Archive of Our Own

And when i break itâs in a million pieces

TW:  homophobic slurs and blood

âShould I stay or should I go,â he hears. No,not hears, sings. He's alone in an alternate dimension. His head is pounding, he feels like dogcrap, and he misses his mom. Once (not if, though his hope is slowly but surely fading)  he gets through this, he and Mike and Lucas and Dustin will finally get to finish their game of DnD. Guess the Demogorgon really did get him, huh? His weak attempt of a laugh slowly fades  into a shiver. He gets colder when he stops singing, but he can't find it in himself to do it anymore. Will's mind wanders to dark places, as if there's a force taking him there, to his dad coming home late at night when he was supposed to be asleep. He heard him talking (yelling) at his mom. Although Lonnie hadn't done a lot to keep his voice down, it wasn't his fault. It was Will's fault for being a fairy. He was fine before Will was born, but then he started arguing with mom about how he doesn't want a queer kid. That's what Will heard on those late nights when he couldn't sleep. ' He'll never love you' A shiver runs down Will's spine. He knows that Lonnie doesn't love him, so why does it hurt? He hears a roar... the demogorgon(he decided to call it) .... it's back. He's engulfed in darkness before...

Will shoots up from his bed, sweaty and disoriented. A dream. It was a dream. Not him being in the Upside Down, obviously. But Vecna's still recovering, he can't get into anyone's mind yet, right? He kicks the covers off to cool down and glances over at Mike. He's asleep, like all the other times. Will remembers a time when Mike would wake up and comfort him. He's been sleeping on the floor of his "best friend's" bedroom for about a year and a half. He's gotten so good at it that he doesn't even get flustered thinking about sleeping with Mike. Jonathan sleeps in Nancy's room (bad idea on Mrs. Wheeler's part) and they use the basement as the designated hangout spot. Not that they have time to do anything fun, given that the world is quite literally ending. And even if it wasn't, no one would want to play DnD or Nintendo anyways. He looks at the alarm clock, 7:46am. Great, he woke up an hour early. It's too late to go back to sleep, so he hauls himself off the ground, makes his bed, showers (he has to wear Mike's clothes) , and heads downstairs. Will usually never made his bed, only when he was with Mike. He certainly never made his bed in California. Some days, he couldn't even get out of it,but only when things got particularly bad. "Will, honey! You're up early!" Mrs. Wheeler said in a tone that was way too cheery for this time of the day. "Yeah," he scratches his neck awkwardly, he wasn't planning on telling anyone about his nightmares. "I just wanted some quiet before everyone woke up and the house turned into a tornado." Mrs. Wheeler laughs her perfect laugh with her perfect face and perfect hair. Will wonders how long it must take her to get ready every day. "Well, I'll be making breakfast, and you can head down to the basement if you'd like." He mumbles a small 'thank you' and heads down to the basement.

He grabs his notebook and his walkman. He puts his "Boys Don't Cry" tape in. In his notebook, he starts writing. Dr. Owens said that it would help with stress. He came out of retirement to help with this Vecna thing. He's been talking to all of them separately of course, not just Will. Honestly, he's glad that he isn't the center of attention, because if he were, that'd mean he was dying, obviously. Anyways, he needs to write this and give it to Dr. Owens today.

Dear Universe,

Hey, how are you? I'm good... well as good as someone can be when the world outside is literally ending. Although, inside is fine, except for the fact that there's no privacy here. I'm not complaining, Mrs. Wheeler's amazing! Ted is... existing? I'm a little worried about Holly. She's been going on about this new character in a fantasy game called "Mr. Whatsit"?  She insists it's real but I really do hope it's not. I think it may have to do with Vecna. I'm gonna ask Dustin about it today at school. I really hope it's not her. Mike would be destroyed. All of us would. Not to be dark and ominous or whatever.  I have to get to school now. Bye universe(s).

From, Will Byers

There, revealing just enough that it's not questionable. Will wasn't completely lying, he just left some details out. He wants to write about more: about El, the military, his nightmares, but Dr. Owens can't know about those things. "Will! Breakfast!" Mrs. Wheeler calls from the kitchen. He jumps off the couch and goes to the kitchen. The smell of Eggos hit his nose. He thinks of how much El loves them. God, what he would do to have her here right now. Mike enters the kitchen, hair damp. "Good morning," Will says. Mike looks up and nods. They sit down and start eating. Why didn't Mike say it back? Wait, was it not morning anymore? No, it's 8:34am. What was wrong with him... Of course Mike didn't want to say good morning to him. He knows how much Mike wishes he was El. Then Mike could have her all to himself. It wouldn't make sense for Mike to sleep at the cabin though, and there's no way Hopper would've let him anyways. He probably asked. "Will?" he looks up from his plate.

