byler oneshots

69 - decorating for christmas

will pov
winter of sophomore year - they're together
*another christmas one!!*

I tap my foot as my teacher drones on and on about ionic and covalent bonds and I try to take as many notes as possible, but the words seem to come out of her mouth at a million miles per hour.

"Any questions?" she asks, looking around the room. I have about a million, but my hands shake and I can't bring myself to raise my hand and let the entire class, especially Mike, know that I have no clue what's going on. I always good at school, but this year I have been struggling so much more with my mental health that it's like I can barely focus on anything. I just try to stay afloat.

"Alright. See you all on Monday. Have a great weekend." she says, just as the bell rings. Tears well up in my eyes as I begin to feel myself slip into a panic attack. I pack my things up quickly and walk quickly to my locker, stuffing books inside as I try to wipe the steady tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Will!" I hear Mike yell. I look up and see him walking towards me, and he notices the tears before I can even bother to hide it.

"W - Will are you okay? What's wrong?" he asks, panic filling his voice.

"I - I don't think so. I think that I'm - uh having a panic attack." I say, feeling my body heat up from embarrassment.

"Oh. Here, let's go outside and get some air." he says, taking my hand and pulling me towards the door. We walk a little past the school where all the people are and sit on the curb of a nice house with blue shutters.

My whole body is still shaking slightly, but the cold air really did help.

"You can talk to me, Will. I know what panic attacks feel like. It sucks, but you know I'm always here for you." he says. I take a few deep breaths.

"I'm struggling a lot in school, and a lot in general I guess. I feel so helpless a lot of the time." I say. Mikes warm hand cups my chin and he wipes away some of my tears with his thumb.

"I'm so sorry. I know this probably doesn't help, but again, I'm always here for you. I love you more than anything in the entire world, I hope you know that." he says, butterflies forming in my stomach.

"I love you too, Mike. Thank you." I say, lifting my eyes to meet his. He smiles softly.

"How about...we go back to my house and help my mom decorate for Christmas and then you can sleepover." he says, kissing my cheek.

"That sounds perfect." I say, smiling and blushing.

He holds my hand the entire way home, me talking and him squeezing it occasionally to make sure I know that he is listening. He knows how much I hated when my dad pretended to listen to me, so he does his best to make sure I feel safe and comfortable to talk to him.

When we get to his house, the warm air hits me and I immediately feel at home.

"Will!" Mrs. Wheeler says, coming and over and wrapping her thin arms around me. I hug her back, loving the feeling of having another parent figure in my life.

"How are you sweetie?" she asks, leaning away and looking at the two of us.

"I'm good! I'm here two help you guys set up the Christmas decorations." I say, her face immediately lighting up.

"That's great! How about you guys put your things in Mikes room. Don't fool around too much though, we have a lot of decorating to do." she says, winking and walking back to the kitchen. I look over to Mike who tries to hide his bright red face by taking my hand and turning away and leading me to his room.

"You're so cute." Mike says as I set my stuff down.

"Shut up." I tease, standing up and walking over to him.

"I'm serious. You are." he says, causing me to smile widely. I've never felt more loved than Mike makes me feel. I've always dreamed about being in a relationship where I feel comfortable to do or say anything, and I finally have it.

He uses his hand to tilt my chin up and kiss me softly, me running my fingers through his hair.

"Boys!" we hear his mom yelling, breaking us apart. Mike groans in response and I just laugh and we run downstairs and begin to decorate.

"Time to put the ornaments on the tree!" Mrs. Wheeler says as we glance around at the room. There is tinsel and mistletoe hung in every doorway and little white lights that hang from every picture, brightening up the room.

We hang the Christmas ornaments up carefully, and I smile softly to myself when I see an ornament that has a little picture of Mike when he was younger on it.

"What are you grinning at?" he asks, looking over my shoulder.

"This." I say, showing him the picture.

"That's so embarrassing!" he says, stealing it out of my hands.

"It's cute!" I say, watching him hang it up between the one of Nancy and the one of Holly.

"It looks great." Mrs. Wheeler says, standing back and admiring our work.

"Yeah. It does." I say, admiring it as well.

Mike and I each grab two bins and bring them to the hall closet, stacking them on top of each other. When we go to walk back upstairs, Mike pulls me back to him.

"What?" I giggle. All he does in response is smile and look above our heads, and I see a long string of mistletoe.

"You're so annoying." I tease.

"You love me." he teases back.

"Yeah, I do." I say, kissing him. Our lips move in sync and I smile into the kiss, standing on my tip toes so that we're the same height. When we finally release. He leads me to the couch where we snuggle up next to each other and I drift off to sleep.