Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(1341 words ≈ 5 minutes reading time)

Through the leaves of the tree in front of Mike’s window, the sun cast dancing patterns on the crimson leather wings of the three-headed dragon.

Mike's fingers gently stroked over the dry paint. Slowly, he traced the outlines of the shapes and followed them like paths on a map, feeling the unevenness of the layers of paint and the barely perceptible grooves of the brushstroke under his fingertips.

Stretched out on his stomach Mike was laying on his bed, Will's painting rolled out in front of him.

He pictured Will, focused as he guided the brush across the paper, a slight, almost imperceptible crease forming on his forehead as always when he concentrated or drifted off in thought. Him carefully applying the paint, conjuring shapes, figures, and emotions onto the paper out of white nothingness, dried paint on his chin and scattered in dozens of speckles among the freckles on his cheek.

Mike had always loved watching Will create his art. Mike wasn't known for being able to sit still for a long time but, he thought, he could watch Will draw forever. Especially if the drawing was for him.

Mike's fingers stopped over the heart on the crest of his shield. He felt the warmth of the sun on his bare hands, spreading throughout his whole body as he carefully traced the outline of the heart. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He remembered what Will had said after he handed him the painting.

You're the heart.

The sentence echoed in his head like a melody that you can’t get out of your mind. He wasn't quite sure what it meant yet, but he felt like it meant something. In the end, it has been the reason why Mike finally got the strength to tell El he loved her. Not because he wanted to, really. But because Will made him realise he needed to. For El.

Thinking of El and the events of the past few days, he lifted his finger from the heart, rolled up the paper, and let out a sigh as he rested his head on the mattress. His smile had faded and the warmth of the sun had disappeared.

He closed his eyes and buried his head in his arms as a gnawing feeling crept up on him. For a few minutes, he had been able to forget the hopeless situation they were in, but now he couldn't evade the thought any longer. It loomed over him and he was defenceless against its hold.

Soon, they would probably no longer be able to see the sun at all. The memory of the black thunderclouds only further dampened Mike's spirits. They were spreading over Hawkins from the ominous cracks in the ground that divided the town into four parts, like fractures in a glass pane threatening to shatter into pieces at the slightest disturbance.

How long would they still be able to see the sun and feel its warmth on their skin? Will had said that it was cold and dark in the Upside-Down, and that same bleakness was spreading over the town right now. It was only a matter of time before there was no light or joy left. The darkness would only leave ruins and pain behind.

He rolled over, got out of bed and stretched, his back ached as he bent it, they’ve been sitting in the yellow pizza van for hours, and Mike's spine was not thanking him for it. But he shook off the thought, such a minor ache was ridiculous compared to what El and his friends in Hawkins had gone through during the same time.

He ran his hand through his hair, smoothed out a wrinkle in his shirt, and put the painting back into the bottom drawer of his wardrobe. He decided it was time to finally go downstairs. He had been awake for a long time, already dressed and freshened up, but the thought of going downstairs only made the lump in his throat grow.

Although they had already discussed the events in detail with the others yesterday and fed their parents a series of lies, the more they talked about it and the more he looked into the desperate faces of his friends, the more real everything became.

Jonathan, Argyle, and Will had slept in the Wheelers' basement after they had convinced Argyle with all means not to say a word about the events of the last few days to Mike's parents. However, his mother had been infinitely grateful to him for driving Mike and the others home safely, fortunately not asking too many questions, too busy being relieved that Mike was home.

El had stayed in the small forest cabin with Joyce and Hopper after they had briefly cleaned the mess and made it a bit more habitable.

He took another deep breath and opened the door. From downstairs he could hear muffled voices and clinking dishes. He stepped into the hallway and descended the stairs. As he reached the bottom, the irresistible smell of boiled eggs and toasted bread wafted into his nostrils, causing his mouth to water. Only now he realized how hungry he was.

His mother came towards him from the living room with outstretched arms, smiling. He forced a smile in return and fell into her embrace.

"Good morning, my dear, did you have a restful night?"

He nodded into her shoulder, her curls tickling his cheek. A lie.

He hadn't been away from home for long, but in his mother's arms he suddenly felt more secure than ever. He breathed in her floral scent once again before letting go of her. She let her hands rest on his shoulders for a moment and nodded towards the kitchen.

"The others are already awake."

He nodded and as she disappeared back into the living room where Holly and Ted were sitting on the couch together, Mike walked into the kitchen.

Nancy, Jonathan, and Will were sitting at the kitchen table, Nancy was quiet, and the two brothers were chatting. Will was pouring himself orange juice when his gaze fell on Mike, who had just walked in. Their eyes met, and Will fell silent in the middle of his sentence. His expression was inscrutable.

Argyle, who was standing at the stove with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other, was babbling something to himself.

When he saw Mike come in, he gestured with the spatula and said: "My dude, I hope it was worth it for you to sleep so long, because we've almost starved to death in the meantime..."

Mike tore his gaze away from Will and looked apologetically at Argyle.

"You could have started eating already."

The long-haired boy turned back to the food on the stove and muttered towards the scrambled eggs: "Well, now it's too late for that... But now we can enjoy it together, no shame for being able to sleep longer, we could all need that."

He looked surprisingly not-high, just very tired, but not less cranky than usual. 

Mike's gaze drifted back to Will, whose eyes were still fixed on him. As their eyes met once again, Will gave him a tired but warm smile. They hadn't talked much since they arrived in Hawkins, and even now they didn't say a word, but they would... later. His glance snapped from Will's eyes down to the shirt he was wearing. It was one of Mike's. The light blue polo shirt with stripes in grey, yellow and dark blue. Of course Mike had known he would wear it, he had given it to Will himself but seeing him in it tugged at something in Mike's chest.

He would have further examined the way his shirt stretched over Will's arms and shoulders since he was not as skinny as Mike and slightly more muscular (when had that happened? Should he offer him a new Shirt? He hadn't thought that much about Will's... build when he gave him this one), but when he realised he was just standing awkwardly in the middle of the room staring at Will's arms, he cleared his throat and quickly took a seat next to Nancy.

Luckily noone showed any sign of finding it awkward, so he relaxed and looked at his sister next to him. She smiled at him tiredly and asked him how he was feeling. He just breathed out loudly, looked down at the plate before him and shrugged his shoulders. His sister nodded understandingly.

"We're probably all feeling the same way."

When Mike looked up, Will and Jonathan had resumed their conversation. They didn't show it, but they also looked worried and exhausted, they surely didn’t get much sleep. They talked about shallow things to cover up the tension in the room. Mike tugged at a loose thread on his sleeve. He could talk to Nancy or join in on the conversation between Will and Jonathan, but he simply didn't know what to say. With all the terrible things that had happened, and that were happening right now, it felt ridiculous to talk about trivial things and right now he couldn't come up with anything normal in the first place, so it was easier to just stay quiet.

When Argyle served breakfast and they started eating, everyone was relieved to have an excuse to be silent. No one spoke about the things they all constantly thought about, which had robbed them of sleep and wiped the smiles off their faces, they gladly embraced the silence.

Occasionally, Mike looked up to scrutinize the boy sitting across from him. He was worried about him, he looked incredibly exhausted, his face was pale and his eyes empty, the crease on his forehead had been there since they arrived. But not in a good concentrating-on-his-painting-with-paint-on-his-face kind of way

Mike noticed how long it had been since he had seen Will laugh, and the thought made his chest tighten.

Of course he was not more worried about him than about El and the others, but seeing him like that...

When Will suddenly lifted his head and met Mike's gaze, the dark-haired boy looked away as he felt the blood rushing into his cheeks. He didn't mean to stare like that, he had just zoned out.

Chapter Text

(2624 words ≈ 6-9 minutes reading time)

From the first day in California, Will had missed Hawkins, and not a single day had passed where he didn't wish he was back there. But as they were sitting in the yellow pizza van driving along the familiar country road towards town, that feeling had started to vanish. Hawkins was… different.

Black smoke rose over the town, panicked people were fleeing, packing their cars with only the essentials and leaving their homes empty and abandoned behind them.

It was strange and frightening to see how everything had changed to the worse in their absence and how Hawkins was no longer the same.

Will had been staring out of the window and watched the cars pass by headed in the opposite direction, turning his head from time to time to exchange concerned glances with Mike.

And then suddenly, there it was. That uncomfortable feeling that crawled down his neck and spread throughout his body, making his skin tingle and causing him to break out in a cold sweat. It felt eerily familiar.

It was the feeling he had felt from time to time ever since he had been possessed by the mind flayer. The feeling that he was still there, that Vecna was still there. El had told him about One and what she knew from Owens, Brenner and her remote-visits to their friends in Hawkins.

And now that Will knew that there was a face behind everything that had happened, a face behind the mind flayer, the feeling creeping up on him after entering the town made him want to crawl out of his skin and keep his eyes and ears shut for the rest of his pitiful life.

He would do anything to get rid of that connection he had to the upside-down creature, how he could feel what he felt in a way, how it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and caused his palms to sweat.

It wasn't until he stepped over the threshold of the Wheeler's house that a different feeling began to spread inside of him, momentarily overriding the tingling discomfort. Only later that evening he realized what that feeling was: a spark of home.

Since they had moved away from Hawkins, he had never felt at home anywhere. California had always been big and foreign, and he had never really settled in. Their old house in Hawkins had been sold and renovated, and when they arrived, the whole town was dark, cold, and unfamiliar. None of those places felt like a home to him anymore.

But the smell that hit him as he entered the Wheeler's house awakened a gentle feeling of belonging inside him. He couldn’t identify the smell with anything specific, but it had a special place in Will's heart and stirred up a wave of nostalgia inside him.

He had spent so many hours in this house, the happiest hours of his life, when everything was still peaceful and simple, before the night when he rolled that seven that couldn’t save him from the Demogorgon. Before the whole world started to go to pieces right before his eyes.

He had slept on a mattress in the Wheelers' basement. It wasn't comfortable, but it had reminded him of old times when the party had played D&D or watched movies until late at night and then all slept in the basement till noon.

But on that night, none of them slept long or even well. Argyle and Jonathan (Karen had strictly forbidden that he slept in Nancy’s room), who laid somewhere next to him in the basement, tossed and turned on their makeshift beds for hours. It was deep into the night before quiet settled in and Will could hear the slow breaths of his brother and the periodic snoring of the long-haired boy.

It was moments like these when the uneasy feeling was at its worst. He couldn't think of anything to distract himself, it was quiet and dark, Will's whole body tingled and shuddered, and he just couldn't shake off this feeling.

At some point, he must have fallen asleep because the rustling of sheets and footsteps on the wooden floor woke him up the next morning. Getting up felt like an absolute impossibility, but after lying awake and staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, he finally mustered the strength to crawl out from under his blanket. He wouldn't have been able to fall back asleep anyway.

Argyle and Jonathan had gone upstairs to the kitchen, Will could hear their voices through the slightly open basement door. So, he peeled off the pajamas that Mike had lent him and slipped into the other clothes he had received.

As he put on the polo shirt, he noticed that it was a bit tight, but it didn't bother him. He knew the shirt, had seen Mike wear it dozens of times, it didn’t look special or anything but Will liked it anyway.

Wearing these clothes enveloped him in a familiar scent that made him smile briefly. A scent he only knew all too well.

Mike.

When he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he almost felt like Mike was standing close next to him.

He quickly opened his eyes again, put on his socks and climbed up the stairs, a feeling of guilt heavy on his chest. He really had to stop thinking about Mike like that. He knew it was wrong, and he hated himself for it, but every now and then, his thoughts drifted towards Mike which filled him with a warm tingling sensation before he was brought back to the harsh reality of feeling cold and lonely again.

After breakfast, they would set off together to Hopper's cabin in the woods, where they would meet the others to discuss their next steps.

And so the four boys were back in the pizza van, this time with Nancy in tow, driving through the western part of town that had largely been untouched by the destruction.

As they left the densely populated part of Hawkins and entered the sparsely inhabited neighbourhoods and later the woods around Hawkins, Will felt a cold shiver run down his back. There was complete silence in the van, and outside the window, there was nothing to see but rushing trees, nothing to distract him from that uneasy feeling.

He tried to shake it off but his chest tightened and his breathing became faster, his blood rushing loudly in his ears. With every meter he could feel them getting closer and closer to the gate. He squeezed his eyes shut in the hope that the unnerving pounding behind his temples would go away. It didn’t.

Mike, who was sitting in the backseat between Nancy and him, gently nudged Will in the side with his elbow and leaned over to him. Will turned his gaze away from the window and glanced at the boy next to him. A concerned expression on Mike's face indicated that he had not overlooked Will's discomfort.

A soft and incredibly gentle "Hey" escaped Mike's lips as he continued to study Will's face with this worried look.

Will knew how worn out he must look at the moment; he had hardly slept and felt sick, dizzy and nauseous, which made him increasingly nervous under Mike's scrutinizing gaze.

Hey

Will knew it meant more than just Hey. It meant that Mike had noticed something was wrong but that he didn't want to address it in front of the others right now. It meant that he was there for Will and that they would talk later if they had a minute alone. And to Will it meant everything in that moment.

Mike had turned in his seat to face him, bumping his knee with Will's. Now he fixed Will with his big, dark eyes. Will couldn't bring himself to meet the intense gaze, he concentrated on his hands in his lap instead and nodded slightly, forcing a small smile. He didn’t dare to say anything, knowing his voice would sound thin and croaky.

Mike was leaning slightly towards him, and Will could feel his piercing gaze on his profile. Mike's elbow, with which he had nudged Will, still rested by his side, and he could barely feel Mike's body heat radiating through the fabric.

Then he finally decided to return the look and glanced up, only to find that Mike's face was surprisingly close; he could see the craters and patterns inside his eyes that still looked at him attentively, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Will's face burned under the gaze, and he quickly turned away, back to the window. A few seconds later, a movement at the edge of his field of vision and the rustling of Mike's hair next to him indicated that he had finally turned away too.

Will's head felt incredibly heavy, he leaned it against the window and felt the cool glass on his forehead.

But the feeling that was coming over him was just pure exhaustion and not the presence of a mind-controlling monster, because that feeling had given way to the presence of a foreign elbow that still rested at his side and brushed against him with every curve of the road.

It felt like hours until they finally arrived at the cabin, even though it hadn’t been really far. His mother had been waiting on the terrace and rushed towards them as they pulled up in the van.

When Will opened the door of the van, she didn't even give him a chance to step out. Instead, she wrapped him in a tight embrace while he awkwardly leaned forward still standing in the open door. Despite feeling a twinge of embarrassment, he briefly returned the hug before gently pushing her back. Her slender arms almost tugged him out of the car as she stepped back, reluctant to let him go, causing him to clumsily stumble out of the car onto the forest floor. A soft amused snort escaped from Mike behind him.

Joyce finally let go of his shoulders and looked up to him, her eyes glistened in the afternoon sun.

"I worry about you so so much every minute I don't see you," she said, following Will towards the cabin still clinging onto his arm.

Will understood that she was still feeling guilty for leaving the kids on their own while being in Russia when all the horrible things had happened to them. He also suspected that the others were particularly concerned about him, since he had already fallen victim to the Mind Flayer once, and everyone knew he would be an easy target for Vecna aswell.

Countless traumatic memories came to his mind, that Vecna could use against him all too well... So he didn't hold it against her for worrying; he could only hope that Vecna was too weak or injured to seek out a new victim any time soon.

But also, why should he even forge such a connection after already fulfilling his plan and opening the huge gate? Why would he open more gates? This thought offered little comfort. What would Vecna do next? And how long would it take for him to gather enough strength to take this next step?

His thoughts were interrupted as he entered the cabin, where El and Hopper greeted him warmly. Well, "warmly" might be an overstatement—no one was in the mood for warmth at the moment—but Hopper gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder as he entered, and El linked her arm with his and pulled him towards the couch.

Half an hour passed until Erica, Lucas, Dustin, Steve and Robin showed up, and now they were all sitting in the small room squished onto the few seating options available. Will sat on the couch, El on his right and Mike on his left, looking at Hopper who was gathering all the information they currently had and brainstormed ideas for possible next steps and safety precautions.

“No one should walk around on their own, hope that’s clear.”

El beside him had zoned out, her gaze fixed into emptiness as she absentmindedly played with a button on the sleeve of Will's jacket. She looked terrible. Everyone looked terrible, but her eyes were red and swollen, she must have been crying a lot.

Will had seen Max in the hospital, and he couldn't imagine what it must have been like for El to witness everything that had happened to her. It pained him to see her like this, so he wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her and pulled her out of her thoughts. She flinched at the motion, but then she leaned her head against his shoulder, a small grateful smile on her lips.

It was nice being able to comfort someone, usually it was him who had to be comforted, he had always been the weak one, the hurt one, the one to pity.

“Each group should always carry a walkie-talkie and a walkman with them, including tapes if tehir favourite songs. We never know if he plans attacking someone again and we have to stay in contact.”

Will didn’t miss the brief concerned glances he earned from everyone when Hopper said that. In his peripheral vision he saw Mike’s head slightly turn towards him too, his gaze resting on Will’s face for a few seconds. Will didn’t return the look, he focused on Hopper and acted like he hadn’t seen the way everyone looked at him.

“But we know his mind-reading-something ability is not his only weapon, we have no idea what will be crawling out of that gate when the hivemind regains its strength, so we should prepare ourselves for everything. Demodogs, Demobats, mind-controlling shadow-spiders, whatever else vegetates in that shithole.”

Will shuddered at the mention of the Mindflayer. To mask the movement, he straightened his back and brought his right knee up onto the seat cushion to adjust his sitting position. In doing so, his leg brushed against Mike's beside him.

„Sorry“ he muttered quietly but Mike didn’t pull his leg away, he just gave him a brief smile and looked back at Hopper. So Will didn’t pull away either.

He knew it was nothing. He knew it meant nothing. And he felt incredibly guilty again for the fact that it did mean something to him.

Hopper was still talking about what they would do about all the monsters and the gate and everything.

Lucas, who was sitting on a small wooden stool, raised his hand.

“We’re not in school, Sinclair”, Hopper grunted.

Quickly, he lowered his arm again. “You’ve been in military, you could teach us how to defend ourselves. I mean until now we’ve always somehow managed, but…” His voice trailed off. He had probably just remembered that they hadn't always… managed. He continued more quietly: “But maybe it’s time we learn how to… really fight a monster when we see one.”

Hopper sat down on his chair, exchanging glances with Joyce. Of course they didn’t like the thought of the children fighting monsters but they also knew that they had to protect them somehow.

“I can shoot”

Nancy's voice broke the silence. “I mean, maybe I could teach you something too.”

Will also knew how to shoot. Lonnie used to take him hunting. Will had hated it with his whole heart but the fear of disappointing Lonnie had made him a pretty decent shot. He hadn't held a gun in years, though, and he didn't have the same confidence in his skills as Nancy had. So he didn't mention it.

Slightly insecure Nancy looked at Joyce. Will knew that he, Jonathan and El meant everything to her, and that she probably already considered just taking the car and driving them as far away as possible from Hawkins, but she was also aware that they were probably the only hope left for this city. They couldn’t just leave, could they?

His mother rubbed her temples and sighed.

“That would probably be a good idea. Some of us could really need the training. In case if an emergency, it's better everyone knows how to shoot a gun.”

Hopper nodded.

“Ok, so combat practice it is… what else?”

Chapter Text

(3275 words ≈ 10 minutes reading time)

"Can we talk?"

Mike was examining the nail he was about to hammer into the wooden board in front of him when he was snapped out of his thoughts by El's voice. Since the cabin had to serve as the home for El, Joyce and Hopper, and the meeting point for their group, they were once again busy patching up and making it habitable. Mike had been standing on a rain barrel, holding a hammer in his hand and two nails between his teeth, nailing boards over a hole in the wall right under the roof beam when El interrupted him.

He took the nails out of his mouth. "Sure, no problem."

He bent down and sat on the rain barrel, his legs dangling down on the side, his gaze fixed on El.

Mike had been waiting for them to finally have a conversation. El hadn't spoken much to him since the pizza place. At first, he had tried to start conversations, to comfort or cheer her up, but he had given up when she kept giving him the silent treatment. He had blamed it on the incident with Max and to whatever had happened to her in the middle of the desert, but he wanted to give her space and not impose himself on her, so he let it be.

But now she finally wanted to talk, that had to be a good sign, right?

It was in fact not a good sign.

"I've been thinking a lot... about everything, about... us."

She didn't look directly at him, her voice trembling, and he immediately sensed that the conversation wouldn't unfold anywhere near how he had envisioned it. "About what you said at the pizza place."

He nodded hesitantly, although he wasn't quite sure where she was going with this. He had said exactly what she wanted to hear, right? That he loves her and that she means the world to him and everything. But in her watery eyes, he could see that she was not at all happy about any of it. Did she mean something else? Did he say something stupid? Again? Why did he keep saying stupid things and hurt people? What was it this time?

"I don't think you really meant it. And..." A sob escaped her lips, and she took a deep breath before continuing. "And I don’t think we’re… I don't think we're in love."

Mike was paralyzed. He tried to process what El had just said out of nowhere. What had gone wrong? He had put in so much effort, he had tried so hard to be a good boyfriend, he had given her an impassioned speech to save her from Vecna, and he and El had been… good together.

The picture-perfect couple. He had taken her in when she was alone and scared, he had shown her the world and showered her with a kind of affection that she had never experienced before. She had never left his side, admired him, and saved his life multiple times. It had been the perfect love story. Why would she throw that away? Mike felt like the whole world he had so carefully built up, just shattered into pieces.

He noticed that she was looking at him with tears in her eyes while he had been staring blankly into nothingness. "I... don't understand," he stammered, his own voice sounding distant in his ears. "Why would you say that?"

"Mike..." Her voice faltered. She ran her hands over her face as another sob escaped her lips. He should probably do something, hug her or probably (or was that weird, since she was just breaking up with him? Was she just breaking up with him??) but in that moment, all he could do was sit on the stupid rain barrel, gripping its edge so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His face was burning, he didn’t know what was happening.

“You know, you were the first boy who was ever nice to me, who welcomed me and made me feel happier than I have ever been.”

That sounded fantastic, what did she mean? Was that not how this love thing works? The look on his face must have expressed his confusion because she sighed and kept explaining.

“I don’t think I know what love is supposed to feel like, I’ve never been showed romantic love when I was in that lab. And as soon as I left it, I stumbled upon you in the woods and you took me in with you, I… I don’t know, I somehow felt like I had to fall in love with you and be your girlfriend because it felt like that’s just how it works and… and I wanted everything to be perfect, I tried so hard that I somehow forgot to just… be myself.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks now, her face was red, and her hands were nervously fidgeting with the hem of her jacket. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her. In the end, she was just a traumatized child who had experienced the darkness of the world all too soon.

She fell silent. Shit. He should probably say something. He furrowed his brow and released his hands from the edge of the rain barrel to put them in his lap, his knuckles were stiff and hurting. "So, what you're telling me is that you… don't love me” He drew in a sharp breath “And you basically never did and…” Another sob from El interrupted him. But she didn't contradict him. She just shrugged.

That was it, that was what he had been so afraid of. That she would stop needing him and he would have nothing more to offer her once she realized that she was better off without him. That he would lose the only thing that had brought normalcy and security to his life. Something he had worked so hard for because he wanted them to be good.

Or maybe he had been afraid of the truth. That he was unlovable. That in the end, he was just a nerdy loser who tricked a clueless girl into thinking she was in love with him because she had never taken a single step into the real world before meeting him.

She took a step closer to him and started talking again. "That's why I lied about California and how I was doing because I just wanted to be a good girlfriend and be what you want me to be. A- And Max told me to care less about what you want from me and more about what I want for myself. And I think she was right. And I think I just want to be… myself. Not your superhero girlfriend." Mike continued to stare at her, his mouth open and his brow furrowed, trying to take it all in.

"So yeah, I... I don't love you,"

she hesitated and added "And I don't think you love me either."

What?

Mike furrowed his brow even more, if that was even possible. "Ohh, this again?" He was confused and angry and sad and nervous and… tired of everything.

Also because deep down he knew that everything El was saying was true. It wasn't like he didn't see this coming. He had probably known it for a long time, but he had always refused to let those thoughts in because El was so important to him, and he... well he what?

"Yeah, this again! You only see me as a superhero, your girlfriend with superpowers who is cooler than all the other girls who wouldn't even spare you a glance."

Ouch.

She wiped away the tears from her cheek with the back of her hand. "You couldn't even say it."

"Yeah, but only..."

"And when you finally said it, you didn't mean it either. You thought it would save my life, and that it was all I wanted to hear, so you said it. But that's not how it works, and I don't know if you don't realize it yourself or if you somehow feel obligated to be with me, or if it is because you have no other… options and you're afraid of being alone again." The words kept spilling out until she paused for a breath. "Whatever it is, but I don't want it anymore."

Mike's eyes burned, he tried to blink away the tears, but his vision started to blur. Why was she saying all these things? Why did they hurt so much? And why did they also feel somewhat relieving? He couldn't say anything; he didn't trust his voice, and besides, he couldn't think of anything to reply because he knew she was right.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." She must have seen that he was struggling.

He nodded, and the first tear escaped his eye. He quickly wiped it away. El sighed, took another step toward him, and took his trembling hands in hers. "I don't want to fight", she added softly.

"You mean so much to me." Finally, a word escaped Mike's lips. She squeezed his hands. "I know. And you mean a lot to me too. But I think we're better off as..."

"Friends?" he finished her sentence. She nodded cautiously. And he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Fuck. He never cried. Mike Wheeler never cried. So why was he doing it now?

He felt the tears burning on his cheeks, his whole body trembling. And it wasn't even because he was so sad about it. It was because all his fears had come true, and now he was alone again. The nerdy freak. He had wanted so badly to believe that they were a perfect couple, but now it was dawning on him that it simply wasn't enough. Apparently, he really was... unlovable.

“Mike tell me I’m right, you know I’m right.”

He shook his head in disbelief. He did know she was right, but…

“friends don’t lie.”

Her voice was serious and determined. He looked at her, her eyes just as red and glassy as his own felt.

Then he nodded slowly.

It stabbed in his chest, and he felt like he was betraying himself, but he had to stop hiding from his feelings. He didn't love her. Not like that. So he pulled himself together, released one hand from El's grip to run it through his hair, and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Friends sounds good", he answered. Immediately, a smile spread across her face, and she pulled him into a long, tight hug. Since he was still sitting on the rain barrel, his position felt somewhat awkward, but despite everything, it also felt... really good.

Finally, they felt like Mike and El again. Honest with each other, and maybe even more important: honest with themselves.

“Oh god, I can’t go back in like this” El laughed when they finally pulled away from the embrace, and vaguely pointed at her face still red from the crying. “Do you need some help here by any chance” She gestured at the hole in the wooden wall.

Somehow he felt so relieved and (surprisingly) happy that he let out a small chuckle. “Sure! you could uhm... reach me the boards and the nails. Holding them with my teeth looks cool and everything but I'm actually scared i might choke on them.”

She smiled back at him.

And it just felt right.

It felt like everything was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Only when he came home in the evening and collapsed exhausted onto his bed did the gnawing fear spread in his insides again.

What now? He felt so alone and… just somehow empty.

He knew that this emptiness had been inside him for a long time, maybe for years, but now he slowly began to understand it. It was a longing he couldn't satisfy, a longing to love and be loved, but for some reason, he always kept messing that up. He had just wanted a normal, peaceful life, but everything had to go wrong. How could he be so relieved about the breakup but also so scared at the same time?

His eyes brimmed with tears, and he squeezed them shut, trying to suppress the welling emotions. If his girlfriend couldn't love him, then who could? And maybe even worse:

If he couldn't love someone as pretty and amazing and… perfect as El, then who could he love?

A knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Mike?"

Will.

Will had been out with Nancy, Steve, and Hopper to get weapons, and they hadn't seen each other since. Mike had wanted to go with them but only received strange looks because he knew even less about shooting or fighting than he knew about knitting. Will had grinned apologetically at him. How could Mike forget that Lonnie had taught him to shoot when he was a little kid. He had never seen Will with a firearm, but something in him yearned to change that.

Mike sat up, ran his fingers through his curls and over his T-shirt, and cleared his throat.

"Yeah? Come in."

The door opened a crack, and Will poked his head through, grinning widely at Mike, causing warmth to rise into Mike’s cheeks, and he felt his own mouth tilt into a little smile. Will closed the door behind him and stood awkwardly in the room for a few seconds, his gaze darting nervously around the room. It took a moment for Mike to realize that he was looking for a place to sit, so he scooted over on the bed, let his legs dangle over the edge, and patted the mattress next to him. Relief washed over Will’s face as he sat down next to Mike, lulling him into his scent and sending a burst of warmth through his stomach.

At first, he wanted to ask why Will had come, but he held back. They were friends, best friends. And best friends didn't need a reason to talk.

But as Mike looked up at Will, he realized that his friend was studying his face with a concerned expression.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Will asked.

Fuck. Could he tell that he had almost cried a few seconds ago? Probably. Will always saw right through him, and he knew him longer and better than anyone else. So nothing escaped his notice. Mike briefly considered lying. "Well, we're all pretty messed up right now. The whole situation is tearing me apart." When Will didn't respond and continued to gaze at him with the same purely kind look that Mike knew all too well, he let out a shaky breath. It was Will, he could talk to him. Dammit, it was just Will.

"And..." his voice sounded hoarse, he cleared his throat and continued, "And El and I broke up."

He stared at his hands. Will didn’t answer.

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.

He felt Will’s gaze on him, burning on his skin. He looked up and met Will’s glance. Will's eyes had widened, the colour drained from his face. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds.

"No."

It was barely a whisper.

Will cleared his throat and looked away. “No… No I mean that’s horrible, I mean… why? What happened?”

Mike pressed his palms against his eyes and sighed. “It was actually not that bad…” He studied Will’s side profile. “Uhm we kinda realized that we were just not… meant for each other” shit, that sounded stupid. Will turned his head at him again. “What do you mean, you’re not meant for each other, of course you are, you’re perfect together, you belong together, you....” His voice faltered, some kind of desperation tinged his voice.

Mike shook his head “No.” Will next to him let out a heavy breath. “No, we don’t. We figured we’re better friends than a couple. She said she needs to be herself and that she couldn’t be that with me and that she… doesn’t love me.” When he said that, Wills eyes filled with tears and the sight of it made Mike’s eyes start to sting aswell.

“But I think I don’t do either.” He tried to blink the tears away. “...love her, I mean. It just never felt right, you know. I used to think that’s just how it was supposed to feel but I slowly realized that I… I don’t know. That it needed more to love her.” Ugh that sounded stupid again. “It still makes me sad somehow. Not because I regret the breakup or anything, I’m sure it was for the better. I don’t know I just… don’t know.” The boy next to him was clinging to the mattress like a lifeline, his fingers sinking into the fabric.

“I’m so sorry” Will whimpered. Why was he even more upset than Mike?

“Hey, I know you tried your best to salvage our relationship and I’m very thankful for that. But I told you, it’s fine!” He felt the urge to reach for Will’s hand which still clung tightly to the edge of the bed. He didn't, of course, taht would've been weird. “It’s fine. I’m fine. And El is too.”

I’m so sorry.

Will was so incredibly kind and caring and empathic, it almost broke Mike’s heart. “Hey.” He looked deep into Will’s eyes. “I’m happy it’s over.” And in this moment he really meant it, his sadness was washed away and the emptiness had given way to another sensation that felt like warmth and comfort and… belonging.

Will stared back, his cheeks pink and tears still shimmering in his eyes. He nodded. “Then I’m happy too.” A smile blossomed on his mouth and Mike couldn’t help but drink in every curve, every line, every nuance of his face and capture the way the sunlight that fell through his window delicately traced the contours of his face. When he caught himself staring, he tore his gaze away and let go of a breath he didn’t know he held.

“So when am I finally gonna see you shooting with a gun?” He said to break the silence. Will chuckled. “Well, I guess you won’t have to wait all too long anymore.” He brought his knees up to his chest and loosely wrapped his arms around his legs. Mike was glad to see that he felt less tense and more comfortable now. “The question is…” Will continued with a boyish grin, “When am I gonna see you with a gun?”

“Oh, that’s not going to happen!” Mike squeaked and shook his head.

“Oh, what’s your weapon of choice then? Are you gonna slay those Demobats with your fists?” A soft giggle escaped his lips. With a playful huff and an exaggerated eye-roll, Mike theatrically acted offended. “Eyy, maybe I do... You think I couldn’t??” He awkwardly boxed the air in front of him. Will’s giggle only intensified. Did Mike do that? He had forgotten that making Will laugh was one of the best things in the world.

“Stop it” Will squeezed out amidst fits of laughter, “You look ridiculous!” But Will said it in such a nice and warm and giggly way that Mike could not be less offended.

When their laughter slowly ebbed away, Mike flopped backward onto the bed, his body sinking into the soft mattress, feeling all warm and fuzzy. “I really missed this, you know.” He said under his breath his eyes locked with Will’s that looked like they were… searching for something in Mike’s gaze. “Missed what?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know, just... this.” He vaguely gestured at the space between them. “Us, you know”

You, he wanted to add. He didn’t.

Looking down on Mike who was still lying on his back, the corner of Will’s mouth turned upwards in a soft smile. Why was everything about him so soft? His smile, his eyes, his hair, his…

“Yeah, me too.” Will answered and Mike tried his best to pretend that his heart wasn’t trying to beat out of his chest.

Chapter Text

(3390 words ≈ 10-12 minutes reading time)

Will felt the warm water cascade down his back as he inhaled deeply, taking in the shampoo-infused moist air that filled his lungs with a heavy warmth.

Adjusting the water temperature of the shower even warmer, he allowed the soothing heat to turn his whole body a rosy hue, spreading a tingling sensation over his skin. But this time, it wasn’t a tingle of the unsettling kind that had been plaguing him the past days, rather one that numbed him to the uneasy feeling of that foreign presence.

He could have stayed like this for hours, letting the hot water scorch away every upcoming discomfort and suffocate all unpleasant thoughts before they could reach him.

But a knock on the door and the sound of Jonathan’s muffled voice snapped him out of his trance. Will turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, and immediately felt the cold air on his still-flushed skin

“Will, are you ok? Is everything alright?” his brother's concerned voice echoed through the door. Will let out an irritated huff. “I’m fine, don’t worry.” He couldn’t help but sound annoyed.

“Okay good, you’ve been in here for quite a while so we were worried, you…”

“I’m FINE!” Jonathan's words trailed off as Will abruptly interrupted him, his voice raised. He took a towel and started rubbing his hair vigorously.

Silence fell on the other side of the door. Almost instantly, Will regretted his outburst, his brother was clearly just looking out for him.

He quickly slipped into the pyjama Mike had given him and spared a glance at the fogged up mirror. His cheeks were still flushed pink and his messy fringe clung to his forehead in damp strands, with small droplets of water cascading down and tracing their way along his temples. He ran the towel over his hair once again before opening the door and stepping out, only to find himself face to face with Jonathan who was still standing there and (to his surprise) Mike leaning to the wall a few meters down the corridor, his hands tucked into his pockets.

Will offered Jonathan an apologetic smile, which Jonathan returned with a tired look of understanding before slipping into the bathroom behind Will.

“Oh, so all this we were worried about you when he just wanted to get in there himself…” Will said jokingly, turning towards Mike who just grinned back at him.

“And what are you doing here? You also want to throw me out of the bathroom?” Mike pushed away from the wall and shook his head, his eyes scrutinizing Will’s flushed face.

“Nah, you know what Hopper said, we shouldn’t be alone when possible, so I was looking for some company.”

Will raised his eyebrows and wiped a droplet of water off his cheek with the back of his hand, Mike’s eyes followed the movement.

