Comfortable Silence - [Stanford Pines x Reader]

Chapter 6

10:35 am, Tuesday, June 14, 1966

  Y/N's P.O.V.

          I stood at the register of Pines' Pawns, ringing up a woman with a necklace. "Thank you for shopping with us, I hope to see you again!" The woman left and I began to count the cash in the register. I heard Mr. Pines open the door behind me. "How much did you make this morning?" I smiled at him, handing him the money from the register. "One hundred and seven, sir." He nodded. "Good. Go upstairs." I grabbed my bag. "Yes sir."  I walked up the stairs and headed to the boy's room. 

        "Ford? Stan? You in here?" I opened the door to see the twins hanging out in their room. "Hey! Did'ya finish helping Dad in the shop?" Stan got up from the desk where he was drawing. He came over and took my bag. "What's in here, huh? Nerd stuff?" I laughed.  Stan poured out my bag and looked at my books and papers. "Yep. Nerd stuff." I looked up at the top bunk where Ford was reading. "What're you reading, Ford?" Ford looked up from his book, holding it down for me to read the title. "'Flowers For Algernon' by Daniel Keyes? We read that at school." I said. Ford huffed. 

         "Yes, but we only read the shortened version. This is the full novel." He pushed his nose back in his book. I watched him read for a minute. "Can I borrow it after you're done?" He smirked, still reading. "Sure." I smiled and turned back to Stan, who was scouring through my sketchbook. "What is this?" He pointed to a small sketch of a dragon-like creature. "Oh, haha, it's um, the Jersey Devil.." I hear Ford gasp a little under his breath behind me. "Um, why?" 

        Stan looked at a few of my other sketches while answering me. "It's real good." I blushed at the compliment. "I- um, thanks, Stan." Ford asked Stan to hand my book to him a little sharply, I thought. Why would he be irritated? 

      Stan handed it to him and Ford inspected it closely. He had a small smile on his face, handing the sketchbook back. "That is really good." I blushed, thanking him. Stan walked over back to his drawing, and I saw that he was drawing a boat on the ocean, as usual.

      But there was one difference in this picture then the usual ones. This picture had a big 12 on the top of it, with fireworks and stars. I asked him about it, and he looked at me proudly. "Tomorrow is me and Ford's 12th birthday!" Ford's voice interjected from across the room. "It's Ford and I. Grammar, Stanley." Stan looked annoyed, then happy again. "Me and Ford are almost teenagers! Say, when is your birthday? I never asked." I sat there for a minute, very confused. "What's a birthday?" 

Ford's P.O.V.

       When I heard Y/N ask what a birthday was, I almost dropped my book. Stanley looked surprised too. "What do you mean?" I asked, hoping I had heard her wrong.  She raised her eyebrow, acting as if I was the one who didn't understand. "I mean, what's a birthday? Am I supposed to know?" Stanley and I stared at her in disbelief. She blushed, finally realizing that she was supposed to know what we were talking about. "I, um..." 

       "So you never celebrated your birthday?" Stan asked, sounding a bit downcast. She rubbed the back of her neck, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "I, no, I don't even know what a birthday is..." Stan and I were taken aback. So I tried to explain what a birthday was. "It's the day you were born, celebrated annually." Her eyebrows raised. 

           "So you guys were born on June 15th, and so you celebrate it every year on June 15th? That's weird." I smiled, excited she finally understood. "We celebrate it because when that day passes, we are one year older. We're turning 12 tomorrow!" She thought for a minute, staring at the floor. Stanley spoke up with a question. "If you didn't know what a birthday was, how did you know how old you were?" "Well, I just thought I was a year older on New Years' Day...." She answered, wringing her hands. Stanley cocked his head, asking yet again another question that I also wanted the answer to."Do you know when your birthday is?" She half-smiled, putting her hand up. Her smile was nice. "I was born on October 13th." She said.

  6:12 am, Wednesday, June 15, 1966      

   Stan's P.O.V.        

            I was the first to wake up. I looked down to Ford's bunk under mine, deciding not to wake him yet. It was his birthday, too. I'd let him sleep in. But it wasn't Y/N's birthday, so I could wake her up. I walked down the darkened hallway to her room, passing my parent's on my way. Before I opened the door, I noticed a dim light coming from under the door. I knocked lightly, in case she was awake. I didn't hear anything so I opened the door. The door creaked a bit loud, making me flinch. I opened the door a bit slower. Y/N was laying on her bed, curled around her pillow and a few books scattered over her bed.

          The lamp was on, and obviously she had fallen asleep reading. I looked at a few of her books, and I didn't really understand the titles. I walked over to her and shook her a bit. "Y/N... Hey, Y/N.." She groaned a bit saying something, cuddling into the pillow. I shook her harder. "Y/N." Her eyes flicked open, staring into my soul. "Um, hey.." I smiled at her. She sat up rubbing her eyes, legs dangling off the bed.  "Hey, Stan..."She said, her words slurring. She looked down at a brown square thing by her foot and kicked it under the bed. 

        "What time is it?" She yawned, and I sat on her bed next to her. She laid her head on my shoulder sleepily. "It's six-something." She coughed a bit. "Okay. I'm gettin' up." She got up, getting in a drawer and putting on a sweatshirt over her white t-shirt. We both left the room, going downstairs to start the day.     

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