A/N: Why hello! I greatly apologize for not writing more of this story soon enough, and this is the last chapter! I guess this was kind of a mini-story….but yeah. I kind of wish I had put more into this mini-story, I'm really sorry. But anyway, thanks to all of my reviewers of this story, and sorry to keep you waiting! Thanks for EVERYTHING! I give you THE FINALE!
Disclaimer: It's so fine but it ain't mine. Except for Andy, Jane, and stuff not in the movie.
Andy and the boys had finally made it to the Back Harlow Road. The wind was blowing fiercely, and it looked like it was going to pour. Andy shivered lightly. The area was so creepy.
After the whole leech incident and a debate over whether to take Gordie back, he decided to take charge. He spoke to no one but claimed that he was not going to go back to Castle Rock. Andy knew how determined he was to see this body. But why, out of everyone, would Gordie want to see the body? She was very curious, but she had no clue.
"Teddy?" Gordie asked.
"Yeah?"
"Is this the Back Harlow Road?"
Teddy looked around slowly. For the first time, he seemed quiet. "Yeah."
Chris' eyes widened. "That Brower kid must be around here someplace. Teddy, you and Vern check the left side of the tracks and we'll check the right."
So Teddy and Vern started searching the left side while Andy looked on the right with Chris and Gordie. With every step farther she took down the road, the more anxious she was that she could possibly see the body of a dead kid. She could feel her stomach lurching and her eyes were searching frantically. She was nervous.
"Look there he is!" Vern cried, "I see him, I see him!"
The rest of the group raced over to Vern and stopped. A river was flowing by behind the woodland area. And there was a bush. A huge bush that almost looked like a tree that had fallen down. Andy spotted the shoes. Somewhere in those bushes was Ray Brower. Chris suddenly pushed ahead, and the gang followed him. They all came to a screeching halt as they could see his body, his arms and legs crooked and hanging on branches and tree limbs. Bugs of all sorts were swarming the area, trying to get a piece of the dead boy. Chris tentatively picked up a stick and started lifting up branches and moving them. And then they saw his face. His electric blue eyes were open in shock and scare. His mop of black hair was matted with dried blood. The liquid had dripped also from his nose and his mouth. He was, with no pun intended, a train wreck.
Andy wanted to scream. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Nothing needed to be said. They all stared down at the boy. In that instant they could feel an emotion they had rarely ever felt: nostalgia. It made them all think about how suddenly a life could end, and at any given time. And after that, that was it. You were dead, and you didn't come back. And suddenly, Andy felt as if she hadn't lived enough. She knew that this boy who was now lying dead before her didn't. It made her think. It made her realize that none of them had treasured anything they had: each other. It made her realize that you had to treasure moments before they were gone, which they could be even before death took over. Treasure the moments you had with other people you loved. And she knew that she had never really given treasuring moments between her four boys much thought.
"Let's gather some long branches," Chris ordered finally, his voice grave, "We'll build him a stretcher."
Everyone made moves to go and grab branches except for Gordie. Andy studied him curiously. His face was pretty much unreadable. But it was in that moment that Andy felt something deep for him. Forget the anger, forget the supposed selfishness, forget everything awful. Although she had always known, it was now so much clearer in that instant: Gordie was hurting. Bad. Gordie had never really expressed his feelings, at least to not to a point where everyone around him was swarming him with "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"s and "OH MY GOSH, GORDIE!"s. But no one had ever done that with him anyway. She suddenly realized exactly why Gordie was hurting. He felt like he was invisible to everyone. And he didn't even say anything. It was just the look on his face. It was plain as day, right there, and Andy didn't know how she never saw it before. It had always been on his face, in his eyes, in his smile. It had always been there.
"Why did you have to die?" Gordie whispered to Ray Brower.
Andy didn't even have to think for a second about whom he was really questioning.
"What's the matter with Gordie?" Vern asked curiously.
"Erm…nothing," Chris answered hesitantly, "Why don't you guys just go look for some branches, ok?"
"Yeah," Andy responded in a low tone, "Of course."
She led Teddy and Vern away and a little ways up back towards the tracks. They bent down looking for branches, pretending that they couldn't hear Gordie and Chris's conversation.