“Also,” Mike added and if Will didn't know better he would say that he looked a bit insecure,

“I kinda need your help to carry a mattress down to the basement.” Will raised his eyebrows even further and gave Mike a questioning look.

“Well, what if I start floating in the middle of the night and there is no one to realize it because I’m in my room all alone?” he explained and headed towards the Wheeler’s laundry and storage room, Will following him. Okay, so Mike was ginan stay in the basement, too. He didn’t complain, of course.

They joined forces to manoeuvre the bulky mattress through the corridors and down into the dimly lit basement. A startled squeal escaped the boy in front of Will as he nearly tumbled down the basement stairs while attempting to carry the mattress backward. Will let out an amused huff, immediately followed by an offended  “Hey, not funny!” from the other end of the mattress. But Will could clearly hear the smile in Mike’s voice.

After examining the room for a second, Mike directed the mattress a few feet next to Will’s where they put it down. “Oh, you really don’t want to be alone, huh?” Will quipped and Mike scoffed in return, a slight pink spreading on his cheeks. He almost looked... embarrassed and Will immediately felt sorry. He didn't mean to make fun of him.

“Do you really think, he would come for you?” Will asked curiously, “Vecna, I mean.” He felt a bit guilty for not even considering that Mike could become a victim. But of course they’ve all been through a lot, it would probably be easy to find some traumatizing event in all of their pasts. Mike looked at him for a second, clearly thinking about what to answer. His voice was quiet as he answered:

“I mean, he would for sure find something. Not… Not that I’ve been through nearly as much as you and… and the others, you guys obviously had it worse, but… I still have nightmares from time to time”

He settled onto his mattress and Will did the same on his, opposite to Mike, listening attentively. “You know, about things that… happened.” Will could tell from Mike’s quiet and serious voice that this talk was about t become personal and Will knew that his best friend always had a hard time showing himself vulnerable. So he just gazed at Mike, trying to soften his look as much as possible to reassure him. Mike spared him a quick glance before he looked back at the hands in his lap and cleared his throat.

“I mean I can deal with it, I’m sure you have it worse, just…” His voice faltered.

“What are you having nightmares about?” Will asked, his voice soft and quiet. He noticed Mike tense slightly at the question, his hand nervously rubbing his knee and fidgeting at the fabric of his pants. “Just… you know. The monster at the mall, uhm Billy in that sauna, almost killing El and then almost killing me…”

Will opened his mouth, looking for words of reassurance but Mike wasn’t done, his voice was trembling when he continued to talk: “You- Your body being pulled out of that lake.” Wills heart skipped a beat at the thought. “You being tied to a chair screaming for us to let you go.” Mike lifted his head but avoided direct eye contact, his gaze roamed over the wall behind Wills head.

“Mike” he said softly, slightly hunching over to his friend to force him to look at him. And Mike did. Will saw the pain in his eyes as their gazes met and everything inside of him screamed to pull him into his arms. He didn’t, of course.

“That wasn’t me who was pulled out of that lake and it wasn’t me who screamed for you to let me go, okay?” He furrowed his brows and tried to put all the empathy he had into his words. “I’m right here.”

Mike shook his head “I know, I know of course. It’s just the thought of what would have been if it- If it… had been you.” Will felt tears welling up in his eyes and blinked them away. It hurt him that Mike was hurting and it hurt even more that he was hurting because of him. And what hurt the most was the guilt he felt when he realized that he did also kind of like the thought of Mike being so worried about him.

“You know, I lost you… several times. I lost El too back then and now I… lost her again. Then I lost Eddie and Max and- and I don’t know, recently I’m feeling like I somehow lost myself too. And I just don’t want some gooey dickhead to penetrate my mind and whirl all that stuff up.”

The two boys still sat on their mattresses facing each other. Will timidly stretched out his right leg, allowing his foot to gently nudge Mike's. It was a small gesture, but he wouldn’t have managed a greater one without bursting into tears.

They sat in silence for a moment before Mike raised his head and spared Will a careful but curious glance. “What about you?”

Wills gaze snapped up. “What about me?”

“You know uhm... Everyone is kinda worried about you because of Vecna, and since I just poured my heart out to you, I thought you might also… wanna talk about it.”

Shit. Will weighed all his possibilities. Should he not say anything? Tell Mike he doesn’t want to talk about it? Or should he try? There is no way he could make it through without crying and he hated being the weak and fragile crybaby all the time.

Mike must have noticed his nervousness because he quickly added:

“N-No pressure, we don’t have to, I just thought maybe talking about it would help… somehow. I know you usually keep those things to yourself, but you don’t have to.” Now Mike was the one trying to reassure Will. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to go through this on your own y’know?”

Mike’s words alone made Wills eyes sting. Oh god, why was he such a baby? What did Mike want to hear? Did he expect Will to unpack all the trauma from his childhood?

“Uhm…” His eyes steadily fixed on his knees, he decided: It was just Mike. Who could he tell all of this it if not Mike? And his best friend clearly wanted to listen, it wasn’t like Will had to feel like a burden. With the growing lump in his throat, the urge to finally talk about everything grew aswell.

“Often when I have nightmares, I find myself in the upside down again.” His voice trembled but he kept talking, avoiding Mike’s gaze. “crouching in Castle Byers.” Mike pressed his foot closer to Wills. “But it’s not my Castle Byers… It’s different and dark and… cold. So cold.” The last two words were barely more than a whisper.

“I lay there what feels like weeks, freezing, hungry, thirsty and… so fucking lonely, trying to stay awake, to stay alive. At some point I’m not even sure anymore if that’s what I want - Staying alive.”

He is surprised that he still has his tears under control. The warmth that spreads in him from where Mike’s and his leg touch makes it easier. He doesn’t look at his friend but he knows that he’s listening, he knows that he cares.

“And the next thing I vaguely remember is that I’m awake but I can’t breathe. I’m choking because something is stuck in my throat and I try to pull it out but I’m weak and I can barely move. A-And I just feel so helpless because I know it’s… killing me. And I’m conflicted between not wanting to die and thinking that it would maybe be easier. And it takes so so long and I feel it in my whole body and I just want it to end, in one way or another.”

Will heard a rustling from the mattress opposite to him and when he looked up, Mike had stood up and came over to him, settling down next to him, his shoulder pressed to Will’s. He felt his pulse jump, even though his heart had already been rabbiting in his chest. When Will didn’t continue his talk, Mike turned his head towards him, he didn’t return the look but he could feel Mike’s boring gaze on his face.

“I’m so incredibly sorry that you had to go through all of that. I know it doesn’t help you and I know you don’t want to be pitied, I just want to make sure that you know I’m here. I know I haven’t always been there for you when I should have but I am now.”

“I know.” Will answered. “Thank you.”

Mike had always been good at listening. Will was usually the quiet kid but when he started talking, like… really talking, when he was sad or happy or passionate about anything, Mike had always listened. And he had never made Will feel annoying or stupid or unimportant for anything he said. Not until he had gotten so obsessed with El and moved on from the precious mutual understanding he and Will always had.

But in this moment Will felt like they were back again. Mike and Will. Listening to each other, understanding each other in a way no one else did. And Will just wanted to let it all out, everything he had on his chest (ok besides his disgusting crush on his best friend of course) because he knew Mike would understand.

“You know what the worst part is.” Still no tears, wow this went surprisingly well. “The worst part is that I feel so incredibly weak.”

“Will, you’re not weak!” Mike exclaimed. “You’ve been through so much and you still stood ground until now, you’re one of the strongest people I…” Will poked his elbow in Mike’s side.

“Stop being so cheesy, I’m being serious right now.”

“Ok keep going, but be sure: if you call yourself weak again, I’ll intervene.” They shared a small smile before Will started talking again.

“Everyone treats me as if I’m gong to break, they always have and I know they are probably right.” He gave Mike a warning look as he opened his mouth to protest, so Mike closed it again and pursed his lips.

“I know this is stupid, but I’m just so tired of… myself.” Mike beside him let out a small grunt but he held back whatever he wanted to say.

“Everyone sees it, everyone knows it, has always known it. I’m a crybaby that can’t move on, I’m made of porcelain and everyone is scared to drop me…” The words kept spilling out of him, he just wanted to let go of everything.

“I’m fragile and pathetic and I just can’t get a grip, I’m a weirdo, a f…freak and everyone was right, the kids at school, Troy, my dad… And Vecna knows it, he knows every single dark thought I have, every flaw, every disgusting detail of who I am. I know that he knows.”

“Okay, okay, okay, this is enough!” Mike interrupted him, he sounded almost angry, but he immediately smoothed his voice when Will flinched at his words.

“How can you listen to those pricks, they are all assholes is what they are. They don’t get to make you feel like that, you understand??” Will felt Mikes hand warm on his back, his thumbs drawing soothing circles between his shoulder blades. And Will felt the tears coming, he knew there was no way of stopping them now.

“You’re not a weirdo just because some bullies tell you so, you’re not a freak, nothing about you is… disgusting, how can you think that??”

What do you know?

You would find me disgusting too if you knew.

To be fair, freak has been one of the nicer names he’d been called. A hot tear ran down his cheek, he quickly wiped it away but Mike had seen it. “See, I’m doing it again” Will whined between sobs. “I can’t just get a fucking grip or be a man… No wonder my dad didn’t want me.”

“Hey Will, let’s not go there okay. Listen, I want you… I- I mean we all do, look everyone here loves you just the way you are.”

You probably wouldn’t if you knew…

“And we don’t care that you’re quiet or… emotional. On the contrary: That’s a part of you, you’re kind and empathic and caring, that’s what makes you special!”

Special, huh? Not exactly what he wanted to be.

“You’ve been through so much, give yourself a break. I need you to understand that we’re all here for you… with you, I’m here with you and there is nothing that could change that okay.”

He wants to believe it. He wants to believe it so bad, it hurts.

They sat like that for a few minutes. The silence was only disturbed by Will’s occasional sobs. But the steady movement of Mike’s thumb on his back slowly calmed him down. He wanted to lay his head on Mikes shoulder and just stay like that. But he didn’t.

He was painfully aware that Mike didn’t understand the actual meaning behind his words, the real pain. But it still helped. He made Will feel warm and safe and… seen. And he felt a weight lifted off his chest, finally being able to talk about what had been plaguing him his whole life.

“Freak, huh?” Mike’s voice jolted Will out of his thoughts. A bit perplexed by Mike’s words, he turned his head to him, raising his brows.

“I wish you’d have gotten to know Eddie.” Mike returned Will's gaze and a sad smile tugged at his lips.

“He was a freak for sure.” He chuckled. Will just kept staring at him.

“And he's... was the coolest person I know .” Mike swallowed. His hand had left Will’s back and was now nervously fumbling at his own knee again. Will still felt the ghost of his friends thumb beneath his neck, a warm tingle where his hand had laid.

“He was proud of being a freak, y'know. He embraced it, made fun of it. He showed us that it’s okay to be freaks. Because let’s be honest, we all are, i mean look at us.” Will hummed in response and a small smile crept up on his lips.

“You would have loved him.”

Not in that way, Will, that's not what he meant! Relax!

“I told him about you too, you know?” Mike looked back at him only to find a surprised and flustered look on Will’s face. “You did?”

Mike hummed a yes, the small smile returned to the edge of his lips. “He always asked when my little cleric would finally show up here.”

Will felt his blood rush to his face.

“Your little cleric?” he blurted out. Oh god, hopefully Mike didn’t catch how flustered that sounded, it was supposed to be more of an amused-offended kind of response. But Mike didn’t seem to notice.

“His words, not mine”, he defended himself.

Too bad.

“One second.” Mike stood up abruptly, leaving Wills side cold where he had leaned onto him. Without another word he stumbled up the stairs and rushed out of the basement.

"I'll be right back," he shouted on his way.

A bit perplex, Will sat there and waited, staring at where Mike had left through the basement door. One minute later he heard hasty steps approach and Mike appeared in the doorframe again.

“Uhm, hi.” He grinned down before taking the stairs. Back on the basement floor, Mike settled down on his own mattress again, facing Will, his breath quick from the hurry. He held something in his hands behind his back but before Will could ask about it, he started explaining himself.

“Soo, this might be silly, but… I kind of always kept one of those spare for you.” He pulled out a white T-shirt that featured a vivid depiction of a menacing red monster, twisted horns extending from its forehead, its jagged teeth bared in a wicked grin. Will’s eyes curiously roamed the fabric and read the letters at the top.

Hellfire club

Will glanced back up at Mike who gave him an anticipating and slightly nervous look.

“I always thought you might move back one day or- or come to visit and then you could... join us.” Will’s smile widened, he felt a pleasant burst of warmth low in his stomach. So after all, Mike had thought of him after he moved to California. He had thought of him and told his new friends about him and wanted him to join his DnD club.

“This is not exactly how I imagined your next visit, so these might not be the optimum circumstances but I still thought maybe you… wanna have it.”

He mumbled something like it’s probably stupid under his breath when Will didn’t immediately answer, lowering his arms that still held the shirt towards Will.

Will sighed “That’s not stupid, that’s…”

incredibly fucking cute

“…so nice, thank you.” He reached for the shirt and took it from Mike’s hands. He let his thumbs brush over the soft fabric and looked back at his friend.

“Thank you” once again, barely a whisper.

And he could have kept staring at that stupidly cute smile on Mike’s face, the smooth tilt of his lips and the friendly crinkles by his eyes.

“I wouldn’t wear it outside though," Mike warned him, "We kind of have a bad reputation right now…”

Chapter Text

(3281 words ≈ 10 minutes reading time)

It was in the middle of the night when Mike woke up. He didn’t have a watch but a heavy darkness hung in the room, seeping through the windows of the basement and the indescribable smell of night lingered in the air. The sole source of light came from behind the mattress to his right. A dim warm glow framed the silhouette of the boy slumbering on it, rising and falling with his slow, steady breaths.

Will must have switched the lamp on after Mike had already fallen asleep. Was he ashamed to sleep with a light on? That was just like Will, yet Mike felt a twinge of sadness in his heart. He couldn’t even tell whether it was because Will still carried the weight of his childhood trauma with him or because he was so ashamed of showing it.

As Mike’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, the features of Will’s face emerged from his silhouette like delicate brushstrokes on a canvas. Bathed in the faint honey light, he appeared even softer than usual (if that was possible) and so peaceful that it made Mike forget all his worries.

He couldn’t remember when he had last seen Will this tranquil. At daytime, he was always nervous and fidgeting a look of unease in his anxious eyes, this stupid crease on his forehead seemingly glued onto his face.

But now, every muscle in his face was relaxed and he didn’t look like the world was currently burning down. The lamp cast gentle shadows on his face and Mike in his sleep-drunk state found himself simply captivated by the sight of the shadows dancing under Will’s fluttering eyelashes and the gentle play of light on the curve of his chin, the slope of his nose and his slightly opened lips.

Mike was too tired to form any rational thought, he just stared at Will, completely mesmerized as the boundaries between reality and sleep started to blur and he became enveloped in the tranquil stillness of the dark room again.

The next time he woke up, the morning sun had flooded the basement as soft beams of light filtered through the windows under the ceiling. His sleep had been interrupted by Argyle’s voice coming from across the room. Him and Jonathan had started a conversation about today’s plans but unlike Jonathan, Argyle was seemingly unable to keep his voice down.

Mike let out a small grumble while pushing himself in a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.

“Good morning.”

Will was sat up on his mattress, looking over at Mike, his voice deep and raspy, drenched in sleep. His tousled hair stood up at the side where it had lied on his pillow and the crimpled fabric had left tender marks on his left cheek. The crease on his forehead had returned together with the tense muscles of his jaw and his concerned eyes nervously darting through the room.

“Morning” Mike mumbled and leaned back on his elbows, his still tired eyes blinking in the bright light. He saw that Will was biting back a smile and without knowing why he felt a matching grin tugging at the corners of his own mouth.

After the breakfast, Mike’s mother pulled  him aside into the living room.

They settled on the couch and Karen folded her hands in her lap, her gaze fixed on her son.

“Hey honey, how are you holding up?” Before he could respond, she continued “I know it must be hard for all of you, I can see that everyone is upset. And I get it, it must be so, so hard with what’s been happening, that accident with Max and- and Eddie, I know he was your friend.”

She offered a comforting smile but Mike couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes. Instead he nodded along staring at the wall behind her, somewhere over her shoulder. She fell silent and looked like him as if expecting an answer.

“Yea, uhm… It’s horrible. I- I feel like everything is going to shit in front of me and there’s nothing I can do.”

She tilted her head  with a slightly annoyed look but didn’t say anything.

Language!

“I just want some peace, we all deserve it…” Mike added.

She nodded in understanding. “Ever since… that night, Hawkins hasn’t been same anymore.” Mike knew that that night was referring to the day Will went missing.

“Everything with Will and Barb, all the deaths and the mall fire, Chief Hopper and now.. now this?!” She sighed.

“Your father and I talked and…”

Oh no. Mike’s heart sank.

“He said we should leave.”

Disbelief washed over Mike as he stared at his mother. Well, it wasn’t that he didn’t expect this, he’d been anticipating it for a while, had known it was just a matter of time.

“What do you think, honey?”

“Have you talked to Nancy?”

Karen nodded and looked down with a sad smile. “She doesn’t want to leave.”

“Me neither.” he responded without hesitation.

Her gaze snapped up to him, brows raised in surprise. “I don- I don’t understand. Hawkins is not safe! People keep dying, the town is crumbling apart, everyone is leaving!” By everyone she clearly meant all her posh friends from work who had fled to their summer cottages.

“You said, you just want some peace, so what’s keeping you here, Michael?”

Well he just had to help save the world, that’s all.

 “My friends.” He replied instead.

“Oh, honey…” She placed a hand on his knee and smiled at him. “I’m sure they won’t stay here either, it’s too dangerous!”

“Mom, they can’t afford moving away you know that, it’s not like anyone is gonna buy their houses here in Hawkins.” She looked at him, understanding dawning on her face, her head slightly tilted.

“I’m not gonna leave them.”

“This is not just about you, Michael, this is about us too. And Holly.” Her smile remained, but determination seeped through her voice.

“I’m not gonna leave them!” Mike insisted.

Karen grew silent, observing him closely.

“Is this about Jane?” she asked finally.

“Hell no, this is not about Jane!” he exclaimed. This was about the future of the fucking world.

“Oh no, darling, have you two had a fight? Is that why she’s with Joyce and not here?”

“No!” Mike looked at his shoes, his hands nervously fidgeting. “Well, yes… kind of.” Seeing her pitying look, he added: “We’re not together anymore, but it’s fine, honestly. Don’t worry.”

“I’m sorry, honey” she said softly, to which Mike simply shook his head.

After a few seconds of silence, his mom reached out and took his hand putting an end to his nervous fidgeting.

“Is this about Will, then?”

“What?”

“Is this-“

“Mom! This is about my friends, okay? I’m not leaving my friends and I’m not leaving Hawkins!”

He blinked away the tears that welled up in his eyes. This had been happening a lot recently, holy shit.

“And Nancy won’t either, so either we all stay or you take Holly and dad and fucking leave, if that’s what you want”

Her grip around his wrist tightened. “Michael!”

He rolled his eyes in response.

“Michael, this is not funny.”

“Am I laughing?”

“I mean, this is serious. We are in serious danger in this town!”

Oh, if only she knew just how serious it was…

Finally he met her gaze. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

“I’m. Not. Leaving.” His voice was quiet and steady but his hand was tense under her touch.

Karen sighed and shut her eyes closed for a moment. “Honey, I’m not leaving without you either, you know that.”

Part of him had hoped she would just do it. Leave. Be safe with Holly somewhere far away without worries. Without being threatened by monsters or the military or whoever else was after him and his friends.

But no, she wouldn’t leave him and Nancy. So either she would find a way to force them to go and drag them away or she would stay with them. Both options made the lump in Mike’s throat grow.

“I’ll talk to your father. We’ll figure something out.” She smiled, but the smile was tinged with worry and unspoken sadness shimmered in her eyes.

He returned the smile and nodded. When she didn’t say anything else, he released his hand from hers and stood up, making his way towards the door.

“Hey, Mikey” she called out as he reached for the doorknob.

He hummed and turned around to look at her, hand still on the knob.

“About Jane… It’s ok to be sad.”

“I’m not- It’s ok, promise. We just weren’t right for each other.”

An unreadable expression flickered across her face, gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Then it’s for the better. I need you to be happy, Michael. I need you to feel loved the way you deserve to be loved.”

He stared at her, heart pounding in his ears. He really didn’t want to talk about that right now. He wanted to slam the door behind him, bury himself in his bed and cry. Ugh, not again.

“I don’t want you to end up in an unhappy relationship just because it is expected from you.” Like her and dad?

He nodded. He didn’t want that either but it had taken him a long time to figure that out. He didn’t know what he wanted, though. Or how he could be happy in this shithole of a town that would soon be overrun by monsters.

“Do you remember uncle Lesley’s Wedding?” she asked. He nodded vaguely.

“You were five years old and were totally grossed out by them kissing during the ceremony. You said you would never marry a girl and when I asked you what you would rather do, you said that you just want to eat candy with your friends and play games in the basement until you’re old and wrinkly.” A small sad chuckle escaped her lips.

He didn’t remember that. But it reminded him of something he had once said.

What’d you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? That we’d just sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?

And

It’s not my fault you don-

He slipped through the door without sparing his mother another glance and rushed to his room. Slamming his door shut, he buried his face in his pillow until finally the tears started spilling out.

The days crept by in slow motion. Each one carrying the weight of impending doom, the looming attack by Vecna or some other creature from the upside-down. Yet, nothing had happened so far, every morning Mike woke up with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, whispering that this could be their last peaceful morning. But it never turned out to be.

When he had asked Will about it, Will had told him that he could still feel that Vecna was recovering from his wounds. Mike didn’t like the thought of his best friend still feeling this evil, foreign presence inside him, but at the same time, it also gave him a feeling of safety. Will would know when Vecna would have reached his full strength again. They would be prepared. That’s what he hoped at least.

On most days, they found themselves at Hawkins High, which had become the centre of Hawkins, a meeting point and a place for the people whose homes had been ravaged. People living close to the cracks had also been evacuated “for their own safety” or rather to prevent that anyone observed any supernatural phenomena. Makeshift fences were erected to barricade the cracks, with military personnel stationed along the barricades as a government precaution. It was a measure to keep the people away from the cracks, but Mike suspected it was also to keep anything, that might come crawling out of there, away from the people.

Even though they haven’t had any unpleasant encounters with the military yet, they figured it was better to leave El in Hopper’s cabin. She had to stay hidden for now, they couldn’t risk her being taken away again, as she was their only hope to finally defeat Vecna.

Mike spent most of his days with Dustin, Lucas and Will at the school where they engaged in tasks such as distributing food and clothing. But their primary task was to be attentive and listen carefully.

They listened for any reports of unusual incidents, if anybody saw or heard something strange, if there had been any mysterious observations or missing people, or whatever else could hint at activities tied to the upside down. Sometimes Steve, Robin, or Erica would join them, but most of the time, it was just the four of them: Dustin, Lucas, Will and Mike. The party. Just like old times. Well, not exactly like old times, because they had all grown and changed, and Mike could feel that the strong ties that had once bound them tightly were slowly fading. Not that they were no longer friends, but they weren’t as inseparable as they used to be.

Lucas had already started drifting away from them when he joined the basketball team. At first, they had supported him and encouraged him to follow his passion, but as time passed, he became more popular and cared more about being popular, sometimes even seeming ashamed of being friends with these nerds.

Dustin was still Dustin. However, he sometimes ditched Mike to hang out with Steve and Robin or sometimes even Erica. Well “ditched” was maybe not a fair way to describe it, Mike was always invited, he just hadn’t been too eager to spend time with them since he didn’t really know them that well.

Things with El were going well. Better than expected, really. They didn’t see each other too often because El had to stay in the woods, but they would visit her occasionally or have group meetings at the cabin to stay connected. The dynamic between the two of them was a bit awkward, for sure. But Mike still cared for her and it felt good to be friends. It allowed Mike to feel more at ease around her, like he could be himself and didn’t have to impress her all the time or fulfill the role of a perfect boyfriend.

And then there was Will.

Of course they’ve had their ups and downs and even though it wasn’t that they weren’t best friends anymore, something was… different. Mike couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was or when exactly it had started. Was it after Will moved to California? Or had it been happening even before that? It wasn’t necessarily a bad change, just… different. Unspoken words lingering between them, the air around them heavy with something Mike couldn’t even begin to fathom.

He could feel it in the way they sat in comfortable silence for hours, finding contentment solely in each other’s company. It felt almost like old times, yet at the same time totally different.

He could feel it in the way their eyes locked longer than usual, shared looks that said everything and nothing at the same time. Hazel eyes fixed on his own, eyebrows barely raised as if asking something, searching for something. Will's gaze filled with uncertainty and some kind of curiosity, until crinkles formed by his eyes and his eyelashes fluttered and a smile blossomed on his lips. They shared so many small smiles or grins, that Mike thought his cheeks would go numb at some point, and not even the fact that the world was ending could stop this silly tug on the corners of his mouth.

He could feel it in the pit of his stomach when Will showed up in Mike’s room one day, wearing the Hellfire shirt Mike had given him, as if it were nothing. It wasn’t his usual colour choice, he normally favoured yellow or earth tones that accentuated his hazel eyes and caramel hair, sometimes switching to blue or green for contrast. But never black and white. Not his thing.

Yet, Mike couldn’t care less. Because it was the shirt he had given him, the one that he had wanted to give him for such a long time. As a way of saying: Hey, I missed you and I wish you could be here with m- us. When he got the second shirt, Eddie had raised his brows and shook his head, mouth twisted in a mocking grin. “Your little cleric, huh.” Somehow Mike was glad that Will didn’t get to know Eddie, because it would have been hella embarrassing for him. But overall, he would have loved to introduce them, Will would have loved Eddie and Eddie would have loved to tease Will until his cheeks would turn this delicate shade of pink.

He had pictured that moment several times. Not Will blushing of course, but their first campaign together after everything that happened. Sitting around a table in a candlelit room, hunched over a DnD board. Eddie’s story turning into vivid images in their minds and solely driven by the force of imagination, armed with pens, paper and some dice, they would have the best evening ever.

Of course, all of Eddie’s campaigns were incredibly fun. But Mike really missed Will sitting next to him at the table, nibbling at the end of his pen (something he would never do with his drawing pencils) pondering about his next move. Will, who was attentive, quiet and thoughtful, yet sometimes got carried away in the rush of the story, eyes wide, mouth loose and cheeks flushed in heated excitement.

Will always remembered all the details of the plot and came up with the best plans, always staying in his role. A shy but cheeky wizard who never hesitated to tout his own brilliance. Will the wise. Mike’s little cleric. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

 “What’s so funny?” Will chuckled while settling down on Mike’s bed across from him.

“Nothing” Mike responded, biting back his grin.

“Is it the shirt? Is it ridiculous after all? I should probably take it off.”

“No, no, it’s nothing.” Mike shook his head to reassure him. “Besides, it suits you.”

He heard a small huff coming from Will, but he didn’t look up from the notebook propped up on his knees in front of him. The page was still empty.

Will muttered something that sounded like “Idiot” prompting Mike to playfully toss his pen at him. Will squeaked in surprise and quickly raised his hands to repel the missile.

“Ow!”

“C’mon, that didn’t hurt…”

“It could have, you could’ve hit my eye!” Will complained jokingly.

“I aimed at your leg, dumbass.” Mike responded with a playful eye roll.

“Who are you trying to fool? Even Holly has better aim than you.”

With his only throwable weapon out of reach, Mike stretched out his leg and kicked Will’s foot with a mischievous grin. It hadn’t been hard, but Will kicked back immediately with at least twice as much force. “Asshole”, Mike huffed, pulling his leg back and rubbed his ankle in exaggerated pain.

They had never squabbled when they were younger. They had always been kind and tender with each other. This was new. Mike wasn’t complaining, though. Because that genuine giggle that had just started to bubble up Will’s chest, made his heart swell with fondness.

In those moments he could forget what was going on in the world around him. That only a few blocks from this house, buildings were shattered, black vines were creeping out of the ominous cracks, spreading on the facades like dark veins on pale skin.

Nothing could reach him here. He felt the sun on his bare arms, even though clouds of dark mist and poisonous particles had laid settled over Hawkins, casting a shadow on the whole town. He didn't perceive any of that; To him, the sun was shining warmer and brighter than ever.

Chapter Text

(5178 words ≈ 15-20 minutes reading time)

A month passed before they received the letter.

One morning, Hopper summoned everyone for a meeting at  his cabin. They rarely gathered like this, all ten of them. The cabin wasn’t big and fitting ten people into the main room was a tight squeeze. But they huddled closely on the sofa and some sat down on the floor, everyone curiously peering at Hopper, who was holding said letter in his hands.

Will sat on a small wooden stool next to the couch, nervously drumming his fingers on its edge. Occasionally, his gaze darted towards Mike and El who, seated across from him on the floor. They looked fine. They sat close (not too close, though) and Will had seen them talking, it hadn’t seemed weird.

Of course, Will had talked to El about their break-up, but she told him the same as Mike: It was fine, they were friends and it was for the better. However, he senses a tinge of sadness in her voice. Will felt really sorry for her. For both of them.

Yet, he couldn’t suppress the unbidden warmth that coursed through his veins when he allowed his thoughts to wander for a minute. It wasn’t exactly hope, but… well, perhaps it was. He knew it was stupid, he knew it was pointless, but he couldn’t help it. He despised himself for feeling this way. El didn’t deserve a brother who harboured such thoughts about her ex-boyfriend, and Mike certainly didn’t deserve a best friend who… you know.

Hopper cleared his throat and Will’s attention snapped back to him. He gestured with the letter in his right hand. “So…” Hopper began, turning his head to scan all their faces. “This letter arrived this morning. It’s from Owens.”

Will swallowed, unsure whether it was a good or bad sign. But honestly, what could a bad sign even be? How could anything be worse than expected, really?

“Seems like the military acknowledged their mistake. They realized that you didn’t have your powers when all the murders happened.” He looked straight at El now, who peered back, eyes wide open.

“They also don’t believe that it would be your intention to destroy Hawkins or harm your friends, everything that’s going on right now cannot be traced back to you. Owens also told them everything we know about Henry. Seems like the government is all on our side now.”

“If it’s not a trap…”, Joyce interjected. She sat on the sofa, El on the floor in front of her was now leaning back against her legs. Seeing them both as mother and daughter filled Will’s heart with warmth. It felt natural, just… right, as if it was always meant to be this way.

“Owens doesn’t believe it’s a trap. The military is already in Hawkins." Hopper vaguely gestured in the direction of the cracks. "And let’s face it: If they wanted to, they could have easily watched over any of us to locate this place.” he said, giving El a small smile. One that Will had never seen him give to anyone besides El and Joyce. Perhaps, someday he would get one too.

“Owens believes you’re safe!” Joyce exclaimed, wrapping her arms around El from behind, ”You’re safe!”

El leaned her head back at Joyce’s knees, a faint smile gracing her lips. “Safe” she repeated.

“We shouldn’t forget about the… uh monsters and everything, though.”

Robin shrugged and nervously scratched her head as all nine heads turned towards her. “Sorry. Didn’t want to interrupt the moment. I was just… just saying.”

“No, she’s right.”, Hopper acknowledged, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. “Owens also reported increased activity in the upside down around the cracks. He considers it no immediately threatening but definitely concerning. He advises us to prepare for the worst case scenario.” Will didn’t know what exactly Hopper meant by worst case scenario, but he decided it was better not to think about it.

“In case anyone wants to leave the town, he offers evacuation for us and our families.”

Will noticed Mike’s eyebrows raise at Hopper’s words, but he remained silent. Everyone did. Did Mike consider leaving? Surely not. Maybe his parents wanted to. Will had sensed tension between them recently. The looks they (didn’t) share, snappy remarks and sour conversations. He didn’t know what had kept them from leaving until now.

They went over the security measures again: Everyone carried a cassette tape with their favourite song, and each group had at least one Walkman in case of an attack. Will found it absurd. Why would Vecna want to curse more of them, why open more gates? It made no sense.

But then he remembered the Mindflayer. The upside down possessed other powers that no one would want infiltrating their mind, and maybe Vecna hadn’t even revealed all his weapons yet. Maybe the music would prove useful against some of his tricks. Because what would they do if not?

The thought lingered with Will in the days that followed. They all knew that something was about to happen. They just didn’t know when and what, and most importantly: how they would handle it. They had their music, their guns and of course they had El - she was their deadly weapon against the upside down. But they remained clueless about Vecna’s next move. And how were they supposed to develop any kind of plan like that?

They had to watch out for signs, any indications of what Vecna might be plotting. That’s why, a few days later, they found themselves on the lookout at Hawkins High again - listening, watching.

Lucas, Dustin, Mike, Will and El (who was finally allowed to leave the house) were doing different tasks in the assembly hall, engaging in conversations with the citizens and observing the people around them.

And this time, they actually witnessed something. Though, it had nothing to do with Vecna and the upside down. Still, Will would later think it might be even worse.

It had all started because they decided to take a little break. They chose their favourite spot on the roof of the gymnasium, climbing up the fire escape and settling down on the metal edge. From there, they had a view of the west wing of the school. The grounds below were empty, most people were gathered inside or in front of the school. This area was usually where people would smoke or make out during school breaks, but under the current circumstances, there was no one to be seen.

El was in a comparably good mood. In between bites of her sandwich, she was a whirlwind of conversation with an inexhaustible desire to talk. Will understood why. She had spent too much time in the shed and had been alone for too long. He loved seeing her like this again, regardless of what was happening in the world around them, she was doing well. She talked with her mouth full, her cheeks turning pink in the cold wind. Even though it was almost summer, the temperatures were far from what they should be at this time of the year. 

El’s flow of words was interrupted by a the sound of a door opening and closing somewhere below them. They heard muffled laughter and a the familiar voice of a girl, before Robin’s head appeared in the yard. Another girl stumbled outside behind her, clutching her stomach in a fit of laughter. She had red hair that was tamed by a bright green hairband. The mysterious girl said something they  couldn’t understand, causing more giggles from Robin.

In the corner of his eye, Will saw Dustin raising his hand and opening his mouth, ready to greet Robin. But something was holding Dustin back, hesitation evident on his face as he observed the two girls. Will looked back at Robin, who spun around in a circle, carefully scanning the courtyard and the surrounding buildings. She seemed wary, almost as if afraid of being watched. And if she had looked up just a few degrees, she would have noticed five pairs of eyes that were in fact watching them from the roof of the gymnasium. But she didn’t look up. She didn’t.

Seemingly content with the results of her observation Robin turned her attention back to Vickie. Their laughter had ebbed away and had given way to something else that was now lingering between them. Though Will wasn’t even close enough to hear their conversation, he could see a blush spreading across both their faces as their eyes locked.

Oh.

Robin reached for Vickie’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

Oh.

Will wanted to look away. This felt like and intimate moment, and a sudden unease churned in his stomach, urging him to get up and run. Or shout something to make them stop. But he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Couldn't breathe. He was painfully aware that his friends were also watching the scene below and had gone completely silent.

Will couldn’t tear his eyes away. Were they about to…? But before anything could happen, Robin simply turned around and pulled Vickie after her. Will’s eyes followed them as they crossed the yard and disappeared behind a building. Just like that, they were gone.

Will let out a heavy breath and cautiously turned his head to gauge the others’ reactions. Relief washed over him when he saw that Mike and El had returned to eating their sandwiches, seemingly unbothered by the events.

But Lucas’ eyes were fixed on Dustin, who continued to stare at the spot where the two girls had disappeared.

After a few seconds of silence, Dustin nodded slowly.

“Interesting…”

Will’s mouth went dry. Please let’s not do this right now. Please, please, please.

