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“How far to the closest motel?”
My eyes fluttered open, the California desert coming into view. “Sorry. What?” Jonathon chuckled, his eyes sparkling in the mirror, he looked very tired. “Is there any motels near us?” He said, emphasizing on the motels part.
”Oh, uh..” I reached over Will’s lap, grabbing the map that was crinkled around the edges. I blushed a bit when my finger brushed against the sleeping boy’s leg—I’m so fucked—even though I didn’t want to admit it. My finger traced down the map, ‘Sammy’s Sleep Well Motel.’
“Take the next exit.” He thumbed-up from the front seat, driving a couple hundred meters and turning left onto the first exit. I turned back to the window, my eyes landing on the slowly increasing trees that zipped past the car. My mind wondered. It wandered to Will.
His hazel eyes shining at me, swooping brown hair, Jesus fucking criminey. I wish I didn’t think this stuff, and at that my head flew forward against the window as Jonathon slammed the brakes. “What the hell?!” I screeched rubbing my forehead.
”Sorry! Sorry, dude.” That stoned dude—Arnold maybe(?)—groaned from the passenger seat. “Where are we?” I turned immediately, my eyes landing on Will. He was rubbing his eyes, his hair all messed up and sweet-looking. I swear to god my heart actually fell out of my ass.
“We-we had to stop at a motel. It’s late.” My eyes dropped down and then up again, accidentally stuttering. “Couldn’t..couldn’t I..just drive, Jonathon?” Jon dropped the keys in the cup holder, fixing his hair in the rearview mirror. “Nah, I’m sure you’re tired. It probably won’t cost too much.”
“You sure?” He nodded, “I’ll be back.” I jumped when the car door slammed, an akward silence hung in the air. “Hey, Will, could you hand me my joint?”
“Really, Argyle,” Oh that was his name. “you think weed’s a good idea right now?” More silence. “Uh..I mean..yeah?” Will sighed, then reached into the trunk, pulling out a long blue joint, his fingers curled around the base. “Thanks, man.”
“Alright, so, the lady said that they have two rooms left. But, they only have one bed for each. So..like.” My stomach dropped, “So then you and Will, and me and Wheeler?” I heard Argyle ask groggily from the front seat. I craned my neck to look at him, his blood-shot eyes looking around in confusion. “No. No. Like me and you, and Will and Mike.”
My cheeks felt like someone had lit them on fire. I could feel the warmth radiating off of me. “Is that cool?” Jonathon asked, snapping me out of the hypnotic state I was in. “Yeah, yeah that’s, that’s cool.” He nodded, not taking his eyes off me.
I opened the car door, my feet had fallen asleep so I limped the whole time. The stars were so bright out here, much brighter than Hawkins. They were so beautiful, each one shiny and differently colored. I could make out a few constellations, the Big Dipper, and Orion.
I found myself looking at Will, he was also looking up at the stars, as we waited for Jonathon and Argyle to grab something from the van.
His hair blew gently in the wind, I could just make out the mole on his neck, my stomach backfliped as the urge to push a piece of hair out of his eyes stomped through my thoughts. “Shit.”
”Huh? Did you say something Mike?” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I’m so fucked. “Oh nothing, just talking to myself.” I fidgeted with my shirt sleeve. “What you talkin’ bout?” He tilted his head to the side a bit, framing it perfectly with the light from the motel sign in the background.
”uh..” Think Mike oh my god! Think! “How pretty the stars are tonight.” The uncertainty was crystal clear in my voice. “They are pretty gorgeous aren’t they?” He lifted his chin, pointing his eyes towards the stars. “Yeah, they’re..they’re gorgeous.”
Jesus man! I gave myself a mental slap, looking back up at the stars. “Ok come on guys.” Thank you so much Jonathan. I followed the group into the motel, the lobby was really dingy. It smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. A lady in a pink shirt, sipping on some substance sat at the counter, she didn’t even look up when we walked in. I sat down on one of the couches, pushing my palms over my eyes.
I heard random words spew from Jonathan occasionally, a couple of key noises, and some labored coughs. “Mike.” I jolted up, being met with Will’s face. “Oh sorry.” He jangled a silver key in front of my face, the numbers ‘101’ engraved into the head. “Come one I want to shower.”
The motel room definitely was not any better, there was a queen sized bed plopped in the middle. The pillows had stains all over them, as well as the blankets. The walls had two holes in them, one on either side of the room. There was some underwear hanging on the desk chair, and two socks laying in the bath tub. It smelled like weed and nicotine.
Will groaned. “Ugh.” I shrugged, setting my bag down on the floor. “God..it smells like your brother’s friend in here.” I looked up and we locked eyes, looking away almost immediately. “Argyle?”
