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Spring break was supposed to be fun.
Will was so excited for Mike to visit. They could hang out just like old times, maybe play some games, talk about DnD, go see a movie, so to the arcade… of course El would come with, it would be weird if she didn’t; Will just wanted to sort of go back in time to before all of this Upside Down nonsense.
Naturally, Will’s hopes were crushed when he hugged Mike at the airport. He could feel the tension between them. They hadn’t talked in months. How could Will be so naive to think that things could go back to the way they were?
The group went through the whole day without many issues. Will was confused why El was lying to Mike about her social troubles, and even more confused how Mike couldn’t tell that she was lying. Mike used to be able to read Will like a book. Why couldn’t he do that with El?
Will was basically left alone for the rest of their time together, fiddling with his hands and staring off into space. He never really understood why he did this, but it gave him comfort. Rocking back and forth, bouncing his legs, humming familiar tunes, tapping his fingers rhythmically, etc etc etc and so on. It was part of the reason why he was bullied so much when he was younger, and why he still is. He’s better at hiding his weird habits now though, so they don’t draw as much attention. He never had to hide around Mike and their other friends though, they just had always accepted it as normal for Will. If anything, they would get worried if he wasn’t moving around.
It was late when they got home, and Mike and Will had barely said a word to each other all day. Will’s eyes darted around anxiously as he, El, and Mike went to their respective bedrooms. Will sat down on his bed, taking his fist and tapping at his shoulder to try and calm down. Why wouldn’t Mike talk to him? Why couldn't he talk to Mike? This was so fucked up.
Will woke up in the middle of the night with a slight ache in his chest. This feeling wasn’t unfamiliar, but it wasn’t common either. This only happened sometimes. Weird days. Bad days.
Will looked around his room and ran a hand through his greasy hair.
Oh god, his hair.
He could feel his hair.
No one else ever understood what he meant when he said he could feel something on his body. He could feel his hair, feel his fingers, feel his tongue. It made him want to rip off whatever offending body part he could feel that day.
He could feel his fucking hair.
Will began to rock back and forth, a ringing growing in his ears. It was rarely this bad, usually he could deal with it. But his hair was greasy, and gross, and he needed it off. Tears gathered in his eyes as he contemplated taking a shower, but it was nearly 2AM and he didn’t want to wake anyone up. Instead, he decided to get up and pace around the room; try and get all the excess energy out of his system.
Will walked back and forth, tears falling silently from his eyes. He flapped his hands at his sides, trying desperately to calm down.
God why was he like this? Why couldn't he just deal with simple things like a normal person? Hell, he was crying just because his hair was dirty? Because he wanted his best friend to comfort him like old times? But guess what? He couldn't have either of those things, could he?
A sob escaped Will’s lips as he sat back down on his bed, crossing his legs and rocking vigorously back and forth. He wanted it to go away. Why wouldn’t the feeling just go away?
Will continued to rock back and forth until he heard a noise in the hallway. He immediately stopped and slowly slid back under his blankets. No one needed to find him like this. He would be fine on his own.
knock knock knock
“Will? You awake?”
Shit, it was Mike. Will held a hand over his mouth, trying to slow his breathing but ultimately making things worse, causing his body to shake more than it already was.
“Will? Come on man, I know you’re awake, I heard you walking around.”
Will shook his head and he heard his door open slowly.
“Will?” He felt Mike put a hand on his shoulder.
Will let out a shaky breath, tensing up his body.
“Hey hey hey, what’s wrong?” Mike’s sixth sense kicked in, and he grabbed Will’s shoulder and rolled him over, exposing his tear-stained face. “Will, talk to me.”
“It’s stupid.” Will whispered, trying to roll back over. “Go back to sleep.”
“No, Will, something is obviously wrong, why won’t you talk to me?” Mike said, sounding annoyed.
“Why won’t I talk to you? How about why won’t you talk to me, huh?” Will sat up, suddenly angry. “It’s been months Mike. You haven’t sent any letters, you haven’t called, you haven’t tried to contact me at all. And then- then you come visit and… you can’t even look me in the eyes.”
