.

Stanley wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. "I know. I did too."

The two stayed silent for a moment, taking in the moment the two were having alone. A moment both of them had wanted to happen a long time. A moment where it was just them. Where you could see and feel their love again. Where it didn't feel like they were being hunted down by a killer clown or anything was wrong.

But ultimately, they knew it wouldn't last.

Lydia was the first to pull away from the hug, hitting him across his shoulder. "Where did you go?! We thought you were with us but you just disappeared! We were yelling for you for ages. It was like you were hiding." She spoke, her tone angry and a look that tried to resemble that, however you could see the genuine concern in her eyes.

"Oh we're talking about hiding now? Okay, Lyds, what have you been hiding?" Stanley retorted. His tone wasn't rude or angry, just like Lydia, his question was out of pure curiosity and concern.

Lydia's demeanour changed quickly and she stood back, taking a deep breath in and shaking her head, laughing slightly. "What? Nothing. What do you mean?"

"Lyds come on please.. I know there's something. I had a feeling there was something and then when I was with that clown he said some things that basically confirm I was right. It seems he's mad at you. You've stopped some things." Stanley responded, giving Lydia a pleading look

Lydia looked at him, every possible answer running through her head. Should she lie, should she tell the truth, what lie could she tell, does she tell the whole truth? Even if she didn't really know the whole truth. She didn't know why it was happening to her.

After realising she had been stood quietly staring at him for too long, she cleared her throat and quickly looked away. "I- I don't know. Or well- I do know but... I don't know." She answered

Stan shook his head and let out a small laugh, "I'm afraid you're going to have to give me a little more detail than that."

Lydia took a deep breath and looked into Stanley's eyes. She could trust him. She could tell him the truth. She could tell him what she saw. All the things.

Except maybe what is supposed to happened to Eddie. She wasn't going to talk about that yet.

And so, while Lydia began to finally open up, telling Stan the truth from the very beginning of her 'visions', stan standing and listening to her every word, his face showing his wave of emotions as she continued, Mike ran down the stairs to where the rest of the losers sat in the kitchen, all taking a moment to calm down, knowing the worst had yet to come.

He walked in with a big smile on his face, feeling like he was a teen again, getting ready to tell everyone their friend had hugged a girl and making it a big deal.

It seemed like nothing but the feeling of being a teen, or being young and forgetting for a moment all your troubles, was like a drug.

It felt like the first time they were in the house, and they had all spotted Stanley and Lydia grab each others hands in fear. They all talked about it as soon as they could, laughing and arguing over how long it would take for one to admit their feelings. A weekly occurrence for the group.

Some things were still the same. For example, everyone waiting for Stan or Lyds to finally admit they (still) loved each other. And the care they all had for each other.

And while it all felt so familiar, like a massive wave of deja vu, it was all so different at the same time. They were possibly not as close as once before. They all had separate lives from the group. Not just one conjoined life where everyone knew everything about each other. Secrets hovered over the group. Bad relationships, fear, lies, romance. Everything.

Somewhere between then and now, here and there, I guess they didn't just grow apart. They grew up.