The early morning light wove its graceful way through the cracks in my curtains as the sun began to rise on what, to anybody else, would be just a regular day but to me, was another day of knowing Will had been hurt.
Sleep evaded me all night - as I knew it would. How could I possibly sleep knowing that on the other side of town, Will was probably incapable of shutting his eyes without flashbacks of his brutal beating attacking his consciousness all over again? If he wasn't sleeping then neither was I and I could somehow feel that he was staring at the ceiling of the hospital just as I stared at the ceiling of my room all night long. My heart ached and I longed to be there with him to comfort him, the thought of him being alone and scared tore me apart.
My mother had promised to take me once again to the hospital to see Will and, it being a Saturday, I planned to spend all day there. That's if he wanted me there, of course. The others were going too: the rest of the party, Steve, my sister and Will's family and my mind queried whether or not he'd told his family his story yet. The doctors words swam in my mind and I prayed Will would explain everything to them so he could come home as soon as he was healthy enough. I hated knowing he was stuck in that hospital until he was willing to talk.
Dawn had finally arrived meaning it would be an acceptable time for me to leave my room which, all night, had felt like a holding cell to me. I was grateful to get out of those four walls after I'd gotten washed and changed and I plodded downstairs, desperately awaiting the moment my mom and Nancy would be ready and we could get going. Every second away from Will was a second wasted and so far, I'd let what felt like an eternity slip by.
I remained sitting on the couch until, eventually, the sounds of my family stirring drifted down from upstairs. My mom asked if I'd eaten but I was agitated and couldn't wait any longer so I lied and we set off. I couldn't eat, anyway. I had no appetite.
"What are you smiling at?" My sister teased and her words dragged me from my own private thoughts about the last time Will had stayed over at my house. It was probably only last week but it felt so much longer ago now that Will was further away from me. Joyce had taken Jonathan to visit some local university even though they both knew he wanted to go to NYU. He and Nance had taken a couple of years off before going to college to spend more time with us and each other and I couldn't blame them after everything we've been through in these last few years.
The absence of anyone in the Byers household put Joyce on edge so she asked my mom if Will could stay with us. I made him take my bed and I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. At around two in the morning, I woke up to hear him wailing in his sleep. Another nightmare. It took me a few seconds to wake him but I managed and I let him cry into my chest for some time whilst he got it all out of his system. Crawling off my bed after Will had calmed back down, I planned to get back in my sleeping bag but he begged me to stay up there with him. My heart very nearly exploded as I lay down next to him under the covers, barely able to breathe.
We talked about nothing and everything all at once for another hour or so before my eyes began to get heavy. "Maybe we should sleep?" I suggested.
"I don't think I can just yet." He paused. "Mike, would you please do something for me?"
"Anything."
"W-w-would you hold me?" He stammered, clearly embarrassed. "And sing? I know you hate your voice but I think it's beautiful and it always makes me feel calmer."
My heart rate increased at his words and anxiety washed over me. It was true, I loved to sing but I hated to do it in front of people because I worried my voice wasn't good enough but this was my Will's request so how could I turn him down? If I was willing to jump off a cliff for Dustin, I'd be willing to do just about anything for Will.
I shifted positions so I was on my side and tightened my arms around Will's rigid frame. I prayed he couldn't sense how much I was trembling and how much I ached to feel his small body against my own. I felt him relax against me as I pulled him closer and began to softly sing the lyrics of the first song that came into my head into Will's ear: 'Rhiannon' by Fleetwood Mac.
The two of us remained this way for some time and eventually Will fell asleep in my arms as my world became a whole lot brighter.
Nancy had taken away the peace this memory gave me.
"Nothing." I replied as a blush tainted my face. My sister raised an eyebrow at me but didn't question me further.
When we got to the hospital, my mom told us to ask at the reception if we could use their phone to ring home when we wanted to leave and we told her we would. Nancy and I made our way to Will's room, walking right past the same snotty woman behind the desk from yesterday.
"Hey." Jonathan greeted us, giving me a quick hug and kissing Nancy's cheek. "You guys are early. No one else is here yet."
For a moment or two, I was confused. I wondered how on earth we could be only the first ones here and then I realised that it was still before 8 in the morning and to other people that would be considered "early". To me, we were late and it was infuriating knowing I'd only just arrived when I should have been by Will's side hours ago.
"Did you speak to him after Nance and I left yesterday? Did he tell you about...?" My voice faltered as my question got caught up in my throat. My loyalty to Will would never allow me to talk about what happened without his permission. Even under torture, I would have never given him up.
