A pounding headache was the only thing that bothered him when he first woke up.

Everything else at the time just seemed normal. Stan didn't question it when he woke up in the middle of nowhere. It's not like it was the first time he had women up like that, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. When he noticed his surroundings were unfamiliar, he simply picked himself up and started walking.

He had learned to regret that when he realized that his shoes were missing. As he marched through unfamiliar surroundings, he felt the skin on the bottom of his feet sting with every step. By the time he found a road, twisty and leading straight to his town, he sighed in relief.

I'll just call someone to pick me up.

But what would be his excuse this time? What would he say once he was questioned? He couldn't remember much of what happened yesterday. Maybe a shrug would suffice.

When he looked on his phone, he saw that he had some missed calls and new messages.

Only one was from a contact he knew.

He stopped walking, taking some time to scroll through his phone. He didn't have this number saved in his contacts, and he definitely didn't recognize it.

Before he could think twice, he had already pressed the green call button. He put it up to his ear and continued the walk while he waited for the other to answer.

"Hello?" The voice over the phone was way too ecstatic to belong to someone he knew.

"Uh.. hi. I just... I looked through my phone- and I saw that I've been calling you... But I don't recognize your number... can you tell me who this is?"

"Who wants to know?" He asked.

"Stan. Uh- Marsh."

"Oh! You're the one that called me last night."

"I... did?"

"Yep! Hey, how are you doing? Are you okay now?"

Stan sputtered anxiously.

"I'm, uh... I'm okay? I guess? Everything's a little... foggy."

"How's the headache?"

"Headache?"

"Don't you get headaches if you drink too much?"

"Well, yeah but- What's that supposed to mean?"

Pause.

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Not really, no."

The person on the other side hummed, "I could fill you in. You want the full story?"

"Yes please."

The man had introduced himself again, saying his name was Kenny, before continuing with his side of the story. He told Stan that someone had called in the middle of the night, requesting to speak with someone working with the suicide hotline. Kenny said he didn't, but before Stan would've hung up, he decided to talk with him. He also mentioned that it was really difficult to do so when he wouldn't give out a location or anything personal until he was pressed into it.

"Oh my God." He interrupted. "Oh my God."

"It wasn't how I thought I'd spend my morning, but I'm glad I helped out."

"Look uh- Kenny, was it?"

"Yeah."

"I'm so so sorry. I- I get stupid when I drink too much, and I bothered you.. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It beats finding out that somebody killed themselves. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"I- I know, but..."

He sighed.

"Are you home?" Kenny changed the subject.

"I'm on my way home. Woke up in the middle of god-fuck nowhere, and now my feet hurt."

"That's good to hear."

"That my feet hurt?"

"What? No, that you're on your way home."

"Oh, thanks."

The conversation continued on from there. And while Stan couldn't remember parts of it after it happened, mostly due to the pain in his head, he did remember parts where he laughed. Genuinely laughing, not something polite.

He suddenly regretted doing whatever he did the night before.

Sooner than he expected, Stan had finally arrived in his town again. His feet were blistered and caked in dried blood, but he no longer left red footprints wherever he went, so he called it a win.

"I'm back in town." He announced when Kenny had stopped his tangent.

"Took you long enough."

"Hey, uh, it was really nice talking with you. I don't exactly.. have a lot of people to talk to."

"You're not so bad yourself, Stanley."

He laughed.

"Listen, I uh- I gotta go. But I was wondering if I'd be hearing from you again?"

"Definitely." He hummed.

"Oh- thank you. Bye."

When he hung up, he couldn't help but smile.

"Who's the lucky lady?"

Stan nearly jumped out of his skin at the new voice. Turning as quickly as possible, he immediately recognized who the other was, and scowled.

"Fuck off, Craig."

The kid in question only shrugged, before walking away.

Stan couldn't help but glance at his own phone, before heading back towards his house.