The Prince and the Cleric - Byler

3

  Some time had passed and Will finds himself standing in front of the royal castle. The sick feeling in his stomach showing no signs of retreat. There was no turning back now. He was there, at his childhood best friend's castle, about to make the decision of whether or not to marry him. 

  "Just follow me this way, Byers." Robin said, smiling and waving her hand for him to follow her. He nodded and started up the steps to the castle doors. He still didn't know how he felt about this whole situation. He was stuck wondering f he still loved Mike. No matter how hard he tried to hate him for waiting so long to reach out, he couldn't bring himself to actually hate him. But he wouldn't admit that.

  Before he knew it he was following Robin through the giant wooden doors and into the foyer of the castle. Will looked around, taking in all of the decorations, the beautiful chandelier, the gold lined doors leading down a hallway, the scenery that he could barely believe he was surrounded with at this moment. Robin gestured towards a very fancy looking bench at the side of the room.

  "Just take a seat here and I will let the prince know you have arrived." She said with a cheeky grin plastered on her face. All Will could manage in response was a small nod before he gingerly took a seat on the bench. It was un-surprisingly very comfortable. If he wasn't ridden with so many emotions he probably could've fallen asleep right there. As he waited he took in his surroundings once again. He couldn't believe he was actually inside the royal castle, waiting for the person he hasn't seen in years. He was plagued with thoughts about what Mike may look like, and what Mike may think of his appearance.

'What does he look like now? Does he still have those messy black curls that I grew to love? Are there still freckles along his nose and cheeks? What would he think of me? I'm sure I don't look the best.'

  His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the clicking of footsteps down the hall. His head snapped to where the noise had come from, his eyes widening as his eyes met those of Michael Wheeler. And god, Will thought, he got pretty. He couldn't believe his eyes. His messy black curls were longer and thicker, his eyes even more beautiful than he remembered, even from a distance. He had gotten taller, that's for sure, a couple inches taller than Will. His face had filled out, cheekbones and jawline more prominent. And one of Will's questions had been answered when Mike started getting closer, he still had his freckles.

Will thought he might faint.

By the time he was done taking in his old friend's appearance, Mike was already a few feet away from him. A goofy grin plastered to his face, as if he was happy to see Will there this soon. And that he was, he was over the moon. Seeing Will there in front of him, all grown up, only confirmed that he indeed wanted to marry him. 

"Will hi!" Mike said cheerfully, the same goofy grin still spread across his face as he pulled Will into a hug. Will awkwardly accepted, patting Mike on the back a couple times before pulling away. He put on the brightest smile he could muster, trying to mask the mixed emotions that he couldn't quite put a finger on. And the weak feeling in his knees as he stood up to greet Mike.

"Hey Mike!" He smiled, "You look....wow" He breathed, throwing his hands out in front of him to gesture towards Mike. Mike smiled brightly, looking like a seven year old on Christmas morning.

"Thank you! You look wow as well." Mike smirked, doing the same thing that Will had done with his arms. Will felt himself starting to actually smile. A genuine smile, not one he had to fake. 

"Thanks" Will said with a soft smile. Mike thought he would collapse right there. He had missed that smile so much. He found himself struggling to get words out, the silence was starting to shift from comfortable to awkward. 

"So uh...how have you been?" Mike asked in the same cheerful tone. He hoped Will would talk to him about his job as a cleric. If his powers were as cool as they were back then, they had to be even cooler now.

"I've been okay...my family has been suffering with money lately so I had to take up a job. I put those powers we learned about to use." He blushed slightly at the last part of his sentence. Mike felt the same blush creep its way onto his face. He had remembered. Will had figured out he had powers when he was playing dragon slayers with Mike in the woods. That had to have been no less than 14 years ago...

As Will caught himself getting lost in Mike's eyes, he knew. Right there he wished he could dig himself into a hole and never come out. He was slowly realizing that this was the same Mike that he had managed to fall for nearly a decade ago, and he was going to have a very hard time rejecting him.

A/N: sorry this took a while to publish! I haven't had the time to sit down and write this week. But anyways enjoy this chapter! I'll try to get the next one out soon! Love you guys!