byler oneshots

33 - arcade bathroom

*summer after freshman year*
*not together yet*
*will pov - ANGST*

I sit at my desk, tapping my pen against my blank notebook as I try to think about what to draw, nothing coming to mind. For the past few months I haven't been in the best place mentally, and it's caused me to lose all motivation.

Mike has been insanely distant, too busy with El, Lucas had completely disappeared, Dustin is at camp, and Max is ... well I have never really hung out one on one with Max.

All the sudden, I decide that maybe this is a good thing. I brush through my hair and lace up my black converse before hopping on my bike and heading to Max's house. The party had biked back here a few times, so I know where it is.

I pedal quickly and lay my bike against the front porch before nervously hopping up the stairs and knocking on the door. To my luck, the sparkly eyed, red haired girl is the one to swing it open.

"Hi, Max!" I say, trying not to sound awkward. Her eyebrows slightly furrow at the sight of me, but she gives me a warm smile.

"Hey, Will. Everything okay?" she asks.

"Yup. I was just wondering if maybe you would wanna come to the arcade with me and hang out?" I ask hesitantly.

"Uhh - yeah of course. Let me get some money and I'll be right out." Max says, going in her house and returning with a green tote bag in hand. She gets her bike from the garage, and before I can hesitate, I'm ranting to her about Mike.

A little under a year ago I told him that I liked him and that I wanted to be more than friends, but he said that he didn't feel the same and that he would rather us just stay friends. I pretended like I was okay with it, but on the inside I was slightly hurt, because a few months he of course got back with El.

When I'm finally done ranting to her, we are pulling up to the arcade. We lock our bikes outside and walk into the arcade, my mood immediately enlightening at the busy sounds of the games and people and the lights flashing.

"Wanna okay dig-dug first?" Max asks excitedly.

"Sure!" I say, following her to the game. She of course gets a new high score without even trying while I can barely get an eight of hers.

We play PAC-MAN for a while before getting pizza at the snack bar and sitting across from each other so we can talk.

"So, how've you been?" I ask, trying not to make it sound like I'm talking about Billy.

"I'm doing okay. Definitely better. Still taking meds, but they help. You?" she asks, taking a sip of Coke.

"Taking meds too, but same, they're helping." I say, weakly laughing. As I take a bite of pizza, her eyes move and scan over my shoulder, a look of wordy spreading across my face.

"What's wrong?" I ask. Before she can respond, I hear an all too familiar laugh.

Mike.

I can feel my heart drop to my feet as I turn around to see him with his arm around El's shoulder standing at the PAC-MAN game.

"Oh." I choke out. I watch him kiss her cheek and her punch his shoulder playfully, and something inside me just starts to bubble up. I haven't ever really seen them together, and it feels a lot worse than I thought it would.

"Are you okay? Do you wanna go?" Max asks, finishing her last bite quickly.

"No I uh - uh I'm just gonna go to the bathroom." I say, tears spilling out of my eyes the second I leave the table.

I run into the bathroom and knock before locking the door and sitting on the closed toilet seat.

Something about this just makes me feel ... angry. Sad. Upset. I can feel my hands slowly begin to shake and hot tears burn my eyes as they run down my face and drip onto my blue and white shirt. I can feel my heart crumble inside me knowing that he will never want me. El is always going to be the one that he wants, not me.

"Will? Are you in here?" I hear Max call through the other side of the door.

"Yeah." I say softly.

"Are you okay? They left. I think El got bored, and Mike didn't look too thrilled when she said that." Max says, causing me to laugh slightly.

I get up and open the door for her to wrap her arms around me.

"Just know that you can talk to me." Max reassures as I cry into her shoulder.