your love // stenbrough

5

The end of the day couldn't have come fast enough, and Stan practically flew out of study hall, leaving a very confused Richie in his wake. The two had been mid-conversation when the final bell rang, signalling it was time for Stan to meet up with Bill. The note had been occupying his brain-space and he wasn't even sure what Richie had been talking about anyway.

"Stan!" He heard Richie call from behind him. Stan chose to ignore the shout and continued shoving his way through the crowd of students.

He opened his locker and threw his books in haphazardly, much to his own dismay, but left them anyway. If this was any other day, or any other situation, he would have very carefully organized his textbooks alphabetically by author's last name, just how he liked it. He couldn't believe what Bill was doing to him.

As he dashed out of the school and down the steps, approaching the green of the football field, a hand grabbed his forearm, stopping him abruptly. For the first time all day, his thoughts of his stuttering classmate were interrupted.

"Slow down there, buddy. Where're you off to in such a rush?" Bev dropped her hand from his wrist, bringing her cigarette to her lips.

Stan craned his neck to look around the wall of the school, obviously distracted, clearly looking for someone. "Uh..." he trailed off, taking another few steps in the direction of his target. He turned back to her quickly. "Can we talk about this later?"

She looked at him, absolutely bewildered. "No, we most certainly cannot - Stan!" Bev shouted, as he took off again, ignoring her. He knew she was too lazy to chase after him. "You better tell me tonight!" he heard her call from behind.

As he rounded the corner of the school he slowed down to a leisurely stroll, wanting to look as casual as possible. On the inside, he was freaking out. What could Bill possibly want to talk to him about?

As Stan approached the football shed, he could see Bill seated in the grass, leaning against the wall. Stan ignored the fact that his heart skipped a beat upon seeing him.

The younger boy had some sort of drawing pad in his hands, resting against his lap, the pencil in his hand was scribbling across the page frantically. Stan was curious as to what he was doing.

Upon hearing the sound of Stan's footsteps, Bill looked up with a small smile. Stan's heart fluttered, but he didn't care to wonder why.

"Hey," he said anxiously.

"H-hi," Bill stuttered, closing his book before Stan could catch a glimpse of its contents.

Stan was unsure of the exact conversation that Bill had in mind, but he thought that he should probably start with an apology for the events that had taken place that morning. "Bill, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, or -"

"S-stan," Bill said, successfully cutting him off. "It's fine. It's n-not your f-fault." He pushed himself off the ground and stood up, dusting his hands off on the front of his pants. He tucked his pencil and drawing pad into his backpack and swung it over his right shoulder before sliding the other strap on. Stan couldn't help but think it was adorable, the way he tucked his thumbs under the straps and rocked back and forth on his heels, almost like an eager kindergarten student on the first day of school.

Boys can be adorable, right?

Stan pushed that thought out of his head when Bill spoke again. "Can we go for a w-walk?"

"Sure," he answered simply, following the other boy as he started moving forward.

The two boys walked in silence for awhile, skirting around the football field perimeters. Stan felt the need to speak, but thought he should just let Bill get the ball rolling, so he suffered for just a little longer. Sure enough, the stuttering boy cleared his throat.

"I'm s-sorry that I l-left this m-m-morning," he started, his stutter seemingly getting worse. "I'm just not u-used to p-people b-being n-nice to m-m-me."

Stan's heart broke. For being someone who typically cuts off all emotions, he felt inexplicably sad.

"N-not that I w-want your p-pity or anthing-"

Stan put a hand on the other boy's shoulder, stopping his worried rant. "It's not like that. You shouldn't have to deal with anyone being mean to you."

Bill nodded his head and quickly wiped at his eyes. Stan pretended not to notice. "Th-thank you."

They continued in silence for a little bit longer, and Stan kicked at a small stone to pass the time. He was glad that he hadn't hurt Bill earlier in the day. For some unknown reason he was drawn to the younger boy, and felt some sort of connection that he hadn't felt for a very long time; even with Richie or Bev. He really didn't want Bill to feel any sort of pain.

"C-can I ask you something?" Bill whispered, giving Stan a small side glance.

He nodded his head in approval. "Of course."

"W-why did you sit n-next to me today?"

Stan shrugged his shoulders and took a quick look at the paint on the back of Bill's hands. "You're the most interesting thing that's happened to me in a long time."

Bill laughed. It was cute.

Why was that the first adjective that came to mind?

"W-what am I? A s-science experiment or s-something?" he giggled again. "'I-Interesting,'" he mocked.

Stan couldn't help but laugh in response. "Well I don't know! You're just different."

"You're not the f-first to come to that c-conclusion."

The two boys were approaching the school once again, completing their round of the football field. If he was being honest, Stan was a little upset that they couldn't talk longer; he still hadn't gotten to some questions that he has been dying to ask all week.

Once they got to the doors of the school, Bill stopped, prompting Stan to do the same. "Thanks again, S-Stanley. For being so n-nice to me," he stuttered.

Stan smiled; something that he hadn't done genuinely for awhile. "It's really no problem-" He was cut off by Bill's arms wrapping around his torso. Initially, he was shocked and almost pulled away, but decided against it and tentatively hugged the other boy back. It was oddly comforting. He smiled again.

"Hey, Bill?" Stan started, working off an impulse that he'd probably regret later. He pulled back out of the embrace, surprised that he already missed the physical contact. Stan wasn't typically someone for affection. Maybe he was wrong.

"Yeah?"

"Do you maybe want to hang out with me and some of my friends tonight?" he asked, very rushed. It was safe to say that he was nervous, but again, he didn't know why. Stan was not a nervous person.

Bill's eyes lit up in surprise. He smiled his soft smile, but it looked a little forced. Stan chose to ignore that. "Like w-who?"

"Richie Tozier, Beverly Marsh, and a few more people that they might invite," he answered. "It'll be at Bev's house at around 8:00. She lives down on Maple."

The younger boy looked a little nervous, which made Stan feel bad. "You don't have to come, I'd understand," he added.

Bill smiled a real smile this time. "I'll see what I c-can do."