" ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐲 ~ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐞 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐭𝐬 "
1:15 ───|────── -3:35
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ :▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯
I shivered at the feeling of the hairs sticking up my neck. Goosebumps painted my arms and legs, I rubbed the arm that was gripping onto Will. He turned, looking at me with fearful eyes. I could feel my breath pick up, something was wrong. I could feel in my blood, in my breath, in my head, in my body. Something was deathly wrong. "What's wrong?" Will asked, it was very sudden, so it scared me. I turned, we locked eyes. I started feeling like I was falling, when I blinked, everyone was gone. Will was not holding my hand anymore, and everyone else had seemingly disappeared. I turned around in a circle, in a panic, "Will?!" I screamed, looking everywhere for anyone. "Nancy?!" I heard my echo, breathing hard as I felt the urge to run. So, I did. I ran as far as I could, stumbling into Hopper's cabin and slamming the door, turning around to be faced with the edge of the quarry.
"Jump Wheeler! Or toothless gets it!" I heard, I turned toward Troy who was holding Dustin, knife to Dustin's mouth. "Just wait! Everyone calm down!" I turned toward the edge, staring down at the quarry. The feeling of guilt and fear rose in me. I felt my loosely tied shoes hit the rocks on the naturally carved edge. "Mike, don't do it, please, I'll grow the teeth back! Please, Mike!" All that I could think of was Dustin's teeth, they were special to Dustin, and I knew that, but risking my whole life over his teeth was crazy. Absurd. Yet, there my were my feet, lifting from the rocks and into the air, "Mike, no!" Dustin screamed, but my feet had already left the edge. This is when I thought I was going to be saved by Eleven, yet, nobody lifted me from the cold, hurtful air. My eyes opened before I saw the floor of a house, I let out a yelp as I hit the wooden floor.
"Oh-ho-ho! Fuck!" I exclaimed, holding my ribs and my body had seemed to slam down harder than normal, I lifted my head up, looking around the room, it was unrecognizable. I couldn't tell where I was. I picked myself and looked around, hearing a whisper from the shadows. "Micheal..." The chills went right down my spine. I flipped around, trying to find who was talking, "Who's there?" I yelled, trying to prove that I wasn't afraid when I was. I totally was. "You can tell everyone that you love him, and they can tell you they accept you, but they don't tell you the truth, do they?" The voice asked, I choked, nervous. "What are you talking about?" I asked, holding my ribs a little tighter.
"Mike." I heard, I turned my head, facing my friends, my family. "How could you be so disgusting?" That was definitely my moms voice. I turned toward her, stumbling out, "No, n-no, mom" My father cut me off. "Absolute disgrace to the family. My son? A fag?" He asked, my heart dropped. My breath was heavy as I saw a figure walk through the crowd of people. Will, I grinned lightly, going to take Will from the crowd of people, but Will looked down at me with dark eyes. "W-Will," I went to start, Will's hand swiped across my face, leaving a bright red mark on my cheek. My face stung as I let out a staggered gasp, putting a hand to my face. "Fag." Will whispered, I opened my jaw, it hung widely. I shoved my eyes closed, this wasn't real. Will would never. Right?
"Open your eyes, Micheal. You will never be accepted here on Earth. Not even he loves you." The voice concluded. I frowned, feeling my eyes start to water. "No, no, no! Will loves me, you're lying to me!" I screamed, trying to get the message out of my head, but the words lingered like a bad feeling you get in your stomach after falling on a roller coaster. The sort and small feelings of dread in your gut. Didn't Will mention that? Last summer, when the Mind Flayer was Flaying people. I opened my eyes, seeing my basement here. The dread was gone, and my eyes glistened in the light. The whispering voice was gone, I stood up completely, seeing the drawing of the Mind Flayer on the table. It was like I hadn't left at all. The room was quiet and the only noise receded from the bathroom, the light always buzzed in there. It was always a distraction when I was reading over my letters to Will that I had never sent him, just shoved the letters under my bed.
