Archive of Our Own

Tuesday, November 11th, 1997:

“Bye, I’ll be back in a few hours.” Will waves at Carlton from the doorway.

“Okay, bye.” Carlton sends a halfhearted wave from the couch, not looking up from the TV.

Not even an “I love you”. That’s how bad it’s gotten.

Will sighs and goes out to his car. He’s going into Hawkins to see Mike for their monthly hang outs, it’s a little tradition they’ve created to keep in touch. 

While the rest of the party moved to different states, Mike and Will chose to keep living in Indiana. Well, Mike chose to stay. Will mostly only stayed because, with his past trauma, he can’t be too far away from his mom and Hopper. So he and his boyfriend, Carlton, found a small house in a town next to Hawkins to live in. El stayed too, she lives closer to Hawkins in the more woodsy area.

Will was doing great with his new life. He and El work at a convenient store together, and he sells his art part time for extra cash. As for living with Carlton… they’ve been better.

Carlton was Will’s first boyfriend. They met in college and quickly started dating. He’s always been a little secretive- no, private, and Will respected that. He was mostly good to Will, they fought over dumb things but that's how everyone is, right? Like when Will refused to be Carlton’s roommate because he was already Mike’s and he didn’t want to leave him, so they got in a fight. And that was only sometimes, and they made up quickly. 

Then they moved from New York back to Indiana and found their little house. Things were great at first, new house, new jobs, it was a fresh start for both of them. But things have gone downhill from there because…

Will thinks Carlton is cheating. 

He thought he was crazy at first, Carlton has worked late hours before, he’s just working them more often. That’s what Will tried to believe.

But a week later, Carlton’s car “needed an oil change” and he was gone for three hours. Now, Will’s not a car person, but he does know that it’s only supposed to take about an hour. Sure, he could’ve stopped somewhere or done something else, but why would he taste like champagne? It doesn’t make sense.

The next day, Will found a receipt in Carlton’s trash for a $40 necklace. Okay, maybe that’s just a Christmas present for Will, and he was getting it in October because he wanted to get things early. But that just doesn’t make sense.

A month later, Carlton is still acting suspicious. 

He’s stopped being affectionate towards Will all together. They don’t say “I love you”, they don’t kiss, they don’t even cuddle (or do other things) in bed anymore. Which was already rare for him to be very affectionate anyway, but he used to at least say “I love you” to Will when he left. So now Will doesn’t bother saying it either- the truth is, he doesn’t anyway, not like before.

And sometimes he even thinks he hates him- just when he does something stupid. Breaking up with him should be easy at this point then, they clearly don’t love each other like they used to, and Carlton might just be cheating. There. That’s all the reason he needs to do it.

He just can’t. He’s never broken up with someone before. He’s never been in a relationship before. Will hadn’t been kissed, or held, or treated like this before him- how could he give it up?

Finding someone else who was gay was already hard in New York, how was he supposed to do that here? 

So that gives him two options: A cheating boyfriend who doesn’t love him, or being alone for the foreseeable future. And Will was afraid of being alone. He doesn’t like to admit it, but after everything, being alone was the worst thing he could think of. He didn’t want to go to college until Mike asked to be roommates. The college of his dreams in his favorite city, and he almost didn’t go because he’d be alone.  So he doesn’t want to break up with Carlton, he wants them to be able to talk things out and go back to normal- even if that’s still not the best and he hates Carlton. 

Ugh, things are just too complicated. Will never could decide on anything could he? Whatever, he can just complain to Mike about it over a glass of his favorite wine.

Mike answers the door just a few seconds after Will knocks, with a smile on his face as usual, “Hey,” 

Will smiles back, “Hi, I’m here to drink all your wine.” that’s a joke of course, he has to drive.

“As usual.” Liar.

Will walks in and immediately smells Mike’s favorite lavender incense. His apartment is so cozy, from the soft rug in the living room to the accent wall in the kitchen with blue and yellow flowers. It feels warm upon entrance, a nice contrast from the November chill outside. His apartment was always welcoming- even though he’s only spent a few hours in here at a time, it feels like home. Maybe that’s just because Mike’s here 

Will nearly sinks into Mike’s insanely comfortable couch- he might just drink all the wine so he can have an excuse to sleep here.

“So, how’ve you been?” Mike hands him a glass of wine.

Will could lie and say he’s been great, everything's going amazing for him. But Mike would catch on and see right through him. Not wanting to dump everything on him now, Will replies, “I’ve been fine.” 

Fine. Their code word for “I need to talk.”

“Oh? What’s up?” Mike’s soft voice relaxes him.

Where does he even start? “Well, most things are going well. I made a few hundred off one painting and I got a promotion,”

“That’s good.” 

Will takes a sip, “Yeah, but…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure, maybe I’m wrong, but… I think Carlton's cheating on me.”

Mike pauses, his face circles through multiple emotions before stopping on worry, “What?”

“Well, he’s been weird lately. About a month ago, he said he was gonna get his oil changed, and came back three hours later. Maybe he was waiting for a while or something but he tasted like champagne when he got back.”

“Tasted?” Mike looks disgusted.

“Yeah, tasted, when we kissed.” Was Mike really confused by that?

He still looks grossed out, “Oh, right. Continue.”

“Okay… Well, then the next day I found a receipt for a $40 dollar necklace in his trash.”

“$40?” 

“Yeah, and unless it’s for me for Christmas, I don’t know who it was for- he hates jewelry."

“Of course he does.” Mike rolls his eyes, “Do you know who it could be?”

“Well, he does talk fondly about one of his coworkers, Lisa. I’ve never met her but I think that’s who it could be. At least, I can’t think of anyone else.” 

Mike takes a sip, “Wow.”

Yeah, wow. Saying it out loud makes Will feel less crazy.

“What should I do?” Will takes another sip of wine, “I’d ask him but I know he’ll just call me paranoid.”

Mike swirls his wine in his glass, “Just show him the proof and unless he has an actual explanation… I say dump him.”

Yeah, that’s a good idea, but again, Will can’t handle being alone.

“Dump him? Come on, Mike, We’ve been together for years and, what, you expect me to just leave him just like that?” 

“I’m not saying ditch him completely, but if he’s cheating you don’t wanna stay with him, right?”

“Yeah…”

“So just tell him that if you’re not enough then he doesn’t get to have you at all. And he can have Lisa or whoever.” 

Will pauses, “Okay. And what if this is all just a misunderstanding?”

“I doubt it. You said he took three hours to change his oil. That takes- What an hour?” 

Will takes another sip, tapping his finger on the table. He really should break up with him. He just… can’t.

“Okay look, I know you like him and can’t face the idea that he’s bad. But as your friend, I say it’s wrong for someone to treat you like that. Cheating is always horrible, but when someone does it to Will Byers… that’s just horrendous.”

Will smiles, “Alright, and my name’s on the house so I can just kick him out and I won’t have to see him ever again.”

“You can throw his stuff out the window, too.” Mike jokes, taking a sip.

