Chapter Text
“Will,” he hears someone whisper his name. He scrunches his nose up, burrowing deeper into his sleeping bag. It feels too early to be getting up, and he’d rather remain asleep considering it’s the weekend. They’ve just finished their quarterly tests before school let out for spring break, and Will wants to enjoy his vacation by sleeping in before figuring out what the Party wants to do later.
“Will, buddy,” the person says again, shaking Will’s shoulder gently. He groans and cracks open his eyes, squinting at the light shining on his face as he turns to see who exactly is trying to get him up.
“Jonathan?” He questions, not having expected his brother knelt beside him in Mike’s room. They’d gotten closer after the events in Lenora and coming back to Hawkins, considering they’d been bunked downstairs in the basement. It had been nice, finally getting closer to Jon after he had spent most of his time in California closed off and high. They’d spent nights staying up, talking to each other about everything. Then Jonathan had become girl-whipped again (which he couldn’t fault him for) and had started sneaking up to stay with Nancy and hanging out with her during the day, then Mike had convinced Will to start sleeping over in his room, which led to them not spending as much time together as before.
“Hey, bud. I know you wanted to sleep in since it’s spring break weekend, but Mike’s already up and set off. I’m guessing you were asleep when Lucas radioed, but Mike let me know the Party’s hanging at the Quarry and to get you up after you slept some more.”
“Oh,” Will says. He feels a small part of him annoyed that Mike didn’t immediately wake him up, but another part of him feels soft that the other boy let him sleep in. He’d been having trouble falling asleep and nightmares (no thanks to his years of trauma and Vecna still possibly lurking around) once he managed to sleep. He had managed to surprisingly sleep through the night, and Mike must’ve known since he wasn’t woken up by Will embarrassingly crying or talking in his sleep.
“Hey,” Jonathan says, gently shaking Will’s shoulder again, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Do you need more sleep?” He teases.
“No!” Will blurts, propping himself up and almost knocking his head into Jon’s.
“Whoa, slow your roll!” Jon laughs as he leans away from Will. “Take your time and get ready.”
Will watches his brother stand and head out the room, door closing softly behind him. Will rubs his hands over his face, trying to fully wake himself up. He feels excitement building up in him at finally being able to hang out with his friends, like everything is normal—like they’re normal. He’s a bit surprised at Lucas being the one to initiate the hangout as he’s usually at Max’s… His brain snags for a second, then fills in the train of thought: Lucas is usually at Max’s house, hanging out with her every second he gets.
He pushes the blankets he piles on at night off and climbs out of the sleeping bag. He glances at Mike’s bed and huffs a laugh at the disarray it’s in. Mike can never take his time and make his bed for the life of him. It’s funny, what others find annoying and what he finds endearing.
He shakes his head, moving to continue getting ready. Let’s try not to be lovestruck and crushing on the unobtainable before the day even starts.
He moves to the door to head downstairs and finds himself hesitating as he reaches out to turn the knob. He forces himself to grab the doorknob, and finds his fingers shaking as he turns it.
“What is wrong with you?” He mutters to himself. Maybe he did have a nightmare and can’t remember it. It’s not uncommon for him to wake up from one, trembling and limbs weak.
He finally pushes the door open and heads into the hall, hearing the chaos of downstairs drift up to the second floor. He clambers down the stairs and halts in his steps as Holly runs by him.
“Sorry!” She shouts back at him.
“Holly! Stop running in the house!” Mrs. Wheeler yells from the kitchen, Will’s mom beside her as they make and pack what seems like sandwiches.
“Good morning, mom,” he calls out, sidling up to her at the counter. He takes in her outfit, consisting of a T-shirt and her striped swim shorts.
“Hey, honey,” his mom says, wiping her hands on a towel. She reaches up and fixes Will’s bangs, which he’s sure are messed up from sleep.
“Are you coming with us?” He blushes slightly at his abrupt question.
“Yeah, if it’s okay that I tag along. I thought it’s been so long since I’ve hung out with you and Jonathan, and your friends, that it’d be nice.” Joyce looks hesitant as she explains.
“Yeah, mom, of course,” Will says, grinning. God, it really has been a long time since they’ve all just hung out. He thinks the last time his mom had taken him and Jonathan to the Quarry was when he was 10 for one of his birthdays; it was free to enter and easy for his mom, as Will and the Party entertained themselves in the water. She had only needed to pack a few sandwiches and bags of chips to tide them over if they got hungry, and they’d usually exhaust themselves swimming and running around that Mike, Lucas, and Dustin would head home after and Will would conk out once they got home.
“Can I help you and Mrs. Wheeler?” He offers, watching Mrs. Wheeler continue to put sandwiches together and put them in a large cooler bag, where a few already sit inside along with chips and drinks.
“Thank you, Will, but we’ve got it,” his mom smiles, shooing him away. “Just go get changed then we’ll go over there together.”
He moves away and somehow time seems to slide by. He finds himself changed into his swim trunks and a tee, unable to recall when he went to the basement to get out of his pajamas and into the clothes he needed. His brows furrow as he looks down at himself.
