"SO HE'S REALLY GONNA DO IT?" Martha chuckled, eyes shoved forward at Brandy's closed bedroom door. Somewhere on the other side of that chipped white wood, Eli was preparing to tell Mike Wheeler about his crush.

"Yep," Brandy nodded, huddling her knees deeper into her chest. The girl's mouth wrung tight with a smile, her cheeks crinkling. "I'm actually kinda nervous for him."

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Martha's gaze jumped back to her best friend, finally showing the concern glinting in her dark pupils. "I mean, it's pretty obvious Mike and El still have their thing."

"Yeah..." Brandy mumbled, fingers fastening like a buckle at the top of her knees. "I don't think he's doing it because he thinks Mike likes him. I think maybe...maybe he just wants to be honest."

"So he doesn't get his hopes up?"

Brandy quivered at that, her shoulders moving in a shrug weakly. "I don't know. Turns out the psychology of my thirteen year old brother is a little more complicated than I thought."

Martha licked at her chapped lips warily, the room bearing hotter as she contemplated her next move. "I think it's pretty brave of him. I'm...proud of him."

Brandy had shuffled her attention from the rough skin on her knuckles to her book again, pencil tracing notes into the margin. Not many people knew, but the Brooks girl enjoyed annotating her books. That was, when she chose to read one.

Martha clearly wasn't going to get an answer from her, so she swallowed the massively rising lump and continued. "I think it's important to tell your best friends how you feel. They deserve to know."

"Uh, sure..." Brandy agreed quietly, still invested in the weathered pages of her novel.

The Baker girl could feel her throat tightening, and the body heat that had consumed her felt like a wave of nausea. She had never done this before, she didn't even know where to start.

"So...I haven't been totally honest with you."

Brandy's head snapped up, her interest piqued as the pencil slid back into the spine of the open book. She noticed the way her best friend was squeezed into herself, wedged uncomfortably in her spot on the bed. "What do you mean?"

"So, um...I'm...I'm..." she hesitated, the words failing to find her lips. Her eyes scrunched shut for a moment, another breath pulsating through shaky lips. "I'm into girls, basically."

Brandy didn't move. "What?"

"And boys," she added quickly, her hands flying out defensively. Her mind was racing almost as fast as her eyes, unable to brave a look at Brandy. "I like both. I'm bisexual, is what they call it. A-And I know that's probably...really weird..."

"Are you kidding?" Brandy laughed, making the trembling girl almost flinch. The Brooks teen scooted closer to her friend, a small hand comfortingly rubbing her knee. "It's not weird at all, Mae."

Her voice shivered. "Really?"

"Yeah," the girl smiled earnestly, finding it in herself to reach up and take one of the Baker's hands. Their fingers rubbed together absently. "You know that kind of stuff doesn't bother me. You're still my best friend."

Martha's chest faltered as she tried a quick inhale, her breath still rattled but she managed a relieved smile. "Oh, thank God. I thought you might be weird about it, since..."

Brandy's lips parted with a quaint sigh, moving away and letting her hand slip from Martha's. "Yeah, I was weird about Eli at first. Not one of my finest moments. But honestly it was because I felt like I should've known before, you know? So I'd be more prepared and not say the wrong thing to him."

"Yeah, you just didn't want to hurt him," Martha nodded understandingly.

"And I don't want to hurt you," Brandy's gaze flickered into Martha's, her arm slugging around the girl's shoulders. "I know society is gonna tell you different, but don't listen. You're bisexual, and you're beautiful."

Martha felt a tiny flame dance inside her. She was soaring within herself, but all she could do was grin. "Thanks."

~

Eli slumped on the edge of his bed, fingers grimy with sweat as they curled around loose leaf. The words danced across his vision as he read and reread, absorbing the story until it made his head spin.

The night El closed the gate, the Byers house had been swamped with exhaustion and rolling with relief once everyone reconvened. Everyone was celebrating, except for Eli, who anticipated that extremely important conversation with El.

