Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Maturin looked at the destruction his sibling had caused and thought. So many lives lost… so many wasted.

The turtle sighed, before doing a cosmic roll of the die. He looked at them, and laughed. Oh, that would be interesting. When his sibling came back, It would be quite miffed at him. How lovely.

Life was just a game, a game his dear companion was never happy about losing. Still, It wouldn’t be back for a long, long time - at least, from a human perspective of things. Yes, from a human perspective, it would be lifetimes after the youngest person affected by It dies. Really, it wouldn’t take much effort from his end to make happen what the die told him to. The hardest part would be up to the curious humans. He chuckled to himself softly, a wide smile spreading across his face as he thought of the possibilities, the paths that stemmed and arched and broke off from this one, single choice.

Maturin squinted once more at the die, and clapped his flippers together.

~~~~~

All he knew, for a brief moment, was darkness. The world around him was silent, and he felt like this was everything. Everything and nothing. Things were all the same here. He was the same as everything here. Quiet, dark, and a little cold. Floating around, feeling as if he didn’t even have a body. He felt so weightless, it took him a moment before he even remembered his name. It was Eddie. After he realized that, there was a flash of light, and he saw… well, he didn’t see anything. Or, at least anything he could describe. “Eddie Kaspbrack.” A voice came from the figure, a mixture of masculine and feminine, impossibly loud and soft. There didn’t seem to be anything but white surrounding them, but he found himself standing somehow. The ground felt decently solid, and he hesitantly took a step forwards. He tried to speak, found he couldn’t, cleared his throat, and tried again.

“What’s going on?” Eddie asked, before remembering. “Where’s everyone else?” He was a little frantic now, but he was fully prepared to fight. He looked around for anything he could possibly use, thoughts and heart racing. Was It right around the corner? What form would that horrid thing take on this time? His heart began to race, and he narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, nails digging into the palms of his hands as they formed fists.

A laugh began, an unfamiliar one. Whatever this was, he didn’t think it was It. “Don’t worry - I will not fight you. And I have not hurt your friends. You bled out in the sewers after being stabbed; they all made it out.” It sounded like someone talking to a child. Eddie always hated being treated like a child.

He let out a breath, face screwing up. “What? Look, what are you? Why are you here - why am I here? How do you know what happened to everyone?” Eddie purposefully ignored that he was, according to this thing, dead. He clenched his fists and stepped forwards, ready to fight at any implication of a threat. To be honest, it wouldn’t take much at this point for him to see one. He was about to start swinging as it is. He whirled around, looking every which way for some source of that voice, something he could touch.

Somehow, he felt that someone was smiling at him. “I can’t answer all of those questions.” The voice sounded sympathetic, in a condescending way. “I can’t help you all the time. This is already more than usual; I’m not used to this, I’m afraid.”

The man grit his teeth. “Tell me where I am! I swear, I’m - “ Before he could finish, the world shifted a little, and he woke up with a gasp, hand going to where he knew a wound had been just a few minutes ago. Or hours. Or days. Eddie sat up, looking around wildly, and his eyes had to adjust to the sudden lack of light. When he realized where he was, he didn’t feel scared as he had been the last two times he came down here. Instead, he felt simply annoyed that he was in the sewers again. It felt different, though still creepy. He didn’t feel any immediate threat. At least he’d been standing, though he would prefer to not be in the greywater at all. He chuckled as he remembered talking about infections when they first faced the sewers. Eddie was so young then. They all were. His eyes widened, thinking of them all, and suddenly, just for a moment, his heart stopped.

He remembered everything, and noticed he was wearing Richie’s jacket. Oh. They all thought -

From somewhere on his left, he heard a gasp much like the one he had let out. Then, an exclamation he couldn’t make out, and another that he could. “WHAT THE FUCK?” The sound echoed through the sewers, reverberating so that he couldn’t stop himself from wincing.

Eddie recognized the voice; that was Stan. Or, at the very least, Stan’s voice. His happiness at recognizing his friend came with a caution. Stan was dead, and had been dead for days now. He had committed suicide before they met up, after Mike called him. Hell, they had even come face to face with a monstrous version of him. Still, Eddie couldn’t resist the temptation to at least check it out, and made his way to where he heard it. “Who’s there?” He called, holding his fists up just in case. What he could do with them, he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. Maybe that was what had brought him down in the first place.

As he turned the corner, he did indeed see Stan. And about five kids, all staring at him with wide eyes. He suddenly emphasized very deeply with the statement from before.

He looked between them all, not being able to figure out which was weirder, when he recognized something else. One of the little boys looked very familiar, with a yellow raincoat. What? He hadn’t seen Georgie since… well. Since before Bill had gotten sick, before that fateful day. He tore his eyes away, looking back to what appeared to be Stan, determined not to acknowledge the kids until he was certain he had at least one ally in case things went wrong.

“Eddie?” Stan looked surprised. “What are you doing here? Where are the others?” He turned to look at the kids. “... do you know why there are kids here?” He gestured to the opposite wall, and a little boy flinched as though he had been struck, bringing Eddie’s attention back to the children.

He swallowed bile as he recognized several of them from missing posters. Both those he had seen recently, and the ones he remembered seeing as a child. “I don’t know about any of those things.” Eddie said, trying to pull himself together enough to smile. “Are you really Stan? Say something that only you and I would know.” It sounded cliche, but it was pretty much the only thing that he could think of to try and prove that his friend was really there, alive, in front of him. He didn’t lower his fists, though. He didn’t want to let his guard down.

Stan rolled his eyes. “That should be easy. We met each other in kindergarten because Bowers pushed you into me and you got a bloody nose.”

Eddie snorted, stepping forwards to pull his friend into a hug, which was returned. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I thought after Pennywise was defeated, you were gone for good.” He muttered, grateful at least one friend was with him in this awful place. Besides, he’d been able to reunite with everyone else but Stan, so he supposed this was only fair. He thought he heard something that sounded like ‘I’m sorry’ before he pulled back, but Stan didn’t seem to want to repeat it. Eddie found himself not blaming him. He clapped Stan on the shoulder with a smile and a nod, hoping that was enough.

As he realized they’d forgotten the kids, one spoke up. “Where am I? Where’s Mommy?” A little girl sniffed, looking around and tugging on the edge of her skirt. “It’s so dark and cold in here…”

All the kids started talking at the same time, and Eddie could hear crying in the distance. Stan paled beside him, running his hands through his hair. “There’s more?” He seemed like he didn’t really know what to do with them, and Eddie could certainly relate. That was one of the many, many reasons why he didn’t have kids of his own, after all.

He let out a long breath. “If this is everyone It killed… then, yeah. There are a lot more.” Then, an idea came to him. “There was a guy killed recently - man named Adrian. Pennywise had a part in it, I’m sure of it. We need to find him so us adults can get out everyone.” Eddie may not know what had happened, but he knew if there were kids here, they were more important than he was. This was so weird, and he honestly wished he was resting. Though he didn’t seem to be wounded, his abdomen still ached. He put his hand to his middle, checking for blood, and couldn’t find anything. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that it should be there.

“What do we do after that?” The other man replied with frustration. “A lot of these kids don’t even have parents anymore. Hell, there might be some 1600s folk left! We might not even be able to understand them.” Stan tan his fingers through his hair, looking like he was on the brink of a headache.

Eddie sighed, the end turning into a groan. “We have to at least try to get them all out. No kid’s going to be left alone in here. You forget about Pennywise and Derry when you leave; maybe we can call cps or something. I don’t know, come up with a kidnapping story. If any of them are dressed weirdly or talking weirdly, we can explain it away by trauma. We have to do something, Stan.” Something that they couldn’t do before. He clenched his fists again, before unclenching them. They were children themselves. They couldn’t have been expected to save anyone except for themselves, and the fact that they managed that was a miracle.

They had been talking quietly, but evidently, not quiet enough. “Stan? My brother Bill had a friend named that!”

Both men froze, having fully realized that yes, Georgie was here now. Alive and seemingly well. Stan, somehow, managed to snap out of it quickly. “What a coincidence!” He seemed to try and say this happily, but it came out nervous and awkward. “Do you all want to help us find everyone else? We can’t let them be alone out there.” He smiled just a little too wide - even when he was a child, he didn’t really seem like he knew how to interact with Georgie, though he certainly tried not to be rude.

“Will we be able to leave after that?” Another boy asked. “I’m tired!” The other children chimed in with their own complaints. God, Eddie was learning a lot about kids through no choice of his own.

Eddie smiled, just a little. “Yeah, then we’ll be able to get out. But you all have to… be good, and stay together. There might be a lot of kids here, and you all have to have a… a buddy, okay?” Stan snorted, and he glared at him. “Everyone has a buddy. Georgie, you can be Stan and I’s buddy.” He hoped that this worked. He didn;t know a lot about kids, but he knew how stubborn they could be sometimes. If this didn’t work, there was a chance they could lose the children. Eddie would rather die than have that happen… was that a good thing to say with the situation? Not really. Now his internal monologue was against him, that was wonderful.

The oldest of the kids, probably around eleven, raised an eyebrow, but still dutifully held on to one of the little girls’ wrists. The other two children nodded to each other and linked arms.

Georgie happily walked over to the two men, holding on to Eddie’s sleeve with a smile. “Okay. I think I heard something over there.” He pointed with his left hand back where Eddie had first woke up. “It sounded like someone was crying. I don’t blame them; if you guys weren’t here, I’d probably cry too.” Two of the other kids nodded. Oh, he was so glad none of them were crying. He didn’t know how to deal with that at all. He’s pretty sure he would be having a panic attack if he was 27 years younger. Scratch that, no, he would be having a panic attack now if he hadn’t been focused on reuniting with the other Losers.

