DON'T BE A BABY.

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DEAD BOY (book one).
°• CHAPTER TWO •°

" I DON'T THINK SPENDING
SUMMER WITH YOUR FRIENDS
IS MY IDEA OF FUN. "

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THE SUN FELT NICE RESTING ON DAXTON'S ALREADY WARM SKIN DURING HIS WALK HOME. It felt even better when he sat on the roof. He discovered days after arriving at the Griffth's house that if he popped the window open right, he could easily crawl out and set his weight over the roof outside his bedroom window that was fortunately sturdy enough to hold him. It was Daxton's not-so-secret spot but Charlie hadn't caught on to it just yet. The roof's ridges were heating under the sunlight and pressed snugly against his exposed skin. It was quiet and, for fucking once, he could be alone with his thoughts.

Yikes.

It felt almost dangerous. Maybe it had to do with Henry Bowers or Charlie and his friends from the other day. It wasn't like it was the first time Daxton had the courage to keep his voice steady and feet firm while face to face with Bowers. He wasn't afraid when the Bowers Gang gave him a "warm Derry welcome" after he first moved here. The attention on him shifted away when Ben Hanscom moved into town a week or two after him. He was taught a long time ago to not be frightened of anyone or anything because screw fear. Bowers wasn't what Daxton was afraid of. It ran deeper than that, something that settled in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't or refused to describe.

It made Daxton want to walk home alone. He would very rarely take the walk home with Charlie, especially if his friends were involved. After the incident with Bowers and Daxton realizing a bond was beginning to be formed just for standing up for them, he left and seemingly beat Charlie to their house.

Clearly, Daxton didn't think too much of how open of a space he was in while sitting in his not-so-secret spot because of the room he shared with Charlie. He's too easy to be discovered. The sound of the wooden door shutting causes his shoulders to jerk in surprise and turn his head. He has the idea to scurry back inside before he's discovered but, as always, Daxton is a second too late as this thought passes his head. Charlie's already spotted him as he scrambled to writhe back through the open window.

Charlie's dark eyes gleam as he observed the scene. Daxton, one leg stuck out of the window while his other along with his torso was in the room. Daxton hears a laughing light as air escape his lips. "You know, the best way to get air or sunlight without the risk of breaking your neck is to walk out the front door," he suggested lightheartedly as Daxton awkwardly shuffled the rest of the way out and slid the window shut. His neck and cheeks felt warm from being caught. Charlie isn't there to make fun of him, though, and he must be here to fetch him for something else if the way he jumped forward to seize Daxton's wrist said anything. "Come on, I have to show you something!"

If Charlie's fingers wrapped around his limb weren't so tight, Daxton would have been able to pull away. Instead, he's forcefully pulled down the stairs, his shoes creasing and nearly causing him to slip. Charlie gave a quick greeting to Haley who was balancing a book as Emilia read aloud to her on the couch. He's barely at the door before Emilia's head shot up and she's calling after them, "And where are you going?"

"I'm being kidnapped," Daxton responded flatly.

Charlie hushed him. "I'm showing him the surprise," he added, a hint that Emilia seemed to understand as a smile twitched onto her lips.

"Be safe," is all she says dismissively to them both. Charlie takes that as permission for them to leave as he swings open the door and drags Daxton outside.

Finally, Daxton manages to wrangle his arm back after Charlie shuts the door and pulled him down the wooden porch steps. "Charlie," he began as they rounded the house. "No offense but I don't think spending the summer with your friends is my idea of fun."

"Of course it is," Charlie said with a shrug before insisting. "And they're your friends too." It seems like Daxton's words had gone through one ear and floated out the other. Charlie was too distracted by grabbing a dirty white cloth turning gray draped over an object and pulling it up, letting out a proud, "Ta-da!" To reveal a tilted bike on its side that reached his hip. It was identical to the one Charlie owned but instead was a chipped green color instead of blue.

Daxton feels his blood run cold. Not of terror or fear but of another emotion, one he couldn't name, but a feeling that made him want to hide where no one could find him. Words didn't seem easy to breathe out again. As a thirteen year old boy, he's had exactly thirteen birthdays and he can't recall the last time he was given a gift. He doesn't even think his past foster parents knew when his birthday was. It wasn't Daxton's birthday today, not until Christmas Eve, and he was nothing special - so why was Charlie presenting him a bike like he deserved it?

