Chapter Text
I.
It was just after 10pm on a Friday afternoon. The sun had set fully, the sky no longer a bright blue yet the darkest shade one could possibly think of. Stars were in the sky, and it was a beautiful summer night. Crickets were loud, toads were crying in the distance; the occasional owl would hoot and everything was perfect.
It was a perfect, beautiful summer night.
The trailer was located in a private neighborhood, located just barely outside of Hawkins, Indiana. It had a single porch light, with a flickering lightbulb at the front. The newest model of the BMW, in pristine condition by the way, was out front.
Inside, was a nice layout of rooms. Or should we say, it came with a bedroom, two bathrooms, and one big open space that happened to have a kitchen in it. There was a back door—which was very important—and the side door that was connected to the kitchen. This was important too.
Empty beer bottles, takeout containers, and cigarette butts littered most of the important surfaces. The TV was set on a channel playing reruns of Baywatch. The armchair was already pulled out, prepared for a night of hopefully good sex and a lot of beer.
The wall phone, which was located in the kitchen, rang not long after Lonnie Byers had hung it up. 10 minutes to be exact. The girlfriend—Sarah—the third one since being divorced, had been on her way for that hopefully good sex.
Lonnie had just sat down in the arm chair, had just cracked open the beer bottle, and was immediately standing up again. With said bottle. The idea was that he was thinking it was his girl. Telling him perhaps she would be running later than she thought. And this girl was never late. Being late meant Lonnie would get aggravated.
Lonnie Byers was anything but a good man. He was abusive, aggressive, known for picking fights in bars and showing up looking like he had gotten the worse end of it, has almost gotten arrested but got out of it every time through his connections. People surprisingly liked him. But that’s what you get for a small, conservative town in Indiana. Full of the same, boring and tragically generic that living here gets old.
If you had asked anyone else though, Lonnie had deserved what was coming for him. It’s been long enough now. He’s been alive long enough, still causing havoc everywhere he went. Even if he got away with it. Every single time. Not this time. His reign was over.
“Baby, what’s up? You already said you’d be on the way about 10 minutes ago.” Lonnie had said, voice gruff and sounding a little too excited. “Are you here? I told you not to call. You can just come in.”
“Hello, Lonnie.” An unfamiliar voice spoke. Rough and slightly distorted. Scratchy. It certainly wasn’t a voice Lonnie recognized. That was the whole point of it. To remain mysterious. Lonnie didn’t know that. It wasn't even a real voice, just a machine and powerful words.
“What the hell. Who the fuck is this? Is this some prank you’re trying to pull on me, punk?” Lonnie, the easily aggravated man he was, clearly wasn’t finding this very fun. For the voice on the line, the other was positively radiating with energy. So much of it. It was almost gleeful. Excitement. If one listened close enough, the smile was present.
That was made obvious in the way the voice laughed, which just set off Lonnie further. “Listen here, asshole. Don’t call this number again. I will call the police, because I don’t play around with funny business from shitty teenagers.”
“Very hostile! Is that any way to greet someone? I just wanted to have a little fun.” Our mystery spoke, words that same distorted sound. Breathy, coarse. “What if it was Sarah?”
Sarah, who had arrived. Lonnie just didn't notice the headlights of the car. Our caller did though. He had been waiting.
“You keep her name out of your mouth. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. Go to hell.” Words were hissed, and Lonnie was hanging up the phone and taking a long swig of his beer. Looking frustrated as he started checking his watch.
Then the phone rang again and it was picked up. Again.
“Listen asshole, you better leave me alone. I told you I’ll call the cops.” Lonnie was immediately saying. Voice getting louder by the second.
The voice on the other line just laughed. Almost with a mocking tone hidden underneath the scratchiness. The phone line wasn’t very good.
“Over a phone call? Don’t you want to have a little fun, Lonnie? Like play a game?”
“A game? You think I want to play a fucking game, you annoying bastard?” Lonnie’s grip on his bottle was tight. His knuckles were white, and he was getting more aggravated by the second. With his temper—and the alcohol—it was never a good mix. “Go prank someone else, I’m not interested.”
There was shuffling on the other end. The kind that was meant to be heard on purpose. See, Sarah really didn’t have time to make it inside. Completely unaware and oblivious. Especially when one is rummaging through a purse. It was silent, for a long beat, and then…
“What’s your favorite finger?”
“Excuse me?!”
“You heard me.” The voice chuckled. “What’s your favorite finger? Is it the pointer finger? The middle? Maybe it’s the ring finger.”
“What kind of question is this?!”
“I’m trying to decide which finger to cut off of her hand first. She’s quite a whiner and I’m getting frustrated.” The mystery person sighed. “So, you have to decide for me. Unless you'd rather, I start somewhere else before I slit her throat.”
“What the fu—you’re bluffing.” A growl left the older man’s throat. Bottle was set on the counter with a heavy clank of glass against tile.
