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It had taken Henry Bowers a few years to really notice (Y/N).
She had been part of the famous Loser’s Club for some time now and he bullied her as much as the others but it wasn’t until the end of that fateful summer that (Y/N) awoke his interest.
He hadn’t seen her in the last couple of weeks before school started and for a moment he wondered if she had left Derry. He didn’t know that (Y/N) was simply on family vacation. But it was that moment that he noticed that there was something special about her. (Y/N) was one of his favourite victims and there was no denying it.
So when school began he needed an outlet for all of his frustrations. Henry didn’t like that (Y/N) was clearly so important to him, for whatever reason. He hadn’t picked on her for a few weeks now as she’d been gone and now was the time.
(Y/N) was walking to class with Richie and Bill, telling them about how her summer had been. She was mid-sentence when she heard a voice calling her. She tensed immediately, every cell in her body told her to run, as far and as fast as she could. But she just froze. Richie and Bill had worried looks on their faces. All three of them had heard that voice in their worst nightmares and it had been just a matter of time before the notorious Henry Bowers would make an appearance in their lives again.
“Hey (Y/N)! Are you deaf? I told you to to come over here.”
She didn’t move an inch. Henry really made her life a living hell and sometimes she asked herself what she’d done to deserve this. The answer was simple, she just existed.
She slowly turned around to see his angry face. Henry didn’t pay any attention to Bill and Richie and just slammed (Y/N) into the lockers.
“Where have you been sweetheart?” He asked dangerously calm.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean these last few weeks, you think you can hide from me? You think you can just get away from me like that? I swear I will always find you…” His voice had become but a whisper.
“Leave her the fuck alone, Bowers!” Richie stepped in. Henry looked at him and for a second (Y/N) thought he was going to punch him. What a great way to start school.
But he didn’t.
“The fuck do you want four eyes?”
(Y/N) answered before Richie could say anything that would only get them in more trouble.
“Just – just leave me be ok? Please?”
For a split second Henry had a moment of weakness when he saw her pleading face.
He took a step back and she immediately took shelter behind Bill.
Henry just watched them hurry to class.
It took mere seconds for the blinding rage to come over him. What the hell did he just do? Why did he let her leave? Who did she think she was manipulating him like that? He hated himself for being so weak and she was gonna pay for that.
(Y/N) and the boys were a few hallways away from the place this year’s first tragedy had taken place, believing themselves to be safe from Bowers.
“You go ahead I have to get some books from my locker.” Richie and Bill nodded.
“S-see you in c-c-class.” Bill waved good bye.
She was struggling to get her book from her overfilled locker. A hand slammed on the lockers on her left. Her heart almost stopped. She was forcibly pulled away from her locker and she dropped her books.
He dragged her with him, having a tight grip on her arm.
“Henry, please, you’re hurting me!”
“Shut up! Just shut up and stop being so…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
He opened the door to a supply closet. He pushed her inside and shut the door.
(Y/N) honestly thought she was going to die in there. She could barely breath and her heart was almost jumping out of her chest.
“H-henry what –“
“I told you to shut up!!” His voice was trembling. He could barely control himself. Then, suddenly he was calm. It was the calm before the storm.
The only source of light in the closet was the thin line under the door. But (Y/N) didn’t need any light to know what he was doing. She heard that familiar sound of his knife snapping open.
She could feel tears on her cheeks. When did she start to cry?
Henry was closing in, she could almost feel the tension in his body and he radiated anger.
He grabbed her arm. He would leave bruises but (Y/N) knew that this wasn’t the worse thing he would leave.
“Don’t you ever think you can control me!” He whispered in a husky voice.
“But I didn’t – “
Cut
The words got stuck in her throat.
“You can’t run away from me, I’ll always be where you are, remember that.”
Cut
She started to sob. She’d never been so afraid of Bowers like she was now.
“Because you’re mine and only mine, do you understand that?”
Cut.
His face was really close to hers and even in the dim light he could see her tears.
(Y/N) started having a full-blown panic attack.
“P-please just leave me alone, please H-h-henry I – please! I-I…”
He raised his hand and she flinched, thinking he would hit her but he just tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I think you got my message.” And with that he left her behind in the dark, sobbing and trying to get her breath under control.
When (Y/N) finally left the closet she saw that her arm was drenched in her own blood. She examined to wound. Henry had carved a messy “H” into her arm.
