---

     MILES DID NOT SEE DUSTIN TOMORROW. In fact, the party has wasted their whole day away at the mall looking for a gift for El because at some point Hopper threatened Mike which led to him standing the girl up, lying to her; telling her that his nana was sick. 

      All things considered, Mike is an asshole, but everything he does is done with good intentions, even if he is a total idiot.

     Honestly, chasing Mike around the mall wasn't even the reason for Miles' growing frustration, it was the effect it was having on Will. The boy has been trying relentlessly all day to get Mike and Lucas to play D&D, but they've ignored him every time. Miles has sat and helped him set up but if Will wasn't getting through to them, there was no way Miles would be any help considering he is the least confrontational person ever.

     Miles' thoughts came to an abrupt stop as he and the boys nearly walked straight into a lingerie store. Each boy looked from item to item with their mouths slightly agape. No words were exchanged, only incoherent noises as they ran away.

     They went to a perfume counter next, each of them picking up the different fragrances and smelling them. "Ooh, Will, smell this." Miles smiled as he found one he liked especially, handing it to the boy on his left.

     Will smelled it, "Ooh, that is a good one." He turned to Mike, "Maybe you can get her this?"

     Mike took the bottle, smelling it, "...Maybe." He said, putting on the top of the shelf to save for later.

     Miles picked up another, spraying it but just as the fragrance left the bottle, Miles hiccuped. The boy broke out into a fit of coughs as the pungent perfume invaded his airways and coated the back of his throat. Will rubbed his back as he struggled to get his breathing back to normal.

     "Hey, Mike." Lucas tapped the boy on the shoulder, giving no warning before spraying the perfume directly into the boy's eyes.

     "Uh!" Mike grimaced in pain, wiping at his eyes. "Ahh!" He yelled.

     Will spoke up, "Mike, you can't even afford this."

     Mike huffed, finally getting himself under control. The boy only nodded, walking out of the store, the rest of the boys following close behind.

     Mike and Lucas talked and mostly whined about how expensive everything was as they pulled their bikes from the bike rack outside the mall. Miles hasn't stopped hiccuping since the left the perfume counter and while the other boys hardly even noticed, it really started to bug Miles because not only did it hurt, but it also reminded him a lot of his dad.

     "Isn't this a nice surprise?" The voice of Max Mayfield drew the boys' attention, they all looked at her and El with wide eyes.

     Mike dropped his bike, pointing at El, "What are you doing here?"

     "Shopping." She answered pointedly, ice cream cone held firmly in her hand.

     Max gestured to the colorful jumper El was wearing, "This is her new style. What do you think?"

     Mike looked at Max with an accusatory expression, "What is wrong with you? You know she's not allowed to be here."

     "What is she, your little pet?"

     "Yeah." El looked from Max to Mike, "Am I your pet?" Miles had to hold back a giggle, he and Will glancing at each other in amusement.

     "What?" Mike exclaimed, "No!"

     "Then why do you treat me like garbage?"

     "What?"

     "You said nana was sick."

     "She is. She is. She is sick." Mike lied, looking to Lucas.

     "Yeah, sick- she's sick." He agreed. "She's sick. She's super sick. That's why we're here, actually." Lucas lied as well. 

     "Yeah, we're shopping. Not for us, but for nana."

     "For Nana."

     "Also, we're here to get a gift for you." Finally, a little truth. "Just, we couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have like $3.50, so it's hard."

     "Super. Hard." Lucas gave an almost pained expression as he tried to look solemn, "It's- it's expensive."

     "You lie." El's expression was cold, but her voice revealed her hurt. "Why do you lie?" Mike said nothing and El looked away as bus brakes squealed behind her. She looked back at Mike with an angered expression, taking two steps forward, and for a moment Miles thought she'd smash her ice cream in his face. "I dump your ass."

     Everyone's jaws dropped as they watched the scene unfold. El and Max turned, getting on the bus. The boys watched wordlessly as the bus took off towards the main road.

     "Now can we play D&D?" Will asked.

     "Yes."

     "No."

---

     MILES, MIKE, AND LUCAS WERE STARTLED AWAKE AS THE SOUND OF MIDEVIL MUSIC PLAYED THROUGH THE BASEMENT. Miles was awake instantly, terrified at first, but that terror quickly dissipated as he smiled at Will, dressed with a serious look and his cleric costume, ready to start their D&D campaign.

     "What are you doing?" Lucas questioned with squinted eyes.

     "Yeah, Will, can you turn down the music?" Mike asked covering his ears.

     Miles stood and went to stand by Will.

     "Please address me by my full name." Will said in character.

     "What?"

     The boy brought down his staff harshly, Miles jumped in surprise. "My full name!"

     "Oh my god." Mike groaned. "Okay, Will The Wise," 

     Will smiled in success.

     "Will you turn down the music?"

     That is not music... that is the sound of destiny!" Will spread his arms for dramatic effect, "I have seen into the future, and I have seen that today is a new day, a day... free of girls!"