“You good, bud?” Jonathan asks, setting a hand on Will’s shoulder. Will looks up and sees they’re by the front door, the cooler bag slung over Jon’s shoulder. Joyce is talking to Karen as she walks her over to them.
“Mrs. Wheeler, you’re not coming?” Will asks, bypassing Jonathan’s question. Maybe he’s just more tired than he’s thought, working on autopilot.
“Oh, no, honey,” she laughs. “I prefer the pool, but I’ve got chores to do anyway. They’re never-ending. Make sure Michael puts on his sunscreen, okay? You know he burns easy.”
Will nods, gazing over at his mom and Jonathan. They both offer him a smile, and Jon cuts his chin towards the door.
“Let’s get going.”
Will nods. He reaches his hand out, and just like earlier, finds himself hesitating to grab the knob. It feels like there’s pressure on his shoulder, and he looks back to try and see what it’s from.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Joyce asks, hand settling on his shoulder, where the pre-existing pressure was. Concern mars her face, and he feels a bit sheepish that he put it there. He doesn’t want to ruin the day—it’s supposed to be free of anything Upside Down, or even issues that are Will-related.
“Um, nothing. I- I think I’m just a little tired,” he laughs, forcing himself to grab the knob and turn it. The sun shines down brightly as the door opens, highlighting the nicely manicured lawns of those who remained in Hawkins. It feels cold for a split second as Will steps out, and he shivers before the warmth washes over him.
“Wow, this really is a perfect day,” he murmurs to himself as his mom and brother join him, Joyce calling out a bye to Mrs. Wheeler as she shuts the door.
“Did you wanna take the car, mom?” Jon asks as they walk the small path to the driveway. His mom hums in consideration as they halt in the driveway, looking at her Pinto.
“Would it be crazy if I said what if we walked? I know it’s a long way, but I haven’t really gotten to talk with you boys, and I thought maybe we could just take that time to do so,” his mom said, crossing her arms in nervousness. “Or we can drive! No problem with that.”
Jonathan and Will look at each other, communicating with a simple look. While, yeah, it’d be nicer and faster to drive, their mom is right that they haven’t really gotten to talk with just the three of them in a while. Even if the walk is long, they have each other, and for Will personally, he probably has the stamina for it considering he used to bike there all the time with the Party. They turn back to their mom, decision made.
“Walk,” they both say and laugh. Their mom smiles at them.
“Okay! Walk it is. Don’t complain when your legs start hurting,” she jokes as she starts walking down the driveway, her boys trailing after her. Will feels his smile stay on his face. Maybe this break won’t be so bad after all.
They arrive at the Quarry after an hour or so, Jonathan complaining to his and their mom’s amusement.
It had been nice spending time with his family. He’d gotten to listen to his mom talk about how it was a relief not needing to do her telemarketer job anymore, then for her to gush over Hopper. Jon had talked about how his job hunt was going, which was a bit difficult considering the lesser population now, before he’d moved on to gushing over Nancy as well. Even though he doesn't have anyone like that, it’s nice to hear how in love they are and that they’re receiving the support they deserve.
Will had told them about how school was going and about him starting to look into colleges that were maybe outside of Indiana. It had felt good to see his mom and brother’s attentive gazes on him, not drawn away by anyone or anything else.
His mom had prompted him to also talk about how the Party’s been, what they’ve gotten up to together. While he knows Jonathan knows about Mike, they haven’t really talked about it since that night at the pizzeria, not even in their late-night “everything” conversations; Jonathan still shoots him a knowing look when Will stumbles over Mike’s name.
The only thing that had truly unsettled him during the walk there was sometimes he swore he could feel a hand on him, or someone calling his name, but when he’d try to lean into the feeling, his mom and Jon would notice and drag him out of it. Jon had teased him after maybe the fifth time, saying that once they got back to the Wheeler house, maybe Will needed to take a nap. He’d blushed in embarrassment but found that he agreed.
As they break through the trees at the top, he sees some of the group milling about.
“Hey!” Lucas waves, rushing over to meet them.
“Hey,” Will greets, smiling back at Lucas as they embrace briefly. They pull apart and Lucas looks at him, then his mom and Jonathan.
“Dustin, El, and Max are already down in the water. I think Nancy set some chairs and an umbrella up if you guys wanna go set your stuff down.” Will was surprised El was here, considering how strict Hopper was on letting her out of his sight, especially with the military crawling around town; however, he was glad she was here. She deserved to enjoy what a regular, teen spring break was like.
Will shares a look with his mom and Jonathan, the former smiling and the latter shrugging as they both set off to head down.
“What about Mike?” Will asks, turning away from watching his family walk down back to Lucas. He looks around as if to spot him. He feels a little unmoored without the other by his side, even if it sounds silly.
“I don’t know, I think he claimed he needed to use the bathroom or something,” Lucas shrugs. “You know how he is sometimes.”
Will snorts. Didn’t they all. Mike could be vulgar sometimes while a bit of a prude other times. He used to argue with them all the time about using the bathroom while at the Quarry, claiming he needed to be alone in the woods, go piss somewhere else, Dustin, thank you very much!
