#reading chapter two about cells and all i remember is MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL

[uncanny-tranny]

You know, something that's been healing in ways I never really anticipated was buying secondhand books.

I have a physiology textbook that has the name Ernest written in beautiful cursive on the inside cover. Throughout the book, passages are highlighted, and I wonder: What is the difference between a passage underlined in red pen and one highlighted in yellow? Did he have a system, or did he use whatever was around him at the time? What kind of courses did he take? I wonder what he did after his degree... what if he became a renowned physiologist? Or, what if he abandoned everything to run away to chase dreams he knew were unwise?

It's something small you don't really think about, but there really is something holy about not being the first. This book isn't just the sum of knowledge anymore, it's become a love letter, with a completely separate story attached. That's something I will keep with me forever. We have always been here. We will pass down a tiny bit of ourselves no matter how long it has been. We will yet live.

[teacupfulofstarshine]

living in the real world (ain’t it fun) CHAPTER 6

cw: anxiety attack, driving while tired (DO NOT DO THAT), brief panic, swearing

word count: 2619

chapter 1 // chapter 2 // chapter 3 // chapter 4 // chapter 5 // read it on ao3!! 

“The first experiment we are running today is to determine exactly how far away from Thomas we can get before hitting an invisible wall or suffering adverse effects,” Logan says. Thomas, Roman, and Patton nod at him. Logan pulls up one of his blue mental screens and pokes at it. “Thomas, if you look in my backpack, you should find a tape measure which I brought from your home.” 

“I didn’t even know I owned a tape measure.”

“You own three,” Logan recites. “Two of them are sewing tape measures and the third, which I have brought for our purposes today, is a conventional construction tape measure.” Thomas pulls the clunky black base from the backpack at his feet and hums. 

“How did you know I owned this if I didn’t know I owned this?” 

“Just because you are not consciously aware of something does not mean that it is not known to you,” Logan says. “I am home to a great repository of information that has fallen below your conscious level of awareness. Name three differences between an animal cell and a plant cell.”

Thomas stares at him. “Uh . . .”

Logan sighs. “Plant cells are surrounded by both a cell membrane and cell wall, whereas animal cells only possess a cell membrane. Animal cells are generally round, irregular shapes, whereas plant cells are rigid and rectangular. Plant cells, in addition to mitochondria -”

“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” Thomas and Roman recite, in perfect unison. Logan sighs, again, and pinches the bridge of his nose. 

“Plant cells also possess chloroplasts, which animal cells do not.” 

“Whoa,” Thomas says. “I really know all that?” 

“Falsehood. You knew it once and then forgot it. As the keeper of your memory archives, I retain this information and can call upon it at will, although I confess that I am . . . better in some situations than others.”

“Is that why I can never remember the answer in time for trivia games?” 

Logan blushes, and the screen in front of him glitches out with some sort of indecipherable error code. “I - well - that is to say - um -”

He adjusts his glasses. “ANYWAY! The experiment?” 

Thomas stifles his laughter. “Right, right, of course. My apologies, Logan. What do you want us to do?” 

Logan adjusts his tie, looking thoroughly disgruntled. “You are going to stand in one place and hold the base of the tape measure. The rest of us will take turns holding the end of the tape measure and walking as far as we can until we hit whatever invisible force is binding us to you. I will record the data, and then we will experiment.” 

Thomas nods. “Sounds reasonable.”

“I am your logic. Everything I say sounds reasonable.”

“Who goes first?” 

“Me!” Patton says, freckles beginning to shine yellow. “I wanna go first!” 

“The order does not matter in this experiment, so I will permit it if Roman is not opposed.”

“Go for it, Padre.” 

Patton eagerly grabs the end of the tape measure and bounces in place while Logan readies his screen. “Wouldn’t a pencil and paper work just as well?” Thomas asks. 

“For the purposes of recording data, yes. However, information that I enter into my screens is then encoded into your brain as short-term memories. When you sleep at night - which reminds me that we need to have a discussion about your frankly abysmal sleeping habits - I can enter the pertinent short-term memories and information from the day into your long-term memory.” 

“Oh.” 

“Patton, you may begin.” 

Patton gives a cheery wave and turns around, beginning to walk. Logan stops him at five feet. “Any changes?” 

“Nope! All good in the neighborhood!” 

Patton walks another five feet, and Logan stops him. “Anything?” 

“Nope!” Logan looks at Thomas. 

“What about you?” 

Thomas rubs his sternum. “There’s something . . . weird, in here. It’s kinda painful, but more so just . . . tight, you know?”

“Are you okay to keep going?” 

“I should be.” 