By the time she arrived at the girl’s bathroom she’d already calmed down. As she was standing in front of the sink, washing off the blood and cleaning the cuts, Henry’s words were ringing in her ears. What was wrong with that boy? If he wanted her to belong to him, it was a weird way of showing her that. But she knew that he had problems, living with a man like Butch Bowers wasn’t exactly a joyride. Although she understood that, she was still afraid of him. Henry Bowers was unpredictable and the fact that he didn’t know how to control and and accept his feelings made him even more dangerous.
Henry in the meantime had a little crisis. At first he’d been very satisfied with what he’d done to (Y/N). He had her all for himself and she’d been completely under his control. But the way he’d seen her made him uneasy. Of course some of his victims had been scared shitless, naturally, but with her it was something else. It stung when he thought about how afraid, no, terrified she had been. She was going to hate him for that.
But Henry didn’t want (Y/N) to hate him. He’d acted on impulse, being scared she would leave. He didn’t even know why it bothered him so much.
Realization hit him hard.
Henry Bowers was sorry for what he did.
Suddenly he wanted to check on her, to see if she was ok. But that was absurd. She would probably have a heart attack if she saw him again.
The rest of the day he just followed her around without her noticing him.
The next few days went by just the same. He still bullied everyone that dared to cross his path but he kept his hands off (Y/N). And he still followed her around to make sure she was ok.
On the fourth day on her way home from school he decided to talk to her. He caught up to her just as she passed the cinema. He grabbed her hand, much more gentle than last time and dragged her into a narrow alley.
“I need to talk to you.”
He noticed how she was searching for a way out or for someone to ask for help.
“Relax, I’m not gonna hurt you.”
From the look on her face he knew she didn’t believe him.
“Seriously, I would already have done so if that was what I wanted to do.”
This didn’t make her feel better, quit the contrary.
“Henry, let me go.”
“Just listen to me for a second!” Henry felt the anger returning but he took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Just, listen.”
(Y/N) looked at him, unsure of what to do.
“I want to…to apologise.”
She looked at him in disbelieve.
“You what?!”
“I’m sorry for what I did, I don’t know what I was thinking. And I feel horrible, I thought apologising to you might make it better.”
“Henry, you carved you fucking initial into my arm! And now you want me to forgive you just so you don’t feel like a piece of shit because of that? Are you kidding me?”
He was taken aback by her words. That wasn’t what he wanted to say.
“No, I – “
“No, Henry, now you shut up and listen to me! I don’t know what your fucking problem is but I can’t stand this anymore! You’re making me sick, do you understand that? You can’t just walk around the school like it belongs to you and terrorize people just because your parents didn’t love you enough!”
She knew she; crossed a line but she didn’t care. She saw how he got angry, ready to scream at her but she interrupted him.
“No, shut the fuck up! I’m talking now! Do you know what I went through? I thought I was going to pass out and I’m fed up with your tough bad boy bullshit! You can’t hurt people and then expect them to forgive you just like that, just because you feel bad, take some responsibility for your actions! Have some fucking decency Henry Bowers!”
Her index finger was poking his chest with every word she said.
He took her hand into his, tight, but not tight enough for it to hurt.
“I’m not saying this to make myself feel better, I’m truly sorry and I just wanted you to know that, ok? I don’t know why you make me feel the things I feel when I’m around you and it just makes me angry and I’m sorry I took that out on you.”
Henry let go of (Y/N) hand and was about to walk away when she found her voice again.
“Wait.” A frustrated sigh escaped her.
“You understand, I can’t forgive you just like that. You’re gonna leave me some nasty scars.”
He nodded. Henry approached her and took her hand again.
“Can I make it up somehow?”
“I don’t know, maybe start with not bullying me anymore or else I swear I won’t survive this school year.”
“Yeah, I’ll try. Oh and thank you for giving me a second chance.” He gave her a small kiss on the cheek. A shy smile formed on her face. Who would have thought Henry could be nice when he tried.
“Do you need any help with that?” He pointed at her arm “I’m pretty good at taking care of wounds, believe me I have experience with that.” He laughed. “I know a few tricks so there won’t be any scars when it heals.”
“Yeah why not.” She smiled, things had taken an unexpected turn but maybe it would be ok in the end.