I walked up the steps and locked the door. I felt more safe knowing that there was at least one less way someone could get in there. I ran back down the steps to be met with a mingled and flesh-like corpse that could scare the shit out of anyone. I gasped, staring wide eyed at this... Dead guy? "You can't hide from the truth, Micheal." He confessed. I breathed shakily, running back up the steps and struggling with the door knob as I swung the door open to escape. I was met with the guy once again. I squealed like a little girl, tripping over my own feet and falling backwards. Right down the fucking steps. I hit the ground with a loud thump, striking my head against the floor. I let out a loud gasp as I lifted myself quickly, feeling the blood rush to my head and a headache started creeping into the back of my neck and lower head.
"You can't escape me, or your truth, good thing nobody will ever see your truth." Everything seemed to slow down as the world was coming in and out. Music was filling my ears, was that... What was that? I opened my eyes, the mingled figure had its hand over my hand. I jumped up, missing his hand and seeing the door open. Just the Two of Us was playing. I love this song. I stomped up the steps quickly, probably quicker than hearing my mom yelling that she was coming downstairs if he didn't get his ass upstairs. The memories of my mom screaming that when I'm doing plenty of embarrassing and private things that boys do. I slammed the door shut and ran out into the living room, looking at the dark and seemingly dead house. "It's like home, but it's so dark! It's so-oh dark!" I heard Will yelling in my head, I sprinted out the door of the house and seemed to be snapped out of my trance.
I fell from the sky, hitting the ground and falling into Will's arms. Will gasped, grabbing onto me and holding me close, "Oh, Mike, Mike, are you okay?" Will exclaimed, I started gasping and taking in my surroundings, everyone was surrounding me. Nancy, Jonathan, Joyce, Hopper, Eleven, and Will, who was holding me. Everyone looked terrified, like they watched a cat die or something. My breathing evened out as I tipped my head back in Will's hand, realizing it was somewhat over. Will held me close, "Oh, my fucking gosh." Nancy exclaimed, putting her face in her hands. "W-What, what just happened?" I asked, lifting my head up and looking at everyone. Will bit his cheek, looking at Joyce and Jonathan, I looked at them as well, confused about what was happening. Nancy spoke up, "You were getting taken by Venca." She scoffed, annoyed at the fact that we hadn't beaten him. I could tell she was scared, I could read her eyes, her facial expressions told me everything. Whatever happened. It wasn't good. I took a deep breath in.
"W-What?" I asked, I was confused, "The Vecna guy is the guy that almost killed Max," Eleven confirmed. My heart sank. My breathing went heavy again as Hopper helped me up and we all moved to his cabin. They told me to explain what happened, and I started slowly explaining my experience. It was a slow and painful process, but I avoided talking about what happened with everyone calling me a... A fag... And avoided the part where I had to jump from a ledge for Dustin, "I was falling for a bit, it just felt like I tripped when walking, but when I fell, I hit the ground of this, building I didn't know of and a disembodied voice told me that nobody would love me. I felt like a pit in my stomach was sinking and I thought of what Will said when we were talking about the Mind Flayer, like the sinking feeling you get when falling on a roller coaster, and then I was in the basement of my house and I didn't understand what it meant, and yet, when I locked the door, and went back down the steps, there was this... Man, this man who was all mangled and twisted in the skin. When I started running, I went to open the door and there he was at the door. He like, teleported, or something." I paused, grabbing the back of my head that I hit when I fell down the steps, thankfully didn't have an effect on me now, but it had still hurt falling.
"And I fell down the steps, basically caught when I hit my head. He had his hand over my head and then I heard my favorite song... And the door was open, I had made a run for it and made it out of the house and fell out of the trance." I concluded, holding my hands together in a tight grip. Nancy looked at Jonathan, sighing, "That's Vecna..." She concluded. I sighed, "Does that mean I could've died?" I whispered, confused and concerned, Nancy slowly nodded. She stood up and put headphones on my head and started playing Just the Two of Us. I looked up at Nancy, confused. She nodded once again, "Keep those on, those'll keep you safe." She insisted, I nodded slowly, not completely understanding, but listening to my older sister. Will sighed very lightly but I picked it up, he walked outside, mumbling a "I need air," before slamming the door behind him.
