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Sunday, February 11, 1989
"God, Mike, that was awful. El, how did you ever do it?"
El giggled. "I do not know. I am glad we are just friends now."
Mike glared at Dustin. "Okay, smart ass. How would you ask the guy you're hopelessly in love with out?"
Dustin shrugged. "Well, I would probably try to look like I don't want to kill myself. That's a starting point."
Mike groaned and fell back on the couch, covering his face with his hands. "This is useless," he said, voice slightly muffled. "I can't ask him out, what am I thinking?"
"Hey, man, don't say that," Lucas said, pulling Mike's arm off his face. "You still have a few days to figure it out."
Mike just groaned again.
It was a chilly February afternoon. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and El were in the Wheelers basement, discussing Mike's plan to (finally) ask Will out. However, Mike was struggling with the plan part of the plan.
Mike sat up, wringing his hands. "This is a bad idea. What if he says no?"
A collective groan rose from his three friends. "Mike, how many times do I have to tell you that there is no way in hell he would say no?" Lucas demanded. El nodded in agreement while Dustin shook his head at Mike. "You are so oblivious," he said.
Mike shook his head. "Guys I don't think I can do this. Maybe we should-"
Lucas reached over and put his hand over Mike's mouth. "Nope. Absolutely not. You are going to ask him out by Valentines day, or I will do it for you. I cannot listen to the two of you talk about the other for another year."
Mike glared at Lucas and pushed his hand away. "I know he doesn't talk about me, Lucas."
El laughed, then covered her mouth as Mike turned to stare at her. "Sorry," she said, hand still pressed against her mouth. "But that's all he does."
Dustin sighed. "Mike, listen. You two have liked each other since, like, sixth grade. I promise you he won't say no. We'll even help you!"
Mike must have still looked wary, because Dustin kept talking. "Look, it's this easy," he said, turning to Lucas. "All you have to say is, 'Hey, Will, wanna go out with me?' And Will will say..."
He gestured at Lucas, who attempted to imitate Wills voice. "Of course, Mike, I would love to!"
"See? That simple," Dustin said, turning back to face Mike, who was rolling his eyes at them. "Guys, I appreciate it, really, but I don't think I can."
The three exchanged a look with each other before El shook her head. "I am sorry, Mike, but you will."
Dustin nodded. "Yep. We have listened to you two for too many years now. You're telling him, Mike."
Lucas glanced at his watch. "You have until Valentines, like I said earlier. And if you don't, than we will."
"That's not fair!" Mike protested. Dustin shrugged. "Actually, it is. Mike, we have four months until we graduate. Do you really wanna regret not finding out what could have been for the rest of your life?"
"I guess not," he muttered. Lucas lightly punched his shoulder. "That's the spirit."
Mike sat up. "I'll do it tomorrow," he announced. Lucas fist bumped him as El nodded excitedly.
The conversation changed from Will to what Lucas was going to buy Max for Valentines. As El offered her advice, Mike let his mind wander.
Tomorrow? Was he insane?
He supposed he was. Only someone who was insane would decide to potentially ruin his relationship with his best friend just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and his feelings in check.
But his friends were right, he knew that. The back and forth, the dancing around their feelings, the straddling the line between friendly and flirtatious was getting to Mike. He was tired of it, and he was going to end it one way or another.
He really hoped it didn't end with another.
Monday, February 12, 1989
"Hell-o? Mike?"
Mike blinked as Max waved her hand in front of his face. "Yes?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "You're staring," she said.
Mike sighed and slouched in his seat. "I was not," he muttered.
Max snorted. "Sure, if that's what you want to tell yourself," she said.
"Keep your voice down!" Mike hissed, looking over at Will again. He had both his earbuds in, plugged into his Walkman in his jeans pocket. He was biting his lip, focusing on the Calculus worksheet in front of him.
Max rolled her eyes. "Please. You know he plays his music ridiculously loud."
She looked across the table at Will. "Hey, Will, Mike has a huge crush on you and has been planning to ask you out."
"MAX!" Mike exclaimed. A student sitting at the table next to them glared at him, and the librarian pointed at the quiet voices sign and put a finger to her lips.
Next to him, Will didn't give any indication that he had heard either of them. He erased something on his paper.
Mike leaned forward and glared at Max. "What is wrong with you?" he asked through gritted teeth. Max just grinned and pointed at Will. "No reaction. Chill out, Wheeler."
Mike scowled at her and crossed his arms. "You're not funny, Max."
She smirked. "I beg to differ," she said, tucking a piece of her shoulder-length hair behind her ear before leaning forward conspiritaly. "So, when are you gonna do it?"
