Chapter Text
Okay guys, let’s do this one last time. My name is Will Byers. I got bitten by a radioactive spider and for this past year, I‘ve been the one and only friendliest neighbor there could be in this city - Spider-man. And of course, you‘d know the rest. I got accepted into art school in Manhattan, saved my mom and brother from the bad guys…and kept my love towards my best friend in secret. Not bad, right?
꩜ ꩜ ꩜
A punch is thrown at Spider-man‘s face, his jaw cracking under the force. But he recovers quickly, kicking the robber on his stomach for him to double down, perfect opportunity. He places his hands over the robber‘s shoulders and kicks him in the stomach continuously until he falls on his knees in surrender.
He throws one fast web and retrieves a pair of handcuffs from his sports bag by his orange pickup car. Handcuffing the robber‘s hands he lifts him up and holds him by the arms as he jumps on his car and further up. His webs catching him and dropping him throughout the way to the police station, the robber had tried pulling himself out of the grip.
“Better stay still or you‘ll die,“ he mutters over the swishing of air as he turns the familiar street before they land on top of one of the police officers' cars. The car honked its alarm at their arrival.
Jim Hopper strides out of the station, a coffee in hand and donut in the other - his moustache covered in crumbs.
“I told you not to land on my car, kid!“ he grumbles loudly, taking a last sip of his coffee before sighing at the mess in his hands. “Who do you have there?“
He squatts and pushes the robber in Hopper‘s direction for him to catch, he‘d like to scratch his head under that suffocating mask “A man, robbed a store and wanted to kill a woman“ he informs in routine - he always does this, catching the bad guys and dropping them one by one to Jim Hopper. The chief police officer that also happens to be dating his mom, although he doesn‘t know who he is - nobody does.
Not even his best friend.
“Nice, uh, job, kid“ it‘s all Hopper can manage to say in utter surprise
He just nods “Gotta go“ and jumps right as he throws a web to the edge of one of the building‘s roofs to propel himself through the air.
He twists in style, his wrists rotating in his own signature move - just like an artist fiddling with their pencils. The sun was setting by now, the orange dark hues lighting up New York‘s lands. A vibration on his thigh steals his attention, fuck!
He almost crashed against one building, luckily he got good reflexes. He pulls out his phone from his suit and reads the message that had caused the vibration.
MIKE: Wanna meet and play D&D? I got a cool campaign going on. I‘m either way by your house, your mom invited me. She‘s worried btw, where are you?
He exhales in exhaustion, don‘t get him wrong - he loves being Spider-man. Saving people from the bad forces, taking care of his favorite city, being physically strong and powerful. Being loved and appreciated no matter if he were gay and the rest of the world didn‘t know it because they didn‘t even know his own identity.
He types back messily.
WILL: Sorrry, was just doin some shoppung.
He whines at his spelling, he hates texting while swinging. Yet for Mike he‘d do anything. Who‘s Mike you might ask yourself? That‘s Will‘s best friend…yeah, the best friend he is in love with.
At that he notices the familiar ringtone of Paradise from Coldplay on his phone - his mom‘s name fat on the screen.
“Hello?“ he asks, flourishing the pronunciation just because he feels like it
“Will?“ her scaredy-worried voice asks, no matter how much Will assures her that he is safe “Sweetie, where are you? Mike‘s here and Jonathan just arrived, he told me you had gone grocery shopping but you had left for more than three hours“
Oh shit, what lie can I use now? He ponders as he stops by one of the tallest buildings, his left palm sticking to the wall and both feet too. He‘s half hanging half leaning into the building from a great amount of height. The bristle late summer air is warm, the few pigeons cooing around through the city, the bustling of New Yorkers dotting the streets.
“Uh…yeah, I guess I got too distracted…I stopped by the videogame store“ he lies, as per usual
“Oh, okay. Just, next time tell us exactly where you are, okay sweetie? We don‘t want you to…“ she trails off, it had always been hard for her to address the topic. There was once a time when Will had been kidnapped at the age of twelve, a gang of New York had kidnapped him in one of the dark alleys at night while he was riding his bike back home. He had been missing for one week until Mike and Jane - his adopted sister - had found him and called the police. That‘s also how Joyce had met Jim. She clears her throat “we don‘t want something bad happening to you again, alright?“
“Alright,“ he nods, taking his mask off with his free hand and looking around. Nobody‘s there, no sign of helicopters - good.
He somehow needed some air, and his mask had been suffocating lately.
“I‘ll be on my way in ten minutes“
“No, now.“ her mom‘s leading voice orders and he succumbs
“Okay, see you in five“
He hangs up and pulls the mask over his sweaty face, he must upgrade his mask. Maybe he‘ll tweak it during the weekend, or next week. He sighs and tries enjoying the last gulp of fresh air before being trapped under his mask. He pushes himself off from the building, his weight perfectly working with the aero dynamic of his suit, turning and doing some elegant backflips. This is his favorite part, the backflips. He‘d wished he could listen to music, but the last time he did his wired headphones had fallen on the floor and had been run over by a bus. And he isn‘t in the position to afford many things, his family is relatively poor. His mom has to work three different jobs, shuffling from shift to shift and taking a quick break on Fridays, which are her only free days. His brother is trying his hardest in college after he had gotten a scholarship, fortunately he is doing amazing with cinematography. Although he still tries pursuing his passion for photography, teaching Will some cool tricks with his cheap camera. His sister, Jane, had gotten an internship in one of the labs of Manhattan where she fed her curiosity about genetics.
He lands back on the hood of his car, his sports bag untouched. Looking around he makes sure no person is nearby to witness him, he changes quickly out of his suit behind his car. Stuffing his suit and mask into the sports bag and pulling messily his jeans over his toned legs, then a white plain t-shirt over his marked abs. He ruffles his sweaty hair while looking at the reflection from the side-view mirror, his t-shirt and pants are stained with some color blotches on some parts, though he doesn‘t mind much.
Closing the bag he gets in the car and drives off to his house. Copines by Aya Nakamura playing on the radio as he takes turns. He sings along since he is one of the top students in French class, remembering how Mike had once joked saying French sounded so romantic. Funny how Will had taken French classes only to sound romantic for Mike, how delusional.
He parks on the street before his apartment, grateful he had found an empty parking space. He shuts off the car he shares with his siblings, all of them taking turns in using it, and fishes his house keys out of his sports bag. Unlocking the door he closes it behind him and goes up the steps, three stairways up he reaches his house door. The dark green door is rare in these dull grey buildings, but it gives their house their own charm.
“Will!“ Jane rushes to him, hugging him and parting from the hug after some seconds “Did you buy some cheese?“ Her eyes gleam in hope under her aubergine-violet eyeshadow. Her messy brown waves had been lifted in places by tiny colorful claws, an african violet colored babydoll top over her long sleeved white top. A pair of faded flare grey jeans hugging her legs, handmade earrings and jewelry decorating her persona. She smelled strongly of roses and fruits since she mostly hangs out with Max by the fresh food market.
Shit, Will hadn‘t brought any groceries. Now his lies won‘t be plausible.
“Uh…sorry, I-I forgot the bag by the comic store“ he adds a lie to his lie
She screws her face in confusion “Didn‘t Joyce say you were by the videogame store?“
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Uh, yeah.“ he deadpans “I went to both places“ he prays to god she will believe him because this is too hard to believe
She eyes him with untrustfulness and doubt, yet she is interrupted by a boy.
A gorgeous boy, whose dark messy brown curls frame his face - his hair a bit longer during the summer and his bangs reaching his brown, mysterious eyes. His face is peppered in freckles, even more under the summer sun and still his face remains pale. The sharpness of his cheekbones could cut Will‘s lovesick heart in one go, his thin lips alluring to Will.
“Will!“ Mike beams as he hugs Will quickly “Finally, I‘ve been waiting for you two hours, man“
He raises his eyebrows “Really?“
“Yes,“ Jane intercedes, her voice annoyed by the lack of cheese in the house - probably for one of her experiments for the lab and some rats “he is too whiny“ she complains
“I am not!“ Mike scoffs “You better stop hanging out with Max, you‘re sounding just like her“
She smiles “Good, because at least she deigns to hang out with the whole group. Unlike you, Mr. I need to see Will“
Mike‘s cheeks earn a red shade that Will classifies as anger - though it isn‘t…
Will just stands there, flustered and tired. He‘s beat, his limbs hurting and the feeling of a headache slowly blooming in the back of his head.
