tutor; stenbrough

45

45

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when the doorbell rings at bill's house, the lanky boy is hunched over, peering under the couch where the cat had swatted one of his airpods, and he rushes to try and grab it so that stanley isn't standing outside for too long.

when he finally does reach the door, and pulls it open to reveal stanley uris, the curly haired boy is admiring the exterior of the house. when his gaze falls on bill, he offers a bit of a shy smile. "hey."

"hey," bill repeats, and he steps out of the way so that stanley can enter. "thanks for coming over. sorry for making you wait so long."

stanley has his backpack on, and he mindlessly tugs on the straps as he follows bill into the kitchen. "it's fine, it was only two minutes, anyway."

before either of them can say anything else, an orange tabby cat bolts across the room, right in front of stan's path, and he involuntarily gasps as he almost trips over it. once it's passed, he can't help but giggle to himself quietly.

"sorry," bill repeats the apology, a sheepish look on his features as the two of them watch the cat run up the staircase and duck into one of the open doorways. "that's ginger. she's hyper because i just fed her, but she should calm down soon, i hope."

"it's okay, i don't mind," stanley reassures him, a little smile still faint across his lips as bill heads towards the fridge to grab a few water bottles. they're both quiet for a few moments, but once they're finally ascending the stairs, stan adds, "i used to have a cat, when i was younger. i loved her. my dad made me get rid of her when my mom left, though. he hates cats."

when they reach the top of the stairs, bill motions to one of the open rooms, and stanley enters first, the football player trailing behind him with the water bottles still in his hands.

it's not immediately obvious that it's bill's room, aside from the shelf of medals and football trophies off in one of the corners. otherwise, stan finds himself a bit taken aback at the sight of numerous band posters hung up on the walls, what appears to be a vintage record player, and a stack of novels tucked away on a small shelf.

"i didn't know you read," stanley says, inspecting the books momentarily before moving past them.

bill shrugs, placing the water and snacks down on the tidy desk across from his bed. "yeah, sometimes. i don't have much time for it anymore, with football and tutoring and stuff."

stanley glances at him briefly, impressed, but then his attention is drawn fully to the bedside table, where he's shocked to find brand new copies of his favourite comics. with a tiny smile of disbelief growing on his face, he turns to bill with his eyebrows raised.

he doesn't even have to say anything about it. bill realizes exactly what he's discovered, and his face goes bright red as he scratches the back of his neck. "well, you liked them so much, and you made them sound so interesting, so i wanted to give them a try."

stanley shakes his head, the hint of a grin still on his lips as he looks away. "you continue to surprise me, william."

bill smiles a little bit, crossing the room and taking a seat on his plaid bedspread before folding his long legs underneath him. stanley goes to sit in the chair at the desk, and as he does so, he watches as the tabby hops up onto the bed next to bill, curling up at his side. the room settles into silence as bill brushes his fingers through her orange fur, and only after a few minutes pass does he ask, "what was her name?"

stanley is so distracted, caught up in watching bill's movements, that he's forgotten what they had been talking about before. "huh?"

"your cat. the one your dad made you get rid of," bill reminds him, still looking down at ginger. "what was her name?"

"oh," stanley can feel the smile on his face widen at the thought of his previous pet, his heart growing warm. he stands up from the desk chair and moves towards the bed, pausing for a moment before taking a very hesitant seat on the other side of the cat. "patches. she had black and orange spots. i was a creative child, as you can tell."

bill laughs a bit, and he finally looks up at stanley, who is now more focused on ginger. the curly-haired boy gently pets her head, and she almost immediately rises from where she lays to move closer to him. she snuggles up to his side, purring, and stan can't hide the softness in his expression.

bill doesn't say anything just yet. he knows that stanley came over to study, but he figures that there's no harm in holding off for a bit. it's obvious to him that stanley misses his own cat, and he's clearly so good with animals.

as he watches stan with a fond smile, he can't help but to think that there's definitely much more to this boy than he had initially realized there to be.

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this slow burn picks up soon but lemme say, she's still a slow burn lmao

merry christmas!