He looks over Lucas’s shoulder to see the older teens of the group approaching, conversing among themselves. He feels his mouth drop open as he sees Eddie Munson between Steve and Robin.
“I- I thought you…,” Will says, as they stop by Lucas and Will, his sentence trailing off as he simply stares at Eddie in surprise.
“What? Cat got your tongue, Will the Wise?” Eddie grins, pulling Will in under his arm and ruffling his hair with his free hand. He could’ve sworn Eddie was… gone. It feels strange seeing him here, like he’s not meant to be—but that’s rude to think.
“What’s wrong, Byers?” Steve asks from behind Eddie as the other teen lets Will go.
“I…”
“Oh, wait, yeah, surprise!” Steve gestures with jazz hands.
“This is your first time meeting Eddie, sorry, he’s a handful. He’s on break at Purdue, too—the smartass that he is. I don’t even know how you managed that, ‘super senior,’” Steve joked as Eddie childishly stuck his tongue out at him.
“Don’t be jealous, Harrington. Just because I’m pursuing a beautiful career in Liberal Arts, you don’t need to get your conservative tighty whities in a twist.” Steve rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to argue.
“Okay, can it, both of you, Jesus!” Robin sighs, sounding annoyed like she’s been dealing with the two of them for a while. Usually she’s pretty loud and energetic herself.
“Eddie, you can harass little Byers later about Dungeons & Dragon. Ignore them, Will, they’re a handful, which is hypocritical coming from me, but hey, what can you do?” She says, chuckling as Will stares.
“Come on,” Robin says to the other two, shoving Steve close to the edge and immediately breaking into a sprint. Steve squawks in alarm, arms windmilling before collecting himself.
“Oh, you’re so fucked, Buckley!” He yells after her as Eddie cackles. Steve breaks into a run, and he hears Robin yell as he chases after her.
“Catch you later, Byers!” Eddie calls back, saluting as he runs after Steve and Robin. Will watches them go, a feeling that he can’t name forming in his stomach.
“You think you wanna jump in?” Lucas asks, drawing his attention back.
“Huh?”
“Jump in the water, man,” Lucas laughs, nudging Will’s shoulder with his own. He jerks back as he notices they’ve somehow moved closer to the edge.
The drop into the water looks surprisingly way shorter than it usually does. The feeling he felt earlier solidified in Will’s stomach, a heavy rock within, but his focus is drawn away from it as Lucas backs up then runs by him, whooping as he cannon balls off the ledge and hits the water with a loud splash. The others cheer as Lucas emerges, water running down his face as he grins.
“The water’s kinda cold, but it feels good!” Lucas cups his hands around his mouth as he shouts up to Will. He sees Nancy sitting where the water and sand meet, Jonathan beside her with their heads tilted towards each other as they talk. Robin, Steve, and Eddie are in the shallows, splashing each other while Max swims over from Dustin, El, and his mom to Lucas after he’d joined them, laughing and kissing him. Despite the smiles on their faces and laughter that drifts up to him, he finds himself frozen on the precipice.
Something is wrong.
“Will, honey, come on in!” His mom yells, looking up and noticing him above them. He feels an urge to listen, a tug behind his breastbone to do what she says. He leans forward slightly.
“Will!” He hears someone shout faintly. He frowns, annoyance overtaking him at the weird sleep deprivation thing being back to interrupt his time with his family and friends. He turns to try and see where it came from, but sees no one.
“Will, honey, come on,” his mom shouts again, and he turns his attention back to her. She waves at him to come join the rest of them as they float and tread the water. Everyone seems to pause in what they’re doing, their eyes on him, waiting.
He shifts one foot forward, a few pebbles pushed off the edge, falling and sinking into the water.
“Come on!” Max yells, letting go of Lucas to wave both her arms, urging him to hurry up. He feels anxiety bubble up within him. He thinks maybe it’s because he’s keeping them all waiting, but that doesn’t feel right. He chances a glance behind him, then back at them again and feels a thrill of danger run through him at their blank faces. That wrong feeling bubbles up again, trying to warn him, but it’s suddenly overridden with him waving it away as them being annoyed at how long he’s taking. He lifts a foot and watches it dangle over the edge as he moves to step off.
“Will!” The same voice shouts again. A gasp is punched out of him as arms wrap around his stomach from the back and yank him away from the edge. He hears whoever it is give an oof as they fall back and he lands on them. They scramble out from underneath him, an arm coming to curl around his back and lift him up. Will’s head tilts and lands on something, the crook of a shoulder he thinks.
“Will, Will, wake up, come on, please,” the voice pleads, a hand on his shoulder then cupping his face. His nose scrunches as he feels himself start to come to. His clothes feel drenched, and the hands on him are freezing. He’s freezing. He feels droplets of water on his face, coating his arms and feet—which are oddly starting to hurt—and the hand on his face.
“Will, baby, wake up.” His eyes flutter open, his vision blurry with sleep.
“Hey, hey.” His vision focuses and he sees Mike staring down at him, fearstricken. A bolt of lightning illuminates them. Mike’s black curls are flattened against his forehead as rain pours down on them and his teeth chatter. A clap of thunder sounds, fully pulling Will awake.
