golden boy : stozier

forty five

a/n: sorry these are taking forever it's whatever the opposite of beginner's luck is. senioritis, maybe. but for a book.

"have you talked to him about it yet?" stan asked, his head flat against richie's chest as richie stood, leaning against the counter with his hand around stan. richie's hand slid down stanley's back as he groaned.

"no, duh, otherwise i wouldn't be asking you to tell me what he said," richie rolled his eyes, "does mike know?" richie used his other hand to pull it through stan's hair. stan sighed through his nose.

"i don't think so. he said he didn't want to tell mike." stanley gave in to richie's touch, slouching further.

"that's weird, right?"

"yeah. i thought so."

"don't 'cha think in another universe they're probably just like us?" richie lifted stanley's head up to meet his eyes. stan furrowed his eyebrows.

"what, gay?" stanley snickered. the word felt funny to come out of stanley's mouth, now that he felt it. 

"yeah. in love and all that." richie had too serious of a smile on his face, and it made stan keep snickering. 

"shut up." stanley kissed him, bringing a hand up to flick him in the forehead. 

maybe richie had a point, stanley thought. he'd always watched the way that mike paid such careful attention to bill, but he'd never really known friendship enough to discern what it was. the two of them got along no matter how cold bill was, it was as though mike could thaw him with a laugh. 

"we could go on double dates," richie was joking now, stan could tell. it made him smile anyway, enamoured just by how pretty richie was. 

there was suddenly a knock at the door, and stanley moved aside, out of richie's hold, for richie to trail up to the front door. both mike and bill were behind the door.

"welcome to the tozier house, boys!" richie welcomed them in, stanley waving from the kitchen. bill looked more stressed than he did sad, his eyebrows inherently sort of pulled together, and creases underlining his eyes. 

"it is fucking hot outside," mike commented, wiping at his forehead, "bless your air conditioning, richie." at this, stanley went to grab glasses from the cupboard, richie glancing over at him with a loving domestic eye. 

"do you want lemonade?" stanley asked, the two boys nodding at the table.

"get me one too, yeah?" richie asked.

"duh," stanley rolled his eyes, three glasses already on the counter as he grabbed the lemonade out of the fridge. he took out the ice tray, popping two cubes into the first glass. 

he brought the other two glasses to bill and mike, bill muttering "you're a s-suh-saint." stan went back to grab the other glass and richie gasped.

"two ice cubes in mine? you know me! wow, you must love me or something." richie brushed his fingers through stanley's hair as he took the glass. stanley rolled his eyes.

"d-duh-did we miss something?" bill stage-whispered to mike, making stanley turn his head. richie lightly ran his knuckle down stanley's face, only glancing at mike and bill. 

"i have no idea what you're talking about," richie said, stanley turning around to look at bill and mike, only slightly shy and tinted pink. bill and mike shared a look.

"w-well that makes this m-muh-more awkward for me," bill groaned, putting his head in his hands. 

"what?" mike asked, looking to stan and richie for answers. the two just looked to bill.

"i broke up with bev." bill's words came muffled, through his arm. mike, who was halfway through a sip of lemonade, nearly snorted it up in surprise. 

"what?!" mike turned to richie, "did you know that?" he asked, incredulous.

richie shrugged, "i had an inside source." he leaned against stan a little more.

bill raised his head, taking a sip of lemonade, sighed, "i d-duh-don't know why, really. i don't know what i'm duh-doing." clearly exasperated, he put his elbow on the table, leaning against his one arm. "what do you think, mike?"

"uh, i mean, if you did it you must've had a reason, so it was probably for the better, right?" mike, with the persuasion of a see-saw, gave bill a couple haphazard pats on the back. bill leaned into mike's hand, and it stayed there. bill gave another sigh.

"yeah. r-rich, do you have any cigs?" the question was weirdly out of character for bill. richie laughed through his nose softly.

"you know, i wish i did but i actually—i'm all out. i'm quitting." richie shrugged, his arm now around stan's shoulder. stan turned curiously to look at him.

"you are?" bill was just as confused as stan, it seemed.

"yeah. did you know they're not good for you?" richie joked.

"well, yippee for y-yuh-you."

"it's probably for the better," mike had scooted slightly closer with his chair. "listen, we should go drive somewhere. take your mind off of it. i'll drive your car if you don't want to."

bill nodded lightly, running his fingers over his lips. 

"you can d-druh-drive," he passed mike the keys, finishing his lemonade as mike got up. 

bill put his glass down and continued to stare into it, like in deep thought. 

stan let richie trail after mike, staying back a moment to wait for bill. 

"not all change is bad, you know." stanley spoke quietly. bill took a moment to look up. stan could read the uncertainty in the crease between his eyebrows. "i would know. i think it was the right choice. and you think i'm smart."

"so are you and richie together?" bill quipped. stanley's face relaxed, a smile before a soft laugh.

"yeah, shut up. let's go."