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Mike hurried over to the front door, checking his appearance in the mirror as he passed by it. He was dressed in an orange jacket and tan pants and he had slicked his hair back in an attempt to mimic Ezra Bridger's hair in Star Wars Rebels . It was the week before Halloween and Mike's family, sans his dear father from whom his mother was happily divorced, was hosting a Star Wars themed Halloween party. Everyone would be dressed as Star Wars characters, from all of the eras in the films, video games and TV shows.
When Mike opened the door, he was greeted by Will dressed as Luke Skywalker from A New Hope , Joyce and Jim dressed as the older Han and Leia, El dressed as Ahsoka Tano while Jonathan was dressed as a younger Han Solo.
"Wow, you guys look great!" Mike exclaimed, beaming at the Byers family.
"You do too, Mike!" Will replied, grinning at Mike before he leaned forward and gave Mike a kiss on the cheek.
Mike blushed profusely; he still wasn't quite used to the fact that he and Will were dating; they had only officially gotten together at the end of summer after spending the whole break dancing around their feelings. Luckily Mike had summed up the courage to confess his feelings for Will, only for Will to pull a Han Solo and tell him "I know."
"Come in, everyone, come in," Mike said, shaking himself out of his thoughts.
"We brought some cookies and other goodies for everyone," Joyce said, lifting up the plate of food she was carrying. "And Jim's got everything he needs to whip up some burgers and hot dogs if it's too windy out to use the fire pit."
"We could use both," Mike said, giving Joyce a smile. "After all, once Dustin gets here, we know he's gonna end up hogging all of the hot dogs at the fire pit."
Everyone roared with laughter at Mike's remark as they followed him through the living and to the backyard, which was set up for the party. Several tables were set up, with chairs surrounding them, and various Halloween decorations were hung up around the yard, including ghosts hung up on the fence and a few skeletons and ghosts spread throughout the yard.
"There she is!" Jonathan exclaimed when he spotted Nancy. He hurried over to her and gave her a quick kiss. Nancy was dressed as a younger Leia, with the hair buns to match her outfit.
"Hello, Byers family!" called Karen, smiling at everyone. She was dressed as Vice Admiral Holdo from The Last Jedi, complete with a purple wig that could have doubled as her normal hair. "We just finished putting the final touches on everything. Help yourselves to any snacks!"
Jim and Joyce busied themselves with putting down the food they had brought while Mike, Will and El headed to the fire pit, where Karen had already started a fire.
"Where's Holly?" El asked, glancing around for the youngest Wheeler.
"She's finishing getting ready," Mike said. "She wanted to make sure her hair was perfect before she came out here."
"Who is she dressed as?" asked Will, reaching over and curling his fingers in Mike's hand.
"She's dressing as Master Avar Kriss from the High Republic series," Mike explained. "We haven't seen Master Avar in live action yet, so it'll be interesting to see what Holly came up with."
Just then, Holly came through the back door and started walking toward them. She was dressed in some light tan Jedi robes that billowed in the wind around her. She had also done something to her hair that kept it from blowing around. Holly was also carrying a green lightsaber with her.
"Wow, Holly, you look great!" El exclaimed when Holly reached the group.
"Thanks, you do too, El," Holly said. "But are you Jedi Ahsoka or Rebels Ahsoka?"
"Oh, definitely Rebels Ahsoka," El replied with a grin. "I brought some white lightsabers with me, so maybe we'll have a duel."
"Ooooh, that goes perfect with Mike being Ezra and Will being Luke from A New Hope ," Holly said. "Did you guys plan it like that?"
"Nope," Will said, shaking his head. "We just all showed up like this. Guess great minds think alike, huh?"
"Yeah," said Holly, nodding. "I can't wait to see what everyone else is dressed as!"
For the next little while, the group gathered around the fire pit and started making chatter as they waited for the rest of The Party to arrive. Dustin arrived first and he had on a black cloak and hood that obscured most of his face.
"Execute Order 66," Dustin said in a passable imitation of The Emperor's voice.
Steve showed up next, dressed as Anakin Skywalker from Revenge of the Sith . He had on the dark robes of Anakin and had done up his hair the way Hayden Christensen did in that film.
Max and Lucas arrived right after Steve. Max was dressed as Rey, using her look from The Last Jedi with the gray robes she wore in that film. Lucas was dressed as Finn and was wearing the jacket that used to belong to Poe in The Force Awakens .
