#stoziersecretsanta

[ceftali]

burnin’ up a fever

This is my secret santa fic for @stansbooty for the @stoziersecretsanta.  I hope you like it!!

But I swear I thought I dreamed her…

The song was playing through a shitty speaker in the 1950s style diner.  Richie was tapping his fingers impatiently on the table while playing Angry Birds with one hand.  He had been waiting for more than thirty minutes for his friends to show up.  It was Christmas Eve and he could feel his stomach grumbling for some nourishment.  He hadn’t eaten since breakfast.  His mom and Stan had sternly warned him that he would feel this way after not eating for several hours.  He didn’t want to listen.  Though, he never listened to anyone.  

Bev had put a peanut butter and banana sandwich into his backpack (she was as sneaky as hell) and he had eaten it two bites.  Ordering a strawberry milkshake, he began tapping his foot on the ground and huffed when he ran out of lives in his game.  The doorbell chimed but it was a couple that Richie knew from school.  They laughed almost too loudly when they saw him sitting all alone in a huge booth meant for seven.  They never do this to me.  Is this a trick?  He bit his lip hard and felt tears pricking at his eyes.  God, what a fucking loser he was.  Here he was waiting for his friends like a fucking idiot.  

It had been snowing nonstop for the past few days and Derry had become even more unbearable since that fateful summer four years ago.  Maybe that’s why none of them wanted to see him.  They were all starting to pair off.  Bev and Ben.  Bill and Mike.  Stan and Eddie.  He was all fucking alone.  He had his parents and they would never let him forget them.  

Maggie and Wentworth Tozier were particularly smothering when they could they be.  His mom would always smudge his glasses whenever she kissed him on the cheek when he was leaving to meet his friends.  His dad always gave him a long hug whenever Richie was feeling upset about something.  His parents always knew even if he didn’t.  Sometimes, his friends would come over to his house and his mom would bake some of her famous chicken alfredo but left two plates aside for Stan and Eddie because she knew all of their reasons and never questioned them.  She treated them like her own kids.  All of them.  Though, she was a little more fond of Stan because of how long he and Richie had been friends.  Twelve years and Richie still hasn’t told him how he feels.  His parents know all about his hopeless crush and it always aches worse around the holidays.  Especially Christmas.  

Stan doesn’t pull away from Richie because he wants to because he has to. Celebrating Hanukkah is endlessly important to Stan and his family.  And their religion.  He’s seen his best friend picked on because of it.  Henry Bowers was just one of the several assholes who thought picking on someone for their religion made them bold and intimidating.  It just made them cowards, Richie sourly thought.  

Speaking of sour, his strawberry milkshake is starting to taste like sour cherries that have been bad for weeks.  He made a face and moved it far away from him on the other side of the booth.  He huffed out a frustrated sigh while blinking and gulping down a few years.  The doorbell chimed again and he looked up again, hopefully.  Golden curls and a stoic face.  A fanny pack with a perpetually stuck grimace on the face.  

Where are the rest of his friends?  Stan and Eddie were walking through the door and Richie’s pulse was picking up tenfold.  No, a hundredfold.  He was going batshit crazy.  His hands were shaking and tears were starting to come down his face.  Oh, shit, Rich, stop being a fucking baby, he told himself.  A small but determined voice squawked, “Why the fuck is only Rich here?  Bill told us that the rest of them would be here.”  Scratch that, he needed to fucking throw up.  Especially when he saw the worried frown on Stan’s face.  Their eyes met and his insides twisted.  Eddie took one glance at Stan and within a millisecond looked at Richie too.  He asked, “Did our friends set the three of us up on a fucking date?”  Other patrons were starting to look at them and the snooty couple from minutes before were laughing hysterically at the situation.  Fucking assholes.  Now, Richie was biting the inside of his mouth, working himself into a nervous wreck.  This was a fucking date, wasn’t it?

I’ll crawl home to her…

This song was mocking him like a mistletoe hanging in the doorway of his house.  He wants to kiss him them both so much that he’s on fire.  They still hadn’t made it to their way to the booth.  Richie could feel a string attached to his two loves but he could feel them pushing against it.  Eddie was still scowling in his direction, his nose red and cheeks burnt, most likely due to the rage seething underneath and the cold Maine weather.  Stan’s face was unreadable as ever but his lips were pursed slightly into consideration.  He whispered something in Eddie’s ear and Richie’s insides were twisting all over again.  Richie began fiddling with the rings on his fingers and noticed that he had bitten his nails down to the nubs.  Anxiety is a bitch.  He looked over to see that Stan and Eddie had their pinkies intertwined and the hot chocolate Richie had drunken earlier was starting to come up as his throat.  He loved seeing them happy but without him in the middle, to touch Stan’s cheek and mess with Eddie’s hair, it made him hopeless all over again.  

Why then did the rest of his friends decide to trick him into having a date with his two crushes? Oh, yeah, because the universe was fucking cruel.  Stan and Eddie had finally made their way over to him but they hadn’t taken a seat yet.  Typical.  Their pinkies were still locked together.  Richie’s eyes probably looked like saucers behind his thick-ass glasses.  Stan softly spoke up, “Rich, your glasses are always smudged.  Do you even see anything out of these?”

Richie smartly replied, “Of course, I can see, Stanley.  It’s impossible not to see that handsome face.”  Technically, without his glasses, he could only see blobs in front of his face but the blush on Stan’s face was worth it.  Of course, Eddie scoffed before Stan could speak again, “Richie, stop flirting with Stan, you know you fucking suck at it.” Richie put a hand on his heart in mock offense, “Eds, you’ve wounded my pride.”  He flopped over dramatically on the cushioned booth.  He could feel Eddie’s eye roll and then they both plopped themselves right across from him and Richie was burning again.  Burnin’ up like a fever, burnin’ up like a fever...damn, hot chocolate coming up his throat again.  Insides twisting up like a million knots. 

Before he could raise his hand up to call the waitress, Stan reached for his hand that was still on the table and Richie froze in his tracks.  He saw for the first time that Stan’s nose was tinged rose-red on the top and he had his favorite blue scarf on because his body temperature always ran a little lower than everybody else’s.  His matching knit cap was hiding his gold curls but there were very much visible still.  But his hands were free from his mittens and he was holding on to Richie’s hand like a lifeline.  Eddie was eyeing them with an expression that Richie couldn’t quite read.  He could always see what Eddie was feeling.  He made it clear on every occasion.  Richie dumbly said, “I just wanted a hot chocolate, Stan.  What’s wrong?”  He and Eddie were giving each other looks again.  They were speaking a language entirely unknown to Richie.

The snow outside was glistening underneath the sky.  He forgot he had been here for a few hours.  It was now dark and inching closer to Christmas.  He remembered Mike had made him chocolate chip cookies to give to Richie’s parents and his heart was all warm again because he could be at least looking forward to something tonight.  Wallowing in his self-pity, watching shitty Christmas movies, and eating a dozen cookies, while complaining about it in the morning.  After a while felt like months, Stan asked him, “Do you want to have dinner with me and Eddie?”