“Come on, Mike. Let‘s go to my room,“ he intervened in their bickering as he takes Mike by the hand and drags him to his tiny room
He closes the door to his room, his tiny bed cramped between a night table and desk. The only window in the room just above his bed‘s headboard, the yellow sheets and blankets ruffled and twisted - from his nightly nightmares. His desk was another kind of nightmare too, littered with too many assignments and a low battery laptop. His art supplies hidden in many boxes under his bed, some of his sketches and drawings hung around on the light grey bricked walls. He opened the window as Mike slumped over on his bed, Will sat next to Mike - their knees brushing.
“I wasn‘t being whiny,“ Mike tells him to which Will laughs lightly as Mike‘s face flusters
“I didn‘t say anything, besides it‘s alright. I missed you too,“ they hadn‘t seen each other much during the summer since the Wheelers had gone to Florida to visit some relatives
Mike smiles, brightening Will‘s tired soul.
This had always been one of the things Will loved of Mike, the way he cured Will. Because he had some heavy trauma dragging on his weak shoulders. He might have not mentioned it, but when he was kidnapped he had been sexually assaulted, hit and starved. The state Mike and Jane had found him was somewhat embarrassing to him, even if he knew he hadn‘t done anything wrong. But still he believes he deserved it, that treatment, at least that‘s what the homophobic people told him. Some people have guessed he was gay, he hadn‘t fully come out to his friends, only his family knew he was into boys. And he knows it‘s not wrong, he just…hates how society made it look wrong. How he feels unsafe to walk around the streets and picture himself holding hands with Mike. They had found him pale, sweaty, clothes torn, hair messy, eyes bloodshot from crying and voice broken from screaming and shouting in an empty basement. Joyce had gone to the police, but nobody had caught the gang. Not until when Will was sixteen in one of his school trips he had been bitten by a radioactive spider, its intense yellow and blue colors shining. After that Will had learnt how to use his gift, he had created a costume and had earned a reputation when his first capture of bad guys had been the gang. He had found them, stalking around his house again. He beat them, using his fury and fear and channeling it into his punches and hits. He could have killed them - he almost killed them, until the police had arrived at the call of a noise complaint and arrested the gang.
He smiles softly at the uplifting atmosphere from Mike‘s presence.
“Will,“ Mike starts
“Yeah?“ he hums as he lays his back on his bed, his head hanging from the bed. Messy bangs falling unorganizedly
“We are gonna start school in three days,“ Mike says as he copies Will‘s position
“So?“ he turns his head to face Mike
He looks so cute from this position, he notes as Mike‘s bangs fall cutely due to gravity
“Um,“ Mike took a pause which worried Will slightly since he had never seen Mike so nervous before, unless he was holding a presentation in class - which he wasn‘t doing right now “I wanted, I mean I was thinking…we will have to choose our own subjects this year and I had been wondering if you‘d like for us to have the same subjects. You know,“ another awkward pause “to hang out more“
Will could have sworn the words to be together were about to leave Mike‘s lips.
“Yeah, of course“ he answers, his mind somewhere else.
Mike smiles brightly and nods to his desk, “Have you done homework?“
Will shoots a glance at his desk before returning to Mike “Nope, just some…personal stuff“ And by personal stuff he meant investigation of criminals in the city, to be honest, it was quite hard to track and stalk the police‘s searches. He wanted to make sure he knew everything they knew, so as to have the same chance to capture the criminals.
“Oh, okay“ Mike nods
An awkward silence settles over them, their hands are brushing slightly. They are after all laying on Will‘s tiny bed, nothing magical about it. Yet why does Will‘s heart race so furiously, so intensely at any touch from Mike?
Mike‘s eyes screw suddenly and Will‘s squirming under this sudden attention from him.
“What?“ he asks
Mike stretches his arm towards Will‘s jaw, his touch a millimeter from Will‘s skin “Did they punch you?“ he asks softly, anger hiding under that thin surface
Oh god. He had forgotten to cover his bruise with Jane‘s make up.
Will sits up quickly so as to change the angle of his face for Mike to stop seeing the bruise. He failed miserably as Mike had sat up too and taken Will gently by the jaw, at which Will‘s body froze in utter mesmerism.
Mike takes a closer look, his face inches from Will. He can feel his warm breath on his face, the slight tint of coffee and bubble gum wafting from Mike.
“So, what D&D campaign had you planned?“ he asks in order to break the silence
“Shh,“ Mike replies, placing light fingers over Will‘s jaw to test the gravity of it. Will winces slightly - it hurts a bit but it‘s nothing much compared to what he had gone through in other situations. “Answer my question, Will“
Mike sits back and they hold eye contact, the dark swirl of Mike‘s cocoa brown eyes and Will‘s hazel-earthy eyes crashing together. His puppy eyes melting Will‘s wired heart.
“Will“
He exhales and runs a shaky hand through his sweaty hair, gosh, he needs to take a shower immediately. “Yes, I got punched, Mike. Alright?“ He really wants to change the topic as soon as he can because he knows how stubborn Mike can be - worse if it is about Will.
“Who did it?“ Mike asks, concern and anger fading together in harmony
Will averted his eyes, feeling a hole burning in his chest by Mike’s stare. What lie can he use now? “Some random man,“ he tries feebly
Looking back he knows Mike didn‘t buy it, his I-know-you-are-lying-face etching his features “Really?“ he asks sarcastically “Did your bullies take a break?“ his features turn even more serious and sarcasm leaves his tone “Will, I know it wasn‘t some random man. Please tell me, who did this to you?“
Will hesitates, because he knows Mike, Mike who‘ll beat up any person harassing Will even if he‘ll lose in the fight and return to Will with a black eye.
“Mike,“ he fiddles with his bracelets. “it‘s fine. Just drop it, will you?“
Mike‘s about to protest when Joyce opens the door, her head tucked between the half-open door.
“Sorry, Will, can we talk?“ she whispers
He nods and throws a half apologetic look at Mike. It‘s not Mike‘s fault for him to care so much for Will, actually it‘s quite flattering and warms his broken heart a little. But Will really wanted to slip out from having to lie to Mike‘s face, he hates lying to him, just when Mike is only trying to protect him.
“What‘s wrong?“ he asks as he follows his mom through the tiny hallway to the cramped kitchen.
Jane and Jonathan were there too, sitting by the small table and looking worriedly at Will. Jonathan fiddles with a fork as Will takes a seat next to Jane, Joyce being the only one standing.
“I have some bad and good news,“ she informs them, the three of them sharing a look before returning their attention to their mother “which one do you want to hear first?“
“The bad news, always“ Jonathan mutters bitterly, the vague memory of Eddie‘s death in the back of their minds - Eddie had always said something about listening to the bad news first.
Eddie, their neighbor, had been murdered by the same gang that had gotten Will. Will still cries himself to sleep sometimes, the itchy guilt of not having caught the gang sooner crawling over his soul. He was fifteen when Eddie got killed, even worse on their own doorstep as Eddie was knocking on their door for help.
“Okay,“ their mother nods solemnly. Sadly a lot of bad things have happened to their family “the bad news are that the…gang…broke out of jail“ she looks as if she may cry, her eyes brimmed with concerned tears “So, Hopper and I thought of distributing you kids, for your safety“ she chokes out, sniffling and wiping her nose with her sleeve
They stare at her with soft compassionate eyes - imagine having three children going through so much trauma and you aren‘t able to protect them from all of the bad forces.
“Mom,“ Jonathan starts, getting up and placing his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them soothingly “come on, sit down“ he gives her his seat and leans over next to her on the counter
“Thanks,“ she mumbles “what I was saying, we decided to put you each in different places. Like that they won‘t know where you are. The good news is, you’ll be spending some time with your friends. Jonathan, honey, you‘ll be staying with Steve. Will, sweetie, you‘ll be with Mike. I already asked him and he told me it‘s absolutely fine for you to stay with them. Karen confirmed it with him, so there‘s no problem. And Jane, angel, Max offered for you to live with her for as long as it takes. I‘ll stay here, but don‘t worry, Hopper will move in with me temporarily to protect me. We just thought this was the best way.“
Will is speechless, his fists closed over his knees under the table. An undefined rage coursing through him, flashes of unwanted memories replaying in his head. “What do you mean the gang escaped?“ he asks, his sharp-edged voice cutting up his softness and letting his anger erupt
They all avoid Will‘s glare “They somehow got out, and for you to be safe I need you to stay close to your friends. Follow the rules and let them know where you are anytime.“ Joyce begs “Please, promise me you‘ll do it“
Will concedes his glaring, his anger should not be aimed towards his family but to the gang - which he‘ll find.
