As much as it pained the Losers to have to wait another day to save Mike, they knew it would be no use if they went into the whole situation more tired than they already were. So after getting the few hours of sleep that they could and having to go through another dreadful day of school, you could say they were a little impatient by the time there was only a minute of the school day left.

Y/N bounced her knee up and down, her toes being the only thing touching the ground as she violently shook her leg. Her eyes were trained on the clock at the front of the room and she was biting her lip nervously, the only thoughts she could think of being that she wanted nothing more than for the school day to be over.

Bill watched the girl silently from his assigned seat across the class. Back when the teacher had allowed them to sit anywhere, the two had sat side by side. However one pair of girls had ruined it for everyone the day they kept talking during class which meant the teacher could think of nothing more to do than create a seating chart.

Y/N was placed at the front of the room while Bill was in the back, but Bill didn't complain. He would've liked to sit next to the girl, but luckily for him, his spot in the back gave him the perfect side view of the girl's face, allowing him to admire her from afar without her even noticing.

In that moment, his eyes kept flickering between the clock and Y/N who he hesitated on a little bit longer each time. It was only when the bell rang that Bill seemed to snap out of his thoughts and he was quick to get up from his seat and race over to Y/N, grabbing onto her hand and dragging her out of the room as the teens raced to find their friends.

Neither of them had to go to their lockers and it seemed the other Losers didn't either because Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Ben and Stan were already waiting by their bikes when the two made it.

"Finally! You two just couldn't save your make out session for later, could you?" Richie asked causing both teens to simultaneously blush and glare at the boy.

"Shut up, Richie," Y/N muttered as she reluctantly let go of Bill's hand and got onto her bike. "Come on. We can go to my house."

The others nodded and not even fifteen minutes later they were at Y/N's house, locked away in her basement with papers and pencils on a huge table in front of them.

"The portal you guys saw," Y/N began as she took a piece of paper and drew a long line across the middle of it, "it goes to a place called the Upside Down. I know I've mentioned it before, but I don't think I've ever really explained it. One of my past teachers once explained alternate dimensions like this. Think of this line as a tightrope and the tightrope represents our dimension."

Y/N drew a little stick figure on top of the tightrope before saying, "For an acrobat, they can only go backwards or forwards along the rope since the rope is flat. They can't turn upside down or they will fall off."

She then drew a tiny dot on the rope. "This is a flea. Now the flea is different than the acrobat. It can go forwards and backwards, but it can also go up and down meaning that it can get into the other dimension. The portal is like what makes us fleas, allowing us to cross over into this other dimension if that makes sense," Y/N explained.

"I'm confused," Stan muttered. "How does something like that even exist?"

"We don't know. It's just kind of been there and we don't exactly know why it's all decay either," Y/N replied.

"Why do we have to be fleas to go into the Upside Down?" Richie asked gaining everyone's attention. "I don't want to be a fucking flea!"

"What? Richie-" Y/N began as she shook her head.

"I don't want to be a flea, Y/N!" Richie exclaimed while Eddie shook his head at the boy.

Before Richie knew what was happening, Eddie had whacked him on the back of the head. "You idiot, we aren't going to turn into fleas. It's just a metaphor, dumbass," Eddie said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh," Richie said as his eyes lit up in realization. The others just shook their heads in disbelief.

"So what's the game plan then?" Beverly asked.

"Yeah, how are we going to save Mike? We can't all go to the Upside Down, right? What if the portal closes?" Ben asked although Y/N knew he only asked because he didn't want to be the one to go into the portal.

"That's where my experience with the Upside Down comes into play. Now I've only been in there once, but I know enough to make my way around and stay safe. We don't need everyone going, so I'll just go and have a rope tied to myself so that you guys can pull me back if I yank hard enough," Y/N explained.

"I-I-I'm going w-w-with," Bill declared causing the young girl to look at him with raised eyebrows.

Y/N let out a small laugh before shaking her head as she smiled at the boy, "No, you aren't."

Bill furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. "I-I-I'm going, Y/N," he insisted.

The girl shook her head. "You don't get it. I am the only one who knows what this place is like. I'm not about to bring any of you, especially you, into that place. It's just not happening," Y/N told him.

"I-I-I will be fine b-b-because I'm with y-y-you, but I w-w-will not let y-y-you go in there a-a-alone even if you d-d-do have experience w-w-with this thing," Bill said, crossing his arms as he gave the girl a serious look that told her he wouldn't back down.

Y/N frowned, obviously not pleased with Bill's decision, but nodded. "Fine, but you aren't allowed to leave my side even for a second, got it?" she asked.

Bill smiled and let his arms fall back down to his side. "W-W-Wouldn't want to be a-a-anywhere else," he said. Y/N felt her face heat up at that and she quickly looked away while the others all looked at her in amusement.

"So what do we need to do now?" Eddie asked.

"Well we can't exactly just waltz right into the Well House," Y/N explained. "We're going to need supplies like weapons of any kind, flashlights, masks and rope."

"Lots and lots of rope."

- - -

"I can't believe you're doing this," Eddie muttered, his face pale as he stared at the pulsing goo in front of him that lined the basement wall of the Well House. He looked as if he might puke or pass out. Maybe even both. "That thing looks like an infection just waiting to happen."

