Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mike Wheeler loves his girlfriend.

Right?

That thought had been stuck in his head ever since yesterday, when El called him (on the house phone— not even using her walkie) and told him they needed to talk.

Of course, they’d decided to meet at the hill near Hopper’s cabin, the one that offered a great view of the rest of Hawkins and was dotted with colorful wildflowers each spring. El had told him to be there at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and to exactly nobody’s surprise, Mike was late.

He was flying down the road alongside Hopper’s cabin, desperately checking his watch every few moments. 4:11. Shit.

When he peered through the trees and saw the cabin in the distance, he nearly fell off his bike, dragging it a little ways through the forest before dropping it and breaking into a full on sprint.

The woods were beautiful this time of year; the late July breeze was warm, and the birds were out and singing from every tree branch. Mike didn’t have time to listen to them, though; he had somewhere to be, and he was gasping for breath by the time he flew past Hopper’s cabin and broke into the clearing.

El was already sitting at the picnic table at the top of the hill. Her head whipped around to face him, and she didn’t look upset, but rather a little sad.

She stood up as he approached, then awkwardly opened and closed her fists a few times before sitting back down. Mike did the same.

“Um, hi,” she said.

“Hey,” he replied, still out of breath. “What’s up?”

“Can we talk?” she asked, looking away from him to stare at the table.

“Yeah, are you okay?”

El nodded. Her hair had grown out a little since it’d been shaved at the lab back in the spring, and was now a mess of short, loose curls on top of her head, which bounced a little as her head moved.

“Mike, I…”

“Did I do something?” Mike said, furrowing his brows worriedly.

“No, it’s… I mean…” El rubbed her arms as if she were cold, even though it was a particularly warm day.

Mike reached over the table to grab her hand, but she turned ever-so-slightly away from him, refusing to meet his gaze.

“El?” he said softly.

Then she hit him with the statement that was the last thing he would ever have expected.

“Mike, I think we should break up.”

Mike blinked. “What?”

“I just…”

“Just what? El, what?”

“I don’t think I am in love with you,” she said finally.

Mike pulled his arm back, looking at her confusedly. “But— you said—”

“Mike, I love you, but I’m not in love with you,” El interrupted. “I don’t want to be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore.”

“El, we— we’ve been together for two years, you can’t just—” Mike didn’t know what else to say. He was at a loss for words; how could someone not be, when their long-term girlfriend was breaking up with them out of the blue?

“I don’t know if I’ve ever loved you like that,” El continued, and Mike wished she would just stop talking. She couldn’t be telling the truth; she’d told Mike she loved him countless times, and she’d asked Will to make that D&D painting for Mike, after all.

Wh… what about the painting?” Mike asked after a long moment, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Painting?” El asked, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion. “What painting?”

“You— you know, the painting,” Mike said, waving his hand around as if that would make her understand him any better. “The one with the dragon? That you asked Will to paint for me?”

El frowned. She didn’t look any less confused. “I don’t know about any painting.”

“What?”

“I thought Will was making a painting for a girl he likes,” El added. “He was in his room a lot. I never asked him to paint anything because every time I came into his room, he acted like it was a secret.”

Mike looked away. He didn’t say anything.

So Will didn’t make the painting for a girl he liked, and El didn’t ask him to make it. He just made it because he wanted to give Mike a painting. Just like old times, right?

Now that Mike thought about it, it was probably because they’d grown so far apart, and Will wanted to reach out. Mike was being kind of an asshole then, to be fair.

Mike looked back up at El. She took a deep breath and then let it out, looking over at the view of Hawkins. Tears glistened in her eyes, and she blinked a few times. “I am sorry, Mike.”

Mike shook his head again. He couldn’t believe it. “But, El—”

She quickly turned to look at him again. She looked a little annoyed now. “Mike, I love you. As friends. And friends don’t lie. So I can’t lie about wanting to be your girlfriend anymore. I’m sorry.”

Then El got up from the table and walked, a little quicker than normal, back into the trees, where Mike saw her disappear behind the silhouette of Hopper’s cabin.

And then she was gone. His girlfriend— nope, sorry, ex-girlfriend now— left him alone on the hill, just like that.

*****

It was around 5 p.m. when Mike finally got back to his house. There was a lump in his throat that he couldn’t seem to get rid of, but somehow, he hadn’t shed any tears.

He threw his bike down in the garage and stormed up the stairs and into his bedroom, slumping down onto the floor in front of his bed.

El had broken up with him.

He didn’t really know what to do.