Will laughs, for just a second before stopping.

“What?” Mike asks, reading Will’s emotions.

“It’s just… I don’t know, Carlton has been good to me so far and we don’t get in fights that often. But I don’t know everything about him- he’s always been kinda secretive so… What if he’s been lying this whole time? And I’ve been falling for it for years?”

Mike sets his glass down, putting his hand on Will’s shoulder, the physical touch is nice. Familiar. Mike does it just like he always had, it’s comforting.

“I don’t think he’s capable of hiding it for that long. You’ve known him since college, you’ve met all his friends, you’ve even met his parents. If he was doing this that long you’d know already.”

“But why?I-I know he has some issues but he takes medication for it. Why would he just start doing this all of a sudden?” His voice cracks at the end of his sentence.

“I don’t know,” Mike rubs Will’s back.

“What did I do?”

He feels like a burden. Maybe Carlton wouldn’t have cheated if Will wasn’t so needy and clingy. He thinks of all those times when he looked mad at him for waking him up with his nightmares. And when Will insisted they do anything when Carlton had a long day at work- He knew he didn’t feel like doing, why did he take him to the restaurant? He’s trying to replace him because he’s just not good enough.

Mike pulls him into a hug, “You didn’t do anything. He’s the asshole who may or may not have cheated.”

Will sighs, and it could’ve been a laugh if he tried enough, “You’ve been calling him that since college.” 

“Yeah, well, I was right. I hate to say it, but I was.” 

Will leans more into the hug, burring his face into Mike’s neck. He cries- letting out all the emotion he’s been holding for the past few months. They don’t move for sometime, eventually Will realizes he’s ruining what’s supposed to be a nice hangout, and he leans away, “Sorry.” He wipes his eyes.

“What did I say about saying sorry?” 

“So- I mean, I know.” he picks up his wine, swirling it around.

“Just call me whenever you do it. I want to know everything.”

“What is this entertaining to you?” Will himself would’ve been entertained by Mike’s relationship problems with El a few years ago if he wasn’t hurt by it.

“No- well, kinda-” See? That’s why soap operas are popular. “But I care about you and I wanna be there if you need me.” 

Will pauses, eyes focused on his wine before he takes another sip, “Alright fine, I’ll call you. But can we change the subject now? I come here for wine not therapy.”

“Not for me?”

Will pretends to think, “Okay, wine, then you, then your couch that’s way more comfortable than mine.”

Mike laughs, “At least I’m top three.”

Will laughs, and this time he actually does, not a halfhearted sigh. “So what’s up with you?”

“Ugh, same as last month: Annoying coworkers.”

“You only see them once a week.”

“I know but they’re still annoying. Oh, I’ve also been learning how to cook.”

“Nice, what can you make?” 

“Basic things like mac and cheese without the box, spaghetti, some soups. I got a cook book and, you’re never gonna believe this: I even asked my mom for tips.”

Will actually can believe it, Mike doesn’t hate his mom- as much as he pretends to- so it’s not surprising he’d ask her.

“Wow, I can’t believe you talked to your mom.” He says in the most monotone and unamused voice he can make.

Mike takes the bait, “Oh shut up you mama’s boy!” he playfully pushes him.

Will laughs, “What about it? Even you love my mom.”

“That’s because she saved you!” He reasons, before changing the topic, “Anyway, now I can be your personal chef,”

Will knows why he avoided the subject of what happened to him. They don’t talk about it often anymore, it’s all in the past now. Even if it is the sole cause of Will’s nightmares. He’s okay with talking about it- Mike just wants to make him comfortable.

“Personal chef?”

“Yeah, you know, like I could make whatever you want whenever.” Mike has that same shimmer in his eye he’s always had when talking about things he’s interested in. Will finds it adorable, especially when he’s talking about with him alone so there's that softer voice.

Okay, maybe Will still likes Mike a little bit. How could he not? It’s not wrong to still have some of those feelings. Sure he has a boyfriend, and has for years, but he could be cheating on him. Having a little crush won't do any harm. 

“I’ll learn all your favorite food and drinks and practice for the next time you come over.” Mike continues.

“Maybe I should come over more often then,” 

“Yeah, you should.” Mike blushes, “Well- for the food at least, you know, not me, you’ll probably get tired of me super quickly.”

“I won’t get tired of you, have I ever before?”

Yes. Once when they were living together after he came back from Lanora Will avoided him for a week. Things were just overwhelming after going so long apart. Will had been trying to calm his crush down and seeing Mike made it worse. He couldn’t be around him without blushing too much, staring, or sometimes even wanting to cry. It wasn’t technically Mike’s fault, however, Will did avoid him because of it.

Mike must not think of this, “I guess not, so that means it’ll work!”

Mike continues to rant until they finish their glasses (or maybe third glass, Will wasn’t paying attention). Which means it’s time for him to go. At least he can take him up on the chef offer whenever Carlton does something stupid again. That’ll probably happen pretty soon.

Will drinks a glass of water to help himself focus before he leaves the apartments. Driving is easy- mostly. He does see himself as a pretty good driver anyway, a little wine doesn’t hurt that too much.

He sighs as he pulls into his driveway. The previous relaxed feeling he had from the wine has worn off.

Stepping into the doorway he promptly notices two red heels next to Carlton’s dress shoes.

Oh hell no.

He bolts to their room, expecting exactly what he sees.

Carlton lies on his side, propped up by his arm. Next to him, who Will could only assume is Lisa, is propped in the same way, facing away from the door. Both of them are only half naked. Thankfully.

What the hell does he think he’s doing? Bringing his mistress into their house. Does this happen every time Will goes away? Did Carlton just lose track of time?

You know what, it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. Will can’t let it happen any longer- the cheating part, Carlton can have this girl without cheating on Will because they’re done.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

He catches both of their attentions, Lisa speaks first, “Who’s this?” Who’s this? Who are you?

Carlton freezes. He’s been caught. Instead of reacting like it, he hisses, “That’s just my roommate, babe. He’s crazy.” 

Roommate? Babe? Crazy?! This man's dead to Will. “Fuck off, I am not your roommate! Or crazy! What else are you lying about?”

Lisa looks confused, “You’ve been lying to me?” They both sit up.

“Yes he has! He’s cheating on me to be with you!”

“Do you blame me? You didn’t give me much of a choice.” Carlton states.

“What do you mean? If you didn’t love me anymore you could’ve just broken up with me!”

Carlton gets up from the bed, he walks close up to Will with a menacing look. He laughs, “I never loved you.”

Ouch. That stings. Seven years of being lied to, of being manipulated into believing such a thing could exist- someone being in love with Will Byers.

“Did you really think I did? You’re a selfish cry-baby with a dumb dream of becoming an artist- I can’t believe you think that’ll ever happen. I just couldn’t say anything because of course you’d come crawling back to me begging for forgiveness with those tears in your eyes- so fake. You just want to get your way and when you don’t, well now that’s just the end of the world! ‘Oh no! Will Byers didn’t get his way! Everyone drop everything and come help him!’.

