WILL POV-

---- 7:26 PM ----

"Do you think this is a real flower?" The brunette questioned pointing at the vase in the middle of the table; the cafeteria was nothing like one pictured in traditional camping trips. It was attractively decorated with earthy tones: browns, and greens to resonate the outdoors complimenting an aura of calm as the sage green created a peaceful environment. Although, this degree of extravagance was expected from the comic, the students were from some of the wealthiest families in America; no clue why they lived in Indiana though...

"What do you mean?" Mike cut him out his thoughts

"I mean is the flower real...?" Will repeated "I don't know how to make it any clearer" to a shrugging ravenette

Mike and Will sat in the cafeteria for dinner; the rest of the group scattered around the area, too caught up with different activities to indulge themselves with food in this current moment. Will's stomach rumbled, hungry from all the movement he endured today looking down at his burger and fries licking his lips; he would be lying if he said the food didn't appear appetizing but refrained himself, making an oath to his friends while the ravenette munched beside him, like a cow eating cud.

The small boy waved to Dustin in line to buy Lucas's food knowing the athletic boy would be absent for a while, sorting miscategorised paperwork in the cabins; it must be difficult for Lucas, to have a lot on his shoulders basically doing the teacher's job with no pay. The brunette scanned the area some more with no clue of the girls' whereabouts, even standing up from his seat attaining a better view but accidently making-eye contact with Troy, quickly sitting down as fast as he arose.

"Just eat! They'll turn up eventually" The ravenette shrugged, too busy with his meal to really care

"I know" Will pouted turning his body around, not even touching a single morsel of his food "But they said to wait for them"

"Well! They should know when dinner is" The ravenette rolled his eyes "Just eat!" repeating the same words he said a few seconds ago causing the small boy to pout, crossing his arms in front of his chest as his leg popped up and down.

Eventually, he saw two familiar figures enter the cafeteria overdressed and strutting toward him. The boy stood up, speaking "Where have you two been?" scrunching his nose "We've been waiting!"

"He's halfway through his meal" Max joked pointing at the ravenette not even bothering to lift his head

"Yeah, Well I was waiting" Will emphasised his words, placing a hand on his chest.

"Aww don't be like that!" El jokingly pouted "We have good news and for that we brought everyone coffee"

"Okay..." The small boy sat back on his seat grabbing a coffee cup from Max's hand taking a small sip and sticking his tongue out as it scolded placing the cup back down.

"We are officially dating" The pair cheered in unison

"You mean you weren't already?" Mike scoffed, stuffing his mouth with another forkful of fries

"You knew?" The doe-eyed girl furrowed her brows, throwing her arms into the air

"Of course, I knew!" The ravenette joked "I'm not clueless" even if no one had explicitly told him, he had a hankering suspicion upon seeing Max be more open toward El; when usually hating all physical affection to essentially being the one not wanting to let go.

"Well, that's debatable!" The redhead retorted rolling her eyes taking a seat beside her new girlfriend. Minutes pass in silence as the group eat their food watching El and Max feed one another lovingly, seemingly coming natural to the pair. The brunette observed, a sad smile graced his face; happy for them but the gut in his stomach deepening wanting to be treated the same as he took off the lid of his coffee taking another sip but still bubbling hot.

Dustin finally emerged from the never-ending line, tiptoeing to the table quietly as ever placing his tray down before sneaking up behind El and Max planning on scaring them to congratulate their new relationship; his intention good "WELL DONE!"

"AHHH!" El screamed from shock

The small boy flinched from the sudden noise dropping the whole cup onto himself; the coffee burned his thighs "OH MY GOD!" Will panicked "HOT! HOT! HOT!" He yelled hopping out his seat, unsuccessfully cooling the coffee, attempting to remove the moisture; other students watched him furrowing their brows suspiciously rolling their eyes; knowing the boy had a flair for the dramatic: some called it karma, others simply didn't care.

"I have hot coffee in the family jewels" He yelled trying to fan under his shorts to cool it down, not knowing what to do as the coffee lingered; his friends' eyes widened. Dustin who scared them panicked jumping up and down, jolting in place.

