CHAPTER THIRTEEN

13. you'll float too.

The two girls tumbled to the floor and rolled in the puddles with screams leaving Andy's lips at the thought of how this would turn out. The Losers stared in shock at them, none of them knew what would happen either and they only hoped that they could act soon enough.

"Bill!" Andy screamed out just as the other version of her started to grasp her throat which hadn't even healed from the last time it had happened which was merely a few minutes prior, "Bill!"

Whatever trance he had been stuck in he was now out of it, the Denbrough boy thrust the fence pole down on the decaying version of Andy before pulling it off the girl who gasped for air as Beverly joined her side to help her stand to her feet where she rubbed the swelling on her throat that pulsed painful below her fingers.

All of the boys joined Bill as they circled the rotting corpse that automatically started shifting back into the clown they knew to be Pennywise, each of them taking their turns to hit it with whatever they held as a weapon.

The clown, on the other hand, turned to Eddie who looked terrified at the sudden glare but even more terrified as it pelted a black liquid from its mouth, the same sticky, onyx blood that stained Andy's lips and chin, over the boy's face to the point where it dripped from his hair. "I'm gonna kill you!" the boy screamed before kicking Pennywise back.

But as he looked up, the face had turned into that of Mr Marsh, Beverly's father, who had a bloody scar covering his forehead. "Hey, Bevvie. Are you still my little-" the younger Marsh stabbed the metal pole down her father's mouth to cut him off as she stepped back to Andy who held Bev's arm gently for comfort.

The pale skin that once belonged to the red head's father cracked over and turned back to the white face paint of the clown before it spat the remainder of the metal from its mouth. Pennywise fell onto his back with groans leaving his red lips, backing all the way up to the base of another large tunnel with a chuckle.

"That's why you didn't kill Beverly," Bill pointed out as he stepped closer, Andy trailing behind him incase the Debrough boy faced more trouble, " 'Cause she wasn't afraid. And we aren't either. Not anymore. Now you're the one who's afraid. Because you're gonna starve."

The clown flipped back into the pipe but kept his head up to watch the Losers who stepped closer to him threateningly, they weren't going to back down when they were so close to defeating him for good.

"He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts," Pennywise mocked Bill's tongue twister that he would repeat to try and control his stutter.

Andy felt Stan press something to her hands which she noticed to be a metal pipe. This was a fight that belonged to each and every member of the Loser group, but right now Bill needed closure that the clown wouldn't come back to haunt his family or his friends anymore. So the girl handed it to him with a smirk finally on her stained lips. 

Bill threateningly went to hit Pennywise as he loomed in the tunnel but dodn't, instead he watched in satisfaction as the clown dropped further down the tunnel and the flesh on his head started to crumble and crack before one final word left his chapped lips as he fell down the tunnel to leave the Losers alone. "Fear."

"I know what I'm doing for my summer experience essay," Richie muttered as they all looked down the tunnel to make sure that he couldn't return but they had a feeling that he wouldn't. If only they knew.

Andy gasped as Bill wrapped his arms around her neck tightly for an embrace, she also enveloped her arms around his abdomen with her head burying in the crook of her neck, she thought that maybe she had heard a sniffle leave his lips.

"Guys. Guys," Eddie gained their attention so they could all look up to witness the children that floated around the mound of their belongings finally drift down to the floor in peace.

Yet Bill had his eyes trained on something else; a blur of yellow amongst all the grey and brown of the sewers. Georgie's yellow coat. He fell to his knees with his face burying in the fabric of his brother's belongings in the grief of losing Georgie for good.

Andy was the first at his side, her hand resting on the back of his neck gently as they all stayed in silence to mourn the loss of the young boy that some knew more than others. But no one knew him as well as Bill; the poor Denbrough boy had spent his summer in hopes of finding his brother alive, but that wasn't the case. Next, it was Andy, the girl who gave up most of her childhood to care for each and every member of the Denbrough household but Georgie was different, he was the best friend that she had made so quickly. The boy that taught her that sometimes it's okay to be different.

All of the Losers leaned down to pull Bill in for one final, tight embrace. Not one of them cared about getting dirty because it didn't matter, the only thing that did matter right then and there was Bill.

✘

September had rolled around almost too quickly for their liking. All of them knowing what was coming up soon. School. But not all of them had that chance, Andy and Bev were keen examples of that. Liam, Adriana's brother, had managed to bypass part of their parent's inheritance so that he could buy a house for them to live in. But he was also set on getting his sister out of Derry and to a whole new state, Colorado. Where she apparently had family.

None of the Losers were happy to hear that Andy was moving the country and would hardly be able to visit them, but they also knew that she needed a fresh start where she could build a new life without the tragedy of her parents and the summer of '89 following her around. 

"I can only remember parts," Beverly declared as they all sat in a field where they could hear the gentle trickle of the river, "I thought I was dead. That's what it felt like. I saw us, all of us together back in the cistern, but we were older, like our parents' ages."

