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: Ladies and Gentlemen here's the chapter we have all been waiting for...the rock war scene. Which means our precious boy Mike is officially apart of the story and the Losers' Club is finally complete! Yay! xD Enjoy!
Random little detail but I wrote this chapter while listening to the 1999 The Mummy movie soundtrack. I don't know why, I just did. Haha. xD Also sorry for any typos, I'm writing this at two o'clock in the morning. I'll try to fix any mistakes later.
A lot of F Bombs are said in this chapter. Oops. LOL.
"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently." ― Maya Angelou
Chapter 13: The epic rock war that united them all
Gwen was glad she wasn't squeamish at the sight of blood. That would have been horrible if she were since all of Beverly's bathroom was covered with blood. That didn't mean she was one hundred percent unaffected. The sight of blood still gave her major goosebumps, but she was well composed to not lose herself into fear.
Whenever it felt like it was too much, all Gwen would do was touch her Turtle necklace and she would become okay again. She figured that was now a odd little ritual for her to do whenever she was scared or overwhelmed, so she didn't look into it.
The six of them worked together in cleaning up the bathroom. Each of them had different ways of cleaning. Stan's in particular stood out to her the most. Being the clean perfectionist that he was, Stan had his own unique way of getting things done. It was one others (not his friends) might have found odd, but Gwen found his cleaning skills to be adorable and quite orderly.
Gwen was soon following the way he cleaned. When Stan took notice to this his eyes widened and Gwen saw how his cheeks became red. She immediately thought he was annoyed with her, so she quickly apologized and moved on with her cleaning. Unknown to her, Stan wasn't blushing because he was annoyed, but because he was thrown back that she had been coping his exact way of cleaning. It made a butterflies appear in stomach at the thought of Gwen doing something the same as him. Even if it was something simple as cleaning.
Stan tried working up the courage to say something to her, but he couldn't.
Moving on, the most difficult part for Gwen was cleaning the blood from the ceiling. That was not a fun thing to do, but Gwen self-assigned such task for herself. It was a struggle, but thanks to the help of the small ladder Beverly was able to find in her apartment, the Tozier girl was able to clean the whole ceiling. She thanked God (or whoever was out there in the universe who was responsible for the rarity of luck) for not getting any blood on her or the others.
After she was done cleaning, Gwen walked to the front of the door. Just as she was starting to take out the garbage bags that were filled with blood covered towels and napkins, Stan and Eddie came from behind her.
"We got it, Gwen." Stan said taking one of the bags from her. The other was left for Eddie to take.
Gwen offered both boys a smile. "Thanks guys." She then went back further into the apartment, to go see if there was anymore needed help. As she walked away, Stan took this time to admire her again. Within a few seconds of doing so he felt Eddie's stare on him.
"What?" Stan inquired going back to his shy yet defense phase.
Eddie knew bringing up Stan's unrequited crush on Gwen would only bother and embarrass the curly haired boy, so he shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing..." He said trying to sound nonchalant.
Now Eddie liked Gwen too (he even had a small crush), but he didn't want to invest his time on those romantic feelings for her. It was Stan who really liked the Tozier girl. The Kaspbrak boy liked her too, but if anything his crush on Gwen was more because he admired and looked up to her. He liked how she didn't treat him like he was made out of glass. She wasn't at all smothering like his mother was. Gwen was like a breath of fresh air. So naturally he found himself liking her. His crush on her wasn't as serious as the adoration Stan had for her. And that didn't bother Eddie at all. His friend's happiness meant a lot to him. Besides, Eddie had to admit seeing Stan and Gwen together would have been nice a thing. It gave him a warm feeling inside. Now the question was would Gwen ever feel the same way about Stan?
Eddie pondered...
That indeed was the million dollar question.
With a thoughtful look, Eddie grabbed the other garbage bag and continued making his way outside. Leaving a slightly confused Stan behind. The curly haired boy was quick to get over whatever bemusement his small friend had put him in. Before he started walking again, he glanced over his shoulder one last time to look where Gwen had gone off to. He felt his heart up against his chest as he did this. Turning forward again, he started making his way outside as well.
