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September 24th wasn’t that different from any normal Thursday for Peter Spankoffski.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
Helping a popular kid get a better grade, or risk being beat up. Not that Stephanie Lauter would necessarily do that.
“Cheaters!”
“God, butt out Chasity!”
Getting caught, sent to the principal’s office, which usually he wasn’t tagged along with.
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
Getting climbed like a fucking tree.
And September 25th was absolutely different from any normal Friday.
Dealing with the consequences of getting punched in the face the day prior, pretty normal.
Grace Chasity creating a plan to scare the shit out of Max Jägerman, less so. Very much less so.
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
Getting called names by his friends, very normal.
But burying Max Jägerman under the floorboards of the Old Waylon Place?
“It’s Hatchetfield, people go missing everyday!”
Just about the least normal thing ever.
Thank god he can sleep in tomorrow.
Pete’s alarm blares, and he groans.
“What the fuck, I thought I turned you off!” he groans under his breath. He never has his alarm set during the weekends! This was just rude.
He slams his hand on the off button, and tucks back in to fall asleep.
But his phone buzzes before he can.
He picks it up, curiosity kills the cat and all that shit, because that was Richie’s buzz. Richie, who is notorious for sleeping through his alarm? For Pete having to bang on his door to get him in the car in time? That Richie texting him?
Weird.
-we shud gt engy drinks- even weirder. Exactly what Richie had texted him on Thursday.
-Wtf Richie?- it is 6:30 am on a Saturday, Pete was not about to get up and dressed just to drive Richie to get a monster.
-DONT WTF ME PETE!-
-yea, you know that rich needs his caffeine before school-
-It’s fucking Saturday-
-wtf are you on about, it’s thursday- he scoffs at Ruth’s message, but he gives in anyways, quickly swiping down to show the date on his phone.
September 24th.
What. The Fuck.
He flings his blanket off of him, quickly getting dressed, staring at the lack of a bruise on his face.
“It was just Friday, right?” maybe it was just some really weird dream.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!”
“God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
Is this just a fucking loop?
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
And an alarm clock beeping him awake.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!”
“God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!”
“God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!”
“Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!”
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!”
Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!” “Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!” “What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!” ~ “You’re fucking useless, Pete!” “It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!” Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!” “Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!” “What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!” ~ “You’re fucking useless, Pete!” “It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!” Alarm clock beeping.“Hey! Hey geek!” “Cheaters!” “God, butt out Chasity!” “What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?!” ~ “You’re fucking useless, Pete!” “It’s Hatchetfied, people go missing everyday!” Alarm clock beeping.
“Hey! Hey geek!” 20 fucking times.
20 goddamn times he’d lived the same two days over and over. 20 times he’d allowed the days to play out the same way he had the first time.
Maybe, he could just fuck around with it.
“Hey.” he replies, not looking up from his test.
“Pete, right?” he just nods. “We’ve been in classes together for a long time, haven’t we?”
“Mhmm.” maybe things will go differently if he just ignores her.
“Well, I just realized that I’ve never introduced myself. I’m Stephanie.”
“Yep.” he mutters, continuing to fill out the scantron.
“But my friends call me Steph. We’re friends, aren’t we, Pete?” wow, so it really didn’t even matter what he replied with, did it?
He just shrugs. Maybe, outside of this fucking loop, they could be one day. But here? Living the same two days over and over? Pete felt like he was going insane.
Maybe he was.
“Cause, well. I wouldn’t advertise it to the whole school, or anything. But, there’s an unspoken bond between us! We’re classmates, comrades! We’re nighthawks! And we don’t leave anyone behind.” she seems so much more desperate for it than the times before. Maybe because he wasn’t really giving her responses. At all.
“Totally.” he mutters almost in a sing-song way.
“Yeah, we succeed together, or we fail together. Now, I won’t mince words. I’m gonna fail this test, Peter. Unless you help me cheat?” he could do without the whole speech… Again. He finally finishes the scantron, and sets his pencil down.
He hadn’t written his name on it yet, but he’d stopped writing it after the third time.
“Come on, just finish your exam, pass it to me, and I’ll put my name on it. I’ll give you mine, you get to take the test all over again! Doesn’t that sound fun?” she pauses for a moment, clearly waiting for a response. Pete doesn’t give one.
“Please Pete, don’t you want to help me out?” she’s much closer to begging than ever before.
“Fine.” he groans quietly, passing it over.
“Cheaters!”
“God, butt out Chasity!” and it plays out the exact same fucking way.
