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“Shit, in here, in here!” Mike gasps, turning right into the other room. He could feel his legs burning, arms straining and begging to let go of El, but he refused to do that. So he grit his teeth, helping her stand with the help of Max on the other side. He knew Max had to feel the same way as him, and she wasn’t giving up either.
And Eleven was worse off than either of them combined. Blood was still soaking her pants, and Mike could see how exhausted she was.
Mike quickly slipped out of El’s grip, rushing over to the elevator without thinking. “Okay, come on, come on.” Mike murmurs, eyes wide as he watched the screen above the elevator light up to show the elevator was coming down. Mike glances up at Eleven, both eyes wide with fear and panting.
“Billy?” Max hesitantly called out, and only then did Mike realise the redhead wasn’t with them anymore. Mike snapped his head towards her, rushing over to her and looking at Billy’s approaching form. He could feel his stomach turn in fear, colour draining from his face as he continued to walk towards them.
He looked bad, that was the only way Mike could describe him right now. There were black markings all over his body, and his face and body was shimmering with sweat, coating his white tank top. And his eyes were filled with no other emotion than anger, staring right at them as he continued to walk towards them with a slight limp.
“Max get El out of here,” Mike whispers, reaching for a pipe laying behind him, refusing to take his eyes off Billy.
“Mike-” Max started to protest, but Mike pushes Max towards El.
“Please go, I’ll hold him off. Get El to safety, she’s more important.” Mike could see Max wanting to protest, wanting to tell him that she wasn’t leaving, that Mike was important as well. But Mike was right, El was more important right now. If they got her, it was all over, for all of them.
Mike pulled the pipe up, pushing down the fear before attacking. He charges forwards, swinging the pipe as hard as he can. Billy tries to attack as well, but Mike quickly dodges, slamming the pipe as Billy, hitting the side of his arm. Billy doesn’t flinch, eyes darkening and turning to Mike.
The younger boy gulps, but he forces it back, swinging again. Billy just grabbed the pipe, as if it was nothing, and Mike could feel his eyes widen. The pipe was ripped from his hands, and he was barely fast enough to duck as Billy swung it at him.
He felt it as it flew past him, just missing him by mere inches, but Billy was faster, stronger, and as he ducked Billy punches him in the ribs before he can ground himself again. Pain washes over him, and he cries out barely fast enough before Billy grabs him tightly, throwing him at the wall.
His head slams against the pipes on the wall, and he sees black suddenly, crumbling down to the ground.
“MIKE!” He could hear El scream, and Mike blinks furiously, looking at the now open doors of the elevator. Max and El were inside, and Billy was looking straight at them. Mike acted without thinking, scrambling forwards and wrapping his arms around Billy’s leg just seconds before he wanted to run towards the girls.
There was a second of resistance, Billy tugging at him without realising Mike was holding on and Billy snapped his gaze downwards, letting out a low growl. Mike could feel his stomach twist but he held on, or at least, he tried to. Billy ripped his leg from his grip, whirling his head back to the elevator.
But it was enough, those few seconds were enough, and Mike was barely fast enough to see the elevator doors closing before his eyes. Max was holding El tightly, both girls staring at him with shock and clear regret. Billy jumps at the elevator, but he was too late, slamming into the material so hard it leaves a dent.
Mike gulps, and Billy doesn’t move for a few seconds, slamming his fists against the elevator. Then, a low growl escapes his throat, and he whirls around, staring at him with a glare. Mike tries to get up, he really tries, but his limbs didn’t seem to want to cooperate with him right now.
His head throbbed relentlessly and his ribs hurt too much, making breathing difficult.
And Billy was walking towards him.
“S-Shit-” Mike curses, scrambling backwards but he immediately slipped, crashing through the ground and Billy reaches out, grabbing his wrist tightly. “Argh!” Mike cries out, pain shooting through his wrist but his vision blurred dangerously, and his limbs flopped uselessly before he was pulled backwards.