“Am I?”
A knife can do so many things all at once. Poor…poor Sarah. She was heard over the phone, muffled crying. Words, that don’t make much sense because she was gurgling. So much gurgling.
“Listen, fucker! You leave her alone. I don’t know what kind of sick, twisted game you’re playing at, but I am not interested!”
“That’s not an answer~” The voice sang, mockingly into his ear. “Could’ve played along. But you’re a piece of shit so, I’ve decided to slit her throat instead. Try not to scream so loud, sweetheart.”
“Who are you?” It was growled out again, and the stranger just laughed.
“You’ll see.”
Sarah didn’t even get the chance to scream. She was already dying the second Lonnie accused him of bluffing, which was wrong. She was dead before the call even cut off.
Lonnie was inside, downing the bottle of beer and decidedly not calling the police. Before he even could, there was a knock on the door. Not the front door, but the side door. The one that’s commonly used because the front is always locked.
Lonnie’s footsteps approached the door. A distraction for the masked man to sneak inside through the back door. When it opened a body was falling into the room. There was blood everywhere. Staining every surface. Lonnie was immediately yelling out in shook and let the body drop onto his white tiled floor. It was stained red instantaneously. Blonde hair was soaked red too, through and through. It was messy business.
The body was none other than Sarah’s of course. Blood soaking the fabric of her shirt from the back, and throat slit at that perfect angle to sever the jugular vein. Straight across.
“Sarah? Sarah, baby, wake up.” Sarah, however, did not move. She was dead. She stopped choking on her own blood before she was at the door. Watching his reaction though, was comical. More emotion than when Will went missing in the woods for a few days that one time years ago. Because of him. “No! No, what the fuck! Where are you, you bastard?!”
Saying nothing, the masked figure stood in the middle of the room, knife twirling around in his hand stained with blood.
Lonnie turned around and finally saw him. A taller, wide shouldered man dressed in a long black costume, with an unsettling white mask to go with it. Stuck with hollow white eyes and a big silent scream. Lonnie wouldn’t have been able to recognize him. He was a ghost. A shadow. He wiped the knife clean with his gloved hand whilst his head tilted to the side and finally approached.
“What are you! What do you want!” Lonnie was grabbing the nearest bottle, the body completely disregarded on the floor. It made the ghost laugh darkly.
“For you to pay for what you did. You sick piece of shit. I am going to have so much fun absolutely gutting you.”
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
Will Byers was not expecting the phone call he received Saturday morning. From Jonathan no less. It was the last thing he was expecting to hear from his older brothers mouth. Immediately after waking up too, like way to make someone’s morning.
“Sorry, what?” Will had, unfortunately, been up all night working on his art portfolio for college, so he was half asleep listening to Jonathan talk so fast for once that he couldn’t keep up. “Slow down, Jon, I can’t understand—Did you say dad is dead?”
“Not just dead, Will. He was murdered. Like, slasher film style murdered. Him and Sarah. They were found in his kitchen with multiple stab wounds and slit throats. Hop says he must’ve been stabbed about 20 times.”
Now, Will hated his dad. He really did. He never was around, and when he was it was always when he was drunk and wanting something. A classic deadbeat. Emphasis on the beat. It’s why Mom had divorced him, because he was loud and abusive and always called him slurs just because he liked art, and preferred games like Dungeons and Dragons over holding a rifle in his hands.
Hearing that your father had been murdered sometime last night though? It was a shock to his entire core. It made his blood run cold and he wasn’t really sure how he should feel. It certainly woke him right up.
“Do they…do they know who did it?” Will swallowed thickly, kicking the blankets off of himself and sitting at the edge of his bed. “Does mom know?”
“No, Hop called me first. He didn’t want to be the one to tell her.” Oh, perfect.
Hopper was the chief of police and also happened to be his stepfather. Joyce had gotten with him a little over a year ago and now they lived together in his cabin in the woods, where Jane lived too. His sister. Half-sister, but still his sister. Will didn’t live with them, but he hopped back and forth between his family home, the Wheelers house, and the cabin. Joyce was here and there too, but mostly at the cabin.
Will had a lot of places. His family home was always kept mostly to himself though, unless Mom was over. Or when Jon was home. He liked the privacy and the silence. It was too quiet now.
“So, are you saying you’re going to tell her next or are you calling me to tell me I have to tell her?”
“Well, considering I’m in New York right now, I don’t think this is something she should hear over the phone.” Jonathan sighed on the other end of the line, sounding stressed. Will just thought that if he was hearing it over the phone, surely mom could have handle it too. “Plus, she probably would want to hear it from you instead.”
“Jon—I can’t tell her! Are you insane? I don’t even know how to react right now.” Will took a deep breath, rubbing at his eyes to wake up a little more. “This is totally wrong by the way. You’re a hypocrite. You called me to tell me but you won't do the same for her?”
