Sorry for not updating for 2 months, life got complicated, but I still want to finish this story. Especially when I'm so near the end.

I hope everyone is being safe during this pandemic!

TW: Mentions of miscarriage.

Agata has never felt more comfortable around strangers than she was feeling right now.

Between the laughing, eating delicious food, having casual conversations, and catch up with their lives, Agata felt as if she never left. That she never stopped being friends with all of them. Or loving them.

When the waitress brought a bowl of fortune cookies and placed it in the middle of the table with a few small plates, the conversations parted ways with each Loser talking to certain people only.

Agata was paying attention to a chat between Richie, Eddie, and Mike.

It was easy, falling back into the way they were. And like she had then, Agata found herself drawn to Richie, to his easy charm and handsome face, to the way he made her feel like she was someone worth knowing. She had missed that, even before she knew she was missing anything. When they fell into a conversation for the first time in twenty-seven years, it was comfortable. No, it was comforting.

There was even the familiar longing in Ben's eyes as he stared at Beverly, who was chatting animatedly with Bill.

"I don't want one!" Eddie told Richie after the comedian offered him a fortune cookie.

"Wait you're not—you don't wanna eat it for health reasons?"

"Those are fucking bad for you! No, I don't wanna get type two dyb—type two diabetes. I don't!" Eddie insisted, stumbling a little over his words because of the alcohol.

"It's in your head," Richie retorted, genuinely trying to convince him.

"No, it's not in my head!"

"It's in your head!" the other asserted, stubbornly crossing his arms.

"Actually," Agata said, "It is said that being afraid can increase the risk of something bad actually happening. I—"

Eddie's eyes widened, "No! Please, don't! Sorry Aggie, but I really don't want a therapist's view on this," Agata couldn't help but to snort at how panicked he sounded.

"Listen to the Doctor, Eds," Richie teased.

"I just don't wanna spend the rest of my life around needles," the hypochondriac replied quickly.

"I think you read shit on the internet and it makes you nervous," Richie casually said, nodding at Agata, "I'm right, aren't I?"

Agata simply shrugged, deciding to respect Eddie's decision, "I'm here as a friend, not as a therapist."

"Thanks, Aggie," he told her appreciatively, "And it's not in my head!" Eddie snapped at Richie, "If I had one of those—because I'm middle-aged, I will shit my pants immediately."

Agata was ready to change the subject when Ben suddenly spoke up, making everyone look at him.

"I mean it's weird, right? Now that we're all here everything's just comes back faster and faster. I mean, all of it."

Agata sighed, sharing a look with a sullen Mike.

"Y-Yeah, know you, when Mike called I threw up," Richie suddenly admitted with a nervous smile, "Isn't it weird? Like, I got nervous. I got, like, sick and I threw up," he chuckled under everyone's eyes but Agata gave him a concerned look, seeing the panic behind his gaze, "I feel fine now. I feel very relieved to be here with you guys," he looked around and noticed the look the group was giving him, prompting him to stop and become even more anxious, "Why is everybody looking at me like this?" he asked, smiling forcefully.

"When Mike called me I crashed my car," Eddie shared, earning him a shocked look from his friends.

"Oh my God," the therapist hurriedly examined his face for any injuries, "Were you okay?"

Eddie nodded, smiling shyly at her concern, "It wasn't that serious."

"Seriously?" Bill pressed with a concerned tone in his voice. Agata almost wanted to smile at the protective undertone the writer carried along.

He was still their leader, deep down. Back when they were kids, Agata noticed that Bill would treat Eddie as his little brother even though the two were just months apart. Eddie idolized Bill a lot during their childhood, and Agata did as well. She thought Bill was the type of person who you could go for any advice, and that was a trait that a good leader had.

Of course that now as a therapist, Agata could see some hero complex that Bill might've had. Or still has, she still hasn't focused on that. Nor she wanted to—but sometimes it was inevitable for her to sense these things with the years of school and studying she had.

Eddie nodded at Bill, "Yeah."

Feeling as if it would make Eddie and Richie feel relieved, Agata decided to share about her moment after Mike's call, "I fainted. My assistant found me unconscious on my desk chair," she admitted, receiving surprised gazes from everyone on the table.

"Jesus fuck," Richie spluttered, widening his eyes with shock, "You fainted?!" he leaned closer to her, and Agata found herself enjoying his fussing over her well-being. It made her feel as if she was thirteen years old again, "Were you fine? Did you hit your head?"

"No, I was fine!" she quickly assured him, and the table, "I fainted sitting down so" she smiled at Eddie's concerned expression as his big, brown eyes stared at her, attentive to her story, "I'm fine!" she repeated, chuckling a little to relax her old friends, "The call just came out of nowhere and I was so surprised," that wasn't exactly the word Agata wanted to use, but she didn't want to make the mood even heavier.

