MIKE POV -

---- Next Day: Monday 7:48 AM ----

Mike stood by the front gate as usual, like a security guard looking out for potential threats, but in his case, he was looking out for a potential Will Byers. He tapped his foot impatiently. He was so bored; he had nothing to do. He couldn't even call or text Will because his phone was still lost and it was driving him nuts. He had looked everywhere, searching the whole house up and down, even the garden outside, but it disappeared into the abyss.

Just then a familiar face strolled up to him with a bright grin plastered on; Dustin walked over, "Missing something?" he questioned as if he knew Mike had lost his phone,

"Yes?" The ravenette said confused, how did Dustin know about that?

"Well, the great Dust-ini will now do a trick; feast your eyes," he said dramatically, pulling something out his blazer pocket and holding it in the air like a trophy... it was Mike's phone... but with dirt smudged all over it.

"Dustin what the-?" Mike's eyes widened as he took the phone back, staring at it in disbelief; he had so many questions.

"I found it in the bushes on the way to school," Dustin said nonchalantly, as if knowing the question Mike wanted the answer too; the grin prominent on his face, "Now the real question is, what were you doing in the bushes... huh Micheal?"

The ravenette blinked, trying to process how it got there. He hadn't gone near the bushes and last time he had his phone, he was in his bedroom with the windows closed. So unless the phone grew legs and started walking... he didn't know how it got there. He turned the phone over in his hands; it was definitely real. He gave an answer to Dustin's joke, trying to be his usual self despite his confusion, "Don't ask me about my business... private business." He said jokingly trying to match his friend's tone to not arise suspicion.

Dustin snickered, clearly enjoying this, "How'd you lose it anyway?"

"I don't know, I think I dropped it." Mike lied, not knowing how else to explain it, "Where did you find it anyway?"

The curly haired boy replied quickly, "It was just off Cornwallis, near that abandoned lab. It was in the bushes there like someone tossed it in. I was gonna call the owner and then I realised it was yours. Why? You don't remember being there? Was it stolen?" his eyes widened, jumping to his own conclusions.

"Uh, no, I must have dropped it when I was cycling..." The ravenette lied once more, he hadn't been anywhere near the abandoned lab recently, "Thanks man,"

"No problem," Dustin shrugged, "I gotta run- I need to hand in some work before the day starts."

As he hurried off, Mike turned his attention to the phone, wiping the screen as best as he could; the dirt was stubborn and there was something else stuck to it... it was sticky. He winced, not wanting to know what the stain was... he hoped it was dry ice-cream. He clicked the power button, and to his surprise, it switched on. The battery was high, almost as if he had charged it this morning; it kept its charge from Saturday... that was weird.

The ravenette's eyes widened, seeing the texts from his friends that have been trying to contact him; Will in particular had sent a few, seemingly asking to meet up yesterday. The tall boy felt slight guilt, wondering if Will had gone to the meet-up spot despite Mike's lack of replies. Mike decided to call him, his thumb hovering over his contact information; he would explain the lack of texts and ask when Will will be arriving.

The phone rang for a few seconds as he hesitantly put it an inch away from his ear, careful to not touch his skin. He hesitated as the phone was answered, "Hey," Mike started rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry about not responding to your texts yesterday... it's a long story but I lost my phone... I didn't mean to ignore you or anything."

There was a pause on the other side before the brunette spoke, his voice quieter than usual, ["Oh, it's fine, really."]

Mike frowned, noting the tone feeling a tad off, "Are you okay there? You sound kinda... sick,"

["No... I'm not sick,"] Will replied, a dry chuckle coming from his strained vocal cords, as if trying to downplay something, ["I just slept in. I'm coming to school, don't worry."]

"You should rest-" Mike pressed, feeling a tad uneasy about the situation,

["I'm already out the door,"] Will explained, voice soft.

Mike couldn't even protest or tell him to go back inside the house; he knew Will was the stubborn type, "When you get here, make sure you go straight to the nurse's office; they'll send you home."

["No... I want to stay at school."] Will interrupted despite his quiet tone, it almost sounded like he was whispering, ["I want to see you."]