"Oh, hush. They'll be fine. It's just decay anyways," Beverly noted from where she was tying the rope around Y/N's waist, remembering what Y/N had said about the Upside Down being a world of decay. She finished tightening the rope before standing back and looking at the girl who grinned at her.

"Be careful and go kick some demogorgon and It ass while you're at it," Beverly told the girl. Y/N smiled and the two girls high fived before Beverly gave her a quick hug just in case something were to happen.

"Remember, we are just trying to figure out what is going on in there and hopefully you guys will find Mike while you're at it. No unnecessary fighting if you can help it," Stan said.

Y/N nodded and the two did a small fist bump before Y/N turned to see Bill talking to Richie, Eddie, and Ben. Her eyes locked with Bill's and she gave him a small nod. "Ready?" she asked.

Bill nodded and pulled his bandana up and over his mouth and nose, a technique Y/N had advised him to use to keep the decay out of his lungs. "Ready," he nodded.

Y/N nodded back and put the bandana over her mouth and nose as well before looking over at Richie, Eddie, and Ben and saluting then. Eddie chuckled and waved to the girls while Ben quickly saluted her back. Richie tried to hide his small smile as he rolled his eyes at the girl, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling at her goofiness and looked to the ground.

Bill lightly grabbed onto Y/N's hand, instantly gaining her attention for a moment. Their eyes locked and he squeezed her hand slightly before she squeezed back. The two then looked before them and took a deep breath before pushing their way through the goo portal, the ropes attached to their waists staying on the other side with the Losers where a huge pile of rope they had managed to find from town laid by their feet.

It took about a minute for the two to break out of the other side of the portal and about fifteen seconds for their eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness around them. Y/N shuddered at the sight before her, the familiar sight of decay in front of her bringing back too many memories.

Bill let out a small gasp, his eyes wide as he looked around and muttered, "What the hell. . ."

Y/N ignored the boy and was quick to flip on her flashlight. "Let's go," she said, her hand still tightly holding onto Bill's as she took a step forward.

She held onto him so tight that Bill thought his hand might break, but he knew she was just afraid and thinking of her many experiences with the world they were in so he held her back just as tight and rubbed a thumb along the top of her hand.

Bill followed at her side and pulled his flashlight out as well as the two began to walk deeper and deeper into the Upside Down. Bill didn't know what to think as he looked around, still shocked at the place that was before him.

They seemed to be in the Well House still, or at least a version of the Well House. Bill had thought the house was already broken down, but this just proved how much worse it could be where half of the building was practically crumbling to ashes while everything was covered in a grayish green decay.

The teens quietly made their way up the stairs of the basement and began to make their way towards the front door, making sure to be quiet enough not to let It or the Demogorgons know they were there.

"We should check outside first. Mike's bike was left outside, so maybe we could find clues," Y/N told him in a whisper and Bill nodded in response.

Luckily the door was already open so all the two had to do was step over some of the broken wood from the door before they were outside. Bill almost gasped louder at the sight of the outside world.

Just like Y/N had said, the scenery around him reminded him of Derry. There were buildings and streets identical to the ones he was used to seeing every day. The only difference was that this landscape was covered in decay and a green and gray tint to everything.

Bill could only stare in shock, so Y/N gently tugged on his hand as she pulled him forward. They couldn't afford to get distracted or separated. Not in a place like this.

The two walked down the front stairs and Y/N dragged Bill over to the same bush that Mike's bike had been in, only the bush was nothing but a bunch of broken twigs while all that was left of a bike was the rusty handles broken in pieces on the ground.

Y/N frowned and bent down to pick a metal piece up. She stood up and studied it for a minute before looking up and around at the scenery in front of her. She was quiet as she looked around, her eyes scanning the area as if she were waiting for something to happen or looking for clues to anything alive having walked through these parts.

Her questioning gaze was soon answered when a small almost screeching noise came from the house behind them. . .the same house they had just walked out of.

Y/N's eyes widened while Bill stilled beside her. "W-W-What was th-th-that?" Bill asked as he looked to the girl beside him confused.

Y/N shook her head and turned to look at the house, but as soon as she heard what sounded like claws scrapping across the ground as something started running through the house, she immediately burst into action.

Her grip tightened on Bill's hand and she bolted, yanking the boy forward as she yelled, "Run!"

All she could hear was her own heart beating in her chest and the cries of a demogorgon as she ran. She knew Bill was yelling at her, possibly trying to figure out what was chasing them and what they were going to do, but she wasn't able to function or process his words so all she heard was a muffled voice yelling from behind her.

Y/N didn't know where she was running as they rushed forward, but she knew that she had to find somewhere to hide, someone where the demogorgon would have trouble finding her. Why she thought the creepy woods was a good idea, she had no idea. But then again, everything in the Upside Down was creepy so how could the woods be any different?

"This way!" Y/N yelled as she pulled Bill into the forest with her. All the trees were bare of leaves, some of them even having branches and twigs broken in odd angles, but there were so many of them bundled together that it was easy for the girl to find them a hiding spot between two large trees towards the middle of the woods.

