𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 | stanley uris

fourteen

"i'd love to go birdwatching with you." stan lay on his side, his weight softly supported by y/n's bed. his head was propped up against his fist; the watch face wrapped under it read 12:23 am.

y/n hid a smile. she was flat on her back next to stanley, turning her head from looking at the ceiling to his eyes. "why's that?"

he chuckled a bit before returning her gaze. "honestly, anyone would be better than richie. he always scares them away."

in the few seconds he joked she watched and inspected his smile. how she felt when she looked at it, especially when it was for her. it was much more special that way, the times his lips opened so wide when he laughed that she could see all the way back to his molars. y/n liked the small gap between his front teeth. when she was reminded that those teeth were the ones he looked at in the mirror every morning, the ones he'd shown to people when they made him happy, the ones that had really lived... it made her want him even more. it seemed to her that perceiving him in any form was special, and the fact that other people knew him and saw him and only she, only she, got to spend these few seconds with him... it was, really, just wonderful.

"i guess.. there's something really therapeutic to me about birdwatching. maybe it's the silence. sometimes, you can hear the birds near you, or a coyote now and then... but the calmness when you're alone, or with a friend, really makes you forget about when everything goes to shit in your life. i suppose i just want to share that with you."

there were many things she wanted to say back to that, but the first question that came to mind was, "am i... a 'friend'?"

stan sighed and looked away from her. "i think friends are for hanging out and playing card games with.. and while i'd like to do those things with you, i want to do different things, too. things i definitely wouldn't want to do with richie or bill... or tell eddie about."

the way he spoke was so marvelous to her. his mouth moved in such ways that he could brutally insult her and she would still gawk at him. but what came out of it was as sweet as his voice, and made her so comfortable it was unnerving.

"what kind of things?" she asked. they locked eyes once more, breathing heavier. she knew what things, and maybe it was perverted of her to make him say them aloud. she wanted to hear them coming from his mouth, see him say the words, in the way he wanted to, with the fine performance of his lips.

his gentle and glassy gaze became more focused, heavy breaths tickling y/n's cheeks in a way that made the hair on her arms stand on end. y/n looked at his lips up closer, how the shape of them was always upturned in such a splendid way. she wanted to feel him. to feel all the parts of his face and hair and body. to feel his lips on hers.

their moment was cut short when they heard noises outside the cabin. the two lying down looked to the door, and what sounded like muffled singing got louder.

it was a horribly-executed "put your head on my shoulder" by paul anka. it started to sound like two voices when it got closer. 

y/n got up swiftly and said with panic, "bev."

as the confused stare in stanley's eyes turned to surprised adrenaline, he got up as well.

she looked around for a solution, for somewhere she could hide stan that beverly wouldn't see. "get under the bed!" he abided and sunk to the ground, sliding himself under the wooden frame that held up y/n's spring mattress.

she walked over and opened the door, seeing beverly and richie singing off-key and interlocking their arms. when bev saw y/n they ran up to the porch and she cheered.

"y/n!" she slurred her name out much too long.

"oh, god, she's wasted," y/n said to herself.

"richie and i just had the best time ever! you should've been with us instead of being all alone." y/n held back from laughing at this as she was definitely not alone.

"looking good, kaspbrak." richie called out. nobody could see stan furrowing his eyebrows at the comment.

"always a pleasure, richie." y/n took bev's arm and walked her inside, turning the lights off as she did. bev bode a farewell to richie before the door closed.

"y/n... y/n, y/n, y/n... you know what?"

"what?"

"i love you. richie said love is like when you have a nice ass or something... i mean you do but i don't think i love you like that. i just care about you."

she led bev into bed, tucking her in. "i love you, too. a lot." stanley smiled hearing this.

"i honestly don't even care about bill anymore," she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

y/n laid on the mattress springs that would then blare in stan's ears. "what changed?"

"i just realized that i have good friends who love me... i don't need a kiss from some.. skinny guy who stutters."

she laughed. "sounds like richie's been enlightening you."

"yeah..." her voice trailed off as she fell asleep. after about a minute of silence, stan slid out from underneath y/n's bedframe. she didn't feel as bad about lying to bev when she saw him again, kneeling next to the head of her bed. she sat up, returning the gaze she could only guess was surely in the lack of light. 

"you still haven't answered my question, uris," she whispered. 

stanley looked at her, trying to contain the nervous smile he was afraid would make too much of a toothy kiss. he reached his hand out to hold the side of her neck, and started to lean in, the struggle of holding his smile back getting more difficult. 

their noses were the first to touch, stan brushing his against the side of y/n's amorously. she only sighed softly at the contact, lessening the length between their faces. their open mouths started to first touch gently by their lips. 

whenever she stared at him, wishing only that she was in his lovely arms, this was what she was waiting for. when he locked eyes with her in class, during meals, when they were together, this is what he was waiting for. when she made him flustered and blush in front of their friends. when he talked to her about birds and she actually listened. it was all new and refreshing and right. a simple kiss, if only for a few seconds, would be the beginning of their everything.

their lips connected, slowly, and somewhat unevenly. stan split them apart, grazing his tongue against y/n's lightly, who in turn put her hand over the one on her neck. after one last press of their lips, stan pulled away, finally being able to smile wider than he ever had before.

"things like that," he whispered back to her.

when he walked out of the cabin quietly, she laid back on her bed. grinning, she felt her lips with her fingers and the warm spot next to her where stan used to lay. the thought of seeing him tomorrow and the day after that excited her as she closed her eyes to sleep.