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Will ran through the woods as fast as his legs could take him. It had been so long since he’d been able to run and his legs were shaky but he forced himself on. He had to make it. This was his only chance to escape from the hell he’d been living in for-for so long now. He was sure it’d been at least a year but time had moved strangely in his captivity. He knew, with a dreaded certainty, that if he didn’t get away He would kill him. Will had been planning escape and contingency plans the entire time he’d been trapped in that hell hole.
He was exhausted. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was still upright let alone forcing his body into running. He had to get to safety.
He had to get to Mike.
Mike. His best friend, the person who he couldn’t imagine his life without until he was forcibly ripped away from everything and everyone he knew. He knew he’d been held close to his friend’s house. When he was first taken he sometimes heard Mike-and Dustin and Lucas-yelling for him in the woods behind the house he was held hostage in long after the official search parties had given up. Unfortunately he couldn’t yell back. He’d been kept gagged at all times in the beginning. Eventually He started feeling safe enough to take the gag off, but only when He was there. At first it was only to allow Will to eat but eventually he started taking it off more and more. He told Will He wanted to hear Will scream. He tried his best not to oblige the evil man but it hurt so much and Will always ended up giving in.
Will still occasionally heard Mike in the woods behind the house yelling for Will. It gave him hope, those times that he heard his best friend. Sometimes Mike would pass by far enough away enough Will only faintly heard him. Other times, like earlier that day, Mike passed within feet of the basement Will was being kept in. Mike’s voice had changed a bit, gotten deeper since Will had seen him last. But it was unmistakably Mike.
That morning, Mike had walked right by the house, yelling for Will, mere feet away from where Will was being mercilessly assaulted by his captor with no way to call back to Mike. It was a unique type of torture, to be so close to Mike, the person he yearned to see the most, and not being able to yell out for him. The man hadn’t even gagged him that time. He’d simply told him that if he made a sound loud enough for Mike to hear Mike would soon find himself in Will’s position and Will found the strength to stay completely silent as he was being tortured with his best friend yelling his name…so close. So close and yet they’d never been further apart.
Will was good that morning. He did what he had to do to survive this living hell, and had stopped overtly fighting the man long ago. But that morning he followed the man’s rules perfectly. He was so scared of the man following through on his threat to take Mike. Will could handle what was happening to him but if the man were to do what he did to Will to Mike? Will couldn’t deal deal with that. He wouldn’t.
When the man left for work that morning it was with a parting shot about Mike.
“I think I’ll swing by after work and deal with that Wheeler boy, he seems to be the key to finally getting you to behave. Plus, the kid is a nuisance-always screaming for you in the woods like they didn’t have a funeral for you. Stupid kid could ruin everything we’ve built together. Don’t worry, William. I won’t allow him to come between us.” As he was talking, the man was tying Will up like he usually did.
Will panicked. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to Mike. It was not or never. Will went through the routine of acting meek and broken and limp as the man manhandled him into the usual position on the bed. The burn of the ropes were familiar by now, and Will knew exactly how to maneuver in order to make it seem like he was being tightly secured while actually giving himself wiggle room. While the man was leaning over him to tie his feet, Will ever so softly pulled the switchblade from the man’s pocket using his tied hands, heart pounding. The entire thing took less than 10 seconds before the knife was safely hidden under Will’s tied hands, but it felt like a lifetime. It was the riskiest part of Will’s plan. The part where the most could go wrong. If the man noticed him taking the knife Will was certain he wouldn’t survive what the man would do to him. He hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to do this before but now that the man had threatened Mike, he found it in spades. He wouldn’t let him touch a single hair on Mike’s head.
The man left. And Will finally acted on the rest of the escape plan he’d been slowly working on for ages. He swiftly got his hands free with the switchblade and from there it didn’t take long to get the knots on his ankles undone. Now it was a simple matter of getting out of the boarded up basement window. This was the longest part of the plan. But Will was determined. He dragged the old trunk that the man kept all the horrible things he used to hurt Will in over to the window. He gagged as he touched the dreaded thing, but forced himself to keep going. Before he lost his nerve he quickly opened the cursed thing and grabbed the tire iron from inside. Then he closed it with a shudder and stacked the mattress on top of the trunk. That gave him just enough height and he was able to reach the window!
