Byler one shots

8

Mike can barely remember getting on his bike and cycling down the road, tears staining his cheeks and clouding his vision.

The last thing he remembers is the look of dissapointment in his mother's eyes.

He let out a loud sob. He could barely see where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get to Will. Will, the boy who brightened up his life. Will, his first love.

The next thing he knew, there was a car approaching him at full speed. And then he was swerving. Swerving and falling off his bike, crashing into a bush.
"Kid, are you alright?" he heard a familiar voice from behind him.
His head hurt. His nose was bleeding. He wanted nothing more than to die.

Turning around, he seen a tall figure. Hopper. 
He clearly seen that Mike had been crying. His hair was a mess; wether that had been from the fall or from crying, neither of them knew. His eyes were a bloodshot red, they were puffy and sore. His lips were bright red and he was shaking uncontrollably. 
"Oh god, Mike." Hopper jogged up to the boy, leaning down and putting an arm on his shoulder. "We need to get you home. Are you hurt?"

Mike shook his head. The pain in his heart was more unbearable compared to the pain in his bleeding nose. "You can't take me home!" he choked out and sobbed.

Hopper looked at the boy, unsure what to do. "I can't leave you out here like this."

Mike ran his hands through his hair, trying to gather himself. "I-" he sniffed, "I need to get to Will's."

Hopper nodded. He knew Joyce very well. She was a good mother figure, and perhaps they could find out what happened with her. He helped the boy to his feet and into the car. He then picked up Mike's bike and put it in the back.

Soon enough, they reached the Byers' household. Mike had calmed down to the best of his ability, a tissue held to his nose. He still cried quietly, but he wasn't sobbing uncontrollably like before.

Hopper got out of the car first. Mike followed him soon after.

After waiting for a minute at the door, Jonathan answered it. Immediately his happy face turned to worry as he saw Hopper and Mike.
"Can we come in?" Hopper said as a greeting. Jonathan nodded, before calling out to Joyce.
"Mom! Hopper and Mike are here!"

Will, who had been sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by crayons and paper, whipped his head up. He immediately spotted his boyfriend and his face flashed with worry.

Joyce and Jonathan were aware of Will and Mike's relationship, and were fine with it. Joyce wanted nothing more from her son than to be happy, and Jonathan said that he never understood how there is a God in the sky that gets to decide what is right and what is wrong. "We were given free will for a reason, right?"

Will jumped up, rushing towards Mike. "Are you alright? What happened?" he placed a hand on Mike's shoulder, rubbing it soothingly.
At the feel of Will's soft touch, Mike's eyes spilled with tears again and he closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath.

"Give him some space, kid." Hopper nodded to Will, who looked hurt. 
Mike wanted nothing more than for Will to stay as close as he was, to rub his shoulder soothingly, and to hold his hands but since Hopper was here, he had to go with whatever he said to avoid suspicion. 
Will knew this and took a step back, and Mike felt cold without him. 
Joyce entered the room. "Oh my god, what happened?" she spotted Mike, who was still holding a bloody tissue to his nose.

Hopper shook his head. "Not sure. Wouldn't let me take him home. Said he needed to come here." 
Joyce's face changed to an unreadable expression. "Okay. Thank you for bringing him here, I'll talk to him."

Hopper looked confused. "You don't want me to say? I picked the boy up off the street."

Joyce nodded. "I think it's about some personal things. It would be best if we talked about it alone."

The chief stood for a moment. He still looked confused, but he left. "See you later, Joyce."

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Mike felt Jonathan's, Will's and Joyce's hands move to him comfortingly. He felt so overwhelmed with love that he burst into tears again. Joyce led him over to the couch and sat him down. Will sat next to him, his arm around him and hugging him tightly. Mike did nothing but hug him back.

"Sweetie, what happened?" Joyce asked in a quiet soothing voice.
Mike choked up another sob. "I- I told my parents."

Although it was vague, everyone in the room immediately understood what Mike was trying to say. Will shimmied up closer to him so their legs were now touching. He had his arm around Mike's shoulders and pulled Mike into him. 
Mike breathed out, burying his face in Will's chest and sighing, breathing in his scent.

Jonathan went to the kitchen to get him a cup of hot cocoa. Joyce rested her hand on Mike's knee, repeating "It's okay."

Mike began to relax. Will petted his almost black hair, and he sighed in contentment. He always felt like the Byers were a second family to him.
"I-I'm sorry for freaking out."

"Don't apologize." Will whispered and kissed Mike's cheek.

"You don't need to be sorry," Joyce said. "I'm sure that was rough. Karen and Ted don't exactly have the most open of minds."

Jonathan returned to the room with several cups of cocoa for everyone. He handed one to Mike, and Mike took it gratefully, moving away from his hug with Will.

Mikr recited the events to them carefully, explaining how he didn't mean to come out. He said that he had been talking about Will coming over later. Instead he accidentaly said "my boyfriend", which you could imagine, sparked a lot of questions. He managed to convince them that this "boyfriend" he talked about was none of the four boys, so that they wouldn't be able to separare him from Will.

"What about Nancy?" Jonathan asked quietly.
Mike shook his head. "I'm not sure. She only came downstairs when she heard me leaving."

Mike then told them about how he had cycled along the road and ended up swerving into bushes, where he hurt his nose. Then Hopper found him and brought him to Will's place.

After he had finished, Mike breathed out slowly. "You're very brave." Joyce smiled.

"He is, isn't he?" Jonathan agreed, "That must have been scary."

Will stayed quiet, head resting on Mike's shoulder, a hand rubbing circles into his back.
"If you ever need a place to stay, we're here." Joyce nodded comfortingly. "I know it's not easy growing up in a home where you don't feel loved."

Mike wanted to ask her how she knew, but he decided not to. He concluded that she was referencing this "Lonnie" that Will sometimes spoke of.

"Thank you." Mike breathed. He felt calm now. He felt guilty for taking up the Byers' time, but he also felt so loved and accepted. He never wanted to leave.