Mike admits, running away was not the best idea he had ever come up with.
It has been at least two months since he and the love of his life ran away, and he's starting to regret it. It was nice getting alone time with Will and hiding away in a small cave far from the town and castle, but Mike was getting tired of stealing food and clothes from the town. Not to mention he had to keep his identity hidden, in case people were looking for him for 'kidnapping' the king.
He could tell that Will was regretting the decision as well. Will started to become more distant, and sad, and he would get irritated easily. Mike tried not to say or do anything to upset him, but it was almost like everything he did upset Will.
He sits down next to Will, who just scoots away from him. "Will," He says, "Are you okay? I know it's been kind of lonely here, but we can make it work. As long as we have each other, right?" He tries to make Will happier, but it doesn't really work.
Mike sighs and grabs Will's hand hesitantly.
"You did this, Mike," Will whispers. "You made me run away! You made me leave all my friends and family behind!" He pulls his hand away. Mike frowns and shakes his head. "Will, I'm sorry. I know this wasn't the best idea."
He tries to hug him, but Will just pushes him away again. "I miss my sister and my mother! Max, Lucas, Dustin! I miss them."
"Will, you barely knew Lucas and Dustin. If anything, I should be missing them, not you."
"Then why don't you miss them?!" Will yells.
"I do! I just don't complain about it every single day!" Mike yells back.
Mike doesn't want to argue with Will, he hates arguing with Will. But sometimes arguments have to happen in order to get your feelings out.
Right?
Will scoffs with a slight chuckle. "God Mike, you really know what to say at times like this, huh?"
Mike stays silent, leaning on the wall. He watches as Will gets up and grabs a fruit. "Mike, let's go back."
"What? You do realize I could be executed."
"You won't be! I miss my family, Mike. I want them back, and you took me away from them."
"I didn't take them away from you! You chose to come with me, I didn't force you to. You could have stayed if you really wanted to. Your family doesn't even treat you right."
"I love you! I wouldn't let you run away on your own."
"You aren't acting as if you love me."
Will shakes his head in disbelief and turns away from Mike. "You wouldn't understand how it is to miss family. You have none."
That strikes a nerve in Mike. He wants to scream at Will, but he doesn't. Instead, he looks down at the walls of the cave.
Will gasps as he realizes what he says, quickly snapping his head in Mike's direction. "Mike, I am so―"
"My mother and father never loved each other." He cuts Will off. Will decides to let Mike talk as he sits down in front of Mike. "My sister knew it, I knew it, Holly knew it."
"Holly?" Will questions.
Mike nods, "Holly. She was my younger sister. She smiled all the time and was usually always happy. I loved her so much."
"What happened to her?"
"She drowned in the lake." Mike gulps, "I jumped in to save her, but I was too late. She was already gone. After that, I promised myself I'd learn to swim well. And I did, just for her. I haven't talked or seen to my parents since then. I figured they'd never wanna hear from me again."
Will closes his eyes, shaking his head again. "Mike, I am so sorry." He apologizes.
Mike shrugs and gets up from the cave floor. "Come on, let's go back. I'll take you back to your family." He packs some clothes and some food and puts them in his bag.
Will takes a bit of a second to process what Mike had just told him before getting up with a small but unsure nod.
Mike throws his bag over his shoulder and walks toward the entrance of the cave, petting and untying Lady Dolly. He hears Will's footsteps behind him as he climbs onto Lady Dolly. Will looks like he wants to say something, maybe apologize, but he doesn't. He just joins Mike on Lady Dolly.
Mike pets her again and slaps her softly, "Lady, we're going to the town." he tells her. She starts to trot away from the cave, giving Mike a little bit of peace.
Will holds onto him tightly, making Mike slightly red. Although he isn't the happiest with Will at the moment, Mike still loves him, and he loves the small things that Will does to get his face flushed even if it isn't intentional.
After a couple of minutes, they see a village. Will looks at the village with curiosity. "There was a village out here this whole time?" He asks.
"Yeah. Whenever I didn't wanna ride all the way to the town, I'd come here. The only problem is that they've caught me here before. We're gonna have to be careful passing through here because they might recognize me."
"You didn't use a disguise?"
"Will, I had to steal clothes for us. I didn't think of a disguise at the time." He says, not meaning to sound aggressive, but he does.
Will looks away and decides to stay quiet. Mike feels bad but he doesn't have enough time to feel bad as someone opens the gates and comes out with a bow and arrow. She has short brown hair with blond highlights and two boys come out after her, with the same weponds. One of them has long black hair and the other has short brown hair.
"Hey! It's you!" One of the guys says, pointing at Mike. Mike gulps and turns Lady Dolly around quickly. "Come on! We gotta go!" He yells to Lady Dolly but is also informing Will. Will nods as Lady Dolly starts to gallop away. The arrows hit around them, but they don't hit Lady Dolly and Mike is glad. He wouldn't want Lady Dolly to be hurt.
After a couple of seconds, Will mumbles, "Mike."
Mike doesn't look back, focusing ahead of them. "What's up, Will?" He asks. Will gulps and places a shaky hand on Mike's back. "My shoulder." He says, shakily. Mike can hear that he is crying so he stops Lady Dolly to look back at Will.
His eyes widen as he sees the arrow that is in Will's shoulder.
"Shit." He turns Lady Dolly back around. "We have to go back." He says.
Lady Dolly is galloping back to the village, and Mike can't stand Will's cries of pain. He wants to comfort him but he's so worried that he just can't. Will's blood is dripping down Mike's and his own shirt and falling onto Lady Dolly's fur. Will shivers at the sight of his own blood.
They make it back to the village in less than a minute. The people look confused as Mike hops off of Lady Dolly. "Please, Will is hurt! He needs help." He tells them. They share a look with each other, making Mike a bit nervous so he helps Will off Lady Dolly carefully and carries him over to the others, bridal style, not caring if anyone were to judge them.
"Will means so much to me and he's bleeding out at a fast pace. Please, I don't want him to pass out on me or something."
Will keeps sobbing in pain, making the girl's face change completely. Mike can't tell if she feels bad or not.
One of the guys steps up. "Fine, we'll help your little boyfriend. Even though you stole from us, which you will be paying us back, you little shit."
Mike smiles and nods, thanking them.
"No problem." The guy smirks. "I'm King Steve."
