Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The city streets are bustling with people in the spring of nineteen eighty-six, shouts and the honking of car horns filling the air. It's March twentieth, two days away from spring break, and from around the corner of a building, Will Byers and El Hopper come tearing down the sidewalk, shoes slamming against the pavement. Behind them, two boys and a girl – all of them double the size of Will and El despite all being the same age – shout and scream, waving their fists as they chase after them.

One of the boys, wearing a black Members Only jacket and khakis, thrusts his arms forward and slams Will to the pavement. The skin of Will's forearms scratch against the cement, leaving streaks of blood on the ground. And oh, does it burn.

Before he can move, the boy grabs him by the shirt collar and yanks him to his feet. “Where do you think you're going, faggot?”

Choking from the fabric tightening against his throat, Will grasps at the boy's hands whilst keeping his eyes on the ground, trying to suppress the anger boiling up inside him. Beside them, El rushes forward and yanks the boy's arm. “Leave us alone.”

The girl shoots El a glare, stepping between her and the boy strangling Will. “Shut up, lesbo.”

“What do you want?” Will hisses, struggling in the boy's grasp. His mind blurs and black dots cloud his vision, but he tries to keep calm.

“What do we want?” the boy sneers. “We want you to get the hell out of our city, you freaks.” He hurls Will backwards like a cannon. Will slams onto the concrete, his elbows slicing open and sending a rush of pain through his body like a dozen shards of glass splitting his skin apart. Wincing, he attempts to push himself to his knees, but the boy surges forward and slams his foot in Will's stomach. Whoosh! The air shoots out of his lungs and leaves him choking in shallow breaths.

“Stop it!” El shoves the boy to the side, but the girl grabs her by the hair and heaves her onto the ground beside Will. He exchanges a look with her before they're pummeled by kicks and punches.

“Hey!” a guy's voice booms from a few feet away. “Knock it off, assholes!”

“Shit.” The other boy grabs the arms of the girl and the boy with the Members Only jacket and gestures back the way they came. “Come on, guys. Let's go.”

“Losers!” Landing one last kick to Will's stomach, the three bullies tear in the other direction.

Once the bullies disappear, Will and El sit up, muscles aching. Groaning, Will rubs his bruised arms and gestures to El who's holding her hand to her head. “Are you okay?”

While El gives a stiff nod, the guy who yelled at the bullies appears beside them, extending hands to both of them. “You good?” Looking up, Will recognizes the friendly face of Jonathan's co-worker, Argyle. He and El take Argyle's hand and get to their feet.

“We're alright,” Will says, checking the scratches on his arms. His elbows are bloody, but the cuts aren't deep. He can feel bruises forming on his stomach and ribs though, but at this point, he's used to it.

Argyle nods his head in the direction the bullies ran. “Who were those numbskulls?”

“Mouthbreathers,” El murmurs.

He laughs. “Totally. Mouthbreathers.”

The three of them make their way down the block towards the pizza shop where Argyle and Jonathan work. “Just some jerks from school,” Will mumbles. His heart is still hammering in his chest. He can't stand those assholes. “They've been messing with us ever since we moved here.”

Pulling open the door to the pizza shop, Argyle shrugs a shoulder. “You can always blackmail them.”

Following him inside, Will and El both furrow their brows. “Blackmail them?”

“Yeah,” Argyle continues, “but not really. You see-” He hops over the counter, ringing the service bell. “- you have to pretend you know something about them, slip a note in their locker or wherever, and tell them if they don't stop messing around, you'll tell everyone their secrets.”

Will and El make faces. “What if they don't have any secrets?”

“Oh-ho!” He waves his finger in the air. “Everyone has secrets, little man. Everyone.” He flashes them a grin, pulls on his Surfer Boy hat, and disappears into the kitchen. Exchanging looks, Will and El slide into one of the booths by the window overlooking the street. El takes her math homework out of her backpack while Will shoves his backpack to the side and stares out the window. His arms sting, and each breath he takes sends an ache through his body. The urge to electrocute those jerks is still at the front of his mind. He hates it.

El taps her pencil on the table. “Will?”

His gaze drops from the window to El, only to see a look of confusion etched across her face. “Yeah?”

“Those words those mouthbreathers called us...”

“Don't-” Holding his hand up, Will gives a shake of his head. “Don't say them. Those aren't words you want to use.”

“What do they mean?”

“They're horrible words for people like me.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “People... like you?”

“Yeah, you know...” Glancing around the shop to make sure no one's near, he lowers his voice. “Gay people.”

“Oh.”

“Those words aren't used by nice people, and they use them on anyone they don't like even if they aren't gay. They use words like that to make people feel bad about themselves.”

Taking Will's hand, El looks into his eyes. “I'm sorry. I wish they wouldn't say that.”

“I wish so, too.”

They sit in silence for a moment. A small smile forms on his face, grateful for her presence in his life. Ever since their move to the city, they were all each other had. Yes, Jonathan's there when they need him, but with his focus on work and his plans to leave for college next year, it's been easier for Will to lean on El knowing she'll be there with him for the coming years. And there are definitely things she understands about him a lot better than Jonathan, to no fault of his brother.

Slumping down in the booth, El presses her palms to her forehead and frowns at her math homework. “Can you help me with the last two problems? I can't figure it out.”

“If I can remember how to do it.” He peers over at her paper and is relieved to see problems he actually recognizes. Grabbing his pencil, he starts scrawling in the answers, but El waves a hand at him.

“We're supposed to solve it like this.” She points to a formula at the top of the page that Will can barely decipher. Since when did this exist?

“What is that?”

El scrunches her nose. “I don't remember what it's called, but we're supposed to solve all the problems using it.”

“Okay, I'll try to figure it out.” He sighs looking at the formula. “I'm not great at math either.”

It takes them until the end of Jonathan's shift, fifteen minutes later, to finish the problems. In his Surfer Boy uniform, Jonathan comes over to their booth and ruffles Will's hair. “Ready to go?”

“Yep, ready.” Will and El gather their bags and follow Jonathan out the door.

As they head to the car, Jonathan gestures to the gashes on Will's arms. “Were those jerks hassling you again?”

Glancing down at his arms, Will pulls down his sleeves to hide the injuries. “It's nothing.”

He knows Jonathan doesn't believe him, and why should he? They've been getting beat up and harassed for months. At this point, any injury, be it from the bullies or not, would make Jonathan raise an eyebrow.

Unconvinced, Jonathan directs his attention to El who clutches onto her backpack straps. “What happened this time?”

Will tries to give her a look to get her to keep quiet, but she keeps her eyes forward. “Chased us from school again,” she mumbles.

“If you need me to, I can try to ask for a different shift, so I can drive you two home from school.”

They reach the car, and Will puts his hand on the roof as he shakes his head. “No, don't do that. You don't have to waste your study hall waiting around for us. We can defend ourselves.” He slides into the passenger's seat, El hopping into the back. “Maybe I'll just zap them a bit. Give them a shock. Show them they can't mess around with us.” He shoots a smile at El who laughs.

Shutting the door, Jonathan turns to him with a frown. Their laughter stops. “That's not funny, Will. You can't make people suspicious. Even if they are messing with you.”

Heat rises to his cheeks. Looking down to his hands, Will nods. “Sorry, I was just joking.”

“I know.” Jonathan sighs, squeezing Will's shoulder before starting the car. “Just be careful.”

While they pull out of the parking lot, Will turns on the radio, dialing through the stations until he stops on “In Between Days” by The Cure.

“Why don't we stop by the drug store for bandages?” Jonathan suggests. He glances in the rearview mirror at El. “Didn't you need some cold medicine anyways?”

“Yes, okay,” El says while Will stares out the window at the passing shops and buildings. This coming weekend is his fifteenth birthday, and although he knows he should be excited about it, he's not. All he can think of is the fact that Mike is coming over, and they haven't spoken in months.

“Hey, bud,” Jonathan says, pulling Will out of his thoughts, “how was that history test you had today?”

Will winces. That history test is the bane of his existence. The whole history class, actually. Admittedly, most of his classes since their return from winter break have been going terribly. No matter how hard he tries, with everything going on, he can barely concentrate on a thing.

“I'm taking your silence as meaning it didn't go well?”

Slumping down in his seat, he lets out a groan. “It's not like I didn't try.”

“Hey, don't worry about it too much. It's just one test.”

He keeps himself from saying that no, it isn't just one test. If he had to make an estimate, he probably failed the last three tests and four quizzes. And that's just in history class. He doesn't even want to think about math class.

In a couple minutes, they reach the drug store and go inside to buy bandages and cough medicine. This isn't a one-off event, buying first aid supplies at the drug store. In fact, Will and El bought several packages of band-aids and aspirin a mere week ago after a fairly brutal beating at school. They try their best to hide their injuries from Jonathan and Joyce, but it's hard when they come home with two black eyes and swollen faces. At least they didn't have to worry about sneaking around today since Jonathan already knew about it.

Once they buy the medicine and bandages, they head home, rocking out to The Clash on the way. When they reach their apartment, Will's stomach curls in on itself the moment they walk through the door. His mom spots the scratches covering his arms, her face falling. “What happened now?”

He looks to the ground, shoulders slumped. Jonathan sets the bag from the drug store on the kitchen table. “It's those same kids as before.”

Will and El take a seat at the table while Joyce's face scrunches up. “I'm calling that school again. They can't let those kids get away-”

“You can't call them again,” Will begs, both him and El tense in panic. “It'll only make it worse. Those jerks know it was us who told on them last time.”

“I'm not going to let them get away with hurting you.” Joyce reaches for the phone but stops short when she sees the defeated look on Will's face. A sigh escapes her lips. “Okay, fine. What are their names?”

Will's eyebrows draw together. “What?”

“Those kids. Those ones who keep picking on you. What are their names?”

He and El glance at each other. “I don't know,” he says. “I never learned them.”

Joyce frowns. “You don't know their names?”

Ignoring Jonathan who's standing by the counter studying his and El's expressions, Will forges on. “No, they never said their names. It's a big school. Not everyone knows each other.”

“How did the principal know who to punish then?”

Will pauses. Shit... maybe he shouldn't have lied. Before he can make up an excuse, El says, “They made an announcement, and Will's friend knew who they were, so he told the principal their names.”

Joyce sighs. “Well, why don't you see if you can figure out their names tomorrow? Ask that friend of yours. That way, I can call their parents and explain to them what's going on.”

“Call their parents?”

“Or at least so I can go to their homes myself and confront them. I'm sick of these kids picking on you and hurting you.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

Glancing at her watch, Joyce slaps her hand to her forehead. “Oh, right. Your appointment is in half an hour. Let me change, and we can leave in a couple minutes. Why don't you have a quick snack?” She gestures to the fridge before rushing to her room. The door rattles shut.

“Need help with the bandages?” Jonathan asks.

Going over to the fridge, Will shakes his head, grabbing two cheese sticks from behind the milk carton. “I can handle it myself.” He hands a cheese stick to El while biting into the other.

“If you say so.” After taking an apple from the fruit basket in the center of the table, Jonathan retreats to his bedroom.

Taking a seat, Will unrolls the bandage and wraps it around his elbow and forearm. Chewing her cheese stick, El leans forward, her voice quiet. “Why aren't we telling your mom their names?”

He notices the confusion in her eyes and chooses his words carefully. “If their parents confront them about what they're doing, they'll only be worse. Just like with the principal. No one likes a snitch.”

“Snitch?”

“Yeah. Someone who tells on other people. That's why they won't leave us alone after Mom called the school. They know we told them, and they got in trouble because of it. Not much trouble, apparently, but enough to piss them off. If they know we told their parents or if Mom goes to their houses, they'll never leave us alone.”

“What are we supposed to do?”

Looking down at his hands, Will takes a moment to contemplate his plan. With a smile tugging at his lips, he meets El's eyes. “Fight back.”

Chapter Text

Across from his therapist, Will sits slumped in a large green chair, his mind clouded with memories of the past few months. His therapist, a middle-aged brunette woman wearing a pair of purple glasses, watches him without saying a word. This is his fourth session here, and although he doesn't want to admit it, talking to someone whom he isn't afraid will judge him has brought a bit of relief to his life. Not that he's delved into too much, but at least he knows if he does say something depressing, he's not going to receive those pitiful looks he gets from everyone else.

The ticking of the clock jars him from his thoughts. He turns his attention to its antique design. His therapist follows his gaze. “What interests you about my clock?”

Cheeks red, Will looks to her. “Oh, I don't know.”

“I've noticed you looking at it in our previous sessions as well.”

“I have?”

Her eyes focus on his. “Are you worried about the amount of time we have to speak?”

“I don't know. Not really.” He glances back at the clock. “I don't really think much of it when I look at it.”

“What are you thinking of?”

He shrugs. “Just everything. School, my friends, my family.”

“Last week, you mentioned a fight you had with your mother. Did you want to talk more about that?”

“Oh, that was just a misunderstanding.” When he realizes she's waiting for him to elaborate, his shoulders slump. Mentioning those assholes who keep going after him and El makes his blood boil. Even just thinking about them. “It's just... these people at school. They keep messing with me and my sister. We got in a fight at school last week, but they put all the blame on us. My mom was just angry since she thought I started the fight even though I didn't, and she's already annoyed that my grades aren't good.”

“Did you tell your mother how you felt?”

He furrows his eyebrows. “About the fight? Yeah, El and I explained everything to her. But then she called the principal.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“I don't know. Bad. Those jerks won't leave us alone now since they got in trouble, and they know that we told on them.”

“Did you think your mother was trying to protect you by calling the principal?”

“Of course. I mean... I'm not mad at her. I know she thinks she's doing what's best for us, but... I don't know.” A warmth burns in his chest. Thinking about those assholes makes him want to burn the whole place down. Shifting his gaze to the carpet, he shakes his head. “I want to talk about something else.”

She watches him for a moment, hands clasped together, resting back in her chair. “Okay.” She gives a slight nod. “What do you want to talk about?”

Settling down, Will picks at the fabric on the arm of the chair. The heaviness of the past few months weighs on his mind, but he pushes the burden away. “I don't know.”

“Have you been having nightmares?”

“I have them every night still. It's hard to sleep.”

“And is it the same general ideas? Your friends and family being hurt. Someone chasing after you.”

He nods.

“How has keeping a journal been working for you?”

“Fine, I guess. I write in it every night before I go to bed.”

“That's good. Do you think it's been helping you?”

He shrugs. “Maybe. It's nice to be able to write my thoughts down, I guess.”

“I know your birthday is coming up this weekend.”

“Saturday, yeah.” The thought of that day brings that awful feeling in the pit of his stomach back, the one which was all-too-familiar these past few months.

“Are you looking forward to it?”

Sighing, he shifts in the chair. “I guess so. My best friend's coming over to celebrate.”

“That's good, right?” When Will doesn't answer, she goes on, “How are you feeling about it?”

God awful, that's how. And that's how he's been feeling for weeks. He lets out a breath. “I'm not feeling so great about it.”

“Why is that?”

“Well... my friend – Mike – he had a bad accident happen to him a couple months ago, and I haven't seen or spoken to him since. I mean, I asked his sister to talk to him for me, but I haven't actually talked to him. I'm just a little nervous for this weekend because I... I feel pretty awful about not talking to him.”

“What do you think is the reason you didn't speak to him since his accident?”

“I don't know.” His stomach aches like he ate rotten meat. If his throat wasn't clamped shut right now, he would probably puke all over the carpet. Taking in a shaky breath, he clasps his hands on his lap. “Our last conversation wasn't exactly good... I guess I – I sort of feel like if I hadn't spoken to him, what happened to him never would have happened.”

“Do you feel as if speaking to him again will bring about another accident?”

“I don't know what I feel anymore,” he mumbles.

“That's okay. Figuring out your feelings can be tough.” She waits a couple seconds before leaning forward. “Do you have plans for what you're doing this weekend?”

Will lifts a shoulder. “We're gonna go to the arcade probably. Maybe get food.”

“That's good.”

“Should I apologize to Mike?” he asks in a small voice. “For what I did?”

She looks to him with a sympathetic smile. “It's up to you. I think it may be a good idea, so both of you understand what's going on.”

Looking down, Will nods. “Okay.”

When their session is done and Will exits the office, his whole body is numb. Joyce gets to her feet from where she was sitting in a chair in the hallway and walks over to him, rubbing his arm. “How was it?”

“Same as usual.” He follows her down the hall, trying not to think about the coming weekend.

“Did she tell you to keep journaling?”

“Yeah, she thinks it's good for me to write down whatever I don't want to tell people.” They reach the stairwell and head down the steps.

“Has it been helping?”

Will shrugs. “I don't mind it.” Pushing open the exit, they step out onto the sidewalk and into the lights of the city.

Joyce squeezes his shoulder. “I hope you know you can always come to me if you need to talk about anything.”

“I know, Mom.”

They smile to each other and head home. On the car ride back, Will finds himself thinking about the upcoming weekend, although he wishes he wouldn't. Butterflies fill his stomach each time he thinks about it. Thinks about Mike. Ever since he moved, nothing's been the same. Everything feels like a struggle, like he has to put ten times the amount of energy into everything he does now. The move started out fine; he actually enjoyed it for a while. The freshness of it. Being able to recreate himself. Not having to worry about his reputation from Hawkins. He could start new. Be a different person. But the way things are going, he wishes he never agreed to move.

When they get home, Will heads straight to his room, hoping to rest for a moment and listen to music. He goes to open the door and spots El sitting on her bed. She stares out the window, completely still. Motionless. He watches her for a minute to figure out what she's doing. All she does is stare out the window. Figuring she's just taking a moment to think, Will slips into the room, hopping onto his bed and tossing his pillow at her. Flinching, she averts her attention away from the window, eyes wide, before relaxing when her eyes meet Will's. With a chuckle, Will grabs the pillow back from her. “What are you doing?”

“Just thinking.” Setting the pillow down and taking a seat on the edge of his bed, Will watches her get to her feet. “Do you want to go see a movie?”

“Right now?”

She nods. “Then maybe we can go to the roller rink and make a plan to fight back, too.”

Getting up from his bed, Will waves his finger. “Good idea.” He and El grab their cash from their dresser before leaving the room and getting their jackets.

From the kitchen, Joyce glances up as Will and El put their shoes on. “Are you two going out?”

“We're going to see a movie and go to the Rollerlux,” Will says, adjusting his foot in his shoe. “We'll be back around seven.”

“Okay, have fun,” Joyce calls as they head out the door.

The movie theater is fairly desolate when they arrive. Glancing at the list of movies showing, Will turns to El. “Which one do you wanna see?”

El studies the movies before gesturing to one with Molly Ringwald in the poster. “That one?”

“Okay.” They walk up to the counter. “Two for Pretty In Pink, please.”

Once they buy their tickets, with a large popcorn and a couple boxes of candy, the two of them head inside the theater, sliding into a set of seats near the back. As they watch the trailers playing, memories of last summer come to Will's mind. Sitting in the dark theater, Mike by his side. Stealing glances at each other, although they never admitted it at the time. Max and Lucas giggling to each other in the row in front of them. What he would give to go back in time.

He's pulled out of his thoughts by the laughter of a couple trotting past them and to a row ahead. The couple, a black-haired boy and platinum-haired girl, swagger down the aisle, confidence radiating off them. The boy is dressed in a band t-shirt, the sleeves ripped off, and distressed black jeans. The girl, the entirety of her ears baring glittering diamond studs, has a denim vest over a leather dress and ripped black stockings. Both are wearing heavy eyeliner and nose rings.

Staring at this breath-taking pair, an idea pops into Will's head. An idea that had been brewing in the back of his mind since Jonathan showed him Suburbia a few weeks earlier. A complete change in appearance.

He spins around to face El. “I have an idea,” he whispers, a smile growing on his face. “A momentary one, but one that can help us figure out who we want to be.”

El's eyebrows draw together. “What?”

“A makeover!” He squeezes her shoulder, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth and gesturing to the couple a few rows ahead. “Just look at those two. Their confidence. Like they don't give a shit what anyone thinks of them. It's perfect.”

Leaning forward to get a better look at the couple, El frowns. “How will that help us figure out who we want to be?”

“Just think about it.” He nudges her. “How are we supposed to figure out who we are if we don't try to change things up a bit? Experiment a little.” Holding onto the seat in front of him, Will rocks forward. “Imagine it for a second. Walking into school like total badasses. No one will want to mess with us. Especially not those assholes.”

A smile plays at El's mouth. “Total badasses.”

They exchange grins before the movie starts, and they settle down. Excitement stays with Will throughout the entire movie and once they're out of the theater and on their way to the roller rink, he rattles off ideas to El. “We can get some of Jonathan's old shirts and rip the sleeves off,” he says as they walk across the street. “I think there are some boxes in the closet of old clothes my mom wants to donate, too.”

El crosses her arms. “How do we know those mouthbreathers won't mess with us more?”

“By changing up our look?” When El nods, Will goes on, “We don't really. But isn't it worth the try? I mean, of course we'll figure out a plan to get back at them, too, but since we've been wanting to find our style more anyways, changing things up can't hurt.”

They reach Rollerlux Arcade and pull open the doors. The place is bustling with people, arcade games dinging and music playing over the speakers. Dodging out of the way of a group of older teenagers, Will and El duck over to the counter to get skates. “What about our hair?” El asks. “Should we do something with it?”

Before Will can answer, someone calls, “Well, if it isn't the dynamic duo themselves.” A boy with a massive mohawk walks around them, a pair of skates in his hand, and ducks around the counter. After sticking the skates in a slot, he spins around, leans against the counter, and flashes Will and El a grin. He's a classmate of theirs, and one of the first people they met when they moved here. “What can I do for you today? Food, drinks? Couple pairs of skates?”

“Can we get skates?” El asks.

The boy, Daniel, smiles, and gives her a bow. “Of course, Miss Eleanor. Seven and nine?”

Will and El nod. Daniel grabs two pairs of skates and hands them each a pair. “Have fun.”

They thank him, giving him the money for the skates before going to a bench to put them on. As Will ties his skates, El worries her lip. “Do you have any ideas to fight back?” She gets to her feet, balancing on the skates.

“I'm not sure.” Once Will's skates are tied, he gets up and follows El out onto the rink. “We have to do it carefully. We don't want them to know it was us or else they'll have ten times more of a reason to beat us up... but then again, if they don't know it's us, then they'll think they can keep messing with us...”

“Why don't we just beat them up, too?”

“Did you forget what happened the last time we tried that?” He sighs, skating a little ahead of her. “Plus, do you know how to actually fight someone? 'Cause I sure don't. If you haven't noticed, I can't exactly throw a punch. And even if I did, it wouldn't make much of an impact against those jerks. They're, like, a foot taller than us and fifty pounds heavier.”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, so what are we supposed to do?”

“That's what I'm trying to figure out.”

They skate a couple laps around the rink until Will grabs onto the railing and turns to face El. “Are you thinking we should make a plan for tomorrow or should we wait until we come back from spring break?”

El puts her hands on her hips. “I'd like to send them a message as soon as we can.”

“Yeah... me, too.”

“You could figure out a way to use your powers against them.”

Will frowns. “I can't-”

“You can do it without anyone realizing it's you. That's the point. You can still get back at them without risking someone finding out.”

“But it is still a risk. That's why we should get back at them some other way. And besides, it won't change the fact that they'll still keep coming after us. We need to figure out a way to stop them from coming after us altogether.”

“How?”

That's the problem. He has no clue. Over and over in his mind for months, he wondered how the hell they were supposed to stop these assholes from coming after them, and he couldn't figure it out. They tried physically fighting back, which lasted about half a second. They tried running away from them, but the bullies always caught up. The farthest they got from making a difference was getting the principal to reprimand them. That of course, only made things worse. El kept telling him to use his powers against them, but he can't bring himself to do it, especially knowing how disappointed Jonathan would be in him if he did. Some days, he worries Jonathan is scared of what Will's capable of, and if he's being honest, he's scared of what he could be capable of, too.

“It's six forty,” El says, looking at the clock on the wall. “We should go home.”

The two of them head back to the bench and change out of the skates. As they walk up to the counter, El says, “Do you think we could go to a store to find clothes or makeup?”

Will hums. “I'm not sure if we have enough money.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

From the back room, Daniel walks out and leans against the counter. “You two heading out?”

“Yeah.” Will and El hand him their skates, and he puts them back in their slots.

“See you at school,” Will says.

They turn to go but stop when Daniel says, “Hey, if you two are looking for a place to get some threads, there's a thrift store about a block East of here on the corner by that Italian restaurant. I get a lot of my stuff from there since it's cheap.”

“You do?” Will is surprised Daniel would shop for clothes somewhere like that. From what he's seen, his family's loaded.

“Yeah, man. Check it out. You can find some pretty neat stuff if you look.”

Will and El exchange glances before looking back at Daniel, both of them with smiles on their faces. “Thanks. We'll check it out.”

They wave goodbye and head off towards the store. As they walk down the street, Will goes over a plan in his head. If they want to send a message to those bullies as soon as possible, tomorrow's the perfect day to do it. It'll be the last day of school before the break which will give him and El a chance to escape them for a week which will give them time to make a more thorough plan.

They reach the corner of the street. Opening his mouth, Will halts in his place and grabs El's arm, gesturing at the store beside the Italian restaurant. “Oh, look! That's perfect! How much money do we have?” He pulls six dollars out of his pocket and a couple quarters. El shows him five dollars. “That's good enough, right? Maybe we can get a couple things.” Locking arms, they race across the street and into the store.

People of all sorts are shopping around the store, going back-and-forth through the aisles and aisles of clothes. “Come on.” Will pulls El along down the aisles, scouring each rack for the perfect article of clothing. They grab clothes off the racks, holding them up to the mirrors to figure out which ones they like best while discussing their plan to fight back against the bullies.

“So what I was thinking,” Will says as he glances over a denim jacket with a dragon on the back, “was that before first period, we tell our teachers that we need to go to the nurse, so then we can go out by the back stairwell where those jerks always hang out during first period.” He shakes his head, putting the jacket back on the rack. “We can get Daniel to say on the announcements for everyone to go there, too, so then they can see them. Public humiliation.”

El tries on a blazer three sizes too big. “And do what?”

“A prank of some sort...” He slumps down on a chair at the end of one of the aisles. “I can't think of what to do to them though. Any ideas?”

He glances up when she lets out a sigh. “What's wrong?”

She looks away from the shirt in her hands, her voice quiet. “I just wish my powers would come back already. I feel so... useless.”

The hopelessness on her face makes Will's stomach twist in a knot. “Hey.” Standing up and putting a hand on her shoulder, he meets her eyes. “You're not useless; you're one of the only things keeping me going right now. We're in this together, okay? And your powers, they'll come back. I know it. We just have to be a little more patient.”

A small smile tugs at El's lips. With a grin, Will snaps his fingers. “Paint!”

“What?”

“Paint! For our plan! We can gather a bunch of paint and launch it on those jerks.”

“You think that'll work?”

“I hope so. At least it'll be funny.” Behind her, Will spots two pairs of sunglasses on a rack. “Yes!” Grinning, he snatches the sunglasses, examining them before handing a pair to El and putting on the other. He looks at the two of them in the mirror. “Perfect.”

She smiles, wrapping her arms around him. “Bitchin'.”

With a laugh, he nods. “Yeah. Bitchin'.”

Chapter Text

Sorting through clothes on the floor, Will leans his back against his bed, listening to El talking on their ham radio with Max. They speak every few weeks whenever Max has the time to get to Cerebro since she prefers not to call from her house, but it's been over a month since they last spoke. Actually, calls from the rest of the Party have been scarce lately. The last person Will spoke to from Hawkins was Nancy, and that was three weeks ago.

Holding the radio up, El sits beside Will, legs curled to her chest. “They're still not back, but I've been trying to practice.”

Will holds up an old Joy Division shirt, examining it. “And El's been helping me out a lot, too. By the time her powers do come back, I think we'll both be a bit more comfortable using them.” At least, he hopes so. Every few days, he practices turning lights and other electronic devices on and off, which isn't much, but he's noticed that the more he practices, the less his nose bleeds. He isn't sure what to make of it, though he hopes it's a sign he's getting better.