Logan calls to Patton, who walks another five feet. The tugging in Thomas’s chest is beginning to get more intense, burning slightly, and he can feel anxiety beginning to mount in the back of his mind. “Are you okay to keep going?” Logan asks again, voice gentler. “It is okay if you want to stop, Thomas.” 

“I think I’m okay.” Thomas smiles, but it feels thin and strained. Judging by Logan’s expression, it looks that way, too. Still, he signals Patton to keep going. 

Once he hits twenty feet, Thomas drops to one knee, clutching his chest. The tightburningtightburning tightburningwrongwrongWRONG feeling in his chest is starting to escalate. “Uh, Lo? I hit the weird invisible wall again,” Patton calls. 

“I feel not great,” Thomas says. He drops the tape measure and jerks a hand up in a strange, twisting gripping motion. Patton yelps as he suddenly sinks down, dropping through the earth. Panic spikes through Thomas so intensely that his vision almost whites out, but Patton quickly pops up in front of him. 

“Kiddo?” 

Patton drops to his knees and pulls Thomas into a tight hug. The feeling in his chest evaporates all at once, and Thomas inhales deeply as he shoves his face into Patton’s shoulder. “Hey, hey, breathe, okay?” The purple light of Patton’s freckles bleeds through Thomas’s eyelids as Patton rubs firm, soothing circles into his chest. “I’m here, Thomas. I’m right here. I didn’t go anywhere.” 

“What - what was that?” Thomas gasps. His voice sounds strangled and strange, even to him. 

Logan frowns, kneeling next to Thomas and Patton. “It . . . seems to have been a panic response. Patton is an integral part of who you are. The three of us are literally fragments of your soul. When you realized that Patton was distancing himself from you, you panicked. You needed him beside you right at that moment, and you were able to call him to you.” 

“Do you think I could do that with any of you? At any range?” 

Logan hums, looking at Patton. “I do not know. We could test it, if you are up to that, but I will not force you. Your health and safety is most important here.” He gently puts a hand on Thomas’s shoulder and squeezes it. Carefully, Thomas leans back from where he’s clinging to Patton. 

“Can . . . can you give me a minute?” 

Logan nods. “Of course. Do you want Roman or I to test the distance limits while Patton is with you to keep you grounded?” Thomas looks at Roman, who’s been setting up the picnic blanket a few feet away. 

“Roman, do you wanna go and test it now?” Thomas asks. Roman nods, drawing his sword. Panic spikes through Thomas’s chest, but Patton hugs him a little closer, and it ebbs away. 

“Fear not, Thomas! I will return unharmed!” 

“Just take the tape measure, Roman,” Logan sighs. 

*~*~*~*~*

Roman and Logan both make it twenty feet away before they hit the same invisible wall as Patton. Thomas doesn’t feel the sick, twisting, cramping, heart-rending fear that he had when Patton walked away from him, perhaps because Patton is right next to him. Thomas is no longer curled in his lap like a child, but he does hold Patton’s hand. 

“Twenty feet for both of us, as well,” Logan says, swiping across one of his schema. “It seems that is the hard limit for our distance from you.” 

“What’s next?” Thomas asks. 

“That gesture you did to . . . summon Patton to your side. Do you think you could replicate it?” 

Thomas lifts his hand in the same gesture, but nothing happens. “Huh.” 

“What were you thinking when you summoned Patton?” 

“I was . . . anxious. I was thinking about how much I needed him at my side immediately, about how much I needed him with me before something really, really bad happened. I wanted him next to me.” 

Logan hums. “I am going to walk approximately ten feet away from you. Once I am in position, I want you to make that summoning gesture and think about me appearing by your side. Do you think that you can handle that?” Thomas nods “Okay. I am going to walk away.” 

Thomas keeps his eyes locked on Logan’s form as he walks, turning and nodding at Thomas once he’s in position. Thomas inhales, jerking his hand up, thinking about how he wants Logan next to him. Logan drops through the ground like a ghost and pops up next to Thomas, looking slightly ruffled. “That was . . . an experience.” 

“Did it hurt you?” Patton fusses, reaching over to pat at Logan’s torso and arms. Logan shakes his head. 

“The sensation of sinking and rising was . . . strange, but I am uninjured.” Thomas smiles at him. 

“That’s good.” 

“Yes, well. Alright, Roman? It is your turn.” 

*~*~*~*~*

They perform a wide variety of tests before breaking for lunch. Thomas eagerly digs into one of Patton’s sandwiches. “This is perfect!” 

Patton grins, face shining yellow with joy. “I’m so glad, kiddo! And I made cookies for dessert!” 

