Chapter Text
stan and bill smiled as they put their phones down.
”we’re good friends,” stan said definitively. “they need this.”
”th-they do,” bill agreed, nodding. he laid back on the quilt the two had spread out on the academic quad, a large field of grass in the middle of campus. despite it being almost october, the days had been so up and down in temperature, and today was one of the warmer days. therefore, the two had decided to spend it by laying in the sun and hanging out. there were plenty of other students lounging around too, but they had managed to find their own little empty corner.
stan glanced over as bill laid back and closed his eyes, smiling slightly as the sun warmed his skin. stan smiled and laid next to him on his stomach, pulling out a book he’d brought and starting to read. after a few minutes, bill opened his eyes and blinked, then rolled over on his side and smiled at stan. stan looked over and smiled back.
”w-what are you r-reading?” bill asked. stan closed the book and flashed the cover.
”animal farm,” he said. “i’m doing a research paper on it.”
”for w-what class?”
stan blushed. “uh.” he closed the book and smiled sheepishly. “i’m just doing it for fun, actually. i love research.”
bill gave a lopsided grin. “you’re d-doing a research p-paper for f-fun?”
stan blushed and put his face in his hands. “i know, it’s weird and nerdy.”
”n-no!” bill said quickly. “it’s- it’s kind of cute, actually.”
stan blushed and pursed his lips, trying but failing to hide his smile. he put down his book and sat up, bill following suit. it was a calm, lazy day, with the sun setting slowly in the distance. the air was thick with unspoken tension between the two, but neither dared to say a word.
”it’s n-nice out,” bill said, finally breaking the silence.
”yeah,” stan agreed, nodding. he was kicking himself internally. he had the cutest boy in the world right in front of him, and he really couldn’t think of a single thing to say? luckily, however, bill seemed to have things to say.
”days like t-today make me m-miss my b-brother,” bill said, smiling. stan tilted his head and offered a kind smile, prompting him to continue. “g-georgie and i w-would always g-go looking for f-frogs at the creek on d-days like today,” he said. “we u-u-uuuuuused to catch them, then we’d b-bring them to e-e-eddie’s house and w-we’d prank his m-mom by putting th-them in her s-sock drawer,” he continued, laughing a little. “we always g-got them b-back safe, though.”
stan smiled. “that’s really cute,” he said. “do you have a picture of georgie?”
bill pulled out his phone and scrolled for a minute, then held his phone over. stan grinned to see a boy that looked just like bill, but with lighter brown hair and lighter blue eyes, and he looked to be about ten years old.
“oh my god, he’s adorable,” stan said, taking the phone. “how old is he?”
”almost 11,” bill said, smiling at stan’s expression, then taking his phone back. stan smiled.
”he looks just like you,” he said. “i wish i had siblings.”
bill blushed. “y-you should c-come over and m-meet him sometime,” he said, not meeting stan’s eyes. “and m-my parents, th-they’d like y-you too. y-you could b-be like another b-bonus brother to h-him, other than e-eddie. o-only if y-you w-want, of course!” he added quickly. stan couldn’t help but notice that his stutter had gotten much more prominent and his face was bright red. he smiled.
”i’d love that,” he said, cutting off bill’s stuttering. bill looked up, eyes slightly widened and lips slightly parted, looking surprised but pleased. he smiled and nodded.
the two looked up at the sky in a peaceful silence. the sunset was gorgeous. not allowing himself time to talk himself out of it, bill pulled out his phone again and snapped a picture of stan looking up at the sky. stan looked over at bill and raised a brow, smiling.
”what are you doing?” he said, laughing. bill blushed but snapped another.
”pretty,” he murmured. stan blushed and his heart skipped a beat.
”y-yeah,” he said, sounding like bill, “the sky is gorgeous tonight.”
bill looked like he wanted to say something, but closed his mouth and smiled slightly, nodding.
another peaceful silence fell over them again, this time with more tension. staring up at the sky, stan spoke.
”i really like spending time with you,” he said softly. bill looked at stan, but stan kept his gaze on the sky.
”i do t-too,” bill said, still staring at stan. all he wanted to do was lean over and kiss him. run his hands through his soft curls. hold his cheek in his hand. whisper sweet nothings to him. but he just couldn’t. unsure of what to do next, bill laid back down.
at this point, most of the students on the quad had left. the sun was almost fully set, and the lamps around campus had started flickering on. the light was so low that bill and stan could really only make out each other’s silhouettes at this point. they continued chatting for a bit, bill laying down while stan sat up. stan was watching the quad closely. when the last group of students had left, he laid down next to bill, fairly close. campus was silent, apart from the cars passing in the distance and some crickets who didn't want to accept that summer was over.
they talked for a few more minutes, then fell into another quiet. heart practically beating out of his chest, stan laid his arm next to bill’s. he could feel how close they were. ever so gently, he moved his pinky finger and touched bill’s hand.
bill’s heart skipped a beat as he felt stan’s finger against his. he blinked, then reached his own pinky out, and interlocked them. the two laid, pinkies together, unspeaking. both knew what they wanted to do and say, but just couldn’t bring themselves to do it. a little while later, bill sighed.
”should w-we go b-back to the d-dorms?” he said.
stan’s heart sank for a moment, but he knew it was time. “sure.”
the two stood up and gathered their things, heading back to the dorms and chatting. neither mentioned the contact that had happened, but neither could tell you what they were currently talking about either, because their thoughts were so focused on that moment. finally, they reached the dorms, and the two stood outside of stan and eddie’s door. stan and bill smiled at each other, then stan reached out and opened it up.
to their surprise, the room was empty.
“m-maybe they’re in m-mine?” bill said. the two went next door and bill opened his door. just the same, it was empty. weird.
“i’ll text eddie,” stan said.
Stan : Hey, where are you and Richie?
Eddie : oh we’re not hanging out
Eddie : i went to bev’s a little while ago, not sure where he is
stan frowned and held his phone over to bill. bill quickly scanned it and furrowed his brows. he pulled out his own phone and texted richie.
billiam : wya
richayy : girl from my class’s dorm
billiam : ??? thought you were hanging with eddie ?
richayy : nah
billiam : are you like
billiam : hooking up rn ?
billiam : that sounds bad i don’t need details
richayy : ur good
richayy : and yeah that’s the goal
”oh my g-god,” bill muttered. stan looked over his shoulder and read the texts.
“richie, you dumbass,” stan sighed.