Stan ruffled his hair. “You won’t have to worry - we’ll all get out of here together.” He and Eddie made eye contact with a firm nod; a promise.

The group slowly but surely made their way, with Eddie constantly counting the kids over his shoulder. It may be just him being paranoid, but he figured that after everything, he was allowed to be a little paranoid. As they turned the corner, they heard a splashing noise, and a faint sound of talking.

Eddie shoved Georgie behind him on instinct as the sound came closer, and was surprised when he saw an adult man he didn’t recognize. He had an idea of what his name was, but needed to make sure. “Hey! Hey, what’s your name?” He gripped Georgie’s arm tightly, stepping so that the other man didn’t have a view of the children. It was odd, feeling this sort of protectiveness.

The other blinked at him. “My name is Adrian, and I’m not sure how I got here.”

“Yeah, neither are we.” Stan said, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head. “You manage to find any kids in the sewer? We heard some crying, and already found these. Figured there might be some others, so we needed to find them before we get out of here.” Eddie was surprised and impressed he managed to come up with an answer so quickly. “We’d also like to get out of here as soon as we can.” As he spoke, he inclined his head to the kids. “It doesn’t look like this place is long to last, anyways. We have to get out of here before the whole thing collapses on our heads. I’d like to keep my skull mainly intact, thank you.”

Before Adrian could reply, they could see a group of several children come up behind him. “There are around ten of them, yeah. I couldn’t hear anyone else, and I just walked through a lot of it.” He seemed to have enforced the buddy rule as well, judging by how his pinky finger was linked to a little girl’s, watching Eddie with narrowed brown eyes and a thumb in her mouth.

Eddie bit his lip. “We should probably at least double check, but it looks like we went through the main areas.” He looked around, before taking a deep breath and cupping his hands around his mouth. “Hello? Anyone here? Hello?” He yelled as loud as he could. He strained to hear anything other than the echoes of his own voice. He turned to the others. “Well, we’ll see a bit more of the sewers when we get out of here.” He felt like just being in the sewer was killing him slowly. Maybe it was. Wouldn’t that be just great? Wow, he was getting sassy to himself. It was either time to get a therapist or take a ten hour nap. Probably both. Yeah, definitely both after all of this is over.

Stan looked around. “It looks like there are a lot of collapsed parts in here.” He shook his head, turning to Eddie. “You’ve always had a good sense of direction - lead the way.” That was an understatement, but he couldn’t expect Adrian or any of the kids to understand, so Eddie just nodded.

They each held on to one of the kids, and the rest followed the buddy system. He tried to hold his breath, not wanting to breathe in anymore of the smells. After what seemed like forever, the group managed to reach an exit out to the Barrens. Adrian stopped, feeling at his pockets before turning to the two Losers. “Do either of you have a phone on you? I should probably tell my - “ he eyed the men. “ - my partner, that I’m alright.” Yeah, that was going to be a weird phone call to make. He wondered idly if his and Stan’s would be weirder. Oh, yeah, yeah it would be.

He was handed a phone by Stan, and walked off a little ways, still holding on to the same little girl. “I’ll have to phone Patty too.” Stan said with a sigh. “I can’t have her keep thinking I’m dead. We should also phone the others; though I don’t know if they’ll believe a random phone call.” He breathed in. “Not that I blame them, after all that we’ve been through.”

“What are you talking about?” Georgie asked. “There aren’t any phones around here. Besides, I don’t have any change on me.”

They had forgotten the changes of technology, and how confusing it would be. “We’ll explain later, Georgie. Now, after Adrian’s done talking to his partner, we’ll be calling your brother.” Eddie was a little proud of himself for responding so quickly, and not just standing there like an idiot. Probably a one time occurrence, knowing his luck. “Don’t worry, we don’t need any money, especially not from you, little man.” Was that a good thing to call a kid? The fact that he was so bad at this almost made him feel worried.

The boy smiled. “Oh, do you need our phone number? Mom made sure I had it memorized.”

Stan put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, we know it already.” Around them, there seemed to be some confusion among the children. There only seemed to be two kids from the present day, and they looked confused as to what the others were wearing and how they were talking. That was going to be a long explanation that Eddie was really, really not looking forward to. Another thing to add to the schedule of explanations.

Once Adrian came back, he gave the phone back to Stan. “Thanks; if anyone wants a ride, my… friend’s coming here.”

Eddie nodded. “Thank you. We still have some people to call, but it’ll be nice to get these kids somewhere safe… and somewhere dry. This probably isn’t good enough water quality to clean up everyone.” He shuddered a little, walking to shore stiffly. This was awful. All he wanted was a shower. That was all, and yet it was still apparently too much to ask the universe. Whoever was in charge must have a personal grudge against him.

He was followed by Stan. “Do you mind if I call my wife first? I don’t want her to worry anymore than she already is.” That made sense; poor Patty had been the one to find Stan, and she hadn’t known about It. Plus, she’d had to call Mike, a total stranger to her, to tell him about the suicide of her husband. It had sounded like they had a good life together.

“That’s fine.” Eddie smiled at his friend. “After that, we should call Mike; he’s the most likely to have his phone on him.” He fiddled with his wedding ring, before slipping it off and tossing it into the water. “I think I have a call of a different sort to make, soon.” He muttered under his breath. Eddie didn’t know how he had stood it for so long. Myra… he’d deal with her later. After at least a full night’s rest. And he has yet another confession to make, after all. So much to do, and to think he’d been dead just an hour ago. Not even that. Had the others talked to Myra yet? Was he going to have to explain yet another thing about him to her, another thing she wouldn’t understand at all? That was just splendid. He rubbed absently at his ring finger, smiling at the sight of it being bare.

Stan watched him for a moment, before clapping his hand on his shoulder. “Alright, Eddie.” He said with a small smile, before opening his phone and walking a little ways away for privacy, leaving Eddie with not one, but two children he was in charge of. Luckily, Adrian seemed to be pretty good with kids, and was talking to the rest as he lead them to shore. However, Eddie hadn’t interacted with children since he was a child himself. What did he even talk about? Thankfully, he didn’t have to take initiative.

The little girl blinked up at him, tilting her head and letting her tight black curls fall to one side. “What’s your name? Mine’s Charlotte. It’s Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Charlie or Lottie or whatever, I guess. I don’t really care.”

He smiled awkwardly, holding out a hand which she took immediately. “Charlotte’s a nice name. My name’s Eddie, Eddie Kaspbrack. How old are you? I know Georgie’s almost nine.” The boy nodded in agreement, smiling at her. Okay, this could be going worse. Kids were just small, emotional adults who didn’t always make a lot of sense, and who talked a lot for no reason. See, something he could relate to. Maybe he’d find a kindred spirit or two.

“I’m seven.” Charlotte replied, shuffling her feet. “I didn’t like being in the sewers. Before, I was in my bed, and then my closet door opened and a big bear came out! I woke up in the sewers, though, so maybe it was a mean sewer bear. Did you guys see it? I hope it won’t follow us out here; I heard that bears can swim, and that’s one of the worst things I’ve ever heard, and my brother told me the f word the other day, so that says a lot about how scary they are.”

Luckily, Adrian’s partner came before Eddie could say anything. “Let’s go see Adrian’s friend.” He said quickly, ushering them over.

Stan joined Eddie after the kids were with Don. “That went better than I expected. She just wants me to explain it all when I get back to Georgia.” He sounded pleased. Eddie was simultaneously happy for him and envious of him. Because today he couldn’t just feel something normally, apparently.

“Thanks for leaving me with kids.” Eddie sighed, shoulders slumping. “That girl started talking about It, and I had no idea what to say to that. Apparently, she’s scared of bears, which is wonderful for someone living in Maine. Just great.” He groaned, before thinking of something he just had to ask. “What’s the last thing you remember? Before waking up in the sewers?” He wrung his hands together, wondering briefly if it would sound crazy if he described what he remembered. Then, he realized that that was likely far from the craziest thing Stanley had believed, much less that he had heard.

He raised an eyebrow. “After… you know, it was just all black. Then I woke up.”

Eddie bit his lip; was he the only one who had the voice? Charlotte said the last thing she remembered was that bear Pennywise had turned into. Adrian walked over. “You think it’s okay to pile the kids in the car?” He asked. “A lot of the town’s gone.”

He froze. “Gone? How is the town just gone? Eddie couldn’t believe this; was Derry this tied up in that stupid clown? Eddie felt a surge of anger run through him, unsure if it was for Pennywise or the citizens of Derry. Then again, what was the difference? He’s pretty sure other than the Losers, Don, and Adrian, the only rational adults in Derry had been Mike’s and Richie’s parents.

Stan looked off in the distance. “It looks like it just collapsed.” As he spoke, the exit they had come out of fell, as if it had been waiting for them. Eddie paled, mind racing - what if they had been in there still? What if his friends were in there for some reason? He shook his head, silently telling himself not to think about stupid things like that, that it was wasting his time.

Adrian flinched, wincing as he watched the structure fall. “Yikes…” he mumbled. “Anyways, Don’s car can fit four other than him, and we have twenty kids. Do you want to stay for your friends, or…?”

“You can just leave us.” Eddie replied with a wave of his hand. “Bring them to the outskirts of the city - you’ll need to make about five trips, but we need all the kids to be safe.” He sighed. “Stan and I have a call to make.” Adrian nodded, and waved all the kids to him, splitting them up into groups to take them to the hospital - apparently one of the only buildings left standing. That and the library. That was good, at least; Mike hadn’t lost his home. Eddie was sure that Mike’s day would have been awful enough without that adding to it.

