Trigger warning: Intense crying from the author because, well, you'll see.
Third Person POV:
The two boys sat in silence, never taking their eyes off one another in the dull gloom as the light attempted to sneak in through the still-drawn curtains. Each boy gazed at the one beside him, taking in every millimetre of his face and wondering how such beauty could have formed in an imperfect world such as this one. Neither of the two knew that the other was thinking the same thing about him.
The boy with the black curls stared intently into the eyes of the smaller boy, lost in wonderment as he questioned how they could be such a glistening emerald-green that twinkled even in the darkness and yet a smooth, heavenly chestnut brown at the same time. He's a masterpiece, the boy inwardly trilled.
The younger boy was deep in concentration as he attempted to count the smattering and scattering of dainty freckles that danced across the face of the boy he loved like constellations created by the gods yet somehow even more beautiful.
The midday sun was beating down just outside the window, melting all of the mid-January frost that had settled overnight but Mike and Will wouldn't have even known if a hurricane was tearing through their town and crashing the Wheelers' house down around them as neither of them believed anything mattered but the other boy. The destruction of the galaxy wouldn't have been enough to force them to tear their eyes away from their loved one in that moment and nor would it for many moments to come over the following years.
The younger boy caught his breath after finally yielding to the fact that even in a hundred lifetimes, he could never have fully counted and memorised every freckle as each was as individual as each strand of DNA locked away inside of their bodies. "I've been terrified," Will began, his voice shaking as he struggled to allow the words to leave his mouth where he'd kept them hidden for so long, "So terrified, Mikey."
"Of what, darling?" The dark-haired boy crooned, urging the other onwards with soft and sweet words that sent shivers running up and down the spine of the younger boy.
Will's fingers flinched as he longed to take Mike's hands in his own and hold them close to his chest, on top of the heart that belonged to him but his unhappy, dark mind prevented him from doing so. "What has been happening between us even when we didn't mean it to. The spark, the chemistry...the love. I'm not the only one who's felt it, right?"
Mike's heart fluttered wildly in his chest, like a caged bird desperately trying to find an escape, as he took in the words of the person who meant the most to him in the world. "I've felt it too, of course I have. Ever since that first day of being your friend again, the moment our eyes met it was like fireworks had been lit, exploding and dazzling the sky with every kind of colour imaginable. Then every single second spent with you at the park felt like the kind of fairytale that, when you read it to your kids you have to explain to them afterwards that it's just a work of fiction so they don't grow up with unrealistic dreams of just how incredible life can be...and, well, today."
The younger boy let out a single, tinkling laugh that rang through the solemn room like a chorus of bells and created a tad more of a light-hearted atmosphere. "Wow, I always knew the Wheelers weren't the most loving parents but I didn't know they'd dash their kids' hopes and dreams whilst reading them a bedtime story." Will teased the darker-haired boy who jokingly rolled his eyes in response before settling them back on their favourite art form: the brown-haired boy with the bowl cut sitting next to him on the bed. "All those moments," The boy continued more seriously, "Made me realise that not only am I fighting a losing battle, I'm continuing in a war I don't even want to win anymore. I keep fighting for something I never even wanted, I'd just convinced myself that I did."
"What do you mean?" Mike asked, flummoxed by the unusual turn in the road down which Will had taken the conversation.
The boy's bright, hazel eyes bore deeper into Mike's dark ones as they widened with desperation, searching for something within them. "Tell me what you want." Will commanded, disregarding Mike's question in his own passionate quest for answers.
"Wha-what do you mean?" The curly-haired boy had anxiety written all over his face as he voiced a further question about Will's intentions.
"Tell me what you want from me. Don't worry about pushing me too far or saying something you think will make me uncomfortable. Just tell me exactly what you want."
"Will," Mike pleaded, "I really don't think this is a good idea."
Will shook his head in exasperation. Mike didn't understand that this wasn't some kind of test or trick, Will needed to know exactly what Mike wanted to help make the decision he was slowly but surely drawing closer to making. "Please, tell me exactly what you want. I need to hear it from your mouth."
