"stan! hey stan, wait up!" stanley's strawberry blond curls bounced as he halted in his tracks, he turned swiftly, his eyes seeing red as beverly caught up with him.
"bev? hey!" he smiled softly when the two were within arms reach.
"i knew i'd find you here, not like i had to ask three columbia frat boys if they'd seen you or anything."
"and they led you to my bird watching spot?"
"morningside park is your bird watching spot?"
"on certain occasions, though i feel that you didn't hunt me down to talk about birds." stan gave a soft laugh, gesturing towards the path in front of them. beverly began walking beside the boy, who she couldn't believe she'd once been so close to.
"you're right, i can't say that i did run across town to hear about your weird bird thing." bev smiled, glancing over to the blonde who had a faux-offended look pasted to his face.
"i'll have you know that bird watching is a renowned and beloved hobby." the two laughed fondly, feeling sort of nostalgic around one another.
"so," stan started once the laughter faded and the pair had walked in silence for a while. "what's on your mind?"
"i need to ask about richie." bev looked up into stan's eyes. he stared at the ground for a moment before bringing a hand to his cheek and meeting bev's eyes.
"i'm really sorry about what happened in derry bev. i've already apologized to eddie, i promise i didn't mean it."
"not that, stan. i don't blame that on you, anyways. i would've found richie if that's what i wanted to talk about."
"what is it then?" stan pointed to a bench across a patch of grass.
when they reached it, they sat in silence for a moment. bev thought of what to say.
"so, you guys still hang out? you and rich?" was what she decided to go with. not straight to the point, but not too subtle.
"not like, anything like that. bill and i are-"
"no stan i know, i just mean like, are you guys friendly or?" bev knew. she knew the answer.
"yeah, we have the same friend group and a couple of classes. he and bill are pretty close after all, dormmates and whatnot"
"so, you'd know if he was seeing anyone?" stan's eyes shifted between bev's shoes and his own. he felt awkward and he hated the confrontation.
bev marsh had always intimidated him, and he hated every second of it.
"you know, i think he is seeing someone." he looked up, his green eyes meeting bev's blue. bev's expression changed. her face softened and she looked more attentive than she had earlier. like she was really zeroing in on what he had to say.
"oh yeah?"
"um, yeah. say, has eddie been seeing anyone recently?" a smile hit bev's face as she watched stan connect the dots. they'd cracked the code.
"has richie said anything, like, specifically?" stan's eyebrows furrowed.
"no. i take it eddie hasn't either?"
"absolutely nothing."
"is he going for journalism, by chance?" bev nodded slightly, confused as to what that had to do with the conversation.
"well then, it seems we've caught them."