And probably kill this fucking time.
But Will isn‘t a killer…Is he?
“Okay,“ Jane‘s faint voice snaps Will from his thoughts “we promise, right guys?“
“Right“ Jonathan and Will nod weakly
At that Joyce‘s eyes relax and even a tiny smile replaces her pouted lips. “Thank you, now, you‘ll move out the day before starting school. I‘ll call you every day at ten o‘clock, alright?“
They nod again.
“How long will we be outside?“ Jane asks, curiosity enlacing her careful words
Joyce sighs as she pinches her nose in thought “I don‘t know…as long as they are out of jail“
Not long then, because I‘ll find them soon. Will thinks to himself as Jane mutters an ‘Okay‘.
“What are we having for dinner?“ Jonathan asks, changing the grim subject so as to uplift their mom‘s mood
Her eyes crinkle in gratefulness for the change “I was thinking of some pizza, mhmm?“ she says as she gets up and walks to pick her phone up from the counter “I could call Argyle and tell him to drop them by.“
“Sure,“ Jane and Will agree and get up
“I‘m gonna go back to my room“ he announces as he leaves his family back in the kitchen
It‘s like his nightmares and trauma had teamed up and decided on haunting Will, not that they don‘t already do that. But now it‘s real, they are out of jail.
God dammit.
About to open it, the door opens rushedly from the inside. Mike is standing there, his eyes nervous and hair messy - presumably from fiddling with it while Will was talking with his family.
“So, you heard?“ he asks, his hand still on the doorknob of Will‘s bedroom door
“Yeah, can I come in?“ he points at his room, Mike being the obstacle between the door to his room
“Oh sure,“ Mike nods embarrassedly
They both sit on his bed, their legs crossed. Mike‘s tapping at his own knee in his anxious way while Will is completely lost in thought.
“How long have you known?“ he asks, Mike‘s eyes snapping up to look at Will
“What?“
“How long have you known they broke out of jail?“
“Today morning I got the call,“ he shrugs
So they have been free for a whole day. I was outside right now! Why didn‘t I see them?
“Will, are you okay?“ it‘s Mike‘s voice saving Will from his drowning anger
“No, how am I supposed to be okay? They are walking around freely, roaming New York, Mike. How am I supposed to act knowing those assholes are out there?“ he hissed
“I know you won‘t be super happy, Will. Jeez, I meant how you are feeling about knowing that they are out there. Like, are you angry? Worried? Scared?“
“I‘m-“ he‘s about to snap something rudely at him, although Mike doesn‘t deserve to be whiplashed by his anger. Instead he mumbles tiredly “I‘m tired, sick of knowing they are still walking on this earth“
Which is the truth.
Mike‘s eyes lose their edge and soften, he places a hand on Will‘s pained shoulder. Squeezing it in reassurance he whispers “They‘ll be gone, soon hopefully“ the last bit he says it to himself, his eyes casting that far away look
Will smiles “Thanks, for also letting me crash with you“
“Of course! We get to hang out 24/7,“ he smiles wickedly, glad to be allowed to cheer Will up “I‘m gonna organize some plans for us. You know, new campaigns and buy some comics“ his smile brightens Will‘s low energy
“Yeah, that‘d be nice“
꩜ ꩜ ꩜
“Get the boy, he‘s a weak one“ one of the men snickers
Masked faces hover over him, the night not helping him get a glimpse of their faces or features. He‘s back again at the place he was kidnapped, in that dark alley. He has been knocked down from his bike, like when he was twelve years old. Although in the dream he owns his sixteen year old body and the clothes he had worn that day. He‘s slumped over on the concrete, his bike a couple of meters away, the broken light flickering.
His head pounds, he feels the cold trickle of blood on his lips. A whimper escapes his lips. The men snicker, pulling him up from his arms violently and dragging him to a mini black van. He starts screaming, thrashing around and fighting at the same time the stinging tears.
Throwing him into the van he closes his eyes, knowing he‘ll soon be lost - knowing he‘ll soon no longer breathe. The ride is quick for his liking, the same routine of dragging happens as they bring him into the empty building all the way down to the basement. There‘s no one there, no other trace of other children, nothing. Just him and those criminals. His body shakes and one takes his mask off, a nasty cut above his thin lips. His grey eyes devoid of pity and smile shameless at this situation.
“What should we do to him?“ his voice rasps, he turns around to the others, his dark silky black hair flapping in sync.
“I‘d like to experiment a bit,“ a second man pitches, his voice hungry for something Will doesn‘t want to know
“Easy, Gray. Let him suffer a bit before he turns into your treat“ this man, the leader as Will guessed, steps up in front of Will. His grey short hair is the only thing visible from his face, that and his cruel eyes.
His hazel eyes resemble Will‘s. It‘s like looking into a twisted mirror that drained Will‘s fear and shaped it into cruelty.
Gray pulls a hammer from a nearby drawer, dry blood coating it. Will registers what‘s about to happen just as they near him, hammer in hand.
“Go away! No! Go away! Go away!“ he screams helplessly as they take him by his arms and-
“Will, it‘s me, don‘t worry“ Jane took him by his shoulders, her voice merely a whisper
Confusion clouds him “Where am I?“ he feels the heaviness of his tears coat his cheeks, the darkness of night uncomfortable over his bare, sweaty back. He finally realizes where he is and apologizes ashamedly “Sorry, it was just a nightmare“
He can make out Jane‘s sad eyes thanks to the dim street lights that make their way through his window. “Don‘t be, you shouldn‘t be. It isn‘t your fault,“
He sniffles, wiping at his nose and then his eyes “Did I scream?“ he hates waking his family up due to his nightmares
“No, you just mumbled loudly and whimpered. I heard you because I was getting a glass of milk“ she assures him
“Oh, okay. Thanks,“ he says awkwardly
“You're welcome, do you want me to sleep here?“ she offers
He thinks it over, he doesn‘t want to be a burden to his sister yet she offered and maybe if he sleeps with company he won‘t scream and wake the others up “Yes, please“ unable to contain the helplessness in his strained voice
She nods warmly and he scoots over to give her some space, they lay down facing each other. She twirls one of Will‘s strands of hair, “It‘ll all soon be solved, trust me“ she soothes as Will falls impressively into an easy sleep
꩜ ꩜ ꩜
“Will! Jane! Jonathan! Up, up, up!“ their mom‘s voice shouts from the kitchen
He groans as he pulls the blanket off of him, the fresh cold air tickling his bare skin. The side of his bed is empty, Jane must have gone over to her room after making sure Will was sleeping. He can make out the low whine roll off Jane‘s lips through the hallway and the bump of Jonathan‘s clumsy feet against the furniture, followed by cursing under his breath.
They all meet by the kitchen, this is their last day together until those assholes get caught. And the following day will be Will and Jane‘s first back to school day. Last year of school, since they are seniors. He wonders whether his bullies will finally give up the act of harassing him and let it all be - which he doubts.
“Good morning,“ he grits out, a strong headache building up behind his eyelids
“Good morning!“ Joyce smiles warmly as she hands a cup of hot chocolate and a toast to Will
He sits and munches on the bread, Jane wolfing down her cereals in hurry and Jonathan drinking his coffee tranquilly in the corner.
“When is Mike gonna pick me up?“ he wonders, taking a sip of his hot chocolate and letting the warmth of his comfort drink shield him from his nightmares
“He told me he was going to come by in ten minutes,“ she answers casually
He sputters the hot chocolate “Ten minutes? I just woke up!“ He looks up in shock “Why so early?“
“Dunno, probs to spend some time with you“ Jane intercepts teasingly
“Jane!“ he scolds embarrassedly - Jane and Jonathan are the only ones knowing of Will‘s crush on Mike. Although they think it‘s just a crush, unlike Will who knows he had fallen in love, where he‘d do anything for Mike.
“Doesn‘t matter,“ Jonathan mumbles, “you better get ready.“
“Yeah,“ Will nods and kisses his mother on the cheek muttering a thanks.
