Chapter Text
Scene - Mike’s bedroom, Hawkins, 1986.
*Mike is pulling out fresh sheets. Will watches him quietly, twiddling his fingers absently.*
“Hey, Mike?”
“Hmm?”
“I kind of need something to change into?”
“Oh. Shit, yeah, of course. Just grab anything from my closet, it’s cool.”
*Will heads to the closet but spots something crumpled at the foot of Mike’s bed. He picks it up and unravels it, staring at the printed t-shirt. It’s the last thing Mike wore before leaving for California. Mike looks up from where he’s crouched on the floor, setting up the mattress, and follows Will’s gaze. He gets up and stands next to Will.*
“Oh, I forgot I’d left that there. Hellfire is-”
“The D&D club at school, yeah I heard.”
“...you heard about it? From who?”
“Dustin. He was pretty excited about it. He mentioned Eddie quite a bit, too, seemed like a cool guy.”
“Yeah, he was…”
*Will’s heart churns uncomfortably as he sees Mika deflate. He rushes to change the subject.*
“Lucas told me about the basketball team. I was a bit surprised at first, but it seemed like something he wanted to do. It’s good that he was able to branch out and stuff.”
“He told you that? When?”
“Yes, Mike, he did. And I don’t remember when, exactly. Must have been months ago. We spoke on the phone a couple times, but we mostly wrote to each other.”
“Oh. Did you and Dustin write, too?”
“Yeah, we did. Why does it feel like I’m being interviewed?”
“I’m not interviewing you! I’m just… curious, is all.”
“Right…”
*Silence.*
“Did they…? Um. Did either of them, like, you know, mention me?”
“Uh, yeah, of course. Mostly that you’re doing well, things like that.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Did El ever mention me? In her letters?”
“Um. Yeah, kinda? Not ‘kinda’, I mean, yes, she did. More or less the same stuff about you doing okay, I guess.”
*Mike sighs and bites his lip, looking away.*
“I’m not even sure how much of those letters I should trust because her whole California life turned out to be one gigantic lie.”
“Oh, Mike…”
“I mean, she painted this perfect picture about ‘friends’ and ‘classes’ and ‘going out’ and ‘being the life of the fucking party’ and none of that was true. It was all bullshit anyways, so even if she did say something about you, how would I know if it’s real?”
“You can… you can just ask me, Mike. I’m right here.”
*Mikes shudders involuntarily.*
“Yeah, yeah, you are.”
*Silence.*
“Well, I know she was lying about you. I know that for a fact, now.”
*Will tenses a bit. He takes a few seconds to compose himself.*
“What did she tell you? That I was in the running for the next Prom King?”
*Mike huffs out a short laugh.*
“Hilarious, Will. No, she said you were painting a lot and refused to show it to her.”
“W-what?”
*Mike barrels on.*
“Which I know is a lie because she literally asked you to make that painting for me. It just- it just doesn’t make sense though… Why bother creating an elaborate lie? Why mention your painting at all if she wanted it to be like, I don’t know, a surprise gift for me?”
“Wait, wait, slow down. Tell me exactly what she said.”
“I don’t remember exactly, but... she said you’d been painting and not showing what it was to her, and you were being weird about it? Something on those lines. She assumed it might be for a crush or some girl you like at school.”
*Mike clicks his tongue, eyebrows raised.*
“I’ve gotta give it to El, I didn’t know she had such great storytelling abilities.”
“Oh. Yeah, weird…”
“Did you, though?”
“Did I what?”
“I know the truth about the painting but, like, did you, um, like anyone in school?”
“Oh. Uh, no, not really.”
“Not really?”
“Yeah, I mean, a few girls tried to talk to me but I wasn't interested. El was getting bullied every single day. It felt wrong to get flirted with by the same kids who didn’t bother to show her even an ounce of sympathy, you know? It was all just so… so fake to me. El and I only had each other in school and I guess I made peace with that.”
*Silence.*
“I’m sorry. That sounds awful.”
“Don’t be. I’m just glad neither one of us was completely alone, that would have been terrible.”
“Yeah. It’s still odd to me that you guys are like, actual siblings now.”
“We are. So you better think twice before messing with her now that she has two brothers.”
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side! You were my friend before you became El’s brother, might I remind you.”
*Will chuckles and shakes his head. Mike’s smile slowly fades and he swallows heavily.*
“If the circumstances were different, would you, like, would you have flirted back? With those girls?”
“Circumstances being different how?”
“Like, you know, if you and El were not getting bullied and had normal lives at school.”
“Oh. Well, I don't really know?”
“Come on Will, you must have found some of them attractive, right?”
“I mean objectively, yes, Vanessa was pretty, so were the other girls, but like, I didn’t have any real conversations with them so I didn’t really feel anything.”
*Mike remains silent, a far away look on his face. Will swallows thickly.*
“So, uh, this seems like it’ll fit me.”
*Will shakes out the t-shirt in his hands, grabbing Mike's attention.*
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.”
“Are you okay?”
“What? Yeah, of course. I’ll just go back to…”
*Mike vaguely gestures at the mattress.*
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
*Will leaves the room. Mike sighs, burying his face in his hands for a few seconds before grabbing a pillowcase and getting back to work.*