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Richie’s hands tightly gripped the handlebars on his bike, pedaling quickly, but not fast enough that the uneven Derry streets would cause him to fly off his bike. He may or may not have learned that the hard way.. quite a few times.Stan had called him, asking if he wanted to come over and study. Richie immediately declined the studying offer, instead proposing Stan study, and just tell him everything he needs to know in the class they shared right before the test occurred.Obviously, Stan protested, but Richie hung up before he could get too upset.He made it to Stan’s house unscathed, and knocked loudly on the door.Stan’s father answered, glaring at Richie’s fallen bike on the lawn behind him, “Stanley’s upstairs.”“Thanks Mr. U!” He ignored the loud sigh that Stan’s dad let out, and quickly bounded up the stairs. He called out in a sing-song voice, “Stanny!”Stan replied, deadpan, “Come in.”Richie opened the door to Stan’s room, and found him at his desk, glaring daggers at the book in front of him.“Hi.”Stan looked up, “Hey.” He smiled, and Richie felt his face flush. “Did you not bring any books?”“I was serious on the phone.” He sat down on Stan’s bed, grinning.“Of course you were.” He dragged his hands over his face, leaning back in his chair. “You know I can’t focus with you around.. which I blame you entirely for.”“Widdle ol me?” Richie pouted, and fluttered his eyelashes in Stan’s general direction.“Ew.” He rolled his eyes, suppressing a smile. “Ugh, do you want to go to the quarry or something? It’d be nice to get out.”“I just biked all the way here.” He drew out the last syllable, flopping over onto Stan’s bed.Stan paused for a moment, “I could drive.”“Bullshit.” Richie sat up, his mouth agape. “You got your license?”“Yep.” Stan smiled proudly.“Fucking finally, dude!” Richie jumped up and spun Stan around in his desk chair. “No longer will you have to sit in my passenger seat as you correct every illegal turn I make!”“It also means I won’t have to smell the weed on your breath every morning when you drive me to school.” Stan stood up, only slightly dizzy from the spinning.Richie leaned in, “You love smelling it.”“My dad sure doesn’t.. asshole.” Stan was grinning. He backed up, pulling away from Richie, “However, you taste better without it.”“Come onn..” Richie tugged Stan towards him again by the arms. “Kiss me!”Stan laughed, struggling to keep a straight face, “Shh!” He looked at Richie’s face sort of in the same way he looked at the books he’d bring when he went bird watching. An almost intrigued look..“I’ll go smoke something, just for you, Stanny.” Richie spun Stan around like he was about to dance with him, but instead pulled him close, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.“Shut up, you dick.” He could feel his own heart rate speedup.He lowered his voice, grinning, “We could go to that bridge where couples go and make out.”“I’d rather jump off the bridge, I think.”“You’re no fun.” He put a hand on Stan’s cheek, patting it.“When have I ever been?” He leaned into Richie’s hand, smiling a bit. His eyes closed for a moment, “Look, I’ll drive. I need to get out of the house.”“Kay.” Richie kissed him on the cheek forcefully, his hand still cupping the side of Stan’s face. “I bet you drive like an old man.”Stan was too busy wiping the spit off of his cheek to offer a retort.“You bringing your bird stuff, or..?”Richie could practically feel Stan’s excitement after saying that, “I can.” He looked up, his eyes shining.“As long as you let me pick the music in your car.”They stared at each other for a moment before Stan conceded, “Fine, deal.” He shook his head, and neatly packed a few thin notebooks and a box containing his binoculars into a bag. “I don’t have many options for music, so you’ll kind of be missing out.”“No fair..” He frowned, elaborately draping himself over Stan. “You are so terrible to me, Stanley.”“I sure am.” He ruffled Richie’s hair, and pushed him off of him so he could sling his bag over his shoulder. “You still insist on coming with me everywhere though.”Richie’s dramatic frown quickly turned to a smile, “Yeah.”Stan hummed, gently planting a kiss on the side of Richie’s face, “Come on, loverboy.” He smirked at Richie’s shocked expression, and headed out of his room.Richie stood in the hallway, watching Stan lightly knock on his father’s office door, “We’re heading out to the Quarry.”His voice responded, but he didn’t bother to open the door, “Be back for dinner.”“Yes, sir.” He rolled his eyes, sighing, but not loud enough for his father to hear.Richie pantomimed Stan, mouthing his serious “Yes, sir,” and Stan rolled his eyes, smiling as they left the house. He unlocked the door to his dad’s old car, hopping in the driver's seat as Richie slid into the passenger side.Richie watched Stan slowly pull out of his driveway, “Your car smells like old people.”“At least it’s not weed.” He didn’t look at Richie, his eyes intensely focused on the road.Richie dug through the various cassettes, since the car was too old to have a built in CD player.