an: “still think he wouldn’t do that?” short chapter because I kinda ran out of ideas/inspo while writing this chapter😭
⊹ ࣪ ˖ allergy warning~some cussing and internalized homophobia
⊹ ࣪ ˖ swirl~friends to lovers
⊹ ࣪ ˖ serving size~multi-chapter (1579 words)
It’s nightfall and after it all, Will’s still in the chair.
“So, we’re just gonna leave him tied to that chair all night? Seriously?!” Mike exclaims.
“It’s for the best.” Hopper replies.
“Yeah. Right.” Mike says, in a ‘smartass’ voice.
“Oh what?! You want to just let him loose and let him kill you and everyone else in here?”
“Oh bullshit! Will wouldn’t do that!—“
“Newsflash. That’s not Will anymore!”
Mike goes silent. He flashes his hands up in the air, looking as if he wants to say something, but his hands drop almost immediately as he storms off.
“Mike? Mike!” Nancy yells.
Mike walks over to where they’re keeping Will and slams the door behind him, locking it.
Behind the door, Will lays slumped down in the chair with his head glued to the floor.
“Will?” Mike whispers through the dark quietness of the room, “Are you hurt?”
Will stays, unmoving, “Mike..” he grumbles under the tape.
“Will?” Mike speed-walks over, crouching in front of Will. He lifts a hand and places it under Will’s chin, trying to get a look at his face. “Will, you okay?” Mike slowly peels the tape off of Will’s mouth.
“Hungry..” He sighs, “and thirsty.”
“Mike. Please untie me. It hurts.”
“I know, but…I can’t Hopper’ll kill me.”
“Yeah. He will. They already think I’m like— having a.. mid-life crisis or something.”
“Uh..before..Hopper. Before Hopper came in, I wanna say that we were having a kind of a moment? I don’t know.. what I mean is— I guess I’m confused.”
“Because I wanted to. Did you?”
“I don’t know. I’m not..into this kind of stuff, Will. Well, I’m not like— homophobic or whatever, but I just don’t think this is what I should be doing. It doesn’t seem right.”
“But, does it feel right?”
Mike pauses, breathing heavily. To Mike, this wasn’t something that was particularly new, but it wasn’t familiar either. Yeah, he can admit that he’d look at Will’s lips once or twice..definitely more. He’d often seen Will in El’s place at times. But that couldn’t mean he was gay? Maybe it did. No, it definitely did. You don’t do that to your girlfriend. He certainly doesn’t think Lucas has ever done that to Max. Definitely not.
“Mike?” Will’s voice is soft in Mike's ears. It’s beautiful to him.
Mike gets up and heads towards the door, again with the speed-walking.
“Mike..please don’t go..” Will begs.
Mike pauses, taking a moment to look back at Will before whipping around and walking out. He almost slams into Hopper because of the way Hopper’s pressed against the door from previously banging against it.
“Sorry—“ Mike blabbers out and pushes past Hopper, heading for his ‘room’ (a room in the squawk that had become his room after his house got destroyed from Holly and his mom being attacked). He drops down onto the bed, head in hands.
Mike is a good person, he believes he is. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Then again, those thoughts come pooling back in. The thoughts about Will. Then his thoughts go back to that summer when Will left. That argument. His avoidance. That…damn kiss that El gave him before they left. The kiss that really got him thinking. And Will..the smile that he gave him when packing away his DnD stuff in the donation box. He’d always loved it when Will smiled. He’d often wished he could go back to that summer. Do the things he’d wished he did. Instead of pushing it down and praying. He wished he spoke, but then he goes back.. The things that people would say if they found out. He isn’t supposed to feel like this. He isn’t supposed to like boys like this. He doesn’t, he just..he just likes Will. He loves him. So, so much. He wished he had the courage to say it. To Will, To El, To their friends, to his family. It sucks. He knows he can say it, it’s right at the tip of his tongue. Right there and he still can’t say it. Can’t let it slip. Like his tongue is dry. He was a fool to even utter the words ‘grow old together’. He’s a fucking idiot. He’s horrible. He can’t, but he wants. He’s a..a monster. It’s gross. But then he thinks back to Will and it’s.. it’s so.. so good? He’ll never truly be himself.
