Chapter Text
Thursday, April 14th 1988
Will sat in math class, repeatedly smacking the eraser end of his pencil onto page 288 of his textbook, watching the clock, just waiting for it to strike noon. He was in a rush that morning, so he didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast. His stomach kept reminding him of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich sitting in his locker, just waiting to be eaten.
Max, who was sitting to his left, smacked his thigh with the back of her hand and whispered harshly, “Byers, could you stop that incessant tapping? It’s getting on my last nerve.”
“Sorry,” Will grumbled back at her.
He leaned over to see that Max was already on problem 17. Will’s notebook paper simply said ‘1.’ He hadn’t even bothered to write his name yet. Screw this, when will I ever even use this in life? I need to eat.
Suddenly, he sensed that he was being watched. He raised his eyes to look around and saw that Jessica Clarke, who sat one row up on his right, was smacking a mouthful of chewing gum and smiling flirtatiously at him. He gave her a half-hearted smile then practically jumped from his seat when he heard the bell ring. He quickly shoved his paper and textbook into his backpack and all but sprinted to his locker to get his lunch.
When he entered the noisy lunchroom, he made a beeline for the party’s usual spot. Dustin, Lucas, and Mike were already there, digging around in their respective lunch containers.
“Oh my God , I’m starving,” Will huffed out as he slid into his chair.
“Forgot breakfast again, huh?” Mike asked with a small smirk as Will dumped the contents of his brown paper bag onto the table.
“Shut up,” Will smiled sarcastically before El and Max walked up to the table to join them.
“I was thinking I’d get a purple dress for prom, or maybe blue, what color are you going to wear?” El asked Max as she slid into the seat beside Mike.
“Oh, red, for sure,” Max replied confidently as she slunk down next to Lucas.
Mike turned to El with a grimace and said, “Purple? I’m not wearing a purple tie. I look bad in purple.”
“I’m sure you do not!” El protested.
“No, he’s right, he really looks terrible in purple,” Dustin chimed in, grinning, which was met with a death glare from Mike.
Will wasn’t planning to attend prom, he didn’t want to deal with some random girl trying to get him to dance with her all night, so he happily stuffed his face with his sandwich while his friends discussed the particulars of the big event.
“Will, hi!” came from over his left shoulder. Everyone in the party looked to see who the voice belonged to.
It was none other than Jessica Clarke, gum girl. Will choked out a confused, “hi?”
“Do you have a date for prom yet?” she asked confidently, twirling a strand of her hair.
Will could feel the eyes of the entire party on him as his cheeks flushed. He grabbed his water bottle and slowly took a few sips while he pondered how to answer this question.
“I’m, uh, I’m not going to prom, actually,” he finally said sheepishly.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well if you change your mind, call me.” Jessica slapped a small piece of folded paper onto the table and slid it in front of him.
“Um, ok, thanks,” he said half heartedly before quickly diving back into the lunch he had been waiting all morning to devour.
No one spoke for at least 30 seconds, their jaws hanging open.
“What?” Will asked, a handful of chips in his mouth, looking around the table.
“Dude, that’s like the third girl you have turned down for prom,” Mike pointed out, eyebrow raised, sounding somewhat concerned.
“Fourth, actually,” Will said casually, still focused on his food.
“She is pretty, do you not like her?” asked El. Will just shrugged.
“You are literally a chick magnet,” Max chuckled.
“What’s your secret?” Lucas asked enthusiastically before being slugged in the gut by Max. He let out a small ow .
“Are you really that against going to prom?” Dustin accused with a head tilt.
“You could literally pick any single girl in school, and I bet she’d say yes,” Max said with a laugh.
“I overheard Stacy and Liz talking about how cute you are yesterday,” El said encouragingly.
Suddenly everyone was talking all at once, poking and prodding, trying to coax information out of Will. Please just shut up already!
“I’m gay!” Will accidentally declared in frustration. Oh shit, oh no .
Silence fell over the table. Max and Lucas looked at each other, then back at Will. El looked confused, Dustin dropped his pizza slice, and Mike…well Mike just stared at him.
“You’re…you’re gay? For real?” Lucas asked quietly, leaning in, eyes darting around the cafeteria.
“Yes,” Will snapped with a huff, “now can everyone please just let me eat in peace? I’m not going to prom.” He looked up at Mike who had gone completely pale, just staring blankly at him, as if he’d seen a ghost. Great, just great. Good going, idiot.
Everyone else went back to eating, shooting each other glances. Will tried to hide the fact that he was completely mortified.
“What does gay mean?” he heard El whisper to Max.
“He likes boys instead of girls,” Max whispered back.
