Chapter Text
ɴᴏᴠᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 19, 1991
• • •
The air was cold, blowing on Mike's face as he walked to Lucas's and Max's apartment, he took a deep breath in, his face as cold as ice, his fingers were numb
"It is way to cold," Mike muttered, and arrived at the apartment building
He opened the door, and walked in, making his way to the elevator so he could go to floor 3, where the apartment was
He arrived at the elevator, and got in, pressing the 3 button and it took him up
He made his way to the apartment, knocking on the door when he did, and Lucas answered it
"Oh, hey man, kind of forgot you were supposed to be here," Lucas spoke, awkwardly placing his hand on the back of his neck
Mike stared at him for a second, and looked behind him Max basically death staring him, and Mike rolled his eyes, "Where's Will?" Mike spoke, looking back at Lucas
"He's supposed to be here in like, 10 minutes or so, come in, I made some hot chocolate," Lucas replied, and stepped out of the way
Mike walked into the apartment, looking around "Damn," Mike spoke, "This is a nice apartment."
"Thanks Wheeler," Max said, smiling at Mike, Mike could tell it was fake.
Ever since Max actually came around, the two have never gotten along, not even now
"Yeah, no problem," Mike replied, taking off his coat
"Did you hear what happened downtown?" Lucas abruptly spoke, catching Max's and Mike's attention
"No, what happened man?" Mike spoke, and set his coat on one of the hangers
"There was some robbery on the diamond store," Lucas replied, sitting down on the bed
"I've been there, pretty cool place," Max spoke, sitting next to Lucas
"They said they caught the person, revealed to be some homeless dude," Lucas said, turning on the television
Mike chuckled, "Well, that's great,"
Lucas looked at Mike, "I mean, I'm not really surprised it was a homeless person, if you actually got to steal one of those diamonds, you could turn into a millionaire," Mike added
Lucas shrugged in agreement, "No shit Sherlock, diamonds cost more than your own life," Max spoke, Mike shot her a annoyed look
Lucas smiled at the beef, and turned on Family Feud
• • •
"Carlton, I got to go," Will said, putting on his coat,
Carlton looked at Will "Yeah, you do that," Carlton spoke, and took a sip of the beer he was holding,
Will looked at him and stared at the beer can, "What? Are you going to just stand there?" Carlton spoke, getting a little closer to Will
Will backed away, "S-Sorry," Will spoke quietly, "I'll go," Carlton looked Will up and down
"Your dressed like a slob," Carlton spoke "It's just sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt," Will said, looking everywhere but Carlton's eyes
Carlton grabbed Will's chin, making Will flinch and look at him, "Don't talk back," Carlton spoke
Will nodded quickly, and Carlton pulled away
Will quickly put on his jacket, and looked at Carlton, "Bye, see you later," Will spoke
"Yeah, bye," Carlton said, Will looked at Carlton one last time, opened the door and left the house, walking quietly to his car, got into the car, and turned it on, and took a shaky sigh putting his head in his hands
He wiped away the tears that were filling up in his eyes, and starting driving towards the apartment building to Lucas's and Max's apartment
• • •
"Hey Dustin!" Lucas spoke, answering the door for Dustin
"Hey man," Dustin said, smiling
"How you been, haven't seen you in a while," Lucas said, letting Dustin in, "Dude, I literally saw you last month," Dustin spoke
Lucas rolled his eyes, Dustin looked around the room, "Where's Will?" Dustin asked
"I actually don't know, he was supposed to get here like two minutes ago," Lucas replied
"Hopefully he gets here soon," Mike spoke, taking a sip of hot chocolate
"Yeah I-" Lucas spoke, bit was cut-off by knocking on the door
"Must be Byers," Dustin said, basically running to the door and opened it, revealing Will
"Byers!" Lucas exclaimed, pulling Will into a hug
"What's the hug for?" Will said, and Lucas pulled away
"Haven't seen you in a long time, that's all," Lucas replied, patting Will's back, Will smiled, and looked around the apartment room, "This is a nice apartment," Will spoke, and walked around
"Thanks man, Max and I try our best to keep it clean and shit like that," Lucas replied, Will looked at Max
"Hey Will!" Max exclaimed and hopped up from her spot on the couch, pulling Will into a hug, Will hugged her back, "Hey Max," Will spoke, and pulled away from the hug, and looked at Mike, Mike smiled at him, and Will smiled back
"So, let's discuss some things, get some food," Dustin said, and everyone nodded
• • •
"Wait, you're telling me that Nancy and Robin are together?!" Lucas exclaimed, looking at Mike, Mike nodding in response
"That's insane!" Dustin exclaimed, Will looked at Dustin, Max looked at Will
"Hey, you going to eat some pizza?" Max whispered, Will shrugged, "Maybe later," Will whispered back, and took a sip of the sprite he was drinking
Will's attention turn toward Dustin when he heard his name come out his mouth
"So, Will, how's your relationship with Carlton?" Dustin spoke, Will looked at Dustin, his mood shifted from happy to kind of sad
"Oh, uhm...great!" Will lied, "Me and him are..uhm, really happy!"
