Chapter Four:
The Tiger Lilly

Whatever had caused the night to go downhill wasn't known to Scotty. All he knew was it had been on a downward spiral ever since Will disappeared from the group. And because of that, the night continuously got worse and worse. Even if Scotty didn't know what was coming for him.

After minutes, that honestly felt like hours, they found Will. Unfortunately, they found him in a state of panic, hidden behind a brick staircase. He was pale with fear swirling in his eyes. He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Will?" Scotty spoke cautiously, leaning down and tentatively reaching for the shaking boy. He'd been taught how to deal with panic attacks by his grandma, and how you had to be extremely cautious with them, as to not send them spiralling deeper.

Mike, on the other hand, grabbed Will by his shoulders. "Will! Will! Will, hey, are you okay? Will, it's just me. Just me and Scotty, okay? It's us, it's just us. Will, it's just us!"

"Holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed, his eyes softening when he caught sight of the state Will was in.

Lucas followed shortly after, equally concerned for him. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know." Mike replied, giving the two a sharp look, his eye twitching as Max appeared, her Micheal Meyers mask in her right hand and her bag of candy in her left. By the look on her face, she had never bern more confused in her life. "I'm gonna get you home, okay?"

Dustin leaned forward to help, but was rudely shoved back by Mike. "I got it! I got it, okay? I got it."

"Mike, seriously?"

Scotty watched in silence, rolling his lip in between his teeth and shaking his head. Mike rolled his eyes, turning back to meet his friends' gazes. "Keep trick or treating. I'm bored anyways."

There was an edge to his tone, buried in layers of anger and annoyance. Scotty let out a puff of air, pulling the alien eye glasses from his eyes and resting them on his head. "Jesus Christ."

~~

After Will's episode, Scotty thought the night would be over. He thought maybe he could watch reruns of Family Feud and he eat an unholy amount of candy.

Quickly, that hopeful idea was shot down when his doorbell rang just after midnight. By this time, Scotty had switched to some horror movie, one with really bad acting. 

Scotty groaned, begrudgingly tossing his bag of candy to the side when the doorbell rang again. And again. And again. And again. Until whomever was at the door held down the bell, causing a perpetual dinging sound to ring around the house.

"Lay off the fucking bell!" Scotty shouted, trudging over to the door. An air of annoyance settled around him, vanishing when he peaked out the window and saw Mike standing there, still in his costume. A very distraught Mike.

Quickly, Scotty opened the door, a look of concern on his face as his eyes trailed over Mike's features. "Mike?"

"Can I.." Mike whispered, his voice cracking as he looked down to his feet. He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck and shuffling his feet. "Uh, can I come in? Please."

Scotty stepped to the side, allowing Mike in, and within minutes, he was a wreck. Seated on his couch, shaking in Scotty's arms, Mike let the tears flow freely. The events of the night had no doubt reminded him of Eleven, which had sent him back in all the progess they'd made.

"I just.." Mike breathed in shakily, another round tears pricking his eyes as he clutched the fabric of Scotty's Micheal Jackson's Thriller sweater. "I miss her.. so much. So fucking much!"

"I know." Scotty nodded, disregarding the sensation of his lungs tightening and burning. His hand rested on Mike's back, patting comfortingly, but awkwardly. "I know, Mike. It's okay."

"I want it to stop. I just.. I wanna be happy. I just want the pain.. to stop. I wanna be happy again.." He admitted wearily, raising his head from Scotty's chest. Mike gazed up at him in silence. Scotty, of course, was well aware of how close they were. And he tried, oh so desperately did he try, to ignore the nerves creeping up his spine. Of the anxiety swirling in his stomach. But it was impossible to ignore.. Especially because Mike looked so.. pretty.. in the moon light shining through the windows.

During Scotty's distraction, Mike seemed to have moved closer.. But that couldn't be right. Scotty must be imagining things-

His thoughts were cut off as Mike pressed his lips against Scotty's, kissing him desperately. He grasped the fabric of Scotty's collar, pulling him closer.

Scotty felt his heart skip a beat, and the world seemed to stop spinning on its axis. His fist tightened around the beige fabric adorning Mike as his eyes fluttered shut.

Scotty wanted this feeling to last forever. He never wanted the moment to end.. Because the boy he was so incredibly and deeply in love with, was finally kissing him. And everything felt right.. perfect, even.

But then, that moment did end, and Mike pulled away with a look of terror in his eyes. Scotty's anxiety skyrocketed as the weight of what had just happened crashed down on him. His throat dried and his heart hammered so hard and quick he was sure it would explode.

