SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO NOW ?

“Hey there’s no need to be sorry, honestly, I’ve been in my own little world a lot lately. Yeah I would love some company.” She replied with a gentle smile appearing on her lips, moving over a little so he could stand next to her. “The Palace? I haven’t been there in a long time, maybe I should stop by and say hi one day. Well they are on me and I won’t take no for an answer.” 

gareth held out his pack of marlboros obligingly in a dare, one eyebrow raised. “well wheeler and sinclair are around here right? is all…” he started carefully. at the retort he pretended to take an arrow to the chest, clamping a hand down over the spot. “you cut me deep, byers, you cut me real deep. i know you don’t think that ‘cause you’d have started running if you did, we both know you could lap me around the lake any day.”

status: @zombiebcy​ location: hawkins general hospital

max stood outside the hospital room. she knew will was accepting visitors, it was how she got here in the first place, but she still felt hesitant to walk in. she cursed the buddy system. clearly, it hadn’t worked to keep anybody safe. four attacks in one night? it was unprecedented and completely wrecked her theories on the killer’s motives. or… killers plural. it was like she had made no progress at all. at least grizz and eddie were cleared of the crimes.

she cursed mike because she knew it!! even if the attackers weren’t the same people who’d killed brooklyn and daniel, she knew any one of her friends could be targeted. will had to be put in the hospital!

max took a deep breath. she didn’t need to be  so visibly stressed now. if will noticed, it would just make things worse. 

she knocked on the door and said, “will? it’s max.”

will pretended he didn’t jump out of his skin at the rap on the door. he’d finally convinced his mom and jonathan that they didn’t need to put their schedule: work, sleep or otherwise on hold because he wasn’t allowed to be discharged yet.

“hey! come in.” though they’d been friends for years it still warmed and surprised him to think that max would come to visit him here, people as cool as her with california confidence were rare in places like hawkins. rarer still people as good friends to him as she had been.

“are you okay?” he asked in a rush, straining to see to check max over to make sure she was alright.

honestly, he usually followed will’s lead on that. sometimes, it felt like it was necessary to sleep in the bed with him, but he wasn’t sure if it was right to suggest it himself. it felt pushy, a little bit. “what were you thinking?” mike asked.

something about being with will was calming to mike. he couldn’t explain it. he didn’t want to. it felt like something special between the two of them that they could share and not let anyone else in on. why it felt important to have that was beside the point. “at least she doesn’t worry as much as your mom does,” he pointed out. he loved joyce byers, but she was very protective when it came to will. “it’s the most annoying part of being an adult,” he announced with a little bit of a laugh.

instead of answering will put the end of one hoody cord in his mouth. in an uncharacteristic fit of bravery will gripped mike’s sleeve and herded him gently over to his bed. in many things mike was the decisive one but will was scared, scared enough to let it overcome his bone deep embarrassment at least until the morning when he could freak out on his own time. “easier to reach you when you start snoring.” he shrugged bashfully.

will turned beet red in an instant, eyes ducked to the floor. “she can kinda smother me at times, huh? she worries. is your mom extra protective of holly?” it probably wasn’t even a youngest kid thing just a will thing, as per usual. “we used to spend days at the arcade in your basement or the woods.”

after days of the same assholes coming in and giving steve a hard time, he was a little on edge and saying the first thing that came to mind. he didn’t even realize who he was speaking to until he saw a person retreating from him. waving a hand, steve quickly backtracked. “shit, byers. wait, hold on.” he said, putting down the video he had in his grip. “I thought you were one of those boneheads we keep getting around here. can I actually help you with something?”

at footsteps following him will naturally increased his speed, years of being chased fanning that fire. byers. he stops, figuring at least he hasn’t backed himself into a corner on the stacks. “it’s fine.” he grabbed his own forearm self-consciously. “is willow on back order?” the dark crystal and labyrinth were on the list too, will certainly had lost his appetite for horror after working a shift with daniel that morning of halloween. “boneheads have no shame, clearly.” one arm was a tight line down his side, the other clutched at the elbow tensely.