“Do you think once El gets her powers back,” Max says, “you guys will be able to come back to Hawkins? Since both of you will have your powers and can help us if things go sideways.”

Will and El exchange glances. As much as they want to, the idea of returning to Hawkins seems pretty far-fetched. At least for the time being. Leaning forward, El speaks into the radio. “We're not sure. It's Will's mom's decision.”

From the other end, Max lets out a sigh. She seems to be doing that a lot lately.

El frowns. “What is it?”

“I just wish you guys could come back.”

“We do, too.”

“Man, this place sucks right now.”

The sharpness in her voice makes Will's forehead crease. Was it really that bad in Hawkins? “I thought things were getting better since the break? At least, with Dustin and Mike.”

“It was for a while, but lately, it's been worse than it was before.” She groans. “It's that stupid Hellfire Club and Lucas's stupid teammates. They're at each other's throats. I've been trying my best to stay out of all that shit, but I have a bad feeling something horrible's gonna happen soon.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just... I don't know. There's this weird sort of... aura. It's like everything here is tense, like it's waiting for something to happen so it can strike.”

“So what can strike?”

“Not anything specific. Like I said, it's just a feeling.”

That doesn't sound good. Will knows very well that 'feelings' aren't always meaningless. Bad things can follow those feelings.

“I'm sorry, Max,” El says.

“You don't have to apologize for anything. All the crap that's going on has nothing to do with you guys.” She lets out a laugh. “Honestly, this whole year's been a drag.”

“I wish you could come visit.”

“In my dreams.” She sighs. “Anyways, what are you guys up to? Have you electrocuted the shit out of those assholes who keep bullying you?”

El cracks a smile when Will laughs. “I wish,” he says, “but I'd rather not be abducted by the government and have them run tests on me.”

“Isn't there some way you can use your powers to mess with them without them knowing it's you? You can zap them every so often until they go crazy.”

Will guffaws. “Okay, Max, I'll just go around zapping them. Then they'll definitely leave us alone.”

“It was just a suggestion. Besides, if they do find out you have powers, what can they do about it? Everyone will think they're crazy if they try to tell people.”

“I know... but Jonathan would hate me if I did anything.”

“He's not your boss; he's your brother. And I'm sure he would understand.”

He glances at El before shrugging. “I don't know. We'll see.”

“You can't be afraid of fighting back,” Max says. “If they treat you like garbage, it's only fair you do the same.”

“I'm not afraid of fighting back.” Will rolls his eyes. “Anyways, it doesn't matter. We're making a plan to get back at them.”

“Ooo, really? What is it?”

Smile on her face, El sits forward. “We're dumping paint on them.”

Max laughs. “Dumping paint on them?”

“Yes, they always hang out in a stairwell at school, so we're going to throw paint on them and get the rest of the school to see.”

“That should be interesting.”

“It's just a short-term solution,” Will explains. “Obviously it's not gonna solve everything, but since it's the last day of school before break, we figured it couldn't hurt to get back at them a little.”

“Huh. So... you guys are still gonna figure out a way to get back at them for good though? Later on, I mean?”

“Hopefully. We're going to figure out a plan over spring break.”

“Good. Tell me how it goes.”

“Will do.”

“So... have either one of you spoken to Mike yet?”

His stomach drops. He should've expected the question at some point, but it still doesn't take away the tightness in his chest that's been there since they got the call. Glancing at El, he notices her watching him closely. Will looks back to the clothes on the floor.

Twirling the end of her hair, El leans back against the bed. “I talked to him on the phone a couple weeks after we tried to see him.”

Max doesn't say anything.

“How-” Eyes still on the clothes, Will clears his throat. “How's Mike doing?”

“Oh, um...” Max pauses. “I've seen him at the video store a few times and around school. He's also been talking to Lucas, which I'd say is good.”

Will furrows his eyebrows. “So... is Lucas on good terms with you guys again?”

Max huffs. “Hardly. He's only talking to Mike because he feels bad about New Year's.”

“Oh.” Whenever he's reminded of the conflict between his friends, a knot forms in Will's stomach. He always thought the Party would get through things together forever. Of all the things to tear them apart, rather than it being the Mind Flayer or any of the Upside Down-related drama, it turns out it's high school. “Dustin said a couple weeks ago that Mike joined the Hellfire Club.”

“Yeah... yeah. They keep trying to get me to join still, but I really don't care.”

El leans closer to the radio. “Do you have any new friends?”

“Pfft, no. Other than seeing Dustin and Mike, I've just been hanging out at the video store sometimes. I've seen a few new people in town hanging around there who seem cool, but I haven't spoken to them. What about you guys? Any new friends yet? Wasn't there some guy you mentioned who works at a roller rink?”

Perking up, a grin forms on El's face. “Daniel. He's really nice.” She nudges Will's shoulder. “And you like Daniel, too.”

“Yeah, yeah, Daniel's cool. He's in my art class,” he explains to Max. “He's got this sick mohawk and an awesome dragon tattoo on his arm.”

Max chuckles. “I didn't know you were into tattoos and mohawks.”

When El lets out a giggle, Will's cheeks turn red. “I'm not – that's not what-”

“Relax, relax!” Max laughs. “I'm joking. But that's good that you two are making some friends there.”

“Took us long enough,” Will mumbles. “Seriously, this place sucks.”

“It's not that bad,” El says, snatching a bandana from him. “Some people are really nice.”

“Some people, sure. And some people are total numbskulls.”

“There are numbskulls everywhere,” Max says. “I mean, not everyone was that welcoming when I came to Hawkins.”

Will and El murmur in agreement.

“Oh, yeah! Will, your birthday's this Saturday, isn't it?”

“Yep.”

“Happy birthday! Are you excited? Fifteen, right?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I'm pretty stoked, I guess. Mike's coming over with Nancy, so I'm happy that we get to see them.”

“Nancy and Jonathan are still going on strong?”

“I guess.”

“Will?” his mom calls. “Can you come here for a minute?”

Will and El exchange glances. “I'll be back.” Frowning, Will gets to his feet and leaves the room. When he gets to the kitchen, he sees his mom standing by the table, a crumpled paper in her hand. His stomach drops. On Monday, they got their report cards for the quarter, and it wasn't pretty. Seeing as he'd been arguing with his mom earlier that week, showing her the two Fs and three Ds on his report card wouldn't go well. So, he crumpled up the paper and shoved it to the bottom of the bathroom trashcan. How she found it, he didn't know.

His mom's forehead is creased, a frown on her face. “Can you take a seat?”

He sits across from her, keeping his head down.

She tosses the paper in front of him, the Fs and Ds glaring back at him. “Would you like to explain why I found this in the trash?”

“Why were you searching in the trash in the first place?” he murmurs.

Joyce stares at him. “I threw something out a couple days ago, which I shouldn't have. I was looking for it when I found this. I just want to know why you threw it away without telling me.”

His stomach curls together. He hates the way she's staring at him like something's wrong with him. So what if he threw away his report card? Since when did she care about his grades in the first place? She never cared until now. It's all because of those stupid assholes at school.

“Sweetie,” she says, taking a seat across from him, “I don't care about the grades. I know this move and going to a new school is tough. All I want is to know what's going on.”

“Nothing's going on.”

“Clearly something is. Is it those kids at school? The ones who keep bothering you and El?”

He leers at her.

“I can't help if you don't talk to me.”

“You don't help even when I do talk to you,” he shoots back. “I told you you can't call the school 'cause it'll only make things worse, but you didn't listen to me.”

“What was I supposed to do? Let them keep hurting you?”

“No, but...” He rubs his knuckles against his temples. His mind swirls with thoughts, and he can't figure out what to say. “I'm not a baby. I can handle things on my own.”

“Oh, I know that.” She reaches for his hand, but he moves it away. Her smile falters. “I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm just worried about you. I want to make sure you're okay.”

Make sure he's okay? She's barely been around since they moved, doing God knows what, rushing off to take phone calls at absurd hours and going out without saying where, and now she wants to know if he's okay?

When Will doesn't answer, Joyce wrings her hands together. “Is this about Mike? I know you've been worried about him.”

A lump lodges in his throat.

“Have you spoken to him yet?”

He stares back at her.

“If you want, I can get Lonnie to take you boys to the arcade or a game or wherever you want on Saturday.”

At the mention of his father's name, he freezes. Gaping at her, he whispers, “What are you talking about?”

Her eyebrows knit together before realization hit her. “Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry.” She puts her hand to her head. “With everything going on, I completely forgot to tell you. Your dad's coming over this weekend for your birthday.”

His voice catches in his throat. “What?”

“He called yesterday and said he wants to see you and Jonathan since it's been so long, and he said he's doing well right now.”

All Will can do is stare at her. His voice is gone.

“It's only for the weekend. Saturday and Sunday, okay? You haven't seen him in so long, I figured it would be good for you.” She watches him. “Is that okay?”

“I...” His throat feels like it's glued shut, forcing him to choke out his words. “I'm going to... to bed.” Blood pounding in his ears, he stumbles to his feet and rushes to his room, shutting the door and collapsing against it.

Chapter Text

When Thanksgiving of nineteen eighty-five came about, not much had changed between the Party yet. It had been around a month since the Byers and El left, and everyone was adjusting to the change. The minute Will and El got settled in their new room, they set up their ham radio in order to reach Dustin's Cerebro and talk to everyone without holding up the phone line. Since Mike still hadn't broken things off with El, she was under the impression that they were still going steady and used every free moment she had to call Mike. Will did his best to give them the time they needed to sort things out, but after several weeks of the obsessive calling, he was getting impatient.

“I'm serious, Mike,” Will told him one day when he was able to sneak into their room while El was watching a show on the TV. He kept his voice as quiet as possible, for fear El might come in at any moment. “You can't keep leading her on like this. It's mean.”

“I'm not trying to,” Mike said, “but I don't want to just break up with her over the radio!”

“Then you have to at least tell her to calm down with the calls. It's driving me insane. And you barely even talk to her; it's like she's just talking the whole time.”

“What am I supposed to do? Tell her she's not allowed to call me anymore?”

“Of course not, but I'm just saying you should try to communicate with her at least. It's like the less you talk, the more she wants to call you.”

“So you want me to talk to her more?”

“I want you to figure something out. And don't ask me for any more help because you started this in the first place.”

By the time November rolled around, El was calling Mike less and less and talking to Will more. A welcome change. Things were starting to look up, Will and El growing closer, and a few days before Thanksgiving, he told her he was gay. She didn't seem too phased by it which relieved him, but what surprised him was that she already knew what being gay meant because Max told her when they were reading Wonder Woman comics.

Soon after this, the day before Mike and Nancy were to arrive, she asked him, “How do you know when you like someone?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you know if you want someone to be your boyfriend or girlfriend and not your friend? How can you tell?”

Will furrowed his eyebrows at this. “I think you just... know. I mean, think about you and Mike and you and me. You don't like us in the same way.”

This seemed to confuse her even more.

“Honestly, El, I think you just know after a while. You can't really force yourself to like someone if you just don't. It's not something you have to think too hard about.”

Thanksgiving break brought a flurry of calls from the Party – mostly from Mike, Lucas, and Dustin – everyone sharing stories of how high school was going so far. According to Lucas, Max was acting distant, barely speaking to the rest of the Party at all, but given the circumstances, they weren't surprised. After what happened at the mall, she and El were impacted by the deaths the most, but El had the Byers to lean on at home while Max's home situation was surely worse off than before.

Although Mike spoke with Will over Cerebro, El and Mike hadn't spoken in more than a week when Thanksgiving arrived. Will was pretty sure El was avoiding him because whenever Will offered her the radio to speak with him, she went off to do something else.

On Thanksgiving, Mike and Nancy arrived in the evening, bags in hand and offering up a casserole for the dinner. They were staying for three days, leaving on Sunday morning, which meant Will had to get Mike and El to talk.

“You two look great!” Joyce greeted Mike and Nancy as they walked into the Byers' apartment. “I'm glad you could make it.”

“Thank you for having us,” Nancy said, carrying the casserole in her arms. Jonathan helped her with it, heading to the kitchen to set it on the table.

The moment Mike laid his eyes on Will, he surged forward and wrapped him in a hug. “I missed you,” he murmured in his ear before pulling away. They exchanged smiles. Mike's hair was longer, curlier, and he was even taller than the last time they'd seen each other, but Will was catching up. At this point, Will was already taller than Jonathan, although Jonathan liked to deny it.

Mike turned to El and gave her a hug. “How's everything going here?”

“Not bad. Still adjusting,” Will said and nudged El on the elbow, “but at least we have each other.”

She gave him a smile, clutching onto his arm.

“Everyone says happy Thanksgiving, by the way,” Mike said. “I'm sure they called you over Cerebro.”

El nodded. “Dustin told us you were going to join clubs.”

“Maybe.” Mike shrugged. “I haven't decided yet. Other than AV, there's not much else I want to stay after school for. What about you guys? Thinking of joining anything?”

“Not at the moment,” Will said.

“I have to focus on schoolwork,” El explained.

“Oh, yeah. How is school going for you?” Mike asked.

“Okay. I like my teacher.”

“That's good.”

“Want to see our room?”

Mike straightened up. “Sure.” He slid his bag onto his shoulder and followed them down the hall and into the last room on the right. It was a good-sized room, around the same size as Will's old room, with a window above their desk overlooking an alleyway. A stack of unopened boxes sat in the corner beside their dresser.

Mike glanced around. “Nice place you got here.”

Will gestured to the floor between his and El's beds. “You can sleep here if that's okay. We've got extra blankets and pillows you can use. Oh, yeah.” Going over to the nightstand, he picked up a plush frog from beside the lamp and waved it in the air. “And the frog.”

Smiling, Mike set his bag on the floor, walked over to Will, and took the frog from him. He flipped it around in his hands before meeting Will's eyes. “Thanks.”

As Will gazed back at Mike, all he could think of was kissing him. He hated how he kept thinking about it, but the thoughts wouldn't go away, especially after moving. And now with Mike right here in front of him, the thoughts were amplified ten-fold.

They turned their heads when El turned on the boombox, blasting “Into The Groove” by Madonna. Will rolled his eyes. Of all their differences, their opposing tastes in music annoyed Will the most. Sure, El liked some of the songs he had her listen to, but the majority of the time, she played whatever Top 40 crap was on the radio.

After setting the frog down by his bag, Mike wandered over to the dresser and glanced at the knick-knacks covering it. “Anywhere interesting nearby? Places to go to?”

El frowned when Will turned off the boombox. “The Rollerlux.”

“Roller what?”

“It's a roller rink and arcade a few minutes away,” Will explained. “They have food, too, and it's nice 'cause it's all pretty cheap.”

Mike gestured to El. “You know how to roller skate?”

“Will's been teaching me.”

Taking a seat on the edge of El's bed, Will let out a laugh. “I can barely do it myself.”

While Mike went over to the other side of the room, Will shot El a look when she turned the boombox back on. “Can't you listen to that later?”

“No.”

Will huffed but turned his attention to Mike who was staring at the Jaws poster above his bed. “Do you want to check it out sometime? The Rollerlux, I mean.”

“Sure,” Mike said. “It sounds neat. Hey, where's your mom work anyways?”

“Just some store on the other side of the city. But Jonathan just got a job at a pizza place by our school.”

“Nice. Do you get free pizza?”

“Discounted.”

“Dinner's ready!” Joyce called from the kitchen. Jumping to his feet, Will shut off the boombox – earning himself a glare from El – and the three of them left the room and took their seats at the kitchen table. Will sat in between El and Mike, with Nancy next to her brother, Jonathan beside her, and Joyce in between Jonathan and El.

After everyone filled their plates with food, Joyce glanced around the table. “Why don't we all go around and say what we're thankful for? Anyone want to start?”

Nancy waved her hand. “I can start.”

With a smile, Joyce gestured for her to go ahead.

“I'm thankful for this wonderful food, being able to come here for the break, and this guy right here.” She rubber Jonathan's shoulder. “I'm thankful you invited us over. This is really great.” Nudging Jonathan, she tilted her head to him. “What are you thankful for?”

“Um, I'm thankful for you, of course.” They shared a smile. “And I'm thankful for you, Mom, and you, Will. And you too, El. Without all of you, things would be a lot harder.”

Reaching across the table, Joyce squeezed his hand. “And I'm thankful for you. I don't know how I would survive without you.” She looked to the rest of the table. “I'm also thankful that this move is going well. I was afraid it wouldn't, but I really think things are looking up for all of us.” She turned to El. “What about you, El? Are you thankful for anything?”

Leaning her elbows on the table, she nodded. “My friends. Family.”

Everyone's gaze fell on Will. He clasped his hands together, staring at his plate. “I'm thankful for... everyone. Everyone who's there for me. All of you, and the Party, and anyone else who's helped me through the past few years. And I'm thankful for being alive.” He mumbled the last sentence quickly so as not to dwell on it.

Teary-eyed, Joyce put her hand over her heart. “Oh, sweetie, we are too. So, so thankful.” She looked like she was about to cry – if Mike and Nancy hadn't been there, Will is sure she would have – before she shook her head and focused her attention onto Mike. “How about you, Mike?”

Straightening up, Mike glanced around the table. “I'm thankful for... for...” Hesitating, he caught Will's eye. “...for being here.”

They shared a smile, a blush creeping up Will's neck. Sitting back in his chair, Will hoped no one else noticed. Beside him, El tapped her fork on her plate. “Can we eat?”

Joyce laughed. “Yes, yes. Go ahead.”

Everyone picked up their forks and knives and dug into their food.

“Thank you for bringing the casserole,” Joyce said to Mike and Nancy.

Nancy took a bite of turkey. “No problem, Mrs. Byers. It was so nice of you for inviting us, and this meal's amazing.”

With a grin, Joyce motioned to Jonathan. “You can thank our master chef for most of it.”

Nancy lifted her glass. “To Jonathan.”

The rest of them lifted theirs. “To Jonathan!”

Laughing, they clanged their glasses together and sipped their drinks. They began discussing what they'd been up to for the past month. Nancy and Jonathan, being seniors, had been working on college applications and already sent theirs in for early application. While they were discussing this, Will felt someone's foot knock against his own. Glancing to the side, he noticed Mike watching him. Eyebrows drawing together, Will looked back at his food. Ever since their conversation in the summer about staying only friends, Mike would make little gestures and sneaking remarks aimed solely at Will in an attempt, Will assumed, at flirting. At least, he hoped. But the fact that he hoped that made it ten times worse. It was his choice to figure out things separately. To rely on themselves for once rather than each other. Plus, Mike still hadn't broken things off with El or came out to anyone other than Will. And yet... he still wanted Mike to want him.

He flinched when Mike pressed his knee against Will's. Breath shallow, he snuck a look at Mike to figure out what he was doing. All Mike did, above the table that is, was eat his mashed potatoes. Underneath the table, Mike knocked his foot against Will's. Will wanted to scream. His muscles ached with the desire to jump up and get out of there. Escape. Was Mike doing this on purpose?

“So, Will,” Nancy's voice cut through his thoughts. Will leaned forward until his chest pressed against the edge of the table, focusing on Nancy rather than the hand sliding up his leg. “I hear you've been practicing your powers.”

Swallowing, Will nodded. “El's been helping me with it while she tries to regain hers.”

“I'm just curious,” Nancy said, “because Jonathan here doesn't seem to know... where did they come from? Your powers, I mean.”

He looked at his mom and brother before shrugging. “I don't know. They just came to me.”

“Do you think it had something to do with your possession last year?”

Jonathan set his fork down. “Why don't we not talk about that right now?”

“No, it's fine,” Will assured him and looked back at Nancy. “I don't really know where it came from. I think it might have been there for a while.”

“For a while?”

“Yeah, I don't know.” If he was being honest, his powers were never a surprise when he actually thought about it. Denial was the main roadblock from admitting they were there in the first place.

Jonathan kept shooting glares at Nancy, but all she did was shoot a glare back at him before leaning forward to Will. “And they're... electricity powers? Fire powers? Both?”

“I don't know. I think the electricity starts the fires. I'm not entirely sure.” His body grew tense as Mike's hand slid further up his leg.

“Do you need electricity in order for you to use them? Can you do it without-”

“Nancy, would you leave him alone?” Jonathan hissed.

Everyone's gaze fell on him, including Mike who paused his hand from moving further up Will's leg. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Nancy made a face and poked the casserole on her plate.

Jonathan frowned, but before he could say anything, El said, “He's getting a lot better when we practice.”

No one spoke until Nancy let out a short sigh and looked up from her plate to El and Will. “What is it you're practicing?”

“Turning things off and on basically,” Will said whilst grasping Mike's hand underneath the table to keep him from moving it again. “Nothing too complicated.”

“And you're practicing to regain your powers?” she asked El.

“Yes.” El shrugged. “There hasn't been any change though.”

“Oh, don't worry,” Nancy said. “I'm sure they'll come back in no time.”

As she continued to talk, Will froze when Mike slid his hand up Will's forearm, trailing over his wrist, pulling the sleeve of his shirt up, and making every inch of skin he touched burn. Heart jolting into his throat, Will lurched to his feet, his chair screeching against the floor. Everyone stared at him, except for Mike whose eyes were wide and gaping at the space in front of him. “I have to use the bathroom.” Tossing his napkin on his chair, he rushed out of the kitchen and flung himself into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. A ghost of himself stared back. Jesus, his skin was as pale as a sheet. What was wrong with him?

Turning on the faucet, he sucked in a breath, splashed some water on his face, and willed away the tight knot in his stomach. As much as he was scared to go back to the table, he also wondered what exactly Mike was doing. They'd agreed not to be more than friends for now. Mike knew that. But every time Mike seemed to hint that he wanted to change that, Will was both reluctant and hopeful. He sure didn't mind the attention Mike paid him.

He dried off his face and headed back to the kitchen. “Mike,” Joyce was saying while Will returned to his seat. “I never asked, how are you liking high school?”

Shooting a glance at Will, Mike lifted a shoulder. “It's fine. Not much different from middle school.”

“How are your classes?”

“They're mostly good. We're dissecting frogs in biology which is pretty neat. I'm not a huge fan of gym class though, but I never was in the first place.”

Nancy took a bite of her casserole. “Is that what you keep ditching?”

Mike narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Mom said the school called because you keep missing some class.”

Baffled, Mike put his fork down. “Mom didn't tell me that.”

“So you are skipping gym?”

Jonathan met Will's eyes before he looked to Nancy and Mike. “Don't hassle him too much, Nance. I skipped my fair share of gym classes.”

Nancy glanced over at Joyce.

“First time I'm hearing of this,” Joyce said, her tone light.

The way Nancy looked back at Jonathan, her forehead creased and mouth set in a frown, made Will want to run away from the table again. “I'm not hassling him. I was just curious.”

Before Nancy and Jonathan could say anything else, Will set his fork and knife down and looked to his mom. “What's for dessert?”

Joyce's face lit up. “Ah, yes!” She stood from her chair and went to the fridge, opening it and taking out a pumpkin pie. “I bought this from the supermarket.” Setting it down on the table, everyone leaned over to look at it.

“It looks delicious,” El said as Joyce put whipped cream on it.

“It does, doesn't it?” She sliced into the pie, placing a piece on everyone's plates, and once everyone was served, they dug in. As they ate, Jonathan talked about his new job and co-workers while the only thing on Will's mind was Mike.

Once dessert was finished, Will and El went to their room with Mike and gathered on Will's bed. “What's with your sister?” Will mumbled to Mike, taking out his sketchbook from the nightstand drawer. “Why's she asking all those questions about my powers?”

Mike shifted beside him. “Beats me. She's always asking too many questions.”

“Well, it's not that she's asking too many questions exactly. I'm just wondering why she's asking so many.”

“Maybe she's curious,” El said. “Everyone used to ask me about my powers.”

“That's true.” Will sunk back against the headboard and opened his sketchbook while Mike and El talked about school. He was sketching out Will the Wise when El left for the bathroom.

Mike leaned over his shoulder. “What's Will the Wise up to?”

“Trying to figure that out,” Will murmured. He continued to draw as Mike watched.

He put down his pencil when he heard the toilet flush and faucet turn on. Tossing his sketchbook onto the bed, he got to his feet, turned to Mike, and grabbed him by the shirt collar. Mike's eyebrows furrowed. Pulling him closer, Will hissed in Mike's ear, “Talk to her already. Now's your chance.” Letting go of Mike, Will patted him on the shoulder and left the room.

“Bathroom,” he mumbled to El as he passed her in the hallway. She gave him a smile, continuing to the bedroom. Instead of going to the bathroom, he continued down the hall and peered into the kitchen. Nancy and his mom were talking by the sink, washing dishes, while Jonathan put the leftovers in the fridge.

Grabbing the casserole from the table, Jonathan glanced up at Will. “Hey, bud. What's up?”

“Not much.”

He watched Jonathan stick the casserole in the fridge before looking back at him. “What are you up to? Where are Mike and El?”

“Talking.”

Jonathan focused on him. Closing the fridge, he gestured for Will to follow him and lead him to his room. He shut the door then faced him. “What's going on?”

Will plopped down on Jonathan's bed. “Mike is breaking up with El.”

“Right now?”

He nodded.

Sitting beside his brother, Jonathan drew his eyebrows together. “You mean... they aren't already broken up?”

“Nope.”

“Oh. Huh. I figured since El hasn't talked about him for weeks...”

“Yeah, I don't know.”

“Why's Mike breaking up with her?”

“He's... not interested in her like that.” He paused then lowered his voice. “Are you and Nancy doing okay?”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“I don't know. You guys just seemed to be arguing a lot at dinner.”

“We weren't really arguing.”

“Okay, yeah, but you know what I mean.”

Clasping his hands together, Jonathan turned around on his bed and faced his brother. “It's nice that you're thinking of us, but you really don't have to worry. I'm sure you have other things to think about.”

“I know.” He lifted a shoulder. “But you're always there for me when I need you. I just want to be there for you if you ever need someone to talk to.”

Jonathan's face softened. “That's really nice of you, Will. I appreciate it a lot. I do.” He gave Will a reassuring smile. “Really, Will. You don't have to worry about it; we're fine.”

“Okay. That's good.”

Sighing, Jonathan lowered his voice. “And you and Mike? How are you guys doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you two together? I mean, he seems pretty interested.”

This turn of conversation threw him off. Seems pretty interested? Who? Mike? What did that even mean? And why would he ask if they're together? He literally just told Jonathan that Mike is breaking up with El. Why would he think...

Before he could overthink it, Will shook his head. “We're not together, no.”

“Does he know that?”

“What are you talking about?”

Jonathan shrugged. “Listen. I have a pretty good sense of when someone's hiding something, and he's barely hiding it at all.” When Will gaped at him – honestly, what else was Will supposed to do – Jonathan put his hand on his shoulder. “I know the last time we talked about it, I wasn't too happy with him. Especially after what he said to you. But if it makes you happy, I'll support whatever you decide.”

“I really don't know what you're talking about. We're not together.”

“I know, I know. All I mean is that if you decide to start something, I'll support you.”

This whole conversation confused him. Why was Jonathan talking about his relationship with Mike all of a sudden? Did he know something? All he'd told Jonathan in relation to him and Mike was that he had a conversation with Mike in the summer and had forgiven him. He hadn't even told Jonathan that Mike and him had ever kissed. As far as he knew, Jonathan only thought Will was the one who liked Mike. Not the other way around.

“Does El know?”

Will's eyebrows drew together. “Know what exactly?”

“About you and Mike?”

“She knows I'm gay. Other than that, I have no idea what she knows.” He examined his brother's expression. “How much do you know?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Just what you told me, and just what I've seen.”

Before Will could ask what he meant by how much he's seen, there was a knock on the door. Nancy opened it and smiled at them. “I discussed Christmas break with your mom,” she said. “Looks like we've got the go ahead.”

