Chapter Text
“Go away, Holly! I don’t have time for this right now, I have to get ready for school.” Mike was too anxious to deal with Holly’s questions today. Will was going to be back after school, he was going straight to the airport with the guys after their last class. If Dustin was late because he was asking the teacher about something again, Mike was leaving him behind. He wasn’t going to miss Will getting off the plane.
“Come on, Hol. I can help you. Mike has to go.” Nancy put her arm around Holly’s shoulders and ushered her down the hall, looking reproachfully over her shoulder at Mike. But she knew how excited he was, so she couldn’t really blame him. Not today.
Mike grinned at her before rushing off.
…
Dear Will,
…
Dear Will,
Why does that sound so formal?
This is stupid.
…
Dear Will, Hey Will!
I hate this.
…
Dear Will,
Started the new school year today and kept looking for you.
It's weird you're not here. It's not right and I hate it. What the fuck
…
Mike pulled his jacket closer around his ears, rocking back and forth on his heels as the three boys waited outside the gate for Will and his family.
“What is up with you, man? You’ve been acting weird all day.” Dustin asked, punching him in the arm. Lucas laughed.
“I’m not being weird! I’m just excited, are you guys not excited? It’s Will! It’s been six months!” Mike couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
“Whatever, Mike, you’ve been practically vibrating out of your skin for two months. You’re excited enough for all of us. For the entire town. Maybe the state.” Lucas teased.
Mike froze. “Shut up, man. I am a… normal… a normal level of excited.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at his shoes.
Lucas grimaced. “Hey, I didn’t mean…” He looked at Dustin, who shrugged.
People started flooding through the gate, and Mike’s head flew back up. He stood on his tiptoes, searching the crown for Will. “Shit, we should have brought a sign, like in the movies.”
“He didn’t forget what we looked like. He’s going to see us.”
“Yeah, just… I don’t know, it’s stupid, nevermind. Do you see him?”
“Not yet, I- Oh!” Dustin jumped up, pointing.
Will lit up, dropping his suitcase as he saw them, and started running at them. “Will, what - ?” His mom picked up his carry-on and shook her head. “Hi boys!” She waved.
The three of them met Will in the middle, shouting a non-committal greeting to Joyce as they hugged Will, the four boys laughing and grinning so hard their faces hurt.
…
Dear Will,
I We miss you. School isn't the same without you, and it sucks. I hope California is better. I hope you like it there. Do you miss me? Us? Me?
Does your mom like her new job? It fucking sucks that they transferred her. I wish
…
I feel weird writing like this. Why is writing letters so hard? I wish your phone was working.
…
Dear Will,
Sometimes I catch myself picking up your favorite snacks when the rest of the Party is coming over for movie night. Like you'll be there, same as always.
I think I’m broken or something.
…
Dear Will,
Troy got suspended today. He picked a fight with Lucas and said the wrong thing in front of the wrong teacher. It was amazing, you should have seen it. I mean - obviously not that he picked a shitty fight with Lucas, just that somebody actually did something about it for a change. You should have seen it. I wish you’d been there.
…
“You guys have to tell me everything. What did I miss? I feel like it’s been years.” Will crunched on some chips as he sat on the couch in Mike’s basement.
“Nah, nothing crazy. School is shit, but at least we only have one year left, you know?” Lucas flopped back on the beanbag chair, sending a small cloud of styrofoam beads onto the floor.
Mike sat next to Will, reaching for the chips, “Yeah, school is shit. Sucks without y- uh, without all of us together. Total shit.” He stuffed his mouth full of chips, the tips of his ears red under his hair.
Dustin looked at him funny.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Right. Oh! Did we tell you Troy got suspended? Like a week before Christmas break.”
“What?” Will laughed, “No, what did he do this time?”
“He was being a shithead and a racist, as usual.”
“And one of the teachers actually called him out this time?” Will asked.
“Yup! And good thing, too, because if we’d have done something about it ourselves, we’d have been the ones in trouble. Stupid fucking town.” Dustin scoffed. “But honestly, he just got an extra week of vacation, so… somehow, the dickhead still won.”
“He sucks. You okay, Lucas?” Will nudged Lucas’ shin with his socked foot.
He shrugged, “Yeah, I’m good. Troy’s nothing. He’ll end up stuck here, or in some shit job in the city. I’m better than that, and he can’t change how I look at myself. He doesn’t matter.”
“Hear, hear!” Dustin raised his soda to toast Lucas. The other boys copied, and Lucas laughed.
“Anyway, that was weeks ago. Now you’re back, and we get to start our last semester of Senior year without a split party.” Lucas grinned at Will, nudging his foot back.
“I missed you guys so much.”
Mike watched his friends, happy to have them all in one room again. He snuck a glance at Will. Something about him was different. Just a little. He was more confident, even with them. A little less wary, his laughter coming easily and his shoulders strong and self-assured. Mike grinned down into his soda can as he took a sip.
…
Dear Will,
I keep trying to call, keep trying to write. The phone is always busy and my brain is full of cotton candy and I can't think of anything to write that doesn't sound like shit.
Why is this so hard?
…
Dear Will,
I know why it’s hard.