Stan nudged him. “You want to do it?” He asked, gesturing with the phone at Eddie.

He nodded, taking in a breath. “Yeah, I probably should. I’ll hand the phone off to you if I need to.” Stan unlocked the phone and clicked on a contact, handing it to Eddie. He sat down on a tree stump as he heard it ring. Eddie found himself jiggling his knee so fast, he rivaled how Richie had been before a math test. He smiled at the memory, feeling warmth flow through him for the first time in forever.

Finally, a reply. “Patty? You can call me through your phone if you need anything. You doing okay?” Mike’s voice was slightly tinny, but he smiled when he heard it. He hoped that it hadn’t been too long since… well, since he had died. He would have to get used to thinking of himself like that. That… that might take a lot of time and effort, and was yet another thing his future therapist could never, ever hear about.

He bit his lip, thinking of what to say. “It isn’t Patty.”

Mike paused, before speaking again, voice low. “Who is this.” It wasn’t a question. It sounded like he was upset; did he think it was a prank call? Or was his immediate thought that they hadn’t defeated It after all? Eddie felt a sinking feeling in his gut, feeling guilty that he had made Mike think that for even a second.

“My name is Eddie Kaspbrack, and we met when Bowers was picking on you.” He said, desperate to say anything to make the other believe him.

He heard a deep breath on the other end. “What did I confess to you and only you when I was fifteen years old?” Mike said, sounding as if he was physically trembling, and Eddie couldn’t blame him for that.

Eddie rolled his eyes with a laugh, lowering his voice. “That was the year you had a crush on Stan.”

Mike sounded like he hadn’t decided whether to laugh or to cry. “It’s you? It really is? What happened? You - you were bleeding so bad. We had to practically drag Richie out of the sewers. Are you still bleeding? Oh my God, I can get Ben out there soon, he’s probably in his car already, driving to see Bill and Audra.” His words were tripping over themselves as they spilled out of the other man’s mouth excitedly.

He laughed as his friend rambled uncharacteristically. “I’m fine. But yeah, I would appreciate the ride. There’s someone else here too - well, multiple someones, but I think that’s best to say to Bill.” Eddie pointed to Stan, though fully aware that Mike couldn’t see either of them.

Stan took his cue, and grabbed the phone. Eddie left them to their own conversation, feeling happy about getting to talk to Mike. And he’ll get to see them all soon; and this time, it won’t be overshadowed by a stupid clown.

Chapter Text

When he dreamed, he dreamed of when they were young. Young, but not afraid yet.

Now, he was remembering when he first realized that what he had felt for Eddie was more than what people normally felt for their friends. It was a sleepover at Bill’s house, before everything had gone to shit. They’d just agreed to finally go to sleep, but Richie’s mom always said he had a different schedule than everyone else, so he wasn’t tired at all. The clock read 1:30 am, and Richie was unbelievably bored. Since he knew he would get punched if he said anything, he was doing the other thing that managed to occupy his mind well; people watching. He liked it, and thought he was pretty good at it, too. At least, he felt that he could read people well enough. He’d been able to clock basically anyone’s crushes the second they had them, for example. All you had to do was watch and listen.

People always doubted that he was able to be quiet, but he could. The thing was that everyone was so distracting, so loud, so interesting all the time, and he had to share every thought in his mind.

Dad had always said his mind was wired differently than everyone else’s, and he thought that was true. It wasn’t just the talking, though. He had trouble focusing if he didn’t have something to do with his hands. Even when he genuinely tried to listen to the teacher, he was yelled at because he was doodling or some other stupid shit. So, he stopped trying. Whenever he read or heard something interesting, he had to repeat it under his breath, and no one else did. Not to mention the fact that if he had a thought, he had to express it exactly how he thought it, which mainly lead to people saying he was rambling or something. Even in his own head, he used too many words, too many swears, too fast.

And he lost track of everything, even people watching. It was hard, when the others were asleep. It just wasn’t that interesting.

Bill was a snorer. He wasn’t necessarily loud, it just kind of left Richie concerned for him. He slept all sprawled out, arms outside of his blankets, mouth wide open. Though he wasn’t all that interesting to watch, it could be funny. Especially when he drools, so Richie can tell him later. Sometimes, he was concerned that Bill would fall, what with the weird positions he would sleep in, but the only thing he managed was dragging his blankets and sheet back and forth until his legs were caught up in them.

Stan barely moved when he slept. He laid down on his back and never moved, and Richie would think he wasn’t breathing if not for the soft rise and fall of the sleeping bag. He was definitely the most boring. Richie couldn’t understand how he got any rest.

Oddly enough, the most interesting to watch was Eddie. He curled up in a ball on his side, holding on to the extra fabric of the bag. It was always obvious when he was dreaming, what with the way he always twitched. It was weird watching him, but he kind of wanted to know what the other boy was dreaming about. They always showed on his face so clearly, but not enough so that he could figure it out. Enough to leave him curious, though. Especially when it didn’t seem like a good dream, like now.

Eddie’s face was scrunched up, and he kept making weird noises like he was complaining about something. He felt the urge to wake him up, and make him either laugh, or to give him something else to complain about.

It was normal, though. He was his friend, and he often annoyed Eddie anyways. And, contrary to popular belief, a lot of his joking is not meant to annoy. Well. Scratch that, not meant to only annoy. He couldn’t help it if it was fun to annoy people! Especially Eddie, because he always had some kind of reaction. Either annoyance, another joke, shoving him, or rolling his eyes, Eddie never let a joke go without a reaction. It was fun, and helped to know how an audience would react, because despite teasing, yes, he does want to be a professional comedian. It was like he had a critic, an audience member, and a fan at once - though the other would never admit it, he did like some of his jokes.

Richie grinned to himself, and though he wouldn’t realize it until later, that was when he realized that he wanted Eddie around to react to his jokes all the time.

Or, in other words, that he wanted to be with Eddie.

His dream slowly faded, and he was too tired to try and chase it. Not necessarily tired as if he wanted to sleep. This was more so that he wanted to not be there or do anything. Richie felt like he was to fucking heavy to get up; his bones hurt, just like everything else about them. Then, because of course it did, the goddamn phone started to ring. Deja vu, anyone? God, that would be the worst fucking thing imaginable.

Richie grabbed for it, looking at the caller id, and answered. “Mikey man.” He greeted in a way he was sure even a stranger could tell was less enthusiastic than normal. “Any more bad news you want to dramatically call me about?”

“Hey, Rich.” The other man’s voice sounded too soft, like he was talking to a child, and he was reminded of when Bev had called him ‘honey’ in the sewers after what happened. “I promise, it isn’t bad news. How are you feeling? I don’t want to dump anything on you before asking.” There it was again. Everyone was pitying him, and it felt awful. Sure, he appreciated the support and all of that, but he was pretty sure if he even looked mildly upset, Ben would swaddle him like the baby they acted like he was.

To the phone, he just let out a forced chuckle. “I’m fine, but you gotta tell me what’s going on. I don’t want to be in the dark like this when you guys are out having fun.”

It was a weak attempt to not sound scared of the news, because even if Mike said it wasn’t bad, how could he trust his judgement? He loved Mike like a brother, and didn’t really blame him anymore for being a little selfish, but it had still happened, and he wasn’t about to pretend that it didn’t.

Mike sighed a little. “Are you sitting down? This is kind of crazy.” He really didn’t like that tone.

Richie rolled his eyes. “First off, I’m laying in bed as we speak, so yes. Second off, you’re going to make me hang up if you keep acting like that. I fought that crazy fucking clown twice already, and I’m pretty sure you can call that kinda crazy. Trust me, bud, I’m used to it. You could tell me you’re a goddamn mermaid with a lobster tail and at this point I’d shrug and do an impression Sebastian from The Little Mermaid.” Maybe a little overblown, but hey, that’s comedy for you. Throw things at the wall fast enough and hard enough, something’s gotta stick.

He was certain he’d make Mike beep him with that, but he just laughed a bit breathlessly. “Okay. Well, someone just called me five minutes ago, claiming that they were Eddie alive and well, and that Stan was there too.”

Suddenly, he was a child again, remembering one of the only times the seven of them had spent time together without the presence of that dumbass clown. They were all at the Barrens, and had just finished swimming. They were all sitting on the sand near the water, under the sun. Each of them were stretched out, all close to one another, and Richie felt nice. He felt safe, which was significant, since that summer was a time where hardly anyone felt like that. At the same time, he felt more than a little nervous. Eddie was laying down next to him, eyes closed, and looking relaxed for the first time in forever. His brow wasn’t furrowed, and he had a small smile on his face. If you listened close enough, you could hear him humming quietly.

Richie’s eyes were closed partly, but they were fixed on the boy next to him. Making sure he was okay, that he was still breathing. He felt eyes on him, and he sat up suddenly, looking around. He wasn’t sure if he was more worried about seeing It or seeing Bowers.

It was Stan; he was the only one paying attention.

Eddie and Bev were dozing. Mike was facing the opposite way, drawing something in the dirt with a stick, back and shoulders hunched. Ben was reading a book of poetry, occasionally glancing at Bev and dogearing a page nervously. Finally, Bill was scribbling something in a notebook; he didn’t seem to be making much progress, judging by how often he shook his head at himself and started to erase what he just wrote. Only Stan and Richie were looking at each other, blinking slowly as Richie decided what to do, if Stan knew or not.

Stan glanced at Richie, then to Eddie, then back at Richie, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t need to ask what Stan was asking. His face burned.

He knew that Stan wouldn’t judge, but he still felt kind of awful. Was he that obvious? Richie frowned at the other boy, but, knowing that he should probably tell the truth to his friend, nodded. He really hoped no one else was watching them. He glanced from side to side, still seeing no one looking.