"Yeah, I hear you. I mean, my heart was literally pounding in my chest," Ben told everyone with a trembling voice.

"I thought it was only me," Beverly said shakily, staring at Ben with a frail look. Agata wanted to hold her hand reassuringly, and she found herself, unconsciously, doing it so—it just came so naturally that the two women didn't even blink during it.

"It was like pure f-f-f-fe-fe—" Bill struggled to say it, and Agata held her breath in before Mike spoke up. She also keenly noticed that Bill's stutter was beginning to return.

"Fear," the librarian stated, frowning deeply, "It's fear, what you felt," this time, Mike was looking deeply into Bill's blue eyes, emphasizing his words seriously so he could understand.

"Why do we all f-f-feel that way, Mike?" the writer asked with a haunted look at how grave Mike looked at the moment, "You know remember something we don't, don't you, Mikey?"

Agata leaned in, feeling Beverly's hand tighten as she wordlessly seemed for comfort. She squeezed their hands together as she felt Richie shift closer to her.

"Something happens to you when you leave this town," Mike began explaining, "The farther away the hazier it all gets, but me—I never left," he was eyeing everyone at the table now, landing his eyes on Agata and lingering before returning his gaze towards Bill, "So yeah, I remember. I remember all of it."

The table was quiet for a moment, taking in Mike's words as if they were swallowing a hard pill. Agata felt Beverly's hand slip out of her hold as the redhead grasped the table cloth with an anxious expression before whispering with a fearful voice.

"Pennywise."

They all stared at Beverly with shock as each one began to rightfully panic.

And Agata, abruptly, hears her ears ringing and became slightly dizzy. She panicked, afraid of losing her conscious again while grabbing her cup of water to gulp it all down as if it would help her. But no water could take away the new memories crashing through her mental wall—invading her mind violently and giving her a sudden headache.

"The dancing clown" Agata added bitterly, remembering the damn thing and its wide, terrifying grin that bared sharp fangs.

Eddie looked down at his plate with his eyebrows furrowed deeply, "Oh, the fucking clown" he said feebly as his hands began to quiver. The sewers, the nasty gray water by his knees, the screaming, and the leper.

It all came back at once, and Eddie felt so overcome that he began breathing irregularly.

"Deep breaths, Eddie," Agata couldn't help saying, gently talking to him through what seemed the start of a panic attack.

He shut his eyes tightly and inhaled deeply through his nostrils before exhaling through his mouth, following her helpful order. But when he shook his head after opening his eyes, he gave off a defeated look and began searching for the inhaler that he didn't own, through his jacket.

Ben leaned back into his chair as if he had been punched in the face with a petrified look, "Shit," he lowly said as a short memory of him running away from something bright through the halls of a school as the chubby boy he had been flooded his head.

Bill just covered his face with his hands, trying to push away memories of his dead little brother—of shooting a fake Georgie in the head with Mike's nail gun. Of seeing Beverly float. He just wanted to scream right now, but for the sake of his friends, he remained calm and collected.

Beverly teared up, feeling helpless when she reminisced being inside the Deadlights. Seeing her friends die in brutal ways—and the fact that she now knew who they were made her feel nauseous—just as her father made her feel every time he touched her. She wanted to reach for Agata's hand again, but Beverly couldn't move from her petrified state—so she just placed them on her lap, trying to even her breathing properly.

Richie remained still, staring wide-eyed at Mike and waiting for the 'sike! I got you! The next round is on me!'. But that never came, Mike was still solemn and the cold water from the 'Life is a bitch' bucket had fallen on him. All Richie could remember now was feeling confused—lost as a kid, lost with his emotions and feelings towards two of his friends. That awful day before the rock fight where Bowers made him run away from the arcade, like a little bitch. That day where he carved their initials on the Kissing Bridge. The kiss he shared with Agata just before school began.

"Well, fuck," the comedian growled out before donning the rest of his alcoholic drink down his throat, welcoming the burning sensation and lacing between Eddie and Agata, "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." he muttered between his breathing, starting to feel queasy.

Agata looked at Richie and saw how upset he looked, she saw him try to reach for the bottle to refill his glass but she stopped him, seizing his hand midair to bring it back down onto the table. When he looked at her, confusedly, Agata gave him a scolding look and squeezed his hand—she did not want him to drown his concerns on alcohol, it would not help fix the situation.

Richie seemed to have caught her meaningful gaze, so he fought the urge to roll his eyes and slackened into his chair, feeling his hand tingling from being touched by Agata.

"Mike, you said you want our help with something, what was that?" Bill suddenly asked his friend, his tone serious and sans stuttering. He was nervously looking at him, scared of Mike's answer even know Bill was beginning to realize why were they all called back.

