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Will climbed up the radio tower’s ladder with his heart in his throat. They had been climbing for what felt like hours now, and Will’s palms were already sore from the effort of heaving himself up with every step. His finger caught on a piece of rusty metal and he winced, biting his lip. How long was it until the top? When Will looked up, he got so dizzy that he decided to take a break.
He climbed up the few steps left until the closest platform, finally letting go of the goddamn ladder and flexing his hands to stop them from feeling so numb. The Upside Down had always been cold, but Will didn’t remember it being this freezing. Seriously, it felt like he was seconds away from getting hypothermia.
When he looked up from his hands, Will was met with a—pleasant?—surprise; Mike was standing beside him, leaning over the metal barrier and taking a sip of water. He looked ridiculous in his sleeveless camo jacket and green beanie, but honestly, didn't they all? Dustin was wearing a goddamn camouflage bush over his clothes, the purpose of which Will was, frankly, still unsure about. But still, the beanie somehow beat that in levels of necessity, or rather lack thereof.
When Mike noticed Will staring at him, he gave a lopsided smile and held the water bottle out to him. “You want some?”
“Yeah,” Will huffed gratefully, chugging the water as if he hadn’t drunk in months. Truth be told, they still had no clue how time in the Upside Down worked, so it might well have been.
When he was done, he handed Mike the bottle back, and after a few minutes of heavy silence, the latter spoke up.
“Hey, um…” He paused, eyes meeting Will’s for less than a millisecond before darting away. “What you said earlier at the Squawk…”
Will held his breath. This was it, huh? Mike had finally figured it out, and they were going to have The Talk. In the middle of a mission in the Upside Down. Great timing, Mike. Just great.
“I’m sorry.” Well, that definitely wasn’t what Will had expected. It wasn’t exactly that he didn’t deserve to hear an apology after all the shit Mike did and said over the years, but he sure as hell didn’t expect Mike to actually give it to him, much less now. Again; mission, defeating Vecna, the Upside Down? Did Mike really think this was a good moment to solve their relationship?
Before Will could interrupt, Mike rambled on.
“I mean, not sorry about what you said. That came out wrong.” Well if the timing wasn’t already great, the wording certainly wasn’t making things any better.
“Or not came out wrong. Jesus Christ–” Will couldn’t help but laugh. Even if Mike wasn’t exactly an expert in heartfelt conversations, he always managed to lift Will’s mood up. Which, honestly, was much needed right now.
“It’s okay,” He chuckled, smiling at him in gratitude. He assumed The Talk was over then—Mike had apologised, and they’d joked around a bit like they used to—but apparently Will was wrong.
“No, it’s… it’s not.” Will looked up again. God. Was Mike ever going to stop talking?
“I should’ve been there for you, and I wasn’t,” He hesitated, shaking his head self-deprecatingly. “And I guess I was just so self-absorbed that I couldn’t see it.”
See what? That Will liked boys? He’d assumed Mike had known since their fight that one summer, and had just never mentioned it again. But now he was finding out that Mike was so damn clueless and self-absorbed, in his own words, that he hadn’t even figured it out?
“I just… I feel like an idiot, and I…” Mike took a deep breath, looking Will intently in the eye. “I’m sorry.”
Well, Will couldn’t argue with that. Mike was an idiot, by all means. But, despite that, Will still loved him. He guessed he really did go crazy, although he wasn’t sure if he was going crazy together with Mike as they had once promised. That’s what worried him.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Will heard himself reply, even though he wasn’t sure why he was saying it. Mike should be sorry, it didn’t matter if he knew that Will was queer or not. The things he’d said had hurt Will, still hurt Will, so the least he could do was give an apology. Which, for some reason, Will was denying right now.
“And you are not an idiot. You’re not.” Now he was just lying his ass off. Did Vecna somehow tap into his brain and take control of his mouth, or did love just make you this goddamn stupid? Will wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
“It’s just… I didn’t understand it myself for the longest time,” Will shook his head, the memories filling his mind. All that bullying, all of his father’s words, Mike’s words; all turning out to be true. It hurt. A lot. But Will guessed there wasn’t much he could do except deal with it now.
