things change - byler

.33

the next morning, we both woke up from the sound of yelling coming from outside of the room. I look at mike who was looking up at me from my chest before he stood up and walked to the door.
As he opened it, 2 police officers walked in along with hopper yelling at him.
-"mike, you're coming with us." one of them pushed him against the wall, handcuffing him.
-"what the hell is going on??" I yell from my bed.
Hopper was yelling for the officer to stop, I heard mike protesting that he didn't do anything, but he was still taken.
He looked at me before they dragged him out of the room, I was so shocked. It happened way to fast for me to react.
max runs in to me in shock.
-"what just happened??" She asked.
-"I don't know?" I said, breathing heavily.

•••

hopper picked max and I up after I was discharged from the hospital that morning.
we both jumped in the car before I took a deep breath and asked.
-"what happened? Why was mike arrested??
-"Troy died last night in his cell." he said, pulling out of the road.
-"what?!" My eyes widen.
-"what does that have to do with mike?" Max asked.
-"because Mike was the last to see him, he beat the shit out of Troy just hours before he died." he explained.

he did what..?
Is that why his hands were so red?
he lied to me?
why would he visit him?
why would he want to visit him?
why would he lie to me about it and hide it from me?

My mind spun as we drove to the police station just down the street.. max held onto my arm as we walked past a bunch of people in a crowd before going to the chiefs office where Mike was in cuffs and sitting down on a chair.
-"what the fuck, mike?" I sighed, sitting next to him.
he had a look of guilt, knowing he was caught.
-"why would you do that?" Max asked crossing his arms.
-"I cant say." he mumbled.
-"mike, he's dead. You kind of have to!" I said, crossing my arms as well.
-"because I read hoppers note book and fucking saw what you said about him!" He yelled in our faces, instantly regretting it by how taken back I looked.
I sat back in his seat, I was shocked.
Why would he read that..
I didn't want him to see that.
Otherwise I would've told him myself.
I knew something like this would happen.
but now he's dead.
and all the signs point to mike.
I felt tears in my eyes but quickly wiped them with my sleeve.
-"I'm just going to leave you guys alone to talk.." max said as she left and shut the door behind her to go to the back where hop was.
mike noticed I was upset, but couldn't hold my hand.
-"will, please. I'm sorry." He sighed.
-"you're sorry? Why would you ever read that? you know how hard it was for me to even think about it? I didn't want you to know!" I slightly raised my voice.
-"will.. I shouldn't have read it, I'm sorry." He pleaded.
-"you're right, you shouldn't have. why would you visit him though?" I whisper, angrily.
-"i don't know.. I just wanted him to pay for what he's done to you! To us!" He defended finally looking at me.
-"3 years in jail isn't enough?" I scoff.
-"no, it isn't! I wasn't even going to hurt him when I first got there."
-"than why did you??" I shout.
-"if YOU heard the things he said you would've too!!" He shouted back, angrily.
i stopped talking from how heated the conversation was getting, I sat back in my seat shaking my leg up and down.
he tried putting his hands on my leg to stop it shaking, but I pulled my leg away.
-"please don't touch me." I sigh.
-"will.." he said, looking upset.
-"mike, he's dead now! Do you know how bad that makes you look?" I shriek.
-"thank god he's dead! I wish I would've been the person to fucking kill him!" He squinted his eyes at me.
-"are you serious?" I tilt my head.
-"as a heart attack." he said.
I scoffed, standing up from my seat and about to walk out.
-"will.. will!" He yelled, but I shut the door behind me.
i sighed, walking to find max.
She walked up to me.
-"they said his body is in the morgue, they're about to find out how he died." Max said.
-"okay." I crossed my arms angrily.
-"what's wrong with you?" She asked.
-"nothing." I shook my head with a tone in my voice, making her leave me alone.
We sat there for what seemed like hours before hop came up to us.
-"they're releasing him, Troy overdosed on drugs that he snuck in. mikes innocent." he said
I felt relief lift from my chest as he said that.
-"so, we can go home now?" I asked.
-"yeah, I'll get mike. Wait in the car." He said, tossing his keys at me.
Max and I walked to his truck, she sat in the back and I sat up front and started the car.
I almost felt a relief that Troy was gone.
he was no longer there to always bother me.
i almost felt free.
I also felt guilty for yelling at mike.
he was just trying to protect me.
even if that wasn't the way to go with it, he was trying to be thoughtful. Right after he brought me that mixtape.
That's a memory I will carry with me until the day I die.
I see mike and hop walking out of the building and hop get in the drivers seat as mike sits next to max.
the entire drive to max's was awkward silence.
My arms were crossed, so hopper could tell I wasn't in the mood to talk. Mike also looked upset, I could see him through the reflection of the window.
I started feeling really guilty about yelling at him.
I love him, he only did it for me.
Maybe Troy did say something to make mike snap, I'll never know and I never want to know.
I shouldn't have gotten so upset over it.
as we stop outside mikes house, Hop said bye to him, but I didn't. I just watched as he walked through his front door.
-"you okay, kid?" He nudged my leg.
-"I'm fine." I shrug.
-"you know, I know about you and mike. I'm not judging you. I'm glad you're happy with him. I'm not like your dad, okay? You can actually talk to me about this things, okay?" He assured me, making me smile a bit.
-"okay, sure." I said, grinning a bit.
we stopped outside our house and walked in together, it felt weird being back home. I was at mikes all week.
We walked inside, and el hugged me.
-"I'm glad you decided to come back home." She smiled.
-"I had no choice." I chuckle.
-"you wanna watch a movie?" She held up Carrie.
-"yeah sure! I'll put my stuff upstairs first." I said walking upstairs to put my bag away.