He guessed they could probably still be friends, but it would be awkward— they’d been dating since the Snow Ball back in eighth grade, and he couldn’t exactly recall how she’d acted to him before that, since she’d been gone for so long. To be fair, he’d also been far more focused on protecting Will from the Mind Flayer during that time, but still.

Staring blankly at the floor in front of him, Mike reached for his walkie, and switched it to the private channel that he usually used to talk to Lucas about girl problems.

“Hey, Lucas?” he said into the walkie, his voice coming out a little weaker than normal.

Nothing.

“Lucas?” he tried again.

After a long moment, Lucas’s reply came through, a bit fuzzy. “Mike? What’s wrong? Over.”

“Um…” Mike said. Despite himself, he smiled a little at the fact that Lucas still used “over” to let him know he was done talking. “El just broke up with me.”

“WHAT?” Lucas immediately yelled on the other end. “When?”

“Just now,” Mike said. “Like an hour ago.”

“How?” Lucas asked.

“She told me to meet her at the picnic table on the hill by Hopper’s, and then she told me she’s never loved me like that.” Mike rubbed his temple, as if that would help him understand at all.

“What the hell does that mean?” Lucas grumbled through the walkie. “You guys have been dating for, like, two years.”

“I know,” Mike said. “Oh, and get this. That painting that she asked Will to make for me? Apparently she never asked Will to paint anything! She had no clue at all about any painting! And he just painted it because he wanted to!”

He heard Lucas falter for a second, hissing something, but he couldn’t exactly hear what he said.

“What?” he said, hoping Lucas would repeat it.

“Um, nothing,” Lucas said, his voice going up a few pitches. “My, um… my sister. Yeah, my sister just came in. ERICA, GET OUT!” he shouted, almost exaggeratedly.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Okay, um… I need to… you know, think about this. Bye,” he said after a long moment.

“Bye!” Lucas said, still squeaky. “See you, man.”

Mike sighed and shoved the antenna of the walkie back down before flopping backwards onto his bed, turning his head to look down at Will’s mattress on the floor.

The Byers and El had moved back to Hawkins a couple weeks ago, and El had gone back to live with Hopper. Joyce went with her, since she and Hopper were pretty serious now, and he was helping her go house hunting. In the meantime, Jonathan and Will were staying at the Wheelers’. Jonathan took the basement, since Mike’s parents were afraid he and Nancy would get up to… risque activities if they were sleeping in the same room, to say the least. And there was easily enough space for both Jonathan and Will in the basement, but in all honesty, Mike wanted to make amends with Will, so he’d begged his parents to let Will sleep in his room, claiming that letting them stay together would help them cope with their trauma from the events of the last few years, especially what happened in the spring.

And so Will ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor beside Mike’s bed.

If he was being honest, it hadn’t done much to mend their relationship; things were still awkward, if anything. The number of times they’d bumped into each other on their way to get something or to get out the door, glancing at each other briefly and mumbling “sorry,” had only amplified that.

They hadn’t actually talked at all. Mike was sure it was his fault, and he wished Will would just tell him what was wrong so he could fix it. But Will didn’t like to talk about his own feelings much, and Mike both didn’t want to push him and was just too afraid to do so.

Will wasn’t in Mike’s room, which led Mike to wonder where he’d gone off to. Maybe he was downstairs getting a snack from the cupboard, or perhaps he was in the backyard. Mike hoped he’d be back soon; as much as Will didn’t like to talk about himself, he was good at talking to other people about their struggles, and maybe he could help Mike work through his confusion and upset about El.

By the time Will came back, Mike had long since fallen asleep.

Chapter Text

Will Byers is truly, horribly in love with his best friend.

It didn’t help his already difficult situation that the friend happened to be his sister's boyfriend.

Mike Wheeler.

Mike had consumed every little part of his mind since he was 12 years old— he had always found himself staring longer than he should have, even before he knew of his crush— the way his black hair curled at the ends, framing his beautifully angular face, how milky brown freckles were dotted across his nose, like tiny stars hung up across the pale expanse of his skin— every little part of him so beautiful to Will, almost as if he was made exactly for him.

He knew that was wrong— of course he did, but he still liked to believe that Mike was some sort of angel sent down to Will just so he could love him.

He knew loving him was wrong though, always did.

Lonnie had drilled it into his mind since he was a young boy, always trying to shape him up into more of a “man” for his liking.

Will had long since accepted the fact that he would never live up to that though, and that all of the names and slurs thrown at him had seemed to have proven correct in the long run.

It was fine though.

Except for the fact that it wasn’t.

Just like Mike had told him one summer ago on that fateful rainy day- he didn’t like girls. He really didn’t.

