it's my feeling we'll win in the end

Chapter 8: so real in the dark

"The fuck was that about?" demands Max, after the bizarre battle of compliments between Steve and Mike has come to an abrupt end.

"Nothing," shout Steve, Mike, and Will at the same time.

"No seriously," says Dustin. "That was really weird."

"Yeah, what's going on?" asks Lucas.

"Nothing," asserts Mike. "Really nothing. So anyway, the Demilich-"

"No, no, no," interrupts Lucas. "Something was definitely going on. It sort of seemed like-" And Will's heart clenches in his chest, knowing exactly what that seemed like. But just then, the bowl of chips that has been teetering near the table's edge for a while now topples over and smashes on the ground.

"Shit!" yells Mike. "I'll grab the broom, everyone be careful where you step!" While everyone is fussing over the mess (and Dustin is picking chips from between the shards of glass and eating them), Will silently thanks the gods of gravity and good timing for the distraction. But then he sees Eleven wiping her nose in his periphery. By the time Will turns to look at her, she's placed her hands behind her back, but not before he notices a blotch of red on the sleeve. He gives her a grateful smile. The gods of gravity and serendipity have nothing on Eleven Hopper.

Thankfully, the great chip calamity was successful in shifting the focus away from Will and the strange string of compliments he's just been showered with. Thank god for teens' short attention spans. The rest of the game is relatively uneventful. Well, uneventful might be the wrong word; it is eventful, but only in the regularly chaotic way that has come to be expected when this particular group of young people gets together. Lucas and Dustin get into another screaming match. Max threatens to dump Lucas' ass. Robin laughs at dumb shit Steve says, ending up nearly choking on a pretzel. El uses her powers to get herself another soda from the fridge without getting up. You know, normal kid stuff. And everyone but Will seems to forget about the weirdness of earlier. He tries to laugh and nod along with the rest, but the stress of earlier hasn't yet worn off.

By the time everyone starts shuffling out the door, Will is exhausted and just wants to go home. Maybe he'll make himself a hot cocoa and curl up with a blanket even though it's entirely too warm out for that. Maybe he'll hang out with Jonathan and listen to music. Or maybe he'll just go to bed and have a good cry. It's been a fucking stressful night, okay? But before he can mumble his goodbyes and flee the house to go do any of that, he feels Mike's hand at his shoulder.

"Hey, wanna sleep over?" he asks hopefully.

Will could say no. He really could, and honestly sort of feels like it. As much as he hates to admit it, it's become sort of hard to be around Mike lately. Now it's not only the heartache that comes from unrequited (and likely unrequitable) love, but also the stress of keeping those feelings hidden. Every second Will spends with him, he needs to be on high alert; don't blush, don't touch, don't sit too close. It's exhausting. But even now, Will can't help but smile back at Mike. Because even though it is hard to be around him sometimes, Mike is still one of his favourite people in the world. He makes him laugh like no one else does, makes him feel safer than he does with anyone else. Makes him feel loved. Maybe not in the way he'd like, but in a way that he needs nonetheless. He doesn't know where he'd be without Mike and his friendship. Maybe he'd still be sitting alone on that swing set.

"Sure," he smiles. "Sleepover sounds good."

* * *

Neither of the boys can sleep. This shouldn't come as a surprise given the truly astounding volume of cola they've consumed over the last few hours (Will's not sure what the exact conversion rate is, but he guesses that the amount of caffeine they've consumed is roughly comparable to doing about three lines of cocaine). Or maybe Will's sleeplessness is just a result of a stressful and event-filled day. Whatever the case may be, it's two a.m. and both boys are wide awake.