“What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?”
~
“You’re fucking useless, Pete!”
“It’s Hatchetfield, people go missing everyday!”
Pete lets the alarm clock blare. The sign that it hadn’t worked.
He should focus on finding what would make it stop, shouldn’t he.
“Ya know, maybe I had you guys figured all wrong. I thought-”
“Max, can you do this speech, maybe like, over here? I don’t trust that staircase.” Pete calls out. He’s been tired of this switcheroo since, like, loop 3.
“Oh, uh. Sure thing, Spankoffski!” Max agrees, a bit shocked. He takes a step down, and-
Fuck.
“Pete, what the fuck?!” he’s not even sure which one calls it out, but he’s certain it’s either Ruth or Richie.
“What, I didn’t trust the fucking floor! Which I was apparently right to do! Come on, let’s get downstairs.” he defends, a bit too haphazardly, with a bit too little energy. He’s just tired, god damn it.
There’s only so many times that he can see a dude die in front of him before he gets desensitized.
Pete stays home for the next two loops. But no matter what happens, he falls asleep before the day clicks over to the 26th, and wakes up with his alarm on the 24th. And he’s back to the loop.
The alarm blares again.
He should try something different… Again.
“When the- when the ghost came out!-!”
“Max, you shouldn’t get up there!” Pete gets in his way, stopping him physically. Much to Max’s shock.
“What do you mean? Why?” he asks, confused.
“It’s uh. It doesn’t seem like the sturdiest thing? It creaked pretty bad when we came in.” Pete explains, voice cracking the whole time, much to his embarrassment.
Max stares at him, dumbly. It seems as if the lights weren’t even on.
“Nah, you’re lying. What cool shit you hiding up there, Spankoffski? Weed? Booze!?” Max starts to make his way, but Pete gets in it again.
“No! Nothing! Max, I’m not joking!? The staircase is not steady. Just, like. Listen, okay?” Max puts his hands up, and gestures for Pete to go on.
Oh shit, what did he just sign himself up for?
Pete carefully tiptoes to the staircase, heart pounding. This had to have been his biggest deviation yet. And gently lifts his foot up to press on the stairs.
They give an awful creak, proving his point.
“See?” he cracks, removing his foot, and starting to turn around when-
The floor collapses, and for the first time, Pete’s the one with a blood filled mouth.
“Oh shit!” he can see the floorboards going through his stomach, but his adrenaline hides the pain.
“Pete!” their footsteps and yelling gets louder as they sprint down the stairs, all 5 of them. His glasses fell off, at some point. And they certainly weren’t still on his face. So the blobs enter the room, and their energy is just panicked.
“Oh my god, Pete.” Ruth mutters, stepping closer and cupping his face in her hands. Finally, he can see some of her features.
“Hey Ruth.” he mutters back, feeling insanely tired. And it clearly must show.
“Pete, don’t fucking fall asleep, okay? Steph, call 911, now!” Richie instructs. Of course he would be the one to take action. He’s used to working through anxiety every single day.
“Rich, I’ll be fine, okay?” he replies, spitting out the blood that was filling his mouth after he spoke.
“Pete, you’re not fine!” Richie insists, and in the background, he can hear Steph talking to the operator.
“No, I will be. If this is what I have to do, it’s what I have to do.” maybe the only option to leave the time loop. Is to die.
But Pete wishes he’d tested it out a little bit later.
“What are you talking about?” Ruth questions again.
“Nothing… Just, don’t…” why is it so hard to speak? “Don’t bury me here. Please.”
And his alarm clock blares.
Pete shoots up, gasping for breath.
“I just died, oh fuck. Oh my god I died.” what. The. FUCK.
His heart stopped, fully, actually, literally. And he’s still.
Fucking.
Here.
“This sucks.” might as well get dressed. See if something else can fix it.
But it seems like nothing can. He couldn’t convince Grace to choose a different place. He couldn’t back out of being the ghost, because Richie had refused to turn over the camera.
Sometimes he’d die, sometimes it was both him and Max. Sometimes he was just tired of dying, so he’d let Max die alone.
Pete had lost track after loop 150, but he knew he was likely in the 200s, if not the 300s.
“Pete, you okay?” Richie asks, noticing him entirely zoned out.
“Yeah!” Pete jumps to attention, sitting up straight. “Yeah, just zoned out… Sorry.” he mutters.
“Come on, Pete. How are we ever gonna get this physics project done without our carry?” Ruth complains jokingly, stretching her arms out. They’ll never get this physics project done if he doesn’t break this fucking groundhog day.
