love ; bill denbrough

24

Cass

"Ben, why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Bev asked, reading through newspaper clippings that he'd been showing the group.

"It was just some research I did when I was new here, I didn't think it was important." He shrugged.

"But now we know, IT happens every 27 years." Mike set down the collage he was looking at.

"We have to go to Neibolt house, don't we?" Richie asked no one in particular.

:::

"Couldn't we just avoid feeding season and not come back? In 27 years we'll all be gone, not our problem." Stan huffed, we'd all taken our bikes to Neibolt house, fully prepared to confront Pennywise. Stood on the front steps of the house made everything feel so much realer, for some, it was the perfect motivation, for others, just enough to make them crack.

Bill and I shared a look. "Stan, some people have lost everything because of that fucking thing." Richie gave me a look, almost knowing what Bill and I both were thinking.

"This isn't just for us. This is for every parent in Derry that's lost their kid. Every brother, every sister. Every friend. It's our duty. I'm not gonna lie, I think I speak for Cass too, I'm here for my brother. I fucking hate the fact that I have to go to bed at night without hearing my mom in the next room singing the baby beluga song to him," He began tearing up, and I didn't wanna stop him while he was on a roll, so I simply moved behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his back, just between the shoulder blades. "His stupid stuffed animals are still where he left them, his rainboots aren't next to mine in the hall. So walking into this house, is easier than walking into my own." He finished, surprisingly without stuttering through any of it.

"I miss my brother too." I piped up. "Imagine how many people are in the same boat as us right now? No idea where their kids are. Their brothers. Their best friends. I miss buying him candy with my lunch money. I miss ironing his scout patches on and watching his little face light up as he told me about how he'd earned them. I miss taking him to see Santa at Christmas and using all of my Polaroid shots on the moment. I miss singing the shoe-tie song. This has gone on for too long, we need to stop this. For everyone."

Richie was first to talk, as he made his way to the top step, standing beside Bill and I. "Let's go."

Eventually, we arranged that Richie, Eddie, Bill and I would go in, the others standing watch.

There was nothing that caught our eye on the ground floor of the house, so we continued to the 1st floor. We began to disperse, looking for anything to help us, when I saw Richie pull a piece of paper out of the growing wall vines.

"I-it says i'm missing." We all perked up with the comment.

"Yeah, well, we know it's not real." Eddie added.

"Missing : Richie Tozier. Date of Birth, March 7th, height, 68 inche-"

"Show me." Bill grabbed the paper out of Richie's hand.

"That's my hair. That's my face! That's my shirt!" He began to panic as Bill tried to hush him.

"Am I gonna go missing?" He looked as if he was about to cry, which was rare for Richie to do in front of his male friends.

"Richie, it's not real." Bill's soft voice finally seemed to have an effect as he finally quieted.

"Bill," I pulled him away to the other side of the room as Eddie continued nursing Richie back to sanity. "I love you."

"I love you too. Why are you s-s-saying it now?" He put his hands at either side of my face as I stared up at him.

"What if," I sniffled. "What if one of us doesn't come back."