Thirty

"It will come back," Eddie said. "What do we do then?"

"We come back," I said. "From wherever we are."

"I'm gonna take these guys and we're gonna go to the hospital just to make sure everything's okay," Dallas said, rounding up Georgie, Tina, Betty and Edward and taking them back through the rusty circular door that lead into the chamber.

"But how will we know?" Bill asked. "Derry is never in the news, everything that happens here is kept really underwrapped."

"Your stutter," Stan said.

"What about it?" Bill questioned.

"It's gone," Stan told him.

"I didn't notice," Bill.

"I'm sure at least one of us will still be here," Mike said. "I'm sure of it."

"Or we can just come back in twenty-seven years?" Suggested Richie.

"How did we not think of that?" Vic said with a laugh.

"First time he's ever said anything smart," Eddie scoffed.

"Shut up Eddie," snapped Richie.

"How the tables have turned," said Stan with a sigh.

"We have to promise," Bill said. "We have to promise that we'll come back to Derry in twenty-seven years no matter what."

"I promise," Henry said.

"I promise," Eddie said.

"No," Bill objected. "We can't just say it. We have to make a proper promise. Let's do a blood oath."

We all agreed and we stood in a circle. We passed the switch around and made cuts in our palms, deep enough to draw blood. We all held hands and went around the circle and said we promised to come back. After we were done we headed out of the house, hoping that it would in fact be twenty-seven years until we went back in there.

There was something different about Derry. We walked down the main street, people seemed to be happy again. There was no lingering feeling of fear lurking around. People were cheerful. The missing children signs were gone. Things seemed to be back to how they were.

Cole was dead. It was gone for now. I had Dallas back. Maybe I could live a normal life.

"Guys, you know what we should do?" Said Bill.

"What?" Belch asked.

"We should get out of Derry for a bit," Bill said. "We've still got a week of Summer left."

"Somewhere close," Patrick said. "But also somewhere out of Maine."

"How about New York City?" Vic suggested.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"My parents own a hotel floor at the Riu Times Square Plaza Hotel, so anyone who stays on that floor they'll get the money. It's an investment. I'm sure they won't mind lending us a few rooms for a few days," Vic said.

"That sounds great," Eddie said.

"I've always wanted to go to New York," I said.

"How will we get there?" Stan asked.

"I can attach a trailer to my car," Belch said. "The drive isn't too long, it's only like seven hours."

"It's five pm now, if we do the drive now we can make it by the morning, or we could drive tomorrow and get there at nighttime," Belch said.

"Let's do it tonight," Henry said. "Then we can have more time there."

"Cool, so we'll meet at Bill's house in an hour?" Belch suggested.

We all agreed and hurried home to go and pack.

I quickly showered, applied a small amount of makeup, put on my jewelry and changed into some jeans and a crop top. packed some outfits, underwear, shoes, makeup, stuff I need for the shower and bathroom products. I needed some cash. Now that Cole was gone I had access to all his emergency cash. I knew where it was. I opened the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a jar from the corner. There was about a thousand dollars in cash in there, which was more than enough.

I left a note for Dallas telling him where I went and when I would be back. I headed off to Bill's house.

Everyone else was already there. Henry greeted me by putting his arm around my waist. I wanted to kiss him really badly but I didn't know how he felt about PDA and I didn't want to embarrass him.

"So I can fit max seven people in the car, including me. The other four can sit in the trailer, it has a roof on it," Belch said.

"Where'd you get the trailer?" Bill asked.

"It's my dad's. We've owned it for ages," Belch said.

"Prim, Vic, Richie and I will go in the back," Henry said.

"I'll go in the back too," Eddie said. "So the car is a little less squishy."

"Cool," said Belch. "Four people can squish into the back of my car and one in the passenger seat."

So the five of us piled into the trailer. There weren't any seats, but there was a pile of blankets and pillows so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

"So, seven hours in here," Vic said. "Fun."

"Was that sarcasm?" Eddie asked.

"Kind of," Vic said. "We could make it fun."

