#jamu

Will finally stopped talking, and Mike pressed his jealousy down. “Um, that’s awesome, Will.” Will seemed a bit nervous.

“You don’t mind… that it’s a guy?”

“What? No! Of course not!”

Relief flooded the boy’s face. It was a good look on Will.

“So, um… What’s his name?” Mike prompted. He needed to know which guy to send glares in the hallway.

Will bit his lip. “Um… not yet.” Mike got it. He definitely understood. As much as he ranted to El about his crush on Will, he never explicitly said who it was. But based on her little smirks every time Mike and Will were together, she probably had a hunch.

Will cleared his throat. “So. You’ve been in a relationship before… any advice?”

Mike laughed dryly. “Advice? From me? About how to deal with your crush?”

“You’re the expert. I want your input,” he said teasingly.

Mike raised his eyebrows. “Okay. Umm… I guess just, talk to him? Maybe try flirting? I don’t know, things were different with El.” Mike thought long and hard about how he would tell Will how he felt. Because that would be the best advice he could give, right? “I guess I would just hang out with him some time, bring him to a special place, and tell him how you feel.” A scenario from many of Mike’s daydreams. Many of them ended with a kiss.

Will nodded with an unreadable look in his eye. “Thanks, Mike. For everything.”

Mike shrugged, trying to hide the small pain at the fact Will liked someone else. “It’s no biggie.”

Will’s mom appeared in the driveway, and with a wave and a smile, Will left Mike to wallow.

-----

The next day, the phone rang in Mike’s house.

“It’s for you!” his mom called.

“Okay!” he shouted back up. He went to the phone and picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” came Will’s voice. Will. Mike felt butterflies, and a smile came over his face.

Wow, he’d fallen so far, and he didn’t even know.

“Hi. What’s up?”

Short pause. “Sorry. Um… I was wondering… want to hang out today? My house?”

Of course, always. “Yeah, of course! When should I come over?”

“Any time. Right now, if you want.” Mike wanted to. He always wanted to see Will.

“Okay, I’ll be over in twenty minutes.”

“Cool. See you then.” Will hung up the phone. Mike started grinning uncontrollably. He loved the thrill of excitement every time he saw Will. Once he got over hating himself for liking boys and girls, it was replaced by an overwhelming joy. Mike loved being in love with Will. (Not that he was in love… it was just a crush, obviously.)

He put a few things in a backpack and left on his bike for Will’s house. The October air was cool and crisp on his face. Soon, he arrived at the Byers house.

Will stood on the porch. He waved, smiling, but something was off. It was almost as if he was… nervous?

Mike approached, smiling. Will bit his lip, his eyes daring all around. Definitely nervous. There was an awkward silence before Will broke it with, “Wanna go to Castle Byers?”

Mike was confused. “Um, sure.”

“Awesome!” he grabbed his bike, which was already in the front, and started biking quickly away. Curious, Mike hopped on his own bike and followed.

They got to the edge of the woods, parked their bikes, and started their trek through. Mike’s curiosity got the best of him. “What are we doing?”

“You’ll see.”

“What do you mean? Is it a secret?”

“Just… wait until we get there.”

“Fine.” A few moments later, “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?” Mike had this passing thought every once in a while. It would hurt so much to put Will through pain, so he would never do it purposely, but… well, Mike could be a bit of an idiot at times.

Will sighed. “ No , Mike. Be patient.”

“Fine.” A few more minutes of walking before they arrived. Will climbed into Castle Byers, which seemed to grow smaller each time Mike visited. He gestured for Mike to come in, so, Mike climbed in. He sat with his legs crossed, across from Will. They were so close their legs were touching. (Mike tried not to freak out about that.) “So?”

Will took a shaky breath. “I… Mike, I’ve had a crush on you for the past five years.” He sighed.

Mike’s jaw dropped in shock. “Me? But what about that other guy?” Will gave an exasperated sigh and suddenly it hit him. Oh.

“Ohh…” Mike breathed. After the initial shock was gone, his face split into a smile, all the traces of jealousy from before gone.

A moment passed. “So?” Will asked, nervous.

Oops. Mike forgot to answer.

“Will, are you kidding? I’ve been in love with you my whole life--” Mike panicked. Oops.

Will just smiled brightly. Then, his face transformed into a teasing grin. “Your whole life?”

Mike turned bright red. “Shut up.”

They laughed and talked for a few minutes before something came to Mike. “Why Castle Byers?”

Will shrugged. “I asked this guy for advice, and he said to take you somewhere important. This is the only place I could think of, I guess.”

“You took my advice?” Mike squeaked, amazed. Will started laughing.

“Well, duh, why do you think I asked?”

They both burst into laughter. Now that the secrets were out, everything felt so much lighter and easier. Like things used to be.

Castle Byers. It made sense. It was really the only thing about this situation that made sense.

Wow. Will liked Mike back. For five years.