Chapter Text
Mike actually feels… really happy. The Party had spent the day in the basement, enjoying their last moments of freedom before school started back up again. He still can’t believe they’re Seniors. Though he guesses the whole war to stop a supernatural apocalypse is bound to make them feel like they’ve missed out on the whole high school experience.
But this year will be better. He’ll go to class and pass notes to Max to try and get her told off by the teacher (even though it will inevitably backfire and land him in trouble). He’ll cheer on Lucas at his games. He and Dustin will create their magnum opus campaign, blowing the minds of the freshman they’ve adopted into the new DND club. He’ll help El with her math homework because God knows Will is useless in that regard. At the very least he’s no better than she is, even without the whole ‘raised in a lab’ excuse. Speaking of Will…
He is going to pick Will up for school every day (and El of course, but besides the point). Even though it’s out of his way and he hates getting up early. He is going to sit next to him at lunch and play footsie under the table while Max and El roll their eyes, but smile at them anyway. He is going to sneak away and make out with him under the bleachers at least once goddamnit, even if it is dangerous because Will deserves every cheesy high school romance cliché in the book.
He’s going to slow dance with him at prom. Somehow. He hasn’t worked out the full details yet.
So yeah, it’s going to be a good year. Except to do any of these things he’ll have to survive Jonathan’s incoming shovel talk, and he doesn’t love those odds.
Jonathan’s smiling at something Nancy said as they walk in hand-in-hand, immediately greeted by the familiar sound of Lucas and Dustin’s bickering.
“You’re already dropping off Max at her place, why can’t you drive me?”
“Because you literally live 3 doors down? Just walk you lazy piece of shit, I thought you were an athlete.”
“It’s the principle of it. You didn’t even offer!”
“I can’t believe I missed this at college,” Nancy mutters, rolling her eyes at their antics but Mike can tell she’s trying not to laugh. She has a soft spot for the whole Party, something he’ll never let her live down. Jonathan is more immune to their charm, the Byers-Hopper household being constantly rife with (mostly) good-natured teasing, and he quickly turns to his siblings.
“Ready to go guys?” El and Max exchange a look, the only ones who can rival Mike and Will when it comes to telepathic communication, before El turns her puppy dog eyes to Jonathan who sighs. “Let me guess.”
“Sleepover?” El smiles sweetly. “Dustin is driving us.”
“Oh so now everyone’s getting a lift except me.”
“Shut up stalker.”
“Fine!” Jonathan quickly concedes before another argument can start. “But call tonight to check in ok?” El squeals in delight, hugging her brother. The others start saying their goodbyes with promises of meeting up again tomorrow. Jonathan and Nancy disappear into her room for a minute, which Mike chooses to ignore. He lingers near Will hoping for a few extra moments together as they make their way out the door.
“Alright, Lucas is getting dropped off.” Max declares as she claims shotgun, while Dustin searches for his keys.
“What? Why?” he splutters.
“Because it means you’ll have to do a U-turn which you can’t do for shit. And I find that extremely entertaining.” He starts to protest, but Max levels him with a look and he immediately caves, throwing his hands in the air. Lucas looks at her with stars in his eyes.
“I love you so much.” El snorts as if she isn’t just as bad. Max rolls her eyes but kisses him on the cheek anyway.
“You’re a dork.”
Will is giggling at their banter, when Mike takes his arm and pulls him to the side, under the cover of the carport.
“Radio me when you get home?” he murmurs, bringing Will’s knuckles to his lips. Mike relishes in the way his cheeks turn gloriously red. “I’ll miss you.”
“You’re the dork, oh my god,” Will laughs. “It’ll be, like, 12 hours max.”
“And I’ll be counting down the seconds,” Mike insists, only half joking. Will shakes his head in disbelief.
“Come here,” he demands, pulling Mike in for a kiss.