"Were you born with your powers?" That had been his first question, one he asked with a nervous mind and fumbling hands.

"I've had them for as long as I remember," she had answered tiredly.

"Okay. So what, like...what triggered your powers? Before you could control them, I mean?"

El had hunched forward at that, her brow wrinkled quizzically as she tried to remember. "I remember...it always happened when I was feeling strong emotions. Anger. Fear."

Strong emotions?

Before the guard, before Billy, there had been a few other times Eli had created a spark. The night he burned a whole into his sleeping bag was one for sure, the horror of his nightmare scaring him into electrocution.

But there had been other times. A Halloween basement, candy spilled in masses before two boys. The brushing of fingers. Eli's chest swollen with feelings as he nearly toppled over the edge of a confession.

The Hawkins Middle gym, when Mike's body had become pressed against his. Two puzzle pieces, a vague thought he had had. And then, the blue spark. One he'd dismissed because of the sweaters they were wearing.

El was staring at him in bewilderment. He had been quiet for a long time, but his fingers persistently tapped at his chin.

Strong emotions.

A couple of weeks later, the season dipping further into a frost bitten winter, and he was here. He hadn't stopped thinking about it, his mind consumed by the words El had uttered to him, followed by the flashing of two boys and a strong, electric spark.

It almost felt like a different novel he was reading, back in his nook tucked in the corner of the school library. He was reading a colorful romance novel, not analyzing the events of his own life.

Eli flipped to the last page of his newly crafted short story, rereading a paragraph he had dissected so much it was memorized. The story was his script and he was almost off book, sentences and phrases and images clashing in his frazzled brain. It wasn't just a romance story, it was a war story. The war evolving constantly in his head.

But he couldn't ignore what El had said, and what it had made him realize. Strong emotions. Mike emotions. What Eli was feeling, the way heat grazed across his stomach and chest every time the brunet laughed, he had never experienced it before. Not with Will, or anyone.

He had to tell Mike, because he would explode if he didn't. The electricity would tell Mike for him, and he'd never find a way to control it. It was better to tell Mike himself, rather than let his powers be the thing to expose him.

Eli ran his index finger along the paper, feeling the indented spaces created by the press of a pencil tip. His most finely tuned piece of work, one he couldn't stop reading.

Midnight Raven and Eli Electro looked at each other, breathing under hushed lips. Lips that moved closer, and closer, until they were together and kissing. Kissing under the stars and fire light, not wanting to let go.

He had never written about kisses before, and certainly not between two boys. But it was his story, and though he knew it would never be the perfect piece he'd want, it worked. Messy and honest worked for Mike, and it worked for Eli now too.

Eli slipped out of his bedroom silently, matching the atmosphere that drained the gray walls of his home. Though his threats had even heavy and damaging, Alan Brooks had not been home often since that night. The Brooks siblings couldn't care less, though they knew their father still had eyes on them. Somehow.

But his father had left his mind completely, the only thing dancing in the clouded space of his head was a raven-haired boy. Midnight Raven. Mike Wheeler.

Strong emotions, huh?

As his bike sliced against the old asphalt, hurdling down the sun-baked street and against the December winds, Eli wondered how ridiculous this was. He was thirteen, he didn't know if what he was feeling really was the stuff they told in movies and books.

But whatever he felt, it had been enough to create a spark. A real one, not just metaphors inked into a paragraph.

When Mike's house finally rolled into view, the afternoon sprinkler ticking, Eli's stomach ached. His anxiety was so tangible he felt like he could rip himself apart and scoop out the searing white ball from his gut.

He began to wonder if he should just turn around, flee from the scene of his possible murder of Mike's friendship. The consideration grew so strong he began to grapple his handlebars for steadiness, mind ringing high pitches.

In the end, however, he chose bravery.

Karen answered the door with a smile as sweet as apple tart, not wasting any time to let Eli know Mike was in the basement. His insides curled at the information. The basement.

That's when she trekked back into his thoughts. El, the beautiful girl Mike stowed away in a tent in his basement for a week. What if she had come over? What if the blanket fort was already securely tucked back in its corner for her?

