staisy | Stan Uris fic

Chapter 7

The losers started their walk to the ice cream shop. It was getting hotter with every step.
"Ok I can't fucking stand this heat" Stan said out of nowhere
"is th-the ice cream w-w-worth it?" Bill had a point
"I say fuck you all and your heat strokes. I want ice cream" of course Richie wanted his own way.
"I wanna go to the quarry again. Its like 5 minuets away" Maisy took a few steps back
"Ok fine. Let's split. Who's going to get ice cream with Richie then can meet the rest of us at the quarry" Stan put it as simply as it could get, really.

Bill, Stan, Maisy and Mike stepped to one side; Bev, Richie, Ben and Eddie stood at the other and the 2 groups went their separate ways to the quarry and the ice cream shop. The first group were at the quarry in no time. The only place of shade was under the trees so the 4 of them sat under shady patches while waiting for the remaining 4 losers to come back with ice cream. The water glistened in the boiling sun and the reflections of the water could be seen at the top of the cliff, just peacefully rippling.

Eventually the kids had enough of waiting. Mike, Bill and Stan stripped down into their underwear. No one brought swimsuits because this was definitely a last minute plan. Maisy sat at the top of the cliff, fully clothed with her feet hanging over the edge. Bill and Mike jumped in, leaving Mai and Stan at the top of the cliff.
"aren't you coming in?" Stan stood beside her
"yeah I will. I'm just... Mentally preparing I guess" she said with a cute giggle but still sounded unsure of herself.
"you better come in. This was your idea" he said smiling at her.
"don't look at me like that."
"look at you like what?" he knew exactly what he was doing. She was stubborn but not to him.
"you're trying to convince me to jump in"
"it's be good if you did" he stepped closer to the cliff edge. It only took a few seconds before she stood up. Maisy took her shoes and socks off, lifted her dress over her head and walked over to Stan, by the edge off the cliff.
"the look worked, huh?" he grinned at her
"shut up." she took his hand and pulled him off of the cliff, just like last time. At the same time they both hit the water. It was warm but still cooled them down. The sun bounced off of their wet skin, gradually leaving them all with golden tans.
"You might wanna get your asses back up here. We have ice cream, bitches!!" Eddie screamed with his high pitched voice from the top of the cliff.

-

Later in the day, when all of the losers had finished their ice cream, all of the losers apart from Maisy and Ben were in the water. The two were sat on a lower part of the cliff but still far from the others.
"so Mai?" Ben said out of the blue
"yes?"
"you and Stan?" oh god.
"... What about us?"
"you two have been really close recently"
"have we?"
"don't play dumb. I notice these things. Are you two like... Officially unofficial?" That question made no sense but somehow Mai understood
"there's nothing between us, really."
"do you want there to be?" he shifted off of the rock he was sat on to the floor, next to Maisy.
"honestly...he's pretty cute. He's sweet and he understands stuff without me really saying." she didn't even admit this stuff to herself
"I think you like him" he gently nudged maisy's arm
"a bit I guess. I don't think it's going to go anywhere... Relationships ruin friendships and he is the last person I want to lose right now."
"your chances come and go. Don't waste this one. We're all friends so if you did get together and then break up, you'd be stuck with each other so you wouldn't have any choice but to be friends again" Ben was the best at giving advice but Maisy really couldn't lose Stan. To her, this would just be a small thing that'd dissolve eventually. Or at least that's what she planned.

"I think I'm gonna get back in the water. You coming? "she said, standing up
" I'm gonna stay up here" Ben said back with a sweet smile
"thanks for the advice" she smiled back at him, before jumping back in the water.

Maisy began splashing water over Beverly. This immediately created a huge water fight. Maisy was somehow being drowned by Richie, she fought her way back up to the surface and pushed his head underneath the water for a few seconds before swimming away before he could get revenge. In no time, Maisy was on Stanley's shoulders; Eddie on Mike's, trying to push each other off.
"IM SMALLER, I'M AT A DISADVANTAGE" Eddie screamed before being shoved off of Mike's shoulders. Stan lost his balance and fell underwater, taking Mai with him.
They both screamed and held onto each other to try and regain balance again. And failed.

In these moments the kids forgot about all their problems, their responsibilities, their lives. Maisy forgot about her dad being in town. The joy had intoxicated them all. These were the best moments of their lives, the reason they were all friends. Until home time came around. The kid's came falling back down again. They made their way to the top of the cliff and got dressed again. They said their goodbyes and started their walks home. Stan and Mai were walking side by side in the sunset.
"in glad you're home" he said walking along the sidewalk, while the golden sun shined on them both.
"it was only 3 days, Stan." she said back
"felt like longer.."
"did you miss me that much?" she said teasing him
"pffft no! I just had no one to walk with" he played along
"sureeee! You totally didn't miss me" she nudged him on the shoulder
"seriously, I did kinda miss you. It was weird not having you there and your bedroom was depressingly empty when I looked across my window" he said, not really joking anymore
"hey, I'm back now. And I'm not going anywhere for-" she froze, staring at the man who was bit far in front of them.
"for? Maisy are you ok?" he hadn't seen them yet but they slowed down. She quickly grabbed the sleeve of Stan's shirt and pulled him down an alleyway. They sped up until they started running down the alleyway which opened onto another road. When the two of them were far enough away from that road, they started walking until they got to a local park.
"why did we run? Who was that?" Stan blurted out frantically.
"you know I was telling you about how my mom's ex-husband is a bad man? That was him. He can't see me here." she began pacing in the park, making it harder for Maisy to catch her breath. Stanley held her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks and pulled her into a tight hug.
"calm down. You'll be ok but I'm not letting you stay in that house alone tonight" she wrapped her arms around him and didn't say a word.
"I doubt my parents will let you stay over but I'm gonna stay over at your house. I want you to be safe"

"he hurt me when I was first adopted by my mom.. He didn't want me there but mom wouldn't give me up so he hurt her too. At one point she kicked him out but every now and then he'd come to the house and beg for us to let him back in... So we left" Maisy's voice was breaking as she held back a river of tears trapped inside her eyes. She had never opened up like that before but she was glad Stan was the one she was talking to.

One by one, tears started rolling down her cheeks onto Stan's shirt but he understood. The two just sat on a pack bench in each other's arms until they were ready to go home.