Returning To Reality|Gordie Lachance

Leeches

To not make things suspicious, Lia headed back to the three boys first.  That way it didn't look like she and Gordie were up to something, which they weren't, but knowing the boys, they would assume the two were.  Chris asked where she was while Vern and Teddy were still sleeping.  She explained that she had to pee, again.  He believed her thankfully, and also told her he appreciated using her shoulder as a pillow the night before.  She rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder.  Gordie came back, telling partially the truth that he was reading a newspaper on the tracks.  He didn't share the part where Lia came by and they held hands temporarily.  

Teddy and Vern woke up a short time later.  Lia put away her Rubiks cube after showing Chris and Gordie how to solve it faster and began packing her things.  Everyone was pretty quiet, probably still tired.  Lia has never heard Teddy so silent before, it was weird.  But she knew he was fine, he was probably out of it just like everyone else.  Vern, like usual, complained that he was hungry.  The others told him to wait until they were at least on the tracks again.

When they did arrive on the tracks, Vern repeated his request to eat.  Gordie finally passed around some berries that he bought yesterday, even though Lia didn't remember him buying those.  Sadly, Lia wasn't one for fruits, but was starving and didn't care what she ate.  Usually, she'd think they were gross, but maybe because she was so hungry, she enjoyed the berries.

The walk was long, and not too enjoyable.  Teddy found a large stick and went to the edge of the track, Vern on the other side.  They grabbed onto the stick and tried to balance on the edge of the tracks.  Gordie, Chris, and Lia were a few feet ahead, conversing with one another.  It felt like hours, and it might have been.  Lia could have sworn she packed a hair tie, but after searching her bag over three times, she couldn't find one.  Obviously, none of the boys had one so she was screwed.  Teddy and Vern finally caught up with the other three, the stick was thrown on the ground by Teddy, who was tired of carrying it.

They all walked in a straight line, Chris leading the way as usual.  He stopped walking at some point, staring off into the distance with a hand on his hand hip, once again, as usual.  Everyone else stopped to see where he was looking.  There was a pretty field ahead of them, nothing around other than trees and tall grass.  

"Gentleman, and Lia, the Royal." Chris announced, still looking straight ahead.  

"It's beautiful." Lia sighed, pushing strands of hair out of her face from the wind.

"Yeah." Gordie said.  She looked over to him to see that he was already looking at her instead of the field.  Her cheeks flushed instantly when she realized he was referring to her being beautiful.  Chris seemed to notice the interaction, a smirk evident on his face.

"God, the tracks go way out of the way." Teddy complained, not noticing the interaction around him.  That wasn't surprising, even Vern didn't notice.  Lia coughed, fixing her shirt.  Gordie mentally cursed at himself, wanting to cry for practically admitting that Lia was beautiful.