"He hates me…."
"No. He just doesn't know you."
"He hates me, my dad hates me!" Gordie's voice cried out, his voice cracking from the pain, "My dad hates me, I'm no good!"
Andy had to turn away from Teddy and Vern. She breathed shakily, a few tears slipping from her eyes. She didn't want to see him like this. She wished that she could take all of his suffering away. She wished….she wished she could be in his position. She would gladly do anything to give her best friend at least a fraction of happiness. Somehow she managed to shut out the rest of the conversation, wanting to leave Gordie and Chris to their privacy.
Suddenly, Andy heard loud rustling in the trees and bushes near her. She stood up and studied her surroundings closely. Her eyes scanned the area…..and then she saw it. That dyed blonde hair that looked like the color of Marilyn Monroe. Her eyes suddenly took all three of them in: the hair, the cold yet burning smile, the disgusting twitching eye. Andy turned her back on them and began to race back down towards Chris and Gordie, shoving Teddy and Vern along with her.
"You wasn't plannin' on taking the body from us, was ya boys?" Ace Merrill's sly voice drawled.
Chris flung himself from his sitting position on a log next to Gordie and stood next to Andy, Teddy and Vern on his other side.
"You get away man," Chris ordered, shaking his head unbelievably, "We found him, we got dibs."
"Oooh we better start running Eyeball," Ace teased, "They got dibs!"
Eyeball let out a small chuckle, but Jane realized that in a regular situation, he would have laughed out loud so everyone in Castle Rock could hear him. Why was he suddenly holding back?
"We earned him man!" Chris claimed angrily, "You guys came in a car, that's not fair!"
"That's not fair, he's ours!" Eyeball mocked in a baby voice. There was the Eyeball she knew. "Well not anymore!"
"What makes you think that, asshole?" Andy questioned heatedly.
"There's five of us, Eyeball," Teddy told him knowingly, "You just make your move."
"Oh we will, don't cha know?"
And with that and a small snap of Ace's fingers, the rest of the Cobras entered the picture. Usually there were only seven, but to Andy it seemed like there were a thousand, coming in slow motion, one by one. She breathed heavily.
"Vern, you little son of a whore!" Charlie yelled, taking notice to the boy, "You was under the porch!"
Vern's dark blue eyes widened, probably envisioning whipping after whipping, smack after smack, punch after punch, kick after kick. He held his hands up in defense.
"No, I swear, it wasn't me!"
"You key-hole peepin' bung-wipe, I oughta beat the livin' shit outta you!" Billy roared, taking off his belt quickly and storming towards Vern.
Vern gave a little cry, turned, and ran off towards a hill behind them, Ace signaling Billy to stop as he was doing so.
"Now, you guys have two choices," Ace bargained calmly, a cold smile resting on his face, "You either leave quietly and we take the body. Or you stay, we beat the shit out of you—and we take the body."
"Giving us too much opportunity, don't you think, Ace?" Andy asked sarcastically.
"Besides," Charlie piped up, "Me and Billy found him first!"
"Yeah Vern told us how you found him. Oh Billy! I wish we never boosted that car!" Teddy mimicked in an outrageous baby voice. Andy would have laughed her head off if the situation wasn't so serious. Now she wanted to stick duck tape on his mouth. Did he want to get them killed? "Oh Billy! I think I just turned my Fruit of the Looms into a fudge factory! Oh—"
"That's it, your ass is grass!" Charlie claimed angrily.
"Hold it," Ace commanded quietly before Charlie could make a move. He then turned his attention towards Chris. "Ok Chambers, you little faggot. This is your last chance. What do you say kid?"
Chris kept his narrowing, ocean colored eyes on Ace and his one eyebrow slightly cocked as he retorted without missing a beat, "Why don't you go home and fuck your mother some more?"
Ace stared at Chris hard for a few seconds, and without even looking, flipped open a switchblade. "You're dead!"
Andy thought she was going to throw up as Ace started towards them menacingly. But all she could concentrate on was that knife, shining brightly despite the weather. She could see it in her head slow motion: Ace suddenly stabbing Chris in the stomach, or….her dream came back to her. In the throat!
