WILL POV-

---- 12:32 PM ----

Will shuffled in his seat looking out the window as the train screeched to a stop. Dustin, Lucas and Will had been discussing the different activities they would tackle on the trip; it was supposed to be a secret but since Lucas had special inside information from being the class president, the duo wore him down until he spilt the beans.

From the window the smaller boy could see the sign for a rest stop.

"CLASS!" Mr Clark jumped from his seat before the students charged off to get some food "The train will only wait here until 1:15! I REPEAT ONE FIFTEEN!" emphasizing as it was common that at least one student would get confused and would need to be hunted around the train station.

The brunette looked over to Mike huddling in his seat; resting his head on the window; his eyes tightly shut. It was obvious he wasn't asleep and Will felt bad; it wasn't clear what was going on with Mike but whatever it was he was definitely uncomfortable, wanting to be anywhere but here right now.

"Okay?" Mr Clark told the students seeing them all nod. With that he took a deep sigh allowing them to leave the train to enter the service station. The group stood up from their seats; Max tied her hair up with a blue scrunchie, placing a hand on her hip.

"Mike, are you coming?" The redhead spat

"Does it look like I want to go?" Mike furrowed his brows tilting his head to Max "GO AWAY!" whining as he turned his head away, twisting his body on the seat.

"Harsh" She rolled her eyes unaffected by his words. She was used to his childish behaviour and did not answer anything back to start a fight; assuming he was just in one of those moods. Will frowned casting between the two as Max and El left the train

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Lucas softly questioned

The ravenette gave no answer only holding a thumb up to show he wanted to be left alone for a while as the cool air from the open window hit his face.

"Do you want us to buy you anything?" The curly haired boy who had been quiet until now questioned serious; different to his usual demeanour. If Dustin was serious then something must be wrong. Mike weakly nodded as the trio left promising to be back in a matter of a few minutes so they could use the restrooms and buy food.

Will followed the pair out taking one last glance at Mike as he took a step down from the train. The air penetrated his lungs; it felt breathable; something he was longing for after being cramped in that train for two hours.

But Will couldn't get the ravenette out his mind; it was uncharacteristic for him to be acting this way; it just didn't make sense "Does anyone know why Mike is like that?"

"Tall?" Lucas questioned

"Loud?" El added

"Assholery?" Max sarcastically joked

"Yes! That one" Will pointed at the redhead cheering

"Mike's always like that!" Max retorted rolling her eyes

"No, he's nice sometime!" El pouted always seeing Mike for the respectable, kind-hearted person he was.

"He seems more... Annoyed then usual" The brunette explained scratching the back of his head

"OH! He's always like that in vehicles" Lucas added shrugging

"Oh..." Will lifted a finger to his lip "Is he travel sick?"

"That boy was travel sick in the womb!" The curly haired boy joked

"Did he take any travel sickness pills?" The small boy asked

"No!" Lucas frowned

"Why not?" Will furrowed his brows; Dustin grabbed his arm dragging him a step behind ducking to his ear whispering close "Don't tell anyone" Scanning both ways to ensure no one was close enough to hear "but Mike can't swallow pills"

"What?" Will furrowed his brows even more; how could a comic character not know how to swallow a pill; it wasn't as though the travel sickness tablets were extremely large or tasted horrible. If he was travel sick, it'd surely be mentioned in the comic.

Dustin pulled away from his ear, standing up straight. He looked unfazed and continued walking, as to him Mike had always been travel sick but Will knew of this inconsistency but shrugged, assuming it was hinted at but not directly expressed in the comic.

"I'm going to go to the pharmacist!" Will raised his hand alerting his friends

"I'll come with you!" El nervously grinned, skipping over to the smaller boy. He looked at her confused why she was leaving Max at this moment. He thought she would be all over the redhead by now; she was quiet, a bit more giggly than usual. Did something happen?

He raised an eyebrow as she dragged him away grasping his arm firm. Will scrunched his face what the hell was going on with her? El dragged him so they were far away from the rest of their friends. The girl let go of his arm breathing deep seemingly out of breath

"Okay...? What was that?" The boy questioned

"Will!" She screamed grasping his shoulders, shaking him around "I'm having a crisis!"

