MIKE POV-

As the ravenette hit send, he felt a wave of anxiety spiking over him, not knowing what response he would get from Max; would she be angry? Confused? Happy? Down-right pessimistic? Would she judge him?

In frustration, he replayed the confession over and over again, wondering if he had made a fatal error by telling Max via text; isn't that like top tip on what not to do? Don't tell people who you like over text as they can screenshot and use it against you. Why did he tell her? Well, he couldn't back down now!

In a panic, he threw his phone on the bed; reaching an anxiety peak as he waited for Max's reply. The redhead was notoriously slow when it came to texts, and the seconds felt like hours as he awaited the ping of the notification; he knew he would probably get a response tomorrow...

Could he even wait that long before he exploded with anxiety?

But then, to his surprise, his phone rung vigorously. The ravenette jumped in shock, leaping over to grab his phone, seeing a FaceTime call from Max. Hastily picking it up, he answered, his heart racing. Max's face appeared on the screen, moving her phone away to show her sitting on the bed, cross-legged in her pyjamas, a towel covering her red hair; obvious she had recently come out the shower.

"What do you mean you love Will?" Max said the moment the phone connected, skipping all formalities. "I come out the shower and I am jumpscared by that text!"

Mike blinked in surprise, caught off guard by her urgency. He stammered for a moment, trying to find the right words, "Well... it's like, I just- I've just been thinking about him a lot, and I realised I might... love him... romantically." he blushed slightly; he said his feelings out loud; he meant it.

Max's eyes widened in understanding, "Okay... so you're in love; was there anything specific that made you realise it?" she questioned, wanting to get all the details.

"I... I don't know. I guess ever since he was dating Robin; I just felt so different and angry." Mike explained.

"Yeah... we could tell," She rolled her eyes playfully,

Mike stared at her with a grimace, "And then there was the dare kiss and I just... you know how I didn't come school on Monday?" he changed mid-sentence.

"Yeah, Will said you were sick." Max replied, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I wasn't sick... I was hungover." he whispered, ready to be scolded.

"You stupid ass bitch!" She exclaimed with a shocked expression, "You got drunk? Mike! How could you do that? That's illegal and stupid!" She reprimanded. Max had a big stance on drinking, seeing how it made her stepbrother turn out; she vowed never to take a sip of alcohol and especially never at such a young age.

"I know, I know, it was stupid! I was just confused, everything just reminded me of him and I... needed a break." he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Fine. Just... don't do it again!" The redhead sighed, dispute written on her face, before continuing, "... Anyways, what were you saying about being drunk."

"Oh yeah!" The ravenette exclaimed, getting back to his point, "I apparently kissed him... like multiple times."

Max's eyes widened, visible on the phone screen as she shuffled in her seat, "And? And?" she asked curious.

"I have no clue. I can't remember anything! Will told me this like an hour ago." The tall boy threw his hands in the air.

"Shit Wheeler! You kissed the man and can't remember!" she said in a jocular manner.

"It's just all so... confusing." Mike whined.

"How?"

"Well, it's like me and El are on a break right now, right?"

The redhead raised her eyebrows, "You're on a break?" she asked inquisitively, this was new information to her.

Mike merely nodded, "We both decided we were kinda not on the same wavelength; it was nothing major." he shrugged, "Anyways, it's like; Will is dating Robin so it's like, maybe he just doesn't want to be with me..."

"Have you asked him?" Max asked as if it was the most obvious question in the world.

"I kinda ran away from him just now." Mike admitted a tad embarrassed.

"What did you do?" she deadpanned.

"Let's just say I pinned him down and covered his mouth so we could talk about how he's been ignoring me." he said in one go, ready for another scolding.

"Micheal!" Max yelled stunned,

"Okay, look- I didn't do it on purpose," Mike exclaimed, "At first I went to go check on him because he said he was sick, but he lied so I wanted to confront him and make sure he would listen."

"So you... pinned him down?" Max said sarcastically.

"Listen-" the tall boy ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "I just... wanted to get my point across without interruption."

