Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 1

The Party was at El’s cabin looking for ways to beat the Demogorgon´s ass, Nancy was calling at some people, probably the police or the hospital to know if anyone was alive, with Jonathan and Will talking about the Flayed.

“He’s getting stronger, we must figure out a plan fast” Will said, his voice shaking a little.

Mike and Max fighting because of El as usual, Lucas was doing God knows what and El was trying to reach Billy with her powers. Max came sprinting with Mike behind her clearly upset and said:

“Hey, ¿can you solve an argument for us?”

All eyes fell on the redhead and the boy. Nancy had gave up on calling anyone, suddenly interested on the argument.

”¿Who do you think that knows more about Eleven’s powers? ¿Eleven or Mike?”

“¡Come on! ¡this is such bullshit!”

“¡No Mike! ¡It's not! ¡because she saved the world TWICE and you still don’t trust her!”

“¡I do trust her, but I don’t want her to get hurt by using her powers for, let me think…SPYING on us!”

Max gave Mike a death glare

“¡¿WHAT?!” asked Lucas clearly surprised.

“Oh, ¿she didn't tell you?”

“¡No!”

“Your girlfriend used El’s powers to SPY on us”

“¡I didn't make her do it, it was HER idea!”

“Still it's not right”

“Oh come on Mike, like if you were doing anything else than talk shit”

“What?”

“Women act emotionally not logically” Max said mimicking Mike’s voice.

“¡I didn't say that!” said boy yelled getting more and more red, but Will was not sure if it was more of embarrassment or anger.

“Yes, ¡you did!”

It was a dumb argument, like every other, Will supposes, it had only been two days since his fight with Mike and Lucas, and he was still a bit pissed about it, but there were other things to worry about than stupid fights, still, he was on Max’s side on this one, not because of Mike and their argument, because she was right. His thoughts were interrupted by said girl asking him:

”Will was with you, ¿weren't you Will?”

He was dumbfounded, all eyes on him, he was babbling and thinking about what to say, ¿Should he tell them what Mike and Lucas talked about or not?¿Those idiotic dating advices?

Of course he was still pissed but ¿was it worth it?

Just as he opened his mouth to say anything the door opened, revealing El walking back to her friends to see what was happening, Will zipped his mouth shut.

“¿What’s…going on?”

“Nothing, just a dumb fight” he glared at Mike. Oh so NOW is a dumb fight. He thought bitterly

“Oh, Ok” she didn't push further.

In that moment Will felt that tickling on his neck and touched it, feeling cold all over with all the gazes on him and the argument forgotten.

“I think he’s getting close” he said shaking a little.

They all went out of the cabin to see the trees falling and a shape throwing them out of the way, so the group got back to the house, once everyone was in the house they started to look for something to defend themselves from the beast that was getting closer and closer.

Suddenly the ceiling started to shake, which the group of people assumed it was the demogorgon climbing up there, there was a deadly silence when the ceiling broke and a large, slimy beast that was at least thirty feet with really big tentacle things and teeth coming out of him was moving inside the cabin apparently trying to catch something or someone. Eleven grabbed one of the tentacles that came from one side of the cabin with her mind, then another, and destroyed them, Jonathan was hitting those things with an axe and Nancy was shooting at them with the shotgun, it looked like he was getting close of grabbing something, by the movement of the tentacles, if it grabbed something was not their much concern,if it was someone it scared them. Suddenly that thing looked like it had finally grabbed something, a person, and it was Will.

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Will was screaming in pain due to that thing gripping him by his waist, biting and shaking him around the room as if he was a rag doll. Jonathan, Nancy, Mike, Max, Lucas and El were horrified by the sight of their friend and brother being bitten and shaken by the creature that had caused him so much pain in the past and started to hit him harder, Nancy was still shooting him, Jonathan hit it with the axe but was caught off guard and slammed on the wall, getting up immediately to help the kids that had now grabbed Will by his arms pull him from the growling beast. The boy was screaming of pain and fear. His friends pulled and pulled the teen harder as Lucas grabbed the axe that Jonathan used and hit the creature, making Will fall on his friends with a piece of the mind flayer still on his skin, Mike gripped it on his hands and ripped it out of him making Will give a loud scream of pain, now pale and with tears on his eyes.

“Are you okay?” It was a dumb question and Mike knew it but he asked it anyways.

“N..No It..h-hurts really bad” and God it looked like it, the monster had left four big wounds on the teen’s waist, two in each side, they looked a little purplish and were bleeding pretty heavily too.
The moment that monster let go of Will the two older teenagers started to yell: “¡¡COME ON,GET IN THE CAR, GET IN THE CAR!!” the teens did as told getting fast inside the car, Mike carrying Will bridal style, also getting his shirt stained a little with the blood coming out of the wounds on his sides, to the backseat with El and Max beside them, Jonathan and Nancy on the front seats and Lucas on the other backseat.

Will was bleeding a little heavier, whimpering because of the pain and trying desperately to stay awake, which Mike noticed and panicked.

“Hey hey hey, stay awake Will, stay awake, don’t you dare die on me buddy, *I still have to apologize* please stay awake” he said desperately, feeling his eyes sting with tears, but Will’s eyes were already closing, to which he yelled:

“¡¿Where are we going?!”None of the older teens said anything but he could see Jonathan desperately trying to turn to check on his little brother, he almost repeated the question until Jonathan answered:

“We need to go somewhere where we can check those wounds, ‘cause they don’t look good” he said calmly,there was nothing but some whimpering, most of them coming from Will when they bumped on a rock or something, El had some blood coming out of her nose, heavier than normal and she seemed really tired and pale, Max was watching over her and she had a look of shock on her face too, Lucas looked half terrified and half shocked, and Mike was a mess of emotions.

