Who Knew - Byler

20

No one said nothing for a few seconds. Everyone was silent. Will wanted to kill Mike for being so harsh, Jane wanted to kill herself because she thought everyone would hate her now, and Max, Dustin and Lucas were just confused as fuck.

"What do you mean?" Lucas finally asked, breaking the silence. A silent tear rolled down Jane's right cheek and Dustin's eyes widened as he did some assumptions. He looked at Max and Lucas and just by seeing their eyes he knew they were thinking the same as him: Jane had been jealous of Will and how close he was to Mike and had tried to hurt him.

Mike opened his mouth to explain, but Will cut him. Enough was enough. "Mike, stop it," he said, in a serious voice, surprising everyone. Mike looked at him. "Don't they deserve to know?" he asked, rising his eyebrows.

He then turned to face Max, Lucas and Dustin again. "She threw a frame to Will's head," Mike said, and Lucas couldn't help but gasp as Max and Dustin looked at each other in disbelief.

"It was an accident," Will quickly added. "Jane said sorry so we're all good now." Jane smiled weakly. He truly was an angel. "What do you mean we're all good? She took you to the hospital. You were unconscious-"

"Mike." Will glared at him. "Enough."

"No, I'm serious! I know you're never mad at anyone, but-" Will then grabbed Mike's arm and dragged him out of the room, leaving the other four behind. Everyone was surprised at how he was confronting Mike, because they all knew he was his weakness, even if they didn't suspect he was in love with him. He closed the door and went to the waiting room that was luckily empty.

"What are you doing?!" Will asked, letting go of Mike's arm. "No, what are YOU doing? How can you be so nice to her and protect her like that? She literally threw a frame at your head and made you unconscious!" Mike said, sitting down in a chair.

"It was an accident!" Will repeated for the hundredth time. "Yeah, it was an accident. It was an accident because she was throwing stuff in the air because she was crazy mad about me breaking up with her!" Mike screamed. "How do you think she's gonna react if she knows I'm starting to have feelings for you, huh?!"

-

Max had asked Lucas and Dustin to go as she had a chat with Jane. As soon as the two boys left the room, Jane started sobbing and crying her eyes out. When she calmed down, Max sat down next to her.

"So, explain me everything," she said. "A-a few days ago he s-said t-to me that we sh-should take some t-time a-and I thought that we w-would be b-back together s-soon because that's w-what he said..." Jane managed to explain between sobs, while Max tried to calm her down.

"B-but he came at m-my place ye-yesterday with Will and he s-said that he was b-breaking up with me forever... and I g-got mad b-because he had lied to me a-and started to throw t-things, but I wasn't realizing... I c-couldn't control myself..."

Max hugged Jane tightly. "I'm so sorry that Mike broke up with you, Jane. And even though I don't like him treating you like this, I understand why he's so mad. He loves Will a lot."

-

Will shut up then. Not a single word, a single sound, left his mouth. Mike had said he was starting to have feelings for him. He looked at the boy in the eyes and could see him get shy.

"I-I mean... how would she react if she thought that I have feelings for you... which I don't..." Mike said, stuttering.

Will gulped. "Well, since you don't have any feelings for me and we're just friends, there's nothing to worry about, so you can stop being an asshole to Jane," he said.

"No. She hurt you. I'm never forgiving her," Mike said, crossing his arms like a child. "I was the one who got hurt and I forgave her," Will said, sitting down next to Mike. "Don't you think you can forgive her too? For the group's sake? For me?"

Mike rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine." Will smiled. "Awesome. Come on, let's go back with the others."

-

Will and Mike entered the room again. They were all there. Will glared at Mike and the boy sighed. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you, Jane. I was just mad because you hurt my best friend," he said, and Jane felt slightly better.

"Okay, that's awesome, Mike," Max said, "but now we want to hear the whole story. Why and when did you break up with Jane?" Mike rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to explain it all again, besides, he didn't think it would be a comfortable situation for Jane.

"He doesn't have to tell us," Dustin said, surprising everyone. Mike smiled gratefully at his friend.

Suddenly, the door opened and Joyce walked in. "Oh, hi guys!" she said, smiling. The party said hi back. "Will, they're letting you go. Come on." Will smiled at the guys and walked towards his mum.

"Mike, you're coming with us," the woman said, and Mike said bye to his friends before following Will out the door. They went to the parking lot where Joyce's car was, and they entered.

Joyce started the machine while the two teens sat in silence in the back. They were both thinking about what Mike had said earlier. Will felt like his head was going to explode. Mike knew he was in love with him, so if he truly liked him back, why not just say it? And if he didn't like him and had actually just said that as an example, why would he? Couldn't he choose any other example that didn't imply him having feelings for Will?

Next to him, Mike wanted to disappear. Why had he said that? Maybe he really had feelings for him. But why now? He's been his friend for years. Maybe he liked him all the time but realized now? It's all too confusing to the teenager who was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Because, essentially, the situation was: it was the 80s. Gay were seen as something bad, disgusting, not natural. People hated them. Even if he did have feelings for Will, they could never date. People wouldn't be okay with it. They would be made fun of, told that they were weird. They would have a hard life.

No one would support their relationship. Maybe Joyce would, Mike had always seen her as the most supportive mum Will could ever ask for, and Jonathan maybe would, too, Karen and Nancy, maybe... but who else? Their friends? Their friends would probably say they were okay with it, but they wouldn't actually. At least, that's what Mike thought.

He woke up from his thoughts when the car parked in front of the Byers'. "Uh, Mrs. Byers? How am I gonna go to my place?" he asked, for he didn't have his bike here and his house was too far away to walk there.

"I thought we could all celebrate we can keep on enjoying Will's presence on earth!" the woman replied, joking, and discretely winked her eye at Will, but Mike still saw. He widened his eyes in surprise. Did Joyce know about her son being gay and in love with Mike?

Joyce smiled brightly as she walked inside, the two boys following her.

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SORRY FOR THE WAIT GUYS. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO CONTINUE THE STORY.

btw i'd rather dance with you is a bop and great for writing.