After years of not seeing Kyle, speaking with him would have felt stiff and awkward, even uncomfortable. 

Stan watched how he stared at the ice in his glass, felt how quiet it was, and wondered where to begin with someone who made so many mistakes in the past, but then Kyle started, ".. Who was that (hair color)?" 

A straightforward topic, something to ease into, Stan smiled a little, ".. (y/n).. but.." he paused, thinking about when she introduced herself to him and how nervous she seemed, how she rambled, ".. She goes by (nickname)" 

Kyle nodded his head, thinking about the significant difference between her full name and her nickname, how her full name was prettier, ".. Why does she go by (nickname)?" lifting the glass to drink the liquor from, Stan thought for a second before shrugging, "Quicker to say" watching how his old friend started to break into a smile at the silly reason, Kyle found it was a little funny, he thought it was because of how much easier it was to remember for Stan, how he liked his women to have shortened and easy names, how if they didn't then he would call them those sweet nicknames.

".. How long have you been sleeping with her?" He could see Stan and (y/n) being romantically involved with each other, she was just his type, especially with the back talking, Stan shook his head, "It's not like that... her town has been havin'... some trouble.. she asked me to help her"

 Kyle stared at him so carefully, pausing before asking, ".. What is she payin' you?" he knew that he didn't do anything without some sort of payment, either her body or money, Stan broke into a smile, ".. More than enough" he watched how Kyle nodded his head and it fell into silence again. 

Stan thought about Kyle's mother, how she practically raised him and took care of him, ".. How's your ma?" breaking the silence, and Kyle shrugged, ".. Sick, but she's gettin' better" he spoke honestly, his mother asked about Stan a lot like when he'd come home and when she'd see him again, it never made sense to him how she could forgive Stan for what he did. 

Stan nodded his head, ".. I can stay for a day or two longer if..." his words trailed off a little, finding some atonement through his offer to bridge the divide between them, and Kyle shook his head, ".. We'd have no place for you and (nickname) to sleep" 

But Stan shook his head back at him, ".. The hay barn would be more than enough for a day or two.." pausing to think about it, how close the hay barn was to the bar and his mother's home, "She'd be fine sleeping there... it'd be better than sleeping on the ground" 

Kyle felt so cautious about Stan staying for a day or two to see his mother, so wary of it because he had no trust left in him to extend to Stan, but he nodded his head, ".. Alright.. a day or two then.." he felt so chary, reluctant.

Stan and Kyle didn't talk about memories or even what happened between them, but they talked about how people were doing, how he was doing, what changed and stayed the same.

 Stan learned that Kyle owned the bar now, and had a kid on the way with some woman, and Kyle learned that Stan was the same as he was before, how he lived the same, going from woman to woman and never settling down or slowing down. 

He learned that he got the bear claw scar from going toe to toe with some bandit with a pet bear, how he recklessly challenged them and won the life of the bear, and saved a woman for a kiss. 

It was strange how different Stan looked, but how it seemed like nothing about him changed, except Kyle noticed the way he talked about (y/n), the way he looked at her was something that he'd never seen before with anyone, it was odd, almost like he cared.

And after a while, for a second, it felt like they were friends again. 

Walking down the stairs and hearing laughing, Stan shook his head a little at Kyle's question about if leaving his (hair color) friend alone in the bar was a good idea, "She could make friends with a rock" Then quickly noticing her laugh, the way she leaned forward against the counter with a hand holding her head up, the other holding her drink and flirting with the man sitting close to her. 

He listened carefully to their conversation, how (y/n) teased through a giggle when the man asked if she came there often, ".. does that really work for you?" leaning a little forward to him, and the man smiling, letting out a little laugh, ".. Sometimes" and she laughed again, shaking her head, "You should really try something different" lifting her glass with one hand and the other used to hold onto the straw, she gently bit onto the straw, the man stared so carefully at her, the way she bit onto the straw was so sexy, ".. And what do you suggest?" 

And Stan watched the careful way she thought while leaning forward again, gently using her tongue to touch the corner of her lips, dragging it across her top lip then smiling before answering, ".. Asking for her name" and the quick way the man asked, "Then what is your name?" the way he reached carefully to push hair behind her ear, and how (y/n) grew a brightened smile, scrunching her nose softly at him while she played hard to get, ".. You learn quick" turning forward again to pick up her drink, holding the straw steadily again.

Stan felt jealous, so envious over the fact that she should've flirted with him and played hard to get with him, it didn't feel fair. 

But the way she brightened her smile and scrunched up her nose towards the man who pushed hair behind her ear was the last straw, he walked up to the bar counter and slid his arm between them before putting his elbow and weight on the table, acting like a border between them, pausing for a second to look at her, "... (y/n)" he sounded a little serious to (y/n) when he said her full name, she couldn't help but beam a bright smile at his demeanor, ".. What are you doin', darlin'?" 

And (y/n) touched her cheek to her shoulder to peak over at Stan, she had to prepare herself to pronounce it, but slurring her speech a little through her careful pronunciation, ".. Loose.. en.. ing.. up, sweet pea" nodding to herself when she felt the success of her response, though sounding a little weird. 

Her certainty was so cute, she was so cute. Stan smiled at her, lifting his hand to feel his bottom lip to try and mask his growing smile, biting his lip gently to hold back a laugh, he took a mental note of how she didn't like the nickname he gave her previous as she'd recount it, ".. By.. flirting with strangers?" He dropped his hand, settling into a teasing smile while he studied the brightness of her smile, the way her nose was red and a little runny, her rosy cheeks. 

(y/n) started to crawl back into herself a little, growing coy, tilting her head gently to the side, growing a little pouty frown as she recognized that it wasn't a good idea to flirt with strangers, but hoping for forgiveness since it was just so fun, ".. Just a little.." reaching to feel the buttons down his shirt with her fingers, her tone was small, and a little quiet like she was trying to hide from trouble. 

Stan had such a hard time staying objective when she acted like that, when she looked at him like that, and when she reached out for him, feeling his buttons, his eyes fell to her hand before traveling away to the empty glasses that laid in front of her, reaching his hand to hold the wrist of her hand that laid on his chest, rubbing his thumb gently against, while his other hand tapped on the side of her half-empty glass that sat on a coaster, ".. And how many have you had of these?" 

(y/n)'s smile dimmed a little, remembering how drinking was bad, pausing to think of a little white lie, "One" crawling more into herself while Stan stared suspiciously at her, his eyes counting the other empty glasses in front of her, which made her smile a little more when she got honest, ".. Five.."

Stan nodded his head at her, reaching to take the drink from her hand and away from her, ".. Let's get you to bed" Watching how she frowned, even pouted a little at him, gesturing him to get a little closer to her so that she could share something with him.

He leaned forward to offer his ear towards her, but growing into a lazy smile when she whispered a soft, no, in his ear, leaning back to look at her, ".. No?"

Her smile grew brighter again while she nodded her head at him which contrasted with the shake of his head, "No" she repeated confidently, Stan couldn't help but let out a little scoff laugh towards her rejection, thinking for just a second before saying softly to himself, ".. Alright.." 

He swiftly leaned forward to pick her up from the chair and held her against his shoulder while she laughed, putting her arms around him, Stan held her a little tight and close to him, ".. Let's go home" 

Though it wasn't the home that she was hoping for, nor were they close to it at all, he knew that was exactly what she wanted to hear, to go home, (y/n) nodded her head. 

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1,667 words

will it ever be revealed what Stan did? did I even write the reveal?