Blinking heavily as the daylight seeped in through my curtains and invaded my eyes, I awoke. I slowly began to sit up and stretch out my arms feeling grateful that it was a Saturday morning and knowing I wouldn't have to go to school. I definitely wasn't feeling in the mood for education today.
"About time you woke up." Came a teasing voice from above me, from my bed as I lay, curled up on the floor.
"Oh shit, how long have you been awake?" I pondered the question, feeling like a terrible host for letting my guest lie awake whilst I slept soundly. Good one, Wheeler.
Will gazed down at me sadly as he shrugged his shoulders, "It doesn't really matter."
"God, Will. Tell me you at least got some sleep?" I felt anxious for the boy who had spent the night at my house, I knew he struggled to find peace at night and this was nothing new but I had hoped he would have felt safe enough in my home to be able to rest.
"A little bit." He muttered absently before climbing out of my bed and looking around, clearly realising something. "I didn't bring any new clothes."
"That's alright." I replied, attempting to scramble to my feet a little too quickly and overbalancing, earning a laugh from Will. "Take these." I handed the other boy a grey and pale blue, patterned sweater I hadn't worn since middle school that looked as though it was small enough to fit his little frame and some brown trousers I knew he'd have to roll up at least three times so he wouldn't trip over them.
"Thanks. I'll...erm...get changed in the bathroom." He stated quite awkwardly before fumbling his way out of my bedroom and down the hallway.
I pulled out some random clothes for myself and changed into them just before I heard a knock on my door. "Yeah?" I called.
The door swung open to reveal Jonathan standing in the frame. "Good, you're up. I thought I heard mooching around. Anyway, I was about to go downstairs and make some breakfast and I can get some for you too, if you want? Pancakes sound good?"
"Sure, yeah." I responded with a grin. "We'll be down in a second."
"We?" He asked, glancing around my room in confusion and I remembered that no one other than I knew that Will had spent the night.
"Yeah, Will's here. He's in the bathroom."
"Will stayed over?" Jonathan asked, raising an eyebrow, a clear question of "did you guys do anything?" written plain as day on his face.
"He came by, we talked and then it was too late for him to go home so he took my bed and I slept on the floor." I responded.
"I see." Jonathan nodded his head in understanding, "Anyway, just come down when you're ready. Nance is still in bed so it will probably be just us for breakfast."
"Sure thing."
Jonathan walked out of my room and I heard him bump into Will on his way and they had a short conversation before he went downstairs and my best friend returned to my room.
"I always loved this sweater when you used to wear it a few years back. I thought it made you look cute." Will told me, blushing as he daintily plucked at the fabric. My mouth went dry as I struggled to find the words to respond to his compliment.
"I never really thought it was my style, not enough stripes." I joked and Will gave a light-hearted laugh that sent warmth swirling through the whole room. "You can keep it if you'd like, it looks good on you."
Will glanced down at his own body covered by the long-neglected jumper apparently deep in thought. "Nah, I couldn't do that. It belongs to you."
"And it's not like I'm going to be wearing it any time soon unless I suddenly shrink about a foot in height."
"I guess that's true." The boy who looked better in my clothes than I ever could gave a feeble chuckle before continuing, "Thanks, Mikey."
"No problem! Now come on, your brother is cooking for us so let's go down."
Will and I sauntered our way downstairs, chatting idly and giggling at one another. As we neared my kitchen, the faint sound of music being played drifted into our ears and I understood Jonathan must have found our vast collection of vinyls.
"Good song choice." I praised as we entered the kitchen to find Jonathan singing along to 'Hold the Line'.
"Got to love a bit of Toto," Jonathan responded. "Your sister prefers 'Africa' but nah, I think this one has a better feel to it."
Will walked over to his brother by the stove and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can't fault you on that one."
"Oh really?" I queried, raising my eyebrow at the two brothers standing before me. "I might have to go with Nancy. Don't get me wrong, this is a great song but it's just not 'Africa'."