Mike turned around grabbing a tissue dabbing small boy's shorts dry "Mike you're touching my dick! Stop!" flustered and annoyed "I'm gonna need to take my pants off" looking both ways before bolting from the table passing Lucas on the way.

"Hey Will!" raising his hand the athletic boy stopped in his tracks dropping his hands the boy came marching toward him

"Sorry Lucas! Can't talk" The brunette muttered rushing pass "I wet myself" running away from the cafeteria all the way into the cabin leaving the athletic boy confused and slightly amazed moving to the side.

He fumbled with the keys; the coffee had cooled, but Will hated a wet pair of pants wanting to change his entire outfit to shake the uncomfortable feeling of his clothes. Plus, he had wanted to place soothing cream on... just in case. Needing to protect the family jewels somehow.

Eventually the boy swung the door open, not even bothering to switch on the light on his way to the bathroom. Quickly, the boy dried himself, checking to see if he had any burns but luckily the layers of clothing he wore absorbed most of the moisture, leaving no physical burns so he sighed relieved; his hysteria only coming from the fact the coffee fell on him rather than the liquid being warm.

The brunette chuckled under his breath, changing his clothes, and deciding to wear sweats to be comfortable for the rest of the evening as well as preventing further burns. He took off his shirt hearing a sound from inside the cabin; his hairs stood on end. After the events of the previous days, the smallest movements kept him on edge, worried that Troy and James might come back to finish what they started in the woods and not remembering if he even closed the front door when he entered only added to his paranoia. The boy didn't have time to put his shirt on, slowly scanning the room, grabbing the shower rail clicking it out its place prepared to beat whoever was on the other side.

Peaking his head around the corner creeping up on the figure in the middle of the room; whoever it was didn't bother using the lights panicking the young brunette even further; why would any normal person enter the cabin in total darkness at this time? It could have been an intruder or an attacker and the boy needed to do something.

Charging over, Will screamed aloud in the darkness raising the handle to hit whoever was in the room, but the tall figure moved away causing the small boy to miss hitting the frame of the bed instead. Turning around, he raised the bar again before...

"WILL! WILL! IT'S JUST ME!" The figure spoke and it was clear it was Mike Wheeler. Grabbing the hands of the small boy to stop him performing another swing, walking over to the light switch. "What the hell are you doing?" furrowing his brows raising his voice slightly, out of breath panicked over almost being attacked

"What are YOU doing?" Will repeated emphasizing his words as the lights illuminated the room

"I came look for you!" The ravenette pointed

"Okay..." Will threw his hands in the air stretching his words "But why didn't you on the light?" growling the last few words

"I was trying to scare you" Mike replied

"Well, it freaking worked" The brunette deadpanned

"Did I scare you that bad?" The tall boy scrunched his face

"Give me that pole so I can hit you over the head for real!" The brunette held a hand out stepping closer. Mike stepped back; he wasn't afraid of the small boy, but Will had no shirt on, distracting him as his eyes lingered attempting to not look down at the grey sweats. He kept his gaze high at the brunette's dead expression seeing the small boy skip to a bed sitting down.

"So... did you just come here to protect me again?" Will deadpanned "I'm not a baby you know"

"I know!" Mike replied instantly scratching the back of his neck

"It's like you went from hating me to being around me all the time" The brunette chuckled looking away

"I guess you could say that" Mike shook his head. It never dawned on him until it was spelt out; it was the truth. A few weeks ago, the ravenette wanted to crush the boy between his fingers but now wanted to care and nurture him; protecting him in any way possible. "But that wasn't the main reason I came here"

"Really?" The brunette tilted his head

"Remember the thing I wanted to give you?" Mike continued upon seeing the small boy nod "I wanted to give it to you now... because I never got a chance earlier"

"Oh... okay" Will smiled "What is it?" standing up from the bed as the tall boy fumbled through his pocket, scrounging through pulling out a familiar looking item; one Will couldn't pinpoint where he had seen it before; as though it was on the tip of his tongue.

Mike held it to the sky presenting it to the small boy speaking "I brought it when we met at the mall the other day!"