“And you’re so dramatic! With those stupid little ‘panic attacks’ that you have after a nightmare- grow up! You’re scared of everything, it's so annoying! You can’t even get into a pool without being scared of drowning. What's that about? You’re 5’9! The pool is barely taller than you! And you’re scared of the cold, and the dark, and basically everything known to man!

“Oh, and all of that would be tolerable if you weren't obsessed with your ‘friend’ Mike. You leave every month to go ‘hang out’ with him and you expect me to just believe that? Of course I’d cheat on you! You did first!”

Will stares back at him- jaw wide open. He’d cry but that would prove him right. How could he say all that? Before he can think of a better thing to do, Will punches him. 

Carlton steps back. His skin near his right eyebrow starts to bleed. He raises his hand and wipes some of the blood off, looking at it.

Will’s stomach drops. He just did that. Holy shit. 

Cold eyes lock with Will’s scared ones. That’s the last thing he sees before things go dark.

–

Lisa has always seen herself as a good person. She followed most rules given to her, and she doesn’t complain. She likes to surround herself with good people, too.

Call her boring, call her basic, call her whatever, she’s heard it before. She’s also felt it before- and it hurts. 

But she’s not just a girl who follows the rules. She’s kind, helpful, honest, and sometimes even smart. She likes skating and music, helping out at local theaters, and donating to different causes. 

But most of all, she’s a hopeless romantic. 

Growing up, she watched movies about princesses falling in love with their night in shining armor. All those love stories and true love’s kisses made her believe that somewhere, she had a soulmate. Everyone did. Her parents are very happily married and all of her friends had partners that loved them more than anything else. She believed that out there somewhere, is a person who’s gonna love her and treat her like a princess.

She thought that person was Carlton.

They met just like any two strangers would: at work. He was her coworker at a fancy restaurant she somehow found herself working at. They didn’t talk at first, but then things started to unravel when they bumped into each other.

She walked into work at 10:15 just like always. Her button up was perfectly ironed, her hair tied up in a nice little ponytail. Just another day going into work. She walked into the back to clock in, just as a man was walking out with a box. She didn’t notice him, and accidentally bumped into him, the box fell with a thud.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” She picked up his box and handed it to him.

He took it, “No, it’s my fault, I wasn’t paying attention, sorry.” He assured her with such a gentle tone.

“It’s fine,” She looked up at him. His dark hair fell in front of his brown eyes. His uniform was clean- It looked new- and his tie laid on his chest perfectly between the muscles she could see through the shirt. 

She tried to hide a blush, “Hey, uh, are you new here? Like, new to the job?” 

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’m doing, well you could probably already tell.” 

“I could help you out, it’s pretty hectic sometimes but most of it’s easy.” 

“Totally,” He smiled.

She showed him how to bust the tables, put in orders, where the high chairs were kept if the people had a kid- the usual. He was a quick learner. 

After their shift, she stopped him before he got in his car, “Hey, um, Carlton?”

He stopped mid opening his door, “Yes?”

“Are you single? Or would you maybe wanna go out?”

He paused, “Yeah, I’m single,” He grabbed something from his car- a pen and paper. He scribbled some numbers down, “Here, we can meet up next week if you’d like.”

She took the paper, “Nice, see you later.” She walked away before she could scream. 

She’d finally done it. 

After a month, they called it official. She told her friends about him, how he’d drive her home and pay for the dinners, they were so happy for her. Although he didn’t want to meet them, which was fine. 

She thought she’d met the perfect guy. Looking back, it was a little weird that it’d also been her first real relationship (she doesn’t count that kid Kevin back in fourth grade).

Until one random Tuesday night that made her whole world fall apart.

It had started out great: Dinner, a couple of drinks, making out in his car. She had a good time. They got done at 8:30 with just enough time to head to his house. 

All of a sudden, she hears someone walk in- his roommate, she assumes. He did mention that he had one so it wasn’t that big of a deal to her.

But when he walked in and yelled at them, she rethought everything. Even when she asks, “Who’s this?” She already knows the answer.

“That’s just my roommate, babe. He’s crazy.” Carlton tells her.

“Fuck off, I am not your roommate! Or crazy! What else are you lying about?”

Lying? “You’ve been lying to me?” They both sit up, she looks between the two of them, confused.

“Yes he has! He’s cheating on me to be with you!”

Oh.

She feels betrayed. Why would Carlton do this? She had only ever been his side piece. Her heart is broken, as much as she hates to admit that. All this time, he was just using her to get away from his boyfriend. 

As she takes everything in, the two start arguing. 

She tries to ignore Carlton's long rant about Will- whose name she’d picked up upon his arrival- and focus on him instead.

His brown hair is fluffy atop his head, curling slightly inward at the tips. He has a sharp but soft jawline, and hazel eyes. That’s about all she can see of him in the dimly lit room. He looks devastated at this moment, she notices his bloodshot eyes stare at the man who betrayed both of them and feels horrible. 

He seems nice- yeah, he’s mad right now but anyone would be- but she doesn’t think now's the time to make a friend. Screw her inner only child wanting to make friends with everyone.

She looks around the room realizing she’s staring. Something catches her eye. On Carlton's side of the bed, an orange pill bottle sits unopened in one of his bedside drawers. That could just be an extra, right? 

Or has Carlton not been taking his meds? He did mention he has mental issues and takes something for it. Was this all because he hasn’t been taking them?

She doesn’t get time to consider it, there’s a sudden silence.

Looking back at them, she sees that Will has only grown more angry throughout Carlton’s speech. What catches her by surprise though, is he punches him in the face.

She flinches at the thud of the punch. Okay, maybe he’s not that nice.

Carlton steps back. He wipes off the blood and looks back at Will. 

Will’s face goes cold, he looks like he’s seen a ghost. He gets a second longer to escape before Carlton punches back. Hard. The force knocks Will back before he’s on the ground, unconscious.

Lisa yelps, she doesn’t even like fighting in movies.

“Pussy.” Carlton says to the body in front of him.

She swallows hard as Carlton turns to her.

He takes a deep breath, “I’m sorry you had to see that,” 

“You… you were cheating on him? With me?” She manages.

His expression softens, but it feels eerie, “Yes, but I want you. I actually love you. I just couldn’t get rid of him because he was clingy and unstable.”

Yeah, sure. Like Carlton's not the one who cheated and keeps switching personalities.

She ignores his reasoning, looking down at Will, “Is he gonna be alright?”

His lip has a cut that’s making his lips red, and his nose is bleeding, but nothing too serious. His chest is also still rising and falling, which is a relief.

Carlton pauses, “No.” He sits on the edge of the bed, way too close to her for comfort. “Like I said, he was hard to get rid of.” He continues, “So I think it’s best if he wasn’t in the picture anymore.” His voice sends a chill down her spine.

No. 

He wouldn’t.