Mike tugged at his hoodie strings. "Whenever I feel like it. Mind your own business."
Max, unbothered by Mike's uninterest, kept talking.
"Y'know, me and Lucas would be happy to help."
Mike shook his head. "I'll do it, okay? Just...not today."
Max groaned. "Dude. You've been saying that for, like, months now!
"I mean it this time!"
"Mean what?"
Mike whipped his head to the side to see Will, earbuds out, looking at him quizzically.
"Um."
Max gave Mike a look as he struggled to come up with a lie.
"I was just telling Max that I, uh..."
"That he's finally gonna study for Calculus before he takes the test tomorrow," Max said, finally taking pity on him.
Mike smiled. "Yep! Totally. Studying! Gotta do that."
He stopped talking when Will raised an eyebrow at him. "Since when do you study?"
"Now. Right now."
Will shook his head. "Alright then. Weirdo."
He grinned at Mike before turning to put his paper up. Mike could feel himself blushing, but it stopped when Max kicked him under the table. She widened her eyes at Mike and nodded her head towards Will.
Mike cleared his throat. "Hey, Will, do you wanna walk to your next class together?"
Will squinted at him as he put his backpack on. "We always walk to class together, Mike. Why are you being weird?"
Mike shrugged. "Guess I'm just tired?"
Will smiled. "It's okay. Its cute."
He waved at Max before heading towards the library exit.
Mike whipped around. "Cute?" he hissed, slinging his own backpack over his shoulder.
Max just waved him away, amusement in her eyes. Mike caught up to Will as he exited the library.
"Hey, Will, listen. I have a question. It's important. Well, not important, maybe not to other people, but to me, it is."
Will stopped in the middle of the hall. "Mike, what's going on? Why have you been acting so weird? Whatever it is, you can ask me."
Will stared up at him.
This is it. Do it now.
"Will," Mike started. "Do you..."
---
El slammed her hands on the table, causing Dustin's water bottle to topple over and hit the floor. Nobody even glanced at it.
"You asked him what?" Lucas demanded as El stared in disbelief.
Mike groaned and pulled his hoodie over his face. "Guys, c'mon, it's not that bad..."
Max laughed incredulously from the couch. "Oh, it is that bad. You had him alone, posed to ask, after he called you cute, and you asked him if he wanted to hang out as a group on Friday at his house?"
Dustin and Lucas burst into laughter. Mike pulled his hoodie down to see all four of them shaking their heads at him.
"I panicked, okay? I'll do it tomorrow."
El sighed. "How many times will you say that?"
Mike stood and glared at them. "I will. For real this time."
Dustin snorted. "Whatever you say, man."
Mike stormed out of his basement, ignoring his friends laughter behind him.
He wanted to ask Will. He really did. But Will deserved better than a shitty, half-assed question in the middle of school.
He would ask tomorrow. He would.
Nothing would stop him this time. He was determined.
Tuesday, February 13th, 1989
Mike was a nervous wreck.
School had ended twenty minutes ago, and Mike was sitting in his car, staring out the windshield.
He hadn't asked Will out at school. He explained why to his friends and, while Max still called him a pussy and Dustin shook his head and muttered something about stalling and excuses, they all respected his decision to wait.
He was lost in thought, wondering how in the hell he would pull it off, which is why he jumped so much he hit his head on the roof of his car when someone knocked on his window.
He rubbed the back of his head, letting out some of his more creative swear words before turning to see who had knocked.
"Will!" Mike exclaimed, hurriedly opening the car door.
Will stepped back as Mike got out. "Sorry. Is your head okay?"
Mike nodded. "I'll be alright. What are you still doing here?"
"El needed to turn in a project. We were just about to leave when she pointed you out. What are you still doing here?"
"Just thinking," Mike said.
Will frowned. "Are you sure? You looked pretty focused."
"I was actually wondering...can we go somewhere?"
"Like, this weekend? I'm probably free, I just thought we were hanging out on Friday."
Mike shook his head. "I meant...just me and you? Tonight?"
Will looked at Mike curiously. "I mean...I guess? When? Because I don't know if my mom would like me being out late..."
Mike fidgeted with his shirt sleeve. "Just for, like, an hour? You could get El to cover for you."
Will shrugged. "Why not," he said. He glanced down at Mike's hands, which were now trembling. "Are you sure you're okay? You're shaking."
He reached out and took Mike's left hand, and Mike swore he almost stopped breathing.
"I, um. I'm okay. Thank you. I should, uh, probably go. Is ten alright? I'll pick you up."
Will nodded and released Mike's hand.
Mike tried to not look too disappointed.
"See you later, Mike."
"Uh, yeah. L-later. Bye," he stammered, clumsily getting back into his car.
