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- Dinner At The Byers-Hoppers Household
Wheeler family dinners were never a comfortable thing. If you could even call them dinners. Everyone would sit at the table, you’d eat, speak when spoken to, and sit through Ted Wheeler’s offensive and bigoted comments and Karen Wheeler’s submissive silence. And you wouldn’t even think of speaking your mind, unless you wanted to be insulted and shamed till the adults were done with you. Mike couldn’t really recall a happy moment with his family, if he thought about it. And he was under the illusion that it was normal.
Until his dinner at the Byers-Hopper household, that was.
He was with the party; Joyce and Hopper ecstatic after finally being reunited almost a year ago, Will and El happily chattering while placing food onto their plates, and Dustin and Lucas helping Max from her wheelchair into the seat at the table. Mike himself had clicked into the silence he knew all so well, making sure to keep his head down and keep the noises he made to a minimum, lest he interrupt someone talking. He didn’t want to be insulted tonight, like he was in his own house.
To his surprise, the talking didn’t fade into tense silence and the clacking of forks against plates, and instead the flow of light conversation continued. If he had dared to look up, he would see his boyfriend glancing over at him, concerned by his timid silence, so unlike the Mike everyone saw.
Mike squished his limbs together as much as he possibly could while still being able to shyly stab at the food on his plate, seemingly trying to hide from everyone’s eyes. But considering the group he was with, he should’ve known that wouldn’t work. And it especially wouldn’t be glossed over by mother of the year, Joyce Byers.
“Mike sweetie, you’re pretty quiet over there. You alright?” She asked casually, the concerned undertones going unnoticed by Mike as everyone’s heads turned towards him. The boy’s head snapped up, eyebrows raised and eyes wide.
“Oh, yeah I’m fine!” He cleared his throat to try and prevent the stutter he could feel coming, “I- I was just, I didn’t-uhm. I didn’t know I was allowed to talk yet.” Her eyes widened in a sense of horror and confusion. Max, now someone he was practically best friends with (to everyone's previous shock), spoke up.
“Mike..what do you mean by that?” Her cloudy eyes stared blankly in his direction, though her eyebrows were furrowed with concern. Although their dynamic was still that of friendly teasing, the genuine care they had for one another occasionally shone through (though both would aggressively deny this with a smile on their face).
“You know, when at dinner you have to be spoken to before you talk?” His confusion grew when they started to look at him with sympathy. The members of the party had looks of horror on their faces, some mixed with sorrow and others mixed with anger. His hands started to shake more violently. Shit. Did he mess things up again? He should have learned by now that anything he says ruins everyone else’s mood. “Guys it’s fine! Can we just continue on and eat, now?”
“Mike, what…what happens at dinner in your house?” Hopper drawled out, once again Mike heard a tone of vague concern in his voice.
Why
were they all so confused by this?? Didn’t..Didn’t
everyone’s
dinner table have those rules? He curled in on himself, eyes darting around in a panicked frenzy. He felt someone’s hand curl around his under the table,
Will.
He would need to thank his boyfriend after this for being a shoulder to lean on, or else he thinks he would’ve melted into his chair out of fear as soon as Joyce brought it up. At this rate, it was still a possibility, considering the death grip he had on the wooden stool he was sat on.
“Why do you ask? It’s..everything at home is normal , okay? Just leave it alone, please .” Out of fear of making Mike break down, they listened to his request. However,as they continued on, they prioritized keeping him involved in the conversation, and made a note to themselves to try and figure out what it was really like in the Wheeler house.
- Movie Night At Steve’s
They were watching a movie, Mike couldn’t really recall which one however, considering his current situation. They had been fine, Will curled against Mike’s side in the corner of the couch, Lucas and Max intertwined in the middle, Dustin sitting in the other corner while El sat on the floor, eyes wide and mindlessly stuffing her face with popcorn. The older members of the party were sitting on the second sofa, Robin and Nancy stretched out together, backs resting against the end with their legs laid on top of Steve and Eddie’s thighs, and Jonathan and Argyle curled up together on the floor, their backs resting against the sofa, tying the cozy atmosphere together.
Content, is the word Mike would use to describe the atmosphere. Until a particular scene came on at least.
The woman, Sarah, if he remembered correctly, was yelling, no , screaming at the man on screen for cheating on her. And then he was back on the basement staircase of his home two years ago, curled up on the bottom steps, hands over his ears and tears in his eyes.
=-=-=-=-=
“How could you??!! I knew you couldn’t care less about me and the kids but I at least thought you had some sense of loyalty in you! God, we have kids , Ted. You know how much shit everyone will give me if they find out my husband cheated on me with some- some cheap whore?!” His mom's yells echoed throughout the empty house, just his own luck that Nancy was with Robin and Holly was at her friend's house for a sleepover.
“And why should I care, Karen!? You were trying to bed that young man who came over last month! I can understand why he backed out of it considering he was much too good for you! I’d be proud of him for stepping away if he weren’t trying to sleep with my own property!” His ‘father’ yelled back, his usual careless monotone replaced with anger he was uncomfortably familiar with.