Though it wasn’t really all that surprising, he still smiled when Stan nodded back with a thumbs up. The moment was over soon, when Bev sat up and yawned, but he still remembered it fondly. That night, Stan had called him, simply saying ‘it’s okay’ before continuing on to talk about normal things. He was just glad he didn’t make that big a deal about it. Richie wouldn’t have known what to do if Stan was overly pitying. Probably walk straight into the sewers and yelled for Pennywise to square up.

In the present, Mike was still on the phone. “...Richie? Are you still there?” His friend asked, concerned. It seemed that Richie was always worrying his friends.

“Are you sure?” He asked, much quieter than he was normally. It was as if he thought that if he spoke too loud, that something would happen. That the bubble would break, and it would be over, and his friends would be dead again. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Like, this isn’t someone prancing us, and it isn’t It? I mean, we crushed that bastard’s heart, but It could have, like nine of those. So, you’re sure that it’s them and that they’re really here?” He couldn’t handle it if it was fake, if it was a prank or a lie or a stupid attempt at a scare.

He couldn’t see Mike, but he was sure the other man was smiling. “I’m sure, Richie. Ben’s on his way to pick them up now.”

That information wasn’t nearly enough. “Are they at the Barrens? Are they hurt? What did they say exactly?” The questions were asked in quick succession. And people thought Richie was normally a fast talker…

Another tinny laugh, though it was good natured. “Yes, they’re at the Barrens. No, they don’t seem to be hurt, but Ben made sure to get his first aid kit just in case. I talked to them both. Apparently, there are other people too. Neither of them have any idea what happened, but there are other people there too. It looks like some other victims came back, from the eighties and today.” God, that sounds like a lot of kids. If this was real, he didn’t envy Eds or Stan.

The man laughed incredulously. “Mike, you’re a great guy and all, but I will kill you if this isn’t real.”

“It’s real!” Mike insisted, though he didn’t sound offended. “In a few minutes, I’m sure Ben will be calling you too. Hell, he can even pass the phone to one of them. Stan’s the only one who had his phone on him, but it died when he called me. But I guarantee, within an hour or so, you’ll be seeing them both. I can promise you that. I would never lie to you about something like this.”

Richie nodded. “An hour. Okay, I can at least try to handle that. Think I’ll need some time to fuck off by myself first to absorb it.”

Yet another nod he could feel rather than see. “Okay, take all the time you need. I should probably call the others now.” With that and a simple goodbye, Mike hung up, and he was left by himself, not knowing if it would be appropriate to cry. Apparently, his body didn’t care about that, and he felt tears fall anyways. What a jackass he was. He could feel his nails digging into his palms, though he was a little surprised at seeing blood.

For the third goddam time in less than thirty minutes, he was pulled back to his memories of the past.

He and Eddie were having a solo sleepover, a rare thing for them. Eddie had lied to his mother that he was staying at Bill’s place, and had managed to convince her. “You’re a master of manipulation!” Richie had crowed. “Don’t get fooled by the doe eyes and the fanny pack, little Eds can fuck your shit up!” He continued to laugh, draping an arm across the other’s shoulders and cocking his hip. “You’re one of Charlie’s angels!” He was such a dick. Don’t know how to deal with a crush? Lightly bully him. That’ll do it. Maybe he should write a book. Trashmouth Tozier’s Guide on How to Get a Man.

Eddie snorted, pushing him away; Richie liked when he snorted. “Beep beep, bitch.” He muttered. “You owe me for this.”

“Hm, what shall I do to repay dear Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie wondered aloud, tapping a finger to his lips exaggeratedly. “A soda? A sandwich? A whole four course meal?” He backed up to his dresser, opening the drawer with his back turned and pulling out a vhs. “How about… Silence of the Lambs!” He gasped the video tape in both hands, shaking it back and forth with a flourish in front of Eddie’s face.

The other boy looked at the movie, then at Richie, then to the movie again, face screwed up in confusion. “A horror movie? Is that really the best idea?”

Richie rolled his eyes. “It’s not about clowns or anything. It’ll be fine, don’t worry. I don’t even think that there’s even anything supernatural in it, anyways.” He winked with a grin. “Besides, if you get scared - “

Eddie cut him off with a groan. “Fine, whatever. But if you get nightmares, don’t blame me.” Richie rolled his eyes, and ripped open the plastic covering.

The movie was fine, he supposed. Richie guessed that the acting was pretty good, and he figured he was interested enough in the plot. The only thing was that he wasn’t scared. It sounded bad, but he guessed after the clusterfuck of last summer, a cannibal wasn’t really all that scary. Though, at least the thing was actually good at setting the scene. Glancing over at the other, he could guess that he was feeling the same way. Richie’d be willing to bet five months worth of allowance that none of the others would be scared either. An unanticipated consequence of killing a sewer rat clown, he supposed. It wasn’t even a cool monster like a werewolf. Just a shitty, asshole clown living in piss and shit.

“... how much do you remember what happened?” Eddie asked after a while.

That was unexpected. Richie blinked owlishly from behind his glasses, before adjusting them. “You mean, last summer? Or the last time I screwed your mom? Because I can remember every de - “

Once again, he was cut off; rude. Eddie was glaring at him. “Last summer, dumbass.” He turned his gaze to his lap, fidgeting with his fingers with an expression like he looked about to puke. “I don’t know if it’s better or worse that I can’t remember that much about it.” He murmured.

Richie swallowed. “Y’know, I can’t remember a lot either. Other than you slapping the shit out of that fucking clown.”

Eddie smiled, different than normal. “You were the one that beat it with a baseball bat.” He added. “I still can’t believe that even happened. You have skinny twig arms; I didn’t even know you could lift that.”

He gasped in mock offense. “All I do is treat you kindly and lovingly and this is what that gets? I’m hurt, Eds!”

The shorter boy punched him in the arm. “First off, you don’t treat me like that. I don’t think you treat anyone like that; or anything, for that matter. Second off, I’ve both got a name and an acceptable nickname, and ‘Eds’ is neither. So don’t call me that.” Eddie crossed his arms, though he was smiling at him.

Richie moaned dramatically, flopping over so his torso was on Eddie’s lap. “So cruel!”

When he didn’t get a reply, he opened one eye to look up at his friend. Eddie was looking down at him with an amused smile, rolling his eyes when he noticed Richie looking. Richie reached up with a hand to poke at his nose. “What did you do that for?” Eddie muttered, raising his eyebrow at his friend and ruffling his hair like he was petting a particularly shaggy dog.

“I did it because I wanted to.” Richie said simply, swallowing somewhat nervously.

A knock came at the door, and Richie quickly turned off the television. “Rich, you and Eddie have got to get to bed! Dealing with one tired teenager is hard enough, and I’m not dealing with two.” His mother, Maggie, entered the room and smiled at them, having already changed into pajamas. “Goodnight. Do you need anything, Eddie? We’ve got water, some melatonin, milk, and you know we’ve got a telephone.” She was tied for best mom ever with Mike’s ma.

The other Loser smiled. “No thank you. And thanks again for having me over, Mrs. Tozier. Goodnight!”

Richie saluted his mom. “‘Night, Madre.” He whisper-yelled dramatically. When the door was closed and her footsteps faded, he nudged Eddie in the side. “Why do you always do that, Eddie?” He asked, tilting his head a bit.

“Do what?”

Richie shrugged. “Y’know. You always act weird around adults. Both parents and randomly. You act differently than you normally act with us and with other kids. It’s not really bad, I guess, just kinda weird.”

His lips pursed. “You know how my mom is. I have to act like that.”

Richie sighed, long and drawn out. “You really don’t. If you’re worried about getting in trouble, don’t be. They raised me, you know. And if you’re worried about them not liking you, then that’s bullshit too, because my mom thinks you’re an angel and my dad is convinced that you’re the best thing since sliced bread. They love you, Eds.” We love you, Eds. Nope, no, ignoring that, thank you very much Mr. Richie’s Brain.

He could see his friend’s fists clench. “Thanks, but you really don’t understand, Richie. I think that Beverley might, but I don’t know about the rest of you guys.”

He frowned at that. “... you don’t deserve that, you know.”

Eddie smiled again, though it was weaker than normal. “I know. Thanks, Richie.” After that, they had talked about nonsense for a little while before actually doing what Maggie had told them to do when she had come in. Richie had stared up at the ceiling for about an hour after that, listening to his friend breathing quietly, and had thought that he’d do his best to get them out of here. All seven of them. He didn’t know how. He didn’t know when. But what Richie did know was that sooner or later, Derry was going to kill them all. Not Pennywise. The town of Derry, Maine.

At the hotel room, his phone started to ring again. He picked it up, seeing it was Ben calling. “What’s going on, Benny boy?”

“I’ve got them - both of them. Also, I’m like 90% sure Georgie’s there too. Bill’s having a panic attack in his room.” Ben greeted him. “Mike’s with him, though, so don’t worry. The only thing is that Eddie saw something crazy when he was out.”

Chapter Text

Ben had ran to them as soon as he got there, almost tripping on the path before almost pushing Stan and Eddie to the ground. He laughed in disbelief, squeezing them both. He may have lost weight and gotten older, but he was still Ben. Still the new kid that they had met that summer, that they had all learned to love in their own ways. The poet of the whole group.

Stan stepped back first, grinning as he looked Ben up and down. “You look good! How are you?” He seemed just as happy to see him.

