Chapter One:
Burning

"I miss her."

"I know, Mike." Scotty huffed, rolling his eyes and glancing up at the boy from over the comic book in his hands. Mike laid in Scotty's bed, his raven hair falling messily on his plaid pillow case as his eyes cast up towards his ceiling. A frown permanently etched itself onto his face, an expression that hadn't faded since Eleven vanished months ago.

The fan buzzed from beside him, a sound that Scotty had learned to drown out because of the countless summers that their air conditioning had gone out. To others, the sound of a buzzing fan might be irritating, but to Scotty, it was comforting. It reminded him of home. He quite liked the sound, it had become something like a lullaby that a mother would sing to her tired child, and without it he had trouble falling asleep.

They'd never been the luckiest with air conditioning and heating due to the faulty wiring in their house, there was always something that seemed to be 'out-of-order'. Scotty never minded, and he was thankful that his friends never minded it either.

Lucas had his complaints, but after Mike had not so subtly told him to drop it, the complaints stopped. Will never said a word, but he invited him over as often as possible to get the boy out of the insufferable heat that July mercilessly blanketed the town with or the below freezing temperatures of late December and early January.

The silence looming over the duo wasn't uncommon. Their friendship was filled with silences, none that Mike nor Scotty minded. After all, they didn't need to talk to enjoy each others company, or to even communicate. The pair of boys had a quiet understanding of one another, something that no one else seemed to understand. Not that they needed to. Mike and Scotty's connection was theirs, and theirs alone. Silence and all.

In fact, Scotty quite enjoyed the silent moments in their friendship. It gave him time to think, time to ignore his problems, and time to study Mike. To count the freckles that painted his cheeks. If he looked at him just right, and from the right angle, he could almost make out a constellation.

"Do you think-" Mike started, pursing his lips and interrupting his own sentence with a sharp inhale. "Do you think that she-"

"That she's still alive?" Scotty cut him off, snapping the comic book shut and raising his eyebrows in questioning. Mike nodded, shifting on the bed awkwardly. The blankets wrinkled with his movements, bunching up under the weight of Mike's body.

"Yeah," Mike let out, biting his lip and raising his head to meet Scotty's eyes. Scotty's opinions and ideas had always been important to Mike, he'd find himself looking towards the older boy for guidance. It's just something that had always come naturally to him, he hardly even noticed that he'd been doing it. "Do you?"

"Honestly.." Scotty trailed off. Mike watched him with a hopeful expression. A twang of pain shot through Scotty, ending in his heart and lungs. He ignored the stinging pain in his lungs, blaming it on his asthma, as he thought over his answer carefully.

The last thing Scotty wanted to do was to hurt Mike, but he knew there was no getting out of hurting him in this instance. Saying no would break his heart without a doubt, while saying yes would only give the boy a false sense of hope when Eleven inevitably didn't return. He would only wind up hurt in the end with that answer.

"Yeah." Mike squeaked, nodding his head meekly. He folded his hands in his lip, his fingers gripping the fabric of his shorts. "Honestly, please."

"I don't know." Scotty answered finally, rolling his lips inbetween his teeth.

Mike grimaced, letting his head fall back. Clearly, that wasn't the answer he was hoping for.

Silence once again took over, the only sound coming from the fan that gently blew Scotty's jet black hair out of his eyes.

Mike listened as Scotty mumbled the words of whatever Marvel comic book he read under his breath, barely audible over the sound of the fan. He'd noticed that it was something Scotty had always done over the three years he'd known him.

Lucas and Dustin thought it was annoying, but Mike didn't. It was endearing, really. It was a part of who he was.

"It's been two-hundred twenty-five days."

Scotty sighed, once again snapping the comic book shut and raising his head to meet Mike's eyes. He tossed the comic book beside him, leaning back and digging his elbows into the neon orange beanbag chair he sat in. "Just over seven months."

"Seven months." Mike repeated, breathing out in disbelief. "Wow."

"Mm." Scotty hummed as he puffed his cheeks out, "Wow."

Mike shifted again, rolling on his side to face Scotty. He watched him in silence, the awkward tension growing heavy as Scotty picked the comic book to read again. "Which one is that?"

"Uh.." Scotty flipped the book over to read the title. "Nine."

"No way!" Mike shot up, nearly toppling off of the bed as he sat on his knees. "You got the new one?"

"Yeah!" Scotty answered, excited to have the subject changed and switched away from Eleven. "I'm almost done with it, then you can borrow it "

"Really?" Mike asked, eagerly pulling the comic book from Scotty's hands.

"Really." Scotty confirmed with a nod. Mike grinned, looking up to meet Scotty's eyes. Scotty's heart warmed and for a moment, the burning in his lungs stopped.

"El would love this.." Mike sighed sadly, holding the comic book close to his heart. The burning returned immediately, spreading through his lungs.

"Right." Scotty scoffed, rolling his eyes as he leaned back until he fell, letting his arms spread out beside him. "'m sure she would."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike challenged, raising his eyebrows.

"Nothing, Mike." Scotty sighed out, a violent cough leaving his lips. He shot up, tumbling forward onto his knees as he struggled to inhale.

"Scotty?" Mike stood quickly, worry piercing his heart as he dropped to his knees beside him.

Scotty's fingers dug into the carpet as he rested his forehead on the floor. "Mi-Mike.."

"Is it your asthma? Do you have your inhaler? Where is it?" Mike began to frantically pat himself down, "Shit! I left it at home."

Scotty waved him off, slowly sitting back. He shakily wiped his mouth and shook his head. His heart pounded against his chest and his head throbbed. The burning in his lungs continued, somehow feeling worse than it did moments ago.

"You alright?" Mike watched his best friend in concern. "Should I call your mom? Your dad? Grandma?"

"No! No, I'm good." Scotty wheezed, raising his hand to his chest. "It's my asthma."

{ A/n: first chapter !! please vote and/or comment, it really does motivate me to update these! a little on the shorter side tonight but no biggie they'll be longer, promise. }

{ Edited: no }