"Hm?"

"I said, are you okay?"

"Oh yeah. Fine."

"Okay, you can tell me if something's up, especially if it has to do with Vecna. " Mike whispers in a cartoonish way.

How is he in love with this idiot? (affectionate)

He now shifts his attention to Mike's words instead of his delivery of the words.

"Mike, I told you that I'm fine. I'm not stupid enough to not tell anyone if I'm getting possessed or whatever."

"Yeah, yeah of course, it's just that after everything that happened with the Mind Flayer-"

"I'm okay Mike, I promise"

Mike nods and grabs his plate from Mrs. Wheeler.

Will uncrosses his fingers under the table and grabs his own plate. He lied to Mike. Again. It's not like it's a special thing or something, he's been lying to everyone. But, Mike's his best friend. Or, well, was, but Will doesn't want to get his Eggos soggy with his own tears by thinking about that. 'Tell them.' Shit. The color drains from his face. Henry. He's challenging him, he can feel it. Except that it's not like before, because there's an urgency behind it. Why? Well, Will isn't sure, but he is sure that he heard him. Mike must notice how pale Will has become, because he gives him a strange look that Will can't fully decipher. He looks at Mike and tries to telepathically tell him that he promised that he's fine. Somehow, Mike understands it and goes on to eating his breakfast, most definitely thinking of El.

Will doesn't understand why he's acting so worried. He knows that he should be thinking about how he just heard Henry's voice and it wasn't "just in his head", but all he can think about is Mike. How that is the first time that he's asked Will if he was okay in 4 months.How he always chooses to walk with Lucas in school. How he only cares about him when something supernatural is happening to him. He remembers when Mike used to care about him no matter what. He knows that's not fair though. Mike was fine until he realized what Will was. 'It's not my fault you don't like girls! '  He remembers how cold he was. How sad and hurt and pathetic he felt sitting next to a destroyed Castle Byers. How much it pained him to hear Mike saying those- those words.

He finishes up his breakfast, stuffs his walkman and letter in his backpack, and waits for Holly to come downstairs. "Hi Will!" she says cheerfully. "Hey Holly, are you ready to go?" he asks softly. He always tries not to be too loud with kids, remembering how it felt to be constantly yelled at. He always did it subconsciously. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Mike looking at him funny. Fondly, almost, but he must be imagining it. He holds the door open for Holly and then hops on his bike.

They're about halfway to Holly's school when they pass a bunch of military vehicles. Will looks at Mike, up at the helicopters, and then back to Mike. He gives him a look that says 'what the fuck. ' Hawkins is no stranger to the military- especially in the last few months- but this is a lot more than usual. He adds this to his mental checklist of things to discuss with Dustin at lunch today. Getting around the military has been hell. It's honestly the stupidest way to handle this whole "Upside Down" situation. Why the fuck they think arresting the only useful weapon is a good idea? He doesn't know. Sometimes, he just gets so angry seeing El's WANTED Posters. God,how he just wants to throw them all into the deep dark depths of the Upside Down.

They pull into the bike racks of Hawkins Elementary and start to lock up their bikes. Will tries not to look to the side, but he can't stop himself, as if something, or someone, was pulling his eyes. That's when he sees them. What's been haunting him ever since he and Mike were tasked to drop off Holly at school. The swing set. The swing set where he and Mike met in Kindergarten, one fateful day. September 7th, 1976 actually. He warms up thinking about that moment, but immediately goes back to the coldness that he's been feeling ever since he got back to Hawkins. He remembers what Mike had said when he was possessed. How he regrets going up to Will, but how it's too late to back out. His memory of the shed was fuzzy, true, but he knew that that was what Mike had to have said. Some part of him stupidly hopes that Mike said something else, but he would never ask. He feels a sudden drooping in his stomach, a shiver in the back of his neck.

'Don't be stupid, William. He'll never love you.'

