Chapter Text
Will had accidentally locked himself in the bathroom.
He should be in class by now listening to another lecture while doodling on his notebook. But instead, he's sitting on the bathroom tiled floor, completely defeated. No windows to pry open and nobody outside to answer the door despite the loud banging he's been making from the inside; so Will just stares at the toppled wet floor sign on the ground like it had personally done him dirty.
You were supposed to keep the door open.
A heavy sigh escapes the teenage boy. He checks the time of day on his wristwatch. It'll be two hours until lunch.
Okay, I'll just tough it out. The guys will find me soon enough. Or Mom. Maybe the janitor. Anyone.
It's been a few weeks since Will's back in Hawkins and although it's good to be home, the unnerving presence of Vecna taints his perception of home to that of absolute hell.
Well, maybe not absolute hell.
Will absolutely cannot believe he's living in the Wheeler household. He is literally living under the same roof as Mike. His friend. His best friend. He spent most of his childhood in Mike's basement, playing D&D, having sleepovers, watching TV—it had always felt like a second home. Now, it's actually his home.
Thinking about it got Will smiling to himself. The mere thought of Mike was enough to comfort Will in the situation he's in: being trapped all alone in the highschool bathroom.
As if on cue, the door knob rattles.
Will springs up to his feet with a steady breath. "Mike?" the name rolled off Will's tongue so fast that even he caught himself surprised.
There it was, the door swings open and Mike Wheeler holds the door ajar. "Oh thank god, I thought I had to—" Their voices overlap.
Mike's a little louder. "There you are! Man, we've been looking everywhere for y—"
"Wait, no Mike!"
Will reached his hand out to stop Mike from stepping into the room but it's too late.
CLICK
The door had already closed behind Mike.
"Shit." Will's shoulders slump.
Mike turns around to try the knob, it doesn't work. He tries again. Then yells for anyone outside.
"I've already tried... everything." Will says.
Mike turns to face Will, sharing the same panicked look he had moments before. Mike hasn't reached the stage where Will's at, acceptance.
"How long have you been in here?"
"A few minutes," Will checks his watch again. "...almost 30 minutes."
"Shit. I left my bag in the classroom. I had my walkie in there. Where's yours?"
"I left mine in the locker."
"Will," Mike starts with a tone Will recognizes. "...you're supposed to have it on you at all times.
It's annoyance.
A sudden defensiveness lumps in Will's throat. Like when they were at rinkomania. "I was rushing to my next period. It must've slipped out when I was unloading a few things to my locker."
Seeing Mike exasperated stirred desperation within Will. The desperation to explain himself, to keep Mike from pulling away from him. They had just agreed to work together again. They're supposed to keep it cool. Cool.
Will had finally swallowed the lump in his throat to speak but Mike beats him to it.
"Yeah no, I was just..." Mike's slowing down his words, as if he's scared to say the wrong thing. "We were just worried. You guys just got back to town and with what we saw last week... then the quarantine going on... it's alot of things that could be Vecna and you're his favorite so..."
Will cracks a smile. Suddenly he's sharing a laugh with Mike. He seems to have calmed down as well. Okay, they kept it cool.
"Funny term to call a target but yes. It sucks. This sucks." Will gestures around the four walls around keeping them absolutely trapped. But really, it's also very applicable to the whole town of Hawkins.
Will sits back on the tiled floor and rummages through his bag.
"We have less than two hours until lunch and lucky for us, my mom's sandwiches did not escape along with my walkie."
He pulls a ziplock out of his bag with one sandwich.
"Great, we both get half a sandwich." Mike quips.
Will then remembers, "I gave Jonathan the other one."
"Better than nothing." Mike shrugs.
He joins Will on the tiled floor and sits next to him with their backs against the wall. Their knees gently brush against each other and Will has it everything in him to not think about it so much. He tears the sandwich in half and gives Mike his share.
The two chew in silence.
"I've never skipped class before." Will says after a swallow.
"Me neither. I guess we'll have detention together."
"That would be another first."
"It's really not that bad."
Will raises a brow. "You got into detention? What for?"
Mike is chewing on his sandwich but continues to speak. Will sees the gleam in Mike's eyes. His eyes were like a spaceship with a gravity to them that pulls on Will every time.
"It was so unfair." Mike begins telling the story. Will lets himself get taken away. "Everyone knows the elderly Mrs. Evergreen has some kind of voice that can lull you to sleep. Like literally I think she is a sorcerer because someone is always knocked out the minute she speaks. It's a miracle she doesn't pass out hearing her own voice. So anyway, everyone passes around notes alot in her class and I was passing a note to Dustin when one of those mouth breathers dropped the piece of paper. Mrs. Evergreen was apparently waiting for one of us to get caught and that just so happened to be me."
Will chuckles. "What did you want to say to Dustin?"
