I spotted the pharmacy from the other side of the street and I crossed the road, narrowly avoiding a truck. One of the Tracker Brothers, I think it was Tony, stuck his head out the window and asked if I was okay.

"Yeah, sorry!" I shouted in reply and half-ran off. I was about to push through the glass doors of the pharmacy when I heard a voice coming from the adjacent alleyway. I back pedalled and saw Richie standing awkwardly next to a flustered Ben.

"Hey Rich." I said as I approached them and they both looked at me with relief. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're inside." Richie replied, pointing his thumb at the chemist. "I've been stuck guarding Haystack over here."

"Haystack? As in Ben?" I asked, giving him an 'are you serious' look.

"Suits him, don't ya think?" he replied and I shook my head with a laugh. I took a seat on the crate next to Ben and looked at his stomach. His shirt was crusted with dark, red blood.

"You aren't going to go in with the others?" Richie asked.

"Nah, no point. They'll manage on their own." I replied. "How you feeling, Ben?"

Ben blushed and crossed his arms over himself, trying to keep his bleeding gut from view. "Oh, I'm fine. Doesn't even hurt."

"That's brave of you." I said, even though I could tell he was lying. "If I had a cut that big, I'd be crying like a baby."

"You know, that's actually not that hard to imagine." Richie said and I poked my tongue out.

"Sorry that you've had to put up with him." I said to Ben jokingly. He gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, he told me I was going to die just before." Ben said and I looked at Richie with my eyebrows raised.

"Really Richie? Ben's not going to die."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help noticing that Haystack's lost enough blood to fill the entire canal!" Richie threw his hands up in the air.

"Bit of an exaggeration there, Trashmouth." I replied. Voices came from behind us and we turned to see Eddie, Bill and Stan walking towards us, their arms full of supplies.

"Geez, how did you afford all of that?" I asked and stood up.

"We couldn't." Stan replied, looking backwards nervously.

"Oh my god, you did not." I said loudly, trying to conceal my grin. It seemed too ridiculous to imagine the boys stealing from a store.

"Shhh, don't say it so loud. Someone might hear." Eddie said as he and Stan dropped an arrangement of materials at Ben's feet. I noticed Bill standing just outside the alley, looking towards the store as if waiting for something. Eddie got to his knees in front of Ben and started opening some of the packets.

"Seriously? I swear, I always miss out on the good stuff." Richie pouted.

"Trust me, it wasn't fun. Eddie almost knocked over a shelf and got us caught. Thank god Beverly was there." Stan said and I looked up abruptly.

"You guys were with Beverly?" I asked and Stan scratched his head awkwardly.

"Yeah, we bumped into her while we were in the store. She distracted Mr Keene while we snuck out." Stan said.

"Oh," I replied. "That's good then."

Ben hissed as Eddie lifted up his shirt and I had to briefly look away at the sight of the wound. Henry had carved the letter H into his stomach and, although it didn't look too deep, there was a lot of blood. Eddie took out some cotton pads and liquid and started to clean the cut.

"Just suck the wound!" Richie said, crouching behind him.

"Look, I need to focus right now." Eddie snapped.

"You need to focus?" Richie asked.

"Yeah, can you get me something? Jesus." Eddie said. He put down the cotton pads and took out a large square of gauze.

"Uh, what do you need?" Richie asked.

"Go get my bifocals. They're in my second fanny pack." Eddie replied.

"Why do you have two fanny packs?" Stan asked. I snorted.

"Okay I need to focus right now and it's a long story." Eddie replied.

"I don't want to hear it anyway." Stan said.

"I do!" I piped in but Eddie ignored me. He carefully placed the gauze over Ben's wound and was about to stick it down when Richie took a step closer and accidentally bumped Eddie's shoulder, causing his hand to hit Ben and open up the gash.

"Oh god, he's bleeding. Oh my god." Stan panicked.

"You have to suck the wound before you apply the bandaid! This is one oh one!" Richie said.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Eddie snapped and shook him off.

"Are you okay? That looks like it hurts." A girl's voice sounded behind us and we all turned to see Beverly standing with Bill. Ben hastily pulled down his shirt.

