Work Text:
It was a quiet April evening that settled over the Macher house. A giant three story monstrosity of country wealth whose only neighbors were miles away and just as rich.
The only Macher son sat at the work desk in his room. A cluttered thing, teeming with horror memorabilia. From the posters plastered over his entire ceiling (so much that every poster was overlapping another at least a little bit), to the dune piles of vhs tapes littered by his bed, by his couch, by his tv, in his closet, etc.
The boy himself was blasting Limp Bizkit through his stereo, while he orchestrated mischief: His heart's delight.
Across his desk were blueprint plans for his very own haunted house. He was currently working to convert one of Leslie’s many, many doll houses into it. She was off in Bora Bora, or Cancun, or the Caribbean somewhere getting her heart broken and blowing her trust fund money. Surely she wouldn’t mind her snotty little brother's entitlement to things she hasn't touched in well over a decade.
“Stu honey,” his mother’s voice warbled through Fred Durst's addictive shouting. “Stuart?”
Stu scrambled to pause the track. He ran over to the intercom mounted by his door, and pushed talk. Looks like they were in the downstairs living room. “Mom?”
“Try to keep it down, please, your father and I can hear it over Lucy,” she chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah.” He sighed.
“Thank you, love you!”
He was getting kinda hungry again. “Is dinner still out?”
“No, Stuey, I just packed it up.” Came her regretful voice. Stu groaned without answering. He was just about to go back to his desk when she piped up, “sorry, dear.”
Stu shrugged to himself. “It’s whatever, mom.”
“Goodnight.”
“Night.”
His disappointment is erased the moment he’s in front of his twisted creation. He picked up a dismembered Barbie doll and a tube of Krazy Glue, all too eager to get back to it.
Stu stays in the zone for the next hour, perfecting his glorious monstrosity. Fuck he couldn’t wait to show Billy the next time he came over. Everytime he thought about it his nerves lit up. He was thinking about the ideas that twisted freak would have for his house, when he hears a weird sort of scrambling, scratching noise just outside.
The roof of the second story jutted out right under his window, whose view overlooked their backyard and the expanse of the field behind the house. It was perfect for just hanging out when he needed fresh air. He couldn’t even count how many times he and Billy would laze out there, stealing swigs from his dads whiskey, or smoking Stu’s secret stash.
Stu dismissed the muffled scraping as a racoon or possum using his roof as a highway to get where it was going. Wouldn’t be the first time.
That is until he also heard the pane of his window sliding up.
He jumped, only to whip his head around and see the devil himself, Billy Loomis, climbing into his room.
“Dude!” Stu smiled, “what are you doing here? I thought you had a date tonight?”
Billy sat on Stu’s sill with a huff and reached back out to grab a whole fucking pizza box and pull it in before he shut the window.
He sneered at Stu. “I do, stupid.”
“What are you Marry fucking Poppins? How the hell— where did that come from?”
Billy scoffed and dumped it right on Stu’s bed. “Ungrateful little shit.” He opened it and pulled out a slice, “Do you know how hard it was to get up here with that? I’m eating it. Join me if you want.”
“Wait,” Stu blinked. His heart skipped as he stared at Billy. “Am I your date tonight?”
Billy just glared at him.
Stu felt his cheeks flush as he laughed in disbelief. His heart swooned. “I thought you were talking about Sid!”
“Yeah—” Billy’s bitchy quip was cut off by Billy himself. He subconsciously lowered his slice before he could take another bite.
Stu didn’t notice. He hopped up from his desk chair, stretched his aching back—the unfortunate result of all his hard work—and moved to the mini fridge. The drinks in the door clinked and sloshed as he opened it. He drew out two beers using the bottle opener on the fridge’s door to open them before joining Billy.
He didn’t notice that Billy was staring at him until his eyes perused the whole pie. As he looked for the biggest slice to take, the beer he was holding out to Billy was pointedly, deliberately, not being taken.
Stu looked at his best friend of ten years and boyfriend of two official weeks (even if Billy refused to call them anything, when he was the one who kissed Stu first. Whatever) with confusion.
“You okay, babe?”
Billy flinched, and crinkled his nose, looking up at Stu almost in accusation. His big brown eyes were boring into Stu’s soul. “Since when on fucking earth do you wear glasses?”
Stu’s whole world went on tilt. There was a high pitch ringing in his ears, and the flush of joy doubled, twisting and churning to a flush of pure embarrassment. Spreading to his ears. “W-what?”
He jerked away from Billy spinning around. Fuck, fuck. He scrambled to set the beers on his night stand before ripping the glasses off his face. Tossing them away.
“I,” he tried to laugh, “no I-I don’t. I don’t.”
He looked over at Billy as his room went blurry. He could still see everything, including Billy’s frown, but the details were now lost on him. Stu felt his brain going on overdrive to correct the view, only to come up empty.
“Dude, you're squinting at me,” Billy pointed out. “You need glasses. What the fuck?”
“They’re just for reading.” Stu waved off, rubbing his eyes. It didn’t help, “I’ve had them on for a while, that’s all.”
“You're a shit liar, Stuey.”
“I’m not some fucking dweeb, alright?” Stu insisted.