"It was so long ago and the note, Mrs. Evergreen had thrown it away. It didn't matter though, I don't even remember what I wrote."
A thought pops into Will's mind.
It would be nice to receive a note, or a letter, from Mike.
The thought is quickly intercepted with a memory.
Well, that's because she's my girlfriend. We're friends. Friends!
Will immediately scolds himself mentally for even thinking about it.
"You okay? Will?"
Will was so deep into his self deprecation that he didn't notice he was absentmindedly eating his sandwich until it was long gone—and above all, he kept Mike hanging.
"Yeah." Will stifles a stutter. "I was just..."
"Did you feel him again?" the concern in Mike's voice building up.
"No it's not that..." Will pauses. He better explain himself without being so, obvious. "I haven't felt him at all actually since that day we saw the rifts. I was always scared when I'd feel his...presence. But not knowing is also... very scary."
Mike nods, he's scanning Will's face and listening so earnestly. Will wishes he would stop it sometimes. It just feeds his delusions. He can only come up with so many ways for a reality check.
"We will defeat him. Together." Mike places a hand on Will's shoulder.
The weight of his touch, Will wishes he could lean into it. But he simply smiles and hopes Mike doesn't pull away so soon.
Some time has passed.
The two teenagers have been passing the time, just talking. Their conversations have derailed so many times but they eventually find their way back to it. In the small gaps of silence, Will hears the drops of water from the sink faucet. Each drop was a reminder to Will that time is passing. This moment is fleeting. They're just waiting.
They still have an hour left until the hallways are filled with bustling students. Nobody has found them yet. Although... Will would never admit it out loud, but he hopes to be trapped in the room with Mike just a little longer. Even though he sees Mike a lot now, while living with the Wheelers and all, Will still searches for Mike every time. It's indulgent enough already that he shares breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Mike and yet he hasn't grown tired of him. He definitely won't forget this moment either, so he's making mental notes about every detail to keep the memory as vivid as possible.
Will feels Mike's shoulder next to his and he doesn't want to move. He keeps talking instead.
"Did you also lock yourself into the school bathroom back in California?" Mike asks.
Will scoffs in playful retort. "No. Their doors actually work back there."
"Oh yeah? So what was it like in there? In California?"
"I mean it's just like any other school. It would've been cool to have a D&D club but the art club wasn't too bad. I got to draw and paint anything I wanted without the teachers scolding me."
"That's cool." Mike says. Then there was a slight pause. "Hey, for the record, I think Eddie would've totally wanted you on his campaign. We really wanted you to be a part of it too. Like I said, it just wasn't the same without you."
Will smiles. "Thanks Mike. Eddie was the game master Dustin talked about right?"
Mike nods. "I know that Dustin's still all torn up about his... but anyway, he's got us to help him handle things. He's gonna be okay."
"Yeah, I wish he'd talk to us more. He's been kind of off nowadays. I mean I wasn't gonna say anything but I'm worried he's not ready... for the crawl."
The crawl. It's the term they've settled on about their dangerous missions. They've been planning for awhile and it had been decided that this weekend is finally the day they'll execute their plan. It'll be tomorrow.
"He's restless. At least it's keeping him busy, but you're right. Maybe he's just nervous. After all, it'll be our first crawl."
"Honestly, I'm nervous too. Maybe El will find him soon."
"Do you still have your paintings you made back then?" Mike asks.
Mike shifts his weight, fixing his posture. He moves but he doesn't pull away from Will. Now why did Mike have to ask that? Is he avoiding the topic? Did Will say something wrong?
...Is it about El?
"Is something wrong?" Will replies. "...with you and El?"
Shit. He shouldn't have asked. If there was, did he really want to know about it? He was quick to assume Mike needed advice, he didn't even consider if he was ready or able to give advice. Will should've learned after all that time living together with El. She talked about Mike incessantly. It's cute and very relatable but it would be a big lie to say it didn't bother him. Will had to force a smile as if it wasn't killing him not knowing things about Mike, but that El did. Sure, they are a couple but it still hurt. Despite that though, Will also couldn't just not talk about Mike. He's someone both he and El care about and in some odd way, he brought the two of them closer. Will felt like a brother to El whenever she walked into his room unannounced just to go on and on about Mike. If it meant talking about her crush to make her happy, Will couldn't deny her that.
Yeah, it's okay. I'll be okay.
"N-no it's not that. I just remembered you know, the painting she commissioned you? So I thought maybe you have more."
Oh. Right. The painting that El obviously commissioned.
The lie that eats away at Will but he lets it devour him.
Will could feel the churning in his stomach. He's resisting the blush warming up his cheeks. Will clears his throat and continues talking, hoping the heat on his cheeks to go away as fast as possible.
"Y-yeah she just asked that one time but um, yeah I have other paintings. If I had all of it we would need more than your basement to keep them. Not to mention—
"Oh then you can put the rest in my room." Mike said it so casually.
