HEART TO HEART ON A COUCH
(trick or treat, freak part 3)
Ben sat there for a while. Leaning against the side of the house, whimpering in pain. A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye. He didn't understand what he did wrong. Yeah, he'd watched Nick in the yard that one day, but he wasn't spying on him. Ben heard distant yelling. "WILL?!" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His friend Will? There are plenty Will's, it could be anyone. Right?
Ben pulled himself up slowly, wiping the fallen tear off of his cheek. He bent down to pick up his broken mask and walked out from the side of the house, following the calls for Will. He ended up outside of another house, finding Mike with an arm around a terrified looking Will. "What happened? Are you okay?" Ben asked as he approached the two, his attention on Will. Will and Mike gasped, their eyes widening. "What happened to me? What happened to you?" Will asked. Mike looked at Ben in genuine concern. Ben didn't know if he liked that look.
Ben wiped the back of his hand against his bottom lip, wincing a tiny bit as it stung. "I um, I'm fine. It's nothing." He lied, a painful smile on his face. Mike shook his head. "It's not nothing. Come on, come to my place with us. We can talk about it there." Mike suggested, it seemed like he really did want Ben to go with them. So, Ben nodded, and the three made their way to Mike's house.
At Mike's, Ben had gone to the bathroom in Mike's basement to clean up his cuts. He didn't really know how to properly do so, so he wasn't doing it right. Using a wet rag to try and wipe the blood off. Ben opened the door slightly, stopping when he heard Mike and Will talking. "Just, don't tell the others. They wouldn't understand." Ben heard Will plead. A beat of silence. "Eleven would." Mike said quietly.
Eleven? Like the number? Ben shook his head and closed the door, deciding to not listen in on their conversation.
After a few more minutes of Ben trying to clean the blood off his face, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Ben opened it to see Mike waiting on the other side. "Hey," Ben greeted, looking over Mike's head to notice Will's lack of presence, "Where's Will?" Mike looked over his shoulder to the stairs leading to the basement exit. "He left. It's just us, I guess." He replied awkwardly with a shrug. Ben nodded. "Oh, cool."
"Totally."
There was a string of awkward silence, lasting a good thirty seconds. Mike broke it, clearing his throat. "Do you, uh, need help?" He asked, gesturing to Ben's sloppily cleaned wounds. Ben sheepishly nodded. Mike then grabbed the rag from Ben and went to the couch, sitting down. Ben followed and sat next to him.
Mike got to work on Ben's cuts, gently running the rag over his now-bruising cheek and his split lip while his other hand was placed on the nape of Ben's neck to hold his head still. Mike's eyes were squinted and focused, Ben watched him with curiosity, wincing every time Mike applied to much pressure to a cut or bruise. The injured boy was getting tired of the silence, so he asked, "Who's Eleven?"
Mike's movements went still and his breathing hitched. His eyes trailed up to meet Ben's soft, curious gaze. "Uh, no one. None of your business." Mike snapped, causing Ben to flinch the tiniest bit. "Sorry." Ben mumbled. A beat of silence. Mike sighed as his eyes softened, "No, I'm sorry." He apologized in a softer voice. "I'm so awful to you. You don't deserve that." Mike admitted, going back to gently cleaning Ben's cuts.
After another beat of silence, Ben nodded. "Why are you?" He asked. Mike hummed, not understanding the question. "Why are you so awful to me. There's gotta be a reason, right? Something I did to make you not like me?" Ben asked again, more clear with what he was asking. Mike squinted his eyes and lowered the rag, putting his hands in his lap. "Honestly? I don't really know."
Ben scoffed at that. "There has to be a reason. Is it because I'm hot? You jealous that I'm attractive, Wheeler? Or is it because of my rad taste in music? Or is it my amazing sense of humor?" Ben listed off, using his fingers to count. He was joking, which Mike picked up on and started chuckling. That was something very new to Ben. For all he knew, Mike didn't laugh. Well, at least around him he didn't. But here he was, laughing at one of the boy's he apparently really dislikes' jokes on his basement couch while he cleans blood off of said boy's face. Wow, what an interesting Halloween.
Mike's laughter died down and he shook his head. "I think it might actually be jealousy..." He admitted quietly, eyes on his hands as he toyed with the dirty rag, trying to avoid Ben's gaze. "Dustin and Will and Lucas all liked you so quickly. You talked to us for a day and they wanted to be your friends instantly." He sighed heavily, "I guess I wish I was that like-able, you know?" Mike finished, looking up to make eye contact with Ben. Ben nodded in understanding, "I get it. I don't necessarily think I'm that like-able, but I guess I can see what you mean." Mike huffed a laugh through his nose. The two boys smiled at each other, a bond finally forming between the two.
