Work Text:
The time in Atlanta, Georgia, was 3:13 AM, and Patricia and Stanley Uris were sleeping soundly. Patty lay with her head on Stan’s chest, her arm draped over his stomach. Their legs were intertwined; both content in each others company.
Patty had met Stanley at a college party almost 20 years ago now, and she’d known from the moment they met that he was the man she wanted to be with. After not even 5 minutes of talking, they had dipped from the party and decided on driving around town in his blue Sedan (now, affectionately nicknamed his ‘Sedanley’), and that car ride had(? solidified the fact these two were meant to be. Their conversation flowed naturally and they both sang loud to the same songs. They met up again two days later, and Stanley had given her a ring with a daisy pushed through.
3 years later, they were married. They got some shit off Ruth and Herbert Blum, but Andrea and Donald Uris had welcomed Patty into their permanent family with open arms and massive smiles. They had a spring wedding and spent their summer on their Honeymoon in Italy.
On their honeymoon, Stanley had made a promise to Patty that he’d never hurt her, and he kept that promise for the next 17 years.
ring ring
Patty lifted her head a little, being woken up by the phone in their hallway ringing. She gently shook Stanley awake, whispering “I’ll get it,” before sliding out of bed and walking out the door and into the hallway.
“Hello Uris residence, this is Patty speaking, please make it easy to understand because I’m still half asleep,” she greeted with a small laugh.
“Hello Mrs. Uris. This is Mike Hanlon, I’m an old friend of your husband’s from back in Derry. Is he there? This is minorly urgent.” Sat on the other end of the phone, Mike was panicking. Stanley was the most affected by the events of the summer of 1959, so Mike was most worried about how he’d react.
“Um, I’m terribly sorry to be awkward but can I ask for more information? You see Stanley never really talks about Derry other than when he mentions his parents are coming up.”
“Please, Mrs. Uris, I need to speak to him.” Patty could hear a pained sort of worry in Mike’s voice, so she sighed a little, putting the phone to her chest and calling out for Stanley.
A minute or so later, Stanley appeared in the hallway, dragging his feet a little as he went to stand by Patty.
“Hello this is Stanley speaking. What do you need?”
“Stanley, it’s Mike Hanlon. I have dire news.”
That was all Stan needed to hear.
He put the phone down on Mike, and turned to Patty. “I’m going to take a bath,” he said to her, his voice scarily cold.
“What? At this time?”
“I need time to myself.”
Patty grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face her before he could walk all the way into the bathroom. “Stanley Uris you look me in the eyes. I have known you for 20 years, and I know your routines. You never take baths after 7 PM, Stanley, so tell me what’s wrong.” Her voice was stern and her eyebrows were furrowed.
“There’s nothing wrong. I want some time to myself, I need to take a bath.” His voice sounded suddenly very sad, tired even.
“No. I won’t let you take a bath until you tell me what the hell is going on with you right now.” She wasn’t angry, contrary to how her voice sounded right now, she was scared.
“Will you just let me take a fucking bath, Patty? I’ll tell you when I’m out,” he snapped, lifting his head up to look at his wife. When they locked eyes he saw fear. Patty, beginning to well up, looked like she was about to give up on him.
Stan had never seen her look like that before, and it struck a chord in him that made him reach out to her, grabbing her shoulder first and then pulled her into a hug, whispering apologies over and over again, finally breaking down into sobs himself.
Patty guided them both so they were kneeling on the floor in their landing, and she would swear to this day she’d never held him as tight as she did then. He shook as he sobbed, and she held him, resting her head on top of his and rubbing up and down his back. She kissed his head repeatedly, and they stayed like this for a while.
After around 10 minutes, Stanley had stopped shaking and Patty stood them both up. “Come with me back to bed. We can discuss it now or in the morning, but I want to know what’s going on with you,” she said, both hands on his arms, looking up into his eyes. He nodded and followed her back into their bedroom, where they once again fit comfortably. They both drifted back off to sleep.
The next morning, Stan woke up at 7 AM as he always did, Patty waking as well not long after.
“Do you want to call Mike back? Maybe it’d be better to get it over with sooner rather than later,” Patty suggested as she came into the kitchen, snaking her arms around Stan’s waist where he stood by the coffee maker and holding him close. She was a lot shorter than Stan (who wasn’t that tall himself, standing at 5 '7”) so she wormed her way under his armpit and around to his front so she could look up to him. “I can call him and tell him if you want me to. I’ll say you’re terribly ill, or something like that?”
He shook his head, then leaning down to kiss the top of hers. “No. This is something I have to do myself.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too,” he replied, and let go of her to go to the phone.