"We can," Richie said. "We'll probably stop to get food too."

"It'd better be fucking Taco Bell or Dunkin'," I warned.

"I'm sure we can make something work," Eddie said. "You love your Taco Bell and Dunkin' Donuts don't you?"

I nodded as Henry pulled me into his embrace.

"I swear to god, I'm not sharing a room with you two," Richie said.

Henry grabbed my face and pulled me into a kiss. His kisses were never demanding and rough, they were always slow and passionate.

We made out for a while longer, and Henry pulled me onto his lap. He put his hands under my arms and slowly moved them down to my waist, feeling the curve of my body as his hands glided down me.

I did like Henry touching me, but the feeling of being touched like that bought back some bad things that I don't think I'm going to be able to get over for a while. Although I did feel a little guilty that I couldn't give Henry what a guy wants. At least for a while.

I pulled back and detached my lips from his.

"I almost just vomited," Eddie said in disgust.

"You guys were at it for like an hour," Vic said.

"What?" I asked.

"How can you kiss for an hour?" Eddie asked, shivering.

Time flies when your kissing.

An hour later, amidst small talk, the trailer stopped and Belch opened it.

"Time for dinner," Belch said.

I looked out into the starry night. We were at a strip mall that included a KFC, Taco Bell, Subway and a small Target.

"I'm going to Taco Bell!" Eddie said.

"No Mr," Belch said. "It's dark, you can't be going out there on your own."

"Since when are you my dad?" Eddie asked.

"I just don't wanna see you die, that's all," Belch said.

"Prim, can you go with him?" Belch asked. "I'm taking these Losers to Subway."

"Sure," I said. "Let's go, Eddie."

Eddie and I headed off to Taco Bell, Richie tagging along.

"Congrats on you and Henry, by the way," Eddie.

"Thanks," I said, as we entered Taco Bell.

I ordered my usual and then told them to order.

"I, uh, don't have any money on me," said Eddie after he and Richie were done ordering.

"Me neither," said Richie.

"Relax, I'll fucking pay," I said.

The guy behind me gave me a look.

"Don't fucking look at me like that," I said.

Eddie and Richie snickered.

"Don't mess with her," Richie said. "Her boyfriend will bash you right after she does."

"What's goin' on losers," Patrick said as he strode cockily into the restaurant.

"Not him," I told the guy, gesturing to Patrick.

"I figured," the guy said, looking and sounding like he was absolutely done with life.

Once we had all gotten our food, we sat down and ate it.

I loved Taco Bell.

"Jesus, don't let Henry hear you moaning to those Tacos like that," Richie teased.

"Shut up," I snapped, taking a sip of my coke.

Richie made moaning sounds and acted out sex with his tacos, teasing me.

"Mate, lay off," Patrick warned.

"Shut the fuck up!" I said, as I quickly got up and left.

Eddie's P.O.V.

"What's her problem?" Richie asked. "Must be her time of the month."

"Shut the fuck up, Richie," I snapped.

"Why?" Richie said. "I'm stating the truth."

"You just don't say things like that. Especially not to Prim," I said.

"Did you not just witness how much of a bitch she was?" Richie demanded loudly.

"You don't know the full story," Patrick said.

Richie looked confused.

"You don't know," I said.

"Don't know what?" Richie asked. "I'm so confused."

"She's got these weird triggers. Just stay away from teasing her about sex and things like that. Stay away from words like bitch and rape. Slut, hoe, whore, all those," Patrick said.

"Did something happen?" Richie asked.

"We can't say," I said.

"Should I apologize?" Richie asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Back in the van."

Prim was over at my house once. She saw how my mum treated me and she poured her heart out to me about her dad and how he treated her. She's the only one I've told about my mother molesting me once. Ever since we had that talk, the two of us've had this kind of bond, a bond I haven't felt with anyone else. I care about her a lot.

Primrose's P.O.V.

I looked at my face in the mirror of the Taco Bell bathroom. Tears stained my face. There was a knock at the door, then it opened.