“I guess you’ll just have to suffer.” he teases back.
“She came all the way out here, just to help you!” Richie encourages for what feels like the millionth time. “She’s waiting for you, buddy.” despite how many times he’s heard it, Pete had never said the right girl before.
“Yeah, Ruth’s the best, isn’t she?” he’d also been thinking. Steph had reasons to be here, probably guilt about his shining black eye. Grace had her own vendetta against Max.
But Richie? Ruth? They’re there pretty much just for him.
“Yeah! You should, you know. Ask her out!” Richie encourages again, finally a break from the script.
“I’ll think about it.” he mutters back.
“All right everyone, get to your posts!” Pete had decided to try another time of him dying. Was that the best shot of leaving this loop? No, but he’d spent over a fucking year reliving the same two days over and over again.
He just wants a way out. Even if it is permanently.
“Thanks. This was really great.” Max smiles.
“You’re not pissed?” he tries to make it seem like he’s actually shocked, as he starts walking towards the staircase.
“Oh! Are you kidding?” Max points at him with a goofy grin. “No, no, no! This is like, the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.” Pete finally steps onto the staircase, even as it creaks dangerously underneath him.
“When the ghost came out-!” Max gestures to him, encouraging Pete to make a ghosty move again.
Hey, if it gets it going. Pete jumps up, and when he lands, he keeps falling.
He screams out, it never got easier, he would never get used to it. But he could prepare for it, so he’d already used a piece of string to tighten his glasses onto the back of his face. So at least he could see.
Just as it always seemed to happen, at least when he died, Ruth and Richie led the pack.
“Pete!” their feet and clamored voices come rumbling down the stairs.
“Oh my god, Pete.” Ruth holds his face in her hands. Unlike before, he can actually see the tears in her eyes.
“Hey Ruth.” everytime, his adrenaline rushes out faster and faster. And that must show on his face.
“Pete, don’t fucking fall asleep, okay? Steph, call 911, now!” Richie instructs, the same as he always does. But luckily, Pete’s mouth wasn’t being filled with blood as fast as normal.
“Rich, I’ll be fine. Ruthie?” he asks. He might as well fall into line. Take Richie’s original advice of ‘hit it and quit it’. Afterall, was it even hitting and quitting if she wouldn’t remember?
“Yeah, Pete?” she leans in further, as Steph begins talking to the operator.
“Can I kiss you?” the ‘before I die’ didn’t have to be said. But Ruth’s face flushes bright red.
“Me?” the ‘not Steph? Not Grace?’ was clear in her eyes.
“Please?” it’s not like she’d remember it anyways. And who knows, maybe this was the breaking of the loop, and he’d actually die now. Maybe the loop would only end when he kissed someone, or maybe once he got laid.
Oh god, he’d be in this loop for fucking ever if it was once he got laid.
“O-Okay.” she mutters, hesitating before pressing a kiss to his lips. He should feel so guilty about it. Wasn’t he technically like a year and a half older than her at this point? Maybe two? Oh that’s so weird.
Too weird.
But the kiss is nice, despite the whole being impaled thing. He smiles at her as they separate, even as the tiredness starts to take over.
“Thanks. Please don’t bury me here, okay?” he almost wants to add a ‘I’ll see you later’ but if this was the breaking of the loop? He couldn’t let that be his last fucking words, that would be way too creepy.
Better than Max’s ‘Nerdy prudes must die!’ but not by much.
And his alarm blares him awake.
Of course! Of fucking course that wouldn’t break it! God, Pete has the worst luck ever.
But, things are different this time.
His phone rings. He’s been in this loop for hundreds of days, and for the first time, his phone is ringing.
“Pete!” Ruth almost cries the moment he answers the phone.
“Hey Ruth…” he replies, suspicious. What happened?
“A-Are you… Picking me and Richie up for school?” she asks, clearly not asking what she wants to.
“Yeah, of course. What else would I do?” he could stay home… Again. But not this loop.
“Cool, cool. Just wanted to double check, you know?” she replies. “See you soon.” she mutters, hanging up the phone before Pete can even breathe.
“That’s fucking weird.” he notes.
For the first time ever, Ruth was late to the library after school.
“Ruth, what took so long?” Pete asks, knowing that her and Richie had last period together. Ruth flushes red, and makes it her personal goal to look anywhere that isn’t him.
“I-I uh. Just a totally random question.” she starts, sitting down and looking straight at the back of Richie’s laptop. “Did we ever create, like, a code word? For if we got, totally, hypothetically, got stuck in a time loop?”
