Author's Note: Because Stenbrough deserves more love and it was requested ; )

It started like any other family dinner in the Uris Household. Stan was at his usual place, between his parents with his mother at one end of the table and his father at the other. He had resorted to carefully sectioning off the food on his plate out of boredom as he barely listened to the same conversations his parents seemed to have every night.

His mother was saying something about an upcoming event at their synagogue, her status as the Rabbi's wife making such things a priority.

"—And of course Stan can sit with the Cohen's because of Eliana—"

"Eliana?" Stan broke in, confused. Ellie Cohen had known him since they were children. They'd seen each other almost every week since they were born at the synagogue and had attended each other's bar mitzvah and bat mitzvahs. She was okay, Stan guessed. "Why because of Eliana?"

A light chuckle slipped from his mother's lips as she glanced across the table to her husband and Stan felt his ears burn. He felt like the butt of some joke that he didn't understand and he didn't like it. "Well, we know how you feel about her, Stanley."

"How I—" Stan echoed, utterly lost for a moment until realization hit him. His parents thought — what? — that he had feelings for Ellie? That shipped had longed since sailed, since he was a year into something special with someone else, not that the Uris' parental unit had any knowledge about that yet.

"I'm not dating Eliana Cohen." Stan said firmly, leveling his gaze first to his father and then to his mother.

Shifting uncomfortably, Mrs. Uris' cheeks tinted pink, "I didn't say you were, dear. I just thought that maybe one day you—"

"I'm never going to date Eliana Cohen." Her son tried again, keeping his voice as clear as possible. He almost continued on to say that he was taken and not planning on dating anyone else possibly ever but instead he settled on, "I mean, I barely know her."

Stan's father snorted, "She's young, fertile, and from a good family. What more do you need to know?"

Looking incredulous, Stan blinked, "More than just that, Dad."

"Okay, you two, no fighting over a home cooked meal." Mrs. Uris cut in with a warning tone. She was used to the disagreements between her husband and son that had been nearly constant in the household since Stan started high school. Her husband now endlessly complained how their son had once been such a quiet, respectful boy…

Continuing, the woman sighed, "Stanley, dear, how can you say you'll never see Eliana when, like you said, you barely know her? Maybe you'll actually like her? She really is a sweet, good girl."

Stan knew deep in his chest that it didn't matter how 'sweet' or 'good' Eliana Cohen was, she'd never compare to what he already had. The problem was as perfect as what he had was in his opinion, he knew his mother and father would never agree. Feeling a swell of courage and confidence bubble up in his chest, he sighed.

"She might be but I'm," He hesitated before pushing on, "unavailable."

His parents looked at each other, confused.

Mr. Uris cleared his throat, "You're unavailable? Since when?"

Stan silently straightened the unused silverware sitting beside his plate and shrugged, "A while."

"Oh, dear!" His mother suddenly exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "That's great! Who is it? Do we know her? Or can we meet her?"

Her, her, her… Stan cringed internally. He had known that his confession would lead to his mother raising questions and assumptions such as these. A part of him, the part that he managed to silence and bury most of the time, wished that her assumptions were right, that there was a pretty, perfect she behind his words.

Life didn't work that way though and Stan instantly felt guilty for being even a little ashamed of what he did have.

"Yes," He spat out, sounding strangled, "Tomorrow for dinner."

His mother grinned and nodded, giving her husband a look of excitement. Mr. Uris eyed his son suspiciously before digging back into his meal. Neither of them realized their son was already having a panic attack over what he'd just agreed to.

"St—Stan, we don't have t-to—"

"I do, Bill. I have to." Stan cut off his boyfriend as they climbed out of Bill's silver '85 Camero. Meeting halfway in front of the hood, the boys stopped inches apart, their breaths misting in the space between from the chilly air. "I'm tired of feeling dirty and wrong. I want to be honest about you, about us."

Bill's gaze flickered away, a small smile playing on his lips and he shook his head, "O-okay, yeah. I u-understand."

And Stan knew he did because Bill always did. People never really got Stan and he had always thought it made sense. He was odd, he liked bird watching, was severely OCD, and had the quirkiest sense of humor. He knew he wasn't everyone or really anyone's cup of tea and he had long since grown used to the looks of confusion and mild concern.

Bill never looked at him like that.

Instead, Bill looked at him with endless patience when he had to wait an extra ten minutes for him to straighten his tie just right before they left for a party. Bill looked at him from across a room like he already missed him. Bill Denbrough looked at him like he made things better instead of further complicating them.

No one else had ever looked at him like that and it made Stan breathless.

Nodding, Stan turned his head to look up at his house, "They're going to hate me."

"They're not." Bill countered, taking Stan's cold hand and starting toward the front door. "H-how could they? I-if anything, they'll ha-ate me."

