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𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝓾𝓮:
"𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑."

╚═════ ∘◦ ミ ☾ ◦∘ ══════╝

hawkins, indiana. circa 1984.

ANXIETY COURSED THROUGH the veins of Mackenzie Tate as she watched Will Byers lay strapped to the bed inside Hopper's cabin in the woods. Sweat dripped down her entire body from the multiple heating elements that surrounded him. Will's mind had been taken over by the Mind Flayer and one thing that it didn't like was heat. Joyce Byers was convinced that this plan of putting Will close to fire could help get rid of it. However, Mackenzie was worried. If they hurt the Mind Flayer, could that also mean that they would hurt Will in the process? The poor boy had already been trapped in the Upside Down, he didn't need to go through this as well.

Next to her stood Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler. Mackenzie knew that Nancy's little brother, Mike, along with the rest of Mackenzie's friend group, were staying back at the Byers household. They had wanted her to stay with them, and she wanted to, especially after the return of Eleven (that's a long story), but Mackenzie had to stay with Will. She had felt compelled to. Maybe it was because they were best friends, or maybe it was because of the deep crush she'd had on him since they were little. She didn't know. All she knew is that she would stick by his side no matter what.

Will awoke with a start. He looked around, obviously confused, before locking eyes with Mackenzie. The girl's breath hitched as she stared at him.

"What's happening?" he asked, beginning to thrash to try and free himself. "It hurts! It hurts!"

She tugged on the collar of her orange sweater to try and incorporate more air on her as Will screamed for them to let him go. She felt Nancy's hand intertwine with her own. Mackenzie squeezed it a minimal amount and tried to stop the breaking of her heart.

Something seemed to have snapped inside of Joyce. She walked over to each of the heating elements and turned them to the highest they could possibly go.

"Mom," Jonathan protested.

"No!" Joyce yelled back.

Will screamed even louder. Jonathan turned away and buried his head into Nancy's shoulder, no longer wanting to watch. Tears began to fall down Mackenzie's cheeks as she stared at the boy thrashing on the bed. She hoped the stupid Mind Flayer was making its way out of his body, but there was no signs of that happening at the moment.

"It's not working," Jonathan announced. "It's not working! Mom, are you listening to me?"

"Just wait!" she exclaimed.

"How much longer?" Jonathan pointed at his little brother, who was still convulsing, in exasperation. "Look at him!"

"Jonathan, just wait!"

"You're killing him!"

Will's screams faded to a buzzing noise in her ears. Mackenzie remembered how sad, how . . . broken she felt when they thought Will was dead the first time. She never wanted to experience that again.

Jonathan walked up to go free him from his bounds.

Joyce tried to stop him. "No, leave it!"

"Mom, you're killing him!"

Mackenzie began to notice black veins appearing on Will's neck. A ray of hope shone through her heart, almost like sunshine after a rainstorm.

"Guys!" she screamed. "Look at his neck!"

Will's body shook tremendously and an eerie noise spilled out of his mouth. One of his arms broke free and he rolled over. Joyce got on top of his body to try and pin him down again, but Will's arm shot up and wrapped his hand around her neck. Her eyes widened as she began to choke. She tried to pull his hand away from her. Jonathan rushed to her aid and tried to stop Will from choking their mother.

Mackenzie let out a sob. "No!"

She had to think fast. Her and Nancy shared a panicked look. Mackenzie began to look around frantically before running to the fireplace. She pulled out the fire poker they were heating up, its metal now red-hot. Mackenzie closed her eyes, and even though she didn't want to, she poked the hot metal into the side of Will's stomach.

Will let go of Joyce's neck. He began to thrash again as Joyce moved backwards to try and breathe normally. She soon came to her senses and stood back up, leaning over Will.

"Get the hell out of my son!" Joyce screamed.

Mackenzie clenched the knife, making her knuckles turn white. Her chest suddenly felt tight. Her mind began to spin as Will screamed even louder than before. She was sure they would haunt her forever.

Black swirls of smoke suddenly spiraled out of Will's mouth. Mackenzie dropped the knife in shock as it suddenly all came together and broke down the door. She chased after it with Nancy right behind her. The Mind Flayer disappeared into the cool night air, no longer able to be seen through the trees.

"Is it gone?" Mackenzie asked timidly.

Nancy let out a deep breath. "I'm not sure, Kenz. But it's gone from Will, that's for sure."