The group was talking back and forth before I realized Will was out there for awhile, I stood up, wanting to join him, I got up, opening the door, revealing Will leaning up the wooden porch, he turned his head, "Hi," I smiled, listening close to what he was saying, he gave a half smile, "Hey," he replied, turning fully toward me and leaning his back against the porch. I walked up to him, "You okay?" I asked, watching his facial expressions carefully. He started frowning, looking down at my knees as he thought carefully thought of a response. "What if I lose you? Or you lose me? I couldn't ever," He paused, hiccuping on his words, he was gonna cry, I pulled him in close, hugging him as he quietly started sobbing.
"What is gonna happen to us?" He asked quietly, I sighed, "I won't let you go, I won't let anything happen to you, and I won't let anything happen to me." I whispered, he looked up at me, "Yeah?" He asked, I smiled down at him, something was wrong with his eyes, they seemed more glossy than before, was it because he was crying? Maybe? His eyes seemed lighter, I nodded, "Yeah, of course." I bit my lip, putting my hand on his face, rubbing his cheek as to comfort him. The feeling of him getting chills was weird, but I shivered at the feeling. "Are... you okay?" I asked, he slowly nodded, "H-Headache, I think." He confessed. I nodded, "I'll get you some water, or something gimme a second." I answered, running back into the cabin with the song playing quietly in my ears. "Do we have water or something in here?" I asked, Nancy took a second to process what I said, before reaching down and passing me her bottled water. I went back out to Will who was... Staring blankly at the door, standing straight at the door with no expression, eyes white and glossy, tears running down his face, or rather... Blood. I took in a sharp inhale, dropping Nancy's bottled water.
I grabbed Will's face, "Will?" I asked, breathing heavily, "Will? Will? Will?!" I screamed, shaking him, no expression, no reaction, just pain as the blood streamed down his face. Everyone piled out of the cabin, staring at the boy who had blood running down his face. "Will!" Joyce exclaimed, I shoved off my headphones, putting the machine in his pocket and setting the headphones on his head, covering his ears. "I-It won't work! He needs his favorite song! I-I-" Eleven popped in my way, opening the machine and taking out the cassette in it and replacing it with another. She handed me my cassette as Will's feet lifted from the ground, I went to grab Will but Nancy held me back. Why was I the only one who was responding to this like it wasn't normal? It wasn't! Will was fucking floating! "He's floating! Let me go! Let me go!" I screamed, fighting Nancy's grip. Jonathan held onto me as well, "Mike, I know you're scared, but you did exactly this, and we reacted slower! Will is going to be just fine! I'm scared too, but he'll be just fine!" Jonathan was battling the same feelings, I could tell, but Will needed us to stay strong for him.
Will's eyes slowly shut, shooting open as he fell back to the ground. I ripped away from Nancy and Jonathan, catching Will and tumbling to the ground as I held onto him tightly, "Oh, oh my god, Will are you okay?" I let go of Will's side and rubbed the blood off his face as much as I could, he breathed heavily. He nodded slowly, Joyce slid a wet cloth across his face to get the blood, after Will pulled me in for a tight hug, my heart sank, but I hugged back, not wanting to disappoint the boy under me. He was scared, shaking, he didn't want to talk about what he saw but all he said was that Vecna told him he wouldn't stop until he was dead or he won. We had to get another set of headphones so Will and I wouldn't get "Vecna-ed" again. My mom was kind enough to let the Byers family stay while we figure out what to do.
My pajamas were loosely covering Will's hands, he was facing me, scanning my face tiredly. "Why don't you get some sleep?" I whispered, he shook his head. I could faintly hear his music playing through his headphones, "Hiding the tears in my eyes," The song sang, I bit my lip, "Why not?" I asked, he shrugged. He scooted closer to me, pecking my lips, leaning inches away from me. "I want to kiss you, because I feel like this might be the last time we'll be 'normal,' and together, y'know?" He asked, I nodded slowly, glancing down at his lips. I could feel the wetness lingering on my lips from his kiss earlier. I bit my lip, "What are you intending?" I asked. He leaned in, pressing his lips against mine, I didn't deny the fact that he was here... Kissing me... In my room... Locked in here with me... In my bed... I could take advantage of this time. Not take advantage of Will, but of the time we have together. My lips started dancing against his, placing my hands on his waist and pulling him closer, leaving no space between us. Will wrapped his hands around my neck, moving his head to deepen the kiss.
