hurt, ( byler )

2.3

"how do we find him, then?" will kicked a stone on the ground.

"we go to his house. i know where he lives."

will raised an eyebrow. "how?"

max chewed her lip. "well, billy used to date his older sister or something like that. it must've been pretty serious because our families had dinner together once. it was really awkward, but connor's parents are nice, so hopefully they'll let us in or at least tell us where connor is."

"how convenient." will tried not to express his annoyance. he really didn't want to actively go around looking for connor, given that he filled with jealousy whenever he saw him, but if will wanted to see if mike was alright, he supposed that he'd just have to deal with it. "alright, lead the way, then."

"what the hell are you doing here," connor deadpanned, not even posing it as a question. he stared at the two teens standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

"we just wanna ask if you've talked to mike recently," max said.

connor stared blankly at them. "yeah, last night. why?" will looked away with red cheeks, jealousy washing over him. mike was ignoring all of his friends, but still talking to connor? this was starting to feel like the whole adelaide situation again.

"he's ignoring us, then." max pursed her lips and nodded. "why am i not surprised?"

"oh, no." connor looked between them. "he didn't tell you? you guys don't know?"

max raised an eyebrow. "know what?"

"mike's parents found out about him and i. he's like, super-mega grounded. practically on house arrest. the only way i can see him is by sneaking to his house at, like, midnight." he crossed his arms. "not because i care about him or anything." his cheeks turned pink. "just, making sure he's coping with it all." he let out a single, dry laugh. "his dad would probably kill me if he ever caught me."

"jesus," will said.

"wait." max looked worriedly towards the living room, which was very close to connor's room. his parents could probably hear what they were talking about. she lowered her voice and asked, "did your parents find out?"

"yeah, of course they did. mike's dad was all like 'your son turned mike gay! he had two wonderful girlfriends, and now he's kissing boys! that boy of yours stays away from my family, you hear?'" he did an impression of mike's dad (and it was actually pretty good). connor continued. "my parents don't give a fuck though. gay, straight, whatever else, they don't see me any different as before i told them."

"you... told them?" max blinked.

"oh, yeah. not about mike and i, just that i was gay." connor leaned back against the wall. "like, three years ago. i've known since i was, like, nine that i was queer. ol' ted almost fainted when my parents said that they already knew i was gay! it was quite the sight." connor giggled a little bit. "god, i wish i could see his face like that again. it was hilarious."

"wait, we're getting off topic," will said. "mike's on house arrest?"

"mhm." connor nodded. "no seeing friends, no supercom to talk to you guys—definitely no me, but he already broke that rule. they want him to sit in his room all summer and think about what he did."

"all summer?" max exclaimed.

"'until further notice,'" connor said, quoting with his fingers. "it's a big deal to them, apparently."

"well, shit. who's able to check up on mike now?" max asked. "i'm out of the picture."

"i can't either." will wished he could, but he couldn't go out after midnight. both because he wasn't allowed, and because he just couldn't mentally handle being out alone in the dark after... all that happened. "maybe lucas can?"

"yeah, i'll talk to him later," max agreed.

connor sighed lowly. "until you guys figure that out, i'll keep checking on him for you, deliver any messages you have for him." connor looked away, cheeks red with embarrassment. "you guys can keep visiting me and i'll let you know if mike wants to tell you anything." he rolled his eyes, a lighthearted sort of smile playing on his lips. "just call me messenger boy, i guess."

"really?" will asked, raising an eyebrow.

"god forbid i try to do something nice for the only people who don't treat me like a freak!" connor shook his head. "yes. you wanna make sure mike's alright, i get that. since you aren't allowed to visit, i'll do it for you."

connor was offering to do something nice for them. connor hayes was being nice to them. will had never even considered the possibility that someone like connor hayes would be nice to someone like will. what in the world was happening?

author's note
( if u read this i appreciate you <33 )

well. long time no see.

it's been over a year since the last update. i'm so sorry about that—if you're still reading; thank you SO much!!
i just—out of absolutely nowhere—got inspiration for this at 1am and wrote this in an hour

btw, my new zealander ass completely forgot that july is a summer month in america, therefore i forgot about the aspect of summer break, which is why it's added so suddenly in this chapter. apologies if the dates are inaccurate, but i am dumb and too lazy to fix it because that requires a lot of editing!!!

hopefully the next update won't be a wait this long, but i can't make any promises

love,
eden <33

11:30am - 31 august 2021