━━━━ 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 !
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
Mike, Will, and Jonathan woke up at the crack of dawn despite hardly receiving an ounce of sleep the night before. They resembled a trio of zombies who didn't have enough vitality to participate in the apocalypse. Will felt like the infamous Zombie Boy title finally suited him.
In all fairness, it was virtually impossible for the teenagers to drift off to sleep when they didn't know where Eleven had ended up. They longed to sneak out of the house and embark on a hunt for her, but the government agents lounging in the living room made it quite challenging to do so.
Although he ached to crawl back under the cozy duvet comforter on his twin-sized bed, Will knew he needed to get himself dressed and ready for the adventure awaiting him.
After changing his clothes and taking care of his hygienic needs, Will found himself pacing around Jonathan's bedroom in distress. Meanwhile, Mike had perched his lanky figure on the edge of the bed. The typical scent of marijuana lingering in the small space had almost entirely vanished and the room itself was abnormally tidy.
Will stole a ball of rubber bands from the top of his brother's dresser and fidgeted with it while rambling to an inattentive Mike Wheeler, whose focus was on the note El had written for him. He studied the words over and over again until they began to look and sound like gibberish.
"I mean, I just don't think they've actually thought this through," Will prattled, flinging the ball into the air with one hand and catching it with the other. "If this goes on for a month, or months, and people can't get a hold of us, they're totally going to freak out."
Mike remained silent, his lips tightly pursed together. He continued to gaze at the crinkled sheet of paper in his hands even though he was tired of reading the same sentence repeatedly.
"Meanwhile, my mom's probably having a panic attack already," The Byers boy carried on. "And what about Hawkins? That lady's just supposed to keep it 'contained.' Like you can contain any of this without El!"
"Yeah," Mike whispered, his chocolate-colored eyes still fixated on the note.
Will heaved out a dramatic sigh after realizing he had essentially been speaking to the wall for five minutes straight.
"If you keep staring at that, it's not gonna change. You know?"
Mike glanced up at him, his dark eyes glistening in the California daylight. Will momentarily broke eye contact with the boy, but he peered back in time to catch him nodding in agreement.
"Yeah," He responded with a halfhearted grin. "Yeah, you're right."
With one swift motion, he crumpled the note into a ball and launched it into the trash can as if it had come from his worst enemy. This unexpected action shocked Will to his core. Why would Mike toss out a paper given to him by the girl he cared about more than anything else?
The brunette let another sigh escape his lips before plopping down next to his friend on the edge of Jonathan's bed. Their elbows brushed together ever so slightly, causing Will's breath to hitch. An explosion of butterflies filled his stomach, all because of a subtle touch.
"Before the cops came, me and El . . . we had a bad fight," Mike confessed. "We never fight. I mean, we've fought before, but they were just silly fights. Stupid fights."
Will nodded to show his attentiveness. He couldn't recall the last time he had been this close to the Wheeler boy, but it made him feel weirdly flustered. Regaining his focus, he listened to the remainder of Mike's explanation.
"But, I don't know, this one just felt more adult. Like, it just felt more real. And then she dumped me on the spot," He frowned as he reflected on the argument. "I should've said something, and if I would've said that thing, then maybe she'd want me there with her . . . wherever she is."
Will knew exactly what Mike was referring to. The L-word. Love. The four letter word he couldn't bring himself to say to his girlfriend of over a year. However, his only option was to act clueless, otherwise Mike would find out he had listened to their entire conversation.
"No," The Byers boy shook his head. "Look, Mike, you're gonna see her again, and whatever it is, whatever you didn't say . . . you can say it to her then. Okay?"
"Yeah," The ravenette nodded, his lips curving into a small smile.
"She's going to be okay," Will reassured him with a firm nod. "She's not in Hawkins. That's what we should be worrying about."
"You don't trust Owens?" Mike queried.
"I don't know," Will sighed. "I mean, he's been good to us and good to El, but he wasn't able to protect me. That was you guys who saved me. That was you guys."
Mike whipped his head around so that he was no longer facing the older boy and allowed a breathy sigh to slip out of his mouth.
"Looks like it's gonna be up to us again."
"It always is, isn't it?" Will replied, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Mike chuckled, his face lighting up with joy. Will could've sworn he felt a spark right then and there, as if the ravenette actually liked him in return. He began to admire his friend's profile, his cheeks heating up and turning crimson.
"Which is why we can't stay here," A familiar voice bellowed from the doorframe, startling the two boys.
Jonathan.
"Listen, let's assume these friends of Owens are telling the truth," He said, dragging his desk chair over and sitting directly across from the boys. "We can't call Hawkins without alerting the military — putting El in danger. Fine. Then we'll just have to go to them."
"Go to Hawkins?" Mike asked, trying to confirm that what he heard was correct.
"How?" Will inquired.
Hawkins was thousands of miles away, and they didn't have nearly enough money to purchase plane tickets for the three of them. There was no way they'd be able to get there.
"What are you worried about? Ponch and Jon out there? They're half asleep right now watching golf," Jonathan snorted.
"No, Jonathan," Will shook his head, briefly closing his eyes. "I mean, we don't have a car or money."
"Then we'll hail ourselves a ride," The oldest of the Byers brothers wiggled his eyebrows, holding up a crinkled Surfer Boy Pizza coupon. "A cheap one."
˗ˏˋ꒰ 🎱 ꒱
Mike and Will trotted down the stairs and into the living room, their arms brushing together as they moved. Will tried his hardest to shield his reddened face.
"Excuse me, sir?" Mike cleared his throat to capture the attention of Agent Wallace.
"What?" The man groaned, reluctantly glancing up from the newspaper he was engrossed in.
"We're hungry," Will shrugged, unfolding the coupon and presenting it to the agents.
Agent Wallace turned to Agent Harmon for approval, to which he received a nod. He sighed, tightly shutting his eyes and opening them again.
"I could eat," He shrugged, turning to face the boys again.
Will and Mike shared a sly smile. Jonathan's plan was going to work out just fine.
𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 !
i'm only ever motivated to write between the hours of 1-3 am