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After hours of planning the days ahead, everyone had parted ways for bed, with only the Byers family staying behind. The Wheeler house had finally gone quiet.
Not asleep-not really-but quiet in the way that came after everyone had said all they could say for the night. The kind of quiet that pressed in on the ears, heavy with nerves and unfinished plans.
Upstairs, doors had closed one by one. Footsteps faded. A floorboard creaked and then settled. In his room, Mike was stressed. About their plan, about Holly, about the new strange abyss above Hawkins. Most of all, he was stressing about Will. Will was still connected to this hive mind, still connected to Vecna. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, Will dying was his biggest fear. Will was Mike's kryptonite, he knew that. It scared him. So many things had happened in the past week that scared him. Things he never could expected. Who would have thought Holly would be Vecna’s next Victim? Or eleven’s sister would suddenly appear? Will coming out as gay wasn’t entirely on Mike’s bingo card for the day either…
Despite his best efforts to stop himself, Mike needed to talk to Will. He waited a full minute before moving. Then, he slipped out of bed and padded down the hall, careful to avoid the loose step outside his room. When he got downstairs, the basement light was already on. A thin line of yellow stretched across the bottom of the door. It hit him for a second that Jonathan was also sleeping in the basement, with Will. A part of him hoped he snuck up to Nancy’s room instead, something he did on occasion. He didn’t know why he wished that. He hesitated, hand hovering over the knob. 'You’re just checking on him,' Mike told himself. 'That’s normal.' He turned the handle and stepped inside. Will sat on an old mattress near the wall, knees pulled to his chest, sketchbook resting against them. He looked up when the door creaked shut, surprise flickering across his face. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh,” Will said looking up at Mike, “hey.”
“Hey,” Mike replied. His voice sounded too loud in the small space. “Sorry-I didn’t mean to, uh… I can go if you’re trying to sleep.” Will shook his head quickly.
“No. It’s fine. I wasn’t sleeping.” Mike nodded, trying to figure out a valid explanation to tell Will why he was here. He crossed the room and sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the couch. The basement smelled faintly of dust and laundry detergent, plus something metallic he couldn’t quite place. They sat in silence for a moment. It was hard to tell whether the tension of the room was pleasant, or awkward. Mike rubbed his hands together before speaking apprehensively.
“So. Today was… a lot.” Will let out a quiet huff of a laugh before replying.
“Yeah.”
“You okay?” Mike asked. Will shrugged.
“I think so. Just… tired.”
“Yeah,” Mike said. “Me too.” The silence stretched again, but this time it felt deliberate. Like they were both waiting for the other to say something first.
"I wanted to ask you something," Mike said, finally breaking the silence of the room. Will stiffened.
“About?” he replied. Mike paused. To be frank, he didn’t know what he needed to talk to him about. But he needed to say something.
“About earlier,” Mike said. “When you told everyone… You know that you’re… well-” he never finished the sentence, instead he looked up at Will expectantly, urging him to understand what he meant. Will understood. He nodded slowly, looking back up at Mike,
“Okay.”
Mike stared at the floor. He wasn’t sure where to start, and that alone made his chest feel tight.
“I just wanted you to know,” he said carefully, “that I’m really glad you said something. I mean-if that’s something you wanted to do.” Will’s fingers tightened around the edge of the sketchbook.
“I did.”
Mike glanced up at him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Will said. “I was scared, but… it felt worse not saying it anymore. Plus, I don’t want Vecna to…” he paused for a second “use it against me… you know?” This time it was Will looking up expectantly. Mike nodded.
“That makes sense.” Will studied him, before averting his gaze. “You’re not… uncomfortable?” Mike frowned, his tone changing slightly,
“Why would I be?”
“I don’t know,” Will said quietly, nearly inaudible. “People get weird.”
“Well, I’m not people,” Mike said automatically. Will blinked, then smiled faintly.
“You are literally a person.”
“You know what I mean.”
That earned a real smile this time, brief but genuine. It eased something tight in Mike’s chest.
“I just didn’t want things… to change,” Will said after a moment, his voice cracking just slightly, enough to go unnoticed, but not from Mike.
“They won’t,” Mike said without hesitation. Will looked at him, searching for comfort in Mikes dark eyes. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah,” Mike said. “You’re still you.” Will nodded, but he didn’t look fully convinced. Mike shifted, suddenly restless. The basement felt warmer than it had earlier, the air thick and close. He tugged at the collar of his shirt.
“You nervous about tomorrow?” he asked, mostly to change the subject. Will snorted softly.
“Terrified.”
“Same,” Mike said. “Everyone keeps acting like we’ve got this, like the plan will be simple but-”
“But we don’t…we don't know what is going to happen,” Will finished. Mike laughed under his breath.
“Nope.” The sound faded quickly, swallowed by the quiet.
Will tilted his head slightly, studying Mike.
“You don’t look so good.” he said, his voice laced with worry. Mike blinked.
“What?” It was true. Mike had always been pale, but not this pale. No, he usually had at least a bit of tan.
“You look pale,” Will said. “And you keep rubbing your head.” Mike lifted a hand to his temple without realizing it.
“Oh. Yeah. Just a headache.”
“You’ve had a lot of those lately,” Will said. Mike shrugged before answering.
“Stress.” Will didn’t answer right away. The basement light flickered once, which caused Mike to glance up. “Huh. Guess the wiring’s still messed up.” Will didn’t look at the light. His eyes were on Mike.
“Mike,” he said slowly urging Mike to move up to his mattress. “Did anything… weird happen earlier?”
Mike frowned suddenly aware of how close they were, how their knees were almost touching.
“Weird how?”
“I don’t know,” Will said. “You just seemed… far away. This whole day. I mean I know we’re all kind of upset about everything…but-” Mike opened his mouth to argue, then paused. This wasn’t the time to pick fights. Especially not with his best friend.
“I was just thinking,” he replied, “about stuff.” He was determined to be as vague as possible, as to not spark concern. What's the point in worrying Will, when he already has so much on his mind? Whatever Mike was dealing with, he was going to do so by himself.
“What stuff?” Will asked Mike, staring deeply into his eyes.
Mike hesitated before continuing,“everything,” he huffed out. The pressure behind his eyes pulsed, stronger now. Mike winced, squeezing his eyes shut for a second.
“You okay?” Will asked quickly.
“Yeah,” Mike said automatically. “Just-hang on.” When he opened his eyes again, the basement looked… off. Not wrong, exactly. Just slightly misaligned. The shadows along the wall seemed deeper, thicker, like they were pooling instead of falling naturally. Mike blinked hard, and it all went back to normal. Will’s eyes immediately flashed with concern, and he turned to face Mike. Mike once again took notice of how close they were, even closer than before.
“Mike,” Will said, sharper now. “What did you see?”
“Nothing,” Mike said quickly. “I’m fine.” Will didn’t look convinced.
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” Mike insisted. “I promise.” The words felt thin and fake, even to his own ears. The light buzzed faintly overhead, as Will placed his hand on Mike's shoulder.
Will shifted closer, voice low. “You don’t have to promise. Just tell me if something’s wrong.”
Mike laughed weakly. “You sound like my mom.”
Will didn’t laugh, instead his voice grew sharper.
“Mike.”
The pressure surged in Mike's temple.
“Look, Will,” Mike replied, his voice laced with agitation. “I told you nothing is up. Nothing's up. You’ve just… you've just got to trust me.”
Will looked at Mike, the same worried expression plastered on his face, but he didn't pry.