empty bed.

10.

three in the morning is never an ideal time to wake up, especially not when you outed yourself to your homophobic father the day prior.

stan was the unfortunate boy in that situation, and as his dad searched his room for more notes about gays, he clung to the arms wrapped around his waist. bills arms. he breathed in the scent around him. bills scent. he took in the scenery of the dark room. bills room.

it was always bill in stans eyes. everything reminded him of bill. jumping off the quarry, biking down long rodes at sunsets, math quizzes (dont ask), summer, freckles. it was always bill.

did the brunette think of stan like that? when bill saw a bird, did he think of stanley? or burnt pancakes, curley hair, autumn, red cheeks, books. was it ever stan?

was it ever not stan?

bill was awake, he could feel stanley shaking in his grasp. yet he did nothing. he did nothing to comfort the boy, nothing to let him know everything was going to be alright. he just hugged him a little tighter, thought about him a little more, dreamt of their future, prayed he'd be ok.

he would be ok.

"bill. i know your awake..."

both boys shifted to let each other know they were there, that this was real, that stan wasnt at home with his father.

"i-" bill moved a hand up to play with stans curls. "i a-am."

silence, when it came to just the two of them, was comforting, never awkward, only safe and peaceful.

silence to them also never lasted long, and even in silence, similar thoughts roamed both of their heads.

"huh-hey stan, i wuh-wuh-wanted to show you s-something." bill propped himself up on his elbow as stan turned to face him, their bodies pressed against each other.

bills bed was farely small, he didnt find a need for a bigger one, so the two were cramped and forced to basically cuddle. well, it wasnt really forced, stan offered to sleep on the floor but bill insisted because "stan, y-y-you need to b-be comfortable!" and honestly bill also could have slept on the floor, but "but w-what if something h-h-happens t-to you?" so that lead to no other option.

"i w-wanted to wait unt-til some other n-night, b-but this'll d-d-do." he sat up, stan following suit, as bill reached behind the jew to grab a small flashlight.

"stan, your b-birthday is in-" bill glanced around his bedroom to his calendar and counted the days. "-2 weeks. i-i couldnt.. uh... g-get you anything s-so i thought id just... take you s-somewhere."

stan stared at bill for a second, then nodded. "ok... uh, where to?"

"that'll r-ruin the surprise." bill smiled and stood up, kissing stans cheek lightly, watching stans expression go from confused to flustered in a matter of seconds, and left to get changed.

(YOOOYOKDKGKDK THEY SMOOCHED!!! KIND OF!!!! WOOOO GAYS)

stan stared at the doorway, mouth wide open, then promptly covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. "what the hell bill..."

-

after they had both gotten changed in slightly warm clothes, bill had dragged stan out of the house. the night air was surprisingly warm, although they could still see each others breath.

their hands intertwined, they walked along the road for a bit, not echanging words, just walking. eventually, when stan thought they were going to the center of town where all the shops were, bill pulled him left, off the side of the road, down a dark path through the forest.

the flashlight bill had taken early was now on, which left stan to admire the creepy yet beautiful gift of nature. stan had always loved nature, bill knew.

stan watched every shadow that seemed to watch him back, the wind whispering to stanley, telling him to kiss bill. or thats what stan liked to think the wind was saying.

when bill finally stopped walking, stan looked around to realize they were in an open field, about the size of a bedroom, ontop a hill. stanley scanned the area. dozens of flowers littered the short grass, a blanket stan assumed bill had put out earlier laying evenly on the ground.

bill looked at his best friend, fidgeting with the strings on his hoodie and rocking back and forth on his heels. "w-what do you t-t-think?"

stan didnt answer for a few seconds, still taking in the scenery. finally, he turned to look at bill.

"its beautiful, bill."

the brunette grinned, pulling stan towards the blanlet gently, ushering him to sit. when they were both seated, stans hands folded in his lap while he sat criss crossed, bill leaning back on his hands for support, they simply admired the flowers.

"h-hey stan." stanely responded with a 'hm?'. "look.." bill pointed up towards the sky, still smiling.

in the dark night, right above them, were a cluster of stars. from bigger to smaller, some farther away then others, but all connected somehow. stan leaned over, now resting against bills shoulder and arm, his eyes still fixated on the sky.

bills eyes, however, were locked on stanleys lips. they mesmerized bill, everytime he spoke the brunette didnt hear it, he only saw the movement of his mouth, which made his nerves run wild.

"stan."

the jew turned his head towards bill, his own eyes now flicking between the brunettes eyes and his lips. "mhm?"

"happy birthday."

and he closed the gap between them.