He burst through his front door and made a beeline for the phone.
"Hello, this is the Sinclair-"
"Lucas!" Mike yelled into the phone.
"Hello to you too, Mike. Why are you yelling?"
"Im doing it," Mike said, ignoring the small spark of fear at his words. "Tonight."
"Finally," Lucas muttered, irritated but proud. "How are you gonna ask?"
"I haven't gotten to that part yet, actually."
Lucas sighed. "Seriously?"
"Yep. Can you tell Dustin for me? I need to go."
"Yeah, but-"
Mike hung up and turned to head upstairs, only to see his path blocked by a nine year old ball of attitude and aggression.
"What are you doing tonight?" Holly asked, trailing Mike as he pushed past her and headed up the stairs.
"Nothing, Holly."
"Obviously something. I heard you. You know Mom doesn’t like when you're out at night-"
"Which is why you’re not telling her," he said, turning to glare at his little sister.
Holly crossed her arms. "I can tell her whatever I want," she said defiantly.
Mike sighed. Where did she get all of her stubbornness?
Probably me, he realized.
He rolled his eyes. "If I tell you, will you promise not to tell them?" he asked.
Holly nodded excitedly.
Mike ran a hand through his hair. "I am asking someone I like out tonight," he said.
Holly jumped up and down, clapping her hands and smiling. "Is it Will?" she asked.
"How- what gave you that idea?" he asked nervously.
Holly rolled her eyes. "I'm not blind, you know. Do you have flowers?"
Mike blinked. "I...No. No, I dont."
Holly sighed and shook her head dramatically. "Mike! You can't ask someone out without flowers! That's common sense!"
"I'm...sorry?"
"It's okay, Mike. We can fix it. Come on."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him back down the stairs, towards the front door.
"Holly, what are you doing?" Mike asked as his sister stopped in front of Mike's car.
"We're gonna go get flowers. Come on!"
Mike sighed and got in his car. Holly jumped in the backseat and leaned forward.
"Let's go to Bradley's! One of my friends told me that her dad got her mom flowers from there," she said cheerily.
As Mike drove, he was interrogated by Holly.
"So, how long have you liked Will? Does Max know?"
"I don't know why you like Max so much," he muttered, ignoring her first question.
"Uh, because she's awesome? Way cooler than you."
"Thanks, Hols. Appreciate that."
"What? It's true!"
Mike tuned her out for the rest of the drive. He was thinking about Will. What if he said no? What if he didn't like the flowers? What if-
No. Mike was doing this.
And besides, as he watched Holly excitedly flit about the flower bouquets, suggesting different ones and asking what Will would like, Mike knew he couldn't let her down, either.
He had to do this. He was going to do this.
After they got home and Mike distracted Holly with the TV, he decided to pick out a half-decent outfit.
He was staring at two different shirts laid out on his bed, trying to decide which one to wear, when the phone in his room rang.
"Hello?"
"Mike!" El whispered. "Are you doing it tonight?"
Mike sighed. "Yeah. Did Will say something?"
"Just that you asked him to go somewhere tonight. What's the plan?"
"I'm not really sure yet. Why are you whispering?"
"Because there's one phone in my house and Will's in his room. How do you not have a plan?" she demanded.
Mike groaned. "I don't know! I'll just...figure it out when I get there, I guess. Oh, and Holly made me buy him flowers," he added.
El gasped. "That's so cute! He's going to love that."
Mike finally settled on his white button-up and began searching for pants. "I hope so. Also, I meant to ask, would you mind covering for Will? I don't want him getting in trouble because of me."
El giggled. "Do not worry. He already asked. me. He is very nervous."
Mike frowned. "Why?"
El sighed dramatically. "Because he is always nervous around you, Mike."
"I have to go," El continued before Mike could ask why. "Have fun tonight, Mike!"
Deciding he didn't want to know what she meant by that, Mike decided to distract himself for the next four hours.
He helped his mom make dinner when she got home, and helped Holly with her math homework after that. Once she was in bed, Mike began getting ready.
He wore his one nice shirt, tucked into his jeans, and his usual black belt and Converse.
He messed with his hair for a solid ten minutes and debated just going bald a few times before giving up. He grabbed his keys and the flowers before glancing at his reflection one last time.
You got this, Wheeler.
He opened his door and nearly jumped out of his skin. Holly was standing there, looking equally surprised.
"Holly! You're supposed to be in bed!" Mike hissed, trying to calm his racing heart.
She frowned. "I just wanted to say good luck," she muttered.
Mike sighed and took a knee, pulling his little sister into a hug. "Thanks, Hols. Now go to sleep."
