Chapter Text
Mike’s past weekend has been eventful to say the least.
He wasn’t put off by Will’s sudden appearance at his window. He was more intrigued than anything, especially by Will’s new look and overall attitude.
Appearance was the first thing Mike noticed when Will was squatting outside of the bedroom glass. He didn’t have the typical dark under eyes of a vampire, but he did have the pearl skin, and of course, the red eyes. It was definitely a shift from Will’s medium-contrast features, specifically his tan skin, but Mike thought it was sick. He looked gothic. There was something about his eyes, the way that sat a little more open. It was sort of enchanting.
The second thing Mike noticed was the difference in Will’s personality, and his overall presence. He was much more observant in that silent type of way, and he’s made it clear that when he doesn’t have blood, he becomes agitated.
He was definitely in a worse mental state, that would be obvious to even a stranger. However, it wasn’t just his tears that sparked suspicion in Mike, it was the way Will held onto him and cried into his shoulder. His fingers dug into Mike’s skin as if Mike himself was the only thing keeping Will on Earth.
That was another thing, Will was clingier. When the Byers family lived in Hawkins, Mike always found himself being the clingier one, especially when they were younger.
Something was different that night Will arrived. Will had never clasped at him like that before. He’d seen Will through tears, he’d helped Will through tears. Will had just never been so physically forward as he was in his two breakdowns. He’d never reached out to embrace Mike like that. Like Mike was his sole anchor to the world.
It wasn’t just purely physically touching, too. He was always near Mike. Mike never seemed to mind that, though.
Seeing Will, talking to him, connecting with him, made Mike miss him more. He missed Will like Will himself wasn’t there in the room with him at the moment of his longing.
He missed Will for the sake of his past self and even current self. There were so many memories Will could’ve had with Mike in the past year. There are so many memories to be made that they no longer get to experience together. Every time Mike’s with him now, he’s on the clock, even with Will living in his house. Will is inevitably going to go back home one day, and Mike will once again not see him for a year.
The alarm clock’s robotic beeping woke Mike up that morning, like it did every weekday. Mike rolled over, eyes still closed, and aimed in the general direction of the clock. He was already half-awake before the noise, he simply didn’t want to accept his fate yet.
Mike curled back up into his spot, pulling the comforter back over himself. He expected to feel Will‘s weight indenting the bed, but he was met with nothing. Mike pressed his body up with his right palm. He cocked his head over to Will’s designated spot on the right side of the bed, he was gone, must’ve left earlier.
Mike enjoyed Will’s body next to him these past three nights. It was comforting, cramped, but comforting. Mike forgot what it was like to actually sleep next to someone, to feel the bed move when they shift, and wake up beside them to be greeted with messy hair.
The one thing he did miss was the heat. You can feel heat radiate off of any normal human. This was not the case for Will.
Mike was up within minutes. Will’s absence had startled him to the point that he couldn’t fall back asleep. Plus, it’s always nice to get an early start in the morning. He’d been late getting out of the door almost everyday since November.
While changing, he caught himself in the mirror. He almost forgot about the bite. It wasn’t sore or anything, actually it didn’t hurt at all except when pressure was applied. Mike didn’t expect it to hurt much, though, Will is a gentle person.
If Mike’s running earlier than usual, he’ll catch his sister in the bathroom doing her hair or makeup. Generally, she either ignores him or tells him his outfit is bad. She chose ignorance today.
The band-aids were barely visible, being cloaked by the fabric of his shirt. Still, it would be best to cover them with his hand just in case Nancy catches it and wants to prod. It’s not like he had to keep it up for that long, Mike really only goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
By the time Mike went downstairs, it was still far too early to leave the house. His early-rising mother was already downstairs drinking coffee, and watching the news. They greeted each other briefly. He couldn’t really care about the interaction, though. His one concern was Will, who he still had not seen since last night.
Mike’s immediate thought was the basement. It had to be the basement, right? If it wasn’t Will was probably somewhere out of the house which is even more troubling.
Mike’s hand turned the metallic knob. A distinct creak rang out as the door slid open. It was low and raspy, following Mike’s slow opening.
Of course, Will was there on the couch. He was hugging his knees, and looking up at Mike. Figures, with his enhanced senses, Will knew he was coming before Mike’s hand even touched that knob. Mike took a slow stride down the stairs. Will watched him intently with knitted eyebrows, and big hazel eyes that were searching Mike restlessly.
