✓ | 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 (BYLER)

𝒗𝒊. THIRD-WHEEL

━━━━ 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 !
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗

Overly absorbed in hunting down his girlfriend, Mike didn't put any thought into the numerous doors he shoved open while he zipped through the facility. He had frantically searched the supply closets, faculty rooms, and even the pungent-smelling dumpsters outside, yet Eleven was nowhere to be found.

Disregarding every ounce of common sense he possessed, Mike speedily approached his final resort: the women's restroom. He pushed the door open with a colossal force, the blatant fact that he wasn't permitted to enter whooshing directly over his head.

"El?" He called out, promptly realizing that he was peering at a group of girls applying makeup and styling their hair.

"What the hell? Get out!" One of the girls boomed, an expression composed of disgust and aggravation plastered onto her face.

The ravenette immediately slammed the door shut. His freckled face heated up from embarrassment, which caused him to look uncannily similar to a ripened tomato. He probably seemed like a total pervert. Whoops.

"Not there?" Will inquired, raising his eyebrows as Mike fled the scene.

"No," The taller boy spat, visibly irritated by the entire situation. "You should've told me she was having trouble."

"Well, I didn't know they were gonna be here, Mike," Will responded matter-of-factly, following closely behind the lanky boy as he marched away from the restrooms.

"Yeah, but you knew she was having trouble for like, a year, and you didn't tell me."

"I didn't know she was lying to you!" The brunette exclaimed.

"Which is why you decided to be a douche to her all day?"

Unbelievable. There was no way Mike was calling Will a douche when it was actually the complete opposite. He was in desperate need of a reality check.

"I wasn't being a douche!" Will retorted, scrunching his face.

"You were! You were," Mike hollered, stopping in his tracks to scold the shorter boy. "You were rolling your eyes, you were moping, you were barely talking . . . you basically sabotaged the whole day!"

Will couldn't take it anymore. In the past, he would've remained silent and allowed Mike to win the argument. But this time, he knew he needed to defend himself.

"I sabotaged your day?" Will scoffed, laughing to himself and shaking his head in disbelief.

He was completely astonished by Mike's behavior. Sure, it wasn't the first time the ravenette had acted this way, but it had never been to that extent. It was Will's birthday, for crying out loud!

"You do realize it's my birthday, right? And how did I spend it? Third-wheeling you and El, which has been absolutely miserable. Plus, she was lying to you! Straight to your face ever since you got here! And you still proceeded to give her your undivided attention."

Mike's jaw dropped. How had he managed to forget about Will's birthday? He vividly remembered circling it on his calendar, drawing little stars around it to mark its significance.

"You didn't even remember that today was my birthday, did you, Michael? Or maybe you never cared enough to memorize it in the first place."

Mike's expression immediately softened. He felt like such an idiot. Forgetting Will's birthday was so unlike him. He must've been so focused on El that he didn't pay attention to the date. Hell, he hadn't even purchased a gift.

Will began to swivel around, his lip quivering as he fought back tears. However, he was abruptly stopped by Mike before he had the opportunity to flee the scene.

"Will, hold on," Mike started, gently tugging on the brunette's sleeve.

"Why should I?" Will furrowed his eyebrows, yanking his arm away. "You've already made it super clear that you're not interested in anything I have to say."

"That's not true," Mike shook his head.

"You called maybe a couple times," Will said, his vision clouded with tears. "It's been a year, Mike. Meanwhile, El has, like, a book of letters from you."

"That's because she's my girlfriend, Will."

"And us?" Will questioned him.

"We're friends! We're friends."

That simple, two-word phrase was enough to shatter Will's soul. It felt as if he were being stung by hundreds of bees after knocking down their beloved hive. Mike's words stuck to him like superglue, replaying in his head like a broken record. Friends. Not best friends like they used to be. Not boyfriends like Will spent every night fantasizing about. Just plain, old friends.

"Well, we used to be best friends!"

There was an uncomfortably long beat as Mike desperately tried to muster up a response.

"Then maybe you should've reached out more, I don't know," He said. "But why is this on me? Why am I the bad guy?"

"You can't be serious," Will whispered.

The tears he had been fighting for what felt like hours had finally begun to trickle down his cheeks. He took a shaky breath before speaking up again.

"Why are you the bad guy? You forgot about my birthday, you didn't pay any attention to me for the entire day even though we haven't seen each other since last summer, and you're accusing me of being in the wrong when all I've been doing was telling you the truth about your girlfriend!"

Mike couldn't bring himself to say anything else. He didn't want to hurt Will more than he already had. Seeing him in such a fragile state crushed his heart and made him realize how cruel he had been acting.

"Look, I'm sorry," Mike began before getting cut off by Will.

"I don't want to hear your bullshit apology."

Mike sighed in defeat, averting his gaze to the ground. He had undeniably fucked up, just like he did when he rejected Will's D&D campaign over the summer. But this time felt different. This time felt ten times worse.

Will, on the other hand, felt conflicted. He should've hated Mike for how he had treated him, but he didn't. A part of him believed that the old Mike Wheeler still existed somewhere deep down — the kind, caring, and selfless Mike Wheeler who actually cared about the well-being of his friends.

"Let's just find El, okay?" Mike suggested, his tone gentle and filled with sorrow.

Will sighed, reluctantly following Mike as they continued their search for El. They could resolve their issues later, but for now, finding and comforting El was their top priority.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 !
fuck mike