Would he?

She should run. Now. He really expects her to help him kill someone. Or at least hide the body. She’d never do that. Not for him.

And yet- She’s scared. Terrified. She doesn’t wanna end up like Will. So, it’s either Lisa’s safety or his. 

Well…

She hasn’t even actually met him. Who knows, maybe he is crazy. Maybe he was also cheating on Carlton with Mike (that’s something else she picked up from his rant). 

She decides it’s better to play it safe, “Okay…”

He smiles, “Good. Now, help me carry him to my car.”

She complies, lifting his head while Carlton lifts his legs after having just tied him up and covering his mouth with tape. The sun has already gone down which makes her less paranoid that someone might see. Less, not completely. She feels more guilty as she holds him upright, waiting for Carlton to get his keys. His hair is soft, and smells good too. This is a real person, he has a life and they're gonna end it because Carlton couldn’t break up with him. 

This was a mistake.

It’s too late to bail, Carlton gets back with his keys too soon. “Arlight, now, we’ll put him in the trunk and I’ll finish the job later in a secluded area, then dump the body. You don’t even have to do much work.”

“And, what if he wakes up?” She asks, hoping it puts a stop to his plan.

It doesn’t, “You think I can’t knock him out again? He’s weak. Sleeping in his favorite thing anyway, the lazy fuck.” 

The knot in her stomach gets tighter. He’s being completely serious. 

She stays quiet while they take his limp body and put it into the trunk. A drop of blood falls onto the concrete, they ignore it. Then some more blood from Carlton’s hand smears on the handle of the trunk, she wipes it off poorly.

She checks once more for a breath- thankfully, there is- before shutting it closed.

Hopefully Will wakes up at some point, and he can get out from the inside, despite the zip ties binding his hands and feet. Maybe later on she could let him out, if there’s time.

There might be, Carlton goes back inside and right back to the bed, she could sneak out later and do it.

He looks at her, and the genuine concern he has whenever she gets anxious is back, “Hey, come here, you’ve done nothing wrong.”

She hesitantly joins him on the bed, “What if we get caught?”

He tenses, “I’ll go to the station and pretend he’s just gone missing, the cops will look around a little bit and even if they do find him they won’t accuse us.”

She doubts that, she’s seen enough crime shows to know the police are smart, “Okay, yeah,”

Sensing her doubt, he says, “And if you tell anyone what happened here… you’ll end up next to Will, got that?”

She nods rabbitly. 

–

Wednesday, November 12th, 1997:

Will wakes up freezing. His nose is burning, and he has a pounding headache.

He tries to look around, it’s pitch black, he can’t see anything. 

Where is he? What happened? 

He attempts to wipe the stream of blood uncomfortably coming out his nose, only to realize he’s been tied up.

“What the fuck?!” He cries out, only to realize his mouth is taped so it comes out muffled. 

Desperate for any idea of where he is, he feels around with what little mobility he has. It’s soft, short hairs poking at his finger tips as he maneuvers his hand. It’s familiar… almost like,

What?! Why is he in the trunk? 

He thinks back. His memory is fuzzy, but he can think of a few things that happened.

He went to Mike’s for their usual wine and talk, then he came home to- right. Carlton cheating on him. They got into a fight and then… Will punched him. Why did he do that? Then Carlton must’ve punched back.

But that doesn’t explain what the hell he’s doing in the trunk.

He doesn’t think Carlton would be that crazy, but he also didn’t expect to hear that he didn’t love him, so.

Yeah, Will remembers that. He remembers Carlton going on about him and how he’s a cry-baby, and scared of everything, and dumb. But he doesn’t really care about that part, he already shames himself enough for those things. He cares about the fact that he wasted seven years of his life on this asshole (to quote Mike) who doesn’t even love him and cheats the first chance he gets.

Will actually fell for it. For him.

So what? Carlton’s gonna kill him? What did he even do?

Maybe he deserves it. After all this time why not? Why not take him out of his misery?

He’s only ever truly happy when he sees Mike anyway. He’s been on antidepressants since he was thirteen. And the one person who ever liked him back actually didn’t. Maybe he’d be better off gone.

No. He shouldn’t think like that. He has more to live for, he’s gotten himself out of worse situations- he had powers for fucks sake- he can get himself out of this one.

At some point.

Right now, he needs to get out of these… What is he even tied with? Zip ties? He just knows that these are from his art room. Whatever, how does he get out? There’s nothing sharp in here.  Disappointed, he lays back down on the scratchy lining of the trunk. He won’t give up now, he can’t. He thinks of Mike all those years ago, so desperate to find him. Surely he’ll do the same now, if by some chance he figures out he’s missing. 

Speaking of Mike, Will can’t take it, he’s still in love with him. He really tried not to when he was taken, but seeing as that was clearly a wrong decision, he has to admit it.

He loves Mike. Mike and his messy hair, his stupidly pretty smile, his chocolaty stare. He loves the way Mike talks to him, so gentle, it never fails to sooth Will when he needs it. Even his dumb jokes that Will can’t help but laugh at. He’s in love. Completely, utterly, totally in love. And he misses Mike. So much. To think that near hours ago- he thinks- he was sitting on his couch drinking wine laughing about god knows what. Actually, come to think of it, Will does know what. Mike wants to be Will’s personal chef, and Will wants that too. Maybe it was just a joke but if it’d mean they’ll spend more time together then he’d like it. He’d like any food right now to be honest.

Aw shit. He didn’t think of that. He’ll be starving soon enough, and he doesn’t have water either. Stupid. Why do humans need water to survive?

It should be fine, he wont die from a few hours-or days- of not having water. A week would be pushing it but that’s how long it took for him to be rescued from an alternate dimension, it’ll take half that to be saved from a car trunk.

What’s with Will and getting abducted in cold dark places? 

Cold, dark, disgusting places. How can he smell that nauseating cologne Carlton wears in the trunk of his car? It’s come back to haunt him. Will actually is starting to feel uncomfortable. He’s not great with small spaces anyway, it reminds him of being trapped in Vecna’s layer, choked by those sticky vines. Plus the detail that it’s cold and dark, he’s having severe PTSD right now. 

Oh great, if he falls asleep he’ll probably have a nightmare which’ll lead to him having a panic attack. The last time he had one while he was alone was a few months ago when Carlton worked late- probably cheating- and Will had to calm himself down. He’ll have to do that again now, which will be even harder because he’d still be in his nightmare: a cold, dark place.

–

Lisa wakes up next to Carlton the next morning. Under any other circumstance, she’d be happy about that, and she kinda is now. That happiness soon fades away when she remembers why she’s there. 

She rolls over, trying to convince herself it was a dream. Carlton didn’t kidnap Will. He wasn’t cheating on him to be with her. And she was definitely not helping him. All just figments of her imagination.

But no, it happened, she knows it did- her imagination isn’t that specific. 

Carlton stirs awake, “Morning.” He grumbles.

She tenses, any idea she had of escaping is gone, “Morning.” 

