TRAIN TRACKS ➣ chris chambers x reader

014

The freight train was the first thing you heard when you finally woke up, followed by a whole lot of the boys' groaning as they sat up in their sleeping bags. You groggily lifted your head from the sweater you were using as a pillow and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. "Ugh, what time is it?"

"Almost ten-thirty." Gordie replied. He was kneeling in the dirt, shoving stuff into his backpack. He was the only one that looked like he had already been awake before the freight train had come. You rolled out out of your sleeping bag with a groan and ran a hand through your knotted morning hair (unless you've got nice hair in the morning, in that case I envy you), nudging Chris's shoulder with your own when you noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "You tired, Chris?"

"Yeah." He replied, yawning. You shook your head. "Shouldn't have stayed up with me, then."

"Eh. It was worth it."

The five of you eventually managed to roll your sleeping bags back up into the tight bundles they had been in before (which took a lot of complaining and a lot of retries) and then set off to continue your journey. Gordie had bought breakfast from Quidacioluo's the day before and you all ate while you walked. Well, to be honest, it wasn't really breakfast - it was a packet of M&M's, but you were pretty happy with it. Vern, on the other hand, was not.

"Hey, Gordie, y/n. Why couldn't you guys get some breakfast stuff? Like Twinkies and Pez and root beer?" He sighed as he dropped a handful of M&M's into his mouth. Gordie rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Vern. I guess more experienced shoppers could've gotten more for your seven cents."

The next couple of hours were filled with Vern still fantasising about a nicer breakfast, Chris telling him to shut his mouth every once in a while, and you and Teddy belting out the lyrics to whatever song started playing on the radio. This time, everyone was walking at a fairly moderate pace, which was quite an improvement compared to the day before. Especially considering all of the shit you had gotten into - the whole Chopper thing, the fact that nobody brought food, the near-death experience on the train tracks. You hadn't expected this trip to be so... much.

Needless to say, you had never been more relieved when the five of you finally came to a stop, completely unscathed, at the hill overlooking the Royal River.

"Gentlemen and woman," Chris announced. "The Royal."

It was silent for a second as you all took a moment to appreciate the beautiful scenery spread out in front of you, before Teddy made a comment about how it looked like somewhere a murder victim would be hid and the rest of you told him to shut the fuck up. He was laughing his ass off, only stopping when Gordie elbowed him violently in the ribs.

"Okay," You cleared your throat, fighting the urge to laugh at Teddy's irritated expression as he rubbed his ribs angrily. You gestured towards the field up ahead. "I think we should cut through here. The tracks go way too far out of the way."

Chris nodded. "Okay, yeah. That makes sense."

Everyone started to make their way down the hill, except for Vern, who stayed standing on the tracks. You turned around, shielding the sun from your eyes with your hand. "Come on, Vern!"

"No, this seems dangerous! We should stick to the tracks."

"Don't be a pussy!"

"I'm not a - oh, goddamn it!" Vern grumbled to himself as he ran after you, knowing he'd lost yet another debate with the group. "Wait for me, guys!"

- Time skip brought to you by gordie's skin 😮‍💨 -

You'd been walking through the woods for at least half an hour before you reached a small lake (I think that's what it is?).

"How are we supposed to get across this?" Vern asked in annoyance. A hint of 'I told you so' had crept into his voice and you had to repress the urge to whack him in the head. Teddy looked like he was having the same thought process as you were, and turned around to face Vern with a glare. "We use you as a raft."

Vern scrunched his nose up. "Very funny."

"Both of you, be quiet." Chris said. He had a long stick in his hand and was prodding the water  in front of him with it. "It's not that deep. We can walk across."

"Alright." You shrugged. You trusted his judgement.

You shouldn't have, though.

You have no idea how it happened, but one second you were walking through four-inch deep water, and the next, all five of you were submerged under it.

Teddy and Vern were the first to come up for air, followed by Gordie, then Chris, who yanked you back up by the arm. You coughed, cringing at the thought of all of that gross water inside your mouth. "Hm. Not that deep."

"Sorry." Chris said sheepishly.

You sighed as Vern wiped water away from his eyes and turned to all of you with an irritated look, already knowing what was coming next.

"I told you we should've stuck to the tracks."

"Is it just me," Teddy said annoyedly. "Or are you the world's biggest pussy?"

"Oh, I suppose this is fun for you!"

"No, but this is." Teddy replied. Before he could say another word, Vern's head was pushed back underwater and Teddy was cackling wildly, while you tried to pull him off the poor guy - but also laughing quite a bit, too. Chris rolled his eyes. "Come on, Teddy, act your age!"

"This is my age!" Teddy yelled back in response. "I'm at the prime of my youth, I'll only be young once!"

"Yeah, but you're gonna be stupid for the rest of your life."

He stopped. You raised your eyebrows as he took off his glasses, hanging it onto the neck of his shirt. "Alright, Chambers. You just signed your own warrant. You die, Chambers!"

Chris instantly clung onto your arm, begging and pleading for you to "protect" him from Teddy, but you were quick to shove him away with a shit-eating grin. The last thing he managed to do was shoot you an overdramatic look of betrayal before Teddy charged at him and they both toppled over into the water. You were practically howling with laughter - but that soon changed when you suddenly felt an arm wrap around your waist.

"If I'm going down, so are you." Chris smirked. Your face filled with panic and before you even had time to yell, both you and Chris were back underwater. The two of you wrestled around for a little while Teddy and Vern cheered you on, until you came back up for air and spotted Gordie wading his way back towards land. "Hey- hey, Gordie, where are you going?"

A/N - Ugh. I know I say this in practically every chapter but again, I. CAN'T. WRITE. FUCKING. ENDINGS. Anyways, sorry for the wait on this one, I hope y'all enjoyed!