A/N: This chapter takes place in May of 1989, so it's actually before the previous two chapters, "First Day of Summer" and "Fireworks".

"Hey, Stan!" Bill said as he came up to Stan's locker. "Can I ask you a f-f-favor?"

"Depends. What's the favor?" Stan responded as he placed his books inside his locker.

"Well, I'm going to be h-ha-hanging out with Bev on Friday e-evening."

"Just you and Bev?" Stan asked. Bill nodded. "Is it a date?"

Bill's face scrunched as if that were an absurd idea. "No, it's n-n-not a date. We're just gonna g-get a bite to eat, then see a movie to-together."

"Sounds like a date to me."

"Well, it's not. We b-b-both agreed it's not a date."

"Sure," Stan smiled slyly. "So what movie are you guys gonna see?"

"P-probably Indiana Jones 3."

"Doesn't sound very romantic to me."

"It's the only good m-m-movie out right now. And besides, like I said, this isn't a d-date!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Anyways, what's the favor?"

"Oh, yeah. C-can you babysit G-Georgie while I'm out on Friday night?"

"What about your parents?"

"Yeah, they're going out f-f-for dinner to celebrate their anniversary. I c-completely forgot about that wh-when I made plans with Bev. So now, here we are."

"And you can't get anyone else to babysit?"

"Everyone else isn't available. Well, except for R-R-Richie, but there's no way I'm trusting him in my house a-alone with Georgie."

"Yeah, I don't blame you. Okay, fine, I'll do it."

"Great! Th-thank you so much!"

"But I wanna be paid for my services."

"Sure, I'll w-w-work something out with my p-parents to get you paid. Don't worry about that."

"Make sure you feed Georgie dinner around six or seven o'clock," Sharon said to Stan as she gathered her things for the evening. She wore black high heels and a slim, black dress that went down to her knees—considerably fancy attire for Sharon. "There's some food left over in the fridge. Feel free to eat some, too."

"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Denbrough."

"And try to make sure that Georgie gets his bath, too. Sometimes he may not want to because he's having too much fun, but it'd be nice if you could."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to give it a shot."

"Great! Thank you so much, Stan. Bill really appreciates you doing this."

"Of course; I'm happy to help," Stan smiled.

Georgie came into the parlor from the living room to greet Stan. "Hey, Stan," he said.

"Hey, Georgie."

Zack and Bill then came down the stairs, said goodbye to Stan, and joined Sharon out the front door. The door shut behind them, leaving Stan alone with Georgie. "So…um…what do you wanna do, Georgie?" Stan asked.

"I don't know," Georgie shrugged.

"Well…what do you normally like to do? When Bill's here?"

"We do lots of things together. Sometimes we play games, we watch TV, we draw…or we hang out with you guys!" Georgie chuckled.

"Right. Yeah. Well…I can't really draw, so that's out of the question. Um…so what games do you guys play?"

"All kinds! You know, sometimes we play video games, sometimes we play outside, but I like to play pretend with Bill most of all!"

"Really?" Stan said skeptically. "I have a hard time believing Bill plays pretend with you."

"He doesn't do it as much as he used to, but he still does. We have this thing called 'The Bed Game'. It's where he pretends to be a character, and the bed is a cliff on top of lava. Then, I push him off the bed into the lava!"

"Can he push you into the lava?"

"Mmm, nope, he's never tried."

"So…it's a 'game', but you always win?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's really fun, though!"

"'Kay. So do you want to play 'The Bed Game' with me?"

"Mm, I don't know if you're good enough," Georgie said, mocking smugness. "But we'll see what you got. Who are you going to be?"

"What do you mean, 'who am I going to be?'"

"What character? Bill always picks a character that he plays as—like Shredder, or Captain Hook, or Darth Vader."

"Oh. Umm…I guess I'll be…I don't know, Popeye?" It was the first random character that came into Stan's head.

"Okay! That sounds fun! Come on, let's go!" Georgie dashed up the stairs and straight into Bill's bedroom.

