Trigger: Mentions of previous sexual assault.
Will's POV:
My eyes fluttered softly open as the morning light peered through my curtains like an unwelcome intruder on a beautiful scene playing out in my bedroom.
Mike was snoozing lightly atop my bed, his breath a light breeze against my hair as his face was buried within my locks and his arms were tangled around my stomach as he held me against his own chest. My mind replayed the events of the night before like a tape recording in my head and I smiled at the knowledge that I was dating the most loving, respecting gentleman alive.
After spending the evening with my family, my boyfriend and I had made our way into my bedroom and Mike automatically became flustered and insecure about our sleeping arrangements due to our obvious shared history. I, on the other hand, presumed that the default was that he'd sleep with me in my bed and didn't question it however Mike had a completely different idea in mind.
"What on earth are you doing?" I'd asked the boy as I huddled myself beneath the covers, missing the absence of his body, and he paced around my room, deep in search of something that I was oblivious of.
His long, curly hair swept through the air as he whipped his head to face me, looking utterly confused. "Your sleeping bag?" Mike declared almost like a question, shocked as if I was missing something obvious.
"Why?" I queried, lightly giggling yet feeling a tad muddled at the same time.
"So I can sleep." He answered simply, staring back at me with a bemused expression that mirrored exactly how I was feeling.
It took a matter of seconds but everything finally clicked into place within my mind and I understood that, despite the fact that Mike was my now my official boyfriend, he would never automatically presume I'd given my consent to anything at all - not even something as simple as us sleeping in the same bed.
My mind reeled with adoration for the boy I loved as gratitude brought tears to my eyes - gratitude that he was nothing like my first boyfriend. Alex had taught me that the label of "boyfriend" meant that your partner had the right to your body whether you wanted it or not and I had subsequently blamed myself for my own rape. I'd been forced to believe I was the one in the wrong for saying no because it made me "a bad boyfriend" so I told myself he was right when that was never the case. Here and now was the man I'd loved for as long as I could remember beginning to undo the false information ingrained and brainwashed into my mind with a simple action he probably deemed insignificant as he was aware it was standard practice to not invite yourself into someone else's bed without permission, even if you were dating them. Something no one seemed to have ever taught Alex.
"Shit, darling, are you crying?" Mike gasped, hurriedly making his way to me and pulling me into a loving embrace that made me feel protected and hidden away from all the horrors and the woes of everything terrible thing that had ever occurred in my life.
"I want you up here with me." I whispered, as the tears spilled from my eyes and trickled daintily down my face.
The arms laced beneath my armpits tightened even more around my small body and I felt myself being drawn closer to the only person I could ever imagine loving for the rest of my life. "If that's what you want, of course I will. Why are you so sad? Did I upset you?"
I let out a single laugh in disbelief at Mike's obvious bewilderment to the fact that he could actually make me feel joy. Disentangling myself from him, but only for a moment so that I could look into his eyes, I placed my hands on either side of that high-cheekboned face I was sure must have been carved by angels. "No, baby." I breathed out, a huge smile I was almost sure was covering my whole face as I did so, "I'm happy! For the first time in months, I'm completely and totally happy. Do you honestly have any idea how much I love you?"
"R-really?" The boy stammered.
"Of course!"
"I love you too and nothing in the world means more to me than this beautiful smile right here." He announced, lightly tapping my lips with the tip of his index finger however I craved more than that so I leant forward and placed a soft kiss against his own lips.
Retracting my body, I slid back down and reclined underneath the covers of my bed. "Mikey, will you cuddle me?" I asked and he slipped in beside me without hesitation, the both of us then lying on our sides and me all wrapped up in his arms.
As I drifted off to sleep, the boy holding me close placed a single kiss on the back of my neck and whispered into my ear, "You're my everything."
The happy memory sent a radiant smile to my face as I remained safely tucked away in my boyfriend's arms feeling more well-rested and more at peace than I could remember feeling for a long time. Almost like I'd been holding my breath and now it was finally time to breathe out - like I could finally exhale.
Eventually, I felt Mike beginning to stir as his body twitched slightly and his breathing picked up its pace so I flipped myself around to meet his drowsy face and tired, dopey-looking smile. "Hey." He mumbled groggily, brushing through my hair with his fingertips as if he was trying to get a better look at my eyes. Mike's gaze penetrated so deeply inside of me that I couldn't help as a blush began to glow heavily on my cheeks and my boyfriend cracked an even brighter grin at the sight.
