Short Story by Isabel G.

The paintbrush slips from Will’s fingers as he hears the door of the Wheeler home clank open and slam shut. “Mike, seriously, why are you home so late? You've been gone all day! Where have you been!?” Mrs. Wheeler shouts with aggravation. Mike mumbles something rude under his breath and stomps upstairs to his room. Will, eavesdropping from the basement, continues to finish his painting and pretends his heart didn't drop as he hears the boy he is in love with arrive home and immediately get scolded by his mother. He is attempting to paint a portrait of him and Mike on a swing set when they were kids, the good days before their childhood got ruined forever. Will gets nostalgic over innocent moments like this all the time– back when he and Mike were as close as ever, there wasn't a metal bandaid was separating the town and dimensions, and back when he never needed to worry about Vecna’s shivers lingering at the back of his neck, like he does now. Will frantically snaps out of his daydreaming, and shoots his hand up to the top of his spine to check for them– “I’m so stupid! Vecna and the shivers haven't been here for 7 months, why would he be back now?” Will murmurs under his breath when he feels that his neck is smooth, no shivers in sight. It's the midst of January, so of course the basement is as freezing as ever. Though the Vecna shivers aren't back, now Will’s whole body is shivering. He hates the cold, and realized it's 4pm and he hasn't eaten all day, so going upstairs and taking a break is indeed a good idea. Will runs up the creaking stairs, quietly opening the door to the main floor and shutting the light off before closing it.

“My boy!” His mother, Joyce shouts from the couch, watching afterschool on-demand tv with Holly, Mrs. Wheeler and Mr. Wheeler, sat on his Lay-Z-Boy chair. “What have you been up to this afternoon? Mike just got home if you want to say hello!” Mrs. Wheeler says, pointing up the stairs to Mike's bedroom door, that was oddly enough left open. 

“I-I’m okay, but thank you! I’m just a little cold and hungry so I am going to grab a bite from the kitchen to warm up by the heater.” Will utters respectfully, as he smiles at his second family and walks around to the kitchen. He turns the corner and notices a tall, slim figure with soft, short brown curls he could recognize anywhere– Mike is making food down here, which is why his door was open. “Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.” Will thought to himself. He does not want to deal with his best friend that he is head over heels for right now, especially since he doesn't know about Will’s undying love for him. 

“What's the matter? You look pale, Will.” Mike says, taking down his headphones as Will is staring blankly at him, as he has been since he walked into the kitchen 2 whole minutes ago. 

“O-oh, no, haha I'm f-fine, just a little c-cold.” Will says, turning from pale to beet red. Mike runs over to Will to check his neck for the evil shivers, but brushes past his hand first. 

“Dude! You're freezing! You might need a doctor, I've never felt somebody be this cold before. We need to tell our moms and the party and, and– what if the shivers are back? What if that means Vecna is here? We need to warn Eleven.” Will is getting redder by the second as Mike gets even more worried. 

“Mike, It's fine. I'm fine! It's the winter remember, the shivers aren't back.. Vecna hopefully isn't here. Maybe we could do one upside down crawl just to check, but I'm pretty sure he's long gone, Mike.” Mike looks at Will with a little more comfort, and then goes to grab his walkie to contact their friends. Buzz “Hey guys, we might have a code red. Will felt the shivers, Over.” 

Dustin, over the walkie picks up immediately. “Hey! Do we need a searching crawl?” 

Lucas on the other line goes, “Yeah lets do it. I'll stop at the squawk and round up the troops.” Lucas bikes up to the power tower at the squawk radio station, and the party regroups within the hour in the Wheeler basement. 

“Damn. It is cold down here.” Dustin says as he enters, hat crooked and backpack clanking with equipment. “Code red my ass,” he mutters as he doesn't see a signal on his compass just like most of the crawls recently. Lucas follows close behind as they all sit down around the L shaped couch where Mike and Will were already sitting, plopping down next to his girlfriend Max. Eleven arrives last with Hopper, brushing snow off his coat, his face tight with the familiar feeling of worry he gets when Hawkins gets quiet for too long. 