"Well of course you like 'Africa' more, you're a sucker for cheesy ballads. How many times have you listened to 'Faithfully' by Journey?" Will teased.
"Excuse you, that song is a lyrical masterpiece and you know it. Also, are we forgetting who it was that introduced me to that song in the first place?"
Will rolled his eyes at me as Jonathan poured the mix into the pan before clapping his hands together and a stern look overtook his face. "It looks like we may have a battle of the Byers versus the Wheelers on our hands. There's only one way to settle this. Let's all choose some records to play and we'll see who has the better taste. Mike, you're up."
"But Mike has an unfair advantage, this is his house so all the music will be his. He probably only has fucking Starship songs."
I glanced at the smaller boy and had to fight back a chuckle at the pout that had worked its way onto his face as I flicked through records and finally chose some. "Quit your whining, William. Be prepared for some musical magic right here, right now."
As Toto faded into nothingness, I gave my record choices to Jonathan who switched out the vinyl to my first choice and I started swaying my hips in time with the music as Will let out an exaggerated groan. "Are you kidding me, Wheeler? 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot'? Oh god no." The smaller boy put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sound and I proceeded to chase him around the kitchen, serenading him with every single word. It didn't take long for the two of us to become a couple of hysterical, laughing messes to which Jonathan playfully shook his head at.
"Now, now, children. Calm down." Will's older brother jokingly chastised, "Settle down and eat your goddamn pancakes."
As the song neared its termination, the hairs on the back of my neck began to tingle as I felt someone's eyes set firmly on me and I glanced upwards to see who it was. As my gaze shifted higher, I discovered that Will was watching me intently with a look of what could only be described as longing on his face. Our eyes met and he blushed furiously before looking down at his pancakes, completely unaware that he had just set my heart racing at an inhuman pace and my body ached to hold him close.
The tension stirred up by the brown-haired boy and kept alive by me being unable to take my own eyes off him wasn't broken by the changing of the song as I expected it to be when I chose the records for Jonathan to put in. "I knew you'd choose this one." Will attempted to jest but his voice was much thicker and heavier than usual and his breathing was laboured.
The darkness in the boy's eyes sent shivers dancing up and down my spine as he glanced upwards to meet my eyes and we stared at each other as 'We Built This City' played in the background, a song completely unfit for the mood that had weaved its way into my heart. "I chose it because I knew it would piss you off." I responded but the light of the joke was absent from my voice. The atmosphere surrounding us was the kind filled with electricity that two people feel just before they lean in to kiss one another and I waited for the boy before me to decide whether he wanted to act on it or not as I gazed at his flushed lips, silently begging him to close the distance but knowing I wouldn't be the one to do it myself. Not this time.
Will just gave a feeble chuckle and said, "Wow thanks, idiot," and the two of us fell silent for the remainder of the song, both of us glancing sadly at the other when we thought the person wasn't looking. Jonathan, I thanked god, remained blissfully unaware of the tension between us as he busied himself making some food to take up to my sister, whistling the tune of the song as he did so. Blissfully unaware that my heart was silently fracturing and shattering into an infinite number of pieces.
The older boy switched the song again to one I had specifically chosen to see Will smile and I was rewarded for my efforts as his wide eyes lit up and he grinned. "I love this one."
"I thought you didn't like Fleetwood Mac." Jonathan muttered absently as he plated the final pancakes but Will ignored him.
"Good choice, Mikey."
"Always." I tried to wink cheekily at him because I momentarily forgot how much of an awkward, barely passable human being I am but all that I achieved was I got confused and ended up closing both of my eyes and blinking aggressively at him which set the younger boy off into peals of laughter, filled with mirth at my stupidity. "Oh, shut up." I muttered as Jonathan finally left the two of us alone and headed upstairs.
When Will had controlled his giggles and regained his breath, he looked at me sternly and told me: "You're one hell of a terrible flirt, do you know that?"
