Notes- TW for description of gore
Will's day had been going so well. Jane made everyone awesome eggos and then he found out his favorite person in the world, his brother was actually alive. Things had been looking up for a while.
But then he'd agreed to join Mike and cover up the Upside Down gate together. It had been stupid. He thought maybe they could just talk again like old times, but of course, that didn't happen. Mike wanted to talk about how Will had said they weren't best friends. He wanted to talk about Brad (marrying Brad, at that. Something about it made Will queasy). And then he'd decided to spring it on Will that he was in love with him. Or at least he had loved him. Will didn't know if the statement still applied today. The dumb half of him wanted it to. The smart half wanted to just go back to California with Brad and forget about everything. Unfortunately, the dumb half seemed to be more present at the moment.
They were in the middle of the woods. Alone. Looking for a stupid portal to another dimension. Will's entire problem with Brad and Mike seemed out of place here. There was a literal gate to the Upside Down and he was thinking about boys.
Mike hadn't said anything further on the subject of love after the diner. Thankfully, because Will wasn't sure he was ready for that conversation.
Somehow, just walking through the woods with his hands in his pockets, it was just as bad. Will couldn't stop staring at him. This stunning guy that he'd been in love with for the majority of his childhood liked him back! And they were alone in the woods. If he really wanted to, Will could just walk up to him and kiss him right then and there.
No, no, no. You have a boyfriend! What's wrong with you? You've barely even seen Mike lately. You're not in love with him. It doesn't matter if he likes you or not.
Will sighed. Right. He had Brad and he didn't need Mike. Brad was the sweetest guy in the world and Will had to be grateful to have a boyfriend like him. Mike wasn't even part of the picture. Mike was barely even Will's friend.
Mike pointed ahead, stopping in his tracks in the woods. "The gate. It should be right up there."
Will studied the ground ahead of him. He saw a slight bump in the earth, which must have been the gate. He shuddered, thinking about how close he was. Despite it not being a problem for many years, the Upside Down still scared Will immensely.
The two walked closer, the slimy, glowing crack in the ground coming into view. They stood around it and Will could feel the chill radiating from its opening. It was all too familiar.
"How should we cover it up?" Mike asked, kicking it.
"A big rock?" Will suggested. "We came past a couple. We could gather them up and pile them on top of the gate. That'd probably be heavy enough."
"Yeah, sounds good." Mike looked around, putting his hands on his hips. "We'll probably need to work together to move the rocks. They're pretty big."
Oh, great. "Yeah, de–"
Skreee! Will turned his head towards the gate, hearing a quick noise from the other side.
Mike tilted his head. "What is it? Is something there?"
"Didn't you hear that noise?" Will asked, cautiously looking towards the gate and trying to hear it again.
"No..." Mike said. "What did it sound like?"
Will continued to study the gate, kneeling down beside it. "I- I'm not sure. It just sounded like it came from inside the gate."
"Did it sound like a demogorgon?" The word sounded urgent.
"I don't know. It just sounded... weird."
"It was probably just something in the woods. We should start working," Mike decided. "Even if something inside made the sound, it'd do us more good to close the gate than to sit here and wait for whatever it was to come out."
Will sighed, allowing himself to peel his eyes away from the gate and look at Mike. "Right. Sorry."
Mike laughed slightly. "You don't have to apologize. I mean, you're rightfully concerned. You of anyone, I mean."
Will almost apologized again, stopping the words and replacing them with a half-hearted smile.
Mike shook his head, starting to walk. "You apologize a lot. That's something new about you." He kicked a stick. "I mean, you've always been pretty apologetic, but now you're apologizing, like, a lot a lot."
Will scoffed. "I'm apologizing a lot? Like when?" Will supposed he knew when. All the time.
"I don't know," said Mike. "I've just heard it a lot recently. You tell Brad you're sorry a lot. You said it to Jane three times this morning, your mom, Lucas, Max twice, and me a few."
"Are you keeping track, then?" Will asked, surprised that Mike had specific data on the matter. Why was it a big deal?
"No, not really. I'm just noticing it. Because it's a lot. You know, you don't have to be so timid about your entire existence. Thinking I wouldn't want you calling me and saying sorry all the time. You're not hurting anyone. People enjoy your company."
Will wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, but it made him smile a little. It was nice to get an affirmation of his importance once in a while. He'd needed it now.
"You don't have to respond," Mike continued after a short break of silence. "Just something to think about."
The two boys walked a while longer until they approached their first big rock. Mike scooted over to one side of it and tried to pick it up on his own, failing. Will took the other side and tried to help. They failed again.
"We could push it," Will suggested. "I don't think we can carry this thing."
Mike put his entire weight against the rock and pushed it. It moved slightly. Will took a place next to him and put his own hand on the rock's surface. It went slightly faster. It would have to do.
Will and Mike pushed in silence for a while before Mike spoke. "You know," he said breathlessly. Pushing the rock was hard work. "I've been lying to you. I thought maybe you should know."
Will looked over at him, slightly confused. Lying? What could he be lying about? A chill went down Will's spine. Love. He was lying about love. Of course he didn't love Will.
Mike sighed. "I've been lying to everyone actually. For the past few years."
So not love? Will had no idea what it could possibly be. "About what?" he said cautiously.
"Harvard."
Will stopped pushing to rock for a second. "Harvard? What, are you actually going to Yale and you didn't tell anyone?"
Mike laughed slightly. "Yeah, that's it. How'd you guess?" He shook his head. "No, it's about how things have been going at Harvard."
"Oh," said Will. He started pushing the rock again. "Is it not good? I mean, you told me it was going really well."
"Yeah, that's kinda what I was telling everyone. It's the opposite, though."
Will frowned. "What's wrong with it?" The fact that Mike hadn't been liking Harvard made him sad. Especially since he'd chosen not to tell anyone.
