not in the way i'm supposed to- byler

-2-

(thank you for everyone who commented and voted on the last chapter it truly does make my day. anygays okay sorry i'm done being sappy now)

‼️TW‼️: none (if there is something you find that could be possibly triggering that i missed pls tell me<3)

March, 21st
Mike woke up around 3 in the morning. he doesn't know why he did have to get up for another hour but he just wrote it off as being excited to go to the Byers and got ready.

all he really needed to do was get dressed seeing as he got most of his stuff packed the night before. he settled on a a blue hoodie and black jeans to protect him from chilly mornings of spring. he had a toasted bagel for breakfast and left a note for his mom and dad saying he had left for the Byers incase they forgot. he didn't want to worry them.

it was now 4:25 and Mike was waiting for the bus at the bus stop. he was nervous but also excited.

his bus arrived 10 minutes later. he got on, and handed the bus driver his ticket then prepared for his 7 hour tripped ahead of him.

_______________________

well its only seemed like 3 hours cause he fell asleep for most of the ride. he got off the bus and pulled a little slip of paper out of his pocket that had the Byers address on it. he checked to make sure he was at the correct address and he was. he looked at the house in front of him a little shocked. it was not like there old house at all. it was two levels and had a little wooden porch. they also lived in a neighborhood and not down a disclosed dirt road. after he was done staring at their house he decided he should probably walk up to the house and knock so thats that was he did. he heard some movement from inside the house.

the door opened revealing El smiling brightly. she was wearing a plain purple t-shirt with high waisted jeans. her hair was a little longer but other than that not a lot has changed about her. "hi" Mike said.

"hello" El said going to hug Mike. he accepted the hug and he got to see inside the house a little bit. the living room was to the right of the entrance. there was also a stair way at the farthest wall to the right and there was a door next to the stair that he guessed was the bathroom. the dining room was kinda diagonal from where he was standing and to the left of the dining room was an entry way to what he was guess was the kitchen. he also saw Will walking down the the stairs and Will looked different. it was a good different tho. his hair was shorter it was still a bowl cut but it looked more natural and it was messy like he just got out of bed. he had on a plain oversized black t-shirt and gray sweat pants.

Will stopped at the bottom of the stairway and tried looked over at Mike and El hugging but instead just caught the gaze of Mike. they shared eye contact for a beat, and it wasn't awkward eye contact. it was comfortable. they were just taking in each other's presence; something they hadn't done in a long time. they smiled at each other before Will broke eye contact and started towards the kitchen.

Mike had butterflies in his stomach, but not like the ones he felt when he had feelings for El. these butterflies were more aggressive. almost like they wanted out. like they needed to break free.

El and Mike finally broke their hug. Mike was going to say hi to Will but El dragged him upstairs and showed him her room before her could. she was really proud of her room because she decorated it all herself and it did look pretty good. the walls were a dingy white, her bed was in the corner with a basic wooden bed frame that she had decorated with streamers. her walls were covered with posters and drawings. some of the drawings were hers and some of them were Will's. she had a dresser that a radio sat on top of with a box of mixtapes next to it.

for the next couple of hours they just hung out in El's room catching up about school and how everything is back in hawkins, but El couldn't help but notice how distracted Mike seemed. like something was bugging him.

"am i annoying you" El asked suddenly.

"wha- what? no you aren't annoying me" Mike said, sounding unsure,

"are you sure? i don't know you just seem like your distracted or something"

Mike just sighed, not knowing how to respond. El knew that it wasn't an annoyed sigh so she just waited while Mike racked his brain figuring out how to respond.

"do you- how do you feel about me?" Mike finally spoke.

"i.. don't understand" El said, confused as to what he was asking.

"like do you still like me in a boyfriend sort of way?" Mike was hoping she would say no.

"i dont know, i mean i like things how they are right now. just taking and catching up and with me just starting school not to long ago and stuff i was think that maybe it would be better if we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend." El stated trying her best not to stumble over her words since her english wasn't the greatest.

"i agree, but i also have something i need to get off my chest."

"yes, what is it?" El asked.

"okay, so i-" this would be harder to say then Mike thought it would be. "i like Will" He said quickly.

"what do you mean?" El was pretty sure she knew what he meant but she wanted too make sure.

"i mean that i like him like how i liked you. like boyfriend and girlfriend way but like boyfriend and boyfri-"

"Mike." El said to stop him from rambling. "i understand"

"okay." Mike said with a sigh.

"okay."

A/N: OH BESTIESSSS LOOK WHO UPDATED. yes okay i'm sorry for the shitty chapter i'm not good at explaining things but i updated. i promise there will be more byler in the next chapter. and hopefully it doesn't take me close to a month to put out the next chapter. but things are starting to happen and i'm excited to write the next few chapters so yeah. okay sorry i will stop rambling now. have a good night/morning/afternoon and i hope you enjoyed.

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