Byler- The Unwanted Return of Everything (And How It Finally Ends)

The Cliff

"I have an advantage, you're right." Mike did a small celebration gesture of victory. "Guess I won't have to worry about getting replaced." He made a sharp turn. "You won't either, by the way."

"So... best friends forever, then? Our entire lives?"

"I thought that was obvious."

-Present Time-

Mike parked the car on the side of the road by the big pointy cliff over the lake at the quarry. He had decided that maybe it would be romantic, sitting by the cliff and enjoying each other's company.

Is it supposed to be romantic? It was hard to say. It almost felt like something he could do now, kiss Will. Hold his hand. Be romantic. Will obviously liked it, but he didn't seem like he wanted it. It was all because of Brad, of course. Will felt like he was a bad person going out with Mike because he had a boyfriend. It made sense to just break up with him, didn't it? And honestly, Mike would be surprised if Brad hadn't ever cheated on Will. He seemed like the kind of person who would do that.

Will walked out onto the cliff, the wind was blowing his hair to the side, making it look like some dramatic scene in a movie. Like he'd just witnessed the death of his closest friend and was here to mourn and decide to avenge them.

He turned. "Why'd you wanna come here, huh? It's not that important."

Mike walked up beside him, taking his hand automatically. "Sure it is. We hung out around here all the time, right?"

"Not really. My mom said she didn't like us being up here. She thought we'd fall off." Will took a step back with that, maybe thinking he could fall off.

Mike shrugged. "Oh, well I remember coming up here a lot. I think I liked it as a kid. Thought it looked like something out of some fantasy world." Mike stepped away from Will and towards the edge. "I was gonna fight a dragon up here one day."

Will laughed nervously, watching Mike get closer to the cliff's drop. "A dragon, huh? Did you ever get around to that?"

"Nope." Mike sat down, dangling his legs over the lake below him. It made Will gasp. "I didn't fight a dragon, but I did fight Troy Walsh and I think that counts."

"How stable is that ledge?"

"It's fine. Come on." Mike gestured his friend forward. Will took slow steps, peering off the end of the cliff. Something about it didn't look like it sat right with him. Despite that, he sat down next to Mike, nervous enough to find a place directly next to him, holding his arm for support.

"This is an old rock, Mike. If we fall–"

"We won't," Mike assured him. He just had a feeling they'd be okay. Nothing bad was gonna happen tonight because it wasn't allowed to. They were having too much fun for something bad to happen. Still, "You don't have to sit on the ledge if you don't want."

Will sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. "It's fine. Just not used to it... Anyway, what did you say about Troy?"

Mike nodded. "Troy. Yeah. Did I ever tell you about the time I jumped off this thing?" It was a vivid memory still to Mike. Troy and his stupid friend telling him to jump, Dustin pleading for him to stay, Mike thinking of how it wouldn't be so bad to just end it right there. It wasn't a happy memory, but it was there. It wasn't sad either. Just there. It happened. That's all.

Will's eyes widened and his grip tightened on Mikes arm. "You what?" He looked horrified by this information. Mike had, apparently, never told him.

"Well, Jane showed up and suspended me in mid-air, so obviously I didn't reach the bottom, but yeah, I jumped." It wasn't a bad thing. Will didn't have to react like it wasn't normal. Mike just jumped off the cliff. It happened. It was over. It didn't matter.

Will stumbled over his words. "W- why?" His voice cracked asking.

Mike shrugged. "Troy threatened to cut Dustin's teeth out if I didn't. I didn't want him to cut Dustin's teeth out."

Will scoffed. "You jumped off a cliff because Troy said he'd cut Dustin's teeth out?"

"Sure."

Will shook his head. "Then you're an idiot. That could kill you. Actually, it would kill you if you didn't have a magical friend to save your ass. There's no way you jumped off a cliff for that. Wouldn't you have known he wouldn't actually do it? "

Mike stared out at the sky for a moment. It was dark now, he could see the stars. He could see the lake and the silhouettes of trees. He could hear some sort of bird somewhere.

"Mike?"

An owl, maybe. The moon was big and full and beautiful against the darkened sky. It looked eerily magical. The wind was singing through the branches above them in some sort of melodic song.

" Mike." Softer.

"Can I kiss you?"

Will leaned back and leveled his eyelids. " After you explain." Shoot. Mike was kind of hoping they'd just drop the topic completely. He wasn't exactly sure why he brought it up in the first place.

Mike sighed. "Well, it's not very important. It happened when we were, like, eleven so it's kind of an outdated story anyway."

"Okay, fine. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Will's hand left Mike's arm and went to his hand, squeezing it affectionately. He looked down at his slowly swaying feet.

"People thought you jumped. When you were missing."

"Seems reasonable. Where else would I have gone?" Will laughed softly. "Another dimension?"

"I thought maybe you were down there too. And... maybe I'd find you if I went down there. You wouldn't be alone."

Will just looked at Mike for a second. Mike didn't look back, but he could see his sad eyes out of the corner of his own.

"Don't look at me like that. I bet everyone in this town has considered jumping off this cliff once or twice. And I was eleven. It's not like I'd do it now."

Will looked unconvinced. "You promise?"

"Only if you do." Mike decided Will didn't look at the edge of the cliff like that for no reason. He was scared of himself more than the cliff. What he might do. Mike didn't like the way he looked at the cliff at all. He decided it was about time to leave. No more cliff. "Do you promise?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Mike stood up. "Good. I promise too, then. Let's get out of here." He helped Will to his feet. "Sorry I even took us here. I don't know what I was thinking."

Will looked up at the sky and smiled slowly. "I think it's beautiful. And I like talking to you too. Even about the bad stuff. So it was okay." That relieved Mike. He thought that maybe he had ruined the date.

"Well, you still owe me a kiss. Remember?"

Will laughed. "Of course I do."