Will's body pressed against me, Will was intending, what exactly? I pulled away, breathing against his lips, his shaky breath touched my wet lips. "What're you intending, Byers?" I asked, his breath was still shaky, he didn't want to answer, he was staring down at my lips then back at my eyes. "I-I just wanna kiss you," He replied slowly. I smiled very lightly, connecting our lips once again and pulling Will on my lap, and starting to drag my nails across his back. His mouth opened as a reaction, I took a second before slipping my tongue into his mouth, his eyes shot open and he jerked away. Breathing heavily, my breath slowed down, looking up at the boy who was processing what just happened. His eyes were half lidded, staring down at me and scanning my face before he leaned back in, wrapping his hands in my hair, tugging at the strands. I gasped, opening my mouth as his tongue slipped into my mouth. Gliding across every surface he could, continually tugging at my hair to keep my mouth as open as he can. My hands went to his face, pulling him in more, starting to suck on his tongue, he gasped retracting his tongue. He pulled away, catching his breath.
I was breathing pretty heavily too, looking up at this boy. His face was red, lips puffy, hair messed up and sticking to his forehead. I put my hand to his cheek, he rubbed his face into my hand, still breathing harshly, "You're so pretty, Will Byers." I whispered, Will's face became a deeper red, breathing shakily. I smiled up at him, grinning widely as he shivered under the touch. "And you're even prettier, Micheal Wheeler." I could feel my face become red. I didn't even react to the fact that he called me pretty, the fact that he called me Micheal Wheeler made me feel something. The feeling I got in my lower stomach when he tugged on my hair. I bit my lip, his hand rested on top of mine that was leaned across his cheek as he raised an eyebrow. "What's up? What's with the face, Micheal?" He asked. I shivered under my breath, his eyes softened as he realized what was going on.
"Do you like it when I call you by your full name?" He asked, I bit my lip, not wanting to answer. He bit his lip, looking at my neck. He leaned back down pecking my lips a bunch before trailing kissing down my neck slowly to my collarbone, starting to lick, kiss, and... bite. I gasped lightly feeling the warmth against my collarbone, biting my lips down harshly trying to conceal my gasps. Will lifted his head, looking down at me again, "There, even more pretty now, Micheal." Will pointed out, brushing his fingers against my collarbone. I bit my lip, lifting my hands and setting them against my pillow, each hand on one side of my head. Will grinned, beaming at me, "What?" I chuckled, smiling at his grin. He started slowly giggling, "Wha-a-t?" I laughed, Will tumbling over next to me, unraveling into a quiet giggly mess. "You making fun of me, Byers?" I asked, he shook his head, turning toward me, our eyes locked.
Electricity blew through us as our pinky's touched, "You're just... So beautiful, Mike. Like, really beautiful." Will confessed, grinning lightly. I grinned back at him, scooting closer, "Y'know, you're really beautiful too, Byers. But you know what would make you even more beautiful?" I asked, he cocked his eyebrow, taking a breath in and out before responding to my question, "What's that, Wheeler?" He asked. I grinned, ready to give the most cheesy response I could ever, his eyebrow raised more as my smile grew wider. "Nothing, because you're perfect the way you are." I responded, grinning like an idiot. Will grinned before playfully rolling his eyes. Will took a second before taking off his headphones, panic settled in me when he did so, reaching toward me and taking my headphones off as well. "Will, what're you doing? Vecna could take his chance–" Will put a finger up to my lips, informing me to be quiet, I obeyed. Will set my headphones on his head and starting listening to my music, he put his headphones on my head.
"Hiding the tears in my eyes, 'cause boys, don't cry. Boys, don't, cry." The Cure. Original. I listened, as Will listened to my music. "I would break down at your feet and beg forgiveness, plead with you. But I know that it's too late and now there's nothing I can do." I looked at Will, he was staring before he saw something past me, he propped himself up on his elbows, reaching over me for something on my nightstand. It was a crumpled piece of paper. Now why would I keep a... Oh, no. Will unraveled the piece of paper, biting his lip before the color on his face drained, "Mike–" I cut Will off, "Will, honestly, it's not what it looks like," I explained, getting up as Will leaned against my headboard. Will blinked at me, looking back down at the piece of paper, starting to read aloud what I had written earlier this year.