Mike, feeling guilty that the dinner lost his cheerfulness and became heavily tense, spoke up grimly, "There's an echo here in Derry, it bounces back every twenty-seven years—"

Eddie, who didn't want to hear him talk and remember, even more, interrupted Mike with a rapid and anxious tone, "What are you talking about?"

"Hold on, listen—listen!" Mike tried, looking at Eddie pleadingly.

"No, I don't wanna—" the risk analyst shook his head, giving him a panicked look.

"We-We thought we stopped IT back then, we thought IT was done but—"

Agata tried to even her breathing as she remembered more and more about her past. She watched, with concerned eyes, as Mike reached for something on his lap and settle in on the table, in front of everyone. It seemed as if it was a journal, and Agata feared what was written inside as they watched the librarian flip through the pages until he found the correct one.

"Mike..." Richie warned, looking absolutely baffled as Beverly scoffed with a confused look.

But he ignored them, continued speaking, "A week ago, a man named Adrian Mellon—slaughtered."

"Mikey..." Agata chided softly. She didn't know about what happened with this Adrian man and even though she did feel bad for the man, she didn't want to hear anything of it right now. Agata was afraid that Mike was beginning to make sense—that the clown was back. She didn't want to go through that again, facing IT. She barely and luckily made it out alive twenty-seven years ago. But now she had a lot to lose—sure, if Mike had called five years ago, she would come here and risk her life.

But she had a son now. Waiting for her, she needed him as much as he needed her. She could not throw that away for a small town, especially when Derry did nothing but treat her like shit.

"A girl, Lisa Albrecht—"

"Mike!" Richie tried again, not wanting to hear about kids dying.

"—the other night, went missing! There already been others, and there will be more!" Mike continued, trying to raise his voice over the objections around the table.

"I don't wanna hear it!" Eddie stated with a scared expression.

"Mike," Agata sighed shakily, "Maybe it's better if you stop."

"No, Agata, listen!" Mike half-yelled as he poked his journal.

"Calm down!" Ben told Bill when the author was trying to stop Mike from talking.

Agata rested her elbows on the table and held her head between her hands for support, she stared at her plate and thought how much of a disaster this dinner was becoming. She tried to shun out the constant yelling and pleas but it was in vain, she knew that this was only going to end if they all shut up and listened to what Mike had to say, once and for all.

"Okay, guys, wait—let's all calm down and give Mike a chance!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking up to give her friends a stern expression, "Everyone speaking at the same time won't work, it will only increase the panic and makes us all anxious!"

"Let's just get him another drink," Bill suggested quickly, wanting the chaos to end and return to the good vibe they were all having.

"No, Agata is right! Just let him explain—let him explain..." Ben stated as he placed a comforting hand on Mike's shoulder.

The librarian gave him and Agata a thankful nod before continuing, speaking more calmly now that everyone went silent, "That echo? We might have changed it, just like IT changed us. But we didn't stop IT—because IT just bounced back," Mike was giving them a serious look, and Agata avoided his eyes when his own landed on hers, "We made an oath."

"Swear it, s-swear if IT isn't dead, if IT ever comes back—well come back, too."

Agata closed her eyes, inwardly reliving that day as she heard Mike's explanation.

"All right? That's why I brought you back, that's why you're here. To finish IT, for good," he ended as Agata reopened her eyes to see the ominous silence within his friends.

She shook her head and reached for her cup of water, taking in a quick sip and pretending it was wine. She promised herself to never touch alcohol again now that she was a mother, and damn it, even if she was in this terrible situation Agata was going to go through her personal promise.

"Well, that shit got dark fast," Richie commented wryly, "Thanks Mike."

The tension was broken by the sound of Eddie cracking his fortune cookie open, he stared at the small paper that is supposed to give you a whimsical sentence with a disappointed frown, "My fortune cookie just says 'Could'."

That prompted everyone else to open their cookies as well—because anything was better than the tense silence Mike had brought upon everyone. Agata opened hers, tilting her head confusedly when she read it.

"Mine says 'coward'? What the hell" the brunette tossed the paper on her plate and peeked at Richie's, "What does yours say?"

He was also scowling at his small paper, "They don't know how to do fortune cookies here. Mine just says 'Guess'," he replied, showing it to her.

Bill looked pensive over his own cookie paper before addressing Richie, "You wanna throw that over here?" he stood from his chair and began assembling each small papers that came from inside his friend's fortune cookies.

Mike slowly read his and handed it to Bill almost hesitantly, he carried a somber expression as he did.

"What do you got, Mikey?" Bill asked gently as he grabbed it from the librarian's hand.

As Bill settled some cups away, he began placing the tiny papers for everyone to see. He huffed at Mike's words, paling and realizing that a sentence could be formed.