"What were we doing there?" Bill stutter as his hand played with the bracelet on Andy's wrist mindlessly, Andy herself stared at Richie where she could see the yellow bracelet hanging on his own wrist. Deep down she hoped that Richie hadn't burned it like he said he had, but regardless she had made matching ones for Mike, Ben and Beverly to formally introduce them to the Losers.

"I just remember how we felt," Bev continued hastily, "How scared we were. I don't think I could ever forget that."

Bill's eyes set on a shard of a glass bottle within the strands of glass before he pushed up with it now in his hand, "Swear it. Swear that if It isn't dead, if It ever comes back, we'll come back, too."

Bill winced as his face contorted with pain with the glass that sliced down his palm to reveal the crimson blood. Next, it was Andy. The glass hesitantly sliced a small gash down her hand as Bill sent silent apologies to her for inflicting any pain on her. She simply smiled through it but as soon as he turned to do the same to the others she let the façade fall with pain written all over her watery eyes. She then watched as he cut Richie's palm, then Eddie who had to look away, then Mike, Stan, Ben and then lastly Beverly who hardly flinched.

One by one, each friend grabbed the hand of the two closest to them and held it there as an unspoken promise. One that she swore to keep until the day that she died. All of them did.

The Losers all sat down to talk for a while before having to say goodbye to Beverly for good. As soon as the chatter died down completely, Andy stood up. Her unwounded hand reached for the three yellow bracelets that were identical to all of the others that now wore them, "I guess this is kinda a Loser thing, but I made these for you newcomers. I even made Richie one," the girl met his glance that seemed guilty, "But I see that he stuck by it."

She handed one to each of the friends and tied them around their wrists for them to keep. "Hey!" Richie joked, "I did burn mine, this is just a new one that I-"

Andy offered her hand out to Richie with a grin as cheeky as ever. He seemed to catch on and nodded, their hands intertwined in a playful handshake that consisted of many fist bumps and slaps before they blew away like a bomb at the end. 

"When did you guys find time to make a handshake!" Bill stuttered out jokingly with a smile.

"One does not simply make a handshake, Billy Boy," Andy sat down by his side, his arm instantly going around her shoulder, "The handshake is already there, you just have to dig deep enough-"

"Bullshit!" Mike blurted out with a smile.

"Hey! I want one," Eddie whined. 

Richie just laughed, "I told you that they would get jealous."

"I gotta go," Stan broke the conversation sadly and stood up along with the others that joined him, "I hate you," he stared at Bill before they all chuckled at his bad acting, "I'll see ya later."

"Bye guys," Eddie hugged Richie and Andy before leaving with Stan so they could walk home together.

"See ya later, Losers," Mike held his wrist up to Andy who just smiled with a quick nod at his thank you.

One by one they all left Andy and Bill who were hesitant. But then it came to say a permanent goodbye to Beverly that they had both been trying to avoid. The girls had spent much time together in sleepovers, private walks by the river and even dying Andy's hair days after the events in the sewers. Her hair was now the natural brunette and not the box dye black that she hated.

"You have my number?" Andy asked her as they hugged tightly, she felt the taller girl nod her head before giving Bill a quick hug, "Don't forget to call! Or write! Or even drive to Colorado!"

"How could I ever forget you," Beverly smiled at Andy before wiping under her own eyes and walking away before the tears became too obvious to the others.

Bill watched as Andy sat down in the meadow. A smile sneakily growing on his face at the idea of what he had planned for her and what he had planned for days with the rest of the Losers that had helped him with money. 

"What?" she asked suspicious of his grin.

"Close your eyes-" he raised her hands to her eyelids before running behind a tree and appearing back in front of her with something now back in his hands, he placed it in front of her on the flattened grass, "Open."

Andy gasped out at the sight of her skateboard from the pawnshop, "You brought it back?"

"Well, having to ride you around on the back of my bike all summer was getting exhausting-" he stuttered with a dry chuckled leaving his quirked lips as she threw a handful of grass at him, "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

Andy jumped up and quickly kissed his lips as a thank you before gasping out at the realisation of what she had just done, "I'm sorry-" she stopped talking as his bloodied hand came to her cheek and he returned the kiss to her lips softly before pulling back with red cheeks.

"We went to buy your Mom's necklace but t-that son of a bitch that owned the shop had sold it before we got there," he shrugged as they both lay back on the grass, her head leaning on top of his outstretched arm so they could watch the clouds.

"I had a feeling that he would-" she quickly stopped talking and pointed up to one could in particular, "That one looks like a- a-"

"A heart?" he questioned before turning to look at Andy with the biggest hearts in his eyes that she didn't even recognise before she faced him also.

"If your heart looks like that then you should talk to a doctor or something."

Both kids just laughed before they spent the rest of the day pointing at clouds and joking around; just being kids for once. After all, they deserved it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I hope you guys enjoyed part one of 'Ruined Reflections', don't forget to vote and comment! Love you all xx