Meanwhile, Gwen who was turning the corner to where the bathroom was at froze. There standing with a sad look on his face was Ben. She walked up to him with a concerned expression. "Ben, is everything alright?" She gently asked him.
Ben met her gaze, and was quick to wipe away any downheartedness he had. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
Gwen wasn't convinced. "You sure about that?"
Ben's faux composure faltered. "Uh...no. But I'll be fine. I always am." I have to be. Ben thought to himself. He couldn't let seeing Beverly and Bill bonding get to him. Bill was his friend. Ben liked Beverly, but it was obvious that the lovely redhead liked Bill. So who was he to get in way? His feelings for Beverly were strong (more than Bill's―in his opinion anyways), but Ben wouldn't put any of their friendships in jeopardy. So he'd stand back...it was what he was good at doing anyways. His eyes took in how soft and caring Gwen was being with him. All of a sudden all the guilt he had before came back with a vengeance. Ben needed to make things right with her.
Ben gave the older girl an apologetic expression. "Gwen, I'm really sorry."
Gwen let out a sigh, already knowing where this conversation was heading. "You don't have to apologize, Ben."
"But―"
"Really you don't." Gwen said raising a hand before putting it back down. "I'm gonna be real with you." She announced, opening up emotionally to him. Gwen felt comfortable enough to do so. "I have depression. It sucks and I hate it, but I have it." She told him, surprised by how steady her voice was from speaking about such a sensitive topic for her. "I also have fall backs every now and again. So, I was bound to have another one of my episodes sooner or later."
"How do you manage through?" Ben asked, fully curious. He'd never met anyone (well, never anyone who's admitted it aloud) that's dealt with depression.
Gwen scoffed lightly. "Pills...lots and lots of pills." She turned somber. "My mom calls them my happy pills. I don't like taking them. They're not like my ADHD pills. I don't mind taking those. But the antidepressants I take make me feel worse and low with energy. I want to stop taking them completely, but then I get yelled at." Suddenly she began laughing bitterly. "Which is kind of funny. I mean, they're supposed to make me feel better...yet they're doing the opposite." She stopped laughing and then looked at him, earnestly. "To tell you the truth, I feel better when I'm around you guys. It's the best I've ever felt since..." All that unfortunate crap happened. She cleared her throat and lowered her eyes down a bit. "Well, you know."
Gwen's emotional confession made Ben feel a variety of things. The most being sympathy. "I am sorry." He said once again. He was just unable to not stop apologizing to her.
He really was a compassionate boy, wasn't he? Gwen smiled a real genuine smile at him. "The fact that you're still apologizing to me means that you actually care."
Ben returned the smile to her before it fell. "I gave her the poem." He found himself admitting to Gwen. He figured since she shared something personal about herself, Ben could open up more to her. That was what friends did. "But I didn't write my name on it." He confessed to her, sounding bashful.
Gwen felt happy that he had followed her advice and gave Beverly the poem he wrote for her. Even if he didn't write his name. That didn't automatically mean it was over. "It's not too late, you can still tell her it was you." She assured him.
Ben lowered his eyes, dejected. "No...she thinks it was Bill. She wants it to be Bill."
Why would she think it was Bill? That doesn't make―Oh!
A light bulb went off Gwen's head and she felt so stupid for not noticing this sooner. Now she understood why Ben looked so crestfallen.
Ben liked Beverly...but Beverly liked Bill...but did Bill like Beverly? Probably.
Oh crap. Gwen looked at Ben with a soft look. She wished that was able to comfort him with soothing words about how Beverly liked him more than Bill, but she couldn't. That would have been a rude and false thing to say. Gwen viewed Bill as a brother and she wished him the best, and if that meant Beverly being with him made him happy...then so be it. The problem was that Ben also liked Beverly...but it was now clear to Gwen that all of Beverly's affection were leaning towards Bill at the moment. There were no real comforting words she could say to Ben. Except for...
"Maybe you'll get the courage to tell her another time. Remember in the end the underdog always wins." Gwen said in hopes that kindly advice would suffice for now.
Ben knew this would was tricky conversation for her to handle considering her close relationship with Bill. He was thankful that she was at least trying to make him feel better. It proved to him more how much of a real friend she was to him. Curiosity suddenly filled his eyes as he looked at her. "What would you do?" He asked her.