Shit.
Pete’s jaw drops, but Richie just looks confused.
“Uh, I don’t think so?” Richie answers, visibly checking his mental files.
“I’m shocked that I didn’t think about that.” Pete mutters, realizing something that he’d missed over time. He’d never asked that question.
“Why do you ask? You watch some horror thing last night?” Richie asks, a bit concerned. But Ruth just sighs.
“No, I’m…” she squeezes her eyes tight, and breathes hard. “I’m in a time loop.” shit.
“Wait, really?” Richie asks, but Pete’s heart just sinks. Of course, THAT was the loop that someone else joined in on.
“Yeah, pretty sure. Unless I had a really vivid bad dream last night.” Ruth explains, finally picking her eyes up from the table. Pete just sets his elbow on the table in order to hold his head up by the forehead.
“I’m so sorry.” he mutters, regretting every action he’s ever made… Ever.
“Why are you sorry?” Richie questions.
“That was not the loop you were supposed to join in from.” he mutters back.
“The loop I was supposed to join in from? Pete, have you been in a time loop?” Ruth connects the dots shockingly fast. Pete just nods.
“Yeah, yeah I have been.” he admits.
“Jesus Christ, how long?” Richie questions. And Pete just sighs, picking up his head.
“I’ve-” he’s interrupted by Steph’s phone call. Right on the dot, as usual.
“Hello?” he still gets up to answer the call, but he doesn’t go as far as he normally does.
“Hey, is this Peter Spankoffski?” Steph asks.
“Yeah.”
“Hi Pete, it’s Steph, from class.”
“Yeah, hey Steph.” it was a bit weird to not have Ruth sneaking up on him, but Ruth seems to still be a bit shocked by his time loop.
“Pete, you’re never going to believe this, but I’m actually calling you on a payphone outside that Italian restaurant on First. You know Pasqualli’s?”
“Oh yeah, I love that place.” Richie and Ruth eye him with confusion, though he’s certain it is for two fairly different reasons.
“Yeah, their breadsticks are really good.” and for the first loop ever, he doesn’t get a ‘What is she saying? What the fuck is she saying?’ and it honestly throws him off. “Listen, I know this might seem presumptuous, seeing as how I just got you in trouble, but, uh. My dad took my phone away, and I’m never gonna get it back unless I pick up my grades, and I was wondering if you could meet me here, and help me study?”
“You want me to meet you at Pasqualli’s?” the shock in his voice had quickly been faked through the loops, but who could really blame him.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” Richie is the only one to freak out, which means that he doesn’t really have to shut him up.
“Sorry, I’m studying with these two nerds, and they’re a bit loud.” he explains, pushing as much affection into the term ‘nerds’ as he can.
“Well, could you ditch those nerds and help me out?” she asks.
“I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” he insists, before hanging up the phone. “Come on, pack up. I’ll explain while I drive you guys to Paul’s.”
“Wait, so I’m the only one not in the time loop?” Richie complains, slamming his laptop shut.
“It’s not fun, Richie!” Ruth shuts down his complaints right away, looking pale.
“You don’t even know the half of it, Ruth. Come on.” Pete’s already packed, slinging his backpack onto his back, and beginning to walk out of the library. Ruth and Richie dashing to catch up with him.
“What do you mean I don’t know the half of it? I saw you die, Pete!” Ruth complains the moment they leave the school building, having forgotten that Richie wouldn’t have that piece of information.
“What!?” Richie screams, jaw dropping.
“Yeah, well, that’s about a third of it.” Pete explains, unlocking the car. “Get in, so I can get punched in the face faster.” he rushes the two forward.
“Can I please get some explanation here?” Richie insists, taking the front seat.
“Okay, Ruth, you wanna start with what you know?” Pete asks, but Ruth refuses.
“No way, you’re on the time limit here!” she insists.
“No, I’ll come back to Paul’s once I get my black eye, okay? I’ll explain everything then.”
“Wait, black eye? Punched in the face?”
“You’ll find out soon.”
“Can’t we just be in the car? Like, just hide out here while that happens?” Ruth asks, curious. Pete’s not sure how that would change things.
“Uhh-”
“We’ll tuck ourselves into the backseat, we won’t even be seen! What’s the worst that could happen? He doesn’t beat you up? Maybe that’s what’s causing the loop!?” Ruth suggests, quickly convincing Pete.