"Oh, no I'm good. I just... fell." Ben said quickly, his face turning red.

"Yeah, right into Henry Bowers." Richie said and I silently groaned.

"Sh-shut up Ruh-Richie." Bill said.

"What? It's true!" Richie replied. Beverly moved closer to Ben and he straightened himself up.

"Are you sure they got the right stuff to fix you up?" She asked, giving him a slight wink. I raised my eyebrows at the interaction.

"You know, w-w-we'll take care of him." Bill said as Ben smiled like an idiot. "Thanks again, Beverly."

"Sure." Beverly replied with a smile. "Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah, w-we were thinking about going to the qu-qu-quarry if, if you want to come." Bill suggested. I could feel everyone staring at him with wide eyes, me included.

"Good to know. Thanks." Beverly said and walked off with a small wave. Once she was out of sight, everyone straightened up and turned back to each other.

"Nice going, bringing up Bowers in front of her." Stan told Richie.

"Yeah, did you hear what she did?" Eddie said.

"What did she do?" Ben asked, his eyes wide.

"More like who'd she do. From what I hear the list is longer than my wang." Richie replied.

"That's not saying much." Stan said.

"They're juh-just rumours." Bill said and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, surely you don't believe any of that crap. I mean, look at what people say about me." I added and Richie shrugged.

"Anyway, Bill had her back in third grade. They kissed in the school play. The reviews said you can't fake that sort of passion!" Richie exclaimed. I looked to Bill with an eyebrow raised as Stan grinned and nudged him. Bill looked away, blushing deeply. I saw Ben's face fall out of the corner of my eye.

"Now," Richie clapped, "pip pip and tally-oh, my good fellows! I do believe this chap requires our utmost attention. Get in there Doctor K, come on and fix him up."

"Why don't you shut the fuck up Einstein, because I know what I'm doing and I don't want you doing the British guy-"

"Suck the wound, get in there." Richie said and we all groaned in unison.

- - -

Thump.... Thump... Thump...

I groaned and rolled over in bed, squeezing my eyes shut as I willed myself to fall back asleep.

Thump... Thump... Thump...

I opened my eyes tiredly and looked at the digital clock on my bedside table. It was 2:06am.

Thump... Thump... Thump...

This time the noise was accompanied with moans. I sat up abruptly, wide awake.

"Yes! Ohhh, yes!" I heard from the room next to me. "Faster..... Ohhh, faster!"

Oh. My. God.

"Argh, I'm cumming!" a male's voice said this time and the thumping increased for a few moments before it stopped altogether. I heard the squeak as my mum's bedroom door opened, followed by a loud smash that caused me to jump up out of bed. I ran forward and opened the door, greeted with the sight of glass covering the hallway floor.

I looked up to see my mum in nothing but a large t-shirt and a man wearing only jocks. They had knocked over a vase. Neither of them had seen me and they were holding each other, laughing as they swayed drunkenly. The stench of alcohol filled my nose and I screwed my face in disgust.

"Mum?" I asked, and they turned around. The man eyed me up and down, his beady eyes staring at me greedily. I felt sick to the stomach.

"Oh, hey honey." she slurred, giggling. "Go back to sleep. Oscar and I are having some... Adult time."

"Mum," I hissed. "You said you'd never do this stuff at home."

"Oh, Lara, don't be silly. That was years ago." she replied as Oscar snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Well it's keeping me up at night, and you guys just broke a really expensive vase! Aren't you going to clean it up?" I glared at them. Oscar pulled away from my mum and took a step towards me, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Don't talk that way to your mum, girl." he said. I took a step backwards.

"I think you should leave." I told him as he took another step forward.

"Excuse me?" he replied. I took another step backwards, but my back hit the wall. He was blocking the stairs; the only exit.

"I said, I think you should leave. Now." I said and he took another few steps towards me. I looked to my mum for help but she was watching me expressionlessly.

"I can leave whenever I want to." he sneered. He was so close I could feel his breath on me. It reeked of whiskey and smoke. I hissed as he grabbed my injured arm, a sharp pain shooting up to my elbow. I tried pulling away but his grip was too strong.

