Everyone is scattered about the food court, busy with whatever plan they'd come up with when Mike and Will were fighting. Will wipes his nose on his sleeve, a line of blood staining the fabric, and shakes out his hands. Now that he's dealt with Mike – or at least, said what he needed to say to him – his focus is now on saying what he needs to say to El.
Max and El are talking at one of the tables while Hopper and Joyce stand beside them. Will starts to head towards them but stops. Something in his gut makes him falter. If he starts asking El about her powers or telling her that he thinks he has powers, there's no turning back. Especially if his mom figures it out, then he just knows he'll never be able to leave the house again. No, there's no reason to talk to El. They're fine now; he doesn't need to figure his powers out, if he actually has any at all. They just have to follow the plan, close the gate, and kill the Mind Flayer. Simple. No reason to worry about anything else.
Lucas and Dustin are hanging around the fountain discussing what Will assumes is their plan. As he approaches, Lucas nods to him. "Where'd you run off to?"
Groaning, Will takes a seat in between him and Dustin, putting his head in his hands. Knowing Mike will rejoin them any second, Will wishes he could've saved his outburst for later when he wouldn't be forced to see Mike again.
"Hello?" Lucas nudges him. "Earth to Will?"
His brain feels like it's about to burst. "Huh?"
"I asked where you ran off to."
Will shakes his head. "Oh. Nowhere."
Lucas gives him a look which he ignores, rubbing his knuckles against his temples to soothe the pounding in his head.
"Are you okay?" Dustin asks.
"Fine."
"Are you sure?"
"I said I'm fine!" The lights in the fountain burst, sending water spraying over them. All three boys jump away from it.
"What the hell?" Lucas says.
Will hugs himself, shame falling over him. "I'm sorry. I lied." Tears well up in his eyes. Lucas and Dustin stare at him. "I had another fight with Mike."
"Wait, seriously?" Dustin says. "Again? About what?"
He almost wants to tell them everything. The kiss at his house and destroying Castle Byers. The kiss at the cabin and their stupid fights. Every single thing Mike's done that's confused him. But no. Even though Mike hurt him, really hurt him, he can't bring himself to betray him like that. He understands how hard it is to keep something he's ashamed of bottled up inside and how terrible it is for people to find out about it without getting the chance to tell them himself.
Letting his anger subside, Will sucks in a breath. "He wanted to talk about what he said to El at the convenience store. You know, the conversation we overheard. I thought it was dumb because why does it even matter? We're trying to get rid of the Mind Flayer, not worry about stupid stuff like that. He got all annoyed and... I don't know. It's like he's giving mixed signals or something. That's the whole problem. It's like I think we're fine, you know? But then he goes and says or does something that he knows hurts me, but he doesn't care. He's not oblivious. I told him he hurt me, and he said he didn't want to, but whenever he says anything anymore, all I do is hurt. And he won't leave me alone."
Realizing his eyes were on the floor, he looks up to see Dustin and Lucas both wide-eyed and blinking.
"Jesus," Dustin murmurs.
"That..." Lucas lets out a whistle. "...that sucks."
Will sighs. "Yeah, it does."
Frowning, Dustin crosses his arms. "Did you explain to him that he's sending you mixed signals?"
"Yeah, but he didn't seem to understand it."
"What exactly is the context here?" Lucas leans down then whispers, "Mike knows you like him, right?"
Sighing, Will nods. "Yeah, unfortunately, he does. He's suspected it since our fight at my house after you two apologized to me, and I told him that night at the cabin. When Erica overheard us. I didn't mean to tell him. It just sort of... spilled out. Now he hates me."
"He doesn't hate you," Dustin says. "He's just... being stupid. He cares about you a lot, you know that."
"It doesn't feel like it." He takes a breath. "I told him I didn't want to be friends anymore."
"What?" Lucas widens his eyes while Dustin waves his hand.
"I completely understand," Dustin says, "but maybe you two should talk it out."
"We've already tried. It doesn't work."
"But you can't just stop being friends because of this. I mean, you're Mike and Will. You guys have been friends since forever, the longest out of all of us. Don't let that go just 'cause of some stupid fight."
"Dustin, you understand that it's not just some stupid fight, right?"
"Okay, okay, I get it, but don't you think we all need to be on the same page in case something happens with the Mind Flayer? Fighting with each other will only make things worse."
"It has nothing to do with the Mind Flayer, Dustin. Mike and I, we're-"
They all go quiet when Mike appears beside them. "Hey, Will, can we-" His eyebrows draw together seeing Lucas and Dustin both staring at him. "What's going on?"
"Family discussion," Lucas says, Dustin and Will averting their eyes.
Mike's eyes narrow. "Am I missing something?"
While Will looks at the ground, Lucas and Dustin shrug. Erica, who had been watching Hopper gathering guns off the Russian guards' dead bodies, walks over to them. "Well, that settles it. He's gonna die. They're gonna die."
"Yep," Dustin says, "most likely."
"You guys survived," Will says, his eyes still on the ground and trying to ignore Mike's ice-cold stare.
"Barely. We-"
Mike, frowning, clears his throat, and Will can tell he's looking at him when he says, "Did you say something?"
"Mike," Dustin says, "now's not the time."
"What did he tell you?"
"Come on, Mike," Lucas says.
Mike is glaring at him when Will glances up. "Will, what did you say?"
He stares back at Mike.
"What did you say?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." He's taken aback, his breath hitching, when Mike shoves him.
As he stumbles, Dustin jumps between them and puts a hand on Mike's chest. "What the hell are you doing, Mike?"
Ignoring Dustin, Mike scowls at Will. "Tell me what you told them."
"Just leave me alone," Will mumbles.
From where they're sitting at the table, El and Max get to their feet. "What's going on?" El asks. She and Max approach the four boys and Erica, eyeing Mike. Max glances between Mike and Will with a frown on her face like she's trying to figure something out. She nudges Will's shoulder, but he shrugs her off.
"Nothing," Mike grumbles, storming off to another area of the food court.
El glances at the others. No one meets her eyes. Seeing her, Will wonders if he really should talk to her about his supposed powers, especially after what he did to the fountain lights.
Nudging Will's arm, Max gives him a look, tightening her lips and gesturing after Mike. Will knows she won't stop bugging him if he doesn't explain what happened, but he can't mention it to El. "Hey, El," he says in a soft voice. She turns to him. "Why don't you see if Mike's okay?"
She frowns, about to reply, but closes her mouth and follows after Mike anyway.
Looking at Will, Max lowers her voice. "What was that about? Did something happen?"
Will lets out a sigh. "I'm stupid, that's what that was about."
"Hey, no, you're not," Lucas assures him.
Dustin pats him on the shoulder. "Yeah, Mike's just being an asshole. He'll come around."
"What was that?" Erica asks.
"Nerd stuff," Dustin says.
She rolls her eyes. "You're so weird."
"Erica," Lucas warned.
"Keep saying my name, see what happens."
"Hey, heads up," Hopper tosses a walkie-talkie to Dustin from across the court. "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."
"It's not that simple."
"The signal won't reach," Erica adds.
Dustin holds the walkie-talkie up to Hopper. "Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait." He smiles. "That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start... And a car."