“What’s interesting?” Lucas asked, curious.

“This makes sense.” Dustin responded with a grin, “Supports my thesis.”

“What thesis?” Mike chimed in. Will flinched at the sound of his voice. His insides were screaming and burning, and beads of sweat formed on his temples. This could be anything. Dustin has all kind of thesis. This didn’t have to be about…

“My ‘Why-Robin-and-Steve-aren’t-dating’ thesis.”

Oh.

Dustin shrugged contentedly and took a big bite of his sandwich, clearly waiting for someone to ask.

“And what is the thesis?” El scratched her nose and tilted her head, eyes fixed on Dustin.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Dustin looked around with his come-on-guys-it’s-not-rocket-science expression that Will knew all too well.

Well, it was obvious to Will. But he didn't see any sign of comprehension on the others' faces. Mike just furrowed his brow slightly and continued nibbling at the crust of his bread, while El just looked at Dustin with wide, curious eyes. “What’s obvious?”

Dustin sighed.

“Robin is gay.”

The words struck Will like a bolt of lightning, his blood ran cold, heart rabbiting in his chest. This had nothing to do with him, he had to relax. It was fine.

Every second felt like minutes and the weight of Mike’s presence next to him bore down on Will, burning in his peripheral vision. How would his friends react? How would Mike react? Will couldn’t bring himself to look at anyone’s face. He didn’t want to see them. It made him sick knowing how suspicious he was behaving but his body had forgotten how to act casually, how to work on its own. It was like he had to control every single breath, every blink of his eyes.

“Yea, kinda looked like it.” Lucas confirmed. His tone sounded normal. Or, was it? Will couldn’t tell, he was too fixated on the intense presence beside him. But Mike remained silent. Not a good sign.

Will heard El shifting her position. “What is… gay?”

Oh.

Dustin chuckled. What’s so funny?

“It’s when two girls or two boys are in love.” He resonded.

El fell silent. The silence rang in Will’s ears. Why didn’t she say anything? Did she find it weird? Absurd? Disgusting?

“Oh, ok. How does that work?” she asked.

“Uhm…” Dustin started, “Just like normal love, I guess...” Normal.

Will could almost hear El trying to wrap her head around Dustin’s words. “Okay, I didn’t know that.” She then said with a shrug. “That’s cool.”

Whoa, what? Cool? Not exactly how Will would have described it, but he felt a bit more at ease, knowing that Dustin, El and Lucas seemed so normal about it. Not that he thought that they would be homophobic, but you could never be certain nowadays...

But then there was Mike. Mike, who hadn’t said a single word throughout the entire conversation. Neither had Will, but for obvious reasons. And it terrified him to think about Mike’s reasons. Will’s hands started to sweat. Shit, he should say something, anything really. But his body was disconnected from his brain, failing to respond to his commands. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice.

“It’s not a very common thing, El. That’s why you haven’t heard of it.” Lucas explained. “Gay people are often having a hard time. There are many mouth breathers that think It’s like… unnatural or something. Many of them are bullied or- or even hurt” Every word sent a mix of ice and fire through Will’s veins.

“Oh.” El’s voice sounded sad when she responded. “Why?”

“Because they’re completely braindead!!” Dustin interjected, his voice raised. “They think it’s their business even though it clearly isn’t”

Will’s focus was drifting away from the conversation and towards the person on his left. He didn’t dare turn his head, but his full attention was on the dark curls in his peripheral vision. Still no reaction from Mike. Couldn’t he just say something? Why didn't he say anything? He was clearly listening… Will would have given anything to know what Mike was thinking. Or maybe not. Maybe it was better not to know.

When Dustin returned to eating his sandwich, Will thought the topic was finished, until Lucas nudged his side.

“Will, Mike… You havin’ a problem or sum?”

Shit.

Yes, Will definitely had a problem.

Did Lucas suspect something? Fuck, Will had been too obvious.

Or did Lucas think he and Mike were being homophobic?

Was Mike being homophobic?

Before Will was forced to respond or react in any way, Mike luckily took the lead. Well, ‘luckily’ was the overstatement of the century. And that was when the world went black in front of Will’s eyes and he felt like the air was squeezed out of his lungs.

“How can you say something like that, Dustin?”, Mike asked. Something like that. Mike’s voice was tinged with something dark. Mike was upset. And this ugly tone in his voice made Will’s limbs go numb and nausea creep up his throat.

“Say what?” Dustin replied coldly.

“How can you just say that about Robin? How can you just assume she’s gay?” Hearing the word from Mike’s lips felt surreal, like a dream. (Not a good one, though)

At this point, Will didn’t know anything anymore. Was he still breathing? Did he still exist? He didn’t feel like he was, and he definitely didn’t want to be. He wished he could disappear, evaporate into thin air, or better yet, have the ground beneath him open up and swallow him whole

“Huh, why?” Lucas asked. “Would you have a problem with that?”

“What? no!” Mike exclaimed.

Phew.

“I mean, I don’t know…”

Dustin shrieked “You don’t know?! Is that some shit you learned from your dad??” He didn’t know?!! Was Mike actually being homophobic?

Of course Will had imagined similar scenarios several times. Most of the time they were about himself coming out to his best friend. In some of those scenarios, it was fine. Mike would tell him he was cool with it, maybe hug him, tell him he was there for him no matter what.

In some scenarios, that Will wasn’t proud of, Mike would look at him with his puppy eyes, cup his chin and tell him he was gay too. Then they would kiss and everything was perfect.

It was stupid, of course. Unfair.

Then there was the third category of scenarios. The one that came unbidden in the darkness of his nightmares or when he felt everything from the past years coming back at him. Those scenarios always ended with tears, disgust on Mike’s face and ugly words that pierced through Will like daggers. Was this going to be one of those scenarios?

Then it hit him. Of course, Will thought. The only plausible explanation was that this was Vecna’s work. It wasn’t real. Just a vision.

“Geez, let me finish my sentence…” Mike responded, wildly gesturing with his hands. But why did it feel so real?

“Ok, they were holding hands, so what?” Mike added. Nancy had said it would feel real. This was just in his head… Not real.

“So what, what?”, Dustin spat back. Not real. Not real. Not real.

“They could be friends.” Mike explained. Friends. Ha, maybe best friends even? It was almost comical. There was no longer any doubt left that this was just some stupid, cruel joke Vecna played on Will to torment him. He wanted to scream and laugh, cover his ears with his hands and cry. Wow, why wasn’t he crying already? That was unusual.

“Friends who have to check if anyone is watching before they hold hands?” Lucas chimed in. Mike huffed, Will could see his eyeroll in his mind’s eye.

“Man, I don’t know… I just think it’s not cool of you to assume something like that about anyone.” There was it again: Something like that. No way his friends were actually fighting over Mike being weirded out by gay people, this couldn't be real. But where was Vecna? Why did he let Will suffer for so long? Will didn’t know how long these visions lasted before Vecna appeared. But he wanted nothing more than this conversation to end.

“Mike, why are you mad?” El asked. Mad. Will was still staring at his knees, only catching glimpses of his friends from the corners of his eyes. Mad. Mike was mad. Not real.

“I’m not mad, just…” In his peripheral vison, Will saw Mike turn his head in his direction. Huh?

“Whatever.”

Nobody answered. It took several minutes of silence and chewing noises around him until it dawned on Will that Vecna wouldn’t come. Because he didn’t need to, this was real and it was tormenting him enough.

The ice in Will’s veins slowly started to melt as El and Lucas started a new conversation. It was over. He slowly relaxed the muscles in his jaw and shoulders, steadied his breath and carefully lifted his head again. He caught Dusting looking at him and quickly pulling his eyes away when Will saw him. Will couldn’t bring himself to take another bite from his sandwich. His shock was over but looking at the ham and cheese, he still felt like he might vomit.

Dustin had joined in in the conversation between El and Lucas, and Will heard Mike shifting next to him. Suddenly, he felt Mike’s side pressing against his arm. Will flinched at the warm touch. He didn’t mean to, but Mike noticed.

“Sorry” his best friend whispered. “Hey, Will- Are you… are you okay?”

Will turned his head to face Mike. Bad decision! Mike was close. Really close. And his dark puppy eyes were staring right into Will’s soul. Will opened his mouth. Closed it again. He couldn’t form any coherent sentence in his head. He saw a slight shift in Mike’s brows, only a matter of millimetres, but Will was so close, he was able to see every little twitch of a muscle under the freckled skin.  

The barely perceptible furrow between Mike’s brows deepened when Will didn’t respond. Mike was worried. He always was. He could see that Will was struggling, and in every other scenario, Will would have melted into Mike’s touch, smiled and forgotten about his worries because it felt so, so good, that Mike cared.

But not now. Not after what Mike had said only a few minutes ago. Will couldn’t bring himself to say anything or at least smile or nod. He just couldn’t.

He was more than glad when Dustin finally wiped the crumbs off his pants and got up. The others had decided to head back indoors to continue their tasks. Will was thankful for the much-needed escape from the situation with Mike. As they descended the fire escape, Will could feel Mike’s gaze burning into the back of his head like searing laser beams.

He was even more thankful that Mike’s job was to register and distribute asylum seekers, while Will and Dustin had to hand out water canisters to those whose water supply had been cut off by the cracks. El and Lucas were somewhere folding and distributing blankets and clothes. With Mike not around, it was much easier for Will to calm down Perhaps later he would manage to act casual when they’d get back to the Wheeler’s house.

He just needed some time without Mike invading his personal space, and a distraction that kept him from overthinking the conversation from earlier. And Dustin was perfect for the role; he could talk and talk and talk and Will enjoyed listening to him. Dustin spoke with such passion and genuine interest that it was contagious.

Dustin had just finished his talk about this new fantasy role-playing videogame called Zelda that everyone was hyped for, when his watch suddenly started to beep. It was 7:25. In five minutes, they would meet the others outside the building, and Steve would pick them up to drive them home.

There were no more people in need of water anyways, so they returned the remaining canisters to the staff room and put them back in the shelves. When they finished, Dustin leaned against one of the bars of the metal shelf and gave Will a careful glance.

“Hey, uhm… Will?”, he asked.

“Yea?”

“You know, because of earlier…”

Dustin seemed like he was choosing his words carefully, “You know, that I fully support Robin, right?”

Oh, so this is what this was about.

“The fact that she’s gay doesn’t change anything! She’s still one of my best friends and I’m always there for her.”

Very subtle, Dustin, really…

Will didn't know if he was anxious or relieved or whatever, but mostly, he was just tired. This afternoon had brought up too many emotions, he felt like there weren’t any left. He didn't feel anything, really.

“And so is Mike” Dustin added, “even if he’s terrible at showing it.”

Sure.

“I don’t think Robin believes that.”, Will responded, pursing his lips. He was fully aware that if there was anything left of his cover, this would blow it. But Dustin already knew. He had probably had a ‘Why-Will-Byers-doesn’t-care-about-girls-thesis’ for years and today just provided enough evidence to confirm it.

“Mike isn’t homophobic” Dustin insisted. “He’s just being a bit stupid and bad at saying what he thinks. Same as always. But I’m sure he’d… fully accept Robin if he knew.”

Will wouldn’t want to put that to the test. Mike had literally been confronted with Robin being gay and his reaction had been… well, let’s say: not really supportive.

“How can you be so certain?” Will asked without waiting for an answer. “You know how people are, you know his dad...”

“Yeah, and I know him.” Dustin placed a comforting hand on Will’s shoulder. Will had thought he knew Mike too. But now, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

Will just shrugged. He didn’t believe it. Dustin was clearly just trying to cheer him up, but it wasn’t working.

So this was it, huh? His first coming out to one of his friends. It was definitely not how he had imagined this moment would go and he had barely contributed to it himself, but it felt kinda good to know that there was at least one person he didn’t have to hide from anymore. However, Will wasn’t sure if he was relieved that Dustin had figured it out on his own or if it was totally terrifying, because it meant that Will had been too obvious. Probably both.

Had any of the others figured it out too? Dustin wouldn’t talk to them about it, would he?

“Maybe you should uhm… keep some of your thesis to yourself.” Will supposed. “Just… you know, Robin probably wouldn’t want you go around and tell people.”

 “Of course!” Dustin assured him, “No worries. I seek knowledge, not fame. Your- I mean Robin’s secret is safe with me!”

He winked and smiled at Will, stretching his arms out as an invitation for a hug. Will accepted, falling into Dustin's arms and embracing the tight, comforting squeeze of his friend’s arms around his back.

This was how it was supposed to go with Mike, Will thought. But it wouldn’t.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he buried his head in Dustin’s shoulder. “Thank you.” He murmured.

Dustin patted his back and they separated from the hug.

“Ah, shit,” A single tear escaped and trailed down Will’s cheek. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, “The others are probably waiting.”

Dustin offered him one last comforting smile before they grabbed their stuff and headed for the parking lot.

When they got into Steve’s car and received some annoyed comments about being late, Will cursed himself for getting in before Dustin, as it meant he was now forced to sit right next to Mike whose eyes were already roaming him intensely as Will settled down and adjusted his seatbelt. He prayed that the dim light from the street lamps would hide his red, puffy eyes from Mike's view.

During the ride home, he avoided looking at the boy next to him. Even when he felt a soft nudge in his side, he acted like he didn’t notice. Not today, Michael.

Back at the Wheeler’s, Will immediately slipped into the bathroom to escape Mike’s worried looks and attempts to talk to him. He’d skip dinner today, he didn’t feel like eating and definitely not under Mike’s worried scrutinizing gaze. He figured, it would be better to go to bed and pretend to be asleep when Mike would come down.

However, he hadn’t expected Mike to cross his plans by intercepting Will in the basement. When Will descended the stairs in his pajamas, Mike was already sitting on his mattress, arms crossed in front of his chest and looked up at Will with slightly narrowed eyes, brows furrowed in concern.

Jonathan and Argyle weren’t here, they were probably in the kitchen having dinner, and there was absolutely no way Will could just turn around and leave. He was trapped. So he slowed his walk and took a deep breath as he reached the bottom end of the stairs.

“Hey,” Will said and Mike’s eyes followed him as he headed for his mattress and settled down on the side farthest away from Mike’s mattress. No response. Was he mad?

When Will finally raised his head to look at Mike, he found his best friend already staring. Mike tore his gaze away, looked down and shook his head slightly.

“Will, I’m sorry”

What?

“What?” Will asked. What was he sorry for?

“Because of earlier… On the roof.” Mike untangled his arms and started gesturing vaguely in the air. “I know you don’t like being treated like you’re weak and need protection, it’s just…” He sighed, “I saw that you were struggling and I- I felt like I needed to help you.”

Will was more than confused. What did he mean?

“Help me with what?”

“You know, what…” Mike responded. “You’ve been acting all weird and mopey since, of course you know.”

What the hell was Mike talking about.

“Help me with what?” Will repeated.

Mike sighed again. “You know all the uhh- gay stuff.”

Will almost choked on his own spit. This was not going anywhere near what he expected. He had thought Mike was concerned or mad about Will’s strange behaviour, but he was sorry. And for… what exactly? He thought he needed to help Will because of all the gay stuff??? Did Mike know? But why the hell would he react like that?

Will cleared his throat. “And what does that… stuff have to do with me?” He couldn’t say the word, but he was already glad he managed to form a coherent sentence.

Mike tilted his head. “I- I thought you were being uncomfortable because Dustin was just assuming Robin was gay.”

Will didn’t answer. He was confused. What was this? Why would that make him uncomfortable?

“I’m sorry if I was wrong, but you looked like you’ve seen a ghost back there and I thought maybe it was because…”

Because what?

“…because that’s what people used to assume about you, too.” Mike’s voice was quiet. “That you’re gay, I mean.”

Will flinched. Yeah no, that clarification wasn’t necessary.

“People used to say you were gay all the time just because you were… quiet and- and creative and kind.” Mike explained. “All the names you were called and everything. So I thought it was uncool of Dustin to assume that Robin was gay.”

Okay.

That was… good, right? It made sense. It made total sense. And Will was incredibly glad that it made sense. Mike had reacted that way because he thought Will didn’t like the way Dustin talked about Robin being gay. So it wasn’t because he was… was it?

“So you’re not like… homophobic?”, Will asked, his voice hoarse and a bit too loud to sound natural.

“What? No, no, no!” Mike shouted. “Of course not!”

Okay.

Mike shook his head. “I don’t get it. Wasn’t that why you were acting like that?”

Shit.

“No, no. Yeah it was…” Will started, “yea, that actually made me kinda uncomfortable.” He didn’t even feel bad for lying, because that was the only way he would get out of this.

“Just, you…” Will took a second to consider his words. “You weren’t exactly good at expressing what you meant back there, Mike.”

Mike tilted his head back and groaned.

Will added: “I think the others kinda think you’re homophobic.”

“Yeah, fuck. I messed that up.” Mike said and let himself fall on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“And also,” Will added in a sudden burst of confidence, “I think it was pretty obvious that Robin is actually gay.”

Mike groaned again. “Ugh, Really?” But Will heard a smile in Mike’s voice.

He huffed out a small laugh. “Yes Mike, really. You’re so blind.” (if only he knew just how blind he was.)

“Shit,” Mike giggled and the sound sent shivers down Will’s spine. “I’m so stupid, It’s not even funny anymore”

Will couldn’t suppress the burst of laughter that escaped his lips. Mike’s head jolted up at the sound and he met Will’s eyes with a boyish grin.

“I didn’t say it…” Will replied when his laughter had subsided.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, wide smiles on their faces. And Will couldn’t describe how happy it made him to know that Mike was still Mike and even better: the non-homophobic version of Mike.

Mike chuckled.

“You didn’t have to.”

Chapter Text

(4560 words ≈ 15 minutes reading time)

“Miiiike!” Karen’s voice reverberated through the house.

Mike was sitting on the basement floor, engrossed in a card game with Argyle, Jonathan and Will when his mother shouted his name from the floor above. He groaned, rolled his eyes and forcefully  slammed his cards on the floor before rising to his feet.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Argyle quipped, his remark met with an annoyed huff from Mike.

Adjusting his shirt and smoothing out a crease in the fabric, Mike prepared himself for whatever serious matter had prompted his mother's urgent summons. There had to be a good reason for her to shout like that. What happened?

“Mike! Could you just come up here?” Karen’s voice called out again.

Mike ducked his head and, after sharing a quick concerned glance with Will, hastened up the stairs.

Upon arriving on the first floor, he heard his mother’s voice through the kitchen door. When he carefully opened it, he was met with a pretty unusual scene.

Four pairs of eyes were staring at him as he entered the room. Both his parents, Nany and Holly sat around the kitchen table. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his whole family together like this, but it only evoked an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

The atmosphere was… off. They didn’t exactly look upset, but serious, to say the least. Even Holly seemed to sense something was wrong, nervously nibbling at an empty spoon.

His father’s eyes were as unbothered as always as he glanced at Mike over the rims of his glasses with his typical impassive look.

Nancy, however, gave Mike a meaningful glance to which he only raised his eyebrows. He did not know what that look was supposed to mean.

“Sit down, honey.” Karen chirped and gave him a broad, fake smile. Okay, so he wasn’t in trouble after all. He didn’t know why, but this realization threw him off even more.

Reluctantly, Mike took a seat between Nancy and Ted.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No, no darling, it’s nothing wrong.” Mike’s mother tilted her head, pronouncing the word as if it was something completely outlandish.

When no one said anything, Mike leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and asked “Okayy… What is it then?”

When he sent Nancy a questioning look, she just shrugged, but Mike was sure she knew more than him.

“Listen, son,” Ted was the first to speak, surprising Mike that his dad took the initiative for once.

“Your mother and I have been talking,” he continued. Oh, that sounded bad.

“And we came to the conclusion that this town is not safe.”

Mike’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I already told mom, I’m not leaving. You can’t force me!” Nancy put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warning look that made him go quiet.

“Please just listen for a second, Michael.” His mom tried her best to keep up her smile but exhaustion seeped through as she spoke.

“We know, you and Nancy aren’t going anywhere”, she continued. Nancy squeezed her brother’s shoulder in affirmation.

“So we decided that your father and Holly will move to Uncle Lesley’s for the time being.”

Wow, that was… unexpected? Looking at Nancy’s face, he could see that she was not surprised at all. Had he been missing something? It made sense of course. They wanted to keep Holly safe.

A ‘clonk’ sound came from his little sister as she dropped her spoon on the table.

“What about you, Momma?”, she asked.

“I’m staying here with Mike and Nancy.” Karen replied, giving her youngest the warmest smile she could manage.

“It won’t be for long, Holly-sweetheart.”

Mike realized that neither he nor Nancy had said anything in response so far. He didn’t know what to say, though. He was probably supposed to be sad about it, but he really wasn’t. He barely saw his dad anyway and they didn’t have the closets father-son bond either. And Holly- Of course he loved her, but he knew she would be safest far away from Hawkins. It was a good solution for all of them.

But he sensed that there was something else. In the way his parents didn’t look at each other, not once. It was no secret that the two of them weren’t in love anymore. Especially after what Karen had told Mike after learning about his breakup with El.

I don’t want you to end up in an unhappy relationship just because it is expected from you.

His father had been sleeping in the La-Z-Boy since forever, him and Karen weren’t exactly tender and affectionate toward each other, and they hadn’t been the best parents either. So it was nothing new that they weren’t close. But Ted moving out felt like something bigger. Would they… get divorced? Mike didn’t ask of course. He just nodded and offered them some words of affirmation. He knew he should feel something, but he didn’t. Maybe he felt sorry for his mother, she tried to hide it but she looked really distressed. And maybe sorry for Holly, because she had to stay with Ted, who would have never won a best-dad-of-the-year trophy.

He sat through the rest of the conversation without really listening, mechanically nodding along, his body on autopilot.

Twenty minutes later, when he descended the basement stairs again, Argyle and Jonathan were gone and Will sat alone on his mattress, engrossed in scribbling something into his sketchbook. As he heard Mike’s footsteps, Will glanced up, closed his sketchbook with a gentle snap and offered him a comforting smile.

“What was it?” he asked, concern etched in his eyes when Mike settled down on the floor.

“Only if you want to talk about it of course. You don’t have to,” he pulled back instantly and his smile turned into a nervous mess. Typical.

“My dad’s moving out.” Mike responded in a neutral voice, “with Holly.”

“Oh.” Will looked at him with a searching gaze, as if trying to decipher Mike’s emotions.

“It’s fine, honestly.” Mike added, “I’m not gonna miss him. And it’s better for Holly to be out of here.”

Will nodded and tilted his head, “How’s your mom taking it?” Of course he didn’t ask how Ted was taking it, it was obvious to everyone that he didn’t possess anything close to human emotions.

“I don’t know, honestly. I think she’s scared. She doesn’t want to leave Holly, of course.” Mike ran a hand through his hair before propping his elbow on his knee and resting his head in his palm. “I think she’s built up this happy family image for so long to hold us together somehow. She was with him because she thought it was easy, because she thought that’s how it was supposed to be.” That sounded familiar.

“And now that this image is breaking apart, I guess she’s confused and- and doesn’t know how to handle it.” Mike cleared his throat.

“I don’t think she’s sad that he’s leaving” Mike added. And he believed it. She must feel some kind of relief. “I think for her it’s… scary to suddenly be on her own, even if it’s for the better. She just has to find her way. Find out who she is without him. Find out what she wants.”

Will narrowed his eyes in one of these looks again. Searching. Seemingly looking right through Mike, who shrank under the scrutinizing gaze.

“Why do I feel like this is not about your parents anymore?” Will asked cautiously.

Wasn’t it?

Mike just shrugged, “What I’m saying is just: no need to worry, it’s gonna be fine.”

“You sure?”  

“Yea, I’m sure.”

“Good.” Will gave him another warm smile and Mike couldn’t help but give in to the bubbling sensation in his stomach that made a small smile break through at the edge of his own lips.

In the following weeks, Mike spent as much time as possible with his little sister. It wasn’t exactly fun, because Holly’s main interests revolved around doll tea parties and watching Fraggle Rock on TV, but Mike couldn’t deny that it made him feel good. She was a sweet and kind girl and her uncontrolled giggles were among the nicest and most infectious he knew. (after Will’s probably)

Being around someone so carefree and untouched by the darkness of life was a relief. And what made it even better was that Holly seemed to genuinely enjoy his company. Sometimes she would call him to show him her newest drawing or tell him about school and her friends. Mike felt a bit sorry for her because she missed her classmates and wouldn’t see them in a long time. And he felt sorry that he had never been there for her like this. It was only now, as she was about to move away, that they started to bond.

When it was just the two of them (even though Mike would never admit it) he even let her braid his hair and didn’t hesitate to play the jury in her dolls’ fashion show.

Sometimes Will was with them too. Holly loved drawing with him and Will taught her new techniques, Mike was almost jealous how well they got along.

So, he was actually on the verge of tears when Ted and Holly stood in the doorframe on the day of their departure, car packed with their belongings, and it was time to say goodbye.

Holly hugged Karen, Nancy, Will and Mike before they left and Mike almost started sobbing in the tight squeeze of her little arms.

“Bye, see you soon Mike”, she said, smiling, and planted a small, wet peck on his cheek.

 “Bye,” he managed and ruffled her hair. She squealed and poked her finger into his stomach before letting go of him. And then she was out of the door. Gone. And with her Mike’s dad who had only mumbled a half-hearted goodbye before leaving.

A sob escaped his mother when the door fell shut behind them. It was hard for her to let Holly go and Mike felt a pang of guilt because his stubbornness was the reason she stayed behind.

So for once, Mike wrapped Karen in a tight hug, and she gladly returned it, burying her head in his shoulder. When they separated, she wiped her tears off her face and gave him a sad but honest smile. He had rarely seen such a genuine expression on her face.

In the weeks that followed, things were more or less fine. Mike could see that his mother was more energetic and more at ease now that Ted was gone. And Mike could only feel happy for her, she seemed genuinely content with rushing through the house and taking care of everyone. Mike noticed her doing things that Ted would have made fun of her for, things she enjoyed like doing crosswords or simply listening to music while doing the chores.

Now that the house wasn’t as crowded anymore, their friends would often come by, and even though things were far from normal, sometimes it almost seemed like they were fine. El and Mike were getting along well, Mike even felt like they had never gotten along better. He could talk to her without pretending to be someone he wasn’t and she told him that he was a dumbass every now and then but it was so much better than her adoring him and pretending everything is fine until she eventually breaks. And Mike realized that even though he said he didn’t love her, he did. He loved her just like he loved his sisters and Dustin and Lucas. He loved hanging out with her, he loved seeing her happy and he loved to be there for her. He was just not in love with her.

Dustin and Lucas would come over to watch movies or play games with him and Will, and Mike couldn’t even begin to describe how much he had missed those moments. Karen was also happy to have all the familiar faces around again, making sure they had a good time. Only at night, Mike’s thoughts drifted to the impending apocalypse, Max’s empty eyes staring at the hospital ceiling, and Eddie, who wanted to graduate so bad.

Then there was the ‘combat practice’. Dustin, Lucas and Steve were super eager to engage in with Hopper and prepare for whatever horrors lay ahead. But Mike couldn’t bring himself to participate, too scared of failing, too scared to once again face the reality that he couldn’t protect anybody. He was clumsy, his limbs gangly and he had never been good at sports or whatever skills required for… fighting monsters. And he wasn’t eager to be yelled at by Hopper and Nancy who would teach him how to shoot. He was already a disappointment to both of them, and he didn’t need them to confirm it. Even when Will started meeting the others in the woods, Mike stayed at home with Argyle and Jonathan.

That was until one day, Will convinced him otherwise.

“I could teach you.”

And, well, that was all it took to convince Mike.

“What?” Mike gulped. “I mean, are you-?”

“Good enough?” Will completed his question.

Mike shook his head. “No, no, that’s not what I meant.” It kinda was what he meant but when Will said it, it sounded a bit mean. “I’m sure you are, just…” Just what? “You sure?”

Will looked at him a bit confused. “Of course…” He grinned, “Hopper said I’m pretty good. You know, I’ve had some practice when I was younger.” Yeah, Mike knew, but something about the idea of Will teaching him how to shoot felt… dangerous. Not necessarily in a bad way, though. God, that didn’t make any sense.

Mike eventually agreed, feigning hesitation, even though the second Will had proposed his offer, he knew he would say yes. He needed to be able to protect his friends. Learning how to shoot was just a reasonable decision. There was nothing more to it. Why would there be?

And that’s how they ended up in a clearing not too far from Hopper’s cabin, Mike anxiously pacing through the grass while Will was lining up a few soda cans on the trunk of a fallen tree. Once finished, Will walked back toward Mike with a wide grin and reached into his backpack to retrieve a gun.

“When I was younger, I learned with a rifle but I figured this one might be handier,” Will said with a shrug “so Hop taught me how to handle it.” He carefully weighed the gun in his hands, before looking up at Mike. “You ready?”

No, definitely not.

“Yea, sure,” Mike replied, trying to quell his nerves. Why was he so anxious? There was nothing to be nervous about.

“Do you want me to like… show you before you try?” Will asked, sounding a bit unsure.

“Uhm, yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Mike agreed. He really had no idea what he was doing here.

Will nodded, glancing at the distant targets, before positioning himself. As he did, he explained: “You should plant your feet shoulder-width apart, and distribute your weight evenly on both legs. It's important to have a solid foundation for balance and stability. And make sure to relax your body, being tense only makes it harder.” He gave Mike an encouraging smile before he continued.

Will’s right hand slid around the handle of the gun and his left one came up to wrap around the other. “Okay, you hold it firmly, but not too tight. You want to feel in control, but also allow for some flexibility in your grip.”, Will instructed. Mike’s eyes followed Will’s fingers sliding into place, his muscles flexing under the delicate skin on the back of his hand, as he adjusted his grip.

“Now, focus on the target. Let your gaze lock onto it, like nothing else exists. It's just you and the target. Block out any distractions from the outside.” Mike just stared at his best friend had his eyes fixed on one of the soda cans, eyes slightly narrowed and the crease on his forehead deepening in concentration.

“Take slow and even breaths to calm down and maintain a steady aim. And when you feel like you’re ready, gently squeeze the trigger, don’t jerk it. It’s all about a controlled, smooth and steady motion.”

Mike watched as Will’s index finger delicately settled on the trigger before pulling it gently. Mike flinched at the loud boom that followed and watched in awe as one of the soda cans was blasted away. 

“Holy shit!”, Mike exclaimed. “That was insane.”

Will smiled and looked down at his hands as a soft blush creeping up his face. “Your turn.”

“How am I supposed to hit one of those? That’s impossible, they’re too small to be that far away,” Mike complained.

Will chuckled. “You can get a little closer for a start, quit whining.”

“Oh, so this was just to show off?”, Mike teased.

Will shrugged, a boyish grin forming on his lips. “Did it work?”

“Hell, yeah!”

Mike positioned himself, trying to imitate Will’s posture from earlier. As he held out the gun and prepared to take his shot, everything felt wrong. His outstretched arms felt too long, the gun too far away and his whole body was trembling. He looked at Will for help, who immediately appeared at his side.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Mike admitted and sighed, lowering his hands.

“I’m sure you can,” Will reassured him, “And even if not, that’s okay too. But let’s just try. We can do the first one together, if you want.”

Mike didn’t know exactly what Will was suggesting but together sounded good so he nodded gratefully. Will reached for Mike’s hands, that were holding the gun and wrapped his right hand around Mike’s. At the same time, he felt Will shifting closer, his side pressing against Mike’s back as he brought Mike’s hands back up. Their arms were fully aligned and Will’s chin rested on Mike’s shoulder.

Make sure to relax your body It's just you and the target.

Block out any distractions from the outside.

Never have such simple instructions been so hard to carry out. How was Mike supposed to block out any distractions from the outside when Will was literally full-on pressed to his body???

How was he supposed to relax his body when his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest any second???

To top it all, Will remarked: “You’re tense.” His voice sounded a bit hoarse.

“No shit,” Mike replied and elicited a small huffed laugh from Will, that caressed the side of Mike’s neck and sent goosebumps all over his body. Could Will see that? Oh god, hopefully Wil couldn’t see that.

He gave his best to focus on the soda can, but his thoughts were everywhere else. On every single square centimetre of his body where he felt Will’s presence. On the way, Will smelled like Mike’s clothes and Mike’s shampoo but also like something indescribable that was just so…Will. On the way Will’s hair tickled on Mike’s neck and the way his warm breath gently brushed over the exposed skin over Mike’s collar.

Mike nearly flinched when Will almost whispered: “Ready?”

No. Absolutely not.

He nodded.

He realized that his body did actually relax into Will’s touch a bit. Even though his nerves were going crazy, he slowly melted. And he had no idea what he was doing when he pulled the trigger with his under Will’s guidance. He felt a forceful pushback against his hand and the sudden recoil reverberated through his whole body, the impact pressing him even closer to Will, who immediately retreated from his position behind Mike. Mike felt a mixture of relief and disappointment wash over him as the sudden cold air hit his back.

Of course he didn’t hit a can, but Will seemed content with the shot. “That was pretty good!”, he assured Mike, “Look! The bullet grazed the trunk here.” Will approached the log and pointed at the freshly injured bark not too far from the can. He looked up at Mike who was still stupidly standing in the same spot, trying to calm himself down, and gave him an encouraging smile. “Damn, Mike, that was your first shot, and it was really impressive.”

Mike cleared his throat and looked down at his hands that were still holding the gun. The metal no longer cold on his skin had adapted to the warmth of his flushed fingers.

“You’re just saying that,” he murmured.

Will huffed in response. “You don’t know how bad I was in the beginning… Trust me, having my father as a teacher, I know everything about being bad at this, he wouldn’t let me forget.”

Will just shrugged and slightly shook his head when Mike’s expression turned into a worrying look. No pitying, Mike. Got it.

“Guess, I just have a better teacher,” he said instead and gave Will a warm smile.

Will returned the smile. “You ready to do another one?”

Mike nodded, “Sure!” And without thinking about it, he added, “Maybe I’ll need your help once more, though.”

They spent many afternoons like this, shooting some shots and having a little picnic in the woods afterward. After the first few shots, Mike didn’t need Will’s help in finding the right posture anymore and he was actually getting better. The thought of shooting an actual living being with a gun still made him feel sick, but he knew that if he had to protect his friends, he wouldn’t care anymore.

It was the day he hit his first can when it happened.

They arrived home after being in the woods for only half an hour. But Will had insisted on leaving because he wasn’t feeling well. He seemed a bit on edge on the whole way home and when they arrived at the Wheeler’s house, Will immediately disappeared in the shower and stayed there for a long time. Mike grew worried when the water continued running after 40 minutes but he decided against calling out for Will. That would be ridiculous.

Nevertheless, relief washed over him when he heard the water being shut off, and a few minutes later, Will appeared in Mike’s room.

“There you are,”  Will said plainly and just stood there in the doorframe, looking down at his feet.

He was wearing his pyjamas and his face and the skin disappearing under his collar had taken on a deep rosy hue. The water must have been really hot, Mike figured. Was this some Vecna/Mindflayer shit? But before he could ask, Will looked up at him, a horrified expression on his face. Mike was immediately on his feet and next to Will.

“Will, what’s happening? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I can feel something.” Will’s voice was quiet and hoarse. Mike saw a shiver run through his whole body and put a comforting hand on Will’s shoulder.

“Something is coming.” Their gazes were still locked and Mike could see tears glistening in Will’s eyes.

“What’s coming, Will?” Mike asked, trying his best to sound comforting, despite the panic that welled up inside him.

“I-I don’t know…”, Will replied, his voice faltering as a sob escaped his throat. “It’s coming from the cracks. But it won’t be stopped by these fences or the military… It’s- I don’t know, it’s everywhere… I don’t understand it.”

Will was trembling under Mike’s hand and Mike rubbed soothing circles on Will’s shoulder to calm him down.

