timing : stozier

47

december 23/24

stanley's mouth genuinely dropped open, just purely in shock. stanley looked back up at richie, whose entire face (and ears) were red, but a tiny smile was on his face. he looked shyer than stanley had ever seen him in his life. his hand was even shaking a little.

"o-h congratulations!" stanley remembered to be a normal person, just for a second, "that's so exciting, wow." richie nodded small and couldn't make eye contact with stan.

"yeah... his name is axel, we actually just moved in together. he's sweet... um... we met in the aforementioned gay boarding school," richie trailed off, as if he was thinking of the story about how they met.

"cool, wow. it is mind-boggling to think that some people we know from high school are getting places with their lives. like, tristan hemlock? i saw the other day that he makes dumb alpha male videos and calls himself a social media influencer." stanley filled the silence, rolling his eyes at the thought of tristan hemlock.

richie suddenly remembered beverly's birthday, getting beat up by tristan, and being miraculously nursed back to health by stanley in his bathroom.

"yeah, that seems about on character for him. he was always a jackass. oh man, can you imagine what connor bowers must be doing right now? still pining over tristan, honestly," richie laughed, stanley raising an eyebrow a hint of a smile on his face.

"wait, what?" stanley asked, confused.

"oh yeah, connor totally had a crush on tristan. it was funny, honestly, he was so repressed... man..." the two laughed about it, discussing more about the old kids at their high school. they talked for a while, neither really going into specific details about what they were doing now, instead focusing on the past. 

richie's phone buzzed incessantly and he looked downwards, the smile on his face faltering softly. he looked up to stan and held up one finger, answering the call.

"hey, i'm sorry, i lost track of time," richie said into the phone, his voice hesitant, but a smile relaxed on his face soon enough. 

"yeah, thank you. i love you too," richie mumbled, stanley feeling extremely awkward. now knowing who else was on the other side of the phone, stan leaned back onto the wooden back of the booth, sighing. 

richie ended the call and put his phone in his pocket, stan nodding before richie had even said something.

"you should get going. i should get going. it was really nice seeing you," stanley stood up, his hands dug deep into his pockets. richie agreed, standing up as well.

"yeah, we should catch up more sometime," he smiled softly. "give me your number?" 

"absolutely no fucking way," bill murmured, eddie walking up to him from behind. eddie wrapped his arms around bill, who was listening to stan talk through the phone. 

"i'm not fucking joking. he-he was in the cafe, and he looked the same but like, better, i swear to god i almost had a heart attack." stanley rambled, pacing his apartment. 

"what's going on?" eddie asked, bill putting a hand on eddie's arm. bill turned around to face eddie and eddie loosened his grip, looking up at bill.

"stan--he saw richie today," bill said, eddie's mouth dropping open and his eyebrows furrowing. he mouthed, "what?" and bill put his phone on the table on speakerphone. "stan, eddie's here now too." 

"yeah, what happened?" eddie asked, interested as bill sat down at the table. eddie went back to the bagel he had been making, listening intently.

"i went to the cafe and he was just sitting there, drinking a coffee by himself. he's moved to syracuse... well... he's moved to syracuse because he's engaged." stanley's voice hitched at the end of the sentence, bill and eddie's heads snapping towards the phone.

"what the fuck?" bill responded, purely a shock response.

"i know! and i shouldn't expect him to be... still... but i'm..." stanley sighed, eddie and bill both knowing the words stanley wanted to say but couldn't admit.

"you are?" eddie asked, taking a bite of his bagel. stanley was silent. they all knew what stanley's answer was. 

"of fucking course i am." stanley muttered. bill looked to eddie, and they shared a look. 

"so... how was he doing?" bill asked, trying to change the subject a little bit. eddie pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair. stanley blew air out his nose.

"he's alright. i guess he was hesitant because it was me... but he gave in. soon enough we were talking like normal, i guess, it's been a long time. i really have missed him." stan replied, "i even got his number so that the four of us could catch up with him or something,"

"that sounds nice," eddie commented, bill nodding in agreement despite the fact stan could not see.

"we could do that soon, yeah?" bill asked aloud, fumbling with his thumbs. 

stanley smiled to himself, "yeah."