Gwen rose her eyebrows. "Me?" She asked pointing to herself. "Well..." She said trying to come up with a reply...she couldn't. "I'm not so sure. I mean, I've never had a secret admirer before. I doubt anyone's ever had a crush on me." She said that because she never found out Chase's real feelings for her...she had a hunch he liked her, but without his verbal confession, Gwen was left in whirl of uncertainty.
"That's not true." Ben blurted without thinking. Crap.
Gwen's expression became puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Ben inwardly panicked. Now he didn't have confirmation, but he knew (thanks to that mild display of affection in the bathroom) that Stan had feelings for Gwen. It was pretty obvious and he could tell everyone else knew about Stan's feelings―well, everyone except for Gwen. Stan hadn't revealed his feelings for her. Therefore, Ben himself didn't want to be the one to tell Gwen about the curly haired boy's crush. In order to restore things in order, he decided for a general approach. "You're nice and pretty." He said in vague way, not at all giving away too much information. "I'm sure there's someone out there who has a crush on you."
Gwen was able to see underneath his compliments. Her bemused expression became lighthearted. "Ben Hanscom, are you trying to tell me you know someone who's got a crush on me?" She asked amusingly, not at all serious. She took the non-serious route because she couldn't fathom the thought of someone liking her, nor she did want someone to like her. At least that's what she would tell herself. It was hard for her to except the possibility of someone truly liking her because the only person she' ever wanted to like her was Chase. She didn't want to get her high hopes up on a new crush. She also didn't want to push away the feelings she still had for Chase onto someone else...she wasn't ready to move on.
Having no idea with what to say to this, Ben blinked a few times. "Well..."
"Hey, is there anything else that needs to be taken out?" Stan's voice filled the air. Both Gwen and Ben saw that he was standing a few feet away from them. When looking at him, Ben was able to tell his curly haired friend hadn't heard a word from the conversation Gwen and him had been having. Thank God. He was able to relax. Ben shook his head, resulting in Gwen responding.
"No, I think that was it. Bill and Beverly will take the rest out." The Tozier girl gazed back and fourth at both boys, completely throwing aside the topic of conversation she was having with Ben. A playful smile broke out onto her face. "Let's go save Eddie from Richie. My brother is probably annoying the hell out of him now." She said this not in a insulting way, but more in a buoyant sister like way towards her brother.
They soon left the Marsh's apartment after that to wait with Eddie and Richie outside. Once they were out in the open the topic of crushes was no longer brought up by either Ben or Gwen. Although Ben was still inwardly thinking about it, Gwen had long past it.
It wasn't long until Beverly and Bill had joined the rest of them. The group of friends were now walking alongside the rode, pushing their bikes with them. Except for Richie who was actually on his bike with semi-annoyed expression set on his face.
"No, really, I love being your guys' personal doorman." Richie sarcastically commented as he kept circling his bike around his older sister and friends. "Could you idiots have taken any longer?"
Gwen rolled her eyes at her younger brother. "Beep beep, Richie."
"Shut up, Richie." Eddie said to his bespectacled friend, huffing out air.
Stan was quick to join his crush and his hypochondriac smaller friend. "Yeah, shut up, Richie!"
"Oh, okay." Richie responded taking in their jeering. "Trash the Trashmouth, I get it." He continued his frivolous behavior. "Hey, at least I wasn't the one scrubbing the bathroom floor and imagining it went all Eddie's mom's vagina on Halloween."
Eddie threw him a hard stare while Gwen scrunched up her face. "Ew, Richie. I did not need to hear that."
Richie released a laugh. "Got a reaction out of you though."
Before she was able to retort something back to him, starting a brother sister banter between them, Bill spoke up.
"She d-d-didn't imagine it." Bill said coming to a stop in the middle of the road, as he did this so did the rest of them. He took a deep breath finding his inner courage to finally tell his friends what had been eating him up inside."I-I-I saw something.
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked now feeling anxious.
"Did you see blood too?" Stan questioned, distressed. Other than in Beverly's bathroom, he himself didn't see blood. No, what he saw was the lady with the deformed face from that awful painting in his father's study. Judith. That painting gave him nightmares and they've only increased after he actually saw the lady from the painting face to face.
