Over And Out

Chapter ten

Mike was surprised that Will said that at a time like this. 

He was also surprised that Will liked, loved him back.

"You do?"  Was all he could say.  Will nods and looks back down to the floor.  He felt drained, tired and weak.  But he didn't know when, or if, this opportunity would happen again.  He wanted Mike to know how he felt.

"Of course I do.  How could I not?" He smiles to the floor.  He wasn't sure if Mike saw it and he hoped that he didn't.  But Mike saw it anyway and smiled back.

Will stopped smiling and began kicking his legs back and forth.

"Am I the reason you and El broke up?"  He asks quietly.

"Of course not.  You saw how our relationship was last summer it...we just work better as friends, alright?  It had nothing to do with you.  I promise."  Mike says.  A part of him knew he was lying.  Although it technically wasn't Wills fault, Mike had liked Will all throughout his relationship with Eleven.  He knew that, that was the reason their relationship was so rocky and what led them to break up.  But the other part of him knew that they did work better as friends.

Will doesn't say anything for a few minutes, letting the time go by.  Mike continues to watch him quietly while Will was thinking.

"I would have died."  Will finally says very quietly.  "I wanted too.  It hurt, everything hurt."  He was crying again now but was wiping his face with his sleeve of his shirt.

Mike pulled him into another hug and Will didn't object.  Mike let him lay against his chest as he had his own arms around the smaller boy.

"You said you loved me."  Will says quietly.  "I didn't want to die anymore."

Mike hugged him tighter without saying anything for a long time he just let Will cry.

It felt like they were in their own world.  Both boys completely forgot about the group outside the door wanting to talk to Will.  But neither one of them really cared either.

"You don't even know how glad I am that you're okay."  Mike finally says.  Neither one of them pull away from each other, neither one of them wanted to move away from each other.

So they didn't.

"Do you really?"  Will says quietly.

"What?"

"Love me.  Do you really?"  Will felt like he was mumbling over his words because he was so exhausted.  Mike smiled.

"Of course I do.  Go to sleep now, alright?  We'll talk about it when you wake up."  Mike kisses the top of his head subconsciously and laid Will down on the bed since he was already half asleep. 

He pulled the blankets up and placed them over him before walking out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.  He was immediately met with a million questions.

"I can only answer one thing at a time holy hell!"  Mike yells and everyone steps away from him, apologizing.

"Can we talk to him?"  Joyce asks.

"He's sleeping."  Mike sighs.  "He didn't want to talk about it so we didn't."  He half lies.

"Why not?"  Dustin demanded.

"It only just happened, Dustin.  You know how...sensitive...he is.  He was shaken up and exhausted I had no doubt he was not going to talk about it right away."  Mike says while sitting down on the couch.

"Then what did you guys talk about?"  El asks.  Mike gives her a look as if to say 'you know' and her face lit up.

"No way!"  She says excitedly.  Mike laughs.

"What's going on?"  Lucas asks, confused just like everyone else.

Jonathan had caught up, looking at Mike with a satisfying smirk.

"Nothing, we weren't really talking about anything.  He just wanted me to stay in the room with him until he could fall asleep.  He didn't want to be alone."  Mike lies once more.  He felt guilty lying to his friends, but then again everyone in the party broke that rule a million times in the past few years so it didn't matter anymore.

"Why does he only want to talk to you?"  Dustin asks.  "I mean, we're his friends too."  He gestures towards himself, El, and Lucas.  Mike went quiet and just looked to the ground.

"Mike was the only one of us who was with Will when he was possessed and in the doctors appointment thing.  He's the one who will understand the most."  El says, trying to cover up for him.  Mike gives her a grateful smile.

"How long do you think he'll be out for?"  Joyce asks him while looking to the bedroom door.

"A while.  He's exhausted.  I have a feeling he hasn't been sleeping well."  Mike says with a sigh.

"Well that's great."  Steve mutters.

"Mike, we need answers."  Nancy protests, "what Vecna tries to kill him again?  We won't know what to do.  Him surviving was just luck."

Deep down Mike knew she was right, but it didn't stop him from getting angry at her; at all of them.

"He doesn't want to talk about it!  I'm not going to make him.  We can figure something else out!"  He says while standing up once more.

"We don't have time for this, Wheeler."  Hopper says, equally annoyed.

"He just went to sleep, leave him alone."  Mike snaps at him. 

"Then he has to talk about it when he wakes up!"  Hopper yells.

"Both of you shut up, this isn't helping!"  Eleven yells at both of them.

Everyone began talking over one another and Will came out of the bedroom ten minutes after everyone began arguing.

Will stood in the doorway, unsure of what to say or do.  His eyes looked wild and cloudy and his head was still pounding.

"Will, come sit down."  His mother instructs him.  He just stood there, not processing what she was saying to him.  He felt disconnected from his body.  Like he wanted to say and do things but he couldn't.

When everyone was quiet and no one was moving Mike pushed Lucas and Dustin out of the way and walked over to Will, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Come on."  He leads Will over to the house and everyone just stares at them I'm confusion and surprise. 

"Okay.  We need you to tell us what happened."  Mike says slowly while kneeling down in front of him.  Will nods.

It took him a few minutes before he began talking, he told them every detail, every move, every feeling, everything.

Everyone was silent through the whole thing.  Surprisingly Will wasn't crying after he was done talking.  He just looked out of it.

"Will, when the vines let go of you, do you know why?"  Dustin asks him.  Will shakes his head.

"It's almost like...it just happens."  He says quietly. 

"Could he have powers?  Maybe like Eleven.  But they only work in the upside down."  Robin says.  Everyone looks at her, "well, if these things are happening it's all happening for a reason."

"That's not possible."  Will says, almost immediately.

"We can't rule it out."  Lucas says.  Mike was quiet, not knowing what to say or do.

"I don't have powers like El does."  Will says seriously.

"Then why did the vines break?"  Lucas asks.

"How am I supposed to know, man?  I wasn't paying attention to why!"  Will almost screams at him.  Mike stood up and sat down next to him.

"Alright, that's fine."  Mike says, trying to calm him down.

"What else can we do?"  Joyce asks while looking around the group.

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Word Count: 1,272