“Oh yeah that was his name.” My cheeks burned. “I keep forgetting it..” he giggled, and I already knew I’d be replaying that giggle in my head for the rest of the night. “Ok I’m gonna go take a shower. See you in a bit.” He winked at me, and then shut the bathroom door.
“Oh jeez..” I sat down on the bed, letting me head fall onto the pillow. I threw my shoes against the wall, a sharp grunt following. “Hey man! Stop that!” A voice called from..the room next door? I don’t know. “Sorry..” I let my eyes close, let myself drift away into the ocean that was my thoughts.
Everything seemed so small around me, like I was getting farther from it all. The vibrations in my heart felt like waves tossing me up and down. It was honestly soothing, and I laid there a soft smile painted across my face. I don’t know for how long, but it was long enough to where I was almost asleep.
“Hey..hey, hey Mike? Are you awake?” A familiar voice asked, like a lifeguard pulling me back to shore. I grabbed onto the float, letting myself be carried back. “Yeah..yeah I’m awake.” I sat up lightly, and there he was.
He was wearing a shirt that-coincidentally enough-had the words “California Lifeguard Academy” printed in bold italics. I figured he might’ve gotten a job at some pool or something over the summer. His brown hair was wet and dripping down his neck, he was wearing blue boxers and some type of yellow undershirt. The sleeves were rolled up and he looked like he’d just gotten done painting.
“Are you going to go take a shower?” My eyes snapped up and down and then up again and my eyebrows practically touched the ceiling. “Y-yeah. Sorry..I’m beat.” He chuckled and walked over to the other side of the bed. Flopping down on the dirty comforter.
I turned the knob, letting the warm water wash away all the grime and heat of California. I listened to the sound of the water hitting the curtain for a while, just wanting to delay the inevitable for as long as I could. I scrubbed my scalp as slowly as possible, and took extra long brushing my teeth.
I don’t know why I was doing this, it’s not like I was nervous or anything…I don’t know. And I still don’t know, as I slide my t-shirt over my wet hair, splashing cold water on my face to snap me out of this shit show that my brain has front row seats to. Opening the bathroom door as carefully as possible, and audibly swearing when my toe hit the desk in the darkened room.
Light rustling sounded from the bed—where ever that was—“Why were you in the shower for so long?” Shitttt… “I was just..it was really nice in that shower.” His silhouette seemed to shrug, and he laid back down. I rubbed my toe, which actually had a heartbeat, and limped to the bed.
I don’t really know what time it was when I laid down, but I know that I couldn’t get any sleep with William Byers right next to me, in a warm bed, in a dark room, alone. I was so conscious of my body and where or how I was laying, it was so difficult to relax.
I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, the numbers read: 3:02AM. God, another sleepless night I guess. I turned over, my eyes scanning over Will’s back, trying to find some sign that he was awake. When I got an idea.
“Will? Are you awake?” He rubbed his eyes, not turning to face me. “Yeah.” I felt my cheeks light up. “Uhh..you wanna go get high?” He sat up immediately, turning on the lamp, and staring at me, with dark eye bags—which might I say, I really would’ve liked to kiss those. That sounded kinda creepy, but I really do.
“What?” I propped my head up on my elbow, smirking. “Do you wanna go smoke some weed? I can’t sleep, you can’t sleep, when are we ever going to be able to do this again?” This was an obvious decision, no, of course there’d be more chances. He sat there, staring at me, for beats that felt to long just to be accidental.
I wanted to look away, I really did, it just..it didn’t seem like something that would’ve made sense. He sighed, and then slid off the bed, “Come on.” I jumped up, slipping on my shoes and practically jumping out the door.
I watched as he silently crept down the hall, knocking on Jonathan’s door. I heard soft talking and I saw Jon nod his head. He disappeared for a second and then handed Will the car keys. Will thanked him and then gave me a thumbs up.
We walked through the dark parking lot, unlocking the car and grabbing the joint..Alex..yeah that sounds right, the one he’d smoked earlier. We also grabbed a lighter, and my watch which my ass had sat on for 16 hours.
We sat on the porch of the motel, leaning over the railing that overlooked the road. He handed me the joint and the lighter, giving me a thoughtful smile then settling his head on his hands. I struggled with the light, but eventually managed to get a steady flame going, holding it to the base of the joint.
When I inhaled, everything went purple, then pink, then normal again. It was the most disgusting thing ever, it tasted like..like genuine shit. Like Lucas had just shit in a bag and then served it to me with a side of gasoline. I laughed at that thought, which turned into a cough.
