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In the dead of night, it’s not just dangerous creatures creeping out of the Upside Down under the cover of the dark — it’s also fears, traumas, and insecurities, previously buried deep down, that seem to have found Will and Mike even in their sleep.
Will is lying on his side, turning uncomfortably on his makeshift bed, getting lost in a strangely familiar nightmare.
Two days after the epic MAC-Z battle, the group have found themselves in Hopper’s cabin due to the recent attack on the Wheelers’ house that left them with no roof above their heads. And Will and Mike have to make do with the floor of the living room, since the normal beds were already taken.
Now, however, in this nightmare of his, Will forgets that he’s safe with Mike right next to him, as in his sleep he’s running from the Demogorgon alone, in another dimension, with no light to be found anywhere, except for the lightning in the red sky.
Next to Will, Mike is turning from side to side, face scrunched and uneven breathing accompanying a hell of a dream, as he witnesses one of the things he fears the most in his life.
It’s not a clear vision, but a mix of shapes and shadows that he sees in front of him, mixing with each other and messing with his mind. He knows that One — Vecna — is nearby again, even though he can’t actually see him in all his glory, but the chilling, petrifying shiver that runs down Mike’s spine can’t be compared to any other frightening experience. He’ll never forget seeing Vecna mercilessly kill everyone around just to get to the kids and Will. Will…
Will, in his turn, finally seems to have escaped the Demogorgon, hiding high on a bare tree with lightning striking right above his head, when, in a moment, the monstrous creature jumps onto the tree, trying to get to him.
Like on instinct, Will jumps from this tree onto the next one, but — oh! The branch he’s holding on to has broken, and he comes falling down onto the ground.
The next thing Will remembers is being cold, weak, and helpless. He wants to scream, but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t move. And then it happens — he feels his body totally lose control and a vine enter through his throat.
On the other side of the room, Mike stares and stares at the blurry image, trying to make out the familiar figure of the boy he calls his best friend. The boy is trapped, surrounded by vines, and one of them is pumping something down his throat, while Will is visibly struggling, his eyes rolled back and white.
Mike is screaming and pulling at his hair, trying to get to Will, to help him, save him from these horrors, but no matter how far he runs, he doesn’t get any closer.
Nothing else matters but making this stop, making whatever is torturing his best friend leave and finally having him in his arms. Mike is supposed to protect him. It’s his duty, his purpose in life, the role he’s taken upon himself as the leader of the party. But he can’t. He’s supposed to, but he feels absolutely useless and pathetic, like he has let Will down yet again.
Suddenly, both Will and Mike wake up with a loud gasp, sitting up in their makeshift beds next to each other, panting rapidly, their hearts beating out of their chests.
Will’s eyes are trying to get used to the dark, and even though his head is still aching after the intense nightmare, he tries to calm himself down. Then he makes eye contact with Mike, and the sight makes him calm down a little, his heartbeat finally slowing.
“Mike?” Will says barely aloud.
But Mike can’t find it in him to even utter a sound; he just stares at his best friend, wide-eyed and with his mouth slightly open.
Will notices Mike’s obvious emotional distress, which makes his features strain again, brows furrowed and concern visible in his eyes. He sits up a little and turns more toward Mike.
“Mike? Did you… did you have a bad dream, too?”
“Y-yeah…” Mike barely manages to get out, blinking a few times and sitting more comfortably in his place. His pulse isn’t as strong as it was a minute ago, and his breathing seems to have evened out a little.
But when Will asks him, with all the tenderness and care that he usually has in his voice when it comes to Mike, “Do you want to talk about it?”, even though Will seems to have just experienced another horror, but he still cares about Mike’s well-being — Mike can’t help himself and immediately throws himself onto Will’s chest, wrapping his arms around his torso and burying his face in the other boy’s neck, breathing him in and shamelessly crying his tears out to his heart’s content.
His chest is on Will’s chest, but the lower part of his body is still lying next to him, so he isn’t completely on top of him, which he knows would probably be too much. In fact, this, too, feels too much. Mike can feel Will tense at this sudden gesture — this sudden feral surge of affection that has filled Mike to the brim of his soul.
Will lets out a quiet noise of surprise, but in a few moments he carefully places his hands on Mike’s back and pats him comfortingly.
“M-Mike?” His voice comes out shaky, as he definitely didn’t expect Mike to literally throw himself on him.
“I just…” Mike starts, his lips grazing Will’s skin a little, which makes the other boy shiver. “I dreamt that it got you and… and you were sort of… trapped, and I couldn’t save you, couldn’t even get to you! I was so helpless.”
