"So this is love?" Stan x Gary

Chapter 4: Suit shopping

"Hey Stan!" Gary yelled as he ran up to him.

Stan turned around and suppressed the need to puke, "H-Hey Gary. You seem happy."

"Well yeah. Don't you know what tomorrow is?" Gary asks.

Stan thinks, was it a holiday? Some special event? Some Mormon thing? Stan checked his calendar and saw... it was the day before Valentine's Day.

"Yeah, I know," Stan replied with a forced smile, his stomach churning at the reminder. "Valentine's Day."

Gary's grin widened. "Exactly! And the school is hosting a dance!" Gary held on to the 'a' of the word 'dance' for too long while hopping around happily.

Stan smiles and chuckles, "Ok, ok, I see you're happy."

Gary then stopped and turned to Stan, "Stan... would you go with me?"

Stan choked on his breath, "What?"

"Go with me."

Stan stared at him in silence, in a daze. Gary waved a hand in front of Stan's face, snapping him out of it.

"Yes!!" Stan yells, "I-I mean...sure."

Gary smiles, "Yay! Ok, we'll go together as friends, unless someone else asks you out."

"Don't worry." Stan says, "Highly doubt anyone will, sadly. But I'm sure it'll be fun nonetheless." Stan sure hoped no one else asked, "Is your parents okay with this though?"

"What do you mean?" Gary asks.

"Well... aren't Mormons like... against being gay? And if we go together... won't people think we're... you know." Stan asks.

"Oh um... I mean... I don't care... and I'm sure as long as we are just going as friends my parents won't care either." Gary says.

Stan sighs, "Alright..."

"Soo... you want to go look for suits with me?" Gary asks.

"Suits? Aren't those hella expensive?" Stan asks.

"My dad has a good job." Gary says.

Stan shrugs, "Whatever, okay." Gary takes his hand and pulls him along. Stan had to hold in his puke all the way, it was disgusting.

When there, Gary stared in awe at all the suits, "Wow. Look at all them!"

"They all look the same." Stan replies.

It was true, men's fashion was boring as shut nowadays, all the suits looked the same except for one suit that was a full rainbow.

"Wow... who would wear that?" Gary asks.

"Big Gay Al," Stan says.

"Who?" Gary asks, turning to him, confused.

"No one, sorry." Stan says, taking back his words, just cause Gary was taking him to the dance didn't get rid of his Mormon-ness.

As they perused the racks of suits, Stan couldn't help but feel a bit out of place; he wasn't rich enough to be here.

His dad had a good job sure, as a geologist, at least he used to be, now he's just planting weed, but still! The other people in the shop looked like they were... what's the word... wealthy? 'Yeah, that's it.' Stan thought, 'They're like Tolkien.'

Gary then grabbed a suit and placed it on Stan, trying to see how he would look in it, "I think this would be good on you," he says.

"You think?" Stan asks as he looks at the suit.

The suit was kinda basic, it was a bland green, reminded him of his puke as gross as that was. It came with a nice red tie though and if Gary said he thought he would look good in it then maybe he would.

"How much is it?" Stan asks as he looks for a price tag.

"It is..." Gary reads the price tag on the stand he found it on, "$150."

Stan's heart sank. $150 might not seem like much to some, but for him, it was a significant amount of money. He couldn't justify spending that much on a suit, he didn't even have the money, he would have to ask his parents and he highly doubt they would give them that for a suit, who would? Especially for a dance he would only go to once.

"Uh, I don't know, Gary," Stan replied, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "That's a bit out of my budget. How much for just renting it?"

Gary's smile faded as he glanced at the price tag again, then back at Stan. "I'm not sure if they do rentals here, but we can ask."

Together, they approached the sales clerk and asked about renting the suit. After a brief discussion, they learned that the store did indeed offer rental options for some of their suits, including the one they looked at. However, the rental price was still expensive, priced at $80 for one night.

"Kenny would be crying if he was here." Stan thinks out loud.

"Is Kenny the unfortunately poor friend?" Gary asks.

"Poor is putting it lightly. He is living in a dump." Stan says back, "And yet his love life is still better than mine."

"Cheer up Stan." Gary says smiling, "I'm sure we'll find a suit that fits you, and with it, you might find a nice lady and you won't need me to take you to the dance, though it would be fun."

"But Gary I don't want a girl to take me to the dance." Stan says.

"You don't?" Gary asks, "Oh are you still scared after Wendy cheated? If that's the case I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, no, I mean... maybe a little but... I want to go with you... and not just cause you suggested it... I..." Stan wanted to confess but he felt himself chickening out, "because I want to be your friend!" he blurted out.

'Damn it...' he thought.

-What y'all think?

-Word Count: 932