That unfortunately meant he would never find love– even if it was mere feet away from him. Even right on the bed next to him.

Rooming with Mike had been…interesting to say the least.

He didn’t even know why Mike wanted to in the first place, since the entire time he's been staying at the Wheeler’s house it's been incredibly awkward.

They didn’t necessarily have conversations but they didn't exactly ignore each other either.

It’s just been this weird stage of in-between where they’re no more than acquaintances living together.

Despite their initial awkwardness, Mike and El still seemed to be hitting it off– always giggling together and sharing an honestly disgusting amount of kisses with someone's brother right next to them. It had gotten tiring after the first month, not to mention two and a half years. Day after day of the reminder that Will will never get this– it was almost like the universe decided he sucked and would not stop getting in his face about it. Of course whenever he was next to them we had to act like he was having the time of his life so they wouldn’t attack him. He knew El never would– he loved her nonetheless, but Mike had proven otherwise last spring break when he outright shamed Will for “rolling his eyes and moping” or whatever– except for the fact that he had been a total third wheel all day– but maybe he was really doing all of that, so maybe he had it coming after all.

Mike had left a bit ago to go visit El, because of course he did- they were dating after all, he was the one making a big deal out of it.

Fortunately, Lucas had invited him over for a Star Wars marathon of episodes IV V and VI, so he didn’t have to even think about it.

Hopefully.

At around 5:00, Will stomped down the stairs of the Wheeler's house into the foyer, backpack slung around his shoulder, and a plan to forget his unattainable love for Mike for the night. He padded across the tile floor in sock-covered feet– the fabric doing little to shield from the cold tile floor despite the sickly warm weather outside.

Karen must have heard him coming down the stairs, because after he slipped his sneakers on and had almost opened the door, she called from the kitchen- speaking a bit louder to talk over the simmering pots and pans.

“Will honey, are you heading out?”

He turned around to face her- her apron splattered with some kind of food.

He smiled, before answering,

“Yeah, um– I’m heading to Lucas’ house for a couple hours and uh… I was going to eat there. Is that ok?” He rocked back and forth on his heels– a nervous habit he had picked up whenever he was talking to adults or unfamiliar people.

“Yeah, of course! Have fun!” she called, turning around before refocusing her attention on the pots again.

Karen Wheeler had always been sort of an enigma to Will– she always treated all of the Party like her own children, spoiling and babying them, often to the point where Mike would have to talk to her about backing off– which she never did.

It’s not like Will hated her or anything, it was just… odd to have such an adamantly present parent, whereas Lonnie would leave randomly, often not coming back until nights later, and his mom would always be there, but never in your face– only when you need her (of course she still tried to be there always, but Will had to talk to her about that too, since having a over-the-top mom at 12 was kind of embarrassing).

He hummed some form of acknowledgement before slipping out the front door and into the warm night air.

The walk to Lucas’ was short, only about 5 minutes, and before he knew it he was on his front doorstep.

He knocked on the door three times with the metal ring hanging in the middle, it was such an odd thing to have– but he never questioned it, since he never exactly had a very wealthy upbringing with fancy door knockers or fancy grand foyers like Mike’s.

Lucas showed up at the door quickly, smiling before grabbing his arm to pull him in.

“Okay, so I was thinking we could watch A New Hope first, and then go through V and VI, even though I know you like Return of the Jedi for some messed up reason.” he rambled, obviously joking since Return of the Jedi was the superior movie.

Will chuckled softly, he always loved hanging out with Lucas, he had always shared his love for the Star Wars movies just a bit more than the rest of the party, and would rewatch them with him no matter how many times.

Lucas was still gripping his wrist as they padded up his carpeted stairs, and Will was starting to feel his circulation getting cut off.

“Okay, dude, I think you might be pulling my wrist off” he quipped, Lucas quickly letting go– ducking his head sheepishly before continuing up the stairs.

When they passed Erica’s room at the top of the staircase, her door was cracked open about halfway, to the point where Will could peek inside to see her hunched over what seemed to be a D&D figure– tiny paintbrush between her nimble fingers as she layered strokes onto it.

She looked up at the noise of the two boys walking down the hallway, and he politely smiled and waved. She returned the favor far more politely than he had been at that age and returned to her painting, stationed under a comically large magnifying glass.

As much as Lucas complained about Erica, Will couldn't help but like her whenever she was around.

At the end of the hallway, Lucas opened the door to his room– filled by basketball trophies and ribbons, as well as a smattering of posters and other random memorabilia collected throughout his childhood.