The older boy remained quiet for a moment, wondering if he dare open up about his dreams or if doing so would turn out to be the greatest mistake of his life. The seconds slipped by between the boys as Mike debated the issue over and over again in his mind and, eventually, his need to do as Will asked won out - as it always would. "I want to wake up every morning with you in my arms. I want to see you standing by your locker in school and wrap my arms around your waist from behind whilst kissing the side of your neck to let you know I'm there. Every Valentine's Day, I want to be able to surprise you with different gifts that you'll complain about and say you hate Valentine's Day and that you think it's a scam by the card companies when we both know you secretly love it. I want to be able to tell you every single day how much I love you and how fucking lucky I man to be the one who gets to call you, William Byers, my boyfriend. In the future, I want to buy a little house with you where we'll sit one day and we'll hear that amazing news that it's finally legal for us to get married and we'll argue over who will be the one to propose to who but then we'll end up proposing to each other but neither of us will do it right because we'll talk over each other and mess up the words and, hell, we'll mess up the wedding vows too because we'll both be crying so much because this is what we waited our entire lives for! Maybe we could even adopt some kids and get a cat for the kids (and us) to play with. I want a life with you, Will. I want to grow old with you."
Mike didn't even realise he was crying until a teardrop fell gracefully into his lap and startled him out of his dream world. He looked towards the boy who featured in every hope he could ever have for his own future in an attempt to read his facial expression however Will had dropped his head and was gazing downwards so Mike couldn't get a glimpse of his face. With tentative footsteps, Will rose to his feet and pondered his slow way over to the other side of the bedroom, keeping his back to Mike at all times and the boy who had just professed his most desperate life desires began to shake as hysteria threatened to overtake his body with every passing moment that Will didn't say anything back. The older boy was riddled with anxiety and was sure he'd already lost his best friend.
Finally, Will turned his body around to face a heartbroken, disheveled and destroyed Mike and his own face displayed equal amounts of distress. "I want all of that too, Mikey. I want it so much and I want you so much. Nothing in this world would make me happier than to call you my boyfriend but I'm not so sure I'm capable of it just now." As Will also began to cry, Mike subconsciously climbed off his bed and made his way towards the smaller boy and placed himself so they were barely a foot apart and he was gazing down at Will. The boys were standing so close to one another that they could each feel the other's breath grazing against their skin.
"What I was saying before was I've been fighting against the idea of us for so long but I've recently come to the conclusion that I would love to lose that fight because in being defeated, I'd get the sweetest prize. I'd get you. Mike, I want to be with you forever but that still frightens me and that's why I don't think we will work out yet."
"Yet?" Mike asked in a gentle yet husky and rough whisper, causing the boy he was close enough to that he could see the tears coating his eyelashes like morning dew on grass to shiver from the longing to lessen the gap between them, for their bodies to brush against each other in the darkness of the blocked-out, absent sunlight.
Will was breathless and he struggled to coax his own response from his mouth. "If you'll wait for me," the smaller boy began, "I promise we'll be together. I can't deny it anymore, I can't deny that I need you more than I've ever needed anything else before and I don't want to deny it either. I want to be yours and for you to be mine but I need some time to come to terms with it all. I need some more time to heal on my own and then I'll be all yours."
"I'd wait forever for you." Mike said solemnly as he stared intently into the eyes of his one-and-only love.
"Deal?"
"Deal."
Mike looked down at the shaking boy and wrapped his arms tightly around him, burying his freckled face in the smaller boy's soft, brown hair whilst whispering into his ear:
"I'll surround you and keep you safe everyday. Everyday. I know you never like to be alone and now you don't have to." And for the first time in a long time, Will felt whole.
*
Hmm, a shorter chapter than the other recent ones.
But HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!
Byler is going to finally become canon.
To clear things up if it wasn't obvious - which it probably wasn't because I'm not a very clear writer - they're not actually together yet because Will has said he needs more time but, as long as Mike waits for him, they'll be together one day.
I hope you enjoyed!
I certainly enjoyed writing in third person. I'm not going to lie, I kind of regret not doing the whole book this way but it's a tad late now.
Love you.
- Niamh.