Mixtape (Ben Hanscom x Oc)

3 years later (Ben's Pov)

My head hurt and I felt like shit. This was how everyday started. I hadn't been able to sleep well in about three months and my Mom was worried about me.
"Ben sweetheart time to get up for school." I sighed sitting up and staring at the chair in the corner.
"Do I have to go?" I asked rolling over into my side.
"Ben, I know you miss Beatrice but, it's been three years." Mom said opening the door and looking at me:
"You don't understand Mom, I think love her." I mumbled and it sounded pitiful.
"Ben, let me share something with you. The first time you ever feel love it never last. You'll forget her or the way she made you feel but, you have to get over her." She sighed rubbing my back.
"I don't want to. She promised she'd come back." I whined pushing myself up to look at her. 
She had no idea how much I missed her. I missed her smile and how happy she was no matter how bad things got a home. I missed all the pranks she played and how her eyes would light up when we mentioned the quarry. I wasn't sure if she knew that she meant so much to me. I missed her lips on mine and the way they tasted. I would never forget it, cigarettes, salt, and the watermelon sucker she had at my house that morning. She was the whole world to me and she didn't even know.
"Look you're going to school." Mom said rolling her eyes at me.  
   I knew I wasn't going to win this argument so, I sighed and sat up. She left the room and I stood up. I rubbed my face and looked in the mirror, my eyes had bags and my lips were chapped.
"God, I'm not the same." I mumbled looking at the picture of me and Beatrice on my dresser.
I turned around grabbing a jacket and some jeans that I assumed were cleaned. The door opened and Richie walked in.
"Hey haystack how are you?" Richie asked sitting down on my bed.
"I'm okay." I lied. I had become good at this.
"No, no you're not." He stated standing up and putting his hand on my shoulder, "I miss her too man. I miss her too."
"You don't understand." I started.
"I don't understand! She was my best friend! She was the only person who I could talk to or the only person who would listen. She meant the world to me. Beatrice meant a lot to all of us. You're the one who doesn't understand. I'm tired of you complaining like she didn't mean anything to anyone else." He yelled clearly done with my complaining.
"I'm sorry. I just really miss her." I said sliding down the dresser.
"No I'm sorry. She really liked you." Richie said obviously sorry the he blew up.
"No, you're right Beatrice meant a lot to all of us. I have to get used to her being gone." I said pulling my knees to my chest.
"She swore." Richie said wiping his eyes.
"Go get the other losers. I'll get ready for school and you guys can come back." I mumbled refusing to cry in front of Richie.
"Alright. You know where to find me after school." He said leaving the room.
Richie always skipped the last ten or twenty minutes of school to take a nap. Eddie and Richie has finally gotten together a couple years after Beatrice left and Stan had clearly developed feelings for Mike. Things had changed and I could only hope Beatrice had changed too. Not that she wasn't already perfect, she was fifteen or sixteen years old now and I would only hope she was ready for all the changes we had gone through.
"The boys are here." Mom called and I realized I hadn't gotten dressed.
"Shit." I said rushing to get dressed. I stumbled down the stairs trying to slide my shoes on and grabbing my book bag.
"Love you, sweetheart." Mom called as I rushed trough the door.
"Love you too." I called smiling at the boys as I rushed to grab my bike.
"Did you sleep last night?" Stan questioned leaning over his bike's handlebars.
"A little." I lied deciding to bike to school.
***************
I sighed as I stared at the clock, counting down the seconds. Richie and already left and Eddie seemed uninterested in the lesson.
"And that's how the north won the civil war." The Teacher droned on and I could tell he wasn't interested in what he was saying either.
"We have one minute left so, one minute is silence." The teacher mumbled and I sighed playing with the strings in my hoodie.
"Students I would like to say that you will have some reading I would like you to do over the summer." The class collectively groaned and I sighed. I didn't mind summer reading it was just I couldn't focus on the words anymore.
The bell rang and school was finally over. We would go get Richie and go to the Diner. We always did, it was a tradition we would never break. Stan was already waiting from Eddie and I when we finally made it outside.
"Come on let's go get Richie." Eddie said jumping down the last stair. Something Beatrice had done.
We had all picked up something Beatrice had done. Eddie jumping over the last step, Stan had picked up constantly carrying a photo of the losers, and Richie still smoked which was something they had both done. Me, I had picked up trying my hardest to protect the losers no matter what trouble it got me into.
"Can't we do something else first?" Stan questioned grabbing his bike and walking over to us.
"But, it's tradition." Eddie muttered fiddling with the bracelet he wore on his wrist.
"Is now a good time to break tradition?" I joked grabbing my bike.