"Shit," Daxton mumbled. He cleared his throat before speaking more clearly as he shifted his weight. "I can't take this, really, I can't - "

"Don't be silly," Charlie cut him off. "It was Emilia's. She finally got a car this week and was going to, just, throw this away but I thought... Maybe..." Charlie trailed off, suddenly sheepish and insecure at Daxton's silence. "Maybe you'd want to come with us to the Barrens."

Daxton knew Charlie and his friends had bikes, it was how they traveled together from place to place. He knew this was an invitation and he'd be dumb to accept the bait, to be drawn in with the group of boys his age that could be his friends if he didn't prefer to be isolated. Daxton didn't make friends in his other schools, not with boys, not with anyone. He slowly parts his lips to deny in a claim, "no, never going to happen", but all that comes out is... "Yeah, I - I wouldn't mind that." Daxton's own mind and mouth betray him.

The admission makes Charlie beam back. He grabs the bike by the handlebars, kicked the brake up, and then dragged it across the grass blades, dragging the tires in the soil. "Come on! Try it out," he encouraged lightly.

Once the bike had met solid concrete, Daxton hesitantly positioned it. He knew how a bike worked, with balance and pumping the pedals for speed, but he's never had the chance to ride one himself. His mother never bothered to teach him and it wasn't like he had the option in other houses. Daxton was careful as he curled his fingers around the bars and brought a leg over it and settled on the seat, sneakers planted down firmly with his eyes trained in such a focus on the ground that he was startled when Charlie rolls up next to him on his own bike. "You okay?" He pipes up curiously.

"I, uh... Don't really know what I'm doing," Daxton confessed. He sees a flash of pity on Charlie's face that internally makes him cringe. He snorts and averted his attention back to the ground, rocking back against the seat in defeat. "Pathetic, right?"

"Not at all." Charlie replaced the look he gave Daxton with a warm and comforting smile. He gets off his bike before Daxton can change his mind and retreat back into the house and stood behind him. "Let's go! I'll give you a push!" He encouraged.

Daxton felt Charlie's hands hold the bike still for him. He inhaled a deep breath, filling his lungs just enough to believe he could do this, and bent his legs to rest his sneakers on the pedals. The bike started to wobble which made his hands clutch at the rubber bars tighter, causing it to rub raw against his palms. Charlie was quickly steadying it for him but Daxton shakes at the uneasiness just barely holding him up. "I, I don't know about this," he stammered faintly with his gut twisting in anxiety out of fear the bike would tip and he'd scrape his knees.

But it wasn't a big deal if it happened. Right? Daxton had been through worse than a bloody and bruised knee. Charlie seems to think the same, as his comforting voice motivates him not to give up. "Dax, it's okay. You don't have to do this if you don't really want to but... I got you. Riding a bike is just like a walk in the park," he reassured him.

And Daxton didn't know how much he believed that but he owed it to himself to at least try if Charlie believed in him. He made sure he was balancing evenly so he wouldn't crash on the gravel. Daxton took another breath one last time before he gave a push on the pedals and was off. It was the furthest path from steadiness. The bike he rode forward was rocking so it swayed him like a wave but he kept Charlie's advice in his mind. Daxton pumped his legs, causing the wheels to spin until he managed to finally grasp a fixed rhythm. He feels a smile of confidence spread as Charlie cheers him on from behind.

The wind brushes pasts Daxton's skin and grazes feathers of his brown hair back. Sunlight poured from the sky and warmed the skin through his clothing with comfort. He doesn't feel afraid like he did at the beginning. Daxton felt like he did when he was on the roof, safe, content in solace. The houses on the street pass by in a blur in the corner of his eyes. He doesn't know how far they've made it from the house yet. His ears ring and beat like a drum, only clearing when Charlie caught up to him, his laugh echoing like a bell before he lets out a warning that they're coming along a turn.

That's where it goes wrong.

Maybe Charlie should have taught Daxton how to turn his handles correctly instead of how to ride the bike forward before letting him go. Because as soon as he went to turn at the upcoming corner to his left, his arms move in a jerky motion and he was no longer able to balance his weight correctly to curve. Daxton's bike plummeted beneath him and he's diving to the ground. He hisses in pain when one leg gets caught underneath the bike, the other scraping against the rusty chain, and the palm of his hands skidding across the concrete. He's positive his arms are damaged too by the way they ache under where he's attempting to hold up his weight but at least his head didn't bounce off the ground.

