Where Do Broken Hearts Go? (A GreatWise Fanfic)

Chapter 7: You're the First and Last I See

(Title from Not the One by Who Hurt You)

~

Weeks go by and things are going great between the two. Will's happier and Gareth is more grounded, he's also more willing to settle down with the other and start their lives together. As time goes on though, rumors spread throughout Hawkins High School that the two are together.

It's not too long before Mike starts getting wind of the rumors. He doesn't know how to feel. Will has been his friend since they were young, but after what went down between them, he doesn't know how they could rekindle their friendship of many years. So hearing this, he feels betrayed.

When Will arrives at school, he makes his way to his English class, before he gets stopped by Mike at his locker.

"What do you want Mike?" Will says, "I need to get to English class. I can't be late or Ms. Johnson will kill me."

"When were you going to tell me?" Mike replies.

"Tell you what?"

"That you and Gareth were going out," Mike says, "I thought you'd have a bit more respect for your best friend than that."

"Well sorry to burst your bubble Mike," Will starts, "But we are no longer friends. You ruined it, not me. Quit trying to blame me for your problems, now if you'll excuse me."

Will walks away from him and to his English class. Mike looks at Will as he walks away and sighs. "There has got to be some way to get Will to befriend me again," He thinks. A small smile forms on his face and he goes to talk to Gareth.

"Leave me alone, Wheeler," Gareth states.

"Leave Will alone, Emerson," Mike replies.

"You're not his mom," Gareth starts, "And for the record, unlike you, Will actually enjoys my company. We're friends now, and there is nothing that will stop you. If you had an ounce of respect in that twig-sized body of yours, maybe, just maybe, you'd still be friends with him and leave our friendship alone."

"Gareth-"

"Look, Mike, I gotta go," Gareth says, taking off to his English class. Mike sighs. He doesn't understand, he just wants to apologize for his mistakes, but no one is giving him a chance.

When Gareth arrives in his English class he sees Will and sits beside him. "Hey is everything okay?" He asks.

"Did Mike talk to you, too?" Will sniffles.

"Yeah," Gareth says, hugging him, "He did. I don't know what he said to you, but I'm so sorry."

"Who told him?"

"I have no clue," He says, "But when I find out I will-"

"You're not going to resort to violence, Gareth," Will states, a very serious look on his face.

"Will, please-"

"No Gareth," Will replies, "I will not allow you to hurt someone, whether people speculate or not. They can keep speculating, they don't deserve to know the truth, the people who already know are the people I want to know.

"Besides, if you hurt them and resort to violence, they will automatically assume that we are together because why else would you do that? I'm just stating a realistic possibility," He adds.

"Alright," Gareth says, "I won't hurt anyone. Are you okay though?"

"No, but I will be," Will says, smiling a little.

The two get started on their work when class begins and Will gets lost in thought while reading. He doesn't want people to make fun of Gareth and him being in a relationship, but he wants to be able to show some kind of affection with the other man in public without having to worry about someone saying or doing something to the pair.

It doesn't help that since Gareth is close friends with Eddie "the freak" Munson, so he already gets made fun of for that. Being with Will "Zombie Boy" Byers would only make things worse. Knowing this he starts to get upset, but before Gareth could notice, he goes to the bathroom, grabbing the only boys bathroom hall pass as he does so.

(A/N: Sorry again for a shorter chapter, I hope the next chapter is slightly longer!)