“Is there anything in here to stop the bleeding for now?”The redhead asked when they were what felt like 10 minutes without saying a thing.

“There is a white cloth on the door to Mike’s left” Jonathan answered, Mike checked, grabbing it with his now blood tainted hands and unfolded it, it was pretty big but not enough for the four wounds.

“This is not big enough for all of the wounds”

“¿What?” Nancy gasped, ¿Why couldn’t they have even the smallest of good luck?

“Grab the wheel” said Jonathan already unbuttoning his shirt.

Mike knew what he was doing, so he didn’t say anything until Jonathan was only on his interior white shirt and he passed it to Mike, who looked at Will apologetically, as if to tell him that this was going to hurt like a bitch, the boy gave him a weak look telling him
“Do it” and Mike did it.

It was really painful but it soaked the blood, Will was trying hard not to scream by biting his cheek, it was going to bleed too eventually but he couldn’t give more of a damn to it, minutes later they arrived at Bradley’s Big Guy, a mini market that was close so they parked horribly and got to work.

All the kids got out of the car, Mike carrying Will by one shoulder, still pressing a cloth with Jonathan beside him also grabbing his now red tainted shirt against the injuries with worry on his face and El was being carried also by her shoulders by Nancy and Max. Lucas grabbed a big rock and shot it through the door, letting the group enter to the local, and that is when the hard part came. Max and Mike set Will on the floor with his back against the market gondola, Nancy had already grabbed a piece of gauze and some alcohol when Max interfered:

“You are gonna need more than that” she said “First you need to stop the bleeding, disinfect the wound and then bandage it” Nancy looked at her in disbelief which the redhead asked:

“¿What? I do skateboarding,trust me”

Max looked at Lucas and Mike, “Hey, go look for towels, a bowl, soap and water, ¡go!” she ordered, both boys nodded, going to look for the items she requested. While looking for the bowl, which looked more difficult than it sounded, the boys complained.
“¿Why aren’t the bowls next to the fucking cereal?” Mike cursed on his mind, just as he was about to curse the organizations of markets again Lucas caught his attention, there was a small stall full of fireworks, of course, it was the Fourth of July to all this, they weren’t supposed to patch their friend up on a goddamn market and running from monsters, they were supposed to be on the fair, eating cotton candy until their bellies burst open, laughing at the goofy clowns and compete on who had the strongest stomach by going to rollercoasters, oh well, life is a bitch. The stall was full of the highest quality of fireworks that even Lucas was delighted with all of them, looking at them with a big smile on his face, he looked at them as if they were his babies, Mike was not as happy as his friend was, sure, he loved fireworks but his best friend was hurt and they were supposed to be looking for a freaking bowl which was apparently the hardest thing to find.

“Hey Lucas, ¿why don’t we keep looking for the bowl and the towels? The rest of the guys probably found the rest already.”He said calmly, Lucas didn’t share his worry apparently.

“Dude, this is a Satan’s baby, one of the most dangerous fireworks of this store, we should bring them” he said, his smile getting nervously bigger.

“We should probably worry about that once Will is cleaned up and bandaged, then I’m going to help you bring them myself, but until then, ¿could we focus on this please?” He said, his tone a little angry but not changing its calmness once.
“Ok, Mike, you are right let’s look for that fucking bowl and then for this beauty” he said kind of dissapointed but understanding.

Mike smiled a little, grabbing the towels they had already found and hanging two on his shoulders, they grabbed four and Lucas had the other two on his shoulders too.

They came back to the rest of the group, earning a little scowl from Max from taking so long but apart from that nothing seemed to had changed much, Will was still a bit pale, looking like he was gonna pass out at any minute, he had sweat rolling down his forehead, chest and neck, the wounds were still dripping blood but less heavier now, the shirt and cloth both ruined but worth it, Mike faded out for a second but was cut out of his thoughts by Max telling him to give her a towel he gave it to her and she got back to work.

Half an hour later the wound had been taken care of but it hadn’t been easy, Max tried to be as careful as possible, but Will was flinching and hissing anyways, not to loud but loud enough for Mike to hear it, it hurt to see him like this, Jonathan was trying to soothe him anyway possible, talking quietly to him and Mike was grabbing his hand, trying to give some comfort too and it worked, a little, but it worked.

By the time the boy was getting lightheaded Max had put the last of tape on the white gauze, removing her red bloody hands from his sides and desperately asking for a towel to clean her hands, it looked good for a bandage, they couldn’t say the same for the floor, which looked like a fucking crime scene.

The group was arguing about what to do and where to go, now that Billy was God knows where, Dustin was MIA and El was tired as hell, there weren’t many things on their favor (as most of the times) but there had to be something they could do, so as the teens and Max and Lucas were talking on a group, Mike and Will were alone (Byler there we go :)) ,they didn’t leave their fight in good terms, but it would be stupid to still be angry after everything that had happened so it was quietly decided that it would be discussed later, after all of that shit.
Mike was trying to look for a theme to talk about with Will, but the other boy broke the silence,

“¿Hey, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh, umm nothing, nothing, it’s just crazy, I thought this was really over, that we were going to have a normal summer for once, turns out since that night, it’s gonna take some time to go back to normal”

“Yeah, maybe we can enjoy some peace for some time, but it always comes back” The smaller boy said dissapointed.