“No processed sugars until after you’ve eaten a healthy lunch,” Logan says disapprovingly. Patton grins at him and wiggles a sandwich at him. “Wh - is that -”

“A jam sandwich!” Patton says. “With that Crofter’s stuff that you love so much. I know you can’t resist this, Lo!” 

“I have a name,” Logan says testily. He still takes the sandwich, tearing into it and making a soft, pleased humming noise and smiling broadly as he settles cross-legged on the picnic blanket. Patton hands Roman another jam sandwich, and he makes a joyful noise. 

Patton tries to eat a cookie, but Logan glares at him until he smiles guiltily and picks up a sandwich instead. “Can’t slip anything past you, can I?” 

“No, you cannot,” Logan says. His chest puffs up a little in pride as he takes another bite of his sandwich. Thomas smiles, softly, and takes another bite of his own sandwich. 

*~*~*~*~*

They learn many things during the course of the day and its experiments. Logan dutifully distills them into a numbered list.

1: Twenty feet is the maximum distance any of them can get from Thomas before hitting an invisible wall. They cannot go any farther than that. 

2: If a side is twenty feet away from Thomas and they both walk at the same time, they can move as long as both of them move in unison in the same direction. 

3: Thomas can summon any of his sides with a hand gesture as long as he is thinking about calling that side to him. If he isn’t thinking about calling them to him, the gesture is ineffective. 

4: The sides can refuse a summons if they try hard enough, but they all admit to feeling a painful tugging burn in their chest that gets stronger and more painful the longer they resist. 

5: Because Thomas is the source of Logan, Roman, and Patton (Logan names him “the Host”), he can directly control their actions if he gives them a direct command. 

(“Is that why you and Roman stopped talking when I yelled at you to shut up when you were fighting?” 

“Yes, I believe so.” 

“I’m so sorry, Logan, Roman. I - I didn’t mean to control you like that -”

“It’s alright, Thomathy! We know you didn’t mean to!” 

“It is not your fault, Thomas. You did not know. But now we do know, and we can work on this together.”) 

6: The sides do not know anything that Thomas doesn’t. They are, however, repositories of any knowledge he has accrued over the course of his life. Specifically: 

Logan can access knowledge and facts 

Roman can access ideas and daydreams 

Patton can access memories and emotional catalysts 

“That’s a lot,” Thomas says. Logan flips the schema around to show Thomas, but it just appears to be random shapes and squiggles. “I . . . can’t read that.”

“Of course you can’t,” Logan says. “This is a representation of your subconscious thought processes. You cannot comprehend it with your conscious mind.” 

“But you can understand it?” 

“I cannot ‘read’ it in the traditional sense that you would read a book, but I can understand it. I can connect it to the information that you have learned. Would you like me to send it to you for processing?” 

“Processing?"

“Patton and I are in charge of recalling your memories and knowledge, but your subconscious processes it. That is not us. I will give you this schema, and then it will integrate into your subconscious to be processed at a later date.” 

Thomas nods. “Okay, Logan. Do what you need to do.” 

Logan places a hand on either side of his schema and compresses it, inhaling slowly as he does so. The schema condenses and collapses into a little ball of dark blue light in Logan’s hands. Thomas doesn’t know when Logan closed his eyes, but when he opens them again they are solid blue and glowing. He steps forward, holding the schema tightly, and presses it against Thomas’s forehead. 

Thomas expects it to hurt, but in truth it doesn’t feel like anything at all. The schema dissolves into his forehead, and Logan shudders as it phases out of his hands. “Transfer initiated,” he says, voice flat and monotone. 

“Uh . . . Logan?” 

“He gets like this sometimes,” Patton says. “Give him a couple minutes. He doesn’t directly control the processing of information and memories, but he has to wait for the schema to phase out of his grip and into the subconscious. He’ll be alright.” 

Almost five minutes later, Logan stirs for the first time. “Transfer complete.” He blinks, and his eyes become normal again. He drops to his knees in the grass, and Thomas surges forward to catch him. 

“Whoa, Logan. You okay?” 

“Yes,” Logan murmurs, pressing a hand to his forehead. “I . . . have never done that in this manner before. It was draining, but . . . I will be alright.” 

Thomas carefully lays Logan down on his back on the picnic blanket. “Take a breather, Logan. Just rest here, okay?” 

Logan looks up at the darkening sky and laughs. “Look, everyone. Look.” 

Thomas looks up, into the warm late-spring-early-summer night, and watches as the stars begin to appear. “They’re beautiful.” He blinks, rubs his eyes, and frowns. “This . . . those aren’t stars, are they?” 

“Fireflies,” Logan says, sitting up slowly. One of them flutters down and lands on his nose, and Logan blinks, going cross-eyed to look at it. “Oh!” 