“Sounds good.” Jonathan got to his feet and motioned for Will to leave, jerking his thumb towards the door.

Will hopped up and started out the door, Nancy moving past him. As she went inside, Will grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him to the doorway. His voice lowered even more to barely a whisper. “You won't tell anyone, right? I don't know if Nancy knows anything, and most people only know about me, not Mike.”

Jonathan frowned. “Of course not. I would never tell anyone.”

“Thank you.”

“It's okay.” He squeezed Will's shoulder before turning around into his room and closing the door. Taking a breath, Will headed down the hall to his room, stopping in front of the slightly-open door and listening to what Mike and El were saying. Nothing. They weren't saying anything at all. Will lifted his hand to the door, paused, then knocked on it.

“Yes?” El called.

Will stepped inside the room. El sat by the foot of Will's bed, flipping through a magazine; Mike sat by the headboard, wringing his hands together. Both of them seemed unphased, their expressions blank. Taking a seat on the side of his bed, Will glanced between them. He couldn't tell what either of them were feeling, whether or not the break-up affected them. Judging by their expressions, it seemed like they hadn't even broken up at all.

Tossing the magazine onto the nightstand, El hopped off the bed. “I'm going to sleep.” She grabbed a pair of pajamas from the dresser and left the room.

Will looked over at Mike. Mike kept his eyes down, examining his fingernails. “How'd it go?” Will asked him.

Barely glancing up, Mike hummed. “Pretty well, actually.”

“Really?”

He shrugged. “Yep.”

“How did El take it?”

Another shrug. “Not bad, actually. I think she wanted to break up with me anyways.”

“Oh.”

“I think she's bored with me.”

Will held in a laugh. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, she just said she thinks of me as a brother or friend or something like that.” He leaned his back against the headboard. “You know, it's sort of relieving.”

“That it was mutual?”

“Well, that, and the fact that I don't have to pretend with her anymore. We can just be friends now.” He looked over at Will with a smile. “I should thank you for that.”

Will furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?”

“If it wasn't for you, I'm not sure I would have realized what I was doing until it was too late. I would probably still be pretending.”

“I'm glad it's going well for you.”

“Yeah.” He tilted his head to the side. “Are things going well with you? I know El mentioned some kids picking on her.”

Will groaned. “Yeah, those jerks. They're just a bunch of popular rich kids. I told her to just ignore them.”

“What about you? They're not messing with you, are they?”

He shook his head. “I don't think they even know I exist.”

“So things are alright for you?”

“So far.” Mike's eyes stayed on him, so he stared down at the bedsheets. “You never mentioned you were skipping class before.”

A groan escaped Mike's lips. “Because it's stupid.”

“What is?”

“Everything. Gym class sucks, high school sucks, and everyone sucks. I hate it.”

“Oh.” Will wasn't sure what to say. Mike never used to hate school this much. Yes, the bullies he hated, and yes, he always hated gym class, same with the rest of the party. But he still liked school in general. At least, he used to. “Well... why?”

“Why does everything suck? Because I'm alone. I literally know no one in my gym class. The only class I have with Dustin and Lucas is biology and lunch.”

“What about Max?”

“She's in my math class, but she barely talks. All she does is sit in the back listening to music the whole time.”

“I mean, you can't really blame her.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “It's still annoying.”

“Why didn't you say anything about this before? Whenever we talked, you said everything was fine.”

“I didn't want to worry you.”

“How are Dustin and Lucas doing then? Are they skipping class, too?”

“They're both fine.”

Taking a breath, Will moved from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed to sit beside Mike. “What about joining a club? Weren't you guys planning on finding something to join?”

Mike sighed. “That doesn't help gym class.”

“You might make new friends.”

“Doubtful.”

“I'm sure it'll get better.”

“I wish you were there with me.”

Will met his gaze. “I know. It's not easy for me either.”

“I know it sounds dumb, but it's a lot harder than I was expecting. Nothing's the same anymore.”

The edge in his voice made Will's stomach churn. He couldn't help the guilt boiling up inside. If he hadn't agreed to move, Mike wouldn't be in this position. This was his fault.

“Will?”

He looked up at Mike. At the sadness in his eyes.

“I...” Mike's voice wavered. “I really missed you.”

Will's heart sank. “I missed you, too.”

Once El returned to the room, they all got ready for bed, showering and changing into their pajamas. The night went smoothly, neither Will nor El awakening in fright from a nightmare. The next day, while El and Mike were watching a movie on the TV and Joyce was at work, Will talked with Jonathan and Nancy in the kitchen about their plans for Christmas break. According to Nancy, El would sleep in her room, Jonathan taking the basement, and Will would sleep in Mike's room. The plan was to arrive on the twenty-third and leave the morning of the twenty-sixth. Which meant three nights sleeping in Mike's room. Just the two of them. The thought of it made him both nervous and excited.

After discussing Christmas break, Will went to the living room and plopped himself down on the couch beside Mike.

Mike looked over at him. “What were you talking about?”

“Hm?”

“With Nancy and Jonathan.”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “Nothing, really. Just figuring out our plans for Christmas.”

Mike's face lit up. “You're coming over, right?”

“Far as I know. My mom's cool with it.”

“Awesome! I've been working on a campaign we can play then. And also, I think I mentioned this to El, but we were thinking of all going ice skating when you guys come over since she's never done it before.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Do you all know how to ice skate?” El asked them, her eyes still on the TV.

“I'm okay,” Mike said then nudged Will's shoulder. “You're not bad either once you adjust to it.”

“Mhm.” Will couldn't help but wonder if anyone else noticed his and Mike's relationship other than Jonathan. His brother was pretty observant, that's for sure, but now that Will thought about it, there were various moments in which his friends uttered phrases with no other meaning than them thinking there was more than just platonic feelings on Mike's side. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered, had his friends known all along?

Mike knocked his knee against Will's. Shaking away his thoughts, Will looked at him. “What's with you?” Mike asked.

“What?”

“You're acting weird.”

Will forced a laugh. “No, I'm not.” God, that sounded stupid.

Eyeing him, Mike adjusted himself on the couch so he was facing Will. “Yes, you're acting funny.” He leaned forward and before Will could move away, his mouth was pressed to Will's ear. His voice hummed, “Is it because of what I did during dinner yesterday?”

A chill went down Will's spine. Mike leaned back against the couch cushion, the side of his mouth pulling up in a smirk. They held eye contact until Mike hopped to his feet. “I'm going to the bathroom.” He kicked the edge of Will's foot lightly before striding over to the bathroom.

Will turned to El. “How are things going with you and Mike?”

Her eyes stayed glued to the TV. “We broke up.”

He paused, thinking about how to word this in order for it not to sound like he already knew. “Are... are you okay about it?”

“Yes. I don't like him like a boyfriend anymore, and I want to do other things.”

“Oh... um, what exactly... how did you... break up?” When the words left his mouth, all he wanted to do was punch himself in the face for sounding like such an idiot.

El's forehead creased. “How?”

“I mean, what exactly did he say?”

“He said it's not working, and I agreed with him.”

From that, it seemed like Mike hadn't told her too much. If he'd told her the whole story, Will was sure El would mention it.

After a minute, Will got up from the couch and went to the bathroom door. He pressed his ear to it, hearing the faucet going. Sucking in a breath, he shook his hands out, lifted one to the door, and tapped his knuckles against it. “Mike,” he whispered, “can we-”

The door swung open. Before he could do anything, Mike grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them. His breath hitched. They stared at each other for a moment, neither one of them daring to speak. The space between them burned like a sweltering fire. It took everything in Will to keep his eyes locked with Mike's and not look down at Mike's lips.

Voice soft, Mike stepped forward, pressing their chests against each other. “Fancy seeing you here.”

He can barely breathe. “Yeah, uh... thanks.”

Mike cracked a smile. Heart pounding, Will's gaze followed Mike as he lifted his hand. Mike's hand trailed down his cheek, sending tingles down Will's spine. Trailing over his jaw. Down his neck. Their faces drew closer, and just as Mike was about to close the gap, Will shot his hand up between them, pushing it against Mike's face. “Ow!”

“Oh.” Will froze. “Um... sorry.” Hand still pressed over Mike's face, he could feel Mike let out a breath against his palm. He dropped his hand. “I actually... I wanted to ask what you told Eleven. Just so I know.”

With a frown, Mike furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean? We broke up.”

“Yeah, just... what exactly did you say to her was the reason?”

“For breaking up?”

Will nodded.

Shrugging, Mike took a step back and looked away. “Just that we aren't working out being more than friends. Then she started saying she completely agreed and blah, blah, blah. Why's it matter?”

His face grew red. “Sorry, I was only asking 'cause I wanted to know if there's anything I shouldn't mention to El. Like, I don't know, everything that happened between us.”

Mike's face softened. “Of course. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude about it... I – I guess the break-up's still a bit fresh, even though it was mutual or whatever... it's still sort of hard for me.” He shook his head. “But anyways, no, I didn't tell her about us. I wasn't sure if I should... should I have? I can if you want me to.”

Will stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Um... I'm not sure.”

“Do you think it will hurt her more if we told her than if we don't?” Mike asked, rubbing his arms. “I mean, is there really a reason we have to? You know, since we're not even, like, together or anything.” He met Will's eyes. “...right?”

An uncomfortable amount of butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Mike wasn't wrong; he knew that. It was Will who decided to stay only friends, even though he regretted that decision every time his mind wandered to Mike. The way his lips had felt against his when they'd kissed. The thought made his cheeks burn. Clearing his throat, he gave Mike a curt nod. “Yes. Right.”

No response from Mike. Will examined his expression but couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was. Letting out an unsteady breath, he straightened up. “Do you – do you want to go check out the Rollerlux around the corner? It's really cool; you'll love it.”

Mike met his eyes. “Yeah. Awesome.” He slung an arm around Will's shoulders, and they left the bathroom.

When they went into the living room, Will gestured to El. “We're going to the Rollerlux for a bit. Want to come with?”

El glanced up but shook her head. “No. Have fun.” She looked back at the TV.

While Mike put on his jacket, Will walked over to El. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I'm fine here.”

“Okay. We'll be back in a couple hours.” He walked back over to Mike who handed him his jacket. Stuffing some cash into his pockets, he turned towards the kitchen. “Hey, Jonathan,” he called, “Mike and I are going to the arcade, so just tell Mom if we're not back when she gets home.”

“Okay,” Jonathan called back. “Be careful.”

“Yep.” After putting on their shoes, Will and Mike headed out the door. As they walked down the street, Mike surveyed the buildings they passed, pointing out the shops he thought looked cool and wanted to check out later. Will couldn't help but smile at his excitement.

They stepped into the Rollerlux Arcade and were met by the flashing lights and dinging machines of the arcade games, music booming over the speakers. “Woah...” Mike murmured.

Letting out a laugh, Will grabbed his arm. “Come on.” He lead him through the rows of games, dodging people dashing past. “What do you want to play first?”

Mike's gaze fell over all the games. “This place is wicked.”

Will couldn't keep the smile off his face. “It is, isn't it?”

The two of them went from game to game, ones they've played previously and ones they never even knew existed. They played for about an hour, rushing around the aisles and laughing, until all Will had in his pockets was a couple of pennies and a stick of gum.

“Do you want to roller skate for a bit?” Mike suggested.

“I'm all out of money, and it's a couple bucks to rent skates.”

“No worries.” Mike pulled two twenty dollar bills out of his pocket. “I've got us covered.”

Will smiled. “Where'd you get all that money?”

“My mom. She's been acting extra nice to me for some reason.” Mike wrapped his arm around Will's shoulders, and they went over to the counter to rent skates. Will rang the service bell while Mike gestured towards the food menu on the counter. “Want something to eat, too?”

“Oh, you don't-”

“It's my treat. Come on.” He flashed Will a grin, knocking their elbows together.

From the back room, a boy with a black mohawk came out and up to the counter. Daniel. “Hey, Byers,” he said, giving Will a smile. He nodded to Mike. “Who's your friend?”

Will smiled back. “Hey. Um... This is Mike. He's a friend from my old school.”

Daniel reached a hand over the counter, extending it to Mike. Glancing at Will, Mike frowned. Will raised an eyebrow at him. Letting out a whistle, Daniel pulled his hand back. “Alrighty. So...” He avoided Mike's eye and looked to Will instead. “What can I do for you today? Skates? Food?”

“We'll take both,” Mike said.

“Shoe sizes?”

“Eleven.”

“Nine.”

“Alright.” Daniel went to the roller skate slots and pulled out two pairs, handing them to Mike and Will. “Here you go. What food did you want?”

“Can I get nachos and a water?” Will said and glanced over at Mike. “And...”

Rubbing his neck, Mike leaned against the counter. “And I'll have nachos, too. And a coke.”

Daniel rung up the order. “Alright. That'll be seven seventy-five.” Mike handed the money to Daniel. “I can bring your food out to you if you want to grab a table.”

While Daniel got their food and drinks, Mike and Will went over to a table by the rink to put on their skates. Mike took a glance around the place. “How often do you come here?” he asks Will.

“Um, every once in a while I guess. El doesn't really care much for it, but she likes the roller skating. Even though we both suck.”

They shared a laugh. Once their skates were on, they got out onto the rink, both fairly unsteady. They took a lap around, in which Mike fell three times, Will laughing each time.

“Hey, the last time I skated was when I was nine,” Mike said when he got back to his feet after the third fall, rolling his eyes but smiling when Will snickered.

“No wonder you skip gym class.”

“Hey!” Mike nudged him playfully, but threw himself off balance and ended up falling to the ground again. Will cackled, skating around to watch Mike struggle to get up, and reached a hand out to help him. Smirking, Mike grabbed his arm and pulled him down, the skates flinging out from under Will and sending him sprawling on top of Mike. He sat up, hovering over Mike, his knees digging into Mike's thighs. They both exchanged looks and burst into laughter.

“Guess we both suck at this,” Will said.

“Yep. Looks like it.”

“Oy, Byers!” At the sound of Daniel's voice, Will pushed himself off of Mike and looked to where Daniel peered at them over the edge of the rink, balancing a platter of food in his hand. “You two have a table?”

“Oh, yeah.” Will got to his feet, brushing himself off and helping Mike up. They skated out of the rink and over to the table.

As they took off their skates, Daniel set the food down. “Have a good break, Byers. See you at school.” He flashed Will a smile and winked at him.

“You, too.” Heat rose up his neck, and he looked away. “See you.”

Daniel chuckled and left for the counter, Mike watching as he walked away. Keeping his eyes down, Will grabbed his nachos and water, popping a nacho in his mouth. He could feel Mike's eyes shift from Daniel to him. “So,” Mike said, taking a sip of his coke, “who was that guy?”

“Hm?”

“That guy who gave us our food. He seems... friendly.”

Will glanced up at him. “Oh, him. Yeah... he's just some guy from school.”

“One of your friends?”

Chuckling, Will wiped his hands on a napkin and shook his head. “Friends? I don't have friends.”

Mike narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“No, I just mean, I don't really have any friends at school. El and I usually stick together when we can.” He took a sip of water. “But there are some people in my art class who are nice.”

“Is that guy one of them?” There was an edge in his voice that unnerved Will.

Looking at Mike, Will noticed his jaw tensed. Will sighed. “His name's Daniel... and yes, he's in my art class.” He watched Mike closely. “He's a nice guy; you'd like him.”

“So are you friends or not?”

“We don't hang out or anything. He's just a decent guy. That's all.” Will gave him a hard look.

Mike's face softened, and he shrugged. “Okay, that's cool. I'm glad people here are nice to you.” He tapped his knuckle on the table. “How's El doing? I mean, she said she's been doing well and everything other than those bullies, but I just want to make sure. I mean, you guys have gotten pretty close, right? So... is she holding up alright?”

Will gave him a smile. “Yeah, she's doing well. She's still coping with losing Hopper and her powers and all that, but I'd say she's hanging in there. School can be a bit rough, but Jonathan and I have been trying to help her as much as we can. But she's tough, of course. She's pretty good at handling things on her own.”

“That's good.” Looking down, he shook his head. “I do love her, you know. Maybe not in a romantic way or whatever, but I really, really care about her.”

Will reached out his hand and set it on Mike's. “I know.”

“And I know lying to her for so long wasn't right... but for the longest time, I didn't think I was lying at all. I really thought that that's what being in love was supposed to feel like.”

Squeezing his hand, he met Mike's eyes. “I understand. And I don't want you guys to stop being friends or anything like that, just so you know.”

A smile formed on Mike's lips. “Yeah, of course.”

They finished their food, played a couple more games before they returned home. The rest of the break was chill, Will, Mike, and El going to the arcade and watching movies for the next two days that Mike and Nancy were there. Once the break ended, and they got back to the groove of things, that's when everything started to go downhill.

Chapter Text

“Are you okay?” El watches Will from where she's sitting at the desk in their room, radio in her hand.

He lifts himself away from the door. “I don't know,” he murmurs, going over in his head what his mom just told him. His father? Here? There's a stitch in his side, digging into him like a knife. He hasn't seen his father in years. As far as he knew, his father didn't even care to see him at all. Why does he want to see him now?

Moving towards his bed, he halts, catching himself on the dresser. The floor sways beneath his feet. Grasping the edge of the dresser to keep himself steady, he closes his eyes and takes a breath in, then out. In then out.

“What's wrong?” El asks, putting away the radio and taking a step towards Will.

Breath unsteady, he shakes his head, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Nothing... nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Will?” Jonathan's voice calls from the hallway, making Will and El look to the door. “Will?”

He meets El's eyes; she gives him a shrug.

“Will!” Jonathan calls again. Opening the door, Will peers down the hall to see Jonathan standing with the phone in his hand. Jonathan waves at him. “You've got a call.”

Will furrows his eyebrows, glancing at the time on his watch. Almost ten. His friends usually never call this late on school nights. Shutting the door, he walks over to his brother and in a hushed voice, asks him, “Who is it?”

Jonathan hands him the phone. “It's Mike.” He pats him on the shoulder before going to his room.

Mike. Will stares at the phone in his hand for a moment. Mike is calling him. His stomach is in knots as he brings the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Will,” Mike says, making Will's breath hitch. “It's Mike.”

His vocal chords struggle to make a sound. “H – how are you? What's up?”

“I'm fine. How have you been?”

God, this is so awkward. What the hell is he supposed to say? Swallowing, he leans against the wall and whispers, “I'm okay.”

“It's been a while.”

“Yeah... yeah, it has.” His hand trembles. “Um... I know we haven't really... talked. Since what happened. I've just... with everything going on, I haven't really been able to...” If he could punch himself in the face right now, he would.

“It's fine. Really.” Mike sighs. “I actually called about your birthday.”

“Oh... what about it?”

“I can't come over,” Mike explains, a hitch in his breath audible from the other end. “Nancy's busy with some sort of research or whatever. She can't drive me.”

“Oh.” He clutches the phone to keep from dropping it. “That's... that's okay,” he says, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. “Actually, it might be better that way. My – my dad... he's coming over for my birthday for some reason.”

“Your dad?”

“Yeah, I don't know why.”

There's a pause before Mike clears his throat. “I really do wish I could. Come over. But my mom won't even let me take a bus by myself.”

“It's fine, Mike, really,” he insists. “We can still see each other this summer.”

“Yeah, of course.”

After a beat of silence, Will goes on, “Dustin said you've been going to that D&D club he's in. The Hellfire Club. How is it?”

“Oh, that... yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna keep hanging around with them much more.”

“Why not?”

“I don't know... it's just not the same. And some weird shit is happening with them.”

“Weird shit?”

“Yeah, just... people are blaming them for a lot of bad stuff that's happening here... I never should have joined it in the first place. I didn't even want to.”

“Mike, I told you it was fine. You don't have to feel bad about joining it.”

“It's not just that... none of it feels the same. Not without you.”

Will pauses, listening to Mike's breathing. Closing his eyes, a sigh escapes his lips. “I'm sorry I haven't been there for you after what happened,” he says, his voice weak. He fidgets with the phone cord. “I've just had a lot on my mind, and with everything happening here, I haven't had the chance to call. ”

“No, Will, it's not-” Mike sucks in a breath. “You don't have to feel bad about any of it. It was just an accident anyways. I'm fine now.”

“Yeah... yeah, I know.” He shuts his eyes, letting out a sigh. His mind flashes back to that day two and a half months ago when he got the call. His friends' panicked voices. His own panicked reaction. Yet another thing to add to his nightmares. “But it still scared me when Dustin called. I didn't know what to think.”

It takes a moment for Mike to answer. “I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin things for you there.”

“That's not what I meant-”

“No, really. I am sorry. You shouldn't have to worry about me.” There was a pause. Whispering on the other end before Mike let out a huff. “You don't have to waste your time on me anymore.”

“Mike-”

The line goes quiet.

Chapter Text

Ears ringing, Will stares at the phone in his hand. You don't have to waste your time on me anymore. After months of not speaking, this is what he's met with? No. He shakes his head. Of course this happened. He should have expected it. He deserves it.

A lump lodged in his throat, he clutches the phone until his knuckles burn white. “You stupid idiot,” he hisses, the floor spinning beneath his feet. “You. Stupid. Idiot.” This is all his fault. He did this. If he had just went to see Mike after he found out what happened, then he wouldn't be in this situation right now. If he hadn't been such an idiot then none of this would've happened. He ruined everything. Roaring, he slams the phone into the wall. Once. Twice. Another time, and another, and another, until his hand is throbbing and his stomach is in knots and he can't see anything but white flashing around him.

A hand comes down on his shoulder, and he whips around, entire body flinching. Jonathan takes a step back, holding his hands up in front of him. “What's going on?” His forehead is creased and mouth etched in a frown.

The smell of burnt wood wafts in Will's nose. Blinking hard, he gapes at the phone in his hand. It's completely charred, all the way up the wire. Even the wall surrounding it is covered in black soot.

“What happened, Will?” Jonathan asks in a low voice, which Will can't tell if it's because he doesn't want their mom to hear or because he's afraid of what Will might do if he talks too loud.

Will swallows, letting the phone drop out of his hand and bang against the wall. “It's – it's nothing,” he chokes, taking a step back.

“Will-” Jonathan lifts a hand to his shoulder, and the contact sends a fury through Will.

He jerks away from Jonathan. “I said it's nothing!” Spinning around, he storms to his bedroom and slams the door shut, ignoring El as she jolts up in her bed. He collapses in his own bed, burying his face in his pillow.

“Will?” El whispers, making him bury his face even deeper in his pillow. Blood pounds in his ears; he can barely hear her speaking.

“I don't want to talk about it,” he mumbles and presses his hands to his ears to block out any noise, but it doesn't block out the one noise bothering him the most: the voice in his head.

After what feels like hours of lying with his face buried in his pillow, the world around him falls away as he's transported through darkness and plummets through nightmare after nightmare. Running, screaming, fleeing from the demogorgon. The Mind Flayer. At one point, he's walking up the stairwell. He reaches their apartment floor and starts down the hall, humming a song to himself. As he turns the corner, he spots a man, his face a blur, standing at the end of the hallway near their apartment door, blood covering his clothes. Will's heart shoots into his throat. The light flickers above them then bursts, leaving Will in complete darkness. He wants to scream, his whole body frozen. Breath quickening, he focuses on the light that burst, the electricity. It pops back on, light flooding back into the hallway. Will's breath slows, but his eyes fall back to the end of the hallway. The man is no longer there. Will rushes into the apartment, shutting the door the second he gets inside. He lets out a breath, trying to convince himself that what he saw was all in his head. “Hey,” a voice says behind him, making him flinch. He spins around to see Mike standing with his arms crossed, glaring at Will. “What are you doing?”

“What?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” But Mike doesn't answer. Instead, a flurry of grey shadow bursts around them and swallows him up. Will screams, grasping for Mike, but he's gone. The shadow turns on him, and he's choking it in, standing on the field of Hawkins Middle School. It's everywhere. He feels it everywhere. Every inch of him, inside and out. Lurching forward, he shrieks at it to get out of him, to stay away. To leave him alone.

A scream that isn't his own shatters into his nightmare, and he jolts awake, peering around the room. For a moment, he thinks the scream was only a part of his dream, but he notices El sitting up by the end of her bed, eyes wide. It isn't a rare sight. For the past few weeks, Will awoke in the middle of the night to find El either having a nightmare or awake from one. Sometimes, he even found her standing in the middle of the room, staring into space.

“El?” he whispers. She keeps still. “Eleven?”

When she doesn't move, he clears his throat and raises his voice. “Eleven.”

She spins around, gaping at Will. “Huh?”

“I think you were having a nightmare.”

“Oh.” Rubbing her eyes, she shifts up to her headboard. “Did I sleepwalk again?”

“Not that I noticed. You were only sitting up.”

“Did I wake you?”

He shakes his head. “I had a nightmare, too.”

“What time is it?”

He squints at his watch. “Three in the morning. We should probably go back to bed. Get some sleep before tomorrow.”

“The big day.”

He chuckles. “Yep. The big day. Goodnight, El.”

“Goodnight, Will.”

Chapter Text

The moment Will opens his eyes, he's met with the sight of El staring down at him. His whole body flinches. “What-”

Grinning, El grabs his arms and pulls him to his feet. “Come on! I have an idea!” She yanks him out through the hall and into the bathroom.

“What are you doing?” Will asks as she rummages through the drawer beneath the sink.

She hops back up wielding a pair of scissors. Will looks at her warily. “Haircut,” she explains.

“Who? What?”

Rolling her eyes, she shuts the door and turns on the faucet. Will jerks back when she reaches her hand for his hair. She eyes him. “We're supposed to be changing things up. That's what you said.”

“I never said you could cut my hair!”

“So you don't want to change it up?”

“Not-” Will stares at himself in the mirror. His same old boring self. He hasn't changed much for most of his life. Same haircut. Same clothing style. He's taller, that's for sure, but other than that, it's like he's still that twelve year old kid who got abducted in his shed almost three years ago.

He looks back at El who's holding up the scissors and watching him eagerly. Taking another glance at himself in the mirror, he lets out a sigh. “Okay, fine. But-” He holds up a hand when El reaches for his hair again. “First, what exactly are you planning on doing?”

“It's a surprise.”

“That's not very comforting.”

She huffs, slumping her shoulders. “Do you trust me?”

“That's not the problem here.”

“Will.”

“Okay, fine. Just don't make me look like an idiot.”

Letting out a laugh, she gives a shake of her head and moves him to lean over the sink. “I won't.” She goes to work on his hair, chopping off a chunk from the side.

“I swear, if you make me look stupid, I'm never leaving this house again.”

“I said I won't.”

“Do you even know what you're doing?”

“Mhm. I saw it in a magazine.”

“Saw what in a magazine?”

“The haircut.”

“So, you don't know what you're doing.”

“Will.”

“Okay, fine. I'll shut up.”

After a few minutes of snipping away at his hair, El grabs the electric razor from the counter, plugs it in, and brings it to the side of his head. Will jerks back. “Woah, what are you doing with that?”

“Shaving it.”

“Shaving what?”

“The sides.” When Will gives her a sheepish look, she rolls her eyes and presses her hand to the back of his head, pushing him back down to the sink. “You said I could do it, so let me.”

“What are we doing with your hair? Do I get to cut it?”

“Just wait until I'm done with yours.”

“Okay, okay. Just hurry up. We can't be late for school.”

After a moment, sides of his head shaved, El turns on the faucet and runs water through his hair until its soaked. Then she hands him a towel which he dries his hair with. While he's drying off his hair and El's looking at hers in the mirror, the shouts of Jonathan echo from the front of the apartment. “Are you kidding me? Why didn't you tell me?”

Frowning, Will listens closely, but isn't able to make out everything being said. He hears his brother and mother's voices, both tense. “I can't believe you,” Jonathan yells. “After what he did when we thought Will died? You're still letting him near him?”

“I don't have time for this, Jonathan,” Joyce says. “It's good for you boys to have your father in your lives.”