"Hey yourself." I responded, running my thumb along his cheekbone, admiring each and every freckle splattered across it like speckles of paint only adding to the already incredible beauty of the artwork beneath.
"Ugh, we have to go school." Mike whisper-groaned, shutting his eyes as if he was about to fall back to sleep as he said it.
"I don't wanna." I moaned like a child as I wrapped my legs tightly around my boyfriend's waist as if to hold him in place.
"Not really an option there, Byers." Mike said seriously as his eyes flicked open and he sat up whilst ruffling his hair though he couldn't actually stand due to my legs still pinning him down on my bed.
"Baby," I whined as I sat up next to him and placed a kiss that trailed along his jawline, "accidentally" letting my teeth graze against his skin as I did so. "I want to stay home."
Mike looked at me intensely, silently reading my willing expression to see what I wanted before placing his hand on my shoulder and gently pushing me down onto the bed again. The boy above me wound his his right arm around my partially elevated off the bed mid-section, pulling my body closer to his own as he steadied himself on top of my body with his left hand.
Mike closed off whatever distance was even left between us anymore as he gave me a heated kiss, his tongue winding its way into my mouth without a second thought and my head felt like it was spinning from sheer love. This was the first time ever my boyfriend had been the one to initiate anything more than just the simple kisses and I felt totally and completely euphoric at the idea of him taking the lead in wherever this was heading.
My boyfriend separated his mouth from my own and I was about to grumble at the loss of contact until he placed his lips on my neck instead where he proceeded to leave bites that I knew would be a struggle to cover over. Moans escaped my mouth as I grew more and more excited but as my arousal levels increased, as did my anxiety levels and all I could think about was Alex and what he'd done to my body and also to my mind. "Stop, Mike." I barely managed to spit out, so quiet I was sure he hadn't heard me however he drew back in an instant.
"I'm so sorry, Will!" He gasped, his eyes wide and alert with panic as he climbed off me.
"No, no, baby, you're okay. You didn't hurt me or anything, I'm just not ready. I thought maybe I was but I'm not. I'm the one who's sorry, please don't tell me that you hate me." I begged, the old voice in my head speaking from the darkness and calling me a bad boyfriend yet again.
"Of course not! How could you ever think that? I love you, I love everything about you." He called, pulling me closer to him - but not too close that I'd be uncomfortable - and allowing me to lay my head in his shoulder as I scrunched my knees into my chest and he put his arm around my waist. "I'll wait for you, my love. I'd never ever make you do something you aren't ready for and I know that you haven't always been treated that way in the past and it kills me to know what he did to you. My precious angel, you mean everything to me and I honestly will never be able to understand how someone could ever hurt you but I need you to know I'm not going to do that. I love you and it doesn't make me love you any less that you don't want this, okay?"
"Okay." I mumbled back, trying to force myself to regain control of my breathing and also attempting to make myself truly believe his words. I knew what Mike was saying was the truth yet I struggled to make myself truly believe it. Alex sure had worked his wicked magic on me. "You're right, we should go to school."
"If you're not feeling up to it, I'll stay here with you. I'll always be right by your side, Byers."
"I know that but I do think we should go. My mom would probably let me off but yours would fucking kill you."
"I guess you're right. Come on then, let's get ready."
Throughout the school day, I was quieter than usual yet the only people who picked up on it were Mike and Max. My boyfriend, of course, knew what it was that was bothering me yet my sister had no clue and I caught the concern in her eyes every time I made a barely audible comment. The red-head however never pushed me to open up and I was grateful as I was unsure of how to tell her that I was fighting an emotional battle between knowing I had nothing to be ashamed of but being unable to convince myself of it at the same time. This was something I would have to work towards on my own.
Despite my timidness, I spoke up at lunch when I caught the one and only Alex ogling mine and Mike's hands laced together beneath the table as he sauntered past. Fire seemed to burn within his eyes just as rage blazed within my chest and I sprang up from my seat, knowing he daren't say a word unless he wanted me to spill his secrets to the whole school. "Do you have something you want to say to me? To us?" I practically exploded, completely aware that it was all his fault that I was struggling to be with my own boyfriend, his fault that there were times I couldn't stand myself unlike Mike who was the person helping me move on from it all.
