One and Only (Byler)

Gone Again

Will emerged from his room, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and walking into the kitchen. The sun hadn't even risen yet, and the entire house was silent. No one was awake yet. He walked past the counter, stopping when he noticed what looked like a letter on top of the toaster. He tilted his head in confusion, picking it up, and then immediately dropping it when he realised who had wrote it.

I'm so sorry about last night, Will, I really am. I didn't mean to upset you, and I know it was really stupid of me to lie - especially right to your face. Maybe I can make it up to you today—

Will scrunched the note up into a ball, tossing it into the trash. He sighed, already regretting what he had just done, and ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it. He didn't know why he cared so much - Mike had tried to apologise for everything the night before, and even after that, he went out of his way to write an entire letter explaining how sorry he was.

But Will couldn't get the image of Mike and El kissing out of his head - it was like it had been ingrained into his mind's eye, and the thoughts that came with it wouldn't leave either. He wanted nothing more to get rid of the silly little crush he had on Mike, but it had become a lot more than just a crush the longer the two stayed friends, and that was the one thing that Will hated the most.

A door in the hallway swung open, revealing a half awake Hopper, his sparse hair sticking up in odd places on his scalp. He didn't notice that Will was in the kitchen too, until he cleared his throat, causing him to jump back, clutching his throat. Will raised an amused eyebrow, his mind wandering away from the events of yesterday for a blissful moment.

"Good morning, Hopper." Hopper recollected himself, and began to pour coffee into a mug that clearly belonged to Joyce. "Morning Will, didn't see you there for a moment. Why are you up so early? It isn't even a school day." Will sat at the table, staring into space. "Oh, I just couldn't sleep, I've been awake all night." Hopper stared at him for a moment, before dumping his coffee into the sink, grimacing.

"Please don't tell your mother about the mug, Will, she'll kill me, and dying isn't exactly on my bucket list at the moment."  Will nodded at him, and at moment, Joyce and El entered the kitchen, taking their seats at the table. Joyce sank into her chair, sighing loudly.  "If anyone wants their breakfast right now, you're gonna have to wait, because my boss just called, and now I have a early morning shift. So there."  El placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, frowning at Will.

Will gave Joyce a startled look, turning to her. "But it's the weekend, and you've worked full days all week-"  Joyce left her seat, pulling her coat over her work uniform. "I'm sorry Will, but maybe we could spend some time as a family tomorrow?" She walked through the door, shutting it behind her, and leaving the kitchen in silence. Hopper kept his eyes on the closed door, as if he was hoping that Joyce would just come back, but eventually turned away.

♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎ ♡︎

The party spent the entire day working on their dnd campaign, and Mike spent the entire day trying to get Will to talk to him. While Dustin and Lucas sat hunched over a large spreadsheet, and Max made her fourth attempt to catch a chocolate button in her mouth, Mike slid beside Will, attempting to strike up a conversation.  "So, uhm, how are you today?"  He mentally cursed himself for sounding so awkward, and Will looked away from him.

"I actually feel like setting fire to your basement, but other than that, I'm doing pretty well."  Mike nodded at him, tapping his fingers on his knees. Will stood up, giving Mike a quick glance, before looking away again. "You know what, I should probably just leave." He walked up the basement stairs, disappearing through the door. Mike got to his feet, going after Will. He caught him just before he left, holding onto his wrist.