i looked over to the other side of the river, and sure enough, there stood part of the losers club

bill, eddie, and richie; all standing with rocks in their hands,

henry got up off of me and yelled, 'oh wow, it's the LOSERS CLUB'

'damn right' richie yelled before throwing a huge rock at bowers' head

it hit him pretty hard, and I could see blood starting to drip from his forehead as he picked it back up, ready to throw at richie

but before he could, richie yelled,'ROCK WAR'

and immediately after, henry threw a rock after richie also right in the head, knocking him over

but then, eddie and bill started throwing rocks after bowers too,

and soon enough henry was gone and then bill, richie, and eddie came running over the river to get to me

'vic! are you okay??' richie looked at me, his huge glasses making his concerned eyes almost twice the size of how big they actually were

'i'm fine, but now I dont have anything to wear, and my legs are bleeding like crazy'

bill held out his hand and helped me up,'i'm s-s-s-s-sure th-th-that eddie w-w-will help you w-w-with your legs'

eddie looked at me and nodded, I smiled back at him

richie was still really worried about me as he took off his hoodie he was wearing,

'rich, what are you doing?'

'vic, I dont want any of the creeps in derry looking at my hot stuff, so here, take my hoodie'

smiling, I grabbed the hoodie from him and pulled it over my head.

it was a little big on me, but that was okay. it smelled like a mix of richie's room, and the vanilla candle I knew and loved

we walked to the pharmacy and while bill and eddie were getting the supplies, me and richie were out in the alley, sitting down on some old boxes

'vic, are you sure you're okay? if that ever happened to me, I would freak'

looking at him, I smiled, 'i'm always okay when I'm with you'

his smile grew big when he heard that as he was gently touching the cuts on my legs, making sure not to hurt me or make it worse

after a few minutes, eddie and bill came back with supplies to fix me up

after they fixed me up, richie and bill went home

but eddie stayed with me

'hey ed, why aren't you going with them?'

eddie looked at me with a small smile across his face, 'I want to make sure that bowers doesn't come after you again, and I dont want to deal with my mom right now..'

getting up from the old box I was sitting on him, I swung my arm around him (in a friendly way, of course) and said, 'is she still trying to make it up for the placebos?'

he nodded, and I smiled back at him, 'how about let's go get some ice cream, Victoria?' eddie was the only that called me by my full name, and I liked it

he's such a nice kid, and I love spending time with him, 'of course, ed!'

licking the lips from the remains of our ice cream, we started heading towards the river to hang out. we were walking pretty close to each other, and it felt nice

we arrived at the river as I sat down on the rocks, 'wow, victoria, the river is really pretty this time of year, don't you think?'

'it really is' he was right. it was late september, which meant the leaves had turned bright oranges and yellows. the river was a beautiful translucent deep blue, and it was shallow so you could see the rocks on the bottom

'how about you come down and sit with me'

'okay, I guess since i'm not allergic to rocks' eddie said while laughing and sitting down on the rocks next to me

the sun was setting, and all you could hear was the light flow of the river and the rustle and bustle of the wind hitting the leaves. the sky had turned into an art piece, filled with beautiful oranges, reds, purples, and blues.

'isn't the sky so pretty?' I asked eddie while leaning my head on his shoulder.

'yup' he said while not shifting his focus from the sky.

then, I heard a yell from behind us, 'NOT AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU, HOT STUFF!'

me and eddie both turned our heads to see richie standing there, with vulnerability in his eyes as he saw us. 'OH HEy guys! what are you guys doing here, together, alone?' richie said while walking over to us and then sitting right in between us.

'we were just watching the sunset, rich...' I said while looking at him

'i'd watch your sunset vic' richie said while winking at me

eddie had a disgusted look on his face as I slapped richie playfully on the chest and got up off of the rocks. 'where you going, victoria?'

'honestly, ed; I have no idea. I don't want to go back to my house, so I guess I'll have to find somewhere to stay...'

richie got up and then pushed his glasses up off the bridge of his nose and then said, 'you can stay at my place, vic!'

smiling, I replied, 'of course, but don't get any ideas, tozier'

he winked at me and then eddie got up, 'I should get going now, guys. see you tomorrow at the lake'

as we started to loose sight of eddie as he went, richie put his hands on my shoulders, and said, 'let's go, hot stuff. don't want to be out after dark' and winked at me

with a slight giggle, we both headed back to his bike, and then drove back to his house

when we arrived, it had just gotten dark, and all the lights in his house were turned on

'hey, mrs. tozier!' I said as we walked in the door and I saw richie's mom in the kitchen, making something that looked like chicken

'oh well hello, miss victoria! are you going to spend the night with richie?' richie's mom was so nice, she wouldn't care if we slept at each other's houses, and would always be so nice and welcoming to me; richie hated it haha.

'if i'm allowed to' I said with a smile

'well of course you are sweetie, you're always welcome here! let me just get some extra blankets and pillows for you and set them in richie's room!'

richie looked at me with an embarrassed smile spread over his whole face as I let out a small laugh,

if only my mom was that nice to other guests, and didn't just ignore them

we walked into richie's room, and I sat down on the chair beside his desk, ' thanks for letting me spend the night' I said with a slight smile

'no problem, hot stuff'

'hey rich, do you have any clothes I can borrow to spend the night in?'

he looked at me, then his closet and bit his lip, 'let me see if I have anything, can you sleep in that sweatshirt, or will it be too hot?'

i thought about how hot it gets at night in derry and then said,'too hot, but if you can't find anything, I guess I could just sleep in my bra, but that wouldn't be very comfortable'

'you got it, sweet thing' richie said to me as he searched through his closet

right as he handed me a pair of navy sweatpants and a yellow bicycle shop shirt, his mom came in with extra pillows and sheets and stuff like that, 'hello dears, dinner is ready in about 5 minutes; do you want me to bring it in here so you guys can eat in peace, or do you want to eat with the others?'

before I could answer, richie quickly answered for me, 'alone please, mom.'

she smiled and nodded, and then left the room

about six minutes later, richie's mom came in with a huge tray, 'here you go, my loves. sleep well my dears'

she set the tray down and scurried out of the room

it was chicken she was making, chicken and pasta

after we had finished eating, richie took the plates and tray out back to the kitchen as I stayed and changed into the clothes richie had given me

once he came back, he asked me, 'um.. vic, is it okay if I don't wear a shirt when we go to sleep, I can't stand wearing clothes when I sleep, but I'll wear pants fo you?'

'of course, richie. but help me make the bed and then you can change'

he smiled, and got my side of the bed ready for me.

once we were settled, richie went into the bathroom and changed into sweats, and no shirt

he carefully got into his side of the bed, making sure not to touch me in any way shape or form; and I have to admit, his side was on the innest, so it was hard not to touch me, but he succeeded

after we were both comfortable, we faced each other in complete darkness, since richie had already turned off the light in his room

'you know, vic, you're still beautiful even in the dark'