"Just By Chance." - Stanley Uris x Reader. (DISCONTINUED)

𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒.

You spent the rest of that half hour tending to yourself - doing things like brushing your hair, teeth, and getting yourself ready for the day. You changed into new clothes and, to be honest, you almost forgot about Stan even being there in the apartment. He seemed so quiet and peaceful. You didn't want to disturb his slumber.

However, unbeknownst to you, Stan wasn't deep in slumber at all. In fact, he wasn't even asleep.

He was listening to the way you moved around the room with his eyes closed. He was a little too shook to go back to sleep, as he was just woken up about a couple of minutes or so ago. Quietly letting his breathing slow, he listened to you open your fridge. He tried to think about when he should finally wake up, and decided it would be better do do it now.

You heard rustling on the couch, and turned to see a now awake Stan sitting there -rubbing his eyes. You remembered about how you woke up, and decided you shouldn't tell him.

"Good morning." You said, placing a mug in the counter. Stan turned to look at you - and a faint smile formed across his face. He waved - and let his hand run through his hair, messing up his now frizzy curls. You watched him do it with a smile on your face. Honestly, you kinda felt like thanking him for comforting you last night. So, putting the events of the morning behind, you turned to face Stanley - who was now eyeing you with a somewhat knowing look.

"Hey, uHh, Stan.." You said. Stan's eyebrows raised, and he replied with a simple "mhm?".
"I just..wanted to thank you for helping me last night."
You filled the mug with water, and turned back to Stan. You watched as he let his eyes wander around the room, probably trying to remember the events of last night - but something about the look on his face gave you the feeling he was..acting? Finally, he snapped back into reality and his faint smile returned.
"O-oh, it's no biggie. I, uhh..liked talking with you."
His nervous tone made you giggle as you walked over to the couch, mug in hand. You sat down next to him, took a sip, and then looked up at the shy boy again. You smiled, and you saw him look away - but only for a second. In that second his smile widened, but by the time he had turned to look back at you he was back to normal.

Then, his smile faded and he perked up - and then his face turned fearful and he looked away.
"Oh my god, my bike!" He muttered urgently. You took another sip and then realised what he meant.
"Oh crap! You left it out in the rain!"

Stan suddenly stood upwards, adjusted his shirt and facepalmed himself. He began to hurry for the door, and you stood up to go after him.
"Do you want me to come with you to get it?" You said. He didn't reply—he simply opened the door and stopped just before he could leave.
"Uhh, no. I'll get it myself." He said, quickly and swiftly. He was just about to start moving again when he stopped, and turned back towards you. He saw the desperation in your eyes and his look softened.
"How about we meet up at the diner this evening..? If you're..not..busy?" He said, smiling nervously.
You considered it, and you felt a smile creep across your face.
"I'd like that, Stan. I'll see you later."

And then, just like that, he was gone. He ran through the corridor and down the stairs with a hurry, and you finally closed the door when he exited your vision.

-

You spent the rest of the day around the apartment, doing whatever you could to get your mind off of the thought of boredom. You couldn't help but feel a little bored now that nobody was home - and you wandered around the place in an attempt to cure your emptiness.

You tried calling your mother after a few hours of sitting around. She still wasn't home, to your surprise. You dialled her number with caution and patiently awaited her response.

But nobody picked up.
The line was dead silent, just like the day before.

You tried not to think about it much. You knew you might have been over-reacting a little, bit you felt like there was something wrong with your mother's sudden absence. She would've told you that she was going to be gone. She would've called to check up on you.

She wouldn't leave without telling you where she'd be going and how long she'd be gone.

You ended up trying to soothe the anxiety by wandering around to the parts of the apartment that you hadn't yet explored. There wasn't really much, because the apartment wasn't very big, but there was one room you had yet to fully explore.

Your mother's room.

You opened the door to her room, and immediately your nostrils were filled with the scent of perfume. You walked inside cautiously and caught a nice look at the wallpaper and the floorboards. They were similar to yours, but they seemed to have something just a tiny bit off about it's texture. You couldn't quite define what was so different yet so similar about it.

You let your eyes wander around her room and at the various amounts of things she owned. The things in her room were the same items she had in her room back at the old house - but they were just rearranged and put in different spots. The lipgloss and makeup now sat on the bedside cabinet rather than the draws in the cupboard. Some of the clothes were in different spots. There was an armchair in the corner of the room. There was a brand new bookcase full of things and books you had never seen before.

Things were similar, but..
Different.

You walked up to the bookshelf and scanned the books. There were small ones, large ones, and ones you hadn't even seen before. You picked one out at random and placed it on yor mother's bed. Reading the title, you felt a pit in your stomach.

"Memories. (Photo album.)"