He was surprised to hear his walkie crackling on top of a pile of presumably dirty clothes.

“Hey, Lucas?” Mike’s distinct voice echoed over the transmission.

“Huh” Lucas said absentmindedly, as Will dropped his bag “Wonder what's up”

He made his way over to the pile of clothes with his walkie sitting on top before picking it up and pulling out the antenna to respond.

“Lucas?” he said again, Will picked up that his voice was weaker and slightly shakier than normal.

“Mike? What's wrong? Over.”

Will walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder– trying to make out Mike’s crackly voice. He was silent for an uncomfortably long time, before he responded with,

“Um… El just broke up with me.”

Will’s mouth dropped open in shock, and Lucas– almost immediately– shouted back into the walkie.

“WHAT?” he paused for a moment, a stunned expression still plastered on his face. “When?” he pressed.

Will could hear Mike begin to explain but couldn’t find the strength to listen, blocking out their talking as he dazedly brought his hand up to cover his open mouth.

Did this mean he had a chance? Or maybe at least slightly larger than before, maybe he really could find love– that is, if Mike liked boys, which he doesn’t–probably. His euphoric mind-ramble is abruptly cut off when he heard Mike said something he had hoped to never think of again.

“Oh, and get this. The painting that she asked Will to make for me? Apparently she never asked Will to paint anything! She had no clue about any painting! And he just painted it because he wanted to!”

Of course this wasn’t true, but all Will could muster out was a horrified squeak as dread pooled deep in his stomach. Shit shit shit shit shit. He knew– or at least he would know really really soon what the painting actually meant– that Will basically fucking projected his feelings onto El to make Mike think he loved her. That he loved Mike.

But now of course he hated him, all because of that stupid fucking painting.

Lucas whipped around quickly to face Will and hissed something out incoherently, which went unheard to Will– due to the fact he was literally dying by lack of oxygen.

He paced around Lucas’ cramped room, which seemed to be getting smaller by the second, bringing his hands up behind his head and hunching in on himself.

He heard Lucas mutter out some half-assed excuse about Erica, trying to end the conversation with Mike as quickly as he could.

What felt like an eternity later Lucas harshly shoved down the antenna of the walkie and threw it somewhere behind him before coming up to comfort Will as best he could.

He stayed silent for a minute, trying to come up with the least rude way to try and bring up what just happened.

“...Will, man, what's wrong?” he eventually settled on– going the causal route.

Will’s breathing quickened even faster, he couldn’t tell Lucas he couldn't. He wouldn’t understand all… this.

“I…” he finally croaked out, and Lucas’ face softened, “can’t…tell you.” his brows furrowed, and he felt horrible.

“I’m sorry, it's just…” he bit his lip trying to decide on a word “...complicated”

“Yeah– no– of course… I-It’s fine, man, I understand.” he knew Lucas didn’t but he nodded his head anyway.

“Do you want to…” Lucas trailed off, nodding his head in the direction of the TV plugged into the corner of his room, probably forcefully taken from downstairs.

“Yeah.” he forced out pathetically “Yeah… A New Hope?”

“Nah” Lucas shook his head “Return of the Jedi.”

Will smiled.

*****

Will returned very late that night– close to midnight, trying his best to creep up the stairs without waking anyone. Over the years he had learned what specific stairs creaked the most when stepped on, and purposely avoided those on the trek up.

Unfortunately, he was interrupted halfway up by Jonathan's groggy voice coming up from the entrance to the basement.

“Will?” Where were you?” he mumbled sleepily– he must have been waiting for Will to get home but fell asleep in the process, then probably getting woken up by him finally coming home– at midnight nonetheless.

“Oh… sorry Jon, I was hanging out at Lucas’, and I must have fallen asleep watching Star Wars with him.” He knew it was a lie– he just didn’t want to face Mike– so he put off coming home as long as possible, even if that meant the middle of the night.

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at Will, because of course he could see right through him, he always could.

Will could never hold a lie for long– not to mention from Jonathan, at some point or other he eventually broke, which in his unlucky case– was now. At midnight. Halfway up the stairs to Mike’s room as Jonathan stared him down, reading him like an open book.

Will gave a completely over dramatic sigh, and finally crumbled under the weight of Jonathan’s stare.

“Fineeee” he dragged out the syllable, still trying to avoid the topic, “Mike and El broke up and… I… didn’t want to talk to Mike about it.” He really didn’t want to tell Jonathan about the painting, but as always– Jonathan knew there was more to the story.

“I know there's more you're not telling me, Will.” Will grimaced.

“You’re right, I just… um… don't want to talk about it.”

