Byler one shots

10

Ding dong… Ding dong…

Will had never pressed the doorbell twice, this was the first time he’d ever done it. Mike was always ready at the door, his smile greeting Will whenever he showed up at the Wheeler house. He waited a couple of seconds, wondering why it took such a long time for Mike to open the door. Suddenly, the door opened and Karen Wheeler poked her head out from the doorway.

“Oh, hi Will!” she said with a bright smile and opened the door widely. Will gazed behind her, hoping to see Mike but he wasn’t there. Where was he? Had he mixed up the day they were supposed to meet?

“Hello Karen”, he said and smiled. “Uhm… Where is Mike?” he added with a frown.

Karen’s mouth formed into a small “o”.

“Oh, yeah! He’s at the store, buying some ingredients for the food I’m cooking tonight. I thought he told you? Oh well, do you want to wait in the basement? I’m sure he’s about to get home soon”, she said and moved out of the way so Will could get inside.

“Yeah… Sure”, Will said, trying to hide his disappointment. He’d looked forward seeing Mike, they hadn’t seen each other for a couple of days. He stepped inside, took off his shoes and jacket and placed them neatly before he went down the stairs to the basement. He sat down at the table, looking at their Dungeons and Dragons board game. Will the Wise stood beside Lucas’ knight with his staff ready to shoot the giant Bugbear with fireballs. Dustin’s Dwarf character stood behind them, ready to strike with his weapon. He smiled at the characters and felt a rush of excitement, he wanted to continue the campaign as soon as possible. Mike had written a really good story this time and they all thought he was an amazing storyteller. Will often wondered if he would end up as an author.

Will rose from the chair and walked around the basement for a while, looking at some of Mike’s toys. He played with the Star Wars ship, making whooshing sounds with his mouth and then crashed it to the floor with a “POW!”. He sat down next to it and sighed. Twenty minutes had passed since he’d come here and he was already bored. He looked around the basement, looking to see if he could find something else to play with. He was a bit cold, his arms were covered in goosebumps. He looked around the room and saw one of Mike’s knitted sweaters lay thrown over the yellow couch. He rose from the floor and walked to it, looking at it. The sweater was white with thin black lines, it felt soft to the touch and he could almost feel its warmth embracing him. It looked and felt really cozy.

It’s not like I’m gonna get caught wearing it, Mike isn’t here anyway, he thought with a mischievous smile and put it on. It was as soft and cozy as he’d imagined, almost immediately he felt warm again. It was a bit too big though, the sleeves going over his hands. He felt a bit jealous of Mike, he loved knitted sweaters like this one but Joyce could never afford one of this quality and he was afraid to ask for one. So he’d stuck with wearing Jonathan’s old sweaters. They were worn out and itchy.

Will lay down on the couch, suddenly feeling a bit sleepy, probably due to the warmth of the sweater. He sighed again, missing Mike before he closed his eyes and in a couple of minutes, he was fast asleep.

----

Mike put the bags with groceries on the side of his bike’s handles with an irritated sigh and bicycled as fast as he could back to his house. It took a couple of extra minutes as his bicycle was heavier than usual. He finally arrived and took the bags off his bike, walking to the door with angry steps. He entered the house and practically threw off his shoes, not noticing Will’s shoes as he stomped into the kitchen and placed the bags on the kitchen table. Karen met him with a thankful smile before she looked into the bags, seeing if Mike had gotten everything she needed for dinner.

“Mom, why do you always make me run errands that take so much more time than anticipated?! I don’t have time for this, I have important stuff to do!” Mike said angrily to Karen, waiting for her answer with crossed arms over his chest. She just chuckled at him and ruffled his hair.

“Will is waiting for you in the basement,” she said softly.

“What!” Mike blurted before turning around quickly and zoomed down the stairs to the basement. Will had waited for him almost an hour, god he hated his mom, why had she put him on the grocery task today? She knew Will would be coming over! Mike stopped his steps as he entered the basement, seeing Will lying on the couch curled into a small ball, sleeping with hissweater on. Mike could hardly believe what he was seeing, Will looked so cute. His sweater was too big for Will, it was half the size of him. He couldn’t even see Will’s hands, they were hidden by the sweater's sleeves. Some strands of Will’s hair had fallen on Will’s face. Mike wanted to brush them away.

He swallowed and silently walked to the couch, careful of not waking Will. He squatted down next to Will, watching Will’s cute sleeping face before he brought up a hand to catch a few of the hair strands that hid Will’s eyes. He moved them to the side so he could see Will’s face more clearly. Gosh, he was so cute, his eyelashes were long and beautiful, his cheeks had a rosy blush and his lips looked soft. Mike felt a sudden need to give Will’s lips a quick kiss but he didn’t dare to, he didn’t want to wake him. He wondered if Will was dreaming and what he was dreaming about. He felt a tug of guilt and hoped Will wouldn’t be angry with him that he’d taken such a long while to get home when he woke up.

I want to crawl up beside him and hold him, Mike suddenly thought and blushed slightly. His heart beat faster as he was about to sneak into the couch but Will suddenly stirred and blinked a few times as he started waking up.

“Mike?” Will whispered quietly, his voice was soft and a bit hoarse from sleeping.

Mike’s heart took a wild jump inside his chest as he heard Will saying his name. 

“Yes, it’s me”, he replied quietly and watched as Will balled his fist to rub the sleep away from his eyes, the sleeve fell down over his hand from the movement. A warm feeling spread through Mike’s chest as he watched Will rubbing his eyes, his heart beating irregularly.

I’m going into a cardiac arrest, he thought seriously as he put a hand on his heart, feeling it beating erratically.This can’t be healthy, Will making my heart beat like this, he thought and blushed violently.

Will’s sleepy eyes looked at Mike’s face and Mike smiled at him, suddenly nudging Will to one side so he could fit beside him on the couch. Will moved without hesitation and Mike slid down next to him, his arms closing around Will’s body. Will sighed contently and nuzzled his face into Mike’s chest, hearing Mike’s heart beat just as fast as his own. They chuckled and Mike placed a quick kiss on Will’s forehead.

“I missed you”, Will whispered and Mike’s hold on him grew harder as he pulled him even closer to his body.

"I missed you too”, Mike murmured and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth and closeness of Will next to him.

Will smiled widely, feeling more happy than ever, loving the warmth from Mike as he closed his eyes, Mike’s heartbeat lulling him back to sleep.