Chapter Text
Mike walked into the Squawk with his sisters and Robin. Suddenly, his clothes felt suffocatingly tight, his hands were sweaty, he had trouble breathing. He felt bile rising in his throat. He felt tears prickling his eyes.
And then, Holly held out her hand to him, noticing his panicking state. He took it. She gave him a reassuring squeeze and they followed Nancy and Robin.
Once they got into the room that the party was happening in, Mike saw his friends for the first time in years. They looked a lot different. Older. He supposed that made sense.
“Look who made it!” Steve exclaimed, noticing that they had walked in. He was standing with Jonathan near the punchbowl, who was now looking right at Mike with a look of pure dislike on his face.
That was deserved.
He had calmed down for the most part, Holly certainly helped. He squeezed her hand to ground himself.
“Wheeler! Is that you?” A voice said from across the room. Mike looked to see who it belonged to. Dustin. He had grown out his hair again, a curly mullet-type situation. He had a dad-bod, and had on cargo shorts and a Metallica shirt.
“Holy shit! It is you,” Dustin exclaimed once he had approached Mike. He pulled him into a bear hug. Mike hugged him back.
Dustin held him at arms-length and got a good look at him. “You look good, man. You been doing better?” He asked, a toothy-grin on his face.
“Hey Dustin. Yeah, yeah. I’ve been doing a lot better,” Mike told him. Which was somewhat true. He was no longer a raging alcoholic. Of course, he still had his anxiety and depression to worry about, but Dustin didn’t have to know that.
Dustin let go of him and pulled him to his side, “That’s good. Everyone is going to be excited to see you. C’mon,” he said, leading Mike into the party. Dustin lead him over to Lucas and Max first.
“Look who finally made it!” Lucas beamed from his seat beside Max.
“Wheeler!” She chimed in, excitedly.
“Lucas! Max! I’m so happy for you guys. Congrats!” Mike said, he felt jittery with excitement. He was so happy for Max and Lucas, he could cry.
Lucas got up and pulled him into a hug, “You look good, man!”
“Thanks! So do you two.”
Lucas had grown a slight beard, that was well-groomed. He probably got it professionally trimmed for the wedding, Mike assumed. His hair was nicely done, too. He looked quite handsome. Once Lucas pulled away from the hug, Max pulled Mike into another hug.
“Glad you could make it, loser.” She said once she pulled away.
She looked nice, too. Her hair was long, almost to her waist. Her freckles were very prominent. Other than that, she looked how she always had.
Mike heard a familiar laugh from behind him and turned around so fast his head could’ve fell off. It was El.
“El,” he whispered, he felt like crying, his voice wavered. She turned to see him and her face lit up. “Mike!” She yelped, before running towards him. He hugged her tight. He didn’t know how long they hugged, but it had to have been a while. He held her at arms length and looked at her. She held his face in her hands.
She had long hair, so long it was to her waist. She wore mary-janes with flowers on the top. Striped tights, green skirt, flowy top with embroidered flowers. She had ladybug earrings and hairclips. She had lots of dangly bracelets and necklaces. Apparently, she had been doing well.
She pulled away after a moment of observing him.
“It’s good to see you, Mike! I have missed you!” She beamed before giving him a peck on the cheek.
“I’ve missed you too, El.” He said softly.
There were so many things to tell her. So many things he would like to make up. Things he desperately needed to explain.
Apparently, this showed on his face because she squinted, “Something is wrong,” she stated, “do we need to talk?”
He started to say no, but shut his mouth. He didn’t need to lie to her more than he already had so he nodded.
She grabbed him by the hand and lead him to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind them.
“What is wrong?” She asked, as blunt and straight-forward as ever.
Mike sat on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall. “I just..” he began to say, he wasn’t used to talking about his feelings, but he bad been getting better at it. She sat down beside him.
She looked at him expectedly, raising an eyebrow.
“I..”
“You aren’t in love with me anymore?”, she guessed, plainly.
“Please don’t be upset but,” he began to say, but was interrupted by El.
“I am going to stop you right there, Mike,” she interjected, “I am not in love with you anymore either. You haven’t been in love with me for years, even before I went away. Nor was I.”