“Property?! Is that all I am to you?!! I was the one who said no to sleeping with HIM, alright!? BeCAUSE of YOU. And OUR, no, MY family, because I knew better Ted!” His vivid imagination, despite his protests, was already in action at that moment. His parents were screaming their throats hoarse, the shattering of glass and thudding of objects hitting the walls, viciously accompanying the vague screams he heard from them both. He knew what would happen afterwards, of course.
He would hear a slamming of doors, both parents forgetful of their own child in the house (not that they really checked up on him anyways), then he would creep his way upstairs, triple checking that they were both asleep (Karen asleep in her bed with an empty wine bottle or two and Ted passed out in the Lay-z-boy with a newspaper on his chest and his arms crossed, not too different from how he normally was anyways) and he would clean up the mess they had made, sweeping up the remains of a glass cup and putting the shoes that were thrown back in their rightful place. Not because he wanted to clean up their mess, hell no, but because he would rather actively involve himself in one of their arguments, than have his sisters find out just how bad things got when they were gone.
=-=-=-=-=
Unbeknownst to him, the movie had long been paused since Will felt Mike shaking underneath him. The original members of the party were looking at him worriedly, trying to gently wake him from the trance he was in, while the others were quietly chatting about what to do. After seemingly coming to a conclusion, Robin walked over to Mike, who was currently in the same distant state as before.
It was established within the group that Robin, Nancy, Steve, Eddie, Jonathan and even Argyle were parental figures to the kids, but it was also well known that Mike was particularly attached to Robin.
(Steve, Eddie and Nancy had made sure to tease Robin when they had entered the Harrington household a week ago and seen Mike and her curled up on the couch, the younger asleep with his arms wrapped around her waist and head tucked into her side. She then proceeded to tell them to “be quiet, he’s sleeping”)
“Mike honey, can you look at me?” Robin was grateful this was a serious situation, otherwise Steve would have definitely given her shit about the gentle tone she was using. She shared a concerned glance with Will when he began to hyperventilate.
She placed a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed, letting out a sigh of relief when his panicked gaze met hers. “Can you take some deep breaths for me? I need you to try and calm down, alright?” When his breathing stayed the same, she took his hand and placed it on her sternum.
“You feel that?” He nodded slowly, seeming to be aware of his panic but unable to calm down. “Can you try and breathe at the same time as me?” He nodded once more and took deeper breaths.”Good! You’re doing great Mike.” Robin smiled as he slowly matched her pace, and looked around nervously.
“I’m..I’m sorry I interrupted your movie.” He mumbled, twisting his hands anxiously. Robin looked at him sympathetically.
“Out of everyone in Hawkins, we all understand that flashbacks can’t be helped. You will never, ever bother us with that, okay?” The others nodded in agreement with her and Mike let out a sigh. “Do you want us to change the movie?”
Mike contemplated. He didn’t want to ruin the night for everyone else, but also didn’t want to risk another flashback, so he nodded his head yes, and instead of groans of disappointment ringing throughout the room, his boyfriend and the woman he looked up to gathered him in their arms as the intro to Ghostbusters blared from the television.
+1) Escape To Will Byers House
Mike would say he was doing a pretty good job hiding all the stress he was under from his life at home from his friends.
He would come home at night to his parents arguing, check to make sure the white noise machine in Holly’s room was still working to block out the yelling, fiddle around on the guitar to distract himself from the urge to run into the safety of the Byers house, and eventually around 4 AM, finally escape from his thoughts long enough to sleep; then wake up and go to school!
And it was working! Really, it was! Just until recently, actually.
It was a rare occasion. It was past 5:00 PM and Ted and Karen weren’t arguing, and Holly was old enough to know that it was best to sleep over at her friends house as much as possible. So Mike would be damned if he didn’t take advantage of this situation to try and appreciate sitting at the dining table with them. And it was actually going well, until he saw his father start to open his mouth to talk. No. No. This was going so well . And Ted Wheeler was not going to ruin that by opening his stupid, stupid mouth. But in his own desperation to keep his father from talking, he made the worst mistake he ever had, and without his permission, his sleep-deprived brain spat out the first thing it could think of to divert the attention to him;
“I’m gay.” What.
His mother’s eyes widened, and it would’ve been to a comical degree, if he hadn’t just remembered who else he said than in front of.
Mike jumped out of his chair, feeling the scrape of his father’s chair against the floor as he began to chase him around the house, sliding around corners and bumping into walls trying to escape his father, his mother still sat at the table with a gaping expression on her face. He could feel himself getting short of breath as he rounded the corner to the garage door, cursing whatever force was out there that the door was locked. And when he turned around, he remembered why he was running in the first place.
