NINE: TWO EPISODES, TWO DAYS

DANIEL RAN AFTER THAT. He heard Will say something over the walkie-talkie about finding Dart somewhere in the West Wing, so he ran in that direction. His eyes were deceiving him, no one had been there. Maybe he was just seeing Eleven because it was coming up on the anniversary of meeting her and his subconscious was missing her. Yeah, that was it. It had to be.

He was approaching the bathroom Will said Dart was in when he ran into Mike, Max, and Lucas.

"You okay? You look weirded out," Lucas pointed out once they crossed paths. Daniel's hair was partially sticking to his forehead from sweat (he didn't run very often) and he had heavy eyes with a lump in his throat.

Still, he nodded, "Yeah, just, not a runner, I guess."

Mike didn't look like he one-hundred-percent believed him, but still, he took off down the hall again, "Let's go, down here."

"We're coming!" Lucas shouted back as the two other boys and one girl ran off as well.

They all ran into the bathroom, but only found Dustin standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Mike furrowed his brow, "Where's Dart?"

"I don't know," Dustin shrugged, "Not here." Something seemed off to Daniel. The boy was so frantic when Dart first ran off, running through the halls to find him. Now Dustin was just standing here with a blank expression. Not wanting to cause trouble, Daniel stayed silent.

"What?" Mike asked, beginning to check stalls.

"He said by Salerno's, right?" Max confirmed, standing next to Daniel with her arms crossed.

Dustin agreed, nodding, "Yeah, maybe Will has him."

"Wouldn't he have said something?" Daniel frowned, looking at his walkie-talkie in confusion, "I mean, we're all here, but where is he? Why would he tell us where Dart is and then run off?"

Mike turned to Daniel with a worried look, making the connection between this odd occurrence and Will's recent episodes. "We need to find him."

The group sprinted out of the bathroom and down the hall. Mike grabbed Daniel's hand as they ran, pulling him alongside him to make sure he didn't get left behind.

"Will!" Dustin shouted, Max soon yelling the same thing. They all were screaming in an attempt to find their friend. They split up, Dustin and Max going one way with Lucas, Mike, and Daniel going another. Mike and Daniel broke off together while Lucas went in another direction.

"Oh, God, I hope he's okay," Daniel mumbled to himself, squeezing Mike's hand tightly as they explored the halls of the school.

"He's fine, I'm sure," Mike reassured, letting go of his boyfriend's hand to run his fingers through Daniel's curls.

Then, Daniel's worst nightmare happened. They found themselves in the hall of the main entrance to the school. This wasn't the nightmare. That was that Joyce Byers, Max, and Dustin were staring right at them. Right at them holding hands and reassuring each other with gentle touches. Dustin already knew, so that wasn't a problem, but now there was no way Joyce nor Max wouldn't ask questions. Daniel coughed and stepped away from Mike even though there was most likely no going back.

Thankfully, the silence was disrupted by Lucas running through the main doors and shouting, "The field!"

They ran. This was too much running for Daniel.

"I just found him like this," Lucas exclaimed as they approached Will, standing in the middle of the field with his eyes closed.

"I think he's having another episode," Mike commented, which was pretty much what everyone else assumed as well.

Joyce grabbed her son by the shoulders, "Will, Will, Will!"

In fear, Daniel grabbed Mike's hand tightly, pressing into his side searching for comfort. He didn't care right now because he couldn't stand to see Will like this. It hurt him terribly to see one of his best friends suffer from something so terrible.

"Sweetie, wake up, it's mom! Will!" Daniel's heart ached for Joyce. He couldn't imagine seeing his own child go through this. This was something too horrible for Hawkins. "Will, wake up! Can you hear me? Will please just wake up! Please, wake up! It's mom! It's me!"

Will gasped. His eyes opened. He was back to normal in two seconds flat.

"Guys? Mom?" He asked with a furrowed brow, sounding perfectly normal. It was haunting, the way he snapped back like that as if he hadn't just been possessed by some supernatural force. It sent a shiver down Daniel's spine. The boys (and Max) watched as Joyce took Will's backpack and guided him to their car, leaving the four standing on the front steps of the school.

