Chapter Text
Pots clang against each other, filling the silence in the kitchen. Joyce was finally helping Karen around the house today since she was off work. They’d grown a bit distant now, mainly because Mike and Will weren’t friends like they used to be, which irked the both of them. They were both jarred at how quickly the relationship fell apart after the Byers moved to California.
But today seemed a little different.
“So, Joyce. Mike’s been down with Will in the basement for a while, hm?”
“I’m honestly surprised, they haven’t been talking very much.” Joyce bit her lip before continuing, “I think that’s why Will’s been so sad. They used to be so close.” The room got a little silent. It was an unspoken fact that Will and Mike had clearly gotten depressed since they stopped speaking. “Don’t tell him I said that though, he’d kill me,” she said while leaning closer to Karen and giggling a little. Karen laughed, she’s been craving a normal mom conversation since quarantine began.
“I think Mike’s been missing Will–” she dropped a cup into the sink, hissing at the noise– “too. I remember when they used to hang out in the basement, sometimes Dustin and Lucas would say it was like they were under a binding curse or whatever. It was something Dungeons and Dragons.”
Joyce chuckled once more before getting a little more serious in the face again. “Mike hasn’t really been making an effort to reach out.” Karen crossed her arms, getting a little defensive, even though she knew Joyce was right.
“Well neither has Will.”
“True, but Will doesn’t even know that Mike and Jane broke up.”
Karen paused to lean against the sink, and eyebrow quirked at Joyce. “Neither did I.” Joyce’s face contorted into some mix of surprise and regret. “Oh well, they broke up a week ago. I thought you’d know. He really is a mama’s boy.” Karen smiled, appreciating the comment. It was short-lived though, because she jumped with a realization. “That’s why Jane hasn’t been over! He kept telling me it was because she’s been working out at night!” Joyce sighed, she hated that her best friend couldn’t know about the crawls and El’s powers. “Sure she works out during the day, but never during the night. Especially not outside. Hop would freak.” Karen grimaced, “well who knows. Maybe Will and him can start being friends again now that they’ve broken up. Lord knows Mike needs to get out of this funk he’s in.
“Why’d you lie to me, Will? Friends don’t lie!” Mike gestured wildly as the words continued to tumble out of his mouth. “First, El told me that you were painting something for some,” Mike paused, seeming to get a little more angry than frustrated, “some… Some girl that you liked or whatever. Then you told me you made a painting for me, and then all of a sudden it was commissioned? God, I can’t believe I actually thought El would commission some bullshit about my D&D character. She doesn’t even know anything about it!” Will tried to interrupt him, but to no avail. “That’s so weird! I would’ve loved to know it was from you, you know I’ve always loved–” Mike suddenly stopped talking, his face getting hot. Will thought it was because he was embarrassed at first, but he settled on the idea that Mike realized he was just repeating a scripted line from when he was younger. This version of Mike doesn’t talk like that anymore, this version of Mike isn’t vulnerable anymore, so there’s no way he’s really telling the truth.
Mike groaned into his hands, his eyes glassy. Was he really that angry? “My…My point is, I don’t like the fact that you felt the need to lie to me. That’s such a stupid thing to lie about.” Suddenly he stopped yelling, he was more murmuring into his shoulder now.
Usually Will would love the word stupid, but hearing it come from Mike felt a little different. It hurt in a weird way. But Mike shouldn’t affect him anymore, so he just pushed it down.
“You and El’s relationship was so…” He paused to find the right word, and surprisingly, Mike didn’t interject. “Your relationship was just so strained, Mike! And clearly you weren’t going to do anything about it” Will was almost yelling now, and he wasn’t looking at Mike either. It was like he was gesturing to the situations in the air. He looked back at Mike, and suddenly he felt a little guilty. He looked like he had just been scolded by his mom, but there was something else. Something that Will decided he didn’t care enough about to decipher.
“That was a year ago, get over it! The world is ending!”
“Why don’t you get over it, Mike? The world is ending!”
Mike stepped back. Will doesn’t bite back often, and he certainly doesn’t mock him during arguments. The only time they’d really fought was in the garage.
“It’s not my fault you don't like girls!”
Stop that. Stop thinking about it. He can’t cry in front of Mike, not when he’s supposed to be changed from the weak boy he used to be. He’s resilient now. He doesn’t cry over stupid things like his friend getting a girlfriend. His friend having a girlfriend.
“I don’t want to talk to you Mike, just–” he sighed– “just stop talking to me. It was better when you ignored me. It was better when you didn’t pretend to have the time to care.”
“What? Will I’m not pretending,” Mike suddenly stepped closer, almost as if the proximity alone would prove his point.
“I don’t know if I can trust you on that, Mike.”
And suddenly he was running up the stairs, he didn’t want to hear Mike say the things he wished to hear, especially since there was no way Mike actually believed his words. El said he lied to her all the time, so what’s different now? At the end of the day, Mike and El were dating, Lucas was mourning, Dustin was rebelling, and Will was alone.
But it wasn’t the good kind of alone anymore. He was in the bathroom now. He had nowhere else to go. Nancy was out, he just escaped the basement (his only real safe place), and his Mom was with Mrs. Wheeler in the kitchen. He laughed a little. Here he was, acting like his best frien- his ex best friend was the worst thing in the world. He should be worried about the impending possession that could take place, nonetheless the whole world ending.
Then came the waterworks. Jeez he felt like his mom. But more than that, he felt stupid. Just like Mike probably thought he was.