Mike groaned, body shaking as he was dragged across the ground.
He tried to lift his arm, tried to fight back. But his vision blurred again, black spots attacking his vision and he could do nothing but allow himself to be dragged across the hallway, back towards the centre of the mall. Before Mike could even fully comprehend it he was thrown on the ground.
Billy was standing next to him, but he wasn’t looking at him, instead he was staring past him, eyes high up looking at something. Mike was almost too scared to look up, slowly tilting his head to the side and looking at where Billy was looking. And then, Mike almost wished he hadn’t.
Mike could feel his eyes widen, heart plummeting in his stomach as he watched the mind flayer crawl down from the torn roof. It crawled over to him, standing tall in front of him. Mike whimpered, but he was frozen on the spot, unable to move away from the monster staring down at him.
But before he could force himself to move, the mind flayer opened his mouth, a second tentacle coming out of its mouth and heading straight towards him.
Mike cries out in pain suddenly, hot pain flashing through his leg. Pain engulfed him, and he could feel his lungs squeezing painfully, and suddenly he was yanked off the ground. He cries out again, body flinging through the air until he was left hanging upside down, several feet above the ground.
The monster growled, lowering Mike until he was eye to eye with the monster.
Mike sobbed painfully, pain coursing through his body but he could only stare with wide eyes as he was brought up close with the monster, staring at him intently. He seemed to be thinking for a moment, and Mike briefly wondered if the mind flayer could think in the first place, but he didn’t have time to wonder.
“Eleven!” Billy suddenly boomed, voice low from the Mind flayer. “I know you can hear me.” He said, and Mike flinched at the voice. The pain in his leg was increasing by the second, and he felt lightheaded, hair being pulled down by gravity. He sobbed lowly, twisting pitifully in the grasp.
And Mike understood what the mind flayer was doing, draw El out by using him.
The mind flayer growled again, and Billy looked around, but El didn’t appear yet. Mike hoped she didn’t, he would never forgive himself if she got hu-
“AARG-” Mike cried out, body convulsing as pain shot through his body, another claw biting into his side. His scream rang through the mall, loud and full of pain, but he couldn’t stop himself. His entire body shook with pain, and he could barely distinguish the pain, his leg, his side, his ribs.
Everything hurt.
And then suddenly firework seemed to explode all around him, and Mike cries out again, but the sounds were drowned out by fireworks. Colours exploded around him, and the mind flayer screeched.
“Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!” He could hear someone yell. Another explosion, and suddenly he was jerked downwards, His heart jumped in his chest, and before he knew it the claw wrapped around his ankle was gone. He felt gravity take over, and he quickly smacked to the ground.
More fireworks were thrown, crackling loudly and exploding with colours. And Mike could only stare at it with wide eyes, shaking from the pain. He could feel blood leaking from his wounds, vision blurring constantly. He tried to get up, only managing to sit up but his legs just wouldn’t work.
“Hey, asshole! Over here!” Steve grunted, and another explosion rang through the court. Both the creature and Billy screamed in pain, and suddenly Mike realised just how close he was to Billy. He gasps, turning around and trying to scramble away, ignoring the pain radiating through his body.
But he didn’t get far, he cries out as Billy suddenly wraps his hand around his ankle, his bleeding ankle and he was jerked back. His arms gave out, body smacking on the ground but Billy didn’t care at all, pulling him back roughly. Billy pulled, twisting him onto his back and suddenly two hands were around his throat.
Heavy weight sat on top of him, pinning him down and Billy squeezed.
Mike gasps, hands flying to Billy’s hands and eyes widening. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe. Where were Joyce? Where were Hopper? They were supposed to close the gate, end this, where were they? They had to-
Another explosion, and Mike flinched. But all he could think about was the lack of air, the inability to breathe. He could feel himself clawing at Billy’s hand, scratching, kicking as much as he could, but Billy was too strong, had always been too strong for him even before being possessed.