Tears continue to streak down his face and fall on the fabric of Will’s T-shirt, but neither of them seem to care too much or even acknowledge it.
“Oh,” Will utters, audibly clearing his throat. “I… it happened in my own dream too. I felt it… everywhere.” Will’s eyes grow bigger with some sort of realization, like he’s remembering something that was buried way deep down. But then he turns to his best friend again. “I’m sorry you had to see it, Mike, I—”
“No,” Mike shakes his head feverishly. “There’s nothing you need to be sorry about. It’s my fault that I couldn’t protect you. I keep messing up, keep letting you down…”
He presses deeper into Will’s neck as if it were the safest place in the world. Will exhales and tries to reassure his best friend. “Mike, it’s not your responsibility to keep me safe. I can take care of myself, you know that?”
Mike can hear Will trying to make him laugh a little, but it feels like he’s lost all his sense of humor and only knows how to cry.
“I just… I don’t want to lose you again, Will,” is all Mike manages to say until silence falls between the two of them, enveloping them in this weird but familiar, long-forgotten closeness.
Will doesn’t know what to make of this and what to do with himself. He wonders if maybe he is still dreaming, this time having a good dream, because it isn’t such an unusual thing for him to dream of Mike holding him tightly or saying nice things to him. Or maybe it’s Vecna playing his tricks on Will’s mind again, knowing his deepest and darkest desires. Or maybe he’s just slowly losing his mind, and now he’s imagining things that otherwise could never happen to him in the real world…
But this feels too real — the weight of Mike on his chest, the tickling of Mike’s curls on Will’s skin, his tears and sobs, him clutching tightly to Will’s shoulders and lightly touching Will’s skin with his eyelashes, nose, and lips, all of which makes Will feel like their points of contact are burning him in the best way possible.
Could Mike have gone crazy? Could he be pretending Will were someone else, that he were El? Could this all be a big mistake, a misunderstanding, confusion on Mike’s part? After all, he could barely stand to look at Will, let alone hug him, when they first saw each other at the airport after their long period of radio silence.
Mike is still here, crying quietly in his arms for a few minutes, nuzzling his nose in the crook of Will’s neck and sometimes whispering small confessions like “I really thought I’d lost you” and “I don’t want to live without you” — things Will only dreamed of hearing from Mike’s mouth. That’s how he knows for sure Mike isn’t imagining El in his place, not with how tenderly he whispers Will’s name.
Will isn’t sure what he’s supposed to do about finally having the boy he loves in his arms, suddenly being so open about his feelings and fears, baring his soul to him, and showing that he still cares for Will so much, even if it weren’t in the way Will wanted him to.
So Will just stays there as still as possible; the only motions he allows himself are stroking his hands gently along Mike’s back and whispering back quiet “I’m here” or “we’re okay”.
Mike doesn’t know what exactly made him lose his composure like this — maybe it’s just exhaustion from all the stress he has experienced over the past few days, or maybe there’s something else — something more intense that Mike has tried to keep buried deep down. But as he tightens his grasp on Will’s back, he can’t ignore the overwhelming feeling inside, one that he has always associated with his best friend.
It’s not news to him how much he cares about Will, how much he means to him, and how much he’s afraid of losing him. This fact isn’t something new or weird or bad. It’s only natural to feel about Will Byers like that. He deserves the best in this world — even though he’s been through the worst — and Mike is determined to make sure he does everything in his power to give Will that.
Mike sniffs and lifts himself off Will, briefly looking him in the eye before quickly removing himself from Will’s space, as if realizing the underlying meaning of the whole situation. He’s next to him again, laying his head on the pillow and staring blankly at the ceiling.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers into the air.
“No,” he hears Will say and feels him shifting beside him. “Mike, there’s nothing to apologize for. We both had a nightmare, but it wasn’t your fault. And I’m right here, okay? I’m safe and so are you.”
“Those were the worst few days of my life, you know?” Mike asks quietly, turning to face Will a little. “I– we could have lost you.”
“But you didn’t. And I’m still here,” Will says firmly, putting his hand on Mike’s arm, stroking gently. When Mike’s glance drops down to it, Will immediately takes it back, and Mike starts to miss it immediately.
“I know,” Mike’s voice is quiet and solemn.
Will gives him a shy smile, and Mike easily returns it. They gaze into each other’s eyes for a few seconds until Will breaks the silence, some sort of nervousness in his voice.
“I m-mean… I don’t know what’s gonna happen next, but we’ll get through it, Mike. I promise.”
“Do you… do you remember what happened?” Mike asks cautiously after a few seconds of pondering.
