Looking up at Elle's bedroom window was like peering into a current of flowing nostalgia; looking at a picture that was taken decades before you were born and still feeling like you were there somehow. Medallion light radiated through her window, and Beverly tucked herself in the shadows against her ex-best friend's house, completely indifferent as to whether or not she should resume her actions and tap on the glass pane.
The bushes of Common Hibiscus flowers were tenacious against the breath of cold wind, coating each and every one of the magenta and fuchsia petals in a crystalline glaze of snow. The regal smell of cold flora reminds Beverly of many years ago, when she'd sneak in through Elle's window and they'd laugh for hours on end while her parents were completely oblivious to it. The remembrance causes her to shift back into reality and look back up at the window, realizing she has no other option. Not with Eddie waiting out in the cold on a steel park bench.
You're lucky I love you. Or loved you. Maybe I still do. Who knows, maybe I always will.
Her black faux-leather boots don't support her nearly as well as they used to, and it seemed like she's forgotten all about how to sneak in again, like she was slow dancing in the dark. Eventually, she turned to the window again and refreshed her heart with an inhale of fresh air. With the dandelion beams against her face now, she curled her finger and left three rueful taps against the sheet of glass that separated her from all of history.
The way it vibrated slightly under her touch only brought awareness to how unsteady her lungs were, sparkling with anticipation and a deep chain of apprehensiveness. When there was no reply to her timid gesture, the belt around her waist constricted any feelings but those that flooded her with the heat of anxiety.
Jesus Christ. She probably thinks I'm a fucking murderer coming in to stab her with a pair of scissors or something, however likely that might be. It's been 3 months, Marsh. Almost 4. Those taps don't reach her as easily as they used to.
The snow crunched under the pressure she had applied to it when she turned to walk away, taking all of the defeat and pinched guilt and stuffing it right back where it came from. She swallowed roughly, every emotion she was feeling cutting her throat while her neck pivoted and shook her head. Feeling stupid was an understatement - ashamed was the better word. Ashamed and fucking stupid. Both of them intertwined to produce her feelings as a result.
Just as Beverly was about to give up all hope and send the rest of her sustained pride away to become one with the Northern Cardinals in the sky, the placid creak of the window being slid upwards turned her head back around.
In all of their glory, Elowynn's gentle features met her shamefaced ones. The religious sound of her voice floats into her ears without falter, perfectly matching the sensuous expression she held on her face. "Beverly? What are you... what are you doing here? What are you doing out in the snow? Where's your jacket and why-" she paused briefly, taking in Beverlys red face. "Why are you here?" She reiterated with more seriousness. Elle stared down at the girl who was now planted under her windowsill, the same one that Beverly used to smoke out of and scorn her ashes on.
"I'm just," Beverly started.
Elle ceased the sentence with noticeable pain fluctuating in her voice. "I get it. I'm a whore. I'm a slut. I abandoned you. I'm a terrible friend and an even worse person. I get it, Beverly," she surrendered. "If you're here to say it all again just- just don't bother to, okay? There's nothing more for you to say other than skipping like a broken record."
Beverly flinched back a decent amount after being reminded of what she so desperately wished she could forget. "Listen, Lowe. I'm not here to fight. I'm not here to call you names, either. I'm not even here for you, actually. I was..." her neck rolled back, not ready for the words to leave her sangria lips. She etched another quick breath and got drunk on the pureness of it. "I was wondering if you knew where Richie was," she finally let out.
The world centered in when Elle widened her eyes enough for Bev to look into them. Mists of surprise drifted into the careful color, clouds of pain coming in as well. "Richie? You want to see Richie?" She recounted sharply, amazement washing over her face. "After all that you've said about him and... and you want to ask me if you can see him?"
Each word was executed with protection that made Beverly recoil. Elle was completely spun at how Beverly could possibly take herself on enough of an ego trip to stand here in front of her and ask for the very boy that put a growing dent in their friendship because she couldn't handle it.
"Look, I know it seems weird. I fucking know, but I really need to speak with him. Speak, nothing more," Beverly clarified slowly. "I'm not gonna hurt him I just- I need to advise him to someone." She shifted her growing weight from one side to the other, so uneasy that she questioned if she was really awake or in some sort of hazy fever-dream.
Elle's lips took shape in a hesitant division. Almost as if she wanted to refuse and keep their past behind them, but she couldn't when it was standing right in front of her. Then, she turned around and shocked Beverly more than she had shocked Elle by showing up.
"Beverly says she needs you," she softly informed. Her voice must've dropped at least 2 gentle octaves and mixed with the warmth of her bedroom.
"He's... he's here?" Bev trembled once Elowynn had fused their gaze again. Flames of jealousy licked at her soul at dangerous temperatures, turning all else — including logic and reasoning — to a crisp. She opened her mouth to let the building arsine speak, but snapped it shut after realizing how much she had already burnt.
You can't rewrite the stars no matter how close they seem.
Before Elle could answer, Richie sauntered into Beverlys view, giving off so much masculine energy through the way in which he walked that it made her dizzy. Richie, knowing particularly well of the things that Beverly had said to Elle, bent down and stared at her through the space in the window with a glare. He tried vigorously to twist it off but only succeeded halfway. "You called?"
His eyes mixed with vexation, blackening the area with a color that was richer than the night sky. The scars on his knuckles stung with rage when he clenched them and tied them down by his sides so they wouldn't go anywhere other than in Elle's hands. Upon feeling this, Beverly took a step back into the gleaming snow with a sense of forceful intimidation.
When her greatest threat had left his side, she dropped her tone to a paper-thin whisper.
"I'm not here to fuck with you guys, okay? I'll leave both of you alone after this, swear it," she drew in another quivering breath, mixing in various snowflakes with it. "But Eddie Kaspbrak is sitting alone on a park bench and you need to go and talk to him."
YOU ARE READING
Lover | Richie Tozier
Fanfiction"Her soft lips pulled into the corner of her cheek as she watched him mouth the lyrics to the song she claimed to love, and Richie couldn't help but hope that she'd begin to love him the way she loved that song. Maybe that was the whole point." ____...
