Rachel glanced up at the clock for about the tenth time in the past hour. It had been a good while since she had been this anxious to get off of work. She shook her head. "Why didn't I just tell him to meet me here?" she scolded herself under her breath. She took a deep breath and grabbed a stack of books to shelve. Several minutes later she was reaching up to one of the tall shelves when she heard Mrs. Stout's voice.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm looking for Rachel."
Rachel lowered her hand, the book she was about to shelve still in it. Her heart was pounding as she slowly walked around the shelf. She saw him from behind, standing in front of the circulation desk, but she still recognized him.
Mrs. Stout pointed at her. "Here she is right here."
Roman turned. His face lit up when he saw her. "Hiya, girly."
"Hey," was all she could say as she tried her best to calmly walk towards him. "How did you know I work here? I don't remember telling you."
He shrugged. "I asked around."
"Not too long, Rachel. You know our policy on visitors." Though Mrs. Stout's voice was serious, Rachel could tell her boss was trying to hide a grin.
"I won't."
Rachel quickly took in Roman's full length. Today he was wearing a white shirt, under an open casual black jacket with jeans.
"You're uh… here early," Rachel said.
He shrugged again. "I thought we could hang out for a while before practice."
Rachel glanced at the desk. Mrs. Stout was sitting at the computer, typing.
"I'm still at work."
"That's alright. How much longer do you have?"
Rachel's stomach let out an embarrassing growl. Roman glanced at her questioningly.
Rachel grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't eat much for lunch."
"Oh well we can go get you something then. After you get off. Where do you like to eat at?"
She tilted her head at him, her grin widening. Was he asking her out?
"Um… yeah sure we can go eat at the diner."
He smiled at her. "Great."
"I get out of here at five," she told him. She glanced at the clock. It was 4:35.
His smile softened. "Then I will wait."
Rachel's stomach flip-flopped. He really was cute, she thought. And considerate. A patron had walked to the desk. She gave Roman one last smile and went to help them.
Rachel and Roman casually walked down the sidewalk towards the Rocket, Derry's popular diner.
"So how long have you been working at the library for?" he asked.
"Several months. I just graduated last summer and started working there not long after."
"And you've been at the theatre for how long now?"
"Almost two years. I started as an understudy the summer before my Senior year."
"And you like it there?"
"I love it. I feel so comfortable up on stage. Playing in all those roles."
"It looks like a blast. I know I had fun last night."
Rachel smiled at the memory. "Yeah it was fun."
"And then tonight we get to do it again."
Rachel's grin widened at the eagerness in his voice. She nodded. "Yep."
Roman put his arm out to stop her. "Look, we don't have to practice at your house if you're not comfortable. I know you just met me."
Rachel sighed. "No, it's alright. I'm fine with it."
"Are you sure? We can always go to the Neibolt house," he added with a chuckle. "There's a lot more privacy, so that you don't have to worry about anyone watching us. I'm sure the rooms are bigger too. Or we could do it out back in the grass."
"I'm sure that would be a fun and easy spot to dance in," she said with a laugh. They started walking again.
She remembered the day that she had been at the Neibolt house with Pennywise. Had that already been four days ago? She could almost still feel his tongue against her legs, licking at her wounds. She wondered what it would feel like to have his tongue on something else.
Rachel stopped short and let out a shaky gasp.
Roman's brow furrowed, a look of concern on his face. "Are you alright?"
Rachel furtively glanced around her, like she would see Pennywise staring at her from somewhere. "I'm fine," she replied.
She was going to take off again when her mind was filled with a lewd image—Pennywise's head between her legs as she lay there naked, her head thrown back in ecstasy as he went down on her.
Rachel's heart started pounding. She didn't know where that thought had come from all of a sudden, but at that moment, all she wanted to do was find Pennywise and bury herself in his passionate embrace, to feel him buried within her. She placed her hands on the outer upper parts of her thighs and squeezed.
Roman put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright? Your face looks flushed."
Her face was indeed burning. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. I guess this heat's just starting to get to me."
"Well let's get you inside, then."
The tenderness in his voice touched her, and she quickly dispersed of the lurid images that had just taken over her brain.
She didn't even notice the woman who was hanging up a new 'Missing' poster.
"Are you gonna get anything to eat?"
Rachel and Roman sat at a front table. Rachel idly glanced at the menu, although she had already decided on a burger and chocolate shake.
Roman was staring down at his own menu. "No thanks. I'm fine, princess."
