WILL POV-

Looking up at the restaurant standing before his eyes seeing couples wearing expensive items of clothing draping themselves over the arms of their beloved, Will watched on, hoping one day he could have that; hanging his head low. Walking a few inches behind the raven-haired boy struggling to take large steps due to his tight jeans he opened the door; Mike grinning excited to have this date. Will adjusted his pants awkwardly jumping to the reception seating area; leaning against an empty wall.

He analysed Mike talking to the man at the front desk, rolling his eyes chuckling that the taller boy had worn a turtleneck to go Strawberry picking; eyeing him up and down focusing his eyes on his physique.

"Nope! Nope! Nope! Will! That's your teacher" Will muttered under his breath; scrunching his nose placing a hand on his face.

"Come on Will! Our table's ready" The ravenette raised his voice, waving his arms around. Will tilted his head, both thumbs up in affirmation, following the to the third floor, a table view overlooking the city, the prospect of an official date hit Will. He wasn't prepared for this as Mike stood behind to tuck his chair in, Will's heart fluttered from the gesture, but sunk it down; forcing himself not to get attached, thanking the taller boy. Will took off his hoodie laying it on the back of the chair revealing his plain white tee, scanning the area seeing couples fill the scene feeding each other with unnecessary acts of PDA, sticking his tongue out in disgust,

A man in a fancy suit walked over to them exchanging a cheerful greeting, briefly speaking as the waiters brought the food. Will scrunched his eyes, wanting to ask a question, wanting to ask why they are being served if they haven't even ordered yet, but decided to stay quiet allowing Mike to do all the chatter

"It's the chef's special for the night!" The manager flew his hands over the food walking away

"We didn't even order" Will leaned forward whispering

"Don't worry" Mike giggled

"This is what I usually get, I wanted you to try it" he added bashfully, Will raised his eyebrows surprised; looking down at the food

"Mmm! Its looks really good doesn't it" Will smiled intaking the aroma of the food presented to him

"You must come here often; everyone seems to know you. Maybe with a previous girlfriend?" Will mocked pointing his fork at the ravenette

"Not often, but yes they do know me" Mike nodded, wafting the smoke of the food out the way

"Oh... what do you mean?" Will furrowed his brows visibly confused

"My mum owns this restaurant" Mike confessed

"Mrs Wheeler??" Will questioned, eyes widening

"Yep, she has many restaurants, that's why we have so much money" Mike admitted, an unchanging expression on his face

"Well, that does explain why your mum is such a good cook! Is she here right now?" Will enthusiastically asked

"If she was, she'd probably join our date" Mike joked, taking a bite of his food

"So, you've actually never brought any of your friends here?" The chestnut-haired boy mocked

"I don't have any friends, except for Lucas" Mike replied

"Oh... Why's that?" Will leaned an elbow on the table

"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself." Mike confidently recited, Will scrunched his eyes racking his thoughts as the saying sounded familiar. Knowing it was a quote, not something to naturally flow into conversation. A lightbulb blew up in his head

"Are you quoting Jane Eyre?" Will smiled lifting his fork to his lips

"You've read Jane Eyre?" Mike smiled

"Of course! It's a fascinating read" Will admitted

"I know right! Many people don't like the book, calling Jane dull or plain but she is anything but that; especially the way that it was progressive by 1800's standard, down to the end of the novel the way Jane said 'Reader, I married him'. A bold choice conveying that she was the one who choose to marry him not the other way around, I also find it fascinating how Bronte (The author) had to present herself due to patriarchy at the time and also..." The words flew out of his mouth gliding like a lecture in university, although Will expected none less from his English professor, placing his knife and fork down smiling at the ravenette lost in his own mind before abruptly stopping

"Sorry! I'm rambling about work talk on a date, I used to teach Jane Eyre in my classes" Mike apologised scratching the back of his neck

"No! I love listening about everything book related" Will smiled tenderly, genuinely telling the truth

"Well, we should probably eat before the food gets cold" Mike suggested pointing at the food prompting both to dig in. However, Will felt uncomfortable the whole time, struggling to even finish his plate glancing at Mike who ate every last drop off of his; it felt as if his waist was being crushed by the belt of his pants, his thighs were uncomfortable not used to this level of skinny jeans. Shuffling in his seat, hearing a sound from below him.