He walks up to his room, his bags are packed and school stuff as well. He changes rushedly into a pair of jeans, a David Bowie t-shirt and a zip up red hoodie over it. The weather‘s getting colder, now that September is growing on in New York.
The bell to the building rings, a shuffling of steps and the distant sound of his brother asking ‘Who?‘. The buzzer is heard, which means Mike is already there. Will runs to the bathroom and checks his appearance in the mirror, ruffling his hair to try and look cooler, watching out for any piece of food stuck in his teeth and giving himself a tiny nod of confidence.
Mike‘s in the threshold holding up a comic in one hand and a bright, excited smile on his face. His dark eyes gleam with happiness - not at the situation but rather at the fact that they‘ll be living together.
“Good morning,“ he smiles back, Mike hugs him.
He smells so good, god, how am I going to survive living with him? And hiding my secret…
“Morning,“ he replies as they break from the hug - he‘s already missing the warmth of Mike‘s arms around him. “You ready?“
“Yeah, just let me get my things“
“No, I‘ll get them. You go and say goodbye to the rest“ he leaves Will little time to protest since he is already walking past him towards Will‘s room.
Will follows Mike‘s orders and goes back to the kitchen.
“I have to go,“ he fights down the urge to cry, he tends to cry easily which he had always despised - that usually looks weak according to the people. They hug him, the hug lasting long “I love you guys“ he lets a tear slip his closed eyes
“We love you too“ they all answer in unison, a laugh escapes them and they part from the hug. Joyce‘s eyes are teary and Jane‘s as well, Jonathan who‘s more the reserved kind smiles weakly even if Will knows he‘ll cry later on at night.
“Be careful, sweetie.“ Joyce warns
“Yes, mom“
“And watch out where you are going,“
“Yes,“ he lists off her worries like a to-do list
“And stay by Mike‘s side, please“
Don‘t worry, that won‘t be a problem.
“Yup,“
“And-“
“Mom,“ he cuts her, his arms over hers and smiling comfortingly “I‘ll take care. And you too, be careful“
She smiles weakly, tears glistening in her eyes “Oh honey, I love you so much“
“Love you too,“
A knock on the door frame “You done?“ Mike asks shyly, Will‘s bags slinged over Mike‘s shoulders
“Yeah,“ he walks over to Mike, casting a last loving look at his family before walking to the door with Mike guiding him
After placing all of his bags in the trunk of Mike‘s car they get inside and secure their seatbelts, the bright, peaceful sun rising over the tall buildings.
Mike starts the car and drives. The Byers‘ don‘t live so far away from the Wheelers, just a couple of blocks away. The ride is quiet, calming in some weird way, low music filling their silence up. At one traffic light stop Mike opens the glove compartment and tosses the comic he had in hand earlier that morning at Will.
“What‘s this?“ he asks curiously
Mike keeps his eyes on the road, a tiny smile tucked at his stunningly, unapproachable lips. “Just a welcoming gift,“ he says nonchalantly
Will smirks at the cover, it‘s the new comic they‘ve been waiting for! Since they were little kids they have been collecting all sorts of Marvel and DC comics, discussing which superhero could beat the other. Aside from that, D&D and videogames had patched up their interests from such a young age. After turning eleven years old Will had discovered his blazing passion for art and at the age of fourteen Mike had accepted his doted skills at writing. Their interests may vary much, but their relationship will never waver.
“I can‘t believe you got it!“ Will squeals, his eyes wide with amazement “Where did you get it?“ he asks eagerly, looking over at Mike
He shrugs mysteriously “I won‘t tell you,“ teasing dangerously
Will huffs and hits Mike lightly with the comic rolled on his shoulder.
“Ouch“ Mike mocks, his smile unfazed by the hit
“Why not?“ Will falls into the teasing “What if I want to buy you a secret present too?“
Mike‘s lips seal in thought, they make a turn and drive by Mike‘s street. “Because,“ he says distractedly by the road “you won‘t need to buy me a present“
“Uh, yes?“ He rolls his eyes “What if I want to buy you a gift for letting me live with you? Or your birthday?“
Mike‘s tone had lost its teasing and earned a deeper serious tone “You won‘t buy me a present there, it‘s dangerous for you to leave my side“ he eyes Will quickly before returning his eyes to the road “And besides, the only present I need is you. Staying with me is already the best thing that could happen to me“
Will‘s speechless, gaping at Mike who was too oblivious of the sentence he had thrown at Will.
The only present I need is you. Staying with me is already the best thing that could happen to me. Hello? Did he listen right or is he hallucinating? Has he died in an accident and trespassed into heaven‘s doors or is this real? No, this must be real since Mike is not showing any reaction to his flattering words.
“What do you mean dangerous? Spider-man is out there, he can find the gang in a day“ Will tries redirecting their mood into a teasing-playful one, hoping he can get those assholes out of his head as long as he can before the night falls
“Spider-man is useless,“ Mike rolls his eyes as they park into the Wheeler‘s parking space. He shuts the car off and looks at Will with annoyed eyes “you are too obsessed with him. He is fucking useless, because if he were so amazing as you say then he would have been there to save you from that gang. And he didn‘t so don‘t come up with that bullshit of spider-man, it gets on my nerves“ he sighs
“It wasn‘t his fault,“ Will states softly “maybe he wasn‘t even there when that happened“
“How convenient of him,“ Mike scoffs and clears his head, his eyes tired of this conversation “let‘s go. I don‘t wanna keep talking about him“
Will who was left there sitting alone as Mike had gotten out of the car, looks over at the rearview mirror. Why does Mike hate him so much?
Okay, Mike doesn’t know that Spider-man is Will - yet that doesn‘t make him feel less targeted by him. What is Mike so mad about? It really wasn‘t Spider-man‘s fault for not being there to save Will, because Will had turned into Spider-man just four years after the attack.
He sighs and leaves the car, following Mike as he enters the house with the bags over his shoulders. The Wheelers live in a completely opposite house from the Byers - for all means they earn a lot of money, unpreoccupied with their purchases. They don‘t live in a tiny, cramped apartment like the Byers do, but in a two storey high house with a basement included. The faint smell of pancakes infiltrates into Will‘s lungs, his stomach rumbling for more food. They take their shoes and jackets off and place them carefully by the threshold, making their way to the impeccably clean kitchen where Karen Wheeler is. She‘s cooking pancakes, making sense due to the smell, and some fried eggs to it. On the left by the open living room, Ted Wheeler is slumped on the couch reading with pursed lips his daily newspapers that are mostly written by Nancy Wheeler.
Nancy, Mike‘s oldest sister and Jonathan‘s girlfriend, has been working in New York‘s newspaper for over three years. Starting as an apprentice until she clawed her way up to being an editor and holding the reins of power there. She‘s quite impressive, and intimidating if Will may admit, though she‘s still a great person fighting for justice which Will admires for. You can always see her at any protest march for Black Lives Matter, Women‘s rights and even Gay‘s rights. Holding inspiring speeches in places that allow her to and trying her best to change lives for the better.
Karen turns around, her blond wavy hair pulled into a half-up half-down hairstyle - she changes her hair weekly in the hairstylist. Her blue eyeshadowed eyelids fluttering at Will‘s presence, her red stained lips smiling welcomely.
“Will!“ she strides to him and hugs him, leaving him little chance to breathe before she breaks the hug “I‘m so happy you are here, obviously not under those circumstances…“ her eyes earn that serious Wheeler power until they soften back again on Will‘s face “But you‘ll have a great time here, honey“
Will loves how his mom and Mike‘s are always in sync with their nicknames towards their children or children‘s friends.
“Thank you, a lot, for letting me stay here“ he says truthfully
“Nonsense,“ she waves a modest hand “it‘s fun having you around. You know, you are always welcome at our house. Even if you and Mike have a fight,“ she smiles as Mike scoffs in the distance muttering ‘We don‘t fight‘ “Come now, have some breakfast. I made pancakes,“ she brightens everybody‘s moods, making Will forget about his recent problems.
“Mom,“ Mike whines by the stairs “we were going to my room“
Karen rolls her eyes at Will, smiling at him radiatingly “Don‘t listen to him, you stay here and have some breakfast. Later you can go to his room“
Will nods shyly, he can never deny Mrs.Wheeler‘s food. His mouth is also watering at the prospect of a full belly and pleasing his taste buds.