“I’m sorry, did you want me to wish you a good morning first?” His tone sounded sarcastic, and it made Will's eyes narrow.
“Dick. And you didn’t answer my earlier question. Do they have a suspect?” Will needed to get his facts straight here.
“There was no evidence. Not even a single finger print. It was as if this guy had planned all of this out enough so that he wouldn’t get caught.”
“Wow…what the hell…” Will ran a stressed hand through his mess of a bed head, looking around his room, at all his posters, and drawings. His space that he could now proudly say was just his, and colorful, and perfect. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell her. Will you be coming home then? At least soon? There’s probably going to be a funeral or something.”
“Likely, yeah. I’ll figure it out. Bye, Will. Good luck. Love you.”
Yeah, good luck indeed. Was this a joke? This sounded like a joke. Jonathan wouldn’t be one to joke about something like this though and the idea of a murderer being in Hawkins right now at this very moment was horrifying. But also not surprising. It's been quiet in this town long enough.
“Shit,” Will breathed out, slipping out of his bed fully so he could grab clothes and pull them on. If Hopper didn’t tell her, and Jonathan didn’t tell her, then she was absolutely living in the dark and he was going to have to man up and be the one to tell her. Should he just say it first thing? Should he make it easy? Will didn't know how mom was going to react, but he had to bike all the way there as soon as possible.
Seeing as well…he didn’t exactly have a car, and he couldn’t ask Mike to drive him. It was early in the morning and that boy loved to sleep in at late as possible. His best friend was so predictable.
A crewneck was pulled over his head, and he jumped and wiggled his way into a pair of jeans. In the process of getting socks he tripped over a canvas and stubbed his toe. Immediately off to a rough start. He prevailed though, and managed to make it out the door in record time.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
It was a hot summer day, and it was 8 in the morning. 8 o clock in the fucking morning. The sky was clear with very little clouds; the sun was literally blinding, and Will regretted pulling on the crewneck. He was sweating profusely by the time he made it to the cabin and out of breath. Mad at himself for not thinking to check the temperature before spontaneously leaving, his bike was dropped in the grass carelessly. That's when he noticed Hoppers police car wasn’t out front, so he knew immediately he was still down at the station, liking figuring everything out. Will didn’t know how police stations worked. He could imagine a lot of paperwork. Tracking evidence and working on finding the perpetrator.
Shit, his dad was dead. Like murdered dead. Someone had killed him and his nasty girlfriend who was definitely influenced by Lonnie.
Will had the unfortunate pleasure of running into her at the mall once. She had recognized him almost immediately and had acted very entitled. From what he could remember.
‘Hi! I’m Sarah. You’re Will right? I’ve heard a lot about you and your brother. I’m dating your dad. You look different than how I imagined. You look actually normal.’
Which, totally rude. He was normal, he just happened to like boys. One boy. The same boy he's been obsessed with for years.
Will lifted the mat at the front door and used the key there to unlock it before he was putting it back. No need to knock, because he was sure mom was up already. She was always up early.
He walked into the main room, the door creaking shut behind him. He didn’t see anyone yet, but then his mom’s head was peeking out from the bedroom. Hop’s bedroom, not Jane’s. Her bedroom door was shut so she was likely still sleeping.
“Will? Hi, sweetheart! What are you doing here? It’s early.” Mom stepped out of the bedroom, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Will wished he was wearing a t-shirt. He was still sweating, but at least the air conditioning in here was working properly for once.
Will rolled up his sleeves, then grabbed at the front of the crewneck to pull on it in order to air it out. Shit, it had to be like 80 degrees outside. Way too warm for 8 in the morning.
“Hi, mom. Uhm.” Will walked away from the door, following her into the kitchen. How does he even say this?
“What’s wrong? Are you okay? You look nervous.”
“I—yeah. Yeah, mom, I’m okay. Listen, something happened that I need to tell you about.” Will swallowed thickly, looking around at the space. There was an empty box of Eggos sitting on the counter, some beer cans, a full coffee pot that really didn’t sound too bad at the moment. Drawings of Jane's were stuck to the fridge with letter magnets, and the toaster was on.
“Did something happen to you? Oh, baby. Tell me. Are you okay?” She looked worried, and he knew it was likely because he wasn’t the best as saying these things. She was also always worrying about him.
“Mom! I’m okay! Just—Just listen to me for a second. It’s serious. I think it’s pretty serious. Uhm.” Okay, here goes nothing. He didn’t know how Mom was going to take it, but well. He was about to find out. “Dad was murdered last night. Him and his new girlfriend.”
He watched as his mom poured coffee onto the counter instead of her mug, and then she was looking back at him with the biggest eyes he’s ever seen. “What?”
“Dad and Sarah were killed last night—“
“No, I heard you.”
