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It had been a year since Will had last stepped foot in Hawkins. A year since he escaped a world built by the bones of his torment and destruction.
His hands begun to shake as he stared out upon what was once a beautiful view of his home.
Honestly, this place was never much of a home to him, it was never kind to him, if anything it was the source of all his suffering. He wasn’t sure he even had a home, nothing in his life brought him that sense of safety and comfort that a home should. Although, there was something about seeing the place he grew up in, where he met the most important people in his life, where he held both his best and worst memories, torn to shreds, falling victim to the inconceivable evil that haunted him.
Oh how naïve he’d been to think he would make it out.
To think that just for once, things might go his way.
For a while it had, for a while he was kind of okay.
But then, in less than a week, it all came crashing down. The safe haven he had created for himself far, far away from his sour childhood, suddenly vanished; and just like that, he was once again thrust into an interdimensional war. It was honestly remarkable to Will that things could go from okay, good even, to complete and utter carnage in such a short time span. Not that this was unexpected. Based on the fact that for three consecutive years the upside down had ruined his life in three different ways, all in similar time frames, he wasn’t surprised.
Except this time, it was much, much worse.
Sirens of all sorts blared in the distance as he walked silently onto the hilltop, glowing red fissures stretching for miles before him. Clouds of billowing smoke rose from the ruins, a looming storm brewing in its wake. Between the red flashes of lightning and deep rumbling of thunder, the scene looked all too familiar. His footsteps came to a stop while he attempted to regulate his now ragged breathing, nose burning with the overwhelming scent of smoke. This destruction, this utter chaos, he knew for a fact that it was merely the beginning, that even having already lost so much to the upside down, he was about to lose so much more.
Will tore his eyes away from the apocalyptic scene, instead watching as El took slow steps forward, studying something on the ground. The field before her stretched in an ashy array of wilted foliage; grass, flowers and weeds creating a lifeless expanse.
Warmth suddenly brushed the back of his right hand, gentle, hesitant and gone almost as fast as it had appeared. Startled and confused, he glanced down to where Mike’s hand hung in the space between them, fingers twitching. Will whipped his head back to where El, who was now crouched in front of a pair of wilting flowers, and willed for the sudden urge to take Mike’s hand in his to disappear. Although, in his state of shock and panic, still in desperate need of something to ground himself, to calm his still racing thoughts, the connection between his body and brain wasn’t fully functioning.
That’s why his pinkie reached for Mike’s, brushing softly against the warm skin. He stayed like that for a while, searching for any indication of discomfort from the boy beside him with bated breath. When he didn’t find anything and Mike didn’t pull his hand away, Will took it as a go ahead. He slowly moved his pinkie to lock around Mike’s in a firm yet hesitant grip. Then Mike did something unexpected: he unhooked their pinkies, and in the split second his hand was gone Will already missed the warmth, but then he breathed in a sharp inhale of surprise when Mike pushed their palms flush against each other as he intertwined their fingers, slotting perfectly together like pieces of the same puzzle. Electricity rushed up his arm and collided with his heart almost painfully, uneven and fast paced beats thrummed in his ears as butterflies erupted wildly in his stomach.
Honestly, he probably shouldn’t be as flustered as he was about it, this was something they’ve done multiple times before, holding hands to make sure the other was still there, to ground their racing thoughts in the heat of the moment. Although, somehow this felt different, more personal, more real.
Everything was different.
They had both changed so drastically in these past few months sometimes it was hard to recognise who they had once been.
Hawkins has changed, the once humble small town stood burning before them, a product of their seemingly never-ending torment.
In spite of the daunting, possibly deadly future before him, Will was not scared. Even with the uncertainty clouding the moment, he felt safe, cared for. His grip tightened around Mike’s hand and he thought that if people could be homes, Mike would be his.