It was Richie.

Richie came inside and closed the door behind him.

"Prim, I'm really sorry," Richie said solely.

"It's fine," I said, shaking my head.

"It's not," Richie said.

"You didn't know," I said. "It's not your fault."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Richie asked.

"I guess I just didn't really know how," I said. "And there was never really an opportunity."

"I really value you as a friend," said Richie. "I'm sorry I haven't been the best friend possible, and I feel bad about it."

"Don't feel bad," I said. "You're a great friend. You always make me laugh."

Richie smiled at me, and I gave him a smile back.

"Everyone else is waiting, are you ready to get going?" Richie asked.

I nodded and followed Richie out and he lead me to the others who were waiting in the car park. I gave Henry a tight hug and took in his scent while I was at it, and we piled into the car and the trailer.

"So what do you guys wanna do in New York?" Vic asked.

"I want to see as much as possible," I said.

I looked out the window of the trailer, it was dark, partly because the moon wasn't at its fullest.

"Anyone wanna play touch my body?" Richie asked.

"Not this game," Eddie groaned.

"What's touch my body?" Vic asked.

"One person has to basically feel everyone up and guess who it is," Richie explained.

"I'm down," said Henry.

"Me too," I said, hoping I could use this game to help me with my anxiety a bit.

We played, and the familiar feeling of my friend's hands didn't seem to bother me at all, which was better than I expected. There were a few moments here and there that made me feel uneasy, but I got through it.

We chatted away into the night, and before we knew it, we were in New York.

We piled out of the trailer and the others piled out from the car. It was overcast and pouring down with rain. We hurried into the hotel.

The lobby was amazing. High ceilings, marble countertops, and white leather couches. We followed Vic to one of the desks and he turned around with three room keys.

"We've got three rooms. Two of them can fit four and the other can fit three," Vic told us.

"We already figured this out, didn't we, Vic?" Henry asked. "In the trailer."

"Yeah," Vic agreed. "Henry, Prim, Richie and I are gonna share a room."

"I'll go with Belch and Patrick," Eddie said.

"So Bill, Ben, Mike and Stan in the other room?" Vic asked.

We nodded and Vic handed out the other key cards.

We squeezed into the elevator to the seventeenth floor and we got out and found our rooms. Our room was a little further down than the others so we walked along the carpeted hallway.

The room was amazing. Two queen beds, a desk, a large bathroom, closet, and an amazing view of times square.

"This is amazing," I said.

"My parents make a lot of money out of renting these rooms," Vic commented.

"It was really nice of them to let us stay in them for free," said Richie.

"Bags the bed!" Exclaimed Richie as he collapsed on one of the beds.

"I'm guessing I can't share a bed with you two?" Vic asked, looking at Henry and I.

"Richie, it's a pretty big bed. Just let Vic sleep there. We're only here because of him," I said.

"That's fair," Henry added.

Richie eventually gave in and we went out to the corridor to meet the others.

"What now?" Asked Belch.

"I really wanna go to Times Square," I said eagerly.

Everyone seemed to agree, so that's where we headed. There were a lot of cool places on the street. There was a small stand out front of our hotel selling hot dogs and pizza, there was also one of those little nut stalls that were famous in New York. We passed a church of Scientology and I instantly thought of my celebrity crush, Tom Cruise.

I inched in a bit and Belch pulled me back. "Don't go in there, you'll never come out."

We came to the end of the street, the ground still wet from the rain and the sky still dark and overcast. Times Square looked so much better in the rain.

"Let's go look in some of the shops," said Mike.

There were tons of souvenir shops.

"Ha, look at this," Patrick said, picking up a bell that said 'ring for sex'. "I'm going to buy it, I'll leave it on my door for the room service or cleaning lady or whatever."

There was a lot of George Bush themed things, I bought a block of chocolate with his face on it.

After we'd looked at some shops, we decided to eat and seeing that there was eleven of us, there would obviously be some conflict when deciding where to eat. We eventually decided on Chipotle.