“No! No, it's not! Not when he's a complete asshole! You can't keep running back to him when you're lonely and ruining our lives.”

“Jonathan-”

“No, Mom! Not this time. I'm not letting you do this to him. He's been through enough.”

“Why don't we talk about this later, okay? I need to get to work.” Footsteps echo in the hallway, and there's a knock on the bathroom door.

“In the middle of something,” Will calls.

“Oh, okay – wait, is that the razor?”

Will shoots El a look, and she turns off the razor. He pauses, takes a breath, and opens the door. Joyce's eyes fall on Will and El. “Oh my – what's happened to your hair?”

Will and El exchange looks. Putting on a smile, El leans forward. “Makeover.”

Blinking, Joyce looks back-and-forth between them. “Okay, well, if you're happy with it... well, why don't you two wash up and get ready for school?” She gives them a quick smile and starts to leave.

“Oh, Mom,” Will says, and she turns back around. He scratches his neck. “Um... Mike called yesterday, and he said he and Nancy can't come this weekend.”

Brows furrowed, Joyce frowns. “Oh. How come?”

He shrugs. “Nancy's busy, so she can't drive them, and Mrs. Wheeler doesn't want Mike to come by himself either.”

“I'm sorry.” Joyce squeezes his shoulder. “I know how much you were looking forward to seeing him.” She pauses before her face lights up. “Why don't you invite some of your new friends? You said you had a friend from school. Why don't you invite them?”

“Oh... I don't know.”

“Just ask them. Even if they can't come, I'm sure they'll appreciate the invitation.” She gives him a smile, so he shrugs. “And don't forget to figure out the names of those kids who are picking on you. I need to call them.”

“I know, I know.”

She ruffles his hair. “Are you feeling okay?”

Rolling his eyes, he grumbles, “Yes, Mom.”

“Okay, okay. Just making sure. You two, have a good day at school.”

They mumble yes. Once she leaves, El looks to Will. “Mike isn't coming?”

Tossing the towel in the hamper, Will sighs. “Yeah. Sorry, I should've told you last night.”

She doesn't answer, instead looking to the mirror, biting her lip as she brushes her hands through her hair. Will clears his throat. “I don't think we have time to do anything with your hair right now, but maybe after school?”

She nods. “Okay.” Putting away the razor and scissors, El cleans up the hair in the sink. “Who were your mom and Jonathan talking about?”

Frowning, Will brushes stray hairs off his pajama shirt. “My dad.”

“You're not happy?”

Great question. He should be happy, shouldn't he? I mean, he's seeing his dad, right? Most people should be happy to see their dad. Right?

With no answer from Will, El says, “He's a bad man?”

Will grabs his toothbrush and squirts toothpaste on it. “I don't like to think anyone's really bad, deep down.” He hands El the tube of toothpaste. She takes it, puts some on her toothbrush, and the two of them brush their teeth in silence. Once their done, and they finish cleaning up the bathroom, they get ready for school, gathering their school supplies and getting dressed in their new outfits: Will in an old Joy Division shirt he got from Jonathan, denim vest from the thrift store, and sunglasses; El in a bright red shirt, jeans, a bandana in her hair and fingerless gloves on her hands, and sunglasses.

Looking at themselves in the mirror, they both smile. “Total badasses,” El says.

Will lets out a laugh. “Totally.”

They gather their backpacks and go to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Jonathan is putting scrambled eggs on his plate by the stove as they take a seat at the table. “Hey, Will, how are you doing?” he says, his back to them. “I just wanted to know after yester – what happened to you?”

Jonathan stares at Will and El, taken aback. Will lowers his head. “Does it look bad?”

Blinking, Jonathan shakes his head and lets out a laugh. “Uh...no. Actually, it looks pretty cool. I was just wondering why the sudden change. And when did you get a haircut?”

“We want to change things up,” El explains.

“Well, you've succeeded in that.”

Will gestures to his hair. “El cut it today.”

Chuckling, Jonathan scrunches his nose. “Really? Just now? Is that what you were doing in the bathroom?”

Spreading butter on a slice of toast, Will lifts a shoulder. “It was El's idea.”

“What's with the sunglasses?”

El shovels her scrambled eggs in her mouth. “They're bitchin'.”

Jonathan chuckles. “Sure.”

“We got them from a thrift store,” Will explains.

“Hm. Well, they look nice.” While Will and El eat their breakfast, Jonathan lowers his fork. “Mom said she'll get a new phone after work.”

El raises an eyebrow, glancing over to the charred phone on the wall. Keeping his eyes on his plate, Will murmurs, “Did she ask what happened?”

“Of course she did. All I told her was that I scared you when you were on the phone.”

Will scrunches up his face, but Jonathan waves his hand. “Don't worry. Anyways, Nancy told me last night that she and Mike can't make it to your birthday. Is that what Mike told you?”

Will takes a bite of his toast. “Mhm.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it's not that important anyways.”

He can feel Jonathan's eyes on him. Humming, Jonathan pokes his eggs with a fork. “Did Mom tell you about Dad?”

Will pauses his chewing. “Last night.”

“I can't believe he's coming here,” Jonathan hisses. ”After everything he did, I can't believe she would let him come back.”

“It's just for the weekend.”

“Yeah, but still. He shouldn't come at all.”

“Maybe he won't be so bad this time.”

Jonathan frowns. “You don't know the half of it, Will. He's not a good guy, and Mom never should have let him come here.”

“She said he wanted to see us.”

“Bullshit. He's probably looking for money.” Jaw tense, Jonathan stands up. “Come on. Don't want to be late.” He puts his plate in the sink, grabs his bag, and marches to the door. Will and El rush to finish what they can of their breakfast and hurry after Jonathan.

Chapter Text

As their car pulls into the school parking lot, Will checks his watch to make sure they're not running late. Ten minutes until the first bell rings. His stomach aches. Maybe they should have thought this through more. There are a billion things that could go wrong.

“What's Nancy busy with?” El asks as she gets out of the car. Grabbing his backpack and making sure he has the note he wrote for Daniel in his pocket, Will follows her out.

Jonathan shuts the car door and locks it. “What do you mean?”

“Will said Nancy's busy, so she can't come to his birthday.”

“Oh, right. She's doing research for a newspaper article. Not sure what it's about.”

The three of them start towards the school, Will running his fingers through his freshly-cut hair and trying to keep focused on the plan. Get the paint, talk to Daniel, make an excuse to his teacher, get to the stairwell. He repeats the steps over in his head.

El opens the door to the school and goes inside, but before Will can follow her, Jonathan takes him by the arm and pulls him aside. “Hey, can we talk?”

Clutching onto his backpack straps, Will frowns at his brother. “What about?”

“What was that last night? With the phone?”

Heat rises to his cheeks. Looking to the ground, he shakes his head. “I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm sorry.”

“It's okay. I just want to know what was going on. Is it because Mike can't come over?”

Will lets out a harsh breath. “No.”

“Then what?”

When Will lowers his head, Jonathan sighs. “I know these past few months have been tough. Believe me, it hasn't been a great time for me either. But I just... I wish you would talk to me, Will. You never told me what happened with you and Mike, and I know it's none of my business, but I'm worried.”

He's tempted to explain the situation to Jonathan, but one glance at his watch brings him back to reality. “Sorry, I can't right now. I have to get to class.” He grabs the door handle but stops and turns back to Jonathan. “When the first bell rings, you might want to get your camera ready and head to the back stairwell in the C wing.”

Jonathan furrows his brows. “What for?”

“You'll see.” He flashes his brother a smile before spinning around and running after El.

Inside the building, he finds her waiting by the entrance, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “What if Daniel doesn't say it?” she asks, hopping away from the wall.

They head down the hallway. “The announcement?”

“Yeah.”

Will takes his sunglasses off. “Let's hope he does.” The two of them go into the stairwell, moving to the side so as not to get in the way of everyone walking past. Leaning close to El, Will keeps his voice low. “Okay, so tell your teacher you need to go to the nurse and head right to the back stairwell, but just make sure you take these stairs up to the second floor so those jerks don't see you. Oh, and you remembered the pliers, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, good. I'll get the paint and give Daniel the paper with what he should say.”

“And we dump it right after he says it?”

He nods.

“Okay. Got it.”

Taking a breath, he checks his watch. Six minutes. “We gotta go. See you in a few.” Before he can rush off, El grabs him by the shoulders and kisses him on the cheek. He stops in his tracks, face red. “What was that for?”

El nudges him with her elbow. “Thank you for doing this.”

Letting out an awkward laugh, Will shrugs. “I promised you we would get them back eventually, so I figured it's about time we do.”

They exchange smiles. “Okay, now we've really gotta go,” says Will. Laughing, El nods, and they both go on their way.

The second he reaches his classroom, Will ducks into the back room where they keep the art supplies. A shelf sits on the left wall filled to the top with paint cans and bottles. He glances out into the classroom to make sure no one is watching. His teacher, Mrs. Keating, is sitting at her desk, writing on a paper; Daniel is speaking to a group of guys by his table. Turning back around, Will grabs a can of red paint, takes off his backpack, and kneels in front of the paint shelf. As he slips the can in his backpack, he peers into the classroom again. No one seems to notice him. Inhaling, Will turns back around and checks the time on his watch. Four minutes.

“What do we have here?” Will spins around, heart jumping into his throat. Daniel stands in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face.

Rushing to zip up his bag, Will gets to his feet and heaves it over his shoulder. “N – nothing.”

“Doesn't look like nothing.” Crossing his arms, Daniel takes a step towards him. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you're stealing a can of paint.”

Shit. Now what is he supposed to do?

Before Will can make up an excuse, the corners of Daniel's mouth turn up in a grin. He pats Will on the shoulder. “Whatever, man. Just messing with you. I don't care if you steal cans of paint.”

Swallowing, Will clutches his backpack straps. “So... you won't tell on me?”

“Not if you tell me what you're planning on doing with it.”

Will pauses then holds up a finger. “Wait a second. I'll be right back.” Daniel raises an eyebrow at him as he dashes out of the back room and rushes over to Mrs. Keating's desk.

“Mrs. Keating,” he says, holding a hand to his stomach, “can I go to the nurse? I feel sick.”

Mrs. Keating glances up at him. “Of course, hun.” She pulls a stack of hall passes out from her desk drawer, writes his name on a pass, and hands it to him.

“Thank you.” Taking the slip from her, he spins around, rushes over to Daniel, and pulls him into the doorway leading to the hall. “Are you going to the office for announcements?”

Daniel watches him closely. “Yes, sir.”

He pulls the small paper out of his pocket and slides it into Daniel's hand. “I was wondering if you could read this during the announcements.”

Daniel opens the note and reads over it. A chuckle escapes his throat. Looking up, he gives Will a smirk. “Will do, my man.” He brushes a hand over Will's shoulders. “Whatever you're thinking of doing, better do it quick. Bell's gonna ring soon.”

Will glances at his watch. One minute. “Oh, crap.” Rushing through the doorway, he starts down the hall, but halts, turning back to Daniel. “Thank you, by the way.”

Walking into the hallway, Daniel lifts a shoulder. “No problem. I love a good prank.” He gestures at Will's hair. “I like the new cut, by the way.” Daniel winks at him before starting towards the office.

Taking a breath, Will turns and runs towards the back stairwell. When he reaches it, El is already there, leaning over the railing to stare down to the level below. “Hey. I got it.” Unzipping his backpack, he shows her the can of paint while keeping it concealed from classmates passing by. “And Daniel said he'll do it.”

El grins. “Perfect.”

The bell rings through the school, the hallways quickly emptying except for a few stray students. Including the bullies hanging out below. Will glances around to make sure no one sees them but his gaze lands on the security camera in the corner of the stairwell. “Crap.”

Taking off her backpack, El raises an eyebrow at him. He faces her. “We can't do it. There's a security camera, and they'll see it's us.”

The school intercom buzzes on, and Daniel's voice echoes throughout the school. “Good morning and congratulations on making it to the final day before spring break.”

El looks at the camera, biting her bottom lip. “Use your powers.”

“What?”

“Use your powers to turn it off.”

“I can't. I promised Jonathan-”

“You promised me.” The look El gives him makes his stomach drop. “You said we would get them back.”

He chews the inside of his cheek.

“You promised him you wouldn't use them to hurt anyone. Turning the camera off won't hurt anyone.”

Hesitating, he peers over the railing down at the bullies. Those assholes. Those goddamn assholes. Those assholes who beat him and El up every other day. Call them terrible names. Get away with everything. She's right. Turning off the camera won't hurt anyone. Actually, the opposite. It'll help him and El. Backing away from the railing, he lets out a breath and murmurs, “Okay.”

As Daniel speaks over the intercom, Will glances around the stairwell and hones in on the security camera in the corner. Concentrating on it, he musters up his energy, electricity buzzing through him, until the red light on the camera blinks off.

El kneels down and pulls the paint can out of Will's backpack, taking a pair of pliers out of her bag and yanking off the lid. Will looks down at the bullies who are oblivious to what's about to happen. Getting the paint ready, El holds it above the railing.

“So, if you're thinking of signing up for the team,” Daniel says over the intercom, “you better get those slips in by the end of the day. Aaand, that's all we have for today, folks. Have a great Friday and spring break, and oh, yeah, head to the back stairwell in the C wing by Mr. King's room right now to see some assholes get what's coming to them.” The intercom cuts off.

“Now,” Will whispers.

He and El take the paint can and heave it over the edge of the railing, splashing paint over the unsuspecting bullies below. Their screams and the clattering of the paint can hitting the steps echo through the stairwell.

Holding in their laughs, Will and El back away from the railing so as not to be seen by the bullies and stoop over their bags, zipping them up. Putting on their bags, they lock eyes and burst into laughter.

It's not long before a crowd gathers in and around the stairwell, everyone snickering, letting out hoots and howls, as they see the three bullies covered in red paint. Will and El rush to the bottom of the stairwell, joining the crowd in laughing at the paint-covered bullies. In the doorway, Jonathan stands with his camera in his hands. Daniel stands beside him, bent over and cackling. Jonathan spots Will and El and gives them a smile. Looking back at the bullies, he lifts his camera and says, “Say cheese!”

Teeth bared, fists clenched, the bully in the Members Only jacket, Jake, leers at everyone. His gaze falls on Will and El. He narrows his eyes. “You little pricks.” Surging forward, he lifts his fist in the air, but a hand comes down on his shoulder, stopping him.

“What's going on here?” Everyone's attention shifts to Principal Hernandez, her voice booming through the stairwell.

One of the other bullies, Angela, points a finger at Will and El. “They poured paint all over us!”

Will and El's faces fall. So much for not being snitches. The principal looks over at them with a stern glare, waving them over. “You two, come with me.” She turns and starts moving out the stairwell but pauses when she notices Daniel leaning against the doorframe and snickering. She grabs the front of his shirt. “And you as well, Mr. Kubo.”

Shaking with laughter, Daniel makes a face and follows her. Will starts down the steps, ducking past the bullies, to follow them, but stops when he notices El walk up to Angela. Her whisper is nearly inaudible, but Will is able to make it out. “We know your secret, and if you don't leave us alone, we'll tell everyone.”

The bullies exchange looks, their brows knitting together. Will takes a step towards El, but she spins around and waves her hand at him to move. Avoiding the stare of the bullies, he turns and follows the principal out of the stairwell.

Chapter Text

In Principal Hernandez's office, Will stands in between El and Daniel, head down and eyes on the floor. El clutches onto his arm. “So,” Principal Hernandez says, leaning back in her chair, “who wants to explain to me what happened?”

Will and El exchange glances. They really should have thought this through more. He should have known they'd get caught. Other than the satisfaction of embarrassing those jerks in front of the entire school, Will and El were still exactly where they were before in terms of dealing with them. And now that they'd gone and done this, they most definitely pissed them off. Royally.

Daniel takes a step forward. “It wasn't them, Principal Hernandez. It was all me. Those guys only blamed Will and Eleanor because they've been bullying these two for weeks and got in trouble for it.”

Principal Hernandez watches him. “You poured the paint all over them? By yourself?”

“Yep. All me.”

“So, you're saying you ran all the way across the school from the announcements office to the C wing to pour paint on them? In less than a minute?”

“I'm considering joining the track team.”

Principal Hernandez looks at Will and El. “Is this true?”

El glances at Will. Will clears his throat. “Yeah, he's really fast.”

Face stern, Principal Hernandez exhales and shifts her gaze back to Daniel. “Okay. Detention after school for a week, starting the Monday we get back.” She looks at Will and El. “It would be in your best interest to report incidents of bullying rather than taking it into your own hands. For further reference.”

Will and El murmur, “Okay.”

“You can return to your classes now.”

When they leave the office and get out into the hallway, Will turns to Daniel. “Why did you take the fall for us?”

Putting his hands in his pockets, Daniel shrugs. “They got what was coming to them, and you don't deserve to get punished for it.”

The corners of Will's mouth turn up in a smile. Spinning in a circle, El hops over to Will's side and leans on his shoulder. “Thanks,” El says to Daniel.

“No biggie.” There's a beat of silence before Daniel motions down the hall. “Shall we get to class?”

The three of them walk down the hall. Will thinks back to this morning when his mom suggested inviting a friend over for his birthday. Looking at Daniel, he slows his walk. “Hey, Daniel?”

“Hm?”

When Daniel meets his gaze, Will averts his eyes to the floor. “I know we haven't really hung out or anything,” he says, “but my birthday's tomorrow, and my mom said I should invite someone, and I don't know, but I was wondering if you want to come over? I mean, you don't have to. I totally get it if you don't want to or anything.”

“It's your birthday tomorrow?”

Will nods.

Grinning, Daniel shakes Will's shoulder. “Awesome, man! Happy birthday!” He gives Will a pat on the back. “Yeah, Byers, I'd be delighted. Your place tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

He pulls a marker out of his pocket, hands it to Will, and lifts his forearm up to him. “Write down your address.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Will takes the cap off the marker and scrawls their address down on Daniel's arm. He pops the cap back on and hands it back to Daniel.

“What time?”

“Oh, uh... five? Or whenever you can.”

“Five sounds good. I'll be there.” As they head into the stairwell and El starts to head down, Daniel raises a hand in the air. “Do you guys want to come to a party?”

Pausing, El furrows her brows. “Party?”

“Yep. At Montrose Beach a couple minutes from the Rollerlux. It's right after school if you two are interested.”

Will and El meet eyes. They've never been to a party here before. “Do you-?” Will murmurs to El.

She shrugs. “Okay.”

Will turns to Daniel. “Yeah, okay. We'll be there.”

“Nice. See you there.”

Chapter Text

At the end of the school day, Will meets El outside her classroom, and the two of them go to the cafeteria payphone to tell Jonathan their whereabouts. Will dials up the number of the pizza shop.

“Surfer Boy Pizza, what can I do for you today?”

“Hi, uh, can I speak to Jonathan?”

“Who's this?”

Will recognizes Argyle's voice. “It's me. Will.”

“Will who?”

“...Jonathan's brother.”

“Oh, yo, what's up, little man?”

“Not much. Can I talk to Jonathan?”

“No can do at the moment. He's out delivering. Can I take a message?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. Um... can you tell him that El and I are going out with some friends and to tell Mom when he gets home.”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks.”

After hanging up, he and El head to the main entrance, bracing themselves in case they run into the bullies. As they step outside, they put on their sunglasses and glance around. El nudges Will, gesturing to the street corner where the bullies are standing by a stop sign. “There they are.”

“Okay, good.” He takes her hand, and they rush down the school steps, heading in the opposite direction. “They're probably expecting us to go that way to Surfer Boy.”

As they cross the street, El asks, “Will they be at the party?”

Will makes a face. “I hope not.” They walk over to a bus stop where a couple other people are waiting, and he turns to El. “Have you ever been to a party?”

Pouting, she tilts her head. “I'm confused. What exactly is a party? Why are we called the party?”

“Oh, that's just our name because of D&D.” He lets out a quiet laugh. “It doesn't really have to do with an actual party.”

Her eyebrows draw together.

“A party is basically like a group of people getting together to celebrate something,” he explains.

“Like when Dustin came home for summer. And everyone's birthdays.”

“Yeah, sort of. I guess I meant if you've ever been to, like, a really big party before. With people you don't know and stuff. Well, I guess the Snow Ball would count.”

“Is this going to be like the Snow Ball?”

Will laughs. “I hope not.”

After a few minutes, the bus pulls up in front of them; they board it and take seats by the front, peering out the window as they drive through the city. He's a bit nervous, seeing as he's never been to a party here before and the only people he talks to in school are El and Daniel. But he figures what's the worst that can happen?

When they get off the bus, they walk out onto the asphalt of the beach parking lot, groups of people hurrying around them, cars honking their horns and blasting music from their speakers. Will and El go over to the fence separating the parking lot from the beach and survey the party below. There are a couple picnic tables set up where people put snacks and drinks – from what Will can tell, it appears to be mostly alcohol – and a boombox blaring music. Some guys are playing soccer a few feet away, a couple toss around a frisbee near a volleyball net, and several people run in and out of the water.

“What do you want to do?” Will asks El.

She gazes around the beach and opens her mouth to reply, but before she can do so, a guy on a dirt bike, face covered by a helmet, rides up into the parking spot behind them. Will and El exchange looks. Before the guy takes off his helmet, Will recognizes him by the dragon tattoo and the Byers' address scrawled in Will's handwriting on his arm.

Daniel gets off the bike and nods at them. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Will gestures to his bike. “You have a dirt bike?”

“Sure do.” Messenger bag slung around his shoulder, Daniel hops over the fence and starts down the sand.

Will and El look to each other.

“Coming?” Daniel calls, motioning for them to follow him. They hop over the fence and catch up with him. As they walk down the beach, he shakes hands with a couple guys they pass, making their way to a fire pit past the picnic tables where two girls are trying to start a fire. A cooler sits in the sand by one of the logs surrounding the fire pit. Daniel reaches into the cooler and pulls out two cans of soda, tossing one to El and the other to Will before reaching back into the cooler and getting one for himself.

El flips the can over in her hand. “What is this party celebrating?”

Daniel pops open his soda, lifting it in the air. “Spring break!” He chugs the soda while Will and El crack smiles. Exhaling, Daniel plops down on a log, kicking at the sand in front of him. He pats the log. “Join me.”

Taking off their backpacks and setting them behind the log, Will takes a seat next to him, El sitting in the sand by their feet. Daniel ruffles Will's hair. “I see you two took my advice and went to that thrift store.”

Resting her head on Will's knee, El says, “We took Jonathan's old clothes, too.”

Daniel snorts. “Nice.”

Setting his soda down in front of him, Will leans forward and grabs a stick out of the fire pit – apologizing to the two girls who are still trying to start a fire – and sits back down on the log, poking around in the sand with the stick. El takes a sip of her soda. “How are we getting back at the bullies for good?” she asks.

Will stabs the stick into the sand. “Wish I could figure that out.”

“If Jake and his scumbag friends are messing with you,” Daniel says, “I could always tell them to lay off it.”

“Would that work? Wouldn't they just come after you?”

Daniel wrinkles his nose. “Not if they want to keep coming to the Rollerlux.”

“I don't know. They seemed pretty angry about the paint.”

“What if we let your mom call their parents?” El suggests.

“They'll literally kill us if we do that.”

She huffs. “I don't get it. You said we shouldn't let her because they don't like snitches, but they told on us for dumping paint on them. If Joyce calls their parents, how do we know it won't solve everything?”

Will stops poking the stick in the sand. “Huh... I guess I just figured they would hurt us even more if we said anything, but then yeah, they did tell on us.”

“Pff, yeah, they're total narcs,” Daniel says.

Tossing the stick back into the fire pit, Will turns to El. “You're right. We should tell Mom to call them. It can't hurt, especially since it's spring break, and we won't see them for a week anyways.”

The corner of El's mouth turns up. “Good.” Chugging her soda, she hops to her feet, hiccups, and holds a hand out to Will. “Let's dance.”

Will makes a face. “Dance?”

Beside him, Daniel grunts as he stands up and nods at El. “I'm down to dance.” He looks to Will. “You coming?”

“Oh, I don't-”

“Come on. Loosen up a little.”

“Yeah,” El says, grinning, “loosen up a little.”

Sighing, Will cracks a smile and gets to his feet. “Okay, fine.” Daniel and El grab his hands, and the three of them stride across the beach to where a group of their classmates are jumping around to the music on the boombox.

“Hey, Lisa!” Daniel shouts to a red-haired girl dancing with her friends. “Turn up the music, would ya?”

Lisa rolls her eyes but goes to the boombox and cranks up the volume. “Twist and Shout” plays over the radio. Everyone hoots and hollers. Daniel takes Will and El by the arms and pulls them into the crowd of people dancing. Laughing, they jump around, waving their arms in the air and making faces at each other. And for once after months of pain and torment, days and days of endless agony, Will finally feels an ounce of genuine happiness.

Chapter Text

As dusk sets in on the beach, the sky painted in streaks of pinks, purples, and blues, Will sits on the sand in between El and Daniel by the fire pit. A steady fire burns, keeping them warm as the temperature drops. With his pointer finger, Will draws Mike's D&D character in the sand.

He flinches when a soccer ball smashes through his drawing and hits El on the leg. Blinking, she grasps the ball in her hands and glances around to figure out where it came from. A boy around their age runs up to them, stopping in front of El with a goofy smile on his face. “Sorry 'bout that.” He holds a hand out for the ball, so El tosses it to him. Still standing in front of her, still smiling, he bounces the soccer ball in his hands.

El glances to Will, confusion on her face. Will gives her a shrug.

“Hi,” the boy says, tucking the soccer ball under his arm and extending his hand to her. “I'm John.”

She shakes his hand. “El.”

“Nice to meet you, El.”

“Hey, Johnny,” another boy calls from down the beach, “you coming or what?”

John glances over his shoulder. “I gotta go... but I'll catch you later?”

El looks to Will. Laughing to himself, Will gives John a thumbs-up. “Yeah, she'll catch you later.”

Grinning, John pats the soccer ball and gives them a nod. “Cool. See ya around.” He rushes off to rejoin the boys playing soccer. Will and Daniel exchange looks and burst out laughing.

Turning an unopened soda can around in her hands, El furrows her eyebrows. “What is it?”

Daniel knocks her on the knee. “Looks like John's got the hots for you, Eleanor.”

Her cheeks grow red. “The hots?”

Stifling his laughter, Will rolls his eyes. “He likes you.”

“He does?”

“No duh!” Daniel says, hopping to his feet and grabbing a can of soda from the cooler. He pops it open and takes a sip from it. “You should go talk to him.”

El lets out a laugh, but seeing the serious look on Daniel's face, she lowers her voice, eyeing Will. “Should I?”

Will shrugs, standing up next to Daniel. “If you want.”

Curling her legs up to her chest, El's gaze shifts over to the boys playing soccer. “What do I say?”

Will watches John juggle the ball in the air. “Ask if he can show you how to do that with the ball.”

El gets to her feet. “Why?”

“For fun.”

She watches John run around with his friends. Taking a breath, she nods. “Okay. I'll talk to him.”

“Good luck.” Will smiles to her as she walks over to John. He and Daniel watch as she says something to him, and John gestures over his shoulder at the guys he's playing soccer with. The guys leave them, all going over to where a group of girls are huddled by the picnic tables. John juggles the soccer ball on his knees then hands it to El.

Will nudges Daniel. “Looks like it's working.”

“Looks like it. Hey-” Meeting Will's eyes, Daniel jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Wanna take a walk?”

“Oh... uh, sure.” He falls in line beside Daniel, walking down the sand away from the fire. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he keeps his eyes on his feet as they walk.

Daniel stares at the moon coming up in the darkening sky. “Is Eleanor your step-sister or half-sister or something? I heard her calling your mom by her first name, so I was just wondering. I always thought you two were twins.”

“Oh... um, like, adopted sister. We're not actually related.”

“You look alike though.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot.”

“Adopted from where?”

