a/n: and now, a bunch of new names that do not matter i promise, but they are there for the sake of knowing that stanley (and richie) do have family, actually. have a good read.
"richie?" stanley raised an eyebrow, crossing through several groups of uncles and aunts to get to him. betty trailed behind, her hand latched onto stanley's.
"oh shit, hey, i didn't know you knew adriel," richie said, leaning against the wall, one foot precariously put against the wall. betty caught up to stanley and richie looked to her awkwardly, "hi betty."
"hi richie," she replied, somehow chipper despite the circumstances.
"i... who is adriel?" stanley asked, and richie's mouth dropped open, a smug smile on his face. "who?" he repeated.
"the deceased, stan. jesus, how are you attending a shiva and yet don't know who died?" richie laughed, keeping his voice low in fear of relatives hearing him. "he was, uh, tabitha's dad. you know tabitha? married to sam?"
"yeah, yeah, i know tabitha, okay, cool. thanks, my mom wouldn't tell me." stanley nodded, picking two pieces of food off of a tray and giving one to richie. betty pretended not to notice.
"wait, richie, you're jewish?" betty asked, richie chuckling, popping the snack in his mouth and putting his hands in his pockets. stanley took note of how professional richie truly looked. richie was wearing a black dress shirt and black dress pants, and stanley forgot how long it had been since he saw his forearms.
why that mattered? stanley didn't know. it was just something to think about.
"hah, uh, not really. don't tell anyone here. my parents still uphold the traditions though, so i get dragged along a lot. i'm okay with it, because man, they make good food for these things. oh, um, and betty, uh, none of them know about... that i'm..." richie ate as he spoke, and betty nodded along violently. the three had talked quite a bit in the last two months, and richie learned betty was quite supportive of his being gay. it was a nice change from the people outside his friend group, so he could survive hanging out with the two of them.
besides, he was stanley's best friend. he was due to third wheel a couple of times. why exactly stanley had invited his girlfriend to a funeral service was another question. he supposed it quelled any rumours between his aunts about stanley's possible gayness, though.
"are you two related?" betty looked up to stanley to ask the question and somehow the question made stanley choke. he pulled at his shirt and went bright red.
"no, not at all. we have mutual family friends, so it all connects, but not through blood. didn't find that out until 2 years ago. we did the family math, don't worry." richie replied, thinking back to when he and stanley mapped out their family relations. god, he was thankful they were not related.
"stanley! oh you're so tall and skinny now! have you eaten anything tonight?" stanley's aunt hana approached from behind him, wrapping her fingers around his waist. he jumped and turned around quickly, letting go of betty's hand to turn around. he grabbed it once more after turning around, and richie moved a little further back.
"haha, yeah, i have been." stanley said awkwardly. aunt hana squeezed his cheeks, and he gulped.
"i hope so," aunt hana glanced down to betty and stanley's intertwined hands, and looked back up with a disgruntled face.
