mike

"yeah, oh." yeah, will, oh. why would he lie to me about it? the whole speech was probably a lie too. what else has he lied about? what even was that whole speech? i need to know.

-twenty minutes earlier-

will has been gone for a while now, it's getting dark. el has just got home, "where's will?" she asks, i don't know how to answer. i called my mom and asked her if will stopped by and she said he didn't, i have no idea where he is.

"he went out for a walk, he'll be back in a bit, how's lucas? and max?" she smiles at the mention of max.

"lucas is fine, he was talking to max a lot and erica was also there, she's nice. max isn't any better but she's also not any worse and lucas said that is a good thing."

we talk for a little while longer about max when remember i wanted to ask el something. "el, when did you realise i didn't love you like that?"

"i think i knew for a long time but i definitely knew in the pizza dough freezer, i heard you but i also heard will. i heard- what he said, mike. he had to tell you to keep going and told you you were the heart, i don't know what that meant but i could tell that if he wasn't there and didn't tell you to keep going, you wouldn't have said you loved me." oh.

"el, i'm sorry, i really am i just," i wasn't sure where i was going with this, "i guess i needed will there with me, he helped me. the whole thing with the heart was because of the painting, the one of the party you commissioned," she starts looking a little confused but i keep going "and i forgot to say thank you for that, will told me everything and-"

"what painting?" she must have forgot.

"the painting, you know the one of the party that you asked will to paint, he's really talented, it's an amazing painting, thank you for asking him to make it," i say trying to make her remember as she furrows her brows.

"mike, i didn't ask will to paint anything. i even told you in the last letter i sent you, he wouldn't show me what he was working on, i assumed it was for a girl because i thought there was definitely someone he liked but i guess it was for you." will lied to me? i'm happy the painting wasn't for a girl, it hurt when i read it was for a girl in the letter i'm not sure why. but more importantly, why would he lie?

"but, why would he lie to me?"

"i don't know mike, maybe he though lying to you would help me. ask him about it, don't be mad at him when you don't know everything." i need to find will and find out why he lied. did he think i'd be mad at him for making that amazing painting for me? or was it like el said, did he say it to help her?

i was thinking about telling el about the speech to see if she really felt that way or if it was another lie but i don't. i need to focus on one thing at a time. and besides, i can always ask will about it if i need to.

-now-

"why did you lie about it?" i ask before i can stop myself. "have you lied about anything else? huh?" i'm being too harsh but i need to know. will doesn't say anything. he doesn't move or even blink. "why did you lie?" i ask again, hoping he answers this time.

"i didn't lie about it, el, she- she told me to paint it," he defends.

"oh yeah? because she told me she had no idea about it, she even told me before i came to see you, before i even knew that you were painting something, she thought it was for a girl or someone you liked but it was for me," his eyes dart around the room, he's avoiding my gaze.

"well then maybe she's lying, have you thought about that? she's been lying to you since we moved, how can you trust her?" he's getting more defensive than i've seen him in a long time. how can i trust her? she didn't know what i was talking about. it's not like she got all defensive like will is right now.

"i trust her, i just know she's telling the truth because-"

"because what? let me guess," he cuts me off "you love her?" what is he talking about. why does he always cut to that conclusion.

"what? why are you brining that up?" he finally looks at me.

"because i know you love her and you're going to get back together with her," he mumbles. where is he getting that from and why does he care so much.

"no, we won't. stop being so jealous all the time, if you want a girlfriend so bad go get one," i raise my voice. why did i say that? maybe i was jealous at the thought of will liking a girl, he is my best friend after all and i don't want him to ditch me and start hanging out with some stupid girl.

"because, i can't. i can't get a girlfriend," he raises his voice too.

"why?" i ask and he looks back at the floor. 

"don't worry about it." he says blankly. i want to know what's going on with him, he doesn't tell me anything anymore, most likely because i say shitty things to him all the time.

