WILL POV-

"Mike?" The brunette jumped back

"Hi Will" The ravenette smiled throwing a hand into the air

"Shit!" The small boy exhaled placing a hand on his chest, breathing deep, casting an annoyed look over "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, cry me a river" The tall boy joked

"I'll give you something to cry about..." Will pouted raising a fist into the air "What are you doing here?" crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I thought that Richie was forcing you to do something" Mike admitted rolling his eyes

"What?" Will furrowed his brows

"I mean, you did almost get stabbed yesterday, so I was being cautious" The ravenette shrugged looking away.

"Aww! Where you worried?" Will cooed "How sweet!"

"Hey don't say it like that!" Mike remarked "I just don't want you to turn this trip into a murder mystery" Rolling his eyes. Now that was a novel concept: a love story turned murder mystery. That would be a thrilling read, keeping that in mind so he could write that down one day.

It was somewhat ironic to Will, that he was sent to a comic book considering in the future he wanted to be an artist, more specifically a comic book artist; although now he had bigger problems. If he was to ever make a comic in the future it would probably pull inspiration from the situation he was currently in.

Realising he had been quiet for a long minute or two, he spoke "Yeah, well! Its giving stalker vibes"

"Stalker!" The ravenette spat

"Yes, stalker!" Will repeated

"I'm not that bad!" Mike pouted "Lucas is the stalker!"

"Hey don't speak like that about Lucas" The brunette furrowed his brows, knowing the athletic boy wasn't the type to do such a thing.

"What?" The ravenette furrowed his brows "Ohh... you don't know"

"Know what?" Will retorted

"It's an inside joke" Mike chuckled, struggling to finish his sentence without bursting out with laughter trying to keep composure "When Max first joined our school, Lucas and Dustin used to follow her like lost puppies"

"Oh..." Will nodded "Does Lucas like Max... like romantically?"

"He used to- Not so sure now..." The ravenette smiled suggesting "He might do"

"Oh..." Will frowned, but honestly something he was used to, never expecting to find someone to love; it wasn't as though he was being dramatic, more a combination of low self-esteem and social anxiety. So, whenever he had a crush on a guy it was sort of usual for him to just expect them to be straight, so the heartbreak hurt less and for Will it was a feeling he knew all too well in Lenora.

The boy shook his head casting out his thoughts "So umm should we go?"

"Oh wait I want to give you somethi-" Mike spoke suddenly being cut off by a figure running their way screaming causing the ravenette's mouth to scrunch

"HEY WILL!" A voice called from a few meters seeing the athletic boy waving his left arm around with his other clutching his camera. "Speak of the devil" Will chuckled under his breath waving back.

"Can I take pictures of you now? The beach has the best lighting" Lucas beamed carefully scanning the boy's face while he spoke "Remember you promised to help?"

"Umm yeah of course!" The brunette smiled bright, even if Lucas was straight and liked a girl in the comic, he wouldn't be bitter or angry; just happy to spend time with the boy he had a silly crush on.

The small boy also wanted to spend time with the ravenette who has been on his best behaviour since yesterday, not even bickering with Max on the way here. "Hey Mike!" turning his attention over to the ravenette "Do you wanna join?"

"I was hoping it would just be the two of us-" Lucas whispered under his breath inaudable

"I'd love to" Mike cut off speaking overbearingly loud

"Yay let's go" Will chirped "Where are we going to take pictures?"

"I want to have an ocean background" The athletic boy smiled "So I'm looking for a quiet place, because I know you find it awkward to take pictures in public"

Will raised his eyebrows tilting his head to the athletic boy with wonder in his eyes; it amazed him how amazing Lucas was as a person and his attractiveness. The sun beat down on them and Lucas didn't even seem as though he was slightly affected by the heat. But then again, Will assumed it was a fact with all the characters. Now that he thought back, none of the characters he interacted with today had a single sweat droplet grace their foreheads; Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Richie and even Eddie who he just met. The boy sighed fanning himself, sweating like a pig as the bucket-hat on his head provided no shade.

"Here we go!" The athletic boy chirped looking both ways. They weren't that far from where Dustin, El and Max where, visible from where they stood. Will raised a hand high into the air shaking it around vigorously to attempt to catch at least one of his friend's attention. Suddenly a hand waved back and instantly he knew it was Dustin jumping up and down.

"Okay Will!" The athletic boy called out "Stand there!" pointing to a random spot in the middle of the beach directing him how to pose for the best possible picture consistently critiquing to check the lighting.

