#might as well call me stephen king at this point bc why T F do I always write so much????

[thedevilsbckbone]

Ever since the call from Otis, Gwen had been through a whirlwind of emotions as all these memories she'd long forgotten had all came trudging back the moment he'd told her it was back. The clown. They had made a pact to return if it ever showed back up and now it seemed like it was time to make good on her promise. Of course, she hadn't even remembered she'd made the promise at first - wondering how it was even possible that such a monumental time in her childhood had been completely lost to her.

That summer, after they thought they'd defeated the clown, had been the last one she'd spent in Derry. Her mother had divorced her father by that point and the older woman had whisked her daughter all the way across the country to enroll her in a music program where Gwen would grow up to become the accomplished musician she was, working for the LA symphony and had made a life for herself raising her son. Sure it had not been easy, having to mold herself into the person everyone expected her to be, rather than the woman she wanted to be. However, responsibilities had a tendency to do that to a person. The last time she was truly herself was that summer, when they were all kids and she could be the brazen, carefree girl who wasn't afraid to get a little dirty and rough with her friends.

She almost didn't go, having her son Philip to think about. However, she thought of the little girl Otis had told her about -- the one that alerted their friend that the creature was back. She thought of the poor child's mother, and of the mothers of all the other children slain over the years by the monster that fed off their fears. What if one of them had been Philip? How could she go on living in a world knowing she could help stop any other parent from having to experience that pain. So, in the end she'd agreed, being the first to arrive back in town and meeting up with Otis at his home where he caught her up to speed on some of the things that were still fuzzy for the redhead.

They were walking through town, Otis catching Gwen up on what'd been happening in town since she'd left, when they suddenly both came to a stop as they turned the corner to see the profile of a man long forgotten about. As if drawn to him like a moth to a light, Gwen found herself carefully making her way over to Tom, feeling all these memories and feelings hit her like a freight train from the moment she recognized him. She'd been so in shock by it, that she hadn't even considered that walking up on him the way she did might spook the male. As he jumped, the redhead did as well, getting startled by his reaction. I guess it would make sense that they'd all be a bit jumpy.

"Sorry! So sorry about that --" she quickly apologized with a small laugh as she put her hand to her chest, feeling her heart race. Though whether that was due to fright she'd just had or because of the male in general was hard to say. "Tom -- Wow! It's good to see you again. You look great! " He looked just like how she remembered, though admittedly a bit more tired and weathered around the edges but she was sure the same could be said each one of them. After all, it had been 27 years since they last saw one another. Yet even still, looking at him now, it almost felt like no time had passed at all -- especially the way he still seemed to make her stomach flutter.

After that summer when they were kids, most of the others in his group had all slowly left Derry. One by one they'd moved away and the moment they stepped out of town, it was like they didn't exist. At least, that's how it began to feel when over time they all lost contact and it seemed all memories of the clown, the murders and even their friendship seemed to slip their minds. Not Otis, though. He had made the sacrificial decision to stay, to be there in case the creature ever came back, so he could collect on their promise to come back and defeat it for good. He'd kept tabs on them, watching the way each of his childhood friends seemed to flourish in their own ways, carving out successful lives for themselves, while he worked in the records building at the local police office. He wasn't bitter though, feeling as if this was all some big grand plan that he couldn't quite see the full picture of just yet.

Oh, but he was determined to. After his brother's death, Otis had made it hims mission to learn everything he could about the monster. Years of old police records had served to help him get a good understanding that this thing was ancient and that it wasn't finished yet. He'd come to figure out why his friends forgot about the monster and why they all seemed to do well in life. It was trying to keep them away. Because for the first time, they had actually weakened it. Sure they hadn't been able to kill it then, but now with the knowledge he had, Otis knew they had a chance.

So, when a couple children seemed to go missing again and later found brutally mutilated, he knew it was time to call the gang. The phone calls had not been easy to make and he knew that there was a chance that none of them would come back, but he had hoped that they would. To his relief, a few days later Gwen had shown up at his doorstep, looking unsure and confused but otherwise happy to see (and remember) him again. He caught her up to speed on what he knew, learning more about what she'd been up to along the way.

He was taking her through a tour of the town, when they came up on the corner where Tom used to live. A small smile spread across the male's lips when he saw the other man standing there. He'd shown up. Gwen seemed to be just as surprised by the news and he could see the way her eyes lit up in recognition before she was making her way over to greet him -- the both of them jumping in surprise when she accidentally started the other.

Otis chuckled softly at the exchange, getting a flash of them as their kid selves again and feeling his chest fill with a warmth that he'd hadn't experienced in a long long time. Walking up to the pair, he regarded the man with a small smile as he held out his hand to him. "Welcome back, my friend." he greeted, fondly. "I'm glad you made it."

character: tom open: m/f/nb plot: tom, your muse, and a few others were friends as children in a small town in the south. when they were all around 11-13, a killer clown began terrorizing the youth of their town and murdering their schoolmates. they banded together to defeat the clown, not knowing it was only going back into hibernation. after they defeated it, they promised to return if the clown ever came back. once they left the small town, however, their memories of the event faded... until tom got a call that it had returned. now back in town, he's still getting his bearings. yeah, it's just IT lol. we can turn this into a mumu if we feel inclined, but your muse in this thread could either be the one that called him to come back or another one of the former friend group that forgot about the event of that one summer until the fateful phone call. the nature of their relationship when they were children, i.e. platonic, romantic, or antagonistic, is also up to you! this post was made using beta editor, please do not reblog it in legacy as i no longer have access to it!

how could he have forgotten so much of his life? many things had happened between his youth and his adulthood, including the birth of his now twenty-one year old daughter and the later arrest of his older brother, all things that lasted on his memory like a cattle brand. how could he ever forget that clown? the moment he picked up his phone two days ago, it was like his reality had been shattered. that his life had somehow been a lie. how could he forget? how could any of them? the street he had grown up on hadn't changed much since he was a child, but he couldn't even trust his memories anymore now that several new ones—that were actually old ones—flooded into his mind. "jesus..." tom whispered, digging his fingers into his curly hair. the house he was looking at had once housed himself, his parents, and his older brother. the people the abendroths had been when they lived in that house were so different than the ones they ended up becoming. he used to wonder how things went so wrong for his family, but now he had to wonder if the clown had something to do with it. taking his hands out of his hair, he didn't notice them until they were nearly a foot away. tom nearly jumped out of his shoes, but quickly relaxed when he realized who it was. more memories spilled into his brain; he didn't understand how there could be more to uncover, but seeing their face lit a match inside him. "oh. it's you." he said, a slow smile spreading across his mouth.