He shuddered and Mike tried to comfort him.

“Hey, look at the bright side, you are gonna have another badass scar, the boys on the locker room won’t mess around with you” *¿WHY? ¿Why Mike? ¿How can you say such a stupid thing like that?* He screamed mentally to himself.

To his surprise, Will chuckled, he had another scar from his exorcism, it was little but still noticeable, after all, it’s not like you get stabbed by a hot fire poker and your skin heals like it’s no big deal, and of course if you get bit by a fucking demogorgon on your side the scar is bigger but hey, no one tells you life is going to be that hard.

Will looked at Mike, said boy looked at him and for a minute it looked like they were about to spill everything, but Mike spoke: “¿D- do they still hurt?” “¿are you freaking kidding me?” Will cursed on his mind, but answering: “ Yeah, a little bit”. Just then, the radio cracked to life breaking the moment, letting a cut-off voice be heard,

“T-this is G-g-gold leader, ¿does anyone copy?”

Mike hurried to the radio

"¡¿Dustin?! ¡¿Dustin is that you?!”

“¡¿Mike?!”

“Yeah it’s me dude, ¿¿where are you??”

“Mike, Mike, you all are not gonna believe me, thereisarussianbaseinhawkinsandwefounditwithsteveandrob..”

”Wait, ¿what?!, slow down Dustin I don’t understand”

“¡¡I-I’m a-at Stcourt,stcourt!!”

“¿At Starcourt?” “Y- yes-s” He was cutting more, they were losing him.

“¡¿Dustin?! ¡¿Dustin?!, shit”

They lost him, but at least they knew where he was, at the mall. Mike immediately got up and ran to the group interrupting the discussion.

“¡Guys!, Dustin just radioed me, he’s at Starcourt with someone, I think Steve and someone else... ¡whatever! he’s in danger”

He explained with a worried voice

“Ok, we have to go” said Nancy.

“ Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute, ¿so we are supposed to just enter to Starcourt like it was a sunny normal day, when my brother is wounded severely, with that thing out there, just because Dustin told you he was there?” Jonathan asked sarcastically and a bit panicked.

“He didn’t just radio me, Jonathan, he said he was in danger, look… I know you are worried about Will, we all are.” Mike said in a calmed tone,trying to convince Jonathan, he continued:

“But Dustin is our friend too, and even if the Party has been separated lately, we have to help each other”

That seemed to convince Jonathan, who was thinking and looking at his little brother, who by the way was looking the other way, of course he had been listening everything.

Jonathan approached his brother and talked in a calmer voice:

“Hey bud, listen we are going to the mall, ¿can you walk?”

Will didn’t say anything, wanting to get up and find out himself, he did so, and felt as if his sides were on fire, he trembled and his older brother caught him, careful trying not to touch his wounds.

“Guess I can’t”

He said with clenched teeth, Jonathan looked at him with pity and asked:

“¿Want me to carry you?”

Will looked at him as if he was crazy, he didn’t wanted to be carried by his brother in front of his friends but there was no time for embarrassment, so he just swallowed his pride and answered a little“Ok”

His brother grabbed him putting a hand on his back and the other under his legs, carrying him through the market to the car, the others followed quickly, Lucas and Mike with the fireworks, and Max had some bandages and rubbing alcohol just in case, the group got up and drove away not caring to clean the mess they had left on the market floor, which was full of blood and soapy pink water, on that floor a drop of blood that looked like a clot started to move and slowly turned into a little baby demogorgon. Holy Shit.

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The car ride was pretty quiet because basically there was nothing to talk about, come on, it’s not like you get attacked by a monster, bandage your friend/brother, find out where the hell your other friend has been and that he's in a huge problem and talk like no shit happened, the only sound that was heard were some coughs, no one said anything until Mike asked:

“¿What did you guys planned?”

“We are going to Starcourt to save Dustin from whatever the hell he got into this time, hopefully that piece of shit didn’t follow us, we meet with him and plan something” Nancy said slightly nervous.

“Oh, ¿so your plan is to go to a mall, with an injured person and another one, who is the only one able to save our asses, weak, just to meet our friend who did god knows what and THEN plan something?” Mike asked amused.

“Well, it’s better that than just sit in there and don’t think anything” answered Nancy, with a ruined makeup and big bags hanging from her eyes, everyone was like that, really tired and really wanting to sleep but they had to pull through, just a little longer and then they would sleep until their backs hurt from being laid for so long.

“Hey, you all look exhausted, we are still like half an hour from the mall, why don’t you sleep until we arrive, ¿ok?”.

Jonathan said with a sweet tone, making everyone nod in agreement and getting comfortable to do so.

“You should too Nance, no offense but you look like shit, beautiful but like shit” Jonathan said to his girlfriend who gave him a glare and laughed slightly.

“Ok, you bossy, I’ll try to”
she kissed his cheek and the eldest boy blushed as the girl tried to find a comfortable pose on the seat to sleep, as everyone was so tired they didn’t teased with what had just happened, even Mike didn’t say anything so there was nothing but peace, sweet, sweet peace washing over them, in five minutes everyone was asleep and some were snoring quietly, Jonathan was still driving, enjoying the peace too.