Jonathan raised his eyebrows, his face lightening up, “Well now you have to tell me!”

Will groaned emphatically, before replying, “Jonathan, please. Can we just… not?”

“Fine” he sighed, eyes softening in the dark, “But… you have to promise that you know you can talk to me. About anything. Alright?”

Will nodded, “Alright. Now… Can I go? I’m kinda tired”

Jonathan chuckled, “Yes, you can go. G’night Will” he said as he walked back to the base of the stairs to the basement.

“Night, Jonathan”
*****

By the time he made it to Mike’s room, he was unbearably tired and just needed to lie down. He creaked open the door incredibly slowly, and stepped into his room.

Mike was softly snoring from his perch on the bed, hair spread out across his pillow, soft black curls contrasting so perfectly with the stark white of the pillow even in the dim lighting illuminated by the hallway.

He had his blankets pushed down to his feet– which in the summer weather like this was often interchanged to a light sheet– and his long limbs were splayed across the small bed awkwardly, and Will smiled.

Even if his life would be fucked up tomorrow– at least he had this tonight.

Chapter Text

Mike awakened early the next morning to the sound of rustling in his room. He opened his eyes slowly, barely more than a sliver, and peered at what was making the noise.

It happened to be Will digging through the bottom drawer of Mike’s dresser, where he was keeping the majority of his clothes. Mike watched silently as he pulled out a yellow short-sleeved button-up shirt and a pair of denim shorts, and then glanced behind him at Mike, who quickly pretended to be asleep.

He heard Will get up and quietly make his way out the door and down the hall to the bathroom, and reached for the glass of water he always kept on his nightstand, chugging half of it immediately.

Weird. He didn’t remember getting his water glass last night, since he passed out not long after dinner, which he took back to his room.

It was then that Mike realized he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, and he collapsed back onto his bed with a frustrated groan. He heard Will coming back down the hall, and quickly resumed his prior position. He didn’t really want Will to know he was awake; that would mean he had to get up, and he didn’t want to face the world or have to talk to anyone about what happened with El. Honestly, it’d be better just not to think about it, but he couldn’t exactly avoid that.

Will came back into the room, now wearing his denim shorts but still in his white sleep shirt. He glanced at Mike a couple of times, who was doing his best to act as though he were still asleep, and then started digging through the dresser drawer again, this time for socks.

Mike kept his eyes shut and focused on the speed of his breath, hoping Will would believe his act. The room went silent after a long moment, and Mike cracked one eye open again, glancing over at Will. He was facing the other direction, and Mike watched as he pulled his sleep shirt up and over his head and began fumbling with the button-up shirt.

Holy shit.

Mike knew Will had grown quite a bit since he moved away to California (when he’d arrived at the airport over spring break, he’d been nothing short of shocked), but he hadn’t realized how muscular Will had gotten.

Last summer, Will had been how Mike had always known him— short and thin, arguably the smallest kid in their grade year after year.

But now? He was almost the same height as Mike, and all of a sudden Mike found himself the thin and lanky one, since Will had become inexplicably muscular since he’d seen him last.

Mike watched Will throw the button-up shirt over his shoulders and rush to button it completely, tucking it into the waistband of his pants. He only realized he was staring when Will turned back around, and he quickly closed his eyes. He counted to five, then let out a long sigh and blinked them open again, pretending to wake up.

“Morning, Will,” he said, forcing a little husk into his voice to make it more convincing.

Will seemed to falter for a fraction of a second, his eyes going wide, before turning to Mike. “Morning.”

“Where were you last night?” Mike asked. He had been wondering; he would have asked his mom, but he took his dinner up to his room to avoid talking to anyone.

“Oh, I went to Lucas’s,” Will replied, folding his pajamas and sliding the dresser drawer shut. “He rented out all three episodes of Star Wars and we had a marathon.”

Mike froze.

Will had been at Lucas’s when he’d radioed him.

Did that mean he’d heard about El too?

“Hey, you didn’t— you weren’t there when I radioed Lucas, were you?” Mike asked.

Will pursed his lips, looking down at the floor. “Yeah, I… I heard. I’m sorry.”

“Do you know why she did it?”

“No, I swear,” Will said immediately. “She didn’t tell me anything. I’m… just as shocked as you are.”

Mike looked away. So Will hadn’t heard anything either.

“Do you wanna go to Starcourt or something? You know, to get it off your mind for a bit?” Will asked after a long moment.

“Um… yeah, sure,” Mike replied.

