Stop Pulling on my Heart - A Byler Story

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The two sat in silence for a moment, Max's piercing blue eyes staring directly through Will. Shit, Will thought. The voices returned, screaming louder than before. Why did you tell her? She's going to hate you now, you disgusting fag. She's going to tell the whole party, and then you're fucked. You're absolutely fucked.

A second passes. Then another. Will's heart beats faster and faster until he is sure it about to burst out of his chest. Another second, another beat. Max is still staring at Will. Then, she pulled a new leg out of her bucket and took an enormous bite of chicken. Will could barely make out her saying "cool," through her gnashing teeth and the crunch of crispy golden chicken. Will was stunned. Shell-shocked. Thrown for at least 6 loops. "Cool?" he asked confusedly. "That's it?"

"Yeah," Max said, now abandoning the drumstick for an unusually large chicken nugget. "Pretty much. It's whatever." Will had no idea how to react. He was so prepared for her to flip out, scream, flip him off and ride off into the setting sun (somehow even though it was only 1:30, Will had dramatic nightmare scenarios) never to speak to him again that, he hadn't allowed himself to consider what to do if she reacted like, well this.

"It's whatever?" Will repeated back at Max, almost angry at how nonchalant and cavalier she was being.
Max sighed and put her half-eaten piece of chicken back into her bucket with the rest of the half-eaten pieces. "Look, Will," She started. "You're my friend. I care about you. Whoever you wanna fuck won't change that."

Will just stared blankly at Max. The voices were quieting. He couldn't believe what was happening. "You're serious?" Will asked, still terrified for the answer. Max smirked and hit Will lightly on his left shoulder. "Uh, duh Byers," Max said, chuckling a little. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Will looked blankly at Max for a second, smiled, then laughed as 8-foot waves of relief crashed over him. The voices were finally silent. He felt lighter as if he was floating on a cloud. Max had started laughing too. She had learned the worst about him, and yet she was still here. And as the two of them sat there in the spacious yet crowded, unnaturally pristine mall, Will felt truly happy for the first time that he could remember in a long time.
________________________________________________________________________________

The Next Day

Dustin was more than a little ticked off by the time he had made it home. No, he wasn't mad, not really. He was more, disappointed. Yes, that was a better word for it. He knew they'd be busy, it is the middle of summer after all, but the fact that no one from the party had been at the bus stop to greet him after he had been gone for three weeks had been more than a little upsetting. Tossing his suitcase up next to his pillow, Dustin slumped down on his bed. He brushed a few of his dark brown curls out of his face and set down his new green and yellow Camp Know Where hat on the nightstand opposite his bed. Dustin heard a meowing from around the corner. He turned around and saw his new ginger cat slink into the room.
Dustin had secretly replaced Mews, the cat that Dart had eaten the Halloween previous, at around Christmas time. His mom was over the moon that her favorite little baby had shown back up just in time for a Christmas miracle, although she was a tad bit confused as to why "Mews" had suddenly forgotten how to use the litter-box. Around February, following a late-night arcade session (where Max TOTALLY cheated at Centipede and still won't admit it, but he's TOTALLY over it so it's fine) Lucas had called the new cat "Tews," and the nickname just stuck.

Tews meowed at Dustin and curled her fluffy tail around his leg. Dustin reached down to gently caress the fluffy appendage. He smirked forlornly at his cat and mused melancholic-ally "At least someone's happy I'm home."
Out of the corner of his eye, Dustin noticed a tiny red light begin to flash. He looked over towards his shelves and saw that his old R2D2 was on. He stood up and meandered over towards the shelves. As he reached to turn off the toy, something fell on his head. "Oh shit," Dustin muttered, rubbing his the spot where the hard object hit his head. He looked down towards the carpet to see what fell, only to see a plastic Arnold Schwarzenegger staring back at him from the ground. He knelt down to pick up the action figure, only to feel something else fall on his head. Then another object hit the ground to his left. Then to his right. His left. Right. Left again. Dustin's entire toy shelf had abandoned ship. The troop of toys began to march out the door and towards the staircase, wandering off towards the living room.