.: Friday I'm In Love :|: Reddie :.

He Wanted To Go Today

"Hey, Bill?"

The teen shifted to look at Stan, who had spoken. The other boy looked troubled as he opened his arms rather awkwardly. Bill raised an eyebrow. Stan wasn't usually one for hugs, and Bill usually initiated them. This was odd.

Nevertheless, the stuttering boy wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. He was in need of a good hug at the moment. So, he crawled across the couch and buried himself in his boyfriend's embrace. He wanted to say something important. Something he hadn't gotten to say in a while because he had been so focused on everything that had been going on.

"Stan, I l - l - l - luh- luh -," he paused, tightening his grip around the boy. How come every time it actually mattered, his stutter got the better of him? He could remember a time where, when he could get himself all the way through his mother's special phrase without stuttering once, she would reward him. A candy, or a new toy. Sometimes even just the smile and the pride in her eyes and a big hug was enough to make Bill happy.

Of course, once he got older, became a teenager, it resolved back to mostly just hugs. But they still made Bill feel special, and loved, and like she was proud of him. Ever since Georgie had gone missing, she was different. Their father was different. He would get up without a word, skip breakfast most of the time, go to work, and usually stay late. When he got home he might mutter something about how he had dinner on the way home, but he usually stank of alcohol and shut himself up in his office until the early hours of the morning.

When Bill got through his phrase flawlessly, his mother barely even bat an eye. She didn't smile. She didn't congratulate him. She certainly didn't hug him. Bill was lucky if he even got a, "That's nice, dear,".

His stutter had been getting way better, but now it was going downhill since his brother was gone. Sometimes he could barely even speak. It had been smooth sailing upwards and suddenly there had been a drop off, a cliff that sent him spiraling downwards.

Stan helped. Stan made him aware of the fact that he didn't even have to speak, not if he didn't want to. But if he did, Stan was patient, and he listened. So he was listening now, as Bill struggled through his words, the most important words.

He tried again.

"I l - l - luh - luh - love you."

There was a deep inhale and a steady exhale, and Stan's chest rose and fell gracefully beneath Bill's cheek. His boyfriend's arms tightened around him as Stan pressed his face into Bill's hair.

"Yeah, I love you, too, Bill. I love you a whole lot." And hearing that was better than any smile Bill's mother could have given him. It was like a ray of sunshine had suddenly begun filtering through the window onto the two boy and Bill felt warmth seeping into his body.

"W - W - W - We're gonna f - find them." It was certain, he decided. There was no way on Earth that they wouldn't find those three boys. And whoever they found first would help them look for the other two. Even if they found Georgie first, Bill would never stop looking. He wasn't just looking for Georgie. Of course, Georgie was the most important to him, but Richie and Eddie were important, too.

Bill could remember the day Georgie didn't come back. The boy had been raving about going to get ice cream the day before, and how his was amazing, and how he wanted to go again before the summer was over. In fact, he wanted to go

-today! Let's go today, Billy!" Georgie smiled, and it was the kind of smile you had to return. So Bill did. He smiled back, and put his summer reading book down then pulled a few dollars out of his wallet.

"A - Ask Mom to drive you," he said. His stutter was light when Georgie was around, if not nonexistent. "I want to try and get s - suh - some of my summer reading done." Georgie looked a little downcast at the thought of Bill not going with him, but he brightened up after taking the money. He ran up to his big brother and threw his arms around the teen's neck.

"Thanks, Billy," he had whispered, and then he did something unusual. He kissed Bill on the cheek. That was something he had not done in a long, long time. Bill had been a little surprised, but he didn't question it. He just smiled wider.

"Be careful," Bill mumbled as Georgie ran away. He wanted to go, and considered pushing his summer reading off for a later date. After all, it was still the very beginning of the summer, and he had plenty of time. But Georgie was already downstairs.

He picked up his book, and by the time he heard the front door slam shut, he was too submerged in his book to realize that the car door had failed to shut as well, meaning there was no driving to be done that day.

Thus, a small boy at twelve years of age began waddling down the street by himself with a five dollar bill stuffed in his pocket, unaware that by leaving by himself he was sealing his fate and that he would not return home for a very long time.