After what had happened at Starcourt last summer, the army and the police had told the public that the damage was the result of a mall fire, but had allowed the mall to reopen after fixing the property. Mike didn’t know what had happened to the Russian base; he suspected the police hadn’t found out about it, and assumed that it had just been closed off or abandoned by whoever was in it last.

Will nodded in response, and then got up and made his way out the door. Mike watched him go, then pulled himself out of bed and dug through his dresser until he found a T-shirt, light vest, and shorts that he deemed suitable for a day at the mall.

When he finally came downstairs for breakfast, he put two Eggo waffles in the toaster (which immediately reminded him of Eleven, of course), slathered them in maple syrup, and slumped down in the chair next to Will’s at the kitchen table.

He could feel Will’s eyes on him as he ate, but neither of them said anything for the duration of breakfast. Jonathan eventually came up from the basement, and shot Will a look that Mike couldn’t quite decipher before retreating to Nancy’s room.

Eventually, they started on the way to Starcourt, with Will on Mike’s old bike and Mike on an extra that he found at the back of the garage.

The mall wasn’t terribly far from the Wheelers’ house, and it was only mid-morning, so the air was still relatively cool. The two boys coasted alongside each other for a while, still not saying much.

“So…” Will said after several minutes. “Where do you… wanna go?”

“What?”

“Like what stores, I mean,” Will said again. “I haven’t been since last summer. I don’t know what’s there.”

“Oh. Um, yeah… I don’t know. We can just walk around,” Mike said, glancing over at Will.

They pulled into the parking lot of the mall a couple of minutes later and walked their bikes to the door, leaning them on one of a few brightly colored bike racks. Will was the first inside, and despite himself, Mike smiled a little at how enthusiastic he looked.

“This place looks almost the same as last time,” Will said with a grin. “Has a lot changed?”

“I don’t know,” Mike said, looking up at the star-patterned ceiling. He didn’t tell Will that he’d only been there once since the mall reopened. “I guess some stores have changed out, but I think it’s kind of just the same.”

“Does Steve still work at Scoops?” Will laughed jokingly.

“No, but I think he and Robin actually work at the Gap now,” Mike said. He knew that they’d been working at the Family Video store downtown during the spring, but every teen in Hawkins knew that a summer job at a cash grab like Starcourt paid more than one of the local stores in the center of the town.

He glanced over at the Gap across the seating area in the center, and sure enough, he saw Robin at the cash register, arguing with some old woman, and Steve fixing a mannequin that had fallen over.

“Oh my god, I haven’t seen Steve in forever!” Will exclaimed, taking off towards the store. Mike followed.

Mike had always loved seeing Will in his element, talking about or seeing something that he liked. His face always lit up, and he gained a bounce in his step that Mike thought must be impossible to replicate. That was how he was right now— filled with a sudden enthusiasm that seemed like a perfect 180 from how he’d been just ten minutes ago. It was just such an indescribably Will thing to watch, and it made Mike smile every time.

He watched as Will ran up and greeted Steve, who looked just as confused as Mike had been when he’d seen what Will looked like now. They hugged, and Will beckoned Mike over, still laughing.

“Hey, Wheeler,” Steve said, holding out his hand for a fistbump, which Mike completed.

“Hi, Steve,” Mike replied, glancing over to Will.

“Will, man, I knew you were back in town, but it’s been so long,” Steve said, reaching out and patting Will’s shoulder. “You grew, like, a foot!”

Will grinned, glancing at Mike. “California, I guess.”

“Well, you look great.” Steve smiled, ruffling Will’s hair. Will yelped and stepped backwards, nearly sending a stack of bright rompers toppling.

Mike reached out quickly and grabbed Will’s arm, pulling him back upright. Will blinked at him once, twice, and then just like that, the enthusiasm on his face was back.

“Come on,” Will said, turning to Mike. “I want to go to Scoops!”

Steve raised his eyebrows, pulling a $20 bill out of his pocket and handing it to Will. “Here, it’s on me. Bring me rocky road.”

*****

An hour later, Mike and Will were perched on the edge of the concrete planting boxes outside the mall, licking ice cream cones just like they’d been doing every summer for years.

“I missed this,” Will sighed after a while. “Like, Lenora was great, but it can’t beat Hawkins. And you guys.”

Mike looked over at Will. “Yeah, we missed you too. A lot. Hawkins wasn’t the same without you.”

“Honestly?” Will said. “Every single day I was in California, I wanted to be back here.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re back,” Mike replied. “Is it nice?”

“It’s… exactly how it was before.”

“That’s Hawkins for you.”

“Hey, it’s great. I love it here.” Will gently bumped their shoulders together.