They haven’t woken up together yet, she figures it’s because he had someone waiting at his house for him. 

She doesn’t think she can be with him after all this is over. He’s a cheater, she doesn’t condone that. And he’s okay with killing his boyfriend and hiding the body. Gross, and evil. 

Maybe she was wrong about love, he’s just ruined twenty-four years of believing in true love, soulmates, happy endings- all gone. Some of it could be true, but not for everyone.

Carlton sits up, “Do you want breakfast?” 

From a probably psycho cheater murder? No.

“Yeah,” she lies. 

They have cereal, luckily, she pours it herself and doesn’t have to worry about it being poisoned.

She feels uncomfortable in this house. Someone built a life here. She can’t just sit here and use their things, take up their space, take their man. Although, not that Will would want him after this. 

“I got it.” He says, abruptly.

“Got what?”

“I know how I’ll kill ‘em”

The knot in her stomach twists.

“I’ll leave him in the car until he starves or dehydrates, that way there’s no bloody scene.” He continues.

Lisa might just be sick. How can he say that? So easily too. He doesn’t even look fazed. Who is this? He isn’t who she fell in love with. 

“That’s… good, less clean up.” She manages. 

He nods, continuing on his cereal. 

Hours later, they drive to the police station. She can’t stop remembering the body in the back- the person in the back. He’s still alive in there, even if he’s still unconscious.

Carlton hesitates, “Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”

Why? “Okay.” Does he have someone else? Do they work there and she can’t go in and be seen? Pathetic. 

Or… he doesn’t wanna be seen with a new girl so soon after Will’s "disappearance". 

Meh, still pathetic. 

She debates getting out and saving Will. But they’re in public, and at a police station. Will’s still unconscious, it’ll look very suspicious.

And besides, he took the keys, she can’t unlock it anyway.

Carlton comes out barely five minutes later, blank stare still there.

“What’d you say?” She asks to sound interested.

“Just that his car was there but he wasn’t. I don’t have time to get rid of that.” 

He doesn’t have time? It seems to her like he just doesn’t care enough. Or is he stupid? If the cops look at his car for evidence they’ll see the blood on Carltons and know what’s up. 

“Yeah, that works.”

–

Thursday, November 13th, 1997: 

Lisa’s worried. It’s been a day and a half since they put Will in the trunk, and Carlton still doesn’t know where to hide the body. He’s also set on the idea that Will dies in there before anyone finds him. He has to be awake by now. Just laying there in the trunk. What if he’s claustrophobic? How could someone be so inconsiderate? Yeah he’s gonna kill him but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna torture him.

Her worries die down when she hears a knock at the door, someone must have figured it out. 

If it’s the cops, she’ll just hope they let her have less time for not doing anything wrong. Or, wait, she is technically an accomplice right? She probably deserves jail for even agreeing to be quiet. Oh well. 

It’s not the cops though, Carlton looks outside before answering the door. 

“Shit.” He mutters, “Lisa, stay here.” He leaves the room.

Who is it? She quickly looks outside. Two people- a man and a woman-  stand on the porch looking worried. 

She assumes they’re friends of his that know he's with a guy not a girl. Or friends of Will’s. 

She abandons the window to listen to their conversation. 

“Hi, uh, do you know where Will is? Will Byers?” the woman asks.

Uh-oh. They do know Will. 

Wait- Will Byers? Wasn’t he that kid that went missing a few years ago? Over in Hawkins?

Great, kidnapped twice in his life. 

“Wait, are you his sister? Jane, right?” Carlton asks, surprisingly calm.

His sister? He has a sister? No… now Lisa feels even more bad, she’s learning about his life, seeing the people he loves, she can’t let Carlton do this.

“Um, yes I am. Could you tell me-”

“I don’t know. I thought he was at work.”

“But, his car is still here…”

“I know, but you work with him so I thought he just got a ride.”

“That was yesterday right? What about today?” The man asks.

He doesn’t look like Will or Jane. Probably Jane’s boyfriend or something.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Well I thought he spent the night or something, with whoever picked him up.”

“Well, you’re his boyfriend, didn’t you try calling him?”

“No. He’s his own person, man. He can do whatever he wants. Look, I’m busy right now, so if you don’t mind…” He slowly starts shutting the door.

Busy? Yeah right. 

“Wait, if you see him tell him to call us, okay?” Jane adds the last second.

Carlton nods, then shuts the door in their faces. 

“Who were they?”

He looks up at her, “Will’s sister and ‘best friend’ Mike.”

That was Mike? His best friend? She thinks of how sad she’d be if one of her friends went missing.

“Oh, okay.”

He glares at her, then shrugs, walking back into his room.

She has to find a way to get Will out.

–

Will has no idea how long he’s been trapped, his watch is too hard to read in the dark. There isn’t even a gap or hole where the sun could  tell him it’s day time. Is it? Must be nighttime by now, he felt the car moving earlier and that had to have been hours ago by now. He really needs a perception of time.

He’s been in and out of sleep, and, as expected, he’s had nightmares. They were the typical ones where he’s back in the Upside Down, running from Vecna. The situations would vary from being a twelve year old boy again reexperiencing his trauma, to being a seventeen year old who has just lost everyone he loves. The usual.

The panic attacks as a result have been torture enough. Waking up in a cold and dark environment made it more difficult to calm down- it was hard enough to do normally if he was alone. He struggled for a few minutes telling himself that everything was just a dream, only to be in his nightmare situation in real life. 

Everything about this is just one big nightmare. He’s freezing, starving, thirsty, and very uncomfortable. It was easy to tell himself that he’d be fine when he first woke up- he’s been to Hell and back, what’s a car trunk gonna do to him? Now he’s just doubting if there's even a way to find him.

He doesn’t even know where they went, if he’s back, or if he’s just been stranded in a forest somewhere. 

But he can’t be stranded wherever he is, he hears footsteps outside. Maybe it is daytime. 

Then, a pop, followed by one side of him falling to the side. 

Did the tire just deflate?

A few whispers can be heard but not made out when the other sides of the car sink. 

Will tenses. Is that Carlton? Why would he pop his own tires?

There’s a beat.

Will doesn’t dare move a muscle- from fear or the fact he can’t do so anyway he doesn’t know.

A huge crash from above startles him. There's more crashes that follow, all very loud in Will’s ear. 

Then, Silence.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Carlton’s voice interrupts. That’s exactly what Will would like to know.

More shouting can be heard after that, muffled by thumps of something getting hit. Is Calton beating someone up? Why?

No, wait.

Will knows that shouting, he’d know it anywhere.

That’s Mike.

Coming to his rescue just like Will knew he would. He’d celebrate if he could- if only he could scream, then he’d be cheering for his knight in shining armor.

Shit, his mouth is taped. How can he let Mike know he’s alright? He can’t move enough to bang on anything, his voice is muffled so much he could barely hear it. He prays that Mike can figure it out, he was always more clever with stuff like this.