Will sputters, "Wh-what are you even—
"I still have some of your old drawings! I've kept them for blackmail purposes." Mike is getting a kick of this much to Will's chagrin.
"Oh my god Mike please throw those away. Those are so bad."
"What, no! They're mine now."
The blush Will was resisting so hard had probably spread all over his face. Does Mike Wheeler even know what he's saying? If he only knew the effect he had on Will...
But he'd never know. He can't.
The thought sobered up Will fast. The thought of Mike knowing. It was somehow scarier than fighting off the demogorgons.
"You have that look on your face again."
"What?" Will turns to Mike and he's realized how close their faces are with them sitting shoulder to shoulder. He scoots back just a little bit, putting space in between them.
"Like you're having a vision flash in your mind. But like usually when you get those, you start heaving and not long enough you're on the ground. This one you just stare off into space and it's like you're not telling me something."
Will hated that. No, he liked it.
He hated that he liked it.
Maybe just a little. To have been seen.
"I just have alot on my mind that's all."
"You could tell me about it."
It's about you. I can't. "No, it's... it's personal."
"I thought best friends were supposed to tell each other everything." Mike doesn't back off. Will knows Mike sounds like a hypocrite using his own words against him but he doesn't have it in him. To hate Mike.
"Y-yeah but I can have some secrets to myself sometimes."
"What that's not fair."
"That's not fair?" Will tries to sound indignant but his chuckle betrays him. God, even when Mike's being a little shit Will can't help it but find him so endearing. He's hopeless. "Do you hear yourself, Mike?"
"Y-yeah! We haven't been talking for over a year because of you being in California and now that I have you here, I'm still missing out!"
Oh.
So it did bother him. It wasn't just Will. The fear of him missing out? Mike had that too? If only he could gush about his crush without fear of judgement, Will would smile so hard right now.
"Well..." Will comes up with a plan. "Then, how about we make a deal?"
"A deal?"
"You tell me a secret of yours first and then I'll tell you mine."
A beat of silence passes. Mike seems to have been taken aback. He averts his eyes from Will, as if the answer was in the room of their entrapment but before Will could really study his expression, another sound fills the room.
CREAK
A stream of light from the hallway creeps in.
Will and Mike bolt to their feet and turn to the door. The door handle rattles as the door swings open.
"Will? Mike?" It's a familiar voice. Will and Mike didn't even have to see who it was.
"Lucas!" Both of the teenage boys exclaim in delight.
The door reveals Lucas. With the light behind him from the hallway, he appears like an angel descending upon them and he might as well be, because he just saved their asses.
"Oh my god so this is where—" Lucas steps his one foot into the room.
"Stop!!" Will and Mike immediately stop him from taking another step.
Lucas freezes in place, shocked but also just very confused. "Okay..? What is—
Will and Mike quickly tackle him.
The three of them stumble out into the hallway and fall to the ground.
"You found them!" A few feet away from them, is Dustin with a huge smile on his face. He jogs up towards the three. "Where the fuck were you guys?"
The three scramble up to their feet, fixing up their clothes. Lucas groans in pain, having been hurled with two bodies at full force.
"Sorry. Bathroom door was broken." Will helps him up.
"Oh." Lucas turns to Mike. "Hah! And you locked yourself in too? You guys are idiots." He laughs hysterically.
"You would've been locked in with us too if we hadn't stopped you. Dumbass." Mike quips, earning a slight chuckle from Will. Lucas shoots him a look and Will terribly covers the smile on his face, he's not exactly trying to hide his amusement.
Dustin joins in on the laugh. "You guys are a mess. Lucky for you two, it was a free period."
Will sighs in relief. "I guess I'm not having that detention after all." He looks at Mike and there's a slight delay to his response.
"Y-yeah, that's good." He says. Will knows he's forcing a chuckle.
"Let's go, we still have to go over our plan for tomorrow." Lucas leads the way and walks on.
Dustin follows him closely from behind and Will is about to match their pace when suddenly a hand grabs to stop him.
Mike's grabbed onto the back of Will's shirt, with a slight force pulling Will towards him.
"Let's shake on it." Mike says. "The deal."
Will was hoping Mike would forget and let the whole thing slide. But he is stubborn. Will should've known really, the Wheelers are relentless.
Mike holds his hand out to Will.
Will thinks for a second. Then another second.
"Hey guys!" Lucas beckons them a few feet away.
"Okay." Will shakes his hand. "Deal."
"Deal." Mike repeats. His words sound resolute. Like sealing a contract.
After a firm shake, Mike walks on forward to catch up with Lucas and Dustin ahead of them. Will follows behind with his eyes lingering at the back of Mike's head. When it comes down to it, What's another lie right?
Then it dawns unto Will.
Does that mean Mike has a secret too?