By sunset, crawl 22 is officially underway.

The crew bikes through the cold, crunching snow past boarded-up storefronts and down the long stretch of road that leads toward the MAC-Z military base. Tall fences loom ahead with soldiers pacing with rifles slung over their shoulders. Hopper flashes his badge and gives the guards the same exhausted speech he's given a dozen times before, and thankfully, next thing they know, they're in the facility. The air near the gate hums wrong– it always does. Eleven closes her eyes, concentrating, her breath fogging in front of her face, attempting to break open the gate. Lucas scans the tree line, while Dustin fiddles with his compass, which is now in a spinning trance. Will and Mike are anxiously waiting at home where the loud silence of their hearts pounding and clocks ticking back and forth awaiting the call that it was just a false alarm. Minutes stretch into hours, and still the gate never opens. The party is tired of hiding in the bushes, and Hopper is almost done with his fake-out searches to keep the military distracted. “Dude. Could this take any longer? I give you 5 minutes to get that open El, then we're getting out of here.” Hopper whispers with exasperation after he had gotten away from the soldiers. Nothing moves. No vines twitch. No whispers crawl into Will's skull. No cold fingers trail down his spine. Finally, Eleven opens her eyes and shakes her head. 

“Nothing,” she says softly. 

Hopper exhales through his nose, and announces “Then that's it. Another false alarm. Pack it up.” Crawl 22 ends the same way most of them do now– quiet, anticlimactic, and almost boring. The party splits up to head home, promising to meet at the Squak later for fries and complaints.

Back in the Wheeler house, Mike and Will are still awaiting the call about how it went. But then the house became quiet. Too quiet. The boys sit side by side on the couch, knees 3 inches from touching. The barely working heater rattles uselessly in the corner, until it shuts off fully. Mike is fidgeting with his sleeves, and looks like he has a million thoughts rushing through his head. Will on the other hand, keeps staring at the floor, heart hammering louder than any monster ever could. After a long silence, Mike speaks. “Hey… Will?”

 “Yeah?” Will says, intimidated and confused. 

“I’ve been thinking, like, during the crawl. And before. And honestly… for a long time.” He swallows. “I think I've been scared to say this and be myself because everything’s always on fire or falling apart or trying to kill us.” 

Will looks up to try and figure out what Mike is going to say, eyes wide. “Mike–” but before managed to say anything, Mike cut him off. “I like you,” Mike blurts.

 “Not like how I liked El. Not like that. I mean, more than best friends. I mean, I like you. And with all of this happening in the town, and you living with me, I think I always have. I just didn't have the words for it.” 

For a second, Will forgets how to breathe. Then he laughs—a small, broken sound—and his eyes fill with clear tears. “Mike,” he whispers, "I've been in love with you for our whole lives.” 

Mike doesn't hesitate. He leans in, carefully, until their lips meet. The world doesn't end. The Upside Down doesn't tear through the ceiling. Nothing bad happens at all. It's warm and soft and real, and Will feels lighter than he has in years. His secret is out and louder than ever, and it feels like a new world of opportunities has just begun.

Buzz “By the way, it wasn't a code red, it was a false alarm,” Dustin interrupts from the walkie. Mike stands up with confidence, gives Will a jokingly eye roll, and says “We know.” with a huge smirk across his face.

Winter drags on, Hawkins stays still, and love is in the air. A few weeks later, Will is back in the basement, sitting by his easel once again. His paintbrushes are gliding steadily now, with confidence and bravery. On the canvas, he paints himself and Mike sitting back on the swing set, as their current selves. When Will was painting the memory the first time, he felt like there could never be a moment as perfect as that. He was wrong, and has never been happier. No cracks in the sky, no vines, no shadows creeping in from the edges. Just them. Just peace. Will smiles as he adds the final stroke. 

Far beneath Hawkins, Indiana, deep in the endless red dark of the Upside Down, something stirs. 

Vecna watches. And he waits… 

TO BE CONTINUED…