WILL POV-

---- Friday 11:22 AM ----

Will's eyes fluttered open, waking up squinting his eyes averting his gaze to the clock on the wall, reading it as he growled; missing another day of university. He turned over feeling as though his head was ready to split in two. Will doesn't even remember how he got home or when he did. He couldn't even remember anything after the dinner, his memory blurry. Still in the clothes from last night.

RING RING

Placing the pillow over his ears desperately trying to block out the sound of his ringtone, feeling as if he was going to throw up. He grabbed the phone off his nightstand, steadily tapping the desk to find it. His hand reached the vibrating phone pressing the button assuming he answered; holding it to his ear.

"Hello?" Will mumbled

"Hi Will... umm its Mike" He chirped from the other side

"What?" the chestnut-haired boy squeaked

"Can you meet me?" Mike asked

"hmmm" Will remained quiet feeling sleepy, only humming

"Will?" Mike hummed back, giggling softly

"Yeah! Yeah sorry" Will rubbed his eyes

"Umm where do you want to meet?" He continued, yawing deeply

"I can meet you outside your house" Mike suggested

"Okay...When?" Will muttered staring up at the ceiling

"Well, I'm outside your house right now" The ravenette plainly stated

"WHAT?" Will blurted lifting from his bed, the blood rushed to his head feeling woozy as he placed a hand on his head wincing in pain

"Are you okay? Mike asked concerned

"I'm good! I'll see you in a few" Will choked, carefully standing up pacing around the room looking for his wig, spotting it on the chair he adorned it on his head, not even bothering to change his clothes he checked himself knowing he looked absolutely horrible right now, his clothes dishevelled and drool creating a stain on his face, slumping over to the bathroom he washed his face, taking a deep breath walking outside. He was sloppy but his hungover state really wasn't in working order to think logically

"Hi" Mike smiled looking at him raising his arm to wave, he stood away from his car standing straight, Will said nothing still remembering their argument on Wednesday, it played in his mind. Worried Mike had only come to insult him again. He meekly smiled, weakly raising his own arm to acknowledge the taller boy

"So, how are you?" The ravenette asked looking down at the ground

"I'm fine... You?" Will answered surprised that Mike asked

"I'm good two... I just came to say I don't want to do this anymore" Mike blurted

"Wh- what do you mean?" Will furrowed his brows

"I don't want to fake date or real date you" Mike replied

"Are you breaking up with me?" The chestnut-haired boy chuckled

"As of today! Your services are no longer needed Will Woodland" He announced

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Will asked confused, the hangover affecting his cognitive thinking

"It means that we never have to meet again, you don't have to pretend to put up with me" the ravenette painted a frown on his face

"But what about the real da-" Will tried moving his arms

"Forget about those, it wasn't classy of me to spring those dates on you" Mike cut him off

"Oh, but this is for you- I can't forget about it" He smiled, walking over to his car pulling out an envelope, handing it to the smaller boy

"What's this?" Will furrowed his brows

"The money I owe you... for going on these dates" Mike whispered fidgeting with his fingers

"Oh umm, its fine you really don't need t-" Will looked down the envelope was full; practically bursting at the seams, handing it back to Mike

"NO! I want to. I promised you, right?" The ravenette smiled pushing the money away from him

"I know but you don-" Will answered before being cut off

"It's fine just take it... please. I'm sure you had your reasons for the money" Mike spoke before jumping in his car rolling down the window,

"I hope to see you around Will" Mike rolled up his window, he was sad to leave, really wanting to tell Will that he had fallen for him and wanted him in his life, but he couldn't. In his eyes; Will hated him for how he had been treated and wanted nothing to do with him. Only dating the taller boy for money and nothing more.

"Umm yeah... you two" Will frowned, honestly feeling some sort of attachment to Mike, knowing it couldn't last forever; after all he was lying to the ravenette every time they had met. And also, being his student made things more complicated. He stood in the driveway seeing Mike reverse onto the clearing, Will stood idle.

"J-just like that?" He mumbled to himself

"Wait! That means I don't need to tiptoe around Him anymore... YES!" His eyes widened; his sadness replaced by happiness bumping a fist into the air.

Will felt his phone buzz in his pocket seeing the wall of notifications he jumped, reading through all of them; variations of 'have you reached home?' and 'how are you?' from his friends, Will rolled his eyes answering the texts. He sighed, realising he smelt like alcohol and had work in a few hours. He debated going to university for his last lesson but decided against it, not wanting to go. Walking back inside reading the note on the fridge from his mother, he chuckled walking to the bathroom taking a shower

---- 5:50 PM ----

The chestnut-haired boy stood behind the counter in Scoops Ahoy wearing the sailor uniform he despised oh so much. Customers rolled in, some more demanding than others but Will could not be triumphed, he was elated. Mike would no longer be a thorn in his side as he didn't have to date him anymore, sure he really liked Mike as a person and if they really dated it would be amazing but too many things stood in their way, Will knew it was better this way, they could Both live their lives separately. Without needing to be tethered to one another. The doorbell rang as a familiar youthful girl with a bright smile skipped in still wearing her school bag.

