golden boy : stozier

eighteen

"are you ready to go?" mike waked around to the front of the entryway, a jacket hanging over his right arm, his keys jingling in his left hand. richie nodded, leaning against a wall. he was watching stanley precariously, who was tying his shoe.

"yeah, just, one sec," stanley mumbled, fumbling with the shoelace aimlessly. he gave up and tucked them into his shoe. he looked up and blinked a couple times, dizzy again. richie reached a hand out for stanley, who relictantly took it to stand up.

"jesus, stan, you're high," richie commented, looking at stanley's eyes, which were bloodshot. stanley shook his head, pointedly dropping richie's hand and looking over to mike.

mike, who watched the whole exchange with questioning eyes, then opened the front door, "see ya, bill!" he called down the hallway, the three leaving beverly's house.

"you two okay? you're awful quiet." mike asked richie, who had become the spokesperson for the two of them. stanley walked, head facing the ground, to the door. richie turned to mike, inhaling through his nose.

"high. tired." he said, grasping the passenger door handle. as he swung it open, stanley swung his door shut. richie paused for a moment before getting into the car, and he wasn't fully sure why.

"okay, i'm gonna drop you off first richie, then stanley you can direct me to your house." mike said, turning his key in the ignition. richie was thankful for the sound of the truck to rid them of the awkward silence.

"stan's sleeping over." richie shifted in his seat, looking out the window. stanley coughed.

"no, drop me off first. 'm on grove," stanley mumbled, richie furrowing his eyebrows as he looked back at him. mike's eyes glanced between the two of them, then back to his radio as he fiddled with it.

"alright," mike said. there was a pregnant pause, as he glanced at stanley, eyes shut and mouth slightly open in the back seat. he started driving, quiet for a moment until he looked back to richie, "is he alright?"

richie, who'd been trapped in his own thoughts, finally looked to mike, shrugging, "i don't know. yeah. he's fine." richie avoided mike's eye contact. there weren't words to put to what he was really feeling.

"what happened?" mike pushed, turning the radio down slightly.

"nothing. he's..." richie glanced back over at stanley, who was now lightly snoring, his head against the door. "he's fully asleep, is what he is." he chuckled, though it was an empty laugh.

"mm." mike replied.

they continued to drive in silence for a bit, richie pointing out where to turn.

"bill was so much more himself today. i miss what he's like when he's not with beverly all the fucking time. like, we were actually talking." mike spoke suddenly, and the relaxed tone that richie had gotten used to had returned. he breathed out a sigh of relief. the way mike had been acting had been reminding richie of his mom.

"yeah. and it's warm out," richie added.

"mhm," mike said, though richie didn't think mike had actually listened to what richie said. "beverly was so caught up talking to ben all night, which wow, weird duo, but bill was himself again."

there was another pause, and mike cleared his throat.

"it's not that i don't like bev, you know that, it's just..." mike trailed off, tapping his fingers on the wheel. richie watched his dancing fingertips with interest. his gaze flickered up to mike's trace of a smile.

"you miss bill. yeah, i know." richie couldn't help how bitter his tone came out, he hadn't meant to. "it's that one," he pointed at a house down the street, all the lights off save for one upstairs.

"okay, well, time to wake up sleeping beauty back there," mike glanced in his rear view mirror before pulling over in front of what richie had pointed at as stanley's house. richie got out of the car before mike had even turned his key in his ignition to off. mike watched as richie hurried around to the side door.

he opened it, stanley sliding towards him. richie caught his head, grabbing his torso with his other arm and shaking stanley slightly. "c'mon, sleepyhead. wake up."

stanley's eyes opened lightly, and he mumbled quite a bit as he got out of the car, unbuckling his seat belt and shuffling off the seat. richie gave mike a motion to mean 'one second', and mike watched as the two made their way to stanley's front door.

richie's arm was wrapped around stanley's waist, keeping him standing up properly so he could look for his keys. stanley blinked a couple times and pushed richie off of him lightly, grabbing his key and fitting it into the lock.

"goodnight, stan," it occurred to richie that stanley might not have said anything if richie didn't first. stanley glanced at him, pushing his door open.

"goodnight." stanley disappeared into his house and shut the door gently behind him. richie stood on his doorstep for a moment, confused, before returning to the truck.

"what was that about?" mike asked, starting his truck once more. richie shrugged again.

"he's always like that," richie lied. he tried to feel apathetic about it, like he did everything else. but he couldn't. he couldn't stop thinking about the tears rolling off of stanley's cheeks.

"something's weird, richie," mike said, looking forward through the dashboard. richie looked to him, gritting his teeth.

"it's fine. he didn't like getting high, that's all." richie replied, trying his hardest to think rational thoughts. his voice gave away his anger, though mike didn't seem to notice.

"are you sure?" mike asked, and richie scratched his thighs, shutting his eyes. god, it was like he was back in the car with his mom.

is pj okay? do you think she's okay? no, i don't care about you, is pj okay?

"i don't know, mike, jesus!" richie sighed heavily, looking out the window. mike turned his head to him, mostly in surprise, then back out the front window.