“Yes you are,” Billy argued. “You always have been, glasses or not.”
Stu forced another laugh. “Shut up, man.”
“Stu, what the fuck,” Billy repeated. “How long have you needed glasses? Why didn’t I know about this?”
“I don’t!” Stu stressed, he grabbed a pizza. And sat on the edge of his bed, stubbornly facing forward, instead of towards Billy. “I just had them on for a second.”
“Uh huh.”
Billy continued staring at Stu, who continued not to face him. His gaze cast over the blonde like a tangible shadow. Both boys purposefully stayed quiet.
Before Stu growled. “What?”
“You’re being a fucking bitch, that’s what. It’s starting to piss me off,” Billy snarled. “After I brought you food.”
“ ‘m not being a bitch. I’m trying to tell you—”
“How stupid do you think I am?”
“Billy, I don’t—”
“Say it again, and I cut you.” Billy hissed. “So you need glasses, who fucking cares? Why are you trying to hide it?”
Stu paused to take a bite he could hardly enjoy. His leg was bouncing. “Cause it’s embarrassing!” He shrieked. “I look like fucking Rick Moranis in Little Shop."
Billy snorted. “You did.”
“Ah fuck,” Stu sighed. Whatever. The cat was out, due to his own carelessness. “I’ve needed them for a long time. Probably since the sixth grade but I didn’t tell my parents till eighth.”
“Stu! Why not?”
“Cause it sucks! I look stupid.” Stu groaned. “The first time I saw them on me, I wanted to kill myself.”
Billy laughed. “Dumbass.”
“Thank you very much.”
Then suddenly, Billy punched Stu in the arm.
“Ah! What the fuck, ow!” He rubbed the spot with a pout, frowning, “fucking why? Just because I need glasses?”
“Asshole!” the other scowled, Stu couldn't really see it, “I don't give a fuck that you need glasses. I give a fuck that you kept it from me. Me! I am entitled to everything about you, and if I find out that you're hiding something else, you won't be getting off so easy. So man the fuck up, stop being a pussy, and put your fucking glasses back on.”
Stu scoffed and got up, grumbling over to his nightstand to put his glasses back on. The strain in his head lessened greatly, and he could grimace at the mess in his room again. He retook the beers.
“Whatever.” After handing Billy his drink, Stu plopped back in his bed and continued eating his pizza with a set pout.
“I'm putting something on.” Billy announced, now that it was settled. He tossed his half-slice back into the box and went over to Stu's closet cluster.
Oh. He and Billy hardly touched the movies in there. The most used ones were right next to Stu’s bed on the floor.
Billy was back out in a few minutes with a smirk on his face, he showed the tape to Stu before setting it up.
Little Shop of Horrors.
“Fuck you.”
Billy only cackled with his back turned. When everything was ready and he returned, daining to stand in front of Stu.
“Hey,” Billy kicked his foot, waiting for Stu to look up at him. “I think they look good.”
“Bite me.”
“I'm serious,” Billy laughed. He reached for them slowly, like he was allowing Stu to push his hands away, if he wanted. Stu stayed still. “You look…” his brow furrowed as he looked for the right word. “Cute.”
“Cute?” Stu frowned.
“Yeah,” Billy nodded, before slipping Stu’s glasses on. “Holy shit, you really do need glasses,” he looked around the familiar room, “What the fuck, you're blind, blind!”
“I'm not blind, blind!” Stu protested. “I can see you right now.”
Billy looked down at him, “Liar. I can't see you at all.” Then Billy’s hands were over his face, feeling around as if he really was blind, “Stuey?” He openly questioned. “You still there, where’d you go?”
Stu bit his palm in retaliation. “Fucking asshole.”
Billy snickered, snatching away. “But hey,” he swiped his hair back, “how do I look? Sexy, right?”
Stu pushed the glasses up Billy's nose, only for them to fall down again. “So sexy, even your girlfriend would fuck you.”
Billy paused for a second before he burst out laughing. Stu pulled his hips close with a chuckle.
Billy clambered over Stu's lap with ease, and those itching hands ran over the expanse of his boyfriend's thighs, moving back to squeeze his ass.
With Stu’s hands occupied, Billy put his glasses on for him, adjusting them when they were crooked. “Perfect.”
“Thanks for the date.” Stu hummed. “Even though you're being a little shit."
“You're welcome, bitch.” Billy smirked.
He cupped Stu’s face and went in for a kiss. The music from the tv was well ignored even when it became the only noise in the room. Not when both boys were distracted by much better, softer, way more addicting things.
Billy blinked when he leaned back. Those beautiful doe eyes took a second to focus. “So what the hell are you working on over there?” He nodded towards Stu’s desk, where sat the greatest haunted house never seen. Yet.
Stu seized in excitement. “Oh babe! Let me show you, it's fucking awesome!”
Billy moved off Stu and let himself be tugged over to Stu’s plans, while he went off talking a mile a minute. The boys spent the rest of the date building the scale model of Stu’s vision. Everynow and then Stu would subconsiously push up his glasses, and a little part of Billy's heart would jolt. He secretly hoped Stu would wear them around him all the time now.