"Can I try the peanut butter swirl?" She spoke ringing the bell

"Erica! We both know you like the peanut butter swirl; just buy the peanut butter swirl" Will pleaded

"Okay but I'd like to try it" Erica spat sarcastically

"You know what?" The chestnut-haired boy spoke lively grabbing a waffle cone and placing the ice cream inside

"Here!" He smiled handing the ice cream to the girl, she looked in awe surprised by Will's actions she stuck her hand out hesitating at the last moment

"What's the catch?" She squinted her eyes

"There is no catch; I'm just in a good mood, just take it before I change my mind" Will rolled his eyes still holding out the cone

"Okay?" Erica accepted the cone taking some licks of it suspiciously watching the boy behind the counter

"What are you doing?" Will threw his hands in the air

"I bet you poisoned it; to get rid of me" Erica joked

"I literally just gave you free ice cream" He rolled his eyes

"Laced with cyanide I bet" She chuckled

"Yeah, that was my master plan all along" Will awkwardly smiled

"You know we do have an opening; you can apply if you'd like" he said leaning both elbows on the counter

"Okay... and what do I get out of it?" Erica remarked, speaking between licks

"A job?" Will plainly answered

"Eww! Like I'm going to wear that sailor outfit" She remarked pointing

"You also get free ice cream... for life" Will joked raising his eyebrows, Erica stood still absorbing the information,

"I'm in! Where do I sign?" She perked up, smiling

"Go through; to the back" Will smiled directing Erica to the storeroom behind the counter, he playfully rolled his eyes, directing his head forward as a tall figure walked in, his face obscured, the man was tall, with raven hair and pale skin, but he faced away. Will's palms got sweaty, Was Mike here? He cleared his throat keeping his gaze low waiting for the man to walk up to the counter, Will smiled. Slowly looking up he saw

"Richie?" Will spoke aloud confused, he felt sad but couldn't explain it, was he honestly wishing it to be Mike?

"Hi Will!" He chirped

"Oh... umm hi" Will repeated

"You weren't in Art today or yesterday, I missed you" Richie whined pouting his lips

"So, you followed me to my work?" Will joked

"Well, it seemed like the only reasonable thing to do" Richie answered laughing, staring deep into the smaller boy's eyes opening his mouth to speak

"So, Will... I was wondering if you would lik-" He continued, seeming deep in thought something completely different from the norm, he was being serious, he was jittery as If he was about to get a weight off his chest, He spoke softly Interrupted by Robin swinging the sliding door open, hearing it clack against the wall, Will jumped startling him to turn around,

"WILL!" Robin spoke,

"Your phone keeps ringing! Do something about it" she waved the smaller boy's phone in her hands, Will furrowed his brows snatching it, looking at the screen he muttered to himself

"Hmm! I don't know who this is" But the phone kept ringing, reluctantly he took a deep breath, answering it

"Hello?" He put on a fake customer service voice

"This is Will Woodland, right?" The lady from the other side cheeped

"Yeah, this is Will Wood... Land" Will spoke, his words slowing as he reached the ending of the sentence

"Wait! Who is this?" Will whispered away from Richie, who stood confused waiting behind the counter

"It's Karen! Mike's mother" She spoked gleaming from the other side; calling for a while glad he picked up

"WHAT?" Will shouted aloud, looking around he quietened down

"H-how did you get my number?" He continued whispering

"From Mike of course" Karen nonchalantly smiled

"Oh, makes sense" Will awkwardly giggled not knowing what else to say

"I want to invite you for dinner tonight, it's been a while" She added

"Tonight?" Will's eyes widened glancing at his watch

"I'll send you the address, meet me there, okay?" Karen cheered

"U-Umm Yeah! Yeah!" Will nervously replied, being too much of a people pleaser to reject

"See you later Will! I can't wait!" She affirmed, squeaking like a teenager asking the popular kid to their birthday party

"Yep! See you Mrs Wheeler" Will answered keeping the phone close to his ear; the phone cutting off, he remained idle not knowing what to do. Does he go? Does he decline? Does he tell Mike? Did Mike tell his mother they weren't 'dating' anymore? The thoughts spiralled in his mind

"Are you okay?" Richie stood confused knowing no context from the situation; he twiddled his thumbs bursting to ask Will what he wanted to

"It was probably his boyfriend" They overheard Robin speak to Steve in the backroom, loud enough for both Richie and Will to hear, hastily he shut the window awkwardly leaning on the counter a bashful smile on his face

"Oh umm... you have a boyfriend?" Richie whispered

"No, I guess he wasn't exactly my boyfriend... it was complicated" Will replied sticking his bottom lip out

"Oh okay" Richie nodded his head not completely convinced

"What did you want to say before?" the chestnut-haired boy blinked remembering Richie was in the middle of a sentence when they were distracted

"Oh, umm never mind... I wanted to see if you could hang out today, but it seems like your busy with whoever" Richie mumbled a lot on his mind, today was going to be the day he asked Will out. But plans seemed to change finding the chestnut-haired boy may secretly be in a relationship with another, he put on a fake smile

"See you on Monday Will" He waved, power-walking out the store as quick as he could.

"Why did he even come here if he didn't get an ice cream?" Will mumbled under his breath, shrugging his shoulders

"Now what do I do about this dinner?" He muttered ruffling his hair, a million thoughts ran through his head as the minutes ticked by. He lifted his head; speaking to himself to calm his nerves

"Well, there is only one thing I can do" 

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2093 Words

Stay Safe <3