I’m literally still right here! Hello? Without warning, Will gathered up his stuff and stood up in a hurry. He stormed out of the lunchroom and into the hallway to escape this situation he had inadvertently created.
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“Should someone go after him?” El asked, sounding confused.
“He probably wants to be alone right now,” Lucas said delicately.
“Honestly, this kind of makes sense,” Dustin reasoned, “I mean think about it, he’s never mentioned liking one single girl even though they are all over him.”
The party continued talking, but Mike was completely zoned out. He felt like his lunch was trying to come back up, he could feel his heartbeat in his ears. The room was spinning around him as he processed the news . Holy shit, Will is gay, playing over and over in his head.
“Mike,” Max was snapping in his face, “earth to Wheeler.” Mike was brought back to reality and suddenly, as if on autopilot, he stood swiftly from his chair and strode out of the cafeteria. When he made it to the hallway, he walked a few paces both ways, hoping to catch sight of his best friend. No luck.
The bell rang, and a hoard of teenagers started barreling into the hallway around him. Holy shit, Will is gay.
“Mike, you ok? Are you coming to history class, or what?” Lucas was standing next to him, eyebrows raised, Mike’s backpack in hand.
“Uh, yeah,” Mike said quietly, taking the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. They walked silently to class save the occasional ‘ what’s up, man? ’ and handshake from Lucas when he crossed paths with one of his basketball buddies.
Mike sat down at his desk and stared at the empty seat next to him until the second bell rang. Where did Will go? Did he leave school? Is he ok? Should I try to find him? What if he’s hurt? What if some asshole overheard what he said? He started to sweat, his heart rate rising.
Suddenly, the classroom door opened and Will slunk in. “Sorry,” he whispered to the teacher before sliding into his seat.
Mike was staring, he couldn’t help it. He watched Will open his bag and pull out his textbook, deliberately avoiding Mike’s gaze. He looked like he had been crying, like he needed a hug. Holy shit, Will is gay.
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The last bell of the day rang at 3:45, and Will knew Mike and El would be waiting for him. He didn’t particularly want to face Mike, but he needed the ride home, so he shuffled slowly to the parking lot, thinking of small talk topics to bring up. Anything to avoid talking about the atomic bomb he dropped at the lunch table.
He shoved the heavy school door open and walked towards Mike’s car, where he saw El standing, looking around. When she caught his eye, she waved frantically, smiling. In that moment, he was thankful that his sister was naive to the bullshit ideologies that made people like him afraid to just be themselves. He faked a smile and waved back sheepishly.
As he approached, he noticed that Mike was already in the driver seat, engine running and music blasting, staring blankly ahead.
“Is he ok?” Will asked, bracing for the worst.
“He seems…distracted,” El decided. Great, just great. Will took a deep breath, opened the door to the back seat and climbed in.
The ride home was quiet. Well, it was actually oppressively loud. Mike never turned the music down, so no actual words were spoken. El glanced back at Will a few times to smile, and he forced himself to return the gesture. Oh my God, he hates me.
When they pulled up to the Byers-Hopper home, El leaned over the center console to kiss Mike on the cheek. He didn’t move or even acknowledge her.
“Ok, bye, Mike,” she said somberly before the siblings got out of the car. Shit . What have I done?
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Mike stormed through the door to his house and walked straight past Karen, who was cooking in the kitchen.
“Hi, honey!” she said as he passed by, “I’m making your favorite…Mike?”
“Cool, thanks,” Mike said flatly as he slunk up the stairs.
He swung the door to his bedroom open, dropped his book bag haphazardly onto the floor, and began pacing. Holy shit, Will is gay.
It was as if, all at once, nothing and everything made sense. He began auditing his memories. His brain reminded him of that stupid fight in the rain. Oh no, not the fight. I’m such an asshole. How does he not hate me after that shit? He kicked a heap of laundry on the floor and sat at the foot of his bed with his head in his hands, feet jittery.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t considered the possibility of Will being gay, but he’d convinced himself it couldn’t be true before they even made it to high school. He wouldn’t allow himself to even entertain the idea; but now that he knew it, he had to confront it. I’ve been with El for years, he thinks I’m straight. Even if he did like me at some point, he’s got to be over it, right? Shit. His heart started racing as he stood up to pace again , trying to remember every detail of their friendship.
He sat down on the floor and pulled a binder out from underneath his bed. He flipped through Will’s drawings until he stopped at a drawing of the Paladin and the Cleric. Chewing the inside of his lip, he recalled the day Will gave that drawing to him. They were standing at Will’s locker in 7th grade. Will had looked both ways down the hall before handing it to him. Mike remembers the way Will’s face lit up when he said it was perfect. Mike was very careful not to crease it, sliding it into his folder at school and gingerly transferring it to the binder at home. He smiled at the memory. I keep a binder of Will’s drawings. I keep a fucking binder of his drawings, holy shit. Mike slammed the binder shut and sat with his thoughts.
