8TEEN | IT ONE SHOTS

unbreak my heart [stenbrough]

Bill pursed his lips into a pout at the shrill scream of his alarm clock next to his head meaning it was nine o'clock. His first class started at ten. His eyelids were still heavy due to very little sleep the night before. He wasn't sure why just yet, it was still early and he needed coffee. He rolled onto his side to wrap his arm around his boyfriend only to be met with cool sheets beneath his fingertips. That was when the realization hit him.

They broke up last night.

The memories came flooding back into his mind; the fight, the sudden pang he felt when Stan said he needed some space, and how he collapsed after watching the love of his life walk out the door. Bill rolled back over to his side, holding his arms close to his chest. He knew he had to get up and get ready for class but he couldn't find it in him to crawl out of bed.

Just one minute and I'll get up, Bill promised, allowing his eyes to flutter shut, feeling his own breathing slow and the light around him grow darker.

He's jolted from his brief slumber by knocking on the door. He sits up, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes, catching a glance at the time on the clock. 11:34 AM. Shit, he cursed internally before registering that the knocks were becoming more persistent

"Bill! Come on, it's Eddie!"

"And Richie! If you didn't want me here you coulda made me wait in the car, Eds."

"Oh shut up, will you?" Beverly sighed. His friends bickering brought a small smile onto Bill's face. He trudged through the small apartment and toward the front door, pulling it open after a quick twist of the doorknob. His friends took in his appearance, mussed up hair, sweatpants, and a plain gray t-shirt two sizes too big for him hanging off his body.

"Hey Billiam. How ya doin'?" Richie asked with sad eyes, showing the uncharacteristically kind side of him that no one but Eddie got to see. Beverly walked right up to Bill and threw her arms around his shoulders. Shocked, the latter slowly rose his own arms up to close them around the formers body.

"We need to talk." Bev said, motioning toward the couch, forcing Bill to sit down with Richie in the armchair to his right, Eddie sitting on the arm. Beverly came back a few minutes later, handing Bill a mug with steam radiating off of it. Bev cleared her throat after he took a few sips, setting it down on the coffee table.

"Stan showed up on my doorstep last night." Eddie sighed, looking at Bill warily. Bill cast his down, staring at the black liquid in his mug. "He tried telling Richie and I what happened but we couldn't really understand. He was a mess. We were hoping you could tell us." Bill let out a shaky breath and nodded.

"Well, he c-came home at l-like eleven last night and he seemed upset but I-I-I assumed it was from the stress of classes. Then he said we should br-break up. He s-said he needed space and that we don't really spend time to-together anymore. Then we were fighting and he was packing a b-b-bag and he left." Bill cursed internally because he thought that he was done with that damned stutter of his. Stan not being around was proving to make his life worse, piece by piece. and it hadn't even been a day.

"If the problem is not seeing each other, do you think you guys can work it out?" Richie asked, holding his ground when Bill's harsh gaze was transferred to glare directly into his eyes.

"Don't you th-think I asked him that?"

"Bill, you know I love you and I know you're hurting so just know that the next thing I say is said with love, but how are you so fucking stupid?" Beverly asked, glaring daggers into the back of Bill's head. He snaps his head in her direction, shock taking over his featured, mixed with hurt and betrayal. "You and Stan were supposed to be the ones that last, now you've left us with these two!" She motions toward Richie and Eddie and drops her hand when she noticed Richie had his arm bent, trying to lick his elbow.