stanley, to put it bluntly, does not want to survive today. but he told richie he would go to the water with him today, so he will.
he's sitting in the passenger seat of richie's truck, and it's some ungodly early hour in the morning. richie's been telling him for about a week and a half now about how pretty the view is when it's early in the morning.
so here they are, stanley half-asleep, itching mindlessly, while richie taps his fingers along the wheel. the itching is bad today, as is the humming. richie keeps glancing over at stanley, and is getting more concerned the more blood he sees staining his cheek.
"how was your morning, stan?" richie asks, like it isn't four am in the morning. stanley laughs, maybe the most uncharacteristic response. stanley continues to laugh, and richie almost joins him in confusion alone.
"i'm a little high," stanley snickers, and richie laughs heartily, undoing his window a little. richie pulls over to park and uses the parking brake. richie's laugh somehow eases the incessant buzzing under his skin.
"oh my god," richie's still snickering as he gets out of the car. he walks around the car and opens the passenger seat for him. the two of them have learned that if richie does it wrong, stanley can get by without having to fix it forty times. so if richie acts like a gentleman on a first date, funnily enough, that seems to work for the two of them.
stanley gets out and the two hop over the trespassing sign. they walk through the woods quietly, and the buzzing of the cicadas and the mosquitoes is not fucking helping stanley. he hates mosquitoes. i mean, most people do, but stanley would rip a mosquito piece by piece apart if he could.
"i don't expect you to swim today, by the way," richie says, loosely grabbing stanley's hand. stanley blushes, though it's generally unnoticeable on his already pink face. their fingers intertwine softly.
in the last few times they'd gone to the water, stanley had gotten brave enough to sit on a towel at the edge with his feet in the water. he'd picked open a rather large gash.
"no, i want to go in the water." something in stanley knows that the only reason he's willing to do this is because of the fact that he took those edibles this morning. and he's afraid he'll tell richie something he hasn't ever told anyone.
"oh! fantastic, my dear staniel," richie cheers, and the two come out to the water. richie puts his things down, and ignoring the cold winter air, takes off his shirt. it's dark enough that stanley doesn't feel ashamed taking off his shirt as well. richie shimmies off his jeans and stanley, his vision not really that clear, decides fuck it, why not, and does the same.
richie looks at him and his vision gets caught on stanley, standing in nothing but his boxers. he seems speechless for a moment, stanley looking away. a smile grows on richie's face, "okay, c'mon," richie reaches a hand out and stanley unthinkingly takes it.
the two walk slowly into the water and yelp at how cold it is. but the sky is lightening, and stanley has a death grip on richie's hand, no matter how long he'll have to wash his hands for later.
"you wanna hear something funny?" stanley asks. everything in his body is screaming no, don't tell him, but stanley wants to. he needs to. "it's not actually funny. but i've never told anyone. it's a secret."
"oh, absolutely i do, stan. confide in me," richie jokes, stanley letting go of richie's hand to submerge himself further into the water. it's freezing, yeah, but it dulls the itch. god, stanley has missed this. if he's focused on freezing, he can't be focused on ripping into his skin.
"my best friend from high school was drowned in a lake." stanley has never admitted that, and saying it makes him want to implode. but at the same time, in the weirdest way, he's happy. he's finally said it.
"holy fucking shit, what?" richie's reply pulls stanley back into the present, and it takes him an extra minute to figure out what richie has said.
"um... so we went swimming a lot. and we got bullied. a lot. long story short one of the bullies found us swimming and made me watch them drown him. i never told anyone. they said they'd kill me too if i ever told. the whole town just thought he went missing. like he'd ran away." stanley tells richie, up to his shoulders in water. he hasn't picked at anything since the car.
"jesus christ. i'm so sorry, they're literally murderers." richie says, walking further in to join stanley. he reaches a hand for stanley but stanley doesn't take it.
"yeah. uh, i haven't swam since. but i want to today. so forgive me if i'm a little rusty."
"i mean, you're also high," richie points out, and stanley finally takes richie's hand. he laughs again.
"yeah, yeah i guess i am." it's the most relaxed richie has ever seen stanley. and richie has seen stanley high a lot, but never like this. stanley claims he's only taken a few edibles, and richie believes him, he just thinks that something in being truthful has relaxed stanley beyond belief. that, or the water.
speaking of, it's glittering now, as the sun slowly peaks out from behind some trees. stanley pulls himself closer to richie and places his hands in richie's hair. richie thinks to himself that stanley is extremely relaxed, to the point that richie is almost concerned.
but stanley just runs his hands through richie's hair and bobs up and down enough just to kiss richie on the forehead. it makes richie light up red in the early morning light. stanley grins.
"thank you, rich. i feel like i'm living again." stanley says, then diving beneath the surface and swimming away from richie. richie is left to do nothing but gape.