“Okay, what do we do, Will?” he asked, his voice a mix of fear and determination. Was that it? The beginning? The beginning of the end?

“Stay inside,” Will whispered. “We have to stay inside. It can’t- It’s- I don’t understand…”

“Okay, we can do that. We can do that, Will. We can stay inside!”

Will nodded, closing his eyes as if in pain. Mike hated seeing his best friend like this. He had seen this side of Will before and he had prayed he would never have to see it again. Everything inside him craved to hold Will tight, shield him from everything that was hurting him and keep him safe forever. The Will in front of him reminded him too much of his 12-year-old self screaming in pain or being tied to a chair. None of this should be happening again. Not to Will.

“We have to warn the others,” will said, his voice barely more than a whimper. Reluctant to let go of his friend, Mike went to his desk and grabbed his walkie talkie.

“Mike to everyone, do you copy? This is a code red. I repeat: This is a code red!!”

Only when the last person copied, the tension in Mike’s shoulders eased a bit.

“Will feels that something is coming, we don’t know what it is, but you have to go inside right now and stay there, does everyone understand??”

Once all eight of them were informed, Mike rushed downstairs, where Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle were already waiting for them after having heard the warning on their walkie talkie.

“Where is my mom?”, Mike asked. Nobody answered. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

“WHERE IS MY MOM?”

“I’m here, darling,” Karen voiced from the top of the stairs, “Is everything okay? I just wanted to go out and get…”

“No!” Mike didn’t let her finish her sentence.

“What do you mean, no? What happened?” Karen asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Mike took a deep breath.

“Mom, do you trust me?”

“Mikey, what is this?”

“Do you trust me?” He repeated, more determined this time.

“Of course I do, honey. I don’t understand.”

“You can’t leave. You have to stay inside. You have to trust me, mom, something is about to happen.” Mike offered her the most convincing look he could manage.

“Wha- Michael… Oh god, don’t tell me this has anything to do with your little club.”

“”What, mom? No!! This is not a joke and it’s no satanic bullshit, you said you trusted me. So please do and stay inside!”

They both fell silent. A desperate look lingered on Karen’s face and all the four boys were looking at her in anticipation, trying their best to verify Mike’s words with their facial expressions.

His mother sighed, “Okay, but you will tell me, what’s-“ She didn’t finish her sentence when her gaze fell on something behind Mike “Oh no Will, are you okay?”

Mike’s gaze snapped back at his best friend who looked like he had seen a ghost. Pale skin, empty eyes, beads of sweat forming at his temples. Jonathan had put an arm around his brother and Karen hurried down the stairs.

“Will, darling, are you sick? Do you need anything?”

Will raised his head, “We have to close all the windows.”

Without hesitating, Mike, Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle started running through the house to make sure all the windows were closed. Karen just stood in the middle of  the room, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. When Mike was back at Will’s side, panting, Will’s eyes were fixed on the nothingness in front of him, his eyelids slightly fluttering.

When he spoke, it was barely more than a whisper.

“It’s coming.”

Chapter Text

(5084 words ≈ 15-20 minutes)

Will felt nauseous.

His throat was tight, his mouth dry and goosebumps started blooming his skin, spreading from the back of his neck all over his body.

He had left the corridor and crossed the living room to reach the window. Mike was right behind him, not leaving his side. They didn’t say a word, Mike just followed Will’s example and stared out the window, not knowing what they were looking for.

Will let his gaze wander along the street, over the neighbours’ houses. The street was empty. At least here, people were inside and (hopefully) safe for now. It was naïve of course, Will knew that enough people in Hawkins were probably outside right now, totally clueless about the looming danger.

His skin was prickling all over, and even though he felt like ice was flowing through his veins, beads of sweat started forming on his temples, his whole body was on alert.

That was when he first heard it - A low grumble that reverberated through the town.

“What was that?” Mike whispered next to him and Will barely flinched at his voice. When he turned to look up at his best friend, he found Mike still staring out of the window with wide eyes.

“Will, what-?” His voice faltered, but he didn’t give it another try, of course Will had heard him. But Will simply didn’t know what it was. It didn’t feel like a monster, not the mind flayer or Demogorgons or something like that. Whatever was coming was… different. Less tangible. But not less fatal.

The growl turned into a howl, drawing closer to the Wheeler’s house.

Will didn’t know what he was feeling. He felt everything and nothing at the same time. Like he knew what was coming but also didn’t know anything. But when a cold bead of sweat loosened at his temple and rolled down his heated cheek, a movement outside caught his eye. Something barely perceptible. The tip of a pine tree on the other side of the road that slightly bent in a gentle breeze.

When Will looked up the street again he found all the trees being brushed by a light wind. Normally, there would be nothing unsettling about that, but Will felt that someone was off about it. It was like he could feel the wind in his stomach, even though they were inside. Another thing he noticed immediately: The wind came from the same direction as the sound. From the cracks.

“A storm,” he said.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Mike’s head snap down at him.

“Wha-?” Mike’s voice was drowned by a deafening whoosh roaring somewhere up the street.

The storm descended upon them faster then Will had expected. It took only a matter of seconds for it to arrive at the Wheeler’s residence after the first pine tree had started swaying in the breeze.

When the first gust of wind swept over the house, it rattled windows and doors with such a great force, Will feared for a second, the glass panes would just break. Mike stumbled back from the window as the wind battered against the building.

“Holy shit!”, Mike screamed.

Similar cries chimed from where the others had stayed in the kitchen.

Outside, the winds tore at everything in their path with an unyielding ferocity. The pine trees bent and groaned under the relentless assault, their branches thrashing wildly as if in a desperate struggle for survival. Leaves and debris were hurled through the tempestuous atmosphere, dancing and spinning in the heavy wind.

Will narrowed his eyes as something in the air caught his attention. As soon as he figured out what it was, a shudder went through his whole body and his breath hitched, his throat suddenly feeling tight.

Between the dust that was lifted from the ground and carried into the sky, Will made out hundreds, dozens, no… millions of white, almost translucent motes, spiralling in the turbulent air.

“Particles,” he whispered.

“What?” Mike asked from somewhere behind him.

“Particles,” Will repeated a bit louder, even though Mike had clearly heard him.

“Like the ones that we saw on the day we came back?” Mike specified. “Shortly after the gates opened?”

Will nodded. “But now, they’re everywhere.”

In his peripheral vision, Will saw Mike appear at his side again, head turned towards him, but Will just kept staring out of the window, his eyes skimming the air that grew heavier with particles every second.

“And what’s up with those particles?” Mike asked carefully.

Will stifled a sad, surprised laugh that suddenly tickled in his throat. What’s up with those particles? The question sounded almost ridiculous in his ears, even though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why. Maybe because the two of them had always gone through everything together but this one thing, him being lost in the upside down for days, this was his burden. His alone. Something Mike would never really understand because he hadn’t been there. Of course Will would never in his life wish for Mike to be stuck in the upside down. In fact, if he were, Will would immediately switch places with him without giving it a second thought. Still, the realization that he was alone with this traumatic experience, made him sad.

The nausea crept further up his throat as his mind wandered to the memories of  being stuck in the upside down. The cold darkness of Castle Byers that wasn’t the same Castle Byers that he used to know, covered in dirt and slimy vines, the smell of rot and death lingering in the air.

“Do you remember the night Hopper got lost in the tunnels under the pumpkin field?” he asked.

Mike stared at him in silence for a few seconds. Of course he remembered; it was the same night Will drew his map. The same night he would lie on the pumpkin field covered in sweat, screaming for his life, his insides burning from the flamethrowers of the scientists, feeling like the pain would kill him every second. Mike had been right there with him the entire time. Will felt immediately sorry for bringing it up, Mike had told him how hard it was for him to deal with those memories.

“Yea, what about it?” Mike forced out.

Now, Will finally turned his head to look up at his best friend next to him, who immediately tore his gaze away when their eyes met. He couldn’t hide the horror written over his face, though. And it made Will sad knowing that it was something Mike thought he had to hide.

“Hopper lost consciousness in the tunnels after inhaling too many of those particles,” Will explained.

“It almost killed him,” he added.

Mike’s head snapped back to face Will, his brows scrunched up in worry.

“And now they’re up here,” Mike said, “everywhere.”

Now that their eyes finally locked, they shared a long, concerned glance. Vecna was spreading these toxic particles all over Hawkins. People were going to die. Maybe people were dying in this very moment.

A wave of guilt washed over Will and he turned his gaze away from Mike and back to the window.

“All the people,” he whispered and his glance wandered along the other houses in the street. “I knew that something was wrong all afternoon. I should have said something, we could have warned…”

“Will, don’t even start! None of this is your fault,” Mike cut in, “Do you understand? You didn’t know what was going to happen, okay? And you did save us. My mom would be out there right now if you hadn’t warned us.”

“Yeah, but what ab-“

The door flung open and Jonathan stormed into the living room, concern etched on his face.

“Are you guys okay?” He asked. And without waiting for an answer: “What’s going on?”

It was surprisingly easy to convince Mrs. Wheeler that they had heard about the storm on the radio and that it was too heavy to go outside. After having calmed down, she eventually went back to the living room and after a few minutes, Will could hear the muffled sounds of the TV through the door. Nothing could stop her from watching her weekly episode of Golden Girls.

As soon as she left, Mike filled Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle in on their observations and the danger of the particles that were now spreading in the air of Hawkins. They dialled up all the others to make sure none of them left the house even if the storm was to subside.

And then, there was nothing left for them to do than to wait. Sit it out. And so they did, sitting around the kitchen table, talking to the others on the walkie talkie from time to time, chatting and trying to cheer each other up.

The general mood was… all right. They had all expected something horrible, an army of monsters or the mind flayer or something like that, a storm seemed to be almost a relief. They could deal with it. As long as they stayed inside, nothing could happen to them. But Will feared that this was just the beginning. That this was just Vecna showing them that he’s back, clearing the battlefield for what’s to come. And Will did not want to know what was to come, he was just slowly starting to get used to this new life.

At least now, they had time to mentally prepare. (If you could ever mentally prepare for the apocalypse.) And Will tried, he really tried, to calm himself down, to tell himself that this could be so much worse. But all he could feel was fear and chaos and… anger. But the anger was not his own, he knew that. He had felt it for months, growing every day. Maybe anger wasn’t the right word. Rage? Revenge? Or even anticipation? Or maybe all at once.

Will was on edge, to say the least. He felt sick, adrenaline buzzed in his veins, but he felt exhausted at the same time. Goosebumps were covering his whole body and his clothes clung to his body in sweat, even though he felt nothing close to warm.

And he hated it. He hated every part of it. He hated that everyone saw him this weak again. He hated that Jonathan wrapped him in a blanket after seeing him shiver. He hated that Nancy brought him a cup of hot tea and gave him a sympathetic smile. He hated that Argyle tried to cheer him up with an embarrassing pep talk. He was totally overstimulated because he somehow felt the whole storm inside him, he was overwhelmed by all the different feelings in his body, hot and cold, full and empty, buzzing with attention and being so, so tired. And Argyle’s non-stop talking was really no help, Will just wanted to cover his ears or scream at Argyle to shut the fuck up and tell everyone to leave him alone. Of course, he didn’t. Instead, he stood up and mumbled that he was tired, before trotting down the hall and descending into the basement.

When he woke up, he was surprised that he’d  been able to sleep at all. He had laid awake most of the night, staring at the ceiling, only closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep when the others came down and settled onto their mattresses. The storm wasn’t as loud down here as it was on the first floor. But still, the howling sounds of the wind blowing over objects outside and the gusts of wind slapping against the façade and breaking branches, didn’t allow his mind to shut off.

Eventually, he must have fallen asleep, because when he reluctantly opened his heavy eyelids, the digital numbers on the alarm next to his mattress said 11:05 am. If he didn’t have a clock, he would have thought it was earlier, 5:00 maybe. It took his sleepy mind a few seconds to understand why that was. It was darker than usual. No warm sunlight flooded the basement as it usually did at this time of the day. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Will peered out of the windows under the ceiling and made out dark clouds that hung over Hawkins. The storm was still raging outside and the air in front of the window was thick with particles.

“Good morning.”

Will flinched at Mike’s voice and turned his head to look at the direction where it came from. Mike was sitting cross-legged on his mattress, a book in his lap and was now looking down at Will, a smug smile on his lips.

“Shit, you scared me!” Will exclaimed, immediately embarrassed by how hoarse and sleepy his voice still sounded.

Mike’s grin just widened in response. Jonathan and Argyle were nowhere to be seen, they were probably in the kitchen, Will suspected.

“What are you doing? Watch me sleep?” he asked jokingly, curious why Mike wasn’t with the others.

A bit too defensive, Mike replied: “Reading,” and held his book up as if to prove his point. “And enjoying the quiet absence of Argyle.” He chuckled.

Will just grunted and nuzzled into his pillow again. Mike didn’t ask if he was ok or if he needed anything. He didn’t treat him like he was about to break, he was just there and that was so, so much better.

“They said something about the storm on the radio earlier,” Mike said and Will’s head rose up from the pillow again, a questioning look on his face.

“Apparently Owens pressed some buttons,” Mike shrugged, “They say a heavy storm hit Hawkins, a big tree fell on the west wing of Hawkins lab and destroyed an old laboratory building, leading to a huge leakage of asphyxiants and poisonous particles, similar to the one in 1983 that led to the death of Barbara Holland and the subsequent closure of the lab. It is life threatening to go outside under the current circumstances and the town will soon be evacuated by the military. Everyone is asked to pack their most important belongings into one suitcase per person and stay inside until an evacuation team shows up.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “Do you think, they’re gonna believe that?” he asked, “The people?”

Mike shrugged. “Rather that than a storm from an alternate dimension that was sent by a gooey demon monster with psychic abilities…”

“You’re probably right.” Will admitted, “And it worked for Barb, too.”

Mike nodded. They sat in silence for a while, thinking about Barb. Will was, at least. Recently, he had no idea what Mike was thinking about anymore.

He hadn’t really known Barbara, they only met a couple of times at the Wheeler’s house. But he had liked her from what he saw. She was smart and nice and quiet, she had kinda reminded Will of himself. And she didn’t deserve that cruel death. Only now, Will realised that she was probably the only person who would understand him. The only one who went through the same as him. How long did she make it? Did she feel the same as Will? Or was it over before she could feel anything at all?

Mike had stretched out one leg and nudged Will with his foot. “Hey,” he said, as if trying to distract him from his thoughts. It worked. It always did.

“Hi,” Will replied and offered his best friend a tired but warm smile.

They sat like that for a while, before Will couldn’t hold Mike’s gaze any longer. “Weren’t you here to read?” he asked and nodded at the book in Mike’s lap, “Or did you just watch me sleep, after all?”

“Oh yeah, right…” Mike said, opened the book and slightly turned his head away when he started to read, trying to hide the faint blush creeping out of his collar onto his face.

Before Will could further think about it, the basement door flung open and Karen stood in the doorframe on top of the stairs.

“There you are, boys.”

They both looked up at her with questioning looks on their faces.

“You two haven’t had breakfast yet, there are pancakes left,” she said and gave them a warm smile.

“Will, darling has Mike told you what we heard on the radio earlier?”

He nodded.

“Okay good. I really want to know what the people in this lab were up to. First the thing with Barb and…” and Will (but she didn’t say it) “And now this again. When will we finally be able to live in peace and quiet here…” She sighed and gestured to the upper floor. “You guys should pack your precious stuff, we can only take one suitcase per person and when they arrive for the evacuation, you better be ready or you can say bye, bye to your things.” The last part was obviously directed at Mike, because Will barely owned anything anymore after leaving their house in California in such a rush.

She mumbled something around the lines of “This is insane, why always Hawkins?”, as she turned around to leave, but decided against it last second, turning back to them.

“Oh, I almost forgot…”

Will would later wish she had just forgotten.

“Ted called,” she began.

“Holly misses you guys, but she’s doing good.” Karen looked like she tried to convince herself more than them, “She likes Indianapolis and Uncle Lesley has a nice big house with a playhouse.” She smiled but it looked a bit sad. Then something in her gaze shifted and her eyes fixated on Will as she bit her bottom lip, brows furrowed in concern. As if she was weighing whether to say something or not.

“What else?”, Mike asked, clearly as confused as Will by Karen’s sudden mood change.

She cleared her throat and set up her fake smile again when she spoke.

“Guess who Ted met just yesterday?”

Her eyes lingered on Will and an uneasy feeling gnawed at his insides. Indianapolis. There was only one possible reason for Karen to act like that. Before she said it, Will knew who Ted had met yesterday.

“Will, Ted told me to say hi from… your dad - to you and Jonathan.”

Dad. The word didn’t feel right.

He felt Mike’s eyes piercing into the back of his head. But Will didn’t turn around and none of them said anything.

“He said, he heard about what happened here in Hawkins. He was worried about you but he also said he’s certain you will stand strong and face all the dangers as the grown man you’ve become.”

While she spoke, her eyes fell on Mike behind Will, something in his look must have thrown her off, immediate regret seeped into her voice.

“I- I just wanted to… let you know.” She offered Will an apologetic nod paired with a confused shrug, before she quickly turned around and closed the door behind her.

And then, they just sat there.

This was the last thing Will needed right now. Suddenly all the warmth from his earlier interaction with Mike had left his body and the all too well-known prickling cold settled upon him again.

“Stand strong and face all the dangers as the grown man I’ve become…” Will finally broke the silence because his stomach churned with the anxiety of a looming panic attack and he needed to hear Mike’s voice to turn it down.

“That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?”, Mike asked.

And Will could have melted right there on the spot when he heard that tender and careful undertone in Mike’s voice. The one he always used when something was up with Will, talking him through a panic attack or calming him down after a nightmare. He hadn’t heard that voice in years, and only now, Will realized how much he had missed it. Not Mike being worried about him, but him caring. Mike knew that Lonnie was a dangerous tender-voice-worthy topic. Although Will had never talked much about his dad, not even to his best friend, Mike had always seen when Will came to school with bruises or when Will asked sobbing if he could sleep at Mike’s place because his parents were fighting. He hadn’t known what exactly was wrong, but he didn’t need to.

“I mean, that sounded almost… nice, right?” Mike added.

Nice. Will let out an amused huff, still feeling sick in his stomach, a lump starting to form in his throat.

“He’s making fun of me,” he then explained, embarrassed by how small his voice sounded.

Mike’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes didn’t leave Will’s. “What do you mean?” he asked, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper.

Will really didn’t want to talk about this right now, they never did and he wasn’t in the right state of mind to have do it now. He still felt the storm itching on his insides and an uncomfortable current buzzing on the surface of his skin. But with Mike looking at him like that with a look of pure caring, Will knew he would tell Mike anything if he asked.

“Stand strong… The grown man I’ve become…”, Will imitated his dad, “he’s clearly making fun of me.” It shouldn’t hurt. It was nothing new, except for the fact that he hadn’t heard from Lonnie in years and now he chose the worst possible moment to come back into his life just as a quick reminder that Will was a piece of shit.

“He knows I know and he knows Ted and Karen don’t. He probably thinks it’s funny. I don’t know why he can’t just shut up, it’s not like we ever talk. He could just abandon me like a normal father and stop rubbing in my face what an embarrassment of a son I am.”

Mike stared at him, mouth agape and a look of disgust on his face. It was not directed at Will of course, but for a second Will thought that this would be the look Mike would give him if he knew.

“Why would he think that?” Mike asked totally aghast, looking like he didn’t really want to hear an answer.

“That I’m not the son he wanted?” Will huffed. “Because I’m weak, girly and pathetic and I never liked the things he wanted me to like.”

“Like what?”

“I dunno… like Baseball, Shooting, Sports,…” Will replied. Girls.

“He always made fun of me for drawing, singing when I was happy and crying when I was sad, stuff like that. Told me I wasn’t manly enough and never would be. Said he always wanted a son but would have preferred a girl over this f- freak that I’ve become.”

“Oh my god Will,” Mike quickly got to his feet and settled down next to Will, putting a calming hand on his shoulder, “He’s such a dick. He’s an idiot for not seeing how awesome you are!”

“Mike, stop! That’s not…”

Mike didn’t let him finish his sentence, “Listen, you’re super creative and funny and kind. And yes, maybe you’re a bit emotional, so what? You feel so much and you care so much about everyone and that makes you my favourite person. Everyone who doesn’t see that has to be fucking stupid.”

As much as Will wanted to believe Mike’s words, the lump in his throat just grew under his best friend’s lovely care. Mike didn’t know what this was really about and his hand on Will’s shoulder felt so wrong and unfair, Will felt like throwing up.

“Mike, leave it!” Will said, a bit too loud in hindsight, wriggling out of Mike’s grip on his shoulder, not meeting his eyes, too scared of what he’d see in them.

“Will…” Mike sounded more concerned than upset and Will couldn’t decide whether that was relieving or unnerving. Considering all the uneasy feelings mixing in his stomach, the unnerving took the upper hand.

Will felt cold.

He felt sick. His whole body was prickling and itching and his eyes burned from unshed tears. The sounds of the storm outside echoed in his ears and reverbrated through his whole body. He could feel all the ravage and destruction outside, all the pain an misery and death that the storm brought upon Hawkins and a growing anger started tickling on the back of his neck. He didn’t know how much of it was his own and how much was Vecna’s. But he felt increasingly angry. Angry at his dad for hating him, angry at Ted and Karen for not shutting their mouths, angry at Mike for not getting it. And above all, angry at himself for being what he was.

When Mike started his pep talk again, more careful this time, Will just wanted to get up and scream and run and break things, but he pulled himself together and let Mike talk, pulling his knees to his chest, he bored his fingers into his ankles until a numbing pain seeped into his consciousness.

“Will, I know you don’t like being treated like you’re fragile or broken, but that’s not what I’m trying to do, okay?” Mike gestured with his hand towards Will and for a second he looked like he wanted to reach out for him again, but Will was glad when he didn’t.

“Lonnie is just like Troy and the others. He’s unhappy and makes you feel like shit to make himself feel better or… or more worthy. And I can imagine it’s hard to let go from something like that, because he’s still your father and you went through the same shit at school too and I know sometimes you eventually start believing that stuff. I did too.” Will’s knuckles started burning and his fingers started prickling but Will didn’t let go of his ankles, he allowed every feeling that numbed him to the raging storm inside of him.

Mike cleared his throat, “He doesn’t know you, Will. They don’t know you. They never did.” He put so much emphasis on the last sentence, Will knew Mike was trying really hard. But it made him so incredibly angry at no one in particular that Mike would never understand what this was really about. Even if he knew, he’d never get it.

“Not like I do,” Mike added, his voice as tender as before.

Will let out a huff. “Is that so?” He hadn’t intended to say that out loud, but it had slipped out before he could pull himself together. It was just all too much.

“What?” Will still didn’t look at Mike but he could see Mike’s confused look in front of his inner eye, mouth agape, eyes wide and furrowed brows that scrunched up his forehead. Hurt mixing into the confusion.

Will didn’t answer. He didn’t know why he said that. Well, he did know, but he would most definitely not continue his train of thought out loud.

“Will, I’m just like you, you know that, right? I hate sports and… manly stuff and I don’t exactly want to do what my parents would like me to do. I cry when I’m upset and I prefer writing and playing the guitar over watching some stupid baseball game. We always knew each other better than anyone else and you know I’m here for you and everyone who says… mean stuff about you has no idea who you are. But I do, because we’re the same.”

A cracking sound outside cut right through Will and he knew what it was before he even looked. It was as if he just feel what the storm did. The branch of the old tree in the Wheeler’s garden had snapped under the ferocity of the storm and fell down, blown against the façade of the house.

Will had once tried to climb that tree when Mike’s kite got caught in the crown. He fell down and scraped his knees on the gravel road next to the tree. He had cried for days and his dad wouldn’t stop making fun of him for years because he couldn’t even climb up a tree like normal boys did all the time. Later, the Wheelers hung up a swing in the tree and Will and Mike took turns pushing the other one on the swings. It had always reminded Will of the day they met in Kindergarten.

The red swing had fallen down right in front of the window, hitting the glass with a loud clonk, together with the crack of the massive branch hitting the ground. All of that happened when Mike said the words we are the same and something in Will snapped in that second too- He let go off his ankles and felt the burning absence of his nails in his skin, all the feelings pooling in his guts started churning and bubbling and boiling over as he finally met Mike’s eyes and saw his stupid careful smile and his reassuring eyes. We’re the same.

“No,” Will whispered.

Will watched Mike’s expression slowly shift as his smile faded and made room for something else. Something like… alert. “Will..?”

“We’re not.” Will added, his voice getting louder and Mike just gulped and stared at him with wide eyes, dark and… scared.

“Will, is something wro-?”

“Everything is wrong!” Will shouted, “We’re not the same and we never will be and that’s why you don’t fucking get it! You don’t get it!”

Mike flinched at Will’s raised voice and Will would probably feel guilty for this outbreak later but in that moment it just felt good to release all the tension that had built up in him, the buzzing electricity on his skin erupting in a lightning that would finally make it all stop.

“What if he’s right, Mike?! What if they’re all right?!” Will didn’t even try to stop the hot tears that now streamed down his face, his chest heaved and his body quivered as if it was about to be shattered by all the emotions.

“Will, they’re not. I told you, you start feeling like they’re right, but they’re not! Listen, you're nothing like what they call you!”

“WHAT IF I AM, MIKE? BECAUSE I AM! I AM EXACTLY WHAT MY DAD CALLED ME, WHAT TROY CALLED ME, WHAT YOUR PARENTS SECRETLY THINK OF ME, WHAT EVERYONE SECRETLY THINKS OF ME!”

Will slapped away Mike’s hand as he reached out for him again.

“HOWEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT: WEAK, PATHETIC, SICK, UNNATURAL, ABNORMAL”

“Will…!”

“A FUCKING FAGGOT!!!”

Chapter Text

(3340 words ≈ 10-15 minutes reading time)

A FUCKING FAGGOT

Will’s words sent a shiver through Mike’s body and made his insides clench. Not because of what Will implied but because of how he said it: disgust and self-hatred dripping from every word. Mike’s best friend had turned into a sobbing and shaking mess next to him and Mike struggled to sort through the thousands of thoughts that spiralled through his head.

So he just stared dumbly at Will, who had buried his head in his hands. Mike searched for words, he  tried his best to come up with something- anything smart to say but all that emerged was:

“Wait, so you’re…?”

Another loud sob escaped Will in response. Mike took that as a yes. God, he was acting so stupid and he knew it, but everything in his brain had just short circuited. He was  behaving like an idiot but this situation was so… surprising and messed up, Mike’s brain simply stopped working.

Well, it wasn’t exactly surprising that Will was gay, now that Mike thought about it. Not because of all the stereotypes and because of the names people used to call Will. Mike would never listen to those mouthbreathers. But Will had never actually shown interest in any girl. Whenever the topic girls came up, Dustin and Lucas were the first ones to start giggling and wiggling their eyebrows and talking about gross stuff, whereas Will and Mike would roll their eyes and just settle back into reading comic books. Neither had Will ever had a celebrity crush (that he told them about) nor had he ever reciprocated girls’ efforts to get to know him.

Even though Will had never been popular, the girls at school always seemed to like him. They liked his kindness and creativity, they liked that he was calmer and more earnest than other boys their age, they liked that he was bright and colourful and a good listener. Fact was: Many girls have had crushes on Will Byers but Will Byers never seemed to care. Mike always thought Will was just not interested in girls yet, because Mike hadn’t really been either.

Later, when Mike, Dustin and Lucas got girlfriends, Will would make snarky comments about it and be annoyed at them for hanging out with their girlfriends all the time. Mike had blamed it on him either being envious or still a late bloomer. He hadn’t realized that Will was carrying something deeper.

Mike had never minded that Will wasn’t fond of girls back then, and he never wanted relationships or girlfriends to be something that stood between them. And it didn’t- not until that rainy night. The night when Will had snapped after Lucas and Mike had ruined his campaign and Mike knew…well-thought, that Will was blaming him for having a girlfriend while he wasn’t ready for something like that yet.

That was also why he… Oh shit.

Shit.

It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.

Shit, shit, shit!

Mike was such an idiot.

Oh god, he wanted to punch himself.

He knew he had hurt Will that night, but only now he realized  how much.

The realization hit him like a cold shower and knocked his senses back into him. He was in the basement, his best friend was crying - oh god, Will was crying – right next to him and Mike still hadn’t moved one inch after Will came out.

For fuck’s sake, he needed to pull himself together.

Mike wasn’t good with words. He was good at writing, yes. But not at talking. And definitely not at finding the right words to comfort someone.

So he quit searching for words and just did what was long overdue: he wrapped Will in a tight sideways hug, that was a bit awkward in their sitting position, and rested his head on top of Will’s who quietly sniffled into the crook of Mike’s neck. He felt his friend trembling under him, so he started rubbing soothing circles on Will’s back.

“It’s okay,” he whispered into Will’s hair and Will nuzzled deeper into Mike’s neck. He felt Will’s arms shyly wrap around Mike’s waist to reciprocate the hug. He pulled Will closer and caressed his shoulder blades with his thumb.

“Sorry Will, I’m really bad at this,” Mike confessed, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to react.”

Will huffed but didn’t pull back when he replied. “You are bad at this? I’m bad at this! Look at me, this was the worst coming out ever.”

“Definitely needs some work,” Mike quipped as he sensed a hint of amusement in Will’s voice. “But we’re getting there.”

He felt Will smile against his neck. “Thanks, Mike.”

After a few seconds he added: “I think you’re doing a pretty good job by the way.”

“Good, ‘cause my comforting skills end at giving amazing hugs.” Mike patted Will’s back who now finally pulled back and looked away, embarrassed. Mike felt the cold basement air seeping through his clothes where his best friend had been leaning against him a few seconds ago.

“God, I’m a mess!” Will said and grinned while drying his tears with his sleeve.

“To be fair, we’re in the apocalypse, we just worked up your childhood trauma and you just told me you’re gay. I think it is appropriate in that situation to be a mess.” Mike answered, glad that he found his words again.

“Probably so,” Will agreed and flopped back onto the mattress. He turned his head to face Mike who was now looking down on him.

“Thank you,” Will said, “for not being weird about it.”

Mike gave him a smile that he hoped conveyed support. Then Mike remembered the disgust in Will’s voice when he had said it.

“Did you expect me to be weird about it?” he asked carefully, not sure whether he wanted to hear the response.

When Will didn’t immediately deny it, a wave of guilt swept over Mike. Will had thought he would be a dick about it.

“I told you I wasn’t homophobic. Like… after the whole Robin thing.”

Will sighed: “I know… I didn’t think you would be homophobic, I just… I don’t know, I thought you might be weirded out. Or mad that I never told you. I thought it would change everything.”

Mike felt the urge to reach out and grab Will’s hand, he hated nothing more on this planet than seeing his best friend hurt and insecure.

“It doesn’t change anything, Will. I’m not mad. I totally get that you wanted to keep it a secret, I know what people are like.” He tilted his head. “Just promise me to never believe anyone who says it makes you less worthy.”

Will raised one brow.

“Please don’t ever think less of yourself, because other people are narrow-minded okay? You’re amazing just the way y-!”

“Aahh, Mike!” Still laying on his back, Will grabbed a pillow from over his head and playfully smacked it at Mike’s side, “Shut up!”

“Oww!” Mike whined in mock-offense.

Will snickered. “I take it back that I said you were doing a good job at…being come out to, you’re being way too cheesy now.”

“Eeeyy!” Mike complained. He knew he was, he just hoped that Will still got the message, because he meant every single word of it.

Will slapped him with the pillow again, a bit softer this time and started giggling at Mike’s scrunched up face. The sound of Will’s giggles send a bubbling syrupy feeling to Mike’s stomach and he remembered that making Will laugh was one of the best things in the world, so soon he couldn’t hold back his own laughter anymore. (that admittedly didn’t sound remotely as sweet as Wills) When their laughter faded away, Mike laid down next to Will, his knees still arched up, feet on the carpet.

“Am I the first one?” he asked curiously.

Will turned his head to look at him. “The first one I told? Yeah.”

“But I think Jonathan knows. And Dustin definitely knows.” He added.

“Whaat? Dustin?” Mike would never admit it, but he was a bit upset that Dustin knew before him.

Wil shrugged. “He figured it out.”

It bugged Mike that Dustin had found out while he had been so oblivious about it. He was supposed to be the person who knew Will better than anyone else, but he had been completely clueless about a crucial part of Will’s identity. How could he be so blind? What kind of friend was he?

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. Why was he always apologizing to Will these days? He wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing because he made up for stuff or a bad thing because there was stuff to make up for in the first place.

“For what?” Will looked at him with such an honest and curious expression, Mike thought he had to explode.

They were still lying on their backs on Will’s mattress, heads now turned towards each other and Mike tried to figure out what he was apologizing for without getting lost in Will’s hazel eyes.

“Uh, everything I guess.” He shrugged. Will raised a questioning eyebrow and assured him: “I’m not mad at you or anything.”

“No, I know,” Mike shook his head and vaguely gestured with his hands in the air, trying to make sense of his thoughts:

“I dunno, I guess I’m sorry for never seeing that part of you. And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell me about that part of you. I’m just sorry for being stupid and oblivious as always and I wish I could have been there for you when you couldn’t talk to anyone about this. And sorry for that one night.” He didn’t specify that one night any further but he knew that Will knew what he meant.

Will rolled his eye, “I forgave you ages ago, Mike…”

“I know, I know. I apologized back then but I feel like I have to apologize again now that I know what I’m really apologizing for. So you get what I mean when I say I’m sorry for everything. For not being the friend you- OUCH!”            

He had been so immersed by everything he wanted to say that the pillow took him completely by surprise this time.

Will had smacked it right into his face to shut him up. Offended, Mike rubbed his nose and grimaced. It didn’t really hurt but he couldn’t just let Will get away with this all the time.

His best friend just gave him a boyish grin and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be such a drama queen, Michael.”

“Oh, you’re pulling out the full names, huh? What’s this about?”

“People do stupid things okay, Mike? Including you. And I don’t know why you’re so certain that you’re a terrible friend when I just cried my heart out on your shoulder. You’re a dork, yeah. But you’re still the best friend I could ask for. If I haven’t made that very clear by now: You’re my best friend in the world and not because you’re perfect or anything but because you’re you. And that’s so much better and more important to me, I would never replace you with any other person on this planet if I could.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Mike interrupted, “Do I also get a pillow for when you say cheesy shit? Cuz this is just unfair.”

“Nope,” Will said and raised the pillow again, but grinned and put it back down when Mike protectively held his hands in front of his face, frowning his lips into a small pout.

“Idiot,” Will remarked and once again Mike asked himself why Will’s ironic insults always felt like a praise.

“Does that mean I’m your favourite?” Mike asked with what was supposed to be a teasing grin. He had secretly really enjoyed Will’s cheesy talk from earlier, not that he’d ever admit it but he kind of wanted Will to keep telling him how much he meant to him.

A faint blush dusted Will’s cheeks and Mike really thought Will would tease him back, but he was totally taken aback by Will’s response.

“Obviously you’re my favourite!”, he replied softly and Mike swore Will’s blush deepened, as he quickly turned away.

Mike just stared over at him with a dry mouth. He was Will’s favourite. Obviously.  

When Will didn’t make any attempts to look back at Mike, he also turned his face back to the basement ceiling. Mike wondered how many times they had looked at this ceiling like that. Lying on their backs, next to each other on a mattress or in a sleeping bag on the basement floor. Will and Mike. On their hundreds of sleepovers (it must have been hundreds, right? It definitely felt like hundreds!). Mike knew every corner of this room, every stain and crack on the ceiling.

His gaze intuitively wandered to one crack in the concrete that had always stood out to him.