Richie breathed out, “Tonight?  I thought this was already a date.”

Eddie quipped, “It’s not a fucking date, Tozier.”  Richie’s heart dropped again and he plastered on a fake smile and replied, “Of course, it is, Eds. Why else would you have to come here?  You wanted to see me.”  Eddie wrapped his arms around himself and his pink sweatshirt rid up a little bit and Richie gulped while he could still feel Stan’s eyes on him when his voice clearly hummed out, “Rich, it’s just one dinner.  It’s not going to hurt anybody.” Of course, it’s going to hurt somebody, Stanley.  He’s been alone in this diner for two hours before anybody showed up to see him.  Eddie told him, “Stan brought dinner.  He knows how much you love that pizza place a few blocks over.  And those goddamn cheese fries.”  Richie’s eyes were starting to water again and he mumbled, “What about their peppermint hot chocolate?”  Stan’s stupid little nose was still a rose red and he handed over the food and hot chocolate to Richie and Richie said, “So, it is a date.”  Eddie grumbled again but he softly smiled when Stan wrapped their pinkies together while Richie shoved cheese fries into his mouth before speaking with his mouth, half-full, “I’m such a sad bitch.”

Eddie snorted in disgust and Stan raised an eyebrow before telling them, “This  whole thing was actually my idea.”  Richie froze all over again but for a totally different reason this time while Eddie spluttered in frustration though the blush on his face was evident when he quietly let out, “Stan, I told you to keep that a secret.” “Well, we both like him, Eddie, so what’s the point of hiding it from him anymore?” 

“Because it’s Richie!  I shouldn’t like Richie!” Richie cut in, “Wow, thank you, Eddie Spaghetti.  I feel really fucking great about myself right now.”

Stan was grabbing onto his hand again and then a second later, interlocked their fingers together and Richie could have melted right then and there.  Wow, this day was a rollercoaster.  

He was shoving cheese fries into his mouth again and Stan was staring at him with the fondest expression on his face even Eddie had a slight smile on his face while watching Richie.  This date was the weirdest and the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to him.  He put his feet up on the table to display his mismatching socks and sipped his peppermint hot chocolate and it burned but Stan’s smile burned brighter.  Wow, all of them together was going to be something spectacularly brilliant, right?  Eddie was listing off reasons that what Richie was doing was unsanitary but Richie could feel the affection creeping into his voice even though he was talking a million miles a minute.

Richie asked them, “So when’s the next date, boys?”

[favoriteliar-archive]

i have to say thank you to @georgiedenbrough for organizing @stoziersecretsanta because its such a truly amazing thing to see all this amazing art/fics/edits/playlists!!

this was my first time participating in something like this and its been a wonderful experience <3

[embarrassing-myself]

Hello! This year I wrote this little gift for @binarystarkillers  I hope they enjoy it!! 

Summary:

Richie has formulated a plan, he's going to impress Stan to the point where the other falls madly in love with him. There is no doubt that his plan will work, he's certain that this is foolproof. Nothing can go wrong, Richie is an expect in creating plans that only go right.

Expect everything sort of goes wrong.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21947449

[whatidoisxsecret]

My second gift for @stoziersecretsanta, this time for @starboystan :) Some cutesy morning snuggles. I had a busy week so I hope you don’t mind that it’s a little messy.

[d0gdaze]

my @stoziersecretsanta gift for @spatial-lullaby !

happy holidays my guy :^)

[repulsion-gel]

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! This is my piece for the @stoziersecretsanta !! I did some college!Stozier for my secret santa, @poetromantics ! I hope you have a very happy holiday and enjoy your gift! ^^ 💞

[bumblebaby]

start me up

so this is my gift for @surroundedbythelonely for the secret santa organized by @stoziersecretsanta!! my sincerest apologies for the slight delay, i was a little busier than i expected yesterday so i didn’t get a chance to fix it up and post it. anyway, i wanted to do something with some shit-wrecking teenage boys since my favorite personal hc is that stan lowkey goes through a rebellious phase and richie is totally behind him in it lmao. hope you like it!!

@starboystan created the moodboard and also an AMAZING playlist to go along with the fic!! i highly recommend listening to the playlist while you read because it is so fitting. listen to “my very attractive rebel bf” on spotify

—

stozier / 1.6k words / warnings: both of them smoke weed

“‘Tis the season, motherfucker!” Stan shouts, leaning out the window to gift Henry a middle finger as they skid down the road.

And they cannot stop fucking laughing. It’s almost to the point where it’s getting on Stan’s nerves since his stomach hurts and Richie keeps snorting and Jesus Christ it is so much. But when his head flops to the side and he’s staring at Richie again, when he sees the curve in Richie’s nose and the tiny curls framing his forehead and how his lips look extra full, he presses himself up against the center console, takes Richie’s chin and tries his best to kiss him.

or, richie and stan are stoned, rebellious shit-wrecking boys and hate henry bowers with their entire beings.

read it on ao3

—

Stan is much too dignified to slam his door, but he wouldn’t be lying that it would make him feel a little better.

He’s eighteen now, and he feels like he’s finally at the age where he should be taken a little more seriously in regards to being able to make decisions on his own, though his parents haven’t really understood that. The argument of that night is about his future that continued to crawl near; his father makes sure to emphasize Stan’s “potential” every other sentence when defending his stance about how he should apply to the most prestigious and private universities after graduation and gets particularly pissy when Stan brought up NYU as a first choice. Stan doesn’t know how to tell his father that not everybody in his friend group had an Ivy League-worthy transcript and that he doesn’t want to throw himself into this brand new place all by himself. New York is scary enough even with people you know by your side.

It lasts for all of five minutes before Stan storms off, his father’s voice trailing behind him, and he gently closes his door no matter how violently the desire to scream bubbles in his throat. He leans against the wall, closes his eyes, thinks long and hard about how he should take this night to himself to try and relax, hears something hit his window, and immediately opens his eyes.

He quickly walks over to the other side of the room and slides open the glass, knowing full well who’s standing in his backyard.

“Richie, what the fuck?”

He looks like shit. There’s a joint in between his fingers and despite the snow, he isn’t wearing a jacket. Stan pops out the screen as he usually did, sets it aside, and leans further out to see that Richie’s truck windows were open, which explains the faint music coming from the direction of Stan’s driveway. Stan prays to whatever holy entity is watching over him that his parents don’t hear any of this going on, or if they do that they just don’t think much of it, because the last time Stan came home after sneaking out he was in such deep shit that the smell was burned into his nostrils for weeks to follow.

“Got any big plans tonight?” Richie coos from below him.

Stan turns his gaze downwards and gives a subtle glare. “No. Why?” Richie gestures with his free hand, and after Stan gives a strong exhale, he swings his legs over the edge and carefully slides out, using the small windowsill to support himself as he drops himself into the snow.