     "Yeah!" Miles thrust his fist in the air in encouragement.

     "What is happening right now?" Lucas questioned groggily.

     "Will, come on." Mike whined.

     Will ignored him, leaning down and swiping his hand across the table just above the board, "A tribe of villagers are under threat from an evil force from the swamps of Kuzatan."

     "Will, it's so early."

     "It's not that early." Miles dismissed quickly.

     "Is it?" Will questioned Mike. "Is it early, Michael?" Mike and Lucas gave each other a look and a pang of anger lit up Miles's chest. "Tell that to the villagers crying for your help, the children are so frightened, they cannot sleep. Are you truly going to let them perish? Or are you going to come to their rescue and become the heroes you were always meant to be."

     "Uh..." Lucas held up a finger, "Can I at least take a shower first?" Will huffed and Lucas caved with his own huff, "Fine."

     Miles gave all his attention to Will as they sat around the game table, his leg bouncing up and down under the table in a mix of excitement and anxiety (the anxiety coming from the way his other two friends looked completely uninterested). It was all starting to anger him because they knew how much Will has suffered in the past 2 years and they couldn't even ignore their stupid girl issues for a few hours to play the campaign Will had clearly put a lot of time and effort into.

     The soft patter of the rain against the roof seemed to calm the boy enough to ignore his growing annoyance and continue to smile intently at the boy he undeniably had feelings for. 

     Miles and Will were alike in a lot of ways, which is obvious one would suppose since they've been best friends since they were toddlers, but they were also different. Miles was oblivious and a bit naïve at times, but like Will, he was also smart. They both felt responsible for the other, always going out of their way to ensure the other was okay, like how Miles would cheer Will up when he was sad and how Will would help explain things to him because of the way he would miss certain social cues.

     "It sounds like... thunder," Dramatic orchestral music played ominously in the background, "But, no, wait. That's not thunder." Will said, head peeking over the piece of cardboard set up to prevent anyone from knowing what was next in the carefully orchestrated campaign, "It's..." He pulled 4 figurines out from behind the partition, slamming them down on the table, "A hoard of juju zombies! Sir Mike, your action."

     Mike looked to Lucas, "What should I do?"

     The boy shrugged, "Attack?"

     "Okay, I attack with my flail." Mike rolled the die onto the board, speaking in a disinterested tone of voice.

     "Whoosh!" Will exclaimed, "You miss. Your flail clanks the stone, the zombie horde lumber towards you, and..." Will paused to roll the die, "The juju bites your arm. Flesh tears! Aah! Seven points of damage."

     "Oh, no, my arm." Mike said sarcastically, he looked to the boy on his left, "Lucas, look, my arm." They both snickered.

     Will deflated noticeably and it took everything in Miles to keep the encouraging smile on his face and not revert to a pointed glare at the other boys. 

     The boy fell back into character, "Sir, Lucas, the zombie horde roars! Do you fight back or do you run?"

     Lucas opened his mouth to respond, but all heads turned abruptly towards the phone as it started to ring.

     "No!" Will stood, slamming his staff into the floor, "It's a distraction! A trap. Do not answer it."

     Lucas and Mike took one look at Will, Miles look at Lucas and Will before the three of them bolted for the phone. Surprisingly, Miles made it to the phone first, he stood protectively in front of the wooden post, "It's a trap!" Mike rolled his eyes, softly pushing the boy aside, "The jujus!" 

     Mike picked up the phone, "El?" The boy quickly deflated, "No, sorry, no interested." He huffed hanging up the phone, "Telemarketers."

      "Sweet!" Miles said excitedly, "That means we can get back to the game!"

     "Maybe we should just call them." Lucas offered, ignoring Miles.

     Mike's eyebrows furrowed, "We can do that?"

     "I think so."

     "Yeah, but what would we say?"

     "We'll say nothing!" Will shouted. That was the other thing that was different about Will and Miles; Miles could never be that assertive. If you haven't picked up on it yet, Miles is kind of a pushover. "The Khuisar tribe still needs your help."

     "All right then, " Mike shrugged, "I'll use my torch to set fire to the chambers , sacrificing ourselves, killing the jujus, and saving the Khuisar. We all live on as heroes in the memories of the Kalamar." He said quickly.

     "Victory." Lucas held his hand up and they high-fived. 

     Miles looked at them, mouth agape. How could they be such assholes?

     "Okay," Will threw his staff down on the table, "Fine." He tore of his hat, "You guys win." He turned off the music with a huff, "Congratulations."

     Mike sighed, "Will, I was just messing around." 

     Will said nothing as he continued to take off the rest of his costume.

     Miles simply stood there, not knowing what to do. He just wished his friends would stop for a second and take just a minute to play a game with their friends.

     "Hey, let's finish for real." Mike said. "How much longer is the campaign?"

     "Just forget it, Mike."

     "No, you want to keep playing, right?" he gave Lucas a pointed look.

     "Y-yeah, totally."

     "We'll just call the girls afterwards."

     "I said forget it, Mike, okay?" Will yelled. "I'm going home."