“What…?” He says groggily, trying to get a hand on the ground to prop himself up. He sees that Mike and his’s pajamas are fully soaked through by the rain, his own body starting to tremble as it catches up to the situation they’re in. He glances over and feels his stomach drop as he realizes they’re mere feet from the edge of the Quarry’s cliff.
He winces as he tries to place a foot flat on the ground in the process of trying to sit up and maybe move farther away. He crooks his knee to pull his foot towards him to get a better look, and grits his teeth as he sees the bottom of it is torn up, blood oozing from it. He doesn’t need to look at his other foot to know it matches.
“What…?” He murmurs looking back at Mike. There’s only one way to infer what had happened: he was about to step off the cliff and Mike had saved him.
“Let’s get back home, okay? We’re gonna be so sick,” Mike complains, trying to maintain a sense of normality despite the fact they’re sitting on the edge of the Quarry’s cliff and Will had almost walked off it. He feels like he’s gonna be sick.
“I don’t… I don’t think I can walk back.” He doesn’t even know how he managed to walk all the way here from the Wheeler house, and he doesn’t know how to feel about Mike following him all that way.
“I- I can carry you,” Mike says, shifting to sit on his knees instead of his ass on the soaked ground. He rubs his arms, trying to get warm as the rain continues to pelt them. Will wants to decline, tell Mike he’ll figure it out, but he knows it’s the only way back unless he powers through and walks on his wounded feet; Mike, thankfully, has shoes on, though he can tell the Converse were shoved on in a hurry as the shoes remain untied and the tongues of them poke out from underneath Mike’s flannel bottoms. He nods instead and Mike offers a small smile in response, then shifts to turn his back to Will.
“Just use my shoulders if you need.”
Will finds he’ll do just that, as he doesn’t think he can stand without using something to help him up. He moves his trembling hands up to Mike’s shoulders, gripping them as he uses Mike to stand. A whine slips from his throat as he gets his feet under him, sharp pinpricks of pain shooting through them and up into his legs. One of Mike’s hands reaches back, grabbing Will’s calf and holding onto it. He feels his fingers dig into Mike’s shoulders and he immediately tries to relax them.
“Sorry,” he hurriedly mutters, breathing heavily through the pain.
“It’s okay,” Mike says back, tone soft. His thumb rubs a comforting circle into Will’s leg before letting go as Will moves closer. Another thunderclap kicks Will into gear—they don’t need to be out here any longer. He lays his chest against Mike’s back, chin on one of Mike’s shoulders as he wraps his arms around those same shoulders. The neck might’ve been easier, but he doesn’t want to choke him out. He would hop on to make it less challenging, but doesn’t think he can manage it.
Lightning crackles through the sky, brightening the area again. The woods remain dense and dark, and Will finds he presses himself closer to Mike, feeling like he’s 12 again, scared of the forest. He pulls his gaze away from the woods and takes in the curve of Mike’s nose, the curls plastered to the side of his face. Mike positions his arms loosely, patiently waiting for Will to lift his legs. He does so, one at a time, gritting his teeth as he balances on one wrecked foot before getting it up. Mike holds Will’s thighs with his hands tightly, ensuring he won’t fall back. Will feels himself blushing at it, even though it’s not intimate or anything.
“Ready?”
“Yeah,” Will murmurs, the heat on his face increasing as he realizes his lips are right next to Mike’s ear.
Mike gets one foot under him, kneeling and leaning forward slightly before he gets the other foot flat and pushes himself up quickly, grunting. They wobble for a second as Mike adjusts to the weight of Will while standing, and Will feels his hold tighten around Mike.
“I got you,” Mike reassures, hands squeezing the underside of Will’s thighs.
“I know.”
Mike pauses for a moment, silent, before he begins walking, slow and steady as they start the trip back home.
Will feels Mike heave breaths in and out as he trudges down the street. He had tried telling him to take a break multiple times, but he had refused, determined to get them back home as soon as possible.
He feels guilt eating him up inside at making Mike carry him all the way back after they’d walked all the way out to the Quarry. It’s a hell of a long walk, and it’s most likely been an hour and more, probably two hours, of Mike just walking, having to move slowly with Will on his back.
They’re soaked completely to the bone, the rain not having lightened up at all. The only part of them that’s warm is where Will’s chest connects with Mike’s back and Will’s thighs where Mike’s hands hold him carefully, like he’s something precious.
Mike stumbles, and he spits out a curse as he hurries to right himself before they fall.
“Mike, please, you can set me down and take a break,” Will tries again, teeth chattering.
“No,” Mike coughs, continuing on. Will huffs a breath out of his nose in frustration. He loves and hates Mike’s stubbornness, more hating it when it’s a detriment to the boy. He lowers his head, pressing his nose into the crook of Mike’s shoulder and neck. He feels exhausted and achey, but he’s sure Mike feels the same and even worse.
He sees them pass the intersection of Maple and Dearborn, and can feel Mike almost perk up beneath them as home gets closer.
It’s maybe another 20 minutes before Lucas’s house comes into view, Mike’s right behind it. Mike gets a second wind and picks up pace, passing Lucas’s house and getting closer to his. Mike simply just walks through the front lawn, uncaring if he messes it up, and staggers to the front door, breathing in shakily.