“Hey, Wheeler!” Mike shoots Max a withering glare which she entirely ignores. “Stop hogging Will, I want to say goodbye.” Will just laughs, heading over to the car, only to be interrupted by Jonathan emerging from the house.
“Actually you can take your time Will, I wanted to talk to Mike for a minute.” The party whip their heads around, absolutely delighted with this information. Mike groans.
“Guys please don’t-”
“Oooooh, you’re in trouble!” Dustin crows, Lucas cackling behind him.
“Ahh, the shovel talk,” Max nods knowingly.
“Shovel talk?” El looks at her confused.
“I’ll explain in the car don’t worry,” she assures.
“Don’t give her ideas!” Will protests, but one look from Max and Mike knows it’s too late, he’s not just got Jonathan’s incredibly terrifying conversation to look forward to. Speaking of…
He finally looks over at the older boy, who gives him an awkward smile and tilts his head back toward the house, before making his way inside. Mike looks desperately at Will who shrugs helplessly.
“If you’re not back in 30 minutes I’ll come and rescue you.”
“30!?”
“He loves his deep and meaningfuls, we’ve got to be realistic here,” Will points out, walking back over and taking Mike’s hands in his own. “You’ll be fine. It’s just Jonathan.”
“He hates me,” Mike deadpans. Will laughs in surprise.
“He does not! He’s known you forever, he’s literally dating your sister.”
“Neither of those means he doesn’t hate me,” Mike protests, pulling Will closer and squeezing his hands tight. Will looks into his eyes and sobers up, seeing the genuine concern hidden there.
“Mike,” he whispers, leaning his forehead against his. Mike closes his eyes, breathing in their closeness. “I promise he doesn’t hate you. Because he loves me. And I love you. So he can’t. It’s against the rules.” Mike huffs.
“The Byers have never been very good at following rules.” Will laughs softly, before finally closing the distance between them and kissing him tenderly.
Will always kisses him like they have all the time in the world, and it calms his thundering heart. It reminds him that they’re both in this for the long haul, and nothing will change that. Not even brothers who definitely do hate him. He smiles into the kiss before pulling back.
“Go talk to him. I’ll be waiting right here,” Will promises, still in their own little bubble. Mike sighs, leaving one last lingering kiss before nodding. Will calls out, right as he reaches the door.
“I’ll miss you!” Mike laughs, some of the tension releasing in his chest.
“Dork!” he shouts back with far too much affection for there to be any bite. Will only winks, before heading back over to the car to face the inevitable teasing from the others who have been doing a terrible job of pretending not to spy on them. Mike allows himself just a moment to watch, before finally stepping through the door.
Jonathan’s standing at the door to the basement, looking hesitant.
“I figure you’ll want to do this where no one will overhear us?” he asks. Mike would really rather not taint his happy memories of the basement that day, laughing with the Party and snuggling up to Will on the couch, completely ignoring the movie playing as he traces patterns on his back. On the other hand, he shudders at the thought of Nancy or God forbid his parents listening in on the conversation.
“Yeah, for sure. We can head down.” Jonathan nods, and the awkward silence resumes as they eventually situate themselves on the couch. Any reassurance Will had given him is quickly slipping away the longer Mike sits in front of Jonathan’s watchful gaze. He’s not scrutinising him necessarily, but it feels like he’s completely on display, unable to hide anything. Will can read him entirely too, but he already knows everything anyway, so it’s a little less terrifying. Mike’s just about to bite the bullet and say anything when Jonathan finally speaks.
“Do you remember how you’d stay over every weekend after Will came back? The first time, I mean,” he’s smiling a little even as his eyes pierce into Mike’s. He nods.
“Of course.”
“I didn’t want to let him out of my sight. I was so terrified that he’d be taken away from me again. Mum was the same. But we both knew he’d be ok with you.” Mike’s breath stutters, but Jonathan continues. “We already knew you two were best friends, obviously, but after everything you did for him that week? Dustin and Lucas too of course. And El. But you’re the leader Mike. You always have been. Will’s always looked up to you. Frankly, he’s always adored you,” he chuckles. Mike doesn’t dare speak. He has no idea where this is going.