He listens closer, what’s he saying?

“-him like shit! I could’ve been a better boyfriend then you ever were! You left him for that hoe! I loved him and you took him away again! I just got him back! He’s been through so much! I love him so much, I-I…”

Wait…what?

Will’s eyes go wide. Mike… loves him?

A tear rolls down the side of his face. 

Mike loves him.

Everything goes quiet. It’s like that for a few minutes, then a car pulls up next to him. 

No… Is Mike leaving? He can’t. Not yet. 

The car leaves and Will’s left with nothing but the sounds of his own muffled cries.

–

A loud crash from outside startles both Lisa and Carlton awake. He’s insisted she doesn’t go to sleep at her house in case she tries to tell someone. Is that kidnapping? Holding hostage? Either way she didn’t argue, she wants to be able to save Will anyway.

The crash is followed by more, all coming from the driveway.

Carlton gets out of bed, “The fuck?” He quickly puts on a shirt and pants and leaves to deal with whatever is outside, sending a quick “Stay here.” to her.

She does as she’s told. 

The crashes turn to silence as Carlton slams the front door, whatever was outside must’ve gotten scared. 

“What the hell is going on out here?” She hears Carlton shout.

Loud thumps and shouting follow, she recognizes the voice from earlier. It’s Mike, Will’s best friend. Only now it sounds so… painful. He shouts with so much emotion.

She looks outside, careful to not show herself too much. 

Sure enough, Mike is on the other side of the car, she can’t see his full body. He’s leaning down, looking at the ground. The shouting comes to a stop as he completely disappears behind the car. 

To the right, Jane watches the scene, covering her mouth.

His sister is here too? 

Lisa gets away from the window, promising herself that she’ll get Will back to his sister and friend. 

A few minutes later, everything is quiet. Carlton hasn’t come back yet, which is a bad sign, right? Maybe he chased them off- she’s not even sure of what they were doing anyway.

Looking outside again, she sees nothing. The cars are still there, but no one is out there. Except- hopefully- for Will.

Now’s her chance. Carlton’s gone, he didn’t grab his keys, nobody would see her take him out- yes, she’s gonna do it.

She puts on some clothes to look decent before she grabs his keys, along with some scissors to cut the ties, and goes outside. The November night chill reddens her nose and shows her breath- She just knows Will’s freezing in there.

Upon walking around the car, she finds that it’s been hit several times with a bat. The window is shattered, the doors are bent, even some of the inside looks damaged. The tires have also been slashed, all four of them. 

She beeps the car to unlock it then unlocks the trunk. She carefully opens it- revealing a terrified looking Will.

What does she say? What does she do? Would he have a grudge against her for being with Carlton? He can’t still care about that- she’s saving him.

She decides it’s best to apologize, “Hey, are you okay? Stupid question, I know you’re not. I’m so sorry for everything,” She rips the tape off his mouth. 

He looks at her with wide eyes, “What…?”

“I’m Lisa, I swear I didn’t know that he was dating someone. I'm so sorry for ruining your relationship, please forgive me.” She doesn’t deserve it but she hopes Will does forgive her.

He pauses, “I- You’re saving me?”

“Yes, I feel so bad. I didn’t know what to do. He threatened me and lied to your friends and I’ve never been so scared in my life for someone and myself. I know you probably don’t believe me but I saved you as soon as I could, he didn’t let me leave without him.”

“I forgive you… Where is he?” 

“I don’t know. You’re friend- Mike, he basically destroyed Carlton's car and then they disappeared. Jane was here too, I guess that’s your sister.” 

He nods.

“Anyway, I think he chased them down or something, maybe they took him, I don’t know. But we should get out of here nonetheless.”

She lets out her hand, showing him the scissors. He understands and lets her cut him loose.

“Yeah, good idea. Thank you.” He says, sitting up.

“You’re welcome.” The knot in her stomach has finally untied itself. She looks at him awkwardly for a moment, “You probably want to clean up, and eat something.”

He smiles like all his biggest dreams have come true, “Oh my god yes.” 

As expected, Will eats like he’s never had food before, and drinks a whole bottle of water in seconds.

“I feel terrible.” Lisa blurts.

He looks at her, “Don’t. He’s an ass and if I were you I’d do the same thing.”

She smiles, “At least you’re safe, I was so worried that whole time.”

He nods, something in his expression changes. Now it’s, fear, worry maybe, “What do we do now? He could come back at any moment to finish the job.”

“I was thinking we get a motel for the night, then call the cops and tell them what happened so they can deal with him themselves.”

“Alright, I know a motel near here that’s not too expensive.” 

–

Lisa saved him, he can’t believe it. Will is incredibly grateful for all she’s done- well, not all all, but most of it.

They bring some food to the motel. Along with clothes, because he was just dying to take a shower. 

They talk a little in the car, she tells him about how she and Carlton met and all the lies she was told. Both of them were being lied to bigtime. Apparently he was going out with her every time Will left for Mike’s and on the days when he “worked late”. He didn’t just buy her a necklace, but he got her dinner and flowers and cuddles- Just like when he and Will started dating. She seems to have fallen for it just like he did, but she also fell out of it as soon as she knew the truth.

The motel was closer than he remembered, but he hopes that that doesn’t make Carlton find them here. 

That also raises the question: Where is he? 

Lisa thinks he chased Mike and Jane, but she doesn’t know that Jane is actually El and has powers. She’d kick his ass if he tried anything, so even if he did he’d probably be injured. 

Then again, maybe that did happen. Mike was screaming at him, and beating him. At least that’s what it sounded like. Maybe he ran away in fear- or…

Did they kill him? They got his car, they clearly already hated him- even before everything- and they’ve both killed before. Maybe they did do it.

He can’t tell Lisa this though, they’ve all agreed to not to tell anyone about their past. Will can only say he was kidnapped and he doesn’t remember most of it. They’ll find out what happened at some point, it’s best not thinking about it now. 

He gets out of the shower, relieved to have taken one. It feels good being clean and stretched. Looking in the mirror, he sees his cut lip and bruised cheek. Oh well, at least he’s alive.

Lisa is sitting on her bed when he comes out, watching something on TV.

“Hey,” he sits on his bed.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah, you?”

She takes a deep breath, “Yes, I’m just- This whole experience has been insane to me.”

He can’t say the same, just another day in his disastrous life. “Not to me, you know  when I was twelve I -”

“Got kidnapped, I know.” She finishes.

“Yeah, so I’m kinda used to bad things happening to me.”  

“I’m not. My whole life I was surrounded by amazing people. My parents were in love and accepting of anything, my friends and I never fought. I always saw the good in people. Yeah, I got bullied but… I knew those girls were just insecure. I thought bad things only happened in movies, and those movies were like- fairy tales and whatever. I guess I was sheltered.

“I knew that bad things happened -like you getting kidnapped- But I just, never expected to be in a situation like that. I thought he was the one to be honest- which was stupid of me. But then he did all those things and I got a taste of the real world.”