"It feels like I'm going crazy. I had promised to go crazy with Will, but now he's gone. I haven't heard from him, maybe that's a good thing? A sign? I went to the quarry to think about everything that's happened these past few years and I'm traumatized. Surely. I can push it down and I know I didn't go through it as bad as Max, Eleven, or Will, but it was still scary. What would have happened if I jumped at this exact spot alone? I had thought of it before, but even then, that was before Will went missing. Then, when Troy had told me to jump, I didn't think twice. Maybe I should jump, maybe it could look like an accident. A terrible, terrible accident. My parents wouldn't care. Ted probably doesn't even know my age, Nancy acts like she likes me, but does she? Mom is... A whore. Surely. Holly is only little, and I'm just here. "A waste of space." Ted says. He's false, right? I'm worth something, right? Nobody's said otherwise, so I take it out on myself. Physically or mentally. But I don't have the courage to jump from his height again. Not without a good reason." Will stopped, setting the paper on his lap and rubbing his eyes. I tried to take the paper but Will stopped me, slamming his hand down onto the paper, not letting go. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I closed my mouth.
"Where are they?" Will asked, I raised my eyebrow, confused. "Where is what?" I asked, he took the paper back completely, setting it beside him, away from my reach. "The scars, Micheal. What have you been doing alone? Thinking you deserve it when you don't. Where are they, Micheal?" He asked. My jaw dropped, Will stared intensely, he wasn't going to give up unless he could see them or got an answer. I bit my lip, sitting up completely and shimmying some of my shorts down to reveal my waist. It was an awkward position for me as I held my shirt up. Will reached over, taking my shirt off and discarding it somewhere on the floor, he moved, leaning toward the very obvious scars and placed a kiss on them. He kissed up my body, reaching my lower stomach, chest, collarbone, neck, jaw, cheek, and lips.
"I don't know what you've been telling yourself, Mike, but" Will paused, swallowing and resuming his comment, "You don't deserve to die so early, Micheal. I don't know if anyone tells you, but you're worth it. You're special. You're amazing. You're unique, annoying, and a pain in the ass," He paused as I grinned, giggling lightly at that last part. "But that doesn't mean that you have to go through this alone, okay? I've been there." He paused, and in one swift motion discarded his shirt with mine, pointing out the slash marks next to a burn mark from when the Mind Flayer had a hold of him. I held onto his waist, he was in between my legs sitting on his knees with my legs over his thighs. "See these?" He asked, I nodded slowly, touching his waist where the scars resided. "I was so ashamed and blamed myself for the Mind Flayer that I used to..." He paused, clearing his throat. "I used to use my special pencil and would drag it across my skin around the burn mark." He explained, using his pointer finger and moving it across one specific scar, I moved my fingers under his, following his lead as he explained.
"Lucas found out, and let me tell you, he wanted to tell you so bad, but I didn't want to tell you, because I thought you'd be mad, so we kept it very secret just me and Lucas." Will whispered, looking up at me, I nodded, locking eyes with me. "But y'know what he told me?" He asked, I shook my head, knowing what he was going to say, and it felt right to hear it from him. "You're worth it, everything that's happened is just an obstacle waiting to be beat. You're not alone. We will do this together." Will said gently, taking my hand in his, locking our fingers together. "I love you Micheal, and you deserve everything I can give." He whispered, pecking my lips. I cupped his face with my open hand and pulled him in for a longer kiss. Once we pulled away, our foreheads pressed against one another lightly, "I love you too, Will Byers. I promise to give you my all." I whispered, pulling my pinky up to pinky promise him. We locked pinky's, sealing the promise, I kissed my hand, making it special, Will did the same.
Will laid down next to me, setting the paper upside-down on my other nightstand, laying close to me. I cuddled up, holding Will by his waist and keeping space to a minimum. I kissed his shoulder, still listening to his tape rather than mine. "Goodnight, Will. I love you." I whispered, grinning as I pressed my face against his shoulder, starting to get comfortable. I could feel Will's smile lighting the room up, "Goodnight, Micheal. I love you too, don't forget that you're enough." He replied, sighing very lightly as he started falling asleep. I kissed his shoulder once again before falling asleep myself.