Before Mike’s trailing foot even touched the basement floor, Will was up. In the blink of an eye, Will’s hands were on Mike’s shoulders. They tugged at his left sleeve, an attempt to reveal his covered bite.
“How’s your bite?” Will panicked, looming over the shoulder. Unlike the past few days, he didn’t take one single moment to look Mike in the eyes. In fact, he was seemingly fixated on those four crossed Band-aids.
Before Mike could even respond, Will jerked his hands back like Mike had some sort of super contagious virus. Now, he was staring at Mike. The thing was, Will looked terrified. His wide, shaky eyes flickered down to his hand in a regretful manner.
It seemed to be getting increasingly harder to read Will.
Mike tried his hardest to calm Will’s anxious, jumpy mood. “The bite is fine. I don’t even feel it.” He rubbed his shoulder, now hoping to find an answer for his question. “Why weren’t you in— Why didn’t I see you this morning?” His tone wasn’t defensive or accusatory, but rather soft. It was almost whisper-like.
Will responded blandly. “Couldn’t sleep,” he shrugged, stepping further away from Mike until he was back sitting on the couch. “I left at four-ish.”
“Oh,” Mike chuckled dryly, “You must be tired.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
”Will, do you…” Mike stumbled over his words. He’d had this idea since yesterday, even mentioned it offhand, but it still was a little odd. “Do you want to come to school with me? Only if you want, but— well, I’m sure they’d let you in I mean this one girl’s cousin came and—“
”—I’m good,” Will replied stoically.
Mike’s eyebrows curved. Maybe he was wrong about Will being clingier. He hadn’t even attempted to make contact with Mike this morning, even though he definitely knew Mike was up. Maybe Mike was just misinterpreting things, or centering himself like he’ll do from time to time.
The whole thing was a bit of a bummer for Mike. He felt silly for it, but he really wanted to show Will his new school. How he’d adjusted to it, the new friends he’s made, his favorite teachers, all of that. He wanted to show him even the small things, like which fountain has the coldest water, or which bathrooms the cleanest.
Maybe he just wanted it to feel like Will was back at school with him, like they were together in Hawkins together again.
”Oh,” Mike said, “Okay.” Hellfire club was today, Will said he might come to that, didn’t he? If Mike was being honest, that was one of if not the biggest reason he wanted Will to come. He knew that Will would love a club like that. “Will you come to Hellfire at least? I can’t remember the last time we played D&D together.”
Will’s eyes lit up, a small, barely noticeable smile tugged at his lips. “Yeah, sure.” In a sort of refreshing way, this took Mike aback. Will was so unpredictable this morning, it was just nice to have things go according to plan.
“Cool, cool,” Mike let his mouth curve upwards as well. “So, do you want me to come back and get you? The walk to the high school isn’t super far, but it’s over a mile.”
”You don’t have to do that,” Will was seemingly a bit more cheery, a contrast to him just a minute ago. He was still much more soft-spoken than he was just the night before. “The walk would be too long. I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
“You’re not intruding,” Mike’s expressive hands flailed in an attempt to ease Will. “If you don’t want me to come you can… run over I guess? You do move fast.”
”I shouldn’t be seen running around in broad daylight.”
”Right,” Mike agreed.
Will shrugged, averting his gaze. “I’ll bike or something.”
“If you say so,” Mike shrugged.
For a moment, he stood there wondering if he should approach Will. Something was so off. Maybe it was the way he sat with legs stuck to the ground, his head hunched over, and his hands intertwined with one another. Maybe it was how frightened and anxious he looked.
His decision was interrupted by Nancy’s yelling from upstairs.
“Just because you woke up early doesn’t mean you don’t have to pack your shit. If you want to be early, we’re leaving in ten.”
Mike gestured awkwardly to the stairs, “That’s my cue. See ‘ya at three?”
”Yeah, yeah,” Will nodded, finally tilting his head back up to Mike’s.
· · ─ ·ྐ❤︎· ─ · ·
Mike Wheeler did not like high school. His outlook? It was middle school with bigger bullies and harder classes. The only plus was the few cool friends he’s made.
Unfortunately, having only a handful of people you tolerate (half of them not being freshmen) makes classes a pain in the ass. Almost every time he somehow managed the wind up with a seat right next to the popular girl. She would always say “Ewww” when paired with him. It was the popular girl or the jock douche, of course, the ‘peak in high school’ type.