"Well, for starters, nobody actually likes me. I don't have any friends there. Let alone romantic partners." He smirked. "Maybe that's why you're still my best friend. You've got no competition."
"You really have no friends there? The entire school and not one friend?" It seemed strange to Will. Mike not having anyone.
Mike shook his head. "Zero. I'm the Hawkins kid. And I think I might be unapproachable."
"You? Unapproachable?"
Mike smiled. "Oh, you flatter me. But yeah. Harvard doesn't exactly put me in the best mood. I don't really want to be there in the first place. I'm not doing anything I enjoy. It all kinda adds together in the end."
"Have you tried making any friends?" Will asked.
"Not really," Mike admitted. "I mean, if they don't want to talk to me, I'm not gonna bother talking to them, right? Plus, I'm never really in the mood when I do meet people. I just... wanted the party back or something. It's weird going everywhere without you guys. No Dustin making stupid jokes. Or Lucas geeking out over something. Or explaining some pop culture thing to Jane. And you especially. I mean, I did everything with you up until college. And then at Harvard, something felt like it was missing."
Will nodded. "I get it. I mean, I kinda envied Lucas and Dustin. They've been getting the college experience together."
The rock finally arrived at the gate. The boys didn't push it on top yet. "We'll gather a couple and arrange them after," Mike explained. The two went to push over another and their conversation continued.
Will blushed a little. "I guess I wished we could do that in high school. Go to some college together. But your parents wanted you to go to Harvard and definitely couldn't afford that so there wasn't really any chance of it."
"I'd go to California with you," Mike said. "I'd drop out of Harvard in a second and go to your college. I just... don't know how my parents would feel about that."
"I feel like they should get to choose where you go though, right? It's your future and everything. If you don't want to be a lawyer, it seems pointless to try. Like, wouldn't you rather have someone motivated to do it?"
Mike nodded. "That's my argument against it too. I've considered talking to my mom about quitting the whole Harvard thing. I mean, I'm failing anyway. It's just that she usually shuts me down before I can start."
"Well, I think you should go for it," Will said. He wanted Mike to be happy with college. If it were Will going to Harvard and he was failing and had no friends, he'd feel like he was wasting his life on it. He didn't want Mike to feel like that.
They talked a while longer, eventually gathering five different big rocks. Will felt relieved, being able to hold normal conversations with Mike now. It was as if they'd never been so disconnected. And Will had barely even thought about love.
Will looked at the five rocks, hands on his hips. "Almost done," He said. "You think these'll be enough?"
Mike looked around. "Maybe some smaller rocks to fill in gaps? I can go get some if you're worn out. Maybe start trying to push one of these onto the gate?"
"Yeah, sounds like a plan. I can probably move these on my own." Will shoved a rock quick, no movement.
Mike laughed. "I can help you with it when I get back too, so don't try too hard and bust an arm or something."
Mike walked off into the woods to try and find more rocks, leaving Will alone with the gate and big rocks. He swore he could hear the gate, but decided it was just his imagination. The gate didn't make noise and there was nothing on the other side, because it would have come out by now if there was. Will still couldn't exactly wrap his head around the fact the Upside Down was back. More than anything, it disappointed him.
He sighed and looked over at the nearest rock, deciding he should start trying to cover up the gate. He put his hands against its rough surface and pushed, digging his sneakers into the ground as he went. At first, the rock didn't move but Will applied a bit more force and got it to start sliding across the floor of the woods ever so slightly. After a minute or so, he'd almost covered the entire gate.
As he slid the rock into a place that would cover the entire entrance, he suddenly felt a shiver down his back. And then it was cold. And quiet.
And dark.
Will took a shaky breath as he looked around him. He was standing in the same woods, but full of blue haze and vines. The trees were skeletal and white particles flew around in the air. The stench used to make him cough but it was almost normal now. Like he had some sort of immunity to it.
Will walked away from the rock, taking in more of his surroundings. He found his hands shaking and his breath becoming more rapid. His visions would never fail to frighten him, especially now that he hadn't had them in so long. He wasn't used to it anymore.
Will jumped as he heard a branch break somewhere close to him. He whipped his head in every direction and couldn't seem to find anything in the woods with him. But still, something had to have made that noise.
"Mike?" He tried. "Mike, are you there?" His panic grew as he heard another sound. The rustling of leaves. "Mike! Mike, please! Where are you?"
Will took a step shakily in the direction Mike had left to go find rocks. He sped up as he heard another stick break, running through the woods and screaming out for his friend. He didn't check for what was behind him. Knowing something was there was scary enough. He didn't need any more information.
Will didn't exactly know where he was headed, but he kept running, still calling to an unresponsive Mike. Eventually, he saw something white on the ground in the distance. He slowed down ever so slightly as he approached it, eventually coming to a slow pace as he realized he could no longer hear sounds behind him.
The thing in white was covered mostly by vines and leaves, so Will couldn't tell what it was. He bent down and wiped the leaves off of some end of it. As he saw what he uncovered, he fell back with a shriek. It was a man, from the looks of it, but not much more could be seen since his face was so horribly deformed. Something had attacked the man. Something. It looked like the work of a creature Will knew well.
Will brought his knees up to his chest, hugging them as he looked again at what was left of the man under the leaves. He cried, willing his vision to end. He wished he could snap out of it quickly like Max could with her new Upside Down abilities.
Another sound came from behind Will's back. He tried not to let it freak him out too much, but he was frozen in fear, unable to move an inch. All he could do was close his eyes and hope his vision would end.
The breaking of sticks and crunching of leaves sounded closer by the second.
"Mike!" Will screamed it at the top of his lungs. He needed Mike to wake him up. "Mike! Please! MIKE!"