Patton laughs, face shining yellow, and the fireflies flock to him. “They must think I’m one of them! They’re really lightning bug-ging out, aren’t they?” Roman sprints around the field, catching fireflies in his hands and bringing them back to Thomas. 

It’s a pretty wonderful time. For the first time since the sides manifested, Thomas doesn’t feel the persistent anxiety digging its claws into his chest. 

*~*~*~*~*

Thomas knows he shouldn’t be driving. 

Patton, Roman, and Logan are slumped together in the back of the car. Patton is fighting to stay awake, but he’s not really succeeding; Roman is snoring against the window, and Logan is leaning into Patton’s shoulder, breathing evenly. Thomas is barely awake himself, but he wants to go home. 

The road is dark and winding, and all of the trees blur together as Thomas drives. He blinks once, twice, three times, lifts a hand off the wheel to rub his eyes. He hears Patton mumbling to himself as he starts to drift off, and Thomas grips the wheel tightly. 

“Stay awake,” he yawns. His head starts to lean forward, hands sliding off the wheel. His chin hits his chest, but before he can fall asleep properly, someone shrieks in his ear. 

“THOMAS SANDERS, WAKE THE FUCK UP AND GET YOUR EYES BACK ON THE FUCKING ROAD!” 

[aylinaliens]

One invisible gold thread (tied me to you) — Chapter 1

Fandom: 2Gether

Pairings: Earn/Pear, Pear/Air, Sarawat/Tine, Ohm/Fong

Summary: Soulmate did not always equate to romance, most spend their lives together as platonically. That is exactly what Earn thought would happen with Pear—but as they spent more time together in person, Earn struggles to calm the raging storm of emotions in her heart. Soon enough, Earn finds herself drawn in like a moth to a flame, Pear’s soft bubblegum pink cardigan and bright eyes serving as balm to her soul. At first, Earn just denies what she feels inside, claiming that the only reason her throat closed up when she was in the proximity of the soft-spoken medical student was because of indigestion. As Earn spends more time with her soulmate, she begins to struggle with understanding the intricacies of her own sexuality, but realization never actually dawns on her until she finds out someone was actively pursuing Pear. That was when Earn starts to come to turns with her feelings...but it was too late now. Right?

Word Count: 1779

Notes: in honor of 2gether the movie being announced i have decided to finally post this because let’s be honest...gmmtv is going to clown on us earnpear shippers again. i typically hate love triangles but dear uranus has made me realize that wlw!love triangles are God Tier so thus this fic was born. hope you like tropes because !! this fic will have it all. soulmates? roommates? fake dating? mutual pining? friends to lovers? unrequited love? bed sharing? friends with benefits? it’s what these sapphics deserve

Read the first chapter on Ao3 or down below!

+

Curiously, Earn lifted her arm and brought it closer to her face so she could examine it. Sarawat obviously understood what was happening, also recently finding his soulmate, so he just leaned back in his seat, sipping on his drink, and quietly observing the own messages on his forearm.

After nearly seven minutes of waiting Pear was done and it was...definitely not doodle of a cat. No, it was something else.

“Oh god. Did she draw a penis?”

Sarawat choked on his drink in surprise. “What?” He gaped. “What did you just say?”

“I said my soulmate just drew an anatomically correct penis on my arm.”

A familiar fluttering sensation cursed through Earn’s body, signaling another message has appeared. She was mid conversation with Sarawat in the process of telling him what time their gig for tomorrow was but never got to.

Full of excitement and butterflies Earn quickly yanked her sleeve up—it’s been thirty six hours since her soulmate last sent a message. It was normal for Pear to disappear for days on end so Earn was used to the delayed reply.

As she glanced down at her forearm she expected to see a reply to the conversation she asked a few days ago but instead it was a drawing.

Once again no big deal—Pear was artistic. She had always sent doodles to Earn.

However, this drawing was not simply just of animals or flowers. She couldn’t exactly tell what it was right now because Pear was still drawing it.

Curiously, Earn lifted her arm and brought it closer to her face so she could examine it. Sarawat obviously understood what was happening, also recently finding his soulmate, so he just leaned back in his seat, sipping on his drink, and quietly observing the own messages on his forearm.

After nearly seven minutes of waiting Pear was done and it was...definitely not doodle of a cat. No, it was something else.

“Oh god. Did she draw a penis?”

Sarawat choked on his drink in surprise. “What?” He gasped. “What did you just say?”

“I said my soulmate just drew an anatomically correct penis on my arm.”

Sarawat looked shocked and positively scandalized but he was not the only one. Earn was just as confused. She held her arm up for him to see and after a few seconds of studying it he came to the same conclusion.

