#BC YEAH I THINK BOB SHELDON WAS A SAPPY BITCH AT HEART

[made-my-peace-with-all-the-bad]

begging you to elaborate because now i’m thinking about cherry originally being raised with cleaning out his room but breaking down as soon as she goes in there so the other socs have to come help

(alternatively i’m thinking about his parents not wanting to change anything about his room because that was their baby who could do no wrong and they don’t want cherry or anybody going in his room and changing things around without his permission)

Ok so in my mind, his parents just don’t care enough to bother cleaning it out. And I’m thinking about Cherry going to do it, or alternatively, her not wanting to because she’s grieving too much to, so Paul drags Trip, Chet, and Brill to do it.

And in that latter case scenario, I think it wouldn’t really hit them until they’re cleaning it out that Bob really is gone. Because in his room, they found so many things, big and small, that make it hurtfully clear that he’s gone. Because one of his drawers, they find a collection of photos taken over the years. And as the years go one, the photos grow from being just him and Paul, to later including Trip, then Brill, then Chet, then Bev, then Cherry and Marcia. And there are some photos that were clearly taken without someone noticing. There’s one picture of Chet staring with a super concentrated look at a statue, trying to figure out what it is. There’s another of Bev and Brill laughing while holding onto each other. There’s one of Bob kissing Cherry’s forehead, the two clearly in their own little world. There were piles of papers from his childhood. Everything from unsigned tests and permission slips, to doodles Paul had given him when they were little. Tiny, unnecessary things that were shoved into piles in the corner. Things that most people probably would’ve trashed, but Bob, for whatever reason, had kept.

But there’s bigger things too. Harsh reminders that Bob will never get to grow up. Like the letter they find, open on his desk. An offer for him to play football at a big university. The same one Paul currently played for. Something he’d always been looking forward to. Something that is now impossible. It was Bob’s ticket out, and now he’s going to be buried and stuck in Tulsa forever. Then, when they’re sorting through his clothes, Brill finds a small box tucked in the corner of his bottom drawer. And it takes everything in him to hold himself together when he opens it. Because inside of it was a ring. And under the ring was a note for Cherry. And that made Paul‘a vision go blurry with burning hot tears that he couldn’t let fall. Bob had a future planned out. He had wanted more than this town had to offer. He wanted to get away, go play football at college, take Cherry with him, and then they’d settle down and have a family. And now none of that will happen. Now Paul, Chet, Trip, and Brill need to face the harsh reality. Their friend is gone. He doesn’t get to dream of a life beyond Tulsa anymore. And he was so god damn close to it. He was less than a year away from getting out for good. Because if there’s anything Paul knew, it’s that Bob wouldn’t make his mistakes. If Bob got out, no way in hell was he ever coming back. But in an almost laughably ironic way, Bob, despite his money and status, was also damned from the beginning. Defined by his weaknesses and struggles, Bob was never going to get another barbecue or get even one graduation day.

And it’s not really until they need to clean out the room he spent seventeen years in, that the truth of their situation sets in for the soc boys. Bob is gone. Truly dead and gone.