Bill shook his head. "Not blood. I-I saw G-G-Georgie." He explained making all of them stare at him with unease and wide eyes.
Gwen took in and let out a shaky breath. "You saw Georgie?"
"It s-s-seemed so real." Bill said with heavy distraught emotion. "I mean, it seemed like him, b-but there was this—"
"Clown." Eddie interrupted his face turning pale. He gulped nervously as he looked around at his friends. "Yeah, I saw him too."
Everyone (minus Richie) looked spooked, but relieved at the same time. Ben had nodded his head before staring down towards the ground. The awful memory of that headless boy came to mind as did the clown he had seen at the library. Stan who had been just as freaked out had been better at hiding his need to have a full panic attack. He instead kept calm by silently naming different types of birds, as he too nodded his head to Bill. Although Gwen hadn't nodded her head to Bill the wide eyed expression she had was enough for the Denbrough boy and for the others to know she saw something too.
Now unlike the others, Richie Tozier was not in the loop with them. Did that mean he didn't believe what they were saying? Of course he believed them. He knew there was something wrong with the town of Derry. Ben's research proved that his home town was not all sunshine and smiles as the adults made it out to be. However, Richie had no freakin' idea what his friends were talking about. He hadn't seen no clown, and that both bewildered and frustrated him. Bewildered because for once he was not a part of something with his friends. And he felt frustrated because his non-experience with this clown meant he couldn't help his sister. Well he could help her, but he just wouldn't be able to fully empathize with her because he hadn't gone through what his friends had gone through yet. Not that he wanted to see the clown or anything...he hated clowns. They scared the living shit out of him. Gwen knew this. Perhaps that's why she didn't tell him about what she saw. He knew whatever this thing was it scared his friends and older sister...and he did not like that at all. Whatever Gwen had seen it had driven her back to her depression. And despite his fear towards clowns, Richie wanted to confront this clown and beat the crap out of it for traumatizing his sister. Even now she looked pretty spooked. Just what exactly had she seen?
"Gwen?" Richie attentively asked her.
Gwen closed her eyes. "I saw it." She finally admitted out-loud to her brother and to the rest of her friends. Now that she told them the truth she felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. She breathed in and out. I'm not crazy. I'm not the only one. Once she got a hold of herself, she opened her eyes again. "Oh God, you guys. I saw the clown too." She let out a sigh as she tightened the hold on her bike handles."You have no freakin' idea how relieved I am that I'm not the only one."
"Was the clown the only thing you saw?" Eddie found himself asking her. He had seen the Leper and the clown. So did she see something else other than the clown? He hoped not that would only mean more apprehension on her end.
"No." Gwen said shaking her head. She buried down the distress that wanted to escape her. She didn't want to think about her nightmares. The awful looking Tarman, the decomposed version of Patrick touching her legs, or that damn clown, but she had to be honest with her friends. "I...I saw other things too."
Everyone could see how disturbed Gwen looked at just mentioning the other things she saw. Clearly there was more to tell with her side of the story. However, none of them were going to push her for the details. Richie especially. He wanted to help his sister but he knew forcing her to talk would end badly and would most likely cause Gwen more emotional pain. So he'd be the patient brother and wait until she was ready to tell him and the others the rest of her encounter. That didn't stop him with trying to help in his own way in the meantime. Despite the eerie mood that had fallen around them, Richie still found a way to break it.
"Wait, can only virgins see this stuff? Is that why I have not seen this shit?" He asked hoping this would at least make one of them crack a smile.
No one laughed at his comment. For a few seconds there he did see how Gwen's lips go upwards, as if wanting to smile. She soon reverted back to looking serious. "Be glad you haven't seen anything at all, Richie." She told her brother. The last thing she wanted was for him to experience any type of creepy shit like the rest of them had. All of a sudden she started to hear loud shouting. Her features mixed with puzzlement and concentration. "Do you guys hear that?" She asked her friends.
Everyone turned to where those loud noises were coming from, and they soon came to see a very familiar blue Trans Am parked on the side of the rode. Eddie eyes widen in realization. "Oh shit, that's Belch Huggins car." He steadied his breathing, not wanting to have an asthma attack right now of all times. "We should probably get out of here."
