butterflies // stenbrough

~ Stan ~

    Stan knew something was weird when he walked into the cabin and no one was there. Not a single camper, not Bill, not anyone. Curious and stressed, Stan searched around the room. All their things were still there just no actual humans. Stan searched for a piece of paper or some writing somewhere that could possibly explain how eight children and an almost grown man just disappeared with no trace in the ten minutes it took to walk to the mailbox and back. Either they were all taken by a very impressive kidnapper or somehow these tweenage boys managed to completely coordinate a plan with a counsellor without Stan finding out about it. Both of those possibilities seemed incredibly unlikely so Stan was still back at square one with no information at all.
As he was going crazy over the thought that he had checked everywhere yet still found nothing, he realized something, he never checked the bathroom. He practically ran to that tiny little room.
"Go to the forest, the one where the Flag was during Capture the Flag." Stan read out the words posted on a yellow post it note in the middle of the mirror. Granted, he was still confused as fuck. But still he acquiesced and made his way to the forest, a million questions and wonders in his head.
"Hey!" Stan was greeted by a short boy holding two pairs of binoculars when he reached the clearing in the forest.
"Eddie? What is happening?" Stan asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"We're birdwatching!" Eddie answered enthusiastically, handing Stan a pair of binoculars. "Apparently this place has way better birdwatching than Derry."
"Yeah I know...." Stan said, hesitantly taking the binoculars. Had Eddie all of a sudden taken an interest in birdwatching? Even so, why did he put his desire to see birds on a post it note in the cabin bathroom? And where was everybody? So many questions but Eddie didn't seem interested in answering any of them.
"Just look at those birds. I really like the wings on that one!" Eddie exclaimed, clearly not that excited but he was trying his best.
"That is a white-winged dove. You can tell by the white on the edge of it's wing, that's where the name comes from." Stan smiled, rare birds could take his mind off anything. "They're all over Maine but I've never seen that many, I don't think they like me very much."
"I'm sure that's not true-" Right on cue, the bird flew away "Maybe they do hate you Stan."
"That's okay. I like mourning doves better to be honest, there's a few to your left Eddie." Stan pointed out the birds, much more beautiful in his eyes.
"Those are some cracking birds Stan." Eddie said.
"What?" Stan tried to contain his laugh.
"What's wrong with that? I can't say birds are cracking?" Eddie defended his words.
"It's fine Eddie, it just sounds a bit weird. It would be the same if you said like 'trees are cracking'. It's a strange combination of words." Stan laughed a little bit.
    "Well I still think they're cracking." Eddie stood his ground.
    "Fair enough." Stan didn't think they weren't cracking so he couldn't argue too much. They stayed there for a while, looking for birds. Stan pointed them all out and Eddie tried to his best to remain interested. Fake interest or not, they both had a great time.
    "Oh look at the time!" Stan's watch startled him. "I should go and get my kids ready for dinner."
    "Don't worry about that, Bill has it covered. June wants to meet you in her cabin." Eddie told him.
    "June? Why does she want to meet with me?" Stan asked.
    "You should meet her and find out." Eddie smiled knowingly, but Stan was not in the know and it freaked him out a little bit.
    "Okay I'll go find her." He hesitatingly stood up. "Well I had fun! See you around Eddie."
    "Bye Stan!" Eddie chuckled to himself as Stan left. what was going on? Is all that ran through Stan's mind on the way to cabin. Dozens of scenarios floated through his mind. In some of the scenarios, he was preparing to be murdered. In others, he was secretly on a dating reality show and was about to meet his perfect match. In reality, he hadn't a fucking clue.
"Bonjour and welcome to cabin one!" June welcomed him as he reached his destination.
"Hey June!" Any awkwardness or disdain between them was gone, he had even began to get to know her a little better over these last three weeks, she was a nice girl. "I heard that you wanted to meet me?"
    "Yes, take a seat." She pointed to a table in the corner of the cabin that Stan hadn't even noticed. White table cloth covered the broken wood and a singular plate with cutlery sat on top.
    "Okay..." Stan slowly took a seat. "What is going on?"
    "Someone, who shall remain nameless, wanted to ensure you have a nice meal. I'll grab it now." She said smiling before running off.
    "Someone wanted to ensure you have a nice meal" Who could that be? Richie maybe? No, he doesn't have the coordination. Eddie perhaps? Possibly but why would be do this? And why wouldn't he take credit for it? No, it has to be someone who has a reason to remain nameless. Someone who doesn't want me knowing who they are quite yet. Dammit, who could that be?
    "Voilá!" June exclaimed, carrying a dish with a lid over it like one of those fancy cooking movies.
    "Very fancy." Stan chuckled.
    "Oh, merci!" She sat the dish down in front of him before taking the seat across. "There is only one meal but there's no reason for you to be lonely.
    "Well thank you." Stan took the lid off of the dish and almost burst out laughing. All this presentation for.....Kraft Dinner. The orange mac and cheese was cooked to perfection (or as perfect as Kraft Dinner can be) so credit due where credit's due. Stan didn't know what he expected, after all the only food anyone has access to is in the camps kitchen, but it still caught him off guard.
    "Budget was restricted." June commented on the simple meal.
    "I can tell but thank you nonetheless." Stan smiled and dug in.
    "Don't thank me, thank your mystery man." June said.
    "Yes him, who is he?" Stan didn't expect an answer but it was worth a shot.
    "All shall be revealed." June replied.
    "Was he behind the birdwatching too?" He asked.
    "He was." June deliberated for a second before deciding she was allowed to say this.
    "I knew Eddie would never organically ask to go birdwatching, it was out of character." Stan said.
    "Not exactly his favourite thing to do." June chuckled.
    "Well that dinner was absolutely delicious." Stan said, half sarcastic because it was just mac and cheese but also half genuine because it really is the thought that counts.
