My Boy - Byler

2. Girl Drama

Will grunts with the weight of the camp bed on top of him as he straightens it out vigorously; he hasn't even blown it up yet, and he's been doing this for an hour.

"Sure you don't need any help?" Mike asks from his cushioned chair , slouching against the desk. He had become so tall over the years the chairs weren't big enough for him anymore.

"Ok, fine. Maybe I slightly overestimated my abilities." He chuckles breathily, stealing Mike's chair as the boy towers over him, picking up the camp bed.

They're in Mike's basement, despite Will's protests that he isn't in any danger. You said that last time, was all Mike had said before taking his hand and pulling him onto his bus.

"Mike, if you blow that up any further, it's going to pop." Will sighs in fake exasperation as Mike grins back at him, giving the bed one last puff before sealing the plastic cap. They smile at each other for a moment until the voice of Karen Wheeler interrupts them.

"Michael! The phone's ringing for you!"

"Shit, that must be El. I forgot to cancel date night tonight! She's gonna be so pissed!" Mike flies down the stairs, Will able to hear the quiet shit shit shit as he ran.

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"How much trouble are you in then?" Will asks, unable to mask the laugh in his tone.

"She got Max on the phone. Max." Despite Will's lighthearted approach to the situation, Mike's tone is thick with despair. "Every single time I do something wrong, Max is there! It's like she's trying to break us up."

"Careful, they might be spying again." Will replied, his voice resigned to the fact that this was going to be a long night. It's not that he isn't happy for Mike, having a girlfriend who he loves, and for so long too. It's more that— well, does he need to talk about it quite so much?

"They're always spying, conspiring against me. Might as well just break up with her." Will's head snaps up at this comment, his eyes filling with shock. Mike has never said anything like this before about El, but when he looks into his eyes, he has the same gaze he gave Will when he made him stay over tonight.

"Don't be ridiculous Mike, you're starting to sound like Lucas and Max." Will exclaims, deciding to play the words, and the look that came with them, off as a stupid impulse decision.

"Will, I'm serious."

And Mike won't say anything else about it for the rest of the night.

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"Come on boys, it's time to get up!" Karen greets in her usual kindhearted tone, the one she uses in front of non-family members. Mike says something that sounded like "go away Mum", before pulling the covers over his head. Will, however, hasn't slept at all. Why would Mike want to break up with El? And why would he tell Will that then refuse to talk about it for the rest of the night? With a few more protests, Mike is finally out of bed, dragging Will with him.

"I did something stupid." Mike says once they're out of Karen's earshot.

"What did you do this time?" Usually, Will would've laughed slightly (Mike's poor decision making had become a joke between the two of them) but, after hearing about El all night, his heart is laced with torment, and so is his voice.

"I broke up with Eleven. I left her a call on the walkie-talkie, not expecting her to pick up, then Max was on the line and, like, telling me off, so I need to find a way to apologise to her because it was a total nightmare of a decision and..." Mike's voice dims into a background chatter as Will just stands there, dumbfounded. He's confused with the behaviour exhibited from his best friend; before last night, all he wanted to talk about was Will and how he's feeling, but he has one problem with El and Will's just... forgotten? It painfully reminds him of the summer of '85, and the way Mike treated him: Castle Byers, bailing on Cerebro, the theatre, the mall, D&D. And he's pissed off, really pissed off.