“Ugh, you do have no music.” He shoved a random tape into the slot, and listened as it played an instrumental to a song he had never heard before.“I told you.”“Can’t believe you lied!” Richie dramatically lowered back his seat, sinking into it.Stan glanced over at him for a second, glaring. His hands gripped the steering wheel, making his knuckles nearly white.They arrived at the Quarry, and like always, there weren’t any cars parked in the parking lot. No one besides the Losers and other younger kids found it a hospitable place to hang out.The pair began their walk down the haphazardous trail that led down into the main swimming area. They didn’t plan on swimming, but the small beaches were secluded enough from anything that if there were people, they wouldn’t be bothered.“Stan.” He grabbed Stan’s arm to get his attention.“Hm?” Stan glanced at Richie, who was pointing ahead of him. “Oh.”There was a group of kids in the lake, swimming around how the Losers commonly did in the summer. They either were ignoring or didn’t notice the pair slowly approaching from the top of the cliff.Stan watched them for a moment before speaking again, “They won’t bother us, Rich.”“If you’re sure.”He tilted his head, eyes still on the group in the water, “Yeah.” Quickly, he turned to Richie, planting a kiss on his forehead, since he was lower down on the trail than him.“Hey!” He swatted at Stan, grinning. Several of the kids turned to the noise, and Richie spoke again, “Sorry! Keep doing whatever the fuck it is you’re doing!”This elicited some laughs, including one from Stan. They eventually made their way down, and headed over to one of the more secluded areas, covered by bushes and trees.Stan sat down against a tree, his books piled neatly beside his empty bag. His binoculars hung around his neck, and Richie quickly laid his head on Stan’s lap.“I might just take a nap right here.”“It’d be nice to have some quiet.” Stan twirled Richie’s hair around his fingers absentmindedly.He smiled, “You can’t expect quiet going somewhere with me.”“I’m well aware, Rich.” He picked up his binocular, staring up into a tree across from him. “Cardinal.”Richie sat up, squinting at the tree, trying to spot the red feathers, “I don’t see it.”Stan leaned over, pointing him in the direction of the bird, “Here.”“I don’t think I’ll ever understand how you’re so good at spotting birds.” He looked at Stan’s concentrated face, and felt a blush spread across his own face.“Practice.” He locked eyes with Richie, his face heating up after seeing his expression. Stan looked away, trying to find anything else to focus on, “Look, do you see that tiny bird up there?”Richie searched the tree, before eventually finding the small bird Stan was talking about, “Woodpecker?”Stan’s face lit up, “You remembered!” He slipped the binoculars from around his neck and handed them to Richie. “Here, you try and find something.”He took the binoculars, scanning the trees for any kind of movement. Eventually, he found a bird with a red head and brown body, in almost a gradient pattern.“It’s red and brown, up there.” He pointed to where he was looking, and Stan followed his eyes.“House finch, I’m assuming.” He leaned onto Richie, looking into the binoculars he was holding. “You’re getting better at this, Rich.”All Richie could focus on was Stan pressing into him, and their closeness. He nodded, his mind turned to mush, “Thanks.”Stan smiled, looking down, “Sorry for always dragging you to do this shit. I know you’d much prefer going to the arcade or to see a movie.”“I really like seeing you get happy over this shit.” His mouth fell slightly agape after saying that, not really intending to say it out loud.“Really?” It looked like his eyes were watering, like he was about to cry.“Yeah.” He nodded, his eyes falling to Stan’s lips.“Cool.” He smiled, and looked back into the treetops.“Stan.. I- uh.” He shut his eyes tightly, trying to get some sort of words to appear. “Can I..”Stan looked back at him, his expression unreadable, and he just nodded.Richie leaned in, pressing his lips into Stan’s, somewhat haphazardly. He felt Stan’s hands on the side of his face, and he moved his own to the back of Stan’s head. His eyes were tightly shut, and he felt his glasses pressing into his nose bridge.As they pulled apart, Stan looked shocked, and he futilely tried to hide his grin.Richie breathed heavily, his face pink, and he managed out, “Better than Eddie’s mom.”Stan stared at him for a moment, shocked, before shoving him over, “Shut up!” He was fully grinning, and he stood up, trying to avoid Richie.“Come on, Stanny!” He grabbed at Stan’s ankles, laughing.“Only you could ruin a moment that quickly.” He kicked at Richie’s hands, and couldn’t help but laugh.“It’s practically my job.” He stood up to take a bow, and found himself in a tight embrace from Stan. “What’s this for?”Stan shrugged, “Let me hug you, asshole.”“Okay.” He let out a breath, gripping onto the back of Stan’s shirt. “Can I kiss you again? I won’t bring up Eddie’s m-“Stan kissed him, his hands tightly gripping the sides of Richie’s face. Richie smiled into the kiss, listening to the sound of his own heartbeat mixed with the birdsong from the trees above.