He Likes Boys//It (2017)

t w e n t y t w o

Chapter Twenty Two:

Hom uttered a small prayer up at the sky. He wasn't very religious, but at the moment he felt incredibly thankful that such a miracle had been grated to him.

Stan was still alive. Hom let out the breath he'd been holding in and leaned back against a tree trunk.

Slowly, Stan's eyes flittered open. Hom's concerned face hovered over him.

Stan felt he could no longer resist the urge that came over him. He pressed his chapped lips against Hom's soft ones, feeling the slight taste of honey as he kissed him. His heart skipped a beat when he felt Hom start to kiss back.

Hom's heart skipped a beat when he felt Stan kiss him. A million questions floated threw his mind before he decided to push them all out of his mind and focus on this one, splendid moment. This one kiss, while it still lasted.

The moment their lips met, an entire universe exploded in Stan's mind. Suddenly his whole world was expanding, his view widening, all because of Hom. Now he realized what freedom felt like. Now he realized what it felt like for him to be himself. Stan realized who he was.

Hom realized now that this was how a kiss was supposed to feel like. Perfect. Right. In the moment nothing could feel better than the taste of Stan's lips, than the feeling of Stan's hands as he reached down to grip them in his own.

Hom wondered how long the kiss would last, how long they would spend with their lips pressed against each other, before they finally split apart.

The losers clapped for the pair after they kissed, acknowledging the great act of love and of courage it had taken the two to be able to make it this far. To be able to express the love they felt for each other out in the open. They realized that this act was something that would probably only happen once in a blue moon. This act of love was something forbidden, apart from in the private of their group, they would never be able to show it. Their love would remain here, hidden away in the trees where the monsters outside would never find them.

Stan's voice was hoarse and his throat was starting to show a yellowish-purple bruise. "I love you." The words he spoke were barely above a whisper as he tried to express what he felt for Hom.

Hom barely knew whether or not he'd really heard what Stan had said right or not, but he pressed his fingers against Stan's mouth, shushing him. "Don't try to talk." He whispered to Stan, and then beckoned Eddie (the closest thing they had to a medical expert) over.

"Do you think his throat will be okay?" Hom asked, concern for his lover. Stan tilted his head back, letting Eddie see the wounds better.

Eddie turned his head to the side quizzically. It was a bit hard to tell, and you couldn't exactly just wrap bandages directly around the neck.

"You should probably go see a doctor." Eddie advised, not quite sure of what to do or say. "I don't think that will heal on it's own. You could tell your parents that it was Henry Bowers who did it. That bloke deserves to get in trouble." Eddie suggested.

Stan nodded, his throat still feeling quite sore. And if they asked why Henry hurt him, he could say that it was because he was jewish. It was what Henry normally picked on him for anyway, and it would seem like a believe able  enough explanation to anyone who went to their school.

Still Stan was nervous, about his future, now that he had decided to finally act on his urges and kiss Hom. He thought of the Torah. He thought of God. He thought of every reason he had to not be with Hom.

Yet he couldn't find a way to stop himself. He wanted this future with Hom, even if it meant giving up everything he'd ever worked for. More than that he wanted to be able to love Hom, and to love him out in the open, to love him where he wanted to love him, without feeling like someone was going to beat them up, or God was going to strike them dead any second now.

"We should get off the ground." Hom suggested, hoisting himself up and the offering Stan a hand up.

He took it, feeling grateful, and then wiped some of the dust from his usually perfect pants. He glared down at them. Stan was the type of person who liked to constantly have everything be perfectly neat and clean all the time. He couldn't stand the sight of seeing something out of place. He couldn't possibly imagine the state of his hair as he looked down at how messy the rest of his clothes were.

Stan checked his watch.

"It's almost lunch time." His voice was hoarse, but this time he spoke a little louder, and at least most of the group had heard him, and turned to face where he was standing.

Bill nodded. "W-w-we should g-go for lunch now."

They started to walk back through the thick forest as a group. Before, when they were running, the path looked a lot more complicated and seemed to have more roots to trip over and fallen branches you had to avoid, but now that Bill was actually looking down at the ground he saw that it wad actually really easy, and he could almost ride his bike, Silver, through this.

The group walked back in quiet chatter, before Mike saw what he feared he would see again.

He stopped walking.

"It's there." Mike spoke softly, pointing out the eyes watching them from the trees.