"Ohh!" The brunette smiled, the revelation dawning on him; the keychain containing a book on it was the same he saw in the Jewellery shop. At the time he couldn't buy it as the budget ran out on the shopping spree

"Something in me told me to give it to El..." Mike whispered the feeling he felt inside of him; almost as though it was 'wrong' in a way to be gifting this to Will, not because he was a boy or anything... more as though something in his psyche told him this was the wrong decision. "But every time I saw it; it reminded me of you"

"...Of me?" Will's eyes widened, taken aback from the sudden gesture. Sure, Mike was nice to him recently but to think of him when looking at a specific object made Will's heart flutter; overwhelming him with emotion as a smile clumsily spread across his face

"Here!" The ravenette smiled gently gliding the keychain over. Will graciously accepted standing stiff zoning out of thoughts. This trip was a mess not in the sense that it was bad or anything: excluded the fact he was almost stabbed and scolded twice but more that the story was incoherent. This action was crucial in the comic: at the point when... Mike started to be more obvious with his feeling for El and they started to grow closer... Did- Did Mike like him?

No! That would be absurd, right? Mike wouldn't like him out of all people, he was just this random-ass boy who popped here a week ago. The ravenette was made specifically for El... He couldn't like anyone else.

"Will..." Mike questioned, placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder shaking him around

"Yeah! Sorry I zoned out" Will stuttered

"You do that a lot don't you?" The ravenette questioned

"I guess" Will shrugged "...Shall we go back to the cafeteria?"

"Maybe you should put some clothes on first" Mike pointed at the boy's chest, crossing his arms as a smirk spread across his face.

"Wha-" The brunette furrowed his brows looking down at his own shirtless body jumping up covering himself with his arms, running over to the bathroom 'Looney Toons style' slamming the door behind him locking it shut "AHHHH" placing a hand over his mouth to muffle his disgruntled voice.

"Are you okay?" Mike shouted hearing a muffled scream from the other side

"Just peachy!" Will answered totally blushing from being shirtless in front of Mike; how could he show his face after that? The ravenette saw his bare skin; Will sunk to the floor, never had he been so embarrassed in his life wanting to just explode into a puddle of goo. Leaning against the wall the boy breathed deep, grabbing his graphic tee slipping it over his head placing a hand to his chest counting his heartbeat "1, 2, 1, 2! Okay" nodding "We can do this"

The brunette stepped out the room slowly opening the door seeing the ravenette patiently wait on the bed twiddling his thumbs "Shall we go?"

"Have you got all your clothes on?" Mike remarked

"Say that to me one more ti-" Will argued raising a fist high into the sky

"Yeah, yeah I know" Mike playfully sighed "You'll fight me" rolling his eyes dragging the small boy out the cabin over to the cafeteria again

"I can walk on my own, you know?" The brunette spat

"I know..." The ravenette grinned "It's easier this way! You walk way too slow" emphasising his point, causing Will to stick out his tongue stopped by his teacher standing at the entrance of the cafeteria.

"BOYS!" Mr Clark crossed his arms "Where have you been?"

"Sorry! I was just changing my clothes" Will answered scratching the back of his neck

"Yes, he had a bit of an accident" Mike mocked nodding

"It might sound a bit weird but I wet myself!" Will spoke but upon realising stumbling over his words "It wasn't because I peed myself" releasing himself from Mike's grasp, waving his arms around manically trying to prove his point but honestly just making the teacher assume he did in fact have an 'accident'.

Dustin ran up to them somehow shooing Mr Clark away "I thought you died!"

"I left for five minutes" The brunette deadpanned

"More like twenty" The curly haired boy scoffed "I was worried"

"Calm down Mum!" Will jokingly rolled his eyes "But I do need to talk to you"

"Oh... What about?" Dustin furrowed his brows

"It's... a secret manner" Gritting through his teeth so Mike couldn't understand, dragging the curly haired boy away seeing the ravenette's confused look from a short distance away. Mike didn't ask questions; it was the one thing he learnt when dealing with the brunette. Shrugging, he stomped to the cafeteria alone.

Upon reaching an isolated area of the camp-grounds, Dustin was confused to say the least; the only time Will acted like this before was when the portals appeared in the sky... Preparing for the worst, the curly haired boy gulped the lump in his throat ready to absorb the information to be imparted.

Will let go of Dustin's arm flipping around to face him "... I think Mike has a crush on me" 

-------------------------------

2574 Words

Stay Safe <3