The moment Stan is on the ground, Richie envelopes him in his long arms. And holy fuck, he stinks. It’s all weed and beer and Stan is suffocating in it.

Stan places his palms on either side of Richie’s face, concernedly looking into his eyes. “How the hell did you get here?” he laughs.

Richie gives him a dopey smile. “I’m not drunk, only a little baked. I can still drive,” he responds.

“I’m not sure that’s how it works,” Stan says with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I didn’t crash, did I?”

“Christ, Rich…” Stan mutters. Richie raises the joint in an offering manner, and Stan shakes his head. “I’m good.”

“More for me, then.” Richie shrugs and takes a drag while Stan rolls his eyes. “Anyway,” Richie begins, puffs of smoke accentuating each syllable, “so Henry’s been a dick lately, huh?”

“Henry is a dick all of the time.”

“Okay, yeah, well you get what I mean. But, as both you and I know, it’s the season of giving-”

Stan scrunches his face. “Are we going to give Henry Bowers a gift?”

Richie squints in response. “Something like that, yeah.” Stan doesn’t the chance to question any further before Richie has him by the hand, dragging him to his truck. Stan is in a Journey t-shirt, sweatpants, and the same Vans he’s had since middle school, and he’s hoping that Richie isn’t going to take them anywhere public.

Richie leads him to the passenger side of his truck and opens the door. There’s a plastic shopping bag, which Richie gestures to, and Stan opens.

Egg cartons.

Stan looks over his shoulder at Richie with a questioning smile.

“Season of giving!” Richie exclaims, throwing an arm around Stan’s waist.

“You’re so stupid.” Stan giggles. And, y'know, why not be stupid? He’s got a bunch of built-up tension from having to keep his back straight for his parents, and fucking shit up doesn’t seem awful.

Stan gives the okaying nod and they both climb into their respective seats.

“Buckle up,” Richie tells Stan as he starts the truck.

“What, so when your stoned-ass crashes I won’t die?”

“You could say that.”

As they’re driving, Stan silently questions how Richie knows where Henry lives, but he then remembers the time in middle school when Richie’s mom got so upset over the “dump-in-Richie’s-backpack” fiasco that she drove over to Henry’s house to yell at both him and his dad.

“Did Henry not see you?” Stan had asked the following morning.

Richie shook his head. “I hid in the backseat on the floor.”

Henry still tripped him at lunch later in the day.

The countless numbers of stories regarding Henry Bowers being the world’s largest asshole only fuels Stan’s anger. And of fucking course it should! When Stan looks over at Richie, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel to the drums of a New Order song Stan doesn’t recognize, his head bobbing along, his wide grin when he realizes Stan is staring at him, Stan realizes just how much he would do for him.

There’s still half of a joint in his other hand, and Stan leans over to take it. He’s not a frequent smoker, at least not to Richie’s level, but they’ve hotboxed the truck so many times in empty store parking lots to sloppily make out that Stan is genuinely surprised they haven’t gotten caught. Stan’s treehouse was another typical location, but a lot more risky for the obvious reasons.

He’s only able to get a couple of drags in before they show up, but it’s definitely already starting to kick in. They’re both giggling at each other and clambering out of the truck, parked a little way down the street for cautionary reasons, and Stan grabs the bag with the eggs. They walk up the driveway together hand in hand.

Richie removes the carton from the bag, opens it, and bows. “I’ll let you do the honors.”

Stan takes an egg, chucks it, and completely misses, throwing it into a bush.

“That was fucking terrible, dude.”

“Ok, yeah, whatever,” Stan grumbles, taking another one. This time it hits the front door with a satisfying splat, and Richie lets out a whoop. Stan shushes him, but Richie argues that they are “literally cracking eggs on a house”. Stan rolls his eyes from lack of a response.

Richie runs back to the truck, which confuses Stan until The Rolling Stones starts blasting, and then a smile stretches across his face. Richie dances his way over, pulling his hair back into a small ponytail, and loudly sings, pulling laughter from Stan’s mouth. Everything is so much more prominent now, the combination of music and obnoxious giggling is nearly deafening but in such a good, ecstatic way.

They get a few more throws in until the front door opening catches their eye. They immediately freeze.

“What the fuck?!”

Henry’s voice acts as a shrill alarm for the two of them to start running. They drop the egg carton, link their fingers together, still laughing and laughing and laughing, and thank God Henry’s driveway is long because Stan trips over his own foot and Richie has to pull him up from the pavement, and they just barely make it back to the truck.

“'Tis the season, motherfucker!” Stan shouts, leaning out the window to gift Henry a middle finger as they skid down the road.

And they cannot stop fucking laughing. It’s almost to the point where it’s getting on Stan’s nerves since his stomach hurts and Richie keeps snorting and Jesus Christ it is so much. But when his head flops to the side and he’s staring at Richie again, when he sees the curve in Richie’s nose and the tiny curls framing his forehead and how his lips look extra full, he presses himself up against the center console, takes Richie’s chin and tries his best to kiss him.

“Stan, I’m driving.”

“Okay.”

Richie places a hand on Stan’s arm and his widening smile presses up against Stan’s mouth. “I’m driving while stoned which is illegal enough-”

“Okay well, it’s not illegal to kiss me, so.”

There’s a pause.

“Well…”

“Oh, you know what I meant.”

After another minute of Stan desperately trying to get his tongue in Richie’s mouth, he finally sits back down in his seat and dangles his arm out of the window. The cold air blowing in his face is more refreshing than it is numbing, and when Richie places his hand on Stan’s knee with the guitar of “Start Me Up” filling the cab of the truck, Stan makes a mental note to invite Richie over to the treehouse the next weekend.

They pull up to the front of Stan’s house. Richie turns the music down and finally places a kiss on Stan’s lips. “Goodnight, my very attractive rebel boyfriend.”

Stan snorts. “Yeah, I’m gonna go get my ass beat by my parents.”

Richie’s laughing again.

Even though Stan gets yelled at as soon as he steps foot in the house, all he can think about while he’s laying in bed is how much fun he had and how much he loves Richie.

And also the fact that he was the worst fucking munchies.

[starboystan]

AHH!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

This is my fic for the @stoziersecretsanta (thank u kellie 4 organising ur the best <3)

My Giftee is the incredibly talented @birdboyinthedeadlights

Ship: Stozier

Title: Perfect.

Summary: Stan has always wanted the perfect apartment. Beautiful, plant-trimmed walls and matching coffee tables and dinnerware. In college, he finally gets the chance to design his own, and it is, by all means, perfect... except for one teeny-tiny head-poundingly terrible detail that ruined Stan’s illusion of the perfect apartment.

The asshole who lived upstairs.

Words: 6381

[tomsgreg]

Worst-Case Scenarios

Hey! Here’s my fic for this year’s @stoziersecretsanta!

