how to mend a broken heart

seventeen

"will" mike yelled and ran at the other boy, wrapping him in his arms. "i missed you so much oh my god"

"hi" will said softly back, feeling his stomach drop and being on the edge of tears again.

of course the second thing out of mike's mouth was, "is el home".

will slowly opened the door to the home, "i don't know", he replied. "i've been out for a while. check her room". he pointed down to hall to an open door.

"thanks byers", mike said with a smile, "see you later."

will cringed at mike using that name, it was matteos now, and then he cringed again at matteos name. who was the girl he was with. she was beautiful. it's undeniable.

as though will had summoned him, his phone buzzed with a text.

"why can't we hang? is everything okay"

will groaned, he quickly typed back that mike had gotten here so he didn't have time today, complete bs as mike would be with el all day, but hopefully matteo didn't catch onto that.

"oh.... okay. when are you free next?" matteo replied quickly, within seconds

will debated between being petty and saying he didn't know but instead he simply said, "on second thought, come over after dinner". he hated the idea of sending matteo home alone, no matter how hurt he was.

"okay, see you then :)"

fucking hell, will was hooked and it had only been a few months. leave it to byers to catch feelings for another boy he could never obtain.

at that moment mike came back out of els room hand in hand with her. they were laughing at something, looking so fucking in love it made will sick.

maybe after all, he wasn't fully over mike.

"hey el, matteos coming over tonight i hope that's okay" will stated moreso than asked but el simply smiled at him and gave him a knowing look that made him want to throw something at her

"that's all good will!! i'll be with mike anyways. we only have a short while together to catch up". she sounded giddy.

imagine being in love. not with someone you can't have. not im a painful, sickening way. but in the way that being around them makes you the best version of yourself you can be. where you can't help but smile every second youre with them. that was something will couldn't fathom, all mike brought him was misery.

"whos matteo?" mike asked, snapping will out of his train of thought

"his boyfriend" el said while giggling

"he's not my boyfriend el" will snapped back

mike stared at will, "hes the boy you met"

"yea, yea i guess. he's the best. we are just friends though" will said, staring el down and emphasizing the just friends.

"right, well. me and el are going out for dinner so i'll see you later byers" mike said abruptly

will muttered, "don't call me that" before he could stop himself

mike stared at him, "what?!"

"don't call me byers please" will said so quietly it was barely audible.

"oh, uh, okay" mike said. his eyes filled with tears and he looked like he'd been slapped. "see you later will".

el was glaring at will in a dissapointed way. it made the boy feel sick to his stomach.

the second the door swung behind them will collapsed to the ground and began to sob.

he had never felt so utterly alone in his life.

he wanted to be loved back, the way he loved the other person. he wanted to be held, to feel safe in someone's arm. to experience the kind of love you see in movies.

he had no idea how long passed. the sun set while he was on the cold floor. he couldn't breathe, his throat and lung ached from the sobs. he was shaking, his world spun around him.

he didn't hear the door open and shut again, the small boy didn't even realize another person was in the home until two arms wrapped themselves around him.

will clung into the person as though they were his lifeline, because, maybe in a way, they were.