✓ cold blooded, mike wheeler ¹

xxii. BACK FROM THE DEAD

Dylan rubbed his upper arm and led him to the others. They all smiled sad smiles at him, that Ben didn't like, and watched him closely, as if he would break at any moment. He hated that. Ben stood in-between Dylan and Max, and the silence was getting to be unbearable for him.

"Can you all please stop looking at me like that?" Ben croaked, his voice slightly gone from the crying and screaming. Everyone seemed surprised by the sound of his voice, but they coughed and looked away from him. All but one, of course. Ben didn't look at him.

"Glad to see you, kid," Hopper said towards Ben, not looking at him with sympathy or sadness or anything. Ben appreciated that. The younger boy pulled his lips together and nodded, before casting his eyes down to the table. Dylan kept her hand on his arm, not wanting him to leave her side again, not wanting him to be alone again.

Before the group went back to the shed to talk to Will again, Mike managed to make his way over to Ben, who was sitting on the living room couch fiddling with one of the toys his father had brought over the day before. "Hey..." Mike greeted, looking at Ben, desperate to see the boy's moss green eyes stare into his again. When Ben didn't look up, Mike continued, "Um, I was going to ask if you're okay, but that's kind of a dumb question isn't it?"

Ben said nothing and kept his eyes locked on the blue toy he held gently in his hands, scared to break it. Mike sighed and sat on the couch next to him. They said nothing to each other for a moment, before Mike spoke up again. "You're really strong, you know that? I can't begin to understand what you're going though, but I know you're strong." Nothing. Mike hesitantly placed his hand on one of Ben's, stopping him from fidgeting with the toy.

Finally, Ben looked up and into Mike's deep, chocolate eyes. They were the softest Ben had ever seen them. Mike smiled in relief, but deep down he knew that what he would have to tell Ben later on would be more difficult than he thought, because shit, he just kept falling even harder for him.

"Can I hug you?" Mike whispered, not sure why he whispered it, as it was an innocent thing of comfort and normal for two lo– friends to share a hug. They were friends. Ben clenched his jaw and reluctantly nodded, allowing Mike to wrap his arms around Ben's shoulders and pull him close, but not too close. Ben brought an arm up and wrapped it loosely around Mike's waist, pressing his forehead against his shoulder. The two boys hugged for what felt like an eternity, before Hopper entered the living room and cleared his throat, telling Mike that they had to go back to the shed.

The two boys pulled away from each other and locked eyes for a few more seconds, before Mike stood up. He casted one more glance at Ben from over his shoulder before he left the house.

Everyone was seated at the table, Ben stood a bit away from them and leaned against the wall as they all translated Hopper's morse code to find out what Will was saying.

Once it was done, Nancy held up the piece of cardboard for everyone to read. Ben stood closer to them, behind Max. They all read out loud: "Close gate."

The phone ringing caused everyone to jump, Max bumped into Ben and he steadied her, keeping a hand on her shoulder after she was stood up straight again. He missed Max. "Shit. Shit!" Dustin ran over and quickly took the phone off the receive before slamming it back on it. The phone rang again, so Nancy just ripped it off of the wall and threw it to the ground with a frustrated grunt. Ben flinched slightly at the noise.