-Mike-
"So what did you wanna talk about?" I asked Max. Max leaned a bit closer to me.
"You might want to have this talk privately." Max said quietly while she glanced over at Will. I glanced over at Will too and looked back to Max with a confused face.
"What? Why?" I asked her.
"Just go to your room and ask questions there." she said as she pushed me to my room. We walked to my room. I closed the door behind Max after she entered.
"So what is this all about?" I asked her while raising an eyebrow.
"You got a crush on Will!" she said teasingly.
"What, no I don't. Why did you think that?" I whisper-shouted to her.
"If it's not true why are we still whispering then?" she asked me while she put her arms over each other. I thought for a moment. I had no idea. I shrugged.
"See. Ask him out!" she said. I shook my head.
"He's straight Max, trust me no."
"Maybe he is gay. Or the same as you." I was definitely not straight but I also didn't want to put any label on it. I'm just myself and that's good enough.
"Max, seriously. Look at him, he's as straight as a door." I said.
"I don't think so, Mike. My gaydar is ringing pretty hard when I'm around him."
"Your gaydar?" I said with my eyebrows lifted up.
"Yeah, you don't have that. Like when you look at people and immediately think 'oh he's gay' or 'oh, he's definitely straight', you don't have that?" she asked me confusedly.
"What, no." I said while frowning.
"I don't think yours is working then." Max shrugged.
"No way I'm asking him out by the way. He's still very uncomfortable around me." I said with a sad tone in my voice.
"Mike, your obliviousness kills me. He's the most comfortable around you. Like you haven't noticed how he acts when all of us are around. He tries to be the closest to you and when you get something to drink from the kitchen, he's always looking at you with a look on his face that says 'please don't leave me'" I looked at her in disbelief.
"Max, he barely eats around me."
"Maybe that's not you Mike, but him." I frowned.
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Maybe he starves himself for some reason, I don't know. Talk to him about it. I'm sure he'll tell you if your jut being patient." Max sad the first part barely hearable but I still heard it.
"So you're assuming he hates himself or something?"
"Mike, oh my god I'm not saying that. Just talk to him about it okay?" I nodded.
"Okay, I've done my thing. Go do your thing now. I'm going back to my dorm." Max said as she left my room. She waved Will goodbye and left. After she left I walked out of my room and set next to Will on the couch. He was still reading. I looked at his eyes seeing how they switch between words. His facial expressions changed to a frown and back to normal as he was reading. He let out a sigh.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Oh just this stupid character won't think straight." he said. He really is in the story when he reads. It's cute. Oh god, Max is right. No Mike don't think about crushes right now. Think about Wills situation.
"Will?" he looked up from his book to me.
"Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you about something?" he nodded as he closed his book and put it on the table.
"What is it?" he asked me.
"You." he frowned.
"Me?" he asked as he pointed to himself.
"Yeah, you. Are you okay?" he looked at me with wide eyes then he nodded. Why was he so shocked when I asked him?
"I know this may be something you don't want to talk about. I just want you to know. I'm here for you, okay?" he nodded.
"So why do you barely eat around me?" I asked him in a soft tone. His eyes grew wide again.
"I'm just not a fan of-"
"Eating. I know but why are you not a fan of eating?" I interrupted him.
"I- I- uhm." he broke eye contact and looked down to his lap.
"I'm not going to push you to tell me anything. So now I'll leave you in your thoughts while I go to my room. You don't have to tell me today. Just know I'm here okay?" I stood up and walked to my room leaving him alone. I closed the door behind me paced around in my room. I grew tired and went to lay down for a bit.
. . .
I woke up from knocks coming from my door. I looked at the time on my nightstand. 2:43.
"Mike are you awake?" a quiet voice said from the other side from the door. I stood up immediately not caring about my low iron and opened my room door.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Will asked me. I nodded and stood aside so he could step inside my room.
"Why are you still awake? We have school today in the morning."
"I got lost in my thoughts and couldn't sleep. And, I'm ready to tell you." Will said quietly as he looked down to his feet. I thought for a moment and then I realized what he was talking about.
"Sit down." I said as I walked over to him to my bed. I sat next to him with one of my legs on the bed and the other one out so I was fully facing him, while Will just stared blankly at the floor.
"Can I just you know, tell you. It will be really bad so you don't have to listen." he said as he glanced over to me to see my reaction.
"Go on. I won't judge you or say anything. Unless you want me to." I said. He nodded a few times before taking a deep breath.