Eddie laughed a little, nudging Stan. “That’s the first thing you say? You didn’t tell me that I looked good! Besides, you should see everyone else. Bev’s a fashion designer, you know. So many celebrities in our little group.” Seriously though, it was kind of crazy. A comedian, a decently famous architect, a bestselling author, and a designer with her own fashion line. What were the odds?

“I’m fine, Stan.” He replied with a big grin on his face. “But I’m more interested in hearing how the two of you are! I’m so happy to see you both alive. I never thought I’d see either of you until I was old and gray!” Another hug, then, with more squeezing, and Eddie felt Ben breathe in slowly, as if he was trying to savor the moment. Even if it wasn’t romantic, Ben always had to make the situation poetic. He rolled his eyes fondly, giving the other a small squeeze back. After all, no one had ever quite been able to resist a hug from Ben Hanscom.

Poor Stan didn’t really look like he knew what to do, but he still hugged him back. “Is everyone okay?” He looked both worried and guilty; as if anything that had happened would have been his fault.

He nodded. “They were when I last saw them.” Eddie said, thinking back.

At that, Ben winced, seemingly not wanting to address it. “Mike said that there were other people here - other victims. Is that true, guys?” He looked around, as if trying to see if there were any children running around. As if they’d just leave them unattended.

Stan smiled, nodding, before starting to explain. “Well, yeah, there were like fifteen kids here with us. Thankfully, a guy who recently got killed by Pennywise was an adult, and he was good with kids, too. He called his partner to pick them up in small groups and take them to the hospital to safety. Now it’s just Eddie and I here.” He said. “Besides, we didn’t really know how to handle them all, anyways. That’s like a whole class size.”

Eddie nodded along in agreement. “Yeah. None of the kids seemed to be hurt, though.”

“That’s good, at least.” Ben said, almost to himself. “Guys, I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am that you two are alright. This is fantastic! Everyone in the lucky seven can be together again.” He looked like he wanted to hug them again, but restrained himself, clasping them both on the arms instead with a big smile. Same as ever. It was so relieving that even if they’d all changed, there were still remnants and reminders of everyone’s younger selves.

Stan traced the raised scar on his palm. “The Losers Club are all here.” He said quietly. “Can we get back now? I want to see everyone.”

He smiled, looking at his own scar. “I can’t wait to see everyone again. They’re all wonderful, just like they used to be.” Eddie explained. “It feels like we’re all teenagers again. It’s crazy.” He remembered when he was headed to Derry, he’d been worried about if everyone would be different. As usual, it seemed like he was worried about nothing.

Ben looked between them, nodding. “Yeah, of course! Everyone’s great - all of them. I can see them as they were back in ‘89 when I look at them. Come on, let’s go in the car, then. I’ll have to call Mike anyways, let him know.” He lead the way, though he still occasionally glanced back to check on them, as if they might disappear. Honestly, Eddie didn’t really blame him, when he thought about it. He still wasn’t entirely sure if this was real or not. If this wasn’t just a cruel dream he was having before he died. Like how people say your life flashes in front of your eyes when you die, only this sounded worse. This would be something out of a horror movie.

As they piled into the car and started to drive, Stan began to charge his phone so he could call his wife, with Ben going to call Mike. Eddie leaned against the window, looking out at the ruins of Derry.

While he watched, he couldn’t help but remember. Specifically, he couldn’t help but remember when he first noticed that something wasn’t right with him. Though at first he thought it was just a part of his sickness, as time went on he started to understand more. He had always been raised to believe he was delicate, and though he had been starting to realize that he wasn’t, he still kept feeling like something about him was wrong. It was something defective and broken inside of him. His mother seemed to know something was off too, and though it didn’t make him sympathetic, he could understand that she knew it. He wondered if it had been present since birth, or if he’d somehow caught it, like an infection or a disease,

He didn’t know what it was for a long while. Probably too long.

Eddie had always admire Bill. When he came to realize that the other was more like a brother to him, a part of him felt relieved. That was good. Still, he didn’t really know what he had been relieved for in the first place. Bill was his friend, after all.

When they were thirteen, he finally figured it out. Not during the summer, thank God, but before that. Before Georgie went missing. Before their childhoods were ripped away from them. He remembered that they were watching movies - Star Wars, of all things. How weird was that? Star Wars of all things made him realize that he was gay. Well, not really, but he realized it while watching it, at least. It sounded like some kind of a lead up to a joke, which was one of the several reasons he didn’t tell Richie.

They were watching all together, squished on the couch with Georgie at their feet sitting on a pillow.

It was a delightful mixture of comfort and discomfort, with Eddie sandwiched between Richie and Stan. They were watching Luke rescue Leia now, and since Georgie had never seen the movies before, they were being quieter than they normally were, just watching the movie and listening to Mark Hamil talk. And, as with all things, it started going wrong when Richie spoke up.

“I wouldn’t mind Leia wearing that for the rest of the series.” He said, throwing popcorn in his mouth. He was savoring it, having just gotten his braces off two weeks ago.

Bill shoved him from where he sat next to Stan. “Sh-sh-She’s not w-wearing it will-willingly, jackass.” He muttered. “J-Jabba’s got her cap-captive. W-watch the damn movie, R-Richie.” It was well known that Leia was his favorite, so he was getting a little defensive. He didn’t have a crush on her or anything, he just thought that she was super cool.

Stan smirked, throwing a kernel at Richie. “Yeah, dumbass. Besides, you’re delusional if you think Leia Organa - or any girl, for that matter - would wear that shit for you. You look like a drowned rat.” He cackled in the way teenage boys would do if they thought they had made a particularly clever comment, and really had not. Eddie was very used to this, of course.

Eddie and Georgie made eye contact, rolling their eyes with smiles, before Richie gasped dramatically. “How dare you? And to think, two of my best friends, my men, would say that about poor me! It’s cruel, and honestly abusive.” Richie was speaking in an accent that was probably supposed to be Australian, for some reason. “I guess I’ll just have to depend on my dearest mates, Eddie Spaghetti and Georgie Porgie!” He put a defensive arm around Eddie, the other hand resting in Georgie’s hair as he whined about being too old to be called Georgie Porgie. He got up off of his pillow and threw it playfully.

On the other hand, Eddie froze.

He still isn’t quite sure why it had hit him at that particular moment. Maybe it was because he was already pressed into Richie. Maybe because it seemed like the other had showered before he arrived, and he could smell the shampoo. And maybe it was just random. It wasn’t like Eddie was ever able to pin it down, or that it would even help him.

All that really mattered, anyways, was that Eddie felt uncomfortably warm. He ducked out from under Richie’s arm. “I won’t defend you if you act like that.” He said weakly.

As the others descended into more dramatics, Eddie remained quiet. What on earth was that? Why was he acting like that with Trashmouth Tozier? It didn’t make any sense to him at all. Maybe he just felt like Richie was too far in his personal space? But that didn’t make much sense either. As long as it wasn’t overbearing or his mother (or, more frequently, both), Eddie had never minded affection.

So why did he react like that? Like it was something wrong?

Eddie remained confused for the rest of the night, and stayed that way until a week or so later. They were all admiring Stan’s birthday present of a copy of Legend of Zelda. His parents usually got him books or clothes, so this was a very special occasion.

It was his turn playing, and though Eddie hardly knew anything about what to do in this particular game - he was more of a Pac-Man fan -, he was managing to do pretty good for himself. He grinned to himself, his three friends cheering behind him, before he beat the level, their cheering becoming excited screaming. Eddie remembered when they would make fun of girls for screaming with their friends, and yet, there they were.

He was suddenly hugged by three sets of arms, and laughed, trying to squeeze them all back, but his arms couldn’t reach.

“Fuck yeah, Eddo my boy!” Richie crowed, pumping his fists in the air. “Hell fucking yes! That’s my man - this is my man!”

Bill giggled a little. “Richie, you’re acting like you’re the one who won.”

Richie stuck out his tongue at Bill, flipping him off as well in case the first gesture wasn’t enough. “I’m not allowed to support my friend? For shame, Big Bill, for shame.”

He felt like he was surrounded on all sides, but in a good way; not like when he was surrounded by Bowers’ gang at all. Eddie felt happy - he’d managed to beat the level, and when Bill tried before him, he couldn’t. For once, he was actually better than Bill at something, even if it was just out of sheer luck. He loved Bill, of course he did, but he had to admit that he was sometimes a little jealous of the other boy. Who wouldn’t be?

Stan was saying something, but Eddie couldn’t hear them. Richie was still hugging him, though he let go quickly as if he had been thinking the same thing.

Eddie remembered being happy.

Unexpectedly, his reminiscing changed. He was surrounded by gray, and was reminded of before he woke up. His heart pounded, thinking that he would be somehow taken away, that he would be dead again. Eddie looked around, seeing if he could make out anything. “Hello? Voice thing?” He called; though it was condescending, hopefully it would at least listen to him. He needed to go back, he needed to. And even if the voice said no, he could at least convince it to try and make sure Stan and Georgie and the kids were able to stay alive. Bill couldn’t handle losing Georgie again, and he didn’t want to hurt Patty.

‘Be quiet.’ Though he could hear it, he somehow knew that the voice wasn’t talking to him aloud. ‘It will hear you.’

“Stupid turtle, I am the destroyer of worlds! I killed those kiddies fair and square!” The voice was different, but it still sent shivers down Eddie’s spine. He felt the urge to scream at It, to kill It, to make It pay. But he felt like his mouth was full of cotton candy, and he couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe, remembering the piercing feeling in his chest after he saved Richie from the dead lights, how it had felt like it was burning. At the same time, he was hit by an older memory, of falling through the floor of the Neibolt house and breaking his arm. That had burned too, so much that he thought it was coals he had fallen on.