He used the tire iron to pry the boards off the window, heart in his throat. He knew the man shouldn’t be back for hours, but that didn’t stop his fear. Finally, the window was open. Will dragged himself through and took his first breath of fresh air in over three years.
He didn’t stop to savor it though. He had to get away, had to get to safety. He wasn’t in the clear yet. He ran to the woods where Mike had been yelling for him only an hour before. It wasn’t far to Mike’s house, only a small stretch of woods separating his prison from the warm and welcoming home he had spent much of his childhood in.
Will wasn’t a child anymore. His innocence had been ripped away by a man he should have been able to trust.
Finally, he stood in the Wheeler’s backyard. Will tried the door to the basement but it was locked. He didn’t want to go around front and knock. He was naked. And no one in the Wheeler family ever spent time in the basement except Mike. He didn’t want to see Karen or Ted or Nancy. He wanted Mike.
‘Please still be here’ he thought desperately as he stuck his hand into a hole he and Mike had dug under a rock. His hands were shaking as he finally gripped the key only he and Mike knew was there. ‘Thank you Mike.’
Will let himself into the Wheeler’s basement m, stumbling inside and slamming and locking the door behind him. He turned around…and came face to face with the pale and shocked face of his best friend.
For a moment, time stood still.
“Will?!?!” Mike choked out, hand raised and frozen halfway between them. Will’s throat was tight. His entire body was shaking as he stumbled forward into Mike’s arms. Though he had been frozen in shock a moment earlier, Mike quickly came to life and wrapped his taller frame around Will’s. For long, long moments the simply stood there. Then Mike moved back just enough to cup Will’s face in his hands.
“Mike” Will whispered, voice hoarse with disuse, hands trembling as they rose to cover Mike‘s own, eyes filled with tears as the looked into Mike’s own teary eyes.
“It’s really you? You’re here? You’re alive?” Mike’s voice came out just as softly as Will’s and oh. Will missed his voice. Will shuffled forwards, pressing his face into the juncture of Mike’s neck and gripping the back of his shirt tightly as Mike’s arms came back around him to hold him tightly.
“It’s me Mike. I heard you. I always heard you. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you.” Will shuddered in Mike’s arms. Mike’s grip tightened and he simply held Will as he fell apart. Mike wasn’t so together himself, tears falling onto Will’s head. After an imperceptible amount of time, they had both calmed down enough to move to the couch. Mike tucked Will under his arm against his side.
“Will no. It’s not your fault. What happened? Everyone thinks you’re dead. I never believed it, not really. But they had a funeral for you and everything and I didn’t go Will. I couldn’t. That would mean you were gone and I couldn’t. You couldn’t be gone.” Will shifted at the same time as Mike, wanting to be closer. He needed Mike and his warmth and safety. They ended up with Will curled on Mike’s lap, arms and legs tangled together.
“He’s going to be so angry when he gets back and I’m gone,” Will whimpered into Mike’s shoulder.
“Who? Where were you?” Mike’s voice was full of fear. “How do I help you?” Will pressed impossibly closer to Mike.
“He took me. He ran me off the road, made me crash my bike then he kept me in his basement and he did horrible things to me. I can’t. Mike-“ He broke off with a heartbreaking sob. Mike shifted them so he could look into his eyes.
“Will,” he said ever so gently. “You don’t have to tell me what you went through or who did this to you. But one of us is going to have to tell the police. Do you think you’ll be able to? If you tell me, I can tell them.” Mike was so earnest, Will thought. That was one of the things Will loved about him.
Will took a deep, shuddering breath.