“Then why did— “Will shook his head. It was the shock, definitely the shock. “Yeah, Jonathan called me. Said Hopper called him.”
He heard a door creak open, and then the floorboards. Jane came into view with her hair pulled back but still sticking up, and Mike’s t-shirt covering her body. Will ignored it, and the feelings of jealousy in his gut that is.
“What happened?” Jane asked, clearly just having woken up. Her eyes were still small, squinting from the light in the room.
“My dad was murdered last night,” Will repeated, and he had a feeling today was going to sound a lot like this conversation. Considering the plans later were to meet up with the entire party at the lake. It was a nice day for it.
Jane’s brown eyes widened in surprised, her mouth forming an O shape as she came over to grab his arm in comfort. Will appreciated it, but he didn’t think he needed comfort. Not yet.
“I need to sit down.” Joyce pressed her fingers to her temples and walked over to Hopper’s arm chair to sit in it. She looked a lot smaller in that thing than Hopper did.
“And before you ask, they have no idea who did it. There was no evidence left behind—at least that’s what Jon said. That they didn’t uncover anything.”
As far as he knew, Lonnie didn’t have any other family alive aside from them. Which meant Jonathan was probably the next of kin. Not that Lonnie would have ever allowed him to be in charge of his funeral. Will didn’t really know what the next steps here were. “And I asked if Jonathan was going to come home and he said he was going to work on it.”
“He’s dead? Like really dead?”
“You know as much as me, ma. I don’t know everything. Hopper would know more.” Will rubbed the back of his neck, ignoring Jane’s concerned stare
“And of course he isn’t here.” Joyce rubbed her face with her hands. “Okay, kids. I’m going to need to get to the station. I have to interrogate your father.” Jane’s. Jane’s father. Stepfather, because she was adopted, but still. Joyce pointed at her too.
“Okay, I’ll stay with Will.” Jane nodded, and they both watched as Joyce walked around in search of her car keys. “You left them on the table, Joyce.”
“Right, thank you.” Joyce grabbed them and pulled on some old shoes before opening the door. “I’ll be back.” And that was that. Mom was gone, and it was just the two of them now.
It was silent for a while, before Will was turning towards Jane.
“You don’t happen to have another shirt of Mike’s here do you? I didn’t think about how warm it was outside before pulling this on.” Will smiled a little, and Jane just laughed and nodded before leading him into her room.
It was decorated simply and sweetly. It was all Jane. She had some photobooth pictures of her and Max on her wall along with other framed pieces. Of the whole party even. There was a drawing he had even done for her there too, of a field and some purple flowers. She had asked him for a drawing and well, Will produced that. On her bed were stuffed animals. A bear, and a horse.
On her nightstand, in a heart frame, was a picture of her and Mike from the Snowball back in Middle school. It was a picture Will tends to avoid looking at because it always fills him with some ugly feelings he didn’t want to face.
Mike Wheeler was his best friend and has been since they were in kindergarten. He was his very first friend and Will holds him close to his heart. Maybe closer than he should, but he can’t help it. He’s tried (and failed) to move on despite knowing his sister was with him. They’ve been together for a while too and Jane was happy. Mike seemed to be happy with her too. Will wasn’t about to get between that.
And Will hates it. He hates seeing them together. It makes his blood boil and also makes him feel totally conflicted. It already wasn’t easy being gay in this town, and then watching your best friend, who you’ve been in love with since you were 12 years old, be all sweet on your half-sister. It did a lot of things.
“Here.” Jane threw the shirt at him; it was one of Mike’s Star Wars ones, and Will caught it without issue.
“Thanks.” Will breathed out, and then torn the crewneck off his sweaty body to pull that one on. It was immediately a lot better than it had been. “How was your date last night?”
Because, naturally, he had to pretend. To pretend for everyone’s sake that them being together wasn’t slowly killing him. Part of him wished perhaps he was the one that had gotten killed. He was alone last night after all.
“It was good! Mike took me to the movies to watch the screening of Princess Bride they were showing! Then we got ice cream and he took me home because he said he had something to take care of.” Jane was cleaning up her room now that Will was standing in here, almost awkwardly. “But it was so much fun! Mike is always so good at coming up with dates even if it feels like we’ve done everything in this town.”
“That’s good. That’s good…” Will went ahead and sat down on her bed. Jane threw the dirty laundry into her basket and then came to sit next to him, knees pulled up.
“Are you okay, Will? I mean…about your dad? Are you sad at all?”
“I don’t know, actually. I don’t know how to feel. I feel…detached? Emotionally anyway. You know he wasn’t always the best to me. He doesn’t get the father of the year award that’s for sure.” Will glanced at his sister, and fiddled with his hands in his lap. “I mean—he was a douche, Janie. An ass. You’re lucky you never got to meet him.”
“Are you going to miss him?”