Mike noticed the discomfort in the subject and scooted a little closer to Will
"That's great," Dustin said, and started a conversation with Lucas, Max joining in on the conversation
Mike wrapped his arm around Will's shoulder
"Hey..you okay?" Mike spoke softly, the same voice he always did for Will
"I'm fine.." Will replied, pulling his knees up to his chest
"You are lying." Mike said
"I know because whenever you don't feel great you always pull your knees up to your chest," Mike muttered pulling his hand away from Will's shoulder
Will looked at him, and back at the two last slices of pizza, zoning out
He flinched when he saw Lucas's hand swiping back and forth infront of his eyes, his head shot up and he stared at Lucas, "What? What's wrong?" Will said panicked
"Nothing," Lucas spoke, chuckling a little, "Just wanted to know if you wanted some pizza, there's only two slices left,"
"No thanks, not hungry," Will replied, looking at Lucas, Lucas nodded and took a slice of pizza, Max looked at Will, and her attention turned to the knocking on the door Dustin sat up
"Did you invite somebody without us knowing Sinclair?" Dustin said, and walked to the door
"No?" Lucas replied, confused, and Dustin opened the door revealing Carlton
"Oh, hey man," Dustin spoke
"Hey Henderson," Carlton replied, Will's blood ran cold, Carlton's voice sending chills up Will's spine
"Why you here?" Lucas spoke from the living room
"Oh, no reason, just wanted to tell Will his mom was calling," Carlton spoke, and looked at Will, Will looked back
"Oh, okay, you can take a seat," Dustin invited, Mike looked at Carlton and could tell something was off by the way Will was acting
Carlton took a seat next to Will and whispered something in his ear that Mike couldn't really understand, all he heard was "Didn't" and "Tell them" Will shook his head, and Carlton nodded and satisfaction, and wrapped his arm around Will's waist, pulling him towards him
Max and Mike shot eachother concerned looks, they could see the discomfort on Will's face, it was as clear as day, and they both could tell something was really off, like...really off, the way Carlton held Will, the way Will looked so umcomfortable around Carlton, the way Will flinched at everything, and the way Will was wearing long sleeves even though it was hot in Max's and Lucas's apartment due to the heaters
"Hey Will?" Max spoke, and Will looked at Max, Carlton doing the same "
Yeah..?" Will spoke quietly "Can we talk?" Max asked, Will looked at Carlton
"S-Sure..? What's wrong?" Will said, "No, I mean, like..in private," Max corrected, Will looked at Max "Okay," Will responded, and sat up and followed Max into the bathroom
• • •
"What's wrong with them?" Dustin asked
Carlton watched Will and Max go into the bathroom, "𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦," Carlton thought
Mike looked at Carlton with narrowed eyes, studying Carlton's every action, the way Carlton shifted, the way Carlton eyes turned to all chill to totally demonic, he looked like he was going to kill somebody, and Mike did not like it, not one bit
• • •
Will was pulled into the bathroom by Max, and Max shut the door behind her, and looked at Will
"Are you okay?" Max asked
Will looked at her confused, "Yeah..why?" Will replied
"I can tell you are lying, Will," Max spoke, and put her hand on Will's shoulder
Will looked at her, "I just don't feel good,"
Max looked Will up and down, and nodded, not believing Will, but not wanting to make things worse, "Okay, just making sure," Max spoke, and smiled at Will
Will returned the smile
"Okay, let's go back," Will spoke and Max nodded
"Yeah, let's go," Max agreed and they both came out of the bathroom
• • •
Will sat down next to Carlton and Mike, sitting in between the two
Mike looked at Will and smiled, he could tell Will was in a better mood now
"Will." Carlton whispered in Will's ear, Will turned to him
"Sorry, yes?" Will spoke
"I want to leave," Carlton said, Will looked at him, "Okay, see you at home," Will responded, "No, I mean I want you to come with me" Carlton corrected
"We are going to have a...discussion at home," Carlton added, Will looked at him, and nodded slowly
"S-Sure, we can go home," Will spoke quietly, Carlton nodded, "Good." Carlton said, and sat up
"Me and Will are going to go home, enjoy the rest of your night," Carlton said, and got up, Will doing the same
"Oh okay, bye guys!" Dustin said, "Bye Dustin," Will spoke quietly
Dustin tilted his head confused on the sudden mood change, and watched Carlton and Will walk to the door
"Bye Wil!" Mike called out, Will turned around and waved by to Mike, Mike smiled but that smiled quickly turned into a frown when he saw Carlton grabbed onto Will's wrist and tug Will away
• • •
Will sat in his car, even though Carlton drove in a separate car, Will knew what would happen when they got home
Will started his car, Carlton following behind him
Will took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, preparing himself for what's going to come to him when they got home