Today specifically was a day he was trying to fast forward through. His average high school day was a bleak, dark tunnel with one hold for light. That hole was lunch. Of course, the light at the end of the tunnel was the end of the day.
Sometimes, the end of the day included Hellfire. Hellfire Mondays only came every other week, these pop-ups were always a nice addition. Usually they were a pleasant surprise, but Mike couldn’t be more revved up for the session today.
Recently, the club took a short break from their semester-long campaign to do a mini-campaign. The previous campaign was incredibly stressful, there were just so many ‘too close for comfort’ moments. Eddie thought the lightweight mini-campaign would be a good alleviator. Mike, however, was never one to pass up a challenge, and he’d been itching to pick up where they left off.
By 11:30, Mike had reached that spot of light found in the middle of the day.
Lunch was a breath of fresh air. Yes, you have to surround yourself with popular assholes, but you aren’t required to talk to them, rather you are a subject to their dirty looks.
He walked to lunch with Dustin like he always did, and plopped down at the Hellfire table with his school food in hand. Naturally, Eddie was going off about something to Jeff, Gareth, and Danny.
”—And the thing is, the guy can’t play! And this guy is trying to give me advice, treating me like I'm a toddler that doesn’t know open G.”
Cool, he’s talking about guitar. Mike wasn’t very good, barely being able to stitch a few chords together, but Eddie’s hands skated across the strings beautifully. Embarrassingly, he was the reason Mike learned how to play the guitar in the first place. Mike swore his life changed the day Eddie brought one of his guitars to Hellfire.
Mike and Dustin were acknowledged with nothing more than a warm glance upon sitting down. The other boys at the table were too busy responding for them to receive a proper greeting.
Mike, tired of waiting for them to stop talking, eventually got his own words out. “Oh, uh… Hey Eddie?” The table went quiet, five pairs of eyes now staring directly at him. “I was just wondering, like… Could my friend from out of town join the campaign today? Just for one day, it’ll be short.”
”Will wants to play now?” Dustin butted in, not allowing Eddie to respond.
Mike rolled his eyes. “What? Are you going to get mad at me about this, too?”
”No,” Dustin’s defensiveness spiked at Mike’s sudden aggression. “I actually think it’ll be good for him.”
”Wait, wait, wait,” Eddie interrupted, his hands up in the air as if commanding silence. “When you say ‘Will’ are you referring to the Will?”
“Uhh yeah,” Mike forgot about his habit of bringing Will up. “He’s in town.”
The truth is Mike, and Eddie have had multiple conversations mentioning Will. This was anything from offhand comments about Will to Mike full-on in depth explaining the traits and hobbies of Will Byers. Mike was acting like the idea of Will was a stranger when it literally wasn’t.
Eddie’s smile radiated pure excitement. “I would’ve said ‘yes’ to whoever honestly, but I actually am really excited to meet this guy! The more the merrier, am I right?”
”Mhm,” Mike nodded. “It’s just, he’s a little shy, so don’t like… come on too strong or anything.”
Eddie saluted, ”I will try my hardest, Wheeler.” At least Eddie will finally have someone to rival his D&D knowledge. Although, Mike wasn’t sure how long it had been since Will had played.
“I didn’t know Will was feeling better,” Dustin spoke even though the conversation had already been over for almost a minute.
”Yeah,” Mike replied, “He’s all good now.”
“What was it?”
Internally, Mike froze. Will hadn’t explained the minutiae of his “illness,” but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it was related to him and blood.
“He had uhhh… food poisoning.” Mike hurried to get out a sound enough lie, “It was pretty bad.”
”Oh, well I’m glad he’s feeling better,” Dustin said, moving back to his food.
· · ─ ·ྐ❤︎· ─ · ·
Mike almost ran out of his final period. At lunch, he told Dustin not to meet him after class, explaining he was going to meet Will outside.
Lucas couldn’t come, he explained this very clearly to Mike and Dustin on their walk to history. “Sometimes you have to make decisions for your future at school and beyond,” “Guys, we’ll all be popular!” The typical schtick for him nowadays. This was better for Will, though, he could step into the session easily.
When that bell did ring, Mike was outside in seconds. People pushed through him, trying their best to get on their bus or into their car, but he didn’t care. He was going to finally show the highlight of his high school to Will, he would get to share it with him.
