cynosure [it characters]

june 9th, 1989 [13]

mike stopped. richie and eddie turned towards him, about to question on why he wasn't walking anymore, but mike intervened, "stan. bill. they aren't here." his voice was laced with worry, but full with control. eddie's eyes grew as he held onto richie's hand tighter.

what if it was that girl, that thing that took them? what if bill and stan are in terrible, horrible, great danger, and eddie, richie, and mike aren't doing anything about it? they could be getting killed, for god's sake! eddie was breathing heavily and hastily by this point, and now all attention was on him. what if i'm next? he couldn't help but think about the worst situation possible. what if the phone was a warning, bill and stan are the next warning...what's next? another warning? or my head on a plate for whatever that thing was? eddie quite literally couldn't breathe.

"eds! my god, get your inhaler!" richie stared at the boy with bulging eyes, afraid. he didn't know what to do. eddie was gripping his hand to the point where his fingers were turning white. mike sighed, very worried yet somehow able to keep it inside. he made his way to eddie, unzipped his fanny pack rested around his waist, and started digging through. for a small pack, eddie sure had a lot in there: pills, one of those small bottles of water, bandages, cream of all sorts, rubbing alcohol and vaseline. 

mike sighed contently once he found the inhaler, stuffing it into eddie's mouth and puffing it a continuous three times. eddie coughed, doubling over as he let saliva fall from his mouth; the medicine just tasted so goddamn bad. he was still clinging onto richie's hand, who just watched with fear.

once eddie lifted himself up, he fetched a cloth- something mike hadn't seen- from his fanny pack and wiped his mouth and face. he replaced the cloth and then zipped the pack closed. mike patted his back softly, and eddie stood with tears of embarrassment in his eyes. richie let go of his hand, only to pull him into a hug. "good job," richie hugged him close, letting his hand run through eddie's hair.

mike licked his lips and looked around a little before yelling, "bill! stan! where are you guys?" he knew he wasn't going to get a response, but it's really best to try anything in this situation. eddie and richie pulled apart, only for the smaller boy to immediately reattach their hands. richie smiled to himself, gliding his thumb across the back of eddie's hand.

they would talk later. richie would ask eddie what was wrong; whether or not eddie tells him doesn't really matter to richie, as long as everyone is safe and

.

happy. the two departed, bill biting back a smile as he held stan's face in his hands. he dragged his thumb across his cheeks, admiring his full beauty all in one glance. stan smiled, reaching up as he grabbed bill's wrists and lowered his hands from his face. stan held the other boy's hands, and the two stood with smiles on their faces and the gleam of summer sun shining down upon them.

"stuh-stuh-stan," bill started, his cheeks darkening red even further than they already are, "i ruh-really like you. do you, uh, muh-maybe want t-t-to be my boy-"

"stan! bill! it's mike!" a voice, the boys assumed mike's, called. they jumped apart immediately, stan clearing his throat before yelling back a "yeah". bill smiled at stan, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. awkwardness filled the dewy atmosphere, before three boys finally showed where the two were. 

eddie sighed in relief, letting go of his hand to run over to stan, engulfing him in a hug. "i was worried!" he said into stan's chest, his shirt muffling the boy's words. "do not ever scare me like that again!" bill watched the two hug and couldn't help but feel jealousy, rather than warm-heartiness, overcome him. he knew very well stan had just kissed him, not eddie, but he couldn't stop it.

the two pulled away from their hug. "why did you guy stop following us?" mike asked, walking up to where eddie was. richie followed and stood beside eddie, who, out of instinct, latched his hand onto richie's. the taller boy smiled to himself, his eyes on his shoes as he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"we-um, we just-"

"i guh-got tired, and told stan tuh-tuh-to stop with me. i should've tuh-told you guys, too," bill cut stan off, glancing over at him for a moment before returning his gaze to mike. mike had an unsure expression, but decided to believe what bill said as he shrugged.

bill let go of the breath he was holding in. "just...be safe, guys. rule number one of us: stick together," mike said cautiously.

stan furrowed his brows, "what's 'us'?" mike shrugged. "us. our friend group. what are we?" he asked again.

richie sighed, chewing on his lip as he smiled over at eddie, then turned his gaze to stan. "we're just a bunch'a losers, stan the man."