𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

Castle Byers (Byler)

TW- angst, really bad writing (I seriously hate this one)

Will just couldn't take it anymore. God, he was so lonely it physically hurt. Sure, he had friends. But he was just a background character to them. When they weren't rescuing him or defending him, they set him aside like a toy. They didn't care about him.
No one cares about me.
Will was breathing shakily. His fingers were curled up in the dirt, and his toes were tapping repeatedly on the ground. Shit. Shit shit shit.
He sat beside the now-destroyed Castle Byers. Castle Byers allowed him to live in a fantasy. The pictures on the wall let him think his stupid daydreams were real.

"Will!" He heard Mike's voice from afar. The voice was paired with three pairs of footsteps. Will really didn't want to deal with his friends right now.
"Holy shit." Dustin's voice was close. Will looked up and saw Mike, Lucas, and Dustin only a few feet away. Will was kind of hidden behind the tree he was sitting against, so they didn't see him. His friends were all looking at the destruction of Castle Byers.
Will couldn't help but study their expressions. Mike- guilty. Lucas- confused. Dustin- shocked.
"Did Will do this?" Mike whispered.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "No, Mike, a giant stomped on Castle Byers."

Mike glared at him. "Shut up, Lucas."
"Shut up, both of you." Dustin shouted. "The main concern here should be finding Will, okay? Jesus Christ." He grumbled.
Mike sighed and started looking around. The beams of light from their flashlights were getting worryingly close to Will.
"Oh. Hi, Will." Lucas stood over him, shining a light in his face. Will covered his face.
"Stop shining that in my eyes." He said. Lucas clicked off his flashlight.
"Are you crying?" Lucas asked.

Will looked away. "No." He muttered.
"Look, I'm sorry we didn't want to play your campaign. It's just, we're growing up, right? You've got to understand that."
Mike and Dustin had come over at this point, and Will was trying desperately to hide the tears on his face. "Yeah, sure." Will said. He was too goddamn exhausted to even argue with them. Of course he was the bad guy for not wanting them to grow apart.
"I shouldn't have said what I said, Will." Mike whispered.
"It's not my fault you don't like girls!"
He started crying harder, despite every nerve in his body telling him to stop. He buried his face in his knees.
"Hey, hey." Mike crouched next to him.
"Go away." Will choked out.

"It wasn't my place to say that, okay? I'm so sorry. And your campaign was awesome, Will." Mike said.

Will shook his head. "I don't give a shit about the campaign, Mike. And neither do you guys, and that's okay. The problem is you don't give a shit about me." Will said.
"What? Will-" Lucas started.
"Save it, okay? None of you care about me. I'm just the damsel in distress to you guys, and once I'm saved, you just put me aside. So just go hang out with your girlfriends or whatever, okay?"
"Will-"
"Go away." Will repeated firmly.

Dustin, Lucas, and Mike shared a look. Dustin and Lucas walked away. Mike hesitated, though.
"Will. I care about you." Mike said softly.
"You care about me until your girlfriend comes around." Will shrugged.
"I'm sorry. I mean, I'm in love with her. When you're in love with a girl, you'll understand." Mike said.

Will almost laughed. There was so much Mike didn't know. "I'm never going to be in love with a girl, Mike." Will looked up at him.
Mike paused. "Oh. That's okay. When you fall in love with a guy, then."
Will felt more tears escape his eyes. 'When'.
"I'm already in love with a guy. But he'll never love me back. And he's kind of an asshole." Will said.

Mike frowned. "Oh."
"And he has a girlfriend, and she's so nice and pretty and he'd do anything for her. He's so… obsessed with her. And he'll never be obsessed with me like he is with her. Because I'm just a hopeless gay boy who fell in love with his straight best friend." Will said.

Mike stared at him for a long while.
"I love you, Mike. It's stupid. I'm so fucking stupid." Will leaned his head against the tree.
"A- and when you look at her with that stupid lovesick stare, it kills me. You have no goddamn idea how much it hurts, Mike." He sobbed.

Mike hugged him tight. Will just accepted it, wrapping his arms around him and sobbing into his shoulder. "So stupid." He whispered, mostly to himself.
Mike ran a hand gently through Will's hair. Will knew that Mike was trying to comfort him, and that just made him cry harder.
"You don't have to try and comfort me, Mike. I'm being stupid." Will whispered.
Mike shook his head. "No, you're not. I'd do anything for you."
Will looked into his eyes. "Anything?"
Mike stared back. Their faces were only a couple inches apart. "Anything."

Will leaned in closer, and their lips brushed together. He was waiting for Mike to push him away, yell at him, anything, but Mike just cupped his face in his hands and kissed him softly.
Once Will overcame the shock, he melted into the kiss. He could taste his own tears on Mike's lips. Will realized for a brief moment that this was his first kiss ever. He was glad he'd waited.

Mike pulled away first, breathing heavily. Will stared at him, trying to gauge his expression. Was he mad?
"I- wow." Mike tapped his fingers on the ground, most likely as a nervous fidget.
Will nodded slowly. His mind was a bit fuzzy, seeing as how he just had his first kiss ever with a supposedly straight boy.
"That was my first kiss." Will said quietly. Mike's eyes widened. "Oh shit."
"I always wanted it to be with you." Will admitted.
Mike sucked in a breath. "Oh."
Will blushed. Shit. "Sorry- sorry, I shouldn't have-"
Mike shook his head, cutting him off. "No, it's okay. I just… I can't believe I kissed you. And I.. I liked it more than kissing El."
Will's heart stopped. "You.. you did?"
Mike nodded. "Yes. I really did."

They stared at each in silence for a while.
"So, I definitely have to tell El about this." Mike laughed nervously.
Will nodded. "Yeah. I feel bad."
Mike gnawed on his lip. "I kissed you first. It's my fault."
Will shrugged. "I think El will forgive you. Her and Max have been getting really close recently."
Mike's eyebrows shot up. "Oh."

Will hesitated. "So… after you tell her.. what then?"
Mike seemed to understand what he was asking. "Well. I'll probably break things off with her. And then.. maybe we could do this again sometime." He smiled at Will.
Will blushed. "I'd like that."