Eli shook these worries. Even if she had, and even if that meant what he feared, he still had his mission. A mission he wouldn't bow out on, like he had done with so many others.

When he descended down the stairs, acid stinging his belly with every step, he noticed Mike was alone. The Wheeler was reclined in the couch with a rather peaceful expression, a comic book resting between fingers. He looked perfectly Mike, in his perfectly Mike habitat.

"Hey, Eli," the boy's legs kicked up as he pulled himself into a sitting position, brown eyes blazing with curiosity. "What are you doing here?"

Eli blew a short breath through pursed lips, joining him on the sofa anxiously. His hands held the papers shakily, the frayed paper ruffling in sound from his probably obvious trembling.

No sense in stalling it.

"I, um, need to tell you something. Something pretty...something pretty serious."

Mike's eyes darkened, and judging by the frown that flexed his lips, his mind immediately went to monsters. "What happened?"

"Uh, nothing that serious," Eli corrected nervously, trying for a laugh that only came out as a choked exhale. "I just...need to make a confession."

"Uh...okay?"

Eli swallowed, a knife-like sensation stretching through his vocal cords. He shoveled the papers forward gently, until Mike's callused hands opened to accept them. "I didn't know how to tell you...so I, um...I-I wrote it."

Mike looked at him incredulously, but his lips were flickered up in an easy smile that Eli was certain would dissipate soon. Still, he returned the smile with an uneasy one of his own before the taller boy began to read.

At first, Eli read with him. Eyes swallowing every word he had already scanned a thousand times over, only now there was a real and vicious volcano inside him waiting to explode. Mike was reading his confession.

"You saved me," Eli Electro looked at Midnight Raven with a small gasp. Midnight Raven caught his startled gaze and offered him a smile. "You saved me."

"Midnight Raven, huh?" Mike joked, grin painting the freckles on his face. His face fell away from the story and back to Eli, only for his brightness to dim upon seeing how nervous and upset the Brooks boy was. "Eli, what's wrong?"

"Um...just keeping reading."

So he did. And so did Eli.

"Of course I did," Midnight Raven whispered, his hands tugging Eli forward into an embrace. The moment was prolonged, and when they were pulling away they both realized it was something neither of them wanted.

To pull away.

When the kiss paragraph started, Eli couldn't continue. His eyes fluttered away from the meticulously written papers, and he chose to sneakily watch Mike instead, teeth gnawing lips.

And what he saw, it broke him before any words could even be spoken.

Mike's frown was imminent, and then it was immediate, his eyes losing their light. But what was worse, was the way his nose began to crinkle. The way his cheekbones became splattered with folded lines and he let out a shaggy breath through his nostrils.

Like he was uncomfortable—no, like he was disgusted.

"Eli," Mike didn't wait to finish the story, throwing the papers back into the other boy's lap like he'd been stung. His neck grew taut and he scooted away from Eli, establishing a visible space floating between them.

He could start crying right there. His chest shattered like glass and he could feel his eyes begin to burn like citrus. "I'm...I'm guessing you didn't like the story."

"So..." Mike mumbled warily, unable to look at Eli. In fact his head was so adamant about facing forward it was like the brunet's gaze would turn him into stone if he glanced. "I'm Midnight Raven."

Eli closed his eyes, thinking it would help. It didn't. "Yes."

"And...you like me."

"...Yes."

The boy leaned forward and threw his face into both hands, hunched over like he was in pain. His shoulders shook a little, and Eli pondered if the boy was crying. Or laughing. Or maybe he was angry.

"Mike?" He tried, his voice feeling like poison.

"I...I can't Eli. I don't..."

Eli waited, watching the boy struggle.

"I don't like you. It's not...it's not right."

Everything inside of him sank. He was a sinking vessel and he was drowning. His vision became a sphere of blurs as tears pooled in both eyes, and he dabbed at both timidly in hopes Mike wouldn't notice.