꩜ ꩜ ꩜
“I‘m going for a walk,“ he announces as he juggles his borrowed keys from his military green messenger bag
About to open the door a hand clamps over his bicep, turning around he sees Mike “Woah, where do you think you‘re going?“
He shrugs, “For a walk, like I said“ truly that‘s not at all why he‘s going outside. He‘s Spider-man, he has to leave his house every day to check up on New York and its people - people count on him.
“Uh no you‘re not,“ Mike crosses his arms before his chest in a demanding way, raising his eyebrows “have you not heard about the gang? I can‘t let you go for a walk, at least alone“
Fuck his life, from all days - truly - he had to be tied to Mike when he has to go and save the city.
He might as well improvise it all “Sure, come with me. But be quick,“
Mike casts a confused look, “Why this sudden rush?“
“‘Cause I‘m going to visit…Dust-dustin“ he stutters, he hopes that‘s a well-thought lie
Mike on the other hand, is quite gullible in this kind of thing, which Will is grateful for. “Okay, just let me tell my mom“
Will nods and waits for him by the door, nothing is going the way he wants it to. The gang wasn‘t supposed to leave prison, Will and his friends weren‘t supposed to suffer from bullying, and Will wasn‘t supposed to fall in love with Mike. Yet it all happened, and Will can‘t change it. Listen, Will had tried fiercely - many times - to forget about Mike, to stop looking and thinking about him that way. And he can‘t, it‘s something natural to him, sickly in other people‘s eyes. Though Will can‘t comprehend why people hate on homosexual people, love is love, right? What does it matter if you love a person with the same gender as you? Is it that bad? Why is it a sin to love somebody? The thoughts still claw at his heart, the unfairness of it channeling his anger to his punches whenever he fights a criminal.
“I‘m ready,“ Mike states, a book bag slinged over his shoulder. He was wearing a white simple t-shirt with a pair of black jeans and black converse, a bomber jacket hugging his figure beautifully.
Will has to snap himself from staring too long at Mike‘s sharp cheekbones, at his dark mysterious, coffee brown eyes. The deity of it all being his unapproachable lips…
Their steps are constant, never faltering, taking turns and their speed catching up. In less than fifteen minutes they find themselves standing before Dustin‘s house. Dustin, who lives in a one floor house next to their school, opens the door with surprise etched on his features.
“Guys!“ he beams, “What are you doing here?“
Mike eyes Will but he shrugs Mike‘s stare like an old memory “Visiting you,“ he smiles weakly
Luckily, Dustin doesn‘t give it a second thought and ushers them into his house. “Mom‘s in the living room, watch out for Mews and Tews, those rascals have been fighting these days. I‘ll come back in one minute,“
They nod as they tread their way to Dustin‘s room, stopping briefly in the living room to greet Mrs. Henderson.
“So, why were you planning on coming here?“ Mike asks curiously, throwing his book bag on Dustin‘s bed and sitting next to Will on the floor, their backs against the bed
“Uhm, to read comics, and spend some time with Dustin…we haven‘t seen him much during the summer“ he tries weakly, itching to jump out of the window and watch out for criminals
“Huh,“ Mike adds, his voice sending Will the message that he doesn‘t believe him - though he doesn‘t care right now
“Okay, I‘m back!“ Dustin cheers, his bright smile calms Will‘s heart a bit “What do you want to do? Read some comics? Or perhaps start a new campaign?“ he teases enthusiastically, raising his eyebrows convincingly
“Without Lucas? I don‘t think so,“ Mike pipes in, clearly moody
“And don‘t forget Max,“ Dustin corrects him
“Yeah, yeah“ Mike replies rolling his eyes at the mention of Max
“Which comics do you have?“ Will asks, so as to distract them
“Oh! I‘ve got a sweet collection Steve has dropped by from the store,“
Steve and Robin - friends of them - worked in a comic store nearby, which got them discounts to buy comics. And the party used many and many of those discounts.
“I‘m going to the bathroom, I won‘t take long“ he hopes
“Okay,“ Dustin answers distractedly, ruffling through his drawers from the comics “Are you gonna sit there or help?“ Will hears Dustin scolding Mike who huffs in annoyment
This is it, he has to do it quickly or else he‘ll be in huge trouble. His plan isn‘t as well thought as others yet it could still work if he hurries. The plan consisted of sneaking out of the window, changing in one of the alleys to his Spider-man suit and doing a quick check-up of New York. Sadly he won‘t be able to catch the gang during the day…perhaps at night if he scuttles out of the window in the Wheeler‘s bathroom.
Locking the door to the bathroom he cracks open the window and looks around in case some nosy neighbors had their faces out of the windows - the coast was clear, good.
He takes a deep breath, struggling out of the tiny window and jumping off on the ground - he is glad Dustin lives in a one-floor house and not an apartment. He couldn‘t allow himself attention, plus seeing a teenager sneak out of a window is quite common in New York.
He runs up to an alley, following his usual routine although now with extra rush. Having changed into his suit and slinged his bag over his shoulder he climbed over the wall and jumped off the building.
The webs coming out from his wrists stretched at the pulls, bringing him higher into the air and allowing the aerodynamic suit to speed up his way. His eyes roam the city, observant and cautious, looking for any sign of danger or mistreatment. And since it‘s New York, of course there has to be somewhere.
Criminal one spotted next to the comic store. Twisting and doing some backflips in the way he lands on his feet, his knees folded and arms outstretched - what? He likes posing sometimes, it gives a bit of flare to his routine. The man was dressed all in black, a mask covering his features though Will recognized him - by the small burn on his bare right wrist.
One of the men from the gang.
Oh this is going to be quick. Anger ignited his heart.
The man - Rudy - as Will had heard when they had kidnapped him, was cornering a woman against the comic store which was right next to a jewelry shop.
“No!“ the woman kept shouting, though it was barely audible over the crowd‘s noise and everybody was minding their own business
“Leave her alone,“ he seethed just as he pried the man from the woman and turned him to throw a punch
His jaw cracked under the force of the hit, the woman scrambled away in zero hesitation to leave Spider-man alone with the criminal.
The man massaged his jaw and looked up angrily, his deep, sapphire blue eyes nauseating to Will.
“Or what? Are you going to kill me?“ Rudy snapped back, poisonous words lacing his voice
“Yeah, I guess I will“ anger replies for Will and without further ado Rudy throws a punch on Will‘s gut who doubles over in pain
Breath taken away and doubled over, the man starts running away, making his way to an alley. But Will won‘t allow himself to have a slip up, he opens the door to the comic store quickly and drops his bag in a corner. He runs after the man who had gained some distance between them, the man taking swift turns and disappearing into an alley - Will follows him steadily.
However, he didn‘t expect what was going to happen now. A group of men came out of nowhere and hit Will on the head with a metal bar, forcing him to fall backwards on the ground, his back hitting the hard floor. His head ached, stars swimming behind his closed eyelids. And sadly when he opened his eyes to keep fighting, the gang had disappeared. Vanished somewhere else, probably hid in their own guarded hide spot.
“Shit,“ Will hisses at himself, clutching at his head in the throbbing pain
He loathes everything, he had them - so close. And now they are gone, scuttling back into their own little cave. Unfortunately Will doesn‘t have the time he‘d normally have to investigate the surroundings and whereabouts of the gang, he has to get back to his friends or they‘ll be worried sick.
Huffing in anger, Will gets up slowly, his head spinning as he takes weak steps back to the comic store. There he retrieves his bag without anyone noticing, and determinedly makes his way back to Dustin‘s house - the first half of the way walking until he feels better to swing.
He had already changed into his normal clothes, wishing he could summon an ice pack from his bag and relieve his head. And adding to his anger, the window had been closed - and adding to all of his problems, a furious Mike stands right before the entrance door. His hands on hips and looking daggers at Will who shuffled towards him.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?“ Mike asks, anger seeping at his words “Where were you? Why did you leave?“
Will honestly had no time nor energy to explain how he had been too dumb to let a member of the gang run on the loose under his watch. So, instead he huffed and replied as calmly as his beating heart let him. “I went to, um, to my house. I had forgotten something, I was gonna get back to you guys in an instant. Nothing happened to me, I swear“
Mike takes a step closer, startling Will and rooting him to his spot. Their faces were inches from another, he could feel the heat radiating from Mike‘s body. His breath hitched, not knowing what Mike was about to do.