"Excuse me, sir, where's the nearest Chipotle?" Bill asked.

The man simply just grunted.

Obviously a hobo.

"Is there one around here?" Ben asked.

The man pointed in the direction of a side street and we thanked him for the directions.

As we walked through the crowded streets, I felt myself getting pushed around by everyone walking past and I didn't like the feeling one bit. To help avoid a panic attack, I grabbed onto Henry's hand, making sure I wasn't separated from him.

"Take our mixtape for free!" A guy said, handing out tapes.

I took one and put it in my bag.

My burrito from Chipotle wasn't the best. I had like six refills of the strawberry lemonade which was what I filled up on. I'm definitely gonna stick to Taco Bell from now on.

"Let's go in here," said Patrick, referring to the M&M shop. It was amazing. It was so colorful and everything was M&M themed, obviously. We went around tasting the M&M's and I ended up buying an M&M themed blanket, M&M lip balm and of course some M&Ms.

————————————

On our second night we visited Madame Tussauds. I took a lot of polaroids with celebrities on my camera and after that we had dinner at TGI Friday's.

We ordered two jugs of coke for us all to share.

Vic picked up the jug and he served everyone but me.

"What the fuck, Vic," I said.

Vic laughed. "It's so funny to annoy you."

"Please fill up my cup?" I pleaded.

Vic went to go and fill up my cup but Belch decided that it would be a good idea to wobble the table, causing the coke to spill.

We laughed.

I grabbed the jug from Vic before anymore spilled and poured it myself.

I put the jug back and Richie started wobbling the table, I grabbed the Coke before it could spill.

We spent a good part of the night at the table talking, then we went back to the hotel after we'd looked at a few more shops at Times Square.

I shared a bed with Henry and Vic and Richie took the other bed. I got ready for bed and climbed in next to Henry who pulled me closer.

I wrapped an arm around him and I felt his face press into my neck. Henry kissed me on the cheek and he pulled me as close to him as physically possible. He turned my face around so I was looking into his eyes and he placed a soft kiss on my lips. Henry's hands roamed my body and there was no impulse to stop him. I put my hands on either side of his face and kissed him more deeply. I twirled his dirty blonde hair around my fingers and I moved my other hand up his shirt and felt his toned chest.

We pulled out of the kiss and pressed our faces together.

"I don't wanna rush you into anything," Henry said quietly.

"I know," I said. "I just want to make you happy. But right now I don't think I can make you happy in that way."

"Are you kidding?" Henry questioned. "You make me happy in every way possible. I don't care that I don't get do to that. I just want you. You already make me so happy and I don't care about anything else unless I have you."

"Henry," I said, a tear falling from my eye. "Thank you."

Henry placed a soft kiss on my lips and we drifted off to sleep, bodies entangled together under the warm sheets.

The next day we were planning to visit the Statue of Liberty and we got onto the ferry and it took us to Liberty Island.

"Let's get lemonade," said Eddie, pointing to the famous Bill's Lemonade Stand.

We ordered eleven lemonades and set to work climbing the statue. We ran up most of the way, but I stayed back with Eddie to make sure he was okay with his asthma. Vic came back to keep an eye on Eddie and I was in a neck and neck race with Mike and Patrick trying to get to the top.

The view was spectacular. We could see the ocean and all of New York. I took pictures, making a note to photograph lots from this trip.

When we climbed back down we walked to the New York and New Jersey border and took pictures with one leg in either state. We caught the ferry back to the mainland and headed to Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Bridge was pretty crowded when we were walking across it.

"Hey!" Ben called, chasing after Patrick who had stolen his camera.

Patrick ran to the edge of the bride and dangled Ben's camera over the edge. Even though he was doing it as a joke, the fact that Ben's camera could potentially fall into the ocean gave me anxiety.

We laughed at Ben reaching up trying to grab it and Patrick stopped when Mike told him to stop being a dick.

"Henry, can you take a picture with me here?" I asked. "Belch, take it."