“So are you having fun?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, obviously,” Will laughed. “Are you?”

Mike realized that since they’d been at Starcourt, he hadn’t thought about El once. Will had always had that effect on him; hanging out with his best friend was something that always made Mike open up and forget about his troubles, even when they’d barely been talking at all for hours or days before.

Will beamed again, and Mike couldn’t help but admire how even through all the years of nonstop trauma that Will had been through with the Upside Down, deep down he was still full of that youthful awe that Mike admired so much. It was his favorite thing about Will; the way he could cheer up anyone he talked to was amazing, and Mike loved watching him do it.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Mike found himself smiling just as brightly.

Chapter Text

Will and Mike had parted ways after going to Starcourt, Will having wanted to visit El that night, since El had invited him to watch a movie (and quite frankly, Will wanted to talk to her about Mike, for… unimportant reasons).

By the time Will was on the road, it was getting close to dark. The night air was humid and quite unbearable, even when flying down the road on a bike. Hopper’s cabin was a sizable distance from the Wheeler’s house, and he found himself sweating in the heat of the night as he pulled up to the wooden structure.

He dropped his bike down on the front porch and subsequently knocked on the front door.

El answered almost immediately– a slightly somber expression evident on her face, before she pulled Will into a hug. He rubbed circles on her back soothingly, words of comfort muffled by her button-up flannel, which she probably took from Hopper or maybe even him.

When they broke away, El ushered him in,

“Come inside, it is very hot out” she complained, pulling him by his wrist into the cabin.

“Humid” he offered. She looked at him questioningly, “Humid?”

“Yeah, it's like… when it's hot out, but also kind of wet I guess? Like, in the air.”

She pulled her face into one of concentration, trying to understand his explanation, before responding, “Yes, you are right. It is humid.”
*****

El and Will had routine movie nights, where Will would show movies El missed out on. This time, they were watching The Outsiders, one of Will’s favorites, which may or may not have been because of Sodapop Curtis.

By the time they were about halfway through the movie, he and El were huddled up close to each other, blankets wrapped around their shoulders, and a bowl of buttery popcorn shared between them. Every so often El would ask what a certain word meant, and Will would respond concisely, before they both re-focused on the movie once again.

Soon enough, Will recognized the scene approaching, and before he knew it he felt his cheeks heating up in anticipation.

After the rumble– as they called it– Sodapop got into the shower, and by the time he got out, he had wrapped a towel low around his waist. His hair was damp and sticking to his forehead in the movie, and Will’s eyes couldn't help but be drawn to Sodapop's bare– toned chest.

El made some sort of surprised noise, before locking her gaze onto Will– eyes wide in shock. Will’s cheeks were still burning– but he figured it was dark enough that El wouldn’t be able to tell. He snorted– before both he and El burst out laughing. El buried her head into Will’s shoulder, laughter still racking her body, before she– after a couple minutes of breathless wheezing– eventually sat back up and said,

“Sorry, I was not expecting that.”

Will hissed, “Sssorry… should I have warned you?”

El silently laughed for a minute, a blooming smile forming on her face, before resting her head on Will’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Will. I feel much better now.”

Will pulled her back into a hug, the blankets still on their shoulders forming into a sort of cocoon for the both of them. They might’ve stayed like this for minutes or hours, the movie forgotten about in the VHS player. They only finally broke apart when the front door of the cabin banged open, the heavy footsteps of Hopper unmistakably entering the cabin.

“Dad!” El bounced up off the couch, shedding the blankets as she went, before wrapping her arms around the chief as she collided into him. He grunted from the impact before returning the hug, his strong arms easily enveloping El.

When Hopper and his mom had returned from Alaska, or Russia, or… wherever they went, Hopper and El had become inseparable. While he was in Lenora, El always found herself seeing Hopper in everything after he “died”. He tried his best to comfort her on her bad days, but he didn’t even know Hopper that well like did– even if he supposedly saved him from the Upside Down the first time, when confronted with who he was at Hawkins lab, his mind went blank. Even his mom and Hopper were pretty inseparable as well. They seemed to be dating now, according to the odd guy named Murray that showed up at his house on the first day of spring break, which was incredibly awkward for Will– seeing his mom romantic again was really strange, to be honest– he can't even remember a time when his mom was actually in love, since Lonnie was an asshole all of his life, (but maybe that was just because of him.)

Joyce and Hopper were looking for a house now, since Hopper’s cabin only fit around 3 people, since Joyce and Hopper shared the master bedroom, and El in her own bedroom, Will and Jonathan had to crash at the Wheelers– even though Will was incredibly reluctant about taking over their space like that, but Mike insisted.