"please will, talk to me. we never talk anymore. tell me why or tell me about the painting, i don't care you lied i just want to know what's going on with you." i plead.

"i-" he cuts himself off, "no, i can't tell you about either of those, not yet."

"why?" i ask but he doesn't respond. "okay, don't tell me then. is there anything else going on i need to know about?" i ask, expecting no response again.

"yeah, there actually is," he sits down on the couch. he looks serious.

"wait seriously? what's wrong?" i ask.

"earlier, you know when i went into hoppers room," i nod with a concerned look on my face, "well, he got me," he pauses. "i've been having bad nightmares these past two days but i didn't know who to tell. i was also getting nosebleeds but i thought nothing of it. this morning, i saw a grandfather clock, i closed my eyes and it went away so i didn't say anything to you or el. but then, in hopper's bedroom, vecna was there, i didn't realise it was him at first because he pretend to be..." he stops, not carrying on.

"pretended to be who?" i ask.

"you." there are tears welling up in his eyes.

"he pretended to be me? what did he do while he was me?" i ask and will winces.

"i uh i can't really remember what he did," i'm sure this is another lie, "but it scared me, after i realised it wasn't you, he kept coming closer and closer to me so i shut my eyes and after a while i guessed he must have gone so i  opened my eyes and i was right, he was gone but i know he's not gone for good, he's going to come back, i'm going to end up like max or- or i'll end up dead." his breath starts getting short again.

"it's okay, we can help, all of us, i'll call everyone and we can all figure out what to do, if you're okay with that?" i suggest.

"yeah, sure," he wipes a tear from his cheek.

"i'll go and tell el, then i'll call dustin and lucas, you call jonathan and tell him to get nancy, do you want me to call your mom and hop?"

"no! no, i don't want to worry them, if it gets worse we can tell them after but if we can fix this without them it would be for the better, mom deserves a break and so does hopper."

"okay, that's fine! i'll go tell el then the others," i get up and knock on el's door. she opens it and i step inside.

"what happened out there?" she says while walking towards me.

"nothing with the painting but uh, it's will. vecna's got him, he says might die. i know he's connected to him so i didn't think he would be one of vecna's victims but i guess i was wrong." her eyes widen and she wraps her arms around me.

"it's going to be okay, we can help him, we know what vecna can do now and i'm here, i'm here and i can help him," she reassures me.

i tell her everything will told me and we come up with a rough idea of the plan to tell everyone. i walk over to her phone and i call the school and ask to speak to dustin, i tell him everything and he says he's coming with steve and robin, they can be pretty useful so i said they could come. i call the hospital and ask for lucas, he says he's coming, i tell him he can bring erica but he says she wants to stay with max to make sure she's okay while he's gone.

i go back into the living room and will has just got off the phone with jonathan, "i didn't tell him everything, i couldn't, i just told him that it's an emergency and to get nance. when they all get here do you possibly think you might..." he trails off.

"you want me to tell them everything? i can if it's easier for you," he nods. "okay then, it's settled, once everyone gets here, i'll explain it all and we can figure out what to do."

after a while, there's a knock at the door, it's dustin, steve and robin. lucas arrives moments later, followed by jonathan and nancy.

"so, what's the emergency?" jonathan asks as he sits down on hoppers chair with nancy sitting right next to him.

will sits down on the couch and i sit next to him. i look at jonathan and start "well, it's sort of a long story," i look over to will and he looks uncomfortable, i put my hand on his shoulder, he tenses up before relaxing and looking at me, he nods and i continue.

i finish telling everyone what happened, everyone is staring at will, who is looking at the floor. nobody has said anything, it's silent.

"uh can you stop staring at me please," will says as he looks up, everyone looks away, except for me. i can't, not while knowing he's in danger. i feel like if i take my eyes off him, he will die. i've lost him before, i can't lose him again. he means so much to me and i can't even imagine what it would be like living without him. i need him in my life, after 'his body' was found in the quarry, i felt like a part of me died that day. i know it wasn't him and he was in the upside down and he came back, sure but it traumatised me seeing his body like that. he hasn't been the same since, he hasn't been happy since.