"You guys are the worst." Eddie said walking away.
"We pissed him off." Stan said whispering in my ear.
"He's just tired some kid made fun of him in science." I explained leaning over to whisper to him.
"Oh okay makes since." We could see the store Mike worked at when Eddie said something.
"Who's the girl Rich?" Eddie asked looking over at Richie who had clearly just pushed away from the girl who stood in front of him.
  The girl had blonde hair which was cut just above her shoulders and her eyes looked so familiar it hurt. She was a good five-seven and couldn't have weighed very much. My brain stopped focusing on her and started to focus in the song that had started playing.  When I see You Smile, I hummed lightly. That song brought back a lot of memories of Beatrice and that mix tape I had give her. The boys didn't know about it and I planned to keep it they way, The girl looked us up and done and she stopped on me smiling like an idiot.
"Is Eddie spaghetti jealous?" Richie asked walking over to Eddie and wrapping his arm around his shoulder.
"That doesn't answer my question." Eddie said crossing his arms. Now that Richie and Eddie were dating Eddie had a tendency to get jealous a lot faster than he should've.
"Oh Eddie I was only gone three years." The girl joked and I knew exactly who it was.
"Beatrice?" I asked pushing past the other boys to pull her into a hug.
"Ben." She laughed wrapping her arms around my neck.
She smelt like cigarettes and sweat but, something about it made me happy. I had her and I was never going to let her go again.
"How have you been?" I asked letting her go and looking at her. She smiled softly and my heart melted.
"I've never been better." She mumbled looking over me and I could tell that she was lying. She missed Bill and Bev just as much as the rest of us.
"Come on Ben let me see her." Eddie complained looking over my shoulder Beatrice walked over to Eddie and smiled.
"Eddie." Beatrice smiled pulling him into a hug. She looked at Eddie's wrist and smile. I knew she noticed.
"God you grew up on us." Stan said looking at her from behind Eddie.
"What was I supposed to do stay thirteen years old forever? Plus, look at you guys. You guys look like grown men." She joked a smile coming to her face.
"Yeah I don't want you to grow up." Stan said grabbing her hands. Beatrice pulled him into a hug and her face liked satisfied.
"When was the last time you slept?" I asked noticing the bags under her eyes.
"Umm what day is it?" She asked rubbing my neck.
"Monday." Richie said looking at her.
"Umm it took me two days to get here and that means it was Saturday here." She answered looking down at the ground.
"Take a nap and then we'll go exploring ole Derry." Richie said lightly punching her shoulder.
"I'm not tired." She said leaning on the car that sat behind her.
"I'm finished." Mike said closing the hood and walking over to us.
"This your car?" Stan asked looking at the car.
"Yeah it's my car." She answered shrugging her shoulders.
"My mom had one of these." I said looking at Beatrice. She was back and I wasn't sure what to do.
"Hey Eddie, Richie come help me do something in the store." Mike said grabbing everyone's attention.
"Why us?" Richie asked.
"Stan you come too." Eddie said grabbing Richie's hand and dragging him towards the store.
"Okay." Stan said following the boys.
"Those two." I said shining my head.
"They're cute." Beatrice said opening the side door of her car. She patted the spot next to her signaling me to sit down.
"Hey Beatrice I've got something to give you." I said and she looked over at me. I leaned in and pressed my lips onto hers. She tasted like cigarettes and watermelon candy.
"I've been waiting to do that for three years." I said laughing.
"Me too." She mumbled as she pressed her lips into mine. This was how I wanted everything to be. I missed this.
"Get some Ben." We heard Richie yell.
"Oh shut up Richie." Eddie yelled and we heard Richie groan. Eddie had clearly hit him.
"Both of you let em be." Stan groaned and I could almost here him roll his eyes.
"All of you stop yelling." Mike said grabbing them and pulling them away from the door. I laughed and pulled her closer. Beatrice smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Are you a banana? Because I find you appealing." I joked and Beatrice groaned.
"Now you've definitely been spending to much time with Richie." Beatrice joked and I could hear her say it years ago in the club house.
"You know I'm still working on the sketch book you gave me." I said tightening my grip on her waist. I did hold her tight last time and she left quicker than I wanted her to.
"Show it to me sometime. Why don't you?" She said wrapping her arms around my neck.
"I've been drawing design of houses and buildings. They mostly remind me of you. They're big family houses." I explained pulling her a little closer.
"You wanna have a family with me." She asked squeezing my face in her hands.
"Of course who wouldn't?" I asked staring into her eyes.
"I mean we have the boys. They might as well be our children." She said laughing turning towards the door of the store. We both noticed they were all watching us doing whatever this was.
This was the true meaning of happiness.