"Dax!" Charlie practically flung himself off his bike and dropped it in a clatter to the ground before dashing to his side. His hands fly to heave the bike off of him. "Are you - "

"I'm fine," Daxton groaned out. Nothing on him currently hurt more than scrapes and bruises. He shifted, fixing his awkwardly bent leg and onto his rear to assess the damage. The pant leg that was above the bike had the denim cloth torn to reveal a thin line bubbling lightly with red. His palms weren't any better, bits of his skin shredded white and turning the same crimson crawling down to his wrist. Fortunately, the other leg was covered and only felt like a giant bruise. But that's it. Daxton figures it isn't a big deal.

Daxton decides to brush it off, ignoring Charlie's dark brown, doe eyes of concern that watch him cautiously and wipe his hands. He bites his tongue when it stings badly, as does his legs when they shake under the pressure he puts on them to rise. Charlie is still gazing at him with a frown of guilt. "I should have warned you about turning," he regretted. "We can go back..."

"There's no need to," Daxton dismissed the offer stubbornly. He takes the bike from Charlie and steadied it to carefully guide his leg over. "Come on, teach me," he urged.

Charlie hesitated but eventually complied with Daxton's request which sounded more like a slight demand when refusing to give up. It took a few tries but soon enough the turning became smoother and was lucky enough to not have the same crash as before. He knows he gets the hang of it and will get better with time. Charlie is calm, patient when the other becomes frustrated, and doesn't give up on him any more than Daxton does on learning how to ride the stupid bike.

The Kaspbrak house comes into their view after a few more lucky turns and straight riding. Three bikes are already laid outside in the grass, signaling that they had been waiting for them, so two more joins before Charlie led Daxton up the porch and knocked on the front door a few times. Daxton shoved his hands into his pockets and waited until the door swung open, praying to God that it wouldn't be Eddie's mother who opened the door. He knew he was the last person she'd want her precious son to be around. He easily guessed that after first moving to Derry.

Eddie stood at the opening with his hair neatly combed back and a friendly, freckled smile greeting them. "Hey Charlie, Dax - " He cut himself off when his stare landed on the crusted, drying blood lightly coloring Daxton's skin and pant leg that he never bothered to clean up. His smile drops. "Holy shit, did fucking Bowers catch up to you on the way here or something?" He demanded, grabbing Daxton's hand without giving him much of a choice and turning it over the inspect the scrapes.

The interrogation makes Daxton's cheek start to flame red with embarrassment. He didn't exactly want to admit that he fell off a bike he didn't know how to ride and was too stubborn to give up. He glanced unsurely to Charlie who seemed to read his eyes and shook his head. "Something like that," he replied.

That seemed to be enough to satisfy Eddie who pretty much dragged Daxton into his house. "Get inside, we need to clean that shit before it gets infected," he ordered when Daxton gave him a small protest. Charlie lets out a light laugh and shut the door behind them, following where Eddie ushered them.

Both Bill and Richie were waiting in the kitchen, piling snacks into bags when they enter and are joined by Charlie. Eddie delivered a light shove to Daxton's chest so he was seated on a chair. "Take everything but the delicious deals, guys. My mom loves them," he reminded his friends as he dug through his fanny pack and pulled out a few sealed alcohol wipes and band-aids.

Daxton was the last person who wanted his wounds to be kissed but Eddie most likely would have just shoved him back down and he wasn't in the mood to be pushed around. He glanced at the food Bill revealed wrapped in colorful plastic when he swung open a kitchen cupboard. "So why do we need snacks if we're just going to the Barrens?" He questioned.

"Big Bill decided we're going in the sewers, actually, to have a lovely picnic while splashing in shitty water," Richie answered with a sweetly sarcastic tone that made Bill roll his eyes.

Suddenly, Daxton nearly jumped out of his skin when Eddie suddenly swiped a wet wipe across his hand and hissed loudly at how bad it stung with no warning. He didn't even notice Eddie already tore the packets open. "What the fuck? No one, two, three?" Daxton snapped, fingers shaking as he fought the urge to yank his hand back.

