The Bath || Stenbrough

1963

"Please don't go." Stanley Uris quietly sobbed.

"Hey, the p-p-plane d-doesn't l-leave for a-a-another hour." Bill replied with a comforting smile. Stan took a deep breath before wiping his tears. "Don't worry Stan," the other boy put his hands on his shoulder, "we're going to college together, right?" The curly headed boy nodded, smiling softly. 

"H-Here, let's g-g-go." Bill took his hand and brought him to a nice bookstore which was in the airport shopping center. It was small, quaint, somewhere not full of people. The owner looked kind, he wore a shiny half-smile along with a brown suit. It was formal, but then again he was an old man. "I want to kiss you." Bill whispered in Stan's ear, making his face flush cherry red.

Stan rolled his eyes, kneeled on to the ground and begun flicking through the pages of a book that was on the bottom shelf. Bill sat behind him, glancing over his shoulder, which made a good chin rest. 

"Bill." The noodled headed boy giggled as he shut the book, returning it to it's place on the shelf.

"Sorryyyyyy, I-It's not m-m-my fault your pr-pretty." He stood as Stan did.

The other boy rolled his eyes, looked around for people and kissed his forehead, the bookshelf covering the two. "I love you." 

Bill's whole heart stopped, it was the closest he'd ever come to his heart exploding. Stan had never said those words before. Three words, enough to make Bill Denbrough's eyes water with salty tears. "I love you too." He mumbled after a minute of staring.

"Sorry, that just came out I-....wait what?" Stan flushed red after hearing Bill's sweet, sweet words. He noticed something the blue teary eyed boy didn't though, he didn't stutter, not once.

"Can I k-kiss y-y-y-you?" Bill smiled bashfully.

Stan looked around nervously. "Okay."

Bill gave him what was intended to be a peck, but ending up much more passionate. 

"Kissing me behind shelves? Wow William, when did you get so scandalous." He chuckled, giving him a loving look. Bill giggled, taking Stan's hand once again, this time dragging him out of the store. They sat on two small crowded seats are the airport gate.

"Are you really moving?" Stan's eyes begun to fill with tears again, so Bill put his hand on top of his to comfort him. 

"I-I'll w-write to you e-e-everyday, and I'll v-v-visit you w-w-when I c-c-c-c-c-can, ok? N-Nothing is e-ending, the second w-we're 18 w-we'll be in c-c-college together, w-which is only two m-m-more years. I'll v-v-visit you whenever I c-can I swear, you and the l-losers. I love y-you." Bill took a deep breath, with large amounts of words come large amounts of stutters.

"I love you too." Stan smiled shakily, before adding a lighthearted joke. "Just don't want to be left with Richie, that's all." 

Bill chuckled, and the two boys were happy, for about 7 minutes. Then, a voice on the speaker decided to make an announcement that sent Stan's heart racing. "Gate F5, you are now boarding to Hawkins, Indiana." 

The auburn haired boy sighed, and attempted to get up but his boyfriend tugged at his shirt, not wanting him to leave. "Please don't go." 

"Stan, hey." Bill cupped his face with his palms, and kissed his forehead. "I'll be back."

"Promise?"

"Promise." The two boys interlocked pinkies, shaking them up and down.

 Stanley Uris had never cried much not since he was a little kid, he cried in Neibolt, he cried when his grandmother died, and he cried now, as he watched the love of his life walk away.

He knew it wasn't forever, but it sure felt like it. Bill did come back to Stan,  as promised, but neither of the boys ever came back to Derry, nor did they want to. Not until they were 38, but that's another story. 

Stan went home that night and cried his poor fragile heart out. His dad once told him, "Stanley, make sure if you cry it's over something important, you don't want to waste your tears." That night he promised himself he'd only cry 5 more times. Now he was down to 4.

He heard a knock on his door, making him jump with surprise.

"Staaaan, you're dad let me innnn." Stan immediately recognized the voice as his best friend, Richie Toizer.

"Come in." He replied after a minute of wiping his tears.

"Hey man, you okay?" Richie sat next to him at the edge of his bed, giving him a concerned look.

Stan nodded sniffling quietly. 

"I know you and Bill where really good...." He hesitates. "...friends." The raven haired boy winks sending a surge of confusion through Stan's body.

"Yeah, he's my...best friend." Stan blushes.

"Yeah, and I'm Brittney Spears." Richie winks.

"What's that meant to mean?" He awkwardly chuckles.

"Nothin." The other boys winks again.

Stan enjoyed the rest of the night with Richie's comfort, rather than crying alone. The two boys played board games, watched movies, and did everything possibly fun for teenage boys to do. Though Richie was annoying, he made a good effort to cheer his friend up, and Stan was grateful for that.

After the clock hit 1:00 am, Stan agreed to Richie sleeping over. They slept in the same bed, which was never weird for them since they'd known each other so long, sharing a blanket.

"Night Stan, sorry your husband left you." Richie sounded sympathetic, but his smirk said otherwise.

"Goodnight, and shut the fuck up." Stan rolled his eyes, pulling the lamp string down. 

"Impossible." Richie mumbled making the two boys chuckle themselves to sleep.

a/n: it's not a fic without multifandom refrences