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When the bell rings, Lucas and Dustin nearly trip over their own legs as they try to get out of the class as quickly as possible.
It’s lunch break, and it doesn’t take long before the class empties out and the hallways are filled with loud conversations and starving kids who just want to eat already.
Mike doesn’t get out, though. He can’t. He has other duties he has to fulfill before he can even think about his own needs.
He turns to Will, who hadn’t moved an inch since the bell rang. He was just sitting there, fiddling with his colorful markers, an unreadable expression on his face.
“Hey, are you okay?” Mike leans down, his palms resting on the edge of Will's desk so he doesn’t have to raise his voice as much for Will to hear him.
He doesn’t like to use loud voices around him. It just doesn’t feel right. Something in him tells him Will has to be treated with gentleness and care - not like he wouldn’t be able to take it, but like he’s something precious that has to be handled with the respect it deserves.
“Uh? Yeah, I’m fine,” he says a bit too quickly, not meeting Mike's eyes. “Go to the cafeteria, I’ll join you in a second.”
Mike has to resist the urge to just nod and do exactly as he’s told. He drags the chair from the table next to him and sits down next to Will.
They both sit silently for a minute, Will still pretending that his X-Men pencil case holds the secret of the universe and Mike just messing with a loose thread on his jeans.
He doesn’t want to push Will, but he also can’t sit there when something is clearly wrong and not say anything.
“What’s wrong?” He finally blurts out.
“Nothing.” Will mumbles.
“I know something is wrong,” Mike insists. “Please, Will.”
“I told you, nothing’s wrong.”
“Is it… is it upside down stuff?” Mike says with a worried expression. Mike's concern grows when Will doesn’t answer. “Oh, Will, is it the shadow-“
“-I told you to drop it!” Will snaps, finally looking at him. “No, it’s not… him, again, okay?!” He sighs, frustrated.
“So what’s-“ Mike stops, the rest of the sentence forgotten when he sees the tears forming in Will’s eyes.
“Will? Hey, Will…” he takes one of his shaky hands from the table, rubbing his own thumb over the back of it.
Will still doesn’t say anything. His lip trembles, and he bites it, hard.
“Whatever it is, you know you can tell me, right?” Mike speaks again, voice gentle. “I won’t… judge. Or tell anyone.”
Will was always… different. He wasn’t like Lucas, or Mike, or any other of their classmates.
He was soft-spoken, shy, and talented. Mike could come up with hundreds of words to describe how unique Will was.
He also knew other people had less kind words to describe Will and his… differences.
Will looks at him, his hazel eyes glistening, tears getting stuck in his long lashes. Mike’s heart aches.
“I- I…” Will starts, his voice shaky. Mike leans closer, but he still almost misses Will's next words because of how small and scared his voice is.
“I think I got my period.”
The whisper hangs between them for a moment, heavy in the light spring air.
Mike's grip on Will's hand tightens for a moment as he freezes, caught completely off guard.
Oh.
Before Will can say anything, take his words back, he blurts out- “and thats… that's not bad, right?” He looks at him attentively, trying to judge the look on his face.
They have never talked about this before. Will never brought it up, so Mike didn't bother either. Of course he was curious sometimes, but the last thing he ever wanted to do was to upset Will or make him uncomfortable.
The Party always danced around the topic, never pointing out the differences between them and Will to his face, and most importantly, never treating him like there were any.
Will closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. “No, it’s not… bad.” His voice is strained, his eyes looking anywhere but at Mike. “I just.. I…”
Something clicks in Mike’s head. “Is it your first one?”
Will nods, the thumb of his free hand messing with the skin around his fingernail. His face was blank, but his ears were slowly flushing.
This hasn’t crossed Mike’s mind before. Will was freshly fourteen years old now. He knew most of the girls their age already had their period, so it made sense that Will did too.
But again, Will was always… different. Wasn’t he?
“That’s… that’s okay,” Mike scrambles to find the words to comfort Will. “It is, it really is-“
“Mike,” Will interrupts his rambling. “I think I have blood on my pants.”
That shuts Mike up.
