the new kid

five- sundays

stanley barley slept the next couple nights,

so many thoughts were keeping him awake.

that kiss- it can't have just been nothing.

stan really felt something when he kissed richie and at that moment, he thought richie felt it too but now, he's dating eddie.

stanley was happy for richie, he had always pictured someone like eddie as richie's perfect partner and he was overjoyed for richie that someone as perfect as eddie had come into his life.

so why did he feel so jealous?

he didn't like richie, he couldn't, this was just a one time thing, a friend thing.

we are nothing more than friends.

stanley told himself that over and over, and he promised to himself that we was going to forget about any sort of feelings that he had toward richie..

stanley couldn't think straight and went downstairs to make coffee, only, there wasn't any.

perfect.

stanley rested his head on the worktop hoping some coffee would magically appear which to his surprise, it did.

"morning coffee delivery!"

stanley looked up to see mike smiling at him, mike waved at stan, to which he just rubbed his eyes and returned mike a half smile.

"whats this for?" stan asked sleepily

"the coffee shop i work at, i get one free coffee every day. i've taken one to everyone so far, sunday is your day!"

stanley chuckled. cute.

"well thank you, i really needed it"

mike nodded slightly, he could tell something was wrong.

"what's going on stan? you're not yourself"

stanley sighed and explained everything that happened.

this was the first time he had openly talked about his feelings for richie.

mike just sat and listened, taking in what stan was saying.

"woah" mike responded, he had a lot to unpack of that conversation

"so let me get this straight, you and richie kissed to make eddie jealous and now you think you like richie because of the kiss but they're dating?"

"that's one way to put it"

mike chuckled
"man where was i when all this happened"

stanley giggled in return
"thanks for letting me rant.. and the coffee. you're a great friend mikey"

mike smiled whilst he subtly admired stan's features, they were all ever-so-slightly enhanced beautifully due to the morning sun.

mike had always admired stan, he always thought he was- pretty. stanley thought the same about mike but they had never really been close enough to see if it was anything more.

mike knew it wasn't the right time because of everything that had happened, but something inside of him was telling him that stanley needed someone there for him.

now or never.

mike placed his hand next to stan's on the worktop and slowly moved closer so that their pinkie fingers were touching.

mike was about to connect their pinkies when stan gently grabbed mike's wrist and interlocked their fingers.

the boys smiled and looked away, their cheeks gaining a pink tint.

after around 10 minutes, stanley released the grip he had on mike's hand. stanley thought talking to mike would help but it made everything so much worse.

now, stanley likes two people, one of them who may feel the same, and the other one who used him to get closer to someone else.

it's a clear choice really but to stan, this was harder than anything.

before he could take anything further with mike, he had to confront richie.

mike understood, he would wait forever.

———

stanley knew where richie would be and did not hold back. he grabbed his bike and pedalled as fast as he could to eddies house.

stan threw his bike down and stepped onto the patio to knock on eddies door, kaitlyn answered.

"uh, hi?"

"h-hi yes sorry. is richie here?"

she raised her eyebrow

"eddies boyfriend?"

he's still not used to hearing that
stanley nodded

"yeah, he's with eddie. want me to grab him?"

"yes please, thanks kaitlyn"

"of course..."

"..stan"

"stan"
she smiled and turned to go upstairs

a couple minutes had passed when kaitlyn came downstairs, holding richie's arm with eddie trailing not so far behind.

richie looked toward the doorway to see stan standing there, looking at the ground.

"stan?"

"oh uh.. hi rich"

"what's.. going on?"

stanley sighed
"can we talk"

richie looked back at eddie for his approval, eddie inhaled sharply, he wanted to say no, he knew exactly what this was about.

stanley had been such a great friend to eddie since he moved and the fact that stanley was trying to ruin his relationship really hurt.

but all he could say was
"sure"

richie kissed eddie's forehead before leaving to talk to stan; stan visibly hated it.

richie waved to kaitlyn and eddie and closed the door behind him.

eddie sighed

"you didn't have to say yes you know"

"i know but stan has been really nice to me and i'm sure it's nothing. they haven't been talking lately a-and they might just want to catch up"

kaitlyn rolled her eyes
"boyfriend stealer"

"shut up kaitlyn"

"you know what-"

"what"

"im gonna make sure nothing happens"

"how so?"

kaitlyn smirked and grabbed her coat

eddie shook his head, "don't you dare"

"sorry munch but this is the happiest i've seen you in months, im not letting anybody ruin this"

eddie smiled slightly. deep down, he had a feeling this may ruin it even more but he trusted kaitlyn and agreed to let her go.

———

a/n: ahh guys! what do you think will happen next? who will stan choose? how will the talk go? will kaitlyn do anything? SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!