A/N: Holy fuck, guys, I had no idea that so many people were still reading! D: When I went to check the reviews on Monday and saw 6 I almost screamed and the next day when I saw 2 more I almost fainted! XD You should've seen my face! I could only just mutter to myself 'Is a little bit of tough love really all that it takes?' It was hilarious! XD Anyway, here you go; a new chapter! You guys deserve it! :]

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Chapter 20: We're all to Blame

A day later, we found a farm on the outskirts of the next town over. The small business was owned by a middle-aged widow and her young daughter, who was two years younger than me and Gordie.

The woman, Mrs. Striggam, was reluctant to not just force us into her car and drive us back to Castle Rock. After explaining that we had our reason and that we couldn't go back just yet, she insisted that we at least stay at her house. Something about creeps wandering the area and whatnot. She's really nice, though, and her daughter, Anna's a sweetheart.

Well, we now had somewhere to stay at least. In exchange for helping around the farm and house, we had shelter, food, and protection. The day we got here, a cop had stopped by. She quickly hid us and denied ever even knowing of our existence. She's a pretty cool lady, I have to admit.

I cut my hair soon after we arrived. It was getting to annoying to have long hair that kept getting messy and frizzy all the time, so it was now a very messy shoulder-length. Gordie had been the one who cut it for me, so it wasn't professional. Most of it was just above my shoulders, but he accidentally made the two small sections framing my face noticeably longer than the rest.

Mrs. Striggam offered to even it out for me, and Gordie felt bad for it, but I refused. To be honest, I loved it; it was perfect just the way it was. Plus, evening it out meant that she would cut it even shorter, which I sure as hell didn't want.

It was a few days later when we got the news. Castle Rock and the town we were staying in (whose name escapes me) are in the same county, so we got the same newspaper. Gordie and I were sitting at the kitchen table while Mrs. Striggam and Anna went into town for an hour.

My birthday was coming up in a few short days, and Gordie, feeling bad for the entire situation, wanted to come up with a decent way to celebrate. I didn't mind, though; having Gordie with me was enough to make me happy.

I sat there nibbling at some cereal and toast, occasionally watching Gordie scribbling ideas and sometimes reading a small article in the newspaper next to me. A light wind suddenly blew in through the window and caused the newspaper to flip to a random page towards the back.

Annoyed, I was about to flip it back to the page I was reading when a name caught my eye. Upon further inspection, what I found made my heart skip a beat and caused me to gag a little. Carefully swallowing, I did my best to speak.

"Uh…Gordie?"

"Just a sec." He said, in the middle of writing something.

"You're gonna wanna see this." I pressed, never taking my eyes off that one spot, secretly hoping it was just a hallucination.

Judging from Gordie's expression when he got up to stand behind me and see what it was, it wasn't. No, it was all too real…

What was causing us to be so distraught, you ask?

It was an obituary.

An obituary for Mr. Lachance, that is.

Mr. Lachance, Gordie's father, was officially dead.

'Mr. George Lachance

March 31 1919 – October 20, 1959

Survived by wife Marian and son Gordon.

Service on October 22nd at St. Alice Catholic Church. Public welcome.'

"The service is tomorrow…" He mumbled, not a hint of clear emotion in his eyes. To be perfectly honest, it was making me nervous. A few frightening seconds passed before I dared to break the silence.

"M-Maybe…we should…y'know, go back…" He looked at me, still wearing that blank expression he had mastered.

"You're all that your mother has now…" I said sadly and honestly. "Please don't do this to her." He looked away, thinking, and still standing behind me, leaning slightly over my shoulder. I took this into consideration and casually leaned back into him.

"Just trust me on this one, okay?" He turned slightly to gently rest his head on mine. "Have I ever steered you wrong?" I smiled slightly. He leaned over so that I could see his small, calm smile.

"No." He answered. "Alright, then…" He stood up straight and went back to his seat. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."

I couldn't help but grin in appreciation and took a bite out of my now cold toast.

--

That night at dinner, we told Mrs. Striggam the news. She apologized for Gordie's loss but was happy that we were going back for the service. Anna was sad we were leaving, but I assured her that I'd visit someday under better circumstances.

The next morning brought on a feeling of excitement I hadn't felt since going home from Washington in September. I hurriedly got up, got washed and dressed, and went downstairs with my bag to wait by the door. A few minutes later, me, Gordie, Mrs. Striggam, and a very sleepy Anna were off.

Gordie sat in the front, while Anna and I were in the back. Anna had fallen asleep and was resting on my lap while I looked out the window. Looking towards the front, I caught sight of Gordie in the car's rear-view mirror. He saw me and I flashed a quick smile. He smiled back and continued to look out the windshield. I also went back to looking outside. For once in the few months I've lived in the area, I realized just how beautiful it was.

About an hour or so later, we were back in Castle Rock. In retrospect, the two towns were actually not that far apart. The only reason it took so long to get there was because we were walking. She drove us through town and stopped at the cemetery. We got out with our bags and bid our farewells.

"Bye, Mrs. Striggam. Thanks so much for letting us stay with you and driving us back." I said, Gordie smiling and nodding his thanks.

"No problem kids. Now, I don't want to hear about you two running off again anytime soon, you hear? If you're going to visit, I rather it be with your parents' permission." We nodded and laughed, waving as she drove off.

We took deep breaths and turned, facing the small crowd of people that were standing in the middle of the field of graves around a coffin. Many, including our mothers, turned to look at us with wide eyes, recognizing us. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, seeing Teddy, Vern, Chris, and Leena looking our way. I felt Gordie grab my hand and turned to see him smiling in reassurance. I smiled weakly back and took another deep breath to calm myself.

We dropped our bags where we were and started walking.

--

A/N: Yeah, I know it's pretty short, but honestly, I've been experiencing a tad of writer's block lately. (I'm making this up as I go along, in case you haven't noticed yet) Anyways, thank you so much everyone who's been loyal to this story. I love and appreciate all of you so much. :) Please review. Stay tuned; the next chapter'll be here next Sunday.