Y/N had to remind herself to keep her breathing low, that it didn't matter how scared she was. If the demogorgon heard her breathing, then it would be able to find her. It took a second but she finally managed to get her breathing to almost inaudible.

The only problem was Bill who was holding onto her hand with a deathly grip as his other hand held onto his chest. His eyes were looking around frantically and his breathing was almost so rapid that his body shook with every breath.

Y/N frowned sadly before quickly turning her body so that she was in front of the boy. Her hand was quick to go over his mouth, instantly making his breathing ten times quieter. Bill stared at her with wide eyes and she tried to remain calm as she looked at him.

Sweat was dripping down both of their faces and fear was evident in their eyes. Bill shook below her touch and Y/N gave him a sympathetic look before letting go of his hand so that she could brush her hand through his hair, a small gesture she always did when she needed to calm him down.

It seemed to help a little bit and he just blinked and watched her silently as she kept her hand over his mouth. Once she knew he was calm enough for her to look away, Y/N peaked her head out and around the tree so that she could look back in the direction they had just come from.

A snap of a twig had her pulling back and practically launching herself at Bill, the two huddling together as Y/N kept her hand over his mouth and bit her lip to keep herself quiet. Both teens were shaking as they heard the crunching sound of dead twigs and leaves and Bill squeezed his eyes shut before leaning into the girl more, never having felt this scared except for three years ago when they had fought Pennywise.

He hadn't even seen the thing, but it didn't take much for him to realize why Y/N was so freaked out and the sound it made only added to his own fear.

The two were so quiet that the crunching of the leaves and twigs was the only sound that filled the air. So when the sound suddenly paused before starting back up again and growing distant as it did, the two knew they were safe. Y/N waited a moment after the sound had disappeared before pulling away from Bill and looking around the tree.

She let out a small sigh of relief once she saw that the coast was clear and she turned back to Bill before pulling her hand away. Their noses were touching from how close they were, their rapid breaths mingling together as they stared at each other.

"W-W-What was th-th-that?" Bill asked, his eyes frantically searching Y/N's as if they held the answer to his question.

"A demogorgon. Something you do not want to meet," Y/N breathed out. She let her eyes flicker over Bill's face before she looked at him worriedly and used a hand to cup his cheek, her thumb rubbing his skin as he leaned into her touch. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Bill instantly nodded. "Y-Y-Yeah, I'm okay," he told her before he reached up and brushed a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Are you okay?"

He knew how much the Upside Down and the creatures inhabiting it had affected her. There had been countless nights where she had showed up knocking on his window with tears in her eyes and where he had held her in his arms as she cried and shook in his hold from how frightened and upset she was. Bill had never minded much especially since Y/N returned the favor whenever he had nightmares of Georgie and It.

Y/N let out a shaky breath and nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm-"

Her sentence fell on deaf ears as an ear piercing scream filled the air. Y/N instantly tensed while Bill looked at her confused. Y/N ignored the boy as she quickly pulled away, her eyes wide as she looked around. "That scream. . ." She muttered making Bill furrow his eyebrows.

"W-W-What scr-" Bill didn't get to finish because Y/N's wars were suddenly filled with another scream that made her eyes widen.

"It's Mike!" she cried out. "This way!" Before Bill could even get up, the girl had bolted and by the time he was up, she was already gone.

"Sh-Sh-Shit," Bill muttered as he realized him and Y/N were now separated. "Y/N!" he cried out, but there was no response. Knowing there was no way in hell he would be leaving without her, Bill took a deep breath before running in the direction she had went, silently wondering to himself what screaming she had been talking about.

The screaming may have not been real for Bill, but for Y/N it was very real. So real in fact that she didn't even think twice about running off to find Mike. She knew about the horrors that came with the Upside Down so she could only imagine what was happening to him at that moment.

However, it wasn't until she reached a small clearing where Mike was standing with a blank expression on his face that she realized she had been tricked.

"Mike?" Y/N called out, confusion laced in her voice. Upon realizing it was him, she let out a sigh of relief and ran over to the boy, a smile on her face. She reached the boy in a matter of seconds and was quick to wrap her arms around him in a hug. "Thank goodness you are okay! I don't know what I would've done if I-"

The girl fell short as she realized Mike wasn't hugging her back. Confused, Y/N pulled way to see that Mike was staring at her with a blank look on his face, his eyes wide as he just stared at her in silence.

"Mike?" Y/N questioned, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "Come on. We don't have time for games. We have to get out of here."

Y/N turned to leave but before she could even take a step, Mike's hand was suddenly grabbing onto her wrist before he let out an eerie laugh.

"Oh, but games are so much fun, Y/N," a voice that didn't belong to Mike told her. The girl tensed at that and slowly looked behind her to see that Mike had disappeared and been replaced by It.

The clown grinned at her, his sharp teeth shining as his eyes stared at her. "We can play a game," It suggested while Y/N shook her head and began to pull against It's iron grip. Tears were in her eyes as she struggle, but It didn't seem to notice. "The other kids love my games. You can float too, you know. You'll float too. You'll float too. You'll float too! You'll float too!"