He managed to find his voice, though it was quivering and small. "Uh...yeah."

"It's not."

He thought about the bathroom. The one bathed in dim lighting and white marble. He thought about how he had fawned over Mike's lips, which had been so close. But more importantly he thought about Mike's words. How he had promised the Brooks boy he didn't care he was gay. That they were still friends.

It had been all right, but now suddenly it wasn't.

"And besides," Mike continued when Eli failed to answer. "I have El."

El...

Eli turned away, the idea of gazing over at Mike suddenly seeming too dangerous. "Yeah, u-um," his voice wobbled like bubbles in a pot. "I-I'm sorry."

"Just...just go, Eli."

He didn't wait to be told twice, rushing from the cushions and diving for the stairs. Frankly, he needed to go just as much as Mike needed him to. His hand circled the railing at the base as he froze, finally daring one last look.

The boy was still hunkered over, only now his hands were firmly clasped and he frowned at the carpet. Still, he would not look up at the boy whose heart he just broke.

"Are we...are we still friends?"

The silence hit him like invisible bullets, and he had to bite down on his cheeks to keep the sob within himself. Walls became thicker and colder as the quiet continued, and he was wondering if Mike would just never respond. If in that moment, Eli had already been erased from the story book of Mike Wheeler.

"Just go."

Eli accepted his fate with heavy shoulders, circling around again to the stairs. But then he remembered Karen Wheeler's toasted smile, and Ted splayed out in his recliner while Nancy quietly watched the television with him.

So he spun around again, and he marched. He stormed out of the basement door and into the green winter, letting the cold kiss away his tears.

Mike's basement was left with weighted silence.

And a stack of papers with Eli's handwriting sitting on the couch, tucked right next to Mike's thigh.

~

"It'll be fun," Eve assured her brother tiredly, fixing the bow tie pressed awkwardly on his neck. Her tongue slithered over her bottom lip inquisitively, a finger lashing out and fixing a stray curl on his forehead. "And if it's not, then just sneak off to the library like always."

Eli huffed at that, wheeling away from her and looking glumly back into the bathroom mirror. He looked just about as gray as he felt, and not just because of the dull button up he wore with his black dress pants. "Yeah, okay."

"Sorry, E," she smiled apologetically, returning her attention to nursing the sprayed curls resting on her shoulders. Her dress was long and violet, a black mini jacket and black flats accompanying the look. "I promised Rene I'd go for moral support. She's hoping for a dance with Dustin tonight."

Eli raised a brow at that in feign amusement, because in reality he couldn't care less. "Just a dance?"

Eve caved in with a smile, not noticing the frown dancing her twin's face. "Okay, yeah. A kiss might've also been mentioned. It's about time for them to, right?"

"Sure." Eli couldn't really think about it if he wanted.

"Hey, Wonder Twins!" Brandy's knuckles rapped at the closed door, her impatient tone barking. "You guys just about ready?"

Eve checked one last time for her hair, and then for Eli's, and that's when she finally noticed his sadness. "Hey, E. I really am sorry about Mike. Just...try to avoid him tonight?"

He almost laughed at her proposal, but he just nodded dumbly instead. The Brooks boy remained tuckered into silence as he followed his sisters into Brandy's car, Martha joining them with an excited grin.

It was true, though. Eli didn't want to see Mike. Mostly because he was sure Mike didn't want to see him. It had been a couple of weeks since his confession, and everything had been different. Painfully different.

Eli was dumped back into the mix of Eve and Rene's ramblings for lunch, rather than sitting with the party. He still got invited to arcade nights, but on Will's behalf and he was certain to Mike's disdain. Which is why Eli never agreed to go. He almost never spoke to Lucas or Dustin, save for when it came to science homework. He went to Will's house once, the two watching a movie.

But there was no hiding it. Everything was completely different. And completely ruined.

Besides his crippling sadness and his persistent desire to leave Mike alone, there was also the toppling fear. The worry that Mike had told the others about his confession. He had left the papers behind, after all. Maybe Mike had let the others in on reading the story.

