"Nebraska?", Richie Tozier asked out of the blue once the Losers' Club all met up at the quarry, on behalf of Ben Hanscom's wishes. He planned on telling all of them at once, but Richie had obviously found it in himself to tell everyone first. You could always leave it up to Richie Tozier to ruin a surprise, no matter what the surprise was about. "Seriously?"

"I have no other choice.", Ben answered Richie seriously, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he glanced between all of his friends. He was scared to leave them all, mainly because he was scared to try and make new friends where he was going next. It took so long for him to finally find his place, but now he had to go through finding his place all over again. Ben didn't even like the thought of that. If it were up to him, he'd stay in Derry with his friends, except Derry wasn't really the best place to live. None of them cared to live here, but the only reason they wanted to was because they had each other. "My mom says we're moving to start over. She says that it'll be better than living here in this horrible town."

"Well, she's not wrong.", Ashley responded to his statement. The boys looked at her once she said what she said. None of them could even try to deny the fact that Ben's mom was right. Derry, Maine was a horrible town full of assholes. Ashley hated the fact that Ben was actually leaving, but there was not much that she could do about it. She couldn't march up to Ben's mother and demand them to stay. If anything, she thought it'd be best if the two of them got the fresh new start that they had both deserved. "Derry is a shithole."

"What happens when we...forget about each other? Bev left and she doesn't even call.", Stanley spoke up with a good point. That made the rest of them nod slowly, trying to figure out how they'd still be friends.

"Beverly probably just got caught up in something.", Ben stood up for the girl he cared for, even if she never even cared to reply to him. Ben really had a huge crush on Beverly Marsh, but now that she's gone; he feels lost without her. "I've got six days left with you all. I'd like to make the most out of it before I leave."

"You will.", Eddie nodded to him in assurance that he'd be able to have fun with the Losers' Club until his departure from the town he's lived in since he was just a preteen. Ben smiled softly at Eddie, nodding his head gently as he appreciated Eddie's help at making Ben feel better about the situation. It broke Ben into pieces having to say goodbye, but he hoped that it wasn't a long-term goodbye. He hoped that one day he'd be able to see all of the Losers. He hoped that Beverly was there, too.

"Yeah, I mean..shit.", Ashley began speaking, "Ben, if anything, we're gonna make the most out of this time you have left. We'll go trash Barley's yard with toilet paper."

"We could even leave dog shit on his front porch.", Richie added.

The rest of them all laughed at the couple, watching as Ashley and Richie nodded at each other. Ben smiled softly as he watched Richie and Ashley continue talking about what they could do to piss off Thomas Barley. He was going to miss every single one of them, but he was glad he got the chance to see the two of them happy together again. Once the news had got out of them breaking up at school, he almost couldn't believe it.

"Did you hear?", Annabelle Prescott walked past Ben Hanscom in the cafeteria as she was talking to Greta Keene. The two girls always had it out for the Losers, mostly Beverly and Ashley. For years, they tormented Ashley because she hung around the boys. Ben never understood how anyone could hate such a sweet girl like Ashley Walker, but it had been awhile since he remembered she used to pick on him.

"Hear what?", Greta asked as they stopped in the middle of the cafeteria, standing in line for lunch. Ben stayed discreet about listening in on the conversation, raising the milk up to his lips as he took a sip.

"Ashley and Richie broke up.", Annabelle snickered, causing Ben to choke on his milk. He wasn't sure if he heard that right, but it almost sounded like they said Ashley and Richie broke up. He hoped that wasn't true and that he was just hearing things. The two girls glanced over at Ben, hearing as he choked on the milk. Greta grinned widely as she realized he was listening.

"She probably finally realized that dating a loser was a stupid decision.", Greta watched as Ben got up from his seat, walking away from the two of them as thoughts raced through his mind. It couldn't be true. Richie and Ashley were perfect for each other. There's no way in hell they split up.

As Ben walked out of the cafeteria, he bumped into a familiar person. His eyes met the eyes of Bill Denbrough. They quickly looked away from each other, ignoring the awkwardness of even giving each other attention after their group disbanded. Ben passed Bill, looking down at the ground before he stopped in his tracks. He turned around to look at him. "Bill?"

"What?", Bill turned around to look at him in confusion, causing Ben to sigh softly. Did Bill know? Could he?

"Ashley and Richie–"

"Broke up.", Bill cut him off as he sent him a nod. "Yeah, I know."

"So, it is true?"

"Yeah."