RIP...

His eyes widened in horror hearing the sound praying it's not what he thought it was, planting his butt firmly on the chair knowing that avoiding the problem wouldn't help him. Taking a deep breath standing up.

"Please excuse me for one second" Will attempted to smile stumbling to the bathroom, the jeans cutting circulation to his legs, locking the door behind him hiding in a stall. He unbuckled his belt feeling instant relief hoping the hole in his jeans wasn't that bad.

"Oh no! Oh no!" He cursed under his breath, it was worse than he thought, the hole stretched from the crotch area upwards a few inches, there was no way in hell he was going to be able to hide this.

"Did I gain weight in one day? How could this happen" He whined, searching up hacks online, scrolling through many but none were helpful in that moment, most required a needle and thread or hot glue at the very least. Frustrated he let out a sigh

"What do I do?" He jumped up and down. Multiple minutes passed and he was in no better position than he was in before; clicking his fingers coming up with an idea to just cover it with his hoodie but reality sets in... he left it on his seat. He hit his head on the stall door hearing a small knocking sound from the other side

"Is everything alright in there?" Mike asked in a gentle tone

"Just peachy" he replied being as convincing as possible

"It sounds like your panicking" Mike remarked leaning his figure on the outside of the stall

"I can assure you I am not panicking" Will responded cockily

"Okay what happened?" Mike calmly asked

"Just a wardrobe malfunction" Will muttered only loud enough for him to hear, Mike remained quiet for a moment digesting the situation knowing exactly what had happened, bursting out with laughter

"It's not funny Mike" Will lowered his voice embarrassed

"It's not, I swear! Just wait here for a moment" Mike struggled through laughter; leaving the smaller boy alone in the bathroom, a draft approaching him from the door, the hair on his arms stood on end waiting. Hearing the clanging of the bathroom door swing open hoping it was Mike returning.

"Here... Umm use this" Mike spoke passing a plastic bag under the door of the stall

"Thanks Mike" Will graciously accepted the bag snatching it from the hand of the taller male

"Take your time and come back to the table..." Mike softly spoke leaving the bathroom. Prompting Will to open the bag containing a pair of black sweatpants and wearing them, it was a size too large for him, it wasn't perfect, but it would do for now; just happy to be out of those skinny jeans that had left lines into his skin, unlocking the stall door looking both ways hoping no one thought he had just been In the bathroom for over twenty minutes. Taking a deep breath catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror moving a strand from his wig out his eyes; he walked back to where Mike had sat, now with a clean table.

"Oh, are we going?" Will furrowed his brows walking back to the table plastic bag in hand, sitting down; feeling relief from the comfort of the sweatpants

"No dumb-dumb! It's time for anniversary cake, my mum baked it earlier especially for you" Mike joked strolling over raising a hand for the smaller to accept hoisting him up, as a waiter brought the cake, Mike stood a few inches behind Will blowing the candle at the same time. The couples surrounding clapped although some shot disgusted glances at the fact of two boys celebrating. Mike ran back to his seat pulling out a small box containing a necklace shaped like a skull, placing it around Will's neck careful not to get stuck in his hair.

The chestnut-haired boy was handed a bouquet, gripping it close to his chest feeling Mike's presence behind him being urged to take a picture by the waiter

---- 11:23 PM ----

The pair finished their date, Mike carrying the bags of the smaller boy. Leaving Will to only carry his flowers

"I've never heard pants rip that loudly" Mike struggled through laughter

"You heard it?" Will's eyes widened walking beside the ravenette

"We all heard it" Mike chuckled, Will pouted stopping dead in his tracks

"You try wearing skinny jeans" He huffed, raising a fist; stomping to the car, Mike only chuckled allowing both of them to enter the car in silence; throwing Will's stuff into the back including the bouquet, Will smiled bright thinking about the whole day. Turning the key into the ignition backing out the parking lot, Mike drove for many blocks with miscellaneous chatter