“Fine, but no showing yourselves, no talking. No looking either.” Pete edits his route to go straight to Pasqualli’s and parks in the furthest part of the parking lot, allowing Richie to clamber into the back out of view from the street lights.
And as expected, he gets beat up, just like normal. That doesn’t change. But he makes his way back to his car, after Pete’s become certain that the jocks have left.
“Okay, Paul’s house, now.” Richie insists, not even bothering to get back into the front seat. Pete sighs, and quickly sets off to Richie’s uncle’s house.
And the moment he’s parked and the keys are out of the ignition, Pete’s being dragged into the house, and onto the couch. With an icepack being essentially forced onto his face.
“Ruth, you wanna start?” he offers, wincing at the cold.
“Why should I start?” she questions.
“Because, this is your first loop. And honestly, someone joining is the biggest deviation I’ve had yet.” Pete admits. Ruth groans, but starts.
“Okay, for me. Yesterday was also tomorrow-”
“It’s a two day time loop.” Pete butts in to explain.
“So, yesterday, aka tomorrow, we drag Steph into the boy’s bathroom, to see Pete’s shiner. Grace comes in to reprimand us all, and we get pulled into a scheme to prank Max Jägerman.”
“We prank Max Jägerman?” Richie questions.
“In a way.” Pete replies with a sigh.
“But uh, we go to the Old Waylon Place, and Pete fell through the floor. And… Uh…” Ruth looks over at Pete, for just a split second, absolutely bursting a facial blood vessel with how fast her face goes bright red.
“You can tell him. I mean, how likely is it that he remembers this loop?” Pete encourages.
“I wanna be in the loop!” Richie complains. Pete just eyes him.
“No. No you do not.” he hopes that his voice is serious enough to prove his point.
“But, basically. Um. Pete and I.” she goes impossibly more red. “Can you say it?” she begs Pete, and he sighs.
“Ruth and I kissed, and then I died. And so the loop looped, and it brought Ruth into it.” Pete explains quickly and shortly, even as Ruth looks in the opposite direction and Richie’s jaw drops.
“You kissed and I don’t remember it!?” Richie complains.
“Yeah, sorry Rich.” Pete replies, tired.
“This is so unfair.” Richie mutters, crossing his arms in a huff.
“Yeah, yeah. What happened after I died anyways?” Pete questions.
“Well, uh. The police came, and interviewed us, but uh. I was crying too much to give any proper answers.” Ruth wipes at her eyes. “But, I think they realized pretty quickly that it was an accident, so they let us go home. So I cried myself to sleep, and then woke up standing and halfway dressed this morning.” Pete blinks.
“Wait, so your loop starts with my alarm? Jeez, that sucks. I’m sorry.” Pete’s not entirely sure what to think about that.
“It’s fine, I guess. What’s… Your loop?” Ruth asks, hesitantly.
“Well… I wake up to my alarm, I go to class. Stephanie Lauter cheats off of me, and if she doesn’t cheat off me, she cheats off you.” he points to Ruth. But he only figured that out during the last loop where he stayed home. God, what was that, loop number 34 or something?
“Grace catches us, we go to the principal’s office. Rest of the school day is pretty normal. I go to the library to study, Steph calls me, I get beat up in the parking lot of Pasqualli’s. I get this.” he gestures to the ice pack.
“Next day, you two drag Steph in after she threatens you. Grace catches Ruth and Steph in the boys’ room so they get in trouble, and pulls us into a scheme to prank Max. Of which it’s always at the Old Waylon Place.” Ruth opens her mouth to interject, give a suggestion even.
“Believe me, I’ve tried.” he cuts her off before she can even start. “So then after school, we go to the Waylon Place. Of which, our roles never change. Steph’s always the bait, Grace is always the mastermind, Richie never hands over the camera, you’re always the skeleton, I’m always the ghost. In the instance of me being sick, you’re the ghost.” he explains more to Ruth than to Richie.
“Okay.” she mutters, as Pete answers the questions she has before she can even ask them.
“You guys realize that unless I’m looped in this loop, you’re just gonna have to do this again, right?” Richie mutters before Pete can even continue.
“Yeah, but we can always explain it again, I don’t mind. Besides, I don’t even know how I got Ruth into the loop, so I have no clue how I’d get you in.” Richie groans at that, but doesn’t add anything either.
“Max fights back, the fucking asshole, and gives this huge speech.” and Ruth’s eyes narrow.
“He didn’t give a huge speech. I mean, he was planning for one, but he certainly didn’t give a huge speech.” she notes.