Mike was an idiot waiting for over fifteen minutes in the February cold.
Did Will forget? Why wasn’t he here? Will wouldn’t just bail after promising to come, Mike was sure of it.
People had filtered out by now, no one was walking along the concrete or carpooling with their friends. The only living soul in an uncomfortably large radius was Mike Wheeler.
Mike was pondering going inside by the twenty minute mark, when his nose started running and his cheeks were pink. Sure, it wasn’t that cold, around forty degrees fahrenheit. And yes, it wasn’t January level cold, which Mike should be grateful for, but the ends of his fingertips were still numb. Mike as of late had subscribed to the idea that jackets weren’t cool, that didn’t help.
That’s when he saw a glimpse of Will in his peripheral. He wanted to be mad, fuming at Will for being twenty whole minutes late. In reality, he felt like a toddler at the sight of candy, practically jumping up and down. Didn’t show it though, couldn’t.
Will waved to Mike with a loose hand, Mike returned it. They were around sixty feet away, Mike quickly closing the gap.
“Will!” He exclaimed, now close enough to make out Will’s less prominent features like the mole on his upper lip. “Why’re you late?”
”I’m late?” His eyebrows raised concernedly.
Oh, misunderstanding. Of course. “Yeah, high school ends earlier, remember?”
”Oh,” Will’s eyes turned to Nancy’s bike, the one he was busy parking on the bike rest. “I’m sorry. I hope you didn’t wait on me long.”
Mike chuckled, ”Only twenty minutes.” His comment genuinely had no malice, but Will seemed to take it another way.
”Twenty minutes? Were you out here the whole time?”
”It wasn’t bad.” Mike’s best attempt at being nonchalant.
“At least you got to wait in nice weather,” Will said, fiddling with the now hung bike. “Do you have a bike lock?”
”I don’t necessarily just keep one on me,” Mike teased, Will didn’t entertain it. “It’s fine, Will. You can take it inside, there’s not gonna be anyone in the halls. Or leave it here, I bet no one will steal it.”
He shrugged, “Guess I’m taking it inside.”
Maybe Will was finally out of that morning slump. He was laughing, and chatting with Mike like yesterday finally. Guess it was just morning grumpiness.
There was one weird thing, though. He wouldn’t touch Mike, like at all. They brushed shoulders in the hall, and he jumped back like he just touched fire. The following was him turning his head in what Mike could only presume was embarrassment. If Will really needed to tell Mike he smelled, he could just tell him, he wouldn’t be that offended.
The two of them were now facing the door to Hellfire. Mike peered at Will quickly, he was looking up at the number on the door. Mike tried to make out his expression, but it was unreadable. Excitement? Nervousness?
“You excited?” Will inhaled sharply at Mike’s abrupt question, and quickly cocked his head over.
He smiled, a small, optimistic smile. “Yeah, I am actually. It’s been, what, a year since I’ve played D&D?”
“Yeah. More than a year, I think.”
Mike’s mind couldn’t help but flicker old memories of the Party playing in his basement. He missed it, being so young. That was before they ever had these otherworldly responsibilities, it was before Will even went missing in the first place.
Was it weird he preferred those nights in the basement over Hellfire? They were both fun, of course, but the memories in his basement were just so warm.
Mike didn’t knock, opting for a swift turn of the doorknob. He was met with four bored faces, all in a circle around the specialized game table. At the noise, they turned up at him, their expressions changing from disinterested to pissed.
”Mike? Where were you? We’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes to start,” Gareth barked, arms crossed around his waist.
“We thought you left,” Eddie was a bit more moderate, albeit still angry. “Where’s Will?”
”Hi,” Will swiveled behind Mike, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. His hand was raised in a weak wave.
Eddie grinned widely at the sight of the still-adjusting Will. “This must be the man, the myth, the legend, Will Byers!” He skipped over to Will, grabbing him by his shoulder and patting him on the back aggressively, Will remained stiff as styrofoam. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he smirked, one hand on each of Will’s shoulders.
”You have?” Will’s head whipped over to Mike, he was wearing that puzzled expression that Mike found himself loving. Mike, through red cheeks, shot Will an embarrassed smile, and slowly sat down at the game table. Now he knows Mike’s been talking about him, which is not awkward at all.
”Alright, what class are you?” Eddie asked.