He opened his mouth to object. El shushed him, “It’s okay. We both lied to each other a lot. We were kids. Don’t worry about it,” she assured him.
“I have been all over the globe,” she continued, “I have met many people. I have thought I was in love many times. I have been in bed with people. Men and women.” Mike raised an eyebrow at that.
“Yes, really,” El rolled her eyes, “but my point is, I do not want you worrying about hurting me. You can be in love with Will or,”
“Woah,” Mike stopped her, “woah, who said anything about Will?” He said nervously, standing up.
She looked up at him with a “seriously?” face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He lied, his voice cracking in the middle of his claim.
“Mike,” she said slowly, getting up too, “It is okay. You’re in love with Will. I know.”
He was quiet for a moment, searching her face for any sign of sadness or anger, but she smiled softly, “How?” He finally asked quietly.
She shrugged, “I am good at reading people, I suppose,” she told him, “Besides you weren’t exactly discreet with your staring. I thought you two would already be together by now.”
He shook his head, frowning.
“Really? Well, what’s stopping you? I know everyone has not heard from you in years, but I’m sure you can..” she started to say before trailing off at Mike shaking his head.
“No? Why?” She asked.
He cleared his throat, “He has a boyfriend,” he said, disgusted.
“I assume he sucks.”
Mike nodded, “Oh yeah. The absolute worst,” he leaned against the wall.
She raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?”
“You have to meet him! You’ll absolutely hate him. He’s so full of himself!”
“I want to meet him now. See if he lives up to his reputation. You are not the only one to tell me about how he sucks.”
“See! I told you. He is very easy to hate.”
“Let’s go then,” El said, grabbing Mike by the hand and dragging him out of the bathroom.
——
“Oh!” Dustin exclaimed as El and Mike ran into him.
“Oops! Sorry, Dustin.” El said, smoothing out his shirt.
“Don’t worry about it, guys.” He assured them, “You look beautiful, El!”, he told her before heading to the bathroom.
Mike noticed her turning pink, “Thanks! So do you!” She gushed, suddenly fidgety.
Mike gave her a look, grinning.
“Oh, shut up.” She told him with a cheesy smile on her face.
“You like Dustin?”
She shushed him frantically, “Be quiet!”
He looked at her expectedly. “Maybe a little,” she admitted, sheepishly, “I mean, we talked on the phone a lot after I’d tracked everyone down and found out their phone numbers. He is very sweet. He cried the first time we talked, he was so happy,” she told him, “his daughter is in the kitchen with Joyce and Hop.”
“His what?”, Mike said in disbelief.
“Daughter. You did not know? She is going to be the flower girl. Her name is Leia.”
“No, I didn’t know. Does he have a wife?”
El shook her head, “No. He doesn’t,” she frowned, “Leia came from his ex-girlfriend who packed all her stuff and left, 6 months after the baby was born.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.. very sad. Leia is a sweetheart, must get that from Dustin.”
Mike nodded in agreement.
“Anyways!” El said so suddenly that Mike jumped, “Let’s go see Will!”
———
El and Mike entered the main room again, side by side. El scoped the room for Will.
“Do you see him?” Mike asked, looking around with her. El shook her head, “No, maybe he isn’t here yet? It’s not like Will to be late, but maybe something came up,” she offered.
“I’ll go ask Lucas if he’s seen him.” Mike told her, “I’ll be right back.”
Mike wandered off from El to find Lucas. He was standing around with Steve and Jonathan.
“Lucas,” Mike said, “Have you seen Will?”
“Oh hey Mike.” Lucas greeted him, “Will? I don’t think he’s gotten here yet.”
Mike frowned, “Me and El were looking for him,” he explained, scratching his head.
“Yeah.. I haven’t seen him. He should be here soon, though.”
Mike leaned against a table, “It’s not like him to be late.”
“He was still getting ready when I left the house,” Jonathan interjected, “though he should be here by now.”
“Maybe he’s nervous about coming in, isn’t he bringing his boyfriend?” Steve offered.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s okay, Mike,” Lucas assured him, “he’ll be here soon.”
———
Mike wandered around for a bit, torn between searching for El and worrying about Will. He was just about to go to the kitchen to talk to Joyce when the door opened.