One night when they were 7 years old, Will had stayed over and discovered the crack in the ceiling. They were sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, facing each other, their legs entangled, Mike had been engrossed in a comic book and Will was doodling in his school notebook, when his eyes absentmindedly roamed the ceiling. Will had lit up when he found the crack. ‘It looks like a scrawly M,’ he had said, ‘M for Mike.’ Mike had craned his neck, scrutinizing the shape, ‘From here it’s a W,’ he replied. W for Will.

Mike was wondering if Will was looking at it too right now, as they lay in silence like that- the sound of their breaths mingling with the rustling of the still heavy winds outside. If he was thinking of the same night. Probably not.

“You’re my favourite, too, Will.”

‘You should pack your precious stuff, we can only take one suitcase per person and when they arrive for the evacuation, you better be ready or you can say bye, bye to your things.’

So here Mike was, packing all the clothes he thought he might need. (god, he had even folded them orderly) He had put some of them into Will’s suitcase, because Will barely owned anything anymore and he would have to wear Mike’s clothes anyway. He had also packed his walkie, some books and movies, hoping wherever they would be evacuated to had a VHS player (which was probably stupid, but his most precious movies couldn’t be left behind.)

His gaze fell on his guitar and a wistful feeling tugged at his insides. He had only started playing at the beginning of the school year after Eddie had offered to teach him. He had never touched it again since Eddie’s death, but it felt wrong to leave it here. He wouldn’t be able to take it with him, would he? It definitely didn’t fit in the suitcase, but maybe they would let him carry it if he asked politely… (not one of his strengths)

It was a strange feeling, packing everything that mattered to him into a small suitcase. His room held fifteen years of memories and now he had one day to choose what he wanted to keep. He didn’t know if the house would be the same when all this was over. Maybe it would be covered in vines and upside down goo or it would simply be swallowed by the ground just like the buildings downtown where the cracks had erupted. Where would the evacuation team take them? Would they ever get back here?

He stuffed his lava lamp between the clothes in his suitcase, because he knew Will hadn’t packed the night light from the basement. He probably didn’t want to just take it because it belonged to the Wheelers and Mike guessed he had been too embarrassed to ask.

When he had everything he needed, he scrutinized the lowest drawer of his shelf. Knowing exactly what was in there, he tried to convince himself that he hadn’t been waiting this whole time to open it and add its content to his baggage. There hadn’t been a single doubt that he would have to take it with him. So he reached out and rested his hand on the cold handle before slowly pulling it open. The barely perceptible scent of paper, crayons and paint wafted out of the drawer and Mike smiled at the rolled up canvas paper that lay on top of a stack of coloured pencil drawings. He pulled it out and carefully unrolled it, his eyes roaming the masterpiece as they had hundreds of times before.

After the painting had joined his other belongings in the suitcase, he settled down in front of the drawer again and browsed through Will’s other drawings. From the first drawing Will had ever made for him in Kindergarten to his most recent ones, Mike had kept every single one of them. Drawings of the party, little comics the two of them had worked out together, ideas for new campaigns and 10 years of joint memories that Will had lovingly immortalized on paper.

He shut the drawer a bit too forcefully and blinked the tears away that started forming at the thought that he couldn’t take all of those drawings with him. It was so stupid. He wasn’t sad, on the contrary, Will’s drawings always made his chest flutter in the best of ways, because the fact that Will had made them for him made him feel so… appreciated.

When he directed his gaze back to his suitcase, a crumpled piece of paper on the floor under his bed caught his attention. Usually he wouldn’t have minded, his room was always a mess, but something tickled in his fingers, something like a memory that he couldn’t grasp, so he crawled over to his bed and reached for the paper.

He immediately knew what it was when he pulled it out from under the bed. One of El’s letters. He unsuccessfully tried to smooth out the paper. This had been her last letter before Mike had left for California and now he knew what he had subconsciously been looking for. He tried his best to ignore the ‘Love, El’ at the bottom of the paper and instead his eyes landed on Will’s name immediately. He vaguely remembered those lines.

‘Will is painting a lot. But he won’t show me what he’s working on. Maybe it is for a girl. I think there is someone he likes, because he has been acting weird lately.’

Mike huffed out a small chuckle. El had thought Will had a crush on some girl in California. Did he maybe have a crush on a guy in California and that was the reason why he’d been acting weird? Did Will make a painting for a boy in California and didn’t want to show El because it would out him?

Mike had to admit to himself: the thought crossed his mind that El might be talking about Will’s painting for him. Will had said that El commissioned it but Mike never really believed that, El didn’t know anything about DnD; and given that she broke up with him shortly after, everything that Will said about her needing him had also just been him trying to make Mike feel better.

Funny that El thought the painting was for a girl Will liked when it had been for Mike. If it was the same painting, maybe it wasn’t and El was writing about another painting that Will made for a cute guy back in Lenora. Mike preferred to think that there was no other painting. Not because… not because he would have a problem if there was a guy. He was 100% fine with Will being gay. He just… he had always been the one most of Will’s art was for and it meant so much to him. The thought of it meaning that much to some stranger too made him feel… weird?!

Chapter Text

(7800 words ≈ 25-30 minutes reading time)

It took 5 more hours until they heard the sounds of trucks approaching outside. The air in the house was stuffy and stale by now, but it was unarguably better than outside where millions of particles still hung in the air. It almost looked like it was snowing outside. But the particles didn’t gather on the ground like snow would, they floated in place as if completely weightless, only tossed around by the heavy winds.

Will sat by the window together with Jonathan when the first truck appeared at the end of the street. They watched as soldiers in protective suits and oxygen masks hopped off the truck and disappeared behind the first house. After a few minutes, an old couple left the house with them, provided with masks, their suitcases in tow, they hurried to the truck.

The soldiers entered the building on the other side of the street but came out on their own after a few minutes. This must have been one of the lucky families that left the city before all of this happened. Agonizingly slow, they worked their way up the street. When the first truck was seemingly full, it headed back to wherever they would take the families. Shortly after, two more trucks appeared and continued the procedure.

Jonathan nudged his shoulder and Will turned his head towards his brother, his brows raised as a silent question.

“How are you feeling?” Jonathan asked quietly so that only Will could hear. The others were all sitting around the table, waiting for the doorbell to ring.

Will turned to the window again. How was he feeling? He still felt every gust of wind in his stomach and every breaking branch in his bones and overall, his body felt like he was really sick. But at least he felt like he was in control of his mind again. All the foreign raging emotions he had felt this morning had subsided. Maybe his outburst had actually relieved some of the pressure that was building up in him.

Or maybe it had been Mike who made everything better. One second Will had thought he destroyed everything with his not-so intentional coming out and the other second Mike had hugged him and reassured him and it was perfect, better than what he had ever let himself believe in. Mike accepted him for who he was and Will still couldn’t believe that it went so well. How did he deserve this?

So he replied: “Better,” and gave Jonathan an honest smile, “Pretty good, actually. What about you?”

Jonathan returned the smile and shrugged. “Good would be an overstatement, but I guess it could be worse.”

“Did Karen tell you?” Will asked carefully. “About… Lonnie.” He added when Jonathan didn’t reply.

His brother nodded and shrugged again. “Fuck him,” he said and Will couldn’t suppress a surprised giggle.

“Yeah”, he agreed, “Fuck him.”

Jonathan turned to the others and announced that the trucks were almost there. Karen sighed in relief, she looked like she was going to implode if she had to listen to Argyle’s stories for much longer. She also looked really stressed and tired, Will noticed. It must be hard for her, she had no idea what was going on. Nancy had one arm loosely wrapped around Karen’s shoulders for comfort, while she absentmindedly stared out of the window. Will’s gaze wandered to Mike, only to find his best friend’s eyes already on him. Mike offered him a warm smile from across the room and Will gladly returned it.

Jonathan’s voice next to him tore his attention back to the window.

“Why are they driving past us?” Jonathan asked, his voice tinged with worry.

His brother was right. Both trucks drove right past their house and stopped at the next property.

“They are doing what?” Karen shrieked and was next to them at the window in a second. “Why would they drive past us?” She didn’t even try to hide her panic anymore, “They wouldn’t do that, would they?”

“Do they think the house is empty?” Nancy asked.

Jonathan shook his head. “They went into every single house in the street, even those who were empty, to make sure not to leave anyone behind.”

“Oh my god, oh my god,” Karen brabbled, “What do we do? We have to give them a sign! I could go outside and…”

“No, mom. You’re not going anywhere.”

“But what if they forget us? What are we supposed to do?” Karen’s voice turned into sobs and Mike put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure, they will come and get us.”

One hour later, Karen had turned into a complete mess, she was pacing through the kitchen, her eyes red and swollen. Still, no one had come to get them. Nobody said a word, they sat around the table in silence, the only sounds were the howling winds outside and occasional sobs from Mrs. Wheeler.

Why did no one get them? There was no way they forgot about them, Will was sure the military knew exactly who they were and what they knew. Was Owens wrong? Was the military not on their side after all? Did they still think they were a threat? Did they leave them here to silently eliminate them? Will couldn’t wrap his head around it.

That was until they finally heard the sounds of an engine outside and all stormed to the window. It was a black van that stopped right in front of the Wheeler’s residence. Karen cheered and dried her tears as she clambered onto Nancy’s shoulder and chased everyone to the front door where they had already stacked their suitcases hours ago.

They heard steps on the gravel in front of the house and a muffled voice through the door.

“I need you to open the door and take a few steps back immediately so that you don’t inhale any intruding particles.” The voice said. “Put something over your mouth and nose if possible. I’m coming in and I’ll explain the next steps.”

They all did as they were told and stepped back, covering their faces with their sleeves. Karen unlocked the door and joined them at the end of the hallway.

The door opened and a man slipped in in a matter of seconds, pushing it close against the eager winds outside that pushed against it with an unyielding ferocity. When the door was shut behind him, Will let out the breath he held and lowered his arm from his face. The man took off his mask and a familiar face appeared.

“Doctor Owens!” Mike exclaimed.

“Hey, kiddos!”, he smiled.

Karen looked at all the relieved faces, she was totally baffled. “You know this man?” she asked, looking around for someone to explain what was going on.

“Nah, honestly no idea who that is,” Argyle replied and Karen just hopelessly shook her head.

Doctor Owens cleared his throat and nodded towards the door. “We’re here to evacuate you. Sorry for the delay but we had to clear out the whole area first so that nobody observes your uhm… special treatment.”

“Special treatment?” Karen asked, she looked more than confused, “What special treatment? Who even are you?”

“My apologies Mrs. Wheeler, my name is Owens. I was sent by the FBI to evacuate this household to Hawkins lab.”

“Hawkins lab?” Karen squealed. “This horrible place? Why would we ever go there? I thought there was a chemical leak again that lead to all of this. We are not going there! Why would we? Why are we not evacuated like everybody else?! And why do you know my kids???” Her voice grew louder with every word and Nancy mumbled appeasing words until Karen was out of air and just glared at Doctor Owens instead.

“Mrs. Wheeler, I fully understand your concerns,” he began and let his look wander over all of their faces before he resumed:

“But I have to inform you that your children aswell as the Byers have been involved in the recent happenings that concern the safety of this town and the government. I’m sure this is hard to take but there is currently a bigger threat than a chemical leak. Proclaiming the leak was just a measure by the government to cover up the real happenings without stirring panic among the citizens of Hawkins. Everyone who is involved or knows something about this threat is to be evacuated to the lab to be protected by the military and to help the government fight this threat.”

Karen’s mouth had fallen agape. “M-my kids? Involved? Why would they…? What…?” She looked at Nancy for help, but she just pursed her lips and nodded slowly.

“How?” Karen breathed. Her gaze flitting between Mike and Nancy.

Doctor Owens took the lead again: “Your kids have knowledge that is crucial to the government. We will explain everything as soon as we arrive at the lab. It is our highest priority that you are safe and you are not safe here.”

Karen whimpered.

“Mom, it’s okay,” Mike assured her. “You have to trust us one more time, okay?”

“You trust us, don’t you?” Nancy helped him.

Karen looked like she was at the brink of fainting but she nodded.

“Is… Is Joyce also there?” she asked. “Does Joyce know about all of this?”

Owens nodded and offered her an apologetic smile. “Joyce has been involved for several years now.”

“YEARS??”

“Please, Mrs. Wheeler, we need you to be calm, okay? I know this is hard for you but be calm for your children. We will explain everything once we’re there.”

That seemed to do the work, she looked like she had to physically pull herself together. She straightened her back and took a deep breath, then looked at Nancy and Mike.

“You will have some explaining to do later.” Then she crossed her arms in front of her chest. “So, are we leaving now, or what?”

The ride in the van seemed agonizingly slow. It didn’t have windows and for a brief moment Will wondered whether that was because there were dead bodies outside that they weren’t supposed to see. He immediately shook off the thought and instead focused on the warmth that radiated off of Mike’s body next to him. Will had received a gasmask as they had left the house and it now hung loosely around his neck. The storm was even louder in here and the gusts vibrated through the whole van, Will hated it. But they would be safe. Will prayed they would be safe.

When they arrived, they put their masks back on and were lead to the building. Will shuddered at the sight. He never thought he’d have to come back here, too many painful memories were connected to this place.

He didn’t realize he had stopped walking until he felt a soft, warm pressure at his back. He lifted his head and met Mike’s eyes that were clouded by worry. One brow slightly raised, a barely perceptible change but Will saw it. A question. Can you do this? He took a deep breath and nodded, giving in to Mike’s hand on his back as he followed the others.

They were lead into some kind of conference room. The building must have been cleaned up and provisionally renovated since the Demodog attack, Will thought. For how long had this building been occupied by the government when they thought it was empty and abandoned?

The air in the conference room was surprisingly fresh, Will figured they must have an air filter system somewhere. He took a few deep breaths and enjoyed the feeling of the cool air  

The door swung open and before Will knew what was happening he was wrapped in a tight hug, hair tickling his cheek and the familiar scent of cigarettes and pomegranate shampoo wafting into his nose. He smiled and pulled his mother closer to his chest. Then he felt a second pair of arms wrap around him from behind. El! Only now he realized how much he had missed them. After what felt like several minutes, they released from the hug and El playfully ruffled his hair, beaming at him.

“We missed you! Are you okay?”

Will nodded eagerly: “I missed you too! I’m okay, are you okay?”

They nodded and Joyce planted a kiss on his forehead.

“Where’s Hop?” Will asked.

“He’ll be there soon,” El replied. “He’s filling them in on every detail we haven’t told them yet. Lucas and Dustin and the rest are also on their way right now.”

After Joyce had greeted Karen, Mike and Nancy, Karen seemingly couldn’t hold back her concerns any longer.

“So who’s gonna tell me what’s going on here?” She crossed her arms and looked around.

Doctor Owens, who had been politely standing next to the door the whole time, handed Karen a glass of water and led her to a chair.

“You’re gonna wanna sit down for this.” 

Karen didn’t say a single word throughout Owens’ explanation, but her eyes widened with every shocking truth, at one point Will was scared, her eyeballs would fall out if she wouldn’t stop.

Occasionally, Nancy and Joyce corrected or completed Owens’ story until they basically took over and Owens just let them explain everything. After all, he hadn’t been there for most of it. Karen shot El suspicious glances, scrutinizing her from head to toe. Then she shook her head. And she kept shaking her head until they finished the story.

She was gripping her glass of water with such a force, her knuckles had turned white and Will feared the glass might shatter into a million pieces any second.

“Am I going insane?” Karen asked after a few seconds, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Then the door swung open again and this time, Hopper bolted in. Horrible timing.

“Sorry I’m late!”

Karen made a strangled noise like a dying animal when she saw the Chief of Hawkins Police whose funeral she had attended. It all happened so fast - the glass of water slipped out of her hand, Will closed his eyes as he anticipated the sound of the shattering glass. But it never came. Instead, when he opened his eyes again, he saw the glass hovering a few inches over the floor, not a single drop spilled. It slowly floated upwards back to Karen’s hand where she stared at it like a disgusting insect.

Her gaze wandered to El who was standing opposite to her, arm stretched out towards the glass, lifting it with her powers. When Karen didn’t make any attempts to take the glass, Mike who was standing next to her, did. El gave Karen a shy smile while wiping away the blood from her nose with the back of her hand.

“My apologies, I left out the part that Chief Hopper was alive,” Owens threw in, biting back a smile.

“Oh m-my god,” Karen stammered.

”Oh my god...”

Then she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, the tension in her jaw slowly relaxed.

“It’s all true, isn’t it?” She looked at Joyce and then at Hopper, waiting for the adults to confirm all the insanities she just heard. They nodded.

She turned around to look at both her kids.

“I’m so sorry”, she said after contemplating for a few seconds, “I can’t believe you went through all of this and I haven’t been there for you!”

“Mom, it’s okay,” Nancy assured her, “It’s not your fault, we never told you.”

Karen got up and wrapped her kids in a hug, Mike, a bit surprised, awkwardly patted her back.

“Promise me you tell me when things ever get this bad again. Oh my god, I can’t imagine what it has been like for you.”

When she pulled back from the hug, her gaze immediately found Will and tears welled up in her eyes. “Will, I’m so sorry you’ve been through all this. You didn’t deserve any of this, you were so little, oh my…” She closed her eyes, clearly fighting back tears and Will felt his own eyes sting in response. Karen hasn’t always been the best mother to her children but she was as loving as every mother should be.

“And Joyce… I’m sorry for thinking you were crazy. You’ve been to hell and back while I my biggest problem was my next haircut. ”

She continued before Joyce could respond: “You,” she looked at El, “You’re such a brave girl. You shouldn’t have to be so brave at your age. Thank you for saving my kids, thank you for saving Hawkins. Thank all of you for saving Hawkins… several times. I’ll do everything I can to help you save it one more time!”

When Will looked at Mike, he swore he saw a tear roll down his cheek before he quickly wiped it away.

Only a few minutes later Lucas and Erica, Dustin and Steve arrived, happy to be reunited. Robin arrived last and Will was busy welcoming Dustin, he didn’t realize that someone was with her.

“And who is this?”, Joyce asked friendly. Will turned around, only to find Vickie standing in the doorframe behind Robin.

“This is- uh… This is Vickie,” Robin said, heat rising to her cheeks, “We were together when the uhm- when the storm hit… So she kinda heard the walkie calls and everything and I ended up… telling her pretty much everything”, she stammered.

“It wasn’t Robin’s fault, I wouldn’t stop asking about it…” Vickie protested, clearly feeling uncomfortable with everyone’s eyes on her.

Hopper muttered something incomprehensible into his beard before he turned to Robin. “What do you mean, you were with Vickie, weren’t you supposed to be with Steve? We agreed that no one was allowed to be on their own!”

“Technically, I wasn’t on my…”

 “Why weren’t you with Robin?” Hopper interrupted her, now glaring at Steve.

“She was… She was with Vickie. I thought that was fine.”

“Would Vickie have known what to do in case of an attack? No.” Hopper complained, “So no more unsolicited meetings with your friends, okay?”

Yeah. Friends.

Steve shot Robin an apologetic look, but Robin just rolled her eyes at Hopper: “That’s why I told her when I realized I’d have to stay for longer. I didn’t plan to stay for several days. Also, I’m an adult. I meet with whoever I want whenever I want and you’re not responsible for me.”

Joyce reached for Hopper’s arm before he could reply anything rude. “It’s okay.” She said. Turning towards the shy girl in the doorframe, she added: “Hello Vickie, nice to meet you. I am Joyce, I hope you’re okay with being here, but I guess since you know too much now, it’s too dangerous for you to leave.”

Vickie nodded and affirmed that she was okay, but her cheeks were still flushed and she nervously twisted her sleeve in her hands while trying her best not to look in Robin’s direction.

After everyone had exchanged greetings, Owens started to explain how their stay in the lab would look like.

They were all handed plans with daily routines including breakfast and dinner times, hallway plans and shower schedules. There were not many showers because the lab was obviously not built to serve as a motel for hundreds of people, so there was a strict plan that offered everyone a 15 minute time slot every two days.

Hundreds of people was really not an exaggeration, there were soldiers behind every corner who stayed at the lab and prepared for whatever battle was needed to defend this town. The atmosphere made Will slightly uncomfortable. Dozens of strangers, armed to the teeth, constantly on alert. It made the whole situation seem so incredibly serious.

They were assigned rooms on the 5^th floor and when Will entered his, the suitcase he had packed was already lying on the single bed. The room was small and the blank white walls stared back at him, tinged in an uncomfortable cold hue by the fluorescent tube at the ceiling. Then his gaze fell on the big window behind the bed that looked over the woods, facing west (which meant: away from the cracks). And he’d be able to see the evening sun set over the trees. That was nice, he could work with that. There was a small desk and a small wardrobe at the opposite end of the room and a digital alarm on a bedside table.

He opened the suitcase and took out his stuff that included his notebook and a pencil, his hellfire shirt, a few other clothes he grabbed from Mike, and his gun. For emergencies. It laid heavy and cold on his palm as he weighed it in his hand before putting it in the drawer of his bedside, hoping he would never need it. He orderly put his (Mike’s) clothes in his wardrobe before he decided to bring the suitcase with the rest of Mike’s stuff over to his best friend’s room.

It was just across the hallway and even though Will was glad that Mike was so close, he had gotten kind of used to falling asleep to Mike’s adorable snores when they had both slept in the Wheelers’ basement.

The door to Mike’s room was open so Will peeked through the door gap. He found Mike cross legged on his bed, digging around in his messy suitcase. He lit up when he saw Will at the door and motioned him to come in. As his gaze fell on Will’s suitcase, he shook his head and facepalmed.

“I was just having a full on panic attack because I thought I forgot to pack any socks. I totally forgot that I put some of my stuff in your bag!”

“Idiot,” Will quipped, took a pair of socks out of the suitcase and threw it at Mike’s face.

His best friend just rolled his eyes and resumed rummaging in his suitcase.

“Do you need anything?” Mike asked, “I know you don’t have much stuff, but you can always ask me if you need something, you know that, right?”

Will offered him a thankful smile. How could Mike ever possibly think that he was a horrible friend when he was literally the kindest, most adorable being on this planet??

“Yeah, I know.”

“I wanted to go talk to El before dinner,” Will said, “Which is in 15 minutes so I should head down.”

Mike mock-pouted: “What’s so bad about talking to me?”

“Nothing, dumbass. But we’ve been hanging out non-stop for several days now, I bet you’ll survive 15 minutes without me while I go talk to my sister who I – may I remind you – haven’t seen for days.”

He saw the corner of Mike’s mouth tilt upwards at the word ‘sister’ and Will also felt a comfortable warmth settling in his chest. He had a sister. El. El was his sister. And he was gonna talk to his sister now. He remembered how calling Lonnie ‘dad’ had felt odd and just utterly wrong. But calling El his sister was just the most natural thing in the world.

“Okay, see you later then,” Mike said and smiled.

“See you la-“

Will had turned around to leave the room when his gaze fell on something that made his voice falter. Mike’s room had the same boring plain white wallpaper as Will’s but a splash of colour on the wall next to the door had caught Will’s attention. He blinked twice to make sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him.

A painting. The painting. His painting. On Mike’s wall. He had brought it with him. And he had hung it on the wall before he had even started to unpack his clothes.

He turned his head back only to see Mike’s cheeks covered in a lovely pink hue of embarrassment.

“You…” Will began but his voice came out hoarse, so he cleared his throat, “You brought it with you.”

Mike pointedly looked away. “Of course,” he mumbled.

Then Will remembered that he had told Mike the painting was commissioned by El. It had been a terrible lie and probably Mike didn’t believe it anyway but regarding all the embarrassing things he had said in the van when he gave Mike the painting, he wasn’t sure he could back out from that lie now, without confirming his huge embarrassing disgusting crush on his best friend. So it was probably better not to address the painting anymore, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to talk about it without turning into a puddle of white lies and embarrassment.

Mike also looked a bit uncomfortable so Will just mumbled a quick “See ya!” before scurrying out of the room.

“Will, I have to tell you something,” El confessed. They had been talking for a few minutes, catching up on the last couple of days, when El suddenly became serious.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“This morning, Joyce and Hop called the Wheeler’s house on the walkie and you weren’t there, And Jonathan said you weren’t doing well.”

Will nodded along. When telling El about the last few days, he had let out the part of him feeling like he wanted to rip his own body into shreds.

“My connection to the upside down…” he explained, “I can… feel the storm and everything and it was just too much these past days. But it’s better now.”

“I’m not finished,” she said, not looking him in the eyes. She nervously bit her lip, Will looked at her expectantly. What was wrong?

“I shouldn’t have done it!”, she said, guilt etching in her voice.

“Done what?”

“When Jonathan said something was wrong with you, I wanted to check in on you and make sure you were okay.”

Will stared at her without saying anything. He didn’t like where this was going.

“I… I’m sorry, it was probably very personal. I swear I didn’t want to spy on you.”

She looked at the ground.

“What… What did you hear?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

“You were talking to Mike. I didn’t understand everything, but I did understand that you’re.. that you’re gay. Like what Dustin said Robin is too. Just with boys, right?”

Will’s heart was thudding in his chest like a drumbeat, he felt slightly dizzy and wanted nothing more than to dematerialize. He couldn’t respond.

“Will, I’m really sorry, please don’t be mad at me, I didn’t mean to!”

“I’m not mad at you.” There it was, his voice. Shaky but there.

“Will, I don’t care that you’re gay. Lucas said people who have a problem with that are stupid.”

She took his clammy hands in hers and caressed the back of his hand with her thumb.

“Don’t you find it gross?”

“Why would it be gross?”

“…that I want to… kiss boys.” Warmth shot into his cheeks at the words. He had never talked about it so blatantly.

El giggled, “I want to kiss boys, too.”

“El, that’s different”

“Maybe. But it doesn’t have to be bad different. It can be good different, too. Or just… different.” She smiled at him and he gave her a watery smile in return.

“But it is bad different.” He then said.

El furrowed her brows in confusion, “Why?”

“Just… People don’t like people like me. Or like Robin.”

“I like you. Robin is a bit loud and I sometimes don’t understand her but I think I like her too.”

Will sighed. “People like me get weird looks, they get spit at, beaten up,… killed. Because most people think that being gay is a disgusting unnatural thing that should not exist.”

“People like your dad?”

Will flinched at the word. But he nodded, looking down at his lap.

“Do you… Do you believe that too?” She asked.

Will hesitated.

“Sometimes.”

El tightened her grip around his hands.

“But then, sometimes it feels like the most natural thing in the world. It makes me feel really good, until it makes me upset that it makes me feel so good. Because it shouldn’t. I feel so gross sometimes.”

“Will,” she released one of her hands from his to reach for his chin and tilt his head up so that he was forced to look at her.

“You deserve to feel good. And if anyone ever says that you don’t, I will break their neck.”

“El!” he gasped, “You can’t say that.”

“Watch me!” She grinned.

“Will, I don’t care that you are gay. And I’m sure the others don’t care either. You’re still you and we love you just like that. I don’t know what happened with your d… Lonnie, but he’s a mouth breather and if you ever believe anything he says, I’ll make your feet itch until you change your mind, understand?”

“El!” Will squealed but he couldn’t bite back a grin before pulling her into a hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.

When they separated, El ran her fingers through her hair to fix it, absentmindedly brushing a strand of her behind her ear as a thoughtful expression settled upon her features. She looked like she was contemplating something. He poked her knee with his index finger to draw her attention back to him. She gave him a soft smile. Her expression had turned into a hesitant look as if she wanted to say something.

“What?”

She didn’t reply immediately.

“Nothing.”

After dinner, Will was glad to have some alone time in his room. He had always valued having time for himself in peace and quiet, especially after a stressful day. He was sitting on his bed, leaning with his back against the wall, absentmindedly scribbling in his notebook. The evening sun that fell through the big window felt warm on his bare feet and he stretched out his legs a bit more to let the yellow glow linger on his shins.

Even though it was already evening, this time of the day was the brightest. The dark clouds that amassed over Hawkins didn’t reach all the way to the horizon and left a narrow stripe of clear sky above it. So when the evening sun hung this deep over western Indiana, it escaped the ceiling of clouds that had hidden it all day, lingering in that space for a couple of minutes before setting between the treetops. It bathed the woods in front of Will’s window in an ethereal orange glow, making everything seem soft and peaceful. Even the particles outside that were tossed around by the still ongoing storm seemed to sparkle in the sunlight as they weightlessly floated in front of the window, adding to the celestial picture. It looked magical, like straight out of a fantasy novel. He had to paint this one day.

He put is notebook aside and scooted to the middle of the bed, exposing his face to the orange sun rays that fell through the window. He smiled at the sudden warmth on his face and closed his eyes for a second, savouring the soothing feeling. Even with his eyes closed, the sunlight shined through his eyelids and he felt like the warm light was filling him up as he breathed in, lighting up every lingering shadow that was left in his body.  

A soft knock on the door tore him out of his thoughts, he opened his eyes.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Will regretted ever thinking that he preferred being on his own, when Mike stepped into the room.

“Hey Will, I…”

Mike had closed the door behind him before his gaze fell on the scene in front of him. As he stepped into the room, he was immediately embraced by the orange gleam that turned deeper and redder with every second that passed. Will’s mouth suddenly felt very dry and he was sure he was staring at Mike like an idiot but in that moment he didn’t care. Mike must have taken a shower, Will thought, because his hair was still wet, the dark curls shimmering in the sunlight, just like his -even darker- eyes that had widened at the sight of the beautiful sunset outside. Will found himself mesmerized by the play of light on his best friend’s sharp cheekbones and the shadows that were cast on his cheek by his long eyelashes.

Under his eyelashes, Mike’s eyes were flitting all over Will, roaming over his face and his body as if he forgot Will could see him. Will wouldn’t mind if Mike looked at him like that all the time. Like he was worth looking at. Like he enjoyed what he saw. He let himself imagine for a second that Mike was looking at him the same way Will was looking at Mike.

This was what he had meant earlier when talking to El. In moments like these, loving mike felt like the most natural thing in the world, the only thing that felt just right. And no matter how guilty he would feel about this later, he would let him have this. Just for the moment.

He took all of Mike in: His slightly dazed expression, the stray strand of hair that had fallen into his face, the freckles splattered all over his face and even a few on his neck, disappearing under his collar and reappearing under his sleeves, faintly covering his arms.

Neither of them had said anything and Will realized it was becoming kinda weird, so he cleared his throat and nodded towards the window.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” His voice sounded hoarse and far away.

Mike still looked a bit puzzled, his eyes not leaving Will as he nodded.

“Beautiful.”

It was barely more than a whisper.

“You okay?” Will asked, he was getting more and more concerned, Mike looked weird. Almost drunk or like he had a fever. And he still hadn’t moved from his spot next to the door.

At the question, Mike nodded eagerly, seemingly torn out of his trance.

“Yeah, sorry, I just…” he scratched his head and messed up his hair a little, a strand sticking out at the side. “I uhm… wow this is so unfair, why does my room not have a window?”

“Do you wanna sit for a bit?” Will asked and scooted over. Mike didn’t hesitate and settled onto Will’s bed, facing the sunset.

“It looks so cool,” Mike said in awe. The sun had almost disappeared between the trees and the sky had turned a deep shade of red, against the coal black clouds, it almost looked like-

“It looks a bit like Mordor, don’t you think?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, I just thought that too,” Will breathed, “Just more beautiful.”

This was pretty much how he had imagined Mordor when reading the lord of the rings for the first time. Mike had given him the books after he had read them and told him that Gandalf always reminded him of Will the Wise. Will had bawled his eyes out when he read the part where the Balrog dragged Gandalf down into the darkness. Will had cried until Mike told him that Gandalf wasn’t actually dead and after that, Will pretended to be mad about the spoiler for months, even though they both knew he wasn’t really mad. It had been one of his favourite book series, though. Every evening he would read until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and in the mornings at school he would tell Mike everything that had happened in the last chapters so that they could talk about it.

Will wondered if maybe Mike might also be recalling these memories right now. He glanced over at Mike, just to find him staring at Will already. Their eyes locked and Will offered his best friend a soft smile. The corner of Mike’s mouth twitched up immediately like a reflex and Will’s eyes unintentionally flitted down at the movement. Quickly, he forced his gaze back up and towards the window. He felt heat rise in his cheeks and hoped the red gleam of the sunset covered it up.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, engrossed in the magical atmosphere, watching as the sun slowly disappeared at the horizon. With the fading light, Will also felt the unease in his stomach return. Would this ever stop? As soon as the warmth left his skin, goosebumps started blossoming on his arms again and he shivered at the sudden discomfort. The room was gloomy, Will had switched off the lights and if it weren’t for Mike next to him, Will would sink back into the cold, foreign anger that clung to his neck.

Mike shuffled on the mattress, turning his body towards Will.

“Uhm… I- I actually came to uh… bring you something,” he spluttered and Will’s gaze fell on something in Mike’s hands that he was now holding in front of Will as a silent offer. Will’s cheeks started to heat up again at the sight. It was Mike’s old nightlight. The one he had always plugged in at their sleepovers. The one Will had been to embarrassed to ask for. And a pack of coloured pencils.

He gazed up at Mike, curious, and found his brows furrowed in insecurity. His fingers twitched in his lap as he had to hold himself back from reaching out and smoothen the crease between Mike’s brow or do something even worse like… kiss him or something.

“I don’t know if you still draw,” Mike says self-consciously, eyes not meeting Will’s. “But I found these in Holly’s room and thought you might want something to do. If you don’t want to, it’s fine, too. Just… yeah.”

“And about that…” He turned the nightlight in his hands, “I don’t want you to be embarrassed in front of me… ever. And if you don’t want it or don’t need it, that’s fine too. I just want you to have the possibility, you know. If it makes you sleep better.”

He looked like he was already regretting it as he was stumbling over his words and Will sent him a reassuring smile. He reached for the items and took them from Mike’s hands, their fingers brushed, sending electricity up his arm. And did Mike just…? Did Mike’s breath just hitch at the contact? Or was Will imagining things? Well, even if Mike’s breath did hitch, it didn’t mean anything, Will told himself, god he needed to get a grip. He needed to stop this desperate hope that welled up in him every time Mike showed the smallest sign of affection. Not that it was a sign of affection. It wasn’t a sign of anything.

“Thanks Mike, that’s really nice of you,” he assured him, “I mean it, I’ll definitely use it, this is really helping!”

“I also have a few books with me if you ever get bored and want something to read,” Mike said.

“Cool.” They shared a smile.

“Cool,” Mike echoed.

From this day on, Mike spent almost every evening in Will’s room when the sun set over the woods. It was something just between the two of them. Most of the time they would sit in comfortable silence as they watched the scene outside, sometimes they would sit on opposite ends of the bed, reading books and sometimes they were engrossed in conversation. Whatever it was, in these hours when the light flooded the room and the warmth prickled on his skin, Will could forget about the horrors outside. The sun washed all the unease out of his body and Mike next to him made his heart swell with fondness. It just felt like… being alive. In the best way possible.

They’ve been staying at the lab for a few weeks now. Will had gotten used to the new place and the strict schedules, the tasteless food and the soldiers around every corner. He had gotten used to the crystal clear air that felt fresh but just different from the air outside. He had gotten used to grey concrete walls and thick glass panes that separated him from the world outside. To the spores and dying trees outside the window and the dark clouds that never left. The heavy winds, though, had subsided. Hawkins was empty, the particles had reached every corner of the town and the storm had no more use to Vecna. Still, Will was concerned that this might mean that Vecna was initiating phase two. Whatever that might be, he just hoped his connection to Vecna would warn him, like last time. Before it was too late.

And it did. Warn him, that was.

It was the middle of the night. Not that Will was aware of that, he was asleep, shreds of warped images like memories whirling through his dreams. It wasn’t actual memories, though, and he couldn’t quite grasp them. If he were awake and conscious, he would probably have called them now-memories. But they seemed far away and blurred. He’s had nightmares like these a lot in the past months.