“Man..this is poetic don’t you think?” I handed the joint to him, and heard him inhale. “What do you mean?” I looked at him, and for some reason I really just wanted to let everything out. But I didn’t.
“I don’t know I just..I’ve missed you is what I’m saying..” he smiled at me, then looked away, I saw red stars dust over his cheeks. He handed the joint back to me, clearing his throat awkwardly. I inhaled and the same thing happened, but this time I inhaled longer. It hit me like a ton of bricks.
I felt a little woozy, and I could practically feel my eyelids drooping. For some reason, this just made me want to kiss Will even more. “You know..you’re pretty cute..” I said, my speech slurring, and my head dipping. I blinked slowly at him, his face turned red and I giggled.
I inhaled through the joint again, even longer than before, my head almost fell off my neck I swear to god. “Mike..please don’t say that..you don’t mean it.” I looked at him again, my eyes landing on his lips, which were pulled into a sad look. “But..but I do..”
I lurched forward and booped his nose, what the fuck was I doing? It was like my arms were doing before my brain could even begin. He frowned again, looking away, and rubbing his nose. My heart dropped and I grabbed his face, staring at his nose.
I rubbed my finger over it, and stared up at him, his eyes were wide, and mine felt heavy again. “I’m sorry..if I..if I hurt your nose..I didn’t mean to.” I stared up at him like a puppy, and I’m so ashamed admitting this but I’m so in love with Will it’s embarrassing.
“You..you didn’t hurt me?” He tried pulling away, but I gripped his cheeks, leaning our foreheads together. “But I did..I did..and I’m so sorry..” He wrapped his fingers around my wrists and tried to pull them off, “Mike! You didn’t hurt me! Let go.” I heard sadness in his voice, and my eyes seemed to melt off my head.
“I did though! I was..I was being a dick to you. An actual..ass..and I..I just missed you so much,” everything came flooding out, and I felt him stop trying to pull away. “I didn’t call you because..I thought that if I did..it’d make it more real..like..like this is actually happening. Like I’ve ruined us..ruined you. And I don’t want to think that! Because I love you! I love you..so..so much Will. I really really do..”
A tear streaked down my cheek, and I shut my eyes as tightly as possible. “I think about you..so much..it hurts. I’ve lost so much..so much sleep thinking about you..I’ve loved you my whole fucking life..I’m in love with you! With you! Please! Just tell me to leave! It’s killing me..Will..please..”
I collapsed my head onto his shoulder, and sobbed, I sobbed. I felt his arms wrap around me, as we hugged for all eternity. And when I pulled my nose off his shirt, I kissed him. I kissed him right there. And he didn’t tell me to stop.
I cradled his head in my hands, stroking his cheeks and moving our lips in a sync. And he kissed back, just as lovingly and passionately. He wrapped his hands around my neck, pulling me forward. I leaned in, craving, starving, for him.
And all of a sudden the only thing that mattered in the entire world, was this boy, the one I’d been in love with my whole life, the one named Will Byers. This doesn’t feel very real, maybe I’ve passed out from the weed and this is just a twisted dream.
He pulled away, and I immediately felt cold at the lack of touch. He panted, and I held up his wrist, pressing a kiss to his pulse. Will looked so beautiful, his hair was messed up, and his lips were pink and kiss-swollen.
“Is this..is this real, Mike?” I laughed, and pressed our foreheads together again. “I hope so..I really..really do.” He kissed my nose, and I took that as an invitation to act on every urge I’ve ever had.
I kissed along his jaw, pecking feather-light kisses down his neck, kissing his mole, kissing his eye bags, now traveling down his neck with open-mouthed kisses, sucking at the sensitive skin, and when he groaned slightly. I said “Holy, fuck.” And kissed him on the mouth again.
This time it felt more, hungry, less gentle. I made some type of nose in the back of my throat, as he tugged on a curl. He giggled then tugged again. “Will..come on that kinda hurts..” He shrugged and continued kissing.
I pushed, and pushed, until we landed against the motel wall, laughing and groaning as we kissed. Will slung his leg over me, pulling me as close as humanly possible, yet not close enough. I held his leg, my other hand cradling his cheek.
I slid my tongue into his mouth, running it along his teeth. “Mike…” a breathy moan escaping from his lips, he cleared his throat, and tried again. “Mike. Stop.” I pulled back immediately, staring up at him with a look of confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“I just..I just wanted to tell you that..that I love you too.” I furrowed my brows, “You..you do?” I tried being sarcastic but I was so high I don’t think it really got through. “I mean..I don’t know I guess I was thinking you didn’t love me..you know after you made out with me..”
He punched my shoulder, and I giggled. “Shut it. I just professed my love to you.” I pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips.
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Not possible.”