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"Mum," Will voice was small, his hands where tightly holding onto his shirt as Joyce sat at his side. "I have to tell you something," his eyes lingerd on the door hoping that no one was out there, his mum rested her hand ontop of his and smiled. "You can tell me anything Will," she planted a gentle kiss on his temple "I'll listen to you." She smiled at him as his eyes felt weak, he blinked quickly trying to dismiss the tears that fogged his vision, Will brought his hands to his mums and held hers tightly.
"I'm diffrent," his voice was already shaking, Joyce's smile falterd as if to disagree with him but he stopped her. "Well not entirely diffrent, I like all the same things you do- well the same thing you do." His weak smile turned into a laugh, Joyce tilted her head in confusion not understanding why he was laughing. "I'm not like other people, I'm not like Dustin or Lucas- even Mike." A wave of fear hit him as he started to sob quietly, he tried to hold it in but the tears began to flow faster and he couldn't hold them in anymore. "I don't like girls..." he looked away from Joyce and fixed his gaze to his hands that were still tightly holding onto his mum's, he looked up to see her looking back at him with a soft smile.
The suns orange lighting made the room feel warm, Will's eyes where being both blinded by tears and light but he could still make out his mum's loving face. Joyce moved Will's hands off of her's as she held her sons face, she grazed her thumb against his cheek, whiping away the tears that wouldn't stop falling. "Oh baby, don't cry," she felt her eyes burn as she wrapped her arms around her son, pulling him into a tight hug. He collapsed into her touch and cried into her shoulder, she rubbed her hand against his skin back. "Liking boy's doesn't change anything, your not bad for that." He broke down even more, "it's not wrong, sure it's diffrent but who wants to be normal?" Will gathered himself and let go of his mum, he looked her in the eyes as he remembered all his talks with Jonathan about being diffrent. He smiled weakly at her as she rested an arm on his shoulder, "Your not mad?" Will asked, Joyce shook her head
"Why would I be, your my baby, and 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 will change that." He brought his hands to his face and whipped the tears away with his sleves, Joyce watched him wipe away his tears, she pulled away and crossed one leg over the other as she couldn't bare to see him like this, in her eyes all she saw was her small boy who had just made his first friend.
"There is something else I need to tell you," she looked back at him, his shoulders were resting right by his neck and his hands went back to being glued together. "What is it?" She responded, pushing herself closer to him so that it didn't feel more awkward. "There's someone- a guy, I like." Her eyes widened as Will's face fell sad, his gaze shifted back to the door then quickly back to his mum, "the thing is, I know they- he, doesn't like me back. But I just can't get over him." She picked up his hands against and wrapped her fingers into his, "do you want to tell me who it is?"
They sat in silence, Joyce looked at her son with worry, "Oh Will," she hugged him as his once tearless eyes flooded with water. "I know he won't like he back, but that's okay- he's just my... Tammy," he shook his head as he didn't even believe himself, his face fell into his hands as he couldn't stop the tears, he wanted to get over him, but he couldn't. "This doesn't change anything between us, okay? I still love you," she whisperd into his ear as his head fell back onto her shoulder. "Thank you mum," he held her tightly knowing that what he said would change things forever.
Mike was about to walk in when he heard Will's broken voice, he stopped by the door as he listened in. He felt his heart race as he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself. Bringing his hand to his face, he coverd his mouth with his palm so Will couldn't hear him, he nudged his body closer to the doorway so he could hear everything. Mike's ears picked up every words along with every breath, he heard Will's sobs as all he wanted to do was comfort him, but he knew he couldn't.
"I don't like girls."
Mike's heart dropped as his face blushed, he held his hand to his heart and held his chest tight, his breathing picked up as he looked down at his feet. His pulse began to slow down, he lingerd on those simple words not knowing what to think.
"There's someone- a guy, I like."
Mike felt his heart stop, suddenly it all made sense. He held his chest tightener as his thoughts ran away from him, he thought back on the day he met Will and all of thier memories together. Mike smiled to himself as he pictured Will's face, he could see everything as if he was standing fight infront of him, his mind lingerd on his lips before he blinked and looked at the wall infront of him. Everything stopped, his heart fell silent as it dawned on him.
"I know he won't like he back..."
Mike couldn't think straight any longer, he knew in that moment that he liked Will. But he didn't just like him, he loved him.
"But that's okay- he's just my... Tammy."
Mike's heart stopped, he remembered talking to Robin about Tammy, and he didn't want to be that- he didn't want to be Will's Tammy.
Mike held his face in his hands, his cheeks where warm and soft and his eyelids where damp. He wanted to feel guilty for how he felt but he couldn't, he collected himself and pushed everything down despite only wanting to run in and tell Will everything.
Mike quietly walked off and re-joined the others, he pretend that nothing had happed and he hoped that they believed him. Will and Joyce walked in and Mike met Will's gaze, they didn't look at eachother for long as Will asked Jonathan to talk to him and the two walked off. Mike felt like his whole life was a lie, suddenly everything made sense.
He made his way to Joyce and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "Joyce," he looked down at his feet and made sure to whisper. "Can we talk?"