…
Mike drove Will home later that night, after the others. The radio was on low, and Will looked out the window, watching the streetlights. Mike hazarded a glance at him at the last stop sign before they got to Will’s.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Will asked, turning to look at him.
“Wh-” Mike looked back at the road. “Like how? I’m not looking at you like anything.” He hoped it was dark enough that he couldn’t see him blush.
Will hummed quietly. “I don’t know. I could just tell you were looking at me different.”
“I wasn’t. Nothing different here.” Mike pulled up outside Will’s house and parked the car, looking at Will again, but trying to keep his face neutral and normal.
He looked at him for a long moment, and took off his seatbelt but didn’t get out of the car, turning more toward him instead. “I missed you.”
Mike grinned. “I missed you, too.”
Will grinned back at him. He looked like he was about to say something else, but the porch light turned on, and his mom came out on the porch and lit a cigarette. "Well, I guess I should go."
"Right. Yeah. I'll, uh, I'll see you later."
…
When he got home, Mike made his way straight up to his room. He flipped the light on without looking, and pulled his jacket off, getting slightly tangled in his scarf, then stumbled over something on the floor.
"What the-" he looked at what he'd tripped over in horror. "Nancy?! Nance!"
"What, what is it? Are you okay?" Nancy rushed through the door in her pajamas.
He held out the empty shoebox.
"What is that?"
"The letters, Nancy!" He squeaked, shaking the box at her.
"What letters? Th- oh, no, the letters to Wi-"
"Shhhhh! Shut up! Where did they go? Where the fuck are they?" Mike was really panicking.
"I don't know, Mike, but you need to calm down; this isn't the end of the world."
"Are you fucking kidding? Of course it's the end of the world! You know what's in those fucking letters!" Mike let her push him to sit on the bed, still holding the box in his lap.
"Just hold on, okay? I'm going to ask mom if she cleaned your room and found them or something. She might have just thought they were trash and thrown them out or something."
He flopped back on his pillow, letting out a whimper. He wished he could just sink into the ground.
When she came back a few minutes later, Holly was trailing behind her looking sheepish.
He sat up, suspicious.
"So… it turns out…" Nancy approached slowly, like he was a scared animal about to snap, "Holly knows where your letters went. Holly, do you want to tell Mike where the letters went?"
Holly shuffled her feet. "The post office."
"The- The what?!" Mike stood up, the box falling to the floor.
"Mom was going to the post office to mail our Christmas thank you cards, and I took your letters to Will and mailed them." She looked mad.
"Why would you do that?" He clenched his hands at his sides.
"You were ignoring me this morning. You were being mean, Mike," she pouted.
"I was- what?!" He looked desperately at Nancy.
She looked sympathetically at him. "Mike, come on. It wasn't right, right, Hol?" She looked down at Holly, who was almost her height now. "But she's sorry. Right?"
Holly shrugged. "Yeah, whatever." She rolled her eyes and took off toward her room.
"She sent the letters to Will!" He groaned and flopped back onto the bed, burying his face in his pillow.
"Mike…. why were they addressed if you weren't going to send them?" She sat on the edge of his bed and patted his shoulder.
"I don't know… I just… they were letters, you're supposed to put them in an envelope and address them." He was barely audible through the pillow, so he rolled over a little. "Wait- I addressed them to his house in California!"
"Oh!" Nancy exclaimed. "Good! He won't get them, then! I thought maybe you'd addressed them to his new house for some reason."
"So they'll get… like, sent back, right?" He wanted them back. They were for him, not for anyone else.
"Maybe. Or they'll just get thrown away, if they can't deliver them. I don't know."
"Okay. Okay, it's fine. Everything is fine. Will will still never see them, and nothing will change." He sighed.
"Right. It's fine. You're fine." Nancy ruffled his hair.
…
Dear Will,
I’ve been trying to write this down for ages, and I know I’ll never send it and you’ll never see it, so I know it’s safe. But I just can’t. I’m a chicken even now. But maybe I can at least…
Love,
Mike
…
Even with Nancy’s reassurances, Mike was tense for days. He avoided Will the whole first week they were back at school, and showed up late to the Byers house on Friday when everyone was supposed to get together for movie night.
He ran into El in the kitchen while he was trying to stall. “What are you doing, Mike?”
He jumped, “Jesus, El, you startled me. I didn’t think anyone would be in here.”
“Everyone else is in the living room. They are starting the movie soon. You’re late.” She eyed him. “You never used to be late to Will’s. You’re always first.”
He shrugged. “Car trouble. It’s no big deal.”
“Sure.” She headed into the living room without looking back at him.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed a soda from the fridge before heading in.
He felt on edge and freaked out every time Will looked at him all night, probably even when he wasn’t looking at him. He had to shake this off. Will was never going to see the letters. Everything was fine.
…
Dear Will,
Finally got you on the phone today. I swear, my cheeks are going to hurt for days from grinning. You sound so happy, which. On the one hand, I’m so happy for you. I hate when you’re sad, I always want you to be happy. On the other hand? I wish I could see you smile.
Love,
Mike
…
Dear Will,
Can’t stop signing these stupid things now.
Love,
Mike