“Oh. Umm-“ he doesn’t really know how to navigate the situation. “Do you want me to check?” He hopes that was the right thing to say.
“Please.”
“Okay. Okay. So just get up, yeah?” Mike tries to keep his voice calm. Will is probably terrified. He doesn’t want to stress him out even more. “Here. Easy.”
Will gets up, grimacing with discomfort. Mike gasps when he turns around.
“Oh…”
“Is it bad?” Will’s voice is laced with worry.
It is. It’s really bad. The back of his light jeans is soaked with crimson, and when Mike looks at his chair he sees the same color smeared on it.
He tries to keep his composure, but he is a bit taken aback. Maybe he was stupid, but he didn't expect it to actually look.. like blood.
Will turns back. His face is as pale as a sheet.
“We’ll- we’ll figure it out, okay?” Mike chokes out. He takes a deep breath, calming himself down. Will needs him to be calm right now. “Do you have clean pants?”
“Uh… my gym ones,” he says, looking like he wants the ground to open and swallow him whole.
“Okay, okay, great. And do you have…” Mike hesitates. “Do you have a pad?”
He doesn’t want to make Will uncomfortable. He knows the situation is hard enough for him as it is, especially because… because most boys don’t have that problem in the first place. He wishes he knew an alternative term for the product, a less blunt word, one that didn’t have anything to do with long hair and glossy lips and swirling skirts, but he was already struggling with pulling these simple terms from the back of his head, so another word to describe them was probably way too much to ask.
“Yeah,” Will mumbles.
Mike releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Okay. That's good. So we have a plan.” He takes his blue hoodie off, struggling to get it over his head for a moment. “Tie this around your waist, okay?”
Will’s eyes dart between Mike's face and the hoodie he’s offering him. His mouth tightens into a thin line, and he shakes his head. “No… it’ll get dirty.”
“I don’t mind,” Mike answers immediately. “It's too warm anyway, I was planning on putting it in my bag. C’mon, Will.”
“It’s gross.”
“I don’t care. I promise.” Did Will really think that hoodie was more important than his own comfort? He would rip his heart out of his chest to shield Will if he had to, who gives a shit about the stupid hoodie?
When Will is still hesitant, Mike sighs. “Look.”
He takes the hoodie, and with the lining he wipes the blood from Will’s seat, making sure it can’t be seen from the outside of the hoodie. Then, he hands it to Will.
“Now tie it.”
Will does as Mike told him, eyeing him nervously like he was afraid he would change his mind.
“Turn around?”
When Will spins in place, Mike is satisfied to see the stain is completely hidden.
“Awesome. Now, we’re gonna bring you your gym shorts, and then we'll go to the bathroom. Okay?”
Will nods, still visibly tense but comforted by the fact they have a solid plan.
He grabs his bag, finally packing it up, and then he pulls out a small bag from it, kind of like a short pencil case.
Mike lets out a noise of confusion, but Will ignores him as he opens the zipper. His face turns red when he pulls out something in a colorful, rustling wrapper.
Oh.
He shoves it deep in his pocket, straightening up with a wince.
Mike tears his eyes away from the little bump where the foreign object lays. He shakes his head. “Let’s go, okay?”
Will bobs his head up and down, his cheeks a dark shade of red. Mike makes a mental note to be even more careful when approaching this. He tries to think what Nancy would do in this situation, but again, this was… different. More sensitive. Raw.
They get to the door, and Mike opens it for him, gesturing. He looks at the boy.
Will is brave, he's one of the bravest people he knows, but when he looks down he sees how badly Will’s hands shake. He looks like he’s trying really, really hard to hold himself together. Mike’s heart clenches.
They cross the hallway, shoulders brushing. The hallway is packed with kids, and Mike doesn’t want everyone to accidentally bump into will. He's overwhelmed as it is.
They get to Will's locker, and Mike looks away as Will gets on his tiptoes to reach the bag on the top shelf. He hears fabric rustling, a zipper being opened and closed, and then Will tugs on his sleeve.
Mike nods and smiles at him, hoping he looks like he knows what he’s doing.