     "Come on, Will." Lucas tried blocking the stairs.

     "Move!" He shoved passed the boy, storming up the stairs. Mike followed behind.

     Miles still stood partially frozen where he stood.

     Lucas sighed, "I don't get the big deal."

     Miles closed his eyes for a moment, taking a calming breath before looking at the boy, trying to contain his growing anger, "You- you guys are being assholes."

     "How are we being assholes?" He questioned, not with the expected level annoyance but mostly with genuine confusion.

     "We just want to play a silly little game." Miles huffed, "Why can't we do that?"

     "Because we're not kids any more. Why is this such a big deal?" Lucas threw his arms up in exasperation.

     Miles said nothing, huffing quietly as he just took off up the stairs, hoping he would catch up with Will before he got too far. He ignored his friend's protests as he approached the door that led out to the garage.

     Miles opened the door, immediately being hit with the sound of Will's strained voice, "You're destroying everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?" He questioned furiously.

     "El's not stupid." He defended. "It's not my fault you don't like girls!"

     A tense silence fell over them as Will's entire demeanor crumbled with inly those 8 simple words.

     Mike sighed, briefly shutting his eyes in regret, "I'm not trying to be a jerk. Okay? But we're not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?"

     Will scoffed a bitter laugh, "Yeah." He sniffled, "I guess I did. I really did." The boy got on his bike and began peddling away.

     "Will. Will! Will, come on!" Mike turned, finally noticing the boy that had been standing at the door nearly the entire time, "Miles..."

     The boy frowned, "How could you do that, Mike?"

     "Miles." he repeated, guilt oozing from just that one word.

      "After everything we've been through you couldn't suck it up and play one stupid fucking game?" He questioned angrily.

     Mike was taken aback by the boy's sudden hostility, not used to this display of emotion or vulgarity from the boy, "I-"

     "Can't you just pretend for a few hours?" He glared at the boy, "Just a few hours where we can act like kids. He just wanted to play a stupid fucking game with his stupid fucking friends and despite what you say, we are kids, Mike. We. Are. Kids." He looked away, mounting his bike.

     "Miles..." He began but drifted, not having anything to say.

     The boy only sighed, "Goodbye, Mike." He set off on his bike, one destination in mind.

     He was immediately soaked as rain poured down, blurring his vision as it became harder to see in front of him, but he kept peddling on. The anger he'd been feeling moments ago was already gone and replaced with worry for his friend.

     When he'd gotten to the Byers' he threw down his bike and took off in a sprint around the house and into the woods. When he finally got to Castle Byers, it was being destroyed. A bat in hand, Will took out all his frustrations on the only safe space he'd ever had.

     Miles didn't hesitate, quickly moving forward and catching the bat before the boy could do any more damage.

     Will was startled momentarily but allowed the bat to drop from his hands, collapsing onto his hands and knees on the forest floor.

     Miles threw the bat aside, falling into place beside the sobbing boy, drawing him in and holding him tight against his chest as he let the boy cry, a few tears falling from his own eyes, "I'm sorry, Will." He whispered, running a calming hand through his hair, letting himself fall back into the way things used to be, before Miles was really aware of his feelings for the boy. 

     They'd always been so intimate, even as kids, it was part of the reason Lonnie would call him all of the vulgar things he did when they were younger. Not that Fred didn't say the same things to Miles for the same reasons. Fred would be embarrassed and get angry at the boy when Lonnie would come to him acting as if Miles falling asleep with his head in Will's lap would be the thing that would magically turn him gay.

     They'd sat like that for a bit; Miles just holding Will as his sobs slowly calmed and it felt like he could finally breath again. But even after Will was calm, he still stayed where he was, letting Miles hold him and card his fingers through his hair. Neither of them even paid any mind to the pelting rain showering over them.

     This is what Miles wanted.

     Not the screaming, crying, or the fighting. All of that was like a distant memory in Miles' current state of mind, so engulfed in the reality of how nice Will Byers' hair felt even when it was soaking wet and kind of smelled from the mix of sweat and rain that coated it.

     A very faint smile tugged at the corners of the boy's lips as he thought of the possibility of maybe one day being able to be like this with Will whenever he wanted, not needing Will to experience such pain to just hold the boy.

     But what Miles didn't know was that Will had stopped thinking about the past hour completely, savoring this moment just as deeply as the boy wrapped around him because he too wished more than anything that they could stay like this forever.

     But nothing good lasts forever.

     A chill shot down Will's spine. On trembling legs, Will slowly stood to his feet and out of Miles' arms, a hand reaching up to grasp at his neck.

     Miles stood, looking at the boy in concern, not even registering the frantic voices of his friends until they were right in front of them.

     "What happened, are you okay?" Mike asked.

     Will slowly turned around, "He's back."

---

big stuff happening next chapter get readyyy

the fact that I waited to update this simply bc I didn't have an edit made is a problem

anyway... please vote and comment because if you don't I'll cry :)

~lee

08/10/2022