byler stories :)

unresolved feelings always have a conclusion (pt 1)

A/N: FIRST OF ALL: you guys are so nice I love all of you 💖💖💖💖💖💖 thank u for reading my stuff!!
second of all: this is a lil 4 chapter thing and i'll try to post a part everyday :)

Will and El had moved away months ago, and though it had been hard for everyone, it had been especially hard for Mike. They were two of the most important people in Mike's life, and to have him not see them almost everyday like he used to, was heartbreaking.

But, fortunately for Mike, they had managed to keep in touch. It wasn't the same as it used to be, and it probably never would be, but at least it was something.

He mostly called El and they would talk about life, and school, and just whatever they could talk about. There was no romantic connection, though, it was more friendly conversation. They still said "I love you", but that was about it. It was such a shift from how things were before, but Mike dismissed it as just being an effect of a long distance relationship.

As time went by, he found himself drifting away from any of the romance that was left in their phone calls, such as not even wanting to say "I love you" anymore because it felt like a lie. Again, he dismissed this. But, still, he was becoming more and more suspicious of his own feelings. For example: why didn't he feel anything with El anymore and why has he stopped being the one to initiate phone calls? And on another not, a more challenging topic: Why has he been thinking of Will more and why are his thoughts sometimes dangerously moving away from the platonic zone? But, he always cut off the last thought, and didn't bring it up again.

It was hard to ignore these...feelings though. Everytime they were on the phone together, Mike would consistently have to hold back calling him cute every 5 seconds. He couldn't help thinking that way, his laugh was just one of the best sounds he ever heard. He had always thought Will was cute, but it never dawned on him until now that maybe that wasn't the most heterosexual thing to think. He didn't call any of his other friends cute. It was just Will. But, he still didn't really know what these "romantic" thoughts about his best friend actually entailed, so he mostly pushed them away, dismissing them as nothing.

Until he and El broke up. It was mutual, with El saying that she needed to explore life without a relationship tying her down, and with Mike saying that things just haven't felt the same between them. They were still friends, really good friends. And they still talked on the phone a lot. But they weren't together anymore.

And suddenly, his feelings for Will started to click.

Now that he wasn't in a relationship anymore, he could like whoever he wanted. These feelings he had no longer felt dirty in the way that it could be considered cheating. It still felt weird, but over time, the feelings became more present and harder to ignore. Their phone calls were longer and more often, with Mike admiring everything about the way Will spoke. He missed him more than ever, and would mention him in almost every situation. And without his actual conscious consent, he had dreams about him. Dreams about them holding hands and going on dates. Dreams about them kissing nonchalantly while Will draws some sort of Dungeons and Dragons character. Or just dreams where nothing happens but it was already known in the dream that they were in an established relationship.

Eventually, he admitted it to himself. He had a crush on Will.

He knew that his crush was going to make everything awkward. He knew it. And he didn't want to tell Will, that would make everything even more awkward. In fact, he couldn't tell anyone. There was a huge risk. He didn't know if he would be accepted, he was almost certain if anyone at school found out he would be made fun of. Besides, he wasn't even fully gay, so telling people would just cause confusion. He didn't even know how to label himself. What was he? Will-sexual?

Sitting in the basement, he contemplated this whole situation. He knew he had a crush on Will, and he knew he wasn't going to tell anyone. But he's not a very secretive person. And what if he accidentally says something one day that makes everyone suspicious and his cover is blown? What if he's too obvious about his feelings and Will figured him out and then they're not friends anymore? He knew Will would be too nice and not stop being friends with him completely, but there would be weird tension between them. Nothing would ever be the same.

Still, he kind of liked having feelings for Will. Will was pretty much the perfect person for him to have feelings for.

They had been close for what felt like forever and they had made tons of memories together. Mike knew pretty much everything about Will and vice versa. He knew about Will's love for Dungeons and Dragons and how intense he was with the game. With that, he knew how creative he could get, and how when he wrote stories they were always incredible. And he knew how amazing he was at art, better than Mike could ever be. He still kept all of Will's drawings and he still looked through them.

He recalled one time that he jokingly asked if Will could ever draw him. "Yeah, maybe," Will had replied, but he never did draw him. If he did, Mike had never known.

The sound of a phone ringing interrupted his thoughts.

He walked over to the phone, hoping it was Will who called.

"Hello?" Mike greeted.

"Hey!" Will answered. Mike smiled and his heart did a flip flop knowing that Will was on the other side of the phone call.

"Will! I miss you" Mike blurted out, repeating what had been on his mind. He immediately regretted speaking his mind like that

There was a short moment of awkward silence between the both of them.

"I miss you too" Will replied, softly. The tone of his voice conveyed sincerity and Mike melted.

"Yeah... I, uh, I miss El too." Mike added quickly, trying to make the situation seem less weird.

"Oh" Will reacted. Mike noted the disappointment in his voice and realized he had made the situation worse.

"How are you?" he changed the subject trying to, yet again, salvage the situation.

"I'm good, actually." Will answered, and Mike could feel that he was smiling. He silently wished that he could see that smile in person. Then, as if to respond to his thoughts, Will continued, "We're planning to go to Hawkins for about a week, over vacation."

"Really?!" Mike exclaimed, feeling overwhelmingly happy and excited. He would be able to see Will! Finally! That's literally all he's been thinking about lately!

"Yeah! We were thinking of doing a camping trip or something. We haven't worked everything out but-" Will explained, and Mike's smile grew wider.

"I can't wait to see you!" Mike cut him off. Immediately, he realized that he did the same thing he did at the beginning of the call, with him blurting his feelings randomly. But this time, there wasn't any silence before Will answered.

"Yeah, it's been so long" Will agreed and continued on with, "It's just not the same without you here." Mike relaxed a little, knowing that Will felt the same, at least in one way.

"It's different here too. I keep thinking about you, not in a weird way, I just..." Mike trailed off, trying to stop himself from saying he misses Will again. Still he completed the thought with that anyway,"...really miss you a lot."

The call continued with them talking about just about anything.  Mike felt his nerves calm as they continued talking, but he still had managed to almost reveal a little too much about how he feels. Luckily, he had stopped himself from telling Will anything suspicious, such as how he thought Will was so cute, or how he wished he was there with him. Everything that came out of his mouth was Purely Heterosexual.

Still, he wasn't Purely Heterosexual. He definitely wasn't. And if he was this awkward on a phone call, imagine what he would be like in real life. Will would be arriving to Hawkins in a few weeks and Mike could already tell how dumb he might act. He would just have to try his hardest not to give anything away. How would he do that? Well, uh, he'd figure it out.