Chapter Text
"Why was Mike here?" Joyce finally asked after the boy left.
When she had woken up he was in the living room with Will and El, lightly twirling the wire of the telephone around his fingers while listening to Karen going from worried to annoyed while scolding him, repeating the same arguments.
"He came to hang out" El explained and Will shrugged looking around the room. Joyce cocked an eyebrow at that. "You're up late." her son points out, changing the subject.
She didn't press further, but she always knew when something was up. Mothers know everything.
The 2 boys were together again, faster than expected, hence Lucas calling everyone in the evening, yesterday, asking to go to the movies together since The Fly was on and they hadn't had time to watch it after it came out, in August 1986. Dustin was preparing to leave for summer camp, as he didn't make it there last year, when apocalypse was near- so he politely declined the invitation. El was too invested in working on a puzzle with Joyce in the kitchen, and she said she was staying home to finish it, although Will knew that, even if she wouldn't admit it, El wasn't too fond of scary movies and especially not of body horrors.
Mike went to Will's before the movies so they could spend more time together, -and to tell Jonathan about their relationship. Mike considered that it would only be fair to tell him since Nancy also knows. He'd found out he was one of the people who supported Will the most and helped him get through, so he really earned it.
But that didn't mean Mike wasn't stressing the fuck out, and Will could see it- the fear in his eyes. He'd already reassured his boyfriend that it's safe, and Jonathan would probably be the happiest to hear the news out of everyone that they knew, though Mike obviously wasn't convinced and Will understood. He knew how hard it was to trust someone with something like this, they weren't exactly viewed highly in the world they lived.
Will looked at Mike's hands, he was fidgeting a lot, so he placed his hand on top of Mike's reassuringly. He squinted his eyes slightly, catching a glimpse of Mike's palm. He had some kind of mark there(?).
"Hey, what's that?" he asked, eyebrows close together, indicating slight worry, but his tone was curious.
"Ah, this?" Mike said, turning his hand backwards so he could show Will. The shorter boy stared at the cut that seemed recent and frowned. He remembered a letter where he could see thoughts of self harming, and his jaw clenched a bit at the thought of Mike mutilating himself, cutting his skin causing blood to spill and a scar to later be formed.
"Mike, I-" he breathed, "Did you do that?" Will looked at Mike's eyes who grew twice in size at the question.
"What?" the taller boy asked, and it came out louder than he expected. "No! No, no, no." he shook his head quickly and Will's expression softened. "Why would you even imply that?" Mike stared at Will, as he anxiously brought his fingers to his lips.
"It's just that..." he mumbled, "In the letters. You were talking about things. You said stuff about killing yourself and I'm just-" Will cut himself off and looked at Mike, eyes sincere, "so worried." he finished, emphasizing the word "so" and Mike felt his heart speed up (not because he was scared, but because Will really cared that much about him, it made his insides feel warm).
"Mike, are you listening?" he scrunched his face, doubtfully.
"Look, I don't feel like that anymore and it's not- I wasn't in my right mind." the raven-haired boy sighed.
"Clearly." Will laughed dryly. He felt his eyes swelling with tears at the thought that his boyfriend was struggling like that, all by himself. He almost felt responsible. He knew he didn't do anything but that was the problem- he wasn't there for him. So then he gently wrapped his arms around Mike, giving him space to lean in if he wanted.
The hug was comfortable and warm, chests pressed together, breathing in rhythm and, suddenly, Mike didn't feel so alone. And maybe he never was.
He exhaled into the shorter boy's shoulder, and he started to ease up, feeling less tense. Will knew exactly what to do as he attentively ran his hand across his back in slow, reassuring circles.
In Will's arms, Mike felt seen, -worth it. Never before, during all those nights he'd felt numb, wishing it had been him instead of Bob, or Billy- or even Barbara, had Mike thought he'd ever feel like this, like he's important. He didn't fight or have powers like El, he didn't go against anyone like Lucas, he didn't go through what Max did, he wasn't as good at making plans like Dustin was and he wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as Will did, with everything that he had to endure every single time that thing came back. But even if he felt like he was the most useless person- Will always managed to assure his importance, to point out his leader-like qualities and how he thought he was the heart of the party (Mike would never get over it, he was the heart in Will's eyes).
And, maybe, if you would have told Mike that he was gay in the summer of '85, he would have laughed- or cried (maybe both). Because it wasn't something he could be, because then he'd feel like a mistake and he would have probably started praying too, and avoiding writing to his best friend for half a year because why would he feel differently about him than his own girlfriend (and maybe he did just that). Therfore, now, Mike didn't feel as miserable anymore. And he didn't feel so out of place either, like he was an error in the system that needed to be erased.
-Because truth be told, Mike thought about death a lot more than he'd like to admit. He might've imagined his own death more than considered normal, if there was a normal amount to be doing that anyway. And killing himself always seemed to be somewhere in the back of his mind, ever since he'd learnt that was an option. -But that isn't something to be told.
Mike sniffled as he raised his head from where it was resting against Will's shoulder. He wasn't crying, not really, but he couldn't find it into himself to care that much.
He looked at his boyfriend and he just felt happy, and perhaps confident. Ergo he just grinned at him idiotically and Will looked at him as if saying "What?" but his lips quirked upwards too, matching Mike's.
They could do this.
Jonathan made his way up the stairs, trying to get to his room, but right as he stepped on the last step his teenage brother and his life-long best friend popped in front of him. He'd almost stumbled on his back, "Holy shit." he muttered under his breath, clearly caught off guard.
