𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 (𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐑)

ii.

♡

Stan had sat down in the seat right in the middle in the front row since Richie told him to. Stan was sure it had been over 10 minutes, but before he could even go to check his watch the lights were dimmed and he realized that all of the seats were filled. He also noticed that 3 of the boys he saw in Richie's friend group from earlier were sat down near him.

Stan heard someone say something over a speaker, but he was too busy to figure out what the hell he had signed up for. Soon everyone began to clap and he started to clap as well as the curtains were drawn and in that moment it clicked in his brain. There he saw Richie, back facing the audience, wearing the tightest red tights he'd ever seen. If Stan checked out his ass he wouldn't tell a soul. His hair was also a lot messier than it previously was and he was wearing a black vest and black pumps as if he wasn't tall enough already. Stan also noticed the red haired girl and the really short boy standing next to him in shorts that were so short that one could consider underwear.

Finally Richie had turned around and a song was cued in that same moment. One Stan didn't recognize at all. Richie wasn't wearing his glasses. He wasn't used to that, but it definitely wasn't an awful sights. Richie started to lip sinc along with the song and Stan realized that Richie and his two friends weren't the only people on the stage.

'Cold, late night so long ago, when I was not so strong you know, a pretty man came to me, I never seen eyes so blue, you know, I could not run away it seemed, we'd seen each other in a dream, seemed like he knew me, he looked right through me...yeah'

Stan couldn't take his eyes away from them from a split second. Everything seemed so... professional. The lights strung up to hit just the right spots and the whole dance routine, though it was a bit provocative, it seemed well put together and rehearsed. Richie was handed a very bright red feather boa at some point in the routine and realization hit Stan like a freight train. Richie hadn't looked away from him ever since he first spotted him in the crowd. Stan's face grew bright red as Richie approached the edge of the stage and his friends helped him down. They were now only a few feet away from each other.

' 'Come home, girl' he said with a smile, 'I cast my spell of love on you, a woman from a child', but try to understand, try to understand... oh! oh! Try, try to understand, try try try to understand! He's a magic man'

Richie continued to lip sinc as he slowly walked toward Stan, taking him by surprise when he took his feather boa off and put it around Stan's neck instead. Stan was entirely still in shock, looking up at the other boy as he continued to passionately lip sinc in front of him. Stan let out a laugh as well as other people in the crowd. Even Richie was trying not to laugh. But Stan's laughter died quickly when Richie grabbed his hands and placed them onto his chest just in time for the part where the singer goes 'he's got magic hands'. He didn't break eye contact with Stan for even a second and the others in the crowd whooped and whistled as the spotlight moved on them.

Stan didn't know how the hell he was going to get through the rest of this.

♡

Everyone else had cleared out the theater already, but Richie and his friends were all giving each other high-fives, hugs and kisses on the cheeks. Stan was standing off in the corner with the red feather boa still hanging off of his shoulders.

"Rich, you were so amazing out there! You never performed like that at rehearsals." The red haired girl congratulated him after giving him a peck on the cheek. Stan frowned a little at that. "Yeah, well, I guess I had a little extra motivation this time." Richie answered as he glanced over at Stan, shooting a quick wink in his direction. Richie then facepalmed himself and quickly dragged the two who were on the stage with him closer to Stan.

"I just remembered I never introduced my friends to you. The fiesty short one here is Eds and the red haired, slightly taller fiesty one is Bev. The rest who sat out are Mike, Ben and Bill. They're too chicken to be on stage." Richie introduced them, pointing at everyone as he mentioned them before clucking in the other boys' direction and flapping his arms like wings. They all just flipped him the bird before going back to whatever conversation they were previously having.

"You should come celebrate with us at Bev's. You are a big part of the reason Trashmouth took it so seriously after all." Eddie suggested to the still blushing boy. Stan's eyes widened as he pointed at himself. "Me? No. It's late and my dad would freak the fuck out if I-" Stan started to explain, but stopped talking since he could tell from the looks on their faces that there was no way he would convince them to let him go home. "Fine."

Bev, Eddie and Richie cheered and Richie wrapped one arm around Stan and the other around Bev. "Alright, losers! We're heading out to the Marsh residence to celebrate!" Richie announced, most likely to catch the others' attention as they headed toward the theater's exit.

A/N Excited to write the next part