"will, we know how to stop him, while you're under his trance at least, with music, it does something, to your brain, it reaches parts of your brain that words just can't, if you tell us your favourite song, we will always know how to help, at least for now, it can save you i think every time." robin speaks up, talking fast and taking me out of my thoughts, will looks very relieved with this news.

"yeah, just tell us your favourite song and we'll be fine!" dustin says, will looks down at his feet, he looks sad. do we know his favourite song? i don't want him to think i don't know anything about him just because he moved away, he's still my best friend.

"guys, we know his favourite song," i say.

i give dustin a look and he understands as he quickly says, "oh-oh yeah! i forgot, sorry." will looks a lot less disappointed. he told me his favourite song when we were back in california so if we end up needing it, i'll remember what it is. the tape must be at my house too, with everything he brought.

jonathan and nancy start making a plan, i take my eyes off of will for the first time in a while and look towards the others. we make somewhat of a good plan and everyone stops. "so, will does this sound good to you?" i say, but he doesn't respond. i turn to look at him, his eyes are fluttering. lucas gets up from the floor and runs over to him, steve, robin, nancy and dustin know what's happening, they've seen this before with max. he's in another trance.

"will? will? will, come on man, wake up!" lucas says and dustin shakes his shoulders, they can't lose anyone else important to them. will doesn't wake up. his eyes are fluttering even faster. "wake up, man, please."

"will! will, wake up, please!" jonathan says, "someone, anyone, get my bag, my walkman is in there somewhere. el, what tapes do you have? there's no time to go back to the wheelers, all i have are songs argyle gave me, will doesnt know any of them!"

"i don't have any tapes here, they're all back in the old house in california or at the wheelers, i haven't brought anything here yet, my room only just got cleaned up!" i hear the panic in her voice.

"we have to do something, isn't there anything we can do? is there any other way without music? el, can you help him?" i say, also panicking.

will winces and everyone turns to him, he mumbles, "mike...i'm sorry," what was he sorry for? what is vecna doing to him.

everyone's turns to look at me, i glance at jonathan and he's glaring at me. i turn back to will. and suddenly be opens his eyes and takes a sharp breath in. "will!" i say and everyone backs away from him and sits back to their original places. "what happened?" he looks at me, still trying to catch his breath.

"it-it was him again. he was you again. he-" he can't finish his sentence, there's something he isn't telling us, or me at least.

"it's okay will, tell us when you're ready, just take a minute to calm down," nancy says softly. will tries to talk but he can't, it's like his voice has been taken from him.

after a few tries he's finally able to speak, "i can't, i'm sorry." he says quietly.

"hey, that's okay," i say, "it's getting late, it's almost 11pm, how about i call my mom and tell her we're all staying at dustin's tonight, she'll tell your mom and hopper then dustin and lucas call your parents and say you're staying at my house, we have to stay together for now." everyone nods in agreement.

for the rest of the evening, nobody brings up will saying he was sorry to me. i know they all heard it, so why isn't anyone questioning it?

el, dustin and lucas stay in her room, el on her bed and the other two on spare mattresses. jonathan and nancy stay in hoppers bed, robin and steve sleeping on the floor of the room. will insists he sleeps on the couch, not to take up any room in el or hop's bedrooms. el tells me i can stay in her room but i tell her i want to stay with will, incase something bad happens to him.

will lays down on the couch, "are you sure you're comfortable on the floor? you can take the couch if you want, i don't mind sleeping down there," he says, almost desperately.

"it's fine, will, really. i don't mind sleeping down here," i lay down right by the couch so i can make sure nobody comes near will without me knowing.

"okay, as long as you're sure."

"i'm sure." i reply.

"goodnight, mike," he says quietly.