'Guess', 'Cut', 'Cut', 'Could', 'Coward'.

Immediately, everyone began standing up as well as Bill began assembling the words to build a sentence.

"Wait, what?!" Eddie huffed under his breath as he stared worryingly.

"Bill? What are you doing?" Agata asked, carrying a fearful edge behind her voice.

"This is what I'm talking about," Mike sighed.

"Guess. Coward. Cut. Not. Could. It?" Richie tried, reading the words Bill gathered out loud.

"No? Could. It. Guess. Not. Coward. Cut?" Agata cringed at her attempt.

"It's a message," the librarian warned them, pointing at the papers.

"No, 'Guess it could not cut?" Richie tried again.

Eddie scoffed at his friend, "Why would it guess it could not cut?" he asked, but he was ignored as everyone began talking over each other—trying to find the right answer.

Only Beverly remained ominously quiet.

"What about the coward part?!" Agata questioned them, panicking a little. Was that word even meant to fit in the sentence or was it simply targetted towards her?

"Cut what?" Ben questioned Richie and Eddie.

"Guess it could not coward cut!" Richie stated, thinking he was sure that was right only to follow with an unsure, "I don't know what that means!"

Ben surged forward, moving one of the papers, "It goes in front. There," he told Bill.

"It coward could not guess?" Eddie read loudly, "That doesn't make any fucking sense!" he wheezed, and Agata stepped to his side to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Everyone, calm down. Eddie—honey, breathe," she whispered gently as everyone continued trying to assemble the confusing message.

Eddie leaned into her touch, but his anxious eyes kept staring at the papers thoughtfully.

"It couldn't guess?" Bill wondered.

"Could it..."

"No! 'Could it not cut'!" Richie suddenly exclaimed, moving the papers himself.

"When it says 'it', is it talking about IT?" Eddie asked, "Is that what it means?!"

"Oh, God," Agata whispered, "He has a point, Bill."

"Yeah. All right," Bill murmured exasperatedly.

"Is 'IT' it?" Eddie continued, overlapping his voice with a continuous repetition as he began to panic even further.

"Where does this go?!"

"That's what I'm talking about," Mike repeated.

"What are you talking about?! I don't know what that means!" Richie argued loudly, and Agata turned towards him as he continued, "I don't know what IT fucking means! Did you fucked with the fortune cookies, Mike?!" he snapped at the librarian.

"No!" Mike quickly defended, "Listen—" but they didn't. They continued speaking, interrupting Mike again and the man dropped his shoulder defeatedly.

"Whoa! Let him speak, man!" Ben quickly gestured his hand towards Richie in a stopping manner, giving him a stern look.

"This is not me! This is what I-IT does!" Mike spoke up, staring at the small papers knowingly.

"I need my fucking inhaler!" Eddie suddenly screamed, "What is wrong with you, man?" he exclaimed, looking at Mike, "Why'd you call us?! This is so not funny!"

"This is not fucking funny!" Richie agreed.

"Calm down! Yelling isn't the answer!" she scolded everyone, slamming her hands on the table.

Richie gave her an incredulous look, "Excuse me for being scared of this shit!"

"We're all fucking scared!" she retorted, raising her voice a little bit. He recoiled, sitting down again. Richie never enjoyed hearing Agata yell at him from genuine anger—last time he could recall that happening was when he read a page from her diary after sneaking into her room while she was taking a shower.

He learned his lesson that day.

Everyone stopped bickering at once, giving Agata a startled look. She never cursed—they only heard her say the f word once during their childhood, so whenever Agata cursed, they all know that shit got serious.

"If everybody could've calmed down, you would've noticed that Beverly has been quiet!"

With that, each head turned to look at the redhead. Beverly looked pale as she gripped tightly onto her small paper.

"Beverly? What do you have with you?" Agata asked carefully.

As her hands trembled from fear, Beverly slowly placed her paper underneath the line of the sentence that they were all trying to discover—and everyone paled immediately at what was written in it. Bill was quick to position the missing and last paper between the others one, finally gathering the correct order of them as creating the troublesome message IT transmitted.

'Guess Coward Stanley Could Not Cut It'

"Oh my God," Agata whispered, covering her mouth and taking a step back from the table, "What?" she felt her eyes watering, and the therapist did not know why. This could mean anything, literally. She didn't remember Stanley that much, but being back in Derry made her love him as much as she loved everyone circling this table—so if anything were to happen to her bird-loving friend, she would be devastated.

"Wh-Why does it say Stanley?!" Eddie demanded heatedly, "Someone else fucking answer me!"

Agata looked wistfully at him, but before she could tell him soothing words, the table moved by itself, giving off a loud 'thud' sound that startled every adult around it.

"Holy shit," Eddie whimpered as the bowl with the fortune cookies began to jiggle.