Giftee: @rhonas-indomitable

Title: Worst-Case Scenarios

Summary:  Stan and Richie have both had things for each other for years, but when Stan confesses his feelings Richie freaks out and it leads the both of them to think the worst of their situations.

Includes: high school au, mutual pining.

Ao3 link: Worst-Case Scenarios

Stan was with Beverly in his bedroom, she was sitting on his bed while he was reorganizing his bookshelves, stacking and restacking everything until it was just right, it was a nervous habit, it calmed him down. When everything else was in order, he felt as though he himself were also in order. 

“You know Stan, I could help if you need it.” 

Stan shook his head, “No. You won’t do it right. I have to do it.” 

Beverly nodded her head, understanding Stan had his own ways of dealing with stress, even if she didn’t quite understand how they helped, “So what’s wrong, Stanny? Why are you so stressed out?” 

“Stressed?” Stan asked, turning to face Beverley instead of his shelf. “I’m not stressed at all, what makes you think I’m stressed?” 

Bev shrugged, “I know you, Stan. I know when something’s off with you. So tell me, what’s wrong?”

Stan sighed, walking to his bed before sitting next to Bev, “It’s about Richie.”

“What did he do?” She asked.

“Nothing. He didn’t do anything. He just exists and I hate him for it!” Stan began pulling at his hair, and Bev took his hands reassuringly.

“Well, you can’t exactly stop him from existing, but that’s irrelevant. Isn’t he your best friend?”

“Yes, but he’s not just my best friend. I like him, a lot”

Bev gasped, trying to seem shocked, “No way! This is new information!”

Stan rolled his eyes, “Shut up. It’s not funny.”

Bev looked down, “Right. Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Stan sighed, “I know, and I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Well, there is an obvious solution. Ask him out.” 

Stan laughed incredulously, and Bev’s jaw dropped, “What’s so funny about that?”

“I can’t just ask him out, Bev. Too much can go wrong.”

“Like what?” She asked.

“Well let me paint you a picture of my worst-case scenario” He replied. 

---

Stan took a deep breath before walking out of his final class and heading to his own locker next to Richie’s. He quickly exchanged any books he would and would not need and he waited for Richie to come from his own class. Stan was shaky, but he was determined to do this. He had to. It was the only way Richie would know how he felt, and after all, Richie deserved to know.

“Hey Stanley the Manley, what’s up?” Richie asked, opening up his locker and putting his books away before taking out the books he would need for the night’s homework.

“Oh not much, can we just talk for a second? It’s kind of important.” Stan said, his heart beating a mile a minute.

“Sure, what is it?” Richie asked, closing his locker and facing his friend. 

“I don’t know how to say this, so I just will. I like you. A lot. And I understand if you don’t feel the same way, but I thought you should know.” 

Richie stared at his friend for a minute before pointing at him and laughing. Within seconds, the whole hallway was laughing, and in minutes, the school. The noise was so loud Stan felt as if the world would explode, and then it did. 

----

“So let me get this straight.” Beverley said, “The worst-case scenario is that everyone laughs so loudly the world explodes?”

“Yes,” Stan said, nodding his head.

“Stan, not only is that ridiculous, but I’m pretty sure it’s straight out of Phineas and Ferb. And even Phineas and Ferb made it a ridiculous worst-case scenario.”  

“Well, Bev, it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s still a really big fear. I don’t want him to laugh at me. He’s my best friend and I don’t want to make things all fucked up between us.” 

Beverly took her hand from Stan’s and pat his shoulder, “Stan, you won’t fuck things up, and if he makes you feel like that, let me know and I’ll smack some sense into him. You can do this.”

Stan nodded his head and smiled, “Yeah Bev. I got this. Thank you.”

Beverley smiled back, “Anytime Stanny”. 

----

Well, today was the day. Stan was going to swallow his pride and tell Richie how he feels about him. He could do this, he would do this. Stan went through his day, less focused than usual. He hated that he’s been getting like this over a stupid boy, but Richie was his stupid boy, and he couldn’t help letting later in the day occupy his thoughts. He went through his day as normally as he could anyway, pushing through what felt like the longest six hours of his life to see Richie and tell him what he wanted to say for years. When 8th period finally let out he got to his locker as quickly as possible and took care of his books before patiently waiting for Richie to arrive. 

“Guess who, Stanny?” said Richie, covering his shorter friend’s eyes with his hands.

“Is it the cold clammy hands of death?” Stan asked sarcastically.

“My hands are not clammy,” Richie said, feigning offense and taking his hands off Stan before attending to his own locker. 

“Uh, Rich?”

“What is it?”

“Can I tell you something?” Stan said, his face red, looking down to avoid looking at Richie.

“Anything, but you have to look at me. It’s hard to hear when your words are directed to the floor, ya know?” Richie said, smiling playfully at his friend.

Stan sighed and looked up at Richie, “I like you. Like, not as a friend, and I hope things don’t become awkward, but I needed to get it off my chest.”  

Richie’s face was bright red and he was frozen still, Stan looked at him, confused, “Rich? You okay?” 

Richie shook his head, “Yeah. I, I just- I uh...gotta go!” Richie said before running down the hallway and out of the building before he even remembered to close his locker. 

Bev came up to Stan, who was still staring at the door, “How’d it go Stan?”

“He ran off.”

“He what?”

“He. Ran. Off. Thanks for the advice, Bev. Worked out well.” 

“Hey hey, I’m sorry. Let’s run to the diner by my place. We can talk about it there.” 

Stan sighed and nodded, silently following Beverley out of the building. 

----

Out of breath, Richie rang Bill’s doorbell hoping that Bill could drive faster than Richie could run. 

“Fuck, my car!” Richie screamed out to no one in particular. He got so freaked out that he forgot a car. “How is that even possible?” He asked himself.

“How is what possible?” Bill asked. 

Thank god Bill had gotten home, “Stan said he liked me and I got so freaked out that I ran off and forgot I had a whole ass car to use to get here.” 

Bill sighed, “So what? You want me to drive you back to school to get your-wait what?”

“Stan said he liked me and I got scared and ran!” 

“Fucking hell Rich, why would you do that?”

“I don’t know Bill! I got scared!”

Bill shook his head before stepping aside to let his taller friend in the house before leading him up the stairs to his room where Bill sat and Richie began pacing. 

“So what exactly happened?” Bill asked.

“Okay so I went to my locker right, and Stan was there so I was all like, 'Guess who?’ and he was like ‘The cold clammy hands of death?’ So I was like-” 

“Rich, please” Bill interjected, “Skip to the important part”

“Right.” Richie said, taking a breath, “Basically he told me he liked me and I didn’t know what to do! So I panicked and ran, and now I’m here!” 

“You didn’t know what to do?” Bill asked, “You tell him you feel the same way you absolute nimrod!” Bill says, in that voice that he wants to yell, but knows he shouldn’t because it’ll just upset Richie more. 

