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Will fell, landed with his back against the tile of the statue in the park of the small city, a sob racking its way up his throat from the kicks into his ribs and legs.
“pff, you crying, byers? Stop crying, we all know you’re acting, remember?”
yeah, he does remember. And he does not regret a single thing he said back in there. He protected the people he loved from the bitch Angela, and that was all that mattered.Even if these exact people hated him now.
“fucking fag.” The other in the clique spat, kicking will’s face with his shoe.
It didn’t hurt as much as the kick in the stomach that followed, but it was enough to rip open his cheek. He felt a bit numb, a defence mechanism he had developed over the course of his high school years. people here in California had no pity for freaks.
“byers, the fucking faggot also likes ruining his sisters relationships?” another asked, pouting over-dramatically.
No, that was not what happened. But he couldn’t defend himself, his throat was clogged up by fear. he closed his eyes, taking all their hits and punches so they would finally leave, but they wanted to hear him suffer.
The little huffs and pants that slipped out at every contact weren’t enough, they stepped up their game. His ears were buzzing, and he couldn’t understand a word they said, but he soon realized where they were dragging him.
the park had two levels, connected by multiple stairs, and separated by ledges over 15 feet deep. He squirmed in the two guys’ grip, crying soft pleads but that just made them laugh more.
“Angela, please, why are you doing this?! stop!” he begged her, she stopped the group right in front of the edge, stepping in front of him in her short pink shorts and blue shirt.
“you protected Jane, good job, Will. You’re taking the blame for her not having any friends, you ruin the chance we had to play with El, so we’re playing with you instead. Easy, no?” she said with that smile again. this smile will haunt him in his nightmares. Now he could see the camera in one of her friends’ hands, and his stomach plummeted.
Who would see this?
And why was it funny to see someone suffer?
His thoughts were interrupted. Arriving at the stone wall, they first let him hang over the edge to look down on the floor deep down, and his heart was racing, he could feel it in his neck at this point. He was wailing and trying to writhe himself away from them, but from the five to six people in the group, four were holding him tight to the point where it hurt.
And slowly, slowly, they pushed him closer to the drop.
A countdown from ten was counted, and he was already halfway over the edge, looking down on a sandy, gravel floor.
“…
4…
3…
2...
...1!!”
The ones in the front let go of his arms and he immediately went to grab something, before they’d let go, unfortunately failing.
His fingers just weakly held on to the ledge, but the weight of his own body swinging from left to right pushed him around, and they slipped off.
he watched his hands give up and the fall felt like an eternity.
You know the things they say? “see your life flashing before your eyes?” that must be total bullshit, he thought. The only thing he saw were the laughing faces of the teenagers above him, and he looked away from them. He didn't want them to be the last thing he'd see.
he felt light, like all the weight had been taken from his shoulders, and just for a few seconds, he didn’t care about the upside-down or Hawkins anymore. Or even if he’d survive this or not.
closing his eyes felt a little better, and he barely felt anything but the air rushing past him in light-speed, before he crashed into the floor with a pathetic thump.
He felt bones crack.
He could hear some people laughing.
he could smell and taste his own blood.
and he could see the black borders surrounding his sight, closing in fast, robbing him of any sense of orientation.
After that, it was darkness.
He didn’t feel anything,
hear anything,
or smell or taste.
His mind wandered back barely half an hour before all of this.
/////////////////////////
El was feeling great. mike was finally here, she got to show him the city they lived in, they went to Rink-O-Mania, she got to hold mike’s hand while skating, and get milkshake for them all.
If it were her, the day could just continue like that. scratch that, the whole vacations could!
She was just she was just playfully fighting with mike about whose milkshake was better, when she picked up a voice that made her entire body tense up.
“Milkshakes? Yum! Where oh, where have you been hiding that handsome thing?”
why now? everything was going so damn great, too… but she felt like she was obliged to answer, considering the truth was close to get revealed if she made a mistake here. But it was fine, right?