Ashley Walker shoved Richie Tozier off of the rock, causing the other Losers to laugh hysterically. She rolled her eyes playfully, staring over at the edge of the cliff. An idea quickly sparked in her mind, causing her to stand up quickly. "Guys."

They all looked up at her, even Richie who had just sat upright and fixed his glasses on his face. He stared up at his girlfriend with a curious look as to what she might say. She continued to speak with a smile, "Let's jump."

"Jump?", Eddie was quick to question. "Jump as in..?"

"Off the cliff, dipshit.", She pointed towards the edge, making all of the boys glance over towards it. They quickly looked back at her when she started talking, "We jumped before Beverly left. We have to jump before Ben leaves and why not now? I mean, we're all here."

"That was ages ago.", Stan 'The Man' Uris replied. "We were thirteen then."

"Yeah, so?", Richie glanced over at Stanley with a grin. "Are you too chicken?"

Ashley smiled at Richie, realizing that he was referencing what Stanley had asked him when he had dared Richie to kiss her when they met up at the quarry for their reunion. Bill looked between the three of them, then looking over at Eddie who had an unsure look towards the idea. Stanley rolled his eyes, "No, I'm not chicken, Richie. It's just–"

"Come on, Stan.", Ben interrupted, bringing the rest of the group to look over towards the boy. He was standing up now, smiling as he continued to talk, "She's right. We all jumped before Beverly left and I think it's a good idea to do it now that I'm leaving. Who knows, you all might do it before each of us leave."

"Each of us?", Eddie furrowed his eyebrows, staring directly towards Ben. "What makes you so sure that we're all leaving?"

"Face it, Eds.", Richie blurted out as he frowned towards his best friend. "We're probably all gonna leave."

"Yeah.", Ashley nodded gently, coming to realization that it was bound to happen at some given point. "But we're all gonna remain friends, even if Bev didn't keep her promise, it doesn't mean we won't."

They all nodded in agreement at the seventeen year old girl that stood in front of them with a smile. Richie stood up beside her and Ben, causing Eddie to stand up after him. Ashley glanced between Richie and Eddie, then glanced at Ben before Bill and Mike stood up as well. The group all looked at Stanley sitting down, staring until he finally stood up as well.

"Do we keep our clothes on or..?", Eddie asked nervously, causing Ashley to glance around all the boys as they were now staring at her. Her eyes locked with Richie's, seeing as he was grinning from ear to ear. She scoffed before nodding her head.

"Keep them on."

"Woah, why? That takes all the fun out of it.", Richie blurted out, bringing everyone's attention towards him. Ashley glared at Richie, but was soon looking over to Eddie as he spoke up.

"My mom will have a cow if I show up with wet clothes. She'll think I caught a cold or something because of it."

"Well, fine. Take your clothes off, Eds.", Ashley replied to him, making his face flush red before he glanced away. Richie noticed Eddie's reaction, causing him to quickly look over at Ashley.

"Look, you made him nervous. You can't say that to a guy, they'll take it too literally."

"You're just jealous that I'd never say it to you.", She teased. The Losers' Club laughed at her comment, except for Richie. He just stared at her with a small little smirk rising on his face.

"Maybe not.", He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, looking between all the other boys. His eyes met his girlfriend's again, that same little smirk plastered on his face. "Take off your clothes."

Ashley's face heated up, bringing Richie satisfaction before he laughed at her. She let out a sigh before she crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not funny, Rich."

"It is funny.", He replied as he continued to laugh. He turned to the others. "She's like..."

He widened his eyes mockingly, then laughed even harder. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, gritting her teeth before she spoke, "Okay, who's gonna go first? I'm tired of hearing trashmouth over here."

"Oh, shut up, Ashley.", Mike smiled widely, "You and Richie were made for each other. I mean, come on. You became Mrs. Trashmouth for crying out loud."

"Mike's right.", Bill nodded along, causing Ashley to roll her eyes playfully.

"Seriously, guys. Who's jumping first?", Stanley asked, bringing their attention back to the main topic. They all stared at each other, until Ashley smiled brightly.

"If Bev was here, she would."

"Yeah.", Ben agreed with Ashley.

"Alright, then.", Ashley took in a deep breath, "I'll go."

The boys all stared at her, quickly looking away once she gripped onto the rim of her shirt. Richie didn't look away, instead he watched as she pulled the shirt over her head and threw it to the ground. Her eyes met his, quickly blushing as she saw his eyes wander her body. She glared at him with her eyes wide, causing him to roll his eyes and turn around. She shook her head at her boyfriend, slipping off her jeans as she stood there in her bra and underwear. She quickly rushed over to the edge, looking down.