“Right.” Will dug into his pocket, shuffling around until he found a piece of paper. It was only then that Mike realized Will was wearing clothes. “Was I supposed to bring a character sheet?”
Will held the sheet up to Eddie who yanked it out of his hands and began examining it. “A wizard. Very nice.”
Will chuckled, “yeah I usually play as a wizard or cleric.”
“Can we start?” Jeff chimed in, waiting eagerly at the table. “We’ve been waiting forever.”
”Yes, yes, of course.” Eddie pranced back over to his specific spot at the table, as Will took a seat near where he was standing, which was across the table from Mike. “As we all know, Sinclair cannot join us today. Nevertheless, we must continue our campaign. Our substitution for Sinclair will today be ‘Will the Wise.’”
Mike couldn’t help but smile when he heard that name, it brought back so many old memories. He hadn’t heard ‘Will the Wise’ in ages, the last time he heard it had to be at least a year ago. Crazy.
· · ─ ·ྐ❤︎· ─ · ·
Will must’ve been the happiest there that he had been since he’d arrived. He was laughing, shouting, “ooing” at the hits, and gasping at suspense. Will was doing so well with all these new people, it captivated Mike. At almost every moment of that game, Mike was looking at Will. Somewhere in those lit up eyes he saw the Will from four years ago, and in that same lense, he saw himself four years ago.
Mike was so focused on Will that he didn’t notice Dustin practically dissecting him with his eyes all session.
Dustin approached him on their scheduled five minute break. He practically ran to Mike, already at his chair before Mike could get up and move to the other side of the table to talk to Will.
If a normal person wanted you to accompany them for a one-on-one chat they would ask politely, maybe tell you the urgency of the conversation. Not Dustin, who did nothing else but yank Mike out of his chair and drag him outside the classroom.
“Ow, ow, oww! You’re hurting my arm,” Mike howled as Dustin slammed the door shut.
“Can I check something real quick?” Dustin asked.
Mike, still puzzled, replied reluctantly. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”
Without further explanation, Dustin pulled back at the fabric on Mike’s shirt, revealing the four cross-hatched bandages Will had so kindly put on last night. Well, fuck.
While Dustin glanced quickly between Mike’s horrified face and exposed shoulder, Mike’s initial response was to lock in place. By the time Dustin started picking at the bandage, Mike finally snapped out of his adrenaline trance and fought back.
Mike moved away from Dustin. His right hand gripped his left shoulder in an attempt to shield his wound. His free hand moved to Dustin, attempting to hold him back even though Dustin wasn’t trying anything.
“Hey, don’t pick at those! Will put them on!” Mike yelled.
Oops. Maybe not the best response.
Dustin is smart, he had to have figured it out by now. So why wasn’t he mad?
Why was he laughing?
“I thought it was weird you had a Band-aid on your shoulder that you didn’t want to talk about,” Dustin grinned after his session of chuckling. “You’re usually so dramatic about every injury. I thought, ‘Why don’t we know about Mike’s mysterious cut or bruise’ or whatever the hell.”
”I fell,” Mike replied coldly. “It’s not very eventful. I don’t know what you want to hear.”
”Mike,” Dustin raised an eyebrow, “You don’t fall and hit your inner-shoulder. And now, Will’s all of the sudden all better, and here, and everyone’s fine and dandy except wait!” Dustin once again yanked at Mike’s shirt, “You’re covering two small ‘cuts’ now that just so happen to be the same distance apart that canines are. “Will, bit you, didn’t he?”
Mike could’ve just ended his life then and there.
His first instinct was to deny. To say, “Nope! Not true!” And continue with that falling story. Knowing Dustin, that wouldn’t work. It would really only dig Mike into a deeper hole than the millions of feet deep one he had already fallen into.
“Yeah,” Mike whispered, rubbing the spot he was bit. “Yeah, Will bit me.”
Dustin began cackling again, Lord, he was insufferable sometimes. “God, this is just too good. We have to tell Lucas about this, right?”
Before Mike could even roll his eyes, Dustin was moving him to the gym Lucas was practicing in. Together they glided past lockers and water fountains until they reached the heavy door that shut the gym out from the rest of the world. Luckily, it was cracked open, so Dustin wouldn’t have to walk in and embarrass himself.
Dustin tried his hardest to catch Lucas’ attention from the door. It started as facial expressions, yet quickly escalated to him full on flailing his arms around.
