Henry and Winter sat on the floor, in the corner of the empty bookstore. She rested her legs on top of his as they talked and kissed.
Henry thought her lips were so warm against his, and he thought she was a good kisser as they kissed for minutes at a time. He had his hand on her cheek as he brought her face closer to his. His stomach was full of butterflies. He broke from her lips and kissed down her cheek to the side of her neck, wanting to kiss every inch of her.
"I can't believe it took almost three months for us to do this," he said as he kissed her neck softly.
Winter ruffled her hand in his hair, bringing him in closer to her as he nibbled at her collarbone. She thought about the concert, when she was looking at Henry and knew what it felt like to have sex with him. She knew what it felt like, but she wanted to really feel it. How did she know when she was still a virgin?
Henry looked up at her face, "Does this mean we're boyfriend and girlfriend?" He smiled as he admired her face, "Like, I can hold your hand in school and we can make-out at our lockers?"
She laughed lightly at his excitement, "Yeah, Henry. I've been waiting for you to make me your girlfriend for a while now."
He stared into her eyes as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. His nose was touching hers as he gazed deeply into her brown bright eyes. He kissed her lips gently a couple of times and then continued to look at her.
"What happened at the concert?" he asked. "I felt so many different things, and at one point I think I saw you guys as adults. No one else saw it I don't think... But you were all... I don't know... in your late twenties or early thirties."
Winter stared at his eyes as he spoke. She had no idea that he saw any of them turn into adults. "We did turn into adults, Henry. You did too. I saw you as an adult whenever I looked at you. I didn't know that you saw it like we did too, though?"
"Yeah, and there were memories with every single one of you guys. I couldn't figure out the memories... With you, it was like how I feel for you now but stronger, and I kept thinking that I needed to make things right to protect you. I kept having this thought that said, 'As long as I'm on earth, and we're on earth together, we're soulmates and it's the order of the universe.'"Henry opened his mouth to speak but nothing could come out at first. Winter rubbed his arm to encourage him to keep talking. "I don't even know what that means, 'it's the order of the universe'?... But something is going to happen to me that makes me wiser and makes me feel peaceful with the outcome of everything."
Winter stared at him, wondering what it is that could happen to him in the future, and wondered what this outcome was that he was talking about. It made her feel a little nervous, because she recalled the emotions she was feeling when she looked at him from the stage: there was love, heartbreak, yearning, and an undying love.
He continued to keep speaking, "I don't even know Bill, Richie, Stan or..." he thought about it, "Or..."
"Eddie," Winter helped.
Henry's expression became thoughtful, "Right... Eddie..." He said slowly as he continued to think. Winter watched him as he looked deep in thought, trying to pull out memories that didn't exist yet as he spoke of every name.
"Are you okay?" she asked at his very intense thought process.
He blinked quickly, which brought him back to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just this weird knowingness but not knowing at the same time..." He looked back at her, "I don't know any of them, but I felt the closest to all of them while you guys were performing more than ever before. There was also this other feeling while watching you guys perform... There was this fear, and I kept thinking, 'When's It going to come out next?'and I kept fearing that It was going to try to get to me, like inside me, and use me. It was like a parasite, trying to make me sick."
Winter knew what he was talking about with the fear emotion. She felt that too, and she didn't know why she was so scared, but she could tell that the whole group was. They were trying to reconnect by singing together to fight something that scared them more than anything. She didn't know what he meant about the thing they were scared of trying to get inside him and use him. It must have been the blockage she couldn't figure out while she looked at him on stage. Was It trying to get to Eddie too, and that's why there was that blockage? No, it couldn't have been that. There was a different type of blockage connected to her and Eddie.
"Does this sound crazy?" Henry noticed her silence while he talked.
Winter looked back at him and softly smiled as she tugged at the back of his hair, "No! I'm just thinking of the stuff I felt on stage while I looked at everyone. We all felt the fear too, but... I really don't know... it's unexplainable." She took a second to think about her next point as she looked in his eyes, "It was the turtle, Henry. The turtle was right under the stage in the Biology room and that's where the ripple came from that changed us into adults. We all had the same thought while we were on stage,'We're riding on the turtle's shell'."
Henry rubbed his neck as he thought about it, "It sounds crazy, but I think you could be right. When I went to go pick him up after the show to bring him home, it was like his shell was glowing. I don't get it though... He's just a turtle."
Winter thought back to what Robert told her that day in the gym when he admitted to her that he was Henry's long-lost brother. She wanted to bring up the story he told her about the turtle, but Robert hadn't told the family yet who he really was, so she had to stay quiet.
"I know... I don't understand it either."
Their eyes met again, and they both pulled each other in for another kiss. They kissed each other's lips gently. Winter put her hands in his hair and ruffled her fingers through his dark brown hair. He kept his hands on her hips and pulled her in closer to him.