“I just…” He looked at Mike, the kicked-puppy-dog expression seemingly permanently glued on his face, “I think it needed to happen the way it happened.” Another lie. Will thought about just how many nightmares he’d have about that moment, the moment he saw everyone in the room shift in their places, eyebrows shooting up and eyes widening. God, there were just so many people. It had felt like a school presentation he hadn’t been ready for. Why did he lie? Why wasn’t he telling Mike the truth?
“I needed to find my own way.” Will sighed, looking down at the center of the radio tower where it plummeted until the roof of the Squawk, miles and miles below them. “But what matters is that you’re still here, and you still think we can be friends.”
Mike smiled at that, a cheesy grin spreading on his face like butter. Will was grinning right back, until he heard Mike’s next words.
“Friends? No, thanks.” Will’s smile loosened, his face dropping like the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, his heart was beating too fast, and his palms were sweating despite the cold. What did Mike mean? What was he trying to say? Was it that he thought Will was disgusting and a fag and not worthy of his friendship? Was it that he didn’t want to hang out with a filthy queer like him?
Or was it that he wanted to be… more than friends? Was it that maybe, Will had been right, and they had been going crazy together all along? Was Mike about to confess to him?
His next words came like a punch to the gut. “Best friends.”
Will could vomit. Right then and there. Maybe the air in the Upside Down was polluted after all, and he’d just breathed in toxic particles that would make him spew out all his organs.
He wanted to jump off the goddamn radio tower and fall into the abyss, crashing through the roof of the WSQK. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to face Mike, or let him see that he’d gotten his hopes up for nothing.
Speaking of Mike– Screw him. Screw him and his stupid mixed signals and his stupid proud smirk and his stupid mocking tone. Screw him for dangling a bone in front of Will and then snatching it away like his feelings were some kind of sick joke. Screw him for pausing, for letting Will’s hopes linger and set in so that the blow would come harder and more painful.
Screw. Him.
Suddenly, with an unknown force that Will didn’t know he possessed, he ran full-speed at Mike, pushing him as hard as he could over the ledge that was their only security from tumbling down to the very bottom of the tower. The rush of adrenaline from his unexpected bout of violence came in a surge, and Will assumed this is how Jonathan had felt when he’d smoked weed with Argyle back in Lenora. If so, he didn’t blame him for that at all, because the feeling was fucking amazing.
Will felt elated as he caught a last glimpse of Mike’s face, shocked and betrayed, before he fell over the rail and his body plunged towards the ground at record-breaking speed. Then, Will heard a satisfying splat as his body hit the Squawk’s roof and sent blood spraying all around. He wondered how Mike didn’t fall right through the ceiling, but then again, he’d always kind of resembled a twig, so Will wasn’t entirely surprised.
Serves him right, Will thought, dusting his hands off as he peered down at Mike’s body with a satisfied grin on his face. He didn’t regret it in the slightest; in fact, it might’ve been “the best thing he’s ever done”. Suck on that, Mike. Except he couldn’t really, not anymore. Shame.
Will only felt a little sad for El, but then again, she’d always been better off without him. He didn’t want to push himself into her relationships, but he’d always recognised that she’d been much healthier and happier when she was hanging out with Max. Honestly, she’d probably feel relieved to finally be released from that cage of a relationship. Will mentally patted himself on the back for that.
He looked around, trying to grasp the others’ reactions, but no one seemed to have noticed, or nobody had cared. With a shrug Will continued climbing the ladder, the only acknowledgment to what he’d done coming from Robin in the form of an actual pat on the back and a whispered “No one liked him anyway” that made Will giggle before they went through with their original plan.
God, he felt so free. Turns out the world became a much better place after getting rid of Mike Wheeler.