ethereal : it oneshots

beverly's observational skills

pairing: stozier

the order in which the losers club find out richie and stan are together

1. bill

it occurred to richie, as stanley was staggering down the stairs, that he hadn't actually seen stanley in quite a bit. stan had claimed he wanted to go find beverly, but he hadn't ever come back. yet here stan was, no drink in hand, yet swinging from side to side.

bill laughed beside him, stan's hand grasping for richie's shirt before he was ever close enough to get at it. stan was mumbling to himself and richie wanted to pull him into a hug, but with bill by his side he decided to grasp onto stanley's hand before it made it to his shirt.

"what's hanging, big guy?" richie asked him, stanley blinking oddly. he paused, staring intently at richie, turning his head slowly to bill.

stanley proceeded to speak with the cadence of a child learning how to talk formally, "i'd like to go home now." he squeezed richie's hand and placed his head on richie's chest. richie laughed, looking to bill. bill was trying not to double over, neither of them having ever seen stanley so drunk.

"yeah, okay, c'mon, we'll take ya home," richie lifted stanley back up into a standing position, slinging an arm under stanley's shoulder to keep him there. bill soon accompanied the other side, and he yelled out to ben that they were leaving. the two of them walked stanley out of the house.

"sweet. you're sweet. both. too much to drink." stanley was mumbling incoherent passages, and richie said nothing as they carried him out to bill's car. bill talked back to him occasionally, but it wasn't of much substance.

"wh-what did you have?" bill asked as stanley sat in the backseat, richie taking the passenger seat, keeping an eye on stan. stan shook his head, not really an answer.

"i don't fucking know," stanley uttered, richie snickering. bill rolled his eyes, turning the keys to his car as stanley lied down in the back. richie snuck one of his arms around his seat to hold his hand out for stanley, who smiled gleefully as he took it. bill started driving and stanley closed his eyes.

by the time they'd gotten halfway through the drive, stanley's hand had slipped out of richie's, fallen asleep completely. richie had kept an eye on him the whole time. it didn't go unnoticed by bill, as he casually glanced between the two of them.

as they showed up at stanley's house, richie was convinced it might be physically impossible to lift stanley into an upright standing position. it proved difficult, but not impossible. somehow, stanley didn't seem to wake up as they did so.

"bill, i hate to ask this, but do you think you could newlywed carry him? i'm afraid i don't have the pecs for it," richie suggested, and bill rolled his eyes, but he complied. richie watched as bill scooped him into his arms, and he took a moment to look at stanley, sleeping unaffected in bill's arms before he shut the door. richie sighed.

the three (well, the two) walked towards stanley's door, bill and richie sharing a look.

"hold on," richie reached over, digging his hands into stanley's pants pockets. they were tight on his waist, and the process was challenging, bill nearly falling over.

"mm, take me out to dinner first," stanley muttered, partially conscious, as richie pulled the keys. he fit the key into the lock like he'd done it a million times, and they entered.

ignoring the cardinal rule of shoes on carpet, they immediately went for stanley's room, and richie snuck his arm around stanley's neck and waist as he helped bill place him into his bed. bill backed up for a moment.

"richie?" stanley was still pretty much incoherent, and richie pulled a chair to his bedside with the back of his foot as stanley shuffled around. richie moved down to his shoes, unlacing them and pulling them off gently.