Disclaimer: I do not own IT or any of the characters. That all belongs to the awesome and talented Stephen King. I only own my OC and other characters I make up along the way.

A/N: So I was able to write this short chapter for you guys before my midterms. I have a feeling you guys are gonna like the beginning of this chapter since it involves a little bit of the Bowers Gang - more so with Victor. :P Enjoy! Also I know Gwen may seem a little insensitive and mopey right now but remember she's going through a rough and traumatic time. So she's not gonna be giving Richie her usual lightheartedness. And because of her close relationship with Bill, she's gonna find more comfort with him. You guys will understand what I mean when the story moves forward.

I also do not own any music or bands mentioned in this chapter. This chapter towards the end hit me pretty hard when writing because the song Asleep by The Smiths was a song I used to listen to a lot when I was low with my depression. It's a good song, but it just makes you feel all emotional inside.

"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds." ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral's Kiss

Chapter 11: Always there for you

The small town of Derry officially named Patrick Hockstetter a missing person.

This news―although in theory was terrible and should have left people even more worried for the safety of the rest of the kids in Derry―was just unstirred by many town residents. To them it was just another kid who had the misfortune of suffering the same fate the other missing kids had. As awful as it sounded, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

The people in Derry continued their everyday lives. As if nothing had happened.

However, the disappearance of Patrick left an unsettling feeling within Henry Bowers and his two buddies...for a little while, anyways.

After that encounter they had with the fat boy, Henry initially figured Patrick went off on a bender after he couldn't find him. That was something he was capable of doing. But that thought went away once the posters with Patrick's face started going around town.

Patrick was missing, and it'd been a week since the confirmation of his disappearance.

Hearing such news at the beginning made Henry feel a variety of things.

Anger, annoyance, and dare he say he was troubled. Not that he'd never admit that last part.

Belch out of all of them was probably the most worried. Yes, he knew Patrick was unstable, but he had known the guy since they were kids. He couldn't just feel nothing regarding his absence. He was rattled alright...not that he made it known with his facial expressions. He kept his emotions hidden.

And then there was Victor.

The sleek white-blond haired boy was probably the one least emotionally affected by Patrick's disappearance. Was he freaked out? Yeah, but that didn't mean he was going to be full on sentimental for Patrick of all people. Sure they hung out, but unlike with Henry and Belch, Victor never liked him to begin with, so why spill tears over someone he was never close to? Seemed incredibly fake to Victor to put on a sad act over someone who never had an impact in his life.

"Idiot should have known better than to wander off on his own." Henry muttered to his two companions. The trio were inside Belch's car parked outside the music shop, their conversation had gone back to the topic of Patrick's disappearance when they saw a poster of him stapled onto one of the poles out in front. This was a topic that despite Henry's rough exterior at the mention of it, Victor and Belch knew it left the Bowers boy more forlorn than irked.

You were the one that told him to go after Ben. Victor thought but kept quiet. He knew saying this would just piss off Henry and the last thing he wanted was to have Henry's anger directed onto him. Especially since the Bowers boy was still giving him shit for not being able to find his precious knife. Little did he know, Victor did find it but he left it on the ground, hidden underneath a pile of leaves.

"You think maybe he'll just randomly show up?" Belch asked drawing Henry's attention towards him. He was trying to sound nonchalant, but deep down he wanted an actual answer to his question.

Henry kept his face firm from any kind of vulnerable emotions. "Nah, once you end up on one of those posters you're done for. He ain't coming back."

He was right about that. Victor let his gaze wander off to the sky, trying his hardest to think about anything else other than Patrick. His peace and quiet came to an end when Belch spoke up.

"Hey, check it out." Belch said nudging Henry's shoulder.

Henry lifted his gaze and his eyes gleamed with spiteful intent at what he saw. There leaving Keene's Pharmacy was Gwen Tozier. The bitch that right hooked him in the nose. His anger intensified at the memory of her getting the upper hand on him. The need to get even with her was growing by the second of each day. He really wanted to show her that her rightful place was her being underneath him. Whether she was withering from pain or pleasure, it didn't matter to him. Just as long as he was the one overpowering her.

With studious concern, Victor took in the current state Gwen was in. Even from where he was at he could still see how desolated she looked. There were dark bags under her eyes and she wasn't exactly dressed up nicely. But her sense of style never bothered Victor, especially not now. He was more concerned about how glum she appeared to be.

