𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (byler)

036

"i wish i were..."

will didn't know what else to do, but look at pictures of him and mike that he still had.

he looked through all of them, the ones that he didn't have to tape back together, the ones he did have to tape back together, and his favorite one.

each picture held a memory that will had cherished very deeply.

there was one picture, it was of them in kindergarten when they first became best friends.

they were standing in front of the swing set where they first became friends and will had instantly been brought back to that memory.

it was recess and will had no one to play with. he was so sad that nobody wanted to be his friend, he felt like a loser.

he sat on the swings by himself and looked around the playground at kids running around and laughing and having fun. he wondered why he couldn't be one of them. all he wanted to do was play.

suddenly, a lanky, black-haired boy with dark brown eyes came up to will and sat next to him.

will looked over at the boy, he looked a little bit sad.

"hi." the boy greeted.

"hello." will replied.

"i saw you sitting alone on the swings, so i figured i'd come say hi." the black-haired boy explained.

"oh. that's nice of you." will looked down at his shoes.

"i was alone too. i don't have any friends. do you want to be my friend?" the boy asked.

will looked up and smiled. "yes."

"but, before we become friends, i should probably know your name." the boy said.

will giggled. "i'm will."

"i'm mike." the boy held out his hand.

will shook mike's hand and locked eyes with him.

"last to the slide is a rotten egg!"

"oh you're on!"

will in mike raced to the slide, and mike in fact had become the rotten egg.

the boys played together for the rest of recess and spent the rest of the day doing classwork together, and finally it was dismissal.

will and mike immediately ran to the playground and started playing.

"mike!" karen wheeler called.

she spotted her son on the play structure with another boy and went over.

"mike, what're you doing?" karen asked.

"i'm playing with my new friend, mommy." mike answered.

"will, honey, is that you!" joyce byers yelled.

she walked over to the three.

"will, why are you...karen?"

"joyce! it's so nice to see you!"

"you too, karen!"

"is this your son?" karen asked.

"yes, that's will, and i'm guessing that's mike?" joyce asked.

"yes, this is mike." karen smiled.

"can we please go play for five more minutes!" mike begged.

"yeah, please!" will exclaimed.

karen and joyce looked at each other, then back at their sons.

"okay, five more minutes." joyce decided.

the boys smiled at each other and started to climb down.

"but, one more thing before you go!" karen interrupted.

mike and will turned to look at her.

"let me take a picture of the two of you in front of the swings." karen requested.

mike groaned and will just shrugged.

karen pressed the button on the camera and the picture came out.

"adorable! now go play!" karen cheered.

"finally!" mike shouted.

mike grabbed will's hand and pulled him to play, and will couldn't have been more happy.

a tear slipped down will's cheek as he remembered that moment with his boyfriend. how could he make such a stupid mistake like this? he should've never trusted alex.

"will, honey, how are you feeling?" joyce asked.

will looked up at his mother and wiped the tears off of his face

"oh, hon." joyce frowned and went to hug him.

she picked up the picture that will was looking at and saw that all of the pictures he had pulled out were of him and mike.

"hey, did something happen with mike?" joyce furrowed her eyebrows.

will nodded and started to cry more as joyce held him.

"sweetheart, what happened? you know you can tell me anything." joyce said.

"a-alex k-k-kissed me." will choked out.

joyce sighed and rubbed will's back.

"did you kiss back?" joyce asked.

"no, i pulled away right away." will muttered.

"then it's hardly a kiss." joyce stated.

"it doesn't matter, mom! mike hates me!" will screamed and more tears started to spill out.

joyce rocked her son back and forth and let him cry into her shirt, feeling awful for him.

all will could do was cry, maybe if him and mike didn't even date in the first place, there wouldn't be so much heartbreak.

word count: 774
this is so sad omg :(