Henry and I went to the railing and he put an arm around my waist and I put an arm around his neck. We took another one and I kissed his cheek.

We had lunch at Denny's after we'd crossed the bridge. The particular Denny's we went to reeked of cheese which I found kind of funny.

We walked around Brooklyn for a bit, running from a few hobos who tried to chase us. We caught the bus back over to Manhattan when it got late.

————————————

The view from the Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller centre was amazing. We took a group photo so the backdrop was all of New York.

"You kids on a school trip?" Asked some random who was on the lookout with us.

"Nah, just a friends trip," Eddie said.

"Ending of Summer," Stan added.

"Sounds fun, you visited all the boroughs yet?" The guy asked.

"Not yet, we've been to Manhattan and Brooklyn," I told him.

"I'd recommend going over to Soho, they've got some great shops and cafe's there," the guy said.

So that's where we went.

"Prim," said Henry, pulling me back from the group. "We'll meet you guys at Maccas later!"

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Henry pulled me into a cute little French-themed bakery and we sat down at a table in the garden surrounded by flowers.

"I thought this would be something you might like," Henry said as he sat down opposite me.

"I love it," I said, flashing him a bright smile.

We ordered some pastries and hot chocolates. It was really romantic.

"I really appreciate this Henry," I said. "It's getting dark, should we go and meet the others soon?"

"Soon," Henry said.

Henry took one of my hands in both of his and pulled out a small box from his pocket.

I felt a little sick to the stomach.

"Primrose Taylor Winston, I know that this is cliche, and this is the lamest way to do it, but I wanted to give you this," Henry said as he opened the box and pulled out a ring. "This ring is my promise to you. It means that I promise that I will always keep you safe and I will always protect you. I promise I will never ever hurt you. I will treat you so amazingly, and I've said this before but I'll hurt or even kill anyone who hurts you. That's why I'm giving you this ring. I want to make this promise to you. I love you. Will you take it?"

I nodded and Henry slid the ring onto my ring finger. It had a thin gold band and it was topped off with a small diamond. It was simple yet elegant and beautiful and at the same time. I loved it.

"I love it, thank you," I said kindly.

Henry held out his hand for me to take and he lead me out of the cafe.

"So are we meeting the others now?" I asked.

Henry nodded. Except we weren't headed for Maccas.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Just trust me," Henry said, pulling me alone.

We came to an alleyway. Henry put a code into a door at the end of it and it opened into a warehouse room. All my friends were there. Vic, Patrick, Belch, Bill, Stan, Richie, Ben, Eddie, Mike. Dally's gang were also there, Johnny, Steve, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, Darry and my brother was there too.

"What's all this?" I asked.

The room was decked out in decorations and there was a table of fast food.

"Did you think we were going to forgot your birthday?" Henry asked.

"Henry," I whispered, leaning closer to him. "You know I don't like celebrating my birthday."

"It's just that everything was going on back in July when your birthday was, and we all know how you feel about your birthday but we just wanted to do something special for you," Dally said.

My birthday was on the twentieth of July. I've never really been one to like attention or want to celebrate it and all my friends know that. They usually do something for me but with everything going on I guess it just slipped through everyone's fingertips.

"Thanks, guys," I said with a smile.

"Happy sixteenth birthday," Dally said as the party begun.

"Thanks, Dally," I said.

"I got you something," Dally told me.

"You really didn't have to," I said. "I'm just glad you're alive."

"I know, but I really wanted to," Dally said, handing me a small box. "I hope you like this, it reminded me of you."

I opened the box to reveal a beautiful bracelet. It had a gold chain and holding the chain together was a daisy charm.

"What do you think?" Dally asked hopefully.

"I love it," I said as I gave him a hug.

"So what is this place?" I asked.

"This is my gang's hideout," Dally said. "Well, our New York one."

"So Henry," I said after I'd walked over to him. "You'll be seventeen next May. I'm guessing you'll want to have a party?"

"I'll be happy if you're alive, safe and happy by then," Henry said, pulling me closet into him by my waist and kissing me softly.