“Don’t fall off,” is all he says as he lets go of one of Will’s thighs to reach for the doorknob. Will clenches his thighs down on Mike’s hips in response, helping to keep himself up. He hears Mike let out a noise, but it’s drowned out by thunder.
Mike pushes the door open and stumbles inside, his hand coming back up to grab Will’s thigh as Will wordlessly moves one arm and closes the door behind them. Mike takes one step forward before the hall light comes on, making them squint as it floods their vision. As Will’s eyesight adjusts, he makes out a figure standing at the end of the entrance hall.
“Michael Theodore Wheeler, what the hell-,” Mrs. Wheeler starts, still in her pajamas, then stops as she takes in the pitiful state of both boys. Will can feel Mike trembling in tandem with him as they stand in the hallway, dripping onto the welcome mat.
“Get to the couch,” is all she says, turning on her heel as she rushes into the laundry room. Mike manages to push himself into walking to the couch, his mom rushing past them with towels in her arms from the linen closet. The lamp in the corner of the living room is still on, casting the room in a soft light. Mrs. Wheeler lays the towels out atop the cushions then helps Mike lower Will to sit on them. Mike sways in place as he stands, and Will reaches a hand out, grabbing Mike’s own and yanking him to sit down beside him. Mrs. Wheeler goes off to the kitchen once she makes sure they’re okay, stating she’s fetching the first aid kit.
Mike jerks in Will’s hold slightly when she returns with the large, white box and a bottle, Will realizing he’s still holding his hand, but finds he’s too tired to care. Mike seems to settle and let it go.
Mrs. Wheeler kneels on the floor in front of them, switched into mom mode as she sets the kit beside her along with the bottle Will reads is hydrogen peroxide. He’s not looking forward to the wound care.
“What the hell happened?” Mike’s mom asks, breaking the silence that’s settled over them as she opens the Johnson & Johnson branded kit, rifling through it and pulling out what she needs.
“I’m sorry, it was my fault,” Will blurts out. He’s sure Mike will get into trouble anyway for leaving the house during the night, but he doesn’t want it to be severe trouble for what Will unconsciously did.
“Mom, he was sleepwalking,” Mike interjects tiredly. Will squeezes Mike’s hand and tries to shoot a look at him, but finds that Mike’s eyes are shut with his head leaned back. Exhaustion is evident in his face. Karen is quiet for a moment, sitting back on her haunches as she looks between them.
“I’m going to be nice and let you two off with that horrible explanation for tonight, but tomorrow you tell me the full thing, do you understand?” Will nods his head furiously, and he sees Mike nod his minutely.
“Michael, I wanna hear it.”
“I understand,” Mike sighs. Karen sighs as well, then rips open a sterile pad in preparation, setting it to the side. She grabs the hydrogen bottle and opens it, setting it down, then grabs the sterile pad again and tweezers out of the kit, scooting closer to Will.
She gently grabs Will’s heel with the pad, lifting it up to get a better view. She presses her lips together as she surveys it; Will thinks the blood stopped and congealed after around 5 minutes on their way back, but all the debris he’d gotten in it has stuck in it as well. He feels Mike shift his hand, flipping it so now he’s holding Will’s back properly.
Mrs. Wheeler tries to be gentle as she begins tackling whatever is stuck in Will’s foot, but it still stings as some of it needs to be ripped out, re-opening the parts scabbed over. After a couple minutes, she seems satisfied enough and lowers Will’s foot, setting the tweezers and bloodied pad aside. She reaches for a new one and rips it open, then grabs the hydrogen bottle.
“This might hurt, sweetheart.” Mrs. Wheeler gently holds Will’s heel again with the pad, positioning it to catch the liquid as she brings the bottle closer and tilts it, pouring it over Will’s foot.
He lets out a pained hum, trying to keep quiet as his foot burns. He’s trying not to crush Mike’s hand in his grip, but he doesn’t think he’s succeeding. Mike says nothing and simply tightens his grip in return, unspoken reassurance. Mrs. Wheeler gently sops up the hydrogen after it’s bubbled and done its job, then lets it air dry. She proceeds to do the exact same process with his other foot, which results in Will gripping Mike’s hand tightly and the other simply gripping his back in encouragement. Will glances over at Mike, and sees that the other’s eyes are open and on him. He blushes, suddenly self-conscious, and averts his gaze back to Mrs. Wheeler.
“I’m going to wrap your feet now, then get you guys a change of clothes. You’ll both spend the rest of the night down here,” she says sternly.
She opens and pulls out two non-stick pads and the gauze, lightly pressing the pads against the bottom of Will’s feet one at a time and wrapping the gauze tightly to keep it in place. She looks over Will’s feet, making sure the job is complete, then gets up and heads out of the room. Will hears her light steps on the stairs as she heads up to Mike’s room.
He takes the moment to look over at Mike, who’s still looking at him through half-lidded eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he says again, squeezing Mike’s hand.
“What? Will,” Mike stammers, eyelids fluttering as he slightly wakes up. He reaches his other hand over, covering Will’s completely with both of his.
