AN: Mind you this is the 80s. Just a heads up.
"S-s-so if y-you hear anything w-w-weird from G-Ge-Georgie, just ignore him p-please," he asked softly.
"But what's in there?," Stan was clearly missing an aspect of this story that would glue everything together. Is it an actual book? Is it a bunch of Bill's drawing that are "not for children"? Is it depressing poems that are far too personal for even Georgie to read? Bill pulled back at his question, he noticed, so it must have been something personal. Not a real book then.
"It's...," Bill started weakly. Stan waited for his friend to get his words together. "It's m-many things..." Stan didn't say anything but gave him an expectant look. "It's... k-kind of," he mumbled the last part, purposefully obscuring his voice. Then Stan had an idea that fit perfectly.
"Like a diary?," he asked nonchalantly. Bill shot up, sitting up straight as a board and looking at his friend with wide eyes.
"W-w-what? N-n-n-no! J-just a n-n-notebook that I-I keep th-things in." Bill was slowly turning a shade of crimson despite himself.
"Just a book... with things you wanna keep from Georgie of all people?"
"W-well, it's... complicated."
"Complicated?," Stan asked after a pause. He tried not to sound condescending to his seemingly nervous friend.
"It's f-f-filled with all of m-my opinions and thoughts a-about e-eh-everything," he answered finally. "A-and some of th-them are different from the n-norm," he said just above a whisper.
"What could be so bad that you had to warn me about?"
"W-w-well," somehow Bill's face became a darker shade of red. "I-I just th-think that s-s-some things that a-are l-looked down upon aren't th-that bad. And i-if Dad found out th-that...," he trailed off, looking genuinely stressed out.
"Hey," Stan called softly, tenderly grabbing his friend's shoulder. "I don't think Georgie would do that to you. Ever. He's a smart kid."
"I know," Billy barely voiced. "A-and I-I wanted t-to tell y-you because, well..." He looked up at Stan with worried, doe eyes. "H-how do you f-f-feel about..." Bill looked mortified that he'd even thought about asking what he was about to. "N-n-nevermind," he squeaked.
"Bill," the dirty blond said sternly, pushing the shoulder in his hand to remind him he was there. "You can tell me anything, you know that." They stared at each other, Stan being patient while Bill looked bewildered.
"H-how do you feel... about... h-h-h-homos?," he asked like the other boy would explode at the words.
"Homos? You mean, like gay people? Girls liking girls, guys liking guys?," Stan knew to whisper at this point but Bill still put his hands up to warn his friend. Bill nodded hesitantly at the question. "I don't really care about it. But I can see why that'd be not good for Georgie to read about..." he wasn't sure about his next question but pushed on nonetheless. "How do you feel about it?"
"I-I-I don't have a-any problem w-with it. I-I think p-people sh-should love who they want..." Stan tried not to show any surprise on his face but was at a complete loss as to what to say next.
Bill had always been a caring person. He was literally a Snow White in an Evil Witch's world. Stan knew that he wouldn't hate anyone for doing what they wanted. But Bill was a part of a Christian family. He knew from history and even people then who knew he was Jewish, that Christians were a different kind of people. He had also heard of some boys-even men-who had gone after homos to beat the crap out of them, sometimes killing them. There wasn't that much of that nowadays, but the hate and disgust was still there, lurking in the now middle-aged community. Bill was always open-minded-and he never let his dad or anyone control his thoughts.
It was different this time though. He usually stood up, without fear, and stated his opinion. He wouldn't even care if someone disagreed or mocked him. He'd go on with his day without worrying for a minute about whether saying what's right was the right choice. Bill was hesitant with this. He asked Stan to disregard something about Bill's opinion that Georgie might have said. An opinion he kept from Georgie. Something was up. Something was personal about this.
"Bill? Is there something more to this?"
"W-wh-what do y-you mean, S-Stan?"
"Something you're not telling me?" Bill was silent. His eyes were glued to his fidgeting hands.
"I-I... Yes," he admitted softly. "I'm n-not... gay. Not r-really. I like girls. I kn-know I do. B-but... th-there's this one...," he murmured to his hands. "I d-don't want t-to," he nearly croaked but was barely audible.
"Bill." He looked up at his friend, his eyes glossed over. "Did you know that... that birds can be gay too?" Bill's face went completely blank, then shock, then downright confusion.
"Wh-what? H-how?"
"Well, I know that with swans that it's actually common and it just happens. And there's this species of bird called Ruff that focuses on getting other males' attention instead of the females when mating. Well, usually it's to get the female interested, but still. It's not like it's even unnatural for males to like males and the like," Stan's goal was to comfort but he felt as though he was rambling about his birds again.
"Oh," he sighed thoughtfully. He looked to be still distressed, with good reason of course, but Stan hated to see him like that. They picked up each other's emotions easily-too easily sometimes. He could've sworn that Bill did like someone, but that someone would be Bev. He was a little disappointed in himself for not noticing sooner.
"So, who do you like then?," he prodded gently. Bill stared at his friend, taking in his features. The barely blond curls around his head, the small... what was it again?... Kipa on the crown of his head, the beautiful chocolate orbs staring attentively back at him, the flawless skin, the stripped t-shirt that was always tucked into khakis shorts, the man's belt around his slim waist. Bill's mind reminded him then that the boy in front of him was expecting an answer to his question.
"I...," Speak damn you. Can't just say it. No. Say the opposite! "Richie."
WHAT?