"How's this?" Will giggled placing a hand on the rim of his sunglasses, striking a ridiculous pose.

"Be serious Will!" The athletic boy jokingly rolled his eyes

"I am!" The brunette mocked back chuckling out loud.

"Here, Let me-" Lucas walked over, standing behind the smaller boy grabbing both his arms from behind placing them in the position he wanted; Will looked up at him, his face beet red being this close, virtually able to feel the athletic boy's breath on his neck shivering from it, feeling the tingle around his body increasing his heartbeat.

"See much better" Lucas smirked

"Can we hurry this up" Mike spat cutting off, crossing his arms standing on the side, perforating this perfect picturesque moment. Will scowled "Calm down Oscar the Grouch!" furrowing his brows as the ravenette rolled his eyes.

"It won't be that long!" gently letting go of the small boy, Lucas walked back to his camera blushing from being that close to Will; it was reckless and he knew it but something about being merely close to the brunette made him feel different as though he was the only person in a world of flat cookie-cutter characters, it wasn't clear to him what exactly he felt but it was growing inside of him.

The athletic boy shook his head, removing the thoughts from his mind; the boy's smile grew with every passing photo. He enjoyed just spending time with Will, he was a lot of fun and brought out a playful side within him, one he didn't know he possessed.

"And... That's the last one!" Lucas smiled

"Can I see them?" Will excitedly ran over, observing the photo "Don't I look amazing?" playfully throwing his hands up to present his face like a gift dramatically

"I'd give you a 2 out of 10" The ravenette rolled his eyes, in response the small boy stuck out his tongue

"Well I think you look cute!" Lucas bashfully stated

"W-wha-" The brunette was taken aback and so was Mike furrowing his brows

"I-I mean..." The athletic boy stuttered, not noticing he said that aloud. Both Mike and Will turned to face him; both confused by what he said "Your sunglasses!" abruptly shouting, pointing a finger to the small boy's head.

"My sunglasses?" Will furrowed his brows

"Yep!" Lucas smiled "I love your heart shape sunglasses!"

"Really?" The brunette smiled, taking it off his head fiddling with it in his hands "El chose them!"

"I heard my name" El sung skipping over to the group, a giant fluffy towel adorning her body, like a queen wearing a robe emerging from the shadows like a Pheonix.

"Not again!" Mike sighed, placing a hand on his head; wanting to give Will the gift he wanted to.

"Will! I need to borrow you!" The doe-eyed girl smiled

"What? Why?" The small boy tilted his head; he was so popular today, everyone wanted to speak and spend time with him fuelling his ego. At his high school the students would actively avoid him.

The girl placed a finger to the boy's lip "It's a very hush-hush operation!" whispering and scanning both ways to ensure Mike and Lucas can't hear their conversation, "I've got a code name for it!"

"A code name...?" Will replied at the same volume

"It's called codename Max!" She excitedly whispered back

"Oh, I wonder who it's about?" The brunette shrugged sarcastically

"Oh, don't be such a smart-ass" El rolled her eyes dragging the boy away a few feet

"Hey I got him first!" The ravenette whined

"Don't worry!" The doe-eyed girl waved "I'll return your boyfriend in a few minutes" seeing the small-boys face change and not even bothering to look at Mike's face.

"Hey!" Will scrunched his face "He's not my boyfriend!"

"I have pictures that say otherwise" El giggled

"What pictures?" Will scrunched his face already having a small clue what pictures she might be alluding too.

"Dustin showed me the ones he took on the train" She smiled

"I'm gonna kill Dustin the next time I see him" He raised a fist to the air gritting his teeth

"Don't be so dramatic" El jested "I need your help though... I want to ask Max to be my girlfriend- Like officially"

"I guess I'll help!" Will pouted "What do I need to do?"

"I need you to distract Max!" She explained

"Distract her?" the boy crossed his arms "What is this? A surprise birthday party?"

"Well, it's close" The girl admitted

"Wait when are you even going to ask her?" Will waved his arms around

"Like In 20 minutes" El admitted looking away

"What about all your preparations? A-and your red dress?" Will exclaimed, the dress was a real confidence booster for the young girl and knew to feel good she needed to look good. That was the only thing she talked about leading up to the trip; how she would be wearing the red dress to ask Max out and then give her the little keychain she brought in a neatly decorated area playing a collage of pictures they had taken over the past week along with music to set the atmosphere with balloons and confetti.

