Byler Oneshots☽❣︎☀︎︎

old friends

In honor of my home. New York. <3

"I tried the blueberry danish the other day and it was so good," Will grinned. The air of New York City brushing along his skin, so crisp that it made his nose red.

Xavier nods his head, opening the door to their favorite cafe. Will lets out an exhaust of air into his clenched fists, in attempt to warm up his hands. 

They find an empty booth in the very back of the cafe. Will sits down and slides his backpack off of his shoulders. 

He begins to remove his coat and hat. "I'm starving," Xavier emphasized, also doing the same. 

"I'm going on the line," Xavier inquires. Will presses his lips together, "I want a slice of banana bread and a coffee with-"

"Two sugars and milk. I know babe," Xavier interrupts him, beginning to walk to the register. Will smiles at him thankfully and proceeds to pull out his laptop from his bag.

The sound of the shop bell went off in the distance meaning someone had entered. Will doesn't look up because it was a popular cafe that many people loved as well. 

As his fingers instinctively typed the password of his laptop along the keyboards, the presence of  someone appeared in front of him. 

Will looked up with a smile, assuming it was Xavier. The smile on his face fades into an expression of shock. 

"Mike." Will stammered. The eyes belonging to the shaggy haired male roamed his face, "Hey Will."

He couldn't help but be astounded because Mike was a long way from home. 

Will was currently a student at NYU and he had been for about 2 years now and he'd never seen Mike, or even heard that he was in New York. 

Last he'd heard, Mike was studying at a local college. And now, here he was directly in his line of sight only a foot away.  

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Will acknowledged. Mike showed him a sheepish smile. "I go to NYIT now," Mike explained. 

"Oh. Since when?" Will asked. For a second, Will had thought he'd came all this way just for him. He knew it likely wasn't the reason but he'd let the thought linger his mind for just a second. 

"I transferred 2 months ago." Mike gingerly stated. He'd been here for 2 months. He was quite discouraged at the fact that he hadn't known but he didn't let it show.

Will sort've just stared at him, and Mike did the same. It wasn't awkward at all, almost like they hadn't gone so long without seeing each other.

"How've you been?" Mike implored. Will sat back in his seat and shrugged his shoulders. "I've been good, and you?" 

"Better now," Mike smoothly admired. Will's cheeks flushed which made Mike smile. "Are you doing anything right-" Mike began. 

"Here, I got you your-" Xavier stared at the both of them. His eyes going back and forth between the two. 

"Xavier, this is Mike a friend from my hometown, Hawkins. And Mike. This is Xavier, my boyfriend." 

The word "friend" had engraved itself into Mike's head. He'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt at least a bit being referred to as just a friend especially because of all the history they shared. 

But he knew that Will couldn't say that this was the friend he had been in love with and fucked notoriously throughout high school, so he didn't react. 

Also hearing Will refer to Xavier as 'his boyfriend' hurt most of all. His heart sank.

Mike didn't know a couple of words could ruin his mood in utter seconds. But he didn't let it show on his face, or at least he tried not to let it show on his face.