Mike knew he stood no change but his body wouldn’t listen, could only fight.
And suddenly the hands around his throat were gone. Mike gasps for air, spluttering and heaving painfully, his hands flew to his throat, as if it would do anything. And he just lay there, gasping and trying to get enough air in his system. His chest expanded rapidly, head swimming as oxygen suddenly flooded his brain.
There was a cry of pain from the side, and Mike snapped his head to the side. Eleven crumbled to the ground, blood staining her forehead. Mike opened his mouth, tried to push a sound past his lips, her name, but he couldn’t seem to produce any sound at all, and he only caused more pain to himself.
Billy growled, still shaking with pain as more fireworks were thrown but he quickly advanced onto Max, slapping her hard. Max crumbled immediately, and Billy reached down, wrapping his hands around her throat as well. Mike wanted to scream, move, but he couldn’t, his mind swirled and for a moment all he could see was black.
“Billy,” Max’ voice was soft, pleading, and Billy suddenly seemed to still, hands loosening just slightly. “Billy please try to remember, it’s me, Max.” She pleads. Billy frowns slightly, straightening up a bit and staring down at Max.
“Remember that day when your dad- when I came in late and I-I.. your dad came to me.. started shouting, and you… you ran up to him, told me to get out of there.” Max whispers, almost too soft for Mike to hear it. “I didn’t want to go but you… you forced me to go, and the next morning you.. I saw the way you moved.. how you would hold your ribs, the bruise on your face.”
Billy was silent as Max spoke, tears glimmering in her eyes.
“You protected me that day… even though you said you hated me,” Her voice was slightly raspy. “I know you’re good Billy, I know you’re in there somewhere, please.” She was begging now, tears rolling down her cheeks. Billy was silent, watching him with similar tears in his eyes.
The fireworks stopped, and Mike gasps as the mind flayer turns to them, eyes, where were his eyes?, focused on Eleven. Billy stands up, staring up at the Mind Flayer.
Mike tried to scream, warn her, but all that came out was a pitiful rasp. And he could do nothing but stare in fear as El cried, scrambling backwards. Max rushes over to El, pushing Billy out of the way and standing in front of El, she wasn’t going to.. she wouldn’t let him hurt El, no matter what.
Billy stares at Max for just a few seconds, but Max wasn’t focused on him, could only stare at the Mind Flayer as he reached out with the bloody tentacle, shooting straight at her. Max shouts, arms thrown upwards as a way to defend herself and she closes her eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain.
But it never came…
Billy screams as he caught the claw in his hands, holding the Mind Flayer back. Max gasps in horror, but before she could react, more claws flew towards Billy. The older boy screamed in pain, hands falling uselessly at his side. It all seemed to happen so quickly… and then one shot straight through his chest.
“BILLY!” Max screamed, and black blood spew outwards. Billy sank to the ground, falling in a boneless heap. An explosion sounded, far away, too far away, and the Mind Flayer screeched loudly, scrambling backwards. He roared, slamming against the sides, the walls, the balconies.
And then it collapsed.
There was a silence, only the heavy breathing and the fire crackling was audible in the room. Mike gasps, and he could hear Max pleading, calling out her brother’s name, but the sounds suddenly sounded far away.
“Mike!” He could hear someone yell, but it felt faint. He struggled to blink his eyes open, looking at the blurry figure of his sister running towards him. Max was now crying in Lucas’ arms, sobbing next to the dead body of her stepbrother. Will was running towards El, both of them crying.
“Na-” Mike tries to rasp, hand twitching as he tries to lift it. Nancy immediately sinks to the ground, tears in her eyes as she takes his hand, squeezing it softly. Mike lets out a shuddering breath, a little bit of tension disappearing suddenly.
“Don’t talk you idiot,” Nancy whispers, tears streaming down her face. She sits down, gently lifting Mike’s head to rest on her lap. Mike whimpers softly. “Jonathan get something to stop the bleeding!” She orders as Jonathan runs at her. He doesn’t wait, nodding and rushing off to the side, the clothing store and grabbing the first shirts he could find.
