Spider-Man | Stranger Things AU

Chapter 5

A week.

A week is how long it's been since Ted Wheeler was taken from this world.

His funeral was a few days ago. A few of Ted's friends showed up, all talking about how good of a man he was, which only made Mike feel worse.

Mike's friends were there, including El, who tried to talk to him, but he couldn't find it within himself to interact with her. Hopper was there too, patting Mike on the shoulder, trying to bring him some sort of comfort.

Mike thinks he doesn't deserve to be comforted, not when he thinks he was the cause of his own father's death.

Mike is finally about to go back to school after a week of absence. He needs something to distract himself from the pain.

He walks down stairs to see Nancy and Karen sitting at the table, talking quietly to each other.
They flip their eyes over to him, where they look at him with sympathy. They know that he blames himself for what happened.

"How are you feeling?" Karen asks in a soft voice.

Mike shrugs, "Fine." His face void of any emotion.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back?" Nancy asks. She has taken time off from work to be with Karen and Mike. Mr. Bauman completely understood. Jonathan has also been around recently, comforting Nancy.

Mike shrugs again, "It beats sitting around here all day."

Nancy just nods, "Well... have a good day."

Mike doesn't respond, and he just walks out the door.

Nancy and Karen look at each other with sad eyes. They're equally worried about him. They barely even see him anymore. He rarely leaves his room, and doesn't ever eat anything unless Karen is forcing him to.

Mike walks out the door and is met with the sight of Max walking out of her house.

'Crap.' Mike thinks to himself. He has been avoiding and ignoring his friends as much as he can. He doesn't want their sympathy. In his mind he doesn't deserve it.

Mike just ignores her and walks down down the street. Max finally catches up to him and grabs him by the hand.

Mike turns around to meet her eyes.

"Mike..." she says as she looks at him with sympathy. She studies his appearance; Dark circles under his eyes, and ghastly pale skin.

"What?" Mike asks.

"W-We've been trying to reach you, but you haven't been responding."

Mike nods, "Yeah I know. I'm sorry." He apologizes. He does feel bad for shutting his friends out. They're just trying to help after all.

Max shakes her head, "Don't apologize. It's okay. We've just been worried about you."

Mike shakes his head, "Don't be... I'm fine." He lies to her.

"It's okay not to be-"

"Max, I'm fine." He cuts her off. "Now come on before we miss the bus."

~

The hallways of Midtown are crowded, each student rushing to get to their first period class. They all simultaneously stop when a certain student walks through the halls.

Word got around about what happened to Ted Wheeler. Even Stacey and Troy feel bad for him.

Mike walks through the hallways with his head down, trying to reach his locker. He can feel everyone's gaze on him.