Chapter Text
5 years.
It's been five whole years since Mike actually saw Will. There was always the occasional “Happy birthday” or “Merry Christmas”, never anything else. Will never reach out beside those small comments, neither did he.
Mike had recently graduated from college. He went to Depaul University, he wanted out of Hawkins but close by. Chicago was one of his choices. He managed to get through college and get his degree —which was in English. Why an English degree? He wasn’t too sure himself. Maybe ‘cause he wanted to piss his dad off by going into anything but business. Nonetheless, he still graduated.
Mike wasn’t sure where Will had gone. He suspected it was California but soon heard from Max that maybe it was New York. Will never told Mike where he was going. He was pissed for the longest time when he found out, now no feeling comes up. He misses Will but knew he couldn’t dwell on it, he had to man up and face the world. Not thinking of the guy he barely even sees. One day, that seemed to change.
Sleep became hard. Mike always slept like a baby, that was until he started to see him in his dreams. He doesn’t know how, or even why this started. He would just see a sudden flash of a figure no matter the dream. It took him a while to realize or even who it was, but of course there was no denying it.
It was Will Byers.
Mike would wake up in the middle of the night confused or he’d wake up with headaches. Those flashes of Will were messing with his head and he hated it. He’d lose sleep from them but refused to tell anyone about them. About his dreams of Will, about anything. He became more closed off after high school. He only talked to a few people from the party, well everyone but Will. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to talk to the party but sometimes he just felt like he couldn’t. That he had to hide away. He just wasn’t who he used to be. He wanted to blame anyone but himself for that one, too bad he couldn’t.
★ ★ ★
Mike laid in bed, his eyes glued to the ceiling. The only real noise coming from outside, everywhere else was quiet. He needed something to do, something to make him tired. He tossed in bed, letting out a frustrated exhale. Why couldn’t he just sleep? He needed sleep anyway, he had work in the morning.
He turned his body, now facing the window. Moonlight and streetlights peaked through the blinds, he couldn’t see much but he could tell it was empty out —with the occasional car passing by.
This whole thing was fucked.
Why did he have to suffer with these stupid visions of Will? Why couldn’t it have been anyone else? It was stupid and unfair. Is this how Ed Norton felt in Fight Club?
No matter what he did he couldn’t sleep. Hell, he would even take medicine but still found himself up in the middle of the night. He hated this. It's like the longer he's away from Will then the more the vision and the more he couldn’t sleep.
Mike sighed and got up from his bed, navigating through the dark room to his bedroom door. His small apartment was cold, that might be ‘cause it's mid January. Nonetheless, he pushed through the cold and made it into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from one of his cabinets and filled it up with water. He felt as the liquid went down his throat.
For a long while he just stood there, staring off in the distance. He was practically fading in and out of consciousness. His eyelids felt heavy with sleep, finally. He placed his cup down on the counter telling himself he’ll deal with it in the morning before making his way back to his room.
2:36 AM.
Mike got into bed, pulling the blankets over him like he was a caterpillar in a cocoon. He shut his eyes tight, finally hoping to get some sleep.
He was done thinking of Will. He had to be, it's been five years since he saw the boy. Still, too many things reminded him of Will. Songs, scents, movies, even other people. He hated it. He wanted to make Will seem like the villain of all of this. That he was the reason he had these dreams. Of course, it was unreasonable.
With that, Mike felt himself getting hit with sleep. His body finally calmed down and went to sleep.
★ ★ ★
Work was boring. It always has been.
He worked at a book store. It was a small book store, one you’d find just walking around. He didn’t exactly hate his job, I mean sure he dealt with a few assholes now and then but there was nothing special about the book store.
Of course there are days that are worse whenever he's in a bitchy mood. Which happens more often now with his absolute horrendous sleep schedule.
Like any day, Mike was in one of his moods. He was stocking some new self-help books on the shelf, hoping not to be bothered by anyone. Just a few more hours till his shift ended.
He was interrupted by a voice coming from behind him.
“Hey Wheeler,”
He knew that voice. Mike closed his eyes for just a second before letting out a sigh. He got up from the ground and turned around. In front of him stood a girl with ginger red hair, her arms were crossed and she had a smirk on her face.
“Since when were you in Chicago?" Mike asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I needed the vacation and I wanted to check up on you. You kinda left me on read my last message. Wanted to see if you were okay.”
Mike was suspicious. It wasn’t usually that Max is the one to reach out, let alone go to Chicago to find him. He brushed it off, hoping it meant nothing.
“Wow, that's sooo sweet of you.” He said with sarcastic notes in his voice. “I’m trying to work Max. Can’t you find a different time to do this?”
“I mean I could, I just don’t want to. Come on, can’t you just talk to me?”
