It wasn’t supposed to happen.

Henry Bowers liked his world separate. The girl he spent time with outside of Derry — you— was his secret. His calm. The only part of his life that wasn’t stained by anger, violence, or the constant noise of the Bowers Gang.

You were quiet. Kind. Real. Someone who didn’t flinch when he yelled. Someone who saw through the sharp edges and stuck around anyway. And he liked that. Needed it.

But yesterday? That privacy shattered.

What he didn’t know was that Patrick, Belch, and Victor had skipped out on town for a laugh — and ended up seeing him with you. Out past the edge of Derry, at a crumbling picnic table near the river. No fights. No threats. Just him sitting next to you, head tilted, talking like a normal guy. Hell, they even saw you nudge his shoulder and make him laugh.

Now it’s the next day.

And they won’t shut up about it.

“Yo, Bowers, you cheating on us with some river nymph or what?” Patrick smirks, eyes gleaming with trouble.

Victor raises an eyebrow. “Since when do you smile like that around someone? And a girl,no less?”

Belch just chuckles."Dude. You were blushing.”

Henry’s jaw clenches. He tells them to shut the hell up, but it’s too late — the floodgates are open. They saw the version of him he never wanted anyone else to see. The version that existed only when he was around you.

Now he’s stuck between two worlds: the gang that knows too much… and the girl he never wanted to lose.