They turn and start walking towards the bathroom, the one with the broken sink that's too stinky to hangout in.
They walk slowly, Will dragging his feet awkwardly, posture even worse than usual.
Mike wonders if walking hurts for him. He has a million questions buzzing under his skin, begging to be let out, but now is probably not the right time. If he’s honest with himself, he doesn’t know if there’ll ever be a right time for this kind of conversation.
Will didn't really like to discuss these things. He was very closed off in general, keeping to himself most of the time, and especially around this topic. Mike knew not to push. If Will wanted to tell him something, he would.
When they get to the bathroom, it’s empty. Mike sighs in relief as Will wrinkles his nose. He gestures toward one of the bathroom stalls, and Will nods, entering it hesitantly.
Mike presses his back to the cold tiles and slides down until he’s sitting on the floor. The room is almost silent, the hundreds of conversations muffled by the walls and the noise that is made by a pair of jeans being taken off being the only sounds. He jumps when he hears Will hissing.
“Are you okay?” He calls carefully.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s just…” he trails off. “Kinda hard to peel off.”
“Do you need help?”
“No, Mike.”
“Okay. Just checking.”
The room falls silent again. Mike tries to ignore the loud scrubbing noise. He doesn’t want to invade Will’s privacy, or make him uncomfortable, so he just pretends to not hear anything.
Mike sits there for another minute like that, until he starts to worry about Will’s poor skin, and then, the noise stops. For a while.
He's just about to ask if everything’s okay when he hears the tiniest sound of a wrapper being opened. He freezes.
The noise keeps coming, a slow but stubborn rustling. Mike realizes Will is trying to do this as quietly as possible. Maybe he’s embarrassed.
“Will?” He says, loud enough to drown the crinkling sound.
“Uh?” The noise stops.
“No, don’t worry, everything’s fine. Just wanted to say… it’s kinda badass, you know?”
“What?” Will sounds confused. He keeps pulling on the wrapper.
“The blood and stuff. It’s like Will the Wise, if you think about it.”
“No it’s not.” But he can hear the smile in Will’s voice. He smiles too.
“It is! They always take the healer out first, yeah? So maybe they found your potions and figured out you’re our-“
“Who’s they?” There’s a different sound now, like a sticker being peeled off, but it’s mostly muffled by their voices echoing through the walls.
“Umm… the tigervampiers,” His mind contributes.
“Are they called that because they are tigers who are also vampires?”
“You’re smart, aren’t you?”
His head shots up in surprise when the stall opens and Will steps out of it. He’s wearing shorts now, and his hands are colored red. He stuffs his stained jeans in his bag and then he’s already rushing to one of the sinks, the one that isn’t broken, Mike’s hoodie in his hands.
“What are you doing?” Mike gets on his feet. “I told you, it’s fine-“
Will scrubs the fabric frantically. “No, it’s really not.”
“It is! Will-“ he snatches the garment from his hand.
Will looks up at him, and then at the dripping hoodie that’s in Mike’s hand. Suddenly, he looks very ashamed.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
They both take a deep breath at the same time. Mike looks at his face, at his red rimmed eyes, the tear tracks on his cheeks.
He isn’t ready when Will snatches the hoodie back.
“Just… let me take care of it, okay? I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.” Will’s eyes are big and pleading.
“Will.”
“Mike.”
“Fine.” He softens, then his dark eyebrows furrow. “Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah?” Will looks away, busying himself with his bag.
“I mean, are you hurting? I’ve heard it’s-“
“-a bit,” Will cuts him off.
“I’m sorry.” And he really means it. Will doesn’t deserve any of that. It’s not his fault his body didn't get the memo.
“It’s okay. I think, uh, I think I’m gonna call my mom?” He mumbles.
“That’s a good idea.” He tries to hide his disappointment. He hates being in school without Will. But Will is hurting, and he needs a shower and a nap.
He grabs Will's shoulder lightly to get his attention. “Do you want a hug?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Sorry.”
“I meant it. It’s okay.” He smiles at him. “Let’s get you to the principal’s office, yeah?”
Will nods gratefully, and lets Mike guide him out of the bathroom.