Jonathan immediately rushed back, sitting down on his knees and watching Mike with guilt in his eyes.
“Where are you hurt?” He asks, and Mike lift his head just slightly.
“Leg,” He rasps, wincing in pain and just opting for lifting his free arm up and putting it on his side, feeling his hand stain with blood. Jonathan nods numbly, and Nancy looks up with teary eyes as Robin and Steve walk over to them. Robin was the first one to snap out of the shock of seeing a kid so injured, rushing to the other side.
“Steve, get some ice,” Robin says softly, taking one of the shirt from Jonathan and folding it up neatly. She looks between Mike and Nancy almost hesitantly, but Mike nods shakily. Robin nods back, ignoring how Steve sprints off to get the ice before carefully pulling up Mike’s shirt to reveal the wound.
Mike whimpers slightly in pain, and Nancy feels like bursting in tears, a sob stuck in her throat. It’s not too bad, it’s not that bad. She tries to tell her over and over again. Because Mike was clearly bleeding, and in a lot of pain, but the bleeding wasn’t bad, it wasn’t gushing blood.
But that didn’t make her less worried.
Robin sends him a look of guilt before pressing the clean shirt against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Mike hisses through his teeth, jerking upwards slightly and grasping Nancy’s hand tighter.
“You’re gonna be okay, just breathe,” Nancy murmurs, feeling her stomach turn at the tears rolling down Mike’s face. He was awake, and he was coherent for now. She lift her free hand, carting it through Mike’s hair, untangling the knots in them, feeling his hair tug in certain places.
And she watches silently as Jonathan, gently, takes off Mike’s shoe and sock, revealing a similar wound on his leg. He carefully presses the shirt against the wound, tying it around it. Mike cringes, turning his head away from his leg and burying it in Nancy’s leg, sobbing silently.
Nancy holds him close, feeling tears roll down her cheeks.
But neither of them had the time to react. Nancy sniffles, only able to look down at Mike with pained eyes. Steve was rushing back with the ice, handing it to Robin without saying anything. Robin wraps one of the shirts around it before placing it against Mike’s neck.
El was still being comforted by Will, and Lucas had dragged Max away from Billy’s body, holding her close.
And then soldiers stormed into the mall, guns drawn at them, running around the mall.
“Hands up!” They shout, and Nancy snaps her head up, eyes wide but she could only focus on Mike’s hand tightening around her hand.
“We’re American, don’t shoot!” Steve screams, bringing his hands up with wide eyes. The soldiers take one look at them, eyes roaming over everyone. The monster in the middle of the mall, the still body of Billy lying too close to them, Max crying in Lucas’ arms and El held by Will.
“We need medics in here,” One of the guards immediately called in, lowering his guns and walking over to them. “What happened here?” Mike closed his eyes for a moment, just focusing on Nancy being there for him. He faintly heard the rest of them explain to the military.
He just ignored it, clinging to Nancy as he tried to ignore the pain.
The mall soon filled with paramedics, rushing over to him, El and basically everyone that needed it.
“Don’t go,” Mike whimpers, reaching out for Nancy’s hand but Nancy shook her head.
“I’m not going anywhere, little brother.” She said, watching helplessly as Mike was helped onto one of the gurneys. Nancy glared at the paramedics, almost daring them to tell her she couldn’t go with Mike. But they didn’t, nodding as they strapped Mike onto the gurney.
“El,” Mike rasps, but El was already on her feet, heavily leaning against Will with a tired but concerned expression on her face.
“You’re hurt,” El whispers, walking over to him. Mike smiles softly, but couldn’t get himself to say anything more. His throat was burning, he just wanted to go to sleep.