He sees Will wince a little, and his expression suddenly takes on an intense appearance.
“A little…” he sighs, looks away from Mike, and continues, “I feel like it’s coming back to me now that I’ve tapped into the Hive Mind like that. And… and…”
Will lets out a sob, and Mike hugs Will closer to his chest before his brain knows any better.
“You’ll be free from it soon,” he reassures his best friend. “We’re gonna beat Vecna’s ass, and we’re gonna make sure the Upside Down has no control over you anymore. Okay?”
Will nods, still sobbing into his chest.
“It’s not me I’m worried about the most,” Will confesses quietly. He takes a deep breath, then goes on, “I’m scared that he might use me to get to you guys and make me hurt the people I love, especially—” he stops abruptly.
Mike stares at him for a few seconds, wondering how to comfort his best friend. It makes his heart ache seeing Will like this, small and terrified. After a moment, he turns them both over so that they’re facing each other while lying down and puts both hands on Will’s shoulders. Mike strokes them gently and pulls Will into his arms again so that the boy’s face is pressed to Mike’s chest.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be there for you. I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt any of us,” Mike reassures the boy in his arms.
Will curses himself for breaking completely and letting Mike see him like this, letting Mike hold him like this and, most importantly, letting himself relax into Mike’s embrace so easily. He’s pretty sure being self-indulgent like this isn’t the best idea. After all, he never knows when Mike will stop caring about him again and just leave him be.
Will knows that he shouldn’t get his hopes up, but there’s nothing he can do to stop loving Mike so deeply, as much as he tried. But he doesn’t want to try anymore. He loves Mike and he feels good about it. Because how can loving this boy ever be something bad?
Mike’s touch is so good, so caring and comforting that Will no longer tries to make himself push the boy away and deny himself the pleasure of being so close to the person he loves.
Mike mouths “shhh” when Will sobs more loudly and clutches Mike’s shirt on his chest, but it only makes Will cry more.
“S-sorry…” he lets out through tears and pushes even more into Mike, like coming home from a long day and finally reveling in familiarity. Because having Mike close is so familiar, yet long-forgotten — a nice vague memory from childhood that he can live out again, like in some sort of fairytale.
Suddenly, Will feels Mike stroking his head lightly, feeling his hair between his fingers and nuzzling a little against the top of his head. Will can’t help but sigh and opens his mouth slightly at the unexpected gestures.
“You’re okay, Will,” Mike’s voice is sweet like honey. “Sleep.”
Will hums into Mike’s T-shirt and allows himself to relax completely into the boy who is holding him so tenderly and moving his hand up and down Will’s back in an attempt to comfort him.
They embrace each other completely, letting themselves cross the boundaries of platonic friendship, at least for one night, and hold onto each other tightly with their arms around each other’s bodies as if letting go would mean losing each other again.
Will’s face is still tucked into Mike’s chest, but Mike is more than okay with that — after all, it’s his personal duty to comfort and protect Will Byers from all the horrors in this world. And if it means hiding him from everything with his own body wrapped around Will’s, then so be it. Mike is fully content with being Will’s guardian angel.
He can’t help himself and squeezes the other boy slightly, eliciting a quiet hum from him, then buries his own face in Will’s hair, enjoying the familiar scent of his shampoo. And now that he has his best friend in his arms in the middle of the night, he knows there isn’t anything else in the world he wants more than to hold him like this every night, to show him he cares, and to love him like he deserves.
Will doesn’t know what the future holds for him, for Mike, or for any of them, but suddenly it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters, really, but the blissful pleasure of being held tenderly by the love of his life and feeling safe, valued, and incandescently happy. There’s nothing better in this world, and he would happily die like that, knowing that he’s finally got at least a slice of what he desires. It’s euphoria, it’s heaven, it’s his own personal utopia.
Having cried his tears out, Will can finally let slumber slowly take over him again. Love is everywhere in his body, and he’s no longer ashamed of it. There is no shame in the purest of feelings any human could ever know, and Will lets himself succumb to it.
I love you, he thinks with complete acceptance and doesn’t feel bad about it in the slightest. The last thing Will feels and thinks about before falling asleep again is Mike, and Mike only, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Neither of them have any more nightmares this night, but that isn’t the strangest thing.
When they wake up, faces close to each other and limbs tangled together, they share an awkward look but are immediately interrupted by the others’ voices in the cabin. They get up reluctantly, exchanging a sweet, quiet smile that only they can see, and miss each other’s warmth right away.
As night shifts into morning, their quiet hours together pass, yet stay in their hearts forever.