“One night I heard voices, so I just wanted to check if everything was ok. You didn’t notice me. Will had had a nightmare and was just,” he takes a deep breath, trying to remain composed. “Just sobbing. But you were holding him, whispering to him, telling him it was ok. He wasn’t there anymore. You were here. You’d protect him.”
“Jonathan-“ Mike tries to cut him off, but he holds out his hand, silencing him again with a gentle shake of his head.
“And then the next morning you were acting completely normal. Didn’t treat him like he was fragile, didn’t talk down to him. You were just hanging out with your best friend as usual.” Jonathan turns, fully facing him now. “You were the only person who gave him that Mike. The only one who didn’t make me feel like he was different. He pretty much told me so himself.”
“That’s not true, obviously you guys were looking after him,” Mike protests.
“We could help him, sure. I hugged him after plenty of nightmares, and so did mum. But we couldn’t go back to normal after, not like you would. We couldn’t treat him like it was still before. And he needed that, desperately,” Jonathan’s eyes are glassy, and Mike allows him a moment, turning away.
“I know he did. But so did I. He was helping me just as much, even if he didn’t realise it,” Mike smiles just thinking about his boyfriend. “Because it’s Will. He’s so inherently selfless, he doesn’t even do it on purpose.” Jonathan frowns slightly, but doesn’t refute him, instead continuing.
“Then at Halloween, with the Mind Flayer, you were there for him again. I left him alone, but you looked after him. You believed him. You didn’t think he was just going crazy.” Mike lets out a pathetic little laugh. Jonathan shoots him a questioning glance.
“No it’s nothing, just an inside joke I guess- it’s nothing sorry,” Mike stammers out, looking down sheepishly. Jonathan nods slowly then continues.
“You were there for him in the lab. You protected him. And mum too.” Mike’s head shoots up. He didn’t know Jonathan knew about that. He’d never spoken about it with anyone. It felt like violating Joyce’s privacy. “She told me how much you helped her after Bob. You’ve protected my family so many times Mike,” Jonathan trails off and oh. Mike gets it.
He knows the guilt in Jonathan’s eyes intimately. He saw it every time he looked in the mirror when they returned from California. Because Mike was the plan guy. The others helped him of course, Dustin especially, but really it was Mike’s role. But he left. And the plan failed. And Eddie had died. And Max was in a coma because they didn’t bring a backup walkman. And she was only used as bait because he didn’t notice what was going on with her all term in the first place. Because he was too caught up in his own stupid teenage angst. Selfish.
He knows Will would argue with him. They all would. They don’t get it.
“Every time I wasn’t there, you were. I knew I could trust you,” Jonathan tells him, oblivious to Mike’s internal meltdown but clearly having a similar one of his own.
“You were looking after Nancy. You were protecting my family,” Mike insists.
“Sure. But you were just a kid. And I never thanked you for it. So thank you.” Mike doesn’t bother arguing that he doesn’t need his thanks. Of course he’d looked after them. It was the Byers. His second family. He would always do anything to protect them. So would Jonathan. But then he narrows his eyes.
“This isn’t a very threatening shovel talk. I thought you were meant to be Will’s protective older brother.” Jonathan barks a laugh.
“I wanted to ease into it. But ok, sure, let’s get to the point. We both know that everything kind of went to shit once El came back,” and wow Mike knows he literally asked for it, but it still feels like a slap in the face.
“Don’t say it like that. It wasn’t her fault,” he says sharply. Jonathan blinks in surprise, making a placating gesture.
“I know, Mike. I’m not attacking my baby sister.” Mike deflates, nodding. Jonathan’s watching him closely again. “You’re very protective of El too. You always have been.” Mike huffs.