“He’s going to be okay, El.” Nancy says softly. “I’m going with him to the hospital, can you stay with the rest until Joyce and Hopper come back and meet us there?” She asks, and El seemed hesitant for a moment, almost wanting to complain, refuse to leave Mike’s side and refuse him from leaving.
But Mike needed medical attention right now, and she knew he was in good hands.
So she reluctantly nodded, brushing against Mike’s free hand before taking a step back, allowing the paramedics to wheel Mike towards the nearest ambulance.
*
*
*
“Don’t go, please.” Mike whimpers, as if the last two times weren’t enough and Nancy was still going to leave him. But Nancy wouldn’t leave him even if the doctors ordered her to. So she stayed where she was, holding him tightly as the doctors cut away the shirts that were wrapped around Mike’s ankle and pressed on his side.
Mike winces slightly as the cold air hits his wounds, turning to Nancy instead. He suddenly felt young again, like he was suddenly reminded that he was still a kid, still Nancy’s little brother and too young for everything he had gone through. He was just 14 years old and had almost been killed so many times.
Too many times.
“I’m sorry I left you in the mall, Mike,” Nancy starts softly, because she needed to tell that, needed to get that off her chest. But it was also a way to distract her little brother as the doctor worked silently to stop the bleeding, before cleaning and disinfecting the wound carefully.
He takes a shuddering breath, looking at Nancy as a refusal to look at his own wounds.
“That wasn’t your fault,” Mike rasps, voice still painful to use and throat still throbbing. Nancy shakes her head, watching as the doctors readied a needle and a thread.
“It was, I shouldn’t have left you there,”
“Did you see the monster?” Mike retorts, coughing painfully. Nancy drags her gaze back to Mike as the needle pierces Mike’s skin, and he winces. Nancy knew they had given him sedatives to help with the pain, but it couldn’t be a comfortable feeling to have a needle pierce your skin.
“I did see the monster Mike, which is why I shouldn’t have left you. I’m sorry.” Nancy still tries, but Mike just sighs, opting to just give up for now. Also because his throat was still burning with a dull pain, luckily subdued by the pain medication. He takes a shuddering breath, and Nancy tightens her hand again.
They were silent as the doctors continued to stitch up Mike’s wounds, Nancy staying close the entire time.
*
*
*
There was a soft knock on the door, and Nancy glances up at the sound. There was a second of silence, where no one moved before the door was carefully pushed open. Nancy smiles gently as El pokes her head through the door, lifting a hand and gesturing for the girl to come in.
She shuffles in the room, Hopper following closely.
Nancy could see El limping slightly, Hopper watching her intently and with worry as she made her way to the side of Mike’s bed. Nancy smiles encouragingly shifting slightly. Mike mumbles softly, and for a second Nancy thinks he’s going to wake up, but he just buries his face in Nancy’s shoulder.
“Come in, he’s not going to wake up,” Nancy whispers softly, bringing a hand up to brush through his hair absently. Both siblings were lying in the hospital bed, snuggled close to each other. Mike had fallen asleep on Nancy’s shoulder, his left arm thrown over Nancy’s stomach as he lay on his side.
The older girl was now absently tracing her fingers over it, while she continued to tug at the knots in his hair with her left arm, ignoring the way it tingled as Mike’s head continued pressing it down. She ignored her own pains, her own fatigue, making sure Mike was okay and as comfortable as could be.
Because she knew she has been doing a shit job at doing that lately.
“What is wrong with him?” El asks softly, standing next to the hospital bed. There was a fearful look on her face, hand hesitantly reaching out.
“He’s just exhausted El, don’t worry,” Nancy says softly. “He fell asleep before the doctors were even done.” She continues to cart her fingers through his hair, for a moment allowing herself to lose herself in the moment, imagine they were younger, before all of this crazy stuff had started.
She can see Hopper, who looked even worse than El right now, glance out of the window for a moment.
It was pitch black outside and the sun long gone, which wasn’t weird considering it was already far past midnight. Which is why Nancy wasn’t too worried about Mike falling asleep and not waking up. It had been a long day in the first place, and with all that had been going on, neither of them had actually slept well the last few days.