But the more El thought about it, the more she realised that hyping herself up, overwhelmed her; the plans she tried over the past few days failed as they were overcomplicated and convoluted; this time she would be calm, no plan, no action- just heading straight in. It was probably something Max would appreciate rather than having something elaborate and confusing.

"No preparations!" El smiled shaking her head "All I need is some time to dry off and wear the dress!" Looking both ways "I hid it in my bag" Whispering to the boy winking.

"I will be playing music though" El added "I put Dustin in charge of that!"

"Okay... Where is Ma-?" Will furrowed his brows

"ELL!" A voice called out, the doe-eyed girl's eyes widened knowing exactly who's voice that is, running around the corner to hide before being found spoilt the surprise needing a way out quick and decided to run into the distance covering her face

Will furrowed his brows, what the hell just happened? Regardless he rolled his eyes as Max made her way over

"Hey Will!" The redhead chirped

"Hi" the boy responded, scratching his arm as this is the first time he had properly spoken to Max alone; just the two of them. It was uncomfortable and now he needed to distract her in one way or another for around half an hour.

"Do you know where El is?" The redhead questioned, moving some of her wet hair away from her face, the boy awkwardly smiled not knowing what to say, having no previous time to think of a coherent and believable story

"I... have no clue" the brunette shrugged, hoping his lie came off as convincing but saw the small frown on the girl's face as she opened her mouth to answer.

"Oh.. Thanks anyway" Max whispered truing around to go look for El on her own or for someone who knew her whereabouts

"Hey!" Will stopped her from fully turning around "Is something wrong?"

"Nope! Nothing!" Max answered

"Are you sure?" He added more concerned, it was clear the girl was sad over something or at least displeased "I know something is wrong! Go on spill the beans"

The girl remained hesitant keeping her walls up toward most people but in this situation, she felt a calm around Will; like this aura he possessed was a comforting one, easy to talk to and gentle. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything!" Will chirped

"Has El ever said anything about me?" Max questioned "Like at home?"

"Why do you ask?" The brunette tilted his head

"Oh- No reason! I just wanted to know if El likes me?" The redhead asked

"I mean of course she does" Will giggled "Didn't she ask you out first" coyly stretching his words playfully

"I mean, Yeah she did..." Max sighed struggling to find the words to explain herself "I don't know but it seems like she doesn't want to be alone with me recently"

"Huh?" Will gasped "What do you mean?"

"Like you know yesterday on the trail?" Max started seeing the small boy nod "She was acting different"

"In what way?" Will asked

"Like she was avoiding me and stuff" She answered

"Maybe her feet were hurting from her heel-" He attempted to think of a plausible idea but knew why El was acting weird

"NO! This is different" Max cut off "I'm not stupid! I know when someone's avoiding me... and that's what she was doing"

"Max I can assure you she isn't-" Will responded

"Will! Please just answer the question" the redhead frowned, hanging her head low "Does she like me anymore? I'm fine with just being friends with her if she doesn't want to date"

"Max" Will spoke soft; he didn't want to expose El's secret surprise, but at the same time he didn't want to make El appear as though she didn't want the redhead. He sighed taking a deep breath before speaking "Do you wanna know what El kept asking me while we were buying all the clothes for our camping trip?"

Max nodded, scrunching her face; Why was Will randomly talking about clothes at a time like this? The boy playfully smiled "She kept asking if you would like it" pointing at the redhead

"It was 'Would Max like this dress?' and 'Would Max like this hat?' the whole time"

"She-she did?" The redhead stuttered

"Of course she did..." The small boy grinned "I can't say much but she was really excited to spend time with you. I guess she's worried of making a bad impression on you!"

"But I wouldn't-" Max exclaimed, her eyebrows raising; almost offended by the mere notion

"I know that, and she knows that, but she's just scared" Will cut off

"Scared?" Max repeated under her breath

The brunette nodded "D-don't tell her I said that though" Whispering and covering his lips while slightly giggling, the redhead did the same rolling her eyes "I'm gonna go look for her!"

"No!" Will looked down at his phone waiting for the text from El needing to keep Max distracted until instructed to.

"What?" The redhead scrunched her face

"Umm... do you want to see my secret talent?" The brunette awkwardly chuckled

"You... have a secret talent?" The redhead crossed her arms over her chest

"Yep! I can make... animal noises" Will lied stretching his words "See I can do a tractor" making a loud noise with his mouth that sounded akin to a fart; nervously smiling at his awkward joke. The redhead blinked, not knowing what to say to the small boy so she chuckled, admittedly the joke was funny even if a little bit like a dad joke. Before Will could continue this disaster conversation, he got a text on his phone fumbling it out his pocket seeing El text him to send Max over.