"Okay, fine, whatever. Then what?" The redhead dismissed, wanting to get on with this story.

"So like we got into this argument; or more like I was shouting at him because he couldn't really reply and then..." Mike paused, whispering, "He kinda told me he loved me."

Now that was surprising, Max blinked processing this information, "Oh... like 'in love' with you?"

"Yep!" the tall boy nodded

"Woah... you learn something new every day," she chuckled, her eyes widened slightly.

"You can't tell anyone though!" Mike quickly warned.

"Who am I going to tell dumbass?" Max quipped, "So what's the plan now? Are you going to tell him you love him back?"

Mike sighed, "I wish I could, but I can't! Will's with Robin and considering he's with her, he obviously loves her more than... well, more then he'd ever love me."

Max looked both ways, almost sarcastically, "You won't know unless you try right? Besides you like Will and Will likes you, you're already there! And if he does say no, then at least you'll have closure and move on,"

"I mean... I guess you have a point, but what would I even say?" The tall boy questioned with a slight frown.

A devilish smile painted Max's face, "Well..."

WILL POV-

---- Next day; Saturday 12:32 PM ----

"I want to break-up!" Will said suddenly to Robin. The pair sat in the food court after Robin's shift ready to meet up with the rest of the Party for lunch; they were planning on seeing a movie later and this was first on the agenda. Will didn't know how he could see Mike today without bursting into flames from embarrassment... this was going to be awkward.

Robin furrowed her brows, leaning her arms of the table, "What? Break up?" she cackled, catching the attention of passersby, "But it's working so well! Your friends are off your back, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I know, and I appreciate you doing this for me..." the brunette said, a little too serious, "But it's just like with you and Vickie being together for real, I don't want to be in the way of that... you know?" he explained awkwardly; feeling guilting washing over him when he thought about continuing this ruse.

Robin's smile faded as she soaked in the brunette's words; considering them. She knew that Vickie had been understanding about this whole ordeal about their 'relationship', but she understood Will's concerns at the same time.

"I mean... Vickie is fine with the whole us 'dating' thing, but if you think it's best to 'break up' then I'm on board; I'm willing to play along for as long as you are!" the blue-eyed girl replied.

"I'm sure," Will let out a soft chuckle as he nodded, "Although, I was thinking that maybe we could make this look more believable by having the 'break up' in front of our friends? For the fun."

Robin chuckled at the plan, "Sure thing; that does sound like fun! Wanna do it now?"

"We can. Let's just make comments or something and then get into a fight where you storm off." Will suggested.

"Sounds like a plan dude," She winked playfully,

Suddenly, the pair noticed the rest of their friends approaching the Starcourt food-court. Will and Robin exchanged a knowing glance, their expressions shifting to a fake annoyance as their friends arrived. They had to put on a convincing act if they wanted to make the breakup seem real. They even moved away from one another creating a sense of disconnect.

As the Party arrived chatting and laughing, Will and Robin crossed their arms, putting on their best angry faces, planning to engage in a fake argument.

As the Party took their seats, Dustin was the first to speak, confused, "What's going on here?" he said, sitting beside the brunette.

"Yeah, did something happen?" Lucas agreed, raising an eyebrow,

"Nothing!" Will claimed, a fake distain in his voice.

"Oh, so now it's nothing?" Robin scoffed, rolling her eyes dramatically. Their act was officially in session.

"Don't start now!" The brunette huffed.

The group exchanged glances with one another; not knowing what transpired, believing this to be a real fight; they didn't know what to say. They felt like witnesses to something they don't know.

"Oh, but I will start now!" Robin claimed, starting the bulk of the drama.

"Oh go on!" Will argued crossing his arms, "Go on, so everyone can see how wrong you are!" he said, gesturing to the rest of the group.

"Don't drag us into this." Max held her hands up in surrender.

"Fine!" The blue-eyed girl crossed her arms tighter giving a theatrical furrowed brow, ignoring Max's request entirely, "But they can also know about all the sacrifices I make for this relationship!"