"Stay away from the table!" Agata advised everyone as she grabbed Richie's and Beverly's wrists and pulled them back with her.

One of the cookies leaped from the bowl into the table, and everyone watched as it cracked open by itself, revealing a slimy and ugly creature that gave a shrilly cry as soon as it was out. Agata cringed, stepping closer to Richie as the man placed a protective arm ahead of her.

"What the fuck is that, man?" he exclaimed, looking tired from the situation, "Oh, my God."

"Whoa, whoa!" Bill stepped away when the creature showed its form.

Agata almost gagged at the insect with wings with a baby head. She wanted to look away but it was nearly impossible, and of course, it began crawling her way, "Oh no, please..." the worst thing it could happen was for IT to use her miscarriage against her.

IT could do anything, but not that. Please, not that.

As everyone let out startled noises and began stepping even further away from the table, three more cookies jumped out of the bowl and began shaking, cracking open as well. Agata looked at each of her friends and gasped when she noticed Beverly hasn't moved from her seat, frowning deeply and ignoring the creature's baby cries, she paced quickly towards her friend and pulled her up from the chair, bringing her along to join her in a safe space but separating herself from Richie.

As one of the cookies opened in front of Richie, he muttered a 'shit' before yelling quickly when a slimy eyeball dragged itself off from the cookie towards him, "Hey! Hey! A fortune cookie's looking at me! Shit!"

Beverly let out a horrified yell as she clung onto Agata, who widened her eyes towards it, "It's literally an eyeball," she commented, quite aghast with the whole situation.

Nervously, they all watched as yet another cursed fortune cookie cracked itself open, spitting out a newborn baby bird that struggled to even stand up.

'Stan loved birds', Agata couldn't help to think, debating if this apparition was some sort of connection.

"I-I don't wanna be here! I can't fucking do this!" Eddie cried, covering his face for protecting as a creature with forced its large bat-like wings out of another cookie, "I wanna go home! I don't wanna be here!" he kept shouting as Ben, who was standing behind him, wrapped his arms around him protectively, "I don't wanna be here! Holy shit—"

Eddie exclaimed because the bat-like creature began flapping its wing and flying around randomly, making the ones near it scream and step out of its way to avoid being touched.

"Oh, hey! Goddamn it!" Richie was still dealing with the eye creature, staring at him. He stepped away from it so fast that he crashed against the wall behind him, sending two lamps almost to the floor.

The flying creature began attacking Eddie and Ben, and the architect tried to defend his scared friend by trying to swat it away.

"Hey, Eddie!" Richie called out worriedly. He tried to make a move to go help Ben but he found himself petrified with fear—it was if something was keeping him apart from them all.

"Eddie! Ben! This way!" Agata called out before letting out a yelp when suddenly, and quite shockingly, the baby-screaming creature leaped out of the table towards her. It landed on her chest and it clung there, crawling around her torso and making her jump away from her friends, "GET IT OUT! IT'S ON ME, OH MY GOD GET IT OUT OF ME!" the therapist yelled hysterically.

"Oh my God! Aggie, wait—STOP MOVING SO I CAN GET IT!" Beverly screamed as she chased after her, patting her friend's torso to try to feel for it, but she couldn't find it anywhere, "Where–"

Agata let out a shrilly scream and began covering her ears when she began hearing a baby piercingly wail inside her head.

'Mommy why did you let me die? Mommy, mommy! You let me die. YOU. LET. ME. DIE. WHY? WHY? WHY? MOMMY!'

"Help! Please!" Agata sobbed as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see anything else but her apartment in New York. It was a mistake to come—she should've followed her instincts and stay there, with her son, and have a happier life. Now she was probably going to die. Ollie was never going to forgive her for this.

Nor would herself.

"AGGIE! STOP MOVING!" a male voice demanded urgently as she felt strong, big hands hold her still by her shoulders, "Listen to me, there's nothing on you! That fucking creature is gone!"

She opened her eyes to see Richie's face near hers—his eyes were widened with fear and she could still see the chaos happening behind him, but all she could do was stare at him. And just like that, the crawling sensation and the baby's cries were gone.

And her face lit up with realization, "It's not real..." she muttered.

Richie didn't understand what she said, but he was relieved that she stopped screaming. The comedian didn't know how, but he managed to run to her side by crawling under the table to help Beverly find out what was wrong with his Aggie. He never wanted to listen to her panicking like that ever again, it was like she was begging for her life. And as much as he wanted to hug her right now, he simply turned around and placed her behind him, using his body as a shield as he focused on not allowing the flying fucker to approach him.

Beverly stepped next to Agata, cupping her cheeks on her head and checking to see if she was hurt—the two shared a smile before they held their breath at a new sound coming from the table.

