LONG byler oneshots

Wallflower

Inspired by The Perks of Being a Wallflower. (Book and movie) With my own alterations to make there be more Byler.  

Tw: Mentions of Suicide/ Self harm. also drugs. Also slurs.  Also an OD.  

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Mike had everything laid out in front of him on his skinny wooden desk. The lamp was on and his paper and pencil were ready to be used, but how do you properly write a letter to a stranger? He shrugs. There is no better way to start than to write, "Dear Friend," Now the tricky part. Writing about his life in an interesting fashion. He could write about the book he just finished but that would land his letter in the fire for fuel. Maybe he could start by saying things about his family. But they were just as boring as everything else. His dad slept on the couch most days and his mom was always chasing after his sister Holly. She cleaned and cooked and did mostly everything else. He lived at the end of a cul-de-sac, that was just about all he had to tell the stranger to let them know he lived a cookie-cutter life to an outsider. 

He thought it would be appropriate to tell this 'stranger' why he was writing to them. It was because he heard they were a good listener, and he really needed someone to listen. He then explained how he didn't want the person to know who he was, or respond to his letters for that matter. 

He began by saying his first name and saying he lived at the end of a cul-de-sac. He said he was starting his second year of high school and had made one friend since 1st grade when he moved. He didn't mind. He liked being alone to some extent. He thought a lot and poetically. He sometimes thought his ideas were too difficult for anyone to understand. Well... anyone he knew. 

Sure, he thought like Shakespeare, but he also thought like a suicidal teenage boy. Because he was one. After his only friend took his own life, he was alone. He felt like he wasn't good enough to make him stay. Of course he blamed himself. After that his life spiraled out of control, the only thing keeping him in line was his music and listening to it whenever he could. In fact, he was listening to it right now. A mix his sister had made him before she left for college.

While lip syncing the words to 'Asleep' by The Smiths, he wrote a long letter, a starting kit to his life. What they would need to know in the stories to come. Then he put 'Love Always, Mike.' and grabbed the letter off his desk. 

It was dark outside and from his window he could see the orange street lamps lighting up the trees and the sidewalk. Two strangers, silhouettes, walked by. They held hands and talked. They were wandering, not walking. Mike turned and left his room. When he walked down the stairs he was surprised to see the lights on still. His mom swept dirt into a pile in the kitchen. She wore a robe and had her hair in a towel. "Mom." He spoke softly, seeing his dad in his usual position on the couch. 

She turned around to face him. She always smiled when she saw Mike. Well, at least after his friend killed himself. People starting paying attention to him for the first time. It was the first time he felt anyone cared for him. Everyone else was quick to give up the act and forget, but not his mom, and not him. "Where are the envelopes?"  He asked her. 

"Your dad's nightstand by the bed." She told him, bending over and sweeping the pile into the dustpan. Mike headed toward his parent's room. It was the cleanest corner of the house, partially because Karen cleaned it all the time and because his dad never used it. It was rare for Ted to sleep in his own bed. He walked to his dad's nightstand, lacking originality compared to his mom's, her's had pictures of her and her family. Pictures of when they were all young, Mike holding baby Holly while Nancy looked down at the two. He'd seen it too many times to smile at it. 

Once he had the envelope he went back to the kitchen to occupy his mom's time before he left to send off the letter. "Who's that to?" She asked, pouring herself some hot water before putting a tea bag in it.