“No.” That answer came immediately, without any hint of hesitation. “No, I haven’t seen him in years, also haven’t talked to him. It feels…weird. Like targeted somehow. Like he was killed for a reason. You know?”
Jane pressed her lips together in thought, brows a little furrowed. “Well, hopefully when we meet up with everyone it’ll be a distraction for you. You should probably shower though, you kind of smell bad.”
Will gasped, a hand flying to his chest to pretend he was offended. He knew he probably smelled, he had biked here with the sun literally blinding him the entire way. Beating down on him until he was panting.
“Gee, thanks. I feel so loved.”
Jane just laughed and lightly shoved him, making his lips quirk up.
“Go home, Will. Mike will probably pick you up later, he always gets you first.”
“Not always.” Will stood up, grabbing his discarded crewneck and ignored the heat rising up his neck. “But yeah, I probably should. I left in a hurry.”
Jane stood up too, and despite his sweaty body, she came and gave him a big hug. He didn’t think he really needed it, but it was nice so he accepted it. After that though, he was leaving the cabin and hopping back onto his bike to go back home.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
Just like he left it, the house was eerily silent but that never bothered him. He finds great pleasure in the silence of the house. Sun was pouring in through the window as it got higher in the sky. It still smelled sort of like the weed he had stolen out of Jonathan’s old bedroom from last night, and the living room definitely needed cleaning. They still had Christmas lights out, and it was the beginning of July.
And no, he did not participle in Christmas in July, thank you very much.
Will immediately took a cold shower, something he doesn’t normally do but had to anyway because after biking—again—he had gotten sweaty. Again. Especially around his back. The cooler water helped his overheating body get back to a normal temperature and rinsed away the sweat sticking to him.
When he was finished, he did not pull jeans on. Not today. They were going to the lake after all, so it was swim shorts and another pair of shorts on top of that.
The Star Wars t-shirt was thrown on his bed and replaced with a stripped one. Red and yellow, with hints of blue mixed in between. One of his personal favorites, so he was ready by the time noon hit. Showered, food in his belly, and ready.
Naturally, it didn’t take very long for the familiar horn of a Pontiac being pressed on for way longer than necessary. Mike always does this, to let him know he was here.
Will rolled his eyes in a fond way and grabbed his bag that had most of his necessary things within it. The keys to the house, sunscreen, sunglasses if he needed them, and a book. Plus, water bottles. More than one, because Mike always forgets one. And Band-Aids. Just in case.
More honking, and he was sure his neighbors were about to throw a fit if he didn’t get outside within the next 3 minutes. Or Mike, because he’s annoying like that.
Will left the house, his red beat up converse being his choice of shoes for the day. He locked the door behind him and listened to the honking stop as he approached the passenger door. It was already unlocked when he pulled on the handle.
“You’re going to piss off my neighbors one day. Do you know that?” Will said, looking at Mike with narrowed eyes. Mike just grinned at him, big and charming and Will felt his stomach flutter the same way it always does when Mike does literally anything. When Mike talks to him, when he looks at him, when he smiles at him. Anything.
“I don’t care. It’s not their attention I’m trying to get.” Mike shrugged, putting the car in reverse just as Will buckled up with a playful roll of his eyes. “Are you ready to have loads of fun playing chicken in Lover’s Lake?”
“I am not getting on your shoulders again, Mike. The last time I was your partner you dropped me.” Will pulled down the sun visor and flipped open the mirror to make sure his hair was drying okay. It was.
“Okay, but that was an accident and you know it. I wouldn’t drop you again.”
Will side eyed Mike, flipping the visor back up. Mike wasn’t looking at him, focused more on the road if anything. They were on their way to pick up Jane, where he would inevitably end up in the back seat instead.
“Sure, Mike. If that helps you sleep at night.”
“Sooo, that means you’ll be my partner when I ask everyone to play chicken? So we can be victorious?” Mike was grinning again, blinker turned on as he took the next left. “We have to beat Max and Lucas, Will. I need to see the look of defeat on her face.”
“Sure, yeah. I’ll be your partner on one condition.” He paused, just for dramatic effect. “That you don’t drop me.” Will leaned back in the seat, looking out the window at sprinklers in lawns and the clouds in the sky.
“Will! I told you already—and even in the moment—that it was an accident. My hands were wet and you’re sort of heavy.” Mike glanced at him, chewing the inside of his mouth. “No offense.”
“None taken. You have twigs for arms so I can’t say I’m surprised. You were too focused on squeezing my thighs than using your arm strength.” Will snorted, before laughing as Mike scoffed and reached over to smack his arm. Will rubbed at the spot even if it didn’t hurt at all, his skin tingly. “No offense.”
“Offense taken!” And Will just laughed harder.
Soon enough, Jane had been retrieved, and Will was now sitting in the backseat staring out the window. He was completely oblivious to the way Mike would look at him through the rear-view mirror, and even more so at the way it was purposefully angled to have direct view of him.