Victor Criss was not the type of guy to be easily swayed by a girl. Sure in the past he had his fair share of crushes, (he was a guy after all) but never had any of them made him want to become ethical.

That was until his feelings for Gwen Tozier showed out of the blue.

Such feelings that became more well known to him a couple of months before they started the sixth grade. By then Gwen's romantic attention was solely directed upon Chase Campbell. Leaving Victor to silently admire her from a far. Now she might have denied her feelings for Chase saying she only saw the Campbell boy as a friend, but Victor knew that was a lie. The sleek white-blond haired boy saw the way she would look at the blue eyed boy. It was the same way he would look at her from time to time. It was a look that held utter devotion. And it was a look he wanted her to give to him. But Victor knew she never would.

Always the one to love, but never the one to be loved.

Victor remembered reading that somewhere before and he couldn't help but think about himself when he read that saying. Now did he love Gwen? No, not yet. He did like her a lot though. He thought maybe in the future (if ever given the chance to show her) his feelings for her could turn into love.

However, the sad truth was that he didn't stand a chance of doing so because of Chase Campbell. Even now that he was gone. Chase Campbell would forever be a competitor for the affections of Gwen Tozier.

The blue eyed boy had been Derry, Maine's golden boy. And Victor himself was a troubled boy who had friends who were even more troubled. What would Gwen ever see in him?

Absolutely nothing.

Still, despite him knowing this his feelings for her remained. Intensified even as the years went by.

He was a damn fool for liking someone that would never want him back, but he held no regrets for his feelings towards Gwen. None whatsoever.

Victor grew alert again when he saw how Henry was ready to confront Gwen. He let out a sigh of relief when they all saw a older woman step out from the pharmacy. Victor recognized her as Gwen's mother. Maggie Tozier, even at her age, was still beautiful. Every time he saw her around town she had that whole movie star demeanor to her. His parents (mainly his mother) found it to be annoying. He on the other hand was indifferent to it. Maybe his mother was just jealous of the Tozier woman.

Anyways, Victor figured that Gwen must have gotten her beauty from her mother. Which was quite puzzling because Gwen looked nothing like her mother. And it wasn't like Gwen had that whole proper attitude going on like Maggie. It was obvious even from afar how totally opposite they were from each other. And now that Victor thought about it better maybe beauty was the only thing they had in common.

But maybe he wrong about that, and maybe the Tozier mother and daughter were actually close and they had a bunch in stuff in common. Victor liked to believe that. The tension in Victor's shoulders started to leave once knowing Henry wasn't going to cause a scene with Gwen's mother being there with her.

"That dyke's days are numbered." Henry said causing Victor to keep a steady gaze on him. He right away saw the dark expression Henry had on become more determined. His lips curled upwards with excitement. "She won't even see what's coming her way."

That made something twist within Victor's stomach. The sleek white-blond haired could tell he wasn't the only one bothered by Henry's comment. He could see from side glance the mildly disturbed look Belch had on. The burly sized male didn't say anything, he just kept quiet.

As did Victor. Except he was quiet because he had thoughts going around his head. Thoughts that included ways of how to intervene Henry from hurting Gwen for when the terrible time came.

Victor knew that whenever that would happen in the near future, it wouldn't be safe. So he needed to be ready because he wasn't about to let Henry hurt the girl he liked. He just needed to be slick on how to stop any execrable intentions Henry had for Gwen. Maybe then...just maybe, Gwen would finally realize his feelings for her and she'd return them.

Despite telling himself this, something within Victor told him otherwise.

Hidden in her bedroom, wallowing in her mess of emotions, Gwen lazily reached over to where her boombox was at.

She kept replaying the song Asleep by The Smiths on her boombox in order to get forget about that creepy old song she heard back at Chase's house. Everything that happened there was a memory the Tozier girl did not want to keep. It just ruined her other memories and what made things worse was that encounter happened inside Chase's house. The blue house she once used to spend time with her beloved crush. After what happened with the Tarman, the decomposed version of Patrick, and that fearsome looking clown, Gwen never wanted to step foot in there again. She wanted to move on...but she couldn't.

Patrick's grotesque form kept lingering in her head. The touch from his grime covered hands on her legs made Gwen want to shower until her skin was red from scrubbing (which was something she did do when she had arrived home after that encounter). Those missing posters she kept seeing around town weren't making things any better. Despite not having actual proof, Gwen knew Patrick was gone...dead. Something within her told her so. He ended up suffering the same fate like all those other missing kids before him. And this left Gwen feeling woozy. Why? Well, because Gwen had found out about his disappearance right after she saw the decomposed version of him.

