PAPERCUT ━━ IT 2017

? Chapter 17: The Circle Closes ?

"Bye, Stan," Bill said softly, watching him disappear down the trail that led to the road.

Shortly afterward, Eddie turned to Richie, clapping his back as they hugged goodbye.

"Bye, guys," he said, shaking his cast in an attempt at a wave.

Mike was the next to leave, and Richie followed.

"See you later, losers." Mike said with a warm smile.

"See you around, Bill."

Bill waved at them both. "See you, Rich."

"See you guys later." Ben said softly before leaving a short while later.

"Bye, Ben." Bev replied.

Eventually, inevitably, it was just them three, sitting on the log at the bank of the river in comfortable silence. Basking in each other's presence.

"Y-Yy-You-You all packed for Portland?" Bill asked.

"Pretty much," Beverly said quietly. "I'm going tomorrow morning."

Chris winced. She remembered - vaguely - hearing some mention of that the previous afternoon, but so much had happened that she pushed it to the back of her mind. But now she was back in the real world.

"How long will you be g-gone?" Bill continued.

"My aunt, she says I can stay for as long as I want, so.."

"You'll come down to visit, right?" Chris said.

Beverly's lips quirked to one side in a half-smile. "Of course."

She wasn't sure if there was any truth to what she said, but Chris never doubted her. Beverly looked down at her hands.

"Just so you know," she said, twisting the key that hung around her neck. "I never felt like a loser when I was with all of you."

Bill didn't respond, instead, looking away from her and somewhere over the river.

"I-I-I gotta go." he said, standing up. "My parents started packing for our camping trip this weekend. We're supposed to leave later today."

"See you around." Bev said quietly.

"Later, Bill." Chris said, lying down in the grass.

There was a moment of silence as they watched Bill disappear down the trail. And once he was gone, Chris got up, brushing dirt from her shorts. Although it was likely the last day she'd see her in what would undoubtedly be a long time, she wasn't ready to be alone with her. Not after yesterday.

"I should get going too," she said, even though she didn't have much else to do other than collect her pay for the week.

"Wait," Beverly fingers wrapped around her wrist before promptly retreating back to her lap. "Could you stay? Just for a little longer?"

Chris gulped, slowly sitting back down on the log. She could see the girl staring at her out of the corner of her eye, and no matter how much she avoiding making any amount of direct eye contact, she was just too magnetic.

Chris opened her mouth to say something, but Beverly beat her to the punch.

"Yesterday...back at the cistern..did you-"

"I'm sorry, I-I - I didn't know what I was thinking, I was just,"

"Chris."

" -I was scared- "

Beverly held her hands. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Before Chris could pull them away, Beverly leaned in, closing the gap between them. Her eyes fluttered closed, while Chris' remained wide open, shoulders tensing. The kiss was fleeting, and Beverly leaned back after a beat. Chris sat there, completely speechless.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" she said, getting up from the log and starting down the path.

But before she got too far, Chris ran after her. The entire world seemed to fade into background fuzz, the only tangible thing being the girl in front of her. Grabbing her arms with a feather-light touch, Chris closed her eyes and kissed her back. Now, Beverly froze, before melting into her, one hand hovering over her shoulder and the other laying itself flat against her cheek. Taking a breath, they pulled away from each other. Beverly's smile was warmer than the sun.

She tilted her head to the side. "Don't you owe me an ice cream?"

"H-Huh?"

Smearing blood across her cheek, her hand fell back at her side. "That new parlor that opened up near Memorial?"

Chris' eyes lit up. "Oh..I, uh, I thought you would've forgotten about that."

Beverly chuckled. "'Course I wouldn't."

Turning away, Beverly began to walk before looking over her shoulder. "Well? You coming?"

Blinking, Chris nodded, feeling the wind rustle her hair as she caught up to her. As they walked up the trail out of the barrens, Beverly's hand left her pocket, probing the air for Chris'. Finding it, she squeezed back.