𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝; byler

- ¢нαρтєя єℓєνєи -

THE NEXT THING WILL KNEW, they were climbing up the stairs. To which house? He didn't know. He didn't care.

"Damn, help me a little bit here!" Richie complained, and Will realized he was trying to get him to climb the stairs. How do you take steps again? oh, right.

"m'sorry," He said turning his broken gaze to look at Richie.

"My fault. Maybe 18 shots of jager are a bit too much," Richie returned. His face was red from the effort- Will was trying to walk, but he was basically hanging from Richie's arms. 

had he really done 18 shots? That must be like... a lot. His mind was too foggy to realize the severity of his actions. He only barley connected to the real world, drifting to a place far away- and he just seemed to get more drunk as time progressed. 

This wasn't good- and at the same time, it was the best: because at least his stomach wasn't frozen anymore, at least he wasn't thinking about the drawing or the upside down or Mike.

He wasn't thinking at all.

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He was awoken by a door slamming. When had he fallen asleep anyway? And where was he? He still felt very loopy, very out of it- which meant he was still pretty drunk. He didn't open his eyes, but silently listened.

"Rich! Where are you?" Eddie's voice called. He must've been the one to enter the apartment.  Why was Will's heart jumping at his name? Why didn't he want Eddie here?
"Here, but shh! Will's asleep!" Richie's voice answered from somewhere in the living room.

"What? Why's Will here?" That first voice called again. Who was it? Will couldn't remember anymore... oh, Eddie! He wanted to respond, but he couldn't really speak for some reason.

"Hi to you too, my beloved boyfriend who I haven't seen at all today!"Richie said, and the sound of footsteps sounded: Will didn't really know what was going on, but a minute later the first voice spoke again.

"I'm serious! Why the fuck is Will asleep on our couch?" 
"take a chill pill, Eds! We went out drinking, I'm letting him sleep it off a little before-"

"Drinking? Richie Tozier are you fucking serious right now?"  Eddie's voice was suddenly high pitched and stressed, whisper yelling.

He finally remembered why he didn't want Eddie there... Because Eddie knew. 

"aww, is little Eddie hurt that he wasn't invited? It's okay-" Richie crooned, but Eddie sighed loudly.
"No you fucking asshole! Will is sober!" 

SHIT.

"Not really, I'd say he's pretty fucked up- Ouch! What was that for?" 
"No, I mean he's a sober. Like, ex alcoholic sober!" 

Silence.

"Shit, really?"

a few feet thumps.

Suddenly Will heard Eddie's voice by his head.

"Will? Hey Will, are you okay?" Will wanted to respond, but all he managed was a feeble hand gesture.

"Is he fucking dead? How much did he have?" Eddie yelled, and Will knew he had to do something. He didn't want Eddie to tell Mike about this... Wait, why didn't he want Mike to know? Oh, right. Shit.

"I'm okee," He said, his voice slurring way more than he wanted, "I'm not that drunk. Jus' a lil." He finally opened his eyes, trying to smile.

"Fucking hell, Richie! We have to get him home before Mike gets back!" Eddie was lifting Will up.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know? No one ever told me!" Richie exclaimed, but rushed to Eddie's aide. 

Will felt himself being lifted, and the face so close to him seemed familiar, with the black hair and freckles... The face he loved more than anything
"Mike?" He asked, reaching to touch his cheek.

"No, it's Richie, Will. We're getting you to Mike." Eddie said, and then whispered "He's totally fucked. How much did he have?"

"Umm... Like 18 shots... maybe more.... I didn't know he was sober!" Richie whispered back. Will wanted to tell them that he could hear them, but suddenly he wasn't sure that he could. He was completely, 100% out of it...

....How was he in his bed? He focused his eyes with effort, and saw Eddie standing by the door.
"Eddie?" He asked with effort. He wanted to go to sleep, but he had to say this before Eddie left.

"yuh?" Eddie answered. 

"Can'you not tell Mike?" His voice was desperate, even through it's sluggishness. He couldn't have Mike finding out... "It was one time. I won't do this again."

Eddie didn't answer. He just stayed standing for a while, but finally he sighed- "We'll talk tomorrow." 

Will wanted to argue, to make him promise- but before he could he sank into a deep sleep, a dreamless slumber that was way better than any of the other nights he had before.

And essentially, that was the problem. 

Because he knew when he woke up, he wouldn't care about the raging hangover or that horrible feeling of when you absolutely need a drink just to function properly. He wouldn't think about how bad this was for his liver, or even how bad it would hurt Mike if he found out.

Because Will was still an alcoholic. And all he'd remember will be that amazing feeling of floating, free of his cares and that horrible frozen feeling in his stomach, and that for once he could sleep without any nightmares.

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"Will?" Mike asked quietly as he opened the door to the apartment. The living room was dark and empty, and the whole place was silent. He glanced at his watch- 11:30 pm. He felt kind of bad that he had left Will all alone for so long... but it would all be worth it in the end.

The plan he had put together with Bev just minutes ago made him sure that no matter how long he'd have to spend working on it, no matter how long he'd have to be away from Will, it would all be worth it.

Where was Will? It was kind of early for him to be asleep...He quietly itched towards the bedroom, just in case, and sure enough Will was deep asleep, sprawled out over the bed.

He was shirtless, his cheeks were flushed, his hair sticking to his face: With sweat or water, that Mike didn't know. But he looked completely at peace, and completely perfect.

Mike smiled to himself. He showered and dressed in pajamas, and carefully moved Will a little so he'd have some space to sleep.

He kissed Will's forehead, and hugged the boy closer to him- letting his eyes flutter shut as a small smile curved his lips.

[AUTHOR SAYS]

MYGOD these last two chapters were so hard to write ughh I'm putting so much effort into this and I really hope everyone's enjoying it but it's so different and I'm just positive it's going to flop... Regretting all my ife choices rn lmao.