"Damn you guys look good!" Dustin exclaimed, breaking character when he saw them.
"Of course we do," Max said, quickly fixing her hair. "And are you supposed to be my grandfather?"
"That I am," Dustin said, returning to his Palpatine voice.
"And how exactly did you survive your death on the second Death Star?" Lucas asked, looking rather amused.
"Didn't you listen to what The Emperor said at the beginning of Rise of Skywalker ?" Dustin asked. "'The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities, some consider to be...unnatural.'" Dustin said, imitating the Emperor. "He was saying that he used the Dark Side to save himself and create a clone body that preserved his spirit after death. It's all implied in his dialogue in that movie and when he seduces Anakin to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith."
"If you say so," Lucas said before he and Dustin started bickering.
The last to arrive at the party was Robin and her girlfriend Bianca. Robin was dressed as the Jedi Bastila Shan from Knights of the Old Republic , while Bianca was dressed in black clothing and was cosplaying as a female Revan from the same game. The two looked spectacular together.
Once everyone had arrived, the celebration began. Jim started up the grill and started making hamburgers, while the fire pit was reserved for cooking hot dogs using roasting sticks. Dustin even snuck in a s'more before he was jokingly reprimanded by Karen for starting on dessert early, though she winked at him before she walked away.
When they all had their food, The Party gathered around the fire pit, sitting away from the smoke that was blowing in the breeze.
"So where's Erica?" Will asked before he started digging into his food.
"Oh she decided she wanted to go to another party some of her DND friends were hosting," Lucas said, rolling his eyes slightly. "She seemed to think that party would be less nerdy than this one."
"When will she accept that she's a nerd?" Dustin asked, grabbing a napkin to wipe off the ketchup that had found its way to the corner of his mouth.
"Hey, it did take Mike and Will forever to admit their feelings for each other," Max said with a smirk. "Maybe Erica inherited their brain cells."
"Hey!" Mike said, miming throwing his hot dog at Max.
"Anyway, have you guys heard of that haunted field thing they got going on in town?" El asked.
"Yeah, I've heard some stuff about it," said Will. "They've got a bunch of scares spread throughout the field outside and they even let people into the house, which is set up like a haunted mansion."
"Oooh, that sounds like the shit!" Max exclaimed. "We should totally go!"
"When?" asked Mike.
"What about tonight?" Dustin suggested. "I mean we've got plenty of time since it's still early in the evening. We can change out of our costumes and then pile into Mike's mom's minivan and then head over."
"Bold of you to assume my Mom will let us borrow the van," Mike said.
"I think I can convince her," Dustin said with a sly smile before he stood up and walked over to the table where the adults had gathered and were eating their food.
"Oh lord, what's he gonna come up with?" asked El.
"Knowing him, he's gonna put on his 'Dustin puppy face' and beg Mrs. Wheeler to let us borrow the van," said Lucas, grimacing slightly.
The rest of The Party only had to wait another minute before Dustin marched back over to them, a satisfied look on his face.
"Told you guys it would be easy," he said triumphantly. "The only concession is El has to drive since she's the one who's been driving the longest and she's the one with a police chief for a Dad."
"I can do that," El said, grinning.
"I mean, technically I have the police chief for a Dad, too," Will said. "Might be a step dad, but I still call him Dad."
"Yeah, but El has been driving longer than you," Mike pointed out, trying to be helpful. Will glared at him slightly before he smirked.
"I guess you got me there," Will said.
"Well we better hurry up and finish eating and then get changed so we can go," said El. "You know that mofo is gonna be busy as hell on a Saturday night."
It was a good thing The Party had listened to El's suggestion that they hurry up and ditch the Halloween party to get to the Field of Screams. When they arrived, there was already a rather long line of people waiting to go into the fields for the first half of the experience. The Party quickly jumped out of the Wheeler's minivan and headed over to the ticket booth, buying their tickets into the field before joining the line.
"You know, we should probably go in two at a time," El said, glancing toward the front. "It looks like they aren't letting big groups in at once."
"Oooh, I call us going first," Max said, grabbing Lucas' hand and walking in front of El and Dustin.
"Guess it's the two of us, huh, El?" Dustin said. "All the lovebirds will go in together."
"Yeah, but we're the most fun duo," El said with a smirk.
"I heard that!" Will said from behind El and Dustin. He grinned when he heard El and Dustin giggling at each other. He turned to Mike. "Are you ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Mike said, grinning at Will. "You know I've wanted to go to this thing for a couple of years now; don't know why we've never been before now."