“Just somewhere in Indiana.”

“Hm... cool. Where in Indiana are you from?”

“Just a small town. Hawkins.”

Daniel furrows his eyebrows. “Wait... isn't that the town where a bunch of people keep dying? Like, there are weird conspiracies about it or something?” He wiggles his fingers in the air. “The town from Hell.”

Will chuckles awkwardly. “Yeah, uh... yeah, it is.”

“Is it as bizarro as people say it is?”

“I mean, I guess. People have died there recently.”

“Is that why you moved?”

“Sort of.” He watches the water splash against the sand near their feet. “And I guess I also needed a fresh start.”

“Yeah, I could understand that.” While Will kicks a rock into the water, Daniel gestures at his clothes. “I like the new look, by the way. It's cool.”

“Thanks.” Will rubs the back of his neck. “The hair doesn't look too bad though, does it? El cut it herself.”

“She did? Well, it's not too bad. Could use a bit of volume though.” Halting, he lifts a finger, sifting through his bag with his other hand, and pulls out a can of hairspray. He waves it at Will. “May I?”

Will stares at the hairspray. “Um... sure.” He keeps still as Daniel brushes his fingers through his hair and sprays hairspray over it.

After a moment, Daniel ruffles his hair up and takes a step back. “Voila!”

He brushes his palm over his hair. It feels stiff, but seeing as he doesn't have a mirror, he can't tell whether it looks good or bad. “Does it look alright?”

“Yeah, dude. Looks rad.”

Shaking his head and smiling, Will gestures to Daniel's bag. “You just carry hairspray with you?”

Chuckling, Daniel knocks Will on the shoulder. “Of course. You don't?”

“I wouldn't say it's the first thing I would think of bringing to a beach party.”

Daniel points to his mohawk. “Dude, if you had this hair, it would most definitely be the first thing on your list of essentials.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” They both laugh, Will shaking his head.

From down the beach, three dirt bikes veer out of the parking lot, headlights illuminating the beach, and roar onto the sand. Will and Daniel watch as the bikes swerve around a group of people dancing and come to a stop behind where El and John are playing with the soccer ball.

“Who's that?” Will murmurs. One of the bikers gets off their bike and marches up behind El. They smack the soccer ball away from her, sending it soaring through the air and splashing into the water. The biker takes off their helmet, and Will's stomach drops. It's Jake.

The other bikers get off their bikes, taking off their helmets and joining Jake's side. John yells something, jabbing his finger at Jake, but from where Will is standing, he can't make out what he's saying.

Stomach in knot, Will surges forward, but Daniel grabs his arm, pulling him back. Will shoots him a look. Letting go of his arm, Daniel whispers, “Be careful.”

“I know.” He continues forward until he can make out what they're saying but keeping enough distance so the bullies don't notice him.

Jake stands in front of El, shoulders squared, fists clenched. “You're talking to my brother now, bitch?”

“What's your problem?” John spits out at Jake.

“He's Jake's brother?” Will whispers to Daniel. Glancing at him, Daniel lifts a shoulder.

“Why don't you find someone else to talk to?” Jake says to John. “This girl's a total nutso. She can barely speak English.”

“I can speak English,” El shoots back.

Ignoring her, Jake nods to his brother. “Find a different airhead to screw around with. This one's a retard.”

The beach grows increasingly silent as everyone listens to their conversation. John looks at El, slumps his shoulders, and walks over to the guys he was playing soccer with earlier. Jake turns to El, his nostrils flared. “Go back to wherever the hell you came from. We don't want you here.”

Glaring at him, El stays where she's standing.

Angela steps up beside Jake, eyeing El. “After what you and your freak brother pulled this morning, I suggest you leave before we beat the shit out of you.”

“No,” she says, her voice unwavering.

The other bully, Biff, guffaws. “What did you just say?”

“I'm not leaving. You don't get to say where I can be.”

“Oh, really?” Jake says before reaching his arms out and shoving her. She stumbles back but stays on her feet.

“Leave her alone!” Will shouts. He storms over to them and stops when he's chest-to-chest with Jake. “Touch her again and-”

“And what?” Angela cackles. “You'll get your ass beat for the hundredth time?”

Jake glowers down at Will. “You want to do this now?” he growls. Will can smell his breath and see the way his jaw clenches as he burns holes into Will with his eyes.

“Come on, guys,” Daniel says, walking up to them slowly and holding his hands up. “It's spring break. Can't we let this go for now?”

“You're hanging out with these losers now?” Biff says. “Geez, Danny, real downgrade.”

“At least they're not miserable like you three,” Daniel hisses.

Angela rolls her eyes. “I don't want to waste my time on you dweebs right now.” She pulls on Jake's arm. “Let's get a drink.”

Jake shoots them a look but nods to Angela. “Fine. Come on.” The three of them shove past Will, El, and Daniel, Jake jabbing his elbow into Will's side and muttering, “Out of my way, fag.”

As the bullies move to the picnic tables where people are drinking beers, Will glances over at El and sees her mouth set in a scowl, wrinkling her nose. Her chest rises up and down rapidly. “El?” Will whispers.

She reaches down, grasping a rock from the sand and lifting her arm back.

“El, no, don't-” Will hisses, but she ignores him and slings the rock directly at Jake. It cracks against the back of his head.

Letting out a shout, Jake holds his hand up to where the rock hit him. He whips around, enraged, glare set on El. “That's it.” He storms towards her, arms outstretched.

Will leaps in front of El, holding his hands up. “Wait, she didn't mean to-” Jake swings his fist into Will's jaw, striking pain through him. He staggers to the side, jaw throbbing, and holds his hand to his face.

El screams as Jake grabs her around the waist and lifts her into the air. She thrashes against him, scratching at face and drawing blood. He surges forward, hauling her to the water and throwing her down. “Let me go!” she cries. Grasping her by the hair, he shoves her head under the water, drowning out her screaming.

“El!” Will shakes off the pain radiating from his jaw and tears down the sand towards them. A strangled cry escapes his throat when Angela grabs the back of his shirt and lurches him backwards. “Get off me!” Stumbling into the sand, he shoves her hard until she releases her hold on his shirt, and he tears away from her. Racing towards the water and screaming El's name, panic surges through him. He splashes into the water, running at Jake, but Angela rams him in the back, knocking the wind out of him. As he gasps in air, Angela locks her arms around him and pulls him out of the water.

“Get away!” he chokes, wrestling against Angela's grip. “El!”

Daniel rushes forward, but Biff moves in his way, getting in his face. “Don't even think about it, Kubo.”

Furious, Daniel gestures at El, pushing against Biff. “She's drowning, man!”

“It'll teach her a lesson not to mess with us.”

“Okay, well, she's learned her lesson! She's had enough. Let her go!”

Jake continues to hold El under the water, her fingernails scratching at his arms as she struggles against him. Chest heaving, Will knocks himself backwards, throwing Angela off balance and sending the two of them into the water. He elbows her in the ribs before leaping forward, splashing through the water, and grasping Jake around the shoulders. “Let her go!”

“Get off me, freak!” Jake releases his hold on El, spins around, and slams his elbow into Will's face, jamming him in the nose. Water wells up in Will's eyes. He lifts his hand to his throbbing nose, wincing.

Free from Jake's grip, El gasps out of the water, careening over to Will. The second he takes her by the arms, a fist smacks into the side of his head, ripping him away from her and sending him reeling into the water. He goes under, the shouting and screaming drowned out by the ringing in his ears. Blood floats around him.

He comes out of the water to see Jake shoving El back in, pinning her down with his knees. Lurching out of the water, Will rushes over to them, grabbing Jake's shoulders and yanking at him. Jake doesn't move, planted in place.

“Get off her!” he screams, hitting him. “Get off her!”

Unable to move him, Will spins around desperately until he spots Daniel hovering by the shore, mouth agape. “Daniel, Daniel, the hairspray!” Will shouts.

Eyes wide, Daniel fumbles for his bag, grasping inside for the can, and once he pulls it out, he tosses it to Will. Will rushes forward and aims it at Jake's face, pressing the top down. Jake lets out a roar as hairspray shoots into his face. He backs away from El, bringing his hands to his eyes.

El flies out of the water, tumbling onto the sand and choking for air. As Jake keeps howling, Will tosses the hairspray aside and rushes to El's side. She coughs up water. “El! El, are you okay?”

She continues to spit water out of her mouth.

Will lets out a cry when Jake kicks him in the back and throws him forward. Before Will can move away, Jake slams his foot into Will's stomach, sending a wave of pain through him. Grabbing the back of Will's shirt, Jake climbs on top of him, pinning him to the ground, shoving his face into the sand and digging his knees into the back of Will's thighs. Struggling for air, Will swings his hands at him, but Jake grabs his wrists and shoves them above his head, pushing him into the sand. He holds his breath as Jake presses down on the back of his head, afraid he'll suck sand into his lungs.

“Yeah, you like that? You like that?” Jake shouts in his ear, shoving him harder into the ground. Sand digging into his skin, Will squeezes his eyes shut. “Eat it, pussy. Goddamn queer.”

“Stop it!” El cries, and although he can't see what's going on, the sound of skin making impact with skin tells Will that someone punched her.

“Man, that's enough!” Daniel shouts. “Leave him alone.”

“Have you had enough?” Jake hisses in Will's ear. “Huh? Have you?” He bashes the side of Will's head. “Have you?!”

Clenching his teeth, Will nods his head.

“Okay,” Jake says, smacking Will over the head and getting off him. Will spits sand and blood out of his mouth. “Let that be a warning. The worst is yet to come.” After giving Will one last kick to the side, Jake strolls over to Angela and Biff and start to their dirt bikes.

Jaw tense, heart hammering in his chest, Will struggles to his feet. His entire body aches, face stinging. The insults from the bullies play over in his head. Fag, pussy, queer. Insults he's heard all his life. Screw them. They don't deserve to get away with it anymore.

Moving past El and Daniel, Will rushes forward after the bullies. They don't get to get away with this. Not this time.

Angela catches sight of him over her shoulder and rolls her eyes. “Ugh, not you again.”

“Hey, Jake,” Will growls.

Turning around with a smirk on his face, Jake lets out a huff. “Back for more-”

Sucking in a breath, Will throws his arms forward, slamming his palms against Jake's chest and sending a burst of electricity threw him. Jake staggers backwards, the smirk on his face disappearing. He collapses to the ground, hands clutching his chest. Angela drops to her knees next to him, her hands hovering above him as she shouts his name.

Frozen in place, Will gapes at the convulsing body of the bully. He feels nothing but blind terror, a single phrase repeating in his head. What did he just do?

Chapter Text

The night air blows against Will and El's wet clothes, sending chills over their skin as they stand in the phone booth. Hand trembling, Will holds the phone up to his ear, but all he hears is beeping. He puts the phone down. “It's not working. She must not've set up the new phone.”

They step out of the booth. “Should we just walk?” El asks, her voice quiet.

Will nods. The two of them start down the sidewalk, their damp hair plastered to their foreheads and bruises forming on their faces and bodies to replace their fading ones. With each step Will takes, the ground floats further away. If he wasn't staring right down at his shoes slapping against the pavement, he would be convinced the ground simply didn't exist.

They keep to the edge of the sidewalk so as not to get in the way of passerby, preferring to be as inconspicuous as possible. Which is hard with the blood covering their faces. Clutching each other's arms, they hurry down the street. They don't have any money to take the bus – the money they had in their pockets lost in the scuffle on the beach – so they're forced to walk home.

Every time he closes his eyes, Will sees Jake collapsing to the ground. He didn't even mean to do it. Not really. He just wanted to knock him down and attack him. Get back at him for all the crap he did. But somehow, his body took control. He didn't even know how he did it. He's never been able to conjure up his powers with only his hands. He thought he needed electricity present already in order to use them. But the thing that scares him most is how powerful it made him feel.

By the time they reach the apartment building, both of them are exhausted, muscles aching as they slump up the stairs until they get to their apartment level. When they reach the door, Will fishes around in his pocket for the house key then stops, realizing he had it in his backpack. “Oh no.”

“What?” El murmurs.

“My backpack. I forgot it at the beach.”

Her eyes widen. “Me, too.”

“What should we do? We can't go back to the beach... the cops are probably there. Shit.” Turning in a circle, he grasps his hair in his hands. “My keys and journal are in there.”

“We can... we can go tomorrow?” she suggests. “I have my key here.” She pulls it out from under her shirt where it hangs on a string around her neck.

“My journal is in there. As in, I wrote down a bunch of crap about my powers and if someone finds it, they'll know everything.”

“If we can't go to the beach now, what do we do?”

Rubbing his forehead, he takes a shaky breath. “I – don't know.” His brain buzzes, his gut twisting into tight knots as he tries to figure out what to do, but he can't. His breath quickens, and everything around him blurs.

“Hey.” El takes his hand, squeezing it. “We can wait for an hour or two and ask your mom to take us.”

He tries to tell her that he doesn't want to have to explain to his mom what happened, but when he opens his mouth, he can't get any words out. A hard lump is lodged in his throat, a sinking feeling in his chest. Inhaling, he slumps his shoulders and nods his head to El. She gives him a reassuring smile, lets out a deep breath, and unlocks the door.

The two of them step inside the dark apartment, closing the door quietly. Will flinches when the light from the kitchen flashes on, and Joyce rushes up to them, face panicked. “Will, El, where have you been?”

Will's stomach drops when he looks behind her into the kitchen. Lonnie sits at the table, a Coke in his hand and a scowl on his face.

“Oh my god,” Joyce says, her hand hovering to Will's face, “what happened?”

“I... I-” His vocal chords strain, but no words get out. He needs to get out of here, but he can't move. His legs are stuck, glued to the ground. All he can do is stare at his father, acid burning in his throat.

“Why are you both soaked?”

His throat clamps shut, his entire body on high alert, gut twisted in a knot. Pulling his attention away from Lonnie, he gapes at his mother.

“Where's Jonathan?” El murmurs.

Joyce furrows her eyebrows. “Jonathan? He's not here. He didn't take you home?”

Glancing at Will, El shakes her head. “We didn't go to Surfer Boy. We were with friends.”

“I don't know where he is then. The phone isn't working. The line's completely fried.” She runs her hands through her hair. “What happened to you two?” Frowning, she tilts Will's head back, inspecting the blood and bruises covering him.

El moves so her shoulder presses against Will's, looking between him and his mom. He can feel her shoulder trembling. “It was just an accident.”

“It's those same kids, isn't it? They hurt you again.” Wrinkling her nose, Joyce drops hers hands and goes to the table. “You know what?” She grabs her keys before opening the phone book. “I'm going to their parents now. What are their names?”

When El opens her mouth, Will grabs her arm, giving her a look. If his mom went to their parents, they would find out what happened on the beach, and if he has to explain to his mom that he's pretty sure he killed someone, he could never look her in the face again.

Searching Will's eyes, El shuts her mouth, chewing her lip. From the table, Joyce huffs, slumping her shoulders. “Will,” she says, “what are their names?”

His gaze falls to the floor.

Joyce looks back to El. “Do you know their names?”

El keeps silent.

“Answer your mother,” Lonnie says from the table, taking a drink of Coke.

Joyce sighs. “I need to go to their parents. I'm serious. If you don't tell me their names, I'll go to the police and tell them what's going on.”

“No-” Will croaks.

Frowning, she gives a shake of her head. “I don't understand this. They're hurting you. Why are you trying to protect them?”

“We're not-” El mumbles.

“I should have gone to the police when this happened the first time.”

“Mom, please,” Will begs, his throat raw, “you can't. Please don't.”

She looks back-and-forth between Will and El until she lowers her keys, defeated. “I don't know what you want me to do. I have to do something.”

“You can't...” Will murmurs.

“Raising real fine kids, aren't you, Joyce?” Lonnie sneers.

Joyce's face hardens for a moment, but she relaxes when she focuses on Will and El. “I don't understand why you don't want me to go to their parents. What happened today? Are you okay?”

“No!” El cries, stunning Joyce and Will. “We're not okay! I hate this place!” She jerks away when Joyce tries to put a hand on her shoulder. “It was supposed to be better here, but it's worse. I want to go home.”

“I understand this is hard, but I'm trying to do what's best for you.”

“Then bring us back to Hawkins.”

Joyce watches them carefully. “If you explain to me what happened, we can solve this together. We can figure this out, okay? Why don't we all sit down?”

Will and El stay in their places. Keeping his voice low, Will says, “You can't solve it, Mom.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you just can't.” Tears well up in his eyes. He sucks in a breath, trying to keep himself calm. His heart pounds. “It's too late. We can't do anything.”

“Why? Why, sweetie? Please, explain it to me, so I understand.”

“I... I can't.”

“I know you've been having a hard time right now, but you can't keep all these secrets from me. First the grades, now this? And you barely talk to your friends anymore.” She lowers her voice. “Is that what this is about? Did something happen with your friends?”

Will creases his forehead. “What?”

“I'm just trying to figure out why you've been acting like this. You won't tell me who's doing this to you, and I don't see any reason why. Are... are you getting into these fights on purpose? Is that what this is? If you're starting these fights, I'm not mad; I just want to know what's going on.”

Both Will and El gape at her. “You-” Will frowns, shaking his head in disbelief. “You think we're getting the shit beat out of us on purpose?”

Joyce's face falls. “I don't mean-”

“Honestly, babe, just let him,” Lonnie says. “It'll toughen him up. He should learn to fight back.”

Will's throat tightens. Fight back? He knows how to fight back. That's not the problem here. The problem is, he did fight back, and now he's screwed.

“Lonnie, let me talk to them,” Joyce says, giving him a look. Lonnie huffs but goes back to drinking his Coke. She turns back to Will and El. “Things were good up until a few months ago, and I don't understand it. What changed?”

“Everything,” El says.

“But what can I do to help you? Tell me how I can help you.”

“You can't do anything,” Will says, his jaw trembling.

His mom searches his face. “I don't know what it is that happened, Will, but you're not acting like yourself. You used to talk to your friends constantly and make plans to visit each other, but now you're either locked away in your room or spending all your money changing yourself, and I saw the phone this morning. I don't know what it was you did to it or why, but you can't keep bottling things up until you explode. I understand it was hard for you after we moved and everything with Mike's accident, but what I don't understand is why you've barely spoken to him and now he isn't even coming over for your birthday. You didn't even visit him in the hospital. You used to be so close.”

He tries to hold back his tears, but they come bursting out in a wave of pain. It's like she stabbed a dagger into him. From the kitchen table, Lonnie scoffs, “You're crying now?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Joyce says as her face softens, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean-”

“Man up, and quit your whining,” Lonnie says.

Covering his face with his hands, he struggles to hold back his tears, choking on them, his face burning. His parents are saying something, but he can't make it out over the ringing in his ears. Unable to keep away the panic boiling up inside him, he shoves past his mom and rushes down the hall to his room. He bursts inside, slamming the door shut and collapsing on his bed, sobbing into his pillow. He has no idea what to do now. His mom hates him, his dad thinks he's a pussy, he couldn't defend El against the bullies, and Jonathan's nowhere to be found. Not to mention, he may have killed Jake and everyone in his school witnessed it.

Head exploding, he screams into his pillow, curling his hand into a fist and pounding it against his mattress. The lamp on the nightstand flickers. Noticing it, Will squeezes his eyes shut, focusing on his breathing. With Lonnie in the house, he doesn't want to use his powers at all in case he gets caught.

From the front of the apartment, El's voice booms, “You're not doing what's best for us; you're doing what's best for you! Things weren't good up until a few months ago either. It was bad at the start and it only got worse. You said the bullies would stop, but they didn't. They didn't stop.”

Sniffling and rubbing his eyes, Will sits up in his bed and listens to their tense voices.

“Then please, tell me what you need me to do to stop them.” His mom's voice is desperate. “I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong.”

“I can't now.”

There's a moment of silence before Joyce says, “Honey, you can talk to me. If there's something Will told you not to say, but you think you should, I'm listening. I want what's best for both of you.”

“Then why are you never there for him or me?”

Even from his room, Will can feel the discomfort the question causes. His mom's voice comes out strained, “Go to your room. Now.”

Footsteps pound through the apartment. The bedroom door flings open, El storming in before smashing the door closed. The frame cracks as the door slams into it. She lets out a frustrated cry, pacing back-and-forth and curling her fists in her hair. Tearing across the room to the dresser, she grasps the sides of it and hauls it to the ground, sending an echoing crash through the apartment. Everything on top of the dresser scatters onto the floor, the glass on a framed photograph of El, Will, and Jonathan shattering. Curling his legs up to his chest and clutching his pillow, Will winces as El punches her fists against the wall. Screaming, she turns and rams her feet into the dresser until part of the wood cracks off, and she collapses against the wall, weeping. “I'm nothing,” she chokes out, hugging her legs to her chest. “I'm useless.”

Tears rolling down her cheeks, she rests her head back against the wall, shutting her eyes. Will gets to his feet, grabs the plush frog from the nightstand, and steps over to El. He takes a seat beside her, pressing their shoulders together. “You're not useless,” he says, voice quiet. He pushes the plush frog against her arm. “You're everything to me right now.”

She opens her eyes, staring at the frog. Her face scrunches up, and she lets out a sob, collapsing into Will's arms. He clutches onto her.

Once her breathing steadies, El takes the frog from him and stares at its face. “I feel like nothing.”

Frowning, Will's eyebrows draw together.

“I thought without my powers, I could be normal. I'm not. I'm nothing without them.”

“Don't say that. You're not-'

“They tried killing me, and I couldn't do anything. If I had my powers, we could have done something.”

“No, we couldn't because we'd be exposed. That's the whole reason why we're screwed now. I used my powers, and now... now everyone knows.” Collapsing back against the wall, Will shakes his head. “And I just... I just... I killed someone.”

“You don't know he's dead. He was alive when we left.”

“Even if he isn't, that doesn't change the fact that I used my powers to hurt him.”

“He deserved it.”

“El, I hurt him, don't you get that? If he's dead, I murdered someone. How am I supposed to live with that?”

She sets the frog on his lap. “I've killed. I live with it.”

“Well... I don't think I can.” As he looks down at the frog, he frowns.

El pokes the frog's head. “How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“On the beach. Where did your powers come from?”

“What do you mean?”

“When we practice, you only turn lights on and off. I thought you could only control what's already there. Not make your own.”

“I don't know... I thought so, too.”

Looking at the ceiling, she lets out a sigh. “Do you think my powers will ever come back?”

“I think eventually they will. But you're more than just your powers, okay?” He turns to her, looking her in the eyes. “Whether you have powers or not, you're my sister. You're my family.”

Biting her lip, she presses her forehead to his chest. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

“Of course.”

She taps her fingers on her knee. “What about our backpacks?”

“Mom won't be very happy if we try to go out and get them right now.”

“Tomorrow we can go? Since it's your birthday, maybe she won't be so mad?”

His birthday. With everything going on, he almost forgot tomorrow's his birthday. “I'd rather not give her a reason to question us.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“I don't know.”

“We can go out in the morning before she wakes up?”

He lets out a breath. “Okay... okay.”

“Will?” El says in a quiet voice.

“Yeah?”

“What's going to happen with the bullies?”

“I don't know...” He sighs. “I really don't know.”

Chapter Text

On the twenty-third of December, 1985, Will and El took the Greyhound down to Hawkins for Christmas break since Jonathan couldn't get off work and drive them. When they arrived at the bus station in Indiana, Mrs. Wheeler picked them up and drove them back to the Wheeler's house. It was nine in the evening by the time they got to the house, the moon shining bright in the dark sky.

“Thanks for picking us up, Mrs. Wheeler,” Will said as they stepped through the front door into the foyer, bags in hand. El followed close behind.

“It's no problem at all,” Karen said, shutting the door and taking Will and El's coats. “We're all just happy to see you both.” She took a step up the stairs and called, “Mike! Your friends are here!” She paused when no one answered. “Michael!”

When there was still no answer, Karen let out a sigh. “I don't know what he's up to, but I'm sure he'll be excited to see you. Why don't you unpack and get ready for bed? Nancy's up in her room.”

Will and El take their bags and head upstairs. He opens the door to Mike's room, peering inside. “Huh. He's not here.”

El frowns. “He forgot we were coming?”

“Maybe? I don't know. I thought he'd be happy to see us.”

The door to Nancy's room opened, and Nancy looked over at them. “Oh, hey. Looking for Mike?”

Will and El nodded.

“Hm. Yeah, I haven't seen him all day.” She motioned to the bags in El's hands. “I can take those, and we can set up your bed.”

While El followed Nancy into her room, Will stepped into Mike's. It still looked the same as every other time he'd been in there. Mike was nowhere to be found though. Will set his bags down by the bunkbed and sat on the bottom bunk. He wasn't sure what to expect from Mike. After Thanksgiving, they spoke a couple times, but the calls became scarce, especially from Cerebro given that the weather grew colder and the Party didn't want to hike all the way up the field in the snow. Will tried his best to keep calling, but two weeks after Thanksgiving, Will had a run-in with El's bullies, trying to get them to stop messing with her, and now, they were after the both of them. With adjusting to school and dealing with the bullies, Will barely had the energy to answer a call.

After changing into his pajamas and brushing his teeth, he curled up in the bed and drew a picture of the Party in his sketchbook. He wasn't sure what their plan for the break was. During Thanksgiving, Mike mentioned a new D&D campaign and going ice skating. Was that still their plan or had everyone forgotten?

The lead of his pencil snapped. He let out a frustrated sigh. Not wanting to sharpen his pencil, he stuffed it and the sketchbook back into his bag. Taking out his new Walkman – which Jonathan gave him as a gift yesterday – he laid down on the bed, put on his headphones, and pressed play. “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival began playing, and he stared up at the bunk above him.

He was drifting off to sleep, eyelids growing heavy, when he heard footsteps thump up the stairs. The door to the room flung open, and Mike barreled inside, halting at the sight of Will.

Will sat up and met Mike's eyes. Taking off his headphones and putting them around his neck, he gave Mike a smile. “Hi,” he said, standing up.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, Mike swung the door closed and took a step forward, swaying on his feet. “Hey, sorry... I forgot what day it was.”

Will laughed, furrowing his eyebrows. “Okay?”

“No, it's just-” Scrunching up his face, Mike waved his hand in the air. “We haven't... talked... for a while.”

“Yeah.” With a sigh, Will plopped back down on the bed. “I'm sorry I haven't called. There's been a lot happening at school. I haven't talked to anyone in a while actually.”

Will watched as Mike staggered forward and collapsed onto the bed beside him, leaning up on his elbow. “Like what?” Mike mumbled.

Will searched Mike's expression. His bright pink cheeks and nose. His barely-open eyes. “Are you... are you drunk?”

Pushing himself up on his hands, Mike scrunched his nose. “Drunk? What?”

“You're acting weird.”

“No-” Pouting, he waved a finger in Will's face. “You're acting weird.”

“Funny.” As Mike swayed on the bed, Will watched him with a frown. Letting out a huff, Will grabbed the front of Mike's shirt and pulled him closer until their faces were inches apart. Mike's eyes grew wide. Will took a whiff and grimaced, releasing Mike's shirt. “You smell like booze.”

“Sorry.” Mike shrunk back to the corner of the bed.

“Since when do you drink?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Since now.”

“Why are you drinking at all?”

“Why not?”

“Who are you drinking with?”

“Lucas and his friends.”

“Lucas is drinking, too?”

“Well... sort of.”

“What do you mean, 'sort of'?”

Groaning, Mike flopped down on the mattress and pulled at the sleeve of Will's shirt. “Why are you interrogating me?”

“I just want to know why you're drinking all of a sudden.”

“Doesn't matter. Hey-” He poked Will in the side. “Where's Eleven?”

“Sleeping in Nancy's room.”

“Hm... are you both mad?”

“Mad?”

“I haven't called or gone on Cerebro... in, like, weeks.”

“Neither have we. Or anyone else, for that matter. Guess we were all busy.” He looked away from Mike. “I thought everyone was looking forward to this.”