Will’s wounds didn’t hurt, they were more like sore, so he slept with no pain and miraculously he dreamed something nicer than usually, he dreamed that they’d beaten the Mind Flayer’s ass once and for all, The Party finally getting the peace they had all wanted, Will included. They had no idea what was coming next.

After the said half an hour Jonathan had calculated they arrived to Starcourt, stopping abruptly and making the kids and almost adult jolt awake, when everyone remained consciousness and remembered where they where and what they were doing they stepped out of the car and stretched out their legs, well everyone except Will, who stretched them carefully inside the car, trying not to stretch the wound more.

Jonathan went to his little brother and made a gesture with his arms that asked if he could carry him, which he nodded to. By now the wounds were really sore, at the point where you could barely feel them, they still hurt at the touch obviously but not as hard as before.

Anyways, once every teen was out of the car they walked to the Mall, anxiety growing wider with every step they took, no one knew why, it was just a habit they all took, to be prepared for anything.

Mike and Lucas opened the door letting Max, El, Nancy, Jonathan, Will and themselves in, after they passed the hallway between the mechanic doors Will asked to be left down to try and walk by himself, telling the others to just keep going and that he would follow them.
He started to walk, and by some kind of miracle he was walking ok, doubling a little over the railing but pretty good. The others looked at the boy like he was a baby walking his first steps, but suddenly, everything went to hell.

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A screeching scream or cry was being heard on the mall, but Will felt like it was inside his head and on top of volume, as his hands came to his ears he squeezed his eyes shut like that would stop the noise somehow and he felt something on his body moving, he thought it would be dumb to think it was his stomach for not eating, it felt like it was the source of that unbearable noise, and that squirming became pain, a really hard one, suddenly, he felt himself fall on his knees slowly and then to the floor, like he was on slow camera, and felt hands wrapping on his arms and torso, stopping him from a hard fall, he could listen to some muffled voices, but couldn’t figure out what they were saying or whose were from.

While the pain was getting even more intense (if that was possible) he realized the pain was coming from the wounds on his sides and it felt like something was in there, squirming, moving, he tried to tell that to the people gathered around him but all noise that escaped from him apart from his cries and little screams was: “s..sides hurt” he gasped through clenched teeth, apparently only Nancy heard it, lifting his shirt up and looking at his wounds and to the group in an almost face of disbelief.

“¿What?¿What is it?” Jonathan asked, worried.

“There’s something wrong about his wounds”

That’s when everyone looked closer, Will’s shirt and bandages were tinted in red, and they were…moving, Max grabbed the bandages and carefully peeled them out, everyone gagged when they saw that scene.

The four wounds on the boy’s sides were in some purplish red kind of color, and there were some kind of slugs moving grossly inside his skin, Will looked like he was about to pass out, his forehead dripping sweat and skin really pale, he looked sick. Jonathan had a horrified look on his face, Nancy was the same, Lucas, Max and Mike had their eyes closed, concentrating in not vomiting their guts out. ¿What in the goddamn love of fucking Satan were they going to tell his mom?

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There were two things the group learned in that moment: one, Will was going to need to rest for decades to heal this, and two, Lucas and Mike had weak stomachs.

That was known because after that gross reveal Mike and Lucas ran immediately to the bathroom to throw their souls down the toilet, to which Max gave a quiet “weaklings” that made everyone laugh a little, Will wasn’t much better, he was still sweaty and breathing heavily, Jonathan had ran with Nancy to get something to get those things out of him, on a Chinese restaurant Nancy found plastic gloves and Jonathan a knife, he looked guilty, but they had to do anything to get those little shits out of him.

“¡¿Do we have any alcohol left?!” Nancy screamed to Max, hoping they didn’t have to warm the knife; honestly they were both going to hurt like hell but probably the alcohol less than a warm knife.

The redhead checked her backpack, only to find some gauze and a medium size bottle with half of it full of rubbing alcohol.

“¡Yes! There is a little bit left!”she says showing the bottle to them, it was transparent so you could see the content from the distance they were.

The couple looked at the knife and nodded, looking at Lucas, Mike, (who looked a little nauseous) and Max trying to keep Will as distracted as possible, talking about comics or superheroes or anything to distract him even a little.

“¡Hey!, can anyone go look for a container? a Tupper or something…¡flat if it’s possible!” Nancy yelled at the kids, not with mean intentions of course but they had to act fast.

Max raced for it, entering on a convenience store.

The boys were alone, it felt awkward for some weird reason, after fights things are not the same for some reason and that’s when Lucas made the first move, since no one looked like doing it.

“Hey Will, I wanted to say something to you”, the boy looked at him curious.

“I’m sorry man, we shouldn’t...I shouldn’t have ditched you for the girls, I didn’t mean to do that and it was idiot”. Will looked at him a little surprised, but the corners of his mouth upped on a smile.

“Don't worry Lucas, It's ok, I forgive you” Lucas smiled and reached to hug him but stopping with his arms out and giving him a look as if to ask him if he could do it, the other boy nodded and leaned in to the hug, trying to do it without bothering his wounds, which were getting a little more painful, and those slugs were moving more and more, sending waves of pain and little tears to Will’s eyes.