"Nope. It's easier like this. If it burns, that means it's working," Eddie said calmly, unaffected by Daxton's voice. "Don't be a baby." Daxton glared at that before he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Eddie tossed the wipe aside and grabbed another, moving on to Daxton's next hand as he retracted the clean one. "Hey, first you said the Barrens and now you're saying the sewer," he told Bill over his shoulder. "I mean, what if we get caught?"

"We won't, Eds," Bill reassured him. He zipped a bag shut that bulged with packets of snacks and handed it to Charlie who swung the straps onto his back. "The sewers are puh... Public works. We are the public, aren't we?" He pointed out.

"I don't know. We're also kids snooping," Charlie added with a look of hesitation. "I don't think the police would be too happy about it."

Daxton huffed to cover up another noise of pain when Eddie cleaned his hand. "I doubt those dickheads have lifted a finger since..." He cut himself off before he could mention the missing kids with a quick look at the back of Bill's head. Even he knew it'd be insensitive. Eddie shook his head and moved on, crouching so he can peek through the slit in Daxton's denim pant leg under his knee. He simply peeled a band-aid and rubbed the sticker on with his thumbs, finally giving him permission to stand by deeming him as clean.

Before the silence can turn awkward thanks to Daxton, Richie reached up to open another cupboard. Dozens of orange bottles labeled with Eddie's name and full of pills were stacked upon shelves in long lines. It makes Daxton raise an eyebrow - he knew Eddie was a cautious boy that carried around a fanny pack like a first-aid kit along with his inhaler but did he really take all of these pills? He wondered how he could handle all of them.

"Eddie, are these your birth control pills?" Richie joked with a hand gesture to the opening.

"Yeah, I'm saving them for your sister," Eddie shot back. Charlie whistled at the fire behind the comeback as Eddie stormed towards Richie and nudge him aside to scuffle at slamming the cupboard doors shut. "This is private stuff."

Once their backpacks are full and they're preparing themselves for the little journey, they make a beeline for the front door to leave. Daxton shook off the slight limp from his injury being disinfected well and followed their path. Eddie eyed him cautiously for a second before managing to shake off his worry to grab a bottle of pills on a nightstand and tuck it safely in his fanny pack, zipping it shut. The group of five, led by Bill, aren't given the chance to open the front door near the living room just yet as Eddie's mother calls out to stop them.

"Eddie Bear, where are you boys off to in such a rush?"

Sonia Kaspbrak was a large woman who was equally as big of a bitch. She leaned back on the sofa, creasing it with her weight as she painted her fingernail a bubblegum pink with a single light stroke. She wore pink framed glasses that made her eyes seem small as they glared at Eddie's friends whom Daxton was very aware she didn't like. She treated her son as if he was too delicate for this world and it didn't help Eddie's friends were the exact opposite.

Because Daxton knew Sonia didn't like them, especially him for being such a dirty, foul-mouthed boy with a bad attitude because he didn't have a family to raise him well with manners. He didn't doubt she compared him to the devil and loathed that he was here, spending time with her son. It satisfied Daxton, the fact that she hated his guts. "Hi, Mrs. K," he greeted with a grin masked as a sneer and his lower lip curled. "Nice to see you too." He sent a mocking two-finger salute in her direction.

Eddie delivered a faint nudge with his elbow into Daxton's ribs as Bill took over before Eddie's mom can decide she really hates his friends and command him to stay home. "Um, we're just going to m-m-my backyard, Mrs. K. I got a new..." He fell into a pause as he tried to think of some bullshit excuse.

"A new croquet set!" Richie exclaimed for him, coming up with the first harmless activity he could think of. He laughed and clapped Bill on the back. "Jeez, spit it out Buh-Buh-Buh-Bill."

That seemed to please Mrs. Kaspbrak who was dumb enough to believe five boys nearing fourteen were going to Bill's flowered backyard and playing with a croquet set. "Okay." Daxton could laugh at her but bit his tongue to fight it back. "Oh, and sweetie, don't go rolling around in the grass, especially if it's just been cut. You know how bad your allergies can get," she warned him.

"Yes, mom," Eddie agreed and made a fast move to leave in a newfound hurry as Bill opened the door for him. "Come on."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" His mother ordered.

