Stan ended up making his way to the barrens. He sat down on the rocks and leaned his head back against a tree.
"Ugh. What is my life," he said covering his face with his hands. He pulled out his book from his bag and opened it. He scanned the book as he sighed again. "To be one of these birds... that would be the dream."
He then looked up and saw a group of birds fly away from a tree. He wished to be one of them. To be able to leave this town. "This town fucking sucks," he said as he hit his head against the tree, "ow!"
He shed a tear due to the pain, getting more upset as time passed. He then ended up overthinking too much and had a breakdown. He cried so hard that someone ended up hearing, yet he didn't notice. It was Richie and he went down to where Stan was.
"Stan," Richie asked, concerned. Stan immediately wiped the tears away and looked up at him.
"Richie?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Just wanted to be alone in nature..."
"You keep acting weird, Stan," Richie said as he sat down next to him, "what's wrong?"
"Honestly quite a bit of things..."
"Like?"
"School, family, crushes. I'm sure there's more but I can't think of anything else at the moment."
"School? Crushes? What about them?"
"Just kind of knowing that the semester will be soon before our winter break and I just don't want to fail any of my classes. When it comes to crushes, well crush, it's kind of just one of those things where you want to tell them but you don't know how."
"Oh yeah. That crush thing is a mess. I'm dealing with that too. It's frustrating when you don't know what to do."
"Fuck! Why does it have to be so hard!"
"They call them 'crushes' for a reason, Stan. If it doesn't work out then it feels like it crushes your soul and possible trust in people and love."
"How the hell are you so smart and wise! Like obviously the smart part is being able to memorize and stuff but seriously that's probably the wisest thing you've ever told me!"
"Just because I'm the jokester of the group doesn't mean I'm stupid. You shouldn't assume so much about me."
"I'm sorry. It's just- I never expected you to mature so much since it's only been a couple years since that clown bullshit."
"Stan. Are you kidding me? That was probably the scariest shit we'll ever experience in our entire lives. Yeah there'll be anxiety inducing situations, like the crush thing, but the clown was probably the closest thing to dying we've ever dealt with."
"Yeah," Stan said with a laugh, "I guess since we've dealt with that then it makes other things easier."
"Yeah. You got this, Stan. I know you do. You're one of the strongest people I know. You got this," Richie said then hugged Stan immediately after. Stan hugged back and softly cried.
"Thanks, Richie. I appreciate you so much. I love being around you. Even when you make stupid jokes," he said with a soft laugh.
"I'm glad I could help," Richie said, hugging Stan more. Stan just stayed in Richie's arms until he stopped crying then pulled away to dry his eyes.
"You are someone so damn amazing, Rich."
"You're more amazing than I'll ever be, Stan. It may just be my opinion but I stand by it," Richie said and held Stan's hand. Stan leaned his head against Richie's shoulder and sighed.
"Isn't life crazy? Like we've dealt with that stupid clown for practically an entire summer. You just helped me through a crazy random breakdown when you were just walking past. It's just so random."
"Yeah. Imagine if our lives were different. Like what's considered normal. It would've been more boring but a lot more different. We probably would've still dealt with Bowers but other than that, not much would've happened."
"Yeah. The summer with that clown. You were planning on playing Street Fighter the entire time. Instead it went in the complete opposite direction."
Richie laughed softly, "instead I ended up gaining three friends in the end. Beverly, Ben, Mike. It's almost like the universe had a hold on my life's outcome."
Stan softly shoved Richie, "you're such a weirdo."
"Tell me I'm wrong!"
"I can't. You're right," Stan shrugged, "it's just goofy. Our destiny is almost tied up. As if it was like a string of yarn, getting tangled with every decision."
"And you're talking about me being goofy? You just said some deep philosophical shit," Richie said standing up and holding out his hand to Stan.
Stan took his hand and smiled as he got up, "oh please. I'm normally the one from the group doing that. You're the one being goofy and acting out of character. It's like a completely different personality just popped up out of nowhere."
"Okay fine. Think that. I'm allowed to have a deep side y'know."
"Yeah I know. Honestly I like this side of you. I like both sides, really. The goofy side, the serious side. It's just unique."
"Just don't tell the group about my 'serious side'."
"I won't if you don't want me to. You might end up showing that side of you by accident though," Stan said tapping Richie's nose.
"Yeah and it looks like you're finally showing a goofy side."
"No shit Sherlock. Out of the losers club, you're the second person to know of it."
"Second? Who's the first?"
"Bill," Stan shrugged, "he just seems to get me."
"You're making it sound like he's the one you have a crush on," Richie said, poking Stan in the side.
"No. No. He's more like a brother," Stan said and grabbed his backpack, "either way, you don't really need to know who my crush is. I will be honest with you though. It's not Beverly but it's someone in our friend group."
"Not Beverly? Stan, are you gay," Richie asked, looking at him somewhat in shock.
"Yeah," Stan laughed awkwardly, "I know this is probably a bad way to tell someone but honestly there's not really a good way to tell somebody."
"Yeah there's not a good way. I didn't expect that there was someone else in the group who was gay," Richie said and then blushed awkwardly, not meaning to blurt that out.
"Richie? You're gay too?"
"I am," Richie said flustered and covering up his face, "I also like someone in the group."
"Oh really," Stan said with a grin, "I'm sure you'll tell him one day."
"That's the plan," Richie said, moving his hands away from his face.
"Well at least it's not too bad. We don't have that clown to bother us anymore and we'll be alive for a while so you definitely have time to tell him."
"Yeah, I do," Richie said, grabbing Stan's hand, "wanna come over?"
"Sure," Stan said with a wide smile.