The tall boy blinked, taken back by the insistence, "Will... you don't have to push yourself to come see me. We can hang out later- when you're feeling better."

["I'm fine, Mike, really. I'll be there soon."] Will didn't budge, standing firm by his words.

"Okay... but if I see you're sick I'm sending you home myself," the ravenette chuckled light-heartedly, unable to argue any further with Will when he was this adamant on coming. The bell rung, alerting him to go to his class or risk a tardy... he spoke, "I have to go to class, text me when you get here,"

["Yeah..."] the brunette replied, then whispering the next sentence, ["I miss you, Mike."]

Mike shifted the weight to his other leg, surprised by Will's words but he couldn't bring himself to repeat them, the words wouldn't leave his tongue. Instead, he said, "Get here safe and watch out for cars."

["I will."] Will answered before putting down the phone, leaving the tall boy standing there at the gates alone. He sighed pocketing the phone, mentally noting himself to clean it.

"I hope he's okay," Mike mumbled to himself, walking past the school gates.

WILL POV –

Will stared at his phone for a few seconds. He was in his bedroom, feeling the silence pressing his core. His head was pounding, hearing the muffled sounds of the TV through the thin walls of the house. With a sigh, he looked at himself in the mirror noticing the dark circles under his eyes as he stepped out of his room.

Walking down the hallway, he took notice of the living room's state- cluttered with empty beer bottles and crumpled fast food wrappers; he had to be the one to deal with it....

His father.

On the couch, casually as ever, sat Lonnie, eyes glued to the TV screen, a half empty beer bottle in his hand. Why did he have to come here? Will was doing fine on his own. A few bottles surrounded the kitchen, on the floor, on the countertop, and even one inside the microwave. The short boy quietly went around the room, collecting the empty bottles, irritation clear on his face.

"Dad," Will said soft yet firm, "Can you not leave your bottles around?" he held up four glass bottles in each hand to show the absurdity.

Lonnie barely passed a glance, obviously too busy with whatever was on screen: whether it was horse racing, football or basketball, it was more interesting than his son. His father took another swig from his bottle, "Yeah, yeah... I'll clean it up. Just let me finish this," he mumbled, obvious he wasn't planning on doing anything of the sort,

Will frowned, placing the bottles into a bag, leaving it on the floor beside the couch. He didn't push it, learning long ago there was no point in arguing; it was easier to just make his dad's life easier. "Here's the bag, can you at least put the bottles in here... so it doesn't spill."

Lonnie squinted his eyes, ignoring the command as he finally turned his gaze to the brunette as a thought popped into his mind, "Are ya' still making those colouring-in pieces?" he asked different,

"Art." Will corrected; Lonnie didn't even know what his son was doing.

"Yeah that... have you started makin' any money off of it yet?" Lonnie questioned, his words slurred from the drinking, but his tone direct, "You used to get that prize money; have you won any recently?" it was clear of his father's visit; he didn't care about his son.

"No." Will replied, giving a short answer.

"Then why am I paying for your art supplies?"

The brunette paused, almost causing an outburst; 'paying'? Lonnie never paid for anything! And he especially wasn't paying for Will's art supplies. "I don't have any money, so you can leave if that's what you want." Will slammed the bottle he was holding on the kitchen table, slightly angrier than he thought he was,

The scent of alcohol and fried food hung heavy in the air, causing Will's stomach to turn, he felt like he was five years old again. His nose wrinkled, triggering the past memories he wished he could forget. His father had always been like this, a ghost who would appear in the house, causing a rampage, and taking money before leaving when he got bored.

He would come and go as he pleased, drunk out of his mind; he never worked a day in his life, but wanted to appear as if he was the breadwinner. Lonnie bet and gambled, throwing his money away in whatever endeavours he cared about while rarely making any returns. It wasn't his money, it was Will's mother, she worked hard for the family; she had two jobs until she physically could not anymore.

Lonnie was not a good father.

Will remembered when he was younger, when his mother would work. Some days Lonnie would leave to buy food, only to leave Will and Jonathan home alone for hours, only returning mere minutes before his mom would return from her shift at work.