This one was different.

Because suddenly things started to get… closer. More palpable.

Will found himself in a forest. A jungle, he realized, without knowing how he got there. Looking down at himself, he was wearing US military gear, an assault rifle heavy in his hands. The body he looked down at, wasn’t his own, though. It was broader, older and he didn’t have the control over its movements. Was this Vietnam? Was he in the war? Two other soldiers appeared from the undergrowth and greeted him. He greeted them back with a deep, husky voice that was totally alien to Will. One of his comrades said something but it was blurry as if the memory was too weak. Will replied something but his voice sounded far away and he couldn’t decipher what it was.

The soldier closer to him, patted Will’s shoulder as he walked by him, continuing to make his way into the depths of the jungle. Will and the third soldier followed suit and they sneaked through the bushes, always careful on the lookout until a loud and painful scream a few meters in front of him.

The lines that wear blurry before, became clearer now, the sounds louder and Will knew this was a memory. A horrible one. The soldier that had patted his shoulder earlier had disappeared and his screams echoed through the forest. Will was suddenly overwhelmed by panic What happened? His comrade shouted the other’s name. Williams.

Then they saw it.

Where Williams had walked in front of them, a gaping pit had been dug in the forest floor. A booby trap, Will had read about them. A shudder ran down his spine. The screams didn’t stop, Williams was down there, the scent of blood hung in the air, invading his lungs, urging him to throw up.

When Will dared to go a little closer, he saw that sharp bamboo sticks were jammed into the bottom of the pit, impaling his comrades legs as he tried to get out. Will wanted to look away. Run away. But the body wasn’t his and the memory wasn’t his, he couldn’t avert his gaze, he had to take everything in, the memory now crystal clear and the screams as loud as if he was actually there.

The other soldier brushed past Will, rushing towards the trap, Will’s hand reached for the his arm, trying to get a hold  of him as he told him to stop, to be careful. But his comrade shook him off and hurried closer to the hole in the ground, as suddenly, the ground under his feet opened and swallowed him too, another, higher pitched scream reverberating in Will’s ears. The screams were full of pain and desperation and… his name. Not Will’s name of course, but he knew they were screaming his name. The name that belonged to whoever this memory was from. Davis. They screamed his name and they screamed for help.

The next thing Will knew was he was running. Running away. Leaving his colleagues in the traps, to a slow and painful death, their screams following him. As he ran, the world around him changed, the trees warping into dark vines on cold concrete walls, the burning sun into fluorescent tubes on the ceiling. It didn’t take Will a single second to realize he was in the upside down, running through a hallway, the screams still echoing from the walls.

Will’s perception shifted and suddenly he saw Davis from an outside perspective for the first time. He was still wearing military gear, Will saw him only from behind as he was running, running through the never ending hallways. Familiar hallways. Will knew this hallway, he’s been here before. But different than before, this was his own memory. It was the lab. Well, the upside down version of it. One of the hundreds of hallways with the ugly cold lights and the unfriendly concrete walls.

The soldier in front of him, Davis, was still running, busting through a door at the end of the hallway just to find himself in another hallway, identical to the last one. Davis looked back over his shoulder, Will saw his face for the first time, pure fear written all over it as he looked straight into Will’s eyes. Was he running from Will?

Something in Davis’ face looked familiar, as if Will had seen him before. In the lab. A memory made its way to his consciousness. He had seen him on the first day at the lab. He had given Karen something to drink. He was one of Owen’s men.

Davis turned back and reached the next door at the end of the hallway. It was locked. He threw himself at it with full force but it didn’t break. He looked back at Will who was coming closer with every second, without consciously doing so. Davis took the handle and tugged, propping his leg at the wall next to the door to add extra force, but it didn’t move a single inch. His look darted back to Will and around the hallway, trying to find a way out.

Will saw the moment Davis gave up.

He saw it in the way his jaw set and his the crease on his forehead settled. In the way his eyes closed for a second before opening, the glint of resistance in them had died out. He looked at Will, empty. Surrendered.

“Please,” he choked.

Somewhere far away, Will heard  the faint chiming of a clock as a low grumble started to brew in his stomach, a voice, deep and unearthly broke through his throat and Will’s senses went numb as the words echoed through the hallway.

“Davis.”

Vecna was about to open a gate. In the lab.

Chapter Text

(6250 words ≈ 20 minutes reading time)

Mike was fast asleep.

He dreamt of sunsets and Mordor and three-headed dragons, of wizards and knights and hazel eyes framed by soft caramel hair. He dreamt of soft skin under his fingertips and hushed voices between muffled laughter.

When the laughter subsided and the voices grew louder, the images began to crumble away. No, he didn’t want to let them go, he tried to hold on to the dream, tried to dive back into the warmth and carefreeness. But the unrelenting voice pulled him out, the images fading away into nothingness until only the voice was left in the void. Mike, it said. Mike. Just Mike. Over and over again. And he knew it was his favourite voice.

Mike.

Mike, wake up.

Wait, what?

“Mike!”

“Mike, you have to wake up, please!”

Mike jolted awake when he felt solid hands shake his shoulders. The dreamworld came tumbling down on him, giving way to the sharp contours and cold lights of reality.

Will was standing next to Mike’s bed, hunched over him, hands still lightly shaking his shoulders.

Mike groaned.

“Jesus, I’m awake.”

Will must have switched on the lights in Mike’s room and the intense, bright light bore into Mike’s eyes that were still heavy from sleep. But when his eyes fell on the  alarm on the nightstand, it said 02:13.

Giving his best to shake off the sleepiness, Mike tried to figure out why Will was here. In the middle of the night. Voice drenched in fear, waking him up like the world was about to end. Wait! Oh shit! In a matter of seconds, Mike was wide awake.

“Shit! Will, what happened?”

“Mike you need to get up now!” His voice was urgent, his body was trembling and was that in his hand…?

“Will, why do you have a gun?”

“Vecna,” Will choked, “he’s opening a gate.”

“What?”

“Here in the lab. I saw it.”

“No! No, no, no, no, no!” Mike swore. “Fuck, who did he curse?”

“A soldier, his name is Davis. He is somewhere upstairs, he’s still alive, maybe we can still save him. But we need to go now.”

Will finally let go of Mike’s shoulder, as he hastily got up and they hurried out of the room.

“How exactly are we gonna find him?” Mike asked while following Will through the empty hallway.

“I saw the hallway. I think there was an 8 on the wall next to the staircase. Just follow me!”

“Ok, ok.” Mike didn’t know what exactly Will was talking about, what exactly he saw. And he was pretty sure what they were doing was hella dangerous, they probably shouldn’t go there on their own. But Will seemed pretty sure of himself and Mike would follow him anywhere.

They reached the staircase and Mike almost twisted his ankle or broke his leg or something when he tried to emulate the speed with which Will was chasing up the steps.

“Fuck, Mike!” Will muttered when his friend stumbled, took him by the wrist, and pulled him up the stairs, making it even harder for Mike to navigate his clumsy feet to find the right steps. When they arrived on the 8^th floor, Mike’s lungs were already burning. Maybe he should have followed Lucas’ example and worked out more the past years.

But he didn’t get a break to catch his breath, Will kept pulling him through the hallway. The only sounds were their fast breathing and their hasty steps on the floor.

When Will suddenly stopped in his tracks, Mike bumped into him with full force.

“Ouch! Sorry, wha…?” His voice faltered when he looked over Will’s shoulder and his gaze fell on what had made Will come to a halt.

A few meters down the hallway, there was an intersection. And around the corner on the left, there was a faint but unmistakable flicker in the cold light of the fluorescent tubes.

“Will,” Mike whispered under his breath, still glued to his best friend’s back where he had bumped into him, one of his fists now clenched around the fabric of Will’s pyjama shirt.

But Will didn’t answer, he shook his head and headed for the hallway from where the lights were flickering. Mike didn’t dare to let him go so he trailed right behind him, not loosening his death grip on Will’s back.

He didn’t know what he had expected, but when they slowly turned around the corner, his breath stuttered at the sight: In the middle of the hallway there was a silhouette against the bright lights. A silhouette, floating in the air, head turned to the ceiling, shoulders arched back, arms stretched to the sides.

“He’s still alive,” Will whispered and didn’t hesitate before hurrying towards the spectacle.

Mike stumbled after him and when they reached the man, he shuddered as they got a closer look. A soldier, probably in his late 40s, with shaggy, dark brown hair and a friendly face. As far as Mike could tell at least, because his face was completely plain and empty of emotion, his eyes… Oh god, his eyes!

“Fuck,” Mike muttered. His eyes were rolled back into his skull, wide ajar, blindly staring at the ceiling.

“Okay, and how do we wake him up?” Mike asked nervously, genuinely curious whether Will had any sort of plan. His hand was still clenched around the back of Will’s shirt but he gently pushed him away to reach into the back pocket of his pants. He pulled out a Walkman and shot Mike an unsure look.

“I have no idea whether this is gonna work, we just have to hope he likes the cure, it’s the only chance we got.” Will’s eyes were clouded with worry and his eyes kept flitting back and forth between the headphones and the floating soldier as he fumbled at the Walkman. Finally, Mike heard muffled music from the headphones and Will nervously wiped his sweaty hands on his pants, before speaking up again:

 “We have to get the headphones up there somehow. Fuck, Mike we don’t have time,” he cursed.

“You take the headphones, I give you a leg-up, you’re a lightweight,” Will decided, pushing the Walkman into Mike’s chest and going down on one knee without hesitation. He intertwined his fingers, palms turned upwards for Mike to step on them. As much as Mike would have liked to protest, he knew now was not the time. He gripped Will’s shoulder, put his right foot in Will’s hands and did his best not to fold into himself when Will immediately pushed him up without warning.

“Jesus, Will,” he mumbled, boring his fingers deeper into Will’s shoulder. When he had steadied himself as much as that was possible in his position, he realized he was now face to face with the soldier. He was not sure how exactly Will expected him to put the headphones on his head with only one free hand, the other one still gripping onto Will’s shoulder, the only reason why he was still standing.

He fumbled with the headphones and tried his best to avoid looking at the soldier’s eyes that looked even more horrifying from up close, while he attempting to fit the headphones over his ears. Will beneath him was trembling under Mike’s weight but he admitted to himself that he wouldn’t have lasted two seconds giving a leg-up to Will.

The faint sound of the music sounded through the quiet hallway. A song Mike didn’t know. Will’s favourite song? Mike didn’t know Will’s favourite song? Not the time!

He almost wanted to sigh in relief when he finally managed to fit the headphones on the head so that at least one ear was properly covered, but he choked on his breath immediately. The second he was done, he heard a loud cracking sound right next to him. He startled and lost his balance, him and Will toppling to the ground. He landed on top of Will, his breath was squished out of his lungs.

Oh god, did he hurt Will? But when he looked down at Will’s face to make sure he was okay, Will’s eyes were filled with terror, fixed on the man behind Mike. Another crack sounded from behind him and Mike slowly turned his head. His heart dropped to his gut as he saw what had caused the sound. Technically, they had known what Vecna’s curse did but seeing it was something entirely different.

“It’s not working,” Will breathed, panic seeping into his voice.

The soldier’s arms were broken, twisted in unnatural angles and Mike watched as one of the legs followed suit, bending in an impossible direction until it snapped. Mike’s stomach churned and he wanted to look away, run away. But he was frozen in place, he couldn’t tear his eyes off. Everything  happened in a matter of seconds, the man’s limbs snapped one after the other and then…

He would see this image every time he closed his eyes from this day on, Mike thought. The way the eyeballs popped, leaving only red craters, Mike felt the splatter of warm blood on his cheek. He tasted the sourness of vomit making its way up his throat and he finally, finally closed his eyes.

But before he could let himself be embraced by the darkness, he felt strong arms under his shoulders, pulling him backward. Mike opened his eyes again, right in time to see the dead body fall to the ground, right where Mike had been laying a few seconds ago. The sound of the limp flesh hitting the floor made Mike’s insides clench even more.

“Oh my god. Oh my god, Will. Oh my…”

His voice trailed off, he let his head fall back on Will’s shoulder who’s arms were still wrapped around Mike’s chest.

“Mike!” Will’s voice sounded alarmed, “Mike you have to get up. We failed, he’s going to open a gate.”

Mike didn’t need to be told twice. He let Will pull him too his feet, dizziness immediately making his head swim.

Will let go of him and Mike almost toppled over again, but he caught himself, eyes following Will who was now kneeling next to the dead body.

“Will, what are you doing?”

He didn’t answer, instead he rolled the man over on his back. Mike averted his eyes immediately but the red holes where his eyes used to be still found their way into his peripheral vision.

Suddenly, a tremor shook the ground beneath them and the floor around the dead soldier seemed to crumble.

“Will! What are you doing, get away from there!!!”

The brunette boy was back on his feet, holding the soldier’s rifle in his shaking hands as he made his way back to Mike. So that’s what he’s been up to. “Here, take my gun,” Will said and handed Mike said item, “I’ll take the rifle,” he added. You wouldn’t know how to handle it, he didn’t need to say.

“We need to get out of here and get help!” Mike said, voice shaking.

“Obviously, let’s go,” Will replied and grabbed Mike’s wrist again, pulling him away from where the cracks started splitting the floor from where Davis was lying.

“Are we just gonna leave him there?” Mike asked.

“Do you wanna die?”

Mike huffed but let himself be pulled through the hallway in the opposite direction from where they had come from, that way now blocked by a dead body and a rapidly forming gate.

They turned around the corner at the end of the hallway and Mike’s blood froze in his veins. A dead end. No other hallways. No staircase. No way out.

“Will?” Mike whispered as they stood there, gaping at the concrete wall as if a staircase would magically appear if they only looked hard enough.

“We have to get back, we need to reach the staircase!” Will decided and they turned on their heels to head back.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Will cursed. They had reached the prior hallway again but the small cracks from earlier had turned into a gaping crevice that spread over the whole breadth of the hallway. The flickering lamps were now off and the corridor was only illuminated by an ominous red glow seeping out of the gate. Vines had started creeping out of the hole, covering the walls and the floor around it.

Their only way to the staircase.

“Do you think we can jump over it?” Mike asked nervously.

Will narrowed his eyes, seemingly weighing the opportunity. Then shook his head.

“Too risky. We’d probably hit the vines and they’d pull us right through.”

“Okay so what do we do?” Mike was still panicking but now the adrenaline was doing its job to let him keep his senses and not collapse right on the spot.

“Will, what do we do?” he urged.

“I don’t know, let me think!!” Will exclaimed. He was running his hands over his face, his glance nervously darting from the gate to the hallway that led to the staircase and to the one that led to the dead end.

A deep growl sounded from the gate and Mike squealed, his eyes locking with Will’s, panic written all over both their faces. The growl grew louder and a shadow distorted the red glow from the crevice.

“Hide,” Will whispered and before Mike could collect his thoughts, he was pulled by his wrist again, back around the corner leading to the dead end. Okay, hide. They needed a good room to hide in. They hurried to the first door only to find it locked. Will muttered curses under his breath as they tried to open the next door. It didn’t open either. A squelching sound from around the corner caught their attention, something stirring in the gate and whatever it was, they needed to hide from it. Now!

But the third door was locked too. And so was the fourth. A bloodcurdling growl reverberated through the hallways and the sounds of inhuman steps, flesh squelching on the concrete floor, were coming closer.

“Mike! Open a door. I don’t care how, just OPEN! A! DOOR!” Will shouted while positioning himself with the rifle, aiming at the corner, ready to shoot everything that would come around. The squelching steps were now joined by another pair.

The last two doors were also locked – was what Mike figured out before the first Demodog plunged around the corner. Will immediately pulled the trigger, hitting it once, twice, until it toppled to the ground. The gunshots still ringing in Mike’s ears, he caught Will’s urgent look over his shoulder. Mike took a deep breath before throwing himself against the door with full force. A searing pain shot through his shoulder but the door didn’t move. He heard another growl, another shot, another dead body hitting the ground.

But Mike only heard more and more steps, more sniffing and gnarling noises. There were more creatures coming with every second and Will couldn’t hold them back forever. Hopefully someone downstairs had heard the gunshots. Their only hope was to hide until the military was there to help them. Yeah, well… hide. If Mike could manage to open the fucking door. 

An image flashed through his mind. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. Shooting a lock open with a gun. The movie had come out last fall and Mike had watched it at least 6 times. Lucas had mocked him saying he had crush on Linda Hamilton. He had just played along, because why would anyone not have a crush on Linda Hamilton, right? Everyone did.

His eyes fell on Will’s gun heavy in his hand. Was that really possible? Shooting a locked door open? People in movies did it all the time, right? It couldn’t be that difficult. He deactivated the safety of the gun and pointed at the lock. Not sure how close he had to be for it to work without hurting himself.

He didn’t have time to think about what he was doing so he just prepared himself for the impact of the shot and pulled the trigger. The pushback reverberated through his whole body and the bullet hitting the metal made an awful sound. The door still didn’t let itself be pushed open but Mike swore it seemed a bit more loose than before. So he repeated the shot and almost started crying in relief when the door finally swung open.

“Will!” he shouted, turning back to the other boy, who was immediately by his side and slammed the door shut behind them, pressing his whole body weight against the door to keep it shut.

Mike’s hand roamed the wall next to the door until he found the light switch and illuminated the room in a cold light. They were in a small office with two desks and PCs, and a filing shelf filled with files and folder covering the wall across from them. Mike had hoped to find a bigger room behind that door, there wasn’t much space to hide and if something got in here, they wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.

They needed to block the door. Will might be strong enough to push it closed against one or max two Demogorgons, but there were more coming, Mike heard their animalistic snarling and chittering in the hallway. They knew they were in here. It was only a matter of time until they came busting in.

Mike’s gaze fell on one of the desks that was closest to the door. It wasn’t massive. Which meant they could probably push it in front of the door. But it also meant that it would be easy to push away from outside. Still, Mike didn’t hesitate and propped his back against the desk, using all his body weight (which was, according to Will, not much because apparently he was a light-weight) to push it towards the door. A loud thump against the door urged Mike to look over his shoulder.

Will was still bracing himself against the door, eyes pressed shut, shaking all over as the first Demodog pounded against it from the other side. He had awkwardly twisted his right arm to pull the door handle up so that it couldn’t be pushed down from outside.

Wait… The door handle! It was still intact despite Mike rigorously blasting the whole lock. The handle still worked and kept the bolt closed as long as it was pushed up. That meant they could put something under the handle to make it harder to break through. Once again, Mike had to trust the knowledge he had gained from years of watching horror and action movies.

“Will,” Mike said when the desk was almost in front of the door, urging Will to open his eyes.

“Will, when I say now, you leave from the door and I push the desk in front of it. Then I need you to push the desk against the door until I got something to put under the handle all right?”

Will seemed a bit muzzy and Mike wasn’t sure if he was following but then he nodded and swallowed hard.

“Ready?” Mike whispered. Will nodded again.

“Now!”

Will lurched away from the door and Mike used all his strength to push the desk in front of it in one quick thrust. Relief washing over him when it resisted another thump from outside. But he didn’t relish in the success, instead he scanned the room for something to block the handle, since the table was not high enough.

“The files!” Will panted.

Right! The files in the cabinet were perfect, they could stack as many as they needed to have the perfect height under the handle. Mike hurried to the cabinet and pulled out a stack of folders. They were heavier than he expected and he almost tumbled from the unexpected weight but he caught himself and heaved them on the desk.

It was working. The stack of files prevented the lever from being pushed down and thus the handle’s bolt stayed in place to keep the door from opening. The door was metal so it wouldn’t give in, but Mike knew, the Demodogs would eventually be able to break the bolt. But it would buy them time. Time for the military to intervene. It was the only hope they had.

Will behind him had picked up the rifle he had dropped to the floor earlier. Mike pulled out Will’s gun too, not sure whether he could do anything useful with it except shooting locks open.

“Mike, you should maybe get behind me,” Will said, voice still shaking but confident.

“No way!” He didn’t want Will to put himself in danger to protect Mike.

Will rolled his eyes. “If these beasts break in here, I have to shoot them and when you’re in the way, I’m scared I might hit you. At least get next to me.”

Mike scowled and gave in. Will had his rifle raised, pointing at the door, ready to pull the trigger any second. The pounding on the metal increased and the door trembled under the impact.

“They’re gonna break through,” Will quavered, “it’s only a matter of time.”

“I know.”

“We won’t be able to stop all of them, there are so many now.” Mike saw that the barrel of Will’s rifle kept shaking. “Mike, what if they come in?”

The truth was, Mike didn’t know. He wanted to tell Will they were going to be alright, but he didn’t really believe it himself. Instead, he just put his hand on Will’s back. Feeling the trembling of his body. Feeling his warmth. The fast but steady beating of his heart against his ribcage.

“I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me,” he whined and tears started streaming down his cheeks.

Mike’s heart sank into his stomach. “Will, don’t! I’m glad we’re here together.”

The sounds of meaty bodies slapping against the door and the sound of metal against metal, the door rattling in its hinges drove Mike insane. He felt the brunette tensing up too, Will drew in panicky breaths that got quicker and more shallow with every passing second and sobs sent tremors through his body. Mike moved his hand on Will’s back and began gently rubbing it up and down. Will couldn’t break down. Not now.

“Will, you have to breathe, okay?” Will nodded but his breath only further quickened, the tears on his cheeks mingled with splatters of Demodog blood. 

“We’re gonna make it, Will!” Mike tried his best to hide his own panic. “Feel that?” he asked, continuing to rub soothing patterns on Will’s back, hoping it would ground him. He had helped Will through more than one panic attack, he knew how to calm him down “I’m here, Will. We’re gonna make it. Just breathe with me, okay?” He took a deep breath while moving his hand up between Will’s shoulder blades, keeping it there until he breathed out again and let his hand trail back to the small of his back. Repeating the motion until Will’s breathing matched Mike’s and the stroke of his hand. Will was slowly calming down and his grip around the rifle was tightening again.

It drove Mike insane knowing that he couldn’t protect Will. He couldn’t lose him. Not again. But there was nothing he could to, there never had been. Nothing hurt him more than seeing Will scared to death like this, drenched in sweat, blood and tears. Will who was so sweet and tender, always kind and gentle. Sometimes snarky but always a good friend. Always putting everyone else’s needs over his own. Will who was always insecure and anxious because he couldn’t see himself the way Mike did, see how incredible and brave he was. Will who wouldn’t harm a fly but has shot at least five Demodogs today in order to protect them. Who looked so calm and beautiful in the orange glow of the sunset that Mike could never tear his eyes off him. Will who…

That was when somewhere outside the first gunshot went off. But It sounded at least three corridors away, the Demodogs must have spread all over the 8^th floor. A second shot rang out. And another one. The military was here.

“The eagles are coming,” Will said and Mike almost choked on his own spit.

“Will!? We’re almost dying and you make a lord of the rings reference??? I can’t believe you!”

“You have to admit, it was a perfect reference, though,” Will protested, “Everything is going to shit, then the eagles are coming and everyone acts like they couldn’t have come earlier. They save the day but only when it’s too late anyways. Not to mention the fact that they could have helped to bring the ring…”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it”, Mike exclaimed, “I’ve been living under one roof with an eagle sceptic all this time. There is a reason why the eagles…”

His voice faltered when a loud thump crashed against the metal, followed by an ugly screeching sound as the door burst open, bumping into the desk with full force. They broke the bolt. Now, the only thing between the Demodogs and the two boys was the desk.

Mike reluctantly let go of Will’s back and raised his gun. Claws peeked out of the door gap that widened with every thrust against the door, each pushing the desk a few inches away.

To Mike’s surprise, Will now whispered: “We’re gonna make it,” and that was when the first Demodog squeezed through the door gap, immediately charging at them.

Mike squealed but stood his ground, trying to aim at the swiftly moving monster, but Will was faster. Of course he was. One bullet pierced its shoulder, the second one hit right into its gaping mouth, the Demodog collapsed onto the ground, a last screeching noise leaving its throat as it lay twitching on the grey carpet that now turned dark red around the body. Mike’s ears were ringing from the gunshots but he tightened his sweaty fingers around the gun and gritted his teeth together, focusing on the door.

The next Demodog struggled a second too long to get around the desk and this time Mike was ready. His bullet dug into its side and another shot from Will right into the chest finished it off. Mike hoped that the soldiers were hearing their gunshots and would come for them as soon as possible.

So far, everything was working just fine. They still had the advantage that the door was only a crack open preventing a whole hoard of Demodogs from storming in at the same time.

And if Mike wasn’t mistaken, the sounds outside had subsided a bit. It sounded like there weren’t more than 5 Demodogs in their hallway anymore. The appearance of the military must have lured the others away.

He had gained new hope. They could make it.

But now something was pushing at the door. For a second Mike considered pushing the desk back against it but he doubted he could be stronger, plus: he would be in Will’s range and he’d need both his hands so he’d have to give up his gun. So they had to wait for the door to be pushed open. They were prepared, they could make it!

They couldn’t make it.

Everything happened so fast.

Three Demodogs burst into the room at the same time. Mike and Will were standing at the back of the room, but the office wasn’t big so there were only a few meters separating them from the three beasts. Will immediately took out one of them, but Mike couldn’t look over to him because one of the Demodogs was now hurling itself onto him. He pulled the trigger, the bullet pierced through its neck and elicited an ugly gargle in its throat, causing dark Demodog blood to spill out, spraying onto Mike’s face.

He may have killed the creature but he couldn’t stop the impact with which it had jumped at him, so the slimy body toppled onto him, knocking Mike into the filing shelf. His head hit something hard and a searing pain shot through his whole body. His ears were ringing and his vision blurred.

Then he heard a scream next to him and his senses were knocked back into him in an instant. Will! Mike craned his neck to see what had caused him to scream and when his eyes found Will, time stopped.

Will was lying on the ground, a Demodog hunched over him, its claws digging into Will’s sides. He was still screaming in pain and bright red blood seeped through his shirt where the claws pressed him against the floor.

Mike was still halfway lying on the floor, his back pressed into the shelf. The Demodog that had toppled onto him was now lying square over his lap.

His body was working faster than his mind, he kicked the creature off of himself and was on his feet in a second, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. The Demodog that was hunched over Will had now opened its flower-shaped mouth to let out a high pitched chittering, exposing rows after rows of razor sharp teeth. Will’s screams had turned into desperate whimpers and the only thought that Mike’s brain was able to form was Protect Will.

Mike raised his gun, not realizing his hands were slick with oily Demodog blood. Protect Will. He pulled the trigger, felt the shot vibrate through his whole body. The bullet hit the side of the creature’s head, smothering the chittering noise in its throat. The impact of the shot made it topple over to the side, landing with its back on the carpet. Protect Will. He shot again and hit its shoulder. And again in its chest. And again in its stomach. And again. And again. Protect Will. And again, even though it was long dead.

“Mike.” Will’s voice was thin as paper.

He fell on his knees next to the injured boy, the gun slipping out of his hand. His eyes roamed Will’s body to evaluate the damage.

Where the monster had dug its claws into Will, the sides of his pyjama had turned a bright red, standing out from the almost black Demogorgon-blood stains. More and more blood was spilling out. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Protect Will. Mike’s head was spinning, he wiped his hands on his pants to get rid of the dark red blood.

“Mike, is it bad?” Will asked, pain etched on his face.

Mike took the hem of Will’s shirt and asked: “Can I..?”

Will nodded, pressing his eyes shut. Mike pushed the blood drenched fabric up to Will’s chest, revealing two wounds, one on each side just above Will’s hip. The one on the left looked moderate but the right one made Mike’s heart skip a beat. It was deeper and leaking fresh blood over Will’s waist. He needed to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. He covered his hand with his sleeve (because he was afraid the Demodog blood rests might cause an infection or something) and pressed it against the open wound. Will hissed at the pressure and squirmed under Mike’s touch but he used the other hand to keep him in place.

“Will, don’t move.”

“Is it- Is it bad?” he whined.

“No, it’s gonna be fine, Will.” But as he said it, Mike felt hot tears streaming down his face, “We’re gonna make it, remember?”

Will nodded and opened his eyes again. “Mike…” he choked, “Mike, are you okay?”

Mike couldn’t stifle a sob. Will was so kind and selfless, Mike felt like his heart had to explode “Yeah, I’m okay,” he replied.

Will’s lip curled into a small smile. “G-good.”

Mike felt something warm against his hand. When he looked down, he saw that Will had lifted his arm to cover Mike’s hand that was still pressing on the wound with his. “Mike, d-don’t cry. We’re gonna m-make it, remember?”

Will’s other hand came up to cup Mike’s cheek, he gently swiped his thumb over Mike’s cheekbone, wiping away his tears. Mike leaned into the touch and Will let his hand linger on his cheek.

The gunshots outside became louder, occasional screams and animalistic screeches sounded through the hallways. They were getting closer. They would find them and they would help Will.

“See, I was right about the… about the eagles,” Will said and smiled, “they only come when it’s too late anyway.”

“No, Will it’s not- It’s not too late. Don’t say that!” Will’s hand had dropped from Mike’s face back to his side and Mike realized that his breaths became shallower. Protect Will. Even though the pressure on the wound did help, he still felt Will’s hot blood soaking into his sleeve. He was still losing too much.

He turned his head around towards the  door. “HELP!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, “SOMEONE HELP US!!” he started sobbing again. There was nothing he could do to help Will. He could just wait and hope. Hope that someone else saved him. Just like always. He had never been able to protect Will or anyone for that matter, he could always just sit by, totally useless and wait for the worst to happen.

When a tall shadow appeared in the hallway in front of the door, a wave of relief washed over Mike. But it turned into cold sweat when a clawed hand gripped the doorframe.

No.

A full grown Demogorgon with the size of a bear appeared in the frame and snarled at the sight of the two boys on the ground.

Mike tried to position himself in front of Will to shield him without releasing his hand from his bleeding side. With his free hand, he picked up the gun from the blood-soaked carpet and fired a shot at the Demogorgon. It hit its shoulder but the creature didn’t seem to bother. It wasn’t even in a hurry, it took slow steps on its hind limbs (in contrast to the smaller Demodogs that walked on all fours.) almost looking human.

Mike released another shot, this time hitting its stomach. But it didn’t even flinch. Was this how they were going to die? Torn into shreds by a Demogorgon on a filthy office floor?

The third shot only pierced the creature’s arm. But suddenly, it stopped in its tracks, screeching in pain. There was no way Mike’s had caused this with his poor aim. The Demogorgon started to tremble, its whole body shaking as it fell on its knees. It let out a deep growl until black oily blood started spilling out of its mouth. What the hell? It twitched, the petals of its flower-shaped mouth snapping at nothing, gasping for air.

And then, with an awful squelching sound of flesh being torn apart, the Demogorgon was ripped in half like a piece of paper. Both halves of the body collapsed on the ground with a dull thud, the arms and legs still twitching. Mike’s eyes widened in shock and he lifted his gaze at the person standing in the door frame.

El.

Of course, who else was able to just rip a Demogorgon in half? Tears welled up in Mike’s eyes once again, but this time it was pure relief.

“Mike, what the hell are you doing here?”

“El, holy shit, thank god you’re here! You saved our asses!”

As she wiped away the blood that trickled from her nostril, El scrunched her brows together as if confused. Our asses? Then, her gaze fell on Will who was still shielded from her view by Mike’s body.

“Mike, is that…?” her voice faltered, realization dawning on her face, quickly replaced by worry.

“El, you have to get help? He’s hurt. He’s… bleeding. A lot. We need help!”

El nodded, “I closed the gate, I will go back and get someone.” And then she was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

Mike felt Will’s hand slip off of his own and his full attention was immediately back on his best friend. His eyelids were fluttering, his breaths even shallower than before. His head had rolled to the side as if it was too heavy for him to look up at Mike.

“Will, you have to stay awake for me, okay?” Mike urged, “Will, do you hear me? Help is coming. Just stay with me, okay? Stay with me!”

Will winced and reluctantly opened his eyes, “M-Mike, I’m not gonna m-make it, am I? You said we were gonna make it. But I’m not g-g-gonna…”

Mike repositioned himself so that he was properly facing Will again, slightly hunching over to meet his eyes.

“You’re gonna make it!”

With his free hand, he reached for a strand of Will’s hair and tucked it behind his ear. His hand lingered on Will’s cheek for a moment. It was cold. He let it trail down to cradle his neck instead, his thumb resting on Will’s carotid. There, he felt Will’s heartbeat, weak but steady, reminding him that he was alive. Will lifted his hand as if he wanted to grab Mike’s again but he was too weak and it fell to the floor again.

“Hey, don’t move. Just stay with me, that’s all you gotta do, okay?”

Will nodded slightly, not breaking their eye contact.

Mike leaned down and rested his forehead against Will’s.

“Crazy together, remember?” he whispered. Will wouldn’t die. He couldn’t. His life was nothing without him. Mike was nothing without him.

The crinkles around Will’s eyes told Mike that he was smiling,

“Crazy together.”

And then, after a few seconds: “Mike, I need to tell you something.”

Will said it as if he knew it was the last thing he would say.

“No, you’re not telling me anything, Will,” he refused. Will wasn’t going to die. Not possible.

“But it’s… important,” Will whispered into their shared space.

Mike closed his eyes and slightly shook his head, making his forehead rub against Will’s.

“You’re gonna make it and whatever it is you need to tell me, you can tell me then.”

Will didn’t protest. They stayed like this until Mike heard hasty steps and muffled voices in the hallway. Mike realized Will’s eyes had fallen shut. He looked up and pressed a quick and probably really gross kiss to Will’s blood-sprayed forehead. He was gonna make it.

When El returned at the door with a bunch of soldiers and paramedics, Will’s eyes were still closed but Mike swore he heard him mutter something like ‘eagles’ under his breath.

Only when the paramedics took over and Mike lost his hold on Will, he finally gave in to the to the dizzy feeling in the back of his head. He let the world around him blur in front of his eyes until he didn’t remember where up and down was.

The last thing he felt before the darkness embraced him was the scratchy carpet against his cheek.

Chapter Text

(9000 words ≈ 30-40 minutes reading time)

Mike came back to his senses when a bright light flashed over his closed eyes, momentarily making his vision glow bright red through his eyelids. Muffled voices and a strong grip on his shoulder slowly brought him back to reality. He blinked his eyes open just to immediately shut them again when the bright light pierced into his eyes again.

“I need you to open your eyes, boy,” a deep female voice said and Mike obliged, forcing his eyes open. The light blinded him and made his head hurt but after a few seconds the brightness subsided and Mike’s eyes slowly adjusted, the sharp edges of his surroundings coming back to him. He was still in the office room, his back now propped against a wall. A friendly-looking woman was kneeling in front of him and tucked away a small flashlight. Then, she raised her hand into Mike’s vision, her index finger stretched out towards the ceiling.

“Can you follow my finger with your eyes?” she asked as she started moving her hand from left to right. He couldn’t answer but he let his eyes trail after the finger and the woman nodded, content.

“You’ve been gone for a few minutes,” she explained, “either because of the shock or you suffered a concussion.” She tilted her head, examining him, “Did you hit your head somewhere?”

Did he hit his head? Yeah, the shelf. He hit his head on the shelf. He nodded, the movement sending a piercing pain through his head like a confirmation.

The memories were slowly coming back. He had bumped into the shelf because of the Demodog. He killed the Demodog but it still shoved him into the shelf. And then, Will…

“Will…” he got out, his eyes roaming over the floor, finding the big red stain on the carpet right next to him. “Where’s Will?”

“My colleagues are looking after your friend. He lost a lot of blood, but he will be fine soon. They know what they’re doing.”

He will be fine soon. Mike could cry in relief. Will was alive. And he was gonna be fine.