She gave him a small smile. "Okay."
She gave him two thumbs up and skipped back into her room, closing the door behind her.
Mike left out the back door, not wanting to wake his mom. He nervously tapped his fingers against the steering wheel the whole way to Will's house, going over what he should say again and again.
As he approached the Byers house, he turned his headlights off in case Hopper was still awake and looking out the window.
Mike waited for a minute before seeing movement out the corner of his eye. He looked over to see someone nearly fall out of the window in what Mike knew was Jonathan's old room, which El now occupied.
And it was El who stuck her head out the window now, shaking her head at the figure slightly below her before waving at Mike and disappearing back inside.
Mike chuckled as he unlocked the door for Will to get in. "Having trouble?" He asked as Will reached for the seat belt.
Will rolled his eyes as he turned red. "I thought the window was closer to the ground, okay?"
Mike reversed the car. "Sure, Will. Whatever you say."
"I'm being serious!" Will protested, grinning. "Where are we going, anyway?"
Mike shrugged. "I thought maybe the quarry? The stars are really nice tonight, and you can see them pretty clearly there."
"Sounds nice," Will said.
Mike remembered what El had said about him being nervous and grinned.
"What's so funny?" Will asked. Mike just shrugged again.
"Tell me!" Will demanded. Mike chuckled. "Nothing! It's just...you look nice, that's all."
He was being honest. Will was wearing a grey sweater and jeans, and his hair was the perfect amount of messy and styled.
"Oh. Thanks. You, um, look nice too," Will said. Mike glanced over and saw that his cheeks were flushed.
"Thanks," Mike replied.
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Not uncomfortable silence, though. More like the content silence with a close friend, where you can sit and say nothing at all yet read the other like an open book.
Mike wished he could read the look in Wills eyes, but it was too dark and he was practically shaking with nerves.
He parked and the two got out, walking to the edge of the drop-off. Mike carefully sat, and Will joined him. Mike was hyper-aware of the way Will's leg was pressed against his own.
"Can I ask you something?" Will said, breaking the silence.
"Of course," Mike said, turning to look at Will. His breath caught in his throat for a second. Illuminated by the stars, alone in the night, Will looked beautiful.
Sure, Mike had always seen Will as attractive, but never before had he thought of him as beautiful.
"You've been acting weird all week. It wasn't... I didn't do something wrong, did I?"
Mike laughed, a startling sound in the quiet night. "No! No, of course not! I've just been...distracted, I guess."
Will looked at him, curious. "By what?"
Mike took a deep breath, fidgeting with his hands.
C'mon, Wheeler. Now or never.
"Well. There's this person that I'm really into. I've liked them for a really long time, actually. And all of our friends say that they like me back, but I'm still super nervous around them. I'm scared I'm going to tell them how I feel, and they'll just laugh and walk away."
"Oh."
Mike couldn't ignore the disappointment in Will's voice, or the way his shoulders dropped. But still, he took a deep breath in, avoiding Mike's eyes.
"Well, you're a really amazing person, Mike. Whoever this person is, they're really lucky to have you in their life. I'm sure they would be absolutely thrilled to date you. After all, you're one of the best people I know."
"Can I ask you something now, Will?"
"Of course, Mike. Anytime."
Mikes heart was beating so loudly he was sure Will could hear it.
"Will Byers. Will you go out with me?"
Will whipped his head up and stared at Mike in disbelief. "What? But you just said-"
Mike couldn't contain his smile. "That person is you, Will. It's always been you. It will always be you. And I...I asked you here to tell you that no matter what, I'll always be yours."
There. He had done it. Now all he had to do was wait, and watch as Will's face went from disbelief to pure happiness and the smile Mike loved filled his whole face.
“I…are you being serious?” Will whispered.
Mike nodded. “As serious as possible,” he said.
Will continued to stare at him, still smiling. Mike was so focused on his smile that he almost didn’t notice that the distance between them was getting increasingly smaller.
Almost.
He pretended he didn’t notice it. That is, until Will whispered into the silence.
”Can I kiss you?”
Mike couldn’t nod quickly enough.
And then Will’s lips were on his. Mike closed his eyes.
As they pulled apart, Mike could see the stars reflected in Will’s eyes, and he thought about telling him how beautiful he was, or how good the kiss was, or how much he loved him.
What came out was, “I got you flowers.”
Will laughed. “You didn’t have to do that, Mike,” he said.
He leaned forward and kissed him again. “But thank you,” he whispered.
Mike still wanted to tell him just how beautiful he was, and how happy he made him, and how excited he was to finally call Will his.
But as they kissed again, Mike knew he had all the time in the world to tell him all of that and more.