𝐹𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 | 𝐵𝓎𝓁𝑒𝓇 🎀

1 - And The Sky Opened {EDITED}

{ EDITED - 9/18/18 }

You'll notice as my edits come, that when Will has breakdowns or get sad, the writing style from his perspective becomes very poetic.

Mike's Pov

I remember that night like it happened hours ago. It was the first night I admitted to myself what was the truth.

The sky was grey, light droplets of water falling freely from the sky. They pattered mindlessly on the deep driveway. The muffled sounds echoed through my mind as I sat, uncomfortably comfortable, listening to Jonathan as he yelled at Will to hurry up and get out of his bedroom. He turned to me with a face of trust.

"Are you sure you guys will be okay tonight?" He asked, mostly for self-reassurance. I nodded childishly.

"Yeah, don't worry. Are you sure you can handle my sister tonight?" I mocked with a cheap grin. He slammed his hand across his face in annoyance.

"Mike!" Nancy yelled from the kitchen.

Will appeared in the hallway, gently closing his bedroom door behind himself. He strolled over to his brother, embracing him.

"Bye, Jonathan! Have a good time," He said cheerily, his cotton tee wavering in the air-conditioning, slightly revealing the waistline of his sweatpants. He nodded to us both and escaped with Nancy to the rainy world outside.

As the door shut, Will jumped on top of me. My uncomfortableness melted away as he began tickling me vigorously.

"Will- W- s-Stop! AHAHA STOP! -WILL!" I laughed and begged for him to stop, but to no avail.

As we both screamed with laughter, the tickling slowly faltered. Now, still giggling and breathing heavily, Will hovered over me on the couch. As he attempted to push himself off, his hand slipped on the fabric, causing him to fall completely on top of me with a loud thump!

"AH!" He yelped. I laughed foolishly. He lifted his head slightly, looking up at me with a fake-frown, hinting at a bit of embarrassment as his face painted itself a deep red shade. He sat up, playfully punching me in the shoulder.

"Oh, knock it off, Wheeler!" He smiled.

Since Will had returned from the Upside-Down, things have been very different between us. When he disappeared, my mind was always on him, no matter how many other things took up my time. I've been much more protective, and we've been spending more time with each other. It feels like any moment, he could slip through my fingers. These past few months have been emotionally different as well, but I don't think either of us could quite put our fingers on what it meant. We grew distant as people gave false accusations about our friendship, but we decided in the end that it would be stupid and ignorant to let their opinions control our lives. I would never, tell Will, but some nights I would lay awake wondering about those accusations and thought about why that was so wrong.

Unbeknownst to me, I had found myself longing for the said accusations to be true.

I sat up as, suddenly, the sky broke apart, a bright fork of light crashing to the surface, followed by a loud, rupturing thunder. My heart sank as Will froze.

Will's Pov

The Thunder pounded through my head. Flashes of black tentacles wrapped around my mind. My thoughts went blank, tuning all of the outside world out, my heart finding a pulse in the loud crashes. I felt my body begin to shake wildly. I instinctually pushed myself into Mike's chest. He was obviously taken aback by my actions, and I contemplated pulling away. But I soon felt a pair of arms wrap around my torso. The thunder continued beating itself into my head. And with every crash, I sank lower and lower.

BOOM. A scream. Sinking.

BOOM. A cry. Sinking lower.

BOOM. A whisper. Lowest.

Seconds. Minutes. Hours. The time slipped away as if on tilted ice. Thunder after thunder after thunder, my mind grew numb, my eyes grey like that of a ghost. I lay in Mike's arms, faltering.

Until,

The skies closed.

A dimmed night showed through.

My mouth. My eyes, my ears. They grew conscious, aware of the humble tune hummed soothingly by the boy above.

"M-Mike?" I called longingly into the void.

"Yes?" He spoke, his tone wavering as the rain. He sounded as though he had been crying.

"What's wrong...?" I asked, worried.

He wiped his face with his sleeve, "Nothing, nothing," He threw on a painfully fake smile.

Mike's Pov

I stood up gently, holding out a hand for Will. He silently took it, stumbling to his feet. As we slowly stepped towards his bedroom, he didn't loosen his grip. I glanced around the bedroom for my usual sleeping bag.

"Um- I-" Will said, obviously embarrassed about something as he brought a hand over his face.

"Hm?" I said. Our hands were still together...? His grew warmer by the second.

"I lost... I lost the sleeping bag," He said looking down at the ground, frustrated. I thought for a moment.

"Well, I can always sleep on the floor-"

"No!" He cut me off, then retraced his words, "I mean- no you don't have to do that... You can- you know..."

I didn't get what he meant. I tilted my head in confusion.

"You-- You can sleep in the bed with me... I mean-! As long as that's okay with you because if it's not I totally understand! Like you don't need to feel--" He rambled.

"Will," I broke his rant, "That sounds great."

His face changed into a happier expression as he turned and looked up at me. "Really?"

Our hands are still together.

I nodded childishly, again, with a bright smile.

'''

We lay in the dark, accompanied by nothing but our own voices, laughing and chatting about nothing in particular. During one particular chat, I feel the sheets ruffle, and watch as Will shivers. I frown.

"Are you cold?" I ask, slightly shivering myself.

"N-no, I-I'm ok-kay," He's such a bad liar. I think what to do for a moment. And suddenly it hits me. But, this would prove to be a more difficult task.

I slowly, inch by inch, nudge myself closer to Will. I timidly curl around Will, his cold skin taking me by surprise at first. At first realization, Will tensed, but then relaxed and practically melted into my warm chest. I gently pick up his hands with mine and rub the top of his with my thumb. I felt as though, the cloudy sky about couldn't be more clear. Something about this boy made him feel... different.

"Mike?" He asked steadily, "Are you sure this is okay?"

"N-... I don't know,"

Will snuggled closer into Mike.

"Okay"