This Is Christmas

A Promise

In the period Mike and Will shared Mike was acting a little standoffish. When it was time to work in pairs the two made eye contact like they usually did but Mike didn't ask Will to work with him, instead he asked a random girl. Will didn't know what he did wrong. Maybe Mike was actually weirded out by the day before. Maybe Mike didn't mean a word of what he had said. Will felt his heart sinking deeper and deeper. He was embarrassed, the only one without a partner.

Just then he felt something. He felt Vecna. He quickly touched the back of his neck and stood up, his chair falling over behind him. Everyone's attention turned to him and the teacher seemed angry. Everyone started to laugh at him, the only one not laughing was Mike. Mike saw how scared he looked. "Byers, what are you doing?" Will took a deep breath. "I-I'm sorry.. I don't know why I did that.." He then picked up the chair putting it back. The teacher sighed and faced back to her papers.

Everyone started whispering about him, including Mike's partner. "He's always doing something weird and he's totally a faggot, too. I mean do you see how he walks? He's like-" "Shut up." Mike said abruptly. He felt this nostalgic feeling just then. Mike remembered all those times Will had been pushed around and Mike was there to help. He couldn't push Will away because of his "wrong" feelings. "Excuse me?" "I said to shut up." Mike repeated without hesitation. This caught Will's attention who turned his head to Mike and the girl. She was speechless as Mike got up, took his stuff, and walked over to Will. The two made eye contact and Mike's angry expression turned to that of a bashful one and so did Will's for that matter.

Mike sat down and his eyes were on Will who looked down reddened. "Hey, Will. You okay, was it Vecna again?" He asked worried. "Yeah, I think he's getting stronger. Mike, I don't know what to do.." Will cupped his hands together, they were shaking. Mike noticed this. He then took a deep breath in and held it as he placed a hand onto Will's shaky ones. Will instantly looked to Mike. He smiled. "Thanks, Mike." Will said happily. Mike then breathed out his eyes gaze shifting to Will's lips. His sweet smile taunted Will's heart.

"So, uh, who's that girl?" Will asked looking back down. Will looked at the difference in the twos hand sizes. Mike's hand was so big yet slim, they covered most of Will's hands. "I don't know. We just made eye contact and then we were partners." Mike paused. "But then she started making fun of you." Mike's eyebrows furrowed. Will lifted his head looking at Mike. "And so I came to you." Mike finished explaining.

Will sighed and the tension in his body seemed to be gone for the moment. "You wanna come over my house today? It could be like old times." Mike reminded. Will nodded with a small smile. "I'd like that." He said quite excited, Mike looked at Will's lips and then back up. "But for now we have to do this." Mike pointed at the worksheet. "Oh, crap, I totally forgot." Will said embarrassed. Mike had completely distracted him. The two rushed to finish the assignment before class ended and once in the hallway they were laughing at themselves. "How did we get so distracted like that?" Mike asked laughing. "I don't know but we pulled it off. I mean we finished in less than ten minutes!" Will said proudly. "Thanks to you, you did most of it." Mike pointed out. Will giggled at this. "True." He said acting smug. Mike laughed at his expression.

"Well, I'll see you later!" Will waved. "See you!" Mike then walked down one hallway and Will went down the other. Just then Will felt it again. This time he fell to the ground because of the intensity. He looked up and everyone was gone. The lights flickered. He was in the upside down. "No, no, no.. Not again... Please.." Will mumbled. "Mike... MIKE!" Will turned to where Mike was walking but he was also gone. Just then he felt someone grabbing his face. "No, no, LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed trying to get out of their grasp. It was Vecna. No, wait-

"WILL! WILL, IT'S ME, MIKE!" He yelled. Will snapped back to reality. He was shaking intensely but Mike wouldn't let go of him. "I'm here, it's okay." Mike whispered. Everyone in the hall was in shock, laughing, or just completely ignoring what just happened. "M-Mike.." Will was then pulled up by Mike. "What weirdos." "That kid is insane!" "Faggots."
Everyone around them was making Mike's blood boil. "Let's go." Mike took Will by his arm down the hall and left from the back exit avoiding any faculty. As the two were walking away Will couldn't help the embarrassment from taking over. "Mike, I-I'm sorry, don't skip school for this, I'm okay, really-"

Mike stopped and turned to face Will. "You aren't okay, Will. This has happened how many times now? We're going home- my house. We're going to figure out how to get him away from you! El will help you!" "Mike, what's she gonna do? Fight him in my mind? You know how that ended up last time! She almost died and we lost Max anyway!" Will explained in tears. Mike's lips were slightly apart. "You don't think you're gonna make it this time." Mike mumbled. Will then started to cry once again seeking comfort in covering his face. Mike's expression was pained. He came closer and hugged Will. "I won't lose you again, okay? I won't!" Mike yelled holding onto him tightly. Will couldn't move or talk, he was frozen. The tears fell silently as Mike tried to comfort him. "You always make it so it won't be any different this time, I promise."