The light that poured in almost covered Eddie's look of defeat. He sighed, feet dragging against the carpet that his eyes were glued to until he approached Mrs. Kaspbrak's side and leaned over the couch's arm to press a very faint kiss to his mother's smiling, smug cheek. Richie started snorting in laughter at the sight, not sparing Eddie's embarrassment that Daxton could see when he returned to the group. Charlie made an attempt to at least shush Richie as quietly as he could.

Despite Eddie's hope they'll leave without another word, Richie stopped laughing to ask, "Do you want one from me too, Mrs. K?"

Eddie's features turned into a scowl and he gave Richie a strong push, making him stumble out of the door. Daxton followed after Charlie and Bill, leaving Eddie to utter a fakely sweet apology to his mother before shutting the door behind them. "Not a word," he warned them once they were outside, simmering with rage as they took turns lifting their bikes. Richie is still laughing as Bill held his back with a smile that makes Eddie bark out a few threats to him.

"Remind me why I'm here again?" Daxton requested. He hoisted his new bike up and eased himself to mount it mindfully considering the scrapes he endured.

The question he asked wasn't particularly directed at anyone but Richie still slid his feet against the lawn to be by Daxton's side. "Aw, don't pretend you don't have a sweet soft spot for us after today," he joked, referring to the earlier events when Daxton stood in Bowers's face to protect them.

Daxton simply raised a middle finger at Richie before dropping his hands again to hold the handlebars and push ahead. He was grateful that the practice and time he took to Eddie's house as the bike ride with them to recruit Stan at his house was less bumpy. Daxton felt more confident in his new skills with each pump of his legs that glided his bike across the pavement. He only shared one look with Charlie on their way to the Uris's property and noticed he was smiling proudly back at him.

It was Richie's too loud laughter that signaled Stan they arrived at some stupid joke he made. Daxton thinks the sound could have rung through the whole neighborhood, if not the entire town. A part of him mostly wanted to tell Richie to shut up while Stan exited his house, grabbing his bike and doing it so Daxton didn't have to, while the other part of him felt warmness that spread to his fingertips. Maybe it was the dumb jokes he made. Or maybe it really was the laughter or the way he smiled that followed them but Daxton couldn't block him out. He supposed none of them had learned how to just yet.

Once Stan had joined them, they change their route to the sewers. They have to pass by Derry's public library which Daxton assumed was empty considering it was the first day of summer. Too many people were enjoying the sun. Bill stood upward on his pedals and yelled in joy, basking in the sunlight himself. "Hi-yo Silver, away!"

The name Silver was scrawled into the metal of Bill's older model of a bike that was done by him. Daxton couldn't see it from where he was, being almost the last one if it wasn't for Charlie keeping his pace next to him so he wouldn't be alone, but he knew it was there. "Your old lady bike's too fast for us!" Richie called after him, only making Bill laugh back.

The clear river hidden behind the endlessly green trees was sparkling under the sun. Bundles of rocks and pebbles crunch together under Daxton's sneakers after they abandon their bikes and approach the open mouth of the sewer that Bill had already stood before. His blue eyes scanned the dark tunnel. He's still trying to figure out why the hell he's standing here with them, batting aside tree branches so he doesn't get jabbed with the points, as Stan watched with a visible wince.

"That's poison ivy..." Stan pointed to the most recent branch Daxton touched. "And that's poison ivy..." He moved on to a bush. "And that's poison ivy."

"Where?" Eddie panicked as a plant blooming out of the ground scraped his leg. He immediately scraped at the spot with his fingernails. "Where's the poison ivy - shit, Dax, don't touch the branches..." To prove a point that Daxton didn't give a shit, he made a show of tugging a leaf off the branch and blowing it in Eddie's direction who jumped out of the way before it can make contact with his skin. "What the fuck, dude! Do you know poison ivy can cause swelling, itching - "

"Don't be a baby," Daxton mimicked Eddie's earlier words to him.

"But it's nowhere!" Richie exclaimed over him in annoyance as he hopped over a boulder to join Bill. "Not every fucking plant is poison ivy, Stanley."

Eddie pursed his lips. "Okay, well, I'm starting to get itchy now," he argued, eyes pointedly set towards Daxton who flashed an innocent grin back. "And I'm pretty sure that's not good for me."