Despite Patrick being one hell of a disturbed individual, Gwen found his disappearance to be just as disturbing as well. Especially after what she saw at Chase's house.

Gwen didn't want to think about Patrick anymore. She also wanted to push away the memory of the Tarman, and of that eerie clown with the bright yellow eyes. Yellow eyes she had been seeing in her nightmares since she was little. Except what she really wanted to go away was that creepy song that stayed with her.

Now was listening to the same song by The Smiths on repeat working? No, that eerie old fifties song was very much implanted in her head. She couldn't find it within herself to change the song to something different...more uplifting. At this point Gwen didn't feel like doing much. Well, besides the endless crying she'd been doing, and the lying around in bed under the covers. Although that had very much had to do with the antidepressants she had been taking again. She had gotten a refill on her prescription two days ago, after her mother had forced her to get out of bed. Since then those pills left her feeling low with energy.

Her ears perked up a bit when she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. She didn't even turn around from her lying position, already knowing who was about to come in.

The door slowly opened and then she heard footsteps walking to where she was at. They stopped once they reached the side of her bed where she was snuggling under the covers. Despite not wanting to, Gwen lifted the covers off her face

"I made you a sandwich." Richie said trying his best to give his older sister a solace like smile.

"I'm not hungry." Gwen uttered, restrained.

A worried expression settled on Richie's face from hearing that. "Gwen, you need to eat something." When he saw how she wasn't going to respond back he took a lighter approach. "I even added extra guacamole, just how you like."

Yet again no response came from Gwen, just a blank stare.

Richie's lightheartedness faltered and resolute soon replaced it. "Come on, Gwen." He begged. She hadn't eaten much today. In the morning before their parents left (their dad had gone to work and their mother left to help plan the fourth of July festival that was still a couple weeks away), Gwen had only ate half the food on her plate. Surely that couldn't have been enough for her. If there was one thing Richie knew about his sister it was that she loved to eat. Except now here she was denying a source of nutrition. This just added more to the pile of worry he was having for her. "Gwen?" He called out, much softer this time.

Gwen released a tired sigh. "Just...go away."

No...not this again. Richie thought in panic, his heart racing with foreboding. Don't push me away, Gwen...not again...please no. He didn't want to be pushed away...not from her. She was all he had in this misunderstood house of theirs. He set the plate on her night stand as he kneeled down in front of her. He stared into her dark eyes, the very same ones he had himself. As he stared at her his expression became melancholic. "What's wrong, Gwen?" He'd been understanding enough to give her space all last week, but he was afraid the more he did so the more she'd become distant again with him. He did not want that...

For a brief moment there, Gwen was almost going to tell Richie everything she had seen at Chase's house. Right at the last second she closed her mouth. The realization of how crazy she was going to sound if she told the truth shut her up. Not only would she have sounded like a loon, but Gwen didn't want to freak out her little brother. The Tozier girl knew of Richie's fear towards clowns. How would he have reacted if she said she saw not only the Tarman, a decomposed Patrick, and a scary looking clown as well? Not good.

So as much as she wanted to tell him, Gwen didn't. She tried keeping her voice steady as she spoke. "I can't tell you, Richie."

"Yes, you can." Richie told her intently. "You know you can tell me anything."

Seeing her little brother speaking to her so earnestly and wholeheartedly made Gwen want to bawl her eyes out. Except she didn't want to cry in front of him, so she instead gave him a pleading look. "Richie, just leave me alone...please."

Despite not seeing the tears go down her cheeks, Richie knew his sister was close to crying. He wanted to stay and comfort her (as any brother would), but the pleading tone of her voice had him reluctantly giving her the space she was wanting. "Okay..." He replied lowly. He stood back up and just as he was about to step outside her room, she spoke up over the songs lyrics (which of course was being replayed again...just like it had been for the last hour).

"Take the sandwich with you."

Richie frowned, but went back to get the sandwich. Once he had it, Richie gave Gwen one last concerned look before finally exiting her bedroom, closing the door behind him. As he walked down the stairs to make his way towards the kitchen he couldn't help but think...why? Why was this happening to his older sister again? Right away the answer was because of the article she had seen at Ben's house...but something told Richie that wasn't the only thing causing for his older sister to feel so down with herself.

