spin the bottle// byler

iii.iii (reunity pt.3)

will and i are sitting in the backseat now, just talking about everything and nothing all at once. the sun is just setting outside of the window, the faint discussion our friends are having provides background noise, and will's head rests on my shoulder. my whole body feels still, for the first time in forever, i am peaceful.

"how's my mom?" will asks, his voice close to a whisper.

honestly, i'm not sure. i haven't been to see her, to check-in, between the time will left and the day we all went to his house to begin our search. i really really should have.

"she's okay, misses you lots. we'll see her soon, don't worry, okay?"

he nods and moves from leaning against my shoulder to laying in my lap. he looks up at me through his pretty eyelashes, i smile.

i sigh, "i missed you."

i run my fingers through his hair, he closes his eyes. it reminds me of when we were little in the basement of my parent's house, not knowing and not needing to. we would be like this, a gentle affection that said so much more than we ever could.

he grabs my hand and presses a kiss to my palm.

"i missed you, too. i thought about you every day. it was the only thing that kept me sane. you and your soft touch and your warm smile. mike, i swear you visited me some days. it was like you were there and you would kiss me and-"

"wait, when i visited you, were we in this almost...in-between place?" i interrupt.

"yeah, something like that. why?"

all those nights in my basement, wondering if el was manipulating my mind to see will again, she wasn't. he and i, we somehow met in the middle. it was real.

"will, i did visit you. it's really kind of impossible to explain, but el helped and we were...we were kind of-"

"connected?" will finishes.

i nod, "right."

there's a moment of silence, neither of us knowing really what to say, until i have to ask, "did you know that we could do that?"

will bites his lip, sits up, and looks at me.

"mike, do you remember that time when we were at the movie theatre, it was right before everything happened with starcourt. you looked at me and you asked if i was okay. you asked because you felt it, too."

i look him up and down, a memory i had all but forgotten pushed to the forefront of my mind, he was right.

vaguely, i can remember this almost burning feeling in my chest, then this tugging feeling, then a whisper of a name with which i am so familiar, will. i called myself crazy for weeks because it just kept happening. will said he was okay that moment in the theatre, i thought i must just be insane. that feeling lessened for a long while, it never really went away, but it was easy to ignore.

"mike." will's voice calls me out of my thoughts.

i look up to meet his gaze, he takes my hand, rubs circles on the top of it with his thumb, presses a gentle kiss to my fingertips, places a hand on my cheek and says, "you were never crazy. we have always been connected like this."

i place my hand over his, "why are all of these things just happening now, then?"

"we kissed. it strengthened that connection. and now, well, it's close to complete."

"is that why it was so much easier to find you this time? because it was after we kissed? does that mean we're like soulmates or some shit?"

will laughs, "i guess you can call it that in a way. we should talk to el about all of this, she's the one who told me all of this stuff, she really explained it to me."