WILL POV-

As Will arrived at the riverside, his thoughts spiralled swirling with a mix of anticipation and suspense. His boyfriend would usually only do things like this to be romantic, and even with the ominous words from earlier the brunette hoped he was just overthinking. It wasn't like he did anything bad, but what if he did? Jittery, his mind swirled with the possibility of the conversation.

After a few minutes of kicking rocks and an existential crisis, the ravenette finally appeared beside him; his steps hesitant yet determined. As he drew close, a tense silence settled between them, the only sound was the faint rustling of leaves. Will saw the unreadable expression on Mike's face; whatever this conversation was, it wasn't going to be pretty, was it?

"So..." Mike began, his voice steady yet determined, "We need to talk!"

The brunette's heart sank at the words, bracing himself for whatever Mike was about to say next; did the ravenette want to break up? No, surely not, right? They have been doing so good and they had common interests and... and they lived together. Mike wouldn't throw that all away, right? His heart skipped a beat; all his insecurities and self-doubts flooding his mind; the thought of losing Mike shook him to his core.

"Is something wrong?" The brunette questioned, his voice trembling with uncertainty.

The ravenette took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. He looked into Will's eyes with a mixture of emotions, his gaze filled with both understanding and resolve.

"I wanted to talk to you about the things you've been doing!" Mike said, his voice firm. "You murdered those people, haven't you?"

"What, no!" the brunette quickly took a step back shaking his hands around; how would he even know about this except for... the letter. He expected the conversation to be about the relationship, but this revelation was, far, far worse. "You... You're not gonna turn me in, right?" he stammered, his voice shaky.

The small boy expected to hear sirens, anger, cruel words or even an entire SWAT team to appear out of nowhere. He knew he hurt people and crossed the line, but... a part of him understood that. In a brief moment, all the fear and urgency he felt disappeared; whispering "I understand if you want to turn me in..." Will admitted, knowing how weird it must be for your boyfriend to be an active murderer.

The ravenette's expression softened as he looked into Will's green eyes; the understanding and pain visible. He could tell the brunette was only pretending to be confident in a moment like this; he knew all about Will's past so he... understood why he would kill bad people. He spoke, his voice stern yet soft, "Will..."

The brunette held his wrists out, almost as though he was ready for the police to arrive and place the handcuffs on him.

"I'm not turning you in, Teacup!" Mike chuckled, "I know you had good intentions but you're getting confused with justice and revenge."

"I know..." Will muttered, his heartbeat slowly beginning to settle. The relief spreading through his body... but if Mike didn't want to turn him in then what was the point of bringing up this conversation? He hadn't expected this type of reaction from Mike who was very strict about legality. The weight of the situation slightly lifted from his shoulders. "I know I've done bad things... but I only did it to make a difference; to protect others... but I ended up just as bad as them."

The ravenette reached out, gently grasping Will's hand in his own, his touch gentle and reassuring. "What? No! You're not a bad person!"

Relief washed over the small boy letting out a shaky breath, "Then what are you saying?"

Mike looked over, his voice soft, "All I'm saying is what you're doing is wrong... you can't continue down this path, Teacup; it's illegal!"

Will furrowed his brows in contemplation, "But... I was just trying to help."

"I know Teacup, I know!" the ravenette gently smiled, reassuringly.

The brunette pondered for a moment until he spoke, "I've already made up my mind and I'm not gonna continue any murder!" he understood the importance as his shoulders sagged with a mix of relief and guilt. His voice trembled as he spoke, worrying Mike's reaction would be to this whole ordeal, would he break up with him? "I know that I've done bad things but that doesn't define me as a person, and I understand if you... Want to break up with me," rambling as the words flew out this mouth; whispering as the sentence came to an end.

The brunette's heart sank at the words he uttered, fearing his decision to tell the whole truth of the murders would be too much for their relationship to bear. He braced himself for Mike's response, prepared for the possibility their love would be shattered.

But instead of confirming his fears, the ravenette's eyes softened with affection and determination, reaching out to gently cup Will's cheeks, his thumb brushing a stray tear. "Teacup, I could never break up with you!" Mike said firmly, his voice filled with sincerity. "You're the person I love; I don't care what you've done in your past. We've been through so much and I won't tell anyone about the murders."

"But that could put you in danger!" Will mumbled

The ravenette softly chuckled, "You're worried about me? I can protect myself!"

"I know but..." The brunette argued quiet.

"Shh- I'll be fine!" The tall boy cut off.

The brunette's heart swelled with an overwhelming sense of love. He excepted a whole onslaught of powerful negative emotions, but Mike's unwavering support and devotion filled him with hope. Suddenly, he wrapped both arms around the tall boy, "Thank you Bebs!" Will whispered

Mike held him close, their bodies pressed together; lightly stroking the brunette's hair; it reaffirmed their connection...