Looking at his father made a rush of anger wash over him, sometimes he wished his father would leave for good. These 'visits' felt like cruel jokes, a constant reminder that he couldn't escape his father or the impact he made on their life. It was as if he only came to cause havoc and then left for Will to clean up the chaos.

The brunette had enough, setting down the last of the bottles with a huff, "Why are you here now?" he asked annoyed, confronting his father, his voice steady, lacing with anger, "You didn't show up when Mom was sent to prison or when Jonathan went to rehab... so why are you here now?"

Lonnie barely acknowledged his son, but then he finished his bottle, forcing him up for the next one. With his last sober thought, he heard Will's words and it sunk in; his expression shifted from a half-lidded indifference to an enraged glare. His tone was stern, not shouting yet, "I don't need a reason to turn up; I own this house. I'm your father,"

"Father?" Will's heart raced, he wasn't backing down, "You haven't been a father in years! Mom is in prison because of you and where were you when Jonathan needed help, huh? And now you're here, for what? Because you're broke-"

SLAP-

Lonnie raised his hand, smacking Will square in the face, no remorse behind his actions; the word 'broke' seeming to trigger him. "Piece of shit," he grumbled,

Will was momentarily stunned by the attack, his face turned to the side, he slowly faced his father again, his face cold, "I told you not to slap my face," he reminded as Lonnie raised his hand again, ready for another smack. The brunette caught the hand before it reached his face, "Stop it! that's enough!" he yelled, pushing his father's arm back.

Will didn't even wait for a response as he stormed out the house, not even grabbing his school bag. The last thing he heard before slamming the door shut was the faint sound of the TV drowning out whatever alcohol-fuelled insult his father threw at him.

He ran.

He continued running in no discernible direction, he just wanted out of that house; he needed to get out. He ran through the woods and onto the streets, stopping in his tracks as he almost collided with someone.

He barely register the familiar face he ran into until it was too late. He almost groaned out loud. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, especially not Troy.

"What happened to your face?" The boy asked, his tone concerned, seeing the red mark on the brunette's cheek.

"Not today, Troy," Will snapped, his voice sharp, not in the mood for whatever trouble Troy wanted to cause today. He was fuming from the argument with his father and his cheek was stinging from the slap.

Troy put his hands in the air as if gesturing surrender, oddly sincere, "Hey, man! I'm not here to mess with you... actually now I've got you here... I want to apologise," he didn't have a mocking grin or a sneering comment; he was soft. "For everything! I know I was a dick, okay? I get that now and I just wanna make up for it."

Will rolled his eyes, he didn't want to deal with whatever epiphany Troy had right now, he wanted to just be away from everyone... but he had to go to school and do an exam or risk failing the entire subject; he couldn't risk that... that meant risking his scholarship and also not seeing Mike ever again. He started to walk past, not saying anything else.

"I know you probably don't believe me..." Troy followed Will with his eyes, calling out to his retreating form. Troy's school bag was slung over his shoulder; he was always tardy, "You don't have to forgive me. Just... if you want anything at all, any favour, I'll do it... no questions asked. I owe you that much at least,"

A favour? The brunette paused, turning on his heel; it caught his attention. Before he could even think it through, a thought popped into his head; no matter how much he wanted to spend time with Mike, he didn't want the ravenette to see him like this- not with his cheek in the condition it was in; he already knew what type of reaction he'd get.

"Fine," Will said, his voice cautious, "You wanna make it up to me? Keep Mike distracted at school today. Don't let him see me."

The ex-bully furrowed his brows in confusion. He wanted to ask why, but remembered the promise he made, "Alright. Sure... I can do that. Whatever you need man."

The brunette gave a half-hearted nod, clearly suspicious, he wasn't going to forgive Troy any time soon, but perhaps in the far, far future, he can get rid of all this anger and forgive him- this was a step in the right direction. All Will wanted was a quiet day, quickly get into school do his exam and then go home hoping his dad was gone by then.

"And Troy..." Will added, "Just don't screw this up."

"I won't!" Troy gave a quick nod but there was no sarcasm or mockery in his expression as Will usually expected.

With that, the brunette sighed, turning and walking away,

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Stay Safe <3