easy to hate u, better to love u 》 bill denbrough

f o u r

the light again shining through the blinds woke me up in the morning. i blinked my eyes a few times to bring the world into focus. i got up and went to eat. i grabbed some fresh fruit from the fridge and enjoyed some of that. after i finished eating i got fully ready for the day.

i was in the middle of brushing my teeth when the phone rang. i finished up quickly and went to answer.

"hello. who is this?" i asked.

"[y/n]?"

"oh hi henry. good morning!"

"don't do this bullshit."

"wha-"

"where the hell did you go yesterday?"

"oh i w-was..." i paused and did something that always helped me when i was younger. i pictured the words i wanted to say in my wind. "i was chasing after ben."

"you know that's bullshit too."

"no it's not. he ran away. i was after him."

"and you didn't catch up to him?"

"no."

"and you didn't come back to us."

"well, no..."

"i don't fucking believe you."

"what did i do?"

"you're lying to me! you ran away from me."

"n-no i didn't! i swear-" i was beginning to panic as i frantically tried to explain myself out of this issue.

"don't lie to me. i know you would've caught up to tits. which means you probably caught up to him, didn't do anything, and then ran home."

"i would never just leave you guys."

"then why didn't you come back to us?"

"i..." don't have an answer for that question.

"come to my house. we need to talk. in person."

he hung up abruptly.

-

i walked up the bowers' driveway slowly, shaking, worried about what he would say or do. i knocked on the door and waited. henry opened the door and, without saying anything, grabbed my arm and took me to his room. he practically forced me to sit on his bed and then he walked over to close the door. when i was able to see his face, he looked incredibly angry but as if he was trying to hide it. he turned around and looked at me. his eyes were full of bad intentions and his fists were balled.

"are you scared of me?" he asked suddenly. as angry as he had looked, his voice sounded sad.

"no, of course not," i began, lying. "i could never be scared of you."

he walked over and sat down next to me. my heart was beating at a speed i didn't know was possible. "why have you been lying to me?" this time his voice sounded sinister.

"i- i haven't been ly-" he snapped and stood up quickly.

"yes you have! you've been lying to me!" he screamed at me. "you abandoned us yesterday! how many goddamn times do i have to remind you who's in charge here?" he began hitting me as he screamed. "you need my permission to leave us! you need my permission for everything you do!"

"henry! you're hurting me!" i tried to get away. he landed several hits all over my body, and a couple on my face. "please stop!" he punched me directly in my nose. blood poured down my face and dripped onto my shirt.

"shut up!"

i sobbed as i tried to run away from him. he grabbed my shoulders and forced me to face him. "tell me that you understand i'm in charge," he demanded.

i was too shocked to say anything. he shook me as he shouted again. "who's in charge [y/n]? who?"

"you! you are!" i shouted with all the voice i could. he let go of me.

"good," he said, walking to and sitting down on his bed.

i turned back around and tried to leave. my hand was holding my nose, attempting to stop the blood.

"where are you going, [y/n]?" henry asked.

i sighed and looked at him. "can i go home please?"

"sure. but you better not fucking say anything about this to anyone. or i swear [y/n]-"

"i won't! i won't. b-bye."

-

after i had cleaned myself up and stopped the bleeding from my nose, i examined myself in the mirror. i had several bruises forming on both of my arms. my lips and nose were swollen and red. my head was throbbing in pain, the ice pack i had tried earlier didn't help it at all. unfortunately during his rampage he had managed to hit me just under my eye, meaning a bruise would be forming there soon enough too. i could never hide all of this from other people, especially not my mother, who plays such close attention to detail. how would i be able to explain all of this? i needed to come up with a cover story, and while i think one up i'm going to be avoiding as many people as possible.