He knows that. He knows. So he just ignores Henry's voice and moves on with his life, because how could he burden anyone with his problems?  They need to focus on El. On finding Max. Not on Will, no. "Bye Will!" Holly's voice snaps him out of his thoughts. "Oh-uh, bye Holly." he murmurs, not sure if she heard him. He's worried about Holly. She's been acting weird, and it would make sense to use Holly as bait. Everybody loves her. Even the extended party, like Robin and Steve. He's asked Holly before, but all she's ever said is "Mr. Whatsit said that it's a secret." He's also brought it up with Mike, but he just brushes him off. Will feels like he's going insane. What kind of 16 year old hears voices in his head and thinks that a kid's gonna get kidnapped because she has an imaginary friend? Not Will, that's who. He needs to focus on finding Vecna.

 He looks over to see Mike peddling painfully slow. Even though Will woke up an hour early, they still managed to be running late, thanks to the excessive military. "Mike! Hurry up, we're gonna be late!" he calls over from in front of him. "Shit, sorry!" he hollers back, much louder than needed. Will snickers and pedals faster.

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Ring! The lunch bell rings loudly in Will's ears. He winces, and then hauls himself up and off his chair. As he walks down the halls, he can see people shooting him weird glances. Probably wondering what the hell happened to "Zombie Boy", and why all the girls are practically drooling all over him now. 'Little do they know.. ' he thought to himself. Being like him sucked, but he learned to accept himself during those long and lone months in California. California wasn't fun, but it was mostly accepting of people like him. Unlike smalltown Hawkins.

He recognizes Dustin's open locker door from about 10 feet away, the bright red 'Hellfire Lives!' popping out. "Hey." he says. "Oh, Will! Hi!" Will can tell that he's trying to be his old, chipper self again, but he feels an overwhelming sense of sympathy for him. He looks down to see Dustin's Hellfire Shirt ripped at the collar. He doesn't need to ask to know what happened. Same old getting beat up by egoistic jocks and just having to deal with it, with the weight of, quite literally, the whole town on their shoulders. It's not fair that they're not receiving some kind of compensation for this. At least not getting shoved around would be fine. 'People have died William, die, don't be a shallow, self-pitying idiot.' Will flinches, partly because he knows it is true, and he doesn't have a right to be angry, and partly because Henry just talked to him. It wasn't in his head. It couldn't be. He can't do this right now. Today's important. El's going to try to find Max again. That's why they're having the meeting, so he can't dump this on them.

"Will! Dude, you zoned out there for a minute. Is everything okay?"

Oh, right.

"Yeah! " he says way too loudly. He lowers his voice a little bit.

"Just, scared about today, you know? I mean with El and all."

Dustin nods grimly and gestures in the direction of the cafeteria. As they enter the cafeteria and sit next to Lucas and Mike, Will sees Mike's notebook open with scrawled words all over it. He puts his tray right in front of Lucas's, and then heads over to the rest of the party on the other side to see what's going on. He looks at Mike's notebook and tries to decipher what he's reading. "What does it even say?" asks Dustin. "Yeah, dude your handwriting is kinda hard to read." adds Lucas.

"Does that say...cans? " someone asks from behind him. Will looks up to see his face dangerously close to a basketball jock. Chance, he remembers. He feels himself turning red before regaining consciousness and quickly stepping out of the way. He must be gaping like an idiot because Chance gives him a quick and knowing smirk, before directing his attention back to Mike and the rest of the party.

'What? Do you think he's hot, Jacob?'  He freezes hearing his middle name. That's what his dad used to call him, because apparently William was a name for a sissy. Too 'princessy', like his father said. Does he think he's hot? I mean Will has eyes, so of course he does. His green eyes glisten, even in the shitty school lighting. And the way his dark hair falls into his eyes kind of reminds him of Mike's hair when it was long. It is hot. 'Such dirty thoughts, Jacob. What would your father think? What would Mike think?'  He doesn't like this. This voice in his head. This hot boy. This- this whole situation. This whole life. He won't be shallow though. People died.

"So, what is the Hellfire Club planning now? Finding a new victim?"

Any good thoughts of Chance had just disintegrated. He's a jock, what did Will expect? A knight in shining armor? Mike's his Paladin, not Chance. He looks at his friend's reaction to what Chance said. Mike looks angry, and Lucas looks pretty pissed too. He knows that Chance was one of his friends on the basketball team. Dustin looks tired,so tired. Will's heart aches for him. Poor guy. "Get the hell out, Chance." Mike says coldly. "Oh, someone's in a bad mood today. Why don't you want me to stay?" Chance says coolly, in a fake sweet voice. "Because you think that we're mass murderers. And because you scared Will." Shoots back Mike.

