Chapter Text
Part of Will really didn’t want to talk to Mike.
Mike Wheeler had been his best friend for years. The two of them had been through so much together. They laughed and cried together. The two of them were thick as thieves for the longest time. They were best friends.
Part of Will was desperate to talk to Mike.
Mike Wheeler ignored him for roughly a year. Mike no longer paid any attention to Will. His brain was filled with Eleven and Eleven only. He never wrote nor called. He didn’t even bat an eye at Will when he came to California. All Will got from his supposed best friend was an awkward side hug.
Will still loved Mike. Even though all the shit Will put up with and how awful Mike treated him…Will couldn’t find it in him to let Mike go. Will just wanted to ignore the way Mike treated him. He wanted to pretend like the two of them were still as close as ever, but he knew it was just a dream. The two were distant and they didn’t tell each other as much anymore. Maybe he knew Will’s secret. Maybe he got tired of Will. Maybe he just doesn’t like Will any more.
Though Mike had been talking to Will more now that Will was back in Hawkins, it was always in a group. When they did hang out as one big group Mike would mostly just talk to Eleven and Dustin.
Whether Will wanted to or not, he would have to talk to the boy. He had promised his mom and Will wasn’t about to break a promise - especially a promise to his mother. He just wasn’t sure how he was supposed to go about talking to Mike.
The day after Will promised his mother he’d talk to Mike, he got up early. He had a bit of trouble sleeping the night before. He was too busy thinking about what to say to Mike to be able to consider sleeping.
Will was the first one in the house awake. Usually, Joyce or Jonathan was the first awake. Hopper and El were always sleeping late.
Will tried to do things to distract himself from Mike. He just wanted to think about anything except Mike. Will did the dishes from the night before, he put varnish on his dried paintings, he brewed a pot of coffee, he cleaned his room - he did everything he could. By the time everyone else in the house was awake, Will had run out of things to distract himself. He was so glad when he saw Jonathan and his mother stumble into the living room, still weary with sleep. Maybe a conversation with them could distract him.
Joyce smiled when she saw her youngest son sitting in the living room.
“Hey, did you talk to Mike?” Joyce asked
Will sighed. He should’ve known Joyce would’ve asked that. He shook his head no and got up from his spot on the couch. He decided he’d follow Jonathan into the kitchen and watch his brother make breakfast.
Jonathan eyed Will as he opened the fridge, “you should call him.”
Will internally groaned. Everyone in this house was against him.
Jonathan was right though. Will should call Mike and arrange a time to hang out. That way Will would be able to talk to him.
Will begrudgingly went to the phone that was hanging off the wall. He dialed up the number he knew so well. He had called it a million times before.
It rang a few times before somebody picked it up.
“Hello?”
It was Nancy; Will recognized her voice.
“Hey, it’s Will,” he answered, “can I talk to Mike?”
Nancy didn’t answer, but he heard shuffling on the line before Nancy shouted Mike’s name.
Will heard another fuzzy noise and then Mike was talking to him again.
“Hello? El?”
Will grimaced. Mike had sounded so excited. He was probably going to be disappointed when it was just Will.
Will cleared his throat, “uhm, no…it’s Will. I was just wondering if you could maybe come over soon? Or if I could go to yours?”
There was a bit of silence on the line. Will’s heartbeat got faster with every millisecond the darker boy didn’t respond. Will shouldn’t have even called.
“Uhh…sure, I think I’m free, you can come over,” Mike finally said, “no offense, but…why?”
Will did take offense. He didn’t say anything regarding it though.
“I just want to talk about something. Does four work?”
“...sure. What do you want to talk about?”
Will sighed, “nothing important. I have to go.”
He said a quick goodbye and didn’t wait for Mike to say the same in return. That was one of the most stressful phone calls Will had ever endured and he didn’t want to be a part of it for longer than he had to.
When he glanced back to the kitchen, he saw Jonathan in the kitchen, making scrambled eggs on the stovetop. The older boy looked back at his brother and gave him a thumbs up to show his encouragement. Will rolled his eyes and gave Jonathan an unenthusiastic thumbs up in return.