Rachel's head shot up. "What?"
He glanced up at her. "I'm fine. I already ate."
"No, it's what you called me."
Roman glanced sideways at her and pursed his lips.
"You called me princess." Rachel folded up her menu. "Someone else calls me that too."
Roman grinned at her. And once again she was reminded of certain clown. She opened her mouth to answer, but the front door opened. She glanced behind her. Aunt Susan walked in with Bill and Georgie. Rachel waved when she saw them. Aunt Susan smiled and waved back. She and the boys walked up to Rachel.
"Well hello, you two." Aunt Susan was all smiles.
Rachel stood up to give her aunt a hug. She went to hug Georgie, but he slowly moved away from her, his eyes glued on something.
"Georgie?" Rachel asked.
"Oh he's just being shy," said Aunt Susan. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh, this is Roman." Rachel pointed at Roman. "Roman, this is my Aunt Susan."
Roman stood and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He sat back down and waved at Georgie.
Rachel glanced down at her nephew. He was staring at Roman with a confused, terrified look on his face. Apparently Bill noticed also, because he too was staring back and forth between the two.
Rachel met Roman's gaze. She stared at him with her eyes narrowed. He smiled back, and she hesitantly returned the gesture.
Why was Georgie staring at Roman like that? The boy had never seen him before. Or had he?
Rachel slammed the front door a little harder than she intended to. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"That's alright," Roman replied. He took in his surroundings as Rachel hung up her keys. "So this is where you live?"
Rachel shrugged. "It's home."
They stood facing each other. The only sounds were the clock on the kitchen wall and the low hum of the refrigerator.
"So you're still not talking. You were quiet the whole ride here."
Rachel strode up to Roman, her eyes narrowed, and studied him. Really studied him- the curvature of his lips, his bit of a lazy left eye, even his posture.
She shook her head, her eyes not leaving his. "I should have known. The whole time I should have known. Even looking like this, Georgie still recognized you."
Roman was quiet for a moment. "And you're shocked that I am capable of this?" He gestured at himself.
Rachel crossed her arms. "I don't know what you're capable of anymore, Pennywise. Last night I was supposed to dance with Chris. He wasn't there, but you were. Or rather, Roman was."
She strode past him into the living room.
"Of course I showed up. I couldn't let something like this go bad for you," he said defensively.
Rachel whirled around. "And Chris's accident? I guess that was just a coincidence."
She saw Roman's muscles tense in his jaw. "I didn't hurt Chris."
"So you just wanted to scare him? Like you did Jessica and Regina?"
"I didn't do it on purpose," Roman shot back. "I was just watching him. He must have seen me and got scared."
He took a step towards Rachel, but she backed away.
"You know I would never hurt you right?"
"But you're not afraid hurt other people?" Rachel's voice was ice. "You could have killed him, Pennywise!"
"I know that!" he shouted. "Do you think I wanted that? Do you think I'm some kind of monster?"
She brought her hands up by her face. "I don't know what you are," she yelled, her voice cracking.
"I can smell the fear on you, baby girl. I need you to not be like that right now."
"I am not afraid. I'm..." She put her hands on her temples. "I'm freaking out." Rachel was shaking violently now. She choked out a sob. "I don't know how to deal with this."
Roman closed the distance between them and grabbed her arms. "Rachel, please."
His voice was so desperate, so sincere it made her heart wrench.
"Rachel, have I ever hurt you? Have I ever done anything to cause you discomfort or pain? I have only done everything that I have done for you because you are so, so special to me."
He gently pulled her arms away, revealing her now tear stained face.
"I need you to trust me. Please."
Rachel turned her face away from him. Another tear fell. "How can I trust you if I don't even know what you are?" Even her voice was shaking.
Roman sighed deeply. "I'm from somewhere else. Let's just leave it at that for now."
Rachel snorted. "So are you an alien or something? Are you going to beam me up into your UFO?" She rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous."
Roman smirked. "No more ridiculous than a girl believing a frog will turn into a prince."
Rachel narrowed her eyes at him. Roman put his arm on her waist and grabbed her hand.
"No more ridiculous than a fairy godmother who turns pumpkins into coaches."
He placed her other hand on his shoulder and turned sideways, taking her with him. Rachel gave him a small grin as she let him lead her into a waltz around her living room.
"Those are just fairytales, Roman."
"Well then you better start believing in them, Ms. Porter" Roman spun her around, then she turned back to face him, a mischievous grin on his handsome face.
"Because you're in one."