Chance seems to light up at that. "Oh you're mad that I scared Zombie Boy?" he mocks. Will knows exactly where this is going. "Well, he didn't seem to mind it." That is not where he thought this was going. He feels the words like a punch to the gut, right before Mike punches Chance right in the gut.

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I hate him, he thinks. IhatehimIhatehimIhatehim. He's only seen Chance a few times, but he already hates him. Then he comes back to senses. What was he thinking punching a jock? A jock who was very clearly bigger than him. It's like a wet noodle against a brick. "What the fuck, Wheeler?!" Oh shit. Well he started this, might as well finish it standing tall.

He sees a fist coming toward his face. He tries to duck. Big mistake. Chance's fist collides with his temple and sends a searing pain through his head. His head is still spinning when he gets another blow to his stomach. He doubles over in pain, before falling on his butt. What was he thinking? Stupid. Guess that's just what happens when someone says something about Will. Because he doesn't want his best friend hurt. Of course. No one does. It's not because of the way Will was looking at Chance. Not right now, he tells himself. He'll deal with this later. Right now, all he can think about is this fucking headache.

The world starts to go blurry, when he sees Will walk up to Chance and punch his face. Is he hallucinating? Now, he's not that loopy. The other jocks seem to notice that something's happening, and walk over. He knows that this is only going to go downhill, but all he can think about is Will punching Chance. He's never seen Will like this before. He looks so mad. He looks so good.

And that was his last thought before he blacked out.

ï¹ï¹ï¹ï¹

"Wheeler, get up!"

"Dude, are you okay?"

"It was one punch, it couldn't have killed him... right?"

"He has about as much strength as a strand of hair. Maybe it really did"

He opens his eyes, met with Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Robin's face looking down at him.

"Ah! He's awake!" says Robin.

What is happening? Why does his head hurt so much? "Guys, let him breathe." says Lucas. He would tell Lucas how thankful he is for this if he wasn't so disoriented. Oh shit. He remembers now. What happened after he went down? What happened to Will? He sits up and groans, his body aching everywhere. "Where's Will? Is he okay?" Mike says groggily. He sees Robin's face softening in his peripheral vision. "He's getting his knuckles bandgaged." Now this almost sends Mike down again. Did Will get hurt because of him? He shakily gets up, intent to see Will, before Dustin sits him down again. "He's okay Mike." Dustin says this with a suspiciously patronizing look.

Oh. He flushes. Was he that obvious? It's normal to care about your best friend, so shame on Dustin for not knowing that. "What the hell happened?" he asks, needing answers on what happened to Will. How could he not be there to protect him? Stupid. "Jesus Christ, did you lose your memory Wheeler?" That's Steve. "No you idiot, he blacked out once Chance punched him." He blacked out? "Can you just tell me what the fuck happened?" Mike pushes.

 What did he do to Will? He's such a bad friend. He started a fight and then blacked out? He can practically see his dad shaking his head. "Mike, can you wait until the others come?" says Lucas, softly. Lucas is the best when he feels bad for Mike. Still, because Micheal James Wheeler is a whiny baby, he groans.

Why can't he at least see Will? Is that so much to ask? How could Chance hurt someone as amazing and perfect as Will? (Not in a weird way. He's just being a supportive friend) And how the fuck would Chance get to Will's knuckles? He thinks about how Will looked at Chance when their faces were close together. Why did Mike lose his temper at that? Because he didn't want Chance to hurt Will. Will, his best friend. Friend. Some part of Mike's mind said that that wasn't the only reason Mike lost his temper, but he pushed that down. Deep down. Never to be seen by anyone but himself and his inner demons.  

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After about an hour or so, Dustin leaves to go visit Eddie's grave. Meanwhile, the rest of them have all gathered up in the back room of the Squawk. Robin recommended the nickname, and Will guesses it just stuck. Everyone's looking around anxiously, probably too scared to address the elephant in the room. That the scrawny, cute, innocent little boy just beat up a jock. He still can't believe he kind of won that fight. Sure, he gained muscle in Cali, but a jock? He also can't believe that Mike started it. He also lost it badly and blacked out. His Paladin's a fucking idiot(affectionate).  