Mike was talking softly with Jane, but with a slightly dry tone as he mostly did when talking to her. They loved each other, and Mike was sweet on her, but always in a different way. Then Jane was turning around in her seat and getting Will’s attention.
“Did you tell him about your dad?” Jane asked, and Mike stiffened up a little. Not that Will noticed.
“Uhm, no, I didn’t.” Will squirmed a little uncomfortably and met eyes with Mike through the mirror. Concerned eyes, and his hands were gripping the steering wheel.
“What happened to your dad?” The other asked, brows creased together and a frown set on his face. “Did he do something?”
“No, no. He didn’t do anything. Except well…die I guess. Jonathan got the call this morning.” Will shrugged a little, pulling at the collar of his shirt almost uncomfortably. “I don’t really want to think about it though, because I don’t even know what to think, but yeah. Someone killed him and his girlfriend.”
“Oh, I didn’t know his girlfriend was killed too. That’s so scary.” Jane turned back around in her seat, looking slightly conflicted.
“I’m sorry, Will. Did you want to go home instead? I can take you back—“
“No, Mike. It’s okay. I’m okay, I promise. I want to go swimming with everyone. It’s too hot to stay at home.” Will shot Mike a smile, that Mike did catch through the mirror. Naturally. Will was just obvious to the fact Mike was always watching. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Course.”
Mike nodded, and they continued on their way till they were pulling up to the parking area and climbing out of the car. Jane had ran ahead to meet up with Max, who had immediately yelled her name upon seeing her.
Will was just taking his shorts off, so he could leave them in the car and not have to worry about them getting wet at all. That’s what the swim shorts were for, and the towels.
“Hey, did you bring—oh, hi.” Will had been about to ask Mike about towels, but he found Mike standing next to him already with his arm lying against the roof of his Pontiac, gaze already on him. When did he get so close?
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mike had asked him, for what had to be the millionth time in his life. His voice was soft, brown eyes filled with concern and care all at the same time. They were positively mesmerizing under the sun.
“Mike, I said already that I’m okay. I promise.” Will smiled, pulling the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “It’s shocking, yeah, but I mean…I didn’t really like him.” Will averted his eyes, hand waving around in the air. “I’m not sad—at least I don’t think I am. I’m conflicted about it all and I think I’m just processing everything.”
Mike, with his lips pressed together nodded in understanding. He will always understand Will. “You’ll tell me if you want to leave, right? If you ever get a little too overwhelmed? I’ll take you home.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you. Promise. Now, did you bring towels?”
“Shit, yeah. They’re in the trunk. Wait.” Mike left his side to open the driver's side door so he could pop the trunk. Will helped himself and grabbed the three cotton towels folded up back there before shutting it again. “Good?”
“Good! Let’s go.” Will waved Mike on and together they walked over to their party who had found a shaded area under a tree to lay out the large blanket—courtesy of Dustin—and there was snack already opened. That, was thanks to Lucas. Max had the radio covered. “Hey guys.”
“Hey, Will,” Max was the first one to greet him. She was putting sunscreen on herself while Jane did the same. In this sun, it was always necessary. “Wheeler.”
“Maxine.” Mike scoffed and sat down on the blanket to take the sunscreen from Jane to help put it on her back. Will forced himself to look away from it in favor of setting his bag down and pulling the shirt over his head.
The radio was heard playing softly now that he was sitting down. Right now, it sounded like…the Eurythmics.
“Oh, now that you guys are here. I invited some of my basketball guys to join us today. I hope that’s okay with you?” The question was mostly directed at Mike, who had paused in rubbing Jane’s back to look his way instead. Scowling a little.
“Okay, who?”
“Just Chance, Ross, and Paul. The cooler ones. Not Andy and the rest of his friends.” Lucas had to clarify, and Dustin snorted in his corner where he was fixing a pair of sunglasses.
“Okay, but they are also Andy’s friends. And they started as Jason’s friends. They’re mouth breathers.” Mike pulled his hands away from Jane, just as she stood up to apply the cream to her legs. Will was minding his own business applying cream to his shoulders. “Here, Will. I’ll get your back.”
“Oh—thanks.” Will turned, handing the sunscreen to Mike and nearly jumping at the feeling of his hands on his back. This was not the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last. “I think it’s fine you invited your friends, Lucas, as long as they—“
“Aren’t assholes, I know. Trust me.”
“I’m not fine with it.” Mike mumbled, feeling the breath ghosting Will’s skin and giving him in goose bumps.
“You’re never fine with new people joining the party. You always throw a fit before you even know them. I would know,” Max spoke up, lifting her sunglasses off her face. “I swear, you act like a piss baby sometimes. Do you have attachment issues?”
“No. There’s only an issue when you start running your mouth and spewing shit. And they aren’t joining the party.”