Will gasped, "Sacrifices? Oh, please! All you do is steal my food and my clothes!"

The Party exchanged glances once more, unable to decipher the situation and yet, Mike had a hint of amusement in his eyes; he... wanted this to happen.

El, knowing of their fake relationship furrowed her brows confused; what were they doing? Was this part of their act? In order to not disturb... whatever they were doing, she stayed quiet.

Robin and Will continued the fake argument. Robin threw her hands in the air, flailing her arms around, "You just don't understand the art of romance!"

"Romance?" The brunette feigned confusion, "You mean me waiting for you to work at Scoops Ahoy with STEVE!" Will shifted the focus of the fight, knowing he could fake jealousy to make the fight more... convincing. They pretended as if Will was 'jealous' of Robin spending time with Steve, and Robin, quick to think, immediately caught on with the change as she spoke,

"I knew it!" The blue-eyed girl scrunched her eyes, "I knew you were jealous of Steve no matter how many times I have said, we are just friends."

"Sure... 'friends'!" Will air quoted with a dramatic eyeroll. "Is that why I walked in on you sharing an ice-cream sundae?"

"How many times do I need to say it's because the sundaes are massive, that's why!" Robin scrunched her face,

"Oh really? Is that why you're always talking about him? It's always 'Steve did this' and 'Steve did that'." Will fake-whined,

"You're so obsessed with me liking Steve!" Robin furrowed her brows, "Can't you let this go? We are purely platonic!" then she decided to throw another twist into the act, "You're no better! Just the other day, some girl came into Scoops Ahoy, and you were practically flirting with her!"

The group gasped as Will's eyes widened, protesting, "What? No, I wasn't! I was just being friendly!"

Robin mocked, "'Just being friendly'? You were practically beaming at her! Admit it, you loved the attention!"

"No, no I didn't!" Will stuck to the script, "I was just being polite, and I told her the truth of us being in a relationship, didn't I?"

"After like ten minutes of flirting!" The blue-eyed girl remarked.

"It was not flirting! You're the one who said I should be more social!" the small boy said, putting on an offended act.

"I didn't mean be all over her! You were practically foaming at the mouth!" Robin deadpanned.

"I acted with her the same way you do with Steve!" Will rebutted.

"Oh here it is again, 'Steve, Steve, Steve'! That's it! I cannot take it anymore! I dump your ass!" she said with anger, slamming her hands on the table, getting up from her seat and dramatically storming off.

Will stood up too, taking a few steps away from the table practically yelling back, "Fine! Go back to Steve for all I care!" His chest heaved, not only from all the acting but also from the eyes of the others in the food court; he pretended to be genuinely upset while the rest of the group remained too stunned to speak.

"What the Hell was that?" Dustin was the first to break the silence, immediately reprimanded by Suzie hitting his arm, passing a stern look that told him not to speak right now.

Mike stood up, approaching cautiously from behind, placing a calming hand on Will's shoulder, trying to hide his smile; he believed this whole situation to be genuine, "Um, hey, are you okay?"

The brunette nodded, doing his best to appear sad yet strong, "Yeah, I just... I just need some time to think."

Mike, trying to conceal his excitement said softly, "Okay, take all the time you need. I'm always here for you, remember that, okay?"

The words sent a warm feeling through Will, but right now he needed to ignore it as he kept up his act, "I'll be back in a while." he said, walking away in the same direction Robin did.

After a few seconds, Will turned the corner, unable to hide his amusement anymore as he beamed reaching up to Robin. The moment their eyes met, the pair burst into a fit of laughter, high-fiving and congratulating one another for the convincing performance.

Will was the first to stop laughing as he grinned, "That was amazing, they were actually left speechless!"

"I know right!" Robin replied, "I can't believe they actually took the bait!"

"I'm just glad we were able to keep a straight face!" Will exclaimed, "We should be actors!"

The blue-eyed girl nodded, "We really should!"

The pair erupted into laughter again... that was fun. 

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2437 Words

Stay Safe <3