"goodnight, will," i say softly.

i wait a while, incase he wants to talk then i realise he has fallen asleep. i go to sleep too, i'm a deep sleeper but if anything happens to will, hopefully i'll know and i'll wake up.

i wake up because of how uncomfortable the floor is, i hate sleeping on hardwood floors with no blankets or pillows underneath me but i have to stay by will's side. it's still dark outside, i don't know what time it is, i look at the clock on the wall, barely being able to see it but making out it saying 3am. i look over to will... he's not there. why did i risk going to sleep? why did i think it was okay to leave him? anything could have happened to him.

i hear a voice. it's coming from the kitchen. i hear another voice coming from the kitchen, one of them is will, the other one, i can't tell. the voices are muffled and i don't know what they're saying.

i quietly walk over to the kitchen, the other voice is jonathan's. they're hugging and will is crying. i think about speaking up so they know i'm there but i don't want to disturb them. they stop hugging and i quietly make my way back to the living room. i lay back down and shortly after, will comes back in. he lays back down on the couch. i feel like i should talk to him and make sure everything's okay so i sit up and yawn, pretending i've just woken up.

"mike?" will says, almost at a whisper.

"yeah?" i say back.

"did i wake you up? sorry if i did i just went to the bathroom," he's lying, again, but i'll let it slide, he doesn't want to tell me what him and jonathan were talking about and that's fine.

"no, you didn't wake me up, it's the floor, it's not very comfortable down here," i pause but i realise will might say we can switch, "but uh it's fine, really i don't mind it," i don't want will to feel bad for taking the couch or feel like he's making me stay with him.

"why don't you go and stay in el's room? or hoppers? or you take the couch and i'll sleep on the floor?" he's sat upright now on the couch, his eyes locked with mine, i think at least, the lights are off so i can't tell.

"no, no! the floor is uncomfortable, i don't want you sleeping on the floor, i also don't want to leave you alone so i have to stay here with you," i get up and turn on the small light that's next to the couch so i can see him.

"are you sure you're okay on the floor?" will says, again. i look at the couch, it looks big enough for two people.

"why don't we just share the couch?" he doesn't respond, " i mean, we used to share our beds when we were younger at sleepovers, what's the difference?"

"are you sure? i don't want you feeling uncomfortable or anything," why would i feel uncomfortable?

"i wouldn't be uncomfortable, will, of course i wouldn't, we've been best friends since forever, come on, move over," i get up and sit on the couch next to him, "see? we can stay like this, i can sleep sitting up, you can lay down if you want, i don't mind."

"i'll stay sat up too," he reaches over and turns off the light, "goodnight, mike."

"goodnight, will," i put the blanket over the both of us, we used to share blankets when we were little and i've missed it. my blanket is on the floor and i could pick it up but i would rather share with will.

i stare at him sleeping for a while, if he wakes up he's going to think i'm weird but he's so mesmerising. i try to fall asleep but i open my eyes when i hear will wince."you okay?" i whisper, trying to sound sleepy and not like i've been watching him.

"yeah, my neck kind of hurts, i don't like sleeping sat up," he replies. i turn the light on and he's rubbing his neck.

i know he wants to lay down. "lay down," i say, expecting will to argue back but he doesn't. he lays down, swinging his legs over my lap. "is that better?" i ask.

"yeah, i guess." he says quietly. he still looks uncomfortable.

"you guess? that's not a yes," i say with a faint chuckle. "look, come here," i say. i slowly take his hands, my stomach twisting as i do. i pull him up and i'm suddenly aware of the weight of his legs on me. i look into his hazel eyes, not wanting to move. i want to stay like this forever, just staring into his eyes and holding his hands. will looks away and i realise i've been staring at him for a while. "oh, um-"

"sorry, i'll just lay back down." will says and begins to lay back down.

"no!" i says louder than i meant to, "no," i say quieter. "look, i don't want you being uncomfortable all night, just put your head on my lap and sleep like that, it's more comfortable."