Though he‘d wished he didn‘t, because hearing Mike‘s hurt words inflicted more pain to him than his own mistake earlier “Why are you lying? I thought friends don‘t lie,“ he mumbled their friend motto, the one and only rule in their party “and something clearly happened to you. There‘s a new bruise on your head“ he states, brushing his finger over the place Will had gotten hit on his head - he flinched from the touch, it hurt like running over glass barefoot.
Mike winced, seeing Will in pain and knowing he was lying. And Will would wish he didn‘t have to, but his life is more complicated than he‘d expected.
“I don‘t know why,“ Mike starts softly, his eyes excruciatingly etched with pain, observing Will from a closer look “it feels like you are hiding something, from me. I thought we were best friends, Will. I really thought that,“ he looks down and back up, starting to walk backwards and then turning around heading to Dustin‘s house door.
He didn‘t even let Will explain himself, though what can Will say? Other than the truth? It was eating him up, making Mike feel as if he didn‘t cherish their friendship, making Mike worried sick for his safety or just making Mike doubt what he was doing.
Glumly, Will followed Mike‘s steps and entered Dustin‘s home. Mike had told Dustin they had to leave, which Dustin didn‘t mind much - luckily for Will, Dustin didn‘t know about Will‘s little escape. And didn‘t give it a second thought much, unlike Mike who had been avoiding Will‘s pleading gaze.
The only thing left is to give Mike space, even if Will knows how that‘ll only make things worse. After having bid goodbye to Dustin, the pair of them walked back to the Wheeler‘s house - night was draping its twinkly stars over their almost dark sky.
Their steps were quiet, the streets surprisingly almost empty and the soft night breeze the only thing patching up the atrocious silence between them. Mike sulked the whole way, his head downwards and only looking at his shoes. Will kept his gaze on him, sometimes taking a look around to make sure no problems surfaced on the streets.
“Mike…“ he tried helplessly, he truly didn‘t want to sleep knowing Mike hated him
“Leave it, Will.“ he answered drily, his gaze not lifting to meet Will‘s
His day was a shit, first losing one of the gang members and now having Mike be mad at him.
Unfortunately, this day couldn‘t get better.
Troy and James - two of their major bullies - were walking up to them. Smugness smeared on their faces, sneers replacing their lips.
Fuck.
Why do they have to come now? Will thinks to himself, annoyedly.
The sky is dark, the streets startlingly empty, the dotted stars useless to come to their aid. Will could fight them, he‘d win easily, but he can‘t show off his powers or strength before Mike. So he does his best to duck his head, Mike doing as well, as they try walking past the two boys.
Boy are they unlucky in life.
The bullies walk up to them, passing them - at least that‘s what they thought.
Troy knocks Will to the ground with his shoulder, snickering. He falls on his elbows and butt, his clothes wet from the puddle he had fallen on. It happens fast enough for a normal person to not notice, but with his spider-senses he catches it all.
How Mike purses his lips in anger, how he pushes Troy with both hands and shoves him against the wall of the street. How he punches Troy squarely on the jaw, knocking the consciousness from him for a while. Sadly, Troy wasn‘t alone. James came from behind and hurled Mike from his shoulders to the floor, Mike‘s head meeting the concrete.
“Mike!“ a scream rips out from him. He staggers towards Mike, a foot stepping over his hand, inducing pain into his body.
James chuckles darkly “Crawling back to your boyfriend, fairy?“
Okay, that‘s enough.
Mike‘s unconscious anyways, so he might as well hit the shit out of those assholes. He gets swiftly up, his arm arching into a hook and releasing the hit into James‘ ugly sneer. He punches multiple times until a pair of hands pry him away from behind, the last glimpse he gets is a dazed James clutching at his nose that was flowing with uncontrollable blood - his face in utter fear. He turns around to see the body belonging to the pair of hands, Troy drawled “You gay bitch!“ before he kicked Will into his guts, knocking the air out of his lungs.
Why do they always hit him in the gut? They surely haven‘t got any creative moves.
He doubles over, his eyes observing the movement coming off from Troy‘s legs - he‘s about to kick him again. But Will is faster, quicker, steadier due to the anger surging in him. He moves to the side and pushes Troy onto the floor, physics aiding him in the fight. Slumped on the floor, Troy looks up with a blooming bruise on his jaw from Mike‘s punch. Will takes zero pity before kicking his stomach with his right foot, leaving Troy there to hold his stomach and groan in pain.
“Leave us the fuck alone,“ he mumbles angrily before taking up Mike‘s arms and draping them over his shoulders.
Leaving the bullies on the floor in pain, he walks to one of the dark alleys, checking there‘s no one to look at them. He takes a look at Mike, he‘s been knocked out, his breath steady yet eyes closed.
He‘d fucking kill them if it weren‘t for his moral rules, sometimes he wonders whether Spider-man should be a hero or become the villain. Because sometimes it‘d become all much easier.
At the mention of Spider-man he gets an idea, he places Mike carefully on the floor and moves over to the side. He changes quickly into his Spider-man suit, it‘s mainly black with yellow-goldenish lines running up on his body. A human-like yellow spider on his chest, the eyes of his mask wide enough to let him see. The suit fits him perfectly, elastic and flexible - what pisses him off sometimes is the suffocating responsibility of wearing the mask.
Stuffing his clothes into his bag he mumbles quietly to the unconscious Mike on the floor “C‘mon,“
He cradles him, making sure he‘s secured in his arms before jumping up onto a wall and climbing it. His palms and feet are gluing to the wall and acting like scotch tape. Mike‘s light, his weight quite comfortable to carry, his skin is cold to the touch.
Once on top of the building he jumps and swings with the webs protruding from his wrists, holding Mike tightly. The night air whooshes in their ears, the air flapping Mike‘s jacket and hair. He hates this, hates how people hurt Mike.
How he also hurts Mike by lying.
And that‘s one of the reasons why he hadn‘t told Mike about his secret identity, he was already being targeted without even knowing who Spider-man was. Imagine if he knew…He hates how Mike can‘t walk in peace around, he and Mike had talked once about moving away when they were old enough. Moving far away into a small town, away from the complications of New York.
He lands softly on a tall building, the city’s lights sparkling and sounds of honks and people walking by. He’s holding Mike bridal style, his head dangling from his arm, his eyes peaceful. That‘s when he sees the blood trickling from Mike‘s forehead, he might have a concussion. Shit.
Shaking Mike he holds his breath in anticipation, scared Mike might be too deeply lost in sleep. His eyes flutter slowly open, his brown irises adjusting to the darkness. Once he registers where he is he flinches from Will‘s arms, almost rolling over if it weren‘t for Will‘s strong hold on him.
“What-where is Will?“ it‘s his first coherent thought, instead of asking where he is or why he is there he asks where Will is.
Funny…
“Uh, your friend Will is safe. I brought him to another place,“ he tries his best to mask his voice into a low grunt
Mike‘s eyes dart to their surroundings, the cold breeze ruffling his wild locks. Will realizes how uncomfortable it might be for Mike so he settles Mike next to him, both boys sitting on the top of the building, their legs dangling from the edge.
Mike takes a shaky breath, the blood from his brow coating his right eyelid. “So, why are you here?“
Will genuinely gawks at him, what kind of questions are those? Isn‘t he supposed to worry about himself? To ask what happened?
Confused, he tries answering with his low masked voice “I saw you and your friend in trouble, and decided to save you. Your friend…Will, is safe somewhere else. He asked me to take you away to check up on you, he was really scared“ he says the last part in his soft voice, meaning it
Mike looks thoughtfully into the night, Will doesn‘t ignore the slight trembling in his body. The night is bitterly cold, gnawing at their skin. He‘s about to try and comfort Mike but is cut off by a snapping Mike who had turned on him “Where did you leave Will? Are you out of your mind? He could be in danger! Are you so useless as to not know about the gang?“ he scoffs, shoving Will on the shoulder with anger “And where the hell were you when we actually needed you? Huh? You shouldn‘t call yourself a superhero if you can‘t even save a twelve year old!“ he had started hitting him, his hands flying messily and hitting whatever spot they met. His anger had unraveled, like a snowball preparing to roll on the loose.
It doesn‘t hurt, honestly, it‘s just devastating to see. Mike raging out and shouting at Will - well, Spider-man. What breaks Will even more is when he makes out the glint under Mike‘s eyes, silent tears streaming down his eyes. He starts sobbing as Will had scooted over to hug him, Mike had given up on hitting and was clutching Will‘s broad shoulders, holding onto dear life.