Bill's eyes noticed an item on the ground next to said car. "Wait, isn't t-t-that the home-schooled kid's bike?" He asked pointing to it.
Eddie nodded his head. "Yeah, that's Mike's bike." He said being one of the few to actually know the boy's name. His nerves grew at what that meant. Henry Bowers and his goons were probably doing God knows what to him.
Beverly stepped forward. She right away looked at Gwen, knowing the older girl would stand by with what she was going to say next. "We have to help him." She ardently declared.
"We should?" Richie asked, unsure. He didn't mean to sound like a jerk, but he just didn't want to deal with Henry's crap right now. Not to mention he also didn't want Gwen anywhere near that mullet wearing asshole.
Beverly gave the youngest Tozier a look of disbelief. "Yes." She replied to him before once again looking at Gwen for support.
A fierce protective like expression appeared on Gwen's face. Her dark eyes were set with determination. She gave Beverly a nod. "There's no way I'm letting that fucktard hurt another kid. Especially not him. Not on my watch." After she said that she dropped her bike to the ground and everyone else followed her actions. They all then started running towards the direction of said noises.
Gwen noticed how Stan was still lingering back because he was trying to get his bike to stand up. Unlike at Beverly's apartment, he was having trouble getting it stand. At other times the Tozier girl would have found this to be adorable but right now he had to hurry things up.
"Stanley!" She called out using his full name.
Stan had no idea why but hearing her say his full name finally got him to put his bike in a standing position. He looked her way and saw how she was holding out a hand for him to take. His heart sped up at such a wonderful sight before him. Without any hesitation he ran towards her and took a hold of her hand with his own.
The feeling of her hand with his again made his heart go faster with excitement and ardor. Or perhaps that was his adrenaline because of the current running they were doing. Stan liked to think otherwise. Whatever the reason this time, Stan just made sure to bask Gwen's touch as they ran off together to help Mike.
At the young age of thirteen, Mike Hanlon already had a work schedule to follow.
On the days he wasn't doing his home-school studies, he would wake up early (around five or six in the morning), help his grandfather Leroy around the farm (or at least try―he had yet to do the killing sheep part with the farm duties), and then deliver whatever meat they had for that day to the local butcher shop located in town.
During this routine he would do his best to avoid Henry Bowers and his friends. The older male teens that liked to severely bully him. On some days he got lucky and he wouldn't catch a single glimpse of them. However, on other days Mike wasn't so lucky.
Unfortunately, today was one of those days.
Just as Mike thought he was free from them, Henry and his friends got the upper hand by stopping him due to the car they were driving in. Mike had decided to ditch his bike at the last second and ran into the woods in hopes of losing them that way. The rowdy group didn't stop their malicious intents, and proceeded to run after him. Now Mike was a fast runner, but all that bike pedaling got him tired, so it wasn't long until Henry caught up with him and harshly threw him to the dirt covered ground.
Now here he was having his face smashed into one of the meats he was supposed to deliver. Henry's foot kept pressing his face down while he kept yelling racial slurs at him, as his other two friends watched. Mike fought to get up but struggled immensely. The pain he was feeling from the face pressing was soon forgotten thanks to what his eyes caught sight of.
There in the open high covered grassy field was a clown...the same clown he had seen at the butchers shop before he had almost gotten run over by Henry and his friends. However, this time the clown had blood all over his smiling face...and he was waving a severed arm. Maybe it was his fight or flight mode from seeing this disturbing sight but Mike finally got the strength to fight against Henry's hold. Unfortunately, his momentary escape was ruined when Belch kicked him in the face, resulting in Mike falling onto the ground again.
Henry was quick to get on top of him. Mike once again started fighting against his hold. The Bowers boy was quick to pin his wrist down with one hand, and used his other hand to grab a rock from the ground. Mike's face filled with fear only this time it wasn't because of the clown. No, the crazed eye look Henry had was enough for him to know he was going to smash his head any second now.