"This will be long, and I'm sorry about that." I gave him a look he knows.
"Yeah right sorry, uhm. So I'm gonna start now." I knew he didn't want to say these things, whatever he was gonna say, out loud. I nodded gesturing him to continue.
"My dad was like a really bad asshole." I nodded.
"But like, he was really bad. He hates me. I don't even think he knows where I am right now. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even care. My dad he'd- he'd- I'm sorry." I put my hand on his back and rubbed circles on his back trying to comfort him.
"It's okay, take your time." I said quietly. I still didn't know if he wanted me to talk yes or no but I did the best I could. He shot me a slight smile for a split second. He took a few deep breaths before continuing.
"He'd beat me up." his voice cracked.
"I always did everything wrong. I didn't do the things he liked. He'd drink until he'd pass out. He was out of his mind. Every time I even did one thing wrong I would end up with a bruise. Like the slightest thing would make him mad. Like dropping something accidentally would make me run up the stairs and lock myself in the bathroom until he was passes out. He was abusive, Mike. And my mom she was always at work. She is so oblivious at this she thinks we have a good bond. I also have a brother but I didn't see him after he left for college." he tried to hold back his tears. I pulled him in for a hug. I felt so bad I couldn't believe how someone could go through this. I now know a few things. Like we he says sorry so much, the way he would look at me in fear when I do something unexpectedly. The way he flinches a lot. Only I still don't know why he eats so much less, but I have an idea.
Will sobbed into my shoulder the second I pulled him in for a hug. I was still speechless. I held him tight as he wrapped his arms around my back. He sobbed so hard I could feel he could barely breath.
"Will, follow my breathing okay?" I felt him nod in my chest. I slowly breathed in and out while Will tried to follow my breathing. I stroked the back of his head while I kept slowly breathing in and out. Wills sobs went down and then they stopped.
"Will?" no respond. I slowly looked down to him. His eyes are closed. I couldn't blame him though. It was around three AM. I pulled Will with me as I lay down on the bed. His head lay on my stomach while his body was between my legs. I closed my eyes and went to sleep with my right hand in Wills hair and the other on my chest.
. . .
-Will-
I woke up. I smelled the familiar scent of Mike. I slowly opened my eyes as I realized I was laying on top of Mike. I slowly turned my head to his night stand. The clock said it was 5:53. Almost time to wake up. I tried to till my head up but I had a huge headache. I groaned from the pain in my head.
"Shh, it's okay, it's okay." I heard Mike say while he patted the back of my head. I thought about yesterday. I finally realized why I was in Mike's bed. I quickly sat up which causes Mike to sit up too.
"Are you okay?" he asked me. I had my hand on my head. The low iron was really hitting me. I was probably trying to hold my balance while sitting, because I felt Mike's bare arms wrap around me. I hugged him back.
"I have a huge headache." I told him. I felt him nod in my shoulder.
"I know. That's normal. You can still sleep for around half an hour before we have to stand up officially." how is he so understanding. I don't get it. He pulled away from the hug and lay me down on his bed. He stood up and walked to his door.
"Mike wait." I didn't want him to leave me. He turned around and looked at me.
"Don't leave me please." I said quietly. He nodded and walked up to me. He sat down next to me where I lay. I closed my eyes.
I felt Mike's hand ran through my hair.
. . .
I woke up by Mike slightly shaking me.
"Wake up, Will. I already made breakfast for us." Mike whispered to me. I looked up at him with a morning frown on my face. Mike chuckled lightly.
"Come on, it's our first day from college. Let's go." Mike said while he pulled me out of my bed.
"Alright, alright. I'm coming." I said as I stood up from the ground after Mike pulled me out of bed. I walked out of his room and went to the dining table. I sat on my usual spot and looked down at my food then at Mike's. I still had less than Mike but he gave me more than usual. I looked at him confused.
"Will, I know what your thinking right now. But it's your first day at our school. You have to eat enough to get energy for the day. I know you don't want that much but you have to eat." Mike said to me. I looked back down at my food and started eating it anyways. He had a point. I don't want to be walking around as a zombie on my first day.
Mike finished his food and waited for me. When I finished it, Mike grabbed my plate and went to clean it up.
"Go dress up, we have to go in fifteen minutes." he told me. I stood up and walked to my bedroom to change into some clothes to go to school with.
A/N
I want to write in 3rd person again so I'm gonna do that from now. Please let me know if you want any changes!
Word count: 2073