" GOOD FOR YOU " + STENBROUGH

[1]

a/n: in this fic, they are 25 and pennywise never existed. enjoy!

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hannah kroll really does believe she has the perfect life. she has a comfortable job, with a comfortable salary, and lives in a comfortable house. she's pretty, with dark blonde hair and emerald eyes, possessing long legs and a small waist. hannah is funny, she's smart, and she's charismatic. all of which are qualities that should be able to find her the one thing she believes is missing: someone to love.

yet, despite possessing what she believes is the perfect combination for any guy to want in a significant other, she can't help but not find anyone. hannah doesn't blame men necessarily, though, as she has had several advances which she hasn't been interested enough in to go after. but, perhaps, she's still hung up and doesn't quite realize.

stanley uris is the one who got away.

from the moment hannah saw stanley, she knew he was the one. they were fourteen and he had just moved to new york from some small town in maine. he was tall, with curly hair and this smile that lit up the room. they sat next to each other in biology.

hannah truly believed that they would be together forever; they dated from the summer before sophomore year until they graduated. they broke up because of distance—stanley would be staying in new york and attending nyu, but hannah was going to ucla across the country.

if you ask hannah today what her biggest regret is, it isn't that she went to college so far away in the first place, or didn't try and reach out to him afterwards when she moved back to new york to find out he no longer lived there, but rather that she broke it off in the first place. stanley had been heartbroken when hannah told him long distance wouldn't work. because it could have, if only they had tried.

hannah now stands in a coffee shop, waiting on line to order her usual black coffee with a shot of vanilla and a spoonful of sugar. new york is cold this time of year, as snow gently drifts down upon the streets of the bustling city.

hannah is scrolling through her phone, checking emails. she's rather busy these days working as an editor for a popular fashion magazine, which she also blames on the lack of romance in her life. but then again she's 25; she should be out and about living her life. but instead she's sitting in an office most hours of her day before going home to an empty apartment, where she heats up a frozen dinner and watches the bachelor. and while this isn't a bad life for hannah—it's kind of a dream, honestly—she feels detached from the rest of her friends, all of whom are getting into relationships or even engaged.

hannah tries not to think about the loneliness she feels. she's quite good at repressing the feeling, actually, however, she is reminded of it on this day in the coffee shop when there is a tap on her shoulder.

she doesn't know what to expect really, but when she turns around to see the smiling face of her high school sweetheart, her jaw drops in surprise.

"stanley?" she says, smiling as the pair hug. it feels strange, hannah thinks, but nice to be in his arms again.

stanley is taller now—much taller. he has to be at least 6'2", probably taller, with arms lightly defined by muscles and hair curlier than it was in high school. he wears glasses now, but hannah thinks it makes sense after all of his complaining about bad vision as a teenager.

"hannah, how've you been?" stanley asks, as he adjusts the messenger bag on his shoulder. the bag, along with the button up, dress pants, and tie he wears reminds her of how he looked in school, dressed in their school's uniforms.

"never been better," she tells him, but as she says it out loud it sounds like a lie. "how about you?"

"same here," he says with a chuckle.

"next!" the barista calls, and hannah turns to see she's the next in line.

she turns and gives her order, to which stanley cracks a smile and says, "same as it was when you were seventeen."

"did you expect any different?" she asks with a laugh.

as hannah goes to pay, stanley puts his hand in the way.

"i'll get this," he says, shooting her a smile worth a million dollars, and ordering his own drink after.

the two stand together as they wait for their drinks.

"we should catch up sometime," stanley offers. "how about tomorrow, for lunch?"

"sure." hannah isn't sure why she feels her cheeks heat up. it's like all of a sudden she's that nervous girl in ninth grade biology, seated next to the cute new boy.

they exchange numbers, stanley assuring hannah that he will send her the restaurant information for lunch just as their drinks arrive.

"it was great running into you, hannah. see you tomorrow for lunch," stanley says, smiling again—come to think of it, hannah doesn't think he stopped smiling at all during their conversation—and waving.

hannah feels like she's stuck in this daze of nostalgia as she walks the two blocks to work. she wonders what made stanley so happy, because she knows he never smiled like that when they were in high school.

——

this is going to be a really short fic it's already written but i liked it and wanted to publish it!!

hope you enjoy the rest!

- m