The other voice came back. “I do not control the dice, my sibling. I simply roll them.” The words sounded like the voice was exasperated.

What? Dice? What was going on? And he still couldn’t see a single thing. ‘I’m sorry that you have to hear this. You may leave soon enough.’ Ugh, that thing in his mind was giving him a headache. He just wanted to get out of here, to be back in the car with Stan and Ben, or be back remembering.

A crazed laugh. “Don’t control them? You created this world! You’re obsessed with it, it and your silly little pets you call beings! It’s your job to create, and I have to destroy. That stupid setback won’t stop me for long. I can wait a century, a millennia. Rot will always come! You can’t protect it for long; and those stupid chess pieces? They’ll die, and they’ll die, and they’ll die! Even if I’m not the one to do it! Humans die all the time, a blink and they’re gone! They’re not like us.”

Eddie could feel the vague annoyance from the voice. “You’re being unreasonable. You do this each time, sibling of mine.”

This was crazy; he couldn’t deal with this. Any of this. He just wanted to see his friends. Could he leave yet? It wasn’t like he could leave himself. Somehow, someone was making him stay. And he wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t being allowed to.

Pennywise’s voice sounded like static. “And you always reverse my destruction! You’re the only reason anyone even leaves that town. If you weren’t always meddling, I would have done my job and you would have a blank slate long ago! Because of you, I could be stuck in here for so long that when I get back there won’t be any life left! All you want to do is play in the little sandbox of your own making.”

Before anything else could be said, Eddie was shaken awake. “What? What’s going on?”

Stan laughed at him, though it wasn’t unkind. “You fell asleep, and started twitching. Ben was worried, so I decided to wake you up.” It looked like they were nearing the hospital now, and he could truly see the extent of the damage of Derry. “I don’t blame you for sleeping. After seeing everyone, that’s my number one priority.”

Ben looked at him through the mirror, concerned. “Are you okay?”

Eddie smiled weakly at him. “I’m fine. Just had a weird dream, that’s all. I can’t really remember it now. Guess I was more tired than I realized I was.” He looked to Stan, and his phone in his lap. “How’s Patty? Is she dealing with it okay?”

“She’s canceling the funeral.” His friend replied. “We don’t really know how she’s going to handle that, but I’m sure she’ll find a way. Patty can do anything if she puts her mind to it. If I told her about It, I’m positive that she’d have come too. And she’d have beat It, too.” He smiled at the thought. “Patty’d sock that bastard in the jaw as soon as she’d see It.” The way he spoke sounded like it wasn’t even a question, and Eddie could see how the Stan he’d known would fall for someone like that.

Ben chuckled. “I’m sure she would, Stan. She sounds wonderful.”

They pulled up to the hospital, and found Adrian, Don, and the kids, seemingly speaking to the police. Thankfully, they weren’t Derry police, so hopefully these guys would actually do something. Eddie and Stan started to head over to see if they were needed, but Adrian gestured in a way to show that they were fine as is. Several of the kids looked confused, and Don squatted besides Georgie, pointing him to the losers.

The little boy ran over to them. “Hello! Don said I needed to see you guys.” Georgie looked at Ben curiously. “What’s your name? Mine is George, but everyone calls me Georgie.”

The man didn’t look confused, so he probably had had things explained to him in the car. “It’s nice to meet you, Georgie! I’m Ben, I’m one of your brother’s friends.” Ben seemed delighted, and it made sense. He’d always seemed like the type who would like kids. Honestly, the only thing that had surprised Eddie about Ben as an adult was that he hadn’t had any children.

“How are you, Georgie?” Eddie asked.

He shrugged at the question. “I’m fine. I heard a lot of weird stuff, but it’s okay. Don and Adrian are really nice!”

Stan smiled with a nod. “That’s nice. Listen, we’re going to see your brother, but he’s going to look a bit different. He’s still Bill, but he’s just a little older. I’m his friend, remember? So is Eddie, and you’ll be seeing Richie too. We’re the same, just older. It might seem weird, but we still are the same people. I promise, okay?”

Eddie was concerned about how Georgie would react, and while he still looked confused, he slowly started nodding. “Okay. I mean, I guess? You talk like Stan, and you look like him, too.”

They all seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. “Let’s go inside, then!” Ben took Georgie’s hand.

As they entered the hospital, Eddie was surprised at just how many people were there. None seemed like emergencies, but there were a lot of people from Derry crowded into one small space. The staff all looked tired, and he couldn’t blame them. They didn’t know anything about what was going on. He vaguely wondered if they were still under It’s influence… or if they ever had been. The receptionist looked up at them over her glasses, looking as though she expected them to yell at her. “Yes, sirs?” She said in a tired voice.

“Excuse me, do you know where Mike Hanlon is staying?” Eddie asked, being sure to be polite.

Stan nodded along. “Yeah, we called ahead.” He glanced around. “We know you’re busy, but we’d really appreciate it if we got to see them relatively soon. There are some of our other friends in the room right now.”

Georgie stood on his toes, resting his chin on the counter and smiling up at her. “Hello! Please and thank you, ma’am!” He said, as though that would help.

Luckily, perhaps the Georgie thing actually did help, because the receptionist smiled at him softly. She glanced back up at the other two, before looking at her computer. “It does look like he was expecting visitors.” She said, almost to herself. “Could I see your ids, please? And do you mind if I call up to the room?” The woman asked, pushing her glasses up by the bridge.

Both Eddie and Stan managed to have their wallets, and all three men showed their licenses. “Calling up is fine. Thank you, Miss.” Ben replied with an easy smile.

She squinted at them, before picking up the phone and dialing. “Hello? May I speak to Mr. Mike Hanlon? There are visitors here who say they want to see him.” Eddie tapped his fingers on the desk, trying not to get too impatient. “Three men and one boy, yes. Alright sir, I’ll send them up.” The receptionist set down the phone. “Take the elevator up to floor two, he’s in room 223.” She smiled at Georgie, reaching behind her desk and giving him a mint.

Georgie smiled, and all four thanked her before heading to the elevator, the little boy reaching behind to wave at her. Ben pressed the button, and after a short wait, they stepped in, preparing to head up. Georgie unwrapped his mint and popped it into his mouth. “It’s easy to get people to give you candy at hospitals and stores.” He said, an air of young child wisdom around him as he smiled with satisfaction. Eddie snorted, and Stan and Ben made amused eye contact.

Finally, there they were. He started to feel nervous, though logically he knew that it didn’t make any sense to worry. These were his best friends, after all.

Stan seemingly knew what Eddie was thinking, and smiled at him, clasping his arm affectionately. As Ben was the only one who had visited Mike before, he lead the way. “They’re going to be so excited to see you. Be prepared, okay? I may or may not cry.”

They stood before the door, and Georgie squeezed Eddie’s hand. Even though the boy likely had no idea what was going on, it still felt comforting. Eddie smiled down at him, squeezing back, before taking a deep breath. Ben opened the door, and he barely had time to see who was inside when they were hugged by four people at once. He could feel Georgie squirming, but he laughed, trying to hug everyone at the same time. Everyone started talking over each other, and as the only woman, Bev’s voice was the only one that Eddie could distinguish, though he still couldn’t understand what she was saying. He could still feel the affection behind everyone’s tones.

And, though Eddie was not in New York, he was home. He was, for the first time in twenty seven years, at home.

Chapter Text

Richie was pretty sure that he broke at least three traffic laws trying to get to the hospital. The only reason he slowed down was because there were kids nearby, for some reason. These two guys were unloading an army of children from their car, or at least that was what it looked like. Richie wondered idly what one would have to do to acquire so many damn kids as he parked, before basically sprinting into the hospital where Mike said they’d all meet up. He stopped at the front desk, panting and probably scaring the life out of the lady working there.

“Sir? Sir, there’s no need to run - sir, are you okay?” She tried to say, most likely thinking he was a druggie.

Oh, well. She lived in fucking Derry, she’d probably seen weirder shit. He caught his breath. “Mike Hanlon.” Richie managed to say. “I’m here to meet Mike Hanlon, and probably a whole bunch of others. It’s not really an emergency, but still.”

The receptionist still looked scared, turning to her computer. “Uh, could I please see an id, sir?”

He pulled out his wallet, throwing his driver’s license on the desk. “There you go. Richie Tozier, Trashmouth Supreme - got a deal with Netflix coming up. Or, at least, I should. Look, I don’t want to rush you or anything. I don’t know how the fuck working at a hospital is, but I do know some things about retail. I know you’re not in charge of the shit everyone blames you for. But just get me in that room as soon as you can, and I’ll give you a tip. Hospitals don’t have tips, but fuck it, you’ll get one. God.” Richie ran his hands through his hair, which also messed up his glasses, because everything had to be a predicament.

She blinked at him, before moving to slowly dial the phone. Once it was answered, Richie wondered vaguely if she was calling security. “Mr. Hanlon? There’s a man to see you. Last name Tozier.” The lady listened, before nodding. “Alright.”

As she put the phone down, he tapped his foot. He wasn’t necessarily impatient, but he just needed to release the energy. If it didn’t have an outlet, then it would bubble up until it came to a boil. And Richie knew this well. He was the reason his first comedy troupe in LA were banned from the local Denny’s. “Am I allowed to go up there?”

The receptionist swallowed. “Yes, you are. It’s floor two, room 223. The elevator’s over there.”