"If all dates are like this, it was worth the wait" Will blurted,

"Well, if you become my boyfriend, we could have dates like this all the time" Mike smirked keeping both eyes on the road

"Calm down there Macho-Man, remember these are just persuasion dates" Will rolled his eyes playfully

"I still have two more dates to make you fall for me" The ravenette confidently proclaimed

"We'll see about that" Will muttered under his breath keeping both eyes on the trees outside his window, his gut sinking every time Mike did something for him, his web of lies more wafted affecting his whole body feeling his body temperature rise. Heat spikes hit his body making him uncomfortable, palms sweat, and his wig feel itchy, he had been wearing it the whole day and not used to it for that long had some effects on him. He needed out this car, he needed fresh air, just away from Mike, He breathed deep collecting himself

"I umm... I just want to be dropped off here" Shaking his head, the chestnut-haired boy explained

"Why? Your house isn't for another few blocks" Mike explained

"Oh but..." Will attempted to find an excuse "My curfew was at 11, I need to sneak in, can't do that if you drive to the door" he awkwardly giggled hoping Mike would accept the excuse

"Ummmm okay" Mike stretched his words, confused that a grown boy would have a curfew but agreeing regardless, driving to the sidewalk under the bright streetlamps. Will popped out the car unbuckling his seatbelt, smiling bright

"Till next time Mike" Will politely waved, walking away from the car seeing the ravenette wave back a massive grin plastered on his face, looking back periodically seeing if Mike's car was still there. Turning the corner disappearing from Mike's line of sight he strutted down the road counting the cars that passed, his head feeling itchy removing the Wig and the wig-cap from his head shaking his hair allowing his bowlcut to breathe and taking the gaudy rings off his fingers seeing his house come into view, checking his pockets dropping his keys noticing the garbage can knocked over, he sighed walking over under the street lamp to adjust it back to normal, stopping when his phone rang unexpectedly

"Hello?" Will answered the call hearing no noise from the other side

MIKE POV-

Mike sat in the car confused by Will's action, seeing the small boy trot into the distance he began overthinking. Did the smaller boy find him weird for crushing on him? Would Will treat him differently now? When Will gave the excuse to leave the car the ravenette didn't fully believe it; feeling superficial as if thought of on the spot. He shook his head, needing a way to apologise if he had done something wrong, looking through the rear-view mirror eyes landing on the bouquet and strawberry bucket, Will had accidentally left them to Mike's luck; starting the car estimating the route Will would have taken to his house waiting across the street,

Scanning the area, under the porch a boy appeared to be the same height and build as Will but obstructed by the darkness, suddenly turning around to fix a trashcan that was knocked over,

"Byers? But what is he doing outside of Will's house?" Mike mumbled

He had the same clothes as the boy he had just been on a date with, but his hair a bowlcut instead of a mullet, they couldn't be the same person, right? Mike knew something was not right; taking a closer look by stepping out his car taking out his phone; zooming in to the boy on the camera snapping a few photos seeing the same necklace he had just given as an anniversary gift. This was definitely Will, the boy he had just been on a date with, there was no mistaking it, squinting noticing a long stringy wig in his hands. Mike is taken aback sifting through the wallet that was left in the ripped jeans of the hazel eyed boy

'WILLIAM JACOB BYERS'

The name written in bold lettering on the ID along with a clear photo of the aspiring young writer from his English lecture, Mike stepped back dropping the bouquet of flowers and wallet on the ground; using his phone dialling the number of his crush, the boy in front stopped to answer the phone. He wanted to not believe it for it to be some sort of great coincidence, but the evidence was overwhelming, this was the same Will.

"Hello?" He heard from the other side; Mike had no idea how to feel instead hanging up; just getting in the car driving to his house with a lot on his mind. The boy he had been crushing on is the same one he'd been teaching for the past week, Mike felt lied to. He needed justice for Byers's bad actions

He needed revenge. 

----------------------------------------------------------

2518 Words

Look at me using my GCSE English Lit knowledge

Stay Safe <3