A sigh escaped Mike's lips. “Hearing your voice is the only thing I look forward to.”

Will faltered, face burning. Shaking his head, he got to his feet. “We should get to sleep. Should I take the top, so you don't fall out in the middle of the night?”

Sitting up, Mike met his gaze. “We can share, if you want.”

Will paused, the look Mike gave him bringing him back to the times when they kissed. His lips curled into a smile. “I don't think that would be a good idea.”

“Oh.” Face falling, Mike looked away.

Seeing the disappointment on his face, Will glanced to the door. “Well... does your door lock?”

Eyebrows raised, Mike looked up and met Will's gaze. They maintained eye contact for a moment before Mike got to his feet, stumbled across the room, and locked the door swiftly. He hovered by the door while Will got under the covers.

Will narrowed his eyes at him. “Get over here before I change my mind.”

Blinking, Mike ambled forward, nearly hitting his head on the top bunk as he slid in beside Will. Suppressing laughter, Will flopped his head down on the pillow and stared upwards. He could feel Mike's eyes on him. “We're only sleeping, by the way,” Will said. “Don't try anything.”

“I know.” He flinched when Mike lifted his hand to his face and trailed his knuckles along Will's cheekbone. “How'd you get this?”

Figuring he was referring to his fading black eye, Will sighed. “Those creeps who were messing with El. I got sick of them and tried to tell them to back off, but one of them socked me in the eye.”

Lowering his hand and frowning, Mike shifted closer. “They're not still hurting you, are they?”

Will glanced at him. “We're doing our best to avoid them. Hopefully by the time we get back to school, they'll have moved on to some other suckers.”

“El still hasn't gotten her powers back?”

“Doesn't seem like it.”

“Well, if they do mess with you again, at least you can use yours.”

Will smiled. “I don't know if that would be a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I don't know... I don't want to accidentally go too far and hurt anyone. Plus, how do you think people would react if they found out I have powers?”

“Hm... yeah, then the government will kidnap and run experiments on you.”

“Precisely.” They both shared a laugh. Pulling his headphones off from around his neck, Will held his Walkman up to Mike. “Wanna listen to music?”

“Sure.”

He placed the headphones between them, laid his head back on the pillow, and hit play. “Starman” by David Bowie started playing, filling the room with the sound of drums and the strumming of a guitar. As they listened, Will facing the ceiling while Mike faced him, Mike lifted his hand to Will's, nodding his head to the beat of the song. Will's breath hitched, his skin tingling.

Mike started humming along to the song, tapping his fingers on the top of Will's hand. A smile tugged at Will's lips. As Mike's fingers trailed up his hand, Will whispered the lyrics of the song. Their gazes met. Mike laced their fingers together and sang along to the song with him.

Chapter Text

Darkness surrounds Will, voices whispering around him. He walks forward, his footsteps echoing, and reaches his hands into the darkness. “Hello?” he calls.

“Hello.”

He jerks back at the deep voice speaking, unable to tell where it's coming from. The back of his neck prickles. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“You know who I am.”

“What do you want?”

“You know what I want.”

Swallowing, Will spins around. “Leave me alone.”

“You know that won't happen. Not until I get what I came for.”

“You can't. You're gone.”

“Wherever you go, I will follow.”

“We're not in Hawkins anymore. You can't hurt me here.”

“I'm already here.” A hand grabs his shoulder. He spins around and a cry escapes his throat.

Will startles awake, jolting up in bed, his heart hammering in his chest. It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream. He hugs himself, inhaling then exhaling slowly. It was just a dream. Mouth parched, body covered in sweat, he checks his watch but freezes when he notices a crack through its face, the numbers no longer present. “Great,” he mumbles, hand falling to his side. Beside him, El whimpers and shifts in the bed, her eyebrows knit together.

He leans across the bed, making sure not to disturb El, and checks the clock on their nightstand. Five fifteen. El flips around, letting out a sharp wail. Frowning, Will shakes her shoulder. “Hey, El,” he whispers. “Hey, wake up.”

She mutters something under her breath.

“Eleven. Wake up.”

Her arm shoots up from the bed and grabs him by the wrist, digging her nails into his skin. “Ow!” He jerks his hand back, staggering out of the bed. “El!”

She sits up, eyes wide, gaping at him. “Huh?”

He holds his stinging wrist. “I think you were having a nightmare.”

Exhaling a loud breath, El rubs her eyes. “Yeah... it felt so... real.” Furrowing her brows, she looks at his wrist with a frown. “Did I do that?”

“Oh, it's nothing.” He hides his wrist behind him. “I'm fine.”

“Will...”

“It's just a scratch.” He gives her a reassuring look. “I know how terrible those nightmares can be. It's fine. Really.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. Really, it is fine.” Nodding to the clock, he says, “We should probably get to the beach soon before anyone wakes up.”

She wavers, watching him carefully, before getting out of bed. “Okay.” As she grabs a pair of jeans and a shirt from the floor, Will grabs his own change of clothes and walks across the room, avoiding the knocked-down dresser and shattered picture frame. He opens the door slowly, peering in the hall. The apartment is silent.

He tiptoes into the bathroom, shuts the door, and looks at himself in the mirror. Before falling asleep, he'd forgotten to get changed and wash up. Dried blood and an array of red and purple bruises cover his face. The dark bags surrounding his eyes are upstaged by two black eyes. Letting out a breath, he turns on the faucet and splashes water over his face. He winces, washing grains of sand out of the cuts on his cheek and jaw. Turning off the faucet, he dabs his face with a towel, unravels the dirty bandages on his arms, and tosses them in the trash. He soaks the towel in water and squeezes it out. Examining his wounds from two days ago, he dabs the scabs with the damp towel before he wraps new bandages over his elbows.

Peeling off his dirty clothes and frowning when he sees his battered body in the mirror, he shoves the clothes and towel in the hamper before he changes into clean ones and brushes through his matted hair. When he steps out of the bathroom, he spots El waiting in their bedroom doorway with a frown on her face, gazing into space. “Are you okay?” Will whispers.

Blinking, she lets out a breath. “Yes. I'm okay. We're going?”

“Yeah.”

She takes his arm, and they tiptoe down the hall into the living room. From the couch, a loud snore erupts from Lonnie. Will and El freeze. Lonnie continues to snore. Sighing, they hurry forward, grab their shoes, and rush to the front door. El pulls it open, and they start through the doorway.

“Where are you going?”

They spin around, El tightening her hold on the doorknob. Jonathan watches them from the end of the hall, arms crossed and bags under his eyes. Will glances at El before looking back at his brother. “Nowhere. Just... getting something.”

“Getting what? From where?”

El hovers in the doorway. “Our backpacks.”

“From a friend's house,” Will adds. “We... we forgot our backpacks at a friend's house.”

“So, you're sneaking out at five in the morning to get them?”

“It has important stuff,” El says.

“Why don't you ask your friend to return them?”

“The phone doesn't work.”

Frowning, Jonathan glances at the phone. “Why can't you wait until later?”

“My journal and keys are in my backpack,” Will explains, “and I wrote stuff about my...” Glancing at Lonnie on the couch, he lowers his voice. “...my powers. In the journal.”

“You think your friend will read it?”

“I don't know. Maybe.”

With a sigh, Jonathan grabs his keys from the side table. “What's their address? I can drive you.”

“Oh.” Will looks to El. “That's okay. We can go-”

“I can tell when you're lying, Will. Come on. Tell me what's really going on.”

Will stares at him, that familiar knot returning to his stomach. Looking down at his feet, he keeps his voice quiet. “It's a long story, but basically, we left our backpacks at Montrose Beach. Anyone can find it and read what's in my journal.”

“Montrose Beach?”

“It's a couple minutes away from the Rollerlux.”

Jonathan nods. “Okay. Let's hurry before Mom wakes up.”

When they follow Jonathan out the door and down the hall, El keeps close to Will and whispers, “Should we tell him what happened last night?”

He gives a shake of his head. “Let's get our backpacks first.”

It takes twenty minutes to get to the beach, the streets clogged with traffic. The moment Jonathan pulls into a parking spot, Will jumps out of the car, hops over the fence surrounding the beach, and sprints down the sand to the fire pit. He falls to his knees by the logs, looking behind them. No backpacks. Sifting through the sand, his stomach curls. No sign of them.

El walks over to him, Jonathan close behind. She kneels beside him and glances around. “They're gone?”

Sucking in a breath, Will runs his hands through his hair. “Yes. They're gone.”

Jonathan checks his watch. “We can check the lost and found, but they don't open until seven.” Will lets out a groan, grasping his hair with his fists. Jonathan kneels next to them. “Hey, don't worry. You don't know if anyone will read your journal. And if they do, they probably won't believe it.”

“If they were here last night, they'll believe it.”

Jonathan looks from Will to El. “What exactly were you two doing here last night?”

When Will doesn't answer, El says, “There was a party.”

“You went to a party?”

“Daniel asked if we wanted to come.”

“I thought you were just with friends.”

Will looks at him. “Where were you last night? You weren't there when we got home.”

“I was with Argyle.” Frowning, he gestures to Will and El. “I thought you would be okay. I didn't realize-” He looks away and sighs. “I don't know what I didn't realize. I guess I thought being gone for one night wouldn't hurt... but I was wrong. I'm sorry I wasn't there.”

Will shakes his head. “No, it's not your fault. You're allowed to have a life without worrying about us all the time.” He groans, shoving his face in his hands. “This is all my fault.”

“No,” El says, taking his hand. “You helped me.”

“I didn't help you. I made things worse.”

Jonathan glances between the two of them. “What happened?”

El nudges Will. “Are we telling him?”

“I'd appreciate if you would,” Jonathan says.

Will sighs. “It's just...” Squeezing his eyes shut, he rubs his temples. “You're gonna hate me.”

“I could never hate you, Will. Whatever happened, I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it out to be.”

“Yes,” El adds. “It's not that bad. They're bad people. They deserve it.”

“But it is bad, El,” Will says, getting to his feet. El narrows her eyes. “And not just what I did, but what's going to happen now. Whoever took our backpacks is gonna read my journal and realize what I am and tell everyone and get us killed.”

She looks away for a second, silent, before hopping up and facing him. “Run away.”

“What?”

“We can run away.”

“Run away? Where? How? How would that solve anything?”

“We won't get killed.”

“And then we spend our whole lives running? Is that what you expect? Really?” Will huffs. “It doesn't work like that. Eventually, whatever you're running from will catch up.”

“I don't understand.” Her face scrunches up. “I used my powers around people, and I'm alive. No one came after me.”

“Because you had people to look out for you! We don't have anyone here. All our friends, anyone who can understand and protect us, they're not here. If we do something wrong, we're on our own!”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Jonathan steps between them and puts a hand on Will's shoulder, eyebrows knit together. “We're not alone. You're not alone. Whatever happened, we can figure this out together.”

“I don't think we can.”

“Stop saying that,” El grumbles.

“But it's true.”

“You don't know that.”

“Guys, come on.” Jonathan sighs. “Why don't we all take a second to breathe? Okay?”

Will and El shut their mouths.

“Okay,” Jonathan says. “Now, can one of you please tell me what happened yesterday?” He gestures to their beat-up faces. “Does it have something to do with those same assholes who keep beating you up?”

“Yes,” El answers.

“So, what happened?”

As El starts to explain how they met up with Daniel at the party and how the bullies started harassing them, Will wanders back to the log next to the fire pit and collapses on it. Ever since they moved here, it felt like one bad thing after another kept happening. The whole move was supposed to give them a fresh start. An opportunity for a semi-normal life. That's why he agreed to it. But now, it was almost worse than everything in Hawkins. It's like no matter what, he couldn't escape it.

“Will?” He looks up to see El and Jonathan staring at him, neither one of them speaking. “Are you okay?” Jonathan asks. Will isn't sure if El finished telling him about last night, but judging by his brother's calm demeanor, he doubts it.

Jonathan pats El on the arm. “Why don't you give us a minute?”

“He won't tell anyone anything,” she says with a frown. “He likes keeping secrets.”

“Let me talk to him. I'll try to figure out what's going on.”

“What do I do?”

“Why don't you head back to the car? We'll be there in a minute.”

El stares at the two of them before turning and starting back to the parking lot. Jonathan takes a seat beside Will. He gives him a smile, nudging him on the shoulder. “What's up?”

Will's heart falls when he sees the reassurance on his brother's face. He has no idea what Will did last night, and the fact that he has to explain it to him at some point breaks him. Will lets out a shaky breath. “I don't like keeping secrets.”

“I know that.”

“It's not like... it's not like I'm trying to keep things from everyone. I just don't know how I'm supposed to say it.”

“Hey, Will, I understand. Believe me, I have that same problem myself.”

“But you haven't done anything as bad as me.”

“Don't say that. You haven't-”

“I'm a monster.”

“Will, stop it. You're not a monster.”

“You won't say that once you know what I did.”

“No, you're not a monster. No matter what you did. But I need you to at least tell me what it is that you did.”

“Can we just sit here for a minute? I... I need a minute.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

As they sit there, images of the previous night flash through Will's mind. Jake drowning El. Being shoved into the sand until he couldn't breathe. Jake's body dropping to the ground after he pushed him. Angela's screaming. El's horrified face as she pulled Will away. All of it repeated over and over like a movie in his head.

“Jonathan?” Will's voice comes out strained.

His brother looks up.

Glancing away, he wrings his hands together. “Something... something really bad happened last night. Something that can never be forgiven.”

Jonathan's eyebrows knit together.

“I...” Shaking, his voice comes out barely a whisper. “I think I killed someone.”

Silence hangs in the air as Jonathan stares at him. “You – killed someone?”

“I didn't mean to.” His voice shakes. “I really didn't. I was only trying to... I don't know. Get back at him. It – it was... All I wanted to do was – was –”

“Give him a taste of his own medicine.” The two of them turn at the sound of El's voice. She stands a couple feet away, arms crossed.

“I told you we'll only be a minute,” Jonathan says.

“Why?” El furrows her brows. “Family discussion?”

“Huh?”

“You can stay,” Will tells her. “You know what happened. You understand.”

While Jonathan puts his hand over his mouth, El takes a seat on the other side of the log. Jonathan looks at the two of them. “Can... can you explain to me everything that happened last night?”

Swallowing, Will nods. “Well, like El said, after our prank on the bullies, Daniel invited us to a party here, so we met up with him here after school. It wasn't bad, actually. It was fun at first.”

“Yeah, it was,” El says.

“But... then the bullies came.” He rubs his temples with his knuckles. “They started messing with El and saying horrible things, and she threw a rock at one of them, and then they were drowning her. I mean, I really thought they were gonna kill her. We were able to get them off her eventually, but then they came at me and – and I... I just couldn't take it anymore.”

“They called us bad things,” El says, “and they hurt us. We weren't doing anything until they hurt us.”

Will stares at his hands. “They were walking away, and... I ran after them and I – well, I don't know what came over me. I was just... so angry. I don't really know what I did. It was like electricity just came out of my hands. Jake, he fell down and started, like, seizing, and... and, I don't know, I just freaked out and El grabbed my hand and we ran.” He looks to Jonathan, his jaw trembling. “I'm sorry.”

“Hey-” Jonathan puts an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer. “Those guys have been hurting you both for months. I'm not – I'm not angry at you or anything like that if that's what you think, and I don't think you're a monster. I understand. I'm just... I'm scared for you. I'm scared that I won't be able to help you.”

Staring up at his brother, his voice comes out weak. “You don't think I'm a terrible person?”

“Of course not. Will-” He turns to face him, setting his hands on Will's shoulders and looking him in the eye. “You're the best person I know, okay? Nothing will change that.” He lets out a breath. “And everyone, everyone, does things they're not proud of.”

“But Jonathan-” He trembles. “I... I killed someone.”

Jonathan looks from Will to El. “Do you know for sure he's dead?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Then we'll find out and figure things out from there.”

“How do we find out?”

Jonathan pauses for a second before raising a finger. “You know the guy's name, right?”

Will eyes him. “Yeah?”

“Okay, so we go around to the hospitals around here and see if he's at any of them.”

“And if he's not?”

“We call all the morgues.”

“Jesus,” Will murmurs.

“Morgues?” El asks.

“Where they take dead people.” When Jonathan sees Will's worried expression, he squeezes his shoulders. “Hey, Will. It's okay. We'll do this together. All of us.”

Will lets out a huff. “But even if he isn't dead, that doesn't change the fact that everyone on the beach saw what I did. What do I do about that? I mean, what if – what if the cops come for me? What if the government or someone else does? What... what am I supposed to do?”

“Just take a breath.” Jonathan squeezes his shoulder. “Okay. So, whatever you did to that guy... what exactly... I mean, how exactly did it look? From an outside perspective, I mean.”

Will's eyebrows knit together. “I don't know? Um... I really don't know.”

“I'm just thinking... maybe you know what you did, but no one else does.” Jonathan looks to El. “What did you see when Will used his powers last night? What did it look like?”

“Look like?”

“If you didn't know he had powers, would you suspect anything?”

“I saw Jake fall after Will pushed him. He started shaking on the ground.”

“You didn't see any sort of electricity or anything?”

“No.”

Jonathan nudges Will. “Hey. That's good, right? Anyone who saw what happened won't realize-”

“Until they read my journal.”

“You don't know if anyone will. And... what can they do if they did? There's no proof that you did anything.”

“You were the one who told me to be careful because someone could find out.”

Sighing, Jonathan's head hangs low. “I know. I wish I could tell you I know what to do in this situation, but I don't. For now, we just have to play things by ear. Is that okay?”

Although there was still so much uncertainty, the fact they at least had an idea of what to do was comforting. Will gives Jonathan a nod. “How many hospitals are around here?”

“Not sure. We'll probably have to go back home and check the yellow pages. That way we can write down a list of all the addresses and get the numbers of the morgues. And how about we come back here once it's seven and check the lost and found. We can also ask what the lifeguards know about last night.”

“I'm sorry, Jonathan.”

“Don't worry about it. Come on.” The three of them get to their feet and start to the car.

While Jonathan walks ahead, Will goes over to El's side. “I'm sorry I was being a bit of a jerk to you.”

Her face softens. “It's okay.”

“I guess I didn't think how many people you've killed and, well, you've basically been in the same situation I'm in.”

“Will, it's okay.”

“And I'm sorry for making you keep secrets that you didn't want to... I'm just... I'm scared. I don't know what to do.”

She stops and wraps her arms around him. “You said we were in this together. Together means me and you. Not just you.”

“I know. No more keeping secrets from now on.”

Her eyes search his for a second, and she opens her mouth to say something, but from the parking lot, Jonathan honks the horn of the car, waving over at them.

The two of them hurry forward and get in the back seat of the car. “We're going home?” El asks.

“Yeah, and then we can come back here once the lost and found is open.” After Jonathan starts the car, he glances back at his brother. “Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Happy birthday.”

Chapter Text

The morning of Christmas Eve, Will, El, and the Wheelers sat at the kitchen table eating pancakes. Beside Will, Mike took a bite of his pancake, his chin resting on his hand and his eyelids drooping like he was about to drift off to sleep. Will watched him carefully, his mind on the previous night.

El leaned over to Will, whispering in his ear, “Is he okay?”

Looking away from Mike, Will gave her a shrug and mouthed, “I don't know.”

“Hey, Mom,” Nancy said, getting up to put her dishes in the sink. “I was thinking about going to the library to do research for that article I told you about. Is that okay?”

“That sounds like a great idea, Nance. Afterwards, can you drop by the store and get sugar? I'm almost out, and we still have Christmas cookies to make.” Karen took a sip of orange juice and gestured to Will, El, and Mike. “Why don't you take Mike and his friends with you, so they don't have to bike anywhere in the snow?”

Mike scrunched his nose. “To the library?”

“Or wherever you want to go. Didn't you have plans?”

He exchanged looks with Will and El before shrugging. “I guess we can go to Family Video.”

“Well, I'm leaving in fifteen minutes,” Nancy said, “so go get ready.”

Once they finished their pancakes, the three of them bustled up the stairs, El slipping into Nancy's room while Will and Mike went to theirs. As Mike opened his closet and sifted through his clothes, Will took a seat on the bed. “Are we getting together with the rest of the Party today? You had a campaign planned, right?”

“Uh...” After grabbing a sweater and a pair of jeans from under a pile of clothes, Mike shut the closet door. “I haven't really talked to anyone about that yet.”

“About playing D&D?”

“Well, that, and I haven't really talked to anyone from the Party in a while.”

“Didn't you say you were with Lucas yesterday?”

“Yeah, but I don't think he cares much about D&D anymore.”

“Oh.” Will watched Mike pull his shirt off over his head making his hair stick up in the air. “What about Dustin?”

“He's going through a rough patch with Suzie, so he's been obsessing over her. And he's busy with Hellfire Club.”

Will narrowed his eyes. “With what?”

“Hellfire Club. Some D&D club at school.”

“Oh, cool. I didn't know there was a D&D club.”

“Yeah, I didn't either until Dustin joined. They seem weird.”

“Did you join?”

Putting his sweater on, Mike made a face. “No way. I'm not joining another party.”

“I don't know. It sounds interesting.” Will's gaze followed Mike as he sat down beside him and changed into his jeans. “How are your classes going? Are you still skipping gym?”

Mike rolled his eyes. “My parents got mad at me when they found out, and I have to go or else I'll get, like, two weeks of detention. It still sucks though.” He nodded to Will. “What about you? Have you... made any new friends?”

“Not really.”

There was a beat of silence before Mike sighed. “I wish we could see each other more often.”

“Me, too.”

“I'm sorry for forgetting you were coming yesterday.”

“It's alright. I should've called.”

“You must think I'm an idiot.”

“For forgetting we were coming?”

“Not just that. For drinking.”

Will shifted on the bed. “Yeah, it was a bit weird to see you like that.” Turning so he faced Mike, he leaned forward slightly and locked eyes with his best friend. “Promise me you won't do that again.”

“Of course. I promise.”

He smiled, tilting his head to the side. “It was sort of funny, though.”

Mike let out a laugh. “What was funny about it?”

“I don't know. Just... I didn't think you liked the music I listen to. But you sure seemed to last night.”

Still holding his gaze, Mike moved his hand onto Will's. As Mike's fingertips brushed over his, Will's heart hammered in his chest. The corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. “What are-” he started but was cut off by Mike cupping his face and kissing him. Oh, shit. Will froze, his brain short-circuiting. He wanted to sink into the kiss, enjoy it while it lasted, but something kept him from doing so. A pestering thought in the back of his brain.

Mike pulled away soon after, but Will could still feel the warmth from his lips. Eyebrows drawing together, Mike looked at Will. “Sorry, I thought-” He shook his head. “Never mind. That was stupid.”

“I need to talk to you,” Will said in a soft voice.

The tone of his voice made Mike watch him carefully.

“I know we talked about this over the summer at Castle Byers,” Will said, “but I think we need to re-establish what we talked about.”

When Mike kept quiet, Will went on, “Our agreement was to stay friends. Figure things out on our own for a while. I know it's been a few months, but I'd like us to stick to that agreement for now.”

“But El and I broke up. Mutually. I solved the problem.”

Frowning, eyebrows drawn together, Will shook his head. “That wasn't the problem. That only became a problem when she kissed you the day we moved. It's good that you're broken up, sure, but we still agreed on taking it slow before that. Staying just friends.”

Mike pouted. “I don't get why you don't even want to try.”

“I told you already; I don't think we're ready. How are we supposed to be together when we're not even comfortable by ourselves? You haven't even come out to anyone-”

“I told Nancy,” he blurted out.

Will paused. “You did? When? How'd it go?” He remembered Nancy giving him a look the day they moved, which he wasn't sure how to decipher. Had she known already?

“Great, actually.” Mike shrugged, scratching his head. “Yeah, she was completely fine with it.”

Smiling, he gave Mike a hug. “That's great. I'm really happy for you.” When he pulled away, Mike was watching him intently. “Even so, my stance doesn't change. Now's just... not a good time.”

A look of complete defeat set in on Mike's face. “Then when is?”

“I don't know.”

“Well...” Moving back, Mike leaned against the bed post. “I... I told El.”

“You did? When? What did she say? Is she angry at us?”

“Uh... well, I didn't tell her about us. I just... I told her about me. That I'm... you know.”

“How did she take it?”

“Fine, I guess... I had to explain what it meant to her.” He looked over at him. “But we haven't talked for a while anyways, so it wasn't so bad.”

“Oh.”

Mike pushed himself up, hopping off the bed and standing in front of Will. “Is there something you need me to do in order for us to be together?”

This again. Sure, he understood where Mike was coming from, and it's not like it didn't drive Will crazy not to be with him, but he knew the best option was to wait. If they went too fast into this, then he was afraid of what might happen to them. To their friendship. “Mike,” he said, trying not to sound too harsh, “why are you pushing this? You were the one who was avoiding this so adamantly before. Can't you accept that I'm just not ready yet? Okay?”

A blush crept up Mike's neck. He glanced to the side, brushing a hand through his hair. “No, yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pressure you or anything. You're right, you're right. We don't have to be anything more than friends. Okay. I just... I really missed you.”

Seeing the wounded look on his best friend's face, Will stood up and squeezed his hand. “Hey... I missed you, too.” He knocked Mike on the shoulder. “Why don't we see if anyone else wants to hang out? I'd still like to see your campaign, even if only you and I want to play.”

“You would?”

“Of course.”

“Mike! Will!” Nancy shouted from downstairs. “Let's get going!”

Will and Mike exchanged smiles before heading downstairs and leaving with El and Nancy for the video store.

Chapter Text

Jonathan sits on Will's bed, phone book open in front of him, scribbling the addresses and phone numbers of all the hospitals in the city down on a paper. Will wrings his hands together beside him, glancing over the list of morgue phone numbers. “If we do find him alive, then what?” Will asks.

Flipping through another phone book on her bed, El says, “He'll know about you. Your powers.”

“Exactly. Even if no one reads my journal, if Jake's alive, I'm screwed anyway. But if he's dead, I'm screwed. Either way, I'm screwed.”

Jonathan lets out a huff. “One thing at a time, alright? Let's focus on finding out what happened to him first.”

Will continues to wring his hands together. Sighing, Jonathan sets down his pen and turns to him. “Why don't you take a minute to relax? Listen to some music or draw or something. I'll finish getting the numbers and addresses.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, take a breather.”

Letting out a breath, Will gets up and goes to the desk, grabbing his Walkman. He can hear his mom outside their room going from one end of the hall to the other. After last night, his stomach is in knots just at the thought of having to talk to her. He knows he has to tell her what happened eventually, but he wants to avoid the conversation for as long as possible.

Will flips through his cassette tapes until his gaze stops on one labeled To Will in Nancy's handwriting. He takes the tape out from the stack, flipping it over in his hands. The first and last time he listened to it was the day they got the call from Dustin about Mike's accident. Looking at it now, a pit forms in the center of his stomach.

“Will,” El says, getting up and walking over to him with the phone book in her hands, “is everyone in the phone book?”

Putting the tape down, Will shrugs. “Anyone with a phone.”

“Not us,” Jonathan says. “Mom made sure we were unlisted in case anyone tries to look for us.”

El chews her lip, looking to Will. “What's Daniel's last name?”

Setting his Walkman back down on the desk, he takes the phone book from her and reads over the pages. “Kubo, I think. With a K.”

They flip through the K section of the white pages until El points to Kubo, Yutaka with a number and address. “Is this Daniel's?”

“I don't know. Could be his dad.”

“We can ask Daniel what happened to Jake.”

Will sighs. “He probably thinks I'm a freak.”

El furrows her eyebrows.

“He saw what I did. And we ran off without saying anything to him like complete morons.”

“If we call, we'll find out what he thinks.”

Will looks to Jonathan. “Should we try calling Daniel first?”

“Yeah.” Jonathan glances up from the phone book. “I'm almost done with this, so we can head down to the payphone in a minute.”

“What if Daniel doesn't know where Jake is?”