He never thought he'd have to be getting his knuckles bandaged. Although, he didn't believe in alternate dimensions either, and guess where they are now. He enters back into reality to see his mom hovering above Mike, trying to find answers. "I don't know Ms.Byers, I blacked out!" Will is NEVER getting over this. His mom starts to giggle at this, before seeing Mike's face and quickly stopping. She then starts to walk over to Will. "Hi baby!" she says before turning serious, "What the hell happened? No one's telling me a thing!" Will smiles at his mom. "Mike started a fight with a jock, but then he blacked out so...I had to finish it. We got out of there before anyone else could hurt us, but I guess my knuckles got bruised, and Mike... Yeah, you get it."

He knows it's not funny at all, but he thinks everyone needs something to laugh about right now. His mom gives him a little thanks and a kiss on the cheek. Will itches to walk over to Mike and ask if he's okay, but Mike probably wants El to, not him. He's okay with that though. He knows that he was there first, but he has no right to be mad. It's not Mike's fault that Will's a fag.

"Okay," Hopper's voice booms over everybody else's, "Let's get started!" Dustin and Steve still aren't back yet, but who is he to argue with his moms boyfriend? Will loves Hop so much. It's just the way his mom lights up whenever he's around. That's love, he guesses. He doubts he'll ever be able to experience that for himself.

'Don't make everything about yourself. I'm practically drowning in your self pity.'

Oh. Will's eyes widen as he has a realization. Is Henry actually in his mind? No, of course not. No way in hell would that happen. Of course. Yeah.

He pushes those thoughts down and looks over at Mike,  to see the latter already looking back. He flushes, before realizing that Mike's probably just zoned out on his face. Will's an idiot (not affectionate). "Today's the day, kid." Hop says, pulling him out of his thoughts. El nods at Hopper. They all know what's gonna happen today. El, Hop, and his mom have been training her powers, and now she has to find Max. She's been looking and looking in Max's mind, for even just a sign of her, but so far, it's just an empty, dark void. "We don't know where she is, Hop. She's clearly not in her mind, so..." Murray trails off.

Lucas looks up, a fire in his eyes. A realization seems to dawn on him. "No. No, if she's

 not in her mind, then she's in someone else's." At this, everyone looks around, wondering what the hell Lucas is saying. Mike, though, seems to understand. "Oh." Will hears him whisper. "What?" he asks. "She's in somebody else's mind." he parrots what Lucas said. "When she escaped the first time, she said that she saw Chrissy's and Fred's body in there." Nancy's face falls at the mention of Fred. "She was in his mind. In Vecna's mind. So what's to say she isn't now?" Will sits up straighter, finally understanding. Henry's been awfully quiet since this conversation started. He's probably just overthinking, right? They all give it a moment to sit in, before Robin breaks the silence.

"Do we even know where Vecna is?" she asks. To find Max, they'd have to find Vecna. A thought tingles in the back of Will's head, as if it's not supposed to be there, but also like he's supposed to know. He almost grasps onto the thou, when it suddenly disappears. It's almost like when you forget what you were going to say, and then the more you try to remember, the more the thought fades away.

ï¹ï¹ï¹

Where could he be? The question repeats itself in Mike's mind. "Can't you just find him, El? I mean, you know how he looks, right?" asks Jonathan. Yeah, he didn't think of that. He doubts El can though, and if she could, they would've already tried it. "No." El says, not much to his surprise. "I tried looking for him, but I couldn't find him. The void is dark."

"Well, there goes our only hope." declares Erica, as Dustin and Steve walk in.

Mike lets out a gasp, which sends a sharp pain shooting through his ribs. Dustin's all beat up, eyes swollen and face bruised. Steve looks like he just went through literal hell. "Dustin? What the hell, are you okay?" asks Will, not trying to hide his concern. Mike loves- wait no, admires how much Will cares. Steve raises an eyebrow, shooting Robin a look that says What is this kid saying? Of course he's not okay. Robin is quick to defend Will though, doing Mike's job for him. "He meant what happened, dingus."

Mike doesn't need to ask though. Dustin knew it was bound to happen, and he still went. This time, though, it's worse than before. Two in one day, I guess, he thinks. Then, it occurs to him how pissed Hop is going to be. Mike thinks back to when they first started trying to save the world. Well, this time. Hop made it clear that they were in enough danger already, and not to cause anymore trouble. It's not like it's Mike's fault though. He heard Will's name in the mouth of some weird ass jock and decided to take action. Because Will's his best friend. Yeah. Friend.