Huh. So even someone with a good childhood was unlucky enough to meet Carlton. She’s his opposite. “Wow. You know, I always thought the opposite.”

She looks up, “Really?”

“Yeah. My parents fought like rabid dogs, my dad was abusive and my mom was just too poor to let him go. My brother had to get a job to help with that. Then I got kidnapped and all my friends tried to find me and my mom even went crazy believing I was still out there. They find me almost dead in the guy’s basement and I wake up in the hospital the next morning.

“I never thought true love existed, those were just fairy tales. And I guess I’ve just accepted the bad things that come my way because, well, why would anything good happen to me? Part of me thought it was just because I was gay and the world had given me what I deserved. Then I met Carlton and thought, ‘maybe this is how it changes, this is when I get my fairy tale ending and everything gets better’. I guess I was stupid too.”

She smiles “I guess, in the end, we both just got absolutely screwed over by him.”

He laughs, “Maybe we aren’t so different.” 

–

Friday, November 14th, 1997:

Will wakes up to an annoyingly loud alarm. He slams it off with his fist, burring his head into his pillow.

“Not a morning person?” Lisa asks from her side of the room.

He groans into his pillow. No, he actually despises them.

“I’ll let you sleep then.” 

He risks getting blinded by light to look at the time: 7:30. He has no clue what time he went to bed, but he definitely hasn’t been asleep long enough. Being in that trunk for two days made him appreciate being comfy more than he ever thought he would before.

So he goes back to sleep 

Only to then remember- he has to go see Mike and El. They were worried sick about him, he can’t just sleep in and let them think he died. For all they know, Carlton buried him by now.

He sits up, motivated by the thought of seeing Mike again. 

Mike. Who apparently likes him back. Since when? Did he just say that to make Carlton mad? If he does, Will has to tell him he likes him too.

“Shit, we need to tell them that I’m still alive. Again.” He gets up.

“What?” She laughs, “What do you mean?”

“Well, last time everyone thought I died and they had a funeral, I need to make sure that they don’t do that again this time.”

“Wow, okay yeah we should probably go.” 

El’s house is only a few miles away from the motel, it only takes them five minutes to get there.

He pulls up and sees Mike’s car in the second part of the drive way, he parks in the street. Good, he can tell them at the same time. He waits for a moment before getting out, Lisa follows.

Will knocks at the door. 

A few moments later, the door unlocks, and El staring at him, bugged eyed. She doesn’t speak, he’s worried she’ll be stuck like this until she raps her arms around him.

He holds her tight, he misses her so much. 

“Oh my god…” Her voice is brittle and breaking.  

Will hears footsteps and looks up, not breaking the hug. Behind El, Mike stands at the end of the hall. His blinking expression breaks into tears as their eyes meet. He lets her go. Within a second, he and Mike run into each other for a hug. 

–

Mike stares blankly at the TV. He’s been doing it all morning, and has zero interest in stopping. He feels dead inside, like there’s a hole where Will used to be. That place might be his heart, but sadly Will’s the one who’s gone, not Mike.

He and El agreed to lay low for a while in case the cops wanna investigate. At this point, jail doesn’t even sound like a bad thing anymore. He’d rather go to jail if he doesn’t get to see Will every month.

But, he can’t do that to El. She’d been locked up her whole life, he can’t let that happen again.

Maybe he could confess and say she has nothing to do with it, go to jail alone and spare her. 

He thinks he has his chance to do so when there’s a knock at the door. 

“I’ll get it.” El says dryly. 

She’s also been less cheery lately. No doubt that’s because of Will.

He here’s the door open, but no hello. No sound comes after that at all. 

Curious, Mike walks to the end of the hall leading to the door. He stops. 

El’s hugging someone- Will!

She’s hugging Will.

How? What happened to him? Where’s he been? Is he okay? Did he get hurt?

Will looks back at him, he breaks the hug with El. Mike runs towards him, heart racing, mind wandering, eyes watering. 

“Will!” He says into the hug, that's all he can say before breaking down.

“Mike!” Will’s voice comes out muffled, as he’s buried his face into his neck. But it still echoes through Mike’s ears, telling his brain that this is real.

Mike collects himself, not letting go for a second- he might not let go again. “Where? How? When? What? Who?”

“Trunk, pure luck, Tuesday, punched, Carlton.” Will answers all his questions, raising more.

 Mike ignores those questions and hugs Will tighter, “I missed you.”

“I know. I missed you too.” 

Mike has the urge to kiss Will’s head, but doesn’t do it. Instead, he pulls away to look at him. His cheek and eye look bruised, and his lip is cut, but other than that he looks fine. Beautiful even. 

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright, luckily this is all the injuries I have. And my back hurts, but I’m fine.”

Mike laughs, “Your back always hurts.”

“Yeah, but the trunk made it worse.”

Wait, the trunk? Was he in there the whole time?

Whatever, Mike can ask for details later. 

He realises he’s been holding Will for a long time and lets go. Will seems slightly disappointed at that- Mike is too.

He looks at El, who’d been watching the entire time. Her eyes are wet with tears, but her look tells him exactly what she’s thinking.

Tell him you like him.

He almost does, but then notices there’s someone else watching.

Her blonde hair reaches just past her shoulders, her blueish green eyes show some guilt as she looks back at Mike.

“Hi, I’m Lisa.”

Oh. 

“Hey…” Mike looks back at Will.

In turn he puts his hand on Mike’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, she’s nice. She saved me.”

Oh, okay then, Mike was ready to say some things to her. Things like, ‘how dare she help someone cheat on Will’, and, ‘did she help kidnap him?’. But if Will says it’s fine, he’ll stand down. Plus, anyone who saves Will Mike owes his life too- which is why he loves Joyce so much.

So, he says the only thing he can think of, “Thank you.” 

She smiles, “You’re welcome.”

-

Will sits extra close to Mike as he and Lisa explain what happened. Mike and El seem both surprised and disgusted at what Carlton did. Mike almost throws a chair when they tell him how he never loved Will in the first place.

When they ask about what happened with Carlton, they seem to not want to answer. Will considers the idea that they did kill him, and it’s confirmed when they give him a look that says, “We can’t say it because it involves El’s powers.” 

Will should probably feel sad about this revelation, but he just feels relieved. After the nasty things He said, he’s dead to Will anyway. Will can just ask later what really happened.

At some point, Mike and El share a look, and Mike asks Will to talk in private.

They go to the guest room, shutting the door behind them. 

Mike talks first, “Will, listen, I know this is probably not what you want to hear coming out of that whole situation, but I just need to tell you.” He pauses, taking a deep breath.

Oh shit, is this it? Is Mike confessing now? 

“Will, I love-” The rest of Mike’s sentence gets swallowed by Will’s mouth.

Mike freezes and Will’s worried for a moment. But no, Mike soon leans into the kiss, his hands find their way to his lower back and it just feels right. Every second of it feels like heaven, it’s warm, and sweet, Will’s letting Mike see all the love he has for him with one simple move.

