"kiss me" • stenbrough

11

hi everyone! i am legitimately so sorry that i couldn't update on sunday. i'm busy with marching band and my annoying as hecc family... updates from now and on will probably take waaay longer. my brain is fried, my body has stopped working, and my eyes burn. but enjoy!

• bill •

   it felt like forever as we were waiting for someone to answer the door. stanley had almost knocked again, but i heard some scurrying around from inside, so i told him not to.

   the whole time we waited, i had a digging urge to hold stan's hand. my own hands were shaking so badly. what had they done to georgie? would we even get out of this person's house alive? i turned to look at him. stanley's eyes were fixed on the door ahead of him, chin tilted up, shoulders slightly pushed back. looking confident, probably to reassure me. it was in that exact moment when i realized just how thankful i was for stanley. stanley didn't have to come along with me. he didn't have to be my friend, or talk to me, or comfort me about the whole georgie thing.

   but he did.

   i didn't even notice the door open until stanley spoke. "um, hello ma'am. i- do you have a husband here... with you?"

   the woman at the door had a sleek black ponytail and huge gold hoop earrings on. she looked like one of those models, especially since she was dressed up in a black leather jacket and leggings at 3 a.m. why? was she going out somewhere? her full face of makeup convinced me so. but i could assure you, she wasn't leaving unless she was dead, or in a police car.

   "he's upstairs, trying to sleep. why?" she asked quickly. despite her darker skin tone, she had no accent. the woman gave me a nervous glance.

   "okay. may we... come in, please? i know it might sound weird, but we need to discuss something with you."

   she froze up. not because stanley wanted inside, but because she recognized me. "about georgie?"

   i swallowed my spit. "no, not necessarily. i'll explain if you let us in," he persuaded. now i was confused. was i supposed to be mute still? or did he just not want me to screw this up? the woman went silent.

"ma'am?"

she looked back at stan. "uh- yes. okay. come in."

grabbing my hand, stanley stepped in, observing her living room. slowly but silently, he headed toward the couch, sitting down. "so what's your name?" he said to her.

i sat down too. the house was modern- clean. like something in a movie with a bunch of rich white people. and the couch was uncomfortable, but that wasn't my biggest concern. at all.

"julie. what, are you guys like, little detectives or something? do you want tea?"

i did want tea, but she could poison us or something. stanley was on the same page, i guess, because he told her no, squeezing my hand tightly.

"you have a husband? do you, perhaps... have any children?" stanley interrogated her, sounding weirdly sophisticated. he made me feel dumb by compairison, but i guess everyone could relate to that.

i looked back toward the kitchen as julie replied. "no, i... don't have any kids. i'm going to have to ask you to leave, okay?" she said, raising her voice slightly.

stanley let go of my hand, standing up now, digging in his sleeve for the taser or stun gun or whatever the hell he brought, pointing at her. "i have a taser. bill has a knife, and we're not afraid to use it- them. take us to the basement," he demanded, eyes locked on julie. "now."

   to be completely honest, that was hot. in any other situation, i would've got hard...

   julie, with a frightened expression on her face, led us slowly to the basement. i dug my knife out of my pocket, and stanley put his taser to her back as we walked, like they did in movies. again.

   she guided us to a closet, which presumably led to the basement. the staircase was revealed after she opened the door, proving my obvious prediction. "why do you need in the basement-"

   "show us the basement already. walk, woman."

   so julie walked, trying to sneakily pull something from her pocket. i wasn't going to let her do that, so i shoved her down the stairs. she yelped as she fell down, now hitting the cold basement floor. i ran down after her.

   "i'm so sorry," julie whispered as i looked over. it was georgie, tied to a wooden pillar in the center of the room, with ripped, bloodied clothes and a painful expression on his face. any words i tried to say caught up in my throat. i couldn't believe it.

   "bill!" he cried, muffled from a dark blue fabric tied over his mouth. stanley ran down after me now, eyes wide.

   the room was empty, except for a single rusty metal chair in the far corner of the room. a pungent aroma of vomit and ammonia lingered- and my eyes started to burn. whether it was from the smell or tears, i couldn't tell. "you're fucking mental!" i screamed, turning back around and kicking julie in the stomach with every ounce of strength i had. she cowered even further toward the wall. "i thought georgie f-fuchking died! screw you!"

   stanley ran to untie georgie from the pillar. "call the police, suh-st-stan!" i cried, flipping the blade open on my knife. the girl shook her head, eyes popping out of her head (almost.) she was scared... good.

   something flashed in the corner of my eye. "what are you doing to my wife-" the guy demanded, taking a threatening step downstairs. he was shirtless, in plaid pajama bottoms. stanley was staring at me, his phone up to his ear, holding georgie with one arm.

   "your wuh-w-wife fuh-king kidnapped my little brother-?!" i told him, staring up at the man.

   the guy shook his head. "get out of my goddamn house! she didn't do fucking anything!"

   stanley stood up, taking georgie's hand. the julie woman had stripped georgie of his raincoat, and was now just in the bloodied clothes he wore underneath that day. georgie himself wore a confused, yet grateful expression. "bill! i missed you..." he whimpered, letting go of stanley, running to me now. i leaned down to hug him back. "can we go home? where's mommy-"

   then it hit me. i snuck out. what would my parents say? after all, i did find georgie. they'd better fucking love me after this.

   starting to tear up, i looked at stan. he was staring at me, a complex look on his face.

   "wait, wait. you were- hiding a fucking kid in our basement, jules-?" the guy spoke up. still cowering in fear, she shook her head. "what the fuck!" georgie was still clung to me like his life depended on it- in this case, it kind of did. "you're gonna go to fucking jail for this shit! are you mental?" julie didn't react, but the man just took another look at georgie, shocked.

   for good measure, i kicked julie in the side again.

   "i've already alerted the police, so if you try to hurt us, it won't work," stanley informed the couple. the man pursed his lips, sighing deeply.

   "can't fucking believe this," julie's (probably ex now) husband muttered, stepping out of the basement door.

   pointing at julie, i glanced at stanley. he immediately understood what i was saying. after all, she kidnapped my little brother. she deserved way worse than a little tase.

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