“That was kind of the problem. Well, no, not exactly but,” he pauses, frustrated. Jonathan waits patiently. “She needed me. At the start. And then later, I thought she still did but it was different. And I hated that because I needed her. But not the way I should have. I needed her to need me. And I was using her…” he trails off.
“To hide?” Jonathan suggests. Mike nods tentatively. “Will needed you too.” And there it is—the crux of it all. The summer of ‘85 and the aftermath. The biggest regret of Mike’s life.
“And I wasn’t there for him. Not enough. I ignored him, I pushed him away, and I said just,” Mike shudders. “The most awful things to him. Because I was scared and projecting but that’s no excuse.”
“You hurt him, Mike. Even without the whole… romance side of it. You hurt your best friend. You hurt my brother,” Jonathan’s tone isn’t harsh so much as entirely calm, which is so much worse. If he was angry Mike could get defensive, but no, there was only the objective truth of the situation. Mike fucked up. As usual. “And then you said you would fix things, but ignored him for months and went right back to El. To hiding.” Mike looks up confused.
“Wait, Will didn’t tell you?” he asks hesitantly.
“Tell me what?”
“Oh. Nothing I guess,” Mike says, incredibly quiet, shrinking back into the couch. Why wouldn’t Will have told Jonathan that he did call? That it was a whole mess of miscommunication from both ends?
“Mike, what-”
“No seriously, nothing. If he didn’t mention it, it doesn't matter. Keep going.” Jonathan eyes him suspiciously but drops it.
“Fine,” He sighs and leans back into the couch. “I’m not trying to be mean ok. But California was a shitshow and we both know it,” Mike laughs sardonically.
“That’s an understatement.” Jonathan just shakes his head.
“Look, I’m not gonna sit here and give a play-by-play of you breaking up with El, and the most painful will they/won’t they any of us have ever been forced to witness,” Mike protests but Jonathan silences him with a look. “It was excruciating for everyone involved. You were both painfully oblivious, we were literally a few days away from just locking you in a room with Murray and being done with it.” Mike snorts in surprise, suddenly extremely grateful it hadn’t come to that and he and Will had gotten to confess on their own terms, dramatic as it may have been. He finally looks the older boy in the eyes again.
“I promise you, Will and I are good now. I know it was messy but we love each other. I’m not going to hurt him again, I mean it,” he is totally sincere, all hints of snark and teenage angst gone from his voice. Jonathan exhales slowly.
“I believe that you believe that, but you will. No don’t- I’m not saying that to be an asshole, it’s just the truth. That’s how relationships work. You’re going to hurt him again, it’s inevitable. It’s about how you handle it afterwards that I’m worried about.” Mike has gone silent, waiting.
“Mike, I’ve known you practically your whole life. I know you’re not a bad kid. But you can understand why I’m… cautious. You and Will are so in sync 99% of the time it’s honestly scary, but when you two fight it kind of becomes everyone’s problem.” Mike rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue. He knows his and Will’s fights tend to be… an event. But to think that Jonathan doesn’t trust him anymore, not like he used to… Well, it hurts. It hurts that Mike had lost something so precious. It hurts that years later he’s still paying for his dumb younger self’s mistakes. And it hurts that, regardless of what they say, everyone just seems to be waiting for him to mess up again. He decides to just cut to the chase.
“Look, I fucked up ok! I know. I made him miserable for months and I was also being a terrible boyfriend to El and-”
“I know things were hard for you back home too Mike.” Jonathan cuts in, grinding Mike’s rambling to a halt.
“How do you- Nancy, right,” he grits his teeth. “Do you two frequently discuss your brother’s love lives?” Jonathan smirks.
“Yes actually. For a while there you two dancing around each other was the most entertaining thing happening without any life or death consequences.”
“There were still life or death consequences,” Mike insists.
“Ok, I know you’re a teenager but that’s a bit much,” he teases, the tension easing out of the room just a bit.
“You’re saying you wouldn’t have killed me if I hurt him again?” at this Jonathan actually laughs.