He couldn't be sure of it, however. Not with the way Will seemed to be his same self, the Byers's only problem lying within his own mind. And he wasn't around anyone else enough to notice a change in attitude.

He didn't even know how they would react, knowing he was gay.

In fact, tonight would be the most time he's spent with all of them in almost a month. The possibilities of tonight scared him to death, he cursed himself for even agreeing to go.

"Okay, kiddies," Brandy cheered as her car rolled into the middle school parking lot. The school gym twinkled with lights inside, and there were several kids and parents littering the car park. "We'll be back in two hours. If anything happens, remember. We'll be at Peejay's. Okay?"

"Got it," Eve answered for her brother, who was still huddled quietly against his seat.

"Okay. Now go. And don't be too crazy," she half-teased, a smile slipping onto the girl's face as she watched her twin siblings slip away.

The blaring of music through speakers immediately tore Eli's thoughts away, leaving him a mindless body following his sister absently into the gym. It was drenched with sparkling silver and blue decorations, wintery creations dribbled throughout the space. The dance floor was packed with eighth graders dancing awkwardly in their baggy suits and seasonal dresses.

Nancy Wheeler was stood off to the side, towering over the punch bowl with a pointed smile. The receiver of said smile, Jonathan Byers, was across the gym, assuming the role of photographer for the dance.

"Finally!" A high-pitched voice snapped him from his daydreamed exploring. Rene peeled away from a group of girls and rushed to the twins, her hands grabbing anxiously at Eve's wrists. "I thought you weren't gonna get here in time. Ricky told me they're gonna play a slow song soon."

Eve coaxed the girl with a small grin, catching her friend's hands gently. "Don't worry, Rene. He's gonna ask you. And if he doesn't, then I'll ask for him."

Eli wasn't paying attention to the chattering girls. Instead, he was searching. Though, when he found what he'd been looking for, he wished he'd hadn't.

Because Mike was looking at him too.

Both boys managed to find each other from afar, and Eli didn't wait to study what Mike's dark eyes were saying before flashing his gaze away. He didn't want to know what that boy's expression was reading, because he knew he'd probably be met with something terribly unpleasant.

"C'mon," Rene dragged Eve forward, in turn pulling Eli too. The twins were heading toward the party's table, making the vines of anxiety inside him twist deeper and tighter.

Everyone exchanged greetings, Rene joining in on the banter at Dustin's hair's expense. Eli couldn't focus on any of it though, because Mike was only a few feet away from him and he could feel the taller boy's eyes on him.

He was already considering running off to the library, letting the shelves of books shield him from heartbreak. Instead, his eyes danced over to another Wheeler sibling, Nancy at the punch table. He could hear a slow song beginning to trickle through the ceiling speakers, and he darted.

He didn't stick around to watch Lucas awkwardly ask Max to dance, or Dustin who asked Rene with shocking confidence. Hell, he even missed the part where Will was asked by a girl with a rainbow clip and Eve asked one of her guy friends from history.

He didn't want to stick around. He just wanted to cool his heating face down with a cup of red punch.

"Hey Eli," the older Wheeler beamed at him as he held out an empty plastic cup for her. "Where have you been? It's weird not hearing you and Mike messing around downstairs all the time."

Maybe the punch was a mistake. Eli watched as she gingerly poured the vibrant liquid into his cup, feeling squeamish all of a sudden. "I've just been...busy. Midterms and stuff."

"Yeah, of course," she nodded warmly, and Eli felt a little sorry he couldn't quite meet her eye.

He stumbled over to the bleachers, shoving through a curtain of silver and hiding behind it as the slow song continued. His lips continued to sip thoughtfully on the drink as he watched the dance floor. Slowly, he found each and every one of his friends.

Dustin and Rene, who were hugging already as they swayed against the music. Max and Lucas, who danced a little more frigidly but happily. Eve and Sam, at least that's what Eli believed his name was.

And Mike and El, who he'd almost forgotten was coming until he saw her.