“Is he alright?” the voice of a girl sounded from the door. El was standing in the door frame, her bright blue pyjama drenched in black Demogorgon blood.

The woman in front of Mike turned to her and smiled. “He’s fine. He probably has a concussion, but its not severe.” El scrunched her brows as if  trying to wrap her head around what a ‘con-cushion’ might be but she looked relieved.

“Can you get up?” the woman asked him and offered Mike a hand. He gladly took it and let himself be pulled to his feet. He felt a bit dizzy but he could deal with it. El appeared by his side and wrapped an arm around his back to keep him steady.

“Let’s go downstairs,” she said, then she scrunched her nose, “You should take a shower, you look terrible!”

Mike huffed, “You’ve also looked better.”

Someone had pushed the dead creatures and the desk aside so that the doorway was free. On their way out, the friendly woman introduced herself as Doctor Garcia and helped El to support his weight. The hallways looked like straight out of a horror movie: dead monsters scattered on the ground, the concrete walls sprayed with their blood and big black scorches like from… flamethrowers? A mouldy scent of death and decay wafted into Mike’s nose mixing with the smell of burned flesh. His bare feet made nasty sounds on the sticky blood on the floor. Without the adrenaline kick from earlier, it was a lot harder to ignore how gross and fucked up this was. Mike felt sick.

Where the gaping crevice of a gate to the upside down had been only a few minutes ago, a dark crack in the tiles on the floor was the only reminder of it. Mike shot El a proud smile. She had said she closed the gate, she truly was incredible. She just rolled her eyes in response.

They brought Mike to one of the bathrooms and El got him a towel and a set of his clothes. When the door fell shut behind him, he leaned against it for a moment, closing his eyes, recalling everything that had happened. He’d been asleep, Will woke him up, they went to the soldier. Davis? He died and the gate opened, they hid in the office, they were attacked, Will started to scream. Mike’s heartbeat quickened at the memory of Will’s screams. He already knew that they would follow him into his nightmares. The feeling of Will’s ripped open skin, the hot blood pooling around Mike’s hand, Will’s whimpers.

Mike forced his eyes open again and pushed himself off the door. Will was alive. Will was okay.

He stepped in front of the mirror and flinched at the face that looked back at him. El was right, he really did look terrible. His usually ivory pale skin was almost entirely covered in sticky, brownish Demodog-gore. Only where his tears had streamed down his face and washed away the blood, two shiny lines of pale skin ran from his bloodshot eyes down to his chin.

When he stared down at his hands, he found them covered in bright-red blood, almost dried but still sticky, the fabric of his sleeves stiff where the blood had soaked in and was now starting to dry.

He couldn’t bare the sight of Will’s blood on his hands any longer so he quickly turned away from the mirror, stripped out of his sticky clothes and got into the shower.

He let the cold water rinse his body and watched as the water around his feet turned copper. The blood on his skin was persistent, he scrubbed at the stains with soap and a nail brush until his skin started prickling but he didn’t miss the faint red shadows that remained.

He stayed under the cold water until he felt like a human being again. In his fresh clothes, surrounded by a cloud of soapy air, he left the bathroom.

Doctor Garcia and El were waiting outside, engrossed in a conversation when he stepped into the hallway.

El waved at him, she was also freshly showered and dressed now, a faint smile on her lips.

“Let’s go downstairs, everyone is waiting.”

It was still the middle of the night, but apparently, everyone had been alarmed and was now waiting for him. Ugh, Mike really didn’t look forward to meeting all the worried faces.

“I need to see Will first,” he decided.

El shook her head but offered him a warm smile, “they are stitching him up right now, you can’t go to see him yet.”

“He is going to be okay,” she added.

He returned the smile and took a step forward to wrap her into a tight hug.

“Thank you for saving us,” he whispered.

“Thank you for saving Will,” she whispered back.

Did he, though? Save Will?

“I don’t know what happened, but if you hadn’t been there, he would be dead. That’s what Doctor Garcia said.” El mumbled into his shoulder.

Mike squeezed her one more time before letting go.

“He saved me too,” he said and chuckled, “more than once.”

“Why do we all keep saving each other?” She smiled.

“I wish we didn’t have to,” he replied.

“Let’s go down. We all want to know what happened.”

Mike groaned. All he wanted to do was sleep. No, scratch that; All he wanted to do was see Will, make sure he was alright and then sleep. The thought of going through all the happenings again while looking into the shocked faces of his friends made his insides clench in unease.

But he sighed and nodded.

“Okay, let’s go.”

They were sitting in the big conference room until the sun started to rise. Mike had to tell the story over and over again, answering questions until everyone had heard enough.

They were all here: El, Dustin, Lucas, Erica, Steve, Jonathan, Robin, Vickie, Hopper, Joyce and Karen. (Everyone except for Will of course.) Mike’s mother hadn’t let go of his arm ever since he got here, as if she was scared to let him go after what happened, or reminding herself that he was okay.

Some tears were shed, some oh-my-gods were shared and Mike received more hugs than he probably had in his entire life.

Joyce had been crying when he’d told them what happened to Will, but between sobs, she didn’t stop thanking Mike for saving her son. Mike replied with a comforting smile, still not actually believing that he deserved any credit for Will’s wellbeing.

Around 6 am, Doctor Owens and Doctor Garcia showed up and announced that Will’s wounds had been taken care of. He was on painkillers and sedatives and would not wake up for the next 24 hours so that his body could recover.

Mike’s request to go see him was strictly declined by Owens. He complained that Mike even was still up, saying he had a concussion and needed to sleep too. When Mike protested, he was promised he could go see Will right after lunch if he went to bed right now. Lunch was at 12, so Mike would sleep 6 hours and not one second more if that meant he could see Will.

His sleep was restless and he ended up waking up at 10 after not more than one hour of sleep.

He considered reading one of the books he brought, but discarded the idea immediately. No way he could focus right now, he was way too restless. So he got up and trotted down the hall, descended the stairs and headed for room 508. Room 508 had once been a break room for the employees and had been repurposed into some kind of common room for the group. Mike was glad when he didn’t stumble upon Owens on the way, afraid he might send him back to bed.

To his surprise, he found Nancy in there, all on her own, she sat cross-legged on the ugly red couch, sipping on a cup of tea.

When she saw him, she offered him a tired but warm smile.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to sleep?” she asked, but her tone was far from accusing.

“Probably,” he replied, gesturing towards his head,  “concussion and everything.”

He flopped onto the couch next to her and hissed at the pain that shot through his head at the jerky movement.

“Hey, easy,” Nancy chuckled. She nodded towards her cup, “you want some?”

“What flavour?” he asked.

“They only have peppermint,” she replied apologetically.

He grimaced. He didn’t like tea, especially not peppermint, but his throat felt sore and his fingers were cold. So he still nodded, this time careful not to move his head too fast. His sister got up and poured him some tea into a big green mug. When she handed it to him, he carefully placed it on his knee, wrapping his hands around it. He thanked her and she gave him a small smile in response.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, occasionally taking sips of their tea. It was admittedly a bit awkward. Mike didn’t talk to his sister often and when he did, it was always a bit stilted and shallow. He wasn’t proud of it, he knew he wasn’t being the best brother you could have, him and Nancy had simply grown apart and he didn’t feel like he knew her anymore.

But just like with Holly, he wanted to change that with Nancy, too. The only problem was that he barely knew her and he couldn’t just play dolls or help with her homework to fix things with her.

“I was really worried about you, you know?” she broke the silence, staring into her mug, “Mom was too.”

Mike nodded, “Of course she was.”

Nancy replied with a sad smile: “They woke us up, ordered all of us to the conference room. Except for El, they took her with them. We heard the shots so we knew something was up.”

She took a sip. “And then Owens came and told us you and Will weren’t on your rooms. Mom was immediately freaking out, you know how she is. Jonathan and Joyce were, too. They were ready to run up there and fight whatever they would find with their bare fists.”

Mike just listened, he knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything, she needed to let it out.

“I was, too. I said I can shoot, I begged them to let me go up there, but they wouldn’t let me help. They asked us to stay right there, told us they had everything under control. Not even Hopper was allowed to go.”

She turned to look at him, “It sucked that I couldn’t help you. It sucked to just sit there and wait. It sucked not to know what was going on up there. Not to know whether you were scared or injured or dead.”

He couldn’t help but smile. They were not so different, Nancy and him. He knew that feeling all too well.

“I often feel like that, too,” he said, because he somehow wanted her to know.

“When Will was hurt, there was nothing I could do but sit there and wait for help. I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life. I thought he would die right there in my arms because I couldn’t save him.”

Nancy scooted closer to him, nudging him with her elbow.

“But you did.” She offered him an encouraging smile, “save him, that is. Even though you don’t believe it. You saved each other. And I’m so, so glad you too have each other.”

Her tone shifted into something slightly different but it was gone as quick as it appeared. Mike couldn’t tell what it was.

“Yeah,” he replied, “me too.”

She looked over at him, scrutinizing his expression as if she was looking for something. When he raised a brow, a silent question, she just averted her eyes, returning them to her mug again as if the tea inside looked super interesting.

Mike wanted to ask about it, but suddenly the door opened and Lucas, Dustin and Steve came in, engrossed in a conversation.

When Dustin’s eyes fell on Mike, his face lit up.

“Hey, man! How are you holding up?”

“I’m good,” Mike replied, “a little headache, but it’s fine.”

“All this shit’s crazy,” Lucas said, settling onto the couch next to Mike, friendly bumping his fist into his shoulder. “Nice to see you, man!”

“Have you seen Will yet?” Dustin asked.

“After lunch,” he replied with a grunt, “Wait, have you??”

Lucas shook his head, “We’re not allowed before he wakes up.” Mike had to bite back a smug grin. He was allowed to see Will before them.

Dustin scrunched his brows together, eyeing Mike with worry in his eyes. “Did you even sleep? You look like a corpse.”

“Hey, that’s so not nice,” Steve interjected, giving Dustin a disappointed look that Mike only knew from his mother, but Dustin just shrugged it off.

Mike ignored the comment and sighed, “Not much.”

“Nightmares?” Lucas asked.

“Didn’t even get that far,” Mike replied.

Dustin and Lucas nodded knowingly. They could relate. They had been there when Eddie and Max died. They weren’t as lucky as Mike, though. Well, Max was alive but barely so. And Eddie… Mike tried hard not to think about it, distracting himself from the tears that started to sting behind his eyes like every time he had to think about Eddie’s death. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Steve asked from across the room and Mike had restraint himself not to shoot Steve a weird look. He had barely ever had a conversation with Steve and he didn’t know what to think of him. He knew Dustin was really close to him and that was the only reason why he tolerated Steve at all. He was Nancy’s ex after all (even though they seemed to get along just fine) and if you asked Mike, Steve was kind of an idiot.

And besides that, Mike really didn’t want to talk about it.

Instead, he turned towards Dustin and Lucas and asked: “What do you guys think abut the eagles in Lord of the rings?”

“My entire life I’ve been waiting for this question!” Dustin cheered, “I have a lot of thoughts!”

Lucas groaned, shooting Mike an eye-roll for that question, “Of course you have…”

Even though Mike had initiated the conversation, he zoned out most of the time during Dustin’s detailed monologue about how the eagles don’t want to interfere in the fate of the world or whatever, Mike was rather fixated on his watch, because lunch was coming closer and closer and so was seeing Will.

When it was 11:45, Mike decided it was late enough. “I’m starving, let’s go to lunch!” he proposed before enthusiastically jumping to his feet.

Bad idea.

A seething pain shot from his head down through his spine and his vision momentarily turned black. He had almost folded in half, if Lucas hadn’t steadied him, one arm under Mike’s shoulders.

He groaned and reached for his head.

“You really got a big thump on the head, huh?” Lucas said, his grin evident in his voice.

“Heey, not funny,” Steve complained.

“You know, Mike, sometimes a thump on the head isn’t a bad thing,” Dustin remarked, “Right, Steve?”

The older boy nodded, a bit embarrassed, “Y’know Mike, when I was a kid, I was only ever crawling backwards. Then I got a thump on my head and I finally started crawling forwards. So who knows, maybe you’ll start crawling forwards, too.”

He didn’t miss the brief look, Steve shared with Nancy.

Mike pursed his lips and arched one brow. “Dude, I’m not a toddler…”

“Of course, that’s not what I wanted to say, man.”

“Whatever, let’s go. I’m starving!”

Mike was in fact not starving. On the contrary: He felt like throwing up only looking at the food on his plate. The only reason he had wanted to be at lunch early was to see Will afterwards.

He was sitting at a table with Nancy and his mother. She kept eyeing him with a worried look and Mike wondered if it would stay etched on her face forever.

He looked around the room. “Where are Jonathan, El, Hopper and Joyce?” he asked when he couldn’t find them anywhere.

“They’re with Will, darling,” Karen said, “They’ve been there all morning.”

Mike pouted. Why were they allowed to skip lunch to see him and he wasn’t? Blah, blah, they were family and everything, and yes he had a concussion, blah blah but who cares?

Wasn’t he family too? Somehow? And he had been with Will when it happened so he should be there too. So he started shovelling a few forks of whatever that was into his mouth, before pushing his plate away.

“Would you mind putting this away for me, thanks,” he said while already getting to his feet, even though it probably sounded more like ‘wouldyamindputtingthiswayformethanks’. Then he hasted out of the hall, towards where he hoped to find Will.

He had visited Max there a few times in what he had interpreted as the hospital wing of the building. He didn’t know what they had told her mother in order to convince her to take Max from her, but they couldn’t leave her in a normal hospital with normal doctors when her condition was far from normal. Maybe they told her that her daughter had died. Mike had barely ever met Max’s mother at the hospital in Hawkins, from what he had gathered in the last year, she had become an alcoholic after Billy’s death.

When Mike reached the hospital tract, he saw a nurse coming out of a room and muffled voices coming from the inside. The nurse didn’t even spare him a glance, so he slipped through the door behind her.

“Mike, there you are!” El greeted him. She was sitting on a chair, Hopper to her left, Joyce and Jonathan to her right.

The others also greeted him and Mike found himself surprised that they all (especially Hopper and Jonathan)  seemed happy to see him. He replied with a brief smile before devoting all of his attention to the hospital bed in the middle of the small room.

Will was asleep. Of course he was, he wouldn’t wake up any time soon, the doctors had said, not before tomorrow morning. He had been washed and his hair was combed, nothing but calmness on his face. Nothing reminded of what had only happened only nine hours ago. Will looked so soft and delicate, Mike couldn’t tear his gaze away. He had stepped next to the bed to take all of him in. The crease on his forehead had disappeared and Mike felt a fond smile tug at his lips. Will’s cheeks were dusted in a faint pink, he looked so… alive. But still Mike had to make sure. He reached out and cupped Will’s neck, the same way as he had when Will was bleeding out. He let his thumb trail over the soft skin there until he found his pulse point. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. He felt Will’s heartbeat reverberate through his own body until he swore their hearts must be beating in synch. The thought made his heart swell with fondness.

When he remembered that four pairs of eyes were currently watching him staring fondly at his best friend who was asleep, he quickly pulled his hand away and let his gaze awkwardly drop to the floor.

Jonathan behind him cleared his throat, “I can get you a chair if you want.”

A bit taken aback by Jonathan’s kindness towards him, Mike couldn’t respond because El chimed in: “Or what about you guys go and eat lunch?” she proposed, gaze flitting between her brother and her parents, “He will not wake up today, so you don’t have to sit here all day.”

“What about you?” Joyce asked.

“I want to talk to Mike for a bit,” she replied. Hopper arched a suspicious brow but didn’t say anything.

“Okay sure, see you later,” Jonathan said, briefly ruffling his hand through her short hair, “but don’t forget to get lunch yourself, okay?”

Mike noticed how Joyce lit up when she saw how Jonathan behaved towards El and he himself felt a tug at the corners of his mouth too, seeing how comfortable they were around each other.

When Joyce, Hopper and Jonathan had left, Mike grabbed one of the chairs and set it down next to Will’s bed. He sat down, propping his elbows on the mattress and resting his chin on his hands. El was still sitting next to the door, eyeing him thoroughly. He felt a bit uncomfortable under her heavy gaze, he felt like she wasn’t just looking at him, but straight into his soul.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she responded but didn’t avert her eyes, still scrutinizing him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though. Mike was really glad that things weren’t awkward between them after everything. He couldn’t believe that he ever thought they were supposed to be more then friends, when being friends felt this natural.

Mike’s eyes roamed over the sleeping boy in front if him, neatly tucked under his blanket, chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths. His gaze fell on Will’s hand, resting on the covers and his own hand twitched at the sight. He wanted to reach out and take it. Caress the soft skin and feel Will’s warmth. Would it be weird? To take his hand? Was that a platonic thing to do?  They had held hands before when they were younger. But at some point it had stopped being normal for boys their age to hold hands, so they’d stopped. But Mike wanted to. Would El find it weird? Hell, would Will find it weird if he were conscious? He was gay, after all, maybe that would make it even weirder for a boy to hold his hand.

He sighed. Then he pushed down all of those thoughts and let his palm cup the back of Will’s hand. He intertwined their fingers and rubbed his thumb along Will’s pinkie.

No, this wasn’t weird. It felt just right. Natural, as if his hand belonged right there, folding around Will’s like two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. The warmth that radiated from Will’s hand made its way down Mike’s arm and spread through his whole body, making him feel a bit fuzzy.

El said something, startling Mike a bit, he snapped his gaze up at her, finding her still staring at him intently. He felt heat rise into his cheeks. What did she say?

“Huh?” he said. Wow, very intelligent.

“How is it for him?” EL asked, nodding at Will, “being back here?”

Mike knew what she meant. Hawkins lab wasn’t exactly a place where Will had made good memories. He had been possessed by the Mindflayer here, in a hospital bed not too different from this one.

“It became easier,” Mike replied honestly, “In the beginning he was a bit freaked out, but it’s so different now than it was then. All of us are here with him and I think he even started to like it here.”

El raised a brow in disbelief.

Mike chuckled, “He’s drawing a lot. Plus, he has the best room, you can see the sunset from there, it’s really beautiful.” He couldn’t help the broad smile spreading over his face at the thought.

“Of course things aren’t nice here and the memories aren’t either, but it could be worse,” he stopped himself and frowned, “Well, maybe now things are actually worse and this might add some new trauma to the list.”

El grimaced: “Yes, it’s probably not exactly helping with getting comfortable here.”

“What about you?” Mike asked, feeling a bit guilty that he hadn’t asked sooner. No one had suffered as much in this place as El had. He still didn’t know what exactly had happened back then with Henry. She barely talked about it, never giving many details. But it must have been horrifying.

“How’s it for you being back here?” he asked again because she hadn’t replied.

She shrugged.

“It’s all… different,” El began, “I have never been to this part of the building when I was young, I wasn’t allowed. So I don’t…” She didn’t finish her sentence. Her voice had trailed off and her expression turned thoughtful.

“Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to go for a walk?”

A walk? Mike looked down at his and Will’s intertwined hands. He didn’t really want to leave him.

“We come back later,” she said, seemingly having noticed Mike’s hesitation, “He won’t wake up before tomorrow.”

So mike nodded and got up. “See you later,” he mumbled and squeezed Will’s hand one last time before reluctantly releasing it. This seemed to be important to El, so he would go with her.

When they left the room, El led him through the hallways, seemingly a bit unsure about the right path, but she looked like she had a destination.

“El, where are we going?”

“I wanted to see something but I was too scared to go on my own,” she said simply, her voice serious but not reflecting the emotions of that sentence. El was scared? That was rare. He still didn’t have any clue where they were headed but he followed her in silence, an uneasy feeling now spreading in his stomach. El being scared was enough to scare him too.

They had reached a part of the building that Mike had never been to before. It was totally empty, it had been a few minutes since they had passed the last soldier on patrol. They were on the first floor now and El was looking around, searching for something. Mike would have helped, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to be searching for and he didn’t want to ask again. They crossed a few more corridors and looked around corners until El suddenly stilled.

They had arrived at a staircase. It was different to the main staircases Mike knew with the big numbers of the floors written on the walls. It was narrower and only led to a lower floor. A basement?

El was still frozen next to Mike, staring at the stairs. Mike cleared his throat. “Is this what we’ve been looking for?”

She still didn’t answer, but was torn out of her stupor by his voice and headed for the stairs. Hesitantly, Mike followed her.

At the bottom of the stairs there was a big, solid steel door. When El reached for the handle, it didn’t open. Mike was almost a bit relieved, he had to admit that all of this was pretty scary. But then El raised her right hand again, this time hovering over the handle and Mike heard a click. Right, Superpowers and everything, he’d almost forgotten. His heart sank to his stomach when she pushed the heavy door open.

The hallway behind the door was dark. It took a few minutes for El to find the light switch. When the bright fluorescent lights began to flicker, a shudder ran down Mike’s spine. Relax, he told himself. They always flicker when you turn them on. He heard El’s breath hitch when the corridor was now fully illuminated in the cold light.

The uncomfortably cold light that hurt in the eyes was the same as in the rest of the building. But besides that, this hallway looked different. Instead of grey concrete walls, the hallway was entirely covered in white tiles like a bathroom. It made the lights seem even brighter and Mike had to squint because his already hurting head started to hurt even more.

The doors here were a different make than the ones he knew from upstairs and there were small black signs with white numbers on each door.

For a few seconds, they were just standing there, staring down the corridor. A lump started forming in Mike’s throat. He had a suspicion what this was. And he didn’t like it. But he was here for El so when she started moving, he trailed behind her. They slowly passed through the corridor, making halt next to a door on their right. When Mike saw a small, white 11 on the sign, the lump in his throat grew. His suspicion was correct.

He wasn’t sure what El was feeling right now, her expression was plain and solid like etched in stone, not showing a single emotion. But he heard her taking a shuddering breath before slowly pushing the door open. This must be really hard for her.

Mike was almost relieved when the room was completely empty, he didn’t know what he had expected but he didn’t know how he would have handled something gross or terrifying. He could handle an empty room.

“They cleaned everything out,” El whispered.

“Looks like it,” Mike replied, even though he obviously didn’t know how this room had looked like before. It was small and also covered in white tiles. Definitely not comfortable.

“So is this where you…” he didn’t finish the sentence. Lived would sound a bit too… harmless?

She nodded and started pacing through the room, scanning every centimetre of it. Mike just stood in the door frame and watched. Maybe she needed this. To let go of it once and for good.

El stopped her pacing and raised her hand, caressing a spot on the wall. Only now Mike noticed two pieces of translucent scotch tape on the tiles, holding the ripped off corners of a sheet of paper. Something had used to hang here. A drawing maybe. Mike would never know what it was, but El certainly did. She stared at the empty spot where the paper had been ripped away, a look on her face that wasn’t exactly nostalgic but… full of memory as if she could still see the paper in front of her inner eye.

After a few minutes, she returned to the door where Mike was standing.

“I need to see one more thing,” she whispered, “Is that okay?”

He nodded, swallowing the growing lump in his throat, “Sure.”

Back in the corridor, El headed for a big double swing door at the very end. There was no number on it, just two big handles on each wing.

“What’s in there?” Mike asked.

El hesitated. “The rainbow room.”

“What’s the rainbow room?”

She turned to look at him, expression still plain but her voice wavered when she responded: “That’s where it happened.”

He didn’t ask any further questions and followed El as she opened the heavy door and squeezed through the gap.

The name ‘Rainbow Room’ was indeed very fitting, Mike thought. Distinctive rainbow murals covered the white walls and floor. The room had a coffered ceiling with recessed fluorescent squares, different than the lamps he was used to from the lab but not less cold. The room was also empty, nothing hinting at what it had been used for.

But what caught Mike’s attention was a big mirror at the opposite end of the room. It had been shattered and revealed another, smaller room behind it. There were no shards laying around, they had been cleaned away with all the rest, but the broken glass that was left on the frame was the first indicator that something had happened here. When Mike had a closer look at the room behind the broken mirror, he noticed a big crack in the tiled wall, spreading over the whole height of it.

“This is where I fought him,” El said into the silence. Mike flinched at the unexpected sound of her voice. “After he killed all the others.”

She pointed at the crack. “The first gate.”

Mike shuddered. This was where everything had started. Where Henry had murdered innocent children and was banished to the upside down by young Eleven.

“I’m sorry,” he said, because he felt like he had to give her some kind of comfort (which he was really bad at)

She looked at him with a confused look. “What are you sorry for?”

“For everything that happened. What you’ve been through.”

She averted her eyes and looked at the floor instead. “You don’t have to be sorry. You helped me so much. Without you, I would probably be gone. You took me in and gave me food and you were so nice to me.”

She offered him a sad smile.

 “You saved me,” she said and before he could protest, she added: “And you saved Will. You saved all of us and you have to stop pretending that you didn’t. To stop believing that you didn’t! You’ve been a shitty boyfriend, but you’re a really good person Mike and you mean so much to all of us, do you understand?”

“Yeah I didn’t mean like I’m sorry-I’m sorry… Just- That’s just something you say when something happened to someone, y’know.”

But for the first time, Mike let himself really believe it. That maybe he was a good person after all. That maybe he wasn’t as useless as he thought he was. That he was able to save people. That maybe he was the heart.

He only realized he had started crying when he felt El’s arms wrap around him. The tears streamed down his face as he silently cried into El’s shoulder.

“Mike, can I asked you something?” El questioned carefully after they pulled away.

“Of course.”

“But you can’t be upset!”

Mike grimaced: “That doesn’t sound good.” He had stopped crying but he still felt the cold stiffy air against his wet cheeks. “But go on.”

“Mike, are you gay?”

Mike choked on his own spit and had to cough a few times before he could gasp for air again.

“What???”

El looked sorry, like she regretted the question already, one hand still on Mike’s shoulder, squeezing it to comfort him. She looked a bit unsure.

“El, what? Why…? I’m n- Why would you think that?”

“I- I just thought,” her voice trailed off, “I talked to Will.”

“So?”

“I know that Will is gay.”

Oh, did she? Did he tell her? Why had he never mentioned that he came out to her?

El cleared her throat and continued:  “We talked about how it is. And he said it is hard to figure out that you can’t make yourself like girls the way you’re supposed to. And I thought that maybe… That maybe that was why you didn’t really… love me.”

Mike stared at her, not sure what to say because holy shit what was this situation?? He though they were going to work up El’s childhood trauma in the place she had suffered so much but the events had taken a very unexpected turn.

“El, I’m n- Wha-…”

“And I thought maybe you and Will…”

Mike was suddenly feeling really, really warm. Hasn’t it been rather cool down here only a few minutes ago?

“You thought maybe Will and I what?” he asked, voice low. His eyes were wide open, and the blood was rushing loudly in his ears.

“…liked each other,” she finished.

El didn’t know what she was talking about. He stared at her, not able to form any words. She looked really insecure now and a bit intimidated, hunching her shoulder up to her ears.

“Why would you think that?” Of course he liked Will, but clearly El had implicated a different kind of like. It’s not like it had never crossed Mike’s mind. That maybe there was only one painting. And that Will had made that painting for someone he had a crush on. That this someone was Mike.

“You two are different than your other friends. When you are with him you don’t behave the same you behave with Dustin or Lucas… or me.”

That was true. Their dynamic had always been different to the rest of the group. They were closer, kinder and softer with each other. But that didn’t mean that they…

“And sometimes when he doesn’t look, you look at him the way Hop looks at Joyce.” The corner of her mouth quirked up in a tiny smile.

“That’s n-“ Why did he never manage to finish his sentences? Why was he even so agitated? He could just tell her that she was wrong and it would be fine. Why was he so defensive?

“And earlier you took his hand and got all red when you saw that I was watching.”

“Friends can hold hands, too.”

“And when I the Demogorgon was about to attack you and Will, you put yourself between him and the Demogorgon. I saw I in your eyes, you would have died for him.”

That was true. In that second, he had known if he had to die to protect Will, he would without batting an eyelash.

“You would have done that too,” he said. But she didn’t seem to care what he had to say, she just continued rambling.

“Don’t get mad, okay? But during the storm, I wanted to check up on Will and I overheard his uhh what do you call it again? That he told you that he is gay. And you said he was your favourite.”

“El, he’s my best-“

“When I was in that pizza dough freezer and you told me you loved me, Will had to push you to say it. I didn’t understand what he meant, something that you are the heart. Does it have something to do with the heart on the painting?”

“Wait, what do you know about the painting?” Mike chimed in. He had spent so much time thinking about this painting and what it meant, maybe this was his chance to get closer to the truth. The truth about the painting and Will’s monologue in the van.

El looked at him a bit puzzled, “Not much.”

“When I went to your room this morning to get you fresh clothes, I saw it on your wall. You put it up.”

“Yeah, of course I- nevermind, I meant what do you know about Will making that painting? Just to make sure, you didn’t commission any of it, did you?”

“I didn’t what?”

“You didn’t tell him what to draw, right?”

“Uhm no, why…,” she scrunched her brows together, “do you remember the last letter I sent you?” Of course he remembered, but he would never admit to her that it was laying in the suitcase in his room in this very moment.

“I told you it was for a girl he liked. Because he wouldn’t show me and when I asked him about it, he would get very red and start to stutter. Joyce also asked him if it was for someone special and I’ve never seen him so nervous. And well, it was obviously not for a girl.”

“And was there maybe… Was there a boy in California?” Mike asked. From what El was saying, it really sound like Will had a crush, when it made him so flustered.

“I- I don’t know. I’ve never seen him with anyone, he didn’t have many friends there. But it doesn’t matter, because the painting was for you anyway.”

Now, Mike really had to know: “Are you sure it was the same painting? Or were those maybe two different ones?”

She raised one brow, but this time not in a confused way but rather a Mike-you’re-literally-an-idiot way.

“No, Mike. There was only one painting.”

Mike was still really, really warm and his palms had started to sweat. Did Will actually like him like that? Or was it just a big misunderstanding?

“Mike, I’m only telling you this because I think you like him too. And I want him to be happy. And I want you to be happy too.” He could see the emotion welling up in her eyes.

She continued: “Will told me that he often feels gross. Like it’s wrong that he’s gay.”

And sometimes when you’re… when you’re different, it makes you feel like a mistake.

“But then, it feels like ‘the most natural thing in the world’. And I think you make him feel like that.”

But you make her feel like she’s not a mistake at all. Like she’s better for being different.

“And he was so sad when you two were fighting. And scared that you didn’t want to be his friend anymore.”

And if she was mean to you or if it seemed like she was pushing you away, it’s probably just because she’s scared of losing you.

“And I know you were upset too.”

Just like you’re scared of losing her.

And this part, Mike knew was 100% true. He had been really fucking scared of losing Will. But instead of doing something about it, he had stopped calling him and didn’t write letters because Will barely did it either. He had thought that maybe Will wanted to move on from Hawkins and all the horrible memories he’d made there. And from the people that kept reminding him of everything bad that had happened to him. Mike had thought that Will would be better off with a new life in California without Mike dragging him back into a life he wanted to forget.

“In every letter you asked about Will and what he was doing instead of asking him yourself.”

“That doesn’t have to mean that I… like him like that,” Mike hated himself for the whiny undertone in his voice.

“Mike, you were just got really curious when I started talking about that painting and…”

“El! I need to breathe for a second.” His lungs felt too small and his skin too tight for his body. He was very agitated right now and he had to sort his thoughts before they could continue the conversation. Because what the fuck was this?

Okay so:

Will (probably) liked him.

How did he feel about that? Was he repelled by that?

No, definitely not. That was okay.

Mike knew that he was running from himself right now. That he was purposefully avoiding something. Something he had sealed away in the back of his head, like the old toys in their attic at home that must be covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs by now, because they hadn’t been played with in years.

The way Eddie’s teasing always made him a nervous blushing mess.

The way Arnold Schwarzenegger shirtless under his leather jacket made him go to the movies on his own, excited to see Terminator for the 6^th time.

The way he wouldn’t even recognize Linda Hamilton if he’d meet her on the streets.

The way how kissing El had just felt like lips on lips and nothing more and he had wondered if that was how it’s supposed to be.

The way how touching El had just felt like skin on skin and he never really felt the urge to run his fingers over her bare skin or through her hair or under her shirt. He had thought he was just too young for that. But even now, the thought made him really uncomfortable and was definitely not appealing.

“Mike?”

He had been staring at the wall behind El for definitely a few minutes now until she pulled him out of his thoughts.

He felt incredibly lost right now. Like he completely forgot who he was. How one question could render him so confused about every second of his life. He was very close to a realization that would entirely change his perception on who he was.

“El. How do I know… who I am?”

She smiled and tilted her head: “You’re Mike. And if you’re gay, then you’re still the same Mike.”

“Do you think so?”

“Maybe you’re even a better Mike, because you don’t have to be such a shitty boyfriend to girls like me anymore.”

Mike chewed on his bottom lip. Could that really be? That he was gay? Will was gay and Mike had been totally fine with it. It didn’t change who Will was. So maybe it also wouldn’t change who Mike was.

He knew his dad wouldn’t agree. Would his mother agree? What about Nancy? What about the rest of the world. People like Troy or Lonnie. He knew they would hate him. People would want him nowhere close to their children. Not even in their range of sight. Not in their neighbourhood. Not in their town. Probably preferably dead.

“Can we go back?” he asked, voice wavering. He didn’t want to cry. Again.

A bit worried El looked at him, hesitating.

“Okay. We can talk another time.”

Leaving the rainbow room and back in the hallway, Mike noticed something he hadn’t seen before.

The corridor had been all cleaned up by Owen’s men. But in between the crispy clean white tiles on the walls and floor, the joints were stained a dark brown at some spots, only perceptible if you looked closely enough. Like something had stained them that couldn’t be scrubbed away from the material of the joints. Mike tore his gaze away. He didn’t have to guess what had caused these stains, but the thought made him sick to his bones.

In silence, they walked back to the 6^th floor. If El noticed the silent tears that were spilling out of his eyes, she didn’t address it.

They stopped in front of Mike’s room and El leaned against the wall next to the door, carefully scrutinizing him.

“Mike, could you not tell anyone about our little… walk?” she asked.

He nodded, “As long as you don’t tell anyone about our little… talk.”

“Of course,” Her lips curved into a grin. He couldn’t bring himself to return it, a watery smile was all he managed.

She pushed herself off the wall and turned around to head for her own room.

“Hey El!”

She looked over her shoulder.

“Thank you for giving me a proper thump on the head, I needed it.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion. “What the hell, Mike? I didn’t… What? Maybe your con-cushion is worse than they thought, did you even get checked properly? You did hurt your head, but I…”

“My concussion is fine, El. Don’t worry,” he said and disappeared into his room.

He lay in his bed for a few hours. Staring at the painting. This day had left him with so many questions that were now spiralling through his head just like the particles in the storm outside.

He was quiet at dinner and pushed the food around on his plate without really eating much, constantly feeling El’s eyes bore into the back of his head from across the room.

After dinner, he hesitated before making his way to the hospital wing. He took his time, strolling through the corridors, all the voices in his head still agonizingly loud and persistent, questions over questions. A few times, he considered turning around, head back to his room or to room 508 to meet the others instead. But he shook his head at himself and pulled himself together until he arrived at Will’s room.

He was surprised when he found the hospital room empty (besides Will of course). He had expected to find Will’s family here again, but he was glad they weren’t.

His chair from earlier was still standing abandoned next to the bed and he hesitantly took a seat.

The boy in front of him was still slumbering peacefully, his caramel hair pooling on the pillow around his head. His hair had grown out of the neat bowl cut in the past months, now looking a bit shaggier, curling around his ears and over his brows. It looked nice on him.

He looked so soft and beautiful, Mike thought. That was probably not a very platonic thing to think, but it was true. And it wasn’t new. Mike had always liked looking at Will. Talking to Will. Being close to Will. He was not generally a very touchy person, but with Will it had always been different. He could never bee too close or close enough, he liked sharing space with him, hugging him or holding his hand.

