Chapter Nine
Can We?

"Mike?" Scotty tried to hide the shock in his voice at the sight of the boy standing on his doorstep. Mike looked anxious, his hair was disheveled and his cheeks were flushed. His breathed was labored and his bike laid discarded near Scotty's mailbox, haphazardly tossed to the ground.

"Hi..." He breathed out, an awkward silence looming in the air for a moment. Neither of them knowing what to say. "Can.. uh, can we talk?"

Scotty glanced behind him, to his mom and dad who were cooking in the kitchen. He paused for a moment, staring at Mike. Part of him wanted to slam the door in his face. While the other part of him, a much bigger part, wanted to hear him out. He listened to the bigger part.

"Okay," Scotty said, stepping outside onto his porch and closing his front door behind him. He crossed his arms, leaning against his door. Another moment passed with the only sound being the wind howling around them. He rose his eyebrows, waving his hand towards Mike in an indication to say something. Mike blinked slowly, eyes darting and focusing on anything but Scotty. "Well?"

"Well?" Mike repeated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other anxiously. He not-so-subtly wiped his sweaty palms on the fabric of his pants, eyes finally focusing on Scotty.

"You wanted to talk." Scotty's voice was cold and unforgiving, Mike to visibly winced. Scotty almost felt bad. Almost. Until he remembered how Mike had spoken to him the past few days, how he'd left him alone in his living room on Halloween, leaving him to have such a massive panic attack that he'd hallucinated coughing up a flower. Scotty wondered if Mike even deserved to have Scotty hear him out. He settled on he didn't, but Scotty loved Mike, as a best friend before anything else. As someone who's been in his life for years, not as anything else. Even if he didn't deserve it, Scotty would hear him out. "So, talk."

"Right, uh." Mike cleared his throat, growing more and more uncomfortable under Scotty's intense stare. His charcoal eyes stared holes into Mike's face, quite the opposite of the usual comforting warmth they held within them. "I've been unfair to you... but I just... I miss her and-"

Scotty scoffed, rolling his eyes and pushing himself off of the door. "Yeah. I know, Mike. I miss her too. We all fucking miss her."

Scotty turned to enter his house, his heart skipping a beat when he felt Mike's hand grab his own. Scotty gulped, turning his head to look back to Mike. "Mike.."

His voice was barely above a whisper, Mike almost didn't hear him. At the sound of his name rolling from Scotty's tongue, Mike gulped and took a step back. He squared his shoulders and straightened his back before he continued.

"I know." Mike said quickly, his voice raising in panic. "I know! But.. just- okay, just. Listen. Please."

Scotty sighed, turning so that he was fully facing Mike. "Fine."

Another round of silence fell over the pair. Emotions swirled in Mike's eyes, ones that Scotty couldn't quite pinpoint. Embarrassment, maybe?

"I shouldn't have done what I did on Halloween." Mike spoke quickly, his voice low. His eyes glanced around him, afraid someone would overhear. Scotty swallowed, wincing as a burning pain spread through his lungs and throat. It passed just as quickly as it came. "It was wrong."

Wrong?

"What? Because I'm a guy?" Scotty didn't even mean to say it, the words tumbling out before he could think.

Mike looked taken aback, his brows furrowing. His jaw opening and closing as he struggled to think of a response. Scotty stood in front of him, not moving with regret and anxiety pulsating through his veins.

Just can't keep your damn mouth shut. he scolded himself. Mike must know now. How could he not? Mike wasn't dumb. He may be stupid, but he wasn't dumb.

"No." Mike finally said, though his voice crumbled, leading Scotty to believe he didn't mean it. Though, he hoped it did. "No.. Not because- because.. Not because you're a guy. That's- it's bullshit, you know? That doesn't matter."

Scotty could scream in relief, but Mike had to continue. "Because you're my best friend."

The burning was back again, leaving just as quickly as it came. Best friend. Of fucking course. Scotty hated that his heart stung whenever Mike uttered those words, or when he spoke about Eleven.

He was angry at himself for that. It's not like it was Eleven's fault, she was an angel to Scotty. She'd stuck gum in a girl's hair, one that was teasing Scotty for his race. She'd been on his side, cared for him. She would talk to him when Scotty couldn't sleep, quietly as to not wake the other boys sleeping soundly in the basement.

Scotty missed Eleven too. He did, really, he did. But all he wanted was for Mike to stop fucking talking about her.

He had no right to be angry when her name was mentioned. He just couldn't help it. It wasn't even her name that got him riled up, it was that it was usually uttered by Mike and preceded by I miss. That's what hurt. Because she was gone, and Scotty was right fucking there. He was right in front of him. If only Mike could see that.

"Best friend?" Scotty repeated, disbelief lacing his tone. Scotty shook his head, a quiet scoff leaving his lips. "That's why it was wrong?"

"Ye-No. I mean, yeah? Because I betrayed your trust?" Mike offered, confusion swirling in his eyes. "Eleven's trust?"

"Bullshit!" Scotty snapped, pointing at Mike, pressing his finger against his chest. "Bullshit. You know it."

"What?" Mike's eyes narrowed, shaking his head to himself. "What are you talking about?"

Scotty hesitated, popping his fingers by his side and tilting his head. "Doesn't matter. Look, if you came to repeat the same BS you spewed at me that night, you might as well go home."

"Wait." Mike's words came to a halt, his voice seeming to catch in his throat as he searched Scotty's face for a sign.

Though, he didn't know what sign he was looking for. Hell, he didn't even know why he was looking. But he was, and he didn't find one.

"I'm sorry." Mike said finally, eyes turned down to his feet. "I-I was an asshole. I treated you badly because.. because of something I did, something I shouldn't have done. Something that I promise, I promise you, that I will never do again."

Scotty gulped, the burning in his chest remaining for a moments longer this time. never?

"Okay," Scotty nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Mike repeated, "Okay? Is that it? Can-Can we.. Are we cool? Can we be cool?"

"Okay," Scotty nodded, clearing his throat and forcing himself to keep his eyes on Mike's, rather than trailing down to his lips. "We're cool."

"We're cool?" Mike repeated, wanting to hear it just one more time to settle his mind. A sigh of relief falling from his lips as Scotty nodded, repeating it for the boy.

"Yeah, Mike." Scotty said, pulling him in for a hug. "We're cool."

~~

a/n:not to shamelessly self plug but i dropped a nancy fic and i will kiss every single one of you if you check it out <3