spin the bottle// byler

ii.iii(dear dustin)

el's POV [September 19, 11:19 AM]

"he took me there, after we left the quarry. the leaves were beginning to turn their firey red and will and i were wrapped in our too-big jackets making crunchy sounds with our feet.

"what did you tell him?" will asked me as we walked through the woods to castle byers. he looked tired and maybe a little nervous.

"i didn't tell him much. i just told him i had to leave when your mom got there. he asked me what we talked about before you left and i said you would tell him next time you saw him."

he nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"will, are you happy?"

"what do you mean?"

"about mike, i mean. max and i may have...pushed a little."

he bit his lip to hold back a smile and pushed me playfully.

"shut up, i knew it."

"oh, did you?" i teased and we laughed.

"is it a little weird that we have both kissed him?" will asked as we entered castle byers.

"i don't think so. will, i want you to know, i knew mike was way into you when he and i were together. he used to talk about you all the time, to the point where i asked him if he was sure he didn't have feelings for you."

we sat on the little mattress and will picked up the frames of the pictures of him and mike.

"and one day he told you he did?"

"yeah, one day he did. he made it all dramatic, too. it was pretty funny." i giggled at the memory.

i looked at will for a moment, who was still looking at the picture of him and mike. i smiled and realized this was maybe the first time i had ever seen him truly happy.

"el, how do i fight this? i want to, for mike." he looked up quickly from the pictures like he had just come to a conclusion.

"i'm not sure. you could try running." i gave the suggestion and almost immediately regretted it.

i watched as he considered it.

"will," i began.

"el, i have to outrun it. i can't let it get me again. maybe if it can't find me-"

"no, will. you need to be here, with me and mike and max and dustin and lucas. we can do it again, i promise."

"i can't do it to mike again. he can't see me like that again." will looked outside like he was thinking hard about it.

and that was that, i guess. when will decided he had to leave.

what neither of us considered was that it would find him before we did. 

will left later on that day with just a backpack, his bike, and his walkie-talkie, which he knew wouldn't get a connection for much farther than the outskirts of Hawkins. 

i was with him. he left from castle byers, insisting he needed to bring the little frame with the picture of the two of them from Halloween. 

i didn't want him to leave, in fact, i tried hard to talk him out of it. i tried to talk about mike, his mom, jonathan, just anything that might change his mind. but, if there's one thing you know about will byers, it's that he's stubborn as hell. 

"el, you can't tell him about this. not that you saw me leave or that you know anything about it, i don't want him to be angry. when i get closer to where I'm going, we'll still be able to communicate, right? you can do that thing you do and I'll complete the connection like we practiced."