"okay," he replies, he takes his legs off of me, placing his head gently on my lap. i stare at his eyes, waiting for him to turn around so he can stare back into mine, he doesn't. look at me, will. look at me. please look at me. "are you sure this is okay?" he asks quietly. i smile as he turns his head, our eyes finally locking.

"yes, of course." i say. i look at the features on his face, all i want to do is outline them with my hand, to trace over his perfect jawline. i glance to his hair, i wish i could run my fingers through it. i lift my hand, wanting to do either of those but slowly put my hand back down. what the hell has gotten into me? "you want the light off?" i ask, distracting myself.

"could we keep it on for tonight?" he asks in return.

"course," i say with a smile, turning back to him. his eyes are so pretty, i should tell him. i open my mouth but then i quickly close it, best friends don't do that.

"what?" will chuckles slightly.

"hm?" i ask.

"what we're you going to say?" he replies and i can't help but let a smile slip out.

"i like your eyes," i say, immediately regretting it and turning away. "they're a pretty color," i mumble, hoping he doesn't think i'm weird. i reluctantly turn back to him, he doesn't look weirded out or anything, his cheeks are pink.

"well, i like your hair, it's nice like this." he says softly, smiling. he slowly reaches his hand up but i don't focus on it, i keep my eyes locked with his. he moves a curl of my hair i didn't realise was there out of my eyes. he slowly traces his hand down the side of my face, getting slower as he reaches my jawline, tracing it with his fingers like i wanted to do with his.

he takes his hand off of me and i smile wide, my cheeks are burning and my heart beating faster than ever before. "th-uh, thanks," i look away and clear my throat more times than necessary. i wish he kept his hand on me. "we should get some sleep." i look back and swallow nervously.

"yeah, yeah, sorry," he says and looks away.

"what are you sorry for?" i ask, he didn't do anything, i was the one being weird.

"for moving your hair," he pauses, i don't say anything i keep staring at him. "but yeah, we should get some sleep,"

"i didn't mind you moving my hair by the way," i say softly.

"really?" will asks.

"yeah," i reply. "i kind of liked it," i mumble, barely talking so he doesn't hear me. "goodnight."

"goodnight," he says back and closes his eyes. with the light on i can see him perfectly. my neck is definitely going to hurt from looking down this much but it's worth it.

after i think he's fallen asleep, i try his name, "will?" i whisper and get no answer. his breathing is calmer, he's definitely asleep. lift my hand up again, this time not putting it back down. i trace his jawline lightly with my finger. he moves a little, he's a light sleeper, so i quickly take my hand off of him, making sure i didn't wake him. he doesn't move for a few seconds, i don't think i woke him up.

i rest my head against the back of the couch. i go to close my eyes but before i do, i look back to him, he looks so...peaceful? yeah, peaceful. i lift my hand one last time, this time going for his hair, i run my fingers through it, it's softer than i expected it to be. i play with his hair for a little while longer before deciding to finally go to sleep. i close my eyes.

i wake up and look at the clock, it's 7:20, earlier than i expected. i look back down to will and he's still there, still peaceful. "hey," i say quietly and gently shake his shoulder. "will?"

"hm? mike?" he sleepily says.

"yeah, it's me," i say and he opens his eyes. he takes a second before swinging his legs off the couch and taking his head off of me. i feel cold without him. he stands up and looks into my eyes, he looks nervous. i smile at him, letting him know whatever's worrying him is fine.

"i'll go and wake jonathan and the others up, you wake up el, lucas and dustin," he says and quickly makes his way to the room they're in. i slowly make my way to el's room and wake them all up.

once they're up, i go back to where me and will were and will's already there with jonathan, nancy, steve and robin. will isn't stood next to anyone so i stand next to him, he looks surprised by this but where else would i stand?

a/n: longest chapter yet! (4.5k words) i had lots of ideas for this chapter and it's kind of messy lol sorry abt that