Richie seized the opportunity to taunt Eddie as he parted low hanging vines over the sewer's opening. "Do you use the same bathroom as your mother?" He asked.

"Sometimes, yeah."

"Then you probably have crabs."

"That's so not funny!"

It clearly is, as it even pulls a laugh from not only Charlie but Daxton. Bill, however, ignored them and flicked on his flashlight, beaming the lens down the tunnel. He took a few steps inside, followed by the quiet sound of sloshing water around his ankles. Daxton hopped on a rock behind Richie and peered curiously inside. A rotten smell filled his nose that made him cringe. The water had turned a murky green and brown inside, the complete opposite of the perfectly blue river that washed in.

There was a small splash as Richie jumped inside. He observed the closed walls around him curiously before turning to see no one else had made a move to follow Bill and him. "Aren't you guys coming in?"

Daxton shrugged. "Sure." He grabs ahold of the vines, testing their strength with a slight tug, and upon seeing they're sturdy enough, uses the plant to guide him without falling into the water. His sneakers soak as soon as they're inside, being crushed against rocks and other drowned objects that Daxton didn't want to think about. He considers holding his breath just so he wouldn't have to breathe in that awful smell, but curiosity is dragging him inside. The feeling is all too familiar.

"Nuh-uh." Eddie furiously shook his head, his nose curling up. "That's gray water."

Richie sighed. "What the hell is gray water?"

"It's basically piss and shit - so I'm just telling you!" Eddie threw his hands up sarcastically. "You guys are splashing around in millions of gallons of Derry pee!"

Daxton hears Richie mimic him as he bent down to scan the few floating items. Charlie reeled back in disgust, balancing himself on the log he and Stan stepped on. "Dude, please don't," he begged with him.

His pleads to stop only go ignored when Richie found a thick stick drenched with what Eddie described as gray water. Brown sludge coats the bark so that it peels. He brings the tip to his nose and takes a long, exaggerated sniff to get on their last nerve. And it works. Eddie gaped at him. "Are you - are you serious?" He demanded.

Richie gasped. His head whipped to them with a fake, shocked expression. "Doesn't smell like caca to me, Señor!" He exclaimed in a very dramatic, but terrible, Spanish accent.

"Okay, I can smell it from here!" Eddie claimed.

"It's probably just your breath wafting back into your face."

That infuriated Eddie, whose lower lip curled with a repulsed frown. "Have you ever heard of a staph infection?!" He hissed angrily.

"I'll show you a staph infection!"

"That's so unsanitary!" Eddie scolded him. "You guys are like swimming in a toilet bowl right now. Have you ever heard of listeria?" His very deep, and frankly boring, speech about cleanliness goes ignored by both Bill, who wandered further inside, and Richie, who had begun poking at the garbage sticking out of the water's surface. He picked up what looked like a damp trash bag and grinned in mischief.

It made Eddie's words turn into a screech of terror when Richie flung the material at them. Charlie scrambled to get out of the target, nearly stumbling into Stan and almost taking them both down while Eddie ducked, narrowly missing being hit. "Are you retarded?!" He shouted at the annoying one.

"Okay, no, too far," Daxton agreed with Eddie, stepping back until he nearly touched the decaying sewer wall to put enough distance between him and Richie's damn stick. He had half a mind to drown Richie in the foot of water before it could.

"That's right. Fear me, Shields," Richie declared with mocking bravery and an attempt to brandish his stick like it was a sword.

"If that shit touches me you'll have to have it removed from your - "

"Guys!"

Bill, who had been silent in the midst of the teenage boys arguing while trudging further inside, finally called out before Daxton can finish his dead-set threat. They all look in time to see Bill slowly turn around with a grave look that stares back at him. He's shining his light on the dirty white shoe in his shaking hand. Daxton doesn't feel like bickering or threatening them anymore, not with the lump growing in his throat. His stomach stirs into nausea due to the sudden sight. No one else besides them went skipping through the sewers. Whoever left it behind...

"Shit," Stan swore, his voice cracking on the single word. "Don't tell me that's..."

"No," Bill breathed out, causing the rest to release their own. "G-G-Georgie was wearing galoshes."

It's Eddie who manages to croak out the question they all wonder - if the shoe didn't belong to Georgie... "Whose sneaker is it?"