“Dude, it’s not your fault. I… It was Vecna. I saw your eyes. They were rolled back,” Mike scowls. Will’s sure his own face pales at that. It was one of the biggest signs of Vecna’s curse, according to Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Robin as they were first-hand observers when it happened to Max and Nancy. “Did… Did you have any other signs before that? Nosebleeds, headaches?”
“N- No. No nosebleeds. Headaches, sometimes, but that was just from not sleeping well,” Will answers. Mike peers at Will’s face, reading it to make sure he’s being truthful. Will is—he usually keeps his issues hidden, but not when it comes to something like this, something like Vecna controlling him, in him. Will feels nausea roll over him at that; it’s too similar to what the Mind Flayer did to him in 1984.
Mike finds what he’s looking for in Will’s face and opens his mouth, then clacks it shut as his mom walks in with a handful of clothes stacked in her arms.
Will realizes they’re all Mike’s as she sets them on Mr. Wheeler’s recliner, beginning to sort through them and deciding who gets what. Mike disentangles his fingers from Will’s, and pulls his hands away, Will letting him as they both prepare to get changed.
Mrs. Wheeler helps Mike pull his slowly drying shirt off, Mike’s arms trembling and moving like they’re filled with lead as he struggles to slide his new one on. It’s a quarter sleeve, and Will sees the print on the front as Mike pushes himself up to stand: Hellfire Club. Will feels a sense of sadness wash over him as he stares at it. They’ve been on Dustin to stop wearing his to school because of Andy and Chance bullying and twisting Eddie’s memory against him, but he’s not the only one who’s lost a mentor and safe place to be themselves—Lucas and Mike have too. It sucks that they’ve lost someone and something close to them, relegated to only remembering and honoring it in the safety of their own homes.
Mike stands shakily, his mom assisting him and making sure he won’t fall as she leaves him to go to grab new pants. She brings back another pair of flannel pants… and boxers.
“Mom,” Mike whines, and Will averts his gaze quickly, face burning.
“Michael. I have seen all of you since birth. Get changed,” Karen retorts, and Will snorts. Mike groans, but Will hears him shuffle off his lower garments then get into his new ones. Once finished, Mike moves as if to sit back down, then aborts the movement.
“Your turn,” he teases softly, holding his hands out for Will to take. Will scrunches his nose and frowns but takes Mike’s hands, which are still cold despite how long they’ve been back inside in the warmth. To be fair, Mike’s always been prone to getting colder easier, always sticking his fingers against their necks to hear them squeal and yell. Mike pulls him up carefully and Will tries to stifle a moan of pain as he staggers onto both feet; he’s going to be stuck on bedrest for weeks.
“Okay, come on, sweetheart,” Mrs. Wheeler says, joining them again and setting the clothes she’d decided on on the arm of the couch. Mike and Will slowly shift to where Mike is behind Will, his hands on his hips to keep him steady as his mom helps Will pull off his shirt, just like she did with Mike. Mike’s hands are like brands on his bare hips and he squirms at the feel.
“Sorry, we’re almost done,” Mrs. Wheeler says, misconstruing the action for discomfort. Will wishes the floor would open up and swallow him whole.
She pulls one of Mike’s long-sleeves on him, a bit tight in the shoulders but loose on his torso considering their build differences. They turn Will again, positioning him to where his hands rest on Mike’s shoulders and Mike’s hands hold his elbows. It feels oddly intimate with how close their faces end up together, and Will glances down at Mike’s lips before averting his gaze. He blushes but it doesn’t last for long as he shimmies out of his jogging pants, biting his lip as pain shoots through his feet. Mrs. Wheeler helps pull new ones up on his legs.
She’s quick as she pulls the damp towels off the couch, turning to go drop them in the laundry room.
Mike lowers Will onto the couch, face close to Will’s. Will tries to keep his gaze lowered but takes in the freckles that dot the bridge of Mike’s nose, their amount strengthening as winter fades. As Will fully settles back onto the couch, Mike lifts his head and a faint kiss is pressed against his forehead through his damp bangs. He feels his eyes widen. It’s reminiscent of when Mike would do the same in kindergarten when Will would sleep over, both of them tangled together in Mike’s bed despite their sleeping bags, claiming his “mommy said it’d help keep the bad dreams away.”
Will’s hands linger on Mike’s shoulders for a moment before he slides them off, withdrawing them into his lap. Mike moves over and plops beside Will, seemingly unaware of what he’s done to Will.
He hears the laundry room down the hall shut, then the basement door creak open. He’s not exactly sure what Mrs. Wheeler is going for, but he feels his shoulders scrunch up as he realizes Jonathan most likely isn’t where he’s supposed to be, so now they’ve dragged a third into trouble.
The look on Karen’s face answers that as she walks back up and into the living room, Mike’s blue sleeping bag in her arms along with a few blankets; Will’s matching yellow one is upstairs, laid out on Mike’s floor.
She rolls the bag out on the floor beside the couch, then divvies the blankets up between where Mike is set to sleep and on the couch for will. Mike slides off the couch onto the floor, too lazy and tired to stand and Will lets out a laugh at it.
