Work Text:
October 1994
Mike arrives at his dreary old office in Indianapolis, Indiana. He wasn’t expecting today to be any different. Same old accounting and numbers, and useless co workers. Only benefit was the escape it provided from his CHUZZ girlfriend, Marie.
Just as he let out his sigh and picked up his pen, his annoying (but slightly attractive) co-worker David approached him. David annoyed the shit out of Mike. The only benefit was David’s (usually) good music recommendations. The two of them had a tradition where David would offer Mike an album recommendation every Monday, and Mike would buy the record on his way home from work.
Today was like no other, as David recommended “Grace by Jeff Buckley” He said it had just come out a few months prior but that it was “absolutely brilliant”. Mike jotted down the name onto his notepad and continued his treacherous work.
—
That evening, when the clock struck 5, Mike exited the office, and was ecstatic to buy this new record. His girlfriend, Marie, wasn’t particularly impressed with this tradition of Mike’s. She even called Mike “a queer” for taking album suggestions from his male co-worker. If only she knew how on the money she was.
Mike walked into his favourite record shop and asked the storekeeper if they had it in stock. They did, so Mike payed for the record and drove out of the city into the suburbs where his girlfriend was probably waiting for him and had probably cooked pasta, for the 50th time.
As Mike pulled his car into the driveway, he noticed another car parked on the street. Crap. He had totally forgot his fucking girlfriend was inviting her sister and her kid for dinner. Mike was pissed. This kid, for some unknown reason looked EXACTLY like Will Byers. Mustering up the courage, Mike stepped into the house, grunted a hello to his (unattractive) girlfriend and stormed past the kid and her mum. He slammed the door in his room and carefully placed the record on his turntable.
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The first two tracks were great, Mike loved the vocals and production. He’d probably rate them a 6 or a 7 out of 10. However, by the third track, things took a turn.
”This is our last goodbye, I hate to feel the love between us die”
That lyric triggered something in Mike. At 23, he was still yearning for Will Fucking Byers, and still remembered how hard it was to watch Will leave Hawkins. Mike would’ve stayed in Hawkins for a lifetime if will was there.
It only got worse.
“Must I dream and always see your face?”
It was at that moment, Mike felt the sudden urge to fucking break the record. He carried on. David would be expecting his usual review.
Lilac Wine evoked some feelings, but Mike knew the original song, so no strong feelings were evoked. So Real, However, was a different story.
“Love, Let me sleep tonight on your couch”
Halloween 1984. Mike and Will had dressed up as Ghostbusters and had a long conversation on Will’s couch after the chaotic events of the night
“Crazy Together”
Mike should’ve known in that moment he was Not Heterosexual, and that he had a big fat gay crush on Will. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t realise the bridge had started.
“I love you, but i’m afraid to love you”
That did it for Mike. He couldn’t take it. He couldn’t take the desperate yearning for Will. It was fucking pathetic.
”Album of despair and agony”, he muttered to himself.
As he paced around the room while Hallelujah played, he considered the best course of action. Logically, he could just turn off the record and never play it again. He was about to do that when the accordion of Lover, You Should’ve Come Over started to play. Mike was intrigued, so he decided to give this record one last try.
This was quite possibly, the worst decision Mike had made since friend zoning Will in the upside down. A generational fumble is what it would be referred to nowadays.
“Maybe i’m too young to keep good love from going wrong, but tonight you’re on my mind… so you’ll never know”
Mike couldn’t take it anymore. Will was on his mind. Not just tonight, but Every Single. Night. Mike evaluated his choices once again. Smashing the record was growing all the more appealing.
“So i’ll wait for you, and i’ll burn, will I ever see your sweet return”
Goddamit.
Mike slowly opened his window. His girlfriend was downstairs. His eyes filled with tears, he missed Will. So much. He leaned out the window, and he jumped. He hated this fucking album almost as much as his beyond ugly mess of a girlfriend.
As he jumped, he thought of Will, and how if he was braver, he could’ve come out too. Mike was never like Will. He was too scared to be himself.
He thought of Max, of Lucas, of Dustin and of El. it was in his final moments he admitted to himself that when he was mourning El’s death, half of the time he was imagining it was Will who had died.
Mike was gay, and as he plummeted to his death, he finally tragically accepted this.
As he stared up at the stars, he breathed his final breath and uttered his final words
“I love yo Gay Ass William Byers”