He pulled his lips away and rested his forehead on hers as he looked into her eyes. All the overwhelming emotions that happened that night and having her finally in his arms made him feel so intense with feelings. He didn't know what emotions belonged to him as a 16 year old or him as an adult, but all the feelings he had for her were powerful.
Henry looked down from her eyes to her lips and back up to her eyes. All the feelings made him look as if he was going to be sick, but he kept himself together. He whispered onto her lips as he stared into her eyes very emotionally, "I love you."
Winter stared back into his eyes and read every single emotion he felt, both himself now and his adult-self. "I love you too." She whispered back.
He looked relieved to hear her say it back to him. He pulled her into him for another kiss.
Robert and Earl had pulled up to the Chapters parking lot to pick up the two as a snowstorm was starting to develop in Derry. Robert left Earl to keep the truck running as he went into the store to find the two of them.
As Robert approached the horror section of the store, he was surprised to see Henry and Winter sitting on the floor holding each other and kissing. He stopped and looked around for a second, not wanting to break the two of them up out of their little world. As Robert looked around to figure out when it was a good time to walk up to them, he smiled into his hand,'That's my little brother!' he thought happily. He was so happy that Henry finally got the courage to take things to the next level with Winter.
As he didn't know when they would finish up and he didn't want to keep Earl waiting in the truck too long, he slowly approached the two and cleared his throat to get their attention.
Henry and Winter's lips separated and they looked up at Robert standing close by. Winter blushed as Henry tried his best not to smile at him for finally making Winter his girlfriend.
"I'm so sorry to disturb you guys..." he said sincerely, keeping his eyes on Henry who looked proud, "Your dad came to pick you guys up because there's a storm coming. He will drive Winter home."
Both Henry and Winter got up to their feet and grabbed their winter jackets. Henry stood close next to Winter as she got ready. He wasn't ready for the night to end with her.
"Hey, Winter, congratulations on the concert tonight. You guys sounded phenomenal," he smiled at her. Henry smiled at her as if he was the one who gave her the compliment.
Winter smiled shyly; Her normal shy-self showcasing out of her, not like the boss chick she became when she was on stage. It made her wonder if she eventually becomes a strong woman who didn't feel those spurts of shyness anymore.
"Thanks Robert. Thanks for coming out to it too," she smiled.
All three of them walked out to Earl's truck as the snow fell from the dark sky into Derry, covering the Main St with a beautiful blanket of white fluffy snow.
Robert climbed in the front seat beside Earl as Winter and Henry climbed into the back. Usually Henry and Winter would sit a seat apart from each other in Earl's truck, but Henry sat right beside her in the middle cushion.
Earl noticed how close Henry had sat beside Winter and looked over at Robert. Robert gave a smirk in response to Earl's curiosity.
"Is that Winter or is that Celine Dion, or maybe Madonna?" Earl joked as he pulled out of the parking lot and started driving towards Winter's home.
Both Henry and Winter laughed at the comment.
"It's just little ol' me, Earl," Winter smiled.
"I think after tonight, you've made a new name for yourself in town, Winter. Same with the other guys in the band, and Will. The show was absolutely amazing. We were all speechless leaving the school tonight," he laughed at the last part.
The entire ride to Winter's home, Henry kept his eyes mostly on her as she spent most of her time looking out the window. The feelings he had while watching her sing would never leave him, and it overwhelmed him with so many different emotions.
As they pulled into the Callaghan's driveway, both Henry and Winter got out of the truck. He wanted to walk her to the front door.
"Don't be too long, Henry," Earl said as they exited the truck.
As Robert and Earl watched the two disappear on the porch, Earl turned to Robert; "What was with him scouching so close to her and that smirk you gave me?"
Robert said proudly, "Henry finally took things to the next level with her."
"Really?" Earl was shocked at his son who had been too shy and was too confused as to how to make Winter his girlfriend. Earl smiled proudly thinking about his son.
On the porch, Henry and Winter turned to each other as she grabbed her keys. Henry kept his eyes on her and smiled admiringly as he watched her.
"I'll see you later, Henry?" she smiled at him and put her hand in his hair.
"Of course you will," He smiled, "Have a goodnight."
They kissed softly on her porch as the cold snowflakes hit their faces. Their lips were so warm that they didn't want to separate. They did after a few seconds and they looked deeply into each others eyes. Henry's piercing stare turned more intense with lust and love.
"Bye," they said to each other as she went into her home. Her parents were gone until Christmas so she had the house to herself.
Henry walked back through the snow and into Earl's truck. He climbed in the back and closed the door behind him. He looked up at Earl and Robert in front and the both of them were staring at him with a smile on their faces.
"What?" Henry asked, still unable to wipe the smile off his face.