Bill peeled back the heel's cloth and held it in Richie's view. The light shone over a few black letters scrawled with a marker that Richie read aloud. "It's Betty Ripsoms."

God, Daxton remembered Betty's poor mother outside of the school when he left. The distressed, grieving expression that showcased her heartbreak that ached for her daughter to return. The police didn't announce they had any leads so how the fuck did they find Betty's missing shoe by strolling through the sewer?

"Shit," Eddie echoed Stan and shuddered in a panic. "Shit, oh God, oh fuck, I don't like this."

Sensing their shared distress, Richie makes a weak attempt to lighten the mood. "How do you think Betty feels? Going around these tunnels with only one freakin' shoe!" He bounced on one leg, however, his smile doesn't meet his eyes.

"There has to be more," Daxton blurted before his mouth can let his brain process what he was about to speak. He doesn't know what parts belonging to Betty there could be more of other than her second shoe.

"You kidding?" Charlie questioned. He tugged at the braided knot in his dark hair anxiously.

"He's right," Stan mumbled. He wrung his hands together in front of him. "What if she's still here?"

Eddie breathed so deeply and shakily that Daxton thinks he might need his inhaler to inhale properly again when Richie urged them to follow him and Bill. "My mom will have an aneurysm if she finds out we were playing down here," he stated. "I'm serious." At least this time Richie kept his mouth shut and didn't make another comment to taunt him. Daxton was sure Eddie would finally snap and lose it, maybe throttle Richie, especially while he was already teetering after Bill's discovery.

"Bill?" Eddie called when he turns his back to gaze in the pitch black that was waiting for them.

Through the dark gloom, Daxton can see Bill's blue eyes brightening with hope when he craned his neck to look over his shoulder. No one there wanted to suffocate it. "If... If I were Betty Ripsom, I would want us to find me." He paused to take a deep breath. "... G-G-Geor... Georgie too."

Brown eyes locked on the sewage water, Eddie refused to meet anyone's stare while he nervously bit his lower lip before he spoke up. "What if I don't want to find them?" Bill tried to meet his eyes, frowning, his features morphing into hurt. "I mean, no offense, Bill. But I don't want to end up like..." He tried to backtrack before he can say the name they were all thinking. It makes Bill visibly flinch. "I don't want to go missing either," Eddie finished honestly.

"He has a point," Stan whispered in admission.

Bill's jaw nearly dropped at that. "Y-Y-You too?" He questioned as if every male here had decided to betray him since they wanted to live and not trek through the sewers searching for missing kids like his brother.

"It's summer," Stan argued. "We're supposed to be having fun. This isn't fun. This is scary and disgusting - "

Suddenly, a loud splash of water that washes over behind them makes every boy there jump in the shadows. Daxton's heart both picks up in speed at the same time it sunk from the finding of the shoe. The three inside dashed through the water, bursting outside. Daxton sees a young boy their age, hunched over in the flowing river, trying everything he can to stand only to slip again over the rippling on the rocks. He's soaking wet with the water and blood that stains spots of his skin, covering fresh purple and blue bruises.

He gives a few desperate pants to catch his breath, having not noticed the group staring in astonishment at his arrival until Richie shouted, "Holy shit, what happened to you?!"

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author's note:

eddie: don't be a baby
daxton: but i AM baby ):<

while people beg me to update my other stories i haven't touched in months i decide to update this whoops. this was such a long chapter but that was mostly my shitty improvising at the beginning with daxton learning how to ride a bike

anyway i know dax seems withdrawn from the other losers and stuff but the cute moments are COMING i promise.

besides that, i also may have found my adult!dax and wanted others opinions!! i've been drifting between the options of mike vogel, chris pratt, jared padalecki, and chris evans but i'm leaning heavily towards mike vogel. they're all very hot but i mean look at this full man

yum. but while i'm settling on him i also want to know what you think so pls let me know any thoughts!

as for charlie, i've definitely settled on the other hot full man that is chadwick boseman who i don't understand is over 40 cause he looks like a full young snack

like what the heck. also can't tell you how hard it was to find a dark-skinned adult male actor @ hollywood fix this problem.

but yeah i guess like imagine how beautiful mike vogel would be with bill hader *chef's kiss*

- koda

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