“I‘m sorry,“ he mutters, his voice frail “I should have been there“ which is true, it‘d have been much easier if Spider-man had been there when Will truly needed him. But he wasn‘t, and the past can‘t be goddamn changed. “But I hadn‘t gotten my abilities then, if I knew…I would have saved your friend“
Mike sniffles and breaks from the hug, suddenly too aware of his meltdown. Embarrassed by it he turns his face for the cold air to sober his feelings up, he wipes at his face. An awkward silence lingers, a few minutes passing while Mike hides his face from Will.
And after Mike felt better, he turned to look at Will - Spider-man - his eyes red from crying and one covered in dry blood from his wound.
“I didn‘t know that,“ he admits ashamedly, rubbing his hands together for some warmth
“It‘s okay, it‘s not your fault“ he comforts, placing a hesitating hand over Mike‘s shoulder
Mike exhales and glances back at Spider-man curiously “When did you get your…abilites?“
“When I was sixteen,“ he answers calmly
Mike nods to himself, Will‘s scared he might do the math and realize Will is actually Spider-man. Thus he changes the topic “Do you feel better? So I can bring you to your home,“
Mike nods slowly, wiping at his eyes one last time and getting his sleeve stained with some bits of undried blood. Will gets up and helps Mike up too, about to take Mike in his arms Mike stops him pointing at his bag.
“My friend Will has the same bag,“ he says in disbelief
Shit, how can he save himself out of this one?
“Really?“ he tries weakly
“Mhmm,“ Mike nods “maybe he bought it in the same store“
Geez, and here he was worrying about Mike making the math when he clearly was as oblivious as an ant.
Will is immediately shy at touching Mike. “Um, you have to hold onto me“ he deadpans, of course dummy! What else would Mike do?
Mike nods and wraps his arms around Will‘s neck, his arms encasing Mike so as to not let him fall. “Ready?“ he asks breathless, drunk at the touch of Mike
“Mhmm,“ he hums, closing his eyes - Mike is afraid of heights
Will jumps off the building and is met with two things:
One, Mike‘s loud screaming that almost broke his eardrum on the way.
Two, Mike wrapped his lanky legs around Will‘s torso. His body heating up at the touch, his skin inching to touch Mike‘s bare.
He swings, the wind whistling and Mike‘s hair ruffled with each movement, his clothes flapping and rustled. After some swings and jumps he lands quietly just before the Wheeler‘s house, loosening his grip on Mike and giving him freedom to walk. Mike excuses himself and walks up to behind their trash can to throw up, the retching sounds filling the silent night. Will stands there awkwardly before Mike returns, wiping at his mouth. And still Will would very much like to kiss that mouth…
“Thank you,“ he mumbles uncomfortably, his eyes avoidant
“You‘re welcome,“ Will replies “and I‘ll bring Will“
“Thanks,“ a pause, why isn‘t Mike leaving? His eyes meet Will‘s, suspicion coating his brown irises “How did you know where I live?“
God, why can‘t Will make a good lie?
“I-I, I mean, Will your friend told me where you lived.“ he hopes to any god there is that Mike buys that incredulous lie
Just this time, I swear I‘ll stop lying. He begs in his mind - though we all know that‘s also a lie.
Mike simply nods, turning around and entering his house. He closes the door on Spider-man‘s face.
Well, that went well. That wasn‘t so hard, right?
He loses no time on pulling his clothes from his bag and scurrying off behind the trash cans that reek of vomit. He changes into his old outfit, hiding his suit deep down.
Taking a deep breath he opens the door to the house, everything is too quiet, too calm. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler must be sleeping, Holly as well. And Mike must be off in his room getting ready to sleep.
He steps a bit further into the house before he is met with an accusation “Where were you?“
He turns around to find not Mike but Nancy sitting on one of the kitchen stools, a newspaper on the counter and computer open - filled probably with research. Her hair was held by a bunch of bobby pins on the sides, taking her bangs aside and allowing her piercing brown eyes to see right through Will.
He swallows down what is anxiety - lying to Mike is easy, he believes almost everything Will says but Nancy? That‘s another story “We were by Dustin‘s, didn‘t Mike tell you?“ he tries his best on acting normal, shuffling towards the fridge and opening it
He stares into it as if it would offer the best excuse Will could use, but of course it can‘t - it‘s just a fridge. So he settles for taking milk and pouring it into one of the glasses. The silence is huge, a big elephant hovering over him and crushing his soul.
He debates whether he should say something, yet Nancy beats him at that.
“And what explanation do you have for your bruise? And Mike’s?“ she asks, turning on her chair analyzing his expression
Oh for fuck‘s sake.
Inhaling a bit of the dusty air he takes a seat next to her by the counter stools, “We got into a fight,“ it‘s the first honest thing he has said in a while
Nancy rolls her eyes at him “You want me to believe you and Mike fought?“
“What? No,“ he corrects her “Troy and James fought with us.“ he won‘t admit that partly he did fight with Mike - just not physically, god, that never.
At the mention of their lifelong bullies her eyes soften into pity, “Oh, that‘s why Mike was so sulky“ she wonders aloud
I don‘t think that‘s the reason, Will thought to himself. Because he knew pretty well Mike was sulking due to their fight. He means - he would be sad if he knew Mike was hiding something from him too.
“Yeah,“ he croaks out, swishing the glass of milk lightly on his pained hand and taking a swig. The cold comfort of the drink coursing through him.
“What are you up to?“ he asks out of curiosity
She sighs tiredly “Investigating, Spider-man has been catching most criminals in the city. And I‘m trying to see whether I could get an interview with him, to find out more about his intentions“
He nods, clearly uncomfortable with the Spider-man talk “You don‘t believe he fights for the good?“
“Oh, I do believe he fights for the good. He proved it countless times, I just want to know more. Get deeper into his head about his intentions, why get into so much trouble when the police can get the criminals, you know, these kind of questions“ she says waving a hand in the air
“Well, maybe you could talk to him.“ At his words she eyes him, studying him “I mean, you could try to talk to him. Hang around the police station and wait for him to drop any criminals there“ he suggests, hoping to sound as nonchalant as ever
She thinks it over looking at the computer before her, the light of the screen creating shadows on her features. “Maybe I‘ll do that, thanks Will.“
“You‘re welcome,“ he says as he gets up, having finished his glass
About to disappear into the stairs he listens to her calling out at him, her voice barely audible “And try talking to Mike, he might listen to you and soften a bit“
He nods, not looking at her and knowing she took his nodding as a yes. His steps are soft over the stair’s rug, the floorboards creaking under his weight. He makes his way in the dark to Mike‘s room, which he is sharing with Will. The light is still on, meaning Mike hadn‘t gone to sleep yet.
And he is worried, a lot. Usually he and Mike have fights, although he had never seen Mike this hurt before, this gloomy. Even when he was talking to Spider-man, he had a meltdown and masked his feelings under worry when Will truly knew Mike was hurt about other things.
And Will had hurted him, by lying to his face and breaking all of their rules.
But he was going to try to mend things, not bearing the thought of Mike being hurt or sad. He knocked shyly on the door, after silence replied to him he peeked his head through the door. “Can I come in?“
“Sure,“ Mike mumbled, laying on his bed upside down, a comic in hand - his eyes not lifting to meet Will‘s
Entering the room he closes the door behind him, feeling his chest tighten and skin crawl with cluelessness on how to make things better.
“Spider-man told me you were doing better,“ he starts, sitting by the edge of Mike‘s bed
“Yeah, that‘s how it looks“ Mike mutters, his eyes glued to the comic
Man, this will be much harder than he thought it‘d be.
“He also told me you cried,“ he informs him, knowing well that‘ll trigger Mike‘s pride
And he was right. Mike sat up, comic closed and eyes on Will, his stare as sharp as a kitchen knife. “He wasn‘t supposed to share that,“ he bites out, anger still creating a halo around him
“He knows, but he thought it‘d be important for me to know. I‘m sorry, Mike. For making you feel that way, you didn‘t deserve that treatment“ he apologizes, honesty dripping from his voice
Mike just frowns and leans closer to Will, knees hugging his chest - a barrier between them. “Yeah? I didn‘t deserve that treatment yet you did it anyway. I don‘t get it, any of it! I feel like I‘m losing you, I felt like I lost you during the summer. You‘ve been lying to my face, and for what? What is it that you‘re doing that you can‘t tell me?“ he insists, his voice angered yet controlled - he hadn‘t reached his full potential of anger
Will sighs in exhaustion, he can‘t stitch all of this mess up with even more excuses nor apologies.
