---

     NANCY AND JONATHAN CAME DOWN AND EXPLAINED TO EVERYONE THEIR THEORY ABOUT THE FLAYED AND TOGETHER THEY CAME UP WITH A IDEA ON WHO ELSE COULD POSSIBLY BE FLAYED. Everyone began rushing around to get their things and leave the house but as Miles was tying his shoes he saw Will approach him from the corner of his eye.

     Will crouched down slightly, whispering, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

     Miles felt his throat constrict with fear. This was the moment he'd been trying to avoid. Max did seem confident that Will liked Miles and while the boy did trust his friend's judgment, the possibility of Will reciprocating his feelings just seemed too unlikely.

     Not being able to get out any words, the boy only nodded his head. Will led him over and into the basement bathroom, closing the door enough to give them enough privacy to talk but not all the way.

     The two stood silent for a few awkward moments, Will not knowing what to say and Miles too scared to say anything.

     Miles took a deep, shaky breath before speaking, "I'm really sorry."

     Will's head shot up, a confused expression on his features, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he could even utter a word.

     "I just- I get it if you hate me and don't want to be friends with me anymore." Tears welled in his eyes, one slipping and falling from his eye. "I don't know why I did that and I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable and-"

     "Miles, stop."

     The boy hadn't been looking at the other but when he spoke and he finally did get a look at him he stopped in his tracks.

      There were tears evident in Will's eyes and it was clear he had more to say. Miles only waited.

     Will shook his head, "I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

     Miles sighed in relief, "Oh thank god. So we can be friends?"

     The other boy shook his head, looking down at his feet, "I don't want to be friends."

     Miles' chest constricted uncomfortably, "What?" he asked in confusion.

     Will's head quickly shot up, a worried expression on his face, "No wait, that's not what I meant."

     His expression didn't change, his head tilted in confusion, "I don't understand."

     "I don't want to be friends..." Will took a deep breath before continuing, "because I like you." Again Miles' expression didn't change and Will realized he wasn't making himself clear. "I like like you. Like as more than a friend."

     A look of realization crossed Miles' face, "Oh." He thought a few more moments about what this meant and a smile slowly crept onto his face, "Oh." He laughed slightly.

     Will smiled back at the boy, he began to take a step forward but was interrupted by the bathroom door swinging open.

     A small scream escaped Miles' lips as he jumped back in fear, barely catching himself from falling back into the bathtub.

     "What the hell are you guys doing in here we've been looking for you guys it's time to go." Mike said quickly. "Come on." He left before either boy could say anything in response.

    Will and Miles looked at each other, laughing quietly before running out of the bathroom and up the stairs of the basement to get into Nancy's car.

---

     NANCY RANG THE DOORBELL TO THE HOLLOWAYS' HOUSE, JONATHAN BESIDE HER WITH THE YOUNGER TEENS ALL STANDING BEHIND THE COUPLE. When no one came to answer the door, she rang it again. They wait a few moments longer and with no response Nancy and Jonathan first look at each other, then at El.

     A few seconds later the door is open and the kids are walking into the house, the group in a semi-line. First was Nancy and Jonathan at the front leading, then El and Max, and just behind them were Mike and Lucas, and finally Miles and Will stood beside one another in the back.

    Although the atmosphere had changed and they may not be in quite the same headspace they were just after their conversation in the bathroom, they remain close, metaphorically as well as in the literal sense too.

     "Tom?" Nancy called into the empty house, "Heather?"

     "Jesus, it's freezing." Max commented.

     Miles audibly shivered in an agreement as he and Will finally made it all the way into the house.

     The file into the living room. "Do you guys smell that?" Nancy questions.

     Everyone's eyebrows furrow as they sniff the air. The group collectively turns, cringing as they round the corner into the kitchen and find the culprit of the horrible stench.

     The Holloways' fridge lay on its side with the back panel bent to allow access to its coolant and a variety of different household chemicals scattered on the upright side of the fridge and along the counter.

     "More chemicals." Nancy grimaced.

      They all move closer to the scene.

     Jonathan picks up a container of AJAX, "You think they're guzzling this shit?"

     "Yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree."

      Miles nodded, "Totally. Maybe they were just late to spring cleaning?"

     "But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals." Max countered their claim. She looked to Will for confirmation, "Did you?"

      He shook his head, "No. This is something new."

     "Mr.Clarke 5th grade. Posit. What happens when you mix chemicals together?" He looks at Will, Miles, and Lucas.

     "You create a new substance." Will and Lucas speak in unison.

     "You create a new substance." Miles also says but a second delayed. "Yep. Totally remembered that." He looked down at his feet.

     Will gave the boy a comforting pat on the back and Miles looked up to smile at the other boy.

     "What if they're making something?" Mike suggests.

     "In themselves?" Max questions. "I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you."

     "Yeah, if you're human." Says Lucas.

     They wander further into the house. They stop in the dining room, Nancy reaching down to touch a stain on the carpet, "Blood." She examines. "Yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead. She picks up a blood stain wine bottle located about a foot from the stain. Standing up she looks around at the group, "He was attacked."

     They look over, noticing a disheveled rug that appears to have had something grabbed across it. It didn't take much thinking to know what that something was.

     They open the cracked door just behind the disheveled rug, moving onto the next door which opened to what seemed to a be a sparsely used storage room. Jonathan bends over a discarded piece of rope, "They must've tied them." He concluded. He stood up, "They must have taken them somewhere."

     "Mrs.Driscoll." Nancy spoke suddenly, with clear urgency in her tone of voice. "She kept saying, 'I have to go back.'" The girl begins to pace, "What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place where all this started, right? A source."