“What is this?” El softly asks, tapping at the IV and eyes glancing at the needle going into Mike’s hand.
“It’s for the pain, so he doesn’t feel it.” Nancy explains, swallowing thickly as she looked at it. She knew it didn’t hurt Mike, but it was still difficult to see a needle going into his hand, or maybe it was just the knowledge that her little brother was in so much pain otherwise. “Are you okay?” Nancy eventually asks, glancing from both El to Hopper.
“The doctors helped me.” El just spoke softly. Hopper sighs behind her, wrapping an arm around her. El just leans into the embrace, a sombre look on her face.
“She has a minor concussion and they stitched up her leg, but they said she was good to go home,”
“That’s good,” Nancy nods, looking down at Mike for a moment. There were two stitches in the wound on the bridge of his nose, but the doctors didn’t think he had a concussion luckily. Still, holding her little brother as they stitched up his face wasn’t a fun experience she wanted to relieve, ever in her life.
“And you and Joyce?” She asks eventually, and El whimpers slightly, leaning more into Hopper’s side. Hopper sighs instead, looking down at El for a moment.
“It was a close call, but I managed to get to safety in time. We’re both okay,” Nancy nods numbly, staring at El. The girl was clearly distraught, I mean not like Nancy could blame her at all. After all she had already been through in the lab, and now especially with what happened this summer.
Not to mention how she had to listen to how her dad almost died trying to save her, and the world.
“I heard the doctors talk with your mom outside, they want to keep Mike for the night.” Hopper adds after a silent moment, and Nancy nods again.
“I know, they told me already. But I can’t exactly... move with this on top of me.” She chuckles softly, gesturing to Mike still soundly sleeping. El smiles softly at that.
“He never wakes up when we sleep together.” El mentions, and Nancy has to keep herself from bursting out with laughter as Hopper’s face turns red, mouth open and gaping between El and Mike, but El just stares back at him with a confused expression.
“He’s a heavy sleeper,” Nancy just smiles, shaking her head as she looks at Hopper. El nods, leaning into Hopper’s side again with a soft yawn. Hopper eventually sighs.
“I think it’s time for us to go kiddo,” He says, and El frowns.
“But I want to stay.” She says, but Hopper shakes his head.
“Mike will be fine, he needs his rest as well. I promise we’ll come back in the morning, okay?”
“Promise?” El asks.
“Promise.”
*
*
*
Nancy didn’t know when exactly she had fallen asleep, it had been after Hopper and El had left the hospital, she knew that much at least. And after her mom had offered to drive Joyce and Will home. Joyce had been left with a nasty concussion and obviously couldn’t drive because of it, and neither could Will.
Ted wasn’t at the hospital, instead looking after Holly.
Neither of them had thought it was a good idea for her to spend the night in a hospital, and Nancy had assured them she was okay. But she was still grateful that mom came back after dropping off Will and Joyce, checking in on both of them. Nancy must’ve dozed off sometime during the night.
She shifts slightly in the bed, her brain wracking for a moment as she tries to find the reason why she had woken. The answer came soon enough when Mike grumbled next to her, letting out a low whine that cursed her heart to squeeze painfully.
“Mike?” She asks softly, twisting and trying to glance at him. There was a minimal amount of light in the room, so she could barely see his face, but suddenly she realised how badly he was shaking against her.
“Sorry,” He mumbles, burying his face in Nancy’s shoulder again. Nancy knew why he did that, he was embarrassed.
“What for?” She laughs softly, stroking his now unruly hair. Mike tries to shrug.
“For waking you.” He mumbles against her shoulder and Nancy could barely keep herself from rolling her eyes at the soft confession, this kid, honestly, he’s going to be the death of me. She muses, because of course Mike was feeling guilty about waking her, that didn’t surprise her at all.
Of course he wasn’t thinking about himself right now, not even when he was the one who was injured.