“Yeah, that’s because I learned pretty early on after the first death, that it loops faster once I die. So sorry for using speed run strats, I guess.” he explains, with a hint of joke that is significantly overpowered by his lack of enthusiasm.
“After the first death?” Ruth asks after a long moment, looking straight at him with concern.
“Uhhh.” he hadn’t actually meant to say that.
“Pete, how long have you been in a time loop?” Richie demands to know, scooting in closer.
“I, uh. Kinda lost track?” Pete attempts to cover his own ass, but it doesn’t work.
“Guess.” Ruth instructs, and he’s long lost his ability to fight.
“I lost track at like. Loop 150?” both of their jaws drop. “But, I’m probably in the high 200s? Maybe 300 at this point.” he admits, suddenly finding the fabric of the couch to be the most interesting thing in the entirety of the world. Pete starts rubbing the lightly ribbed texture, when Ruth’s hand gently sets atop his.
“Pete.” he can hear the begging in her voice. So he slowly picks up his head, nervous for what he’d find.
Concern, shockingly.
“Can I hug you?” Ruth asks quietly. Softly. Pete gives a small nod, and finds himself suddenly in possession of an armful of Ruth Fleming.
“Oh-” he chokes out, abandoning the ice pack to slowly wrap his arms around her as well. And for the first time since September 23rd, he allows himself to cry. Richie’s arms quickly wrap around him as well.
All is peaceful, and for a moment, it’s not a time loop.
It’s not almost 2 years of living the same two days over and over again.
It’s just Pete, Ruth, and Richie.
The world is right.
A door creaks open, and Pete’s eyes open to the tv-illuminated living room of Paul Matthew, and muttered words.
“Paul, I told you to be quiet!” Richie’s voice is barely audible over the soft rainforest sounds being played on the tv. Pete groans, trying to process what exactly happened.
“Hey Pete.” Ruth greets softly, making him realize that his head is on her shoulder.
“Sorry.” he mutters, lifting his head off of it while blinking the sleep from his eyes.
“It’s okay.” she assures, smiling, and gently setting her hand atop his.
“Alright, do I need to drive people home?” Paul asks, reminding Pete that he and Ruth are in fact not the only people in the room.
“No! I’m fine, just give me a few minutes, and we’ll be out of your hair, Paul.” Pete insists, wiping the sleep from his eyes, and shooting Ruth a look when she opens her mouth to object.
“If you’re certain.” Paul replies sharply, in a way that Pete had learned years ago was caring for the man, before walking out of the living room. Pete yawns and stretches before standing up.
“Come on, Ruth. I’ll give you a ride.” Ruth relents, and they both give Richie hugs goodbye.
The drive is quiet, and not in a particularly neutral way. But not in a bad way either. Just a tense way, an energy that Pete is not used to.
“We’ll figure this out.” Ruth insists as he finally parks in Ruth’s driveway. Pete nods.
“We kinda have to.” he refuses to allow Ruth to be stuck in this time loop.
“Which means no dying.” Ruth demands, suddenly stern and serious. Pete’s eyes go wide.
“Ruth-” he tries to start, but she refuses to hear it.
“No! Pete, I can’t see you die again. I don’t care if it’s not permanent, I can’t-” the tears that had suddenly taken over her eyes also take her voice.
“Ruth, I-” he cuts himself off. When it was just him, it didn’t really matter. He just wanted to be free. But now? “I won’t.” he insures, cautiously lifting his hand to wipe away her tears.
“You better fucking not.” she threatens, the words only having more power as tears follow them.
“I won’t.” he promises, cupping her face in his hand. Fighting to keep eye contact, even as his eyes flicker to her lips. But Ruth is the one to push forward, pressing a bold kiss to his lips, as quick as it is, before dashing out of the car, backpack barely in tow.
“Bye! See you tomorrow!” she calls out before slamming the door shut. Pete rushes to lower the window to call after her.
“Bye! Love you!” Ruth freezes in her almost run, turning red faced towards the car. And she smiles.
“Love you too!” she calls back with a wave, Pete waving back with a relieved smile, and likely an equally red face, before pulling away.
Pete decides he'd figure out how to get out of this time loop. Ruth was not going to spend even a week in here, not if he had anything to say about it.
So they bury Max Jӓgerman’s body underneath the Old Waylon Place, and prepare themselves for the next loop. And even their voices can’t change Grace’s opinion about the Old Waylon Place.
They both skip school, and Richie gets cheated off instead. Grace scares Max, and he still falls to the basement.