Jonathan and Nancy came back with all their materials, Jonathan had grabbed plastic gloves, a knife that made Will almost pass out, (God this is going to hurt) he thought, a wooden spoon to bite in (Great, now I'm going to break my teeth too, ¿want me to break anything else?) and Nancy brought white towels and a small pillow so Will was at least a little comfy, (Well, at least I'll be a little comfortable laying on the ground while being fucking operated on and with a pillow and a wooden spoon to bite on, fucking fantastic) he thought bitterly, he didn´t wanted to sound fretful or ungrateful but this was not how he had planned his summer.

Will looked at Jonathan and asked: “¿Is there a pharmacy in here?”,he looked at him a little cheerful, knowing already what he was going to ask, he wanted to know if there was anesthesia or painkillers so they didn´t had to use the spoon.

“¿You're asking because of the painkillers?” Will nodded.

“We found a vile, it's really small but I think it will doze you off a little, but keep the spoon just in case, ok?”His brother said kindly to Will.

He nodded, (Well, at least I'll be a little more comfortable).

“¿Am I going to be drugged enough to start talking nonsense? Because if I do, tell me later when this shit is over” he joked making a grin and smiling devilishly.

Everyone laughed and Mike said:

“Just so you know, if you start talking nonsense we will make you remember it for the rest of your life” Will laughed, now he was a little bit more calm and knew his friends were there and would be there always, even if he liked it or not.

Nancy put a hand on his shoulder, smiling, but also with a determined look on her face,

“¿Are you ready?”

“Yeah”

“Ok” she looked at Jonathan, who was with the syringe they had also found in the pharmacy and the spoon in his hands, he handed Will the spoon, the boy immediately biting on it and leaning on to the floor, tasting its woody flavor in his tongue and his head leaning against the small pillow as he closed his eyes.

“Do it” he said with the spoon on his mouth, but Jonathan caught the message perfectly, pinching on the crook of his elbow and telling him to squeeze his fist as hard as he could.

The fun has begun.

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It was a pretty fun experience actually, Will didn’t feel any pain of course, actually he was lucky if he felt something, given how doped up he was and there were funny spots and things dancing in his vision, he could feel something but it wasn’t pain, it was contact or something on his abdomen, and it was all numb, he felt like his head was full of cotton and could hear voices but they sounded really far away and muffled. It felt really good, very welcoming, so FREE, he felt like not even one of the things he had been through for the last 2 years had happened, like he hadn’t been taken to the Upside Down, possessed the next year, and now having been bitten by the fucking Mind Flayer and being kind of “operated” right there.

In that moment Mike’s face appeared on his view and he couldn’t stop the giggles from escaping his mouth, the boy’s face was all moving, he looked like an alien and he was trying really hard not to burst out laughing, (God, ¿how much of that drug had they injected into him?), it was pure glory but he tried not to do anything stupid that he would regret later, well apparently his brain was in like “Fuck it” mode and he touched the tip of Mike’s nose with a “Bopp” coming from his mouth and a round of quiet giggles after that, (¡Gosh stop it please stop it!) He screamed to his brain, Mike seemed surprised and shocked by that scenario, the others were not any different, “As long as he doesn’t feel any pain” the boy muttered mentally.

Jonathan and Max were trying to get the four of those shits out by doing a little cut the swelled skin with the knife they drenched in alcohol every time they took one slug out, both of them with plastic gloves and Nancy also with gloves held a piece of folded gauze to the wound to stop any blood from staining the ground and put a layer of gauze and medical tape on the injuries that had already been taken care of.

Twenty minutes passed and they were on the final piece, which was the biggest of all and Will was now a second from falling asleep because of the anesthesia and because of the tiredness that was taking over him, his mind was fuzzier than before and his eyelids were falling like when you’re on math’s class and you went to bed at 3 a.m. (thinking about it, many of the people reading this are at even wider hours), so yeah, he was passing out more than falling asleep and he noticed his wounds were not as numb as before, shit the drugs were wearing off, his best friend noticed he was starting to fall asleep and the little whimpers Will was making and he called it out.

“Hey, hey Will, don’t fall asleep, just hold on a little longer” Jonathan, Max and Nancy turned their heads from the wounds to Mike with a worried look then he whispered to Lucas just loud enough so he was the only one able to hear what Mike was saying: “We have to keep him awake, ¿what do we do?” he was getting desperate, Lucas shrugged unsure of what to do but Eleven approached the pair and crouched down on one knee to be at Will’s eye sight and looked at him, his eyelids were closing and his head was lolling while his eyes were rolling someway and then another way, desperately trying to stay awake, but it was getting really hard. El grabbed the sides of Will´s head and started shaking it, not being rough of course and speaking to him:

“Will, ¿can you hear me? If you can, nod” he nodded, really slow, they didn’t inject him with THAT much of anesthesia…¿didn’t they?

Jonathan suddenly cleared his throat as if asking for everyone to listen to him, with an almost blank and worried face, full of sweat and tiredness too obvious on the bags of his eyes, the wound on his head from the hospital fight barely noticeable by his hair covering most of it, “One of this things is being a little difficult to take out” Nancy turned back to him to take a look for herself and indeed, the slug’s most likely head was visible under Will’s skin and it was not moving. Good. Maybe it had dozed off too with the anesthesia, but that didn’t exactly help with getting it out.

El was still trying to get the boy to react, and she succeeded, Will was now nodding his head on her questions but he didn’t talk, his mouth was numbed and he slurred on his words; Jonathan on the other hand was not as successful as El was, and he was thinking every way possible of taking that thing out and doing the least harm possible, but it was getting a little irritating, not knowing what to do and feeling useless.