From the sidelines, Victor and Belch were full on uncomfortable now. Victor had been from the beginning. But his uncomfortable feeling was mistaken with annoyance at first. He didn't want to waste his time chasing after Mike. They've done that loads of times, but Henry made it clear of his intent of wanting to catch him. So him and Belch followed...Victor more reluctant to do so. At first it hadn't been so bad. They yelled harsh things at him (Henry's comments were the racist ones) and pushed him around. It was the usual stuff. That all changed though when Henry started to really push Mike around. His taunts became worse and his eyes got this craze look to them. It frankly freaked Victor out and he knew Belch wasn't feeling to good with Henry's behavior either.
Except now seeing Henry raise a rock to Mike's head, had Victor's alarms going off in his head. This was going too far. This was too much. "Henry..." Victor tried getting his attention. All his mind kept saying was this had to stop...and it had to stop now. He shouted more strongly this time."Henry! St―"
A rock suddenly hit Henry on the side of his forehead, throwing him off Mike.
Momentarily dazed by such an unexpected throw, Henry was helped back up by Belch. They followed Victor's gaze to see the culprit who had thrown the rock was. The three older boys caught sight of Beverly Marsh standing there looking quite proudly with herself. To their surprise she was soon accompanied by six other people. One of them being Gwen, and Victor was quick to notice how she had been holding the Jewish boy's, Stanley Uris' hand before she had let go of it when they had stopped running to stand next to Beverly. A feeling of jealousy grew in his stomach from seeing such display of affection.
"Nice throw." Stan complimented the redhead.
"Thanks." Beverly shrugged her shoulders and threw a small smile at the oldest Tozier sibling who was next to her. "Gwen taught me."
"And that throw was a ten out of ten." Gwen replied proudly, paying her share fair of compliments to her red haired friend. The sound of someone coming their way had Gwen go on defense. Those defense mechanisms faltered when she saw it was just Mike trying to make his way towards them. Gwen was quick to walk to where he was. "Take my hand." She kindly said as she offered one of her hands to him.
Mike normally wasn't the trusting type. Except something within him said that he could trust her. This girl with dark warm eyes...the same girl he remembered running into his bike with. There was a caring vibe coming off of her...it was almost motherly. Mike had no problem accepting her hand.
Gwen was fast yet gentle to pull him up to his feet. She then walked him over to where the rest of her friends were at. She once again took her place besides Beverly and Stan.
"You Losers are trying too hard. She'll do you." Henry said making his presence more well known. He flashed Beverly a grin that was filled with ridicule making her grimace. "You just gotta ask nicely. Like I did." He proceeded to grab onto his crotch over his pants.
Angry for his treatment towards Beverly, and for his disgusting behavior, Gwen gave him a glare. "Fuck you, Bowers!" She shouted, letting her pent up rage towards the bully come out to the open.
Henry sneered at her. "It's about time you came to your senses. Just name the time and place, sweetheart."
Gwen made a face full of repulse at the term sweetheart.
"Go jizz in a sock, dipshit!" Richie yelled in his sister's defense. His fists were clenching, but he remained in his spot. Behind Richie's glasses, his eyes were filled with complete hatred for the Bowers boy. "It's the only action you'll ever get!" He added in hopes that Henry would lose his annoying grin and would cause him aggravation instead.
For a brief moment there it looked like Richie's words of insult had gotten to Henry. That thought was soon thrown out the window when Henry broke out into a round of laughter.
"Please, your sister would do me if you all weren't here with her. You know she would." Henry said as he lewdly looked Gwen up and down. From behind him, Victor's eyes clouded with anger as Henry continued talking. "Too bad Hockstetter isn't here. We all know how much he really wanted to get into your pants." He let out a dark chuckle. "Almost as much as I do...you have no idea what you're missing out on. You just need to be felt up real good. Maybe then you wouldn't be such a dumb dyke."
Richie's anger was over the roof and Victor just had enough of Henry. However, before either of them could say anything back to the Bowers boy, someone else spoke up.
"Shut the hell up!" Stan shouted with so much fury that it startled his friends―even Henry looked shocked. From beside the curly haired boy, Gwen was now staring at him with an awed impressed look. The Tozier girl felt the beginnings of a blush surface to her cheeks. Never had any of them heard the orderly well behaved bird loving boy shout so fiercely before. His face was red from anger and his narrowed eyes were solely focused on Henry. "You don't talk to her like that!"