When Lucas finally did see Dustin, he made a slightly annoyed expression, dropped the basketball in his palm, and raised his hand.
”Coach, can I go to the bathroom?” He asked.
”Make it quick, Sinclair.”
Mike, and Dustin moved to the other side of the hallway to make sure Lucas couldn’t be seen lying to his teacher. The door swung open, and he searched the hallway for a moment before spotting the other two.
”What?” He asked, his tone signaling this had to be over soon. He was covered in sweat, and honestly smelled a bit.
”Lucas, you’re not gonna believe this.” Dustin’s hands were getting more expressive by the minute.
”What?”
”Will bit Mike.”
It was as if a bomb had dropped in Lucas’ mind. He paused, his mouth widening as he processed the information. ”What!?” He whispered-screamed, an attempt to be expressive and loud.
”Yup, look at the bandages.” As if it was already routine, Dustin propped Mike up. He treated him as if he was a doll, holding him by the neck, as he exposed the four pieces of sticky fabric Mike was regretting by the minute. Mike was tempted to just bolt out of there, anything would be better than this humiliation.
Lucas’ eyebrows creased, ”God, this is really bad. Why are you smiling?”
”It’s not bad— Well it is— but more so, it’s funny,” Dustin replied.
”No it’s not! You know what happens when a vampire bites a human, right?”
”They become less hungry?” Mike responded.
”No! The person becomes a vampire! It’s like the first rule!” Lucas was practically jumping out of his skin for something that wasn’t that big of a deal. He was making it seem like some threat of nuclear war as if it’s not just some bite. Will bit him. The plain truth is there’s no problem with it.
”Oh shit, Lucas you’re right.” Dustin commented, “Mike, what if you become a vampire?”
Mike butted in, ”Can we be done with this, please?”
”Whether something happens to you or not this will still have negative effects.” Lucas said sternly, Mike couldn’t care less.
”Like what?” Mike scoffed.
”Like— Think about Will. He’s never had human blood before. That’s gotta do something bad, right?”
”He’s gonna go back to drinking animal blood soon, this was just a one time thing,” Mike remarked. “I swear you guys are just making stuff up to have something to worry about.”
Lucas rolled his eyes, ”We’ll talk about this another time. My practice is almost over.”
”Oh, you should join us at Hellfire then.” Dustin chirped to him, “We’re probably not gonna go as long tonight, Eddie and Gareth have conflicts.”
”Nah, I’m too tired. I’ll come on Friday.”
Dustin, and Lucas waved their goodbyes, as Mike continued brooding in the corner like a wet cat. What were those two talking about anyway? Mike swore sometimes they just needed extra drama in their lives and found their new infinite source in Will. Whatever, at least it was finally over. What a waste of a break.
The two were back in the Hellfire classroom less than a minute later pretending that nothing had ever happened.
Will was no longer being swarmed. With the way he was hugging his knees, maybe he told the other guys to leave him alone. The absence of the other guys prompted Mike to go up and talk to him, yet after a few seconds, he stopped. Will’s eyebrows were knitted as he gnawed on his cheek. He was looking at the blank brick wall like he wasn’t in the Hellfire classroom at all, like he was away in his mind, somewhere else entirely. After a small moment of consideration, Mike decided it would just be better to sit down. One of the guys must’ve ticked Will off, better to give him space.
The thing was, Will’s anxiety didn’t leave him after a few minutes, and Mike noticed. It was everywhere, in his chewed nails, in the way Dustin had to remind him it was his turn on multiple occasions, in the way he was barely paying attention to Eddie. In turn, it put Mike in a mood of unease. Not only because Will was being weird, but because he didn’t know why Will was being weird. It was just like the morning again.
He was even odd when the Hellfire meeting wrapped up. While everyone said their goodbyes, and “see you tomorrow”s, Will stared at his feet, too busy twiddling his thumbs to look up. He half-waved for Dustin and that’s about it.
Mom was outside the building by the time the two had left. The cold air was biting at Mike’s cheeks, turning them in a shade of pale pink, but Will didn’t seem to be bothered.
Mike put Will’s bike in the trunk, (despite Will’s breathy murmurs of “It’s fine, Mike. I can do it myself”,) and the two got in the car.
The ride home was dead silent, interrupted occasionally by Mom’s questions about how school, and club was. To her displeasure, she was met with one word answers after asking both boys.