    "A true linguistic delight?"
    "Truly." Stan replied. "Now is there something from here or will it be a mystery forever?"
    "We could never leave you hanging like that." June said "Your mystery man is in your cabin. Be nice to him please, he really likes you."
    "I'll try my best. Thanks for dinner June." Stan gave her a small hug.
    "It's no bother, have a good night." She smiled that same knowing smile as Eddie, but Stan wasn't as frustrated about it now. In a second, he would be in the know too. He would finally know what the fuck was happening.
    Stress and excitement fought for prevalence in his brain as he made his way to cabin eight. A tiny voice in his head was so sure of who would be waiting for him there but he wouldn't dare listen to it, never get your hopes up. It was practically his personal motto, never get your hopes up. If you go into every situation expecting it to be terrible, terrible situations just become situations. Be curious sure but never be optimistic. Let stress take prevalence in your brain like Stan let it take prevalence now. Stress made his arms hesitate as he was faced with the door to his cabin. Stress yelled at him to run for the hills and never look back. But excitement wasn't fully gone and excitement forced him to let those arms go forward and to step into the cabin. The cabin which held a sight he had only dreamed about.
"Hey." Bill smiled, surrounded by eight tween boys. In their hands, each boy had a little paper heart with different designs on it, clearly handmade and very cute. Bill didn't have one however and instead held a few roses in his hands, not fake roses or perfect superstore roses. These were authentic roses and they had thorns and a little bit of dirt on them, but they were real.
"Hi." Stan had idea what to say or what to think.
"I know your m-m-mind is probably running a million miles a minute." Bill knew him so well. "But just let me s-say something and then you can d-d-decide what to think okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay. Stan, you are absolutely p-p-perfect to me. You are beautiful and th-th-thoughtful and really fucking — s-s-sorry kids — brilliant. You are by far the sm-sm-smartest person I know and you're k-kind. You're really genuinely k-k-kind. I've always known this about you but I've n-never been able to appreciate it. I was too b-b-busy with my own stuff to see how l-lucky I was to have you in fr-fr-front of me. So I needed to take some t-time because anyone who is anything less than completely out of th-th their mind head over heels for you does not d-d-deserve you. And I took that time and I've put in that w-w-work and now, if you would have me, I would l-l-like to be your completely out of their mind head o-over heels for you boyfriend. Because I l-l-love you Stan, and I couldn't be happier that I d-do." Bill said and even though he stuttered like he always did, that didn't mean that he was in any way not sure of himself. Each word came out proud, confident, and heartfelt. Stan (and some of the campers) was almost moved to tears and even Bill looked like he was holding back a waterfall.
"Bill...." Stan was a think it through person. Every moment came with a million thoughts behind it and logical reasoning for every action, but he didn't feel like using logical reasoning. Every bone in his body screamed at him to kiss Bill, and he wasn't in the mood to ignore them. Three weeks doesn't seem like a long time on paper but three weeks without kissing Bill felt like every year of his life without someone to hold, without someone who cared for him. The first sixteen years of life fit into less than a month. Sixteen years of darkness that were erased by his lips crashing onto Bill's, sixteen years that never produced something as beautiful as this moment. Sure the young campers complained and yelled "ew" as kids always do when they see a kiss, but Stan didn't care. His symphony was back after what felt like forever with not a single chord and it was the only thing he wanted to listen to right now.
"I t-take that as a yes?" Bill asked hopefully.
"Yes, of course it's a yes. I love you too" Stan replied before going in for another quick kiss, this time to cheers from the young campers. "But I also have so many questions."
"Sh-Sh-Shoot."
"How did you know I would find the Post It note? How did you get everything so perfect? How did you get everybody in on it? Did you tell June and follow up did you tell the campers? Also where do roses grow on this campground?" Stan barely took a breath between questions.
"1. You're a r-r-resourceful person, I knew you c-could find it. 2. Lots and lots of p-p-p-planning. 3. I simply explained it to th-them and they were all enthusiastic. Even Richie helped w-w-with dinner."
"He made the dinner?"
"Stole the b-b-box from the cafeteria."
"Yeah that sounds more like him." Stan admitted.
"4. Yes I told J-June and she took it r-r-really well." Bill continued.
"Awww, I'm proud of you babe." Stan's heart filled as he finally got to call Bill babe again, he didn't even know how much he missed the little things.
"Thank you. And yes I did t-t-tell the campers but I gave them a whole sp-sp-speech about the importance of p-privacy because I respect your r-r-right to still want to not t-t-tell people, I mean I don't want to t-t-tell people really either so the k-k-kids are really educated and I hope it's okay that I t-t-told-"
"Bill?"
"Yeah?"
"It's okay."
"Okay, great." Bill let out a huge sigh of relief. "And 5. A few were gr-gr-growing behind Bev's c-cabin and she let me b-borrow some. "
"And the hearts?"
"Mike h-h-helped them make them when we had cl-cl-cleaning duties."
"Birdwatching?"
"You m-m-mentioned it being a good spot during c-c-capture the flag."
"And you remembered?"
"Of course."
"Thanks." Stan softened the questioning and just allowed himself to enjoy the presence of his boyfriend. Yes his boyfriend. God it felt good to say that again. Stanley Uris is dating William Denbrough. The phrase made him want to squeal with happiness, which he did, a few times.
    "I just wanted to be b-b-better for you. Still do" Bill told him. Stan didn't reply, he didn't need to, but the simple sentence almost made him want to cry. A good cry, a happy cry. No one had ever cared about his happiness before or about being "better" for him. Bill might not have been Stan's first love, but it was without a doubt, he was the best.

//
Y'all knew I couldn't keep them apart for too long. This is NOT a slowburn hehe.