dawn : stenbrough

11

"𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄, 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆?" bill asks, bouncing his knee up and down. richie looks over from his phone, sitting up and accidentally hitting his head on the top of the bunk. 

it's just the two of them in their room, but bill looks around nervously to check for others anyway. richie gets up and moves over next to bill. 

"yeah, of course, what's up, bill?" richie pokes bill in the knee as he speaks, bill's knee settling still. bill looks to richie. 

"i'm bi. i accidentally told mike but he's the only one who knows." bill spits out, not having stuttered. honestly, he just isn't nervous. he knows his friends will accept him, he loves them very much for that. 

"okay. i'm proud of you for telling me." richie responds, smiling. bill smiles too, so grateful to have such incredible friends. bill hugs richie spontaneously. richie embraces him back, of course, squeezing and shaking bill back and forth. 

"he-hey!" bill yelps, richie letting him go and laughing. the two laugh at each other, though bill is rolling his eyes. bill sighs, "so what's up with y-you and eddie?" he asks, a bigger smile appearing on richie's face. 

"we're dating. i'm going to take him on our first date in portland, but we're not going to outwardly say it. you guys can assume. i'm sure you do." richie fumbles with his fingers, a flush of cardinal spreading across his cheeks. bill snickers, elbowing richie. 

"fuck yeah!" bill exclaims, richie giggling too. richie is clearly flustered talking about eddie, and it honestly makes bill smile wide. he's happy to see richie happy, knowing richie has liked eddie for ages, despite richie never saying it aloud.

"yeah, it's nice, i really like him," richie says softly, something richie rarely does. bill knocks richie with his shoulder, and a less shy smile spreads across richie's face as he knocks back into bill.

"we all k-nuh-new you two were in love anyway," bill replies, lying back on his bed. 

"shut up," richie is far too flustered to give any answer, "so who made you realize you were bi? or, like, have you known for a while?" he changes the subject. he lies down with bill, both their heads hitting the wall and their legs dangling off the bed. 

"uh... i... i'm... i l-luh-like stanley. i know i hu-haven't known him long, but i r-really like him." bill mumbles, richie chuckling.

"oh-ho-ho! i knew it! proud of you for realizing it." richie cackles, bill smiling brightly. richie rolls over into bill, bill screaming and cutting himself off. this makes the two of them laugh more.

"and, richie, when you slept o-uh-over, i had a dr-druh-dream about a boy, and i think it was him. i th-thu-think i dreamed about him before i had ever met him. a-and the last few days, i keep thinking about him. yesterday..." bill trails off, thinking about the moment he had shared with stanley. richie raises an eyebrow, but doesn't press bill.

"that's actually really cute. have you told him?" richie asks, curious to know just what happened yesterday.

"no, no. i couldn't. yeah i... i couldn't " bill mumbles, shaking his head. he thought about how he had felt, his back pressed up to stanley, the two breathing succinctly. if only stanley could hear inside bill's thoughts, just for a moment, just know what he felt.

"i mean... eddie told me. i didn't even get to be the one to man up! he fucking told me first, the lil' bastard," richie points out, bill nodding. bill sighs, swallowing the words he wants to say.

"yeah... i just... god, i luh-like him. a lot, man." bill smiles softly to himself. richie looks over and laughs softly through his nose.

"boys, right?" 

"boys."