From the bowl, everyone's jaws dropped when a black, gooey liquid began pouring out from it. And Agata didn't fail to notice that as soon as it touched the table's cloth, it burned it as if it was lava. She knew that the liquid was familiar, but ironically enough, Agata couldn't remember from where.

The liquid burned the papers where IT's message was formed, and everyone stepped even further away from it, now knowing that it could do if their skins ever touched it.

"Whoa, fuck!" Bill suddenly screamed when he noticed the floating heads inside the aquariums, Mike was scrambling away from one as well. They were children's heads, and Agata hid her face on Richie's arm to avoid looking at them more than she should've.

"It's not real!" Mike suddenly yelled as he bravely approached the table with a determined look, "This isn't real! It's not real!" he repeated loudly, grabbing a chair and smashing one of the creatures on the table with it.

Everyone stared at him, astounded.

"It's not real! It's not real!" he kept chanting as he hit every creature that it moved on the table, "It's not real! It's not real!"

His friends covered their bodies defensively as if they were scared bits would fly their way. Agata knew that Mike was right, but she couldn't help to still fear what surrounded her—she even noticed one of the floating heads winking at her when she opened her blue eyes again.

It was all chaotic—Mike hitting the table and the black goo while screaming his head out, everyone backing away from fear—but then, a normal and too casual voice joined in.

"Is everything all right?"

And just like that, the nightmarish displays were all gone.

The seven Losers halted in their positions as Mike hurled the chair on the floor, giving the waitress an erratic stare. She looked at them, confused and weirded out by the whole situation, but she managed to remain professional even in front of such a disordered disturbance.

Agata peeked from behind Richie's back as the other spoke, forcing a smile and a pleasant voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Can we get the check?"

The waitress nodded and walked off, unconcerned with the table being half-destroyed and their chairs being on the floor.

"That is a very nonchalant waitress, I'll give her that," Agata quipped weakly, using it as a way to calm herself down.

9:43 PM

"That's what Pennywise does, right? He fucks with us, so Stanley's probably fine!" Eddie insisted as everyone made their way out of the restaurant.

Even after going through that nightmare fuel situation, the seven adults still ended up arguing about who was going to pay for the meal. Agata wanted to diffuse the situation by suggesting that each one paid half—but then Mike told them that the meal had already been paid, from him.

After complaints and promises of paying him back, they were all too eager to leave the place. As nice as Chinese food was, Agata knew that she wasn't going to eat it for a while after this night.

"Yes, Stanley is fine. Maybe he's just late, that's fine. I'll make him dinner—there's a supermarket nearby, right?" Agata asked conversationally, trying to keep herself and everyone positive about Stan's whereabouts.

"Yep! I'll fucking help! Honestly, I've always wanted to cook, so," Eddie nodded quickly, jumping in on her train of thought.

Richie gave the two a piercing scowl, feeling like shit for knowing that they were just stalling the inevitable. It was painful to watch them convince themselves like this, but he didn't want to be the asshole to bring them back to reality.

"Hey, Mike? Do you have Stan's number?" Beverly asked him as she reached for her purse to fetch her phone from inside.

"Yeah," the librarian told her, feeling a little numb.

They were almost at the entrance's doors when a child's voice made them stop.

"Hey, Richie!"

The man himself was walking behind the group, hands inside his leather jacket, and now carrying a surprised look as he turned around with the others. Agata looked between the kid and Richie confusedly. The little boy couldn't be more than twelve—maybe eleven years old? But he was looking up at Richie with a starstruck expression and bright eyes.

"How'd you How'd you know my name?" Richie asked warily.

"The fun's just beginning, right?" the boy simply said before smiling widely—almost expectantly.

The kid kept staring, a little creepily for the group's liking.

So, of course, everyone's mind thought about a certain clown.

"What he said, is it" Eddie questioned fearfully as he looked at his friends for an answer before bolting away from the kid, hiding behind Beverly and Agata.

"Listen—you think this is funny? All right?" Richie began, voice trembling from the overwhelming anger and fear he was hasn't stopped feeling ever since that scene, "Think, this is some sort of game, huh?" Agata reached her arm towards Richie to stop him but the man was already grabbing the boy's shoulder, pointing at him accusingly, "Well, fuck you, all right?!" he yelled, shaking the kid a little.

"Rich, be careful, dude!" Bill told his friend.

"Wait, Richie I don't think—" Agata tried to warn him.

"Fuck you! I'm not afraid of you!" Richie kept yelling, quite loudly.

The boy, however, looked unfazed by the screaming as he spoke again, "The fun's just beginning—the line from your act, dude. I'm a fan!"

Agata cringed when she noticed a couple approaching them with worried faces, behind them was a little girl, no older than thirteen years old.

"Are those your parents?" Richie asked, now calm and a little worried as he smiled nervously, "You want a picture?"