Mike looked taken aback. “I… I didn’t-”
“Didn’t what MIke? Didn’t what? Didn’t try and talk to me at all? Yeah. Every goddamn letter I sent you, I was asking all about how you were, and how Lucas was, and Dustin, and Max, and you never even bothered to ask how I was, let alone respond to me. You don’t know anything about what has happened to me during these past months! You barely know anything that’s happened to El because she lies straight to your face! You don’t know how fucking hard it’s been, going to school every day just to be called a queer, a retard, a faggot, and having no one to talk to about it? You never even cared! You never fucking cared…”
Will broke down in sobs and Mike leaned forward and just held him.
“You don’t know anything… I couldn’t tell you anything… I couldn’t tell you how loud the lights get, or how I want to rip my skin off when the school bell rings, or how the science lab here smells like shit and it makes me want to pass out every fucking day, or how even right now my hair feels so goddamn wrong and I want to scream until it stops…”
Will was trying to rock back and forth, and Mike could feel it, so he loosened his grip on Will to give him some extra room.
“You’re right.”
Will looked up at the sound of Mike’s voice. What?
“You’re right… I- I never asked how you were. I never tried to talk to you. I never reached out. And I know there’s no excuse for my actions… but I was just scared. So scared. I figured you would just forget all about me… about all of us, and start new out here. Be who you couldn’t be back in Hawkins.” Mike’s breath hitched. “I thought that if I cut you off first, it wouldn’t hurt as much when you finally told me that you didn’t want to be friends anymore.”
Will whimpered. “I only ever wanted you Mike… I’m practically miserable here without you and the rest of the party. I only ever wanted you guys to be here with me… to take care of me like you guys used to…”
The pair sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Will crying, Mike rocking back and forth in the same motion as him.
Mike was the first to break the silence, taking both of Will’s hands and pulling him towards the edge of the bed. “Come on, get up.”
“Wh- what?” Will was incredibly confused.
“Let’s go wash your hair.”
Will’s eyes widened. How did he know that he needed his hair washed? Must be the sixth sense again. Will sniffled and nodded his head, standing up and letting Mike lead him by the shoulder towards the bathroom.
Mike sat Will down on the toilet and started the shower, making sure the water was warm, but not too hot. He clumsily made his way through every single cabinet before finding a towel that he laid out by the sink. Then, he checked to make sure there was shampoo in the shower.
“Alright, everything's there. I’ll go wait in your room.” Mike turned to leave. Will grabbed his wrist.
“Can you… can you wait in here? Please?” Will looked at him with wide eyes, puffy and red from crying.
“O-okay.”
The two boys stood there for a second, awkwardly staring at each other, before Mike had a moment of realization and turned around so that Will could get out of his clothes. Will got into the shower and closed the door, and Mike flipped the toilet lid down to have a place to sit.
A good ten minutes went by with Will in the shower, and Mike sitting on the toilet lid. Will turned the water off.
“All done?” Mike asked.
“Yeah.” Will said quietly.
“Okay… I’m turning around now so you can get out.” Mike hesitated.
Will stepped out of the shower and dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist.
“Can we go back to my room now?” Will asked.
Mike turned around. “Yeah, yeah of course.”
The pair walked down the hallway back to Will’s room. Will kept glancing over at Mike, trying to gauge the others mood and emotions. Why was Mike doing this? Why was Mike helping him?
They made it back to the bedroom, Mike turning around again so Will could change into fresh pajamas. Will Sat down in his bed, cuing Mike that he could turn back around.
“Thanks.” Will whispered.
“Yeah.” Mike lowered his head.
“Can we… talk more about this in the morning?”
Mike lifted his head quickly. “Yeah, yeah of course, definitely. I- I’ll go now, get a good night's sleep okay?”
“Wait-” Will said quickly. Mike turned around with expectant eyes, waiting for whatever Will had to say. “Could you… could you sleep in here? With me? Like old times?”
Mike (not so subtly) looked Will up and down and blushed. “Yeah, of course.”
Will rolled over and flipped up the blankets in his bed to make room for Mike. Once Mike was settled down, the two boys laying back-to-back, Will took a nice, deep breath, finally feeling calm.
“Thank you Mike.”
“Anytime Will.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”