"El texted me! She said she's near where Dustin is!" The brunette exhaled relieved, in no way able to continue this conversation without embarrassing himself dearly, waving watching Max walk away,

"Aren't you coming?" the redhead flipped her hair away

"No! I need to... talk to Richie" He lied thinking of the first idea that came to mind, exhaling deeply once she was too far to be seen. Will looked up at the sky "Finally quiet!" a smile plastered on his face, lowering his sunglasses again leaning against the wall

"What do you need to say to Richie? Isn't he on his date?" Mike spooked the small boy

"He isn't on a-" Will stuttered, not to expose Richie as the glasses boy said to keep it a secret

"Chillax! I heard it earlier! He's on a date with some guy called Eddie" Mike rolled his eyes

"Oh! I forgot you stalked me!" The brunette mocked

"I wouldn't call it 'stalking', more like bodyguarding" The ravenette crossed his arms

"I think the courts would look at it differently" Will smirked,

"Must you always be so snarky!" Mike scoffed jokingly

"I'm sorry! I don't negotiate with stalkers" Will retorted back, jokingly turning his head away from Mike, trying to pay no mind to him

"Well, you need to look at me eventually!" Mike poked his head attempting to get the smaller boy to keep his eyes on him.

"Nope!" The brunette pouted turning his entire body away from the tall boy "Can't see you"

Mike tried again, eventually giving up grabbing both shoulders of the smaller boy, flipping him around; their faces closer than ever "Do you see me now?" speaking in a low tone, ducking a few inches to Will's height.

The brunette's eyes widened, not knowing what to do; having his crush this close to him and staring deep into his eyes, rung alarm bells in his mind telling him to get way before his heartbeat felt through his skin but the boy didn't resist, a clumsy smile gracing his lips; Mike seemed unaffected almost as though he was debating something in his mind.

Will scanned Mike's face lowering his gaze to his t-shirt slightly wet from the ocean; the boy only grew a shade redder as he could essentially see the bare skin of the ravenette. He gulped snapping his eyes back to Mike's eyes as the ravenette moved his lips to speak "Now that I've got your attention..." Speaking deep "I wanted to give you something..."

"W- What is it?" Will stuttered, mentally cursing himself for being unable to say anything without tripping over his own tongue

"Umm..." Mike let go of one shoulder while he used the other to fumble through his pocket.

"AHHHH WILL! MIKE!" A voice screamed from behind breaking up the two. Mike jumped far away startled by the sudden shrill voice seeing Dustin screaming and waving his arms around

"Oh, what now?" Mike whined annoyed, letting his hands fall hitting his thighs; just wanting to give a gift to the small boy but continuously being unable to as he was blocked by his friends constantly needing the brunette for various situations, what was it this time? Did Dustin lose his keys?

"What happened?" Will exclaimed concern washing over as his gut twisted scanning the curly haired boy's face that was white as a ghost hopping over.

"FIRE!" was all Dustin choked out of breath,

"What? Where?" The brunette's eyes widened stepping close to Dustin who grabbed both boys' wrist away with him. Will followed behind almost stumbling as he hurried with the same amount of urgency; Mike rolled his eyes, looking over at both of them until they reached the fire.

Will's eyes widened shouting, "What the hell is going on!" running over as the two girls panicked not knowing what to do, throwing sand on the fire trying to suffocate it but it wasn't working. One of the speakers caught on fire and spread to the beach towels. Will grabbed the sand buckets rushing to the ocean collecting whole buckets of water throwing it over it but accidently burning a small area on his calf but had no time to think about it rushing around.

Mike did the same as they ran back and forth until the fire eventually stopped. The group sighed, Will wiped his forehead after all that running, laying down on the hot sand stretching his limbs out

"You got hurt again" Mike furrowed his brows concerned crouching down to the brunette, scanning the leg "You're lucky it didn't hurt you too much"

"Heh looks like the stalker has a heart!" Will tilted his head "What did you want to give to me by the way?"

"Mike wanted to give you something?" Dustin chirped trying not to laugh aloud after an angry look from the ravenette

"Nothing!" Mike dismissed "I'll give it later!" 

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3582 Words

Sorryif this chapter is bad, I have exams

Stay Safe <3