"You okay, Dean? Come on," Dean's father said, gesturing an arm towards his son and beckoning him to take it as he glared at Richie distrustfully.

Agata didn't blame the father, any parent would feel protective in this situation.

"I think I'm good," the boy, Dean, told Richie as he turned around and grabbed his dad's hand.

"Okay, cool. He's a good kid," Richie told the parents, trying to look friendlier, as they eyed him cautiously.

"Jesus Richie, you don't remember a line from your own show?" Ben asked confusedly as they all turned around to continue walking out of the building.

Agata eyed him keenly, noticing the annoyed and ashamed expression he carried. She frowned, trying not to analyze it too deeply—but it seemed as if Richie felt insecure.

"I don't write my own material," Richie stated forcibly as if it had left a bad taste inside his mouth.

"What?!" Agata exclaimed.

"I fucking knew it! I fucking knew it!" Eddie instantly looked up and pointed at Richie's back, almost poking it as he asserted his words hotly.

Agata inwardly noted that Eddie Kaspbrak watched Richie's shows before speaking, "You don't write any of it?" she asked, sounding a little disappointed.

Richie sighed and sunk his fists deeper into his jacket's pocket, shielding himself from her sad expression, " not anymore," he mumbled meekly before walking ahead of her, running away from the subject.

She was not going to let this go, there was something about it that bothered Richie and Agata wanted to help him.

Outside, in an empty area in front of the Jade of the Orient's parking lot, the seven Losers gathered as Beverly called Stan's phone—hoping to get some good news and calm their fears down.

"Hello, Mrs. Uris. My name is Beverly Marsh. I apologize for calling, but I'm an old friend of your husband's," Beverly began over the phone with a gentle voice.

"You lied to us, and that's not okay!" Eddie suddenly admonished Mike as the librarian looked at him with guilty eyes.

"Yeah, first words out of your mouth should have been like, 'Hey, man. You want to come to Derry and get murdered?'" Richie backed him up as he pretended to be pleased when talking for Mike, "'Cause then I would have said no."

"Calm down, you two. Bev's on the phone..." Agata sighed, not wanting another argument to break between everybody.

"Guys..." Ben helped Agata, shushing them quietly.

"Fucking entrapment, man," Richie grumbled childishly, earning a glare from Agata as he smartly avoided it by looking at Beverly.

"O-Oh He passed."

They all stopped moving as Mrs. Uris's voice shakily confirmed what they all feared. Agata closed her eyes painfully and turned around, covering her mouth to cover a sob.

"Are they always arguing like this?" the brunette asked Stan, who was kneeling next to her and focusing on keeping his rock balanced enough to create a wall.

The curly-haired boy rolled his eyes, "You've been with us for like a month now, so you should know," he then smiled good-naturedly at the girl when she started chuckling.

"When did it happen?" Beverly asked softly as her eyes became wet.

The Losers were privately taking in the news—but they were all on the edge of shedding a tear, especially Bill, who shared a look with Mike.

"Yesterday," Patty Uris told her, "It was horrible, the way he died. His wrists..." the woman couldn't even speak anymore as she began sobbing painfully.

Agata felt it, she felt the familiar lump forming on her throat. She couldn't breathe—Stan was gone. She had to leave, she needed to forget again and go back to her normal life before Agata lost someone else.

"In the bathtub."
"In the bathtub."

Ben didn't miss the way Beverly stated it at the same time Stan's wife did.

"I'm sorry. I have to go..." Patty weakly said.

"We're all very sorry, Patty," Beverly respectfully told her.

"Thank you," Patty said sadly before hanging up.

Bill was now letting his tears fall. Stan, his best friend—the one that could understand him better. The one that has been always by his side, the friend that Bill forced to go down into the sewers after Pennywise. Dead, gone, and Bill didn't even get the chance to reunite with him. No one did. Nobody got to see how amazing Stan the Man had turned out to be.

Agata didn't want to cry much further, she didn't want to feel like this again. Losing someone you love was the worst feeling a human could experience, both emotionally and mentally.

And poor Patty. The woman that Stan married must be equally incredible. And for her to get involved in this mess was tragic—it was probably their fault that Stan was dead. He must've had a happy, married life. He probably still loved watching birds, or finishing puzzles.

This wasn't fair.

Eddie began pacing, looking upset at the loss of his friend but more panicked as well now that shit just got real, he suddenly halted, and spoke up with a final tone filled with bitterness, "Stanley. Pennywise knew. He knew before we did."

Agata's stomach began churning as Beverly lit up a cigarette to relieve her stress.

"We have to stop him! I have a plan," Mike began, about to announce a detailed and emotional speech.

