Summer Savings [Byler]

Chapter 11

Max hammered rapidly on the painted wooden door, refusing to stop even when a sharp cry of "Oh my God! Stop it! I'm coming!" sounded through it.

The door flew open inwards with a slight protesting 'squeak!' to reveal a groggy, half-asleep Mike, with parts of his hair stuck straight up and flying in all directions. He was wearing a loose shirt and some pants that were clearly too big, and the clothes hung haphazardly off his body, giving away the heavy sleep he'd just woken up from.

When his eyes shifted to Will, they, while previously fluttering half-closed, shot open wide, along with his mouth, which formed a small 'oh' of shock.

El followed his gaze, and responded with "Yeah." and an apologetic smile.

"Could Will spend the night here? He's a bit, uhm- out of it," El phrased the question delicately and guided Will towards Mike by his shoulders. Will didn't seem to even realise he was being passed from El to Mike until he felt the boy's arm around him, and even then it was only a brief glance up at Mike before he went back to watching El and Max, nothing more.

"Uh, sure, you guys okay?" Mike rubbed his eyes, trying to rid himself of sleep, and used the arm he had around Will to draw him further into the house and away from the door and the steps leading down from it, as it had just occured to him how easy it would be for Will to fall.

"Yeah, we're fine, I just didn't have enough room at my house for him, and didn't want to leave him on his own so I figured..." El let her speech trail off. Mike picked up on his cue to speak almost immediately. "Oh, no, no, I understand. Yeah- that's fine," he rambled, unsure as to where he was going with the scentence.

"Well, see you. Bye, Will," El smiled at her friend, and Max stepped forwards to say her goodbye also, and to thank him for coming to their night out. Will's lips twitched into a soft smile, and he waved at the two girls, a yawn rendering him unable to get any words out.

Mike shut the front door, relocked it, and then turned to look Will up and down. He raised an eyebrow at the brunette. "What've you been doing?" He scoffed with an amused expression. Will, who in his drunken state didn't pick up on the joke, answered Mike honestly, and then became even more confused when the taller boy began to laugh at him. He didn't know what on earth Mike could be finding so funny, so he just laughed as well, until Mike led him to the kitchen table and sat him down.

Will was beginning to crash from so much alcohol in so little time, so he simply sat in silence, apart from the occassional giggle.

"Uh, I'm just gonna go get you something to eat," Mike pointed over his shoulder to the main part of the kitchen, and then turned to walk off until Will called out "A Pop Tart, please!"

Mike raised his eyebrows once more, but didn't say anything and simply made the requested food.

When he returned with the Pop Tart, Will no longer seemed interested in it. He was staring intently at Mike, trying to catch his eyes. Mike quickly became uncomfortable under the other boy's unwavering gaze, and even when he tried walking around the table constantly, Will's eyes didn't leave him once.

"Hey, uh- I'm just gonna go sit in the other room," Mike said, unable to take the heavy stare any longer. He wasn't even sure if the words had registered in Will's mind until he turned to leave and heard a cry of "Wait! Come here!" behind him.

Mike sighed in slight frustration. Looking after Will was quickly becoming a slightly unnerving task.

He stood in front of Will and crossed his arms, and Will let out a snort at the thought that he looked a lot like Hopper, right then.

"What?" Mike snapped, with more malice than he meant. Not that it mattered anyway, Will didn't pick up on his tone and only waved for him to come nearer. Mike inched closer and closer to Will's face, Will continously waving him forward, until there was barely a few inches between the two.

"What?" Mike tried again, biting down on laughter at the situation.

"I need to tell you something," Will whispered, his breath tickling Mike's face due to the close proximity.

"Well, go on then," Mike rolled his eyes at Will, determined not to show any signs of amusement.

"I'm gay," Will whispered back, giggling at the words.

Mike shot backwards, away from Will, out of shock. That was not what he expected to hear. But before he'd gotten any distance away, he felt the shorter boy's hands on his face, tangling in his hair. Will pulled Mike close with suprising strength that Mike didn't know he had, and before Mike could protest Will pressed their mouths together in a crude kiss.