She was beautiful. But more importantly, or rather, what grappled his attention more so, Mike was beautiful. Because he was dancing with the girl he so clearly loved, his eyes glossed over with fondness as they continued to spin slowly.

And then they kissed. Eli wasn't ready for it, even if a big part of him was expecting it. Maybe what he wasn't ready for was to see Mike kissing back, or notice the way both of their faces glowed impeccably bright when they pulled away.

Kind of like how he'd written it, only it was a story that would never come true.

It wasn't until Eli's throat rattled with a small sob did he realize he was crying. He immediately jumped to his feet, embarrassed, and in daft need of a quick hiding spot.

The library was too far, and too risky with the chaperones that littered the perimeter. So he chose the next best thing: the dark shelter underneath the bleachers.

Eli collapsed to the rubbery gym floor once he was huddled under the bleachers, the space muffling the music but only by a little. His knees dug into his chest as he squeezed himself further into a ball, letting his soft cries get drowned out by the music.

He was so stupid. He was alone. He was probably going to be alone forever, because the universe had gone and fucked up and made him like boys.

"Eli?"

He jumped up immediately, a strangled gasp pushing out of his lips and making an ugly sound. His entire body flinched as he gawked up at the intruder, everything inside of him worsening with pain when he realized who it was.

"Uh, hey," Eli mumbled awkwardly, knuckles batting harshly at the wet skin around his eyes. "Shouldn't you be dancing with El?"

Mike frowned, both hands shoved in his pockets. Until he slipped one out, letting it float into the darkness towards Eli, stopping right above his amber curls.

Eli froze, eyeing the hand warily and then Mike's face, which was oddly calm and milky in the sparse light. He didn't move, but neither did Mike's hand, until finally he reached up slowly and tentatively let his hand slip into the boy's palm. He almost let out a grunt of surprise as he was helped off the floor, his hand burning impossibly hot as their fingers parted and he let both hands hang limply at his sides.

"I'm sorry," Mike muttered gently, his nostrils flaring distinctly as he drew in a shaky breath. Maybe it was because Eli was still recovering from his own tears, but it took him a moment too long to notice the Wheeler was close to crying.

"W-What?" He managed to get out, suddenly afraid by the way Mike was getting closer and closer to falling apart in front of him.

Moments ago, he had seen the boy dancing with the pretty girl he liked, kissing her under the disco ball and holding her against him. Now he was joined with Eli, both finding themselves with wet eyes and collapsed chests.

"I was so mean to you earlier," he gulped audibly, moving an arm in a explanatory motion. "When you confessed, I mean. I-I had told you I was okay with you being gay, and then I turned around and treated you like shit. All because I was scared—"

"Mike, it's okay," Eli's cheeks flushed maroon as he interrupted the rambling boy, both hands flying out defensively. Frankly, he hated pity, almost more than he hated seeing Mike cry. "Really. I-I get it. You don't like me, and it scared you that I confessed."

Mike froze, lips parted dumbly as he blinked down at the brunet boy slightly. "N-No..."

"Look, I'm fine, really," Eli wiped at his eyes again with the back of his hand, bouncing his weight between both feet rigidly. "So you don't have to follow me over here and...and make sure I'm okay and all. Just go back to El."

"No, Eli, that's not why I was scared," Mike protested.

"Well, sure it was. You didn't want to hurt my feelings, I get it. It's weird having your boy best friend like you," Eli continued defiantly.

"No, Eli, stop—"

"I mean I guess I especially ruined it because I had to go and write an entire story about it like, like some weirdo or whatever..."

"Eli..."

"I'm just," Eli exhaled sharply, finally allowing himself to look at Mike again. There was an unreadable expression sketched into the boy's freckles. "I'm just saying it's fine you rejected me, and that you love El. Just please...let's be friends again."

"No!" Mike shouted, so loudly it made him jump again. A curt gasp splattered from his lips as two warm hands wrapped around his, and Mike was gripping Eli so tight he could feel the curve of each nail. "I don't like El. That's what I'm trying to tell you."