“I can’t do that! In fact, I can’t even hang out with him anymore!”

“And why not?”

“Well, you see…”

----

Stan and Richie sat together in the bed of Richie’s pickup truck. The pair had been there the whole night just holding onto the other wrapped up in blankets. They had brought a few beers, finished long ago when they had first arrived, but the smell on their breath still lingered. Not that Richie has been being a total creep the whole night. He definitely would never intentionally sniff his best friend’s breath, but Stan was so close. His shoulder touching Richie’s chest, looking up at him. Whenever he spoke the scent wafted up. Richie was intoxicated by the idea of gently grabbing his friend’s face and just gently kissing him. He couldn’t though. If he was going to kiss his friend he was going to do it sober. He had to, it wouldn’t be fair to Stan, or frankly, himself if their first kiss was some mistake they both made when they were tipsy off of a 6 pack of cheap beer. 

“Richie.” Stan said, lightly hitting his friend’s chest, “Rich, you okay?”

“Hm?” he questioned, coming back to reality, “Yeah I’m okay. Just got lost in thought.” 

“Whatcha thinkin' about?” 

“Just how beautiful everything is out here. It’s quiet, the stars are bright. I could live here.” Richie’s softly smiled.

“I don’t think you could live anywhere this quiet, trash mouth.” Stan chuckled playfully. He was definitely drunker than Richie was. He was smaller and didn’t drink nearly as often. Textbook lightweight, but Richie didn’t mind. Richie thought it was cute, the same way he thought everything Stan did was cute. If you asked Richie, the sun shines out of Stan. 

Richie stared at his best friend, and he took a deep breath before replying, “Maybe I could if I had you with me.” 

Stan stared back, looking at Richie quizzically, “What do you mean?” 

“I just mean I really like you, and I think even I could live out here in nature, with nothing else to entertain me, if I had you.” 

Stan kept staring, his gaze softer now, Richie’s heartbeat so fast he could hear his pulse in his ears, then Stan chuckled, “Kiss me” 

“Huh? Stan, I don’t know if we should. I mean, there’s a lot that can go wrong. What if you wake up tomorrow and you’re like ‘ew why did I do that?’ and then you start avoiding me? I don’t think I want to risk losing you.”

“Well, worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Who gives a shit about tomorrow? We can worry when it comes.”

“Stan, since when are you willing to dive into anything without thinking?”

“Since I’ve wanted to kiss you since freshman year. So kiss me before I change my mind.” 

Richie was still staring, hesitant to move. What if this was one of Stan’s weird jokes? That he didn’t really like Richie and when Richie moved and Stan started laughing? Richie was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt Stan move so that he was sitting upright facing him. 

“So? Are you gonna kiss me?” Stan asked.

Richie was still hesitant, but moved closer and gently cupped Stan’s face. He moved his face closer to the other boy’s and stopped just before their lips touched, taking a moment let himself believe this was really happening, “You know, I’ve never kissed anyone before” he said, once again pulling away. 

“Neither have I” Stan admitted before pulling Richie in and crashing their lips together. It was awkward and clumsy, but perfect. It was perfect because it was them and it was everything they wanted for years. Maybe Richie wasn’t the best kisser, but he hoped he had a lot of time to practice. 

Just as he was the one to initiate the kiss, Stan was the first to pull away, smiling “You know Rich? That was…” he paused, and Richie smiled hopefully, “horrible.” 

Richie frowned, “Horrible?”

“Yeah. Horrible. Please never speak to me again. Bye.” Stan said, getting out of the bed of the truck and heading home.

----

“And THAT, Bill, is why I can’t hang out with Stan anymore,” he said, pacing the floor just as he had been for the last 10 minutes.

“And why is that?” Bill asked, sitting on his bed.

“Because, we’ll be hanging out on a date, and everything will be normal, and it’ll be nice it’ll be just like it always is. BUT THEN! I’ll slip up, and I’ll say something stupid. And I’ll be such a bad kisser that he’ll hate me and never wanna hang out with me again!” 

“Richie, you hang out with Stan all the time. This has never been an issue before. Why is it a problem now?” 

“Because I didn’t like him before!” 

Bill scoffed, “Richie stop with the bullshit. We both know you’ve had a thing for Stan since 8th grade.” 

Richie rolled his eyes, “Fine, but now I know he likes me, and I’ll fuck it up if I keep hanging out with him! Do you see the problem now?”

“Richie if you haven’t fucked it up yet you never will. UNLESS you let him think you’re uninterested. He won’t wait forever.” 

“So why doesn’t he tell me he likes me?”

“Richie. He did. You freaked out and ran away. Now we’re here. None of which will make you seem even remotely interested in him.”

“But I am!”

“Then tell him that!”

“I can’t!” Richie said, practically yelling. 

Bill rolled his eyes, letting out a long sigh before falling back onto his bed.

“Bill?”

Bill sat back up, “Richie, everyone knows you like him. Just go for it. Clearly he likes you too, but I’ll be honest you really fucked up. Before it gets any worse, I’d go now.” 

Richie nodded, with a new determination he hadn’t had before, “You’re right Bill. Now if you excuse me, I have to go win my boyfriend back.” he said, running down Bill’s stairs and out the door

“He’s not your boyfriend!” Bill yelled from the top of the stairs.

“Not YET he’s not!’ Richie replied, once again running, but this time to Stan. 

----

“Bev, this is EXACTLY why I didn’t want to tell Richie I liked him. This is even worse than what I thought would happen.” Stan said, sitting across from Beverely in the greasy diner. 

“You think this is worse than your worst-case scenario of ‘he laughs so hard the entire earth blows up’?” 

“That was an exaggeration of my fears and you know it.” He said, twiddling his thumbs, trying to avoid biting his fingernails from nervousness. 

“Okay fine. So you think Richie turning bright red, and running away, clearly freaked out, is worse than him laughing at you?” She asked before taking a sip of her coke. 

“It is, because if he laughed at least I’d know it was ridiculous right? I’d know I had no shot. Now I have no idea. Did he run away because he didn’t want to hurt my feelings? Did he run away because he just didn’t know how to deal with his feelings?”

“Ding ding ding! It’s the second one.”

“How do you know?”

“Without throwing Richie under the bus, I know for a fact he likes you. You don’t listen to the boy talk about you for two minutes without figuring it out.” 

Stan turned his head, like a curious puppy at a new noise, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, he once compared your eyes to, and I quote, “the prettiest rocks I’ve ever seen”

Stan chuckled, “He doesn’t have much of a way with words, does he?”

“No. Which is why he ran away from you.” 

Stanley nodded, “So what do I do? Let him come to me? Go after him? I feel like I should give him space, right?” he looked at Bev, practically begging for an answer.

She shrugged in response, “How am I supposed to know, Uris? He’s your boyfriend.”

“Not my boyfriend” Stan corrected.

