LOST (Byler)

20 💟

Trigger Warnings: Mild Profanity

Mike's POV:

When the last bell rings, my heart thumps, my heart drops to my stomach, and I swallow hard. I'm more nervous to tell the party than I have ever been before.

As I walk over to my locker, I feel someone slide against the side of the locker to the right of me. I'm expecting it to be Max and for her to say another snarky remark, but it's a smiley Will. "I thought you were Max!"

"Hey!" Will called out laughing, giving me a playful punch. "That's probably the worst thing you could say to a person."

I laugh. "I'm sorry."

We laugh for a little bit longer as I put some books into my book bag. "Hey. I really want to thank you for doing this after school today. You don't know how much it means to me."

I smile down at him. God, he's so beautiful "Thank you for saying that."

I slam my locker door and we start heading for the bike area at the front of the school. As we talk about history, I lose myself in his eyes every time I look at him. I'm so excited for us to be free after tonight. I smile at the thought.

We get to the bikes and all of the party members are all waiting on their bikes. Dustin looks up from his handle bars. "Where the hell have you been?"

I was going to make a crude remark like I could ask you the same but I want to be on everyone's good side before everything happens later this afternoon. So I just smile and let Will do the talking. "Sixth period let both of us out late."

Dustin nods and hops on his bike. Will and I do the same as everyone rides in a particular order. Max, holding onto Lucas's back because she doesn't have a bike, Dustin right behind everyone, Me in the front. The only change is that Will is usually in the middle next to Lucas and Max, but today he decided to ride next to me so we could talk a little bit.

When we get to my house, everyone parks their bike along my garage door as we go through the front door. We l run down to the basement and get our normal seats. Dustin pulls out his Bio homework as we all get a listen into Max's judgement "Really Dustin? Homework? It's Friday."

Dustin rolls his eyes and sighs when he looks up at her. "I'm just going to leave."

Dustin starts to pack up when Will stands up. "Dustin. Please stay."

"Why do you all of a sudden like to be here? We both felt like 3rd wheels and I'm the only one doing something about it!" Dustin shouts.

I see Will slowly slump back into his seat. I feel anger bubbling inside of me. "Alright, that's enough, Dustin."

Dustin glares my way, but surprisingly sits back down in his seat.

"I need to tell you guys something." I stand up and get out of the couch area to the front of the room. "Something important."

I see the eyes of the four members pinned on me. I inhale deeply, hoping Max won't snap after I say this. "I recently found out that. Um." I look at Will's longing eyes. He can be yours. Eyes on the prize, Mike. "I recently found out that Max hasn't been loyal with Lucas."

The room becomes silent. Five seconds pass by. Then ten. Then soon fifteen. I hear a laugh from the corner of the room. It belongs to Max. Everyone looks at her as the laugh gets louder by the second.

"What could possibly be so funny?" Will asks with anger stroking his voice.

"You all know that Mike is joking. Or he's trying to turn everyone against me. Come on guys. Do you actually think that I would cheat?"

"Yes." Will and Dustin say in unison.

Max scoffs. "Will, don't you have a little something to tell the group?"

Will looks down at his shoes and Max smiles. "Or you know I could just tell everyone."

I look around to think about how to interrupt Max before she says something that will change everything. I see Lucas. His eyes are filled with tears and he is looking down. His legs are crossed on the couch. He must be feeling super confused and frustrated. I don't blame him.

I look at Max and right as she's about to say something I shout, "Hey Max!"

She looks right at me. "What the hell could you possibly want?"

"I want you to listen to me." I look from her to Will. He has a smile forming on his soft looking lips and his eyes are glued to mine. "I want everyone to listen to me."

"Oh god." I hear Dustin groan. I ignore him.

"My relationship with El has always felt fake. Like it wasn't meant to be. There were always flaws. But I found someone who was meant to be mine." I walk over to Will and interlace our hands. I feel his warm palms against mine. I see Max has her arms crossed, Dustin has a confused look plastered on his face, and Lucas's eyebrows are scrunched. "And I don't care what you think because I love him."

Love? Did I really just say that I loved Will for the first time in front of the party? All of a sudden, everyone's faces turn to a frown. They're staring at the stairs behind me. I look to see what's behind me when I see a figure behind me slowly thump down the stairs. "You love Will?"

El's words repeat themselves as she storms upstairs. I feel my Adam's apple bob in my throat. My instinct is to run after El and shout her name, but I just stand, stunned. It's probably for the better if she is away. It's probably for the better if she doesn't see me for a while. For the both of us.

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Hey guys! I really liked writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it. I can't thank you enough for supporting me in doing what I love to do. 💙
-KellByers

Unedited