The Bad Touch - Byler

29. "Cardigan - Taylor Swift"

Mike opened the front door as Will didn't seem to be moving anytime soon. They entered the house and silently walked in. Will was slightly behind Mike, even though she was mad at both of them. They saw Max sat on the couch in the lounge.

"Hey guys!" She whispered.
Naturally, the boys whispered back.
"Hey." They said in unison.
"Why are we whispering?" Mike asked.
"El's asleep. Again." She whispered.
"Oh...is she okay?" Mike asked.
Will couldn't help but roll his eyes. Max gave him a quick glare before answering.
"I don't know to be honest."
"Right...yeah. Okay." Mike said, seemingly thinking.
"Are you gonna talk to her when she wakes up?" Max asked, looking at both boys now.
"No." Will said indefinitely.
"....me either." Mike added after a while.
"Why not?!" Max whisper shouted.
"Talking just ends in an argument so-" Mike started before Max cut him off.
"She didn't mean it like that. She told me. You can't ignore her forever guys." Max said in a fed up voice.
"Well if you didn't cut me off, I was going to say I'm gonna write her a letter."
"A letter? She isn't gonna read that." Will said looking at Mike confused.
"If she cares about me. About us." He started. "Then she will. And writing a letter means I say everything I want without it coming out wrong, or without getting angry or cut off."
"Oh...I guess that's smart..." Max said quietly.
"Yeah. So I'm gonna say everything, she's gonna listen, and then respond. If she doesn't come talk to me or write me a letter or whatever, then she clearly doesn't care about me, my happiness or Will, so I shouldn't care about her."
"That's fair." Max said.
"I couldn't care less." Will said. Max stared at him expecting him to say something else.
"What?" Will asked.
"You can't say that Will. She's your sister." Max said seemingly getting annoyed.
"I love El, but I fucking hate her right now. At least for now, I'm gonna be angry with her. I have the right to be."
"You'll forgive her eventually...right?" Mike asked looking the boy in the eyes, worried.
"Yes. I don't know how long it'll take...but if she reads the letter it will help."
"Okay good." Mike said relieved.
"Why do you care so much?" Will asked slightly accusatory.
"We live with her. That'll be hella awkward." Mike said chuckling to lighten the mood.
"Oh...true. But I can't help if she hates me if I forgive her." Will said holding his hands up defensively.
"I know..." Mike was worried again.
"It'll be fine. El's a forgiving person." Max stated.
"Really? I've not seen that side of her..." Will mumbled.
"Will." Mike warned.
"Sorry..." He mumbled again.

There was an awkward silence for a while so Mike decided to speak.
"Right. We're gonna go to Will's room...our room? I dunno. But we're going. I have a letter to write." He said smiling slightly at Max.
"Don't fuck for the love of God." Max said sighing
"Jesus Max! Were not always horny!" Mike said laughing at her comment.
"Really?! Wanna tell yourselves that?" She said laughing and quietly going to El's room.
"Who does she think we are?" Will asked walking to his room.
"Honestly." Mike said following.

When they reached Will's room, Mike sat at the desk and pulled out a piece of lined paper and a black pen. He started to tap the pen on the desk and furrowed his brows - he was deep in thought.
"You haven't thought about this very well, have you?" Will asked smiling.
"Um...no." Mike admitted.
"Also, this is your room as well now, you know?" Will said.
"Yeah... I know. It just feels odd. You get me?" Mike said looking at Will.
"Yeah. I know what you mean." Will said smiling.
"It's not like I don't like sharing a room. It's just that...this was always your room growing up. I came here to escape home and you would come to mine to do the same. We can't go anywhere now..."
"Mike it's okay. I understand. And we can go anywhere Mike."
"Yeah..." Mike replied smiling.
"Anyways...this letter. What do you want to say?" Will asked trying to prompt brain function for Mike.
"Um. Well I just wanna say that I know she is hurting but she can't be ruining our relationship like that. And that I still value our friendship but I really don't see her like that but she needs to move on. But in like nice terms, you know."
"Yeah. Yeah I think I know. You don't wanna be harsh, but you wanna get the message across, right?"
"Yeah exactly!" Mike said. "Now how do I do that...oo I know!"
He started scribbling on the page and withing ten minutes had written on both sides of the page and declared it finished.
"Done!" He said triumphantly.
Will looked up from the comic he picked up. When Mike was in his 'zone' he couldn't hear the world around him so there was no use Will trying to speak to him.
"You sure?" Will asked looking at the page Mike held between his hands.
"Yeah...?" Mike said. It was more of a question to what he was missing.
Will stared blankly at Mike until he couldn't take it.
"Who's it from?" Will said in a patronising tone, trying to prompt Mike.
"Oh yeah!" Mike looked for room to write '- Mike' but there wasn't space anywhere.
"There's no room...." He said defeated.
"I'll get you an envelope." Will said laughing as he left the room.

Will returned with a rectangular envelope and handed it to Mike. Mike wrote:

'For El

- Mike'

He then placed the letter inside.
"Can I read it...?" Will asked.
"Um..." Mike looked at the letter he held in his hand.
"It's okay. I don't mind I'm just nosy." Will said smiling.

Mike walked over to the door and paused
"Hey. It's okay. The worst that can happen is she gives it back unopened and then you know where she stands." Will said sympathetically.
"Yeah. You're right."
"I'm always right." Will said smirking.
"Whatever" Mike said laughing as he walked out. He went to El's room and slid the letter under the door. He walked away quickly and returned to their room closing the door behind them.

"You do it?" Will asked upon Mike's return.
"Yep." Mike looked scared.
"Then all we can do it wait." He smiled.
Mike stood at the door looking really tense and scared for his life.
"Come here." Will said holding his arms out. Mike walked over to Will and let himself be enveloped by him.
"It's okay. It'll be okay." Will whispered whilst stroking Mike's hair.
"I know." Mike replied into Will's chest.

The boys stayed like this until they heard a knock on the door.

"Hey...can we talk?"

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A/N: HEY! Oh my god it's been a while. I'm so sorry. I really try find time to write but sixth form is hard🥲so much hw. And I've been put in therapy recently and a lot is happening and I also have writers block and yeah. But ACTUALLY expect a new chapter soon bc I already know what I'm gonna write for most of it. Also thinking of titles is getting hardddd bro.
But yeah I'm so sorry and I understand if  u cba to read anymore bc of inconsistency lmaooooo