"Shouldn't we do this on your bed?" Stan said as he followed Georgie into Bill's room. "You know, since Bill isn't here and all?"

"Nah, we always do it on his bed. My bed is too small, and it's up against a wall. This one's better."

"Okay, whatever you say," Stan said as he took off his shoes.

"You ready?" Georgie asked.

"Yeah. Do…do I just…what do I do?"

"Be Popeye, like you said! Get on the bed, and I try to push you off!"

"Okay, I'm Popeye," Stan said halfheartedly in his regular voice. "Where's my spinach?" He climbed onto Bill's bed, where Georgie was waiting.

"You can't have your spinach! I threw it all away!" Georgie giggled maniacally.

"Oh…darn it." This was one of the most awkward things Stan had to do in quite some time.

Georgie started to push Stan's body off the bed with his feet.

"Ew, you didn't tell me you were going to push me with your feet!"

"That's how I always do it with Billy!"

"Well, I'm not Billy." Georgie managed to quickly push Stan off the bed. Stan got up from the floor and put his shoes back on. "How 'bout we do something else?"

"It's more fun with Billy. It felt different with you. Maybe because you didn't do the voice. You should've done the voice."

"I don't do voices. Ask Richie for that."

"Bill's good with voices, too."

"Okay, then ask Bill, too. Just not me."

"And it's more fun to push you off with my feet. Bill doesn't mind that I use my feet."

"I guess 'cause he's your brother. But to me, it's disgusting. I have no idea where your feet have been."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I even made you play the game in the first place."

"No, don't be sorry. It's not your fault. The game just isn't for me. Is there anything else we can do?"

"We can watch TV, I guess."

"Well, I'm not sure if there's anything suitable for children on right now. But maybe if you have some movies on tape or something, we could watch that."

"Oh, yeah, we got tons of movies!" Georgie led Stan downstairs and into the living room. He opened up a little cupboard underneath the TV filled with VHS tapes. They mainly consisted of Disney movies for Georgie and monster and horror movies for Bill. "What do you want to watch, Stanny?"

"Hm," Stan scanned through the various movies they could watch. "Well, your brother's out watching an Indiana Jones movie, so maybe we could watch one on our own here."

"Okay!"

"Which one do you want to watch?" Stan asked.

"Mmm…this one!" Georgie pulled out Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. "I like this one."

"Fine by me." Stan popped the tape into the VCR and sat with Georgie on the couch in front of the TV to watch the movie.

Once the movie reached the part where the people in the palace were feasting on live snakes, beetles, eyeball soup, and monkey brains, Georgie's stomach started to growl. "You hungry?" Stan asked.

"Yeah…but I don't wanna eat that sort of food!" Georgie said, pointing at the screen and laughing.

Stan laughed along. "No, don't worry, I'll get you some real food." Stan got up from the couch and walked to the refrigerator in the kitchen. He opened up the fridge and asked, "What do you feel like eating, Georgie?"

"Let me see," Georgie got up from the couch as well and joined Stan in the kitchen. He perused through the fridge and ultimately decided, "Ooh, I want spaghetti!" He pointed to a Tupperware filled with leftover spaghetti from the previous night's dinner.

"That's it? Just spaghetti?"

"Yeah!"

"You sure that'll be enough for you?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Okay." Stan forgot how small the appetite of a little kid could be. He warmed up the spaghetti in the microwave and split up the pasta amongst himself and Georgie. They then took their food back to the couch and continued watching the movie.

They had come to the part in the movie where the cultist priest ripped the beating heart out from a sacrifice victim, placed him in a cage, and lowered him into a pit of molten lava, all while the victim was screaming his lungs out in horror. Stan turned to Georgie and said, "Jeez, you sure you're not scared by this, Georgie?"

"No, I've seen this movie before, Stan."

"Okay, just making sure." It seemed a bit odd as to which things scared Georgie and which things didn't. In some cases, like this one, it seemed like Georgie was a brave kid and could handle a lot. But other times, he was a complete wimp. At least Stan wouldn't have to deal with the wimp side of Georgie tonight.

