Drenched in Silence

"So if you'll let me...I want to figure it out." Mike hesitated, eyes flicking down to meet Will's, "I don't know what this is yet. I don't know what I'm doing. But I know I don't want to lose you."

Will noticed the uncertainty in Mike's tone, and it fed into his self doubt. A silence settled between them. Not angry. Not cold. Just...uncertain. And that uncertainty stung Mike more than it should have.

Will pulled his hand back slowly, gently, the warmth of Mike's touch still lingering on his skin. He nodded once, his expression almost unreadable to Mike.

"Okay." Will's voice was small, withdrawn.

Mike frowned, "Will-"

"No, I get it." Will offered a tight smile, blinking fast to keep from crying again, "You don't have to say anything else. You don't feel the same. That's...fine. I get it."

"That's not what I said." Mike stepped closer, urgency creeping back into his voice.

Will shook his head, "You said you don't know what this is. And that's okay. Really." 

His eyes finally met Mike's again, and there was so much buried behind them pain, love, disappointment, hope. All tangled together in one awful, confusing mess.

"But I do know what this is for me. I've known for a long time." Will manages to get out, holding back tears with all the fight he has left in him.

Mike's expression twisted, somewhere between guilt and confusion, "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to hurt you..."

"You didn't." Will replies softly, but his tone was hiding a lie. And they both heard it.

Will stepped back, tugging his soaked jacket tighter around his frame, "I just need some space right now, okay?"

Mike hesitated, then nodded slowly, "Okay."

Will turned towards the road, grabbing his bike, the rain still falling. But before he walked away, he looked back one last time, "I meant what I said, Mike. I love you."

Then he started down the street, pedaling out of Mike's view.

Mike stood in the driveway alone, watching him go, rain washing over him.

He wasn't sure of whether he'd just made the right choice, or the biggest mistake of his life.