“She drew an anatomically correct penis on your arm. With labels. Why did she send you an anatomically correct penis on your arm?”

Earn lifted her shoulder up in a shrug, leaning down to rummage through her bag to find a pen. Once she did she yanked the cap off and scribbled a quick message.

um...is there like context or a reason that you drew that?

She waited awhile for a reply, staring intently down at her arm for any new piece of ink. It did not matter how long she waited it never came. At least a reply to that question never came. As she studied her arm for what seem like forever the conversation with Sarawat died away.

He knew she was far too preoccupied with with waiting for a message to appear. He was probably the only one in the band who could truly understand what Earn was feeling since he was the only one who had recently discovered his soulmate mark.

Tine was terrible, if not more so, at replying in a timely matter. Sometimes Tine would wait hours just to answer back with a single letter, either forgetting to reply or simply not noticing it.

So Earn waited. Minute after minute. Nothing. Just as she was about to give up that familiar fluttering sensation came back, making her heart soar.

But it was not a reply to Earn’s question. No. It wasn’t even a word.

It was just a smaller anatomically correct penis that was colored in instead of labeling.

Earn pursed her lips in bewilderment but decided that she obviously would not get a reply any time soon.

“I don’t know.” She admitted, shrugging once more. “I really don’t know.”

The first Earn noticed her soulmate mark she was seventeen. She had gym during school today so in between classes she hoped in the shower for a quick rinse off. She didn’t notice any ink nor did she feel abnormal as she scrubbed the dirt and sweat away.

It was afterwards, when she was towel drying her body and trying to slip back on her uniform that she saw pink ink near her wrist.

Confusion coursed through her as she brought her arm toward the light for a better look. She didn’t remember writing anything on her arms.

At first Earn didn’t quite understood what it said due to how faint it was but the longer she stared the more she could understand it.

Mitochondria is the powerhouse cell.

She was shocked, that was sure, but she didn’t have time to think too critically about it because the bell signifying her next class was about to begin snapped her out of it.

Earn forgot about that day in the shower for a few weeks. She knew that soulmates and soul marks were real but it never registered to Earn that was what it was. She didn’t have a soulmate. No way did she have a soulmate. Earn just...forgot that she wrote that. Yeah. That is exactly what happened.

It wasn’t until she was laying in bed one day, laptop perched on her lap as she hummed along to her favorite band, that the memory of that day came flooding back.

A stinging sensation started at the base of her spine and slowly traveled up until her fingertips were tingling and her her throat was constricting. Soon enough the sensation had made its way all over he body, from her fingertips to her toes Earn felt it.

It didn’t hurt, quite the opposite, but it was enough to pause what she was doing.

Then the stinging feeling evaporated into thin air. It was like it never happened. Instead it was replaced by something akin to butterflies but vastly more intense.

A half done math equation appeared near her elbow. A math equation Earn never even learned.

A few beats of silence passed before more ink appeared. It was of a cartoon bunny holding up a sign that that had a phrase on it: Susu Pear!

Earn could no longer pretend like she forgot about writing on her arm. No. This was a soulmate mark.

She practically threw off her laptop off and hastily scrambled out of bed to her desk to grab a pen. Once she found one she tore off the cap and scribbled out a word, feeling as if her heart would leap out of her chest.

hello?

Earn waited for a reply what seemed like years but in reality it was only half a minute.

...hello?

Oh god. Oh my god. She had a soulmate.

None of her friends of family got their soulmate marks yet so she was utterly confused on what to do next. She could search the web for answers but she was scared that her soulmate would disappear.

cute bunny drawing. is your name pear?

The reply was almost instantaneously, showing up before Earn even finished her own message.

thank you! yes, my name is pear. what’s your name?

Before Earn could reply again Pear wrote something else back, just below her previous message.

you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! i know that some people ignore their soulmate marks.

Butterflies erupted in Earn’s stomach once again but this time it was not because of the ink. Soulmate. Pear just confirmed it. There was no backing out of it now.

my name is earn and...i don’t want to ignore this. unless...you want to?

no! i don’t want to ignore this. i want to um, get to know you. can we do that?

of course. what do you want to know?

everything.

That’s exactly what Earn did, she told Pear everything. Not that night but over the next few years they essentially bared their souls to each other in every sense of the word. Sometimes they would write whole entire essays to each other, forced to erase the earlier conversations or come up with new creative places to write. Sometimes they would send doodles back in forth.

