Chapter Text
Mike couldn't sleep thinking about Will
Like not quite literally thinking about Will only, that would be... Well the thing is he wasn't but about all the forest scene thing,the current trauma Mike was facing. This time literally
Sighing, he turned over in bed a ninth time, wrapping himself in her sheet.
It had been hours since he felt the last light go out in the house, which meant that everyone in the house had retired to their rooms and presumably to rest, as any person free from sin and torment could do without a problem
Obviously not the case of Michael Ass Wheeler
He replayed every moment of his day on his head, tossing and turning in bed, his body feeling like it was boiling, something rotting inside him
Though Mike wanted to think for anyway that scene was a (gross) misunderstanding, the last 3 months suddenly gained sense
Chance orbiting intensely around him without looking for a fight or making any sarcastic comments, Will's insistence on letting him go, the shared looks...
"Ugh"
An indignant snort escaped him as he turned over in bed, now facing Will's painting.
His heart softened a little as he admired the brushstrokes, but he immediately forced himself to remember how angry he was with Will, with the world in general.
Will's behaviour wasn't trustworthy since a long time ago, he gaslighted Mike, making him believe nothing was going on with fucking Chance
"Unbelievable"
"Why him?"
"Why, Will?"
"Why on earth would you choose Chance —the bully— to make out?"
"Cause there is no way they are serious thing... Right?"
Mike tried hard to convince himself
He rolled over again, ending up on his back with another sigh
All he wanted was to go to sleep
(...)
He was back on the forest
Same hour, same spot he started looking
He had a feeling, he knew what was happening next, but couldn't act by himself. The whisper of the wind sounded mesmerizing, hitting the leaves of the trees, making them vibrate, and at the same time urging him to move forward along the path already well embedded in his subconscious.
He walked
The atmosphere felt suffocating, even though it took the form of a vast forest.
He felt a pressure on his body, the world shrinking and releasing like the throbbing of a vein, a deafening sound in his head, seeing almost as if the world were transforming into black and white before suddenly returning to blinding colors.
He didn't know at all what was he doing, where he was supposed to be heading towards
It seemed as if the forest had become a time loop, without getting anywhere and going around what seemed like the same tree trunks and uneven ground. It was too much
He walked, but then he felt pressured to stop
His head was spinning; he felt as if every bush and tree present had sprouted eyes, watching him, judging him
The wind kept screaming silently
Keep going
He felt the annoyed eyes focus on him
Keep going forward
But he couldn't
"I can't"
He answered, staying still like a perfect coward, the air going out of him, feeling every breath heavy , just covering his ears and closing his eyes, seeking refuge from annoying eyes and voices
"I can't"
"I can't"
Then all went finally silent
Still unsure of what had been happening and what was now, he didn't open his eyes
Until a familiar pretty laugh broke the silence
Almost acting by institution, he looked at the direction the sound was coming from
The bloody picnic table
When had he reached there being still and scared like a little girl lost in the middle of the forest?
There, once again, was Will
All smiley and yearning
And once again, was Chance
"Fucking Chance"
Him being now the one giving him the back, he was able to admire the huge lovely smile Will had
That hurted, more than he could explain with words
The last time Will smiled at him like that they were on a fucking suicidal mission
The chatter stopped, a hand on Will's s̶o̶f̶t̶ cheek, his surprised eyes almost glowing as he saw the boy in front of him get them closer and reach for his moist lips
A violent storm broke out in the forest, the raindrops brutally striking those below. Thunders that felt coming out from himself. He hoped one of those would shock the helll out of Buscamante (without reaching Will along of course) and focused his eyes on him with that purpose until he realized
What had been the clear sigh of Chance's basketball jacket a minute ago was now a distortined imagen of changing between the guy and another person, like watching a damage VHS on a tv
"What the-"
That startles him enough to try go a little further, eyes stuck on that new and even also familiar silhouette
"Wha-"
A strong force hold him back, riping his back painfully, he didn't fought back
All turned around him one last time and went dark
(...)
Mike opened his eyes abruptly
Beep beep beep
The clock on his desk went crazy as the alarm set up, hearing it jump and and crash against the wood
"It was a dream"
He did got to sleep a little after all, not sure it did made him rest tho
Memories of Chance's possessive grip on Will overwhelmed him, as if they had been summoned
A nauseating feeling settled in his body
"A nightmare"
His head was facing the closed closet on the right wall of the room, you couldn't say the same about the other rest of his body. Wasn't aware a live person could contort themselves like that without having something dislocated
Looked like he fell off from an 8 floor, hurted like he fell off from 9 floor
Still dazed, he lifted his body as best he could towards the damn clock, feeling at once the repercussions he would have to deal with for his ridiculous sleeping position
He silenced the stressful sound of the alarm with a sigh and a hand to his neck, trying to soothe his aching muscles
The sunlight that sneaks through his closed curtains would blind him, but it wasn't there as usual. Looking outside the window, it was a cloudy gray morning, his naked feet were in fact frozen above the cold rug. Seemed like the storm from yesterday wasn't surrounding so easily
With a depressing weather like that and being already damned afflicted, Mike didn't feel like anything
Except maybe keep rooting helplessly on his blankets until a thunder reached Chance Buscamante to leave him and his old fashioned greasy hair all crispy taking away all Will could be attracted of him. Or until Mike died, what arrived first would be an appreciated answer
Everything went silence after that last thought, probably giving up on decide what to do
God knew how long he stood there, barely having any stupid thought until his neighbors appeared walking by the street
The only sight of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson stopping his walk to share a short kiss and look at each other stupidly like they didn't live together made him remember
Oh and what a curse that was, remember that same sight from another person
Mike wished the young indecent couple knew how he had wrinkled hard his face in annoyance at them as they leaved the block
"Out of all people," he thought with resentment back again, "why exactly Chance?"