“I can’t tell some stranger. I won’t. But I don’t want you to know how broken I am. He-Mike he ruined me.” Mikes hands came up from rubbing his back to cradle his face in his hands again, one going under his chin to gently lift his face when Will’s eyes refused to meet his own. When he finally did, he found them soft, full of love and gentle understanding.
“Nothing you tell me will ever change things between us, Will. You went though something horrible but that doesn’t change that you’re my Will. I won’t think any less of you-if anything I’m going to think you’re strong for making it through whatever you went through. Please let me help you.” Will’s eyes filled with tears again. He brought their foreheads together and just breathed for a moment, overwhelmed and overjoyed to finally be back with Mike.
“Okay.” Will tried to pull away but Mike didn’t let him go far. Will ended up sitting cross legged facing Mike, knees pressed together and hands clasped tightly. Will stared at their hands, unable to make eye contact while he spoke.
“Mr Clark” he whispered, “it was Mr Clark. He took me and kept me locked up and tied up and he hurt me. He…he did things to me. Made me do things. Things I didn’t want to do with him. I was so scared Mike. I didn’t understand why he would-and then this morning you walked right by calling my name while he was hurting me and he told me if I made a sound he’d take you and hurt you too and I couldn’t let him Mike I couldn’t let him touch you and ruin you like he ruined me so I waited and then I got away.” Will was breathing hard at the end of his explanation, eyes downcast. He tried to pull away from Mike, sure he’d be disgusted by him but Mike only pulled Will back onto his lap and held him close.
“I’m so sorry Will. You didn’t deserve that. I…Mr Clark? That’s crazy, he was always so nice to us I…” Will whimpered, burying his face further into Mike’s neck.
“Please believe me. Please Mike, he said no one would ever believe me and it was my fault for…for tempting him. I didn’t mean to Mike. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry Mike please.” Will was shaking in his arms, and Mike felt a surge of protectiveness for this boy in his arms.
“Will, look at me.” Mike waited until hesitant hazel eyes met his own.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know what he did to you but none of it was your fault. Mr Clark is the one in the wrong. I believe you. I’ll always believe you. I’m so sorry this happened to you. We’re gonna make this right. It’s going to be okay. We have to go to the police. Nancy is home, let’s go upstairs and get her to help us.”
Will nodded, borrowing strength from his best friend. Together, they got up from the couch in the Wheeler’s basement and made their way upstairs. Will somewhat collapsed in a heap on the couch in the living room, exhausted and shaking. He was also suffering from blood loss-he’d been whipped the night before, but he honestly had forgotten about that until he felt some of the wounds open up again on their way up the stairs.
“NANCY!” Mike hollered, a note of panic in his voice that he’d been trying to suppress finally coming through. Will grabbed his hand, when it looked like he was about the walk away, wincing when it pulled on his wounds.
“My…back. Mike, I’m bleeding on your mom’s couch she’s gonna kill me.” Mike stared at Will in astonishment.
“Why didn’t you say something earlier? I’ve been touching your back! Who gives a flying fuck about the couch?” Nancy chose that moment to enter the room, a mystified Barb right behind her.
“Language, Mike! You’re…” Nancy cut herself off with a gasp as she set eyes on an impossible boy sitting on the couch.
“WHAT THE FUCK?” She yelled, eyes wide with shock. She stumbled forward, reaching out towards Will. Wanting to confirm he was real. Will flinched back from her, looking panicked. Mike got between them, holding his sister back from his terrified, traumatized best friend.
“Nancy, please you have to help us. He escaped but it’s Mr. Clark he kidnapped him and kept him in his basement and he’s gonna find out he’s gone soon and we have to get help.” Mike blurred out, unsure if he was entirely making sense but uncaring so long as Nancy did what he needed her to do.
“Holy shit. HOLY SHIT. I’m calling the police!” Nancy cried as she ran from the room. They could hear her on the phone, frantically asking for police and an ambulance because there was a boy who was supposed to be dead sitting in her living room.