Stanley cocked his head to the side and sighed, "Yeah, they probably will."

Bill paused and quirked an eyebrow at his boyfriend, "You know y-you're sup-p-posed to say the same th-thing I did, right? The b-b-bullshit about how they won't?"

"I mean, they'll hate you on principle, Billy. You're a guy and you're dating their son. It won't be you they really hate, just the fact that I'm," He cleared his throat and nearly pulled his hand from Bill's but the other boy gripped on tighter. "you know, gay."

Bill sighed heavily, trying to think of something to reassure his boyfriend. He didn't honestly know how Stan was feeling. His own parents knew he was dating another boy and while they weren't excited, they had all silently agreed to just not talk about it. Bill did what Bill did and his parents were fine with that as long as he didn't get himself killed.

"M-maybe they'll only hate th-that I'm a Gentile?" Bill suggested with a quirk of those full lips.

Stan paused for a moment before pulling the front door open. Without thinking too much, he quickly leaned forward and pressed a hard, steady kiss on Bill's lips. The other boy's eye fluttered shut for a breath before he felt Stan pull back.

"Wh-what was that for?" He asked, grinning a little dazed.

Stan shrugged and drug his boyfriend into the house.

Mrs. Uris had obviously heard the front door because, within seconds, she was whirling into the entry hall from the kitchen. She was smiling broadly and opened her mouth to speak before catching sight of her son's school friend, Bill Denbrough.

"Oh! Hello, Bill. Stan didn't tell us you were coming to dinner as well—"

Stan cleared his throat and flexed his fists nervously at his sides.

"Actually, Mom, I did." Taking a deep breath, he slipped his hand back into Bill's and squeezed hard. Bill squeezed him back and shuffled closer so that their shoulders brushed. "I told you."

Mrs. Uris looked bewildered, "No, dear, you said that you were bring—"

She stopped, face going pale, and a hand flew over her mouth. Her eyes, the exact same shade as Stanley's, darted between the two boys and Stan felt like his heart would pound right out of his chest. The only thing keeping him from a panic attack was Bill's firm grip and steady presence beside him.

Just as his mother began to drop her hand as if to speak, Mr. Uris came thundering in.

"Is Stanley home yet? Dinner will be cold by the time he gets here with this girl of his." He looked around and spotted his son by the door. "Oh, there you are and William Denbrough, good to see you, son. How're your folks?"

"Uh," Bill's eyes darted between his boyfriend, his boyfriend's father, and his boyfriend's mother. "G-Good, sir."

"Glad to hear it." Mr. Uris commented before turning his gaze on his son, still oblivious to the tension in the room, "Now where is this girl, Stanley?"

Stan swallowed, looking to Bill for some extra courage. The boy smiled at him with those beautiful, bright blue eyes and full, sweet lips. He ran a thumb over Stan's tense knuckles and nodded a little at him.

I'm right here, right beside you.

"Dad—"

"She broke up with him, honey!" Mrs. Uris exclaimed suddenly, moving forward to grip her husband's arms. "They broke up and Stanley's a little shaken up. Bill came to cheer him up, such a dear boy, he is. Why don't you go set the table and I'll get the boys settled and washed up so we can eat?"

Stan and Bill looked at the woman in confusion as she maneuvered her husband from the hallway. Once Mr. Uris was gone, Stan's mother turned back to the boys. After a moment, she dashed across the room and threw her arms around her son, pulling him into her chest like she had when he was just a child.

Bill stepped back, releasing his boyfriend's hand as the boy's mother planted kiss after kiss on his forehead, cheeks, and nose. There were tears in both Stanley's eyes and his Mom's as she rocked him in her arms.

"I—I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't know how to tell you." Stan hiccuped into the fabric of her dress.

Stroking his curly hair, his mother hushed him and shook her head, "Don't you be sorry, Stanley. Don't ever be sorry, dear." Pulling back, she took his face in her hands and made him meet her eyes, "I thought that maybe you were. I've seen how you look at Bill and it's okay. It's okay, dear."

She looked over her son's shoulder to smile tearfully at Bill. "Neither of you be sorry. You can't help how you feel just…" She trailed off with a sigh before gazing back at her son, "We can't tell your father right now. He's too stubborn and he won't even try to understand. Just, give it some time, okay?"

Both boys nodded, numbly.

Mrs. Uris sighed and took a step back, wiping her tears away, "Now, you go wash up and then we'll eat together like a family," She emphasized the last part while smiling at Bill. "And I promise, boys, we can talk about this at some point but tonight—"

"Just give it time." Bill and Stan finished in sync, their hands finding each other once again. They would have to talk to his father one day, someday, but until then Stan decided he would just keep saying that he was absolutely unavailable.