Will ran straight down to the basement the second the door swung open, not even bothering to tell Mike. By this point, Mike had become a detective trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with Will.
Maybe he was mad at Mike, but for what reason? Mike didn’t know what he’d done to piss Will off. Maybe it was a “vampire” thing, like he needs blood again? He’s was so confusing lately.
Mike couldn’t resist following him down those steps not even five minutes later. As the door cracked, his eyes caught Will. He was dead set on the carpet, yet managed to squeeze out a “Hi, Mike” without looking up.
“Hey,” Mike responded softly, making his way down the stairs. “Can we talk?” He asked, taking a seat next to Will on the couch.
”Yeah?” Will looked over at him, the first time he’d look up in a while.
“Well— and you’ll answer truthfully?”
”Mike, tell me,” Will said firmly, but still slightly quiet.
”I dunno…” Mike paused for a moment, contemplating on whether he should say anything at all. “It feels like you’ve been avoiding me all day.“
”What gives you that impression?” He sounded a bit offended, and by the way his eyebrows pinched, he looked it.
”I mean,” Mike hesitated, “You didn’t want to go to school with me, you were being weird at Hellfire, like, distant. You’ve just been off.”
Even Will’s breathing was silent. He heard Mike’s confrontation. Hell, he knows that Mike knows that he heard the confrontation. It was just avoidance.
Mike was never the silent type. ”Will, what is this about?”
”Am I becoming a monster?” Will asked, squeezing his left hand with his right. He didn’t sound like he was on the verge of tears, the tone of his voice stopped at slightly shaky and concerned.
Mike somehow managed to jump back while sitting down. ”What? What does that even… What?” Mike replied disconcertingly. What was Will talking about? It was stupid, absurd even.
”Didn’t you even listen to Dustin, and Lucas? I bit you Mike!” Will spat out fact after fact, yet Mike was barely even processing it, still making that baffled face he’s known so well for.
”So?” Mike questioned innocently.
”So? So, I was so hungry I couldn’t control myself, and I hurt you.”
”Will—“
”—Last night I had a dream about myself, my future self.” Will gulped, he sounded like he was walking through a minefield. “I-I don’t remember much, but I know I… I couldn’t control myself. I ate people, I killed people. I killed you, Mike. When I woke up, all this guilt rushed over me, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I wasn’t thinking when I drank your blood, Mike, and because of that I hurt you.”
Mike’s voice softened, along with his eyes, “You didn’t hurt me at all.”
The words did nothing to calm Will down, ”Mike you were bleeding! And-and I enjoyed it when you bled. I wanted it! The scariest thing is that I wanted it.”
”Will—”
”—I’m so worried.” Will’s head sat in his hands. “I’m worried about what I’ll do to you, about what I’ll do to others. I’m so scared of myself. I’m losing control, I don’t know what to do.” He wasn’t crying. In fact, his eyes weren’t even remotely wet. He was just tired.
”Will, I feel like you’re forgetting the fact that I let you bite me.” Mike replied sincerely, “And It’s not like you want to hurt people. When you bit me you didn’t hurt me, like at all. Besides, the fact that you’re feeling guilty tells me you’re definitely not some sort of evil demon.” Deep in his heart, Mike wanted to hold Will’s hand like when they were twelve. But they were twelve, and two teenage boys touching hands is just an odd line you don’t cross.
“The truth is,” Mike stated, “you just needed blood, and I was willing. It wasn’t unethical, it wasn’t dangerous, and it doesn’t make you a monster. The bite wasn’t even that painful, either. It was— it was kinda enjoyable.”
Will laughed, maybe at Mike’s response, maybe at how he was smiling like a complete idiot. “‘Enjoyable?’ You’re crazy Mike Wheeler.”
”Oh c’mon, you weren’t that bad.” Another random urge to touch Will hit him. Being his best friend, Mike always had weird thoughts about Will. “Oh, and, uh,” Mike started, “How did you know about Dustin, and Lucas?”
”I was watching.”
Okay, that was a little strange, especially the way Will delivered the sentence with a dead-eyed stare.
Then, Will laughed. A deep laugh. “Sorry,” he said in between breaths, “just had to see your reaction. But it is true, I was watching.”
Mike shrugged it off. Will’s become sneaky lately, anyway. Not him specifically, it was a byproduct of his turning.
For a moment, they just sat there quietly soaking up what just happened. The company was warm, similar to the comforting yellow lights Mike loved so much about the basement.