Will was loved... he really was. 

"What's that?" the brunette opened his eyes noticing a suspicious floating object in the water, almost as though someone had thrown it in. The pair let go of one another, as the small boy scrunched his face taking a step forward.

"I have no clue!" The ravenette furrowed his brows.

The unease within Will reached its precipice, he couldn't let this type of thing go; he always knew the bad of this type of thing. People always try to get rid of evidence in this way and even though it could be nothing, it was always worth to check it out. "Pass me that stick!" Will demanded from his boyfriend, pointing to a large branch off to the side.

"Yeah of course!" Mike scampered around to pick the abnormally large branch handing it over.

The brunette breathed deep, fighting against the resistance from the water, stretching his arms toward the river, reaching for the elusive case. Barely, he managed to pull the case in closer to him; almost losing grip of it. He held his breath anxiously as the suitcase slowly floated toward him.

Finally, with a surge, the suitcase arrived to dry land, hoping whatever was inside wasn't horrible; perhaps it could really be just some old papers or discarded toys. Hesitantly, he unzipped the suitcase, peaking inside to see... a child?

Will's eyes softened at the sight; it was clear the child was alive but... who could do such a thing? Slowly, he picked up the child who was fast-asleep, as Mike took off his thin windbreaker wrapping it around the young boy; no older then 5 years old.

With a sigh, the brunette exchanged a glance with the ravenette, they didn't know what to do... But Will knew one thing; they had to alert the police or the hospital of this. "Call the police!" The brunette uttered to his boyfriend holding the young boy in his hands with a slight frown; he couldn't bear to the see the little boy shivering and cold and needed to get him to a warm, safe environment; they thought of one place... Scoops Ahoy!

As Mike retold the events to the operator on the other side of the phone, the pair carefully carried the little boy back to Scoops Ahoy, their minds racing with anticipation and lingering anger toward whoever did this. They knew this was a callous act by a heinous individual.

As they rushed into the parlour, Robin watched the pair, a confused and concerned look on her face, "What the hell are you doing? Its closing time!" she shouted wiping a table. "And who's child is that?"

Planting the child down on one of the plush seats swaddling him with the jackets, the brunette sighed, "We found him in the river in a suitcase!"

"WHAT?" the blue-eyed girl's eyes narrowed, her voice alerting her friends in the back.

"What happened?" Steve questioned, running to the counter from the storeroom.

"Is that a child?" Erica followed close behind, pointing at the little boy on the couch.

After explaining the whole situation, the trio grew more angry; eager to help. Even though Will, Steve, Erica and Robin had initially planned to give up their pursuit of hunting vile people a mere hour ago, the discovery of 'the boy in the suitcase' reignited their desire for justice; all bubbling to be the first to say something.

The group huddled together; the tension palpable. "We can't let this go!" Robin declared, her voice filled with anger, "Whoever did this needs to face the consequences!"

The youthful girl nodded in agreement; a hand placed on her hip with fierce determination, "I will kill whoever did that!" she seethed with anger.

"We'll find out who did this and find the truth!" Steve chimed in; his usual laid-back demeanour replaced by a sense of purpose.

Will looked at his friends then his boyfriend, their unwavering support and admiration gave him renewed strength to continue, "I'm with you guys!" He said, his voice steady as he passed a small glance at the young, abandoned boy on the couch; empathy filling his every pore.

But it was Mike's words that really surprised all of them. He took a deep breath, his eyes locked with Will's making a declaration that took them off guard, "I want to help!" He said firmly interlocking fingers with the brunette.

Will smiled and nodded touched by the ravenette's commitment; he knew Mike's decision came from a place of sympathy and desire of loyalty to stand up to what was wrong

With the group now all on the same page, they huddled around the table, aiming to gather evidence and bring pain to the people who did such a thing to the defenceless little boy.

Mike squeezed Will's hand, "So where do we begin?" 

----THE END----

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1906 Words

I apologise but this is the last chapter! I am never good at ending stories, Sorry <3

I guess there is nothing left for me to say for this book; Its honestly like the end of an era! And I just realised I didn't have the 'B' in 'Byler' capitalised in the title lol.

I will be back eventually with another book; the plot, cover, and vibes have already been established! All I need to do now is write the darn thing LOL. I shall only spoil the name; 'Road Rage'

Anyways I hope everyone has enjoyed this book, and check out my other books; maybe you'll find your new fave

AND THANK YOU DEAR READER FOR GETTING THIS FAR!!!

Love you all, and as always

Stay Safe <3