#stenbrough au

**

“Can you stop staring at that for one second and come help me choose a movie?” Stan grumbled. Eddie looked up from his tattoo angrily, turning to face him “It's not my fault that I'm stuck with the most shitty tattoo in the entire world!” He half-shouted, earning a few looks from other people in the store. “You’re so dramatic” Stan sighed, rolling his eyes. “You know, it’s not even something you should be stressing over.” Eddie just glared at him. “Not something I should be stressing over!? This person will completely change my life when I find them!” He looked down at the two words on his wrist, which said: ‘Holy Shit’. He then glanced back up at the shelves.

 The short boy reached forward and grabbed the nearest movie. “We’re watching this” He said briefly, marching up to the counter with Stan trailing behind him awkwardly. Stan internally cursed himself. He knew that the whole soulmate thing meant a lot to Eddie. “Look Eddie, I’m sorry. I think I might just go home.” He muttered. Eddie span around to face him, almost dropping the movie in the process. “But it’s your birthday tomorrow? I thought you wanted to be with your best friend when you first saw it?” He paused for a second before speaking again. 

“I know I overreacted Stan, I’m just worried that my soulmate will be a complete asshole and i’ll be stuck with them for the rest of my life.” Stan let a small laugh. “I’m sure they’ll be great Eddie” He reassured him.

**

Eddie unlocked the front door to his house. “Be quiet, my mother may be asleep,” he explained to Stan, who nodded briefly before pushing the door open. Sure enough, when they crept past the lounge, Sonia Kaspbrak was sleeping on the recliner with the television still on in front of her. 

Once the boys were upstairs in Eddie’s room they could talk again. “What do you think it will say?” Eddie asked after collapsing onto his bed. Stan carefully removed his shoes and put them neatly by the door before taking a seat at the very end of the bed. “I don’t know, it’ll probably be like ‘hello’ or something boring” he sighed. Eddie giggled slightly, “guess we’ll just have to wait and see right?” Stan looked at him and smiled slightly, but before he could form a reply, Eddie suddenly picked up his phone and asked: “do you want to order a pizza?” Stan thought for a minute, unsure if he was in the mood but in the end he agreed. 

Eddie jumped up from the bed and made the call to the nearest pizza place.

**

Stan couldn’t sleep a wink. He looked at the clock on his phone for the billionth time. 5 minutes until midnight. 5 minutes until his 17th birthday. The springs in the mattress on the floor squeaked ever so slightly as he turned to face away from Eddie, who had fallen asleep around half an hour earlier. Stan closed his eyes again and he too fell asleep 20 minutes later. 

“Stanley wake up!” Eddie exclaimed, startling Stan who had just woken up and was a bit surprised to hear somebody shouting in his ear. He opened one eye to look at the boy who was staring at him expectantly. “Ugh, what time is it?” He asked, sitting up and stifling a yawn. “Six-thirty” Eddie replied simply before adding a quick, “Happy Birthday!” to the end of his sentence. 

Stan looked down at his wrist, and sure enough, the words were there. He moved his arm to show Eddie. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry” he read aloud. “Does that mean they are going to punch you on accident or something?” Eddie asked quizzically. “I don’t know” Stan groaned, “but I’m going to be stuck with an apology on my arm for the rest of my life..”

**

Time skip - One month later

“Excited, Billy Boy?” Richie Tozier asked his best friend. “Of cuh-course.” Bill replied without looking up from his sketchpad. They were sitting in Bill’s bedroom waiting for their friends Beverly and Ben. Ben had met Bev a couple weeks earlier and discovered they were soulmates. Since that point they had become inseparable and for Bill and Richie that meant hanging out with either of them alone was near impossible. 

Bill was pulled out of his ‘drawing trance’ as Bev liked to call it, when the sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the house. Richie leapt up from his chair and rushed out of the room, returning a few minutes later with the others. “How’s it going Bill?” Bev said casually, taking a seat on the desk chair. “Excuse me Beverly Marsh but I believe that seat belongs to me” Richie interrupted with a less than great British accent. “Technically th-that chair is m-muh-mine” Bill pointed out, causing Richie to sigh way louder than necessary. 

Ben, who had been hovering in the doorway, went and stood by Bev. “So Bill, how are you feeling about your birthday tomorrow?” He asked eagerly. “You m-m-mean the suh-soulmate thing?” Bill asked, which got a nod from Ben and so he continued, “I-I’m a little nuh-nervous to find out” he admitted. 

“It can’t be as random as mine” Richie said, shoving his wrist into Bill’s face. “Just imagine having the sentence ‘Oi, what the fuck?’ on your wrist for the rest of your life” He said while laughing. Bill shook his head and pushed Richie’s arm away from him while trying not to laugh.

**

Bill woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring next to his bed. He rolled over to shut it off before realising what day it was. He sat up slowly. Just as he was about to check his wrist for a tattoo his door was flung open with a crash.

A small boy hurriedly entered the room and made his way toward the bed. “So what does it say Billy?” Georgie asked, taking a seat next to his older brother. Bill looked down at his tattoo for the first time and stared at it for a few moments before showing the other boy. “Don’t worry about it” Georgie read aloud before adding, “that could mean so many things!” Bill laughed at his reaction. “That’s juh-just the b-b-beauty of it. This cuh-could mean anything and we won’t kn-know until it h-h-happens.” His brother giggled and stood up. 

“Come on, you have to open your presents before school!” he exclaimed. Bill waved him out of the room and picked up his phone. “I’ll be up in a muh-minute” he said dismissively. Georgie seemed to be satisfied with this answer because he disappeared around the corner. Bill opened the contact labelled ‘Richie’ and began to type out a message. 

**

Time skip - Two weeks later 

“Where on earth did they move the bird books?” Stan said aloud to nobody in particular. He sighed and walked across the library and up to the counter.

“Excuse me, do you know where I can find some books on birds?” The boy behind the desk looked up from the screen in front of him. He seemed to be about the same age as Stan himself. “Um, I think all the animal books were moved upstairs by the librarian last week. If you want I can check?” Stan smiled at the boy. “No worries, I can go up and find them, but thanks..” he paused to look at the badge on his shirt, “..Mike.” 

So that’s why he looked familiar. Stan remembered seeing him on the way home from school a couple of times. He walked up the stairs, lost in thought. Soon he found the section he was looking for. “Encyclopedia of Birds” he read. He decided on issuing this book and two others. 

He was about to make his way downstairs when he felt himself run into something. Stan collided with the floor with a loud thud. “Oh my gosh i’m so sorry!” He heard a voice say. “Don’t worry about it” Stan muttered. The boy who had run into him looked in disbelief at the words on his wrist. It took Stan a couple moments to realize what was going on. “What on earth just happened” he managed to ask, after standing up and letting the gorgeous boy in front of him, help pick up the books that had been dropped on the floor. “I duh-don’t know.” The boy admitted, “but I think we m-m-may be suh-soulmates.” 

Stan had never expected that meeting his soulmate would be like this. He imagined that he would be walking in a park or bird watching and some person would come sit next to him or something of the sort. But here he was in a library, arms full of books and staring at possibly the most breathtaking guy he had ever seen. 

“I’m Stanley Uris” he introduced, “but you can call me Stan.” The other boy stared at him in a mix of bewilderment and excitement. “Nice to meet you St-Stan, my name is Bill Denbrough.” 

**

Bonus