“Not yet,” replied Bev, smiling at her friend who finally seemed to have calmed down. 

---- 

When Richie arrived at Stan’s house he wasn’t there, and Richie isn’t sure if he was grateful for this or not. On one hand, he has time to catch his breath and find the perfect way to tell his best friend how he feels. On the other hand, he has time to think about all the ways he can and probably will fuck this up for himself. He was trying his best to stay positive, but it was proving difficult. Especially when Beverley drops Stanley off in front of his house and suddenly Richie’s hour of practicing what he was going to say felt like a minute if that. 

“Richie, what are you doing here?” Stan asked, trying to remain calm in case Bev was wrong about Richie’s feelings.

“I came to apologize about before.” He replied, sheepishly scratching at the back of his head.

“Rich, there’s no need to apologize. If you don’t feel the same way then I’m okay with that I just-”

“But that’s the thing Staniel! I do feel the same way! I’ve liked you for years, I just never thought you liked me!” 

“So when you got confirmation that I did in fact, like you, you ran away?”

Richie sighed, “Yeah. It wasn’t my proudest moment. The thing is though, I’m scared too. You’ve been my best friend for as long as I can remember. God forbid something happens and I lose you? I don’t know what I’d do without my best friend. I love you Stanny, you’re important to me. Not even just romantically.” 

Stan sighed and smiled, “I was worried about that too, but if it helps,” he said, stepping closer and grabbing Richie’s hand, “I feel a lot better knowing that if something happens, neither of us are willing to throw away our friendship.” 

Richie smiled softly, “Right. You’re right. So, does this mean we’re dating?”

“Does it?”

“Not yet,” Richie said, his soft smile becoming flirtatious. 

Stan’s face mirrored Richie’s own, “And why is that?” he asked.

“I still haven’t kissed you,” he said, pulling Stan close to him and gently pressing his lips to his friend’s. It was soft and tender and definitely not how Stan would’ve pictured kissing Richie for the first time, but it was everything Richie had imagined and more. 

Richie pulled away first, still holding onto Stan, “How was that for my first try?”

“You could use more practice, but don’t worry. So can I.” Stan replied, his smile stretching ear to ear, his eyes crinkled in the corners before pulling Richie in for another kiss.

[fuckcanontbh]

confessions in plain sight *stozier*

So this is for @ceftali in @stoziersecretsanta gift exchange! Sorry if this is late for you, but it is officially two hours into Christmas for me! This is my first time writing these characters so I apologize for any OOC-ness that happens. This is also my first contribution to the fandom, I hope you enjoy!

Note: bold lettering is Richie’s handwriting, words in [brackets] are actual song lyrics. Does contain swearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun beat down on the group, water dripped from their hair, and despite everything huge smiles were on everyone's faces as Mike told a story from the farm. Today was the first day of summer, so all of their backpacks crowded the space as well. Soon enough the group would be dry enough to get dressed and hang out in the club house until dinner time. 

"Look, all I'm saying is that half of the problems in horror movies could be fixed if the characters weren't such idiots. I mean, really? If you see the murderer, why would you scream so he sees you?" Eddie's voice was the only noise as the group headed down into the club house.  "Y-yeah. But you have to t-th-think that it's for dramatic e-effect. The character's can't always have a s-s-satis-satisfying ending." The group's leader argued further with Eddie, the two of them continuing their debate in a corner of the clubhouse. 

"You're actually going to be starting school with us next year, Mike? Maybe now you'll actually believe us on how crazy school can be! All the stories we've told you about Richie and Bev are true, and Richie told me he's got some crazy stuff planned for our senior year!" Ben's excited voice came from another side of the clubhouse, Mike and Bev sitting in front of him on bean bags the group had added when winter made the ground too cold and hard to sit on comfortably. Stan watched all of this happen and then his eyes fell on Richie, who was unusually quiet as he sat in the hammock, reaching into his bookbag for something. "What are you looking for?" Richie jumped at Stan's voice, but quickly pulled a comic out of his bag. "Nothing but the newest X-Men comic, Stanny my boy, you'll never believe the kind of shit Storm cooks up this time!" Stan peered down at Richie, but the boy's grin seemed genuine so he shrugged and sat down, looking over Richie's shoulder. ~ "Alright, we'll see you tomorrow! Meeting at my house at four, right?" Beverly had already made her way up the ladder, but Ben was still waiting for an answer from Richie and Stan. "Haystack, you know I'll be there. Can't let your mom miss me too much!" Stan's hand reached out to smack Richie before he could stop it. "Tell everyone Richie has been uninvited." Ben simply laughed at their antics and shook his head as he climbed out into the little bit of sunlight left. 

"We should probably head out soon, did you want to come over for dinner?" The blonde stood and brushed imaginary dust off his shirt and khakis. "Uh, hell yeah! Mrs. Uris makes the best food around here! Don't tell Ben I said that, his mom's cookies are good as hell." "Yeah, yeah. C'mon Trashmouth, I think mom is making meatballs and spaghetti squash." ~ Stan's house had been Richie Tozier free for about thirty minutes when Stan noticed Richie had left his bookbag next to his bed in his haste for dinner. The zipper was mostly undone and everything was one trip away from being all over Stan's floor. The boy rolled his eyes and bent down to zip it up when a small notebook caught his eyes. The book itself was simple on the outside, but it looked like a bunch of random things were also stuck into the book, making it thicker than it needed to be. It also looked like it was almost full, a slim part of the back of the notebook was still flat. 

