5AM// Stanlon

0.4

THE DINNER•

Stan stood in front of the bathroom mirror, exhausted and dreading this dinner more and more as time passed. He had dressed in a nice baby blue button down, crisp black trousers and a black blazer. A tie was secured around his neck as his slender fingers worked on the clasp of his expensive watch. He tried his best to ignore the slight dimness of one lightbulb compared to the others.

Stanley liked his appearance to be nothing less than perfection, he was a perfectionist at heart and often tried to keep his life balanced beyond his own power. He dabbed some cologne on his wrists, above his collarbone and a little on his pant leg. It was a light smell, he never really held a liking for the stronger ones.

He looked back in the mirror, ignoring his reflection but instead looking at his hair and trying to get his curls to work with him but they seemed to do everything they weren't supposed to. He huffed in annoyance and finally, but hesitantly, giving up. One large spiral curl stayed in the middle of his forehead and it bothered him so much it burned beep down inside of him.

Mike walked into the bathroom and stood next to Stan in the mirror, fumbling with his tie. The taller male chuckled slightly- about a foot taller to be exact, "I've never been good ...at this sort of thing.." his voice was warm and inviting but it was more of an act than anything. Mike knew that Stan knew..they were walking on eggshells around each other. One trying not to say too little or too much to the other.

"Good at what, these dinners?"

"My tie, actually. I can't ever seem to get it to sit right, not like you can anyways," he turned his head to look at Stan. There was a pause of awkward silence before the blonde steadily walked over to Mike. His soft hands reached up and swatted Mike's calloused ones away.

He took the fabric of the tie and began to adjust it, "it's...it's easy really- once you get the hang of it." Mike would have responded but he was too busy admiring how close they were.

In Mike's eyes, Stanley had always been pretty for a boy. Soft brown eyes that used to be wide and dewy that were now hazed and lazy. The male had flawless skin, soft to the touch, that glowed in the sun. He had pink lips, the bottom plumper than the top and they were never once dry. Mike could stare at him forever and never get tired, not ever. He could count the carefully placed freckles and moles on Stan until he forgot what numbers were.

The male's hands were working knowingly at the tie around Mike's neck and Mike got lost in the movements, he didn't know the other had finished until the warm hands were resting on his chest. And for once the silence was comfortable, not stiff and full of tension.

He focused his eyes on Stan before reaching and tucking the loose curl away effortlessly.

"You're breathtaking...," Mike had blurted it out, he couldn't help it. He grabbed Stan's hand and kissed his knuckles, right over the silver band, the wedding ring. "Absolutely gorgeous."

He was sure of it this time, a small hint of pink spread over Stan's cheeks and nose, but it didn't last long before he was pushing away again.

"Come. The losers should be here any moment."

•••
Stan circled the rim of his glass with his index finger. He was tuning in and out of the conversations of the group surrounding him. The seven had rented out a small party area so they could eat apart from other people.

Eddie was slowly starting to annoy Stan, the smaller male was rambling on about germs for the last twenty minutes. He was inspecting  his silverware extra closely until Stan looked up and sent him the meanest glare.

"Eddie...if it bothers you so much, eat at home with your own damn silverware- and if you apply one more coat of hand sanitizer onto your hands I might literally strangle you. " He closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath and opened them again. Everyone was looking at him.