"i can't lose him again"

i'm sorry, will.

(mikes pov)

we had defeated the mind flayer. everything was over. el was safe. will was safe. we were all safe. there was just one thing on my mind. i never said sorry to will about that night. i was just like everyone else who tormented him. i called him gay. i went up to will and his mom.

"hey mike" will greeted me.

"hi will, i have something i need to talk to you about something" i told him

" i had something i had to tell you too"

"well uh follow me, it's a little bit private" i said gesturing will to follow me.

when we got somewhere more private i sat down and so did he.

"i just wanted to say, i'm really sorry for the other night. i shouldn't have said that to you. i'm no better than troy and james."

"it's okay mike, you really are stupid sometimes. i can't blame you for that" will teased.

"what were you gonna say?"

"oh. i-uh it feels weird telling you this after you just apologized to me, but in two months, me, el, johnathan and my mom, we're moving to california in a month. after everything that happened to me and el, joyce thinks it'll be safer."

oh.

"you can still call and write though right? i can visit you, or you can visit me still? i never thought i'd have to live in hawkings without you since you were missing." i pulled will up from sitting and hugged him tight. "i love you so much, i can't lose you"

did i just say that? i can't believe myself. i let go of will. 

"i should probably go back to see my mom before she gets worried" will said leaving.

i decided to go home. i found my mom and i hugged her. we almost never did that. i can't believe my best friend and my ex were leaving for good.

"he's leaving." i said crying

"i know honey. word gets around. it will be healthy for you to be away from both will and jane."

"but will i still get to visit?"

"of course honey, i know how much you guys mean to each other. i'll always be here if you need to talk. y'know my best friend moved away too when i wasn't much older than you. her name was mary and we did everything together. but she moved to florida and i didn't even get to say goodbye." 

"i'm sorry mom"

"i'm sorry too honey"

we went home and i layed in bed all night but i couldn't sleep.

i jumped out of bed and snuck out my window. then i got on my bike and rode to will's house. i knew not to wake up anyone at this time of night. i ditched his house and went out to castle byers. this should be good to keep memories in store. but i walked to where castle byers usually would be. but there was nothing there for me to find but wood chunks. i picked up the word castle. did will do this? no. will broke castle byers but i know this was my fault. i said those things to him. i rummaged through the ruins and dug out every photo i could find. the last one confirmed my suspicions. It was us in our ghostbusters costumes, but there was a tear between me and will. He was mad, and i don't blame him.

(wills pov)

had mike really just said he loved me? he apologized for calling me gay too. maybe i was overreacting about mike.

(580 words)

sorry for the short chapter, i just felt like i needed to do this before anything else happened.