“Tomorrow, you’re taking Vitamin C and drinking tea, okay?” Mrs. Wheeler says to both of them. She kneels down and presses a kiss to Mike’s forehead where he’s slumped on the floor, murmuring something to him that Will can’t make out. She then stands and moves to Will, leaning down and pushing his bangs back to press a kiss against his forehead as well. He smiles sheepishly at her and she smiles fondly back. He really likes Mrs. Wheeler—she’s always been a second mom to him.
He watches Mrs. Wheeler leave, her footsteps quiet as she goes back upstairs. The living room is quiet, the only sounds Mike and Will breathing as the rain continues and thunder rolls through ever so often.
“What-”
“Are you-,” Will and Mike both start then stop as they turn to look at each other. Mike raises his brows, signaling Will to go first.
“What… What even happened? I mean… Vecna, right? He… He made me walk all the way to the Quarry, to-.” To kill myself.
Mike stays silent for a moment, eyes roving over Will’s face.
“I- I woke up and you were getting up, and I thought maybe you had a nightmare or something and needed to get water, but then you didn’t come back up, and I went down to find you opening the front door. I tried to wake you up, but then I saw your eyes and I just… freaked.” Will lifts a hand up to his shoulder, recalling the phantom touch on it before his mom in the dream had replaced it. “I couldn’t think—I didn’t know what to do except to follow you, to try and keep you safe.”
“I’m sorry,” is all Will mutters. They’d been doing okay, settling into what could be called normal after Vecna had retreated and the government swarmed their town. Now, Will’s broken that; he made Mike worried and fear for him.
“Fuck, Will, don’t apologize, it’s not your fault,” Mike argues, turning fully and reaching up to grab one of Will’s hands. “Are you okay? Minus y’know, the feet? What were you even seeing?”
Will takes the chance to intertwine his fingers with Mike’s, and Mike easily lets him, keeping their hands together.
“It sounds so stupid and plain saying it aloud,” Will starts hesitantly, looking away from Mike.
“It was… normal. It’s what later today would’ve been if it was perfect. Jonathan woke me up, said Lucas had radioed you that we were all going to the Quarry and you’d gone ahead. I just… got ready somehow, ending up in my swimsuit and left the house with Jon and my mom. I- I think I felt you trying to wake me up though, on the way there. Like you were grabbing my shoulder… but I kept getting pulled back in.” Mike’s brows furrow in anger but he keeps his mouth closed, letting Will continue. Will doesn’t know if the anger is at Will’s dream, or that he hadn’t been able to wake him up.
“We got to the Quarry, and you weren’t there to greet me, and…,” he lets out a soft laugh. “It felt wrong? And then I was on the cliff, but it was more like a ledge in the dream, not as high as it actually is in real life. Everyone was down in the water, trying to lure me to jump in. And I almost did… but you saved me. You always save me, Mike.”
Will feels tears well up in his eyes and looks at Mike, seeing the other boy’s eyes glassy too. Mike opens and closes his mouth, then opens it again.
“I thought I was gonna lose you again,” Mike admits, voice cracking. He covers Will’s hand with both of his again, grip tightening and pulling it to his forehead as if in prayer, like he’s making sure Will is really there.
“You didn’t, you didn’t, Mike,” Will whispers, scooting forward. “You saved me, okay? You… You fucking followed me in the freezing cold rain, for almost two hours, and made sure I stayed safe, and then made sure I didn’t fucking throw myself off a cliff.
“You’ve always been there to pull me back from the brink. Like during Halloween night in ‘84, a- and that time in the basement. Mike, you asking to be my friend on that swing set in kindergarten was the best day of my life, too.”
Mike says nothing, trembling as he grips Will’s hand even harder. Will lifts his free hand and sets it atop Mike’s head, then runs it down the back of his head, his fingers catching on his curls slightly. He lifts his hand and sets it back to the beginning, running through the motion again and again to attempt to soothe Mike.
“I love you,” Mike says. Lightning accentuates his statement, brightening the living room. Will sits there, hand pausing in the air as he stares down at Mike, trying to process what he’s just heard.
“Wh-”
“I love you, Will,” Mike repeats, lowering his and Will’s hands and lifting his head up to make eye contact with the brunet. “I- I don’t… I don’t care if you don’t feel the same, but I needed to let you know. I don’t even know what I would’ve done if I didn’t pull you back in time. I think I would’ve thrown myself after you. You say I’m the heart, but Will-.”
Mike’s voice cracks and he takes in a shuddering breath, the tears that had been threatening to spill earlier rolling down his cheeks.
“Will, you’re my heart. Okay? You are.” Will pulls his hand out of Mike’s grasp and he can start to see Mike’s face shutter, assuming that Will is pulling away, rejecting him. He’s not. He quickly moves his hands up and cups Mike’s face, thumbs settled on his cheekbones.
“Mike. Mike,” Will repeats, maintaining eye contact with him. Mike is beautiful, as he stares up at Will. The brown eyes on him are dark in the dim lighting of the room, almost black. His curls are starting to dry, in slight disarray from the way they’d been laid by the rain. The skin under Will’s thumbs is hot, pink dusted under Mike’s freckles. Mike’s lips are slightly parted, and his tongue darts out nervously.