“Gross, Wheeler, I do not spew shit—“
“Okay, guys! Let’s not argue! We’re here to have fun, aren’t we?” Precious Jane, sitting down again and looking between her best friend and boyfriend. The boyfriend who was still rubbing cream onto Will’s back. For longer than necessary, easily. “I want to go swimming. Mike? Want to come with me?”
Will noticed Mike didn’t even acknowledge her question. He couldn’t exactly see him, but he felt how rough his hands were and he could tell there was some brooding energy going on back there.
“Dude—I think he’s good.” Lucas had been eyeing them, and Will immediately missed the feeling of Mike’s hands on his bare skin. Craved it even. Like he was the air he needed to breathe. It made his face heat up, and he was taking the bottle back.
Selfish. Stupid. Idiotic. Jane was right there. Jane was always right there.
Will sighed softly, and took out a water bottle to crack it open and take a sip. It was still cool, but it was likely going to warm up pretty quickly with this heat.
“Mike?”
“Yeah, sorry.” Mike sighed heavily before pushing himself up and pulling the shirt over his head. Will subtly looked his way, green eyes raking over his body and watched longingly as Jane pulled him towards the water.
“Fixed them! Fuck yeah.” Dustin was suddenly exclaiming, sunglasses being shoved onto his face. “Told you I could do it.”
“Listen, I knew you could, I just wanted to piss you off before you attempted.” Max smirked, and then laid back down, head landing in Lucas’s lap. “To discourage you, you know?”
“So, when are you going to tell him?” Lucas spoke suddenly. Making the rest of the group go a little silent. Dustin had been about to make a rebuttal to Max’s words, but clearly that was going to be long forgotten.
“What?” Will croaked out with furrowed brows in slight confusion, looking at Lucas with slight wide eyes. Lucas had already been looking at him, brows raised in question and in amusement.
“Ugh, shut up, Lucas.” Max was sitting up again, red hair falling over her shoulder as she turned to smack his bare chest. And hard. It sounded like a slap. Clearly it hurt too, because Lucas was yowling, rubbing at the spot in exaggerated agony. “Ignore him, Will. He’s just being an idiot.”
“That hurt!”
“Good!”
“My dad was killed last night,” Will blurted out so suddenly that even he was in shock. Three pairs of eyes were now looking at him, all mostly wearing the same expression. He supposed it worked well as a distraction, because he really had no desire to dive deep into the topic of his apparently obvious feelings for Mike.
“Killed?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you okay?”
Three different questions, all from three different people. Will realized then that perhaps blurting it out the way he had was not the way to go about it. He should have expected the questions. It’s all he’s been getting all day since he found out.
Will had his shoulders drawn in close to his ears, bottom lip between his teeth. The sun was hitting his back perfectly, and it was a warm reminder that he was currently at the lake with his friends. When his dad had been murdered not even a day ago. He was not going to be able to forget about it so easily.
“Uhm, sorry that was sudden—uh. Yeah. Killed.” Will looked at Max, gulping. “Like throats slit and stabbed a few times type of killed.”
“Holy shit.” Max sat back against Lucas, blinking rapidly as if trying to process what she was hearing. Will understood the feeling. “Holy shit, Will.”
“You’re serious?” Lucas was leaning forward, much to Max’s annoyance, jaw dropped open. “Do they know who did it?”
“No. They didn’t leave any evidence behind. As if it was planned out prior to it happening.” Will shrugged, looking away from his friends and over at the lake where Jane was swimming around and splashing Mike, he shielded the water with his hands, not really attempting to do it back. The water was sparkling around him from the sun. It looked pretty against his paler skin. “I don’t know much, Jonathan called me to tell me this morning.”
“Dude, are you okay?” Dustin asked again, successfully pulling his gaze away from Mike and over towards him instead. “Like. Fuck, man. I know the guy was an asshole but he was still your dad.”
“I don’t…really know exactly. I feel weird about it and I’m trying to not think about it too much.” Will shrugged, gaze averted again. He was realizing the more he talked about it, the more uncomfortable he got.
“Understandable. Hey, we’re here for you alright?” Lucas reached over to set a hand on Will’s shoulder, as a form of comfort. “Whatever you need. Seriously. That’s so shitty, man.”
“I’m more focused on the fact that someone skillful enough was able to kill two people and not get caught. That’s like some serial killer shit.” Max was grabbing a bag of chips and ripping it open. She popped one in her mouth and slapped Lucas’s hand when he attempted to get one himself.
“Oh! Like Michael Myers or something? You think there’s a guy in a scary costume going around murdering people?” Dustin was sitting up straighter now. He looked weirdly excited.
“Dustin—no. That’s ridiculous. Clearly someone was unhappy with him and decided to take him out and clean up the evidence.” Will shook his head, pulling at the grass next to his foot. “It was just two people. It wasn’t like a whole murder spree. The chance of it happening again is highly unlikely.”