Despite his shock towards the Jew's outburst, Henry was quick to recover. "What's this?" He questioned condescendingly. "Got yourself a little boyfriend already, Gwen? Hell, maybe you are easy like Marsh."
Enough was enough. Not only had Henry insulted his friend but he once again insulted the girl that Ben loved. No one got to talk so low about Beverly. Grabbing a rock from the ground, Ben decided to take charge. He let out a yell and with all the courage he had bottled up, Ben threw the rock at Henry.
"What the fuck?!" Henry exclaimed staggering back a bit. The rock had barely grazed his head enough to leave him extremely bewildered by Ben's actions. He didn't actually think Ben would have the balls to stand up to him. He thought the same with Four-Eyes and that curly haired Jew...but apparently he was wrong.
Beverly was the first to follow behind Ben's actions and started throwing rocks towards the bullies direction. The other soon got a hold of rocks from the ground to guard themselves from a fight they all knew was about to take place with Henry and his so called buddies.
"Rock war!" Richie yelled ready to start the brawl. As soon as he announced this he was hit in the face with an oncoming rock thrown by Henry.
"Oh, fuck no!" Gwen shouted with rage. Protectiveness for her brother made Gwen throw a rock in Henry's direction. It hit him on the head, right across from where Beverly had first hit him. The powerful impact made him yell. Despite the pain he was feeling he didn't stand down and he continued his own throwing.
Belch had joined the fight to stand by Henry but Victor only joined in order to shield himself from the on going throws he was receiving from the little twerps. He was well aware how Gwen wasn't throwing rocks his way. No...all her throws were going directly towards Henry. As he was retaliating back, Victor was left impressed by her throwing skills. He knew she was a good thrower based from the amount of times he'd watch her play softball. To see her stand up to Henry was quite eye opening for Victor. The ponytail she had came loose, resulting in her hair going all over the place. That didn't stop her throws. She still kept going...and Victor had never seen her look so wild before. It was exhilarating.
Henry and Belch on the other hand were doing their best to avoid Gwen's line of fire. Henry especially because he knew how much of a threat she was when it came to throwing. She was on the girls softball team, so he knew the bitch had mad impressive throwing skills. He focused on hitting the other losers, figuring they would be easy targets...that soon proved to be wrong.
"Fuck you fuckers!" Richie yelled now standing up again. He had thrown a rock hitting Henry on his left knee. As he bent down, the rock Stan threw at that very second impacted with Henry's right shoulder. Beverly's, Ben's and Bill's, rocks hit him all over different parts of his body. Another rock thrown by Gwen hit him near the groin. This was the hit that had Henry groaning in loud anguish.
As this happened one of the rocks Belch threw had almost hit Gwen on the head. That thought of Gwen almost getting hurt had Eddie seeing red. He jumped into the water below him and threw the rock he had with such new found force. "Get the fuck out of here!" He yelled, furious. The rock he'd thrown hit Belch right on the head, making the burly sized teen stagger back in pain.
His actions were running all over the place, and just as Victor was about to hit Eddie with a rock, Gwen quickly acted like a shield. As the rock fighting continued behind her, she found herself having a silent private conversation with Victor.
Gwen mouthed the word GO to him, inwardly hoping he would follow the demand and just leave. She didn't want to hurt him, but she knew that if he came anymore closer to her younger brother and friends she'd throw the rock at him. There'd be some hesitation, but Gwen would do whatever she had to do to protect them. She would do anything to protect the people she cared for the most. This was the only warning she was going to to give the sleek white-blond haired boy.
Victor took in her appearance. Besides her facial features being so dead set on wanting him to leave, he couldn't help but admire her. She looked so freakin' untamed. So beautiful in an unruly type of way. Her dark hair was a mess from her constant throwing and her face was red with adrenaline. He could see her breathing in and out waiting what his next actions would be. Would he stay and continue in the rock throwing, or take her word and leave?
Needless to say that decision wasn't hard to make.
After admiring her for one last time, Victor dropped the rock he was holding and made a break for it in the direction of Belch's car.