By the time El and Hopper broke apart, Will was awkwardly standing a couple feet away, swinging back and forth on his heels like he always does.

Hopper didn’t seem to notice him until he cleared his throat to make himself known.

“Oh, hi kid. You uhh… stayin’ over?” he can tell how awkward Hopper is being, and he doesn’t blame him. He’d be trying to make a good impression on his girlfriend’s (or boyfriend’s, in his unfortunate case) son too. The word ‘girlfriend’ still feels foreign in his mouth when referring to his mother, and he nearly outwardly makes a face at it, but catches himself at the last moment before replying.
“Yes..?” he pathetically questions, looking at El to verify.

El nods vigorously, before quickly shuffling over to Will and pulling him towards her bedroom.

“Hey, wait.” Hopper commanded gruffly. They both froze mid-motion. Hopper lowers his voice, sheepishly asking , “Do you uhh… know when your mom’s gettin’ back?”

Joyce had been out in town all day, probably talking to real estate agents or scraping up money at part-time jobs while scavenging to find an affordable house. Hopper usually was with her– but he had recently gotten back at the police station, so it was always uncertain when he had free time. As frustrating as it was to never be able to find time with all of his family members in the same room– money was needed. Even if they had gotten a substantial amount of hush money for keeping quiet on yet another government research facility– it didn’t cover the ever growing fees of buying a house– yet alone one that held 5 people. So even if his mom and Hopper were never back at the cabin except to sleep for a total of 6 hours– it would have to all be worth it in the end.

Will smacked his lips together, trying to avoid making eye contact before replying, “....no.”

Hopper let out a sharp exhale before waving both of them off. “Alright, then. That’s all. Go do… whatever you do and try not to make too much noise.”

He pulled off his hat and jacket– hanging it on the coat hanger beside him before disappearing into the kitchen to go rifling around the fridge.

“Goodnight.” El called, pulling Will the rest of the way into her room before plopping them both down on her bed– shutting the door telekinetically, a sight he was quite sure he would never get used to.

Will took a second to look around El’s room– random things collected over the past few years placed on every surface available– bookshelves, desks, walls, dressers. Will had always loved how El kept everything, whether it was important or not– how she made each and every person she had ever received something from feel special. Even him– whose drawings, good and bad, were plastered across all of her walls– from mindless doodles to full-blown pieces, she kept everything.

His eyes scanned the room before he finally landed on a dedicated corner or her room, where letters and drawings and random things were placed inside an open box. He could recognize the writing, even after a year– Max.

He still didn’t know much about how Max had ended up in a coma– Lucas was still incredibly sensitive to the topic, probably still traumatized from whatever he saw– and Will’s heart ached for him. Max’s body had been bandaged up in every possible way when he saw her in that hospital bed– her eyes sullen and dark, blue-hued veins visible through her papery skin under the hospital lights.

El and Max– being the only two girls in the party– had always shared some sort of distinct connection. El had admired Max so much– she always rambled to Will about her letters, how El wanted to be like Max so bad. Will almost found himself seeing him and Mike in both of them.

El had taken it so hard when Dustin broke the news, and he would often find himself comforting her over Mike’s house phone in the middle of the night– since Mike was a horribly deep sleeper.

He had always wondered whether she was trying to call for Mike or him– but he would never know.

Will rose off the bed and padded in the direction of the memory box, feeling El’s eyes burning holes in the back of his head.

He picked up a piece of paper with Max’s handwriting scrawled across it, and couldn’t help but feel his brows knot up in dejection. He felt El’s presence appear beside him– warmth radiating off of her body– but doing nothing to cease the cold, rumbling despair in the pit of his stomach– rising up until the back of his throat burned with the impending onslaught of tears.

He knew El was feeling the same way, because he could hear poorly concealed sniffing from behind her hand.

For the umpteenth time that night, Will pulled El into a hug– but this time, neither of them had the strength to let go.

*****

“So… why did you break up with Mike?”

El choked out a sound of surprise from the other side of the bed– her room now shrouded in the darkness of the night.

Will knew neither of them usually fall asleep until hours after they get in bed, so he decided to break the suffocating silence and ask the question he's been dreading.

He had been staring at her back for around 30 minutes now– but she finally turned to face him after he asked. She seemed to be trying to say something– her mouth opening and closing every couple of seconds– but she eventually just settled on silence again.

“Could you please tell me? I really want to know” Will whined– knowing he would be able to get her to break if he tried hard enough. El exhaled sharply before saying– barely above a whisper–

“Do you promise you won't tell Mike?”