“hey! what’s wrong with what i said? i’m quite interested in whatever you have to say and now you’re mocking me for it! that’s not fair!” there was a faux pout on mike’s face for a moment to drive his point home, but it didn’t last long. kidding? sure, mike would let him say that. maybe it was easier than admitting the truth. anything to stop will from talking down on himself. “you better have been kidding.

how many times had his mom told him to quiet down? more than mike could remember, that much was for sure. how many times had she told will to? almost never. “yeah, yeah. you’re the loudest person i know!” he said sarcastically as he smiled over at will. as will held onto his wrist, mike shrugged his shoulder. “all i’m saying is that if my mom wasn’t going to panic, i wouldn’t be waking up early to head home.”

“you’re right, it’s not fair, thank you for being quite interested.” will turned beneath the drag of mike’s arm, looking at him from beneath thick lashes. counter-assault to the puppy dog eyes. he sighed but it was fond, “where d’you wanna sleep?”

“i know, i’d be mad at her if she wasn’t worried about you...” he mumbled, struggling to put it into words. the invisible ‘but’ hung at the end of that sentence. will realised it was having mike in his eye line meant for sure that he was safe and it was stemming a lot of his own panic. “being responsible sucks,” will huffed, stilling his fingers where they had started to gently brush over the wrist he’d been gripping.  

it wasn’t uncommon for will to talk down on himself, but that didn’t mean that mike liked it. he didn’t want to hear it. and if he couldn’t shut it down, well… he planned to do his best to do so anyway.

“i’m not the only one. you know i’m not the only one. the rest of the party doesn’t find you boring either,” he pointed out as he squeezed will’s shoulder. as far as the snoring.. “i can’t promise anything,” he announced because the odds of him snoring were a hell of a lot higher than those of him not. he didn’t want to make promises he knew he wasn’t going to keep.

“and we don’t have to worry about being too loud either!” he’d heard that from his mom more times than he was able to count. he could take most of the blame there, but he supposed will could have as much of it as he wanted to. “i don’t know! i’m just making sure because i’m not going anywhere now!”

“are they ‘quite interested’ too?” will mimicked the way mike had said it, he didn’t know what to do with the riotous knot of emotion sitting on his chest. “it’s cool, i was kidding.” both of them knew that he hadn’t been. brushing over it was easier than thinking that his best friend thought he was fishing for compliments.

“that too, i am known best for my loudness after all.” will deadpanned, raising his eyebrows but he smiled in mike’s direction indulgently. his brain replayed the thousands of moments of his best friend yelling ‘bullshit!’ over the years or crowing in victory around a dice tray. “well you’re not.” he responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world, reflexively the hand around mike’s wrist had tightened.

Lorna composed herself before her eyes locked onto who was in front of her and suddenly felt horrible for shouting. “Will. God, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to shout, you just caught me a little off guard.” She had seen Will around town but hadn’t spoken much since he finished up working in Enzo’s the year before. “Also a little on edge about,everything.”She added motioning her hands up in the air. “What brings you around here? Grabbing a bite to eat?” She asked curiously.

“something.” gareth said gratingly, shit eating grin on his face. will was often by himself, he seemed to like it just fine but sometimes the kid just needed room to jump into a conversation or he’d never get a word out at all. he took a last long puff of his cigarette before he tossed it. grinding it out beneath his heel. “okay, what are you doing hanging around the creek by yourself in the middle of november, billiam? colour me intrigued.” 

location: family video open: to anyone

Steve did his best to play it cool half the time. He didn’t want people to see him falter – call it a consequence of years of always attempting to be the best – so when it came the murders, he tried to not let the paranoia seep in. It was easier said than done but it was either that or stay up at all hours of the night wondering if someone he cared about might be next. Part of that plan was throwing himself into his mostly useless work. A handful of movies tucked under his arm, Steve mindlessly slid movies back into their spots with a look of dread washed over his face. He didn’t turn around when a shadow came up behind him, sighing heavily as if he could predict who was there. “Before you ask, no. I don’t know which movies have the most blood and guts in them. Do all of us a favor and stick to Scooby Doo, yeah?” 