“Good point,” he concedes, and the two share a smile. Mike sighs, deciding to not take the defensive route for once in his life.
“It sucked. Living here without Will. High school sucked, my dad sucked, the stupid thoughts in my head, it just all…”
“Sucked?” Jonathan guesses, looking sympathetic. Mike nods, pushing his hair out of his face. This whole conversation has been emotionally exhausting. He's felt constantly on the brink of tears the whole time.
“But things don’t suck right now. They’re really, really good actually. And I’m doing everything I can to keep it that way,” he promises. Jonathan still looks hesitant, trying to find the right words.
“You know Nancy and I haven’t had the easiest time the last few years either right?” Mike nods. Everyone had picked up on the tension between them while they were all crammed into the Wheeler house together. “I actually think you and I are really similar. In one way at least,” he chuckles when Mike looks at him sceptically. “We both hate admitting we need help too sometimes. We hate taking up space when it seems like other people deserve it more. And I know it must be particularly hard for you because after everything Will deserves the world. And it feels terrible to ask him for anything. But that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to anyway.”
“Will doesn’t give me nothing,” Mike argues.
“Of course not. He loves you. But he can’t actually read your mind. So you need to tell him if anything starts to suck again. Or if not him, someone else. Anyone. Hell, even me Mike. I do care about you, you know. And I definitely don’t hate you,” he adds pointedly. Mike winces, realising he’d overheard his earlier conversation with Will.
“I do know that. But honestly, I don’t think I will talk to you about this kind of thing. I couldn’t ask you to keep secrets from Will. I wouldn’t do that to either of you,” he admits. Jonathan looks at him with a hint of wonder.
“Will’s not the only selfless one, Mike,” he says softly. Mike finally feels the tears fall from his eyes. “Your family is really lucky to have you. Including Will.”
“Same for you,” Mike responds. “Including Nancy.” Jonathan chuckles.
“I think at this point we should just admit it’s all the same family. We’re gonna end up brothers one way or another,” Mike rolls his eyes, but there’s a small grin creeping onto his face. Jonathan takes a deep breath, turning serious again. “And as your brother, I’m allowed to give you some tough love. So I’m only going to actually say this one time. But if you ever knowingly and maliciously hurt Will-”
“You’ll kill me, I get it,” Mike cuts in, still smiling. Jonathan remains stoic.
“No, worse.”
“Hopper?” Mike scoffs.
“Please, he’s a softie and we both know it.”
“El?”
“I mean obviously, but she’ll handle that herself.” Mike looks confused until a look of horror dawns on his face.
“Wait, no. You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would,” Jonathan smirks.
“You’re not that cruel.”
“Do you really want to find out?” Mike vehemently shakes his head.
“Don’t hurt Will, and Joyce never has to get involved. I know she adores you, but that will only make it sting more when she tells you that she’s not mad, just disappointed.”
“You’re actually evil,” Mike whispers, shaken to his core at the mere thought of Joyce Byers’ disapproval.
“When I have to be,” Jonathan confirms. “Just don’t mess up again and you’ll be fine.” Mike laughs along with him. Because he’s joking. Mike can tell he’s joking, with his teasing tone and the genuine smile in his eyes. But the words still send ice to his heart. They confirm what he already knows. If this somehow does go wrong, if he somehow fucks up again and loses the most important person in his life, the relationship that is the best thing to have ever happened to him, it will be Mike’s fault and Mike’s fault alone. It might not be what Jonathan meant to say, but he thinks they both know it’s the truth. Mike’s the problem. He closes his eyes for a second and shoves the growing dread deep down. Now’s not the time.
“Are we good?” he asks, hoping to escape the suddenly stifling basement. Jonathan nods as he stands, before offering Mike a hand up.
“We’re good. Come on, you can go say your goodbyes now. I know you can’t stand to be apart from each other for more than 5 minutes.” Mike scoffs as they trek up the stairs.