After a few months of talking when the two settled into a comfortable routine, somehow becoming each others biggest supporters. Before every exam, Pear would send Earn the same little cartoon bunny cartoon drawing. Every time the message on the poster was different.

susu earn!

you can do it.

good luck!

earn! you got this!

i'm always rooting for you!

you got this, babe!

Sometimes the messages were so cheesy that Earn felt color flood her cheeks and often never replied because she didn’t know what to say. She would feign innocence when this happened, claiming she was just so nervous about her exam that she forgot to reply.

It was ridiculous—she was so tongue tied and bashful over the same messages you would find on motivational stickers. If anyone else drew these things Earn would think it was dumb but because it was from Pear she thought it utterly adorable.

Earn in return took up to expanding Pear’s musical knowledge and interests. She would use her arms to write down random bits of lyrics she thought of instead of on paper. Pear always took care to never erase those lyrics until Earn gave her the green light.

However, most of the time they just talked. About anything. About nothing. After a few years went by of this Earn grew fond of the soulmate she knew virtually everything yet nothing about.

Unlike most people who got soulmate marks she dated. It was nothing serious, it never was, but she got to experience many different firsts.

Pear, on the other hand, apparently never dated—before or after the soulmate mark appeared—swearing she was far too busy with trying to get into college and than medical school to date. Besides, she wrote one day, I have you. That’s enough.

Messages like that always left Earn melting into a puddle of goo. The thing with soulmates is that they didn’t exactly have to be romantic. Hundreds of thousands of soulmates got their mark but decided to just stay platonic. That’s exactly what Earn thought would happen to them.

It’s not as if she never thought about them in a romantic sense, Earn did more than she cared to admit, but she would always quickly shake out of when she realized that it would never between them too like that.

It has been almost four years and neither of them has asked to meet yet. Surely if they wanted to meet each other they could of. At the start they found out that they only lived three hours apart. After they began college, Earn and Pear found out that they were even closer to each other.

Yet they always managed to skirt around that topic. It would happen one day or it never will Earn wrote one day either way let's just stay like this while we wait for that day to come.

[beesramblings]

A Sunday Kind of Love: Richie Tozier x Reader

Authors note: Heyo flowers! Here is my Chapter 2 of A Sunday Kind of Love! I will try and upload another chapter before the week is over! I might be busy because my classes are starting up tomorrow. But I hope you all like this chapter! I will try and have an upload schedule soon. I am also working on my spotify playlist for this! 

Warnings: Richie low-key throwing a hissy fit, Henry Bowers being himself, Richie being Richie, crying at school and a mention of smoking. 

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2

The bell rang, signaling the end of their class Y/N left as fast as she could, she was scared of saying something dumb about how she really liked the sonnets they learned, or how Richie to her was eternal summer when she looked at him. Even just thinking like this made her feel embarrassed, and scared of her feelings. As she was lost in her thoughts of Richie’s light and happiness, she felt herself run into someone, “Oh hey slut…” a low voice growled at you. Ladies and germs, the one and Henry Bowers and his pack of minions. “Sorry Henry, I wasn’t looking. Can I please get through.” You asked looking down at your feet, trying to subliminally submit to him. Henry roughly pushed you against the wall of lockers, the cold locks and metal digging into your back. “Henry, just let her go.” Vic Criss grumbled. You two got along quite well, you two became friendly when the two of you were paired up in a music class, which ended up with the two of you exchanging mixtapes and small conversations away from your friends. “Why would I do that Vic? Do you have a crush on her?” Henry snapped. Vic rolled his eyes “No. I have a class with her next and I really don’t want Mr.Mills to think I had any part in her getting hurt.” he calmly responded, you looked at him, with your eyes wide, he responded with a smirk.

“Hey, B-B-B-Bowers, l-l-leave her a-a-alone.” Bill demanded. You looked up at the ceiling knowing that you and The Loser’s Club were going to get beat up either before class or after school. Henry turned away from you and started walking towards Bill, Stan, and Eddie. You could see Eddie trying to reason with Bill to leave, and Stan trying to motion you to run to your music class down the hallway. “D-D-D-Did you S-S-Say S-S-Something Buh Buh Buh Billy?” Henry mocked maliciously. Bill stood up to him definitely “Y-y-you don’t s-s-scare m-m-me B-B-Bowers.” Henry cocked an eyebrow, “ Oh really? Does not finding your little brother scare you? Or maybe him being dead?” Bill tried to look tough, but his façade was cracking, because his biggest fear was to not find his little brother, or if they did he’d be dead. Henry smiled a terrifying grin, it looked like his smile could split his head in two, he had Bill where he wanted him. “Bill, just go,” you pleaded “ Don’t let my mistake break you.” You wanted to keep The Losers safe, they were your only friends after Greta turned your friends and most of the school against you. Patrick pushed you away from the lockers and whispered: “You’re lucky this time, next time you won’t have your boyfriend to protect you.”  Your cheeks heated up, today was just a day for you to feel embarrassed by boys.

