Without anyone noticing, Will and Frankie had managed to escape to the swing set they met at. Will feels weird about everything going on around him, he doesn't even know where to start.

Oh, wait. Yes he does.

"Who was the person standing next to you in class today? I know you saw them— you were talking to them. And who were those people on Halloween? Mike walked right through one of them— no one else can see them, but you can—" Will frantically starts.

Frankie stares at him in shock.

"You can see them?!" She interrupts, "without the piano?!"

"The piano?"

The next few minutes are filled with Frankie explaining everything. Halloween, the piano solo, the ghosts, how Steve knows now.

"—but the only way others can see them in ghost form, is with the piano solo— but you can see them without it?!" Frankie exclaims, nearly falling off her swing.

Will is silently trying to wrap his head around everything.

"I-I— yes."

"That would be because you're in love with him," Tony casually states, appearing behind Frankie.

Will lets out a terrified scream and falls back, out of his swing.

Alex appears, crouching beside him.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" It questions.

Will screams again, standing up and frantically grabbing onto Frankie. Frankie is laughing hysterically, holding her stomach.

"You guys scared the crap out of him!" Frankie snorts.

Wait.

"I'm not in love with him, Tony!" Frankie defends, realizing the ghosts accusations.

"Are so," Tony hums.

Frankie rolls her eyes.

"Will, this is Tony. And that's Alex," she gestures to the two ghosts.

Will nods a little, still trying to take in everything.

"And you're ghosts?"

"Indeed," Alex hums.

Will opens his mouth to answer more questions, but they disappear in a blink of the eye.

"They do that a lot," Frankie explains, "they come and go as they please."

"Well, this is weird. I've been through weird things, but this is weird."

Frankie coughs a little, suddenly feeling as though her throat is dry. One cough turns into 4, then 6, then 9, then until it's enough to be considered an asthma attack.

Will's eyes widen.

"Are you alright?" He questions, patting the girl's back.

She softly nods as her coughing subsiding. When she pulls her away from her mouth, however, it is drenched in blood.

"That doesn't look alright," Will panic-fully states.

"I'm fine, this always happens around this time of the year," Frankie hums, pulling tissues out of her bag. Will watches as she cleans off her hands.

"Is it because you opened the spiritual gate thingy on halloween?" He asks.

"Yeah," she giggles.

A comfortable silence hands over them for the next few minutes. Will sits back at his swing. Frankie intertwines their hands.

"I know the truth," she softly says.

Will turns to her with a confused expression.

"What?" He confusedly inquires.

"I know you didn't really get lost in the woods, sweets."

Will stares at her horrified.

He knows Steve had to have told her. No one else would. Does she hate him for lying? Why does he care if she hates him? Why is his heart beating so fast? Does she think differently of him?

"You hate me now, don't you?" He softly asks, pulling his hand away from hers.

Frankie turns to him with an astonished expression.

"Why would I hate you?" She asks.

"Because I lied. And friends don't lie," he frowns.

Frankie stands up from her swing, and places herself in front of his. She leans down, putting their faces inches away from each other. Will blushes profusely and awkwardly stares into the girl's eyes. His gaze shifts every once in a while from nervousness.

"Will Byers, you are such a good friend," she whispers.

"Why?"

"Lets start with the fact that you skipped class for me," she laugh, pulling her face away from him. Will smiles a little.

"Everything is so crazy," he murmurs.

"Yeah," Frankie agrees.

"How come I can see the ghosts without your special solo?" He curiously asks.

"Didn't you hear?" Frankie hops back onto her swing, "Tony said it's because I'm in love with you."

Will blushes and turns to her.

Frankie winks.

"So tell me, are my feelings unrequited?"

Is she being serious? Is this a joke?

"Uh– u-um, are– are you joking?" He nervously questions, fiddling with his fingers.

"Depends," she hums, blushing as well, "answer my question, and I'll answer yours." Will takes a few minutes to think about what to say next. He really tries to think up the perfect sentence to answer her with.

-
*Flashback*

Jonathan is setting up the table for dinner as Will and his mom enter the house. They seem to be bickering about something, so Jonathan tunes in.

"I'm just saying," Joyce giggles, and pinches her sons cheeks, "if she isn't your girlfriend, then why did you have to lie to me to hang out with her!"

Jonathan immediately catches onto what they're speaking about.

"Because! I didn't want you to freak out," Will defends, "Jon, defend me!"

Jonathan smirks lightly as everyone sits around the table. He shrugs his shoulders and Will before saying, "I don't know Will, you were giving Frankie quite a look."

Joyce laughs as she serves herself.

Will blushes and rolls his eyes.

"What's so wrong with it anyway?" Joyce asks as she passes Will a plate of food, "what if you were dating the girl? What would be wrong with it? She seems nice."

"I can't," Will grumbles, picking at his food. Joyce raises an eyebrow.

"Why not?" Jonathan asks before shoving a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth.

"Because," he begins to explain, "it's the rule of law. Mike would kill me!"

Joyce laughs and shakes her head a little.
"You can't let Mike dictate your life!"

"I'm not!"

"Then ask the girl out!"

"W-What?!"

Jonathan nods in agreement with his mothers advice. It felt nice to know that Will had a love interest, and that he wasn't being mistreated by the females in his school.

"She seems pretty cool," Jonathan cuts in, "ask her out before someone else does."

Will silently picks at his food, contemplating their advice.

"What if she says no?" He hums.

"She won't!" Joyce insists, "you're way too cute to pass up."

"Mooooom," Will whines.

"I don't think she'll say no," Jonathan assures, "I can tell she really likes you."

Will raises an eyebrow, "how can you tell?"

"Well, I saw you two holding hands—"

"They were holding hands?!" Joyce chirps, overly excited to hear about it.

"Mooooom!"

-

"What happens if I say I like you?" Will asks nervously.

Frankie blushes.

"I'd say I like you back."