Richie simultaneously felt bad for apparently traumatizing her and was grateful that he could finally get up there. “Thanks!” He called behind him as he rushed to the elevator, pressing the button. When it opened, he dodged the several people coming out and glaring at him, and pressed the button with the blue number two on it. Thankfully, it seemed like he was the only one who was on this trip. When it dinged, he dodged the people going down, looking for 223. 220, 221, 222… there! He wasn’t running that time around, so he didn’t need to catch his breath this time. He opened the door. “Mikey Man, Big Bill, Queen Bev, I’m here!”

Beverly chuckled a little, getting up from where she was sitting on the armchair. “You okay? It looks like you ran all the way here.”

“That poor woman sounded horrified on the phone. What did you do to her?” Mike asked, looking somehow both amused and mortified. Wow, that was rude; he just wanted to see them.

Nearby, Bill looked at him questioningly, as if asking if he was okay. Richie gave a small nod before speaking. “I don’t know why you guys always assume that it’s me that made her like that. There are a lot of people piling into the hospital, you know. Maybe she’s just stressed in general.”

Bev rolled her eyes with a fondness. “We were just embarrassing Bill.” She said simply, nudging her friend while grinning. “There are so many things to choose from, after all. I mean, we all at least know of one of his books. And guess what? Sounds like he’s working on another! And about what else than our own experiences! He’s going to put a copyright on our lives! I for one want to be played by Amy Adams when it’s inevitably made into a movie.”

Though it was all in good fun, Bill put his head in his hands, flustered. Mike laughed, putting a hand on his back.

He was honestly surprised Bill actually wanted to do that. He thought they’d leave this behind them. “Make sure that everyone knows how awesome and ruggedly handsome I always was.”

Bill raised his head with a groan. “It’s not like anyone’s going to know it’s real. For all they know, I just had a crazy dream one night.”

Mike smiled, putting an arm over Bill’s shoulders comfortably. “That, or that you were on a lot of drugs.” They laughed together, and Richie looked at Bev with a question. She caught his eyes and smiled, shrugging, as if saying that she didn’t know but didn’t care so long as they were happy. Richie supposed he could relate to that.

Still, it wasn’t like him to keep his mouth shut. “What’s going on there?”

“What?” Bill asked, looking genuinely confused for a moment before seemingly coming to a realization. “Oh. Don’t worry about Audra. We have a - they call it poly, I think? Anyways, I love her, she’s my wife, but we have an agreement that with permission, we can have other relationships. She can’t really give permission right now, but I’m sure that she will. I mean, she has a girlfriend; her name’s Natalie, she’s a great woman.”

As if sensing their confusion, Mike expanded on that. “Some people don’t understand that you can love more than one person equally at the same time.”

Beverly nodded. “I can’t say I can imagine myself doing that, but so long as you’re happy and no one’s upset about it, I’m happy for you two.” She smiled, almost to herself. “Plus, I can say that I called it twenty seven years ago.”

He gasped over-dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest. “What?!? Before me?!?” Richie then thought that he probably had to say something that wasn’t just a joke, because leaving it at that when these two said something serious after all that they’ve been through was kind of a dick move. “Seriously, you two’ll be good for each other. You can be nerds together.”

Before Bill could retort, Mike’s phone started to ring. “That’s probably Ben. I’ll put it on speaker.”

Sure enough, Ben’s tinny voice came through. “Hey everyone! I’ve got Eddie and Stan in the backseat right now. There was another adult in there who called someone to help him pick up all of the kids - there were around fifteen, apparently. How are you guys? You should talk quietly, though; Stan’s calling his wife, and I’m pretty sure that Eddie fell asleep as soon as we got in here.”

Richie couldn’t help but smile at that as Beverly replied. “We’re doing good up here.”

Bill spoke next, brow furrowed. “How are the kids? Do Stan and Eddie have any injuries? Do we need to get them rooms too?”

“The kids are fine, and that’s probably one of the best scenarios. I’m pretty sure they’d both freak out if they had to deal with even one injured kid on their own.” Ben said, and Richie could hear the smile in his voice. “Neither of them are injured, so I’d say that they don’t need rooms. They just seem tired.”

“Pretty sure we’re all tired.” Richie muttered, but he couldn’t hide his own smile, or the fact that there were tears in his eyes.

Mike scribbled something down on a piece of paper. “I’ll let the secretary know that you guys are coming, then.”

Beverly put a hand on Bill’s arm. “You sure you’ll be alright?” She asked, her voice quiet. “This is going to be hard for all of us, but if you need some time to try and get - “

Bill smiled at her weakly. “I’m fine. Ben, how long do you think it’ll be before you get here with them?”

The loser sounded like he was trying to make as accurate an estimate as he could. “Maybe… ten minutes, give or take? I don’t know how long it’ll be before we’re let up, though. There must be a lot of people at the hospital, judging by all this rubble. The pharmacy’s decimated.”

Richie laughed a little under his breath. “Good - Greta and her dad were fucking assholes.” Bev shoved him, but he knew she agreed.

“Anything else we should know?” Bill asked.

He could imagine Ben trying to shrug while driving and holding a phone. “Not really, no. See you there, okay?” With that, Ben hung up, and Mike picked up the hospital room phone to let the poor secretary know that yet more weirdos were coming her way. Richie wondered how she’d react to this colorful bunch, especially if the kids came inside too.

Beverly smiled, crossing her arms. “It’s going to get pretty crowded, soon.”

Mike hung up the phone. “And I for one look forward to it. The seven of us back together, and this time, no Pennywise.”

“Having no more bitchass clown around is definitely a plus.” Richie said, sitting down on the bed. “I still can’t believe you ripped the bastard’s heart out, Mike. Not that I didn’t know you could do it, but I didn’t expect that you would actually do it.”

Bill smiled a little, remembering it. “Yeah, that was pretty badass, Mike. You all were pretty badass.”

Bev smirked, nodding. “I can’t believe after all this time, all we had to do was bully the bastard to death. If you told me that when I was thirteen, then I wouldn’t have hesitated.” There was a pause when it sunk in before they all started laughing. She was right; they did bully the damn thing to death. Man, everything that ever happened to them had to be absolutely insane.

Mike rolled his eyes affectionately, seemingly embarrassed by the praise. “It does seem kind of silly, now that I think about it. Might want to change that part, Bill.”

Richie punched Bill in the arm lightly. “I have a whole list of things you should change. Number one priority is making me the main character - I want it all from my point of view. Seriously, I can make a goddamn power point about all the things that need to be changed for this book.”

“It’s his book, Rich.” Beverly said. “All I request is that he make sure to change us up a little. People are going to think you’re weird enough if the main character is basically you. How much weirder will it be if it’s obvious that the other characters are basically all your friends? Plus, changing it up will help it seem a bit less personal; after all, It’s whole thing was our biggest fears.” Richie could already name one of his fears he wanted omitted.

Bill looked slightly offended. “Of course I’ll change it! Leaving it exactly the same would be weird.”

Mike chuckled, shaking his head. “We’re just teasing you. I’m sure whatever you write will be great; and we’ll help you fix up those endings, too.”

The phone began to ring, and Bev picked it up. “Hello? This is Mike Hanlon’s room.” She waited for a moment. “Yeah, he’s right here.” She passed the phone on to Mike as Richie quietly made fun of her for picking up the phone when they all knew it was going to be for Mike.

His friend didn’t wait to start talking. “I’m expecting visitors - three men and possibly a boy.” A pause. “Yeah, send them up, then. Thanks.” Mike set it down and gave a smile. “They’re coming.”

Richie needed to say something sarcastic to stop from doing something stupid. “Wow, really? I have to say, I had no idea what that phone call was for at all.”

He was pretty sure that he was beeped, but he was too busy thinking about what had happened. How Eddie had died. They had been alone together, with everyone else going off to kill the fucking clown. It was after Eddie made his stupid mom joke, one so similar to the ones that Richie was constantly spouting out.

There was a lot of blood, but at this point, Richie was still convinced Eddie would make it out alive. He had to. He couldn’t imagine a world without Eds. He said so aloud, then, sometimes not being able to keep his thoughts inside of his head where they belonged. Eddie groaned, shaking his head; though, it looked like even doing that hurt.

“Don’t… call me Eds.” He rasped. “Not my name.”

Richie smiled a little, trying not to cry. “I can’t help it, you know that. Can’t help calling you Eds.”

Eddie smiled back at him, letting out a breath which let out more blood. “Richie… you know… I…” His pupils grew larger, and he stilled, leaning his head onto his shoulder.

He took in a breath, and nodded. “Okay. It’s okay. You can rest here; you need it. I’m going to go deal with that bastard, alright? Then we’ll get you to the hospital. I’ll be back, I promise. Here, you can keep my jacket and everything.” With that, Richie swallowed, adjusted Eddie so he was more comfortable, and headed out. He had known somewhere that Eddie was dead, but… he ignored it. He ignored it until Bev forced him to acknowledge it.

And now… now Eddie was back. He was back with them. Him and Stan, too. And maybe even Georgie.

He heard the door open, saw Eddie and Stan, and while as an adult he wasn’t often too affectionate, he ran to them both. Richie hardly noticed that Georgie was there, too, more focused on taking in the fact that his friends were there with him.

While Stan seemed surprised, Eddie immediately held onto him, letting loose a breathless laugh, and Richie felt a surge of something that he couldn’t ignore or push aside anymore, something that he knew well enough.

Richie was thrown back to a time when he was a teenager, when he was squatting near the kissing bridge with a pocket knife and carving in two letters that he was so familiar with. His heart had been pounding then; he hadn’t been able to express any of this before. He swallowed, looking from left to right, carving in the letters. Richie made them big, making it noticeable in the way that he and Eddie could never be noticeable, even if things worked out between them. He hadn’t ever been scared that Eddie didn’t like guys; he’d only ever been scared about it being him. Trashmouth.