"Okay, that totally weirded me out," Max was the first to speak, looking around at the four boys. "Did that not freak you guys out?"

"You weren't here last year," was all Daniel said in his quiet voice.

"Two episodes in two days," Lucas pointed out with a sigh, "This sucks, man."

Mike nodded, "It's getting worse." Everyone's eyes were trained on the Byers boy walking away.

"You think it's True Sight?" Dustin suggested. Daniel rolled his eyes. D&D wasn't real life, no matter how much it seemed like it.

"What's True Sight?" Max asked and Daniel sighed with relief. Finally, someone who also didn't understand all of the D&D shit. Daniel was tired of it.

Mike shook his head at Lucas, one arm around Daniel's shoulders as he did so. Clearly, there was nothing to care about anymore.

Lucas sighed, "It's nothing."

"And what's up with you two?" Max asked, motioning towards Daniel and Mike. "I saw some romantic shit."

"They're gay, get over it," Lucas said before trotting down the stairs and heading towards his bike.

Max shook her head, "I don't, I don't have a problem with it, I'm from California, remember? I lived south of San Fran, everyone's gay in San Fran. I was just asking."

"No one's gay in Hawkins, a shit ton of people have a problem with it," Daniel sighed, waiting as Mike got on his bike before getting onto the back. "Today wore me out. Take me home, Mike?"

"Sure thing, see you guys later," Mike spoke wearily before nodding to the other boys and Max and riding off. As they cruised down the street, Mike asked, "Are you really okay with her knowing? I mean, she isn't part of the party."

Daniel shrugged, "Neither am I, technically, since I don't play."

With a scoff, the dark-haired boy said, "Shut up, you're an honorary member. You're avoiding the question."

"I don't really have a choice now but to be okay with it. I would have rather us told her instead of her accidentally see us be all soft and shit, but it is what it is."

Mike stopped in front of Daniel's house. When Daniel got off the bike, so did Mike. Furrowing his brow, Daniel was about to ask what he was doing when the other boy grabbed his boyfriend's face and kissed him softly. He really should be used to this by now, but Daniel still felt electric every time they kissed. He just wasn't used to doing it so out in the open, but part of him didn't seem to care anymore. He just smiled into the kiss and held Mike by the cheeks.

His cheeks were flushed bright red when they pulled apart, biting his lip in a wasted attempt to calm his smile, "What was that for?"

"I've been waiting to do that all day," Mike answered with a shrug, "At least, now that Max knows we won't have to hide it when she's around. Gotta look at the bright side. I, I hate hiding this."

"One day we'll move to someplace like San Francisco where we won't have to," Daniel suggested with a sigh, pressing one last kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. "My mom knows, by the way. She figured it out on Halloween, maybe a little before that."

"And?"

"Well, I still have a home, that's what matters," the curly-haired boy laughed. "She's okay with it, I'm pretty sure."

Mike smiled wide, "Good, I'm glad. Maybe I'll be able to tell my mom soon, would you be okay with that?"

The other boy nodded with a small, giddy giggle, "I mean, it's only fair. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, see you," Mike replied, not being able to stop himself from pressing one last chaste kiss to Daniel's lips before hopping back on his bike. He yelled, "Bye, Daniel!" as he rode away, leaving a blush on Daniel's cheeks and a smile on his face.

When Daniel walked through his front door, his mother was waiting, leaning on the kitchen table. Heather was tucked in a comfortable position on the couch, using their living room phone and most likely talking to Veronica.

"You really like that boy, don't you?" His mother noted with a smile. Biting his lip, the boy nodded. The woman smiled, "Good, now why don't you tell me why you're home almost two hours late?"

( note! )

this is a short chapter oof the last one was literally almost 3k and this one is barely 1.6k!! also, Grammarly is telling me 1.6k but wattpad is telling me 1.5k so THAT'S cool I love not knowing how much I actually wrote!! anyway uh now that Steve and Nancy are Officially broken up get ready for that good Vancy and Steather (I'm bad at ship names please help) so uhh yeAH also uh joyce is gonna be chill about mike and Daniel bc she is a Good Woman I don't CARE if it's unrealistic it's JOYCE FREAKIN BYERS  so uhh yeah thank you for something to my ted talk!