"I wa-wasn't, I wasn't trying to fl-flirt." I stammered, worried I had gone too far. The last thing I could have wanted was to push boundaries after he had blatantly turned me down by changing the subject earlier, at the peak of the lightning storm between us.
He raised one eyebrow at me and sat back in his chair, clearly utterly unconvinced by what I had said. "I think you should try harder."
I suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy in bewilderment. Is Will actually asking me to flirt with him? What does this boy want from me?
"Okay." I replied, sounding far more confident than I really was feeling as I rose to my feet with trembling legs and walked towards him. "Dance with me."
My hand was shaking as I extended it towards him just as the chorus picked up with the most appropriate of words for the situation: "Hold Me". Will gazed down at my fingers, deeper in thought than I'd ever seen him before but I understood completely why that was the case. I knew my offer was a risk I was taking as the boy who meant everything to me had barely touched me in months and the longer Will didn't move, which felt like it lasted for a century but in reality couldn't have been more than five seconds, the more panicked I became that I had ruined everything we had built upon since becoming friends again.
Just as I was about to drop to my knees and beg for his forgiveness for pushing him too far, Will grinned at me and grabbed my hand, leading me to a spacious part of my kitchen where we proceeded to dance together. As I spun him around, the two of us found ourselves lost in fits of giggles at my obvious inability to dance but it didn't matter to either of us. Will's face shone with glee and happiness radiated from him and straight to my heart which I knew beat purely for him and him alone.
Nothing lasts forever, I was all too aware of that fact as the song grew ever closer to its finale. You've already taken one risk today, Mike, you may as well take another, I reminded myself.
Winding my arm tighter around his waist, I gently pulled Will's body closer to my own and raised my other hand to rest on his face. The younger boy's giggles subsided as his eyes widened and gazed into my own and I became aware that neither of us were breathing.
Will's eyes fluttered downwards from where they were staring into my own and settled themselves on my lips...that's when he did it.
The boy wrapped his arms even more securely around my neck and leant in as he gently but surely pulled my heard towards his. Every inch of my body was alive and screaming in anticipation to feel Will's mouth against my own as butterflies spread throughout my stomach from a love so strong and profound I was sure I must have been dreaming as love like this couldn't possibly exist in real life. Could it?
Our lips were millimetres apart when an annoyed shout from the doorway reached us and Will flung himself away from me. "What the hell, guys? You haven't eaten your pancakes!" Jonathan moaned at us and I turned to see him standing with Nancy by his side, his gaze solely focused on the abandoned food and I understood he hadn't even looked at us and had no idea what he'd walked in on. My sister on the other hand was staring at us with her mouth hanging slightly open as she elbowed Will's brother who then glanced at our red faces and a look of dawning spread across his own.
"Oh."
*
Well, this was a chapter I created for my own benefit so I could talk about some songs I like (because I love literally every song mentioned) and I kind of got carried away writing it and this happened.
Anyway...
I'm personally on the 'Hold the Line' side of the debate that the Wheelers and Byers were having in this chapter. Feel free to state your own side, I'd love to know.
The music taste competition will continue as well but I won't go into much detail anymore about it, I won't even mention all the songs played so if you want to know what they are, I've made a playlist on Spotify called "Pre-Feb '87" because...well..all the songs have to be appropriate for the setting which is Jan '87. The link is below, I have no idea whether it is accessible or not because I can't do tech. I'm like an old lady. The playlist is on my sister's account lol bc I sponge off her Spotify.
https://open.spotify.com/user/1124626188/playlist/2VWrrFFIucbT3VLpyPGfH9?si=wSbgbScYTYieL2BbszJIbA
The first few after 'Hold the Line' are Mike as stated (the cheesy ones are him because I imagine him as being awkward and having cheesy music taste, fight me) the middle few are Jonathan and the last are Will.
Finally, the video I have attached is for 'Hold Me', the song which Mike and Will almost kissed to.
Bye.
Hahahahaha, no worries I got your backs. This chapter is a two parter and I will release the second part later today 😉.
Love you all.
- Niamh.