a little more ✩ byler

VII. The Lie.

The two boys slept on the couch for most of the night. Will ended up waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. He opened his eyes, confused, and slightly embarrassed that he let himself fall asleep in Mikes's arms. He tried to sit up, but he didn't want to disturb Mike, who was sleeping with his head on Will's and his arm wrapped around Will's shoulders. Will eventually pulled himself free of Mike's arms but ended up waking him up anyways

"Leaving me here by myself?" Mike asked sleepily.

" N-no, just have to pee," Will replied.

"Oh okay, I'm gonna go back to bed, Night," Mike said back.

Mike ended up going to one end of the couch and laying down with his head on the arm of the couch. He fell back asleep with the blanket over him. When Will returned from the bathroom, Mike was already fast asleep, but Will was scared to go over and lay with Mike again. He didnt know what to do since he told Mike he'd be back, but his constant anxiety that he'd do something wrong made him panic. Will began to pace back and forth, causing Mike to wake up, again.

"You really dont want me to sleep tonight do you?" Mike teased.

" Sorry, I didnt mean to wake you up." Will said.

" Its okay, come on over, I left you some room." Mike said to the panic stricken Will.

Will walked over to the couch with wide eyes, he was nervous that he was making Mike uncomfortable. He layed down next to Mike on the large couch but faced the opposite direction as him. Will laid there and stared into the darkness of the livingroom, thinking. He sat and thought until he couldn't handle it anymore. He flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

"Mike" Will said, waking Mike up for the third time.

"Y-yeah Will whats up." Mike replied, groggily.

"Do you think we'll still be friends when were older?" Will asked.

"Yeah of course Will, absolutely." Mike said, flipping onto his back so he could look at Will.

Will sighed, He knew thats not actually what he wanted to say to Mike, but that would have to wait for another time. Mike wrapped his arm around Will and Will turned to his side and snuggled his head into Mikes chest. The two stayed sleeping like that through the night.

***********

Mike woke up before anyone the next morning. Will was still sleeping with his head on Mike's chest, but Mike needed to use the bathroom. He very carefully snuck out from Will's grasp and was able to stand up and go to the bathroom. 

Mike's POV:
Sometimes i don't understand anything about the way i'm feeling. Will is my best friend and it's normal to sleep on the same couch as your best friend. i just hope he doesn't think i'm a creep or anything. i also haven't even seen El since they got here. I guess she got over me pretty quick. figures though, she doesn't really know much about love.

Mike left the bathroom and sat down on the open seat on the couch. Will was still sleeping so Mike chose against turning on the TV because he didn't want to wake him. Instead,
he went out to the kitchen and got himself a bowl of cereal to eat. He sat at his table and ate his food when he heard the couch creaking. Not far after the couch creaked, a sleepy Will wrapped in a blanket joined Mike at the kitchen table. He sat across from Mike and put his head in his hands.
"Good morning" Will said, sleepily.
"Morning, How'd you sleep?" Mike said.
"Pretty good, you" Will replied.
"Fine, thanks for asking. I'm gonna head upstairs to shower." Mike said back before standing up from the table, putting his bowl in the sink and making his way to the stairs.
Will felt upset that they're conversation was cut short, but he was also confused why Mike had ended the conversation so abruptly. Will decided to follow Mike upstairs because he wanted to ask what was wrong. Much to Will's dismay, he saw Mike standing in his room with his walkman in his hand, changing the batteries.

"El it's Mike over- "
"El pick up please over-"
"Come on Eleven it's Mike over-"

Will stood in Mike's doorway listening, praying that El wouldn't answer.

"Hi Mike, Sorry i was asleep over-"

Will felt his heart fall to his stomach when he heard her answer. He really hoped Mike hadn't still had feelings for her. Will didn't really understand how he felt, but he knew his feelings toward Mike were more than just a friend.

"Hey, i really want to meet up and talk, what are you doing later, can you come over? over-"

Will was gutted that Mike just invited El to his house to "talk". Will felt himself start to shake and getting nervous. What was Mike going to tell Eleven? What did he need to say? Why does he have to talk to her now? Before he could think another thought, he heard Mike put the walkman down after her got a reply of yes from Eleven. That was Will'a queue to walk away. Will ran down the stairs in fear that Mike would catch him eavesdropping. He sat down on the couch again and stared. He stared at the couch where he and Mike just spent the night. Why did Mike have to talk to Eleven all the sudden? Did it have something to do with Will?

Will's POV
Did I do something wrong? Why would Mike need to talk to El all the sudden? Maybe i should ask him about it. Actually scratch that, that's an awful idea. I guess i should just wait and see if he mentions anything to me.

Mike came running down the stairs and interrupted Will's thoughts.
"Hey uh, i'm gonna go to the arcade with Lucas for a bit, i'll be back later. Cya" Mike said out of breath as he ran out the door and slammed it shut before Will could say anything. Will knew Mike wasn't hanging out with Lucas, he knew Mike was secretly going to see Eleven to talk about whatever Mike needed to talk about. Before he assumed anything though, Will wanted to talk to Lucas. Will ran upstairs and threw clothes out of his bag and onto the floor. He finally pulled out his Walkman and began dialing to the correct channel.
"Lucas, do you copy over-"
"Yeah this is Lucas, what's up? over-"
"Lucas, it's Will. Can we hang out today? over-"
"Yeah sure! I'll meet you on Mirkwood! over and out-"

There it was, clear as day. Mike had lied to Will. Will felt a tear fall from his face as he thought of what Eleven always told him, friends don't lie. Will had to pull himself together enough to go meet up with Lucas. He got dressed, ran downstairs and told all the adults where he was going. He then began to walk to meet Lucas. Once he was close enough in proximity, he saw that Lucas had brought Dustin along too. Will was pleased with this surprise and greeted both his friends with a smile and a warm hug. A day with his two best friends is just what Will needed to get his mind off of Mike and Eleven.

.....

Will spent almost the whole day at Lucas's house playing video games with him and Dustin. It was almost dark by the time Will decided to make his way home.  Will finally got back to the Wheeler household and made his way upstairs to Mike's room, where he found Mike laying in his bed facing the wall. He seemed upset, but Will didn't even want to imagine talking to him right now.
"How was the arcade with Lucas?" Will asked, hoping for a confession.
"Fun, blew a lot of money" Mike answered.
"Nice." Will answered.
"So where the hell were you all day" Mike said back, turning around to face Will.
"At Lucas's. " Will said back as he grabbed a clean tee shirt and pair of shorts to change into. He quickly left the room and slammed the door behind him before Mike could say another word. Mike felt the color leave his face, he knew that Will knew he lied.