“We'll go back to the beach and ask the lifeguards.” Jonathan looks at his watch. “We only have to wait half an hour. Unless you want to use up all your quarters on the phone, I suggest we try to go to as many places in person as we have to.”

“What about your Mom?” El asks.

Will's eyebrows knit together. “What do you mean?”

“Is she coming with us? What do we tell her?”

“Nothing yet,” Jonathan answers.

“We're not telling her?” El looks to Will with a frown. “You said no more secrets.”

“We shouldn't worry her if we don't need to,” Jonathan says. “Once we figure out what happened, we can tell her. I just don't think there's any reason to freak her out right now.”

El scrunches up her nose, narrows her eyes at Will, and lets out a huff. Looking away, Will shakes his head. “No,” he murmurs. “El's right. We should tell her.”

Jonathan looks at him carefully. “Are you sure?”

“I've only been making things worse by not telling her anything. I can't keep this from her anymore.”

“Okay. I get it.” Jonathan sets down his list and pencil. “Should we tell her now?”

“I should tell her myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure.” Sucking in a breath and giving his siblings a curt nod, he leaves the room and heads into the kitchen where Joyce is washing dishes in the sink. On the table, five plates of waffles are set with glasses of orange juice beside them. “Mom?”

Joyce glances over her shoulder and gives him a smile. “Good morning, sweetie. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

“I made breakfast, and after we eat, I was thinking we could all go to the movies or maybe that roller skating rink you and El like. Whatever you want.”

When Will doesn't answer, Joyce turns to look at him. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

Struggling to look her in the eye, Will ducks over to the table and takes a seat in one of the chairs. “Um, not really.”

Her face falls. “What is it?”

“There's something I have to tell you.”

Chapter Text

The moment Will, El, and Mike stepped inside Family Video and looked around, Steve Harrington – tapping his fingers on the check-out counter while Robin talked to a customer – threw his arms in the air. “Hey, is that who I think it is?”

Robin turned and spotted the three of them by the entrance. Her face lit up. “Oh my god, it's Will and El!”

Will, El, and Mike weaved past the other customers and up to the counter. Steve gave them fist bumps. “Long time, no see. What brings you two here?”

Smiling, El said, “Visiting for Christmas.”

“How long are you here for?”

“A few days,” Will said. “We leave on the twenty-sixth.”

“How are things in the new place?” Robin asked. “Enjoying city life?”

El nodded. “I like the city.”

Steve gestured to Will's face. “What's with the black eye?”

“Oh.” Lifting a hand to cover his eye, Will shrugged and looked away. “It's nothing.”

“Mouthbreathers,” El muttered.

Mouth set in a straight line, Mike shook his head. “These jerks have been after El since she moved there, and now they're after Will too.”

Robin frowned. “There are assholes here and there, I guess.”

“Our friends are here,” El said.

“If they keep coming after you,” Steve said, “I'll just come over there and teach them a lesson.”

Everyone let out laughs, Robin rolling her eyes. “Good luck with that, dingus.”

“So,” Mike said, leaning against the counter, “what movies do you recommend?”

“Depends on what you're looking for.”

“I like sci-fi.” Mike jerked his thumb in Will's direction. “He likes horror. El, what about you? What kinds of movies do you like?”

El took a moment to ponder. “Love stories. And a happy ending.”

Robin nudged Steve. “Let's see what we can find.”

While Robin and Steve walked out from behind the counter and looked over a rack of tapes nearby, Will's gaze wandered around the store until it fell on a familiar red-haired girl standing in one of the aisles. Will tapped El on the shoulder and gestured to the girl. When El realized who was standing there, she met Will's eyes before hurrying down the aisle. Will turned to Mike. “I'll be back in a second.”

Mike furrowed his brows, but Will lifted a finger, telling him to wait, and hurried after El. He and El stopped in front of Max whose skateboard was tucked under her arm and who had headphones over her ears. “Max,” El said.

Looking up from the VHS tape in her hands, Max's eyes lit up. “El? Will?” She took her headphones off and pulled them both into a hug. “Oh my god. When did you guys get here?”

“Last night,” El said.

When they pulled apart, Will's eyebrows were furrowed. “You didn't know we were coming?”

Max shook her head. “I knew you might be coming, but no one mentioned when exactly.”

“Mike didn't tell you?”

Pausing her Walkman, she let out a huff. “He hasn't been coherent enough for that.”

“Coherent?” El asked.

Max shook her head, putting the VHS tape back on the shelf. “It's nothing. Anyways, how have you been? How's the new place?” She motioned to Will's black eye. “Get into a fight?”

“A mouthbreather hurt him,” El said.

“It's fine. It's not as bad as it looks,” Will said. “The new place isn't bad either. How are things here?”

“It's hell.” With a roll of her eyes, she made her way down the aisle, Will and El by her side. “Dustin's trying to get me to worship Satan with him. Lucas seems to think he's a basketball player now. And Mike... he's completely lost it.”

Will and El exchanged looks. “Satan?” El asked.

Max let out a laugh. “Yeah, he's just in some D&D club at school who want everyone to think they're actually Satanists when really, they're just a bunch of nerds.”

“Lucas is playing basketball?” Will asked. “I never knew he liked sports.”

“I'm not sure he even plays. I think they just put him on the team.” Max sighed. “Whatever. He'll realize what he's trying to do is stupid eventually.”

Will wasn't sure he wanted to ask Max what she meant by Mike completely losing it. As he glanced over to the counter where Mike was talking to Steve and Robin, he wondered whether or not there was something Mike was keeping from him. He hadn't told anyone that Will and El were coming over, he came home drunk the night before, and there seemed to be a rift in the Party. Something wasn't adding up, but Will couldn't put his finger on it.

“Do you want to hang out today?” El asked Max as the three of them weaved through the aisles.

“Sure. I've got nothing better to do anyway.”

“Maybe we can invite Lucas and Dustin over, too,” Will suggested. “We can play D&D, if you want.”

Max made a face. “Or literally anything else.”

“Hey, guys,” Mike said, coming down the aisle towards them with a movie in his hands, “I got 1984. I'm not sure how much horror or romance there is, but it sounds interesting enough. We can watch it later or... oh. Hey, Max.”

“Mike.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was looking at movies. You know, since this is a video store.”

“Right.”

“Max said she can hang out with us today,” El said.

“Great.”

Will nudged Mike on the elbow. “We can see if Lucas and Dustin want to hang out, too.”

Chewing his bottom lip, Mike looked to Max. “Is that okay?”

Sighing and adjusting her skateboard under her arm, Max shrugged. “I guess so. It's about time I talk to him.”

“Lucas?” El asked.

Max nodded.

“Are you two okay?” Will asked. “Did you break up again?”

“I don't even know at this point. We're just not on the same page with anything anymore... but I guess I'll try to talk to him today then.”

“Should we go to his house now?”

Mike shook his head. “We can go to Dustin's first then Lucas's since we'll probably go to my house to hang out. But we have to get Nancy to drive us if we don't want to walk.”

“Isn't she doing research?” El asked.

“Yeah, but we don't have our bikes and it'll take a while to walk all the way to Dustin's.”

Moving past the three of them, Max waved at Steve who was putting tapes on a shelf. “Hey, we need you to drive us to Dustin's.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “I'm working.”

“Take a break.”

After staring at them for a moment, Steve let out a groan, rolling his eyes. He turned to Robin who was behind the counter, staring into space. “Hey, Robin, can you cover for me?”

“Where are you going?”

“These knuckleheads need a ride to Dustin's.”

“Fine.”

Grabbing his keys, Steve gestured for the four younger teens to follow him. As they started to the door, Robin called, “You owe me one, dingus!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Steve shoved open the doors, got to his car, and unlocked it. “Get in.”

Everyone hopped in, Max taking the passenger's seat while Will sat in between Mike and El in the back. As Steve started the car, he glanced at the four of them. “Why am I driving you to Dustin's?”

“Nancy dropped us off here,” Mike explained, “but she's busy at the library, so she can't drive us right now, and we need to talk to Dustin and Lucas.”

“Okay, whatever.” They pulled out out of the parking spot and drove off down the street. “I haven't seen you with him in a while. Henderson, I mean. He mentioned joining some club. Hell-flame whatever or some dumb name like that. Does that have something to do with it?”

Mike made a face. “Yeah. The Hellfire Club. He's been trying to get the rest of us to join.”

“I take it you're not interested?”

“I'm not interested in joining a party full of strangers when we've already got an established one.”

“It might not be so bad,” Will said to which Mike furrowed his eyebrows. “I mean, maybe you'll make new friends.”

Frowning, Mike sunk into the seat and stared out the window. “I don't need new friends.”

Max glanced back at him. “Haven't you been hanging out with Lucas's new friends?”

“They're his friends, not mine.”

“What's wrong with having new friends?” El asked.

“Nothing's wrong with having new friends,” Will said before Mike or Max could respond. “Just because you have new friends doesn't mean you can't stay friends with old ones.”

“Guys, guys,” Steve said, waving his hand. “Quit worrying about it. Everyone makes new friends in high school. That's how high school works.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Will said. “Making new friends is a good thing.”

“Yeah?” Mike crossed his arms and frowned. “Well, I don't need to make new friends.”

For the rest of the drive to Dustin's, Mike and Will sat in silence while Steve told stories about weird customers at Family Video, Max and El chiming in occasionally. When they got to Dustin's house, Mike hopped out of the car and started up the driveway. Will turned to El. “We'll be back. You guys can wait here.”

“I'm not dropping all of you off?” Steve asked.

As Will got out, he said, “We need to go to Lucas's after.”

Steve made a face. “Thanks for telling me ahead of time.”

“Sorry. This'll only take a minute.” He hurried after Mike. The two of them stepped up to the front door, and Mike knocked on it.

After a few seconds, it opened, Mrs. Henderson standing with her cat in her arms, a smile on her face. “Mike, Will, it's so good to see you. How are you doing?”

“We're good, Mrs. Henderson,” Mike said with a smile. “We're looking for Dustin.”

“I'm afraid he's not here. I can tell him you were looking for him when he gets home.”

“Do you know where he is?” Will asked.

“I'm not sure. He mentioned needing to speak to Suzie.”

Mike and Will looked to each other, both mouthing, “Suzie?”

Mike turns back to Mrs. Henderson. “Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Henderson.” He grabs Will's arm and leads him back to the car, shaking his head. “No way are we trekking all the way up to Cerebro right now.”

“We can always radio him. He could be on his way back already.”

Steve, Max, and El looked to them when they got in the car. “Where's Henderson?” Steve asked.

“He's at Cerebro,” Mike explained, “so once we're at my house, I'll try to reach him on my Supercom. Let's just go to Lucas's right now.”

As Steve pulled the car out of the Henderson's driveway, Max let out a laugh. “Dustin seriously hiked all the way to Cerebro in a foot of snow just to talk to Suzie?”

“He sure seems dedicated,” Will said.

“If you want to call it that.”

When they pulled into the cul de sac on Maple Street a few minutes later, Steve stopped the car in between Mike and Lucas's houses and turned to look at the four younger teens. “Here we are. Is that all you needed?”

“Yep. Thanks, Steve,” Max said, hopping out of the car.

While Mike and El got out, Will stayed in his seat and leaned forward. “Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah, Byers?”

“You mentioned earlier that you haven't seen the rest of the Party with Dustin, and I was wondering if there's anything else you've noticed about everyone.”

Steve gave him a look. “You haven't talked to them much, have you?”

“I guess not. Since it's so cold here, it's hard to get in contact with anyone over Cerebro since they don't want to go up there too often. But apparently Dustin's fine going up there for Suzie.”

“Look, Byers,” Steve said, “people change when you get older. That's just how it is. I'm not friends with the same people I was friends with in middle school or high school. Sometimes, you have to accept that people grow apart.”

“You think the Party's growing apart?”

“How often do they get together when you're not here?”

“I don't know. I'm not here.”

“Well, from what I've seen, they don't.”

“Hey, Will!” Mike called from Lucas's driveway. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah!” He turned back to Steve. “They're probably just adjusting to everything. They'll be back to normal in no time.”

“If you say so.”

Will hesitated before moving to get out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Steve.” He hopped out, shutting the door and heading over to where Mike, Max, and El were standing at the end of Lucas's driveway.

“El and Max are gonna wait here while we get Lucas,” Mike told him.

Will looked to Max and El. “You're not-”

“It's better if he sees you guys first and not me,” Max said.

“Oh... okay.”

“C'mon.” Mike reached forward and grabbed Will's arm, pulling him along to the Sinclair's. Once they got to the front door, they knocked on it until Lucas pulled it open. When his gaze fell on Will, his eyes widened. “Will! When did you get back?” He pulled Will into a tight hug. “Man, it feels like forever since I last saw you.”

Will glanced at Mike. “Geez, you really kept El and me visiting a secret, didn't you?”

Mike scratched the back of his neck while Lucas punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Yeah, dude, why didn't you say anything?”

Huffing, Mike glared at the ground. “I just forgot, alright? I've had other things on my mind.”

Lucas made a face, mouthing “okay” and raising his eyebrows to Will. After a beat of silence, Lucas glanced at them both. “So, what are you doing here? Are we doing something?”

“We wanted to know if you want to come over to Mike's,” Will said. “We can watch a movie or play D&D. He has a campaign planned.”

Lucas shrugged. “Sure, why not.” He grabbed his coat before following them outside. As they started down the driveway, Lucas slowed down, spotting Max and El sitting by the curb. “I didn't realize Max would be here.”

“You should talk to her,” Mike said.

“I've tried. She's the one who's been avoiding me.”

Mike patted him on the back. “Well, not anymore.”

They approached the two girls. Max and El got to their feet when they saw them. “Hey, Madmax,” Lucas said.

“Hey, stalker.”

“You're playing D&D with us?”

“Sure am.”

“Cool.”

“Yep.”

El furrowed her eyebrows while Will and Mike exchanged a look. Rolling his eyes, Mike pushed past them and marched over to his house. “Come on. We still have to talk to Dustin.”

All five of them went to the Wheeler's basement and gathered on the couch, Mike pulling out his Supercom and saying into it, “Dustin, it's Mike. Do you copy?”

Silence.

“Dustin, do you copy? I'm with the rest of the Party. Will and El are here. Dustin, do you copy?”

After a moment, crackling eminated on the Supercom. “I copy,” Dustin said. “Did you say Will and El are with you? Over.”

“Yeah, Max and Lucas, too. We're in my basement, if you want to join. Over.”

“Is something going on? Over.”

“We're thinking of playing D&D and watching a movie since Will and El are visiting. Over.”

“Can I take a raincheck? I'm in the middle of something. Over.”

“Okay, but Will and El leave on the twenty-sixth. Over.”

“Let's all do something tomorrow. I'll get back to you later. Over and out.” The transmission cut out.

“Uh, okay.” Mike put his Supercom down. “Guess it's just us five.”

“Guess so,” Lucas said.

Frowning, Will glanced at his friends. “Wasn't that a little weird?”

“What was?” Mike asked.

“I don't know. Since when does Dustin not want to hang out? Even if he's busy now, why doesn't he want to get together later tonight?”

“I wouldn't think too much into it,” Lucas said. “He's probably got plans with the Hellfire Club.”

“Or he's tired of you two ditching him,” Max said to Mike and Lucas.

Mike scrunched up his nose. “Just because we don't want to join that lame club doesn't mean we're ditching him.”

“And besides,” Lucas said, “it's not like you've been hanging out with him either.”

“At least I haven't been going around town getting wasted with a bunch of airheads,” Max shot back.

“They're not airheads-”

“Hey, guys-” Will said.

“Have you heard them speak?”

“Yes, and they're not-”

“Oh, but they are. They're airheads and total assholes, and they're turning you into one too.”

“What? Just because they-”

“Guys,” Will grumbled.

“-don't care about the same things you do, doesn't mean they're airheads.”

“Sorry I don't care about bullying people.”

“Then what do you care about, Max? Because obviously you don't care about me.”

“Guys!” Mike jumped to his feet, clapping his hands together. “Both of you, shut up. Will, what were you trying to say?”

Everyone's eyes looked to Will. He clasped his hands together. “Oh, I don't know. I was thinking maybe we should get your campaign set up.”

Lucas snapped his fingers and pointed to Will. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“I'll get everything set up,” Mike said, heading over to the table and grabbing the D&D manuals.

Max looked to Lucas. “I didn't think you'd still be interested in D&D.”

“Why not?”

She scrunched her nose. “Aren't you more into sports now?”

“You were the ones who asked if I wanted to join.”

Will sat forward. “Yes, we did, and you're allowed to like sports and D&D.”

“I know that.” Max focused her eyes on Lucas. “The difference is when you pretend to be a completely different person just to fit in and act like you're too cool for 'nerd' stuff when you're around your new friends.”

Lucas frowned. “I don't do that.”

“You don't defend us when they call us names.”

Will and El exchanged looks.

When Lucas looked away, his jaw clenched, Max let out a huff. “Why do you bother? Those numbskulls don't care about you.”

“You don't get it, Max.” He threw his arms up, spinning around to stare at all of them. “None of you get it! Even if I didn't like D&D and Star Wars and all that stuff, I'm still a freak here. Liking nerd stuff just makes it ten times worse because then I don't fit in with anyone.”

Everyone fell silent.

“You know what? I'm going home.” Lucas grabbed his jacket and started to the stairs.

“What?” Will hopped to his feet. “You just got here.” He motioned to Mike who stood by the table. “And he's almost set up.”

“Yeah,” Mike said quickly, “we can play right now.”

“Sorry, but I'm not staying here if Max is gonna insult me the whole time.” He stormed up the steps.

“Lucas,” Mike called.

Will turned to Max. “Max.”

Her face fell. “What am I supposed to say?”

“I-” Huffing, Will shook his head and rushed up the stairs. “Lucas, wait. We've barely got to talk.”

Hand on the doorknob, Lucas turned to him. “Look, I can hang out with you tomorrow or whenever you're free. El and Mike, too. But not with Max.”

“Let me just talk to her. Please.”

He hesitated.

“Lucas. Come on. All I want is to hang out like we used to.”

Letting out a sigh, he glanced at his watch before rolling his eyes. “You're lucky I have nothing else to do today.”

Will's face lit up. “So you can stay?”

“Until dinner time.”

Grinning, he pulled Lucas into a hug. “Thank you.”

Lucas chuckled, patting him on the back. “Of course, man. I've missed you.”

When the two of them returned downstairs, Lucas went to Mike's side, looking over the D&D set-up while Will walked over to the girls. “Max, can I talk to you?”

Max and El looked to each other before Max narrowed her eyes at Will, getting to her feet. “What about?”

He gestured over his shoulder to the bathroom. Rolling her eyes, Max slumped forward and followed him into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him then turned to Max who stared at him with her arms crossed. “If you're going to tell me I'm an asshole and that I should apologize to Lucas,” she said, “then I already know.”

“Well, yes, you should apologize to him,” he said, “but I don't think you're an asshole. Actually, I wanted to ask you what's going on.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, we haven't talked much at all since El and I left. No one's really said how you've been doing with everything. I wanted to know if you're okay.”

“I'm fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean... with what happened to Billy, I don't know, I'm not sure I'd be okay.”

Her hard expression wavered until it broke completely, and she slumped against the wall. “You're the first person who's asked me that in months. Well, the first person who seems like they actually mean it. Everyone else is afraid to even bring up Billy or anything related to that day, so they don't say anything at all.”

“I'm sorry.”

“I know everyone hated him. I hated him, too. But he was the only person who understood.” She met Will's eyes. “I know Lucas wasn't trying to ditch us or ignore us or anything. I was the one who wasn't talking to him for a while. He tried. I know he tried. But I just never tried back.”

“Did you break up?”

Max shook her head. “Not exactly. Not in the way we usually do. We just... stopped talking to each other. Which is somehow worse than all the times we actually broke up.”

“Do you still like him?”

“Sure I do, but I'm mad at him. I know he's dealing with things, too. I get that. But even if he didn't mean to ditch us, it still... hurts.” Silence hung in the air until Max cleared her throat, pushing herself away from the wall. “Whatever. To answer your question, I'm not okay, but there's nothing I can do about it.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. There's plenty of crap you've been through, too.”

“Do you still want to play D&D with us?”

“I guess so.”

“But... can you lay off Lucas at least?”

She cracked a smile. “Only because you and El are here.”

Will let out a laugh. “Yeah, okay.” The two of them exited the bathroom, rejoining El on the couch. Once Mike finished setting up, they began the campaign.

Chapter Text

Joyce paces in front of the kitchen table where Will, El, and Jonathan sit, the list of phone numbers and addresses in Jonathan's hand. She stops, turns towards her kids, raises a finger, then pauses. Shaking her head, she gestures to Jonathan. “Have you called anywhere yet?”

Jonathan shakes his head. “We were going to check out the beach first to ask the lifeguards if they know what happened and look through the lost and found.”

“And call Daniel,” El adds.

“Daniel...” Joyce worries her lip. “That's the boy you said you went to the party with?”

Will and El nod.

“You're calling him to ask what he knows?”

“Basically,” Will says.

“Is he the one you invited over for your birthday?”

“Oh. Yeah, but... I don't know if he'll even show up.”

“Why wouldn't he?”

“I don't know.” Will shrugs. “Because of what I did.”

“What time is he coming?”

“Well, I told him around five.”

“And you have his number?”

Will looks to El. “The phone book's on the desk,” she says. They both look back to Joyce.

“Okay, what about this?” She motions to Will. “Why don't you get Daniel's number, call him, and see what he knows, and we can figure out where to go from there.”

Arms crossed, Jonathan leans on the table. “What about Lonnie? What should we tell him?”

Resting her chin on her hand and letting out a breath, Joyce glances towards the hall where the sound of the shower running echoes. She gives a shake of her head. “I'll deal with him.”

El pokes Will on the arm. “Phone book.”

“Oh. Right.” As Joyce continues to talk with Jonathan and El, Will gets up and heads to his bedroom. He ducks over to the desk to grab the phone book but flinches when the sound of static blasts out of the ham radio. Then, a voice: “Uh, Will? You there? It's Lucas. Over.”

Will's eyebrows knit together. Lucas? Setting the phone book down, he reaches for the radio. “Hello? I copy. Over.”

“Oh, hey, man! What's up? How are you? Over.”

“Not much, I guess. I'm – I'm a bit surprised you're calling. It's a bit early in the morning to be at Cerebro, isn't it? And... well, we haven't really talked in a while. Over.”

“I know it's been too long, but since it's your birthday, I figured I'd call. I tried calling on the phone all morning, but the line's busy. Over.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, our phone's broken.” He leans forward on the desk. “I'm glad you called. It's good to hear from you. Over.”

“How are things over there? Having a good birthday? Over.”

Will sucks in a breath. “If I'm being honest, things are pretty terrible. Over.”

“They are? What's going on? Over.”

“It's sort of a long story. Over.”

“Summarize. Over.”

He sighs. “Um... well, I sort of accidentally revealed my powers to basically my entire school. Over.”

“Shit. What'd you do? Over.”

“I mean, I didn't mean to. It's just... these assholes have been after us, and yesterday... well, yesterday, they nearly killed Eleven. So, I wanted to show them they couldn't mess with us anymore.”

“Nearly killed Eleven?”

“Yeah, they were drowning her. Over.”

“Jesus. Are those the same assholes who gave you the black eye and all those bruises back in December? Over.”

“Yeah, those ones.”

“What did you do to them? Over.”

“I... sort of electrocuted one of them... Over.”

“Oh, shit! You what?” Lucas lets out a cackle. “Holy shit, Will. You electrocuted one of them?”

“I didn't mean to.”

“Holy shit. What – did they, like, die? Over.”

“I don't know yet. I'm sort of trying to figure that out. Over.”

“Wait, shit... does that mean the government's gonna come after you now? Over.”

“I don't know.” Will lets out a groan, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand. “Everything sucks right now, and it's all because of me. Not to mention, my dad's here for the weekend, and I just don't know what I'm doing anymore.”

“Your dad? Since when did your family start talking to your dad again? I thought after all the Upside Down stuff, you didn't talk to him anymore. Over.”

He sighs. “Yeah, I thought so, too. But apparently, he called my mom the other day and said he wanted to see us since it's been so long. I don't know why he wants to see us all of a sudden since he was never interested in seeing us before.” Letting out a huff, he shuts his eyes. “It doesn't matter. He'll be gone after tomorrow. Anyway, sorry for blabbering on about all my stuff. How are you? Are things good over there? Over.”

“Over here? You don't know?”

“Don't know what? Over.”

“About the murders. Over.”

Will goes quiet, adjusting the radio in his hand. “Mur – murders? What murders?”

“Mike didn't tell you?”

“Mike? How would – sorry, what? Can you just explain what's going on, over?”

Lucas lets out a breath. “A bunch of dead bodies washed up in the quarry a couple days ago. No one knows who they are, but now, other people are going missing. There was also some sophomore who was found dead at the school yesterday, then a girl was found murdered in the woods. And this girl happened to be the girlfriend of one of the guy's on my team.”

Will's stomach tightens.

“Everyone thinks the Hellfire Club did it. Over.”

“Wait... the Hellfire Club? That's – Mike and Dustin are in the Hellfire Club.”

“Precisely. I've been trying to get the guys on my team to lay off them, but everyone in school thinks they're Satanists and murdering people as sacrifices. Over.”

Will shakes his head, trying to process everything Lucas is telling him. “El and I talked to Max two days ago, and she never mentioned any murders. Over.”

“It's all sort of escalated since then.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the entire town has taken up their pitchforks and started a witch-hunt. My parents even threw away your D&D manuals we gave to Erica. Over.”

“They threw them away?”

“Don't worry. Erica fished them out of the trash. Over.”

“But... the murders. The Hellfire Club isn't really responsible for them, are they? Over.”

“If they are, Mike and Dustin had no idea about it. Actually,” Lucas says, “can I talk to Mike for a second?”

“Mike?”

“If he doesn't want to talk, I get it, but let him know I'm here for him when he gets back. Over.”

“Lucas, what are you talking about?”

“He didn't tell you what happened yesterday?”

Will pauses, trying to decipher what Lucas is saying. “No. What happened?”

“I don't know if I should tell you. You might want to ask Mike about it. Over.”

“Lucas, Mike isn't even here. What are you talking about?”

“Wait, what? He's not there?”

“No. As far as I'm aware, he's still in Hawkins. Over.”

“I thought he was going to your place for your birthday? Over.”

“He was, but he called on Thursday and said he couldn't make it. He never mentioned this? Over.”

“No, he never said anything. I haven't seen him since yesterday either, so I thought he was with you. Over.”

“Well, he's not.” He taps his knuckles on the desk. “Lucas, what happened with Mike yesterday? Over.”

“I really don't think I should-”

“Is he okay at least? I need to know. Over.”

“Like I said, I haven't seen him since yesterday. That's why I wanted to talk to him. I went to his house earlier, but he wasn't there, and that's when I remembered it was your birthday, so I thought he was with you. Over.”

“So you don't know where he is? Over.”

“Not now, apparently.”

“You don't think-”

“No, no,” Lucas says quickly. “I'm sure he's fine. He's probably with Max or Dustin. Over.”

“You think so? Over.”

“Yeah, yeah, man. Don't worry. I'll switch channels to see where Dustin's at. Over.”

“Okay, which-” Will freezes when he hears the door to the bathroom open and the footsteps of his father drawing closer. He whispers into the radio, “Sorry, I have to go. I'll try to call you from a phone later. Over and out.” Shutting off the radio, he spins around in his chair when Lonnie takes a step into the room.

Lonnie nods to him. “What are you doing over there?”

“Nothing,” he answers quickly. “Just listening to the radio.”

“None of that crap Jonathan listens to, I hope.”

Will shakes his head. “They don't play that on the radio anyway.”

“Hey, Will-” Jonathan ducks into the room and cuts in front of Lonnie. “What's the hold up? Weren't you going to the payphone?”