“Mm, I wouldn’t say that. If someone has a motive they’ll likely strike again. There’s always a motive to killing someone as brutally as that.” Dustin crossed his arms, looking deep in thought, ready to get into a debate about this it seemed. “I mean, think about it. Most killers in film and in real life kill in a pattern or have a specific target. Therefore, motive.”
“Okay? But that doesn’t explain why my dad was the one that got killed. Or his girlfriend for that matter.” Will scoffed, leaning back on his hands after his attention on the grass disappeared. He didn’t need to rip more of it out. “If they wanted my dad dead, why kill her?”
“To leave no witnesses, duh.” Dustin scoffed, throwing his hand in the air before fixing the cap on his head. “That’s like rule number one of getting away with something. No witnesses, no problem.”
“You sure know an awful lot about killing someone don’t you, Dustin?” Max stared skeptically. “Did you do it?”
“What? Fuck no! I’m just saying that statistically speaking most serial killers will have a motive as to why they are killing someone or going on a spree. Unless it’s like…an emotional impulse type of thing. Like they enjoy killing for the thrill of it.”
“I think you guys are all being ridiculous. I’m going into the lake to cool off. You have fun talking about serial killers.” Will pushed himself up and stretched his arms a bit before making his way into the water.
It was cold, refreshing, and it immediately made him feel better. The summer heat was overwhelming sometimes and made him feel like he was boiling alive. This? The fresh water chilling his skin up? Incredible. It was exactly how he felt in his cold shower this morning. Relief.
He made his way out to where Mike was standing, looking bored and in his own head as Jane was off along the shallow end looking into the water. If Will had to guess, she was likely looking for rocks that stood out to her. She was always collecting things.
Upon seeing Will approaching though, Mike’s expression changed. His eyes lit up, a grin took over his freckled face, and his arms uncrossed themselves. Welcoming him in.
“Hey,” Will breathed out, coming to stand by him before sinking down into the water, just up to his neck anyway. “Having fun over here? You looked very thrilled to be standing out here just a second ago.”
“Oh, so much fun. Loads of fun even, I just can’t contain all the excitement I have to play chicken with my partner later.” Mike grinned, splashing Will and making the other recoil before the water hit most of his face. He was able to shield most of it with his hands.
“Ugh, Mike!” Will laughed, standing up to splash him back. Water rolled off of his tanned skin, glittering in the sunlight. Will, of course, was once again oblivious to how Mike was looking at him. Like Will was the sun itself. A jewel. A precious thing worth being taken care of and protected. “That could have gotten in my mouth.”
“Your mouth wasn’t open though, so I think you’re actually just fine.”
“Okay, Michael.” Will scoffed, bumping shoulders with the other before he took a step away and splashed him again. “Try to catch me.”
With a big grin, he was leaping away and swimming towards the deeper section of the lake. His legs were kicking behind him, and his arms were pulling him forward.
“Oh, it’s on, Byers!” Mike called and immediately started chasing after him. Wading through water was always a difficult task, but Will gave himself a head start here. The actual swimming helped too, on the speed side of things anyway.
It didn’t help that Mike had much longer legs than he did. His strides were a lot longer, so he was catching up. Will turned to splash him again, hands scrapping against the surface of the water. Mike shielded himself but otherwise did not stop his pursuit.
“You aren’t going to win~” Mike sang, and then he was diving through the water, just as Will was attempting to get away.
Suddenly, arms were around his middle and Will felt like it was an electric shock. He yelped immediately, hearing Mike’s laughter in his ear as he pulled him back, flush against his chest.
“Caught you.”
It was said a little out of breath, lips close to Will’s ear. It made him shiver, and it definitely wasn’t because the water was cold. That wasn’t it at all. It was the husky way it was spoken, the way the words rolled off his tongue. The way he felt warm breath against his neck that it made the hair back there stand up.
Will didn’t have time to say much though, even if he could form a full sentence, because Mike was scooping him up from within the water and throwing him into the lake. Will let out a scream before he was fully submerged in the water.
He popped back out with a huff, hair sticking to his forehead. He had to wipe the water off his face with his hands, shaking his hair out. So, maybe Mike was stronger than he seemed. Maybe the whole being lighter in the water thing didn't work to his advantage.
“That’s not fair! You have longer legs than me!” Will complained, hand slapping against water and causing it to fly everywhere.
Mike just threw his head back and laughed, and it was genuinely the best sound he could ever hear. No sound could ever possibly come close to it. And the way he looked, with the sun on him, shoulders slightly tinged red, curls dripping wet over his forehead. Don’t even get him started on the freckles that were dark from the sun. Those were his favorite part. Like little stars across skin.
He looked like a wet dream, literally, and Will knew it was wrong of him to think that considering Jane was completely unaware of everything transpiring within his head.
So he sunk himself underneath the water again, knowing already that when he would come back up Mike would be waiting.