Mike pulls him closer, keeping one hand on his hip and the other comes up to cup Will’s cheek.

Will does something he’s been tempted to do for ages, he slides his hands up from his neck into Mike’s hair and plays with it. It’s soft and fluffy and curly, everything he dreamed it would be. 

Mike breaks the kiss, “You didn’t let me finish.” He rubs his cheek

“You didn’t need to, I already know. I love you too.”

Mike smiles- and oh, it’s so adorable- then kisses Will again.

It’s more rough- needier. They’re both desperate to keep this moment going for just another second, scared it’ll be gone if they don’t. A groan comes from one of their throats and they both smile deep into the kiss. 

Will pulls Mike’s hair slightly, getting another sound from his throat, and a laugh from both of them. He stumbles back against the wall, pulling Mike with him.

“Be careful, you need to stay alive long enough to be my boyfriend.” Mike whispers.

The word sends Will into a spiral, he pulls back slightly, looking into Mike’s eyes.

Mike blushes, “I mean, only if you want that too.” He stammers. Will thinks he’s beautiful when he gets all flustered.

“Yes, Mike, I want that.” 

“Oh, okay, good.” 

Will shakes his head, laughing at Mike’s ridiculousness, pulling him in for another kiss.

–

Friday, November 28th, 1997:

Will is half asleep in Mike’s arms when the phone rings. He groans, not wanting to interrupt the moment. 

“I know, but it’s your sister.” Mike whispers.

“Tell her I’m busy.” He pushes his face deeper into Mike’s chest.

He’s been staying at Mike’s house for the past week, waking up in his arms was weird at first- he never even did that with his ex- but now that he’s used to the cuddles he doesn’t want them to end. He didn’t even want to stay here for that, he just couldn’t go back to his house alone. The first night, he had a panic attack again and Mike was able to help him though it. Now he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to sleep without him. 

Mike answers the phone, “We’re busy.”

El says something Will can’t hear, but Mike seems to be surprised.

“Wait, really? Fuck, I forgot about that.” 

Will looks up, Mike puts it on speaker.

El continues, “- and she called to tell me they arrested her.” 

“Who?” Will asks.

“Lisa. Hey Will, sorry to wake you up.”

“Why is she getting arrested?” Lisa’s probably the last person he’d expect to get arrested.

“They think she killed Carlton. Anyway, she said she’s fine but I’m not so sure.” 

Oh right. Mike and El finally told Will what happened after much pleading. He didn’t think that Mike was the one to actually kill him but it also now makes sense. They originally wanted to frame Lisa for it, but now that she’s their friend, they feel bad. 

She’s not fit for prison. She’s strong but she might not be able to handle it.

Will sits up, still leaning on Mike, “How long?”  

“Well, unless they find the body only five years, three and a half with good behavior, which I’m sure she'll get.”

Of course she will, “Do you think they’ll find the body?”

“No.” El answers honestly, “It’s at the bottom of a lake in a dark trashbag, it’s beaten so much that it’ll be unrecognizable if they ever do.”

“Well that’s reassuring.” Mike states.

El ignores his obvious sarcasm, “It is. Anyway, we can visit her pretty much whenever, so it should be fine.”

“That’s good,” Will exclaimed, “She won’t miss us too much.”

“Yeah,” She agrees.

–

Wednesday, February 18th, 1998: 

Will watches Mike turn on the car heater just to get blasted with cold air. He giggles at his impatience.

Mike sighs and turns the air down.

“Be patient, El still needs to get the cake.”

“I know, I know. Why are we doing this again? It’s freezing.” Mike whines.

“Because, you two put her in there so the least we can do is celebrate her birthday. Is that so much to ask?”

“No, you’re right.”

Will grabs Mike’s hand, “Besides, I can warm you up.” 

El opens the back door, letting more cold air in, “Hey, how are you guys?”

How is Will Byers?

Four months ago, he was being cheated on, and almost killed. Today, he’s holding hands with his boyfriend Mike Wheeler, about to go see Lisa in jail for her birthday. He’s doing amazing.

“I’m good.” Mike answers, smiling towards Will, getting a smile back.

“Same.” He squeezes Mike’s hand.

“That’s good, I’m good too. I got chocolate cake for her.”

“Nice, that’s her favorite.” 

The visiting area at the prison is a little creepy, there are stains on the cement floors, and spider webs in the corners of the ceilings. The guards also freaked Will out a little, they’re staring and feels like it’ll burn a hole right through him.

The tables were also not that comfortable, but it’s not the most annoying thing on the planet.

Mike seems to think the opposite, he keeps switching his position on the seat, “Stupid prison seats.”

“Mike, quit complaining or else they won’t let us back.” Will tells him.

“I don’t wanna come back.”

“Not even to see me?” Lisa appears walking through the doors of the prison, orange jumpsuit and cuffs around her hands.

“Hey girl!” El smiles at her, “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks,” She sits down.

How could people accuse a girl this polite of kidnapping someone?

“How is it here?”

“Not too bad, I met someone…” she blushes slightly.

El gasps, “Oh my god, really?”

Lisa nods.

Then, Will realizes something, “Wait but… there’s only women here…”

She bites her lip, “I know…”

Oh. Will feels silly for assuming- he forgot that people could like both genders (which is crazy since Mike does).

“You never told us.” Mike shares his realization.

“I didn’t know I did until I met her,”

“What’s her name?” El asks, followed by, “Does she like you back? What’s she in for? What does she look like? What does she like?”

Sometimes Will regrets all those times back in ninth grade where he’d help her learn english, now she has so many questions and can properly talk your ear off about them.

“Well, for starters, her name is Ava. She might like me, she’s in for robbing a bank, she’s um… a little taller than me, brown hair, tan, and she likes… I’m not sure, I think she was also in band so… music I guess.” 

“Nice,” El smirks, “Are you gonna ask her out?”

Mike scoffs, “Out? Where would they even go?”

Will elbows him- softly- and still gets a reaction.

“Hey, I’m just saying.” 

Lisa laughs, “Well actually we could watch a movie. The black and white ones are only a hundred and something. And there’s the fact that we’re cell mates and have nothing to do all day.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Will thought prison would be way worse, at least you can watch TV. 

“Yeah, it’s kinda nice. Anyway, how’ve you two been?” She directly asks Mike and Will.

“Amazing.” Will answers, leaning his head on Mike's shoulder.

They catch up on how things have been for all of them, sadly they weren’t allowed to bring the cake in so Will, Mike, and El all decide to eat it later on. 

They say their goodbyes an hour later, Mike and Will go back to their apartment, dropping off El on the way. 

When they get back, they only have one thing on their mind: Wine.

Mike takes the bottle and some glasses while Will settles onto the couch- his couch. He’s officially moved in with him and couldn’t be happier. Now, he actually does have Mike as his personal chef.

Will has Mike, and that’s all he could ever ask for.