will crept into family video, cautious of the cars parked in the lot and the patrons in the shelves. the only thing he could see was steve harrington’s quiff over the stacks, will rehearsed the question he was about to ask four times in his head trying to make sure it’d come out right. he opened his mouth when steve beat him to it. will’s already hunched shoulders shrank in even further. “right sorry,” he mumbled turning to walk away and search on his own again, not looking for problems. “good one.”

oh yeah, the demons. mike could buy that one. why else would will want to do something like that? it wasn’t like mike deserved it. okay, maybe sometimes. it wasn’t his fault. he couldn’t help but being annoying sometimes. he called it a middle child thing. it could be accurate!

“hey, i would never snore for you when i was awake. i’m actually quite interested in what you have to say!” will was mike’s favorite person. he could say about anything without mike getting bored of it. he knew a lot about various art techniques that will told him about that he didn’t entirely understand. that counted as something, didn’t it?

he would think about it if will wanted him to, but he already knew the answer to that one. it was a yes regardless of any other factors because, of course, this was will! he didn’t say no to will and he didn’t want to. “and we could have sleepovers every night,” he said with a bit of a laugh. “in the morning? you’re the best.”

a few minutes ago will had been ready to pass out face down but with mike’s arm still hanging over his shoulders, he suddenly had no plans to move.

“you’d be the only one.” will huffed self-deprecatingly but his entire face lit up at the prospect that mike enjoyed listening to him, though the evidence was clear considering they hung out all the time. hearing it was different. “so it’s solved: as long as you don’t snore, no pillow punch.”

“a forever sleepover.” will almost piped up about how they could let anyone they liked crash on their couch but he stayed quiet, he held the image of just the two of them close to his chest. he bashfully talked himself down, self conscious under praise. “why would i wanna take you back sooner than the morning? it’s not a big deal.” not for you. for anyone else he’d stay cocooned into his comforter like frodo in shelob’s web.

oh, mike would believe that much. he had woken up a few times to will hitting him with a pillow. he didn’t complain though. he’d almost understood it as well. it was probably annoying sharing with him. at least he didn’t hold onto will all night, despite the desire being present. he could restrain himself.

“does it help get out your aggression?” he asked playfully as he reached over to ruffle will’s curls for a moment before going back to elbow him slightly. “that’s okay. you can do it while i’m asleep. just don’t start when i’m awake.”

at the mention of him getting his own place, he glanced at will. he still lived with his own parents right now. the question caught him off guard. it hadn’t been anything he had considered before, but this was will. “yeah? wow, that’s.. i mean, that’d be awesome.”. he certainly hadn’t considered it an option. smile tugging at the corners of his lips, he added, “it’ll be like staying over, but every night!” as will set the alarm, he couldn’t help groaning. “ah, that’s going to be brutal.”

will was good at not getting too greedy with mike while he was awake but left to the devices of his unconscious self, he tended to become some kind of byers octopus. he’d always been a light sleeper so most of the time he could carefully extricate himself before mike woke up. neither of them were blanket-stealers and that was the main thing. 

“yeah it’s the bullied kid to pillow violence pipeline: the demons in the d&d made me do it, honest.” he rarely woke mike up with these antics anymore, the middle wheeler tending to smack his lips and roll over after one soft shove with the pillow without ever waking. “if you start snoring while you’re awake i’ll just be worried and maybe kind of offended.”

will started to worry that he’d not worked up to it enough, usually with these kind of things he left breadcrumb trails until he was sure what the other person thought. but it was mike. “you can totally think about it first but; nobody can yell at us for playing a campaign too long or leaving the pizza out of the fridge if it’s our place.” will patted the arm that was around his shoulders. “i can drive you, if you want.” if you have to go.