"What?" He hissed, keeping his voice much lower than mine, "About you and him?" He whispered when all the heads in the cafeteria had turned back to whatever they were doing before they heard my shout and I nodded in response. "What can I even say without you telling everyone? Nothing, right? So I won't speak about whatever is going on here or those bruises on your neck even though I want to."
"Then stop fucking looking at us and leave us alone. I have nothing to say to you anymore, okay? We're done and I want you out of my life." I spat back at him but the gentleman within came through and made sure my voice was low enough that the school wouldn't hear even though I didn't owe the boy anything at all.
"Fine, I won't." He muttered and stormed off and I settled myself back down on the table and looked up to see a complete set of the party's eyes all trained on me in disbelief.
"What the fuck was all that about?" Dustin asked at a loss, "I get that you're obviously still mad but-"
"But what does he not want you to tell people?" Mike finished in a voice scarcely louder than silence itself.
"Is it about the rape?" Max asked delicately, the only person surrounding me who seemed brave enough to use the word.
"Erm, no. Not that." I responded before turning to my boyfriend who looked looked down sadly in despair and I pondered a gentle question to him. "Mikey, can I talk to you for a moment in private?" The boy rose to his feet in silence and followed me to the very bathroom where we'd spilled so many of our secrets to one another over the recent past months where I subsequently told him the whole truth of what Alex had come my house that night to tell me.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I don't really know why I didn't but I wanted to just try and forget about it. He doesn't mean anything to me anymore and I guess I didn't want you thinking he still did." I completed, anxious for Mike's reaction however I was surprised when he took me in his arms and began to rub my back affectionately.
Whispering in my ear, the boy of my dreams said: "I'm sorry he's still messing with your head, I wish he would just let you go. He doesn't deserve you now and he never did. Don't worry, I know you don't still have feelings for him. I hate him so fucking much."
"Me too."
"We have Rick to thank for that. I definitely owe him for everything he did for you when I couldn't."
"Maybe we should pay him a visit together." I wondered as I finally released Mike from the embrace and looked him in the eye. "He can be our next person to tell about us, I know how happy he'll be."
"Oh sure, I bet he'll be thrilled." My boyfriend muttered sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
"Mike Wheeler, are you jealous?" I gasped, giggling as I playfully hit him on the arm.
"Of course I am! He's like a better looking, funnier version of me and I wouldn't be surprised if he liked you. How could anyone spend so much time with you and not fall madly in love with you?"
"You're being silly, Mike. He doesn't like me and I'm pretty sure he's recently got himself a boyfriend. No one in the world is better looking than you, have you seen your own face because damn it's the most beautiful creation on this whole planet."
"Stop it!" My boyfriend blushed at my compliment, covering his reddened face with his hands. "Fine then, you can have your way."
"So we can tell him?"
"Yep but I think there's someone we should tell before."
"Who?"
"Mom."
"Oh shit."
No one is more protective of their kids than the one and only Steve Harrington.
*
Okay, so multiple things I want to say.
Another two parter and the second one will be out whenever it's out. The pure reason I'm doing all these two parters by the way is because I have ran out of lyrics from the song to name chapters after 😂 so no, there's no major reasons why they're linked, it's not some kind of plot device, it's so much simpler than that and much less exciting.
So yeah, finally back to Will's POV and it turns out he's not as relaxed about everything as Mike thought, he's still struggling but that's understandable given what happened to him.
And yes I still hate Alex.
Oof, did y'all catch the 'Love, Simon' reference?
HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS, I HAVE HIT 4K IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE? I always said, long before I ever posted this, that if a book ever reaches 4K then the author knows they have done something right, SO I GUESS I DID SOMETHING RIGHT??? 4K was always a goal for me but I thought it was unachievable, especially in the first couple of months after posting the story because I swear literally no one read it. No one at all for about two months and now look at us, we've come a lot further. 4K is obviously not as much as many other Byler fics out there but this was a huge goal for me and I'm so happy to say I achieved it. This means a lot to me. Thank you all!
Late edition: We're almost 4.7K now, I love you all!
Ugh, also I finished watching ST with my 30 year-old sister today and I'm unhappy to say she's a heavy Mileven shipper. THIS IS NOT WHY I WANTED YOU TO WATCH THE SHOW, EMILY! I AM DISAPPOINTED IN YOU!
- Niamh.