Summer Savings [Byler]

Chapter 14

Will did a double take, his thoughts whirring around his head like a huge, grey tornado. Max and El were still sat at the bar table, and there was still a smoothie waiting for him. He swallowed thickly, trying to get air past the ball of dread lodged firmly in his throat. He'd resigned himself to seeing almost nothing of Mike, apart from if he ran into him in the streets, and both just looked in opposite directions. Will wasn't sure if he was ready to face Mike head on, but it didn't seem like he had a choice. So he steeled his nerves, balling his hands into slight fists, and sat down in the stool left open for him.

Will noticed El's eyes flickering between he and Mike, though she dropped them back down to her hands on the table when she saw Will watching her. The silence was almost completely unbearable, each of the four fidgeting uncomfortably, itching to find something to say.

Max coughed, a lame attempt at breaking the ice. "Well," she clapped her hands together and stood up, "I think we'd better get to work, this place won't open itself. Right, Will?" She nudged him in the ribs and he smiled weakly, nodding, clearly unsure of himself.

Will turned away from the bar, but could still feel Mike's dark eyes burrowing into the back of his skull, searching over every inch of him. "Is he working here today?" Will leaned over and whispered in El's ear, then turning around to look Mike in the eyes. His glance darted away immediately, and he flushed slightly at being caught staring.

"No, just watching over us. There's an inspector coming around the next few days, but we don't know when," El made no attempt at disguising her voice in a whisper, and Will wished she had, because now Mike definitely knew they were talking about him.

Mike stayed firmly away from Will for the first half of the day, causing Will's nerves to settle down the longer the time period of Mike leaving him alone stretched. He'd hoped he could make it the full day, but as he was walking into the break-room for his lunch, he heard the unfortunate steps of someone else behind him, someone who walked too quickly and heavily to be either Max or El. Will's muscles tensed as he braced himself to see the face he least wanted to see.

"Hey," Mike stood awkwardly, out of place, running his hands up and down his arms, like he was defending himself from an imaginary chill.

"Hey," Will refused to look at the boy opposite the room from him, busying himself with straightening out his apron.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what I said to you last time we spoke," Mike's voice was shakey and unsure, two words Will would never have associated with the guy in question.

"Good, you should be," Will snorted, the prospect that Mike had only just found it appropriate to apologise, after over a week, absurd to him.

"Uh-" Mike was dumbstruck, he hadn't recieved the reaction he had expected from the usually sweet-natured Will. "Did you really mean all that, though? About not liking me?"

"Yeah, I meant it," Will furrowed his eyebrows. "Why else would I have said it?"

"No, no. I mean as a friend. You don't like me as a friend?"

"Well, no. Not particularly, at the moment," Will couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"But I thought we had fun, when we hung out?"

"Yeah, we did. Except for the fact you kept randomly blanking me for no reason," Will's tone was harsh, and he wished he could soften it, but he was too wound up by Mike's attitude.

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't know what to make of you."

"Well, you made that clear," Will scoffed, "now if you'll excuse me, I'm on lunch break, and don't plan on wasting it here." He stormed past Mike, pausing momentarily to look back at him. Then he slammed the door shut, shattering the atmosphere with it.

Mike found himself, once again, stood stock still where Will had left him. He didn't know where his apology had gone wrong. He never really found himself having to apologise to people, he never really got into fights with them either. But maybe that was down to the type of people he hung out with. Mike sighed, hands over his face. He really did want to hang out with Will more, and with a sudden heavy realisation, regretted the fact he hadn't actually voiced that, and thought maybe the conversation might've ended differently if he had.

On a split-second decision, Mike ran out of the break-room, out of the restraunt, catching up to Will in the street and grabbing him by the shoulder. "Let me come to lunch with you," he smiled, nodding encouragingly.

"Excuse me?" Will recoiled, but there was nothing malicious about his response, and his body language and facial expression gave away only confusion.

"Can I please come to lunch with you?" Mike tried again, slowing down the pace of his words in order to make sure they were all spoken clearly, and softening his tone.

"Uh-" Will's eyes flickered between each of Mike's, and he weighed up the situation, looking for a joke, or sarcasm, or malice, or anything. But he didn't find it. Mike seemed genuine. So he reluctantly confirmed, "Sure," in a breathy, defeated sigh. Though Mike said nothing of it, Will's face gave away the fact he wasn't annoyed at Mike's intrusion on his lunch break.

Will found himself lay on his bed, hours later, rethinking over the day. He'd enjoyed his lunch with Mike, as much as he hated to admit it, and it left a sour feeling in his stomach knowing that would probably be the one and only lunch they had together, because he couldn't picture Mike striding down to the restraunt just to see him, or talk to him, or eat with him. He rolled over, burying his face in his pillow, sighing deeply and watching the moonlight creeping over the lightly papered wall.

Robin had picked up on the good mood he'd returned to Cedar in, the best mood he'd been in since their conversation about Mike, and had grinned and offered him ice-cream and asked about his day. He hadn't told her much, he didn't want her to know his good mood was also down to Mike, so instead just vaguely hinted with, "Really good day at work."

It was only when he got to his room that he had the realisation that his day spent with Mike at work had been and would be a one time thing, and that he wouldn't see him there again, because he didn't think Mike would make an effort to come and see Will if he wasn't actually needed at the restraunt. These few scentences played on Will's mind on loop, "like a broken record", his mom would've said.

A hard 'clink!' at his window startled Will out of his daydream and he shot straight up in bed. He crept over, keeping to one side, and peered behind the lacy curtains. He couldn't make out anything in the murky darkness at first, until, as if out of nowhere, a rock emerged from the inky blackness, striking his window with a glassy 'thunk!'. Will jumped back from the rattled glass, and became concerned whoever was throwing rocks might actually break the window. Was that what they wanted? To break the window, get inside and ransack the B and B? He gently and noiselessly slid open the window, deciding to try and peer out to see who the mystery person was. He only just managed to jump out of the way in time as another rock launched itself out of the black and whizzed straight through the open window, clattering off of Will's wardrobe.

He stuck his head out of the window, annoyed. "Hey! Who did that?" He yelled, eyes darting around for any sign of a figure. His mouth fell open as he caught the culprit, who stepped into the light of a streetlamp, armed with yet another rock.

"Hey, Will!" He called up, grinning, oblivious to the annoyance he'd caused. "I was gonna come through the door, but it's locked. Get out here! I want to hang out with you."

"Mike, it's the middle of the night!" Will hissed back, leaning further and further out of the window. "I don't have a key to the main door, how the hell do you expect me to get down?"

Mike flashed a smile, as if this was the best part.

"You climb, idiot."