mercy ; peter ballard

31. s w e e t

july 15, 1986

"will has been gone for over two months. why am i the only one who is worried?" mike ranted, flopping on the couch in his basement.

dustin looked up from his magazine. "dude, it's not like bea is gonna hurt him. she loves him to death."

"you were the one that pushed him away, why do you suddenly care?" lucas asked, pacing the room.

mike hid his face in his hands. "so stupid. i'm so fucking stupid!"

"for the first time in a while, i agree," lucas scoffed, sitting at the desk max once sat at. lucas' finger brushed the page max seemed to start but abandoned. he recognized her handwriting from all the times they finished homework together. it was addressed to beatrice. he began to read it in his head as the room fell quiet.

'dear beatrice,

you are one of my favourite people i know. you made me better after everything that went down and i am glad you were in my life. i hope that you know i'm not mad at you. if it comes down to it and you still love him, i'll understand. i know what it's like to be the reason you lose someone you love-"

the letter cut off. lucas sighed, crumbling it up and throwing it in the garbage can under the desk.

'max would be so disappointed in how things are going,' he thought.

dustin looks over at lucas. "how's max?"

mike closed his eyes. he was a shitty friend. he almost forgot about max. how much of an asshole did he have to be to forget about his friend in a coma?

"doctors said some of her bones are healing now. i'm hoping she wakes up soon."

"we all are," dustin sighed. "the cracks are getting worse and the clouds are only getting darker. he is getting stronger."

"we are fucked," mike muttered into his hands.

"do you guys want to come with me to visit max today?" lucas asked. he tried to go everyday, hoping next time he visited she'd be awake.

"sure," dustin said, putting the magazine on the coffee table.

they both to mike. "mike?" lucas asked.

mike lifts his head from his hand. it was the least mike could do after not visiting since march. "i guess."

"will! what do you want for lunch, kid?" bea shouted from the kitchen.

will looked up from his book. he was laid out on his stomach on his bed. will liked the way things were going.

bea and peter were always there for him. they gave him the attention he needed and accepted him for who he was. eddie was pretty cool too. he played dungeons and dragons with him and was like a brother to him.

he thought about the overworld group a lot. he didn't miss the way they made him feel at all. he talked to eddie and bea about it before. they understood more than joyce or jonathan ever could. they told him that his feelings are vaild and that he didn't do anything wrong. he would rather be here than back in that hell on earth

he placed the book on the sheets of his bed. "can i have pizza please?" he called out.

bea could really make anything they wanted if they asked so feeding a family really wasn't hard.

"eddie! you want anything?" her voice echoed the hallway.

"i wouldn't mind some pizza!" eddie answered, plucking at the strings of his guitar.