"What crisis?" Will raised an eyebrow

"I think Max wants to take things to the next level" She explained

"I thought YOU also wanted to take things to the next level" The small boy tilted his head. Isn't this exactly what she wanted?

"Yes! But I had a whole plan! Remember!" El complained "I was gonna tell her one Wednesday cause that was the warmest day; where I would be wearing my red dress and then we would go to the beautiful gardens wh-"

"Listen El" He reassured holding her arms to stop the shaking "Just breathe... It's great if you both want to take things to another level! That means it's mutual" Will smiled

"But I wanted to ask her!" She pouted

"Then why don't you just do it?" Will asked confused

"What? like right now?" El furrowed her brows

The small boy rolled his eyes "No... not right now! Just whenever you feel comfortable"

"I can do that! Just be comfortable" She muttered to herself, pumping herself up

"Thats not what I said" Will deadpanned

"Well, that's what I heard" El chirped

"Oh gosh" The brunette sighed facepalming as the pair strut into the store. It was half a pharmacy and half a general convenience store; fairly large. Will walked along the pharmacy, scanning the shelves knowing exactly what he was looking for; even if this was a comic, it was fairly realistic so he hoped they sell the same type of medicine here.

"Here it is" Will grabbed the box; a pack of travel sickness tablets; observing it as he stepped over to the cashier.

"Ohhh! So are you part of that school trip" The woman behind the counter smiled

"How could you tell?" The boy asked in awe

"Pharmacist intuition... Plus the previous group of boys who came here were complaining about the train ride" She chuckled

Will nodded, his social cues weren't the best; but he awkwardly smiled, his emotions clear on his face.

"WILL! Buy this for me please!" El ran over placing a lighter on the desk before running off

"What the HELL?!" Will furrowed his brows picking up the lighter twirling it in his hands

"It's a lighter" El mocked

"I know what it is" Will threw his hands in the air "But why?"

"JUST BUY IT! GEEZ" El spat jokingly

"Loud girlfriend, huh?" The woman behind the counter chirped

"Umm..." Will didn't know what to say. "Girlfriend?" Was she talking about...

"That pretty girl over there" She pointed over the desk to El; seeing the girl excitedly run around the shop picking out little trinkets. Since the pharmacy was more like a convenience store; El took it upon herself to find a cute accessory; scanning the hairpins to find one that matched her outfit, almost as though her demeanour completely changed from her previous panicked state.

"...That's my sister" Will slowly stated as he turned a bright red trying not to laugh. He felt embarrassed in the moment as the heat rised to his cheeks but it was something he could laugh about with El later.

"Oh sorry..." The woman's eyes widened, also turning red; it wasn't something she wanted to say. Scrunching her face, she decided to stop the conversation before it got too uncomfortable for them to continue, "So just the travel sickness pills and the... lighter?"

Will nodded "Are these the chewable ones?" Pointing to the box of tablets

"Yep! It's perfect for children under 12" The pharmacist grinned grabbing the box to inspect it "Is the child under 12?" She tilted her head

"I mean he's acting like a child..." Will whispered under his breath, thinking of the ravenette still in the train; quiet enough so the pharmacist could not hear him.

"Excuse me?" She questioned, not hearing what the boy before her said

"I said yeah! He is!" Will lied, he hated social interaction and right now this short conversation with this woman was taking his social energy away from him

"Anything else?" She smiled unable to look him in the eye after her previous blunder

Will was about to nod but stopped himself when something caught his eyes "And these mints!" He added placing it on the counter.

The woman took the items scanning them and placing them back on the table. "That'll be $13.15"

Will fumbled through his wallet taking the money out; a few coins flew onto the table. The brunette awkwardly smiled handing the money over to the cashier. She bagged the items into a small bag; it was barely able to hold the lighter as Will grabbed it "Thank you!" He smiled turning on his heel walking to the door. But suddenly stopped in his tracks lifting his head "Am I forgetting something?" the boy muttered under his breath thinking hard.

"WILL!" A shrill voice screamed, alerting the attention of all the passersby. Oh right! He knew who he forgot... His stepsister.