All memories he had of him included Andy destroying their stuff, verbal teasing and occasionally their ass being beaten
Even when they were on 2d grade there was Chance horrible haircut and all looking for stealing Will's grape juice or throwing Mike's sandwich to the floor
"A narcissistic"
4d grade; Chance pushing Will on the playground, throwing drooling gummies at Mike and Dustin's hair
"Abusive"
6d grade; scaring Will from behind on purpose, putting trash on Mike and Lucas backpack
"Gross, ¿how come no one is really expulsed from that nasty ass School with that behavior?"
Senior Year; kissing Will and mocking Mike with it before he had any idea???
Sighing loudly desperate, he covered his face with his hands and leaned against the same window making it vibrate
"Secret whispers on the halls, secret encounters on the forest... "
All same shit again made him felt dizzy
"Will's shy smile"
Pain on his heart
"Chance's smirk..."
Wait
Hands immediately off, eyes wide open, Mike regained senses
"Holy Shit"
A realization crossed by his mind
"Chance is doing this to humiliate Will"
The reaction on his face was a tense jaw and deeply furrowed brows
"Well of course that motherfucker would do this'
"Why didn't i realize before?"
Before the current situation had begun, Mike always thought seeing Chance double check Will whenever they were near, making fun of him for sure, planing his game
The shitty smile he launched at Mike at lunch was a heavy proof
he remembered the voice of his friends from almost that same moment
You know Sweet William Byers
"Yes"
"Will is being tricked by him and his fake everything"
"Chance has all this planned, that's why he wouldn't fuck with us these weeks"
"Will couldn't-"
But he isn't stupid
"..."
And he was back to normal, his head being a pain
"¡Mikeeeeee!"
And there was Holly, being a pain again too.
Seemed like the sudden news had him dissociate enough to be late, not missing his row
"Shit"
At least she didn't slammed his door violently like before.
Instinctively, he rushed to the shower, nearly knocking Nancy over on the way, making her yell angrily at him.
Furiously washing and rinsing his hair, he decided, dressed quickly in whatever he could find while muttering to himself, "Whatever it's happening, i'm not letting Chance and his bullshit charms get away with messing with Will".
Rapidly ruffled the wet hair as if trying to comb it, grabbed his backpack without bothering to check what had packed, and went out to the stairs.
It was clear his chaotic delays in leaving the house had become routine.
Holly didn't even bother waiting for him inside anymore; she simply left the door open, and from outside, her bicycle bell was being banged loudly.
Mike rolled his eyes as he jumped onto the last step. "¡I'm here, calm down!".
He circled around the stairs to get to the kitchen quickly and grab something to eat. "¡And don't even think of leaving without—!" Will rushed out of the dining room before he crossed the threshold, nearly crashing, "...us".
Facing each other, they both froze, eyes meeting eyes. Will's face was a little red; perhaps he'd gotten up too quickly from the table to leave.
Overcoming his initial shock, Will smiled slightly and took a tentative step back.
"Erm... hey"
He tried to dissimulate break eye contact after almost a minute of them staring into each other
Mike then gained a little of self consciousness, a little busy staring Will's face apparently
"¡H-hey! heyy," he said also looking away awkwardly, if that needs to be added.
Of course Mike had forgotten his little schizophrenic outburst last night, too angry and upset about other things to remember. How else did he expect Will to react when he'd made a fool of himself in the entire entrance last night and ran without explanation?.
He would never recover from it.
Overcome with embarrassment a̶n̶d̶ s̶h̶y̶n̶e̶s̶s̶, Mike gave up on the idea of grabbing something to eat and —using the incessant ringing of the bell as the perfect excuse to remind Holly that she was about to kick his ass for making her late— backed away from where he was, pointing at the door.
"Wow, Holly really is persistent heh... and annoying" he said almost stuttering but feeling it as he could see a little chuckle from Will. When that always make him happy, now it was just a kind of a reminder that fucking Chance Buscamante had been making him laugh even louder.
With that dark thought on mind, he quickened his movements and what he planned to say, interrupting anything Will was about to say, "W-we better hurry".
As he turned around and started walking, Mike felt those green heavy eyes following his trace for a few seconds until he rushed and followed him across the entrance room.
Once both got out —and after bear being insulted by Holly— they made their way to School, passing by the peaceful town.
Even without a sunny warm morning and even it being a thursday Hawkins citizens were joyful and rested, people in the shops were greeting each other with "Good Morning!", couples were walking their dogs or pushing strollers with babies, all acting very much in love, the church choir rehearsing fervently right in the middle of the park like if God had encouraged them to practice the praises out on a holy gray sky.
What time of year was it, Christmas Eve or something?
Watching everyone being so free going everywhere behavior like any other day made Mike feel sick.
Turning a corner, finally getting out of the square full of people drugged with harmony, he turned his head from the sidewalks and saw Holly and Will playing around on their bikes.
Again, that domestic scene was a distractor from his shitty situation
Seeing Will being confident and happy himself meant everything to Mike, he deserved it and so much more
As Mike watched Will smile and enjoy even the light tiny rays of Sun that were just barely going out riding his bike he made one last affirmation to the world and himself
"I'm going to end whatever fucking Chance is up to"
"For good"
Chance Buscamante was going to regret the day he ever thought of messing with Will Byers like that
Mike Wheeler was going to make sure of it.