𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 ~ 𝐛𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐫

47

Mike and Will went into the guest room, their hands still connected as the faint sound of laughter, singing, and talking echoed from downstairs. Mike turned to Will, now reaching to hold his other hand. He intertwined their fingers before sighing a bit.

"Can we sit?" Mike asked. Will nodded as they began to walk over to the bed. They sat down on the edge, facing each other.

"So um... I'm guessing you heard about the Rocky Horror performance?" Will asked, trying to start this conversation on a good note. Mike laughed a bit, looking at Will.

"Yeah... I heard it was very.. homoerotic.. is that the right word?" Mike asked. Will laughed.

"Yeah, most likely." Will replied, "Don't both of those guys have girlfriends?"

"From what I know, yeah." Mike responded. They both laughed a bit before Will looked into Mike's eyes attentively.

"Are you... willing to talk to me now?" Will asked. Mike's smile faded a bit. He let go of Will's hands, opting to hold himself.

"I don't know... I feel like a jerk." Mike replied. Will sighed, putting his hand on Mike's knee.

"You're not a jerk.. you're just not good at handling your emotions well." Will responded.

"So I'm a jerk?" Mike asked, looking up a bit. Will sighed.

"I just really want to know what's wrong." Will started, "But only if you want to tell me." Mike sighed before reaching out to hold Will's hand again. Will put his other hand on top of Mike's, lightly stroking his knuckles with his thumb.

"I just.. this is hard to talk about." Mike responded.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand." Will said. Mike looked into Will's eyes, which were full of understanding. He squeezed Will's hand softly.

"No, I want to tell you. I want to be honest with you." Mike responded.

"Then... I'm listening." Will said. Mike sighed a bit, looking down.

"Let's just say.. the family dinner with Nancy was going well at first." Mike started, Will nodding as he listened, "Then she mentioned you.. and being an idiot... I panicked."

"Oh no." Will responded. Mike nodded with a light smile.

"Yeah. Oh no." Mike started, his smile fading a bit, "Then she mentioned El, and I realized they didn't know we had broken up.. and I panicked again. My family started kind of questioning my relationship with her, and that made me paranoid. I made up some shitty excuse before going upstairs and continuing to panic. And when I went downstairs Nancy kept like.. looking at me.. and she's like super smart and good at figuring things out so.."

"Now you're worried that Nancy knows something?" Will asked. Mike nodded.

"Exactly." Mike started, looking down a bit, "And then when I hear about your family.. and how they are... I feel.. jealous almost. I hate admitting that, but I do. Like you know... Nancy is great, but I can't tell her stuff. And my mom listens to everything my dad says.. and my dad he just.. he sucks." Will looked at Mike sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry." Will responded.

"You shouldn't be. I'm so happy for you. Joyce is great, plus I'm glad that you have Hopper there now, and El too. And I'm happy that Jonathan was accepting because you deserve that." Mike started, "And you don't have it easy, you never did, and I feel so selfish that I feel like this."

"Mike, it's okay. I understand. I get why you'd be upset, and why you didn't want to tell me." Will responded.

"I still shouldn't have taken it out on you... it's not fair to you. I'm sorry." Mike said. Will sighed before pulling Mike's hand closer to him.