“Angela.. th-this is mike. My boyfriend.” She cursed at her shaking voice. Act normal, god damnit.
Angela turned her attention away from El, and looked at mike, to El’s horror.
“Angela. Pleasure.” She said with the sweetest smile that made El want to gag. Mike, looking uncomfortable, still took her outstretched hand, answering politely, since, to his knowledge, Angela was El’s friend.
“Heard a lot about you, cool to finally meet some of El- Jane’s friends.” he said, making a weird gesture with his head -a bad habit.
Angela looked surprised, to say the least, and a few of her clique started laughing behind her. El felt the anxiety creep up to her throat.
“Friend?! heh, yeah! Suuper cool.” Her expression took on a more hostile side as she looked back at El.
“C’mon, FRIEND, let’s skate, shall we?” El wanted to cover up the panic rising in her chest, stuttering out that she wanted to finish her milkshake, but a guy in Angela’s group snatched it from her hand.
“I’ll hold on to that.” he said while grabbing it out of her hand. Angela was fed up and harshly took El’s wrist, the brunette wanted nothing more but rip it out of her grip. But she couldn’t, she had to keep up her lie. Shoulder the consequences to her actions, like hopper would say.
God, she missed him.
she was pulled up by the blonde, when something stopped them both from moving any further away from the table.
Will.
Why was he?-
His hand was held in front of Angela’s chest to stop her, the other went to grab her hand to free El.
“ok, I’ve had enough. leave, Angela.” He hissed, his voice gave a fearless impression. El could hear the subtle fear in it. both mike and Angela looked at the brunet with wide eyes.
“will?..” mike asked, completely drowned by Angela’s reaction.
“Will? May I talk to my DEAREST friend?” she aggressively yanked her hand out of his, letting go of El.
“no, you may not. You heard me. get the fuck away.” Angela put on the fakest hurt expression, with hand on her heart and everything.
“what? Dropping f-bombs now? what have I ever done to you?” she sniffed, dramatically wiping her eye. No chance somebody would buy that.
“Will, what the fuck?!” except for this idiot. Mike’s brow was furrowed, and he was scowling at will’s reaction.
“Nothing to me, but!..” Will wanted to yell, but El put a hand over his mouth.
“stop, will.” She said. She had no choice. She couldn’t let Will say it. not in front of mike.
Will let her stop him, his hurt expression was real. But she just couldn’t let him .
“we can still go, Angela?” El asked, determined to get through with her lie. But Angela was just shaking her head dramatically.
“no, I’m sorry, I cant. If your brother hates me so much, I don’t think it’s good for us to be friends.” she said, racking one single, pathetic sob.
“stop crying, we know you’re acting!” Will was getting annoyed at her. she was good at acting when things get complicated, you’ve got to leave her that. she was practically wailing before turning around, skating to her friends. she said something to them, and they all started comforting her.
Wait what? her friends with the milkshake skated back to us, slamming the drink on the table harder than necessary, glaring at Will.
“here you go. Hope you’re aware of what you did.” he said, and with a last stare, he disappeared into the crowd back to his people. The three at the table were shocked. Mike was eventually the one who broke the silence.
“Will, what the fuck is wrong with you?!” he shouted and will flinched at the volume of his voice.
“you made one of El-Janes friends fucking cry!!” mike couldn’t believe his best friends would do that. did he change that much since they left for California?
“no- wait, let me explain..” he tried, but mike was relentless. All El could do was stare at them, she was scared of the outcome of this situation.
“what is there to explain?!”
“ok, I know it looks bad, I don’t know why El would do this, but please..”
“oh, so it’s El’s fault now?!” she looked at mike with big eyes, still in shock. Mike quickly switched from his angry, confused face to a consoling smile and back to the angry one.
“what? No! Angela just isn’t actually her friend! tell him, El!” he tried, and her eyes shot to her brother’s. in all of that stress, her mouth was limited to a few stutters and heavy breaths, and mike sighed heavily.