Will laughs awkwardly, apologizing and stretching out his hand for Jonathan to take. Mike is picking at his cuticles, reddening spots appearing around his nails. The young man looks between them (the space between them being significantly small, noted Jonathan) and asks: "What's going on?".
"Right," Mike quickly nods and takes a deep breath, "we thought we could discuss something."
"Right now." adds Will, glancing in the direction of his brother's room. Jonathan quirks his eyebrows, but nods and goes ahead to his room, gesturing to Will and Mike to follow him.
He sits on his chair backwards and leans in on the back of it, resting his chin on his hands, looking at the door expectantly as the other 2 boys walk in. "Well, this is going to be serious." he thinks. They sit next to each other on his bed, Mike glances around the room.
"That's an ugly lamp." he voices what was probably supposed to be an internal thought, brushing his curly dark hair out of his face.
"Gee, thanks." Jonathan groans as Will smirks knowingly. "Told you." his little brother snarks.
"It's contemporary." he explains, but then he recalls why they were here in the first place. "I'm sure you didn't come here just to accentuate the fact that you don't dig my lamp." he spins in his chair, now leaning against the back of the chair, with one leg up, resting on the seat. He looked like he had made himself comfortable.
Mike, on the other hand, looked rigid, his long arms by his sides gripping the material of the bed sheets. Will was eyeing him subtly with his lips pressed into a thin line. "So, " the shorter boy of the two beings. "So." Mike parrots, strained, and Will elbows him lightly.
"I- We came here to tell you that we're together- dating." Will reveals with a huge smile on his face. Mike's eyes widen in anticipation.
"Will, that's amazing!" Jonathan beamed, excitedly. He quickly took the 2 boys in his arms, hugging them tightly. He peered at Mike and smirked, "What took you so long?". Mike rolled his eyes at that, but by the way he was grinning, he could tell there was no real bite behind it.
"You should tell Nancy as soon as possible!" Jonathan propounded as he released then from his embrace.
They both stared at him while blinking.
"She knew before me?" he asked, acting wounded.
"Mike was resistant to tell you at first." Will told him. "I thought he hated me!" Mike waved his hands around, agitated.
"I could never hate you." Jonathan frowned, "Sure, you can be annoying," he quipped before continuing to make his point, "but I don't hate you. You're like family, Mike.". It was true, Jonathan has known Mike for most of his life. No matter what happened, he would always find a way to sympathize with Mike. Even if he hurt Will unknowingly, he knew Mike was also hurting. It was hard to see them both so unaware of how they affected each other. He wished he could have been there for Mike just as he was there for his little brother- to tell him it's okay, to push his insecurities away.
"Also," he continued, "This doesn't change anything, you know? Everyone will love you all the same, you're the same Will and Mike. Just know that you're not in the wrong for this. I know it's though, it won't get easier- I won't tell you that, but there's people who care about you.". He finished and gestured to himself. Both of them looked at him, and Will wiped a tear while choking down a laugh. Of course he'd give an emotional speech, he's Jonathan.
"Thanks." Mike said, voice trembling, and nodded while glancing at his hand watch, he and Will had matching ones ever since they were little. "Oh God, we're going to be late!" he stood up and grabbed Will's hand, dragging him out of Jonathan's room.
"These two." Jonathan snickered.
"Where are they?!" Max scowled, throwing her arms in the air. Lucas felt endeared, although if you asked him he wouldn't know why.
"They probably left late. They're lucky the ads take forever before the movie starts." he looked at the big screen and then back at his girlfriend, who nodded in annoyance.
The entrance door to the auditorium opens loudly, and they aren't surprised to see Mike and Will rushing to their seats next to the other 2. Mike let's Will go to his seat first, muttering "sorry" and a couple of "excuse mes" to the people already seated.
Lucas raises a questioning eyebrow at the 2 of them: "What took you so long?" . In response, Mike just hushes him and motions to the movie that was starting. "Annoying." Max whispers to Lucas while wrapping her hands around his arm.
Few minutes into the movie, Mike gets up. "I'm going to get popcorn." he announces. "I'll come with." Will says, standing next to him quickly. Max stares at them in thought for a second, then "Get me a coke, would you?" she says, handing them a 5 dollar bill. "And I want my change.". Mike takes it and shrugs, "I can't guarantee it." .
"I can." Will says, taking the bill out of Mike's hand and walking ahead of him.
Another couple of minutes pass. "It doesn't take 10 minutes to get some popcorn." Max huffs. "I think it's been more than that. They're losing the movie." Lucas points out. He thinks they're acting weird, he can tell Max does too. And it wasn't like they weren't weird before, but now it was different. "What do you think they've got going on?" she asks him. "I have no idea." he whispers back. "They're acting funny." the ever observant redhead states, and Lucas agrees. He could make a few guesses on why, but he wouldn't want to assume anything. Speak of the devil- here they were.
They sat down and Mike passed Max the coke, while Will reached in his pockets to give her the change. She mouthed "Thanks" to Will and took a moment to inspect them. Their cheeks looked pinkish and their pupils were dilated despite the light that was projected by the big screen. "Hm." she said to herself, while turning to Lucas, who gave her a curious look. "I'll tell you later.".
They walked to Lucas's car chatting, mostly about the grotesque film they'd just watched. And if Lucas noticed how Will grasped Mike's hand at an especially disturbing scene and didn't let go for the rest of the movie, he didn't say anything. Max didn't either.