Summer Savings [Byler]

Chapter 6

Will was with Robin at the reception desk, seating himself on top of it and eating the toast she'd offered him happily.

"Yeah, I know we call it a "B and B" but I can't cook very well, and there's only me and my parents who run this place, and they're gone most of the time so the menu is severely limited. You can have grilled cheese or toast," she'd said to him, not rudely, but in a lighthearted tone, an attempt at a joke.

They'd only had a few conversations since he'd arrived at Redwood, but they already considered eachother to be friends and got along great, with a constant easy flow of conversation and comfortable silences.

"Wat'cha doing today then, Will? Another shift or?" Robin tore a chunk off her own slice of toast.

"Nope," Will wiped his mouth with a plaid sleeve of his jacket. "Hanging out with Mike. I just don't know what time he wants to, or where we're meeting. I forgot to ask."

He laughed at himself, and Robin shook her head with a fond smile.

Will stayed sat with Robin, and helped her with the other guests, getting up to make them toast or grilled cheese, handing over room keys or taking them back, helping her deal with any minor complaints (not that there were many, one lady had just lost her house keys somewhere), offering to clean a few rooms (to which Robin told him a firm "no").

Eventually, Robin finally told him to stop and sit down, and handed him thirty dollars.

"Take this and go spend it on some useless junk, Will, it's your day off and I've done nothing but let you work for me. For free," Robin shook the money at him when at first he seemed hesitant to take it.

"Why? I wanted to help you," Will argued, until Robin cut him off.

"But that's not the point. I appreciate you just coming down and sitting and talking to me. I don't want you wasting your day off working for me and not getting anything in return. I don't want you working for me anyway, you do enough at your own job, I expect," Robin smiled, to show her firm tone wasn't used in malice.

Will shrugged and pocketed the money with a small "thanks," understanding the argument was finished and there was no point trying to continue it as he wouldn't win, and money is money.

Robin let him know she was going to go and offer lunches to any guests still in the building, and to wait around the reception or go up to his room for a little bit, as he was not to help her.

"But this is a bed and breakfast," Will questioned her.

"Yeah, but we're well known for serving all three meals. It allows us to raise our prices more and helps us stand out to get a few more customers. Also, let me know if you want anything to eat when I get back. Or just come to the kitchen and get it yourself when you're ready," and with a quick shrug she left the reception, heading up the stairs to the rooms.

Will stayed seated for a moment, before realising he had no form of entertainment with him, and without Robin, he was quickly becoming bored. He ran up to his room, grabbing his walkman and a book to read at the reception desk. His walkman was quite old, having been Jonathan's before his, but it still worked well and was his most prized possession, he took it everywhere with him.

He didn't see Robin in the corridor, so assumed she was taking or making orders somewhere, and settled himself into the chair at the reception desk, curling up so all of him fit onto it and opening his book with a contented sigh, his headphones slipped over his ears.

What did kids like Mike even like to do? He thought as he read. With Dustin, he'd watch Ghostbusters, and watch Star Wars, and talk about theories about Star Wars, and build legos, and dress up in stupid costumes, and read books and then discuss them, and just sit listening to music together in comfortable silence. And then usually discuss the music they listened to and analyse it. Sometimes Will would let Dustin into "Castle Byers", his fort, and they'd read comics together. And then discuss them. Obviously.

They'd also been known to spend hours at a time in the library or Will's room reading about and talking about quantum physics. Mike didn't seem the sort of guy to do any of that. Watch a movie probably, but Will guessed there would be none of the fun analysis and friendly debates that came with watching a movie with Dustin.

Will wasn't sure how long he sat there, pouring over his book, replaying song after song on his walkman as time slipped by, but the next thing he remembered was Robin nudging him in the shoulder and carefully removing his headphones, leaving them hanging around his neck.

"Someone's here for you," she said to him in a singsong voice, an attempt at mockery, dragging out the 'u' in 'you'.

Mike stood, looking awkward and out of place in the small reception. When he met Will's gaze he smiled.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Mike."

"Uh, you look.. nice," Mike smiled slightly, and while the pause before he said the word "nice" would have usually been interpreted as mean, Will could tell it wasn't meant rudely and he was simply considering which complement to give. Will smiled back gratefully.

"You too. We can head off in a minute, just let me-"

"Oh, no you don't," Robin interrupted loudly, taking the book, walkman and headphones out of Will's hands.

"I'm taking these up to your room, where I will put them away carefully and neatly, and I'm gonna clean up your room and remake your bed, and you are gonna go out, waste the money I gave you on dumb shit, and do some dumb shit. Go have fun, Will, relax a bit!" Robin laughed, and ran off upstairs before he could prostest.

"So, you had lunch yet?" Mike questioned.

"No," Will confessed.

"Good, because that's what we're doing first. I know a nice place. Not my parents restraunt, don't worry. And no, you don't have to pay," Mike seemed to answer all of Will's questions before he even asked them, and he offered his arm for Will to link his into, which he did. He was glad Mike seemed to have moved past the argument completely, as he regretted everything he'd said to him in the heat of the moment. He allowed himself to be lead out of the B and B, and into the street.