Joyce, el and I watched the movie and hung out together all day together, relaxing inside since it started pouring pretty badly outside.
We hung out together until it was dark, hopper was at work until late tonight, so we we're by ourselves.
-"Will, you need to go to sleep. You know the doctors insisted on 8-10 hours of sleep." My mother said.
-"it's only 11!" I whined as they looked at me raising their eyebrow at the same time.
-"fine." I groan, standing up and walking upstairs to my bedroom.
I wasn't tired in the slightest. I turned my light off and kept my night lamp on while I listened to music on my walkman.
It was my favorite song playing, it made me feel relief from all of the stress going on today.

I'm only happy when it rains.
I'm only happy when it's complicated.
and though I know you can't appreciate it...
I'm only happy when it rains.
you know I love it when the news is bad.
and why it feel so good to feel so sad?
I'm-

Knocking coming from my window made me jump up from my bed and look towards the direction. Mike was soaking in the rain outside my window.
I click on my Walkman before rolling my eyes and walking towards the window.
I open it and come face to face with his soaked and freckled face.
-"can we please talk?" He asked, staring to come into my room.
-"you're going to get rain in my-"
He shuts the window behind him and I watch as the rain runs off of him and into my carpet.
-"... room." I finish my sentence.
-"Will, I'm really sorry, okay? I feel bad for what i said, you're completely 100% right. I never should've read it, I never should've visited him in jail, please just don't stay mad at me. I hate feeling distant from you." He begged, looking at me with guilt in his eyes.
-"no, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm sorry, I know you were just trying to protect me." I said.
-"exactly! Please, will you forgive me?" He begged again, batting his eyes at me. I couldn't help but chuckle at how desperate he was.
I connected my hands with his cold ones.
-"I'm so in love with you." I whispered before connecting lips with his.
he started wrapping his arms around me, deepening the kiss, but I quickly pushed him off of me.
-"you're getting me wet!" I complained, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie of mine and gave it to him.
I turned around, waiting for him to be done getting changed.
I noticed it was taking abnormally long for him to get dressed.
-"what are you doing?" I giggled turning around, but he was looking out the window.
-"mike?" I slowly walk towards him.
-"do you see that..?" He slowly pointed at something outside.
-"see what?" I ask, getting spooked out.
i tried to look for what he was looking at for a few seconds before he jumped out at me, scaring me.
He laughed as I pushed him.
-"you're an asshole." I said, about to walk away but he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a kiss.
Our lips wouldn't disconnect, we were like magnets to each other. I had to breathe in and out of my nose to be able to breathe.
He wrapped his arms around me as I jumped up in his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist, still kissing him.
His hair was still a bit damp from the rain leaking through his hood, but I still ran my finger through it.
he laid his back on the bed as I kissed from on top of him.
i got off of him rushing to my desk.
-"what are you doing?" He asked.
I played the mixtape he made into my boom box, the first song to play was "ever fallen in love"
I ran back to mike and hovered above him again, smiling as I kissed him once again.
i rubbed his arms as our lips refused to disconnect, songs played one by one and times seemed to go so quickly.
as we were kissing, he started getting carried away and started singing along with the song.
-"it's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you!" He sung along.
-"shut up!" I giggled.
-"theres nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do!" He smiled as he sung along.
I tried covering his mouth from being too loud but he wouldn't stop.
-"I bless the rains down in africa!" He sang muffled from my hand.
-"you're such an idiot." I giggle as our lips connected again.
We kissed for what seemed like only a few minutes, but my Walkman clicked and stopped playing. As he was kissing down my neck, I checked my watch.
-"mike, it's 1 am!" I whisper, making him stop kissing me.
-"seriously??" He checked his watch before getting off of me and laying down in my arms.
I wrapped my legs around his as I feel asleep with my head against his chest.

god, I love him.

A/N: I'm so sad this is the second to last chapter :( I love this story 🫶