“I’m a coward.” Mike says to himself, “I’ll never truly be myself…so stupid.”
Mike looks up, his eye catching on the blanket that covers the floor. It’s Will’s. Of course it is. He extends his arm, picking up the blanket and pressing it against his nose. He breathes in Will’s scent. Or the leftover scent that haunts the blanket. He then wraps himself in it. To, in a way, feel Will’s hug once more. He wraps it tightly around his body and walks towards the mirror, staring at the way the blanket wraps around him. He wishes— no. No, he doesn’t. He snatches the blanket off, throwing it to the floor in frustration. He wished he could love Will the way he wanted to. It’s so stupid. The way he deflects from his feelings. He’s turning 17 soon. He should already have everything figured out for himself. That’s what everyone tells him anyway.
“Mike?” El says, pushing open the door, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, El. It’s just— I hate how they’re keeping him in that room. In the dark, all alone. I mean— he told me he was hungry, thirsty, and that those stupid ropes hurt.”
“Mike, it’s for the best, remember? We don’t know what he’ll do..”
She’s right. We don’t know what he’ll do, “But you’re practically a superhero El! If he tries anything, you can stop him.”
El’s eyebrows furrowed at his comment, “That’s not the point, Mike—“
“Then what’s the point!? Keep him locked in there forever until we torture him?”
El’s eyes bounce between each of Mike’s eyes before ultimately giving up and walking out of the room.
Mike sighs, “Fuck!” as the door closes behind her. He can’t keep doing this. It’s stupid trying to argue against whatever everyone else is saying. He knows it for his own good, but he just can’t let Will sit in our room all day and rot. This, in itself, is torture for him.
He gets up to go join the others, but pauses at the door when he hears them talking secretly.
“Mike just.. needs help.”
“I tried to help him. He pushed me away. He yelled at me.”
“No, El— Like professional help. Him isolating himself.. it just isn’t healthy. Will too. Will may also need some,” Nancy says.
“No. We tried that before. It didn’t end well,” Jonathan states, glancing at his mom.
“What if we did it while Will was not so possessed? Like—“
“He’d hate that,” Joyce butts in, “too much pressure.”
The whole room goes silent.
“No,” Nancy chuckles, “He'd shut that down immediately.”
“Yeah— He’d only do it if Will did it with him,” Dustin adds.
Was he really that dependent on Will?
“Plus, everyone— or almost everyone.. saw how he was when he thought Will was dead. He doesn’t function right without Will. I mean, even when Will moved to Cali he acted like he lost a limb,” Dustin continues.
“It’s like they’re spiritually connected or something.. if one is upset the other is aswell. They’re connected.”
Bullshit. Maybe. No— maybe they’re right. It is true that whenever Will was upset Mike was too. It’s very evident. Not in a coincidence kind of way either. It happened on more than one occasion. You definitely couldn’t count the times it happened with just two hands. He had to admit he felt.. something when Will used his powers that one time. He could admit, but won’t, that he wished there was a moment where Will would have to use his powers again. Not in a weird way though.
“It’s not.. in a.. brotherly way though,” Robin says. The room falls silent once again.
What was that supposed to mean? No way she knew— no. No way she thought that he liked Will the way he was supposed to like girls? No! The way that he likes girls. Absolutely no way. Right?
Thud! A loud noise comes from the room, but not the room Mike was currently listening into.. the next room over.
Mike snatches open the door and attempts to push pass the others huddled in front of the open door, “Will?! Is he okay?”
When Mike finally manages to push past everyone, he meets Hopper holding Will in a headlock. Will scratches at the skin on Hopper’s arms.
“Let me go! Let me go!l Will screeches, “Let me go! Please!”
“Go to sleep, kid,” Hopper says, tightening his arm around Will’s neck.
Mike watches, wide-eyed. Will starts to faint, tears running down his face as he struggles for air.
“Wait! Stop! You’re hurting him!” Mike says, standing still, “Stop!”
Will finally falls unconscious as Hopper loosens his arms. Mike, still staring, breathes hard.
“Still think he wouldn’t do that?” Hooper asks, pointing the question towards Mike.
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(Credit for dividers: @strangergraphics & @angeliicide)
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