timing : stozier

9

september 13/14

since that strange fucking day, richie had told himself to forget it, swearing it off as a dream. there was no way he had lied with stan, stan was a good boyfriend to bill. he wouldn't have.

soon enough school was starting, and bill and stan were approaching three months together, and you would never have thought anything wrong. richie knew they had had a few fights (stanley would call him and tell him all about it), as he had become stan's best friend again. it was nice, but he knew come school, bill and stan would begin to bike to school. and bill would never be late, not like richie.

richie, in turn, biked with eddie to school. richie got out of bed early and found eddie at his doorstep. all eddie ever liked to do was complain about bill. richie found it unbearably miserable. eddie sometimes asked about stan.

"nothing new" richie would claim, eddie believing him and having no trouble complaining. sometimes it made richie mad. how was eddie able to complain and not feel any shame? richie felt like everyone thought he was annoying and persistent every time he complained, no matter how rare it was. beverly would have noticed richie's change in attitude, except she had recently been talking to ben a lot more. it wasn't like richie was hurt, he knew he wasn't a first choice. beverly liked him as a best friend sometimes, and that was enough.

you had to take what you could get, right?

richie never really visited the forest anymore, especially not the bridge. the last time he had been there was the night his father had come back. his mother had had a stern talk with richie beforehand, saying richie had to promise he would be a good kid. richie had promised immediately because his mother seemed so glad that his dad would be back. so when richie's dad entered the house, richie decided not saying anything would be the smartest choice, so he could refrain from letting out a comment here or there. however, that hadn't been the right choice.

"he won't even talk to me! are you broken, richard? i'll stay, maggie, but only if this kid starts respecting me the way i deserve." richie had looked down at the sound of his father's voice, soon falling back into his old habits. quick eye contact, quick ask, keep your feet and chin up, slump your shoulders but not enough for him to notice,

"can i go to my room, sir?" richie tried to mimic the way stan had talked to his dad, hoping it would please his own. it worked, his dad nodding and continuing to talk to richie's mother with a harsh tone.

that night richie had stood on the bridge, staring over the end into the rushing water. he wished it would rise and take him over the edge. he wasn't considering suicide, he didn't want to jump, he just wanted the water to take him as an accident. he felt both too young and too old to be living like he was.

he didn't dare even look at the carving, afraid it would be scratched out, or worse, next to a s + b.

so it had been a while.

for stanley, it had been a bit of a different story. that night he was trying to figure out if he liked richie or bill. and despite spending the whole night at richie's, and subconsciously cuddling up to richie, he decided he liked bill. his boyfriend.

he never told bill about the night, keeping it a secret to himself. he had hoped richie hadn't remembered, and to him it seemed like he hadn't. things went back to normal, and stan stayed bill's boyfriend. his loyal boyfriend. he felt guilty, but it wasn't cheating, was it?

and anyway, he had bigger things to worry about.

yeah, sometimes bill and stanley would get in arguments, small things, but they always made it up to each other, with kisses or promises to not repeat. stan would always tell richie about their fights, but only because he was sure bill told eddie. it was petty jealousy. but they always got back together.