Barb followed her, and Mike and Will were alone again. For the moment. Mike turned to Will, who had curled into himself in the corner of the couch. His knuckles were bone white where they gripped his knees. Mike started to reach for him but stopped, thinking about the way he had reacted to Nancy trying to touch him.
“Will?” Mike called out softly, afraid of startling the traumatized boy, “Can I touch you?” Will’s head nodded where it was pressed to his knees, and Mike slowly sat next to Will, putting an arm around him. Will incrementally relaxed until he was no longer curled in a tight ball but instead folded into Mike’s arms.
“Only you.” Will whispered. Mike kissed the top of his head and replied, “I won’t let anyone else touch you.” Nancy and Barb chose that moment to return to the room.
“Is he okay?” Barb asked, worry clear in her voice and expression. She and Nancy kept their distance this time, noting Will tense up at her voice.
“I’m sorry Will, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just so shocked to see you and I wanted to know you were okay.” Nancy whispered. “Police are on their way, help will be here soon. They’re going to arrest Mr Clark at the school, parent teacher conferences are today.” Nancy wrung her hands in worry, chewing her lip and staring at the two boys on the couch. Will couldn’t seem to be able to get words to come out of his mouth. He wanted to tell Nancy it was alright, to thank her. To tell her he’d missed her. But he couldn’t. Mike, somehow, seemed to understand.
“It’s okay, Nance. Thank you for calling them. Will…isn’t okay. Just don’t try and touch him again okay?” Mike responded, making eye contact with his sister, trying to convey the seriousness of what he was saying. “In fact, when they get here? Don’t let them touch him. He needs help but he’s overwhelmed and I told him I won’t let anyone else touch him.”
Nancy nodded, and she and Barb left the room to wait for the police closer to the front door.
“Thank you Mike.” Will breathed, looking at Mike with gratitude, relief, and…something else. Something, more. Tender and earth shattering. Mike didn’t let himself dwell on it. Now was not the time to think about whether the look in Will’s eyes was the emotion Mike hadn’t realized he wanted his best friend to feel for him until he was gone. The emotion Mike had spent months agonizing over feeling for his best friend, wondering why it took him disappearing for Mike to realize he was in love with him. Right then, Will needed Mike more than he ever had before. And if Mike was wrong and Will didn’t feel the same way he could lose his best friend before he truly got him back. Plus Will didn’t need that right now, not when he was so hurt and not okay. He needed Mike to put his feelings aside and be there for Will. So Mike did.
“Anything, Will. Anything for you.” Mike breathed back, pressing their foreheads together, feeling the intense, all encompassing relief of finally touching Will after he’d been nothing but a memory for so long. Still somewhat struggling to believe this was real, this was actually happening and not in Mike’s dreams.
“Please don’t leave me, Mike. I need you.” Mike’s grip tightened, then he forced himself to relax, scared of hurting Will further now that he knew he was in pain.
“Never. I’m never letting you leave my sight again, Will. Not for anything.” Will finally felt like he could breath again, and he knew he could handle whatever came their way because he wasn’t alone anymore.
Soon, police and EMTs would burst into their bubble, asking questions and trying to tear the boys apart, much as the world had and would continue to try and fail to do. Mike wouldn’t let them. Nothing would ever tear them apart again.
Later, Will’s mom and brother would burst through the hospital doors and their reunion would be one of great relief and unbelievable happiness. Will would hate himself a little for not being able to let them touch him. For barely getting any words out. Mike would tell him how stupid that was.
Later, The man who broke Will’s trust and body and tried to break his spirit would be sentenced to life in prison.
Later, Will and Mike would share the first kiss of a lifetime of kisses and everything would slot into place.
Later, Will would write down the fantastical stories he made up while he was being help captive-stories about girls with superpowers and monsters from another dimension and friendship and love and heroes.
Much later, Will and Mike would move out of their tiny hometown to go to college together.
Much much later, they would marry each other the moment it became possible for them to do so.
For now, they clung to each other and made silent vows to never let the world tear them apart again.