"So long boys.", She called out, causing them to quickly turn to look at her before she took a leap off of the cliff. Richie smiled widely, being quick to pull off his shirt and then unbuckled his belt. He slipped off his jeans and stepped out of them, then set his glasses down on top of his clothes.

"Last one down has to fuck Eddie's mom!", Richie blurted out before running towards the ledge, quickly jumping off of it. The rest of the boys glanced at each other, then looked and saw Eddie quickly taking his clothes off. He glanced over at them once he was fully undressed.

"Well, I don't wanna fuck my mom. That's fucking disgusting. Do you even think he realizes what he just said? And if so, then he's fucking retarded! Why the hell would he even–", His rant came to a halt once Stanley and Mike rushed past them, leaving him with Bill and Ben. His eyes darted towards the two of them, seeing that they were undressed. "Fuck."

Eddie quickly jolted towards the ledge, quickly jumping off of it. As his body was engulfed by the water, Richie was making his way towards Ashley in the water. She was staring up to wait until all of them had come down. Her eyes glanced over to see Richie swimming towards her and she smiled brightly, "Hi, Rich."

"Hi, Ash.", He smiled back before wrapping his arms around her in the water. She giggled softly before dunking his head in the water, but was taken aback once she felt him tickling her sides. She fell back into the water, allowing him to rise above surface and help her up from under water. Once she rubbed her face, her eyes darted towards his own.

"Guys!", Eddie called out, causing the two of them to avert their attention towards the asthmatic boy. He waved for them to come over to the rest of the group, making them both begin swimming towards their group of friends.

♡ ʀ + ᴀ ♡

The Losers' Club were walking away from the quarry with their dry clothes back on, all smiling since they've had the best day so far. Everything was normal between the group, even if Ben was leaving soon, they still felt relieved to have each other again. Over the two years, they were lonely and bored. Nothing could ever beat the relationship they had with each other as friends, nothing at all.

"So, if you could ever bone an actress, who would it be?", Richie asked the boys, causing Ashley to roll her eyes playfully. They all thought on that for a second, trying to have the perfect answer.

"I know Bill's.", Ashley wiggled her eyebrows knowingly, causing Bill to glare at her. "Amanda Peterson."

"Molly Ringwald.", Ben answered, causing everyone to look over at him. Richie furrowed his eyebrows together.

"You must really have a thing for redheads.", He blurted out, causing Ben's eyes to widen before a blush crept up on his face.

"Leave him alone, Rich.", Ashley lightly slapped his arm, making him laugh.

"Sarah Jessica Parker.", Eddie answered.

"Oh, I love her.", Ashley nodded along, quickly catching glances from everyone. "What?"

"You'd bone her?", Stanley raised an eyebrow.

"What?", She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I said I love her, didn't say I'd do her."

"That'd be hot.", Richie commented, earning a glare from his girlfriend. Before any of them could even say another word, they heard a scream. They all quickly glanced to their right, hearing yet another scream. Ashley quickly ran towards the noise, causing Richie to curse under his breath before racing after her. "Ash! Stop!"

She kept running, ducking under branches and twigs and racing through the woods as the screams got louder. She could hear the screams of her friends as well, not paying any mind as she continued to run towards whoever was screaming in pain. She was doing this because she wished that someone would've done the same for her. She wished it would've happened with her when she was screaming for help. She wasn't gonna let this girl have to go through what she did. There was no damn way.

"Help!", The female voice shouted once more. "Help! Get off!"

"Shit.", Ashley cursed once she felt briar scratch her leg, but she kept moving. She kept racing through the woods as she heard the cry for help and the shouting of her boyfriend behind her.

The second Ashley Walker exited the woods, her eyes landed upon a boy with chocolate brown hair hovering over a girl in the meadow. Thomas Barley. Anger rose inside of her, bringing her to rush over towards him before she tackled him to the ground without even thinking twice about it.

The Losers' came running up on the scene in front of them, seeing Ashley on the ground beside Thomas Barley. Richie grew angry just at the sight of him, but then his eyes landed upon a familiar girl that laid in the grass of the meadow crying. "Jesus, fuck! Carrie!?"

