butterflies // stenbrough

~ Stan ~

    "You absolute hooligan." Stan sighed.
    "It's not what it looks like!" Richie exclaimed, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth.
    "Then what exactly is it?"
    "Okay so it's exactly what it looks like." He smiled and took another puff.
    "Those things will kill you." Stan told him before taking a seat on the log next to him.
    "Did you come all the way out here in the forest just to scold me?" Richie scoffed.
    "No, I was on a walk and happened to come across you and one of those vile killing machines." Stan chastised.
    "Want a puff?"
    "Oh god yes." Stanley practically yanked the cigarette out of Richie's hands. It was a terrible habit, he knew, but he was itching for a cigarette and Richie was hardly one to judge.
    "Those things will kill you!" Richie teased.
    "Not if I do first." Stan joked back. Richie was the only person he could really joke around with, everyone else just looked horrified. Bill was another safe person for him, but no one quite matched his energy like Richie could.
    "Wish you would." Richie chuckled.
    "Is it because I'm queer and Jewish?"
    "Yeah."
    "Woooooow" Stanley stretched his vowels dramatically "Real progressive of you Richie."
    "Real progressive of you to suck my dick." Stan just laughed at the dumb joke and took another puff of the cigarette, the deadly nicotine all too pleasing to him.
   "How are you and Eddie doing?" Stanley asked.
   "Interesting." Richie sighed. "His moms fucked in the head so he gets really worried about a lot of things, us being a main factor. I love him man but sometimes it sucks to watch him break down after we kiss."
   "He breaks down after you kiss?"
   "Sometimes." Richie takes a deep puff. "He has good days and bad days. He gets risky, forgets to look supply closets. Other days he sobs because my hand brushed his. Good days make it worth it but the bad days are pretty fucking shitty. How about you, how you and billiam doing?"
    "I want to say we're doing well. We're very in our own world though, you know? When it's just us, it's a paradise. But the second other people are around, we have to act completely different. It gets exhausting sometimes. I don't think he's a stressed as he used to be though." Stan steals the cigarette from Richie "Some new counsellor has a crush on him, which he's completely oblivious to. I find it hilarious but he gets all flushed about it."
"Maybe he likes her back?"
"Richie, he's a homosexual."
"I know, I know. But who knows? I'm a homosexual and I'm still fucking your mom." Richie gladly accepted a slap on the arm from Stan, worth it for the joke.
"Shut up!" Stan laughed for a moment but his laugh quickly disappeared. "Do you think I have to be worried?"
"Really? No. Your man is queer as a three dollar bill. That's the one upside of being in a gay relationship, you don't have to worry about being left for a woman. Unless he starts lying to you, you have nothing to be worried about." Richie answered.
"You sure?"
"Sure," Richie took one last puff before stamping out his cigarette "And since I listened to all your personal quarrels, you're going to help me clean the main hall?"
"Fuck no."
"Didn't think so." Richie groaned "See ya Stan the Man."
"See you, Rich." Stan watched Richie walk away and had no desire to join him. He stayed on the log for as long as possible, stressing about impossible situations and unlikely possibilities. Bill and June getting married was the forefront of his mind, as if they weren't teenagers and one half homosexual. Still, the thought plagued him, all the way back to the cabin.
"You okay? You s-s-seem stressed." Bill asked the clearly stressed counsellor.
"No. I'm fine....." Stan pasted on a smile "just, you tell me everything right?"
"Yeah, w-w-why?" Bill asked.
"No reason."

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The first draft of the play I'm writing is finished! Lots to work on but glad to finally have something original of my own ❤️