As the movie progressed, it appeared that Georgie was becoming more and more restless. He began throwing pillows at Stan for no apparent reason and started playing with his plush elephant and turtle rather than focusing on the movie. So, Stan suggested, "Wanna do something else, Georgie?"

"Mmm, okay, sure."

"What do you wanna do?"

"Hmm…" Georgie pondered for a moment. "Dessert!"

"Do you guys have anything for dessert?"

"Yeah, let me show ya!" Georgie ran off into the kitchen while Stan ejected the videotape from the VCR and put it back in its slipcase. Stan then joined Georgie, who was at the freezer. The boy opened it up and took out a three-pint container of chocolate ice cream. "Want some?" Georgie asked.

"Sure," Stan responded. "Here, let me take that." Stan grabbed two bowls from a cupboard, scooped out the ice cream, and distributed it into the two bowls. He and Georgie sat at the dining table to eat their dessert. Stan noticed some drawings laid out on the table. He asked Georgie, "Did you do these?"

"Uh-huh," Georgie answered with a mouthful of ice cream.

"These are great. Way better than I ever could. You're really imaginative, Georgie. Just like your brother." One drawing was of a two-headed brontosaurus labeled "Twinasaurus". There was another drawing of a tap-dancing giraffe performing a show while a gorilla played piano. Another one was of a fly with a bowtie and spats labeled "Mr. Fly".

"Thank you. I wanna make cartoons someday."

"I'm sure you'll make it big," Stan smiled. After he finished his bowl of ice cream, he looked up at Georgie's face and saw that the boy's mouth and chin were completely covered in sticky chocolate ice cream. "Georgie, look at you! You're a complete mess." Stan couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Guess that means it's bath time!" Georgie said excitedly.

"Oh, right." Stan forgot about Georgie's bath, mainly because he didn't want to do it. He didn't expect Georgie himself would bring it up. "So, is that, like, something you can do by yourself?"

"Well, normally either Billy or my mom are with me. I've never taken a bath on my own."

"Okay." That was out of the question for Stan. If his parents didn't want Georgie taking a bath by himself, he didn't want to be the first person to let him do so. He didn't want to be held accountable for anything. "Here's the thing…I don't really want to see you naked. That's just weird. So…sorry, but I guess you'll just have to be dirty for tonight."

"What if I just went in my undies?"

"I…guess that could work." The truth was, Stan didn't want to deal with bath time at all. He was just trying to make excuses. But now it seemed like he had no choice.

He and Georgie walked upstairs to the bathroom. Stan started running the water and waited for it to warm up. Once it did, he put in the plug and waited for the tub to fill up. Meanwhile, Georgie took off all his clothes excepting his tighty-whities.

"I still don't see the problem in letting you take a bath by yourself, but whatever," Stan said. "Just please don't do anything gross, Georgie. I don't want to see any floating boogers, and I don't want you peeing in the tub or making your own 'bubbles' in the water."

"Come on, Stan, you really think I would do that stuff?"

"I know you wouldn't be above any of that. I know you, Georgie. All too well."

Georgie giggled as he stepped into the tub. "Can you put in some bubble soap, please?"

"Sure." Stan poured in some bubble bath soap into the running water, causing massive amounts of white, puffy foam to rise up. He shut off the faucet, grabbed the shampoo, and started lathering Georgie's hair.

Georgie played with his rubber ducky and toy boat as Stan continued to shampoo his hair. "When do you think Billy will be back?" He asked Stan.

"I'm not sure. He didn't give an exact time. But it's getting close to your bedtime, so you may not see him tonight."

"Aww. I miss him already. Not that I don't like you, though. I do. It's just that Billy is my best friend."

"Yeah, no, I get it. Yeah, Bill's…I think Bill's my best friend, too. I mean, I think you're his best friend. Wish I could say the same thing about myself." Stan softly chuckled.

"Really? You think I'm his best friend?"

"Well…yeah. He loves you more than anyone else. I can tell. Even more than Beverly," Stan laughed.

Georgie laughed, too. "I hope that doesn't mean he'll start dating me!"

"Believe me, you don't have to worry about that happening. No, what I mean is that it's a brotherly love. You know how you love him as a friend? As a brother? As family? He feels that way about you, too."

"He told you that?"

"No. No, it's just…something I picked up on, I guess." Stan cupped his hands and took a scoop of water, then dumped the water on top of Georgie's head to rinse the shampoo. He repeated it several times until it was all rinsed off.

"I'm sure you're one of his best friends, too!" Georgie said. "Maybe second to me."

"I don't know about that."

"Maybe Beverly is second, then. But you're number three, definitely!"

"What makes you say that?"

"Mmm, I don't know. I guess it's like you said; it's just something I picked up on."

"Huh." It dawned on Stan at this moment how bizarre this whole situation was. Here he was, having a conversation with a seven-year-old that he wasn't even related to, talking about how special his older brother was to both of them. All while he was washing said seven-year-old in the bathtub. But somehow, he was enjoying it. It made him see Georgie for the person he was, rather than just the little brother of his best friend. Perhaps he had underestimated him before.

"Alright, well, I think it's time for you to get out now, Georgie," Stan said. He pulled out the plug from the drain and picked up a nearby towel to dry Georgie off.

"What do you want to do now?" Georgie said as he wrapped the towel around himself and stepped out of the tub.

Stan looked at his watch. "Well, it's time for you to go to bed. It's eight o'clock."

"Aww! I don't want to go to bed!"

"I know, sorry, but that's what your mom asked me to do. Let's get you dressed in your PJs, then we'll get you to bed."

The two of them walked to Georgie's room, and Stan got out Georgie's dinosaur pajamas and a fresh, dry pair of underwear from his dresser. "You can get dressed by yourself, right?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, I can! Don't worry about me," Georgie said rather proudly.

"Great, just let me know when you're done." Stan shut his bedroom door and waited for him to get dressed.

"Okay, I'm done!" Georgie said from the other side of the door.

Stan entered again. "Alright, time for you to get into bed," he said. Georgie jumped into his bed and pulled the covers over himself.

Georgie looked to his side and realized something was missing. He gasped. "Quinton and Toby!"

"Who?"

"My elephant and turtle. I left them downstairs, and I can't sleep without them."

"No problem; I can go get them." Stan quickly went downstairs, picked up the two plush toys from the couch in the living room, and quickly went back upstairs into Georgie's room.

"Thank you!" Georgie said as Stan gave him the two stuffed animals. Stan turned around to go turn off the lights before Georgie stopped him, "Wait! Aren't you going to tuck me in?"

Stan turned back. "Oh. Um, I don't know. I don't really do tuck-ins. Not my style."

"Please, tuck me in, Stanny?" Georgie looked up at Stan with his pleading "puppy-dog eyes". It was hard for Stan to refuse then. "If you can give me bath, you can tuck me in."

"Okay, I guess." Stan pulled Georgie's covers up to his neck, then started tucking the blanket underneath the mattress. "There you go," Stan said.

"I had fun with you tonight, Stan. Thank you for being with me."

"Aw, no problem, little buddy. I had fun with you tonight, too."

As Stan went over to switch off the lights, Georgie reminded him, "Don't forget to turn on the nightlight."

"Oh, right." Stan turned on a little Mickey Mouse nightlight plugged in against the wall. Then he proceeded to flip the main light switch, plunging the room in darkness except for the little orange glow of the nightlight. "Goodnight, Georgie."

"Goodnight, Stanny."

Stan closed the door to his bedroom, then went downstairs to wait for Bill's parents to come home. He had enjoyed this night more than he expected to. True, it was a little awkward at first, but Stan quickly found his footing in how to deal with Georgie in his own way. It wasn't how Bill interacted with Georgie, but it was just as valid. And hey, he made some money out of it as well. Maybe Stan could get used to this gig.