"It's gonna be a fun time," Will said, nodding.
After about half an hour, The Party was finally at the front of the line to be admitted into the Field of Screams. Max and Lucas went in first, holding hands as they walked in. Dustin and El followed a few moments later, both of them looking determined as they entered the field. Finally, Mike and Will followed Dustin and El, locking arms as they walked into the fields.
As was expected, the field of screams contained mostly jump scares designed to give each patron a good fright. Several actors dressed in various spooky costumes would jump out from behind the corn and scream out, causing most of the people who were walking through the field to scream in terror. Several times, Will jumped so much he nearly pulled himself off of Mike, but Mike kept Will's balance steady and they kept walking, squinting ahead to check if they could see Dustin and El in front of them.
When they reached the second half of the experience, which would take place in the home, they had a glance of Dustin and El walking into the house, before they heard El yell when something scared her. Mike and Will grabbed hands as they followed their friends into the house. They were inside for about a split second before someone dressed as a mummy jumped out, shrieking. Will jumped at the sight of the mummy while Mike flinched away from the mummy, nearly losing his grip on Will's hand.
The mummy quickly disappeared into the darkness again, and Mike and Will followed on. Whoever owned the home had gone to extreme lengths to decorate the home for this part of the experience. The house definitely looked like it was a haunted mansion.
About halfway through the home, they came to an indoor pool. Mike and Will saw Dustin and El walking into the next room just as the two boys were walking into the pool. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until they looked closer at the pool. Inside, someone was floating, with their make up done as if they had been bleeding. Will flinched slightly until he saw the actor's chest rising steadily; it was clear to him that this was all part of the act.
Mike, however, had noticeably stiffened upon seeing the actor in the water. Will frowned as he glanced over at Mike and saw Mike was staring hard at the actor, his mouth pursed.
Just then, the actor jumped up, making zombie noises as he splashed water at Mike and Will. Will shrieked in terror before he laughed it off as the actor grinned at them before he started floating again, waiting for the next guests to scare. Mike remained silent and he was still stiff as he walked alongside Will to the door that would lead them out of the pool. Mike didn't even react when Will grabbed his hand again.
"Mike, are you okay?" Will demanded in a soft voice.
Mike didn't respond, simply staring off into space. Will started to panic slightly.
"Mike," he said a slightly raised voice. Still no response. "Mikey!" Will nearly shouted.
Suddenly, Mike seemed to snap out of a trance and he turned to look at Will. It was like Mike had only just realized that Will was trying to talk to him.
"Will," Mike croaked as he raised his hand and put it on Will's face, as if daring to believe that Will was there with him.
"Yeah, Mikey, it's okay," Will said. "It was just an actor floating in the pool. It's okay. We can keep going."
Mike took several breaths to try and slow down his breathing and heart rate. After several moments, his face relaxed and he nodded at Will.
"All right, let's catch up with the others," Will said, gripping onto one of Mike's hands and lacing their fingers together. Mike let out a breath when this happened, and Will noticed tension leaving Mike's shoulders. Will smiled to himself as he led Mike out of the pool room and into the next room of the house.
The rest of The Party were about a hundred yards from the door to the pool and seemed to be waiting for Mike and Will. When they saw Mike, each of them seemed to realize something had happened.
"Mike, are you okay?" El asked gently.
Mike nodded wordlessly.
"Are you sure?" Max asked. "You don't look so good."
"I'm fine, guys," Mike said in a quiet voice.
"Seriously, Mike, we don't have to keep going," Lucas said. "We can stop if you want."
"No, no," Mike said hurriedly and trying to put on a neutral face. "We don't have to stop. I'm fine, guys, really. Just kinda creeped out by that dude in the pool."
"You sure?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Mike said, doing his best to muster up a grin. "It just reminded me of this weird dream I've had before; that's all. It was kinda uncanny how similar it was, but it's all good."
Finally, that seemed to convince the rest of The Party. The two other duos lined up and started to walk toward the next part of the house. Once everyone else was out of earshot, Will turned to Mike.
"Are you sure?" he whispered.
"Yes," Mike replied, squeezing Will's hand. "As long as I'm with you, Will, I'll be okay."