“Please, I’ve caught Nancy sneaking out to see you enough times that you have zero room to talk.” Jonathan stutters out a defence, but Mike’s attention has been snatched away by the most adorable site he’s ever seen.
Will sits with Holly in the living room, helping her draw on the coffee table. He hasn’t noticed their arrival, entirely caught up in his conversation with his baby sister, nodding along seriously to her demands. Mike instantly feels the tension leave him. God he loves that boy. Nancy suddenly appears beside Jonathan and pokes Mike’s side.
“You’re drooling,” she deadpans. Mike smacks her, causing Will to look up.
“Hey guys! Holly and I were just finishing up her dragon,” he grins. Holly jumps up.
“It’s pink,” she declares solemnly.
“Amazing Hols,” Mike smiles, making his way over to Will. “Why don’t you go show mum?”
“Ok!” she agrees, scampering off. Jonathan looks between the two of them, then to the kitchen where Karen is now marvelling at Holly’s creation.
“Why don’t you two head out to the car? I’ll be out in a bit, just have to talk to Nance,” he says carefully. Mike smiles at him, a tiny nod of thanks. He needs to hug Will like, right now, and he’d rather not risk his parents seeing.
“Sure thing,” Will replies, his gaze flicking between the two boys. Mike grabs his arm, quickly leading them out the front door and under the carport, away from any prying eyes.
“Mike are you- oh!” Will is cut off as Mike practically slams into Will, clinging to him desperately and burying his face in his neck. “Ok,” Will whispers, wrapping his arms around him. They don’t talk for a moment, just existing in each other’s comforting presence. Eventually, Mike pulls back.
“Sorry, that was dramatic,” he says, feeling embarrassed. Will is instantly shaking his head.
“You never have to say sorry for something like that. I get it,” he insists, his hands moving up to frame Mike’s face. He leans into the touch, closing his eyes. Will’s fingertips gently trace his cheekbones. “Are you ok? He wasn’t actually mean to you was he?” Mike shakes his head.
“He didn’t say anything I didn’t deserve to hear,” he attempts to joke, but can immediately tell it falls flat as Will’s brow furrows in concern.
“Mike.” Don’t talk about yourself like that.
“Will.” I’m sorry, it’s ok.
“Don’t lie to me,” Will whispers, looking far too serious for Mike’s liking.
“I’m not, I promise,” he insists. He’s not lying, not really. Because there’s no reason for him not to be fine after that conversation. Any weirdness he’s feeling right now is his own fault, not anyone else’s. “It’s like you said, it’s just Jonathan. There was very minimal threatening and a lot of attempts at emotional connection.” Will cracks a smile, allowing him to drop the topic for now at least.
“Do you want another hug anyway?” he asks knowingly.
“God, please,” Mike immediately agrees, and Will pulls him in close again. He feels him press a kiss on the top of his head, a rare occurrence with their height difference but Mike has folded himself as down tight as possible, trying to merge himself with Will permanently. For as worn out as he feels, he’ll take a hundred more painfully earnest heart-to-hearts for this. To be known so deeply and held so tenderly, like he’s someone worth the effort. Someone to protect.
“Ok, you really should go,” Mike eventually admits. Honestly, they should have said goodbye minutes ago, but Will never pulls away from a hug if he thinks the other person still wants it. And Mike has never wanted anything more than to just keep Will close, hold onto him for dear life with no reason to have to let go. One day.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Will promises, pulling back just enough to look him in the eye. “And I’ll radio you when I get home.” He presses a chaste kiss on Mike’s lips, then his forehead, lingering for another moment longer than they should.
“I love you,” Mike whispers. He’ll never get tired of saying it.
“I love you too,” Will smiles. He’ll never get tired of hearing it either. Will’s hands trail down to meet his own, squeezing them once before finally heading to the car to meet Jonathan.
Mike makes his way to where Nancy is waiting by the front door. She smiles at him but doesn’t say anything. They simply watch the car drive down the street, taking their boys away again.