As you sprinted down the halls of the school to get to your music class you collided into Richie who was just leaving your shared English class with the new kid. “Oof, Y/N what the hell?” Richie asked as you helped him up from the floor “Bowers and his goons.” you replied. Ben’s eyes went huge, “Where are they? Henry wants to kick my ass because I didn’t let him cheat off our math exam.” he squeaked out “ Well before I ran into you two they were in the hall up by the entrance.” Ben groaned “ I have to go that way.” “Just hide in the janitor’s closet, that’s what Y/N and I do when we want private time.” Richie disclosed while wiggling his eyebrows. “Beep Beep, Rich. And we hide there when Henry is looking for Richie, Ben, ignore Richie,” you replied. Ben giggled “Ok, hopefully, I won’t be late to class.”  “I suggest waiting 5 minutes, and if you are, say that there was a long line in the bathroom,” Richie advised. Ben ran off to find the constantly unlocked closet, while Richie walked up a little further “So Y/N, what are you up to after school?” Richie asked, “ Um, staying far away from Bowers, and then homework.” Richie looked over at her with a slight blush covering his freckled cheeks “Do you wanna maybe hang out and do homework together then?” You opened your mouth to say yes when a heavy arm wrapped around your shoulders. You turned your head and looked into Victor Criss’ eyes, which were crinkled with a smile, “Alright lucky duck, you ready to jam?” Vic asked happily. You nodded, and hunched your shoulders “Later Rich.” you said to him softly “Bye Trashmouth, avoid the exit and entrance after school, Ok?” Vic warned. He knew that you really liked Richie and since the two of you were friends, he wanted to keep you happy.

The two of you disappeared around the corner as Richie walked further down the hallway, that lead to his science class which he shared with the rest of The Losers Club. Richie started thinking that maybe you weren’t interested in his whole getup. Maybe you didn’t like his crass humor, his Hawaiian shirts, and his voices. Did you want someone cool, tough and somewhat nice like Victor Criss? Or someone headstrong, mature, and intelligent like Bill?

Richie didn’t hear the bell that warned that class was starting because he was too busy dealing with the possible idea of rejection in his head. As he turned into his science class his teacher looked up from the board “Ahh. Mr. Tozier, you decided to grace us with your presence, hope that didn’t take too much out of your schedule.” Richie smirked, “What can I say Mr. M, my presence is a present.” The class nervously giggled, while Mr.M pointed to Richie’s seat, Richie walked over in a ‘ don’t shoot the messenger’ stance.

He sat down next to Bill “Hey Bill, holy shit what happened to you?” Richie whispered loudly. Bill looked over at him with dried blood around his nose and a bruise forming around his eye “W-W-What R-R-Richie you d-d-don’t l-l-like m-my new look?” Bill smiled. Richie chuckled in response “Ah, Big Bill the ladies are dropping their-”

“Mr.Tozier, what seems to be more important to you than the mitochondria?” Mr.M interrupted “ Ah, yes, Mr.M the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. What’s more important? Nothing, Nada, Zilch. This will be the only thing I will remember from good old Derry High School.”  His science teacher’s ears started to grow red with annoyance “One more quip like that young man and you’ll find yourself in detention today.” Richie sighed “Alright, sorry.” Everyone in the class was taken aback, The Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier said Sorry, to a teacher! Everyone thought hell must have frozen over, “O-O-Okay thank you, Mr. Tozier. Now class the mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. Nice phrase Mr.Tozier five extra credit points.” Richie blushed fiercely, he didn’t like showing off how smart he was, he had a reputation to uphold. But did that reputation matter to him anymore?

Victor passed Y/N a note, she glanced over at him, and he signaled her to read it ‘ Two things Y/N. 1st, I have a new mixtape for you, and 2nd you like the Trashmouth’. You felt your chest and the tips of your ears heat up. ‘Two things Vic, 1st. HELL YEA, I have one for you it’s in my locker. And 2nd Um what makes you say that?!’ You quickly threw the note over to Victor, not wanting to be caught by your music teacher. Vic turned to you and smiled wildly, he knew that you had the biggest and honestly soul-crushing, crush on Richie Tozier. He quickly wrote down his response trying not to be caught by their teacher who was going on about how soul and jazz music is still shaping American music. Victor quickly folded his response to you and tossed it across the aisle. ‘ You totally like Tozier, don’t worry Y/N your secret is safe with me. I won’t let Bowers hurt you or him. We’re friends, it’s what friends do. You know not letting their other friends beat up your friend and her friends. ;)’ As you read this note you started to realize, Victor was a genuinely sweet guy. He really did care about you, and that made you happy, you two really are friends. You quickly wrote back ‘ Come with me to my locker for your mixtape, ya big softy.’ As you passed it back to him your teacher called on you to name one famous R&B or blues or soul song. “Um, would uh, A Sunday kind of love, um be one?” you questioned timidly. Your teacher nodded “Good choice Y/L/N, all right class that is your assignment for the week. .Make someone you love a mixtape or a song list of blues, R&B or soul.”  