"Mike?" Scotty's voice betrayed him as it cracked, letting the emotions overwhelming Scotty pour out. "Wh-"

"I-I'm sorry!" Mike stammered over his words, scrambling out of Scotty's arms and towards the opposite end of the couch. "I shouldn't have done that! I-I.. I don't know why I did-"

Scotty's lungs tingled, the burning sensation heightening as he silently watched his best friend frantically try to explain himself.

"Mike-" Scotty reached forward for Mike, pain striking his heart when he flinched away from his touch. Mike looked everywhere but at Scotty, seeming to analyze every inch of the room that he'd been in so many times, he could name everything in it without even trying.

"Hey," Scotty spoke softly, his eyes seatching Mike's. "Don't apologize."

"But.. I kissed you." Mike said slowly, confusion overtaking his face. An internal conflict raged within him, showing clearly through his teary and bloodshot eyes.

"I know, I'm not stupid." Scotty nodded, cautiously scooting himself closer to Mike. "And it's okay."

"It's okay?" Mike repeated, blinking slowly. His cheeks were flush and his skin was patchy. A flash of rage came and went through his eyes, something Scotty almost failed to catch. "It's not okay! I-I betrayed her. I betrayed you."

"Mike," Scotty raised his hand comfortingly, dropping it when Mike flinched away again.

"No!" Standing abruptly, Mike frantically wiped the salty tears from his face as be backed away from the couch. "I-I should.. I have to go!"

"Wait-" Scotty tried, but Mike was already gone. His feet pounding against the hardwood floor as he raced towards the door, needing to get out of Scotty's house as fast as possible.

Scotty watched in silence, unable to make his body to move to stop him, no matter how much he so desperately wanted to chase after him.

He just... couldn't.

And so, there he sat. Staring helplessly at the screen of the TV, the sound of his front door slamming echoing in the now empty living room.

A violent cough suddenly shook Scotty's body, and his hand flew over his mouth as his lungs tightened, allowing little to no air in.

His face became red as he struggled to catch his breath. He gasped, his fingers digging into the couch as he leaned forward and pushed himself to his feet. Scotty reached for the table to help him to his destination, his legs beginning to feel like jelly from beneath him due to the lack of oxygen.

"Fu.." Scotty choked, accidentally knocking over a lamp in the process of trying to get to the bathroom. "Fuck."

His hand smacked against the tile wall, frantically searching for the light switch.

The lights made a low buzzing sound as his fingers grasped at the porcelain sink. He bowed over it, his throat squeezing as he struggled to hold himself up. 

Painful coughs racked his body, causing him to shake as chills shot up and down his spine. Goosebumps covered his skin and tears pricked at his eyes, rolling down his red cheeks.

Scotty's vision became spotty and dark. His knees buckled from beneath him, causing him to fall to the floor. Due to his height, he could still lean over the sink comfortably. It almost felt like something was in his throat.

After another violent cough, Scotty was sure something had left his throat. And just like that, the tightness in his lungs and throat vanished. With relief, he rested his head on the sink. He was cold, but sweat still dripped from his forehead. His eyes were tightly shut as he raised his head from the porcelain.

His eyed landed on something in the sink, and he took a double take. He shook his head, sure that he was seeing things. He pulled himself to his feet, hoping that when he stood, whatever it was that he had coughed up would be magically gone.

"What the hell.." Scotty mumbled to himself, reaching into the sink and picking up the petal, which was covered in bloody spots. Scotty immediately recognized it as a Tiger Lilly.. Mike's favorite. "What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck!"

Scotty's hands began to tremble as he dropped the petal into the sink and backed away. He raised his head, locking eyes with his reflection. Splotches of blood sprayed across his chin and cheeks.

Frantically, he wiped away the blood dripping from his mouth as he sunk to the ground.

He must be going crazy. That was the only logical excuse for this. He ate too much candy, he was on a sugar rush and now he was hallucinating things because of it.

That had to be it! Because there is no possible way he actually coughed up a flower petal.

A fucking flower petal!

Especially not Mike's favorite. The kiss must've gotten to his head. He had to be hyped up on Dopamine or Serotonin.. Anything! Anything to explain this.

Scotty struggled to piece together a logical explanation.. Maybe because there wasn't a logical explanation.

Scotty began hyperventilating as he clutched the towel hanging above him, dragging it down to himself and burying his face in it. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he hyper fixated on every sound passing through his house.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he clutched the towel close to him, feeling as if the room was suddenly closing in on him.

Scotty fell forward, crawling towards the sink. With all the strength that he could muster, he pulled himself to his feet. Peering over the edge, he crumpled to the floor again when his fears were confirmed.

Sitting around red droplets, was in fact a flower petal. And just like that, all of Scotty's fears were confirmed.

He coughed up a flower petal.

{ A/n: and it begins *eyebrows eyebrows* if you celebrate Christmas (which I do) i hope you have a safe and merry one! }

{ Edited: no but im in a car so if theres any typos dont hurt me }