El seemed to have felt his worry and inner bicker, because she stopped asking Will questions and approached him.

“¿Can I try?” she asks, as innocent as a child asking his mother if he can try mix up what his mom is cooking.

He nods, letting her pass not knowing exactly how she was trying out to take the little bastard out.

The girl stared straight at the slug and she felt the so familiar wetness on her upper lip.

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Will was lying flat on his back, looking at the ceiling without meaning to, he is so fucking tired, he just wants to sleep until the end of times, but by some freaking reason he just can’t, he can’t take a break.
His head feels like its full of cotton and he can’t quite hear what the people around him are saying, but from the really muffled words he made out he must not, at any time: fall asleep. Wow, really fucking accurate. He wishes he could see and hear what the hell is happening around him.
Will indeed was starting to fall into unconsciousness just in the wrong moment, his wounds apparently had gotten from bad to shit show worse, they started bleeding like there was no tomorrow and that...was not good.
Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, Robin, Dustin, Erica, Lucas, Max, El, and Mike were paler than ghosts when they saw how fast the blood came out of Will’s wounds, Jonathan, Nancy and Max used what they could find to put pressure on the injuries and basically keeping the boy from bleeding the fuck out on the malls floor.

Will was unresponsive, lying against his best friend with his hands linked and his gaze was just..lost in thought, like he had gotten thinking and just got lost in his head. His mouth was open and..he looked dead almost. He didn’t scream, he didn’t flinch, he wasn’t looking to where he was looking before, at Mike , at his best friend from kindergarten, his crush from 9 years who was sadly as straight as a ruler and would never see him the same way he did, his brother from another mother, he wasn’t looking at him anymore, not because he said something but because his head was just too heavy to move and looked at him again and got sleepy again, but for some reason his eyes didn’t seem to close, his mind was going who knows where, and the sounds were getting further and further away as the seconds passed.
When suddenly, he felt nothing, he heard nothing, he wasn’t aware of anything, not even the voices around him telling him to stay with them, to hold on, he couldn’t feel the soft hands on his face moving his head and asking if he could hear them, something he wished he could do, just as all of this happened he felt free, he felt the freedom he had seeked for so long, but more than that he felt..peace, that’s it, he felt the peace he was for so long seeking. He was free.

While on the land of the living every single person of the ones reunited were on the verge of a panic attack while looking at the stare of the boy and the too shallow breaths leaving his mouth, his chest was rising and falling, but not properly, not like how they are supposed to be doing, no one was a doctor but you don’t have to be one to know that there is something wrong going on with the boy, Mike was grabbing Will’s head and moving it not roughly but a little worried, trying to make Will snap out of it, saying: “Hey Will, ¿can you hear me? If you can just say something, do something, god anything you want.” Will didn’t do anything and that was going to give someone (*cough* Jonathan and Mike*cough*) a nervous breakdown, ¿what had they done wrong? They sterilized everything, they moved carefully, they didn’t inject Will with that much of anesthesia...¿Didn’t they?

Chapter Text

The world was fuzzy, closing in on him, it looked like it wanted to eat him whole but for some reason it didn’t. Like it was alive and wanted to torture him.
He was still hearing things, muffled at best but understandable. It was Mike’s voice, and Mike’s hands, soft, kind of clammy but strong bands on the sides of his head.
“Wll c..n y..u h..r m..e?” It was all he could hear.
He tried to open his mouth to answer but his tongue felt like it had been stung by a bee and swollen until it covered his entire mouth. Weirdly enough, when he moved it it didn’t feel like that.

The feeling of floating was getting stronger, man that anesthesia better start wearing off before he says some other shit, like what he thought about the mac and cheese he ate when he was five years old or something.

But in between all those thoughts swimming on his head there was one, quiet, but still with a weight to it.”Let go”

In the course of the last 4 years Will had seen, felt and, not consciously of course, done things that would make any decent person get locked in an asylum for the rest of their life.

While he wasn’t very far from a nice trip to looney town, he had seen his fair share of things that can cause trauma for life, but he had learned to try to see the bright side, or well, the not so miserable one.

When the trauma came, he was supported by his friends and family through it. More specifically by Mike, the boy would stay day and night with him when he had felt unwell.

*FLASHBACK*
Will didn’t know what was going on, but it hurt, every little movement hurt and even a thought made him want to sleep forever. His chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it without any intentions of getting up anytime soon.

He had woken up from being rescued from the Upside Down merely two days ago and he couldn’t feel any more crappy. He slept for most of those days and woke up twice because of the nightmares.

One of those times, though, he woke up in a cold sweat to the terrifying feeling that he couldn’t breathe.

As he sat up quickly he felt the pull of the cannula on his nose but it seemed to have been turned off because he was fucking drowning in dry land.

His chest heaved and hurt as he felt those strong hands pushing him so he could stay alive, while he was grateful to Hopper for keeping him alive and kicking, there was no denying that it hurt like a bitch.

Mike had stayed in the hospital chair for quite some time too, so when Will tried to get up and winced in pain Mike held him, asked him what was wrong.
“I don’t….know” he said horsely.
“You want me to call the nurse?”
He nodded, he may hate to ask for help but it was either that or he stayed gaping like a fish out of the water.

After the nurse said it was a panic attack he didn’t know if he felt better or not.
He could feel his mom’s grip on his shoulder tighten a little as well as Mike’s little frown but he knew both were of concern for him.

