HOW TO STOP LIKING BOYS ━ Stranger Things ✓

ELEVEN: THE WOODS

ELEVEN: THE WOODS

DANIEL HATED THE WOODS. He hated them even more now that Will had gone missing in them. They always felt eerie, like there was a shadow in the corner of your vision you could never quite fully see. Every time he took a step, Daniel felt the need to look over his shoulder. Even in the daytime. He felt eyes on him at all times, like he was never alone. Of course, he had his friends to protect him should anything happen, but were they enough. He hated these woods so much, always had. They were riddled with ghostly whispers and detached shadows. He was not safe in the daylight, either, his mind would still travel to wild places and imagine things he never saw. He hated it, even more, when he had to watch Mike and Eleven ahead of him, walking Mike's bike along the tracks by themselves while Daniel, Dustin, and Lucas were little ways behind. His eyes were trained on the two, watching them talk and interact. He watched as Eleven reached over to touch Mike. Daniel may or may not have found joy in the way Mike jerked away at her touch.

"Hey," he said suddenly to Lucas and Dustin, both of them jumping slightly since it had been pretty much dead silent except for the crunching of leaves. "I'm gonna catch up with them, all right?" The two boys shrugged and Daniel jogged up to where the pair was talking.

"Hey, Dan," Mike said with a small smile as the curly-haired boy walked up to the pair, "Your nose calmed down all right? That was weird with the cat there, it looked kinda like Dustin's, but I doubt that was him."

"Cat?" Eleven asked. Daniel wanted to groan as loud as he possibly could. God, how stupid could this girl be? She didn't even know what a cat was? Literally how the hell could you not? She had to be from the nuthouse, Daniel thought, she must have been born there or some crazy shit because she was weird. And not the good kind of weird either.

Daniel held the sigh as he began to explain, "That thing you saw, that growled at you. People keep them as pets, Dustin," he motioned slightly to the curly-haired boy behind them, "Has one. Its name is Mews."

"Mews?" Eleven asked with scrunched eyebrows.

Mike shrugged, "He's weird. He hates me for some reason and Daniel can't be near him because of his allergies. Did he explain those to you?" Eleven nodded. "Okay, yeah, but I kinda like dogs more. Didn't you used to have a dog, Daniel?"

"Yeah," he thought back to the big golden lab his family had. His parents got her shortly before they had Heather, but the dog had unfortunately been hit by a passing car when Daniel was about six. He was still traumatized from watching it happen. "Uh, her name was Blueberry. Will has a dog, too, our missing friend. He's a sweetheart."

"I think I'm gonna get another dog when I'm older, something small."

"No, you should get something like a greyhound, to protect you when you're all out on your own," Mike suggested, "Plus, they're long and lanky, like you."

"Okay, wow!" Daniel exclaimed, mocking offense. Mike nudged him slightly in the arm with his shoulder, both boys laugh.

Mike immediately explained his statement, part of him thinking Daniel was actually offended. "No, they're cute I love greyhounds! Plus, they're fast and awesome! I'll get a little pug or something and our dogs can be best friends, like us!"

"Best friends?" Eleven asked. In Daniel's professional opinion, she completely ruined the conversation. Maybe he was slightly (very) biased. Seriously, did this girl not understand basic social cues? Scratch that, it was obvious she didn't. They were fighting for Mike's attention and that girl probably didn't even realize what she was doing nor how lucky she was.

The Wheeler boy scrambled for a way to explain it properly before speaking, "It's like a friend that you're closer to than anybody else. You tell each other secrets, even the bad ones, and you trust that they'll always be there for you. Think of friends, but like, one better. Lucas and Dustin and Will are my best friends, too. You can actually have more than one, but some people say you can't."

"Which is stupid," Daniel cut in with a small smile. "But Mike is definitely my best friend."

"And you're definitely mine," Mike said with a laugh. "Got it?"

"Friends," the girl said slowly, probably attempting to grasp it in her mind, "and best friends?"

"Yup!" Mike said with a smile. Daniel loved that smile. Shit. He wasn't supposed to think like that. Why couldn't he stop thinking like that? Maybe it was because now that he knew what was happening and he wasn't confused about these thoughts anymore he wasn't holding back? Could that be it? He was lost. There were only two things Daniel was sure of. One is that he had the stupidest crush on Mike Wheeler and two being that he had to hide this as long as he possibly could. He didn't want to hide it, though. Did he? What would it change? Mike literally just said best friends tell each other secrets, even the dark ones. Could he come clean? About the liking boys part at least? He couldn't, not as long as Eleven was around. Mike seemed to be glued to her and to Daniel, it was annoying as shit.

Okay, Daniel thought to himself, the next time Mike and I are alone, I'm telling him. That's final. He was immediately regretting his decision. He wished he could talk to Heather about this. No, actually, she would most likely tell him to tell Mike. He didn't need that. He was getting lost in his thoughts, he really needed to pull himself out.

"Daniel? You okay?" Mike asked and right away, Daniel was out of his thoughts.

"Hm?" he murmured, turning to look at the boy, "Yep, I'm fine. Why?"

"You do this thing where you just kinda disappear, but you're still here," Mike shrugged, "Like you're thinking really hard about something. What were you just thinking about?"

That I may or may not be in love with you. "Nothing."

( note! )

this. is. short. and. i. wanna. die. BUT this is kinda just a filler chapter to move along daniel coming to terms with himself and stuff so yes!! daniel WILL be telling mike he likes boys soonish depending on the next time mike is without eleven in season one!! im sorry for producing short chapters, tbh this and chapter ten probably could have been one big chapter and im!! the!! worst!! wow!! nonetheless, i hope you enjoyed this little double update since i updated yesterday and depsite the length, im happy with the pace this story is going at!!