"Come on Chris, let's split," Teddy told him panicky.
"They're not taking him," Chris stated, seeming to be hypnotized by the switchblade.
"Come on Chris, this is crazy!" Teddy claimed softly, but still trying to convince his friend.
"They're not taking him," Chris repeated in the same monotone.
"He's got a knife man, shit!" Teddy exclaimed, letting go of Chris's left shoulder and running off in the same direction as Vern had.
A brief moment of silence as Ace continued to advance towards Chris, until:
"Ace, come on man," Eyeball tried to persuade feebly.
But to Jane it didn't matter how feeble the attempt turned out. It mattered that he attempted. He cared for someone. Eyeball Chambers cared for his little brother. But now, she had to care.
"Ace, stop, this is insane!" Jane exclaimed.
Ace ignored them both and continued to slowly make his way towards Chris.
"You're gonna have to kill me Ace," Chris told him, his voice shaking yet triumphant.
Andy's heart leapt. Chris wasn't letting any of them down, including himself. He was sticking by everything they had done. He wasn't letting anything go to waste. He was standing by everything that had happened.
"You're gonna have to kill both of us," Andy corrected, grabbing Chris' arm tightly.
She wasn't letting him go down on his own. They were all in this together.
"No problem," Ace replied menacingly, and he seized the collar of Chris' shirt in the next second. Andy made a reach for the hand carrying the switchblade and actually caught Ace's arm, digging her nails deeply into it. Ace managed to easily break free of her grasp and punch her in the face with the side of his fist, cutting her some with the switchblade yet still holding Chris with no effort. Andy fell backwards, but didn't fall. She tried to make her way back to Ace, but it was too late. Ace took a better hold of Chris in his left hand, held the switchblade to his neck, and—
KA-BLAM!
That had to be the most beautiful sound that Andy could have heardat that moment. Ace let go of Chris eagerly, and stepped back. Andy turned around, and saw Gordie lowering the pistol from the air, an expression of deepest loathing on his face. Yet, the rest of his body looked pale as he stepped forward, the pistol pointed directly at Ace. All of the energy throughout his body seemed to be packaged together and was now blazing immensely out of his usually soft doe brown eyes.
"You're not taking him," Gordie told Ace in a steady voice, stepping between Andy and Chris bravely, "Nobody's taking him."
"Come on kid. Just give me the gun before you take your foot off," Ace commanded quietly, sizing Gordie up, "You ain't got the sack to shoot a woodchuck."
Gordie didn't make any movements, but kept the gun and his voice firm. "Don't move, Ace. I'll kill you, I swear to God."
"Come on Lachance, give me the gun," Ace drawled, "You must have some of your brother's good sense."
Jane soon became in pain, putting her hands to her face. She knew Denny was going to come into this somehow, but she was never prepared for when anyone mentioned him. She wanted to sob and kill Ace all at one time. But she knew that she couldn't. At least not now. Now. The present. The present was awful. The past was better. She had Denny in the past. Sure, the past was great but…..she could never go back to the past. It was only in her memory now. Sure, the present was terrible but…..why not try to make it better? Why should she have to live in this misery, in this darkness? She shouldn't. There was nothing stopping her from breaking free from the chains of the past. Denny wasn't an obstacle. Now, since he couldn't be here, he wanted to let her go. He wanted to let her live her life, with or without him. He really didn't have a choice.
Gordie, on the other hand, didn't falter even for a moment. Denny was always brought into everything, he knew that. Wherever he went, Denny followed, even in death. Was that even fair? What, exactly, was the point of bringing him up in Gordie's presence? Everyone did it. Did they want him to know that he was a failure in their eyes? But…..no, he wasn't a failure. He was a fighter. He fought for himself more than his parents ever had to for themselves. He fought against them. He fought against everyone: his parents, his relatives, the Cobras, his classmates, the school, the entire town. And he didn't want to admit it: but he was fighting himself. One side was fighting the other fiercely. One part of him begged for him to stay in pain, to mourn forever over the loss of his big brother: the only person who he felt had ever cared. But was that really true? What about Chris, what about Andy? The other part of him wanted to break away, to screw what everyone else thought about Denny. This was Gordie Lachance. He could….he could do anything he wanted to. Denny wouldn't want his memory to prevent that. And he didn't want it either.