But Richie stopped him, glaring at him angrily, "I have a plan! Getting the fuck outta dodge before this ends worse than one of Bill's books! Who's with me?" he looked around, raising his arm.

Eddie did as well, giving Mike an unapologetic look.

And Agata, slowly raised her arms as well, avoiding Mike's surprised eyes with a rueful face, "I'm so sorry Mike" she sighed out, missing Richie's relieved expression when he noticed her arm in the air.

He was scared he'd have to follow after her like he did when she went inside Neilbolt—and remembering that now made him want to leave Derry even faster.

"We made a promise to each other!" Mike argued pleadingly.

"Let's unmake that promise!" Richie barked.

Agata felt that she needed to stay and help Mike, and part of her wanted to. But the bigger side was telling her to run back to New York City, hug Ollie, and never let go. All she wanted was to be his mommy, begin making memories, cook for him, take him to school, to her mom's place during the holidays—to shower that boy with love and help him move on from his rough start in life.

Agata loved everyone around her—they were her family as well, even after twenty-six years of forgetting about them. That's why she began changing her mind.

Slowly, Agata lowered her arm and sniffed, "Mike's right. I-I want to stay."

"What?!" Richie yelled, "No! Aggie, hold on—just a second ago you wanted to leave with me!" he approached her, giving her a scared expression, "Please, don't say that..."

Agata gave him a startled look, "Leave with you?" the implication was there, but Agata was not expecting Richie to say that so loudly, "I-We have to help him, Richie..." she told him, softly, "Who else would, but not us?"

"Yeah, Rich, people are gonna die..." Ben added, walking closer to them.

"People die every day!" Richie snapped at him, not taking his eyes from Agata's, "You really wanna die for strangers? Uh?! What about your kid?"

"Richie..." Eddie cringed, not disagreeing with him but not enjoying hearing him use Agata's weakness like that.

Agata teared up, "I-I know, but I can't leave. What if Mike goes after IT by himself? What if he dies because we abandoned him?" she breathed shakily, "We already left him in this godawful town, alone, for almost thirty years!"

Richie pursed his lips and didn't say anything. He just gave a kicked puppy look and stepped away, allowing Agata to see Mike ahead of her, giving her an affectionate smile. She returned with a small, unsure one.

"We don't own this town shit!" Richie exclaimed, continuing to try and persuade everyone to leave with him, "Plus, I just remembered I grew up here, like, two hours ago—so, I'm fucking leaving! Fuck this!" and remaining true to his words, Richie turned around and marched angrily towards his red convertible parked across the street.

Agata watched him leave with a sad look, but then her eyes widened when she realized that this could be the last time she would see Richie if he was really leaving for good.

"Sorry man," Eddie meekly said as he began walking backward, his car being parked coincidentally next to Richie's, "Agata please?" he begged, not wanting to lose her. It didn't stop him from leaving her behind, but he mentally prayed she'd follow.

The therapist looked at Mike but quickly sidetracked her eyes towards Richie, who seemed to pause in front of his passenger's door to give her one last imploring look. Agata groaned, she could not resist those big, dark eyes.

Even after so long she still had it hard for Richie Tozier.

"Mike, I'm gonna go with them because I wanna go back and rest. But I swear, I'm staying," she walked up to him and reached for his hand, squeezing it hard in assurance as she heard Richie slam his door noisily and turn his car's engine on.

"I believe you," Mike told her gratefully before he watched her run off towards the convertible while waving her arms, signalizing Richie to stop. He didn't want her to go, but Agata never lied to him so Mike decided to focus on trying to keep everyone in Derry to kill IT. He turned back to the remaining Losers and continued talking.

Meanwhile, Agata stopped right in front of Richie's car, making the comedian slam on his breaks with a disgruntled look. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes purposedly when Richie's head came out of his window.

"What are you doing?! Didn't you choose to stay with Mikey?" he snapped at her bitterly.

"Stop being childish, Richie," she retorted, watching as Eddie's car was now behind Richie's, "I need a ride."

"Oh, really?" he remarked, trying not a smile.

But Agata couldn't hold it, giving him a knowing grin, "You know, I always liked riding your bike the most," she admitted shyly, "You were always fast, though. Not that I minded holding onto you."

Whoa, did she just flirted with him? It had come off so naturally that Agata seemed impressed with herself.

Richie chuckled, losing any pettiness towards her as he gestured his head towards the door on the other side, "You're safe with me, Aggie," he told her earnestly, and Agata swore his voice became deeper.

"I know," she laughed, circling his car and opened the door. When she sat inside, the mood shifted to something heavier—not necessarily negative, but there was another type of tension within the air.

Agata distracted herself by placing her seatbelt on after closing the door, and Richie cleared his throat as he drove away from the restaurant, suddenly looking very shy.

Now, how was he going to tell her that he remembered being her boyfriend?