Now, without Pennywise, he found that he wasn’t scared anymore.

Richie Tozier broke away, smiling at Eddie. The others were talking, and the other man wasn’t looking at him, but then Eddie seemed to notice him looking, and smiled back at him. Once they were making eye contact, he leaned forward and kissed him.

Around them, the talking stopped, and then exploded into excited chatter.

Chapter Text

When he was younger and heading to their clubhouse, Eddie noticed a carving on the kissing bridge. He didn’t know how he noticed it, but it somehow caught his eye, and he stopped, carefully setting his bike down and heading over. He knelt down beside it, feeling a swell of triumph in thinking how horrified hi mother would be about him having dirty knees. He rubbed them in a little, kind of hoping to get a tiny scrape. That would freak her out.

Then, he focused on the carving. R + E.

He didn’t know who it was for. Derry was a small town, but it wasn’t that small. Unless it was a Y, he couldn’t tell who they were based solely on the initials. Still, he had a small, impossible hope.

Eddie traced his finger over the letters, idly hoping a splinter would lodge itself in the tip. R + E. Probably a man and a woman. Rachel and Evan. Roy and Eleanor. But he couldn’t help himself from thinking about it. These days, he thought about it too often for his liking. It was so annoying; a thought had just decided one day that it was just going to live in his brain now, and it was true to its word.

His face shifted into a grimace, and he got back on his bike, starting to ride like Bowers was after him.

He was being stupid. So stupid. Why was he doing this? He knew nothing like this would ever happen, even if Richie…no. Eddie was being ridiculous. He gripped his handlebars tighter.

Even when he was younger, he knew nothing would ever happen. Nothing would ever come of this stupid… crush, thing. Sure, by the time they all met again, marriage between two men and two women was legal. But, as much as he disliked Myra, he was married to her. A woman. Even if he hadn’t been, nothing ever would have come of it. He only even thought about telling Richie when he was dying, but he hesitated too long and ended up in the black space. After that, he thought it was over with. Even when he threw his wedding ring in the water.

So, why was he being kissed right now?

He had just walked in to the hospital room, and this certainly hadn’t been what he was expecting. The others were talking, but he couldn’t make anything out. It only lasted a few seconds before Richie pulled back.

“Sorry about that.” He said, seeming genuinely sorry. “I just needed to do that; I didn’t get a chance to before… you know. But it doesn’t really have to mean anything, it’s silly anyways. Don’t worry about doing anything in - “ Richie was cut off by Eddie initiating another, longer kiss.

When they both pulled back, they couldn’t exactly talk about it, as everyone was talking at once.

Bev was making a triumphant face at Bill. “I told you that summer, and did you listen? No. Did it happen? Yes! I believe you owe me a pizza now.” Bill facepalmed.

Mike chuckled, shaking his head. “To be fair, it did take 27 years. I don’t know if that kind of a deal really holds up. If it had been during the summer, though…”

Ben smiled. “Guys, I don’t think that now is really the time to be talking about bets. Maybe we should do the normal thing and congratulate them? Just a thought.” He winked at Richie and Eddie.

Georgie looked between them both, looking a little confused, before smiling and nodding. “That makes sense. You guys seem like you like each other a lot.” Though he was sure that the little boy still had no idea what was happening, it was still nice to get his seal of approval, despite the fact that they didn’t need it.

Stan rolled his eyes affectionately. “I’ve known this since we were eleven.”

Eddie snorted, pursing his lips. “Glad to see that everyone has opinions on our lives.” He said in a deadpan tone.

He was shoved by Richie. “To be fair, you know that we’d do the same if we were in their place. That’s just how being in the Losers Club works.” The other Loser was smiling in disbelief, and hadn’t taken his eyes off of Eddie, which made him feel both happy and embarrassed at the same time. It was a weird feeling, but one that he could get used to.

Bill pulled Georgie close to him, and the little boy went to him willingly. They were all together.

Not just the Losers’ club. There were the kids, some of which would get to go with their families and the rest who would go into foster care. Not that Eddie had to worry about Georgie would live. Then Adrian was back with his partner. There was no Pennywise, and from the sound of things, there wouldn’t be one for a long, long time.

Hopefully, when the bitch came back, It’d have learned not to mess with kids. Because kids grow up, and some of them even come back.

He wondered, for a moment, why they were even scared of that thing in the first place. It wasn’t real; none of it was. So long as that was kept in mind, the clown couldn’t do anything. Then, just… bully the damn thing to death. If it hadn’t been for his memories, all of their memories, he wouldn’t have thought that It had ever been a real, serious threat. Even though the stupid thing killed him, It wasn’t even successful in that sense.

Afterwards, at the motel, he and Richie had to talk.

It was to be expected, of course; neither of them were mind readers - far from it. Still, it probably didn’t help that he was exhausted and had come back from the dead not even a few hours ago. Eddie took a shower first, though, because he was not spending another second having any reminder of the sewers. He looked at himself in the mirror, and could find no signs of any wound where he could remember being stabbed. The only sign he had been injured at all was from Bowers’ knife on his cheek. If he thought hard enough, he could pretend that he hadn’t been stabbed at all. He probably spent more time than was needed in the shower, feeling the water hit his back and reminding himself that this was real, that he was really there.

Finally, he got out, dressed himself, and went into the motel room. Richie was sitting on the bed, fidgeting with something shiny.

“So, how long have you wanted to do… that?” Eddie began awkwardly, thinking again about seeing the carving on the kissing bridge as a teenager. Thinking that there was an actual possibility of that being what he had hoped it was was… weird.

Richie seemed to think for a moment. “I’d say twenty nine years or so. Definitely before we dealt with It for the first time. Let’s just say that I was never scared of clowns.”

Eddie snorted, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Of course.”

The other loser laughed. “Are you making fun of me, Eds? Because I’ll have you know that I had no say in any of this. It’s not my fault that you kept wearing short shorts! Besides, from how you reacted, evidence points to the fact that you didn’t mind at all.”

He rolled his eyes. “Beep beep, because I was making fun of myself. Well, mostly, anyways. How could I not notice that? You’ve never been the most subtle.” Oh God, this was making him reexamine all of his childhood memories. Richie really was pulling on his pigtail, so to say. God, kids are so dumb. Not that he was any better, of course, especially after Pennywise.

“Well, how long for you, then?” Richie retorted. “When did my Trashmouth ways win you over?”

Unlike Richie, Eddie didn’t have to think it over, with it having been at the forefront of his mind since he entered Maine. “Twenty eight years, so it took you a year before it actually worked.”

The other man cursed under his breath jokingly. “Damn, should have got you flowers.” A pause. “What should we do with this? I’m in Chicago, and you’re in New York.” As if suddenly realizing something, Richie started up his fidgeting again. “And you’ve got a wife! Somehow, you have a wife.”

He bristled at the mention of Myra. “I only married her to get my mom off my back.” Eddie confessed.

Richie stared at him for a moment. “We’re all messes, then.”

“Besides,” Eddie continued. “I already was planning on calling it quits. Even ignoring the fact that she’s exactly like my mother, it wouldn’t be fair to her in any way. Even before Mike called, I was planning that. It won’t exactly be easy, but it’s a start.”

Richie got up from the bed. “So, do you think that we can try and make something work?” He seemed to actually be trying to be serious, but the way he was smiling didn’t help him at all.

He laughed a little. “I think so.”

—

To no one’s surprise, Bill was able to get custody of Georgie. It was a pretty long process, and overall Eddie had no idea about any of the legal stuff involved, but he was just happy that they were together. Mike and Audra apparently got along really well, and they were a happy, if not conventional, family. After everything, Georgie was finally aging like a normal child - well, it seemed like it, anyways. They had given him some tutoring about how things had changed, and then sent him off to school.

Of the children, only five including Georgie had been from the eighties. This meant that, thankfully, most had been able to go back to their families. Since this was Derry, most of the parents seemed to believe the explanation of the kids trying to run away.

Of the kids who didn’t have anywhere to go, Ben and Bev ended up adopting two. The little girl he had spoken to, Charlotte, and the oldest child, the eleven year old. When Eddie heard of this, he wasn’t surprised at all. This time, when they left Derry, the Losers remembered everything. Georgie seemed to remember too, but fuzzier, and he didn’t remember anything about Pennywise. Apparently, the kids that Bev and Ben had adopted into their family didn’t remember much at all, other than that they’d seen Stan and Eddie before being officially introduced. The Marsh-Hanscoms had also adopted a dog - a German Shepherd, and they seemed happy.

The other two were placed into foster care, which scared Eddie a lot. What if they got placed with someone awful? He couldn’t check up on them. But the others helped him with reassurances that it would be alright.

Stan and Patty seemed to be doing well, though Stan had to go to therapy. He couldn’t say anything about Pennywise, but it still helped. He even got an animal to help him; a cat he named Jay. They all ended up going, at his insistence.

Bill ended up writing the book, though he changed a lot of the information. That was a good thing, though. It ended up being well received, and they were apparently planning on making a movie out of this one, too.

Eddie had finally been able to divorce Myra; she didn’t take it well, but it ended up working out. He and Richie had gotten used to living together and just generally being together in Chicago. Richie had begun to write his own material, with some help from the others occasionally to veto certain jokes.

As he lay in his bed on a Saturday morning, with Richie and their dog, Cinnamon, asleep, he thought about how his younger self would consider this an embarrassing daydream.

Maybe that was for the best. He didn’t know if he’d have appreciated it as much if it had always been a possibility. Eddie rolled over to block the sun from his eyes, and he fell asleep again.