“El, it’s okay. I believe you.” he said, also rising from the benches to hug her. in his arms, she closed her eyes to avoid seeing Will’s expression.
“what?..” a small voice came from beside them and it broke her heart. she was aware how she made her brother look, but she couldn’t let him just blow her cover.
Could she?
“Will, I think it’s better if you just leave, for now at least. Until you’ve calmed down. you’ve been ruining the whole day up until now.”
“the whole day?!”
will was upset. And his voice made that clear.
“I was third-wheeling this whole day, I was miserable! So yeah, I’m sorry I wasn’t, smiling the whole time!” mike’s heartrate picked up, she could hear it beat faster at his best friend’s words.
“no weren’t.” he answered.
“yes I was! you spoke to me once, while asking what I wanted at the taco store, you didn’t even bother to ask me what i wanted to order here, I felt like a ghost!”
“that’s just not true!”
“yes it is, mike, and maybe, if you pulled your eyes away from her just one time, you would’ve seen me. that I’m still here. what are we, after one year of being separated?”
his voice cracked multiple times, he sounded like he was choking and El wanted to help him, but she couldn’t. she just couldn’t, it was impossible in that situation. She started crying into her boyfriend’s chest, and mike raked a hand into her hair, caressing her head gently.
“we’re friends, Will. Friends.” he stated a bit too hacked up and clear, as if he was proving something to himself.
“well we used to be best friends.” will remarked, and after that she didn’t know what happened exactly, but mike let go of her, yelling his name. when she opened her eyes, mike was standing a few feet away from her, looking at the entrance, turned away from her. when he spun around, she could see exactly what she was feeling. A painful, stabbing feeling of having betrayed a friend.
something more, to both of them.
/////////////////////////////
fast forward, twenty minutes in the park.
Angela watched him fall, for maybe two seconds, laughing.
She froze and stopped smirking at the noise the byers boy’s body made.
The sickening crunch noise made her stomach churn. If she was going to be serious, she didn’t want to look down. she didn’t want to see what she had done.
But she did. peer pressured by her friends not waiting a second to glance down, camera rolling. They were laughing.
She was too.
at the sight of the kid down there.
their age.
Fifteen, sixteen at best.
Beat up, face bleeding on multiple places, shoulder popped out of its socket, and if her imagination wasn’t playing games with her eyes, then she could even see his ribs were punched further into his body than they should be.
She was actually going to throw up.
what if one of his ribs pierced his lung?
Was that even a thing?
Her friends freaked out again, and a seconds glance down to him showed her what she feared; blood was slowly staining his grey flannel.
Her friends started to run.
She was too.
what had she done?
Had she actually killed someone?
She wanted to turn back time. warn her minutes-younger self that this, whatever it was, was a big, big fucking mistake. A mistake that would be in her records forever if the byers kid was ever to wake up.
////////////////////////////////////////
Yeah, now he remembered.
That’s what happened. He fought with mike. What did they fight over again?
he didn’t know. He was pretty sure he was laying on his back right now. Also something he wasn’t sure about, but he could just barely feel the gravel poking into his back.
He wanted to open his eyes to confirm his position, soon noticing they were already open, and he could actually not see anything.
They were already open.
they were already open.
Something pulled him up, he could feel the warmth of someone’s lap. He couldn’t raise his arms.
“…ill! Will!”
the person was screaming his name. sobbing?
He felt fear crawl up on him.
he was dying.
And he didn’t know who was holding him.
“mike? Mi-ke, please… he-lp help me, mike.”
He chocked out. why was he calling his name? was it even him? and weren’t they just fighting?
“yes. I’m right here, hang in there, all right?”
the voice said, clearer this time, and he recognised mike’s voice. He had started crying. It was actually him. he came for him.
“mike, please, I- I ha-ve to tell.. you som-ething.. Plea-se, please.” He wheezed.
“don’t talk, El is getting help.” mike said, barely controlling his shaking voice.
“no please…, I need.. to- to tell you… before I- before I die.” He insisted.