Eli hesitated. "What?"

And Mike didn't hesitate. "I like you."

Outside the bleachers, the music suddenly became very loud. Loud enough to drown out the excited screaming of thirteen year olds, and certainly loud enough to cover the booming in Eli's ears. Something inside him fell, like a decaying star.

"I...what?"

"That's what I was scared of," Mike admitted, finally releasing Eli's hands when he realized the boy was done ranting. "When you confessed, I was scared of telling you I felt the same."

No. This didn't make sense. For weeks now, he had believed Mike hated him. He had carried a cold heaviness in his heart that followed him into sleep, filling his dreams with criminal heartbreak and pain. He had obsessed for weeks now, wondering just how far did the extent of Mike's disgust go.

And yet now here he was, Mike Wheeler, saying he liked Eli back?

"I don't understand," Eli said, because it was true. He didn't.

"It's...it's my dad's fault," Mike rubbed at his eyes, groaning and uttering curse words under his breath. "My family isn't exactly...supportive of that kind of thing. All my dad talks about is how disgusting it is and how sinners burn in hell."

Despite the boiling in the pit of his stomach, Eli chuckled. "Never took your dad for a religious man."

"He's not," Mike shook his head. "But he's very clear on where he stands about gay people. And, I don't know—I guess...I guess I was just too scared to say it back."

Eli swallowed the bile back down again, his entire body tingling with numbness now. "So what changed?"

"We stopped being friends," Mike answered simply. "And I missed you. And then, tonight...when I kissed El...which I thought I could do because it would make me stop liking you or something—but then I realized I didn't even want to stop liking you. I just—I didn't feel anything. I swear. I thought I might because I kissed her last year and stuff but I didn't."

Eli couldn't look at him, but then there were two fingers gently rubbing at the skin under his chin and lifting his gaze up into Mike's starry one. His hand moved away timidly, shaking from the sensation of touching Eli so fondly.

"I like you too, Eli."

Eli didn't know what to do next, but he was certain of one thing: they were standing impossibly close to one another. And Mike had just admitted he returned Eli's feelings, a profession he thought he'd never hear so now that he had he was swimming in invisible starlight and shaking with warmth.

He could only do one thing and that was to draw himself closer to the warmth. Mike's warmth.

Their lips pressed together lightly, the tips of their noses bumping uncomfortably which made Eli go to move back. Until there were hands scraping at either side of his cheeks, and Mike was pulling him back in before he could retreat.

Besides, why would he run now?

They kissed against the darkness, hands gripping arms awkwardly as they shuffled away after another second, their lips reddened. Eli was bathed in heat now, and he could feel a smile on his face stretched so tight he almost didn't recognize it.

And Mike was grinning too. For a moment, it was like they were in their own galaxy, stars orbiting them and pulling at their hearts as they kissed. Kissing Mike Wheeler, something he had dreamed about for ages, could never fit perfectly into the description in a novel. It was just a feeling all on its own.

But as quickly as shooting stars pass, the light did not last forever. A silhouette had been watching them, and the silhouette let out a scream of horror as a chubby finger jabbed at them dauntingly.

"Hey everyone! Mike and Eli just kissed each other!"

Eli became deadly aware of coincedence, of cause and effect, of sequences and order. If Timothy Tucker hadn't grabbed a cup of punch three minutes ago, or if he hadn't finished it before the song was over, or if he had chosen another trash can, one that wasn't stooped perfectly near their hiding spot.

But the universe had never been in Eli's favor, tonight certainly wouldn't be a start.

And now the entire eighth grade would know. And after them, the teachers, and the entire student body. And then the parents.

Eli's parents. Eli's father.

There was only one way this could all end, and however the final chapter would close, it wasn't going to end well for the protagonists. Eli glanced fearfully at Mike, who also became swollen with terror.

They were in trouble. And no matter what, Eli became certain of one last thing that night.

He was going to lose Mike Wheeler. Maybe for now, but most likely for forever.