Well it was comforting, until Will interrupted.
“What’s going on between you and Eleven?” He asked innocently. The thing is, questions about El always tended to stress Mike out lately no matter what they were.
”What?” He nearly jumped back.
”You got to ask your question,” Will shrugged, “I get to ask mine.”
That’s when it clicked to Mike, Will really doesn’t know. I guess everyone has their secrets, even El. Maybe that’s what happens when you become a teenager.
”Oh my God…” Mike whispered into his palms.
”You haven’t mentioned her much. I guess I’m just confused because she’s your girlfriend and everything.” It seemed like Will was paying more attention to El in conversation than Mike was.
”Will, do you seriously not know?” Mike asked.
”What? Know what?”
”We…” Mike sighed deeply. The whole thing was so embarrassing. “We broke up.”
”What?!“ Talk about being stressed out, Will nearly fell off the couch.
”She seriously never told you?” Mike questioned.
”No? I mean, maybe my mom knows.” Will was so lost, in a ‘dumb-cute’ way. “Mike are you— Why did you break up?”
”I dunno.” Mike said casually, “It was like this whole dramatic thing over a letter. She broke up with me on paper.”
”And you don’t care? Mike it seems like you don’t care, and I know that’s not the truth.” Will was scratching at his skin with big eyes like this relationship had any tie to him.
”It’s not a real break up, Will,” Mike explained. In Will’s defense, he doesn’t know girls, and how they work. “Well, technically it is, but it’s like when she dumped me in middle school. It’s petty. I think… I think she knows we’re gonna get back together.”
“Huh?”
“That’s probably why she didn’t tell you. I mean, I already know how it’s gonna go. I’ll see her at the airport and shower her with flowers and some grand apology. It’ll be this big romantic profession, and I’ll say I care for her greatly. El loves romance movies, this is what she wants. She’ll accept my ‘sorry,’ I'll kiss her on the cheek or something, and we’ll be fine again.”
Mike was thinking out loud, mostly because he was avoiding any thoughts about El. The confrontation finally gave him a moment to actually gather himself.
Now that he pondered it though, he knew what he said would happen. Ever since they got together their relationship has sort of been this odd cycle.
”That’s pretty ambitious,” Will let out a little laugh.
“I promise you we’ve done it a thousand times.”
“Well…” Will looked away, “I’m glad you have it figured out.”
There was another moment of silence, but instead of soaking in their previous words, Mike’s brain almost instantly moved onto another topic.
That topic just so happened to be what Lucas and Dustin said to him just an hour or two ago.
Looking back, he should’ve been a bit more considerate of Lucas’ concerns.
“Will, am I gonna become a vampire?”
Mike was dead serious.
Will was keeling over laughing.
“Mike, are you joking?” He got up from his slouch after what felt like an eternity of ridiculing Mike.
”No, and I’m kinda worried.”
”You’re not gonna become a ‘vampire,’” Mike frowned at Will’s tone, he spoke to him like a child. “That’s not how it works. You become a vampire by drinking the vampire's blood.”
”No you become a vampire after you’re bitten, Will. That’s like common knowledge.” Mike scoffed.
“Okay, okay,” Will shushed, “either way you’re not a vampire.”
“And how do you know?”
Will gulped, ”You would know, trust me. Even before there were visible changes to my body, things felt… odd. It felt like… like my whole aura changed.”
Mike’s attention to their petty discourse disappeared. He became laser-focused to Will, and Will only.
”You know when you go to someone's house, and it has its own distinct smell?” Will continued, “It felt like I had a whole new smell, and all of my own internal furniture was crooked. It still does. Mike, trust me. You’re fine. Plus, I’d definitely be able to sense it if you changed in some way.”
Maybe Mike shouldn’t have told the vampire he was wrong about the topic of vampires.
”Oh,” Mike chuckled, “I guess when you say it like that it sounds kind of silly.”
”So, it’s all good now?”
”Yeah, all good.” Mike said strongly, “You?”
Will smiled softly, ”Better.”
”Okay,” Mike let out a long exhale, a deep breath after a long conversation. “I’m gonna do my homework.”
Mike stood up slowly, and stretched. As he began his route up the stairs, he didn’t look back. Still, something was off, a presence was behind him.
When he hit the top step, he finally turned his head. When his eyes adjusted, he couldn’t help but crack a smile.
Will was coming too.