Although he didn't show it, Gordie was still genuinely shocked when he cocked the pistol, aimed at Ace's face, and vehemently retorted, "Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood."
It was through that line, through his tone, that Andy knew he had broken his barrier. She knew that he would always miss his brother, but she also knew that he had a life of his own to lead. And now he was finally grasping it.
Ace looked over both of his shoulders, clearly shocked. "What are you gonna do—shoot us all?"
"No Ace," Gordie answered in that same voice, "Just you."
Ace paused, now even more stunned than before. With a signal of his head, the Cobras backed away, up and out of sight. Ace still stayed where he was, raising his switchblade to point at Gordie, Chris, and Andy.
"We're gonna get you for this."
"Maybe you will and maybe you won't," Chris replied simply.
"Oh we will," Ace reassured him, starting towards the tracks. But, he turned around. "We're not gonna forget this, if it's what you're thinking. This is big-time, baby."
And with that, Ace turned about face and sauntered to the tracks, soon out of sight. Gordie lowered the pistol slowly as Ace disappeared, looking weary, but his eyes never lost that gleam. Andy grabbed his shoulder tightly, giving it a huge, reassuring squeeze, telling him that he did good—no, not good. Fantastic.
"Suck my fat one?" Chris asked incredulously, "Who ever told you you had a fat one, Lachance?"
Gordie turned to his best friend, a proud smile on his face. "Biggest one in four counties."
Andy grinned tiredly. "You uh, won a contest or something?"
"Yeah," Chris answered for him with a chuckle.
And in that moment, Andy realized what had happened: when Ace and the Cobras had come, Gordie, Chris, and she had matured. Even Teddy and Vern had, despite running off. They'd shed their innocence. And when Chris brought up Gordie's fat one: they felt like they were kids again. But after Chris stopped chuckling, the feeling was gone.
Andy, Chris, and Gordie gathered around Ray Brower, Teddy and Vern soon joining them, coming out from their hiding places.
After a moment of silence, Vern asked Chris, "Are we gonna take him?"
But it was Gordie who responded. "No."
"But…but we came all this way," Teddy protested lamely, "We're supposed to be heroes."
Gordie looked at Teddy for a moment, then to Vern, to Andy, to Chris. Then he gave them all an apologetic, yet firm look.
"Not this way Teddy."
Once Ace made his way back up to the cars, Eyeball and Jane stormed towards him, Jane in front. She was angry…no, furious… no….she was outraged. She loathed Ace Merrill….she loathed him with everything she had left inside of her.
When she got to him, she pushed his chest, not caring what he would do to her in response.
"YOU FUCKING PRICK!" Jane screamed lividly, "YOU WERE GOING TO FUCKING KILL MY LITTLE SISTER! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING, YOU NEVER DO! AND YOU MENTIONED DENNY YOU COCKNOCKER!" It made her smile on the inside and Eyeball on the outside to use his word. "OH FUCK, I'M GONNA BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU!"
Ace furiously grabbed her arm, and pushed her forcefully, sending her to hit his car. "YOU LITTLE BITCH! DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING DO THAT AGAIN!"
He came towards her, but Eyeball hurriedly leapt in front of Jane. "No, Ace."
Ace cocked his head at Eyeball, his cold blue eyes widening, his eyebrows shooting upwards. "What did you say to me?"
Eyeball cleared his throat. "I said no, Ace, you mother-fucking…mother fucker!"
Ace didn't reply, but after a moment, took a swing at Eyeball. With a small yelp, Eyeball ducked, dragging Jane down with him. Ace immediately kicked his right black leather boot into Eyeball's stomach. Jane instantly stood up while Ace was looking down at Eyeball and smacked him hard across the face. Ace was about to slap her back, but Eyeball regained composure, stood up, grabbed Jane's wrist, and dragged her to Vince's car. He pushed her into the car, got in, started the engine, and raced away. Neither Eyeball nor Jane said anything as the car zoomed out of the woods. There was no need to say anything. Their emotions were the same, and they were grateful for each other in every way. But Jane decided that something did have to be said when they got on the main road.