"Now why don't you be a good girl and head on back to your room. Leave your mother and I to our... business." he said lowly. I nodded and he let go. I pushed past him and ran downstairs instead of back into my room, my bare feet crunching painfully on the broken glass. Ignoring the burning sting, I sprinted down the stairs. I could feel a wetness on the soles of my feet and I knew I was leaving footprints of blood. I heard shouts from behind but there was no way I was going to stay in this house any longer.

I pushed open the front door and slammed it behind me, breathing in the cold night air. Goosebumps appeared on my exposed skin. I was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, no bra. I shivered and look down the quiet, dead street. There was no noise except for the sound of my quick breaths.

I crossed the road, wincing as I picked out the pieces of glass that were stuck in my feet. There wasn't as much blood as I expected, but it still hurt. I walked up Billy's driveway, his house being the only place I could think of right. I wasn't about to spend the night sleeping under a bush.

Instead of going towards the front door, I made my way across the side of the house. I didn't want Bill's parents waking up and asking questions. I spotted his window with the curtains drawn and I bent down and picked up a few small rocks. I pulled back my arm and threw one, but missed and hit the adjacent window.

"Shit." I muttered, hoping it wasn't his parent's bedroom. I threw another rock and it hit Bill's window this time, making a loud tap. I had thrown about five more rocks, one of them missing and knocking a flower off one of the windowsill plants, before the curtains at the window moved and I saw Bill's pale face appear.

He pulled up the glass pane and stuck his head out. "Lara?" he asked.

"Bill!" I hissed. "Could you let me in?"

His face disappeared and I heard a noise coming from the front door. Bill was standing in the doorway, wearing only trousers and his hair tousled from sleep. I forced myself to keep from looking at his bare chest.

"Lara? W-what are you d-doing?" he asked, blinking the tiredness from his eyes.

"Hey Bill, I'm sorry for waking you. My mum and this guy are drunk at my house and I can't sleep there." I explained, biting my lip.

"Oh, c-come in." Bill stepped to the side and allowed me to walk in. I heard the door shut from behind me and the last gust of cold air blow against my hair.

"Did you w-w-want to sleep here t-tonight?" he asked.

"If that's alright." I replied. "I'm really sorry for bothering you, I know it's late."

"Th-th-that's okay, Lara. Who was your mum w-with anyway?"

"This real beefy guy named Oscar, I think." I replied and Bill raised his eyebrows.

"Oscar? As in Oscar Buh-buh-bowers? Butch?" he asked. I froze.

"Oh my god oh my god, please don't tell me my mum's having sex with Henry's dad." I wailed, making a gagging noise. Now that I thought of it, I could kind of see the resemblance between the two, in appearance and personality. I could tell where he got his morals from.

"I don't even wuh-wuh-want to thing about that." Bill said and he led me up the stairs. We tiptoed into his room and he shut the door quietly behind us. I noticed that the window was still open and the curtains were blowing as the cool breeze entered the room.

"Will your parents be okay with this?" I asked.

"Probably not. B-but they don't have t-to know."

I sat down on his bed and examined the soles of my feet. The cuts weren't big but they hurt like hell.

Bill pulled out a thin mattress from under the bed. He walked out of the room for a few seconds and came back with his arms full of blankets and a couple of bandaids which he placed next to me. He carefully laid the blankets out on the mattress and took a pillow from his own bed and placed it there as well.

I stuck the bandaids over my small cuts and was relieved to see no more blood. I hoped I didn't leave footprints in his house.

"H-h-here, all done." he said as I walked over. The mattress was positioned right next to his bed but on the opposite side of the door. If anybody walked in, they wouldn't see me on the floor.

"Thanks Bill." I said and pulled back the blankets so I could get in. I looked up at him and caught him staring at my exposed legs before quickly looking away. I smiled to myself as I lied down, a warmness spreading through my chest. I heard the click of a switch and I was engulfed in darkness.

"Goodnight Bill." I said and closed my eyes.

"Goodnight Lara." Bill replied. I buried my face into the pillow and breathed in his clean scent. After a few minutes I found myself drifting off to sleep, the curtains still flapping in the breeze.