Heartbreak Story - Byler

XXVIII - As Long as You're With Me

Note: This chapter is dedicated to my lovely ladies violetoleff- and coreyshain_ , there's nobody I'd rather cry over Timmy and chopsticks with. I love you guys!

I thundered downstairs, muttering angrily to myself as my useless father continued to ignore the gentle but desperate knocking on the front door despite the fact that he was sitting only one room over from it and doing absolutely nothing.

"Lazy son-of-a-bitch. May as well not even be here. The most unaware, absent, pathetic excuse for a fath-Will!" I cried in astonishment as I opened the door to reveal an anxious looking, out-of-breath Will staring back at me. "Did you leave something behind when you left or-"

The boy I loved cut me off mid-sentence in the most unexpected yet glorious way imaginable: by hurtling himself towards me and bringing my lips to his own in an emotion-filled, passionate and long-awaited kiss. The taste of Will's mouth thawed the freeze that had overcome me and I melted into the kiss, hungry for more yet afraid of what would happen once it had ended. My heart soared as I reached towards his face and placed one hand on his cheek and the other on his jaw, pulling him even closer than we already were. I made a mental note to forever remember the incredible sensation of Will's lips against my own once more and how his scent washed over me like a tidal wave but, of course, the moment eventually came to an end.

Will and I parted and I witnessed his heavy pants, mirroring that of my own. "Will..." I whispered breathlessly, unsure of what to do or say but I found I had no need to go on when the boy standing before me began to shake his head.

"No, no, Mikey, please. Please, I need to say something. I want to ask you something." Will began, his words doused with anxiety but I watched as he courageously fought it and continued on.

"Michael Wheeler, would you do me the greatest of honours and grant me the pleasure of being able to call you my boyfriend?"

"Wh-what?" I stammered, completely and totally convinced I must have misheard him.

"Mikey," Will whined, "Will you be my fucking boyfriend or not?"

"Holy shit, Byers. Holy shit, yes of course I will!" I practically screamed, my voice echoing through my whole house as I picked him up and span him around, both of us giggling like the protagonist lovers of some cheesy romance novel or something. I vaguely heard my father shout something about "language" from the other room but ignored him completely - the way he has done to me my whole life - and kissed Will once more as soon as I had set him down on his feet, wholly immersed in him. My true love. My Will.

"But...but are you, you know, sure? Are you sure you're ready for this? If you need more time, I promised you I'd wait and that still stands." I begged of the boy who had been through terror after terror, heartache after heartache, worried that he was about to enter into a relationship he wasn't ready for.

Will caressed my face softly with delicate movements as he gazed deeply into my eyes. "I'm ready, Mikey. I promise you I'm ready. I love you and I need you in my life and I'm done denying it. I've denied you for so long starting with the first moment I ever planned to tell you I loved you and then lost the nerve: when I returned from the Upside Down and I saw your face, the face of the person I'd closed my eyes to imagine in the most terrifying moments who calmed me and gave me the courage to survive that week...but then you told me about Eleven and I stopped myself from saying a word. I denied you when I wanted to tell you less than a year later when you vowed to go "crazy together" with me but then I told myself you were just being polite and, again, I didn't say anything. When...when you told me that making friends with me was "the best thing you've ever done", I swear to god the power your words gave me was what finally allowed me to remember myself and overcome the Mindflayer and tell you to close the gate. I'll never regret anything as much as the lie I told you when I told you I was gay. I said my feelings were past tense and that was just as much a lie to myself as it was to you and I tried to force myself to believe I was over you so that I could move on but it never worked. God knows, if I'd have been strong enough to tell you in even one of those times and not denied you, I would have been with you and not Alex as I was only ever with him because I thought I could never have you. We could have been everything we've ever been meant to be but I am ready now. I'm ready to be with my soulmate."