𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞; byler

Chapter 17- Mike

MIKE RODE HIS BIKE so fast he thought his feet would fall off. He had dropped Jane off at her house and was on the way to Will's house, and Will was the only thing on his mind.

he's not dead he's not dead he's not dead he thought in his head over and over, because he couldn't bare thinking the alternative. He finally reached the little house. He threw his bike on the road and ran to the front door, and knocked loudly.

"Will! Will! It's Mike! open the door!" he yelled. No response. He turned the handle, and the door was unlocked. That definitely wasn't a good sign. He opened the door and ran inside. 

The small house was hot and dark, and there was a terrible smell coming from the living room. Mike followed it, and sure enough he found Will sprawled on the floor, his face on the ground so that Mike couldn't see it.

he ran to him, kneeling by his limp body.
"Will? Will? can you hear me? WILL!" he yelled at him, frightened. 

Could he be dead?

He sighed a sigh of relief as he saw Will's body moving. The boy raised his head, his eyes still half closed, but when he saw Mike he smiled.

his face was a mess. The side of his lip was so swollen it looked like lip injections. The whole left side of his face was smeared with blood. 

Mike couldn't understand why he was smiling.
"Mike! hi! is it time for school yet?" Will slurred, his voice barely understandable thanks to the swollen lip. 

Mike didn't understand: did Will have a concussion? then, next to Will, he saw an empty bottle, and the scent was finally identified.
"Will- are you- have you been drinking?" Mike asked, shocked. There's no way Will had finished that entire bottle of vodka.

"No, No!" Will shook his head, "I'll tell you. My dad came, and he needed money, so when I didn't give it to him he got mad so he made me fall, and then I couldn't get up. And then after a while I got thirsty and cold and there was only this bottle so actually yes, I drank it all but now I feel much better!" Will smiled, like he had told Mike about the weather instead of this terrifying story.
Mike looked at Will's legs, and saw that his ankle was also swelled to twice it's size. 

He was shocked. Will must of lied there all day, with no food, no one to help him- and he had seen his dad again?
"Will, I don't understand- I think we need to get you to the hospital," Mike said, trying not to panic.

"No! I'm fine, Mike, I'm just resting here for a little bit- Just until the room stops spinning," Will said, lying his head back down.
"Can I tell you a small small secret?" Will asked, raising his head once again.
"Yeah, but we really should-"
"Shh! I'm trying to talk here!" Will said, putting a cold finger on Mike's mouth. Mike was really scared. This wasn't Will, this wasn't normal-this wasn't the situation he was expecting. he really needed to get the boy some help.
"Come closer!" Will said, and Mike obliged.
"I think I'm going to puke now," Will giggled into Mike's ear.

Mike moved away just in time: Will was right. He threw up all over himself, the sour scent mixing With the strong scent of alcohol. Based on his shirt, this wasn't the first time this had happened. 

Mike hated seeing Will like this, so hurt and oblivious to his own terrible situation.
"Oopsie!" Will laughed. He was really wiped. Mike didn't know what to do,

"Here Will, I'll help you up," Mike put his arm around the boy's back and pushed him up, and then kept his arm fastened around his back, holding him upright. "Nooo, I like the floor!" Will protested. 
"can we walk?" Mike asked, pushing Will's head up as it swung down into his neck.
"No hospital!" Will called.

"Fine. But let's at least take a shower, okay?" Mike asked.
"Are we in the shower now?" Will asked, looking around with his eyes still not completely open. he was really frightening Mike.
"Not yet, but almost!" he started walking supporting all of the petite boy's weight.
"I love you the most, Mike. And even though you don't love me I just want to kiss you all the time-" Will said as they walked. Mike wasn't completely sure the boy was aware he was still talking.The words he was saying were hurting Mike, so he just talked to him in a soothing voice trying to get the boy to calm down. 

He didn't think he'd ever heard Will talk that much before.

 Finally they reached the bathroom, and Mike sat Will down on the toilet, keeping his arm on him to stop him from falling down. Then he tried to pull Will' shirt off.

"No! you can't!" Will said, groggily slapping Mike's hand away.
"Will, You have to wear a different shirt, this one is full of vomit!" Mike said and tried again. Will slapped his hand again, while repeating the "no" over and over again.

"Why?" Mike said patiently, crouching down so he was looking straight into Will's eyes.
"It's a secret!" Will declared, and then his expression shifted, his eyes turning wide with panic.
"I don't feel good anymore," he said, his face turning white, and then his eyes rolled up and he passed out. 

Mike really didn't have any experience dealing with drunk-passed -out -badly- hurt -people, but he remembered seeing somewhere that water helped drunk people sober up. Beside, he couldn't let Will stay with the vomit, vodka and blood soaked shirt.  Somehow he managed to peel the shirt off Will.

He gasped in shock, feeling sick. Both of Will's arms and his torso were full of cuts, some new, some old, covering every single exposed centimeter of the boy's body. Mike wanted to cry. What had Will done to himself?

                                                                                   ✴ ⁕ ✴ ⁕ ✴ 

Mike managed to wash the vomit and blood off Will's upper body. 

About halfway through Will started to wake up, but his eyes never fully opened. When Will was as clean as possible without going in the shower, Mike helped him up and basically carried him to his bed. Will collapsed into the sheets, and Mike covered him with a blanket. 

He started to leave towards the living room, but stopped when he heard Will's voice.
"stay," Will mumbled, his eyes still closed.
And so Mike climbed into the bed and sat by Will's feet. He looked at Will, who looked so peaceful and beautiful lying there in bed. And he just knew the decision he had made just hours prior in his room had been the right one.

He just hoped it wasn't too late.