Ten | Byler

13. Crazy Together

Not even the fire, not even the visions. Just them.

But reality knocked on his door again in a matter of seconds when Mike slowly released himself from that embrace to check on Will.

- What the hell are you doing here? - He asked, concerned.

- I… I don’t know. I don’t understand anything. - Will said, a bit shocked.

- You could’ve died here! - Mike exclaimed.

- I know but… I saw this coming before. I felt it. - Will said, trying to understand.

Mike’s eyes widened and now Will was not the only shocked person between them.

- … me too. - Mike said. - I saw this coming too.

- What’s… What’s happening? - Will asked, confused.

Mike didn’t say anything, because he really didn’t know what to say. But, a few seconds later, he started to laugh, which got Will even more confused.

- I think we’re going crazy. - Mike said, still laughing.

- At least… we’re still together. - Will replied, with a little laugh too.

After hearing that, that memory came back to Mike’s mind as looked into Will’s eyes with the most lovely look he could ever give to someone.

That memory, from almost two years ago, where they were both sitting alone at Mike’s basement, trusting and confiding in each other with those feelings that they didn’t tell anyone else.

Oh, the trust. They have lost it as fast as they lost their childhood.

But Will still remembered it too. “Together” he said. That single word echoed on Mike’s mind for a few seconds as he tried not to smile so much.

- Always… - Mike muttered.

Both Mike and Will did not stop looking at each other, obliviously forgetting about the rest of the world. It felt like it was the moment where maybe they would finally…-

No, It wasn’t. Because, seconds later, Will coughed from the fire he had been inhaling for some minutes already.

- Maybe we’re not that crazy after all, this smoke seems pretty real to me. - He said. - We should go back to the cabin and call the fire brigade now.

- Jonathan called them already. - Mike said. - We all woke up because of the fire… We should tell them about the… visions. He suggested.

- Yeah, we should. But… please, let’s get out of here. - Will said again, feeling dizzy.

- Oh my god, yes, I’m sorry. - Mike replied, grabbing Will from his arm and leading him to the cabin.

Hours later, when the fire had already been stopped, everyone met at the cabin, including the rest of the group.

- So… Now you both share nightmares too? - Lucas asked, sarcastically.

He was sitting outside the cabin with Dustin, Mike and Will. They hadn't had enough time to be together since they were all busy with the… apocalypse.

- They're not nightmares-

- They're visions. - Mike interrupted, completing Will's sentence.

- And how did you both see the same thing? - Lucas asked again

- It wasn’t the same thing… neither the same time. - Mike muttered.

Will looked at him confused, since he no longer understood what Mike was talking about.

- Maybe Vecna is just trying to scare them. - Dustin said.

Will laughed quietly. He was not used to calling 001 "Vecna". Neither did Mike.

- Scaring us by predicting things? Well, that is scary. - Mike said.

- He only predicted the fire. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or… -

- We can’t just assume that. - Mike interrupted Will, serious.

The conversation ended there when Hopper appeared on the scene and asked Mike and Will to accompany him to the cabin.

They didn’t know what he would want them for, but they followed him anyway.

- The firefighters said that the fire started last night in the shed. - Hopper said.

Mike’s eyes widened as Will lowered down his gaze.

- You guys were there yesterday, right? - Hopper asked.

-.Yeah, we were, but we didn’t burn the forest! - Mike exclaimed, nervous.

- There was a candle there. - Hopper said.

- We used a flashlight. - Will answered, nervously too. - We don’t know where that candle could’ve came from.

- And what about the nightmares? I would call them an omen. - Hopper inquired. - Or a trap.

- A- what? - Mike said, confused, while Will was clearly quieter than normal.

- Doesn’t matter. We’ll see what we do about this later. - Hopper said and left the conversation.

Mike looked at Will, noticing that he was clearly more nervous than he used to be.

- What if it’s a trap? - Will asked.

- We don’t know that. - Mike said. - We could’ve done something about it if you had told me about your vision before.

- You also hadn’t told me that you basically predicted what was going to happen yesterday.  - Will reproached.

- Well, you weren’t talking to me! - Mike exclaimed.

Will didn’t say anything, because Mike was right. That was strange.

- Okay, you’re right. Sorry. - Will said. - It doesn’t matter anyway, because we had already burned the forest.

- But we don’t know if something else will happen. - Mike said. - We have to trust each other.

- Trust. That’s such a strong word. - Will replied, surprised, but nostalgic.

Oh, the trust. They have lost it as fast as they lost their childhood.

- I know this is probably the worst moment to ask you to trust me. - Mike said. - But I’ll do whatever it takes for you to feel you can count on me again.

Will was speechless. What Mike said hurt, in some way, but again, he was right. They couldn’t keep hiding that kind of thing. Feelings could wait.

-.I trust my life on you, but still not my heart. - Will said and cut the conversation.

Meanwhile, Hopper went to the kitchen, where Jonathan was.

- Those kids are lying. - Hopper said.

- How do you know that? - Jonathan asked.

- Because the firemen gave me their flashlight. They forgot it in the shed and it had no batteries.

- So… it could be a trap. - Jonathan said.

- It is. 001 is using them to do what he needs to. - Hopper replied. - I don’t know how, but first, he warns them and then he manipulates them as he wants.

- Why them? - Jonathan asked.

-.Because Will is his weapon and spy, and Mike is the one who always knows how to defeat him. And they are in some kind of… conflict, am I right? - Hopper inquired.

- I- I don’t know. - Jonathan replied, nervously.

- Sure. - Hopper said, sarcastically.

- So what are we gonna do now? - Jonathan asked.

- Kill 001. But first, we have to make him believe that his plan is still working. - Hopper said. - Then we need to get them out of his sight.