Eddie's eyes glanced over at the girl once he saw Richie rush over to her, falling on his knees beside her. She was a sobbing mess, quickly sitting upright as she latched onto her brother. Richie wrapped his arms around her, squeezing his eyes shut at the thought of Thomas not only hurting his girl but his sister, too. The rest of the Losers' shot their heads towards Ashley after hearing her squeal in pain.

Richie's head snapped towards his girlfriend, blood trailing down her right arm. All Richie saw then, was pure red. He gently let go of Carrie, Eddie taking his place as he tried calming the girl down. Richie stood up to his feet, clenching his jaw as he made his way over towards Thomas. He grabbed him up by the jacket, throwing him down on the grab and knocked the knife out of his hand.

Stanley rushed over to Ashley, pulling her aside as she held onto the gash on her arm. She winced in pain, throwing her head back as she felt a stinging sensation. It's like my leg all over again. She glanced at Richie, who had punched Thomas multiple times before Thomas flipped him over and pounded into his face. Mike and Bill ran over towards them, but Thomas elbowed Mike in the gut. Bill tried pulling Thomas off of Richie, but he wouldn't budge. He was shoved down on the ground, watching in horror as Richie kept taking punches left and right.

"One of you help him!", Ashley screamed loud enough to make her throat ache. "Richie!"

Richie was one punch away from being knocked out before Eddie rushed over to Thomas and shoved him off. Eddie grabbed Thomas by the collar of his shirt and slammed his head against the ground. "You're a fucking pyscho path! You fucking piece of shit!"

"Eds, stop..", Richie murmured as he winced in pain, bringing Ashley's full attention to him. She slipped away from Stanley and brought herself to her feet before rushing towards him, falling onto her knees as she leaned her head down against his own and placed her forehead against his.

"Richie..", She sobbed softly, holding onto her arm while his right hand came up to her cheek.

"It's okay, baby."

He pulled his hand away, causing her to sit upright as she watched him slowly get up. His eyes darted towards Eddie, who was now getting kicked by Thomas. Richie's blood boiled at the sight which caused him to quickly rise to his feet before pulling Thomas by the shoulder, turning him around before sending a hard punch to his nose. Thomas stumbled back, bringing his hand up to his now broken nose.

"Stay the fuck away!", Richie shouted insanely, quickly shoving Thomas Barley. "Keep away from us, understand!? I'll fucking kill you! Do you hear me!? I'll fucking kill you!"

"Come on, Richie.", Thomas smirked slightly, blood trickling down his face. "You don't have the balls.."

"Richie, don't!", Carrie called out from the side, making him turn his head to look at her. Their eyes met and for a second, he didn't want his sister to see him this way. That all changed when Thomas Barley spoke up.

"Just wait, Richie. You do anything stupid and I'll make sure your sister learns what being a slut is like, too."

Richie's eyes darted back towards Thomas, clenching his jaw harshly as thoughts of killing him raced through his mind. Richard Tozier was never the violent type, but after killing a killer clown, that has some part to you changing. Ashley stood to her feet, walking towards Richie before she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Richie, don't give into his childish ways. He just wants to know he can get to you. You're only giving him more satisfaction by threatening him."

"So, you're just gonna let him talk shit about you all over town? You expect me not to stick up for you or Carrie?", Richie dryly replied with anger laced in his voice. He pushed his glasses further up on his face, glancing at his girlfriend finally to see her looking up at him. Her eyes flashed fear, worry, and regret all at once. "He hurt you, Ash. He deserves this. You need someone to beat shitty teenage boys since your dad can't."

Her glance dropped to the ground, backing away from Richie slowly as the words flooded her mind. She hadn't realized how much she had been trying to lock away any memories, thoughts, or mentioning of her father until now. She nodded her head slowly, bringing her attention back to Richie. "Okay."

The Losers' Club surrounded Thomas Barley by Richie's side, all except Ashley. She had made her way to Carrie Tozier, kneeling down beside her slowly. Carrie's eyes met Ashley's, tears still prominent in them. The two girls felt horrible for each other, both dealing with a lot of problems caused by one boy. Ashley pulled her into a hug while she stared at the boys, who were now in a brawl with Barley.

Once the boys stopped fighting, Thomas scurried away from the group as he held his side in pain. That was the day that the Losers' Club showed him that they were not to be messed with. That was the day that they thought would be the end of his torture. So, they all hurried home as Ashley, Richie, and Carrie went to his house and comforted her for what happened. That was the night that Carrie Tozier was wrong about Ashley Walker. That was the day that the two of them became best friends.