“Mike! Dinner!” Karen’s voice echoed up the staircase.
“Yeah, ok, coming!” Mike yelled before shoving the binder back under his bed.
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“So, how was school today, you two?” Joyce inquired before sitting down at the dinner table.
“Fine!” Will blurted out before El could get a word in edgewise.
Joyce and Hopper shared a glance before Hopper let out a skeptical, “uh huh.”
Will was silently picking at his plate when El spoke up, “mom, can we go shopping this weekend for my prom dress?”
“Oh, that sounds great. I bet we can find something at the thrift shop,” Joyce said with a grin, “Will, honey, are still set against prom?”
“Yup,” Will mumbled to his plate of food.
The topic of conversation quickly shifted to Joyce’s work day. Will was relieved when he wasn’t questioned about how little he ate or how quiet he was.
After washing the dishes, he went to his room and plopped himself onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. What if I get to school tomorrow and everyone treats me differently? Why was Mike being so weird on the ride home? Maybe he hates me. What if he figures out how I feel about him? What if El does? Ugh.
He snapped upward when he heard a knock at the door. El poked her head into the room.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Will said, before waving her in.
She slid into the room and sat down on the bed next to him. He fidgeted a bit before turning to look at her.
“Please don’t tell mom and Hop…that I’m gay,” Will started hesitantly, “not that I think you would, but I just, I want you to know that I am not ready for them to know yet. I wasn’t really ready for the party to know either, it just…slipped out.”
El smiled, “I understand.”
“Thanks,” Will replied. He hesitated for a moment before adding, “Mike seemed to not take the news too well. He probably hates me.”
“He could never hate you, Will,” El assured him, brow furrowed, “he cares about you, a lot.”
“Yeah,” Will said with a halfhearted smile, but he honestly wasn’t feeling so sure in that moment.
Friday, April 15th 1988
Mike sat at the lunch table with Dustin, waiting for the rest of the party. He was droning on about something that Steve said, but Mike wasn’t really listening.
He was watching the door when Will walked in. His head was bowed a bit, but he smiled when he got to the table.
“Hey Will,” Dustin said with a grin.
“Hey Dustin…Mike,” Will said casually, giving him the shortest once over ever.
“Hey,” Mike said before busying himself with a bag of chips. What do I even say? How do I act?
The party chatted around him through lunch, but Mike had nothing to add. He must have been staring, because Will kept looking at him like he was confused. He couldn’t help it, he was trying to get a read on Will. He needed to know what he was thinking, but Will wasn’t giving much to work with. He seemed the same, but Mike felt different, totally different. Like Will had just busted down a locked door inside Mike, but he was none the wiser.
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“Oh, and then he started screaming like a little girl,” Max busted out laughing.
“Shut up, you know I can’t help that,” Lucas said, sounding wounded.
“He has always screamed like that,” Will chuckled out before glancing over at his audience of one. He couldn’t help but notice Mike’s incessant staring. Is he trying to kill me with his eyes or something?
The bell rang and Will stood up from the lunch table and slung his backpack on. He, Lucas, and Mike set off towards history class. Mike just looked ahead the entire walk, causing Will and Lucas to exchange glances. What is his problem? Is he worried I’ll come onto him if he talks to me?
When they made it to their desks, he noticed that Mike was looking straight at him, not even trying to be subtle. He tried to ignore it as he got his materials out of his backpack, but after a good three minutes, he craned his neck to look over at Mike who finally snapped out of it when their eyes met.
“Are you ok?” Will asked, in a tone that he hoped sounded like ‘what are you looking at?’
“Fine,” Mike mumbled, before rummaging around in his backpack. Um, ok then.
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Mike stood in front of his desk staring at the painting on his wall. Something Will had given him a couple of years ago, before the Upside Down was sealed off for good. When he first saw it, his heart leapt. For a moment, he had allowed himself to believe that Will loved him, but Will quickly encouraged him to work things out with El, so he had tried to forget about it and convinced himself it was just wishful thinking.
What if he did love me then? What if I missed my chance? Mike paced around his room before sliding a drawer open and rummaging around. He pulled out a photo of him and Will, bundled up in the snow. They couldn’t have been older than 12, but he couldn’t recall the year. Will was smiling brightly at the camera, holding up a big snowball for the snowman they were building, and Mike was looking over at Will, grinning from ear to ear. Things were so simple back then.
“Shit,” he muttered, dropping it back in the drawer and slamming it closed. He rubbed his temples, trying to figure out his next move.