BYLER | I Dare You to Break a Heart

Ch. 17: Goodbye Closet (🏳️‍🌈Pride Month Special!🏳️‍🌈)

It was Monday now. None of the party has spoken to each other since Friday. Not even a single word. Each member was dreading the tension that would develop when they have to be in the same building for 6 hours.

Mike sat on his bed staring blankly at the wall in front of him. His hair was a complete mess and he could feel dried drool stains on the corners of his mouth. He was feeling weird. Like... like really worried but at the same time he just... didn't... care?

"Is this what having both depression and anxiety feels like?"

Nancy rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of the head, "it's a lot more complicated than that, you big baby."

"Have some fucking sympathy, will you? Asshole."

"I got you a blueberry muffin to cheer you up and you won't even eat it. I'm not the asshole here."

"Yes. Because a blueberry muffin is gonna make Will talk to me again."

The room went silent for a moment before Nancy sighed quietly and sat on the bed next to her brother, "look... I... can't really guarantee that he will, Mike... I know you're already aware of this but what you did... it was really bad."

"Yeah, I know that Nancy, tell me something new," Mike snapped.

"Just listen!" Nancy defended, "I'm not trying to make you feel worse but I'm telling you that he's not going to forgive you for quite awhile... I mean, he's loved you for God knows how long and just when he thought he had the chance you shut off the light. Plus, now, 5 people know something about him that could ruin his life and he's on bad terms with all of them. The kid must be freaking the hell out. I wouldn't be surprised if he called in sick today..." Nancy glanced up at her brother who was now staring into his lap, shame painted all over his face. She smiled sadly and gently place her hand on his back in comfort, "hey, cheer up... I know it sucks what happened but... today's a new day. Full of possibilities! Just... try to make it at least a mediocre day, alright. Find something to be happy about and hold on to that... promise me?"

Mike just sniffed and didn't utter a word. When she got no response out of him, Nancy grabbed his shoulders and pulled his body to face her.

"Hey. Promise me."

Mike stared at her for a few seconds before launching himself into her arms and holding on for dear life. Nancy was shocked at the gesture but didn't hesitate to hold him tight too. It's the least she could do for him right now. The kid had made some mistakes but that didn't make him a bad person.

"Thanks," the boy muffled into his sister's shoulder, "for everything."

Nancy smiled, "no prob, Bob."

* * *

Will's P.O.V

He was gonna do it... God knew he didn't need anymore emotional drain but if all his friends knew, he wanted his mom to know too... of course, he's prepared to have yet another thing to be upset about but he didn't want her to find out in some horrible way (like another "harmless prank" his friends decide to pull on him one day).

Will was just sitting on his bed, staring at the wall coming up with ways he could word it. So far, he really couldn't come up with any wording that didn't end in complete disaster and it was 3 minutes to his mom coming in to wake him up. Will's heart was pounding louder than you could imagine. He swore half the world was using it as an alarm clock right now. His eyes brushed the clock again. 6:59. 1 more minute. Will started to sweat. He could hear the clinking of plates in the living room as his mom set them out. His nerves bouncing against he walls, he picked up his toy Darth Vader and twirled it around in his hand. Any second now, his mom was gonna come into his room to wake him up.

And just like that, almost as if summoned, will heard the buzz of his mother's cheap kitchen timer ring for a few seconds before being quickly switched off. The pounding of his heart matched the sound of his mother's footsteps making their way toward the door, the wood underneath them creaking with every step. Will held his breath... the door swung open.

"Hey sweetie, it's time to w- oh!" Joyce was taken aback at the sight of her son already sitting upright in his bed looking wide awake, "good morning baby, why are you up so early?" Will cautiously lifted his gaze toward his mother and Joyce instantly knew something was wrong. She quickly closed the door behind her and took a seat next to Will on the bed, "honey, what's wrong, you seem upset, is everything alright?"

Will coughed, "I need you to um... sit across from me," he explained, pointing at a chair he had set up across from the bed.

Joyce glanced at the chair and back to her son, slight confusion tracing her face but quickly obeyed to his commend. She took a seat across from her son and gave him her warmest smile, "I can't say I'm too sure what this is all about but I'm all ears."

The room remained in comfortable silence for a few seconds while Will gained the courage to get what he needed to say out. Finally, he took a deep breath, straightened his back, looked at his mother directly in the eyes and spoke.

"Mom?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"...I'm gay."

Joyce simply stared at her son for a few seconds in shock, not knowing what to say. Will, surprisingly, did not coward. He 100% expected and prepared for the worst so he simply stood his ground and awaited his mom's response. However prepared you may be though, that doesn't stop the stress of coming out to a family member from affecting you whatsoever. Will was trying his hardest to remain strong and fight back tears.

Eventually, Joyce took a long breath and reached across to place her hands overtop of Will's. At this point, one of the boy's tears made it through his hard exterior. She looked up at her son with the most loving, forgiving and tearful eye's Will had ever seen.

"Honey..."

"Yeah?" Will choked out.

"...I know."

(A/N: hey guys, thanks for reading 💜!! I know with the new content coming out, I'm literally just making even more people pissed off with Mike more than they already are lol. Mike is currently being framed as a total general ass rn and I'm really sorry for that lmao. Anyway, I just wanted to talk about the fact that as I'm sure all of you know, Stranger Things season 3 comes out in 5 days and I'm sO EXCITEDDDD, AHHHHHHH!!! However, I'm a little nervous that what happens in the plot will kind of affect what I have planned for my plot. So I just wanted to clarify that anything that happens in this story takes place in my assumption of what happened after the events of season 2, regardless of whether or not the original plot line of season 3 corresponds to that. I do have a set ending in mind but it will be long after season 3 is released that this story comes to an end. I hope you guys don't mind that! Thanks again for reading, and have a wonderful rest of your day 💜😊!! Happy Pride Month 🌈🌈!!)