“Don’t be ridiculous Mikey.” She denies, and Mike huffs out a laugh at the nickname. But it sounded more like a mixture between a laugh and a sob, and Mike sniffles slightly. “Hey hey, what’s wrong?” Nancy asks, trying to brush the hair out of Mike’s face, shifting again to try and get a look at him.
For a moment Mike refused to look up at her, but he eventually, luckily, did.
“I just... -” He starts, licking his lips. He was still not meeting her eyes, but Nancy wasn’t sure if she wanted him to. She didn’t want him to see the tears that were welling up in her eyes. “We haven’t done this in so long.” He adds, and Nancy can just feel her heart break at how vulnerable he looked and sounded.
His face was swelling considerably, and bruises started to appear on his face. He looked tired, and suddenly way too small. She knew Mike had been through a lot, and that he could hold his own against all kinds of monsters, he fought Demogorgons, Demodogs and now the Mind Flayer and Billy.
But he was still a kid; her little brother.
“We haven’t,” Nancy acknowledges softly, feeling her stomach twist. She had really been doing a shitty job at being a big sister lately.
“I missed this.” Mike continues, and Nancy is sure that she can see tears trailing down his face. They used to do this all the time when they were little kids, used to be a lot closer too, but somehow they had stopped doing that, and Nancy had no idea when exactly that had happened.
But it happened, Nancy had screwed up.
“Me too.” Nancy smiles sadly, brushing Mike’s hair back to take a better look at his face. There were tears glistering on his face, and Nancy brushes them away.
“Nancy.” Mike whines, shying away from her touch and trying to hide his face from her by burying it in her shoulder again. Nancy chuckles, turning on her side like Mike was and wrapping her arms tighter around the boy. There was a moment of hesitation from his side, and Nancy was almost afraid he would scoot away in disgust.
Complain about Nancy being too overbearing or that cuddling with your sister is lame.
But Mike doesn’t, instead even getting closer to Nancy and burying his face back into Nancy’s embrace.
“I didn’t know if you were alive.” Mike whispers eventually, softly, almost too soft for Nancy to hear it. There was another soft silence, and slowly but surely Mike started shaking against her, and before Nancy could say anything, he let out a sob. That seemed to be the last straw for him.
He broke down, sobbing loudly against her.
“I t-t-though you were dea-ad.” He hiccups, and Nancy doesn’t care about holding back the tears, lets them fall freely.
“I’m not dead Mike, I’m here, I’m right here.” She murmurs, rubbing his back like she used to do when they were younger. “I’m not going anywhere Mike, I’m here, we’re both alive.” She adds, and while it doesn’t completely calm down Mike, his sobs start to quiet down, until he’s silently sobbing against her.
Neither of them talk again for a while, Nancy just holding him close as his body shook, no doubt crying his eyes out. Every bit of fear, every ounce of doubt, the terror he had felt for himself, for his friends, for his sister, he let it all go, allowed Nancy to take it away from him, comfort him as he did.
They just stayed silent, until eventually, Nancy had no idea how long it had been, Mike starts to calm down a bit. He sniffles against her shoulder, but he makes no effort to move or wipe away his tears. He just stays there, eyes closed and pretending that all was okay, that he was safe at home.
Maybe he had woken up from a bad nightmare, or some bully had made him upset, something insignificant compared to what their life was after they discovered the upside down. He wasn’t in the hospital, his side and leg weren’t aching, there weren’t a trillion stitches in his skin. His ribs weren’t bruised, his face wasn’t swollen...
They were just … safe.
He allowed himself to forget it all, the only thing that mattered was Nancy right now.
“I love you.” Mike whispers softly, tightening his arms just slightly. Nancy smiles at that, looking down as if she could see his face still. She smooths his hair carefully, and she feels him relaxing under her touch. And she can feel his breathing even out before she can even reply.
And he’s sound asleep against her. “I love you too, little brother.”