He always wanted to reach out and touch. Will just always looked so soft and… just touchable. It was like Mike was addicted to the warm fuzzy feeling that would settle into his stomach every time they touched or shared a fond smile.

The first time Dustin had visited the Wheeler’s house, he had entered the dining room and immediately grimaced at the weird wallpaper. That was the first time Mike ever noticed the ugly flower pattern. And it’s not that Mike hadn’t known it was there, he’s been living there forever, but he also didn’t exactly knowhow it looked. Did that make sense? It had just always been like that, as long as he could remember so he never questioned it or spared it a second glance.

After Dustin had pointed it out, he could never unsee it.

So how are you supposed to notice something that has always been there?

Mike had always liked Will.

He had always liked the way his nose scrunched up and the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughs.

He had always liked how making Will laugh was so much better than laughing himself.

He liked making Will flustered, being the reason for a sheepish grin or a pink flush of his cheeks.

He liked how Will’s touch would cause this fluttering feeling to spread in his stomach.

He liked how Will could conjure up masterpieces from an empty canvas.

He liked how Will would attentively listen to Mike’s rambling for hours, and he loved listening to Will’s.

He liked that Will would tell him his secrets and his biggest fears, and he loved that he could always trust him with his own.

He liked the way Will looked bathed in the orange light of the sunset.

He liked how Will was the only person who could smack Mike with a pillow and call him an idiot and Mike would ask him to do it again. (And he would be more than annoyed at anyone else.)

He realized that he could go on like this forever. Thinking about what he liked about Will.

God, he liked Will so much.

And maybe El had just needed to point out the ugly wallpaper for Mike to really see it for the first time. Okay, comparing his… feelings for Will to an ugly wallpaper was probably not the most fitting comparison, he admitted to himself.

This time when he took Will’s hand in his, he realized that all the voices in his head had gone silent. He could answer all those questions some other time. Right now, he just knew that he wanted to hold Will’s hand. And he didn’t let go when Will’s family came in for another visit. He didn’t let go when they left to go to sleep, darkness settling over the room. He didn’t let go when he fell asleep next to Will in a very awkward position, half sitting on his chair, half lying on the bed.

He was woken up by something shifting next to him. The first thing he saw when he blinked his heavy eyelids open was a pair of hazel eyes meeting his, green and golden specks splattered in the irises, sparkling in the light of the rising sun.

How had Mike never seen how fucking ugly this flower wallpaper was when it has been right in front of his eyes for years.

And how had he never realized how fucking much he liked his best friend when he’s been right in front of his eyes for years.

Crinkles started erupting by Will’s eyes when he smiled.

“Hi,” the brunette croaked, his voice hoarse from not talking in 24 hours.

Mike returned the smile and embraced the burst of warmth in his chest.

“Hi.”

Chapter Text

(7134 words ≈ 20-30 minutes reading time)

When Will blinked his heavy eyelids open, he was greeted by a tousled mess of black curls in his peripheral vision, tickling his neck. He looked around, trying to adjust his tired eyes to the brightness of the room. It looked like he was in a hospital. There were monitors and medical instruments and he was dressed in what looked like plain white pyjamas that weren’t his own. His body felt stiff, his mouth dry and he felt all in all a bit groggy.

Those thoughts went through his head in a matter of seconds, because his attention was immediately drawn back to the black shock of hair on Will’s neck. His best friend was sitting on a chair next to the hospital bed, hunched forward, so that his head was resting on Will’s shoulder. It looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Mike seemed to be fast asleep. A comforting warmth radiated from his body and Will relished in the feeling. His heart started fluttering when he felt the warmth of Mike’s hand being wrapped around his own. Mike was holding his hand. Mike Wheeler was holding his hand.

The last time they held hands was probably back when Will was possessed and terrified and Mike had comforted him. After that… A blurry image emerged from the back of his head. His fingers around Mike’s hand, slick with fresh, hot blood. Mike’s blood-sprayed face drenched in fear, his wide-open eyes never leaving Will’s. Mike’s other hand coming up to cradle his neck, pressing their foreheads together. It felt surreal, more like a dream, Will wasn’t sure if it really happened. The mouldy scent of death and decay, Demodog bodies scattered in the room, their blood leaking into the carpet, mingling with Will’s. The feeling of claws piercing into his sides like daggers, the unbearable pain that followed, pushing the air out of his lungs.

Will’s side began to sting at the thought and he shifted in his position, trying to relieve the muscles there. His stiff limbs ached as he tried to sit up against his pillow a bit. How long had he been gone?

Mike stirred next to him as Will moved and he felt a bit sorry immediately, he didn’t know what time it was, he really hadn’t meant to wake Mike. But it was too late, Mike slowly lifted his head and blinked his sleepy eyes open. Will’s heart made a sault at the sight of Mike’s mussed hair and the crease on his cheek from where it had rested on Will’s shoulder.

He saw Mike’s eyes grow wide and the sleep leaving his body when their gazes met.

“Hi,” Will said, immediately embarrassed by how raspy his voice sounded, cracking a sheepish smile.

Mike curved his lips in response, his eyes not leaving Will’s as he responded with a soft: “Hi.”

Will cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn’t fail him again.

“How long was I asleep?”

Mike pursed his lips and frowned as if hesitant about his answer.

“Almost three years,” he said with a sigh, “The world moved on without you but I never left your side. I never stopped believing you would wake up, I always sang for you on your birthdays and...”

“You dork,” Will interrupted him, rolling his eyes and reached over to playfully push Mike’s face away.

“Okay, it’s been like 24 hours,” Mike admitted amidst chuckles, playfully swatting away Will’s hand. Will noticed how gentle he was about it though, careful not to hurt him. He also noticed that Mike’s other hand still enclasped his under the covers.

Mike’s chuckle subsided but a content grin lingered on his lips.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“A bit dizzy still. And my side feels weird. But it’s okay, really”, Will replied with a shrug. Then his eyes widened as he realized that maybe Mike was hurt too after what had happened the day before. He was in the hospital wing for a reason after all.

“Oh my god, Mike are you okay?” He felt really guilty for not asking earlier, “Are you hurt?” He looked him up and down, checking him for any indications of injuries.

Mike looked a bit bemused and shook his head, “Nothing to worry about, just a small concussion.”

He must have noticed Will’s still concerned expression because he added: “I’m fine.”

“You sure? A concussion can be…”

Mike’s bemused grin widened, “Will you’ve been sliced open by a Demodog and you’re worried about my little concussion?”

He didn’t reply and just sheepishly looked away. When he returned his gaze back to Mike, his grin had turned into a fond smile.

“You always care so much about others, Will. You should start caring for yourself for a change.”

He felt heat rise in his cheeks and averted his eyes again.

“You’re lucky I’m hurt, cuz otherwise I would take this pillow and give you a fat smack for sappiness.”

Mike mock-pouted and replied: “Will, you almost died. So sorry if I’m being a bit sentimental.”

Will knew he was right. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if their positions were switched. If Mike had (almost) died in his arms. Still, he playfully rolled his eyes in annoyance.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, gazing at each other. Something was different, Will noticed. Something in Mike’s eyes, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. He looked happy, but a bit insecure, his eyes seemingly searching for something in Will’s like a question. He pushed the thought away, Mike was probably just worried and glad Will was awake.

Mike cleared his throat and broke the silence, “I should probably get a doctor. And the others. It’s unfair that I’m keeping you all for myself.”

Will wanted to tell him, that he had always had Will all to himself, Will was his, has always been. But of course that’s not what Mike meant. Not what Mike wanted.

“Okay,” Will replied. But Mike hesitated, not making a move to leave. For a second, Will thought that maybe he didn’t want to let go of Will’s hand. But the thought was gone as soon as Mike awkwardly cleared his throat again and got up, releasing Will’s hand. It felt immediately cold.

He shuffled to the door and turned back before leaving the room, “Don’t go anywhere, okay?” he quipped.

“Idiot,” Will snorted and for a brief second, he thought he had seen a blush rise on Mike’s cheeks, but then Mike was out of the door.

After the doctors had examined him, they finally allowed his family to enter and Will smiled at his mother who stumbled into the room first, immediately rushing to his bed and pressing a peck on his forehead. She carded her hands through his hair and muttered how much she had missed him and how scared she’d been. Behind her, the heads of El, Jonathan and Hopper popped up, relieved expressions written all over them. Will was greeted by warm hugs and tears and wide smiles. Jonathan came to sit on the mattress next to him and scurried his hand through Will’s hair, purposefully messing it up again.

Will squeaked and Joyce scowled at Jonathan, “The doctors said we had to be careful because of the stitches.”

El was carrying a tablet with breakfast and set it down on the bedside table. Will thanked her and she replied with a big smile, “You were really bitchin yesterday.” She sat down on Mike’s chair from earlier and snatched a cracker from the plate she just brought, “You’re getting better at killing monsters than me,” she added with her mouth full.

“No chance,” he replied with a grin.

Hopper took a chair from the corner of the room and set it down next to Will’s bed.

“Hey, champ. Glad you’re back,” he said while taking a seat. Champ. “El’s right, you were really bitchin' back there. I heard you shot ten of those beasts.” Champ was all Will could think about. It sounded so sincere and heartfelt. Almost like Hopper was proud of him. And it made a small burst of warmth erupt somewhere deep in his guts. Like it dug up something that had been buried for ages. His eyes immediately began to sting and he chuckled awkwardly, not meeting Hopper’s eyes.

“Ten’s definitely exaggerated.”

“No way!” El butted in, “I saw the bodies and I won’t believe a single word if you say that Mike killed them.”

“I mean he definitely killed… a few,” Will insisted.

El snorted, “Maybe in his dreams.”

They talked for a while and Will couldn’t shake off the dizzying warmth he felt being together with all four of them. Like a proper family.

“Do you want to see your friends?” Joyce asked after half an hour, “They’re waiting outside but if you’re too exhausted, I can tell them to come back later.”

“No, I want to see them,” he reassured her. El stayed, and Hopper, Jonathan and Joyce left the room but not without telling him to take care and not move too much and to send everyone away when he wanted to rest.

Only a few seconds after they had left, the door swung open and Dustin and Lucas entered, cheering his name, Mike right behind them with a wide grin on his face.

“Byers!,” Lucas shouted as he plopped down on a chair next to the bed, “we’re so glad you’re back, how’re ya feeling, man?”

A bit overwhelmed by the amount of attention, Will gave them a sheepish grin and tilted his head to the side, “Uhm I’m feeling… like I was sliced open by a Demodog I guess. Could be better.”

He saw Mike’s grin falter a bit at the mention of what happened, so he added with a shrug: “Could also be worse, though.” Mike just grimaced at that.

Dustin and Lucas started asking him all kinds of questions about what happened and even though Will didn’t remember all that much, most of it was now slowly coming back.

“Is it true Mike pulled that Terminator move back there?” Dustin asked.

Will frowned. He hadn’t watched Terminator in California when it aired. He always thought it was a movie he would usually watch with Mike. El would have hated it and even though Jonathan had offered to go with him, it wouldn’t have been the same.

Dustin continued: “Cuz’ he keeps bragging about it but I just can’t believe it’s true, he’s wayyy too uncool for that.”

Mike pushed Dustin who almost fell off his chair. “I’m not bragging. And hey, that was rude. I’m literally the coolest person to ever exist.”

Dustin snorted, “Okay, don’t change the topic, I see what you’re doing,” he turned back to Will: “he didn’t pull the Terminator move, did he?”

“What move?” Will finally asked.

Mike gasped, “Omg I can’t believe you haven’t seen…”

Dustin shushed him. Lucas butted in to explain: “Did Mike really shoot a door open with a gun?”

“Cuz there’s no way!” Dustin added.

Will couldn’t help but chuckle. Oh, how he had missed them.

“Believe it or not, he really did,” he replied and Dustin’s and Lucas’ eyes widened in disbelief.

“Seeee?!” Mike teased Dustin and poked his side, receiving an “Oh shut it, Wheeler!” in response.

“Will, admit it, you’re only saying this to make Mike look cool,” Lucas said.

“Noo, it was actually really cool,” he insisted and observed how a sheepish blush started to bloom on Mike’s cheeks. “He saved both our lives,” Will added.

Dustin shook his head in mock disbelief.

Mike looked a bit nervous and as if trying to get out of the situation he changed the topic: “Will, I can’t believe you haven’t seen Terminator.”

Will bit his cheek. “Yeah I don’t know, I didn’t really go to the movies in Cali…”

“Mike made us watch it like ten times,” Lucas explained.

“That’s not true. It wasn’t ten times and I didn’t make you watch. It’s an awesome movie,” he let out a huff, “And I told you I could go on my own, you willingly decided to join me!”

“Because it would have been pitiful to let you go alone.”

“So how many times did you actually watch it?” Will asked, amused.

“Maybe four…” Mike began-

“It was six times, don’t listen to him,” Dustin corrected.

“Six??”

It wasn’t really unusual for them to watch movies that often, especially if they liked them, but Will secretly enjoyed the blush that kept rising on Mike’s face at that topic.

“He won’t admit it but it was just because of Linda Hamilton,” Lucas said.

Will’s and Mike’s smiles simultaneously faltered at that comment. Will knew Mike was straight and of course he knew that Mike was- well… attracted to women, so he shouldn’t be surprised, but being reminded of it still made ugly jealousy sink in his stomach.

“That’s not true!” Mike insisted, sounding a bit more serious now.

“I didn’t expect you to admit it,” Lucas rolled his eyes, “C’mon, everyone watched the movie for Linda Hamilton, the plot wasn’t even that good.”

“Well, I didn’t watch it because of her,” Mike looked really defensive now, the flush had reached the top of his ears.

“Then why? Because of Schwarzenegger?” Lucas quipped.

Mike froze. Just for a millisecond. Then he opened his mouth. Closed it again. Shook his head, completely taken aback.

Will had never seen the colour drop this fast from someone’s face. Mike was suddenly really pale, even more than usual. His eyes caught Will’s but he quickly turned them back to Lucas. From the corner of his eye, Will saw Dustin raise his brows.

Mike managed to get his shit together, he cleared his throat and replied, voice a bit croaky: “I think the plot is really good.”

Will wasn’t sure what to make of this situation. Was this like back when they had seen Robin and Vicky together and Mike got all weird? Was this Mike being weird because he thought Lucas was homophobic? Or did Lucas’ joke just make him uncomfortable because he didn’t want to be associated with something like that? Being gay.

Will’s stomach churned at the thought and he pushed it down, tuning back into the conversation that had changed into something entirely different while Will had been in his thoughts. Dustin was ranting about something Steve had done, it was a funny story and all the tension from earlier was gone. Maybe Will had been the only one who had even sensed tension because his mind always short-circuited when being gay somehow became the topic of a conversation.

Will found Mike’s eyes on him as he entered the conversation again. The nervous tension in Mike’s jaw was the only reminder that something had been weird.

Later, El came back and Steve and Erica joined them. Even Nancy showed up at some point to visit Will. People came and left, brought him food and books or simply talked to him. Will enjoyed every second of it, being surrounded by the people he cared for, seeing that they were all happy that he was okay. It made him feel like he mattered. Still, he was very exhausted at the end of the day, wanting nothing more than to close his eyes.

Mike was the last one to leave. Because of course he was. He was now standing in the doorframe, leaning against it, and looked like he didn’t want to leave. This was the first time they were alone after Mike’s weird reaction to when Lucas had mocked him.

“Are you okay?” Will asked.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I?” Mike asked, nervously nibbling on his bottom lip.

Will shrugged, “I don’t know, you seemed a bit out of it earlier. Was it because of what Lucas said?”

Mike’s eyes widened. “No, I’m fine. Honestly! The whole talk was just a bit embarrassing, is all.”

Will nodded slowly. Then they just stayed like this for a moment. Mike was standing in the doorframe, facing Will who was still half sitting and half lying on the hospital bed. Just looking at each other.

“Hey,” Will said to break the weird tension in the air, “We missed the sunset yesterday.”

Mike pulled the corners of his mouth downward dramatically and Will couldn’t hold back a giggle at the sight of Mike’s grimace.

“The sun could’ve just… not set and we wouldn’t have noticed,” Will added.

Mike grinned but it soon turned into a rather sad smile as if he were realizing that Will wasn’t kidding.

“As soon as you get out of here, we’re gonna check if it still does,” Mike said, the seriousness shining through his humorous tone.

Four days passed until Will was allowed to move back to his own room. His muscles ached when he used them again after lying down for that long. But he also felt really good to move again. His mother told him a million times that he had to be careful and not move too much or too fast.

When he was back in his room, he found his clothes from that day lying on his bed, clean and folded orderly. On top of them, gleaming coldly in the bright ceiling light, was his gun. He slowly stepped closer and reached for it. His fingers slid around the cold smooth metal. His whole body seemed to be vibrating at the touch, like the memory of the pushback reverberating through his bones. Of course, it hadn’t been the first time he had used it, he’d been training with it for months. But it had been the first time he had used it to kill something. Something twisted in his guts and he quickly opened the bottom drawer of his nightstand and dropped the weapon into the drawer as if he was burned from the touch.

He pulled a new set of clothes out of his closet and scurried to the bathroom to take a hot shower. The feeling of the burning hot water trailing down his body was always able to ground him. In the bright light of the bathroom, he noticed residues of dried blood under his fingernails. Even though the water was hot and the air steamy, he shuddered at the sight. He didn’t even know if it was Demodog blood or his own. Deciding that he didn’t want to know, he grabbed a nail brush to scrub it away until his fingertips were prickling with heat.

It wasn’t even his turn on the shower schedule and he felt a bit guilty for using all the hot water but he decided if someone needed it right now, it was him. He was glad to be rid of the scratchy hospital pajamas and back in his (Mike’s) clothes. Looking at the bathroom mirror, he slightly lifted the seam of his shirt to reveal his new scar. It still looked a bit nasty, his skin red around the stitches. It was a weird feeling knowing that it was part of his body now, stretching from his hipbone up to his ribcage, only a few inches next to the burn scar from when he had been freed from the Mindflayer. He felt the scar strangely throbbing with his heartbeat as if he could feel every ounce of blood that was pumped through the tissue there. Or maybe it was the faint memory of blood spilling out of his ripped flesh with every pump of his heart, running down his sides in hot streams. It made him feel a bit dizzy and he dropped the seam of his shirt, turned on the faucet and splashed ice cold water into his burning face.

He spent the rest of the day with El and Jonathan, enjoying the time outside of the hospital room. Still, he missed being actually outside. He was sick of the filtered air that smelled like a boring office job. He wanted to feel the sun on his skin and the breeze in his hair. He wanted to smell grass and soil and hear the songs of birds every time he woke up. He wanted to go outside with pencils and a notebook and draw the beautiful flowers that once grew on the hill where Dustin had installed Cerebro. Or take a canvas and paint lover’s lake sparkling in the afternoon sun. But the air outside was still thick with particles, the woods outside his window were dying, the grass had turned an ugly shade of grey and the sun was hidden behind a thick curtain of dark storm clouds.  There was nothing out there that was worth drawing. There was no beauty left of what Hawkins had once been.

Only when Mike knocked at his door this evening and they sat engrossed in a comfortable conversation and the first rays of the setting sun spilled into the stripe on the horizon, Will’s fingers itched with the urge to capture the beauty of this extraordinary sunset. He stumbled off his bed and rummaged through the drawer of his nightstand until he found the pack of coloured pencils Mike had given him after one of their first days in the lab. He grabbed a piece of paper and a book he had borrowed from Mike.

Then he settled onto the bed again, feeling his best friend’s curious eyes on him. He used the book as a support and started roughly mapping out the landscape onto the paper.

The black clouds were reaching further on the horizon than ever before, the stripe of light that was left only narrow. It squeezed Will’s heart with sorrow but he focused on the red and orange sunbeams as the glowing ball of the setting sun appeared in the strip of clear sky. It now illuminated the undersides of the black clouds in an uncanny red glow.

Will was so engrossed in his art, he only now realized him and Mike had stopped talking. When he tore his gaze away from the view and his paper and to his best friend, he found his eyes already on him. A lazy smile played on Mike’s lips and Will had to actively keep his jaw shut, otherwise it would’ve dropped to the ground at the sight that was Mike Wheeler in this ethereal light. He was all sharp cheekbones, pronounced edges and wild hair, half of his face bathed in the red glow.

Will realized he was staring, so he offered Mike a lopsided smile and quickly turned his attention back to his drawing. He had only sketched the silhouettes of the dying trees and the shapes of the gigantic cloud formations. He only had a few minutes left until the magic was over, he wouldn’t finish the drawing today. But he would have the next day too, and the next and so on. That’s at least what he tried to convince himself of.

The sun was the only thing left that reminded him of the beauty of the world. When the sun would disappear from their view, he would no longer know what they were even fighting for.

Every day, they would sit like this for as long as the magic dwelled. Will adding colours and layers to his drawing every day to capture every detail. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes Mike would just watch the sunset or watch as Will drew.

Coloured pencils were probably not the best medium, Will figured, but that was all he got and he made it work. Also, the red and black pencils were slowly shrinking until Will was scared they wouldn’t make it till the drawing would be done. The shorter the pencils became, the shorter the timespan of the sunsets got. After a few weeks, the time to draw had shrunk to only 7 minutes or so before the sun disappeared at the horizon. The clouds were spreading and the intensity of the sunlight was fading, day after day.

The day Will finished the drawing was the day the black pencil was finally so small it was no longer of use.

The light outside the window was no longer a mélange of yellows, oranges and reds as it had been in the first weeks, left was only a dark crimson that shone from the narrow stripe on over the treetops like through a rip in the black fabric that was the horizon.

He put the pencil down with a quiet thud and Mike perked up like he had done every time Will had put down a pencil to change colors.

Will was staring at the result. his fingers were covered in red and black pigments from smearing the colours to make them blend. It wasn’t his best piece but he had spent so many hours determined to get every shade and every blotch of light right. It was strangely beautiful and uncanny at the same time.

When Mike saw that Will didn’t reach for another pencil, he must have realized that Will was done, because he scooted closer until their legs were touching so that he could look at the final result.

Mike didn’t say anything for a while and Will grew more nervous every passing second.

Then, Mike let out a breath and whispered:

“This is incredible,” so quietly Will would’ve missed it if they weren’t sitting so close.

“You’re incredible.”

Will gulped. Mike was so awestruck and genuine it made Will’s heart burst with so much love and longing it hurt in his chest.

The tension in the air was almost tangible, something Will couldn’t quite place. It was like the air was heavier than before, like the steamy air in a  hot shower. The light from outside the window hit Mike’s face just right, his irises almost looking black in the reddish gloom.

Will had to do something. Something to ease this unfamiliar tension, because it made him want to scream or burst or do something stupid like bury his hands in Mike’s locks and kiss him senseless.

So he cleared his throat and tried to calm down his nervous mind. “It really does look like how I imagine Mordor to look like,” Will said and felt immediately a bit stupid when Mike stared at him a bit weird.

Then Mike blinked and hastily turned back to the drawing in Will’s lap, nodding. “It really does. It’s also kinda fitting, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?” Will asked.

“We’re like Frodo and Sam, in the middle of the darkest place on earth with the mission to destroy the big evil before the darkness spreads and swallows everything,” Mike explained.

“That’s why you’re the writer,” Will said with a chuckle, “The important question is: Who is Sam and who is Frodo?”

Mike scoffed. “I thought that was obvious.”

“Hm?” Will hummed.

“Imagine Sauron is like Vecna, then you’re 100% Frodo. You can literally not tell me anything else.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to be Frodo,” Will complained.

The dark haired boy raised his brows, “Why not? You’re like the cool main character and I’m just the best friend who doesn’t so shit.”

“Wrong,” Will disagreed, “You’re the best friend who doesn’t get appreciated enough for everything he has done to save the world, even though maybe he is the true hero of the story.”

“So you agree that you’re Frodo and I’m Sam?” Mike asked, ignoring the rest of Will’s sentence. Mike has never been good with compliments.

Will nodded with a sad smile, a thought had just plopped into his head:

“Sam gets a happy ending, a wife and kids and Frodo just… leaves for the undying lands because his burden is too big.”

Will has never seen a look on Mike’s face that came close to the way he looked now. A look of endless sadness. It was probably pity. He could kick himself for killing the mood.

“Sorry, I know that’s not what you meant,” he said quickly, “It’s just… The only comfort that this whole apocalypse situation is giving me, is that I don’t worry about the future too much.“

“I mean, of course I worry about whether we’re gonna make it and how we’re gonna beat Vecna and stuff. But I forget to worry about… y’know… life. And how it’s gonna be in like 20 years, assuming that I survive this shit. People like me don’t get their happy endings.”

Mike’s gaze on him was so intense, Will had to avert his eyes and took in the last sunbeams instead.

They both knew what this was about.

When Mike opened his mouth, Will expected him to say something like You’re gonna find love and happiness one day or You’re gonna get your happy ending, or any other Mike-thing to say to cheer him up.

But instead he said, voice a bit hoarse: “What if I don’t want that?”

”Huh?”

“The happy ending.”

Will frowned. “What do you mean? How could anyone not want a happy ending?”

“I- I mean, of course I wanna be happy and all. But the- the wife and kids part. What if I don’t want that.” Mike’s bottom lip was trembling and his voice wavering. What if I don’t want that? He didn’t say it like a question, rather like a statement.

“Mike,” Will sighed, “you might say that now but you will find someone who fits better to you than El. You’re not gonna become like your parents.”

Mike shook his head and looked down at his hands in his lap. “That’s not what I- Uhh forget what I said earlier, we’re not like Frodo and Sam. We’re just like… just Will and Mike, okay?”

Mike’s voice was heavy with emotions that Will couldn’t decipher and it squeezed at his heart that he wasn’t able to understand him. They used to be on the same page all the time, they had once shared one brain and got each other without words. But something was off. Had been for a while. And now Mike was just being weird. It was painfully obvious that something was off and it was killing Will that he didn’t know what.

“Okay?” he replied, scrutinizing Mike’s face that was still turned away from him. Just Will and Mike. That sounded good. He could work with that.

“What’s wrong?” Will asked carefully, not making sense of Mike’s weird behaviour.

Mike didn’t answer. But at least he finally lifted his head to face Will again. Nervousness and something like… fear etched into his features. Then he turned to look out at the sunset again. All that was left was a dull red lining , barely perceptible behind the spiralling translucent particles that still hung in the air.

Mike’s voice was quiet and raspy when he spoke again: “What if this is the last time the sun sets?”

Will held his breath. He didn’t know if Mike meant that literally or metaphorically or however else he could mean it. But his question carried so much emotion it was almost too much to bear, it felt like the seams of the little room were bursting with all the emotions in Mike’s voice.

Will could relate to the way Mike was feeling, though. He had somehow felt the same thing earlier. When he had finished the painting, used up the black pencil, his fingernails almost scratching the paper in his last strokes.

“It kinda feels like it, doesn’t it?”

Mike’s eyes were still fixed on the horizon.

“I’m sick of wondering every day that maybe it’s the last. I’m sick of being scared every day that the next day someone will be taken or cursed or- or killed,” Mike said with an unsteady voice,

“When we saw Davis die, I- I couldn’t shake the thought that that could’ve been you. Every day I’m scared that he might take you next. I don’t want anything to happen but it also terrifies me when nothing happens. Because I can’t just sit here and wait for the worst.”

Will blinked away the tears that started forming at his best friend’s words.

“On the other hand,” Mike swallowed hard, “it made me realize some things.”

“What things?”

Mike looked up and his eyes met Will’s. In his dark irises, Will could make out the reflection of the very last sunlight of tonight’s dusk.

“Some things about myself and life and what I- what I want in life.”

Something in Mike’s eyes was making Will breathless. Making him unable to speak. It was like an unspoken question. But Will knew neither the answer to that question nor the question itself.

“If this were to be our last day, I would regret not having done something,” Mike’s voice was now barely more than a whisper. But they were so close, it didn’t matter.

Will found his voice again: “Why don’t you do it then?” he asked, somehow feeling like this was really important. Something about this was really important.

“I think I’m right about something,” Mike whispered, “but if I’m not, I might destroy everything,”

“Destroy what?” Will whispered back.

Mike hesitated.

“Us.”

Will blinked. Everything in him was screaming that this was not what he thought it was. That Mike didn’t mean what Will thought he meant. But a little feathery voice in his chest whispered that maybe it did. What if Mike was like him? And that was why him and El hadn’t worked out, why he didn’t want a happy ending with a wife and kids, why would sometimes look at Will like he was something precious. All their warm smiles and brief touches, sweet words and reddened cheeks. Was there a possibility that this had been requited all along? No, Will couldn’t believe it, he surely had to be dreaming. Or was this some sick joke Vecna played on him?

“I think you should do it,” Will breathed before he could overthink whatever this situation was, intoxicated by Mike’s eyes that were dark and deep like abysses.

When said eyes suddenly dropped to somewhere lower on Will’s face, his heart started rabbiting in his chest and his lungs were suddenly short of air. Did Will only imagine this or was Mike inching closer? His eyes snapped back up to meet Will’s, a silent question written on them, before they dropped back to Will’s lips. Was this possible? Will was shaking all over, adrenaline shooting through his whole body. But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, rather like the uncertainty before unwrapping a Christmas present.

Mike was moving agonizingly slow and Will was still frozen in place. Their faces were now so close that Will could feel Mike’s breath on his lips. It was exhilarating.

There was no way this was happening.

No fucking way.

Was Michael Wheeler about to kiss him? The thought alone sparked fireworks in his stomach. Will’s mind was racing with thoughts, trying to figure out if he was somehow misinterpreting this situation.

If this were to be our last day, I would regret not having done something, Mike had said. What if this was their last day. What would Will do if this was the last time they sat like this.

And before Will could change his mind, he surged forward and sealed his lips with Mike’s.

The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was how the last glint of the sunset that reflected in Mike’s eyes, ceased. And the only thing left was the endless darkness of Mike’s irises that melted into the darkness of Will’s eyelids falling shut.

Mike’s lips were warm to the touch and a bit chapped. As soon as Will had sealed their lips, Mike’s breath hitched, ghosting against Will’s cheek, and he realized that he had no idea what he was doing. Oh my god, he was kissing Mike. Mike’s rough lips on his reminded him how real this was.

Will started panicking. Maybe he got this all wrong. Maybe he had read the situation wrong. Why the hell did he think Mike was going to kiss him?? What was he doing?

He was just about to pull away when Mike’s lips started carefully moving against his.

Will thought he had to explode. All his nerves were tingling with electricity as Mike pressed deeper into the kiss.

Mike was kissing him.

Mike.

Was kissing him.

Him.

Kissing.

Jesus Christ.

He tried to mirror what Mike was doing and was rewarded with an encouraging hum that reverberated from Mike’s lips through Will’s whole body, setting every inch of him on fire.

Mike’s hand came up to cradle Will’s neck, his thumb lazily caressing the underside of his jaw, where it sparked goosebumps to spread even though Mike’s hand was almost unbearable warm.

He used his hand to gently angle Will’s head so that their lips were siding together more easily and Will had to swallow an embarrassing noise that had almost made its way out of his throat.

He realized he didn’t know what to do with his hands, they were still folded in his lap next to his drawing. He hesitantly lifted his hand to cup Mike’s cheek like he’d seen in movies. Mike pulled away and for a second Will was scared he had done something wrong. But Mike stayed inches away from Will’s face, breathing heavily, and Will realized his lungs were also thankful for the oxygen. He felt Mike’s breath hot on his lips and he had opened his eyes, staring deeply into Will’s. There were red and black smudges on Mike's cheek where he had cradled his face with his color stained hands. But he'd worry about that later.

“Was that okay?” Will whispered into their shared space. Just to make sure.

Mike didn’t reply and instead pulled Will back in with the hand that was still cradling his neck and Will huffed in surprise, but was cut off by their lips slotting together. He felt Mike’s lips stretch into a grin against his, which made the kiss a bit awkward but he didn’t care because at the same time it was the best fucking thing in the world: Mike Wheeler giddily smiling against his lips. The wings of the butterflies in Will’s stomach were grazing his rip cage in a pleasant way at every of Mike’s movements, tickling him from the inside.

Will’s hand had slid from Mike’s cheek to his scalp where he buried his fingers into the mess of raven curls, pulling Mike closer and deeper into the kiss, even though they could impossibly get even closer.

When they separated again to catch their breaths, Mike was still stupidly grinning, crinkles forming by his eyes and Will gladly returned the fond look.

“I don’t remember Frodo and Sam doing this in the books,” Mike said with a smirk. Will snorted and used his hand that was already on Mike’s cheek to playfully shove Mike’s face away.

“You’re such a dork! We just kissed and that’s the first thing you say?” Will exclaimed.

Mike giggled and caught Will’s wrists to stop him from pushing him away.

“Eeyy, we just kissed and the first thing you say is that I’m a dork??” he complained with a pout that made Will’s eyes get caught on his red, kiss-swollen lips. He felt the heat rise to his face. That was because of him. Because he had kissed Mike. Because Mike liked him back!!

No matter how many times he had thought how wrong or unnatural all of this was, in this very moment he couldn’t imagine anything that felt more natural. More real. He had discarded the thought that this was just a dream or Vecna’s work. This could never feel so real, Will hadn’t felt this whole in like… forever.

And suddenly everything made sense. Every doubt that Mike could never like him back felt ridiculous. Because why would things not be this way, when this is clearly how they were supposed to be. It made sense why Mike and El hadn’t worked out. Why Mike had always been different to him than to his other friends. Why Mike had never been interested in any female celebrities and preferred reading comic books with Will instead of talking about girls. It explained some of their stupid fights and Mike’s weird behaviour, it explained why Mike was a bit off after Lucas had said…

“Oh my god,” Will said and broke out in a fit of giggles.

Mike’s eyebrows shot up in confusion, a befuddled lopsided smile playing on his lips. “What?” he asked and tugged at Will’s wrists to make him stop, “What’s so funny?”

Will sighed after the last fit of giggles had shook his body.

“Oh my god,” he repeated, and with a devilish grin he added: “You do have a crush on Arnold Schwarzenegger!”

Will knew he was right when colour shot into Mike’s cheeks and the boy buried his head in the crook of Will’s neck, groaning in embarrassment, “Oh, shut up! The movie is good!”

“We should watch it together some time,” Will decided.

“No way, you’re just gonna make fun of me.”

“I would never…”

Mike chuckled with his head still fitting into the space between Will’s shoulder and neck like two puzzle pieces that were made for one another. He didn’t reply and just pressed a quick kiss to Will’s neck who giggled at the unexpected sign of affection.

Mike’s hands that were still clasped around Will’s wrists, slid down to Will’s palms and he intertwined their fingers.

“When did you know?” Will asked.

Mike sat back up and scrutinized their joined hands with a pondering look.

“I think when you almost died, I slowly started realizing that I couldn’t imagine living without you. That every time I imagined my future, you were there with me.”

Will’s heart swelled with fondness.

“Also, El was a big help, but don’t tell her. She kinda just came up to me and asked if I was gay and when I said no she pretty much told me I was an idiot and convinced me that I in fact am gay.”

“So you are?”

“How many times do I have to kiss you to make that clear?” Mike asked with a grin.

“Not that I would complain. But I just meant, y’know… you can like both too.”

Mike sighed but his smile didn’t falter, “I’m not like a hundred percent sure what I like, but I know that I really like you.” He accentuated his last word with a chaste kiss to Will’s lips who had turned into a flustered mess.

“I really like you too,” Will whispered with a sheepish smile.

“Is that so?” Mike quipped and Will couldn’t help but shut him up and kiss away that smug grin until Mike toppled back onto the mattress with a squeal. He didn’t protest, though.

They made out until the darkness had reached every corner of the room and they fell asleep, tangled up in each other.