Ben picked at his jeans and gnawed on his bottom lip. Contemplating if he should say something. His next words tumbled out of his mouth, Ben not thinking twice before saying it. "I used to only have one friend for many years, and she's a high schooler. I got bullied for being a loner, and now I sometimes get shit on for being myself. Well, sort of myself. I haven't really found many people I can be myself around." The boy admitted, not yet grasping that he was sharing his feelings with a boy he didn't normally get along with.
Mike nodded in understanding. The two were quiet for a moment. "Eleven was a girl that I knew." Mike said softly. Ben gave him his full attention as he told the story about Eleven, Mike didn't explain the parts about the UpsideDown or the Demogorgon or Eleven's powers, not really wanting Ben to know about all of that yet. But he told him about the first girl he genuinely liked, where she came from, what she was like, how she died. He didn't actually tell Ben how Eleven died, that would be hard to explain. Mike instead came up with some random answer.
"Car crash. It was a car crash." Mike lied, sadness taking over his features. Ben, thankfully, didn't pick up on the lie, so Mike continued. "I miss her a lot. Do you know what it's like to miss someone every second of everyday? But you'll never get them back?" Mike asked, staring at his hands. Ben nodded, his mother's face appearing in his head. He smiled, a sad smile. "Yeah, I know what it's like." Mike looked to Ben in confusion, not realizing Ben had possibly lost something too.
Ben told Mike about his mother, how she died, how much he missed her. He also told Mike that he missed his dad, even though his dad wasn't dead. He admitted that he missed the way things were before his dad met Joyce. He told him he wished they'd never met. Mike listened. Mike absorbed every word Ben told him. Just listening.
The two boys that sat on Mike's basement couch hadn't opened up that much in a very long time. After Ben opened up about his mother, they sat in silence. It wasn't awkward, like the other times. This silence was comfortable. Ben laughed softly through his nose, shaking his head. Mike smiled and looked up to meet Ben's eyes. "What?"
"Nothing. It's just, I never would've thought I'd be spending my Halloween telling Mike Wheeler about my feelings." Ben admitted, a smile on his face. Mike's face pinched up, looking insecure. "Do you regret telling me?" He asked, in a small voice. Ben bit his bottom lip, feeling bold for a split second. He then gently placed his right hand on top of Mike's left, the two not breaking eye contact. "Not at all."
Ben's touch felt hot on Mike's hand. For some strange reason, Mike had the urge to intertwine his fingers with Ben's. He had the urge to hold his hand and scoot a little closer to him. He had the urge to run his hand through the fluffy brown hair hidden underneath the black beanie that always seemed to be attached to the top of Ben's head. Mike grew scared of his own thoughts, not understanding what they meant. He was only thirteen, he didn't know what he was thinking. They were just silly thoughts.
What Mike didn't know, was that the boy right next to him was thinking the same thoughts about him. He as well not understanding it, but at the same time, he kind of did. And that scared the hell out of him.
Ben cleared his throat and moved his hand off of Mike's. Mike felt sad at the loss of warmth on his hand, but chose to ignore it. "I should get going, my dad will flip shit if I'm not home before ten. If he's even home." Ben wiped his unusually sweaty hands on his jeans and stood up, smiling down at Mike once more. "Bye, Mike. I'll see you tomorrow." He said softly.
Mike smiled back. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."
Ben took that as a cue to leave, waving a small wave as he turned to exit the basement. Mike's voice stopped him. "You're not as bad as I thought, Newby." Ben smiled at that, a soft, genuine smile. He looked over his shoulder to respond to Mike. "Guess I could say the same for you, Wheeler." Ben gave him another smile and exited the basement.
Ben spent his bike ride home with his mind plagued with thoughts. Majority of those thoughts were about Mike. About how soft his hand is, how fluffy his hair is, how pretty his eyes are. No, stop it Ben. You can't think those things. He's hardly even your friend. You like girls.
Right?
Right...
Mike was sat in his basement thinking those same things. Trying to get his mind off of Ben. All he wanted to do was see Ben again. That night, Mike fell asleep with one person on his mind. Someone who probably shouldn't have been.
It was also the first night in over three-hundred days that Mike didn't try to contact Eleven.
JAY SPEAKS!
GAY BABIES!!!! GAY GAY GAY
THEIR FIRST MOMENT!!! IM SO HAPPY