     El shook her head, agreeing, "Somewhere he didn't want me to see."

     "If we can find the source, then maybe we can stop him. Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals."

     "How do we find it?" El asked.

     Will's face lit up with an idea, "Mrs.Driscoll." The group looks to the boy. "If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

---

     THE GROUP MARCH INTO THE HOSPITAL, AND THE FRONT RECEPTIONIST WAS ON THE PHONE SO THEY WERE HOPING TO SLIP BY UNNOTICED, I'D GUESS WITH A GROUP OF 8 THAT'S KIND OF HARD.

     "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Excuse me!" She quickly rose to her feet. She placed a hand on her hip, leaning on her desk, "Where do you think you goin'?"

     Nancy put on her best face smile, "Oh, um, I was just going to visit my grandma again." She falsely explained. She looked at the rest of the group, "And- and this... this is my family."

     Miles gave a wide smile, hoping it would help their case.

     The woman raised her eyebrows, giving a pointed look in Lucas' direction. He smiled, "Extended."

      The woman's expression didn't change, "I don't care who they are. You know the rules. Two visitors at a time."

     "Yeah, but-" Nancy began but was cut off by the receptionist.

      "Two!" She held out two fingers to further make her point. She picked up the phone speaking to a woman on the other end, "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

      In the end, Nancy and Jonathan ended up going up to Mrs.Driscoll's room, leaving the rest of the kids in the hospital lobby.

     Max and El stood in one part looking through hospital pamphlets together while Lucas and Mike had gotten up to get a snack from the vending machine. Will and Miles sat next to each other in two of the lobby's waiting chairs. Miles was sitting so his feet were also on the seat of the chair, his arms wrapped around his legs with them pressed to his chest, and his chin resting atop his knees.

     "Come on, you piece of shit!" Mike yelled banging his fist against the machine as his candy got caught. Lucas joined in until suddenly the machine shook seemingly on its own accord, knocking half the candy bars into the space below. All the boys looked over to El who was wiping a drip of blood away from the bottom of her nose. "Thanks."

     Miles jumped up from his seat and over to the machine, when he got closer he could hear Lucas and Mike talking to each other but he paid no mind to their conversation as he quickly grabbed a KitKat and som Reese's pieces.

     He brought the candy over to Will but before he could sit the other boy was out of his seat, "Come on." He guided the boy away from the main part of the lobby to the far corner closest to the soda machine and the storage closets. Miles quickly claimed the corner, sliding down to sit in the same position he had been in the lobby's main waiting room. Will sat closely next to him and the boy handed the other Reese's pieces.

     Will smiled at him, accepting the candy before they started to eat in comfortable silence, glancing over at each other every few seconds. Halfway through his candy bar Miles pulled the wrapper back up, setting it on the floor beside him, turning. in the same position but so he was facing Will.

     Will did the same, setting down his remaining Reese's pieces before turning in his seated position, his legs bent and crossed over one another. Miles smiled at the boy and Will did the same right back.

     Miles looked down at their feet, his face heated up as he inched his feet forward so the tips of his shoes hit Will's. He looked up and the other boy was smiling at him, now with the same rosy cheeks as Miles. "I know I've already asked this, but are you okay?"

     Will laughed a little bit, shrugging, "I mean yeah I'm good, just kind of hard watching this happen again."

     The other boy nodded, "I understand. Of course not fully, but I get it."

     "What about you?" Will questioned.

     His eyebrows furrowed as he laughed a bit, "What about me?"

     "Are you okay?"

     Miles smiled shaking his head, "Why wouldn't I be?"

     Will looked down at his lap, "I'm really sorry about everything at the pool."

     Miles' expression dropped, "Oh. No- no it's okay. I mean... I get it and not like I get the Mind Flayer stuff." He laughed slightly. He spoke in a whisper, "I mean... I'm gay, so I get it." His face quickly contorted with panic, "Wait! I don't mean I'm like assuming you're gay. I know there's other stuff, I just meant-"

     "I am gay." The words felt strange on the boy's tongue, but it was true.

     "Oh. That's cool."He smiled. The phrase made the boy relieved, but he was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions. Tears gathered in his eyes and he quickly looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to see them. A tear fell from his eye and he was quick to try to wipe it away, sniffling, "I'm sorry."

     Will's own eyes teared up, he shook his head, "Don't be sorry." He reached out, gently touching the boy's ankles, he leaned forward slightly, "Our dads are assholes."

     The words struck something in Miles and he shook as he repressed a sob that threatened to spill from his throat, he took a deep breath so the words could come out in a whisper, "I really wish they weren't. This would all be a lot easier."

     Will looked around to make sure nobody was watching their interaction before leaning forward to wipe the tears from under Miles' eyes. "It would be." He agreed.

     The Byers boy pulled back, moving to mirror the way Miles was seated before scooting closer to the boy. They settled into another comfortable silence, not breaking each others' gaze.

     Will smiles, "I was thinking..." He leaned closer whispering, "Maybe we could retry once this is all over again."

     The boy looked confused, "Retry what?"

     The other boy laughed, shaking his head, "Our kiss." He explained with pink cheeks.

     Miles felt his face heat up, "Oh. I- I mean," He stuttered, "Y-yeah. I'd like that."

     Will began to smile but his expression quickly dropped as the lights began to flicker. he stood to his feet, Miles close behind. The lights flickered with increasing intensity. They made their way over to the rest of the group.

     A loud sheik could be heard through the hospital halls and the building was suddenly filled with darkness.

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I like this chapter a lot tbh. I tend to really like the chapters where I go away from the script and actually get to write stuff :)

vote and comment pls that's all happy stranger things day!

~lee

11/06/2022