Chapter Text
“C’mon, Lucas, this is such bullshit.” Will groaned, walking through the near empty streets with his best friend. He has every right to be mildly upset, he thinks. After all, it is 5am on a Tuesday, and Will has a class in a few hours. Lucas is in between majors right now, but his General Chemistry classes aren’t until later in the afternoon, unlike Will whose art teacher decided to make the class at ass o clock. He’s tired, but when Lucas woke him up and asked if they could talk, well. He’s never been one to deny his friend anything, especially when his voice sounds particularly distressed.
Which brings him to where he is now, walking through the cold and barren streets to the coffee shop 2 blocks over because, apparently, “The on-campus one just doesn’t make their cookies the same, Will” so, yeah, fine, sure, whatever. He’ll walk to the off campus one for a mediocre chocolate chip cookie.
He starts thinking about what will happen. They’ll walk into the coffee shop, order crappy overpriced coffee and treats from an unenthused and mildly rude cashier, and they’ll sit down and talk about whatever Lucas deemed important enough to drag Will out of bed at 5 o clock in the morning. He expects a hot coffee and a lukewarm pastry, and he expects to give Lucas some advice on whatever is bothering him. Lucas will apologize, but Will will reassure him that it’s fine. Because despite the fact that it’s 5am on a Tuesday, and Will is tired and has class in a couple hours, he loves his friend and is always willing to spend time with him. Even if it’s in a crap coffee shop where he expects the minimum from the service.
What he doesn’t expect, however, is that the coffee shop isn’t empty.
There’s a group of kids that look to be around their age there, sitting at a table. It’s pretty close to his and Lucas’s usual table, which he inwardly groans at. As he’s surveying the group, doing a once over to see if he recognizes anyone, his eyes catch on one boy in particular.
His hair is black and curly, reaching down right above his shoulder. It’s messy and kind of frizzy, but it’s also quite attractive. Will’s eyes trail across the pale skin (he has freckles, Will notes.) and to his obviously oversized sweatshirt with a bear on it. The sweater is paired with black jeans and converse, and Will looks away before he’s caught staring. He and Lucas walk up to the line.
Lucas orders a drink Will can never remember, no matter how long they’re been friends. He thinks it's some kind of mocha with extra pumps of something, but he honestly has no clue. He orders his usual hazelnut coffee with a pump of peppermint. They both order chocolate chip cookies, and he and Lucas make fun of each other's drink choices as they wait. Will doesn’t think he could ever get tired of this, no matter how many times it happens. No matter how much of a routine it is, he’ll always make fun of Lucas for the specific amount of mocha he wants in his drink, and Lucas will always tease back about the fact he pays extra to have peppermint in his drink year round. Because they’re Lucas and Will, and they’ve always been that way.
Will doesn’t register the eyes that have been on him since he walked to the drink counter.
He tells Lucas he’s gonna go find a table, even though they always sit in the same spot. And as usual he slides his bag of sketchbooks and pens and markers in first, then sits down next to it. When Lucas comes with their drinks he’ll sit across from Will, because he’s always done better talking about his feelings when looking right at someone and being able to gauge their reactions. When Lucas is done talking, Will will draw while they finish their coffee. Lucas will ask to be his “muse” or suggest Will draws something stupid. It’s almost a routine now, the way this goes, and Will wouldn’t change it for the world.
He doesn’t register the footsteps coming towards him until they’re closer, and he knows they aren’t Lucas’s by the sound of a sole harder than Lucas’s signature Skechers. He looks up at the same time the black-haired stranger he saw earlier reaches him, one hand on the table in front of him. Hazel eyes meet dark ones, and Will blinks slowly.
“Uh..hey?” Will internally facepalms because what? What the fuck? The attractive stranger seems vaguely surprised, as if he expected to just be ignored, before giving a small smile. It’s not a smirk, but it’s also not quite a “smile” and Will isn’t quite sure what to make of it, Although he does feel his face warm up a bit.
“Hey yourself, pretty boy. What’s your name?” The man asked, and Will would feel much more uncomfortable if it didn’t seem like the boy may have been cringing at his own wording, his smile turning more goofy and less “I’m trying to be cool, is it working?”.
He blinks before responding, face blank. “Will. Uh-Byers, Will Byers. You?” He shot a quick look to Lucas who was giving him a questioning, almost protective look. They were no stranger to bullies, and if Will so much as breathed a bit faster than normal Lucas was on his way to help.
He shook his head and gave a small smile, turning back at the same time the boy said “Mike Wheeler. Or Michael i guess technically but- like pretty much everyone calls me Mike. Only like, my parents and teachers call me Michael.” He shrugged in what was probably supposed to be nonchalance, but it came out more stiff if anything. Weird, that name sounded familiar, but Will was sure they had never met before. Still, he couldn’t help the small smile that found it’s way onto his face before saying, “Well, nice to meet you, I suppose, Michael.”
Mike grinned at that, but just as he opened his mouth to say something else, Lucas came over and put their coffees and cookies down on the table. Shooting a wary glance at Mike, before softening as he smiled at Will.
Mike seemed to take this as his que to leave, looking slightly surprised before leaning in slightly to say “See ya later, sunshine” before walking back over to his friends table just a few away from theirs. Will watched him walk for a few seconds, before turning back to Lucas, only to be met with a cocked eyebrow. Will’s still passive stare gave away nothing as he grabbed his coffee.
“Dude, did that guy just hit on you?” Lucas asked, sounding equal parts amused and baffled.
Will simply shrugged before replying. “I mean, I guess. Don’t worry though, really.” Lucas raised an eyebrow at that, and Will let a small smile slip onto his face. “Really Lucas, I swear. If he had made me uncomfortable, or said something bad I would tell you and you could go kick his ass here and now”
Lucas laughed and reached over the table to nudge his friend's shoulder. Then he grabbed his coffee and while he said “So basically, this week in my chem class…” Will grabs his own coffee while he settles in to listen.
A bit later, after Lucas is done talking, Will starts to draw a landscape. Lucas was talking about Max this time, who happens to be both Lucas’s girlfriend and one of Will’s best friends. Apparently he and Max broke up again though, and he wanted to talk to Will about it. After telling his friend that he should give her some time before approaching her, Lucas seems content. As he’s erasing lines from a tree he’s working on, a clutter from next to him draws his attention. He looks up to see the group from earlier, including Mike, get up from their table. As they reach the exit, he locks eyes with the raven haired boy, and for a second he looks a bit taken back. Just as quickly, Mike's face relaxes, and he winks at Will before exiting the building. Will looks back at his drawing pad, trying not to think about how the other boy made him feel.
Once he and Lucas leave and he walks Will to his class, he’s almost forgotten about the flirt he met in the coffee shop. If that day he draws that same freckled face and curly black hair, well, nobody needs to know but him.
That week was a busy one for him, and by Friday he had almost completely forgotten about the whole encounter, the only evidence being the drawing of the freckled man. And when Max calls him Saturday morning asking if he wants to go to the some new arcade that opened up, claiming she wants him to get something from the claw machine (which he’s always been unnaturally good at) well, why say no? He expects a day with Max in the arcade playing games and exchanging tickets, taking photos together and getting pizza together afterwards.
What he doesn’t expect is to run into Mike Wheeler again.