Mike inhaled sharply.
“you’re not gonna die!” he shouted, will’s ears were ringing.
“I’m so fucking sorry, will. But you’re not going to die, alright?” he whispered, and will felt something land on his cheek.
A raindrop?
“is.. is it raining?” he didn’t get an answer.
“mike?”
“you can’t see?..”
the small answer came back.
“is it?” a sob.
“no, will, it isn’t.”
“huh. okay..” something caressed his cheek, wiping away the wet spot, but more followed, dripping off the side of his face.
“what did you want to tell me?” mike’s voice asked. he’d never heard mike talk so quietly. was that actually mike, talking to him?
“I- I’ve wanted to- to tell you for… a very.. very long time now… I don’t- I’m not sure if- if it’s really.. mike talking.. but if you are… listening… I love you. I have for a.. long time..”
were his eyes closing? He wasn’t tired, why were they closing on their own? He was only a little cold. Pretty cold, actually.
But he could still feel someone.
And hear.
“Will. You fucking idiot. You’re such a fucking idiot.”
The person sobbed. It was the ugly sobbing, not the “I’m crying for the camera” kinda sobbing.
He wanted to comfort him.
“you’re such a fucking idiot, I love you so much. Why would you tell me now?”
the person sobbed. He loved him? he didn’t feel like anyone had loved him in the past few weeks, it actually felt nice, someone saying that.
his face pulled into a smile.
He couldn’t feel his arms.
He could only barely remember how to use them, and hoped he was using them right. His palm touched something.
Somebody’s face.
it was wet.
Why?
Mike had said it wasn’t raining, didn’t he? A second thing touched his hand.
“do you want to play d&d? tomorrow? Like we used to?”
he had to drop his hand, it was too straining to keep it up. it dropped on Will’s chest, the second thing touching it was still holding on to it. so it was a hand, holding his.
“you could write a campaign, with my friend eddie, back in Hawkins! He’s really good at that. I bet your campaign would be fire. and oh, we could fix castle byers together, with Jonathan. We could all be together again. you, me, Lucas, Dustin, max, El. Steve and robin too. and I guess Jonathan and nancy.”
Something pulled will down. not like into the upside-down.
more like he was falling.
Falling into the floor, away from where he was.
away from his body.
“I’m tired, mike.” He whispered. Now he felt the exhaustion tear at him.
It felt like the upside-down all over, now.
but calmer.
And nicer.
He was in someone’s arms.
Someone’s holding his hand.
“will, please, stay.” The person said.
Where was he supposed to go?
“I am. I’m here.”
“please, stay. I can’t be alone again. you made me realize, but please, fucking stay with me.”
oh yeah, he was dying.
“mike?”
“yeah?” just to make sure mike was still here. he closed his eyes, accepting the calming rest.
He didn’t feel like slipping away just yet, though, so he did the only thing that came to his mind.
He hummed. Like in castle byers.
The only melody that came up this time was “let her go.”
And he didn’t know why.
But he hummed out everything he knew, trusting his mind to leave behind the message he wanted.
“…staring at the bottom of your glass, hoping that one day, you’ll make a dream last, but dreams come slow, and they go so fast.. you see her when you close your eyes, maybe one day, you’ll understand why, everything you touch slowly dies… but only the light when it’s burning low, only miss the sun, when it starts to snow, only know you love her when you let her go..”
his voice was so low it was a whisper, mike had to lean down to hear him.
“I think I’ll miss you..”
Will says.
Something soft touched his lips.
That was a nice feeling.
Maybe he could go like that.
he felt like he had gotten everything he ever wanted.
“I’m fine now. thank you.”
he whispered.
The pain was gone, reduced to dull stinging in his chest as his breath rattled in it.
The warmth was still here, not from his own body.
he was cooling down.
and it was okay.
He was going with a memory he’ll cherish no matter where he’d land.
mike will have to keep their memories in this world until they’d meet again.
good and bad memories.
We’ll go crazy together, right? Crazy together.