Chapter Text
“I don’t like girls.”
The words were so close to leaving Will’s mouth when he caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of his eye.
Mike. Standing in the doorway.
The feelings of shame and guilt rolled back up his throat and he swore he tasted bile.
Joyce glanced between her son and Mike, sensing how fast Will seemed to clam up after he arrived. “Mike, sweetie, could you give us a second? We’ll be right over to discuss the plan with everyone.”
Will refused to meet Mike’s shocked eyes at being turned away. After a beat of silence Mike awkwardly swallowed, “Oh, yeah, of course,” and slowly retreated. There was a slight twinge in his brow, but the rest of his expression was unreadable.
“Honey, what were you about to say? I promise that whatever it is can’t be as bad as you’re making it seem,” Joyce whispered encouragingly, rubbing down Will’s arm.
The words that were just on the tip of his tongue seemed to dry up along with his throat. He could feel how they scraped up his vocal cords and were forced off his tongue, “I’m… I’m different,” he started.
Joyce’s face became slightly furrowed with sadness, but she nodded for him to continue.
“I mean, all of my friends are different too, just. I’m different from different. I’m… I’m queer.”
“Fag.”
Is what Lonnie would have said.
But his mother smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Honey, you know that’s okay, right? And you didn’t need to feel so pressured to tell me, I’d love you no matter what.”
He knew deep down that his mother would always be there to support him, but hearing her say it out loud brought a whole new depth to the idea. She would always be there for him. A burning sensation tingled up his nose and into his sinuses, tears blinked their way into his eyes. He shakily nodded once and dove into Joyce’s open arms, shuddering sobs quickly overtaking him.
A snot-filled, "I love you so much, mom,” was mumbled into her dusty sweater.
After a couple soothing swipes of her hand down his back, she pulled away to wipe his face. “I think we should get back to the group now.”
A hiccuped exhale left his chest as he nodded and sniffled one last time, “Yeah, you’re right.”
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
A new plan was set. A plan that would— with extreme luck— rescue Holly, save the other children, destroy the Upside Down, and defeat Vecna for good.
They’d have to fight Vecna in the Abyss as well as in his mind. First, they’ll have to travel to the Upside Down and find an opening into Vecna’s home turf to crawl through– with hopefully enough stealth to get everyone through without him noticing. Then, Kali and Jane will use their joint powers to fight Vecna on the physical front, while Will attempts another mind breach. The rest of the crew will be there to fight off any demogorgons and rescue the other children.
Then– if everything goes according to plan– Vecna will be defeated and the Upside Down will begin to collapse, leaving them limited time to escape.
Everyone seemed to agree to the plan despite its numerous holes and frightening vagueness. The preparation was solemn, save for Robin’s attempts at lightening the mood with corny jokes. No one was sure of their survival, but they were all prepared to lay everything on the line.
Hopper and Nancy were loading up on various guns and ammunition, Robin and Steve seemed to be constructing apocalyptic-style spiked baseball bats, Dustin was gathering a number of gadgets and trackers, and Jane and Kali were quietly snacking to restore their mental energy. Everyone was deep into their own work, but Mike was nowhere to be seen.
Will wasn’t exactly sure what he himself should be doing so he began to steer himself over to where Lucas and Max were chatting silently.
Max looked up and smiled as Will got closer and finally sat down next to Lucas.
“What’s up, Will?”
“Well, since you were in Vecna’s head for so long, I was hoping you could give me some pointers before I try to go digging around in there again.”
“Oh, yeah, uhm… Well, when I was with Holly in his mind we were in a different section, full of his own memories. He was keeping all of the kids in his house, and it was surrounded by these thick woods. Through the woods there's this cave where I was living because he refused to enter the memory, I guess it was too traumatic,” She explained slowly, “Me and Holly checked it out and we ended up finding a mine shaft, and we saw Henry get shot in the hand by this guy with a briefcase. The guy seemed really paranoid and protective over the case, and Henry ended up wrestling for the gun and killing him. We left before we saw what was in the case.”
Will nodded and thought for a second, “If he’s too scared to enter the memory… then maybe that’s where all of this started. I bet if I go there and see the rest of the memory, I could figure out how to destroy him.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have more information to give you,” Max shook her head. Lucas squeezed her hand tighter.
“No, it’s great that you were able to survive so long in his head and that you’re here now to help us.”
“Just be careful, he’ll likely be expecting you. You might have to find another way to get to the same memory.”
Will nodded again as their conversation drifted to the other memories Max had witnessed.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
“So, Will, do you want to explain why you lied to me?”
Uh oh, Mike looked pissed.
“What,” Will cleared his throat, “What do you mean?”
“The painting. I know El didn’t ask you to make it. And I also heard that you were making it for a girl you liked. So what’s the real story?” Mike took a step closer to him, holding the painting up closer for Will to see.
“I just, I made it for you, but I knew El would’ve wanted it made anyways. I didn’t mean to lie, I promise,” Will gulped.
“Another lie,” Mike took another step closer, more accusing this time, “I know the real reason.”
Mike stopped, merely a foot away from Will. God, his eyelashes were so long. A burst of warmth bubbled up alongside the fear of the direction the conversation seemed to be going in.
“You made the painting,” Mike started slowly, “because you’re a pervert. Because you’re exactly who everyone said you were. And to think, I spent all those years defending you.”
“No! That’s not true, that’s not why, Mike. You have to know that. I made it because you’re my best friend. And it’s true, you are the Heart. You hold us together!”
“You’re a fag. A queer. I thought that we were friends, but I was just part of your weird fetish,” Mike’s face crumpled into something worse than complete disgust. The lines of his mouth constricted and his nose wrinkled.
The fist holding the painting began to curl. “You know I have a girlfriend. How could you do that to your own sister? You’re absolutely fowl, you know that?”
The fist raised, and Mike’s other hand moved to join it. Before Will realized what was happening, Mike had begun to tear the painting in two, splitting the Cleric from the Paladin.
“STOP! PLEASE! NO!”
Will’s hand rushed to stop Mike from ripping it further, but as soon as he tried to move he felt his back hit the ground hard.
“Will?” He turned to see El standing behind him.
“You’re into my boyfriend?” She sputtered, eyebrows furrowed.
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Shouted a voice to his left. Will swiveled his head to see Lucas and Max.
“I can’t believe you,” Dustin scowled at his right.
Jonathan, Nancy, and his mom had gathered as well, all sharing equal looks of disapproval and disgust on their faces.
“What have you done? Don’t you know how much I gave up for you?” Joyce sneered.
“B-but, I didn’t-” The words won’t come out, he can’t speak, can’t move.
He can’t move. He’s not just frozen in fear, he realized, his legs have been overtaken by vines. A tingle ran up his spine and made goose bumps sprout at the base of his neck.
Everything was closing in. Mike continued to tear at the painting, his other friends kept shouting, and the vines began wriggling and constricting their way up to his neck. Breathing had started to burn.
“This is what will happen.”
“They will know you are weak.”
“And they will hate you for it.”
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·