“I can‘t tell you, Mike. But you know I love you, and I care too much to see you hurting this way. It‘s for the best if you just don‘t know, okay?“ he says breathless, his mind swimming in a murky, grey lake where he is stuck with lying to his loved ones
However, Mike just looks at him perplexed, eyes darting from his lips to his eyes. He‘s about to say something though he changes his mind and says instead “Let‘s just forget it, alright? We have to get you an ice pack or you‘ll look like a huge blueberry“ Mike smiles weakly, trying to enlighten the previous mood
And Will is fucking grateful for his best friend. He smiles back, a tiny smile “Thanks, but you need some cleaning up too“ he adds as he points at Mike‘s blood covered eyelid.
Mike chuckles lightly “Yeah, well that‘s proof we won a fight“
Will rolls his eyes playfully at him.
4 MONTHS LATER
“Have you finished Mrs.Wilma‘s assignment?“ Max asks him, her voice drained of energy
He closes his locker and looks at her, his eyes droopy with restlessness too.
Their week had been long, eternal exams making them go crazy, piles and piles of homework. And worst of all, filthy rumours of Will going around the school. Troy and James might have left them alone yet it didn‘t mean they wouldn‘t start nasty rumours about them - including ones incriminating Will as gay and Mike as an alien for liking both genders.
Max slings her bag over her shoulder, walking with Will to their next class which was Spanish. Will, Max and Dustin had the same classes while Lucas and Mike shared some and Jane shared none with them due to her lab internship.
“Hey! Fairy alert!“ one of their bullies walks past them, warning happily
Will ducks his head, Max throwing the bully a death glare. “You sure you don‘t want me to kick their asses?“ Max asks him as they take seats in Spanish class
“Buenos días clase! Hoy vamos a empezar un nuevo tema,“ Mr.Guevara clapped his hands together
They ignore him, letting the class‘s sounds fall into their background - lucky for them they sit in the back.
“It‘s fine,“ Will reassures Max who looked completely unconvinced “they can only talk. That‘s not much,“
“But it‘s still damage, it must hurt you. Or,“ she frowns “Mike.“ her face returns to normal “You can‘t let them keep going, that's not fair for you“
He shrugs “Let‘s just focus on class, por favor“ he pleads and she succumbs to his willingness to drop the topic
꩜ ꩜ ꩜
He jumps off from the building, the air wooshing in his ears, the cold of winter freezing his soul. His feet dangle, he twists and arches and throws a web to the next building so as to push himself forward in the air.
“WOHOOO!“ He yells in the heights where nobody can listen to him
He‘s heading to his favorite building - Empire State Building. He fancies sitting on the ledge right under the tip, loving how the colors at night meddle with his body and face. Sometimes he wishes he could bring Mike with him, show him all of the awesome stuff he can do with his power. But that‘d put him in danger, and that‘s the last thing he wants for Mike.
The stars had hidden that night, though the cold wind had strengthened its low temperatures. The Wheeler‘s thought Will was taking a shower, which meant he had only half an hour to search for the gang. The radio connecting to the police station was on and next to him, the crackling coming to life and voices hurriedly informing each other.
All was dull until one caught his attention.
A new criminal has been spotted on 5th Street.
What kind of criminal?
One weird looking, looks like a lizard.
A lizard? First we get a spider-boy and now a lizard?
“Hey!“ Will mutters indignified to the air
He turns the radio off, he‘ll go and check out this so-called lizard criminal on 5th Street. That‘s not far away, lucky him. If he can‘t find the gang that day then he‘ll give himself the satisfaction of capturing another kind of criminal. It‘ll probably take just fifteen minutes, not much for the others to suspect about his long shower. Anyway, Mike had said he‘d go to Lucas‘ house for some project they had due next Monday - which meant he didn‘t have to crack his brain for some well-thought lie.
After swinging and running over buildings he lands on 5th Street, cars honking and crowding the street. Although no people hustled around, the street was weirdly empty. The cars were empty too, abandoned by their owners.
He saw the lizard. Or should he call it a man? It was big, burly and brutally ugly. Taller than Will and stronger for sure, its humanlike face covered in scales - dark green and grey, a long tail dragged around. Its vicious eyes yellow with slitted, black irises.
What could have happened to that man for him to be like this? He wondered as he neared him.
He treads his way through the cars to the lizard, careful not to step on any broken glass. Yes, shards of glass were laying around, window shops broken and trash cans turned over. He had to stop the lizard, one way or another. Bring him to the police station and leave it to them to decide his fate.
“Don‘t litter the streets next time, please“ he says aloud, bringing the lizard‘s attention to him
It was scary, his eyes on him, his deadly gaze on Will. A fear slithering over his heart.
“What are you, little boy?“ his voice rasped at him, creeping up at his skin
He shook it off and moved his hands so as to relax, sighing he started his routine of teasing criminals “I’m Spider-man, friendly neighbor. And I‘ve heard you made some problems, I‘m here to stop you“
A low howl comes out of the lizard “You think you can beat me? Stop me? Child, that‘s foolish. You‘ll be only losing your life“
“My life it is then,“ he mumbles before attacking first
He throws himself at the lizard, kicking it in the face. The lizard took him from his leg and threw him across the floor. His back ached, but he must keep on fighting. Groaning he runs up and jumps over a cab, swinging himself on his cobwebs and punching the lizard on the head to stunt him.
He swiftly wraps him in his nets, turning and turning around, running up the buildings and jumping over him. The lizard falters and falls on its back, growling loudly before ripping Will‘s suit by his left arm, inflicting a deep wound with its razor sharp claw and extracting a pained yell from his lips. He falls limply on the floor, looking up at the lizard who was freeing himself from the webs.
He needed to stop it, before it raged over New York and actually hurt somebody.
He groans, biting his lower lip containing his pain, his mask cutting the air from his lungs “Let‘s get over this,“
He connects his web to a sign from behind the lizard and pulls at it with his good arm, his whole strength bringing up the sign towards him. It hits the lizard on the back of its head squarely, a scream issuing its mouth. Running up to the lizard he hits him on the eyes with the tip of his foot, earning another thrash into the air from the lizard. He trips over a car behind him and falls, Spider-man wrapping him back again in webs - this time stronger and steadier. The lizard lays there, eyes closed in anger, mouth pursed and tossing around. But he is trapped and Will is freaking tired and hurt.
He leans over with a good measure of distance between them “Why are you so keen on destroying things?“ his mask is itching to be thrown out, the whole time it has been bothering Will for some inexplicable reason
The lizard hisses back “Because people deserve punishment,“
“For what? What did they do to you?“ his adrenaline luckily distracts him from the searing pain on his arm flowing with blood
“For turning me into this,“ his long, snakelike tongue lashes out, “I was just their experiment!“ he cries out, anger and heartwrench fading together
Will stands there, unable to talk. What is he supposed to say to that? It‘s obviously unfair what they have done to the man, nobody deserves that. And yet they chose him and did this mercilessly to him.
“Who did this to you?“ he asks softly, crouching closer
The lizard groans, restlessly tossing around and trying to escape, nonetheless he answers drily “The lab, Ingenia“
Ingenia was Manhattan‘s most famous laboratory - where Jane was going for her internship.
What were they doing in that lab?
He couldn‘t bear it anymore, all of it. The unfairness of humans kept fulfilling, his problems, his friend‘s problems, the world‘s problems. It was all so bitter, who would ever want to live in such a horrible world? To have fear crippling your heart whenever you walk alone at night in the streets, to have anxiety cutting up your heart at other people‘s opinions, to not be able to live like you and always having to hide - it was enough for Will.
He takes his mask off, it has been suffocating him for a long time. He needs some air, plus the whole street is empty. The night air crashes into his sweaty face, solace to his actual problems. He didn‘t mind for the lizard to know his identity, it‘s not as if they knew each other personally.
But he truly had thought the street was empty when he had fought the lizard.
That‘s at least what he thought.
Because he was wrong.
So so wrong.
And he surely won‘t forget the next words echoing in his mind.
“What the fuck?“ Mike asked from behind him
Oh my god.
And as he turned to look at Mike, a ripping was heard from behind him. A low hiss dawning on them.
The lizard had gotten loose.