So. Um...hi. Writing this on my phone so forgive any errors. (BTW I REREAD ALL YOUR REVIEWS YOU GUYS ARE SO SWEET THANK YOU-)
NOT PROOFREAD. eh. You guys suffered through the other chapters. I reread those too. Man, there was whole words missing and no one mentioned it.
Edit: Literally almost nothing. I noticed Stan sighed twice in the first two sentences so I fixed it 'cuz it bothered me. (YOUR GUY'S REVIEWS KEEP ME GOING THIS IS AMAZING I CAN'T BELIEVE ANYONE STILL CARES ABOUT THIS STORY-)
Shermie still didn't know.
The door shut with a soft click and Stan sighed as he pulled away. He stared at his feet as he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. Turning, he padded quietly towards the kitchen, flicking on the light. He blinked as an almost blue light lit up the room. He didn't grab anything to eat as he slumped into one of the kitchen chairs, his head spinning with thoughts he couldn't seem to get in order.
Amelia was a really nice girl. She was kind and hardworking and beautiful in her own way. He was proud of Shermie for finding and managing to keep a catch like her this long. Although she was a bit quiet, she laughed at all of Stan's jokes, so at least she had a good sense of humor.
Stan couldn't help wondering how she would react. How her perception of him would change once she knew how...how he'd failed.
You didn't fail, he did.
Stiffening, he shook his head as a voice that sounded suspiciously like their mother rang through his head. Okay, sure, their dad was a jerk, but he had still failed. He couldn't keep it a secret. He'd been weak.
Weak, pathetic. His father's spitting words made him shrink back into the chair, his arms going over his head. He ran his hands down his face and groaned. This was not something he wanted to deal with at the moment. He had more important problems than his neglected self-esteem. He settled his head on the table and tried to focus. How was he going to tell them? Tell Shermie?
How was he going to tell the truth?
It wasn't exactly something he had ever been good at. At some point, his mother had teased him for being better than her, when he managed to run one of her 'psychic' phone calls without a single hitch. Lying was easy. Lying was giving people what they wanted.
Sometimes, lying is what people needed.
Oh, how he wished he could lie his way out of this one. He knew he couldn't, however, not with this. He could make light of it, joke around and make it seem better than it was, but he couldn't lie. As soon as Ford glanced the bruise on his shoulder, that route had completely dissipated from his radar.
"Stanley?"
Stan jumped, making the chair squeak against the tile. Shermie raised a questioning brow and pulled out a chair for himself on the other side of the table. "What are you doing up?" He asked with a small smile as he sat down.
Stan stared at him blankly for a moment before letting his head fall with a thud unto the table. Shermie gave him a look as if he wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. He quickly reached out and rustled Stan's hair.
"Heh, I'm not sure what to do with that, bro." Shermie stood up again and stepped toward the fridge. "Well, I can tell you why I'm up. Amelia snores like a bear. I love her, but It's unnatural and very loud." Shermie snorted. "You think I would've gotten used to it by now." He pulled open the fridge door and brought out a jug of milk.
"Anyway, I thought I'd grab something to drink. Want any?" He shook the gallon of milk tantalizingly. Or as tantalizing as a jug of milk could get. Stan rolled his head to the side to give Shermie a scrutinizing glare out of one eye before lifting his head off the table.
"Yeah, sure. Can't hurt." He leaned back into his seat as Shermie grinned at him.
"Ah, there we go. The shadow of the night does speak. And why might this all mighty demon be haunting me at this hour?" As he spoke, he inspected a pot before deeming it safe for use. He set it on the stove and poured in a decent amount of milk.
"Oh, so I'm a demon now." Stan couldn't help but laugh once. "Last time I was here I thought I was the Cheshire cat." He grinned as wide as he could, and Shermie chuckled.
"That's hasn't changed. You're just a demonic version. Like in that horror spoof of Alice and Wonderland." Shermie opened up the cupboard above his head and pulled out a can. Stan had to squint to read the label. His smile was slightly more genuine.
Hot chocolate, in the middle of summer? What on earth was Shermie thinking? He smirked.
"So, you are still drinking cocoa in the middle of the hottest season of the year." He gestured loosely towards the can on the counter and Shermie shrugged.
"What can I say, I have good taste." He cracked off the lid with a grin and pulled out two mugs from the neighboring cupboard. "I know you want some."
Stan pretending to think about it for a minute, crossing his arms, before laughing. "Heck yeah, I do. Just don't tell Stanford." His eyes glittered mischievously. "You know how horrible his sweet tooth it. He wouldn't even wait to boil any water or milk before just straight up eating the powder."
Shermie's face fell into false seriousness. "I don't know how he does it. Didn't we catch him eating straight coffee beans once?" He turned off the stove as the milk started bubbling. Stan chuckled softly.