For the rest of the day, Will felt like he was going to be sick. He knew it was just his nerves getting the better of him. He felt all tangled up and knotted. He knew the only way to untangle his jumbled feelings was to talk to the culprit.
Everyone in the Hopper-Byers household was trying to show their encouragement and support - whether it be through actions or words. Will would be lying if he said it was unwelcome. Hopper gave him a curt nod before Will left to go to The Wheeler’s helped soothe his nerves.
Will rode his bike along Mirkwood, ignoring the reminders of November Sixth - the best day of Mike’s life.
Will hopped off his bike as he got closer to the familiar house. He had been going to the place his entire life, but it had been a while since he approached Mike’s house. He hasn’t invited over much anymore. He walked his bike up the driveway and set it against a wall instead of using his kickstand.
He knocked on the door and heard footsteps. He was surprised when he saw Mike’s face. He thought it was gonna be Nancy.
“Hey, uh, come in,” Mike opened the door wider, allowing Will to slip inside.
The house looked the same way it had a year ago. Not one thing had changed apart from the people who lived inside of it.
Mike already began walking downstairs, to the basement. Will followed.
“Am I like…in trouble?” Mike asked while he moved a few blankets off of the couch.
Will hesitated. Mike wasn’t in trouble; Will couldn’t ground him or anything. At the same time, it was a confrontation, which was essentially torture for Mike.
Will decided on shaking his head no. Mike grinned and sat down.
“I…uhm, I actually don’t really know what I want to talk about,” Will admitted to the dark-haired boy. He just has to be truthful with Mike.
Mike frowned with confusion. He noticed Will’s tense and uncomfortable nature. He must’ve known the Byers boy was about to bring up something serious.
Will shifted in his seat, “Mike…do you still like…want to be friends? I mean, I get it if you don’t but…I don’t know.”
Will felt his heart slamming against his chest. Mike choked on a breath of air. They stared at each other, each waiting for someone to say something.
“Will…of course I want to be your friend,” Mike whispered, his eyebrows creased with concern, “why wouldn’t I? Why would you even think that.”
Will stared at Mike for a few seconds. He just needed time to comprehend what Mike said. Of course, he was glad Mike wanted to be friends still, but it was the last part that struck a nerve. Did Mike just have no current perception of their relationship? Will had every right to believe Mike no longer cared for him.
“Mike, it feels like you don’t even like me anymore,” Will pushed and he could hear a little bit of venom in his own voice that surprised him.
All at once, he remembered all the shitty things Mike has done; All the comments brought by anger, and all the words that broke Will’s heart. He remembered all the letters he sent to Mike that he never got a response to and all of the phone calls that Mike never answered.
“What? Will, you aren’t making any sense!” Mike sputtered out.
Will scoffed and he rolled his eyes. He couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to snap and break down. Will wanted to shout and kick his legs like a toddler and throw a fit.
“Okay, sure…last summer, let’s start there,” Will glared at Mike who was just staring wide-eyed, perplexed, “you wouldn’t hang out with me at all, Mike. You wouldn’t even play DND with me.”
Mike shifted uncomfortably. Will didn’t sympathize with the dark-haired boy. He wanted to keep going.
“You said that we were too old for DND!” Will stressed with a bitter laugh coming out, “doesn’t seem like you’re too old now…I mean what with joining Hellfire.”
Mike bit his lip. He paused for a minute and he opened his mouth to speak, but shut it after. He wanted to find the words to defend himself. If El had still been in Hawkins, Mike probably wouldn’t have joined Hellfire. Mike knew that isn’t something Will wanted to hear.
“Or how about the fight we had? It’s not my fault you don’t like girls ,” Will was seething. Mike had never seen Will angry, and not to this extreme, “that isn’t something a friend would say to another friend.”
Mike took a shaky breath in.
Will hardly even recognized himself as he listed things. He couldn’t stop. He kept all this anger and pain bottled up for so long and it was overflowing. He needed to keep going and he wanted to keep going. The back of his mind was telling him to stop. It was saying that he should let it go. The past is in the past. Will didn’t want to listen.
Will ran a hand through his hair, “I left…I went to California. I got two letters from you.”
