Byler- The Unwanted Return of Everything (And How It Finally Ends)

The Aftermath

Notes- TW for talk of blood and death

Mike got Will's suitcase from the room for him. Will had tried, but his legs gave out within three feet of the door, so Mike said he'd do it. Will was thankful he was at least understanding of that. He didn't seem all that sad about Brad's death though. Will guessed it was understandable. The guy literally wanted to kill him, but he thought Mike might be a little sympathetic about it. He wasn't.

Will and Mike had been camped out by the motel for an hour or so now. When they told the front desk about the incident, they called the police. Only, the police didn't show up, government officials did. Government officials who recognized Will for one reason or another. Will would've laughed about that if he had it in him– he was probably somewhat of a celebrity up in certain branches.

They pretty much took the entire investigation from there, patting Will on the back and saying not to give the incident another thought and let them deal with everything. Easier said than done, of course. How was Will supposed to do nothing about this? He at least wanted to break the news to Brad's mother.

Mike had insisted that Will go to his house and get cleaned up before they alerted everyone of the bad news. He said a nice shower was going to help Will calm himself down. He gave him permission to use up all the hot water, which Will would definitely be doing.

The second drive of the boys' night was much less fun than the first. Will's hands were still shaking, although he tried to stop them. It has been over two hours since Brad died and he was still in fight or flight mode. Get your act together.

He finally sighed. "Maybe you're right, Mike. It's late and I don't want to call everyone over at midnight to deal with this." He had been thinking about it for a while. Of course, the situation was important, but everyone was probably sleeping. It was an inconvenient time to die. Mike had suggested just putting it off until the morning, which was looking more and more appealing by the second.

Mike nodded. "That's fine. You can stay at my house for the night." He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, looking around. "Uhh... Where do you want to sleep?"

Will didn't like the way Mike said the question because it made it seem like he was hoping for something. Something Will couldn't give him right now. Sleeping in the same bed as the guy his dead boyfriend wanted to kill on the night he died seemed morally wrong in so many places. That wasn't going to happen.

"A bed, maybe. If you've got extra." Will shrugged, ignoring how Mike's shoulders sank slightly.

"Are you okay being alone? You can sleep in my bed if you want... I'll take the floor." That sounded perfect.

"Yeah. We can do that. Thanks." Will smiled slightly at his friend. Friend? Yeah, his friend.

Will gave Mike his bloody clothes, hoping that they could be washed. The shirt was one of his favorites and he wasn't exactly ready to part with it. Mike said that he wasn't sure anything would wash out, but he'd try his best. Will decided to take that and head off to clean up.

He stood in the Wheeler's bathroom (Mike's bathroom, to be specific) for a while, just looking at himself in the mirror. He looked bad. His hair was disheveled and the dried blood from his nose was smeared all the way down to his chest. He had blood on his cheeks too, but not his own. His hands had slightly less blood than before since he was given a wet wipe from the lady at the front desk to wash them off. Now he couldn't wait to wash off the rest.

He turned on the shower water and waited for it to heat up. The warm water felt amazing. It had been a pretty cold night and Will's fingers were about ready to fall off. He hoped the Wheelers wouldn't mind if he tripled their water bill this month.