'39 [Stanley Uris]

14: Whole Lotta Love

Stan cautiously walks up the porch steps of Andi's home, and he immediately wonders if he should back down.

What exactly was he apologizing about, anyway? Was this really that important? Can't he just wait till tomorrow to get it over with?

Just as he decides to wait till tomorrow, a flash of Andi's sad tone and soft face pops into his mind just as he's going to step down. It makes his own expression crinkle with guilt, and he turns to look at the front door again.

Taking a deep breath, he musters up every piece of courage he has and walks right up to the front door.

He knocks on it.

A few moments later, Andi opens the door, shirt-less and brushing her teeth.

"Stan?" She gurgles over her toothbrush.

The boys face heats up a million different shades of red, and he does his best to keep his eyes away from below her neck. The task becomes more difficult as he realizes that he's forgotten to respond to her.

Her voice brings him back to attention.

"Stannnn?" She sings, waving her hand in front of his face.

He blinks and quickly turns his head away.

"I...uh, A-Andi! I came to...to..." he can't seem to think of the right words as he notices her strap fall off her shoulder a little.

"To?" She hums. "To what?"

"I can't keep this conversation going if you don't put on a shirt," he mumbles, awkwardly shifting his weight.

"Oh! Sorry," she laughs. "Come in, and I'll be back...with a shirt."

He follows her inside, and sits on a couch as she moves to the other room. While she's gone, he tries to rehearse what exactly he plans to say. Wait, what was he gonna say?

Shit, he can't even remember now.

"I'm back!" Andi chimes, stepping into the living room.

"You're still not wearing a shirt!" Stan muses.

"I said I'd come back with one," she holds up the shirt in her hand, "I didn't say I'd come back with it on."

"Andi I really can't be serious if you don't–"

"Fine, fine," she groans, pulling the shirt on. "So, what's up?"

"You aren't mad at me? I came to apologize," He trails.

"Why would I be mad? It's not your fault you don't like me," she laughs. "I guess I was a little dramatic today. I just got so mad that you don't like me, that I literally had to leave. Plus, there's been some things on my mi—"

"I like you," Stan bluntly states. "I-I...I lied about not liking you."

Andi stares blankly at him, not expecting his statement.

After a few moments of silence, she pulls out her knife and points it to him while letting out a very long and exaggerated groan of frustration.

"God damn it, nickeldumb!" Andi shouts, causing Stan to flinch away from her. "The jigs up, clown shit! Stan would never say that to me."

Stan sits there extremely confused, and also a little afraid of her knife.

"Uh...um....what?" He confusedly responds.

While he has encountered the painting lady by now, he hasn't actually been introduced to "Pennywise". So, in other words, he's really confused right now.

Andi stares back at him for a second or two before putting her knife down.

"You're really Stan, huh?" She murmurs.

He rapidly nods his head, staring at her like she's insane.

Then, she lets out another groan of frustration, flopping onto the couch with a conflicted look.

"You're so complicated!" She waves her hands around, "first you say you don't want to be friends at all, then you insist we're just gonna be friends, and then you come to my house and tell you like me?"

"Yeah, basically," Stan nods.

Andi begins a long lecture about who knows what, but all Stan can focus on is how her lips move when she speaks. They look so soft when they come together, and he swears that can't possibly be her natural lip color. They're so vibrant and plump.

Out of nowhere, he finds himself leaning in and kissing her so softly that Andi almost forgets to stop talking.

Her eyes are wide open, staring at Stan's shut ones. Finally, she relaxes and kisses him back just the same.

She forgets what she was even talking about.

Even though this is Stan's first kiss, he doesn't stumble once. Not even when she tries to move the kiss further along by moving her tongue into his.

After a few very long seconds, Andi pulls away to stare at the boy.

Suddenly, he isn't so confident, shyly shifting his eyes away from her while nervously bouncing his knee.

Then, she smiles.

"I knew you'd come around!" She cheers.

Stan grins, rolling his eyes.

"You win, I guess," he admits. "Your lips just look so unbelievably kissable, you have no idea."

"Trust me, I think I know," she laughs, "I kept getting dodged by you."

"Well, it wasn't cause I didn't want to kiss you. I just didn't want to kiss you in front of everyone else," he explains. "That's ours."

She grins and nods in agreement, glancing outside the window to see that it's extremely dark out.

"Stan, it's like 9:30pm already. Don't you have to go home?" She worriedly questions. "You can't go home in the dark!"

"No, don't worry," Stan allows a small grin to form on his face, "I told my Dad I was staying at Richie's— he's covering for me."

"Stanley Uris!" Andi gasps dramatically, "you're lying to your father! You sinner!"

Stan rolls his eyes.

"I blame you. You make me someone I'm not, but in a good way," he chuckles, shaking his curly hair out of his face.

"No way, baby. I make you who you're supposed to be."