“I- I love you, too. You're… You’re the heart of the party, sure… but w- when I say that, I really mean you’re my heart,” he laughs, his own tears spilling from his eyes. He tries to open his mouth, to say more, but Mike surges up, smushing their noses together as he kisses him. It’s not a perfect first kiss, but it’s theirs and that’s all that matters.
“Sorry, I-,” Mike pulls back, breathing heavily. Will shakes his head, and leans back in, slotting their lips together. One of his hands slides from Mike’s cheek, landing on the other’s shoulder. Mike’s hands come up, one on Will’s cheek, wiping away his tears, and another covering his nape. It makes goosebumps rise, but the good kind; he knows he’s safe with Mike, always his protector.
Mike adjusts, trying to scoot between Will’s legs to get closer to him, but he knocks into Will’s foot and Will breaks the kiss with a wince.
“Shit! Sorry, sorry. Is your foot okay? I didn’t hurt it more did I?” Mike’s hands gravitate down and settle on Will’s thighs as he leans back slightly to try and see Will’s bandaged feet.
“Mike, it’s good, just hurt. They’re gonna be messed up for a while,” he sighs. Mike looks back at him and Will smiles shyly, before a thought hits him like a sledgehammer.
“Wait- Shit, I- What about El?!” Will asks, voice shrill as anxiety bursts through him. He was so caught up in everything, he forgot Mike is dating his sister.
Mike raises his brows at him in disbelief then laughs, his head thrown back.
“Mike… Mike!” Mike just continues to guffaw, clutching at his stomach as he tilts his head forward and buries his face into Will’s lap, trying to muffle himself.
“Michael, I’m serious!” He hisses through his teeth, but he can’t find it in him to be seriously mad.
Mike manages to take a breath and mumbles something into Will’s lap. Will rolls his eyes and shoves at his shoulder.
“I can’t hear you, asshole.”
Mike rolls his head enough to the side to look up at Will, his cheek squished against Will’s thigh.
“Will… El and I broke up after we got back here, to Hawkins. We had a talk and yeah, we were there for each other during big moments, and we love each other, we’re better as friends.”
“What? Why- Why did no one say anything?” Will flounders, at a loss for words.
“Now that you say that, I’m realizing I’m kind of a dumbass?” Will shoots him a look that reads as well, yeah.
“Hey! I just… assumed you knew since El and I weren’t hanging around each other as much anymore, or, like, kissing or holding hands.”
“Mike,” Will sighs, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “El is barely able to hang out with any of us, with Hopper and everything in town, so, no, there wasn’t really a big difference. And… I didn’t really look to see what you guys would do when we did gather, because I, uh… didn’t wanna see you guys together.”
“Okay, yeah, I see, uh. That’s kind of on me,” Mike agrees sheepishly. Will opens his mouth to kindly insult Mike, but Mike’s hand claps over it to try and keep him quiet.
He shoots an “Are you serious?” look at Mike.
“You’re gonna say something mean, but in a really nice and cute way that’ll make it hard to be mad at you.” Will snorts then sticks his tongue out, licking Mike’s hand.
“Ew!” Mike exclaims, ripping it away from Will’s face and making a face of disgust as he looks at his hand.
“William Jacob Byers, did you just lick my hand? What is wrong with you?”
“Do you want me to start from kindergarten, or should I just shorten it and start from 1983?”
“Okay, smartass, you’re so done.” Mike pushes himself up, crawling carefully onto Will and the couch. He makes grabby hands and Will lets out a small noise of fake fear as he realizes Mike is about to tickle him.
“Get off!” He giggles, shoving at Mike’s shoulders as the other launches himself fully on top of Will, fingers tracing over Will’s sides before he digs in. Will lets out a gasp then breaks into breathless laughter, his own fingers digging into Mike’s shoulders.
Mike lets up on tickling to let him breathe and they both pant, grinning at each other.
“You called me ‘baby,’” Will blurts out. Will, baby, wake up plays through his head as he remembers.
“I- I did, yeah,” Mike says, blush coming back stronger than before. “Was that… Was that okay…?”
“Yeah,” Will replies, breathless as butterflies flutter in his stomach. Mike leans in, hand coming up to cup Will’s cheek, gentle as they kiss again. They pull back, noses touching and breath shared in the small space between them.
“You love me so much, that’s so gross,” Will teases, breaking the moment. Mike’s face goes neutral before he groans and rolls his eyes.
“Jesus Christ, Dustin and Lucas think I’m bad but somehow you slip under their radar.”
“It’s because you guys all love me,” Will says with a shit-eating grin.
“Well, I love you more than them. Like, way more than them. And you’re not getting out of this,” Mike smirks, immediately launching back into a tickle attack on Will.
Will laughs again, and all the worries he had before, all the aches and pain, fade away as he focuses on just this moment: Mike and him, free and safe.
Tomorrow, they’ll go back to worrying about what it means that Vecna had Will in his grasp, and what it means for them all.
Tonight, though, they’re two normal teenage boys, in love and safe with each other.