"Just leave it alone, Stan, it's none of your business." The boy brushed his teeth and put on his matching blue and white striped pajamas before climbing into bed. Minutes seemed to drag on forever before Stan stopped fighting himself and turned on his lamp before he grabbed the notebook. "It's probably just some dumb jokes Richie's thought of...or maybe some songs he's working on?" ~ 'Science HW due Thurs 28th' 'hang out after school @ quarry' '[Somewhere I'd never ever known, right at the back of my head, it hit me like a flashlight lighthouse beam of light]' ~ "Seems like it's just somewhere for him to put all his thoughts. Wonder who the song's about..." With the idea that the book was just a glance at Richie's mind as it worked a mile a minute, Stan continued reading. ~ 'Bev is the best!! girl offered me smokes even after i had to convince her skipping mrs. hepburns class was a good idea.' 'FUCK BOWERS' 'Math HW due Tues 4th' '[Cause you talk to me and it goes over my head...]' 'operation: get haystack the girl of his dreams walk her to class!! maybe walk her home sometimes? don't offer too much help bc bev hates that! write more of his sappy poems' 'gotta stop with the your mom jokes, not funny anymore' 'why is history so boring? REMINDER: ask ben to explain' 'start saving money-no more big spending at the arcade' ~ Stan scoffed at the thought of the curly haired boy giving up his favorite past time. "What's he even need to save money for anyway? He's already gotten that truck of his." ~ 'work @ 12-9 sat, sun and @ 5-12 mon, wed, fri' 'do i have an "it" factor? don't wanna miss out on making my mark on the world.' 'i don't even think he knows he does it. soft little smile on his face when he gets to a difficult problem, who does he think he is???' 'ma and dad fought all last night again. big bill asked what was up but i didn't want to talk about it. comedy is a good distraction' 'work @ 12-9 sat, sun and @ 5-12 mon, tues, wed, fri' 'glad i saved up some money, had to buy groceries again. ma's getting real bad again. haven't seen dad in a few days.' 'can't believe i got lucky enough to have such good friends. billy invited us all over for a horror movie marathon, ben and bev were put in charge of snacks. seems operation: get haystack the girl of his dreams is in motion. good for him! now if only i could get bill, mike, eddie, and stan lovers...' '[you've been on my mind boy girl since the flood]' 'ma passed out on the couch last night, guess it's a good thing i'm a lot bigger now. carried her to bed then went for a drive.' 'i swear he gets prettier the more i look at him' 'haystack just told me he scored a date!!!' 'HW due wed 18th' 'dad came home last night. got a good earful from him. maybe i should just stop talking? not like i got the nickname 'trashmouth' for something good. wonder if anyone would even notice' 'taught myself how to make chicken alfredo, actually got ma to eat with me.' 'i think i'm gonna tell him' 'nope. not gonna tell him. there's no way it would end good. out of all of our friends he's the least likely to want me' 'they say it is better to have loved and lost than never to love at all. but then it's 2 am and all you can think about is him, and you know he isn't thinking about you' ~ Stan snapped the book shut and quickly shoved it back into Richie's bag, thoughts flooding his mind. "Who is this boy Richie is crushing on? Is it Eddie? Eddie does yell at him a lot...and they have a bunch of classes together." "I didn't know things had gotten so bad at home. Mrs. Tozier used to be a saint.." "Is Richie okay?" He couldn't pin point why, but as  he clicked his lamp off, Stan's chest hurt, but before a tear could escape his eyes he rolled over and pulled his covers up to his chin. ~ "Hey Rich, you left this at my house last night." Stan held the bag in-between them, his eyes refusing to meet Richie's, his chest still tight like the night before. "Stan the Man! My savior, got some important goods in here!" The blonde's eyebrows raised, finally looking at Richie's face just for the boy to look away quickly. "Can't lose my comic so soon now can I?"

"My mom made cookies!!" Ben walked into the living room,  plate piled with chocolate chip cookies in his hands. "Ben Handsome, you are nothing if not the son of a saint, if you know what I mean." Richie dived for the plate, one cookie already in his mouth and three in his hands. 

"Beep, beep, Richie!" Eddie scoffed and bumped the boy's shoulder, taking one cookie from Ben's plate. Stan watched as Richie's shoulders deflated, and the brunet ate his second cookie much slower. Before he could say anything Mike and Beverly's voices took everyone's attention towards the TV. 

"We're not doing more horror movies, we did that like two weeks ago!" Beverly was swatting at the movies in Mike's hands, trying to reach across him to put her VHS into the VCR player. "She's not w-wr-wrong Mike. Let's just do the Disney marathon." At Bill's words Mike sighed and gave in, backing away from the TV so suddenly that Beverly fell forward slightly. 

"Did you see that foul play my good man? Foul play I say!" Richie nudged Bill just to be shrugged off as the boy grabbed a cookie and moved to sit on the couch. ~ "I think I'm gonna go ahead and head home you guys. I'm getting one of those notorious Tozier headaches." Richie stood behind the couch as the credits to Bambi played, bookbag slung over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, bye Richie." "See ya, Trashmouth." "I think I'm gonna head out too, gotta help my mom clean up a bit before my aunt stays with us." "Dang, bye Stan." "Have fun with that Stan!" ~ "Hey Rich, think you can give me a ride?" The boy nodded and started his truck, hurriedly throwing a couple things behind the bench seat of his truck. 

"Only the best for a prince, amiright?" If Stan didn't know better he'd say Richie's ears had gone a little pink. His truck started and he pulled out of Ben's driveway onto the road. 

"Are you actually getting a headache Richie? Cause if not, I wanna talk.." His hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter but Richie put on a smile and glanced at Stan.

"Always knew you could see through me. Don't know if we can have this conversation without your mother though, she wanted to be the one to break the news."

"Oh shut up asshole." Despite his words Stan felt himself smiling as Richie snickered. 

"I just want to say I'm sorry first. Because I shouldn't have pried. But I thought it was just gonna be stupid stuff. Maybe some black mail material."

"Wait, you read my fucking journal? Stanley that's fucked dude! I would never do that to you. I can't believe you went through my bag. Guess straight cut Stan isn't as honest a man as I thought. Dude, what is your problem?"

A red light had stopped them, and Richie was able to look at Stan in the eye now, his brown eyes angry, but also coming off as slightly panicked. 

"Look, I really didn't mean to get into your heavy shit. I thought it was just gonna be full of those little doodles you do in class and some new song lyrics. I didn't read too much of it Just a couple pages, maybe three tops! It's just got me worried about you."

"What did you read Stanley? Worried I'm sick? I can't really say I'm surprised." Brown eyes rolled and he clicked his tongue as he pulled forward.

"Sick? What- no. I'm worried about your mom and dad." 

"You know that's none of your fucking business. We're just fine at the Tozier residence. Nothing has changed, Went works all the time and Ma takes care of the house. Don't start talking like you know anything about them. Get out of my car, Uris."

"Rich-"

"No, I said I'd give you a ride home, and here we are. The Uris residence. Go help your mom clean up and figure out how to stay out of other people's business."

Stan sighed and hung his head as he got out of the truck, only turning his head towards the street when Richie sped off, a cloud of smoke following him. ~ "Beverly, I really messed up the other day." "Sweetheart, Richie is known for the theatrics, don't let it get you down." "Yeah, Stan, that boy is like a rubber ball, he'll bounce back."

A shaky hand worked it's way through blonde curls, brown eyes bounced around the room, landing on Bev sitting in the window smoking, the radio sitting next to her turned down quiet enough for them to talk over, and Mike sitting criss cross on the bed. 

"Stan, what even happened? I have never seen you this worried over some little fight with Richie."

"Look, I know it was wrong, but I accidentally read his very personal journal." Stan cringed as he said the words, already feeling Mike's eyes on him when Beverly whipped her head in his direction.

"How do you accidentally read someone's journal man?" "What did you read Stan?

Mike and Bev spoke at the same time, and Bev's cigarette was out before Stan could explain. 

"Look, he's just got some shit going on at home, and he doesn't want to bother us with it...andIthinkhemighthaveacrushonEddie." "What was that last part?" "I think he mighthaveacrushonEddie." "Stan, breathe sweetheart we aren't gonna yell at you." "I think he might have a crush on Eddie and I'm not sure why I'm upset about it." 