After that incident, Mike climbed to his bed and cuddled with him, rubbing his back a little and touching his hand, also rubbing circles while talking about nothing.

The sound of his voice made Will come to a slumber, he knew he was safe now, because Mike was there, and everyone else of course, but Mike was his assurance that even if he had the biggest Ptsd ever registered, he would help him through it and that it was ok to feel like that.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

He felt a small tear fall down his temple as he remembered everything he felt that night, knowing it was very unlikely that would ever happen again.

He understood that Mike wanted to grow up, that he wanted to see the world.

But he didn’t understand why it was so hard to just adjust a little and still respect that he didn’t want that. That he wanted a little bit more time, that one game was enough. Just ONE.

He pictured all of them, together, playing again, even Max and El were there, all dressed in their characters costumes, laughing and making jokes.

Enjoy and relax while they could, before they had to go back to their boring lives.

They wouldn’t be like that anymore, they wouldn’t enjoy the sleepovers at Mike’s house anymore, they wouldn’t share stupid secrets with each other anymore , they wouldn’t tell jokes and trying hard not to laugh as to not wake Ms. Wheeler anymore.

They would just hang out when the boys had a romantic problem or when they had nothing else to do but be with their girlfriends.

And it hurt Will more than the “surgery” they were doing to him.

All he wanted was to feel safe again, from Lonnie, from the Mind Flayer, from school, from bullies, from the evil thoughts in his head telling him to just get it over with.

It hurt, it really did.

But oh well, he would have to just suck it up if he wanted to keep his friends together, his only friends, his family.

As another thought of letting everything go to hell and hope for the best, he heard it.

The voice he dreamed of for many nights, the voice that kept him going on. Mike’s voice.
“W..ll sty w..th me, don’t y..u d..re l..ve us now, I kn…w it hurts but it will get better, I promise” it was getting clearer as he focused more on it, he wanted to stay,he really did, but it was so hard. “I know I have been the worst friend lately, and maybe for some more time, but I want you to know I’m here, we all are, you don’t have to fight it alone, because we will help you, but please hold on, we all love you so much and we want you to be safe and happy and to have the best life ever Will, I want you to have the life you deserve. But I can’t make sure you have that life if you drop the towel now ok?” He was sobbing now. It send a pang through Wills heart.”I…I need you in my life Will, because without you, even if I have the best life ever it would be worthless without you, so please hold on a little bit longer and I promise we can talk about everything and we will have the longest campaign in the history of Dnd, we’ll play until we collapse of exhaustion, or until whatever time you like, I promise, but you have to hold on, ok?”

He finished as he put his forehead against Wills, whispering pleads to him silently.

And Will hoped that they could, he believed every single word, but he was afraid, afraid that it was just another promise, another thing to hold on to until he was ditched again. He didn’t want to be heartbroken again.

And with that final thought and his breaths getting shallower and slower, he gave in.

Jonathan quickly pressed his ear against his brothers chest, afraid of what he would hear, pleading that this was all a cruel nightmare.

His eyes widened watering and he looked up to the group as he said the scariest words he ever thought he would say:
“He’s not breathing”

Chapter Text

“What the hell do you mean he’s not fucking breathing?” Mike yelled, his heart beating harshly and the threat of bile burning in his throat.

“I mean he is NOT.FUCKING.BREATHING” Jonathan yelled back, tears now spilling down his face and a sob held back in his throat. “We need to get some air in his lungs before his brain runs out of oxygen and THAT is when shit is really going to hit the fan” -if it hasn’t already- he thought bitterly.

Jonathan, now in bay and trying not to curl into a ball and cry on the floor, tried desperately to remember how to do CPR, because they had taught it 5 times in his school, ok maybe he had paid attention to 2 of them but there had to be SOMETHING in his memory that could help him save his brother

In that golden moment, the girl whose name had been forgotten given that they had all just met her popped her head in. “I remember some things about CPR, they..they taught us some last year” she muttered the last part quietly

“Tell me what to do”Mike asked her quickly, fidgeting with his hands desperate to do something, anything. “I..I can’t lose him” his voice shook with tears. “I really can’t lose him”

“Ok I’ll guide you through what I remember” the girl, Robin, Robin! That was her name, said with a bit of fear in her voice.

“Um, ok ok first you need to check his breathing…ok done that it’s shit clearly” she rambled, wobbly. “Ok, you, um…” she looked at Jonathan, not remembering his name. “Jonas or whatever your name was, tilt his chin so his airway is clear”

Jonathan quickly put both of his hands on Will’s head and opened his mouth carefully, his lips were turning a dangerous tint of blue. Shit.

“Ok, now, umm Mike? Mike was it, yes Mike start pressing his chest with all your body, don’t worry about his ribs, or well, no no they’re okay, just make sure you give 30 compressions okay?” Robin finished looking at Mike with a tense look.
Mike nodded along to everything Robin had said, scared to the core, but he knew that if it saved Will, he would fight a lion with a twig.
“Oh and you also have to give him mouth to mouth two times, okay? You finish the 30 compressions and you give him the breaths okay?” Robin clarified.

Oh

They didn’t have time for this.

“Yeah yeah” he said getting on his knees with his hands intertwined to do what would probably be one of the most terrifying thing he’ll ever have to do, to top all other bad experiences he had gone through in the last 3 years.