"That's sweet and everything, but I'm being serious," I said.

"Don't think about it now," Henry told me. "Just enjoy the party."

"AHHH!" Screamed Eddie.

All of our heads turned to see Patrick shoving Eddie into a cupboard. They both pushed on either side of the door, Eddie trying to get out and Patrick trying to push him inside. We knew it was just a joke, and it was a hilarious sight.

Patrick got the door shut and locked it.

"Fuck you, Patrick," Eddie yelled from inside the room with a snicker.

"Okay, let him out now," Darry said. "Don't take this too far."

"Trust Darry to ruin all the fun," complained Two-Bit.

The party was amazing, we continued deep into the night and after the party was finished we had a bit of an argument about how we were going to get back. Dally and his gang were staying but the eleven of us needed to get back to Manhattan. Some of us wanted to take the subway and some of the others wanted to accept the Greasers offer of driving us all.

So Patrick, Vic, Richie and I went to take and subway and the others got a ride.

We got on the train around two am. There was a sudden commotion in the next compartment over. It sounded like a woman screaming. We looked through the glass in between the compartment and there were two hooded men or maybe teenagers standing obnoxiously close to a woman sitting in one of the seats who was screaming for help.

"Should we help her?" Vic asked.

"Yes," I urged.

We opened the door and climbed into the next carriage. The men turned around and pointed handguns at us. We instinctively got off the train, a stroke of luck being that it had stopped at a station.

They followed us off the train, and one of the men pointed a gun straight at us before chasing us. There were at least three people following us and we booked it straight into the station shops for help but there was no one around.

Patrick grabbed me and pulled me behind a wall. "Stay behind me."

"Patrick, I don't need you to protect me," I snapped.

"I just don't want you getting hurt," Patrick said.

"In case you haven't noticed," I said, pulling out of his grip, "I can protect myself perfectly fine."

Patrick looked take aback.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be like that," I said.

"Forget it," Patrick said. "I'll try not to treat you that way."

I took Patrick's hand and smiled at him.

"OI!" Yelled one of the men.

We ran and ended up getting separated. I went to hide behind a garbage can. I could hear them running and I knew I had no time to find a better hiding spot. I looked through the opening at the top of the bin I could get a better look at them. I was sure they were only trying to rob us until I heard one of them whisper something to one of the other guys.

"If you find them kill them."

I almost gave away my position in reaction to hearing this. I accidentally pulled the lid of the bin down. As they walked past, I put my hand over my mouth and stayed completely still.

After they'd headed in the other direction, I found Patrick, Vic, and Richie and we quickly got on the next train.

"Well, that was eventful," Richie observed.

"No shit," Vic breathed.

"What the fuck is that smell," Patrick complained.

I glanced over at the sleeping hobo and the others got the message.

Richie got up and walked over to the guy. "Yep."

"Richie, don't!" Vic warned as we spotted Richie looking through the guy's suitcase.

"Why not?" Richie asked.

"You don't know what's in there, it's not safe," Patrick said. "And he could wake up any minute."

"I ain't afraid of no hobo," Richie said.

"Richie, he could be dangerous," I said. "Go ahead if you want, we're just looking out for you."

Richie stopped looking through the guy's bag and came back to sit with us.

We fucked around on the train, swung from the bars, ran around and played truth or dare until we arrived back at Grand Central Station.

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The next day was spent in Central Park. It was a warm, sunny day and were hanging out near the lake. Central Park was so nice.

We walked around talking and having fun. We even volunteered for one of those stunt shoes that they put on to earn money.

We remained in the park until it was time to go and have dinner, so we went to a restaurant about ten minutes from times square.

The food was amazing. We talked about how we were all going into the tenth grade and how good it would be. We got a little buzzed and by the end of the night, I didn't want to leave New York, but it was time to start the next chapter of our lives.

so most of the things that happened in this chapter are experiences that i took from my life and things that have happened with me and my friends, i hope you enjoyed it :) <3

- e