"Pull over," Jane commanded, "Pull over someplace well-hidden."
"Jane, are you out of your fucking mind?" Eyeball asked incredulously, "Ace is probably on our tail, right now…"
"That's why I said well-hidden. Now do it."
Not wanting to displease her, Eyeball obeyed her wishes and in a few minutes pulled off of the road and into some trees. He parked the car and didn't move. What was going on here? Was Jane waiting for something to happen, someone to come?
Jane turned to him, smiling lovingly at him. He was….he wasn't what she had first thought he was. He wasn't perfect, but then again, no one was. Although the guy she had dated before his death was rumored to be perfect, she knew it wasn't true. And she didn't care what everyone else thought when they would see her and her non-perfectionist boyfriend together.
She leaned forward, put her hands around his neck and kissed him hard. She wanted him to know what she felt for him, and that she didn't care about what everyone thought. He half-smirked, half-smiled. He couldn't have asked for anything or anyone better. They continued to kiss passionately, heatedly, and hungrily. So what if Ace found them? He could do nothing about it, and neither could anyone else.
The group of five headed home in sheer silence. So many thoughts, so many questions, so many answers went through all of their minds, but they didn't speak. They knew that some day, their questions would have answers, their answers would have questions, and their thoughts would be shared.
They made it home to Castle Rock, Oregon a little past five on a Sunday morning, they day before Labor Day.
Entering the town, the town where everything had seemed so large, now seemed so small. There was more in the world than this little town. The five stopped in the street a little ways into town from the Castle Rock Bridge, with no one around. They let the silence linger a little longer between them, not really knowing what to say.
"Well," Vern shrugged, "See you in school."
"Yeah," Chris said.
"Yeah," Gordie repeated.
"See you," Andy told him.
"See ya in Junior High," Teddy told him, sounding a little depressed.
Vern turned and began to walk down another street. Suddenly, the rest of the gang saw him stop and picked something up. He held it up for them to see. "Penny!" He then turned and started walking away again.
"Well guys—I better get home before my mom puts me on the Ten Most Wanted List," Teddy informed despairingly.
He began to walk in the opposite direction of Vern, but then stopped. He seemed to ponder something for a minute or two, and then turned around. "Chris?"
All three looked up at him.
"No hard feelings, ok?"
Chris gazed at him for a moment, and then smiled. "No way man."
Teddy nodded and then continued on, singing The Ballad of Paladin, his voice fading as he did so.
Now it was just the three of them left. They all paused, not wanting to leave each other at such a time. They knew that something life-changing had occurred. They didn't know what, but they knew that they would figure it out sometime later in their lives. So they were put at ease. Andy looked back at her two best friends forlornly, like she had already left.
"Um…I suppose I should go…" she trailed off, "Uhh….I just want to say thanks for every single little thing you guys do. For me, for yourselves, for each other. Just…..thank you."
Chris smiled and gave her into a huge, tight hug. "Your welcome," he whispered in her ear. He pulled away and stepped back.
Andy and Gordie eyed each other carefully, wondering who was going to make the first move. It was Gordie. He stepped towards her and gave her an even tighter hug than Chris did.
"Thank you for everything. Without you and Chris I wouldn't have realized—"
"No need to say anything," Andy told him softly, then pulling away from the hug.
Then leaning forward and kissing him lightly on the lips. What surprised Andy was….he didn't recoil. He didn't move away. He moved forward. He kissed her back gently. Andy smiled as they kissed, but she soon pulled away. Good things can last forever….but great things only so much.
"Bye Chris," Andy told them, "Bye Gordie."
She trudged away slowly, not looking back.
When Andy entered the house, Jane was staring out a window, her eyes bloodshot, from her position at the wooden dining room table in the kitchen. She ambled towards her slowly. Jane turned her head towards her immediately, and soon did her whole body. Now from her place at the doorway of the kitchen, Andy ran to Jane and threw her arms around her tightly. Jane hugged her back, silently crying into her fiery red hair.
FIN