“Not now at least.”
Max sighed, he knew Mike was stubborn but she forgot just how bad it was. “Fine, over drinks tonight then. I’m expecting you to talk to me then.”
Mike grumbled something under his breath. He really didn’t want to do this, he just wanted to end his shift, go home, and do anything else he could think of. It was hard to say no to Max, he could help but feel intimidated by the stern in her voice.
“Fine, over drinks tonight.” Mike mumbled his agreement. He watched as Max nodded her head. She said something else but Mike wasn’t listening, when he snapped back to reality she was already gone.
Jesus what did he get himself into. He looked down at the box of self-help books and the half filled shelf in front of him. He let out a small sigh, bending down to continue his job.
★ ★ ★
Mike found himself at a small bar that night. He sat at a booth by himself waiting for Max to show up. He felt anxious but he didn’t know why, he checked the time on his phone
9:22 PM.
Maybe he should just leave, just get up and go—
“Wheeler, hey!”
Mike snapped out of his thoughts, he looked up and saw Max.
“Jesus, took you long enough.”
She chuckled. “Sorry, driving through Chicago is the worst.”
Mike really couldn’t argue with that one. He stayed quiet for just a bit longer, waiting for something to come up whether it's from him or Max.
Max looked at Mike, she could tell he was tired. “You look rough. Like, a month without sleep rough.”
Mike rolled his eyes. He knew he didn’t look good, it's just worse when someone else points it out. He grumbled out a small response. He was sure Max didn’t even hear him due to the loud environment of the bar.
“Look, I know something's going on with you. You’ve never acted like this before. You’re distant, you don’t talk to anyone, you barely even see your family.” Max pointed out shamelessly. Mike hated how blunt Max always was.
She continued. “This can’t be because of Will, right? You’re not acting like this because of him. You said you moved on.”
Mike sat there, not exactly knowing what to say. I mean, what would you do in this situation? Actually, don’t answer that. Mike slightly bit his lip hoping to come up with some sort of answer.
“I see him sometimes…” He managed to mumble. Might’ve not been a good answer but it was something.
Max raised an eyebrow. “What? How? He's like, thousands of miles away from you.”
“I…I have these dreams. Everything seems normal but there's always this flash now and then. It took me a while but that flash was Will.”
Max took a moment to process everything. She was confused, Mike could tell.
“Soo, like Fight Club?”
“Not like fucking Fight Club.”
“Jeez okay.”
Silence. It took a while for any of them to talk, Mike sighed and finally spoke first for once.
“I just… can’t sleep because of it. I just need to get him out of my head. Its like I need a goddamn ETC to get him out.”
“Then do something about it.”
“What—”
“Micheal Wheeler I swear to fucking god. You miss him goddamit. That's why you dream of him.”
Here's the thing, Mike didn’t want to think that. He didn’t want to think he missed Will. He moved on, that's what happened. He opened up a new chapter of his life when he started college. He didn’t need this to happen.
“I don’t miss him…”
“Well you’re sure as hell not dreaming of him because you're depressed.”
Silence again. Mike was a bit irritated by the comment. He didn’t expect Max to know how HE feels. No one does, not even the ones close to him. He leaned back in the booth. He avoided Max’s gaze, not wanting to look at her. He heard her sigh for what felt like the millionth time tonight.
“Why do you work at a bookstore?”
That caught Mike’s attention.
“What?”
Max repeated herself, this time with more sternness in her voice. “Why do you work at a bookstore?”
Mike thought of an answer to say. I mean, what could he say?
“I guess maybe because it was the closest hiring spot to my apartment and… its quiet?”
“Right but do you like it?”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “Of course I love my job.”
“But do you like it?”
Mike thought for a moment. To be honest? He didn’t like his job. In fact maybe he hated it. People demanded too much from him. He got back pain after hours of restocking shelves with new books. His co-workers sucked and are just as bad as the customers.
“I don’t even know why I do it.” Mike admitted.
“So then do something you like. For example, Will’s working towards a teaching license because it's a part of something he likes.” Max leaned back into the booth, her back hitting the fake red leather.
“Talk to him again.” Max finally said.
Mike thought she was joking. I mean, why would he talk to Will again? He had no reason to bother the other boy. What would Will even think? Did he move on? Was he avoiding Mike on purpose? Did he still miss him? Mike bit back his answer, before he could stop himself he nodded his head.
“...Fine. I’ll talk to him again.”
Max smiled at Mike's answer. “Good! You could really use human interaction again. I swear, this will help you get better.”
Mike nodded hesitantly. Mike isn’t religious in any way but he prayed to hope this plan works.
“Here,” Max started, pulling her wallet out. “How about I get us some drinks, yeah?”