Belch saw this and decided to ditch the fuck out as well. "Fuck you, Losers!" He shouted as he ran behind Victor.
That just left Henry. Who was now on the ground, deeply physically wounded as much as his ego was. None of them felt any sort of sympathy for him. This was justice that was long over due in their eyes.
As they each took a moment to collect themselves, Gwen found herself walking over to where Henry was sprawled on the ground. She stopped once she reached him and gazed down at his beat up form with aversion. She wanted to kick him between the legs, hurting his sorry excuse for a member, but she restrained herself from doing so. She was going to be the better person. "I'm not one to kick a person when they're already on the ground, and pathetically might I add, so I'm gonna give you a warning, fucktard." The most deadliest look she's ever had in her fifteen years of life crossed her face as she glared down at him. "If you ever mess with my brother and friends again, I'll fucking end you." She didn't wait to hear a response from him. After she said this, Gwen walked back to where her friends were at. She saw how they were helping Mike walk, leading him away from Henry Bowers.
Gwen now stood next to her brother, and Richie chose that moment to send a glare over to Henry. "Go blow your dad, you mullet wearing asshole!" He then flipped him off by using not one but both of his middle fingers. Gwen happily enjoyed in and flipped Henry off too before she and Richie walked away to join their friends.
They left behind a very wounded and vengeful Henry Bowers.
As the group of eight walked underneath the kissing bridge, a sense of unity and fulfillment surged through them. They were quiet, basking in their win but that silence was soon interrupted.
Mike glanced at all of them looking thankful yet culpable."Thanks guys, but you shouldn't have done that."
"Oh, Bowers? He's always after us." Eddie answered trying to throw away any guilt Mike must have been feeling.
"I guess that's one t-t-thing we all have in common." Bill stuttered out briefly glancing back to offer Mike a cordial smile.
It was a smile that had Mike slowly returning one back.
"Yeah, home school, welcome to the Losers' Club!" Richie jokingly said but everyone could tell he was really being earnest.
Gwen made a thoughtful face before smiling. "The Losers' Club? Huh, I like the sound of that." She playfully pushed her brother resulting in him doing the same action to her. He broke out into a smile when she brought him into a side hug. It was rare for her to hug him in person, so Richie was left feeling happy. "How about we all go back to our place and watch a movie?" She asked her friends.
After what they'd just gone through a simple movie sounded like heaven. There was a round of "Okays" and "Yeses'" at that suggestion. Although Gwen noticed how much more eager Stan was due to his smile and how red his cheeks got when he gave her his answer. She figured he must have still been full with adrenaline. She sure was.
As that happened, Richie noticed how silent Mike was and frowned. "What about you home school?"
"Richie, his name is Mike not home school." Gwen reminded her brother.
Richie leaned into her side hug. "I know that. I just like the way home school sounds." He said shrugging his shoulders. He looked forward at Mike again. "Anyways, what do you say? You in?"
Mike couldn't help but feel disbelief at the invitation to hang out with them. "Really?" He probably should have gone back home, but the thought of actually hanging out with friends was stopping him from doing so.
Gwen nodded her head. "We wouldn't have asked if we didn't want you there." Her expression then became lighthearted. "We'll even let you pick the movie."
"Just as long as it's Star Wars." Richie jokingly added.
"Richie..." Gwen drawled.
"Fine, it doesn't have to be Star Wars." Richie corrected only to mouth the movie title making Mike and the rest of them laugh.
Gwen smiled at Mike. "You pick whichever movie you want, on one condition." Her smile fell a little. "No horror movies."
That certainly wasn't a deal breaker for Mike. "No problem there." He replied finally accepting their invitation to hang out together.
Bill, Ben, Beverly, Eddie, Stan, and even Richie had no problem with that condition either. The last type of movie they wanted to watch was a horror movie.
As they continued in the direction of the Tozier residence, Mike Hanlon felt something he'd never felt before in that moment. He felt accepted, like he finally belonged.
It was a feeling he never wanted to go away.
A/N: Yay the group is all together now! The next chapter will be the Fourth of July scene. I'm gonna make the scene longer than it was in the movie. So expect more scenes with the Losers' Club - especially with Stan and Gwen. (: