#branley

The only reason he dated Dina, is because he thought he needed to do it- to uphold this whole idea of being a Man™. And the reason he’s such an asshole about Syd being bi, is because he is dealing with his deep-rooted homophobia!

Also!! When he is cheating on Dina with other people(Jenny), he does this because he feels inadequate in their relationship- and he recognizes that something is missing in it. But he hasn’t fully come to terms with being queer, so instead of breaking up with Dina, he seeks for his needs in other girls. Which, clearly does NOT work.

But so when Dina breaks up with him, part of him is so t e r r i f i e d that she might have known his secret- so he has to continue to play up this whole mega jock and total asshole exterior lest he be called a f-slur or a queer.

So then- Stan is Bi in this AU, right? And sure, he really liked Syd, but he can tell that she is really into Dina- and he does NOT want to get in the way of that. Syd should be happy, too. Even if he can’t be with her. Brad’s never quite payed attention to him though, but he of course knows him(Stanley sells pot, for one- and he wouldn’t not be into it- but also he knows him through Dina, vaguely).

It begins with Brad approaching Stanley about the Dina/Syd stuff, since he’s slowly coming to terms with things, and he knows he massively fucked up, and the girls deserve an apology from him. But he also can’t stand the thought of going directly to them, so he just starts out with Stanley?? It’s just that there is something so unnerving about Syd to him(little does he know...).

But Stanley starts seeing this other, softer- kinder- side to Brad! He never would have even considered Brad could genuinely be like that! And, it doesn’t excuse his actions- but he begins to understand him better.

And Stanley, in his weird, awkward, teen self, is slowly able to break through Brad’s tough exterior. One day- there hanging out after school, and Stanley mentions that he didn’t bring enough for more than one person- but that if Brad wanted to, there was some at his house and?? 

Brad says yes. 

Stanley seems to attract a lot of firsts with people. Because while Brad is not opposed to drinking, or smoking- he has never smoked pot in his life. This shows that he is okay with allowing himself to be in an altered state around Stanley- which shows a sense of trust.

And god! Brad loves the feeling, and gets to excited- and he kisses Stanley on the lips!

Stanley is SO SHOCKED. and he sort of pulls away, “are you sure you want to be doing this?” like- with me, a guy?