Mike and Bev shared a knowing look over Stan's down tilt head, Bev's eyebrows raised in a silent question that Mike answered with a nod.

"You may be one of the smartest most oblivious person I've met Stanley Uris." "You've had that boy wrapped around your finger since you became friends in second grade." "Guess you just didn't realize he had you around his finger as well."

Mike's words stung at first, but when Beverly pointed out who Richie's crush was, Stan's face lit up like a light. His cheeks dusted with pink as he met their eyes.

"You're being serious. Fuck, now I've really messed up. He thinks I hate him!" ~ "This is such a bad fucking idea. He hates you right now Stan." With a sigh the boy threw the first stone at the second floor window. It took three stones for Richie Tozier to open his window, and only one glance to see Stan before he was retreating again. 

"Wait, Richie! Please, I just want to talk. Can we go for a ride?" Stan watched with bated breath as the shadow at the window hovered another moment before it retreated.

"Called that one."

And then Richie was climbing down the siding of his house.

"Be careful! Why didn't you use the front door dumbass?" All Stan got in response was an eye roll and a thumb pointing to the car in the drive way, Went was home.

"Oh." "Yeah, oh. Let's go. Been itching to go somewhere anyway." ~ The only sound in the truck was the two boys' breathing and a soft static from the radio. Stan swallowed air and watched as they passed the movie theatre. 

"Look, I really am sorry. I just want you to talk to us more. You're acting like some shitty parenting is where we draw the line, have you completely forgotten that fucking clown?"

"I know. Sorry for being a brat the other day. I just don't like people to see that stuff, I have a reputation ya know? Comedian first, dumbass second, and softie never."  Richie turned left, leading to the outskirts of town.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to ruin this perfect "class clown" persona you've got going on."

"Stanley Uris, did you just use air quotes to describe my entire personality to me?"

A chuckle escaped Richie and the truck air suddenly felt much lighter. "You're a lot more than that you know. You're more than some shitty but perfect timed your mom jokes. We keep you around for a lot more than a laugh." "What else am I good at Stan? All I do is mouth off and tell bad jokes." Brown curls came down from Richie's bun as he shook his head, leading the two of them past a sign asking visitors to come back to Derry.

"They may be bad jokes, but they still make us laugh. You're always the first one to put aside time for any of us, all we have to do is ask. And- stop shaking your head. Who took the time when we were all younger to listen to Eddie explain which of his inhalers were for what and how to administer them? Who learned how to cut hair just to help Bev save money and keep it trimmed? Who helped Mike shear the sheep when Spring started just so he could hang out with us sooner? Who practiced endless tongue twister with Bill to help with his stutter? Who did all that? Richie Tozier did. You give us everything and never expect anything back. All I wanna do is give back. God knows you deserve it."

"Hey now, don't bring the big man into this conversation." Despite the levity of what he was saying, Stan could hear the tears on the other boy's voice. 

"I didn't mean to make you cry. You just have such a big heart, and I think sometimes you don't know what to do with it...I saw the notes about a boy. You know we wouldn't judge you for that! Shit, none of us batted an eye when Big Bill came out as bisexual, so why would we care. You deserve to be happy, Rich. I just want you to be happy." 

The more he spoke, the quieter Stan's voice became and the louder his blood rushed in his ears. Silence enveloped the truck again, and soon the tires came to a stop over a patch of grass. 

"Did you mean all of that?"

Richie Tozier was not a small boy anymore, he was all long limbs of 6'2, and had developed a jawline sharp enough to cut a man, but right now, in the dim light of his dashboard, swallowed by a grey hoodie and hunched over, Richie Tozier reminded Stan of that scared boy in the sewers. 

"Every last word. And I think you should know that a little birdie told me that I might be the inspiration for some of those lovely lyrics in your book..." Glasses nearly flew off Richie's face with how quickly he shot his head up, worried brown eyes magnified by the lenses. 

"Bev, that bitch."

"I wouldn't say that quite yet. She pointed something else out to me too. She said I've had you wrapped around my finger since we met in second grade, but she also said that you've had me wrapped around your finger for a while now too. And I've got to say, she's right. Can't believe she knows me better than both of us. But yeah, Rich, you've had me wrapped around your finger since you told my mom at age six that she had better get used to you because you'd be around for a while."

Richie put the truck in park, unbuckled and shifted to be more in the middle of the truck, and the yellow of the radio highlighted the pink on his cheeks perfectly. "Stan...I don't really know what to say. Still can't believe she ratted me out like that." 

"Say you're gonna let us in more. Say she was right. Say you want to give this a shot.”

"I want to give this a shot. I'm pretty sure I've been in love with you since we were twelve." A warm hand gently took Stan's as he spoke, squeezing gently before he scooted just a bit closer. 

"Slow down there Tozier, I've only just opened my eyes to the fact that you might be it for me, let me catch up before we start tossing the L word around. Buy me dinner first at least."

A genuine chuckle and Richie moved back to his seat, his hand still in Stan's. "How bout a late dinner at-", brown eyes glanced at the clock,"-nearly one a.m?" "Lead the way, Tozier. I'll be right with you."

[fingerguneds]

merry christmas everyone!

so this is my piece for the @stoziersecretsanta exchange, and my giftee this year is the loveliest @canard-wolfhard ! i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing, morgan.

title: you look so beautiful to me now when you’re so sad

ship: stanley uris\richie tozier

summary: “… because the elevator was too crowded and I had to go on foot and there were no fucking numbers on the floors and I’ve lost fucking count and got lost…” he pushes the door into the room, still recording an audio, “…fucking twice—oh.” His phone buzzes as the message gets sent to Mike. Richie blinks. It’s not Eddie in the room.

word count: 7+k

[bobbiethegoat]

here’s my edit for @repulsion-gel hope you like it ik it’s shitty tho !! 🤍 @stoziersecretsanta

[favoriteliar-archive]

my @stoziersecretsanta gift for @beep-beep-ya-losers !!

happy holidays abba!!

[dykedarmand]

And I Hear a Voice Whisper, I’ll Meet You Right There

Flashes of Stanley Uris, Richie Tozier, and Bill Denbrough's lives as they grow up, leave, and return to Derry, Maine.

This is for @whatidoisxsecret for the @stoziersecretsanta! My apologies for being late, but I hope you enjoy!! 

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22011004

[whatidoisxsecret]

Hello! I’m a little early but I have a busy few days coming up so here is my submission for @stoziersecretsanta, and my gift is for @embarrassing-myself ! I hope you like it. :)

[stoziersecretsanta]

I have 2 questions. On the sign up forms for the url what do you want me to put in their bc I don’t really understand and what is a blacklist?

Your URL is your username so that I have a way to contact you (like my URL is stoziersecretsanta) and a blacklist is basically anything you don't like. So if you didn't like fics/art depicting underage drinking then put that as your blacklist xo