 

The word echoes in his mind as everyone starts getting Dustin bandaged up, and as Hop declares that they have to postpone finding Max, and as El and Lucas start to argue with Hopper.

Friend. Friend. Friend. Friend. Friend. Friend. Friend. Friend.

And then the topic of finding Vecna comes up again. He tells his brain to shut the fuck up because maybe he might be able to contribute to this conversation. "Hey El," Steve asks, "Do you think anyone else might've escaped from the lab? Like with 'Vecna Trapping' powers or some shit?"

El thinks for a moment before answering, "My sister."

Mike looks at El dumbfounded. "Your sister?" he sputters, "How did I not know about this? Your sister!" he's rambling now. "El, can you please explain this âsisterâ?" Will cuts in, much to Mike's gratuity. "In 1984, before I came back, I found out that I had a sister. She taught me how to harness my powers. She was 008. Kali. She had different powers. She could make people see things." El explained. "Why didn't you bring her back with you? " asked Joyce. El's face falls, just a little bit as she shakes her head and says,"No. She had her own friends. They were mean. They killed people." Dustin's mood drops. "So, do you think she could help us find Vecna?" El shakes her head, signaling the end of the conversation.

That's when it hits Mike.

The boy who could help. The boy that always warned them when danger was near. The boy who was always affected by the Upside Down. The boy who was part of the hive mind. The boy who felt something the moment he re-entered Hawkins. The boy who told them that Vecna was still alive. The boy they needed.

"Will." he says confidently.

Will looks up at him with wide eyes, "What? Me?" Mike nods, and walks up to the front of the room. Fuck he thinks it'll be so embarrassing if I'm wrong. "Think about it. The Mind Flayer was in Will, we know that." he starts, "And after that, Will was able to track where anything connected to the Hive Mind was." heads turn to Will as the pretty boy flushes with the newfound attention. "Truesight." Lucas mutters. Mike nods.

"And when we came back to Hawkins," he looked at Will asking for permission to share their conversation, to which Will nodded,"He said that he felt the Upside Down again. It might not be intentional, and he can't do it willingly, but Will can tell us where everything connected to the hive mind is. How it feels. Will has powers."

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Do you remember how Will said he was happy the attention wasn't on him? Well, that's not really the case anymore. Everyone looks at him with wide eyes. Dustin looks deep in thought, his mom looks like she's going to be sick with worry, and Mike, well he looks the same as mom. It makes Will feel sticky, trapped. It's like they're expecting something from him, but Will just can't give it.

Will knew he had powers, but he'd never heard them be categorized with...telekinesis or mind control. His power was horrible, and he didn't even know how to control it. 'They need you' Then there's that. If Henry's in his mind, and that's a big if, then what's going to happen when he becomes fully possessed again? Or- what happened to Max? It's not like he can use his powers to protect himself, or anybody else, so why are they looking at him like they want him to do something?

He pictures himself in that hospital bed instead of Max. It would've been easier if it were him. No one would care as much. Stop with the self pity he reminds himself. All he knows is that now, he has to tell someone about Henry. Not all of them, no. He looks over at Mike again, pleading with his eyes. Before anyone can say anything, Mike stands up, drags Will off of his butt, and leads him outside.

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Run. For some reason, that just happens to be Mike's first instinct. He runs and runs and runs until the boy beside him comes to a halt. Now Mike's breathing heavy. It would be embarrassing except for the fact that Will doesn't even seem to care. He lets go of Mike's hand and goes and plops down on the wooden picnic table. He goes and sits next to the brown haired boy, anxious about what he's going to say. You're so stupid, what if he didn't even want that? But no. He knows Will like the back of his hand, and he knows that Will didn't want to be in that room. They just sit there for a while, catching their breath, before Will finally talks.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to." Mike returns easily, turning to smile at the boy.

"Thanks. I-I wanted to talk." Will says, nervously.

"Im so sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable but it was like I just couldn't stop myself and I didn't even stop to think about how you would feel. Jesus, I'm sorry, Will." He rushes out.

Will looks at him, stunned. "Oh. Oh! It's okay Mike. I- really, it wasn't your fault, I just... couldn't handle everyone looking at me like that." The short boy gives him a reassuring smile, which, as much as Mike hates it, immediately calms his nerves.