Ted grabbed him by the wrist and punched him across the face. One punch turned into 5, and the punches turned into kicks. In typical style of his father, no words were spoken, because his actions said enough. Usually when he looked closely at his father’s actions, he would uncover layers of lack of care, and a stinging sense of absence. That sting would come back in brief moments, when he saw a father and son in the grocery store, happily chatting. Or when Will had been possessed by the Mind Flayer, and Mike had screamed and cried and hit Hopper, just for him to pull Mike closer and wrap his arms around him, only worsening his pain by reminding him just what he was missing out on. He felt himself slide down the wall, as the pain spread throughout his body.
Maybe, if he had waited long enough, he would open his eyes and blink the sleep out of them, and discover that it was all just one terrible nightmare. But it wasn’t. So he connected his mind back to his body, and pushed Ted into the wall, making a dash for the front door. He had made it out the house and into the falling rain, and with no time to grab his bike, he ignored the pain stabbing at him from all angles, the blood running from his nose, and the way his entire body was shaking; and he ran as fast as he could to Will Byers house.
=-=-=-=-=
Will, along with everyone else, could tell something… bad, was going on with Mike. He knew his boyfriend well, and could tell that something was bothering him. He was constantly anxious, never allowing any of them into his house, came to school tired and stressed, and went long periods of time unable to make himself eat. So they’d all gathered in the Byers house, and were plotting how to get Mike to open up to them. And they had been doing just that, until there were frantic knocks on the front door.
Robin was frantically explaining how Mike had come up to Steve’s house a few days ago and buried himself in her arms, his shoulders shaking with sobs, when she turned towards the door. “Was that someone knocking or the rain?” she questioned, leaning to the side to get a better look at the door.
“I’ll go check.” He walked towards the door casually, wondering who would be knocking at the door mid rainstorm. He gasped when he opened the door to find his boyfriend, drenched in rainwater, cowering and covered in bruises. Mike surged forward with a heart-wrenching sob, throwing himself into his boyfriend's arms. Will, confused and undoubtedly scared for Mike’s safety, wrapped his arms around MIke in return, shouting for the others.
“Mike? Mike?!” The others rushed over as he distraughtly called Mike’s name. He could hear Dustin telling Nancy to get the first-aid kit, and for the others to set up a spot on the couch for Mike.
“He’s-He’s gonna’ get me Will you have to help, please! Please!” Mike sobbed, clutching harder onto the back of Will’s shirt, practically clawing at the fabric.
“Who?? Mike please, who’s going to get you!?” He said, frantic to get any sort of answer out of Mike.
“ Dad, my Dad-please, PLEASE you can’t let him find me, he’s gonna kill me Will!” The realization and the horror that came with it dawned on Will. God, how could Ted beat up his own son like this? Reduce him to a sobbing mess in the doorway of his boyfriend's home?
“I’m so sorry Mike, I’m so, so sorry. You’re gonna be okay, he won’t get you.” Mike calmed down but continued to tremble in Will’s arms until Eddie came over and carried him to the couch, letting him curl up into Robin’s side, tears still running down his face. Jonathan bent down in front of Mike, gently placing a hand on the couch in front of him to alert him of his proximity.
“Hey buddy, I know you’re in a lot of pain right now, but I need to know if you have any open wounds so Nance’ can disinfect them, alright? Other than that we can get you some ice and Advil, sound good?” Jonathan smiled sadly as Mike nodded.
“I don’t think there are any open wounds, just a lot of bruises really.” Mike said, his speech muffled from his mouth being covered by a blanket.
“Alright, we’ll get you that ice and medicine, and you’ll feel better soon.” Mike smiled at Jonathan, then began to speak.
“I know you guys are probably wondering how this happened, so I’ll just tell you now that I came out to my parents by accident, all because of my stupid lack of sleep, and my Ted, my dad, didn’t..didn’t take it well.”
“Is this the first time he acted like this?” Max said, fear that Mike had been physically abused and hiding it all this time prominent in her voice. Nancy had a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes, disgusted by the thought of her father hitting her little brother without her being there to stop him.
“Yeah, this is the first time he’s actually… hit me. I mean, there would always be vague threats and such, but they never manifested into anything actually violent. Guess he was too busy fighting with mom all these years to actually pay attention to me.” He chuckled humorlessly, “Until now, at least.”
“Mike, what d’you mean ‘all those years’?” Nancy questioned, palpable fear in her expression. Mike cringed, berating himself for letting his word slip.”Mike?”
“Yeah, yeah sorry. Just lost my train of thought there for a second!” He cleared his throat anxiously. “They started fighting more when about two years ago, when Ted cheated on mom.” Nancy’s eyes widened along with everyone else's. “After that they started arguing whenever you and Holly were gone, and I was still there, but I think they just forgot about me all this time.”
Robin glanced around the room seeing everyone’s worried expressions, knowing that her face was a reflection of theirs. In an attempt to comfort Mike, she rubbed his back slowly, making sure not to press down too hard due to the bruising.
“Well, luckily for you, it is quite literally impossible for us to forget you, so even if your parents are pieces of shit, you’ll always have us. Understand?” She questioned, looking him in the eye.
“I understand.” And as he smiled, they knew he’d be okay, someday.