Will. Mackenzie turned around to see Joyce and Jonathan hugging him tightly on the bed. Her bottom lip trembled as she walked over to them. They let Will go and moved so that Mackenzie could sit on the bed in front of him.

"Mack," Will let out.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Mack. The nickname reserved only for him. Most people opted to call her Kenz or Kenzie, but Will was the only one in the world to ever call her Mack. Mackenzie surged forwards and wrapped him a tight hug. She felt him cry into his shoulder, but it didn't matter because she was doing the same.

"I'm so sorry," he sobbed.

"It's not your fault," she whispered. She pulled away and cupped his face in her hands gently. "You're safe now, okay? Nothing is going to hurt you like that ever again, I promise. Not on my watch."

Will let out a sigh and collapsed into her arms once more. Mackenzie rubbed his back softly with her fingernails.

Neither of them new how long they had sat on that bed hugging each other, but it didn't matter. Will was back and free from the monster that consumed him.

༻✦༺༻✧༺༻✦༺

one month later.

MACKENZIE AND WILL stood outside Hawkins Middle School. The skirt of her pretty red plaid dress ruffled in the chilly wind of winter. It was the day of the Snow Ball, and even though none of them had officially asked each other, it was kind of a given that they would go together. That's what best friends do, right?

She glanced over at him. "Are you sure?"

"Mack," Will complained.

"You've just been through a lot. I don't want you to push yourself to get better right away. Whenever you're ready, remember?"

"Mackenzie," he insisted. "Please, can we just go inside?"

She sighed. "Tell me not to worry."

He looked at her, locking their eyes together. "Don't worry. I'm going to be okay."

With a small nod of her head, they walked inside. After checking in with Mr. Clarke, they walked into the gymnasium that was decorated blue and silver with gold Christmas lights strung around. Will latched onto Mackenzie's hand to drag her through the crowd. They finally approached a table where Mike Wheeler, Max Mayfield, and Lucas Sinclair were sitting. All of them greeted each other as Mackenzie and Will sat down, letting go of each other's hands.

Dustin Henderson suddenly walked up to the table, giving them a spin. His hair was slicked back in some places, giving him a completely different look.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Mike asked as all of them stood up.

Dustin's face turned into one of confusion. "What do you mean what happened?"

"What?" Mike questioned back.

"Dude," Lucas began.

"Your hair!" Max exclaimed.

Lucas reached out to touch it. "Is there a bird nesting in there?"

Dustin moved his hands away. "What do you mean what's wrong with my hair? There's no bird nesting in here, asshole. Okay? I worked hard."

"Come on, I think it looks nice." Mackenzie turned to Dustin with a smile. "You look very handsome, Dustin."

"Thank you, Kenzie." He looked to the rest of the group. "At least someone appreciates me."

A slow song suddenly came on. Multiple people without dates moved off the dance floor as the couples made their way on and began swaying with each other. This was now or never. Mackenzie, while ignoring how Max and Lucas were making their way on the dance floor, was just going to offer her hand to Will to dance when a random girl from their grade came up to them.

"Hey, Zombie Boy," she said. "Do you want to dance?"

Mackenzie's face fell. She looked down at her hands and began twiddling her thumbs. However, she couldn't understand why she was so upset. Will was free to dance with whoever he wanted. Yet Mackenzie still couldn't stop her heart from slightly breaking.

"Um, sorry, I actually already have a dancing partner."

Mackenzie lifted her head up slowly. She looked at the girl, who probably looked just as surprised as Mackenzie felt.

"You do?" asked the girl.

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's Mack."

The corners of Mackenzie's mouth turned upwards in a smile as the girl walked away. Will held out her hand to her, and Mackenzie took it. The two went out onto the dance floor, Mackenzie winding her arms around his neck and Will resting his hands comfortably on her waist. They began to sway to the music together.

"You didn't have to," Mackenzie said.

Will looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You could've danced with her."

He shook his head. "I didn't say no because you would be alone if I went with her. I said no because I wanted to dance with you, Mack."

Mackenzie felt her cheeks flush red as she moved closer to him. The two danced the night away, and even through Max and Lucas sharing a kiss and Eleven (who had showed up) and Mike finally kissing, Mackenzie's only focus was on Will.

Maybe it was all in her head, but she was certain that after the dance, her and Will felt a little more than just friends.

☾ ★ ☽

welcome to midnight! my name's kelly and I love will byers with all of my heart. that's all. have a good day :)