Yellow Dress//Bill Denbrough

F i f t e e n

Carn beams at him, nodding. "Let me just grab my stuff."

"I-I-I'll help."

Camila is spending the night with Mike, seeing as it was her last day here. Carn doesn't want to invade their final moments together, so she decides to stay with Bill.

As Carn throws some of her clothes and other necessities in her overnight bag, Bill spots a large box on the guest bed.

"What's th-th-that?"

"I don't know," she smiles innocently, pulling her bag on her shoulder and heaving the box off the bed. "Guess you're going to have to wait and see."

"C-can I cuh-carry it?"

"No, it's fine," she bounces it back up as it slips from her fingers.

"You're n-not sup-supposed to be ex-exertuh-ting yourself."

"Fair enough. But don't even think about trying to unwrap it."

"Fuh-fair enough," he kisses her nose, lifting the heavy box from her arms.

How can someone be so perfect? She ponders,
shaking her head in admiration.

Before they leave, the couple gives a warm goodbye to Camila. Carn hugs her for a whole minute and kisses her cheek.

"I'm praying for you and your family, Camila. What's happening to you is utterly repulsive. We're all going to miss you so much."

"I appreciate it Carnation, love. But you know, now I can finish my high school education in Mexico. And when I graduate, I'll come back and visit all of you and the baby."

Carn nods, pushing down her emotions. She can't even fathom how Mike must be feeling.

Camila combs through her beautiful, shiny black hair, before turning to Bill. "It was so nice getting to know you over the years. Thank you for everything."

He shakes her hand, covering it with both of his. "Th-thank you for b-b-being the buh-best waitress ev-ever."

On the drive to Bill's, Carn is silent. She can't believe that tomorrow Camila won't be there. Or the next day. Or week. Or month. Or even year. She's overwhelmed with the guilt of not taking time to get to know her better.

The thought of exchanging gifts with Bill in the Denbrough's living room seems to cheer her up slightly, though. When they get there, she finds Bill's gift to her under the tree.

"K-keep in m-m-mind, I got you s-s-something really suh-simple this y-year," Bill notes as he plops down on the sofa.

"Oh, no, I'm sure it's wonderful. Besides, you already got the pacifier, which was more than enough."

"That w-was for B-B-Baby D-Denbrough too, though."

"Baby Denbrough," Carn repeats. "I love that."

Then she starts ripping off the yellow paper. Under it is a framed drawing of the two on Halloween.

"Oh my gosh, Bill! This is so sweet!"

He shrugs, turning a little pink. "It's th-the same as luh-last y-year, s-sans the n-n-necklace."

"Yeah. And I loved last year's gift."

"I'm gl-glad you l-l-like it," he chuckles, and she responds by pressing a kiss to his temple.

"You gonna open yours?"

He nods, finally tearing off the paper and ripping open the cardboard box open.