He subconsciously inches his hand closer to Will's. He wants to feel the boy. To have him safe in his arms, to understand anything and everything that is going on inside his mind.

"W-what did you want to talk to me about?"

"It's about Henry." Will says. He must see how Mike's smile droops because he quickly rushes out, "I'm not like, dying or anything. Honestly nevermind. It's nothing important."

"No no sorry, you can tell me I promise."

"It's fine, it really is. You'll think I'm going crazy."

"Honestly, after everything we've seen, nothing you say is going to make me think you're going crazy. And even if you were going crazy,"

Don't say it.

He probably doesn't even remember.

Don't.

Do not.

"We'll go crazy together." alarms go off in his brain as he realizes he said it. Why? Why him? He was so hyperfixated on not saying it that he fucking said it. Only someone as stupid as him. He focuses on Will's face, seeing how his eyebrows shoot up and his eyes widen in shock. There's something else in there too, his eyes. Almost like adoration or- no, Mike's just being weird.

 

"Yeah, yeah, crazy together." Will says, eyes filling with tears.

Oh. Mike's heart soars, relief pouring in. He remembers. All he can see is Will. Just Will, in a field of sunflowers and green grass and rainbows. It's an idiotic image, he knows, but that's just how he feels. Mike's eyes start to feel wet as he swipes violently at unshed tears. He reminds himself that Will has something to tell him.

"So- what about him?"

"Hm?"

"Vecna, what about him? Like what did you want to te-"

"I've been hearing him in my head. Not like... not how Max described it, but more like he's talking to me. Taunting me. Like, he's in my mind."

"Oh shit. D-do you think it has to do with your, um, powers? " he asks, hesitantly.

Will thinks before answering."Well... I don't know. I've been thinking and... Henry always targets people with trauma, insecurities. Maybe it's that their minds are weaker. They have less of a support system. I think that he targets me because I have- more... trauma than others. I mean I don't want to sound like a baby but with my dad and all, I guess it makes me an easy target too. Not to mention everything with the Upside Down. He already knows my mind. He's been inside of it. And now," his voice cracks, "Now he's in my fucking head again and I don't know what to do, Mike. But I had to tell someone before it caught up with me and got someone killed or some shit." Will says,  voice thick with emotion.

Then out of nowhere, Will goes pale. Sweat starts beading on his forehead and starts fidgeting.

"H-he just said something, didn't he?" Mike asks hesitantly, trying to hide his concern. If you don't act like it's a big deal then it won't be a big deal, he reminds himself

Will shakily nods, before realizing what he did and frantically shaking his head, seemingly trying to hide it.

Mike has an idea. A stupid stupid idea. Talktometalktometalktometalktome, his mind screams. He has to do it. For Will. He wants to do it.

And that's enough for him to link their pinkies together.

"You can tell me, I promise. I won't tell the others unless you want me to." the taller boy says softly.

"Um..." maybe he's starting to lose it, but Will is blushing, "Yeah, yeah I think it was him. He wasn't actually... talking to me, just, um, bringing up some memories that I don't really want to remember." Will says, voice thick with tears.

"And I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. I don't want him to spy back like he did before."

"Will, look at me." Will tilts his head up to look at him, "You know how to fight it this time, alright? You can spy back. And I know that's what I said last time, but this time I know what we're up against. We know what's coming, and we know it won't be easy, but you have to remember that you have me...And your mom. And the party. All of us... care... for you." the sentence didn't sit right on his tongue.

Suddenly, need overtakes Mike. A need to help Will, one he's always had. Before he can stop himself, he puts his hands over Will's. He hears the boy's breath catch. It's not like a romantic thing. Max and El held hands all the time. But part of him longs for it to be romantic, a part he hides deep inside.

"Just talk to us, okay? Remember what Lucas said, what you said. He feeds on secrets and insecurities. I'm always here for you if you want to talk to someone about it."

Will stares at him, fondly almost (of course not, he's straight) before his eyes quickly turn cold and he breaks the connection. He also lets go of Mike's hand. He almost wants to call out because his hand feels really cold now. He knows Henry said something, but he also knows that Will will come to him for help when he's ready.

"We should go before they think we got... eaten by a demodog or...something." Will says.

Mike chuckles and starts walking in the direction they came.

He remembered.

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