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Mike was woken up abruptly for probably the fifth time this week by a sharp knock on his door. He looks at the time. 2:45 AM. Fuck, not again. He stumbles out of his bed towards the door.
”Hi” Will said nervously. “Can I… come in?”
This goddamn kid. When Mike offered to let Will crash at his house, he didn’t mean every day, and he definitely didn’t mean “Come sleep in my room because of your stupid fucking nightmares! I don’t mind.”. But even though he was begging himself to just tell Will to go back to the guest room, he didn’t.
He sighs. “Come in, you idiot.” He swings the door open the rest of the way, and the boys awkwardly shuffle into the small room. Will lets out a sigh of relief as he flips down onto a beanbag in the corner of the room, glad to finally not be alone. Mike had offered to trade places and let Will have the bed a few times, but every time he did so, Will would refuse, saying “I don’t want to invade your space.”.
Dumbass. He didn’t seem to get the hints that he already was, very much, in his space.
Mike sat down on the edge of his bed, and the pair were in complete silence for a few painful minutes.
Eventually, Mike couldn’t stand it any longer. “So, why are you here right now?” He cringes to himself as he says it. Why couldn’t you have stayed quiet? He probably thinks you’re weird now. Well, even weirder than before. He glances over to the tired boy across the room, trying to hide the visible look on his face that screamed “I’m overreacting about something stupid” that they both knew so well.
Will shrugs. “More night terrors. This stupid mind flayer thing won’t leave me alone.”
Mike can tell he wants to be reassured that he’ll be okay, but he can’t be bothered to comfort him at the time. After all, it was almost three in the morning. He was too tired to care.
Awkward silence again.
Mike rolls over onto his stomach.”I’m going back to sleep. Thanks for waking me up, asshole.” He reaches out to turn off the light next to his bed when he hears a faint voice behind him. “Mike?” He turns around. “C-can you, uh… keep the lights on?” Shit. Will was more scared than he originally thought. It was gonna take more than just letting him stay with Mike to get him to sleep. Mike knew he could be an asshole, but he drew the line at not doing the bare minimum for his “best friend”.
”Sure.” He moves away from the lamp, telling himself over and over again in his head, don’t look at him. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t smile. Don’t show him that you care.
Despite everything, he still found himself smiling back at Will as he thanked him for keeping the light on.
“Goodnight, stupid.”