chapter fifteen - could this be love?
[ direct continuation from the last chapter,
and for those of you who guessed mike or eleven, which was basically all of you, you were correct lol ]
there stood mike wheeler, and the girl with the buzzcut. she looked sad, remorseful, almost. mike seemed angry with her, and will couldn't put his finger on why.
"the hell do you want, wheeler?" dustin got to his feet, lightly holding will by the waist. bitter venom dripped from his tone.
"please, dustin," mike impatiently replied.
the curly-haired boy looked to will for approval, worry in his icy blue eyes. "it's fine, dusty," said the shorter boy. the rain, at that point, had diminished to a light drizzle, the kind that could make you catch a cold.
"i'll wait here," dustin said, as will simpered weakly, walking towards mike and eleven.
-
"will," mike said softly, "did you talk to my sister?"
he nodded. eleven cringed and bit her bottom lip.
"what did she say to you?"
will remembered the conversation, how he blushed the color of poppies in spring. it was just the other day, but it felt as it was eternity ago. he was sure that mike wouldn't want to hear about the conversation. nancy was wrong, completely. eleven was the one that was going to open up his heart, it was eleven that mike's heart belonged to.
"nothing," said will.
mike saw the pain in will's eyes, will didn't want to see him. he realized now, he saw it all. he'd caused will byers, the boy he was meant to be with, pain and suffering, with those three hurtful words. how could he have done this? how could he have been so blind? he made will cry, and... dustin was the one to comfort him. mike felt tears swell in his eyes, the skin puffed up beneath his eyeballs, his cheeks reddened. mike was crying.
"m-mike, why are you crying?" will asked, fearfully. he didn't want mike to cry.
"will, i-i'm so sorry, i should've never cursed you out in the hallway, please, will, i'm s-so s-so fu-fucking sorry," he sounded so helpless, so genuine. he really cared for the new boy.
the other smiled softly, apologetically. "it's alright."
eleven placed her hand on mike's shoulder, sighed lowly for a few seconds. her brown eyes clasped shut when she finally spoke.
"i lied."
"what?" mike and will both said.
she sighed once more. "will, i told mike that you told nancy you hated me, so you could stay away from him. i wanted mike to think you were a bad person, and i-it worked. that's why he was so mean to you. it's all my fault. because i was selfish," a tear rolled down her cheek, "i was a bad friend."
mike's heart stopped. eleven wasn't only a bad friend, she was a bad person. and he let her into his basement, into his life. she ruined everything.
"el," he said, "you have to leave."
eleven nodded, pulling up her black hoodie, and walking back in the direction to mike's house. sadness filled the holes of her heart. there was no denying that her actions had crushed her. she really felt like the most horrible person on the planet, she had to be.
hot tears spilled from mike's eyes, as he ran to will and hugged him with his lanky arms. will was caught by surprise at first, but the younger boy couldn't help but abandon himself into mike's arms. he'd fit so right with him. it was perfect. the way mike saw it, he was holding the most beautiful boy in the world. a shy, cute artistic boy from seattle, with big brown eyes and a smile that put the rays of a thousand suns to shame. the rain lightly pittered and pattered in the background.
will let his eyes slip shut, melting into the warm embrace, the forcefield protecting him from the bitter chill of the october air. he discerned at that point, that a part of him would always like michael wheeler. he only wished it would be reciprocated.
"i'm sorry, will, i just thought you said mean things about me and eleven, she—she has these powers where she can see people— i- it's a long story," mike stuttered, still holding onto will.
"i know, mike."
now was my chance, mike thought. he took a deep breath, maybe, hopefully, he would finally make his move on the boy he liked. "w-will," his voice quavered.
"y-yes?"
"d-do you wanna go on a date with me?"
the other boy's heart fluttered out of his chest. he felt light-headed- he wasn't thinking straight. they were still holding each other, accompanied by the sounds of the rain.
"i— i'll think about it," will said. he wanted to, more than anything, go on a date with mike, but he felt it was the best response. they had gone through too much, too much high school drama, far too much, indeed. there was some air to clear. there was so much going on.
mike was happy with the response. at least, he thought, there was a small chance that will byers would actually like him. he hoped that small chance could get even bigger.
will smiled at mike, pulling away. "i, uh, think you should apologize to dustin," he said sheepishly, "h-he's waiting for me at the bus stop."
and just like that, all of mike's hope faltered. he felt his stomach drop. "a-are you and dustin...," mike trailed off.
will's cheeks turned a beet red from embarrassment. "oh- uh, no, w-we're not, i just- we j-just hung out once and w-we're pretty close."
and then, mike felt okay again, but a piece of him was skeptical of dustin's intentions with will. he was one hundred percent certain that dustin liked him. "do you think he likes you?"
"i- i'm not sure," said will. even though dustin kissed him, it was on the cheek, he thought. it could have been a friendly gesture. at least that was what will thought. he didn't like to be sure of things— he felt it to be arrogant.
mike nodded, walking back with will to the bus stop. will smiled at his feet, blushing cherry, timidly taking mike's hand in his, avoiding eye contact with him. the taller boy's heart inflated, began to beat rapidly— he thought he could faint. he intertwined his fingers with will's, walking slowly, enjoying every second.
finally, they were together, for one moment. a moment they would always cherish. and the sun peeked between the gloomy grey clouds, though rain still trickled from the sky. it's rays shed themselves onto the two freshmen, who would always be hopelessly in love with one another.
A/N:
AAAAND that's the end of the book !!!
thank you guys so so so much for all of the support, i love you guys sm!
JK LMAO
i feel a long chapter comin soon boys ohhh man the amount of ideas i have for this god forsaken book i- skksks thanks for reading this tho, love you babies