Pete’s promise to himself is dwindling in possibilities.
“Okay, so you’re in a time loop?” Richie double checks, as Pete ices his brand new black eye in Paul Matthew’s living room. Again.
“Yep.” Ruth confirms.
“And you got into it, because Pete kissed you?” there’s a muttered ‘and I don’t get to remember it?’ that follows, but Ruth decides to ignore it, apparently.
“Yeah?” Ruth clearly has no more of an idea of where Richie is going than Pete does.
“So then it’s reasonable to assume that in order to bring another person into the time loop, you’d have to kiss them.” Richie explains, causing Pete and Ruth to almost simultaneously sigh, and put their heads in their hands.
“Why didn’t we think about that?” Pete mutters under his breath, but still loud enough to be heard.
“Same reason that you didn’t think to ask if we had a time loop code word. We’re idiots sometimes.” Ruth teases back, and Pete just groans.
“We’re idiots sometimes.” he repeats back, pitching his voice to be as annoying as possible.
“So, Richie,” Ruth completely ignores Pete’s acting abilities. “Can I kiss you?” and Richie balks.
“M-me?” he stammers.
“Well, yeah. It’s your idea, and you’re the only one we’ve told about the loop anyways. Why would we want anyone else?” and Ruth’s words ring in a way that hits closer to his heart than Pete expects.
“And you’re… Sure it’s fine?” Richie questions, looking between Pete and Ruth.
“Pete doesn’t mind, do you, Pete?” Ruth checks.
“No! I don’t mind at all.” he’s too distracted by the way his heart still vibrates with Ruth’s words to mind. Even as Ruth cups Richie’s face in her hands, and presses a soft kiss to his lips. An act that makes Richie flush like a tomato.
Pete still thinks about it, even when he drives Ruth home afterwards, and lays in bed later that night.
Why would he want anyone else?
He’s always loved his friends, much to the teasing of his brother. Mostly joking about how he and Richie had to be sharing Ruth behind closed doors.
They never had, but the thumping of Pete’s heart forces him to realize why.
He loves Richie and Ruth, and not in the way a friend necessarily should. He just couldn’t risk showing those feelings.
Pete couldn’t even pinpoint a time, even an estimation, of when his feelings switched from friends to more.
-Hey Ruth?-
-yeah?-
-After we get out, do you want to go on a date sometime?-
-as friends, ooorr?-
-I’d like it to be as partners-
-i wish i could take screenshots of these to make it a proper date- Pete sighs, feeling a newly common pit of guilt grow in his gut.
-I’m sorry-
-oh i can hold you to your word, proof or no proof, don’t you worry about it, babe <3-
-Don’t worry, I’ll ask you properly on the 26th-
-you fucking better!-
But, even after yet another burying of the Jӓgerman, they wake up on the 24th… Again.
Pete wants to punch through his own skull.
“Okay, so you’re in a time loop?” Richie double checks, as Pete ices his brand new black eye in Paul Matthew’s living room. Again… Again.
“Yep.” Ruth confirms.
“And you got into it, because Pete kissed you? And I don’t get to remember it?” he mutters the last sentence, but Pete’s decided to view it as fully spoken.
“Yeah, and before you suggest, you and Ruth already kissed, and clearly that didn’t work.” Richie and Ruth both flush, but Ruth out of embarrassment, and Richie out of shock.
“I had my first kiss and I don't remember it?!” Richie complains.
“Technically, the loop reset, so you haven’t had your first kiss yet!” Pete defends. Richie crosses his arms, silently repeating the words in a mocking act.
They sit in silence for a few moments. Long moments.
“So, if it didn’t work when Ruth kissed me, proving that it’s not just anyone in the time loop… Maybe it’s Pete?” Richie suggests, carefully, before daring to look straight into Pete’s eyes with the final word.
Pete swallows hard.
“Do you want to kiss me?” he asks before he can even think. And Richie shoves his chin into his chest. Embarrassed, Pete’s known how to read Richie’s movements for a long while.
“And if I did?” Richie questions, curling as tight as he can in on himself.
Pete sets the ice pack onto the couch, scooting as close to the coffee table that Richie is sitting on as he can. He sets a hand hesitantly on Richie’s knee.
“May I?” he asks, as Richie slowly picks his head up.
“Please.” Richie breathes out, and Pete smiles, quickly pulling Richie into a kiss, even as the shorter squeaks. The kiss is far more passionate than the kisses that he and Ruth had exchanged, though Pete can’t tell if he did that on purpose or on accident.