Back at the Wheeler's house, The Party gathered in the basement to watch some horror movies before turning in. Max and Lucas had taken the sofa and were laying across it. Dustin and El had camped out on the floor in front of the sofa; they had moved the coffee table so they could have the space. Mike and Will, meanwhile, had set up a small fort of pillows and blankets to the side of the couch, where they were cuddled up as they watched movies.
Mike had seemed to return to his normal self since leaving the field of screams and returning to the home. However, Will was still a little concerned because Mike was much quieter than normal. But he decided to let it go for now since Mike was behaving mostly normally, and so Will spent the rest of the night focused on the TV screen.
It was around 3 a.m. that Will woke up with a start. He wasn't sure what exactly had woken him up, but he realized right away that Mike was no longer laying next to him. He picked his head up, squinting through the darkness for a sign of Mike. He looked over at the stairs and noticed the light was on at the top of the stairs and the basement door was open.
Frowning to himself, Will shoved the blankets off and tip-toed quietly through the basement, doing his best to stay quiet and avoid waking his friends. Once off the ground floor, Will quietly made his way up the stairs and soon made it to the main floor of the house.
Will didn't have to go far to find Mike. Mike was sitting at the dining table, nursing a mug of what Will assumed was tea. He walked over to the dining table and sat down next to Mike, who didn't seem surprised to find Will next to him.
"What's bothering you, Mikey?" Will asked in a gentle voice.
Mike shook his head, as if too ashamed of answering the question.
"Hey, you don't have to be embarrassed about anything," Will said, leaning forward and placing one of his hands on one of Mike's. "You know I'm not gonna judge you, Mikey. Please tell me what's going on."
Mike closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them again. When he spoke, he sounded close to tears.
"I can't get the image out of my head, Will," Mike said.
"What image?" Will asked, frowning.
"Of you in the water," said Mike.
"What do you mean?"
Mike sighed loudly.
"When I saw that actor in the water, it reminded me of this terrible dream I've had about you before," Mike said. "I don't know exactly how, but in the dream, you've gone missing and the rest of us are looking for you. We hear the cops heading toward the quarry, and we know it's related to you."
Mike paused here to take a sip of tea.
"And when we get to the quarry, we see Hopper at the edge of the lake. He and the other officers are pulling someone from the lake. And that's when we realize it's you."
Will felt a lump in his throat at this revelation. Mike had never said a word about this nightmare before now.
"I try to deny it, but then Lucas and Dustin say that it's really you and that's when I realize that the body I'm seeing is yours, Will."
Mike started to cry at this.
"When I saw that actor in the water at the haunted house, he looked just like you did in my dream," Mike said.
At this, Mike lost it altogether, dissolving into a fit of sobs. Will sat up and wrapped his arms around Mike and held him gently while Mike cried. Will gently rubbed Mike's back and whispered soothing words into his ear as Mike let it all out.
After several moments, Mike calmed down and his breathing returned to normal. Will broke the hug and sat back down in his chair, keeping a firm grip on Mike's hands.
"I thought if I had some tea, it might help me sleep," Mike said with a wet chuckle.
"I'm sorry that you had that terrible nightmare," Will said. "I'm glad you told me, Mike. It took a lot of trust for you to do that. So thank you for being honest."
Mike nodded.
"Now I want you to listen to me," Will said. Mike nodded again. "I'm not going anywhere, Mike. I promise. I'm gonna be around for a long time to love you, and to drive you crazy."
At this, both boys chuckled. They both had to shush each other as they remembered that the rest of the house was asleep.
"And if you ever have that dream again and you wake up from it and need to check on me, I want you to call me, Mike. No matter how late it is or where I might be. If you need to hear me to make sure that I'm okay, then I don't care if you wake me up from the deepest slumber I've ever been in. You call me and talk to me."
"Okay," Mike said, nodding.
"Are you gonna be okay tonight?" Will asked as Mike downed the rest of his tea.
"I think so," Mike said. "As long as I'm sleeping next to you, I'll be fine."
Will nodded and stood up, pulling Mike up with him. Together they creeped through the kitchen and back down the stairs to the basement. They tiptoed past their friends and back over to their makeshift fort.
When they had both settled down, Mike looked at Will with a curious expression on his face. Will seemed to sense Mike’s thoughts and nodded at him, pulling Mike closer to him. Once they were situated, Mike was laying on top of Will, his head resting on Will’s chest.
"I'll be right here," Will whispered, giving Mike a kiss on the forehead.. "I love you, Mike."
"I love you too, Will."