"you went on a date?"
bill's expression changes a bit. he's shocked. stanley pushes his phone back into his pocket, shoving back his messy curls to see better. he looks upset.
"uh, yeah," bill mutters awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
"when?"
"well, uh," bill shrugs, trying to be nonchalant when really he's a little bit freaked out as to why his ex is so worried about a single date that he'd gone on. "like, two nights ago."
"why?" stanley asks immediately, and he has to pause and breathe to calm himself down just a bit.
"well..." bill's eyebrows knit together. "i met a guy, and he asked me out, so we went out."
"yeah, but-" stanley is struggling to find words that make sense. he's raising his voice, and neither of them can pinpoint why, but it riles the other boy up as well. "why?"
"why not?" bill huffs, turning and moving towards his desk in a quick stride.
"that was hardly an answer, bill," stanley growls, and it's so strange and out of the ordinary.
"well it was a stupid question, stanley," bill retorts, and he tries not to let the argument proceed too much further.
"sorry that i was curious about my friends love life," stanley says defensively, and bill is just kind of taken aback at how...envious that stanley seems? and why in the world would he be jealous? "i'll remember not to ask next time."
"why do you care?" bill asks then, and he's standing a few inches away from stanley now, so close, too close, and stanley can't help but blurt,
"because last week you were telling me you fucking loved me!"
bill goes silent. so does stanley. they stand and stare at each other for a moment.
bill's voice softens significantly. "and you rejected me, stan. what else was i supposed to do?"
stanley's eyes don't soften right away. it takes the lowlight, and the pink of bill's pretty lips, and the sweet, completely head-over-heels look in his eyes that he'd harboured for the other boy a year and a half prior and every single day since, for stanley to actually process anything. or, his lack of processing to kick in.
because he reaches out, and he's grabbing bill's head, his fingers lacing together behind his neck, brushing the soft hair at the nape, and he's peering into those eyes that are so fucking full of love that's all for him, and so then he internally says fuck it and pulls him closer to join their lips in their first kiss in over a year.