But they eventually pull away, with a slight squeal of joy from Ruth.
“Now you’ll remember!” she exclaims
“Or at least, hopefully you will.” Pete mutters.
And seemingly curses their chances, as they quickly realize that Richie does in fact, not remember, as they find themselves looking at a none-the-wiser Richie on the 24th.
“I just don’t know what we can even do!” Ruth complains in Pete’s car as he drives her back to her moms’ house. After taking Richie’s third first kiss. They’d decided to not mention his and Richie’s kiss.
“I… I might have an idea.” he mutters, putting the car into park.
“Well, you better do it, Spankoffski. I want that date.” Ruth smirks, pulling him into a kiss, before jumping out of his car.
“Love you!” Pete calls after her.
“Love you too!” she blows a kiss in his direction.
“So, you and Ruth are dating, right?” Richie asks the same thing he does everytime that they explain the time loop.
“Well, I haven’t taken her on a date yet. But I think we are.” Pete smiles over at Ruth, who’s helping Steph set up more cobwebs. But for the first time, he hears something come out of Richie’s mouth.
“Lucky.” it’s barely even breathed, but Pete hears it.
“Ruth or me?” he follows up, and Richie pales, clearly not wanting that to be heard.
“Umm…” Richie’s voice cracks, and his face slowly gains back a pink color.
“Come on, Rich. Which one of us is lucky?” Pete wasn’t sure how he got the confidence that allowed him to back Richie onto a wall, his arms on either side of Richie’s head, but he somehow gained it.
“Is both an option?” Pete almost certainly wouldn’t have been able to hear the words if he was even an inch further away
“Can I kiss you?” he answers Richie’s question with another question, and Richie flushes a heavy red.
“B-but, Ruth-?”
“Ruth doesn’t mind.” Pete mutters to him, but Richie clearly doesn’t believe it. “Hey Ruth?” he calls out, not turning his head.
“Yeah?!” she calls back, before quick footsteps run up behind them, and Ruth quickly comes into Pete’s line of sight. “As long as I can see!” she answers his question before he even asks it.
“So, can I kiss y-” Richie cuts him off by dashing forward, and catching Pete’s lips with his own. Pete’s taken mildly off guard, but quickly gains his footing, moving one hand to the back of Richie’s head, and the other to Richie’s hip, pulling him in closer.
Behind him, he can hear two gasps, but at that point, the only things in the world that matter to him are the two people beside him. Eventually, they have to pull away, and Pete’s eyes find Richie’s. Something in his being tells him that this is the end of the loop.
“I-uh. Can we do that, maybe at like. Anywhere else?” Richie asks.
“You betcha.” and Pete realizes something that he’s never tried before. “Hey, wanna get Pasqualli’s?” he asks both Richie and Ruth.
“Is that a date, Spankoffski?” Ruth teases.
“I’d like it to be.” he admits.
“Well, it’s both a day early and 5 days late, but I’ll take it. Come on, let’s go.” she nudges Pete and Richie, in order to grab onto Richie’s hand and begin pulling him out of the Old Waylon Place.
“Hey Grace, we’re leaving. We don’t want to do this anymore!” Pete calls out.
“Well, if you guys are leaving, I’m leaving too!” Steph exclaims, quickly following them in grabbing their backpacks and heading out the door, even as Grace tries to convince them not to. She even pulls out her phone, and sends a text about the party being canceled to Max.
Pete unlocks his car, and is about to get in, when Steph stops him.
“Hey, uh. Sorry for like- kinda flirting with you. If I had known, I wouldn’t-” he interrupts her.
“Steph, it’s fine. I’d like to be friends. Well, you know, if you’re fine with breaking the status quo.” he smiles at her, and she smiles back.
“If there’s one thing I love to do, it’s breaking the rules. Besides, Max is coming over to mine, and I’m gonna see if I can knock some sense into him. Break the status quo for good, you know?” he nods, and offers a hug that she takes for a split second.
“Best of luck, soldier!” he wishes her, giving her a goofy salute as she starts to walk away, and getting into his car the second he can longer see her.
“So, Pasqualli’s?” Ruth asks from the backseat.
“You know it. Let’s see if we can get a booth, because we have a lot to explain.” Pete thinks out loud.
“Well, I can’t wait to hear it.” Richie assures as Pete drives off.
Pete wakes up content and happy, despite being shoved against the wall to fit all three of them in Ruth’s bed.
September 26th had never felt so relieving before.