Jonathan peered at me for a second before returning, "He still wouldn't speak of whatever it was that happened but he did say that you know everything. He told you every detail of what occurred last night. Is that true?"
Steadily, I nodded my head in response. Nancy ogled me in shock but Jonathan remained expressionless and I couldn't tell whether or not he was mad at me for keeping Will's secret from him. Regardless, I had bigger worries than if Jonathan was pissed at me or not so I held my head high and marched into Will's room. I found him snoring lightly atop his hospital bed with Joyce huddled in one of those tiny plastic chairs beside him.
Joyce started as she heard my footsteps echo through the room. "Mike." She breathed. "I didn't see you there. He fell asleep about thirty minutes ago and it's the first rest he's had since he got here so Jonathan and I decided to leave him be for now."
"That makes sense." I responded, nodding my head. I knew that she was hinting at me to leave but I found I couldn't tear myself away from him, no matter how hard I tried. Dreaming, Will looked so peaceful and innocent and content. If it wasn't for the cut on his forehead and the numerous scratches, his soft facial features and delicate smile would have made you think nothing bad had ever happened to him. He was extraordinary, the most beautiful thing I'd ever had the fortune to lay my eyes on and he well and truly took my breath away. I could never leave him.
Joyce excused herself, muttering something about taking Jonathan and Nancy to the cafeteria to get a coffee but I wasn't really paying attention. I perched myself on Joyce's now vacant seat and settled myself to watching Will sleep, his chest going up and down with every breath and I honestly knew I could have stayed right there until my dying day. Heaven was a place on earth with William Byers.
Love and adoration took control of my body and gave me a newfound spirit. I wanted to do something for him in gratitude for every little thing he'd ever done for me since we were kids so I began to sing the way he always liked me to: "Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and wouldn't you love to love her..."
Around halfway through the song, I noticed that a nurse had been watching and listening to me sing through the door and I ended it there and then. Heat crept onto my cheeks as I got up and shut Will's door in embarrassment.
"Don't stop." A weak voice called to me.
"Will, you're awake?" I asked in shock, looking over at Will who slowly opened his eyes.
A mischievous grin played on Will's mouth for almost half a second as he said, "Have been this whole time. I knew you'd stop if you knew I was awake so I didn't say anything."
"I can't believe you." I teased, taking his hand. The longing I'd had for the touch of Will's soft skin had finally become too much. For a moment, Will tensed and I worried I'd gone too far but he eased up. "You need to tell them, you know." I sighed, now gently caressing his wrist with my thumb.
"I know. I just don't know how. I'm scared, Mikey."
"What are you scared of? I will never let him or anyone hurt you ever again, I promise."
Will shook his head, "No, I don't want them to hurt Him!"
"Wi-"
"Jonathan will go after Him, I know he will and I can't let that happen. Hopper, my mom. You. I'm terrified someone is going to do something to Him. I...I love Him." Will was barely audible as he said his last sentence. Fury burned like acid in my veins, scorching me from the inside at the thought that Will was still protecting that son-of-a-bitch. My anger ebbed as swiftly as it came and turned to mourning for the life Will thought he had. Though it killed me to see him with another, I'd have given anything then and there for this all to have been a bad dream that I was having while Will was safely tucked away in the arms of his boyfriend who worshipped the ground he walked on and truly loved him but no matter how hard I wished, Will remained in the hospital broken and with his heart in tatters.
"I know you do." I whispered, staring into Will's eyes as he stared back into mine. I was almost sure I felt a spark ignite between us for a fraction of a second.
"Promise you won't let anyone hurt Him if I tell the truth?" Will begged, releasing his hand from mine as tears swam in his eyes.
"I promise."
*
Hello!
I wrote the majority of this on International Women's Day so Happy International Women's Day to all the lovely ladies out there ❤️
So, an explanation, my personal headcanon is that Will loves Mike's singing. We all know Mike will be able to sing because, well, he's Finn Wolfhard. So yeah, Mike loves Will's art and Will loves Mike's voice and Mike loves singing to Will because he knows Will loves music. And I love supportive boyfriends.
I also love Fleetwood Mac and I feel like their songs are so soft and beautiful that they'd be great for Mike to sing to Will. So imagine 'Rhiannon' but even slower and more gentle and that's how he does it.
I'd like to make it clear, when I talk about Mike "aching to feel Will's body against his own" etc. etc., that is not a sexual thing. It's just supposed to be that he loves him so much, it hurts him to not touch Will. He wants nothing more than to have contact with him. It's a lovey thing, not a sexual thing because my sons are still babies and they prioritise love over sex. Okay, glad to have cleared that up.
- Niamh.