Vic turned over to you and gave you a crooked smile, and mouthed “Give it to Richie, or I will.” And he winked at you. Oh no, you thought, he’s going to really make me tell Richie my real feelings. Your nerves came back and in full effect,this could end either really well, or really bad. The bell chimed, dismissing your class, and your music teacher shouted after the class to remind them of this weekend’s homework. Vic leaped up grabbing your hand to whisk you out of the class. As the two of you walked out of the class, he kept murmuring in your ear about how you and Richie would be the cutest couple in Derry.

Richie and the rest of The Losers Club left their science class, talking loudly with one another, trying to hear their conversation over the other conversations going on in the hallway. Richie looked up expecting Y/N to be at her locker either talking to Beverly Marsh or occasionally Betty Ripsom, but instead, you were smiling and laughing with Victor Criss. Your eyes were scrunched together in laughter as Victor Criss stood over her with his arm resting on the top of her locker with a smile dancing on his face. Richie felt a pang of sadness, of course, Y/N would never like a guy like Richie, she only wants cool tough guys.

“H-H-Hey R-R-Richie. What’s Y/N d-d-doing t-t-talking to V-V-Victor C-C-Criss?” Bill asked in an annoyed tone. Richie shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, I didn’t even know that they knew each other on like a friendly basis.” Richie professed. Stan looked over at him “ Richie I bet it’s nothing, maybe he’s talking to her about a class.”  Richie shrugged again, he couldn’t bring himself to look at you. You looked so happy with him, and you had such a hold on Richie. “What’s Y/N giving Victor?” Eddie asked nervously. Richie whipped his head so fast that his glasses nearly flew off, Y/N was handing Victor a small black case, probably a cassette tape. She blushed as he pulled one from his leather jacket pocket, as he handed it to her he looked exactly at Richie and smiled. Richie looked at him confused, Victor never smiled, unless he was planning something rotten, or now looking at Y/N. Richie watched as Victor gave you a hug and a kiss on your cheek, and he saw your cheeks heat up and turn bright pink.

The Losers Club was now in earshot of Victor and Y/N’s conversation,

“ Aww Y/N you know you love me,” Victor crooned to her. She laughed

“Do I really have a choice now?” She retorted back sassily.

“Not anymore doll,” He replied in a low husky voice. He grabbed your chin and gave you a kiss on the nose. “ I’ll see you tomorrow darling.”

Y/N blushed harder than before “Okay Vic, have a good day.” she replied

“So Y/N, is that your new boyfriend.” Richie spat at Y/N venomously.

“W-W-What? Richie, we are just friends, Vic has never done that before.” Y/N answered in a confused voice. Richie scoffed at her and started to walk away, not before he shoulder checked her into the locker. Bill looked at Y/N sadly, like he knew she was telling the truth, but he knew Richie longer so his loyalty was with Richie, and he walked away from Y/N. Stan gave her a knowing look and gave her shoulder a squeeze as he walked away following Richie and Bill. Eddie didn’t leave, “Y/N, y’know Richie really cares for you, and it really hurts to see him like this. I just really hope you know how much he likes you and cares for you.” and after his words of wisdom and warning, he left to catch up with The Losers Club.

   Watching the group of the four boys walk out to the front of the school, you realized. You were alone, and you ruined everything. Your eyes started to betray you, a few tear drops slid down your face. ‘Oh God’, you inwardly thought, ‘I am actually crying at school, this is the most embarrassing thing.’  You stuck your head into your locker to hide your face, “Hey.” A light voice caused your head to whip out, with tears streaming down your face. “Oh, hey Bev.” Beverly Marsh, one of the other girls who was ostracized from the school, the two of you had pre-algebra together. “I saw Richie throw a little hissy fit. You ok?” Her blue eyes were filled with concern. You smiled as hard as you could, “Not really, I think I really messed things up with him and his friends.” She wrinkled her brows together, “ Wanna come out for a smoke?” She asked she was probably trying to distract you from your feelings and your very wounded heart. You sighed deeply, “Sure, why not.”