"And in the comic, she is supposed to be the quiet one" Will muttered under his breath inaudible

"What did you say about me?" She furrowed her brows, raising a fist; a characteristic she stole from Max

"Nothing" Will shrugged walking out with the doe-eyed girl. The pair skipped around the deck trying to find their friends going exactly where they split up. El scanned the area looking for her redheaded girlfriend. Will rolled his eyes sitting on a bench. The girl held the lighter in her hand; unlit thankfully. She waved it around wanting to show Max the moment she appeared.

"I'm gonna go back to the train" Will said

"Why?" El furrowed her brows

"I need to get something!" He said aloud standing up to walk back to the train one step at a time. The bag in his hand jostled with every step swaying in the breeze of this sweltering day. He wiped a drop of sweat off his forehead stepping onto the train scanning the area to see no one inside...

"Mike..." He called out looking both ways; it was uneasy being on an empty train reminding him of those horror movies where the main character would be on a train and suddenly zombies or a deadly apparition would appear attacking the protagonist; it was times like these where he was glad, he was in a romance comic rather than a horror.

Will finally spotted the ravenette hunched over still on his seat leaning against the wall; It seemed as though the taller boy had not moved since the group left him. It was a weird sight but decided not to ask questions as he made his way over. Upon coming closer, the ravenette didn't move; perhaps he had fallen asleep? Will stared at him trying to see if he would blink or make any sudden movements; the staring intensified with every passing second keeping his eyes fixed on Mike; his chest moving rhythmically.

"Are you going to keep staring at me?" Mike tilted his head upward his eyes half closed annoyed, almost appearing to be intoxicated

"Wha- I wasn't" Will exclaimed throwing his hands into the air; taking a seat next to him

"Go away!" Mike huffed

"I don't think I will" The brunette protested slipping the bag onto the table as he shifted his body taking the pills out the bag and atop the counter. "Take these!"

"I'm not hungry" The taller boy complained

"Mike..." Will spoke stern, his voice laced with concern "It's medicine!"

Mike slightly lifted his head but upon seeing the pill-like shapes he crossed his arms "NO!" Mike pouted like a child not wanting some cough medicine.

"Why not?" Will asked knowing the exact reason he wouldn't take it

"I don't take medicine I know nothing about" Mike lied

"It's travel sickness pills" The small boy explained

"Okay and... they could be bad" The ravenette protested

"I literally just brought it!" Will complained, throwing his hands in the air

"You could have poisoned it" Mike replied, just being difficult at this point.

"Poison?" Will spat

"Yep!" The taller boy scoffed

"Maybe I should have!" Will sighed "Please just take them... It's the chewable ones"

Mike's ears perked... chewable? Would that actually help him though? He was very travel sick; not being able to go any distance without feeling like absolute death. He was supposed to take his travel sickness medicine at home but forgot to bring it with him and being unable to swallow a pill, he was unable to find any before his trip. He was feeling dizzy and sick the whole way; just wanting to go to sleep as all the movement made him nauseous.

Will took one pill passing it to Mike carefully. The ravenette held it; it was light with not much too it. He sat still; deciding if he should take it or not. It felt like a gummy bear so he popped it into his mouth, biting it down into smaller chunks before swallowing it. It had no immediate effect on him; of course, it wouldn't; the medicine would kick in only after a while.

"Have some mints" Will explained sliding the box of mints across the table

"Now whats that gonna do?" Mike whined

"My mum said mints always help when you feel sick... just keep one in your mouth" Will explained unwrapping the pack passing a singular piece to Mike "Here!" softly speaking, seeing the taller boy begrudgingly accept it.

Will looked down at his watch, they had about 15 minutes before they were scheduled to leave. Students trickled in one by one as the minutes ticked by

---- 1:09 PM ----

Mike's eyes grew tired, his eyelids slipped shut. Drowsiness took over him gently falling onto a soft shoulder. Will noticed what happened hearing the soft snores of the taller boy. The small boy looked forward again seeing his friends ahead of him; they furrow their brows, especially Dustin confused how Mike was able to get that close to someone when usually hating physical affection even if he was asleep.

"I'll just stay here" Will whispered careful not to wake Mike. Dustin nodded glad to get a window seat but scanning Lucas, he saw a completely different reaction.

Was Lucas frowning? 

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2591 Words

If you are reading on the 27th May then today is MY BIRTHDAY

Stay Safe <3