“Will, I was busy with high school and El…I’m sorry I should’ve written more,” Mike’s voice was soft.
Will laughed at him. It was not a happy laugh.
“You had time for Eddie though right? And you had time to write Eleven piles of letters.” Will insisted, “I was in high school too and I wrote. Max and Dustin wrote to me and they’re in high school.”
Will could see Mike itching with guilt. He could see all the regret painted on Mike’s face. Will almost felt sorry for him. It was still Mike’s fault, but maybe he didn’t deserve to be chewed out like this.
Will took a shaky breath before exhaling slowly. He just needed to calm down. Everything was fine. Will Byers was fine and Mike Wheeler was fine.
Will was about to completely drop it. He was going to apologize to Mike for lashing out. He was going to use the excuse of being stressed and he would’ve told the dark-haired boy that he didn’t mean anything he said. Before Will could utter his apology, Joyce’s voice flashed in his head.
Will squirmed in his seat, “I’m…look, Mike, I still like you, I mean…you’re my best friend even if I’m not yours.”
Mike stared. His eyes were such a deep, pretty brown. Will always loved Mike’s eyes. Right now they were glossed over. Will felt a pang in his chest. He shouldn’t have yelled at Mike. Will should’ve kept his mouth shut like he always does.
He still couldn’t break his promise - not a promise to his mother of all people.
“I just think…it’s justified for me to think that you don’t want to be friends,” Will tried his hardest to keep his voice level, but it was shaky, “I mean…it just doesn’t seem like you care much and at the piz-”
Mike's arms wrapped around Will before the boy could finish his sentence. Will's shoulders tensed and his face went hot. Mike was clutching the other boy’s shirt like he was scared to let go. Will hesitantly put his hands on Mike’s back.
Mike pulled apart from Will and he was frowning.
“Will, I care about you,” Mike promised, “I always have and I always will.”
Will looked away from him.
“In the pizzeria…you said November sixth was the best day of your life,” Will continued, “you said your life started on the day I went missing.”
Mike tilted his head. Will almost started shouting at him again. How does he not remember his own words? They were words that kept replaying in Will’s head - so how was it possible for Mike to struggle to remember?
Suddenly, Mike’s face fell. His eyes snapped back to Will. His breath hitched as he recalled the events from that night.
Will scooched away from the boy, to the farther end of the sofa.
“I-...I didn’t mean that Will…I don’t know why I said it,” Mike lamented, “I’m so sorry.”
Will felt tears well up in his eyes. He just wanted to leave. He couldn’t be here. All of his emotions were pushed to extremes around Mike. Will was struggling to decide whether he should start screaming with anger or breakdown and sobbing. Will didn’t really want to do either.
“I promise you that the day you went missing was one of the worst days of my life…even if it's the same day I met Eleven,” Mike said, “I think I just said that because I thought it would help motivate her.”
Will scrubbed his eyes with his hands to rid them of tears. He briefly wondered if Mike would notice if he cried this time or not. He didn’t notice in Argyle’s van.
“Will, you are my best friend and you’re right…I have been a shitty friend recently…like really shitty,” Mike hesitated before he continued, “I am so sorry.”
“It’s…it’s okay.”
Mike shook his head adamantly, “No! No, it’s not! You don’t deserve that kinda treatment. I promise you I will be a better friend from now.”
Will smiled weakly but he didn’t respond. He thought if he opened his mouth to speak he’d have a meltdown. Mike leaned forward and Will was wrapped up in another hug. It was one of the longest hugs Will had ever had. They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a while. Will thought Mike had fallen asleep.
“Will, I’m so sorry,” Mike whispered into his shoulder.
Will whispered back, “I know. I accept your apology…as long as you don’t do it again.”
Mike pulled apart from the long hug, “if I’m a bad friend to you again you can shoot me.”
“I’m really bad with a gun,” Will admitted with an almost self-conscious smile.
Mike shrugged and suggested, “Okay, get Nance to shoot me.”
Will felt his face blossom into a real smile. Mike copied his friend's expression and nudged him lightly.
“Hey, do you wanna spend the night maybe? We could watch Ghostbusters again?” Mike offered.
“I’d love to.”