"Heh, yeah. I think that was during finals two years ago or somethin'. Man, I hated middle school." Stan held his head, on one hand, his elbow resting on the table. Stan's smile fell and he stared unseeingly at the other wall. Shermie watched him zone out with a small frown. He thought maybe he'd done a good job distracting Stan, but he supposed Stan was caught up in his own thoughts tonight. With smooth, practiced (he really loved cocoa) movements, Shermie topped off the mugs and brought them slowly to the table, setting one in front of Stan before sitting down.
"Stanley?" Shermie snapped his fingers and Stan blinked.
"Hmm. Oh! Thanks." He picked up the mug by his hand and took a long hard gulp. Shermie's brow furrowed in concern. It was scalding hot, how on earth!?
"Um, Stan, are you okay?" Shermie took a careful sip of his own drink. "I mean, did you even feel that!?" He folded his hands around his mug. "Why are you up?" He leveled his eyes earnestly at Stan and Stan seemed to shrink back as he waited for an answer.
Stan stared at him with wide eyes and laughed nervously. "Um. Couldn't sleep."
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Stan lifted his mug back to his lips and gulped again before answering. He sighed bitterly, turning away. "Not exactly." He grumbled. Shermie's eyes softened.
"C'mon Stanley. You can tell me anything you know." He smiled softly as he crossed his heart. "See? I'm like a vault." Shermie smirked. "A chamber of secrets!" His smirk blew into a grin and Stanley huffed with amusement.
"Haha, Harry Potter, yeah I get it. That might actually be the only fiction book Ford's ever read. Other than the one guy, Tolkien? I dunno."
"You're getting away from the topic." Shermie gave him a knowing look and Stan huffed.
"Yeah, I'm just great at that." His face fell again and Shermie frowned.
"Please, Stanley? I can't help if you won't tell me." Shermie ran a hand over his chin. "Does Ford know?"
Stan nodded and his eyes seem to grow more grievous. He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Unfortunately..." He mumbled. Shermie seemed to contemplate something.
"So it isn't a nightmare?" He asked. Stan glared at him suspiciously.
"What are you playing at? Twenty questions?"
Shermie shrugged. "Do you want to play twenty questions? You still haven't told me what's wrong."
Stan pushed his mug away and set his head into his arms on the table. He bit his lip. Shermie needed to know. They wouldn't have a place to stay after the next few days if he didn't say anything. He felt nauseous just thinking about it.
He'd caused so much trouble. He'd failed his family and he was going to do it again if he didn't say something.
He didn't look up as he whispered. "Shermie...what do you think of dad?" Stan glanced up once to see his reaction before burying his head again.
Shermie blinked in shock. That wasn't what he was expecting. He thought about it for a moment. "Oh. Well, I guess he can be a bit harsh, but he seemed to care, even if it was deep, deep down. Why?"
Stan groaned internally in relief. Shermie had been safe. Shermie was safe. It was only Stan...
Only Stan Filbrick ever really hated. He sighed and cleared his throat. Alright, so Shermie didn't know. That was a good thing.
It's like a bandage. Just rip it off.
"Shermie...how long can we stay here?" Stan asked, swallowing. Shermie straightened up seriously.
"As long as you want." He smiled, but his brow was still scrunched in concern. "I missed you guys. Stanley, what does this have to do with anything?"
Stan coughed. "Um. I didn't want to tell you this in front of your girlfriend..." He looked up and bit his lip. He didn't know why this was so hard now. He managed to just say it to his mom.
Of course, he'd still been in shock when that happened. It was easy telling someone he trusted something like that when his mind was still trying to figure out what the frack had just happened.
"We left the house and...and Pa. For good." Stan waited to gauge Shermie's reaction and continued to bite his lip as he waited.
Shermie's face blanked with surprise for a moment before a shadow fell over his features and his eyes seem to grow darker, like a powerful ocean storm. Shermie growled,
"What did Filbrick do?"
MUAHAHAHA. I AM THE EVIL. MWHAHAHA.
Guys, this guest who keeps commenting on my old stories, bless you good person, (I LOVE IT WHEN YOU GUYS DO THAT) understands my humor. Like they thought it was funny that I was drunk on Tumblr and popsicles. NO ONE ELSE MENTIONED THAT- XD
I WAS WORKING ON THIS STORY WHEN I GOT A REVIEW ON IT. After weeks of no reviews. Same thing for colors and matches. Sorry for the slow updating on this...I've been working on other things, and those have been updated super slow too, but I'm not abandoning! I swear! I was held captive by an anti-writing fairy called Life. She is very rude. But unfortunately I was not strong enough to overcome her and now I must bend to her will.
Hey! Don't die, have some cake for me and please enjoy this installment I totally left on a cliffhanger on purpose.
Idk if anything makes sense anymore.
