ethereal : it oneshots

injust jealousy

pairing: stozier

stanley's pov

i'm not the touchy type. god knows it's taken a lot to get used to the affection my friends bombard me with, but i still don't really think i'm the biggest physical touch fan. i like to think—and i may purposefully be ignoring how much i love to gossip—that i'm not a particularly petty person either.

but when richie started being more touchy than usual, i didn't complain, because i could see it bothered bill. bill had gotten with beverly weeks ago, and for whatever reason around the same time richie had started being really touchy. and i mean—way more than usual.

he'd leave sloppy wet kisses on my cheeks and only mine, and sling his arms around my shoulders. once he grabbed me by the waist from behind and i jumped, and i think bill nearly blew a fuse.

i'd liked bill for about two months then. i haven't really come out as gay, and i don't plan on it, but i always liked how protective bill was of me. sometimes it was annoying, like when he wouldn't let me drink the way him and richie did, but it was sweet. he looked out for me.

i guess i never thought he might feel the same way until i saw the way he reacted. so i let richie, to everyone's surprise. and i didn't totally mind, it is a little nice to be touched. i'd yet to really ask richie about it, and he hadn't asked me why i'd given in.

"are you coming with us to betty's? she said it wouldn't be that big of a thing," richie had an arm slung around my shoulder, leaning against me as we stood in the hallway. bill watched, an arm holding up his bag on one shoulder as beverly's arm looped through the other. he stared right at richie, as though he was trying to be intimidating.

i'll be honest, i'm still not really sure bill's whole motives. he was still with beverly, so he must've liked her. i guess he was just jealous. that's okay: i liked bill jealous.

"yeah, i guess i'll go," i sighed, and richie cheered, giving me a sloppy classic tozier cheek kiss and trying to pick me up, grabbing me around the waist and lifting me into the air. "jesus fucking christ! put me down!" i yelped, richie laughing as he let me down to the ground. i pushed at him and he merely doubled over, laughing.

"i c-cuh-can pick you up, we're going at nine," bill said, his stare as cold as ice. beverly looked to him, seemingly ignoring the way bill had been watching richie. i smiled at bill, nodding. he smiled back, his face relaxing.

i liked having this power over bill.

when bill picked me up, i hadn't realized it would be just him and beverly in the car, and it was awkward as i settled into the backseat.

"you excited, stan?" beverly asked, and i shrugged.

"it'll be something, i guess." i wasn't that excited, but when was i ever?

"if anyone bothers you, l-luh-let me know." bill murmured, and i could tell he was thinking about richie. it's one of those things, when one loser is mad at the other. it's easy to sniff out who is who. for her sake, sometimes, i hope beverly does not have that skill.

when we got there, richie had been on the porch, smoking a cigarette. he'd seen me get out of the car and waved quickly, tossing his cigarette in a flick and wandering over. it was one of those things where the careless attitude made it sorta hot to watch.

listen, i'd like to keep my dignity here for as long as i can, but i'll admit: richie is an attractive guy. he's got an awful mouth on him, but he's smart as a child genius, and god be damned if puberty was not his bitch. maybe that was half the reason i didn't mind his affection so much.

"staniel, there you are," richie greeted me, only nodding to the other two as he pulled me by my shirt towards the house, "c'mon, it's time to drink!"

cut to: fifty minutes later, and i think i've had four or five shots, and an entire bottle of beer. i've never claimed to be a heavyweight, and i never will. i was stumbling about, not particularly coherent. i had spent most the night with either bill or richie, bouncing back and forth depending on where the two were. they seemed to inadvertently take turns, when one left, the other would appear. maybe they were simply waiting for the other to leave.

it wasn't until richie and i were playing pool (terribly, i might add. richie shot the white ball off the table) downstairs that i ended up alone with either one of them. i tried to hit a ball, i did not succeed.

suddenly richie was behind me, and i wasn't sure when he'd gotten there. he leaned his head over my shoulder, and he started to kiss my neck. i gasped, sort of because i was drunk and sort of out of surprise. okay, it was a little more than a gasp.

forget what i said about dignity.

drunkenly, slobbering like a dog in the ocean, richie nibbled at my neck, and i let out some pretty unholy noises, trying to keep my volume at an acceptable level. i couldn't really tell what was happening, though, and i don't think richie could either.

at some point i turned around to face him, and he started kissing my jawline, pushing me back until i was half-lying on the pool table, him on top of me. god, it felt good. maybe i was a touch person, maybe i could become a touch person for richie tozier and his stupid lips.

eventually i couldn't take it anymore and i shoved him off, standing up. he looked at me, scared that i was upset. i wasn't. nowhere near it. instead, i grabbed his shirt in a ball in my fist and pulled him to me, kissing him.

i'd never kissed richie before. in that moment, i never wanted to stop. drunken kissing is heated, and it's desperate, and it's pathetic, but it is also fantastic. it fills your veins with an adrenaline to keep going, breathing hotly against the other person like you'll die without them attached to you.

i don't know how long we were kissing. it felt like a lifetime, but it was gone in a second. the basement door opened, and bill was standing at the bottom of the stairs. as richie and i disconnected, panting still, i tried to think of anything to get rid of the boner i'd gotten.

i really don't know why i thought i'd have any dignity left after telling this story. anyway,

i was thinking so hard about dead naked grandmas and roadkill and henry bowers that i'd hardly noticed bill's expression. he looked pissed. i can't honestly say i cared.

richie was still looking at me, blinking like he was trying to register what we'd done. god, we were so wasted. bill stared only at me, like if he looked at richie he would hit him.

"we're g-guh-gonna head out soon," bill said, furiously chewing on his bottom lip. "bev and i, that is," he added. i nodded, aching to know what bill was thinking. i am happy to say that i didn't care to know whether or not he wanted to be the one kissing me, i just wanted to know because, well, i really do like to gossip. i am more petty than i thought, i guess.

"oh, that's okay. i'll go home with richie and eddie." i smiled innocently, and i swear his ears could've blown smoke. i watched him grit his teeth. "thanks, though," i said, like the feeling of richie's lips on mine weren't still burning.

bill turned around sharply and ran back up the stairs, shutting the door as loudly as he could. god, what a ruckus. i turned back to richie, having momentarily forgotten how drunk i was.

richie was standing, mouth hung open stupidly. i wanted to kiss him again. "what was that about?" he asked, blinking a couple more times. like he was batting his eyelashes at me, the flirt.

i snickered as i walked back to richie, surely swaying back and forth to some degree. "i think bill's a little gay. i also think i don't care," i said, kissing richie again. it shut richie's mouth, if only for a moment.

"good for you," he mumbled in between kisses and i laughed again. maybe this was why i didn't mind the affection so much in the first place. 

maybe i didn't mind richie tozier so much at all.