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Normal and Scary sat in silence. Because there really wasn’t much to say. Scary stared off into the bright abyss as she had been doing for the past two hours. Normal did not know how she hadn’t gotten a headache.
He wasn’t sure how she was coping with any of this to begin with. She was upset, he knew that much. That look in her eyes, when she told him that she cares, it was familiar to him. The look of betrayal, of being left behind. It was a feeling he knew all too well. Despite that, he didn’t know how to help her. How to assure her that they didn’t mean to hurt her. He knows how that goes. All it does is remind you of how you were forgotten.
They had forgotten Scary. Not truly, of course they knew she was here, but they forgot to consider her. How she would feel. It sat very poorly with Normal. Sure, this was his dad’s plan and his dad forgetting someone is no surprise, but he should’ve known better. He should have thought about how she felt.
It didn’t truly matter anymore. Now they both sat in a void with nothing to do except sit with their own thoughts. As much as he hated him, Normal had to applaud the fact that Willy managed to stay sane after twenty-five years in this room. Though he doubts that Willy sat with the guilt that he currently does. This room could go on forever, or maybe it ended in just a couple of feet.
He stood up, it was the first real movement that either teen had made in hours and his legs felt like jelly. He took one step and then another. Each move echoed throughout the void, overwhelming the senses. The distance between him and Scary increased, until she eventually called out to him.
“Normal? Where are you going?” she questioned, eyebrow raised. The goth girl was leaning back on her hands in a way that Normal knew wasn’t comfortable. He turned around.
“I’m looking to see if there is an end. Maybe if we go further, there might be another way out,” he explained. Scary scoffed in response.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” she mutters, looking back down at her nails. Normal feels his hands clench into fist. After the day the two of them had, her lack of faith in a solution did not help.
“Would you rather just sit around for God knows how long and wait for something to happen? Or until we die?” he emphasizes. It doesn’t seem to phase her. She gives a simple shrug in response. Normal stomps off. He can’t deal with her now. Her hot and cold attitude was testing his patience and the last thing he needed to do was get angry at her.
How did the plan go so wrong?
He couldn’t help but blame himself. After everything he had learned it was not surprising. The void seemed to continue off into forever. Any glimmer of an edge quickly faded when he approached. Scary had become not much more than a spec in the distance by the time he eventually gave up.
Everything hurt. His bones ached from when Willy had grabbed him, the bright whiteness was starting to give him a headache, and he felt a deep pit in his stomach. Maybe Scary was right. Maybe they would die here. He hoped at the very least that their deaths would not be in vain.
At the very least, the others could come visit them after they died, no matter where they ended up. Hell, it would probably be Hell. Normal tried not to think about that, but with the laundry list of things he didn’t want to think of, one or two would pop up. It ping ponged between him being the cause the end of the world to him continuing to prove that his father was right and that he was a disappointment. With occasional thoughts of Hermie slipping in because of course they did.
He took a deep breath. In for five, out for five. There was no way that he could stay in here forever. He refused to. Somewhere in the distance Scary’s form sat near the exit. They could get out of this. Sure, Willy may have had more powerful magic and more time, but they had something he didn’t. They had each other, and that would have to be enough.
Composing himself, he made his way back to Scary. She seemed content to draw imaginary lines on what was technically the floor. There wasn’t really a floor in the void, but they were standing on something and calling it floor was close enough. She looked up lazily at him.
“Come to your senses?” she asks in a mocking tone. Normal decides to ignore it.
“Are you really just going to sit there and do nothing?”
“Well, it’s all I seem to be good for anyways,” she retorts, pulling her knees to her chest, making herself as small as possible. Normal sits down next to her.
“It’s my fault you know,” he confesses. She turns her head to look at him, eyebrows raised. He stares off into the distance, “I’m the reason code purple got activated. The only reason any of us are here is because I opened that fucking door.”
A moment passes. And then Scary laughs. She laughs until she is doubled over, and her sides hurt. She laughs until there are tears streaming down her face. For a moment Normal is afraid. That she’s laughing at him. That he admitted that he caused the apocalypse, and she was laughing at him. She wipes a tear from her eye.
“What’s with us and fucking doors dude?” she sighs, the amusement of her tone wavering. It was funny now that he thought about it. He opened the door that caused code purple. She opened the door that let Willy out. And now they are both stuck behind a door. Due to their own actions. It’s not funny, but it really is and Normal can’t help but let out a chuckle. The two giggle along for a moment before entering a more relaxed silence.
“I’m sorry we forgot about you Scary. I really am,” he apologized, wishing there was something else that he could do. “I know how much it sucks, and I can’t believe that none of us thought about how this entire thing would effect you and I am just so so sorry.”
It sounds too much like begging, too much like a plead. He knows it’s not just about what had just happened. He knows there is more than one thing he is asking forgiveness for. Normal looked at her expectantly, she didn’t look back.
“I-” she begins before scrunching up her face like her own words were sour. She seemed to chew on them. “You’re a good friend and I want you to know that, okay? Like sometimes you can be weird or whatever but, you always stood by me. Even when I was being a total bitch. Even when I did things that I don’t think I should be forgiven for,” she turns to meet his gaze. “And it would be so lame of me to not return the favor.”
With one motion that not even he was fully aware of, he hugs her, planting his face squarely on her shoulder. And he just sobs. She pats his head, trying her best to make him feel better, tears of her own escaping her eyes.
They cry for everything. For all the suffering they’ve been through. For all the pain that they’ve seen. For Terry. For Hermie. For themselves. For the lives they should have had. For the fathers they should have had.
Eventually the tears run dry. No one has ever accused Normal of being a pretty crier and he feels an apology on his lips about the snot he just got on Scary’s shirt. It dies when he looks at her. She’s still herself. Maybe not the best person to cry his heart out too but she gets it. In her, he sees himself staring back. Which is a weird sentiment to have about someone like Scary Marlowe.
But it didn’t make it less true. There had been enough apologies between them. He had forgiven her. She had forgiven him. Even if they didn’t forgive themselves.
So many words hung in the air. Normal had yet to fully explain what happened in Oakvale and she had yet to tell him anything about her time spent with Willy.
Unfortunately, all that would have to wait.
Because the door opened.
Two figures appeared in the doorway, both with looks of slight shock and utter relief. Link and Taylor.
The four reunited ceremoniously, with them all ending up in a group hug.
“Are you guys okay?” Lincoln asked, taking a survey of both of them. Normal looked to Scary, who’s eyes were still red rimmed. He had to be fairing much worse. Even still, he turned to Link.
“We’re okay.”
Half-truth, half lie.
“Good, we need to get back to the fight. We’re gonna kick Willy’s ass!” Taylor chimes in, his confidence radiating. He immediately turns to walk back up the stairs with the three other teens watching. Lincoln shrugs before turning to join him. Normal takes one more look at Scary, who smiles and looks ready. They were ready to end this.
And maybe, once it was all over, they would be okay.