Richie wanted to know why because he wanted to help Gwen. Except how could he help her if she wasn't even willing to talk to him? God, it was like all the progress they had made between each other was now going down the toilet now.

Knocking on the front door left Richie feeling slightly bemused. He wasn't expecting anyone to show up today. Nevertheless curious he quickly put Gwen's sandwich in the fridge before walking over to the front door. When he opened it and saw who was there, his bemusement grew even more.

"Bill?" Richie asked confused as to why he, Ben, Eddie, and Stan were standing there unannounced. "What's up?"

"Beverly called me." Bill said quick to inform his bespectacled friend the current issue on hand. "She s-s-said she needs t-to show all of us s-something."

Despite being extremely curious on what exactly Beverly needed to show them, Richie shook his head. All he could focus on the moment was on his older sister and her current state of depression. "Look right now isn't a good time."

That had all of the boys frowning, but Bill was more vocal with his response. "H-H-How come?"

Richie sighed, aghast. "Gwen has barely gotten out of bed so far today. She's having another one of her episodes."

"She is?" Stan questioned with soft features. His heart instantly started aching for his crush. For the last week he had found it odd that Gwen hadn't been hanging with them. Richie had just told them that she wanted some time to herself. Now he knew the real reason. He felt stupid for not realizing this sooner. He knew of these episodes Gwen would have. As of matter of fact they all knew (well except Ben, who was now catching on) and none of them liked that she had to go through that.

Richie solemnly nodded his head. "Yeah, so it's not a good day today."

"It's because of that article she found in my room, isn't it?" Ben suddenly asked, quietly. He still felt extremely bad for causing Gwen such distress. He never would have kept that article in plain site if he knew the attachment Gwen had with the Campbell boy.

Richie didn't need to verbally reply back to him to confirm that question. The rare somber expression he had on was enough for Ben to understand. He lowered his eyes, feeling more awful.

"B-B-But Gwen needs to go t-t-too." Bill persisted causing Richie's attention to go onto him.

The Tozier boy couldn't help but hardened his eyes. "I just said today's not a good day. She just wants to be left alone."

"What if I-I-I talk to her." Bill earnestly suggested, completely disregarding Richie's irked expression. He wanted to talk to Gwen and get her out of the funk she was in. And it wasn't just because he wanted to go see Beverly. Bill really wanted to help Gwen. After everything the Tozier girl had done to comfort him with Georgie's disappearance, Bill wanted to be the one to help her now. It was time he starting doing so.

As Bill was thinking this to himself, Richie's discontent grew. "You? You want to talk to her?" He questioned with a heavy frown. That foreign jealousy he once had towards Bill was slapping him right across the face again. Why did Bill think he would be able to persuade Gwen to get out of bed? If Richie wasn't able to (her own brother), than surely Bill's attempts would be futile.

"Fine, we'll all g-g-go see her then." Bill replied taken back by his tone of voice. He was still unaware of Richie's jealousy towards him.

Richie opened his mouth ready to retort something back to the Denbrough boy, but Eddie's rushed reply beat him to it.

"It wouldn't hurt to try." The small looking boy squeaked out trying to move things along.

Stan nodded his head agreeing because he really wanted to see Gwen. "Yeah, Richie, maybe seeing us will help her some how."

As much as Richie wanted to say no, he knew it would be awful to refuse help for Gwen. Maybe seeing all of them, minus Beverly (and not just Bill) would finally get her out of bed. He opened the door wider for them. "Alright, come on in."

One by one each boy entered the Tozier residence. Ben who had never stepped foot inside Richie and Gwen's house looked around the inside with close attention. "Are your parents home?" He asked curious to know if he would run into his parents.

Richie let out a low scoff. No matter how low it was, the scoff Ben heard made him right away understand the estranged relationship between Richie and his parents. "No, dad's at work and mom is helping with the decoration committee for the fourth of July festival."

"But that's still a couple weeks away." Eddie was quick to point out.

Richie shrugged his shoulders. "My mom likes to get things done." He said nonchalantly. "Whatever gets her out of the house more, I guess."

None of the boys knew how to responded to that. They could sense the awkwardness that came from the topic of his parents. So they just instead focused on climbing up the stairs heading towards Gwen's room. As they reached the top, Eddie furrowed his eyebrows. "Is she listening to music?"

"Yeah." Richie nodded his head once hearing the familiar melancholic lyrics again.

"The Smiths?" Stan questioned, bemused. Now that they were standing behind her bedroom door he recognized the band's lyrics to the song, Asleep.

