Heartbreak Story - Byler

XXIV - Doesn't Have to Be a Heartbreak Story

Will just gave a feeble chuckle and said, "Wow thanks, idiot," and the two of us fell silent for the remainder of the song, both of us glancing sadly at the other when we thought the person wasn't looking. Jonathan, I thanked god, remained blissfully unaware of the tension between us as he busied himself making some food to take up to my sister, whistling the tune of the song as he did so. Blissfully unaware that my heart was silently fracturing and shattering into an infinite number of pieces.

The older boy switched the song again to one I had specifically chosen to see Will smile and I was rewarded for my efforts as his wide eyes lit up and he grinned. "I love this one."

"I thought you didn't like Fleetwood Mac." Jonathan muttered absently as he plated the final pancakes but Will ignored him.

"Good choice, Mikey."

"Always." I tried to wink cheekily at him because I momentarily forgot how much of an awkward, barely passable human being I am but all that I achieved was I got confused and ended up closing both of my eyes and blinking aggressively at him which set the younger boy off into peals of laughter, filled with mirth at my stupidity. "Oh, shut up." I muttered as Jonathan finally left the two of us alone and headed upstairs.

When Will had controlled his giggles and regained his breath, he looked at me sternly and told me: "You're one hell of a terrible flirt, do you know that?"

"I wa-wasn't, I wasn't trying to fl-flirt." I stammered, worried I had gone too far. The last thing I could have wanted was to push boundaries after he had blatantly turned me down by changing the subject earlier, at the peak of the lightning storm between us.

He raised one eyebrow at me and sat back in his chair, clearly utterly unconvinced by what I had said. "I think you should try harder."

I suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy in bewilderment. Is Will actually asking me to flirt with him? What does this boy want from me?

"Okay." I replied, sounding far more confident than I really was feeling as I rose to my feet with trembling legs and walked towards him. "Dance with me."

My hand was shaking as I extended it towards him just as the chorus picked up with the most appropriate of words for the situation: "Hold Me". Will gazed down at my fingers, deeper in thought than I'd ever seen him before but I understood completely why that was the case. I knew my offer was a risk I was taking as the boy who meant everything to me had barely touched me in months and the longer Will didn't move, which felt like it lasted for a century but in reality couldn't have been more than five seconds, the more panicked I became that I had ruined everything we had built upon since becoming friends again.

Just as I was about to drop to my knees and beg for his forgiveness for pushing him too far, Will grinned at me and grabbed my hand, leading me to a spacious part of my kitchen where we proceeded to dance together. As I spun him around, the two of us found ourselves lost in fits of giggles at my obvious inability to dance but it didn't matter to either of us. Will's face shone with glee and happiness radiated from him and straight to my heart which I knew beat purely for him and him alone.

Nothing lasts forever, I was all too aware of that fact as the song grew ever closer to its finale. You've already taken one risk today, Mike, you may as well take another, I reminded myself.

Winding my arm tighter around his waist, I gently pulled Will's body closer to my own and raised my other hand to rest on his face. The younger boy's giggles subsided as his eyes widened and gazed into my own and I became aware that neither of us were breathing.

Will's eyes fluttered downwards from where they were staring into my own and settled themselves on my lips...that's when he did it.

The boy wrapped his arms even more securely around my neck and leant in as he gently but surely pulled my heard towards his. Every inch of my body was alive and screaming in anticipation to feel Will's mouth against my own as butterflies spread throughout my stomach from a love so strong and profound I was sure I must have been dreaming as love like this couldn't possibly exist in real life. Could it?

Our lips were millimetres apart when an annoyed shout from the doorway reached us and Will flung himself away from me. "What the hell, guys? You haven't eaten your pancakes!" Jonathan moaned at us and I turned to see him standing with Nancy by his side, his gaze solely focused on the abandoned food and I understood he hadn't even looked at us and had no idea what he'd walked in on. My sister on the other hand was staring at us with her mouth hanging slightly open as she elbowed Will's brother who then glanced at our red faces and a look of dawning spread across his own.

"Oh."

*

Well, this was a chapter I created for my own benefit so I could talk about some songs I like (because I love literally every song mentioned) and I kind of got carried away writing it and this happened.
Anyway...
I'm personally on the 'Hold the Line' side of the debate that the Wheelers and Byers were having in this chapter. Feel free to state your own side, I'd love to know.
The music taste competition will continue as well but I won't go into much detail anymore about it, I won't even mention all the songs played so if you want to know what they are, I've made a playlist on Spotify called "Pre-Feb '87" because...well..all the songs have to be appropriate for the setting which is Jan '87. The link is below, I have no idea whether it is accessible or not because I can't do tech. I'm like an old lady. The playlist is on my sister's account lol bc I sponge off her Spotify.
https://open.spotify.com/user/1124626188/playlist/2VWrrFFIucbT3VLpyPGfH9?si=wSbgbScYTYieL2BbszJIbA
The first few after 'Hold the Line' are Mike as stated (the cheesy ones are him because I imagine him as being awkward and having cheesy music taste, fight me) the middle few are Jonathan and the last are Will.
Finally, the video I have attached is for 'Hold Me', the song which Mike and Will almost kissed to.
Bye.

Hahahahaha, no worries I got your backs. This chapter is a two parter and I will release the second part later today 😉.
Love you all.
- Niamh.