[ set during it 2019 ]

Bill can't really remember why he left Derry. He can't really remember when, either. He can't remember the last time he saw you. He can't parse what's new or old as you walk into the Chinese restaurant, grinning at your old friends like no time at all has passed. You're still fabulous. You're still smart. You're still talented as hell. You are still the person he fell in love with all those years ago. And he can't recall why the hell he would ever leave someone like you, someone he had never wanted to let go of.

Bill can feel those old feelings stirring in his chest when he sees you. He feels like he's thirteen again, and you're standing on his front porch, soaked to the bone, asking if he wanted to come to the dance with you. He still remembers the half-stuttered, half shouted affirmation he gave you, how he'd almost kissed you.

And he remembered, later, the times you had done more than kiss. When you'd given yourselves to eachother.

How had he walked away from that?

What he's very sure, and very confident, is new, however, is the pre-teen kid half hiding behind you as you introduce your child to your friends.