Fandom: IT Pairing: Adult! Stanley Uris x Adult! OC Prompt: "Come here, I'll hold you until you fall asleep." Warnings: mentions of suicide Word Count: 1135 -------
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THE YEAR was 2017, and the Losers Club hadn't been together since 1989. They had all moved far away (except for Mike) and had forgotten about what had happened to them as pre-teens. All except for Stan.
Every night, he was tortured by a plague of nightmares - all recounting his fears. All the fears he was forced to face as a child. That clown. Its white-painted face, lined with red taunted his mind. Every night was filled with dread causing a new fear to arise within him. A fear of sleep.
That was until he met Effie. The two met during college and though he wouldn't admit it, he was immediately attracted to her the second he saw her. And then she spoke and Stan swore that he fell head over heels for her. Effie was adorably shorter than Stan with a headful of ginger locks that ended just under her shoulder blades with the prettiest hazel eyes that Stan had ever seen.
The two started dating after a handful of dates and then a few years later, they were married. The more Stan shared a bed with Effie, the more comfortable he got with the mattress. At first, it was difficult to force himself to close his eyes and let his mind drift off - he hardly get 3 hours of sleep, but the minute that Effie's arms would secure around his tense body, the easy it became. The comfort of Effie's embrace actually reduced the number and intensity of Stan's nightmares. He was finally able to get a good night's sleep in 27 years.
But then he got a phone call. An unknown number incoming from Derry, Maine.
The second he saw the location he knew what was happening. He didn't need for Mike to tell him that IT had returned, he already knew. He was scared, to say the least, but he didn't want Effie to know that. So he tried his best to keep the acid burning up his throat down in his stomach while he ate the dinner she made him. He tried to smile whenever she'd pepper kisses over his face. And he tried to fall asleep beside her as the night came to a close.
But he couldn't. His fears were all coming back to eat him alive and he just couldn't bring himself to close his eyes.
Becoming too anxious, Stan quietly sat up on the stiff mattress and squinted at the red numbers of the alarm clock on Effie's bedside table. 1:49 AM.
With a sigh, he ran his hand over his face and swung his legs over the edge of the bed and made his way over to the conjoined bathroom. Maybe a bath could help him calm down, he thought.
He shut the door as silently as possible so he could run the hot water without disturbing Effie's sleep. Just because he was suffering didn't mean she had to, he believed.
After 3 agonisingly long minutes, his bath was done. He stripped off his pyjamas and hopped into the tub, his back instantly relaxing at the hot water that surrounded his tense muscles. He closed his eyes hesitantly as his mind thought back to the childhood that he tried so hard to forget. He thought back to the blood oath and the promise that he and the rest of his friends had made back in 1989. A tear ran down his face as he thought of his best friends and how he couldn't bring himself to keep their promise.
Before he could do anything drastic, the door creaked open slightly, causing his eyes to snap open in fear. But they soon softened as he saw Effie's messy finger hair and tired face.
"Stan?" She questioned before a yawn interrupted her. "Is everything ok? Why are having a bath at 2 AM?" Her voice was quiet and cracked ever so slightly.
Stan immediately felt horrible. He was thinking of ending it all, leaving behind the love of his life. He knew that Effie loved him just as much as he did her, and that was saying a lot. So if she found him, dead in the bathtub, the next morning, she would be heartbroken - maybe even provoked to take her own life too.
He sat up, his back hunching over to make him the slightest bit more decent - even though they had been married for a decade now. "I'm fine, birdie. You go back to bed."
Effie sighed, running a hand through her hair as she took a seat on the toilet beside the tub. "I'm not going back to bed without you, sweetheart. What's going on?"
Stan sighed, leaning back slightly, his hands bringing up the bubbles further up his body. "I...I couldn't sleep. I got this phone call today from an old friend. It brought back a lot of... bad memories," Stan revealed, his head falling to the side against the rim of the bath so his dark blue eyes could peer up to her hazel ones. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."
"Don't be sorry, Stan. Were you having another nightmare?" She asked tentatively, knowing that Stan doesn't enjoy talking about his nightmares or his childhood often.
Stan shook his head. "I couldn't even close my eyes," he admitted.
Effie gasped quietly, causing a tired smile to grow on Stan's face. Effie had always been very caring and hearing that her husband hadn't caught a wink of sleep made her feel worried and guilty. "Baby, you should've woke me up earlier! Let's get you back in bed," she gestured for him to get up from the bath as she held up a towel for him. "Come on, I'll hold until you fall asleep," she offered, with a teasing smile, knowing that holding him in bed was his biggest weakness.
Stan grinned, stretching out of the bath so Effie could wrap the fluffy towel around his waist. His hands found their way to her face. His finger lightly traced over the light freckles and small imperfections on her skin as she stared up at him. "You're amazing, Effie Uris. The best thing that's ever happened to me."
The ginger blushed, wrapping her arms around his slightly damp and bare waist. "I love you, bird-brain," she teasingly called him the nickname that he hated, resulting in him rolling his eyes. "Come on, we can have a lie in tomorrow morning. Might make it worth your while," she flirted as if they were 20 again.
Stan chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I love you too, birdie. Thank you. For everything."