Richie's expression became humorless. Which was an odd facial expression to see on the thirteen year old. "She's been playing that damn song over and over again for the last hour."

All boys looked at each other with even more concern for their older friend.

Well shit...this is serious.

Just as Richie was about to open the bedroom door, Bill grabbed a hold of the knob first. Not even wasting another second, the Denbrough boy opened the door, completely unaware of the look Richie was now throwing him. After Bill went inside first, the rest of the boys followed behind his entrance. They all right away noticed (other than that very sad song that was playing) how dark it was inside Gwen's room. Her curtains were closed, which right away alarmed Bill, Eddie, and Stan. All three boys knew (thanks to their constant visits) how Gwen liked her bedroom to be bright, hence why she always had her curtains opened during the day. At the moment there was no light. It looked as if it was night time. Which it wasn't...it wasn't even the afternoon yet.

"I told you I wasn't hungry, Richie." Gwen said with a dispirited tone.

The way she sounded out of energy and just so sad, made all of them (especially Stan) give her blanket covered laying figure sorry filled expressions.

Bill got closer to her bed and turned off the boombox. "G-G-Gwen, it's us." He stammered out. They all saw her turn in her bed to look at them.

"Oh..." Gwen uttered with a lack of her usual enthusiasm when seeing the familiar group of boys in her bedroom. She furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled. "What are you guys doing here?" She switched her eyes over to where Richie was standing between Eddie and Stan. "Did you call them over?" She questioned her brother.

Richie shook his head and was ready to explain to her what was going, but Bill stepped closer to her. "Beverly called. S-S-She needs us to come over to her place. She needs all of us to b-b-be there."

Beverly needed them? That alone made Gwen want to get out of bed, but she once again stopped herself. The memory of that awful clown invaded her mind. She shook her head. "I can't go." They'll think I've gone crazy...God, maybe I am...

"P-P-Please, Gwen." Bill said suddenly taking a hold of her hand. He looked into her eyes, pleading. " I-I-I know you're going through something, because I am t-t-too." He solemnly admitted to her. He could see it in her eyes. Something unnerving was bothering her. And it wasn't just because of Chase's article...no there was something else. "Whatever it is we c-c-can help you. I-I can help you. B-B-But right now Beverly needs you. We all d-d-do. We h-h-have to be there for each other."

His words got to her. Gwen looked over to where the rest of the boys were. Her brother was looking at her with the same concerned expression he had on before. Ben was nodding his head, with a full on apologetic look set on his face. Eddie gave her a small smile of comfort, and Stan's eyes held softness in them as he stared at her. It made her heartbeat go a bit faster. She pulled her hand away from Bill's and reached for the Turtle necklace she had on, gently touching it. With a new sense of strength thanks to all of them being here, Gwen nodded her head

"Okay." She said finally getting up from bed, putting aside her despondent feelings for now. Beverly needed their help, and she wasn't about to disregard her new friend from any help she could give her. "Let me just change and we'll go."

All the boys nodded their head, relieved she was no longer hiding underneath her covers. They started making their way out of her bedroom to give her the privacy to change. Before Bill left the room, Gwen softly called out to him.

"Bill?"

The Denbrough boy turned to look at her as the others continued making their way downstairs. "Y-Yes?"

Gwen quickly walked towards the boy she considered like second brother and brought him into a heartfelt hug. "Thank you..." She said finally letting tears go down her cheeks.

They were kindred spirits. The both of them were. They each had lost someone they cared for with all their hearts.

So Bill had no problem returning the hug, just as he'd done so many times in the past. And just like in the past, he felt his own set of tears go down his face.

They were into their comforting moment that they failed to notice Richie looking at them from the entrance of her bedroom door. Ben, Eddie, and Stan had gone downstairs, but the Tozier boy stayed back wanting to wait for Gwen and Bill. He should have been happy Gwen had gotten out of bed...but he wasn't entirely feeling that way. Mainly because that same jealousy from before lingered. It wasn't him that got his sister feeling better...it had been Bill. And now that he was seeing Gwen and Bill hugging, it had Richie feeling more insecure and jealous than ever before.

It was ridiculous, but Richie was getting extremely worried that Gwen was starting to view Bill more of a brother than him...but that couldn't be possible...could it?

With a crestfallen expression, Richie went downstairs. He was no longer able to handle watching the brother and sister like moment Gwen and Bill were having with each other.

It hurt too much to watch.