“Yes, just grabbing this.” Standing and grabbing the phone book, he ducks over to Jonathan.

Lonnie turns to them, setting his hands on their shoulders. Will's body tenses. “Why don't I take you boys out somewhere today? I saw some batting cages not too far from here.”

Will scrunches up his nose while Jonathan rolls his eyes. “Mom already made plans,” Jonathan says, worming out of Lonnie's grasp and pulling Will by the arm into the hall.

“What, I can't have an hour to spend with my kids?” Lonnie lets out a scoff when Jonathan continues with Will down the hall.

“You know,” Jonathan whispers to Will, “I can tell him to leave if you want me to.”

Will lifts a shoulder. “I don't know. It's just for the weekend.”

“If he bothers you, just let me know, okay?”

“Okay.” The two of them head into the kitchen where El and Joyce are talking by the counter. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Lonnie isn't nearby, Will hurries over to them. “Mike's missing,” he says.

“What?” Joyce, Jonathan, and El all say, gaping at him.

“Lucas radioed over Cerebro. He can't find Mike. He's missing.”

“Missing?” El murmurs.

“What did Lucas say?” Joyce asks. “When was the last time he saw him?”

“Not since yesterday. He went looking for him, but he wasn't home.”

“Have your other friends seen him?” Jonathan asks.

Will shrugs a shoulder, biting his lip. “Lucas didn't talk to them yet.”

“Oh, well,” Joyce says, pulling him closer to her, “I'm sure he's just with one of them.”

“But, Mom, what if – what if something happened to him?” His breath quickening, he looks around at the three of them. “There – there are people getting murdered in Hawkins.”

A frightened expression falls on El's face, Joyce's hand covers her mouth, and Jonathan raises his eyebrows. “Who?” Joyce asks.

He keeps his voice quiet. “Lucas said some girl was murdered in the woods, and another was found dead in the school, and that people have been dying and going missing for the past few days. I'm not sure who exactly. He didn't say.”

“Is it the Mind Flayer?” El asks, her eyebrows drawn together.

“I don't know... Lucas said everyone's blaming it on the Hellfire Club.”

Frowning, Jonathan leans against the counter. “What's the Hellfire Club have to do with it?”

“I don't know. Lucas says everyone thinks they're killing people as sacrifices to Satan or something.”

“This is the club Mike joined?” Joyce asks.

Will nods. “He didn't even want to join. I...” His gaze falls to the ground. “I was the one who told him he should. What if someone did something to him? Or what if something else happened to him? What if – what if he's-”

“Hey, hey-” Joyce takes his hands, squeezing them and looking him in the eye. “We'll figure out what happened to him. I promise. But right now, we still have to figure out what happened to that boy last night on the beach. We should call that friend of yours – Daniel – and hear what he has to say about last night-”

“What about Mike?” El asks.

“Can we call the Wheeler's?” Will says.

“Yes, yes, we'll figure out what's going on in Hawkins and if Mike's okay, and we'll also have to go to whichever hospital that boy's at if he's alive.” Sighing, Joyce runs her fingers through her hair. “If he's not, we'll have to – oh, we'll definitely have to find your journal then and-”

“Mom.” Stepping forward, Jonathan puts a hand on his mom's shoulder. “You have to breathe.”

Letting out a sigh, she squeezes his hand. “I know, sweetie.”

“Did you talk to Dad?” Will asks.

“I'll talk to him right now and figure out what to do.” Moving away from the counter and into the living room, she goes to the end table by the door, opens the drawer, and grabs a handful of quarters. “Here, use these.” She turns to Will and dumps the quarters into his palm. “I'll be there in a minute.”

While Joyce goes to talk to Lonnie, Will, El, and Jonathan rush out of the apartment and down to the payphone. Will shoves a quarter in the slot, dialing the Wheeler's number. Holding the phone to his ear, he listens as it rings and rings and rings. And rings.

“No answer,” Will says, shoving the phone down.

He flinches when El moves her hand over his. “Will...”

“Hey, hey, it's okay.” Jonathan squeezes his arm. “I'm sure he's okay. You said Lucas is looking for him, right?”

“I'll try them again.” He pulls his hand away from El, shoves another quarter into the slot, and is about to dial the Wheeler's again before Jonathan clears his throat. “Maybe you should call Daniel first.”

His finger hovers above the keypad. “What about Mike?”

“You just called the Wheeler's, and no one picked up. They might not be home.”

“Yes, but-”

“Why don't you call Daniel, then after we talk to him, we can call someone else in Hawkins? I don't want to run out of quarters before you get the chance to call him.”

Will glances to El who is chewing her bottom lip, but she looks away quickly. Sighing, Will looks back at the keypad and punches in Daniel's number. He waits, holding the phone to his ear, until a low voice answers, “Hello. This is the Kubo residence. Yutaka speaking.”

“Hi, uh, can I talk to Daniel?”

There's a pause. “May I ask who I'm speaking to?”

“I'm Daniel's friend. Will.”

“Why are you looking to speak to him?”

“Oh, I just wanted to... to ask him about an art project.”

Another pause.

“Uh... hello?” Will murmurs.

“Daniel doesn't live here anymore.” The line cuts out.

Staring at the phone in his hand, Will tries to make sense of what he heard.

“What is it?” El asks as he sets the phone down.

He glances from her to Jonathan. “I think that was Daniel's dad.”

“What'd he say?” Jonathan asks.

“He said Daniel doesn't live there anymore.”

El's eyebrows knit together. “What does that mean?”

“I... don't know.”

“Did he get kicked out?” Jonathan asks.

“I'm not sure.”

“Did his dad say anything else? Like where Daniel's staying?”

Will shakes his head.

Crossing his arms, Jonathan paces in front of him. “What do you know about his home situation?”

“Not much. I thought he just lived with his dad on the North Side. And from what I've heard, he's got a lot of money.”

“Having money doesn't mean you have a good family.”

El furrows her eyebrows. “Did he run away?”

“I don't know what happened,” Will says. “I just don't get it.”

“What do we do now?”

Jonathan glances at his watch. “The beach is open, so we can go and ask the lifeguards what they know and look for your backpacks.”

Will counts the quarters in his hand. “Can we call Dustin or Max first? I need to find Mike.”

“Sure, Mom should be down soon,” Jonathan says.

Will goes to pop a quarter in the slot, but El moves her hand in front of his. Chewing her bottom lip, she steps closer to him, taking him by the arm. “Will?”

“Yeah?”

“I can try to find him.”

Meeting her gaze, Will furrows his brows. “What are you talking about?”

“I can try to use my powers to find him.”

“But your powers don't work.”

A sigh escapes her lips. “They might be coming back.”

He exchanges a look with Jonathan. “Why do you say that?” Jonathan asks.

Looking to the ground, El murmurs, “I have nightmares... or I thought they were nightmares, but I'm not sure anymore. They're something else.”

Will lowers his voice. “What makes you think they're not just nightmares?”

She meets his gaze. “It's a feeling.”

“If you can find Mike,” Jonathan says, “does that mean you can also find that bully?”

“I don't know.” A sigh escapes her lips. “I'm not sure if I can find Mike. I tried using them before, but I couldn't. I need something like the bathtub.”

“The bathtub?” Will asks.

Jonathan raises a finger. “Like the one we made you at the school? When we were looking for Will and Barb?”

El nods.

“I'm not sure where we can do it,” Jonathan says with a frown, “let alone where we can find enough salt.”

“Maybe I just need a place dark enough and with the radio noise.”

Jonathan straightens up. “I think I might know a place.”

Chapter Text

Laughter and shouts filled the Wheeler's basement on Christmas Eve of 1985, Mike narrating his D&D campaign while Will, El, Lucas, and Max listened intently. “Wait, what's that? The ground below your feet starts to vibrate. The whole tunnel rumbles.”

“It's gotta be the troglodyte army,” Lucas murmured.

“Could be another kobold trap,” Max said.

“Clumps of dirt fall onto your heads and shoulders,” Mike continued. “Above you, you hear something moving, clawing across the ceiling.”

Will, El, Max, and Lucas leaned forward.

“A Giant Spider, nearly ten feet tall, leaps down in front of you!” Mike shouted, smacking his hands on the table. “Its fangs are bared, and its eight eyes fixate on your warm bodies. It lifts its front legs in the air, ready to feast on you. Will! Your action!”

“Oh, uh-”

“Attack with your quarterstaff,” Max suggested.

Lucas shook his head. “That's not much damage. Use the magic missiles.”

Will glanced at El. “What do you think? Magic missiles or quarterstaff?”

Looking from Max to Lucas and back to Will, El opened her mouth to answer but Lucas's beeping watch interrupted her. Lucas switched the timer off on his watch. “Sorry, guys,” he said, getting to his feet, “I've gotta get home for dinner.”

“Already?” Mike asked, looking at his own watch.

Giving everyone quick hugs, Lucas said, “Sorry, guys. But tomorrow we'll get together. Dustin, too.”

“Definitely,” Mike said. “After we open presents and everything, we can meet up and check out what everyone got.”

“And ice skate,” El added.

“Oh, yeah!” Max smiled. “That should be fun.”

“I'll radio you guys after dinner to make plans,” Lucas said, opening the door to the yard. “See you guys!”

Everyone called goodbye as he left, and Mike hopped over to the couch to grab his walkie-talkie from under a cushion. “I'm gonna see if Dustin's still busy.”

“Ask him to ice skate,” El said.

As Mike adjusted the channel on his walkie-talkie, Will got to his feet and headed towards the stairs. “I have to get a glass of water,” he called to the others before hurrying upstairs to the kitchen.

Will went over to the cupboard, took out a glass, and turned on the faucet. As his glass filled with water, the sound of footsteps came from upstairs. A few seconds later, Nancy came into the kitchen, smiling at Will when she saw him. She grabbed a mug from the cupboard and went over to the coffee maker.

Will turned off the faucet, taking a sip of water and starting back to the basement.

“Oh, Will,” Nancy said. “I wanted to talk to you.”

He paused, eyebrows furrowed, and turned to face her. “Talk to me?”

“Yeah, just...” Biting her lip and looking away, Nancy poured coffee into her mug. “How's Mike doing?”

“Oh. He's good. We're in the middle of a really cool campaign he wrote.”

“And is he... does he seem happy?”

Will watched her carefully. “I guess so.”

She sighed. “I'm only asking because I know you two are best friends, and he's been acting weird lately.”

“Yeah, he has been acting a little different.”

“I didn't realize him and El broke up over Thanksgiving, but then after I found out and when I thought about it, it did make sense. At first, I thought their break-up was what was making him all depressed, but then I realized... he has feelings for someone else.”

Will kept still. He didn't know the extent of what Mike told her when he came out to her and whether or not he mentioned anything about Will. Of course, why would Mike mention him? It's not like they're together or anything. “What... what makes you say that?”

“You know him better than anyone else, Will. But I'm not completely clueless either.” She smiled, and he couldn't help thinking she was trying to tell him something with that smile. “Something's been bothering Mike for a while, and I think it has to do with this person he likes. He's trying to keep it a secret or something, but I wish he would just take the plunge because I honestly think he's trying to avoid confronting his feelings and it's weighing on him. But I just hope in the end, Mike doesn't get his heart broken.”

“So... you think Mike should tell this person his feelings?” Will asked.

“All I want for Mike is for him to find someone he really connects with and someone who feels the same way about him and isn't afraid of saying it.” Taking her cup of coffee, Nancy smiled again. “I know we usually don't talk like this, but I've been a bit worried about Mike lately.”

“I understand.” While Nancy left the kitchen, Will stared down at the glass of water in his hand and thought over the conversation. Did Nancy know? Will chewed his lip. She had to know. Since Mike came out to her, who else could she be talking about? And why else would she be talking to Will about it?

“Will?” Mike called from the basement. “You coming?”

“Yeah, be right there!” Chugging the water, he set the glass down on the counter before returning to the basement. El and Max were curled up under a blanket on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in El's lap, while Mike fidgeted with his walkie-talkie.

Will plopped down in between El and Mike. “Did you talk to Dustin?”

“Yeah, and Lucas, too, ” Mike said, setting his walkie-talkie down on the floor. He got up and grabbed the tape of 1984. “We're all meeting at Lover's Lake tomorrow to ice skate.” He put the movie in the VCR.

“Did he say what he's so busy with?” Will grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl while Mike turned off the lights and sat down beside him.

Mike reached over and fished a handful of popcorn out of the bowl. “Not really. Something about the Hellfire Club.”

As they sat watching the movie, the only thought on Will's mind was what Nancy said to him. He has feelings for someone else... All I want for Mike is for him to find someone he really connects with and someone who feels the same way about him and isn't afraid of saying it. He looked at Mike whose eyes were glued to the TV screen. Was this the reason Mike got drunk? The reason he wasn't acting like himself lately? Was it because of Will?

Looking away from the TV, Mike's eyes met Will's. Heat rose up Will's neck, and he glanced away quickly, staring at the TV screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mike continue to watch him. Eyebrows furrowed, Mike lifted his hand which held a few pieces of popcorn. “Want some?” he whispered.

Will shook his head. “No, thanks.”

“Hm, okay.” Mike looked back at the TV. Will started to relax, sinking back into the couch, when Mike lurched to the side, grasping the collar of Will's shirt and pulling at it, shoving the popcorn down his shirt.

“What the-” Will let out a yelp, jerking at the popcorn rolling through the inside of his shirt and poking at his skin. “Mike!” Twisting around while Mike, Max, and El laughed at him, he shook out his shirt until the pieces of popcorn fell out onto the couch. He grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl and lurched at Mike, grappling for his collar and attempting to shove the popcorn down his shirt. With a grin, Mike grasped Will by the wrists and wrestled against him. They toppled off the couch onto the floor, both of them laughing and shoving each other.

Cackling, El and Max tossed pieces of popcorn at the boys. “C'mon,” Max said, “we're missing the movie.”

Mike helped Will up and the both of them situated themselves back on the couch, attempting to suppress their laughter but cracking grins when they looked at each other. They soon quieted down and focused their attention back to the movie, although Nancy's words stayed in the forefront of Will's mind.

Once the movie ended, Max looked at her watch with a sigh. “Guess I should head home.”

“Aw.” El pouted, clutching Max's arm. “What about a sleepover?”

Laughing quietly, Max shook her head and stood up. “I would love to, but my mom would be pissed.” She grabbed her skateboard from beside the couch. “I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have a good Christmas Eve.”

When she started to the door leading to the yard, Mike frowned. “I can get my mom or Nancy to drive you,” he said.

“No, it's fine. I don't mind the walk, plus I have my board. I might stop by Lucas's too.”

Will hopped up from the couch. “You're gonna talk to him?”

“I'll try.” She opened the door, giving them a wave. “Goodnight. See you tomorrow.”

Will, El, and Mike all murmured goodbye as Max left. Standing up, El gestured up the stairs. “Your mom said we're making cookies?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Mike said. “It's mostly for Holly though since she still believes in Santa.”

“Oh.”

Seeing El's disappointment, Mike waved a hand. “But we can still do it. I mean, it's basically tradition.”

“Yeah, it sounds like fun,” Will added.

A smile returned to El's face. Mike slung his arms around El and Will's shoulders, and the three of them headed to the kitchen where Mrs. Wheeler was putting a batch of cookies in the oven. By the counter, Holly decorated a plate of tree-shaped and reindeer-shaped cookies. Mrs. Wheeler glanced up at them. “Did you finish your movie?”

Mike nodded. “We wanted to help with the cookies.”

“You do? That's great.” Karen smiled and motioned to the oven. “Those should be done in fifteen minutes, so you can decorate them once they cool down.” Looking to Mike, she gestured to his younger sister. “Can you keep an eye on Holly while I make a call?”

“Yeah, sure.”

After Karen left the kitchen, Mike watched over Holly while she decorated a reindeer cookie, and Will and El waited by the oven for the next batch. As they stared at the baking cookies, El put her hand over Will's. “What's wrong?”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“You look worried.”

“I do?”

She nodded and turned to face him, her expression serious. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah...” He kept his gaze on the floor, hearing Mike talking to Holly a few feet away. “Yeah, I'm fine.” He motioned to the cookies they were decorating. “Why don't we decorate some?”

They joined Mike and Holly, putting frosting and sprinkles on the cookies, but as they decorated, Will's mind drifted back to those words again. Going over and over in his mind. He couldn't help but feel like Nancy was hinting at something. That he needed to show Mike that they were on the same page. That he wanted to be with him too. He wasn't afraid of admitting his feelings to Mike. He'd already done that last summer. The problem was, he felt like it was too soon. Their reconciliation was too fresh and jumping into new territory could only bring about more problems. But... what Nancy said... I just hope in the end, Mike doesn't get his heart broken. Was that what Will was doing by leaving Mike hanging? Breaking his heart?

In front of the oven, Mike bit into a cookie while watching the next batch bake. Setting a tube of frosting down on the counter, Will stepped over to him. He took a breath and nudged Mike in the side. “Hey,” he said, his voice low, “do you think we should clean up the basement? The popcorn and stuff?”

Glancing at him, Mike shrugged. “I can do it later.”

“Yeah, but...” He sighed, his gaze moving from the oven to meet Mike's eyes. “I think we should do it now.”

Mike popped a cookie crumb in his mouth, letting out a short laugh. “Why?”

“Because...” He looked over at El who concentrated on decorating a cookie with Holly before he leaned closer to Mike and whispered, “because I need to tell you something.”

Their eyes met. Mike raised an eyebrow, and Will nodded his head towards the basement door. Setting down the cookie he was eating, Mike kept their eyes locked. “El, can you watch Holly? We're gonna clean up the mess in the basement.”

El continued to decorate her cookie. “Okay.”

Taking Will by the hand, Mike led them into the basement, closing the door behind them. Once they got down the stairs, he faced Will and kept his voice quiet. “What is it? Is it the Mind Flayer?”

Will shook his head. “No, it's-” His voice caught in his throat. Opening his mouth, a wave of unease fell over him.

“Are you okay?” Mike watched him carefully, concern written over his face.

Swallowing and nodding, he held his throat and wandered over to the table. “I'm – fine. Oh, hey,” he murmured, picking a Walkman up from the table, “isn't this Max's?”

Mike glanced over at it. “Huh. I think so. Guess she forgot it.”

Will set the Walkman back down. “We can give it to her when we see her tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He watched Will closely. “Will, what did you need to tell me?”

Someone who feels the same way about him and isn't afraid of saying it. Looking at Mike, Will cleared his throat. Now is the time. “Um, you know about this morning?”

“What do you mean?”

“When we talked about wanting to stay friends.”

“...yeah?”

“Well, I-” His voice stopped again, and he wanted to slap himself for it. Say it. Just say it. “We... talked about...”

Mike kept his gaze on him.

“... how you came out to Nancy and El...” God, just say it.

Looking down, Mike wrung his hands together. “Will, th-”

“I feel the same way,” the words finally burst out.

Mike paused, looking up at him. “What?”

He sucked in a breath. “I want to try.” Before Mike can say anything, Will stepped forward, took Mike's face in his hands, and kissed him.

“Wait, wait-” Mike pulled away, breathless, his cheeks burning pink. “What about our agreement?”

Will shook his head. “I don't care.” Grabbing the front of Mike's shirt, he pulled him forward and planted their lips back together. His heart pounded, his chest pressed against Mike's and hands grasping at the collar of his shirt to maneuver them to the couch. He pushed Mike down and moved on top of him. His lips traveled over Mike's jawline, down to his neck, and pressed a kiss on the thin skin there. Mike let out a shaky breath. Hovering back, Will looked at him. His eyes were wide. “Is this okay?” Will whispered.

Cheeks burning, Mike nodded.

“Are you sure?”

He swallowed. “Yes, I – this is so okay.” Corners of his mouth turning up in a smile, he grasped Will around the waist and pulled him closer, his hand snaking under Will's shirt and trailing across his bare skin. Heat rose to Will's cheeks, the contact sending tingles through his body.

The door leading into the yard flung open. “Hey, did I-” Max halted in the doorway as Will jumped away from Mike, stumbled backward, and fell onto the floor. “Oh, shit! Sorry!” Max held her hands up, eyes wide. “I was looking for my Walkman.”

Heart still pounding, cheeks burning, Will choked out, “It's-” He gestured to the table, head low. “It's over there.”

“Thanks.” She hurried over to the table and grabbed her Walkman while Will looked at Mike. Mike's face burned bright red, gaze directed to his hands which were clasped on his lap.

“Sorry for-” Max cleared her throat, walking awkwardly to stand a couple feet away from them. “- interrupting.”

“It's... fine,” Will murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. He kept his gaze to the floor. “So, did you – did you talk to Lucas?”

“Sort of.” A smirk appeared on her face, and she waved her finger at the two of them. “How long has this been going on for?”

Getting to his feet and brushing off his clothes, Will glanced from her to Mike. “Not... long, I guess.”

“I knew it!” With a laugh, Max clapped her hands together. “God, it took you two long enough.” Grinning, she turned her hand, her palm up. “So? Are you two dating or what?”

“I don't know. We're sort of trying to figure that out.”

Still seated on the couch, Mike cleared his throat. “Can you – can you keep this a secret for now?”

Furrowing his brows, Will looked at him. “Why are we keeping this a secret from-”

“I want to tell them myself.”

Max stared at them for a moment before shrugging a shoulder. “Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks, Max.”

After a moment of silence, Max gestured to the door. “I should get going.”

She started to walk away, but Will hurried over to her before she could reach the door. “Wait, Max.” He lowered his voice. “How are things with Lucas?”

Looking away, Max shrugged. “It's awkward, but I think we're okay right now.”

He smiled. “Good. I'm happy for you.”

Smiling back at him, she nudged him on the shoulder. “I'm happy for you. I'm glad Mike finally came to his senses.”

He glanced over at Mike who was still sitting on the couch, fidgeting with the sleeve of his sweater. “I'm just glad we're on the same page about things now.”

Chapter Text

Reaching underneath his bed, Will fishes his walkie-talkie out from behind a pile of old sketchbooks and hops back to his feet, waving the walkie-talkie at his mom, brother, and El. “Okay, got it.”

El, holding her own walkie-talkie with a worried expression on her face, says, “Do we have to split up?”

“We'll cover more ground that way,” Jonathan says. He squeezes her shoulder. “Besides, I'll be right there with you. You don't have to worry.”

“Are you sure this freezer room will work?” Joyce asks as they leave the bedroom and go into the hall. “It won't be like the bathtub, and it'll be freezing. Will she be okay?”

“It's pitch black in there and all you can hear is the evaporator running.” The four of them leave go into the living room where Lonnie is on the couch, watching the news and smoking a cigarette. Jonathan grabs his car keys from the end table. “It's the only place I can think of.”

Keeping his voice low, Will whispers to them, “If El can't find him, we can still call Dustin and Max.”

“Yes, of course,” Joyce says, opening the door, “and who knows? Maybe Lucas knows where he is already.”

As they leave the apartment and head down the stairs, Will glances at El. “Why didn't you tell me your powers were coming back?”

“I wasn't sure.”

He hesitates, wondering whether or not he should mention the dreams he had of the Mind Flayer. Was it comparable? It's not like his dreams were anything more than that. They were just dreams, right?

“Will, El, come on,” Jonathan calls from the landing below. Will looks at El. No more secrets. He opens his mouth to tell her at the same time she opens her mouth to say something, but Jonathan shouts, “Guys, come on!”

The two of them rush after Jonathan and Joyce, heading out of the apartment building and to the parking lot. Will meets El's eyes, holding the walkie-talkie up. “Radio contact at all times, okay?”

She holds hers up. “Okay.”

“If we do this fast enough,” Joyce says, “then we can be back before five to celebrate your birthday.” She ruffles Will's hair. “We'll figure this out.”

“See you soon,” Jonathan says, giving Will a quick hug before getting in his car with El. Will hops in the passenger's seat of his mom's car before they leave for the beach.

Joyce glances at Will. “I'm really glad you told me about last night.”

Looking up from his walkie-talkie, he purses his lips. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything before.”

“It's okay, Will. I understand not wanting to tell your mom everything. I was a teenager once, too.”

Will forces a smile.

She taps her fingers on the wheel. “I know you haven't mentioned it much, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but... I never really understood what happened between you and Mike. I know people grow apart, but you two were always so close.”

That familiar lump lodges in Will's throat.

“It's okay. You don't have to tell me.”

He shakes his head, choking out, “No, it – it's fine.”

His mom keeps quiet as he takes a breath. “Before his accident,” he starts, his voice strained, “we had a really bad fight, and I told him I didn't want to talk to him anymore. That – that's the last thing I told him before it happened.”

“Oh, sweetie-”

“I was going to call him after our fight, but then Dustin called and told me what happened and I... I couldn't-” He sucks in a breath, covering his face with his hands. “I know I should've gone. I... I wanted to, but I – I just... couldn't. And I couldn't even talk to him because – because I'm a horrible person.”

“Will, don't say that. You're not a horrible person.”

“Everyone thinks so. I know it. No one in the Party even wants to talk to me anymore, and Mike couldn't even stand to come here this weekend to see me.”

“That's not true. Hey, look at me. That's not true, Will. Sweetie, you're so so kind and so caring, and I know your friends can see that, and I know Mike can see that. What happened to him, I know it was hard on you, and I know there's a lot going on right now, but you're not a bad person, Will. I think you just need to talk to him, so you can understand what's going on and how you both are feeling.”

“How we're feeling?”

“It's good to communicate, that way everyone's on the same page.”

“I don't know how I'm supposed to do that if he's missing.”

His mom sighs, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. “We'll find him. Don't worry. Everything will be okay.”

They pull into the parking lot of the beach a few minutes later and park by the lifeguard station. Walking up to the counter, a girl behind it shakes her head. “You can't go in the water right now. There's a storm coming.”

“We're not here to go in the water,” Joyce says. “We actually wanted to ask about a party that happened here last night where a boy may have been injured.”

“Oh, that.” The girl rolls her eyes. “Don't worry about it. We let the idiot who was supposed to be on duty last night go.”

“Actually, we wanted to know what happened to the boy who got hurt.”

Staring blankly at them, she shrugs. “Kid had some sort of fit. That's all I know.”

“Was he taken to a hospital?”

“Far as I know.”

“Do you know which one?”

“I'm guessing the one down the block.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Joyce turns to go, but Will holds up a hand and gestures to the girl. “Were there any backpacks left on the beach yesterday?”

The girl motions to a bin on the other end of the counter. “That's our lost and found. If anything's found on the beach, it'll be there if someone didn't steal it.”

Will and Joyce go over to the bin and sift through the items. Towels, bags, keys, phones. No sign of their backpacks.

As they walk back to the car, Will tries to keep his breath steady. Everything's going to shit. Complete shit. He nearly killed someone. His backpack with a journal revealing everything about his powers is missing. Mike is missing. Even Daniel is missing.

“Will,” Jonathan's voice breaks out from the walkie-talkie, “are you there?”

Will scrambles to answer it. “Jonathan? Hello? Did El find Mike? Over.”

“Uh, not exactly,” his brother murmurs. There's a beat of silence in which Will's mind goes over all the possible meanings of what Jonathan's saying. “I think we should-” Jonathan's voice is uneasy. “I think we should meet up. Did you find your backpacks? And do you know what happened to that kid?”

“No,” he says, “we didn't find our backpacks. We looked through the lost and found, but they weren't there.” He sighs. “But the lifeguard said Jake could've been taken to the hospital a block away from the beach. Over.”

“Huh. Well, it's good we know where Jake is. We'll meet you at the hospital then.”

“I just don't know where our backpacks could be,” Will murmurs.

Joyce squeezes his shoulder. “I'm sure we'll find them somewhere.”

Will nods even though he doubts they'll find his backpack anywhere. It's lost for good; someone will read his journal and turn him into those people from Hawkins Lab or whoever else wants to do experiments on freaks like him.

Into the walkie-talkie, he says, “We're heading to the hospital now, and we'll wait for you by the entrance. Over and out.”