1
2
3
4
5..
One rib

Another

Two more

Tears welled up in his eyes as he heard the agonizing sound of his best friend’s ribs breaking matching his compressions.

10
11
12
13

“Come on Will, please, I know I don’t deserve you but you deserve to stay and I’ll spend the rest…”he chocked on a sob, tears now burning on his cheeks”..the rest of my life making up for this summer and everything okay? I promise”

20
21
22
23
24

“Come on bud, I know you are tired, I know, but you just have to hold on a little more and then you can sleep for a week in the hospital okay? Well, maybe not that long because mom will freak out but you get the point”
Jonathan gave a slight chuckle that was drowned with sobs and his voice was heartbreaking, he was shaking from head to toe on his knees next to his baby brother.

28
29
30!

“Now! Give him the rescue breaths!”Robin screeched.

Was he doing what he may have been dreaming about for some abnormal amount of time? Kind of. He imagined a better scenario.

No, NO! Focus on Will now, feelings later.

After he gave the two breaths and nothing happened, oh the hole in his chest was closer to a hurricane of tears and snot but he forced himself to do it again.

He would do it for a 100 years if it brought Will back.

“Come on, come on Will you can do it don’t you even think about leaving”Mike begged in whispers. Begging more to himself than to Will.

And suddenly, on the 25th compression, finally, after so much suffering and tears,
a gasp came out of Will’s mouth, his hazel eyes now bloodshot opened in panic, his lungs seizing and trying desperately to get air in and out, to do their freaking job.

Mike gasped at the sudden appearance of Will in the world of the living, anger threatening to leave his mouth in a pretty creative string of curses but he held it. i
Instead holding Will and turning him on his side, where he was coughing and hyperventilating.

“Oh my god”Jonathan grabbed his brother in a tight embrace, holding and rocking him back and forth, petting his hair and crying with all his might, thanking whatever deity that was out there for finally giving the a break.

“I thought you were going to leave me brother-less buddy, please, for the holly love of David Bowie don’t you ever do that again, I don’t give a rat’s furry ass if there is a Demogorgon out there, you are not leaving my sight until you go to college you hear me?”
Jonathan rambled in what felt like a minute’s worth of breath making everyone laugh for real since the start of this shit show.

“You sound like mom”was the hoarse, weak response he received from his too pale brother, eyes threatening to close again.

“Well I’ll turn into her, craziness and all if you close your eyes for a second okay?” Jonathan’s voice coated with tears but now with a brave mask on.

Will just smiled loopily , still a trace of the anesthesia in his features, but it was better if he didn’t feel much, given that he could very much pass out from the pain.

Mike felt uncomfortable for ruining the moment but he just had to get it off his chest.

“Will, you ever pull another thing like this and I swear, I’ll write the worst campaigns ever known to man”he crouched and hugged his friend, careful of his ribs and feeling a pang of guilt in his chest.

“It’s okay, given how much they hurt, I’m not thinking about getting up from my bed ever again”he added with a wince. Damn it hurt.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, but we still have a big ass monster to fight,I suggest we call someone or something” Steve said out loud, startling the trio because shit they forgot they weren’t alone.

“I can fight it, I just need energy”El said, her face dead serious.

Robin and Steve looked at each other like they were communicating a NASA plan telepathically.

“Would ice cream do the trick?”Robin looked at her mischievously, like she was a child about to get in trouble.

The entire group looked at each other, discussing internally and also telepathically.

“After all this shit show, lay it on me” Erica exclaimed with the tiredness of a 80 year old man.

Chapter Text

HEYYY IM ALIVE, BARELY BUT ALIVE

Soooo yup I haven’t written here in a long time and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who read, commented, gave kudos and even if you didn’t give kudos or commented I love you cause you had to read the biggest, most badly written fever dream at least I have ever seen. Although this fanfic was a material of nightmares to editors and maybe actual fanfic writers who know what they are doing, I hold this fanfic dearly in a special place in my heart and I always will because it basically showed me how beautiful this community is.

The good luck comments, the relatable commenters who enjoy hurting poor Will like me *love you ppl* the comments wishing me the best and telling me to take my time in posting, while all I can think about is how much I really need to post lol You people are just the absolute best. Trust me to the people behind a fanfic, receiving those type of comments makes you just want to reach out and hug the person who wrote it. That love is not easy to find and to think that it exists and it is expressed to me just hugs my little writer soul.

Now to some little personal stuff <3
I am in my last year of high school and well, that just means i can kiss my mental health goodbye hahaha
In all truth and seriousness I possess… it has been some pretty rough couple of months, not to mention I travelled to another continent for 2 months so everything is still a little mixed up. Not to mention some other stuff related to my pretty little head *spicy sadness* stress and anxiety that I’m still trying to deal with.
Now back to saying thanks.

Once again, you can’t imagine how soul healing it is to be received with such love and appreciation for something written with some fear of knowing whether it will hit the spot or not. So thanks for that.

Writing the last chapter and pretty much the last three was very hard, given that my inspiration decided to take a long vacation and bought a one way ticket, so there’s that. I am grateful that you received my half assed chapters with love and to not leave you with the cliffhanger, imagine will and mike are now together, have a beautiful dog named Layla, live together and are getting married (they both proposed to each other at the same time :3) and basically have the relationship I can only dream of lol

Anyways take care, if you want you can read some other itty bitty little stories I post and well, lovers out! <3
*epic mic drop*