MIKE POV-

---- Monday: 7:43 AM ----

Mike stood on his heels at the school gates, his eyes constantly scanning the entering crowd for Will, he stretched his neck to look over the sea of students. It was Monday morning, the pass days being as normal as possible, Will opened up slightly, even if it was a just a mere sentence more than usual.

Now, Mike had to wait, tapping his feet up and down, clutching the handles of his bag, hoping to catch the brunette before class, just to make sure things were okay. Perhaps he spoke too soon as he thought he spotted Will's jacket in the distance, distracting him from the sudden shoulder bumping against his.

"Hi Mike!" Troy nudged him with a grin.

"Ugh... hello Troy." Mike grumbled, he decided to be at least cordial with Troy considering how he helped out on Saturday, but Mike didn't want to talk to him any longer, still keeping an eye out for Will. "Why are you still standing next to me?" he said, not even bothering to look at him.

"Because I wanted to." The bully shrugged as if it was his right.

"There are so many other places to stand...." Mike muttered more to himself than Troy.

"Are you waiting for Will? Do you want something from him?" Troy asked curious, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Why do you care?" Mike questioned, repeating his earlier question while craning his neck, "And why are you still here? What do you want from me?" He expected to hear Troy remark something, but instead, the bully was silent, although Mike could feel Troy's eyes on him, it felt different than usual, almost as if he couldn't say what he wanted.

[10 M to Love Supremacy Zone]

"Will?" Mike muttered under his breath, he couldn't see him in the gaggle of students, but the message told him that he was around,

Hearing that though, a hand covered the ravenette's view. Troy giggled, he was relentless, grinning as if they were lifelong friends, "Who are you looking for? Will?" he pouted as Mike pushed his hand away, complaining like a child, "Why don't you turn and talk to me?"

"If you keep pestering me, I will beat you up." Mike said disinterested, watching through the crowd.

"Please do!" Troy said too excited, wanting a reaction, "By the way, I heard you want to work with Max and Lucas, so we will see each other a lot more."

"Is that so?" Mike mumbled, not even listening.

"This is bullshit!" Troy furrowed his brows, "What's so good about Will anyway? All he does is paint well. Why does everyone like him?" He whispered the last part under his breath,

Whilst ignoring Troy, a notification appeared before the ravenette's eyes,

[Entering the Love Supremacy Zone]

The message faded, and the ravenette searched frantically, seeing the brunette's iconic bowlcut walking a few steps away, "Will?" Mike called out, holding a hand up to the air.

For a moment, Will stopped, glancing in their direction. Will's face was blank, his expression cold and distant; a far cry from the vulnerability he had shown over the weekend, and it was clear something was bothering him. Will's eyes shifted, from Mike to Troy, to Mike, and once again to Troy who was still blabbering off beside the ravenette, as if glued to his side. The brunette didn't stop, turning away, walking through the gates and disappearing into the crowd of students.

"Move Troy!" Mike said, softly pushing past the bully to follow Will, leaving Troy pouting at the gates. He rushed past the entrance, still being within the parameters, calling out once more, following Will, "Will!"

[Calculating Fondness...]

The message appeared in his sights, but the swirling of the loading screen never ceased,

Mike sighed as the incomplete message appeared in his view, he thought he was making progress, but the fondness hadn't changed, no matter what Mike did. He cooked, cleaned, listened, but even then, the number stagnated... but the ravenette wasn't too annoyed, at least it wasn't in the negatives, those days of debuffs were over...

Mike stopped, Will was already too far away.

---- 4:14 PM ----

After school, the ravenette found himself back at the bleachers, watching Will paint just like the previous week. He kept a distance, trying not to interfere with the process but also being close enough to keep an eye out for him.

He sighed, leaning back, waiting for the brunette to finish for the day, he didn't know what to make of the morning, but he didn't let it affect him. All day Will had been distant, as if he was actively avoiding him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone plopping down beside him on the bleachers; at first, he thought it was Dustin, or perhaps even El, but when he turned his head, it was the worst possible candidate.

Troy.

"You?" Mike questioned; his voice cold.

"Hey!" Troy shrugged jokingly, "I'm just here to pick up my sister, she's over there." He pointed at a girl in the club wearing a blue cap, her hair tied up while she painted.

"Do whatever you want." The ravenette replied, turning his head away, "Just move a few meters away."

"Is this how you spend your time now? Watching Will paint?" Troy didn't move, merely pouting, tapping his foot up and down, "I don't get what's so great about his paintings, I could paint like that if I wanted to."

Clenching his jaw, Mike forced himself to remain calm, "Then why don't you do that and leave me alone?"

Troy chuckled, his grin wide, leaning closer, "No can do! It's fun to watch you get so angry like this, but seriously though, at this rate he isn't going to qualify."

"Qualify?" Mike furrowed his brows, what was Troy blabbering about now?

"You don't know? And here I thought u were crazy for him." Troy seemed genuinely surprised but masked it with his usual smile, "He has his art showcase on Friday, each school chooses one student to show their art throughout the years, but lately his art has been getting worse. My sister said he might not qualify at this rate."

"Is this fun for you?" Mike raised an eyebrow, turning to Troy,

"What's fun about it? You only talk to me when it's about Will..." The bully put on a fake pout,

The ravenette opened his mouth, ready to say something but while distracted by Troy's antics, he hadn't even noticed that the art club had packed up for the day and that Will was no longer in his spot. Mike stood up from the bleachers, scanning around, seeing the brunette with his bag slung over his shoulders, his blazer in the other. "Will!" he called out.

Will paused for a second, watching the pair next to each other once more; for a second it seemed like he might respond, but instead, he simply cast a glance, meeting Mike's eyes for the briefest moment before turning away and continuing to walk off in his direction,

"Not this again." Mike muttered to himself, grabbing his backpack, rushing to Will's side as Troy shouted for the ravenette like a child not getting attention.

"Will wait!" Mike jogged over, closing the distance between them.

[Entering the Love Supremacy Zone]

The message appeared in the ravenette's sights as he grabbed the brunette's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "Hey Will! Why are you ignoring me?" Mike said, somewhat pouty.

"Did you watch me the whole time?" Will slunk away from the hand, hiding his blazer behind his back.

"What?" Mike asked, noticing the state of the blazer but not mentioning it.

"I told you not to watch me paint," Will whispered.

"Well you're still sick and the doctor told you to rest at home, but you're here so I will keep an eye on you," Mike smiled, proud of himself for that answer.

"I don't want anyone to watch me paint." His eyes downcast, looking at his torn shoes with a sullen expression,

Mike paused for a second, stepping closer, his heart heavy, "I just like watching you paint, I don't care what the result is,"

Will clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening, but his expression didn't change, "I know..." he said, his voice a quiet peep; barely strong enough, "I know that but I..." he repeated, but couldn't finish his sentence, almost as if his words were too much to carry; they couldn't leave his tongue. With a shaky breath, Will's voice cracked, "See you tomorrow, Mike," he shook his head, unable to finish his sentence, walking past the ravenette.

Mike stood still, following the brunette with his eyes, a message window appearing before his face again,

[Calculating Fondness...]

Mike sighed, why isn't it loading?

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1426 Words

Double upload :)

Stay Safe <3