Chapter Text
August 31, 1990
It was a quiet, late morning in the scenic hamlet of what is Montauk, New York. It was quite breezy, but that was to be expected since Hopper and Joyce’s new house was close to the water. That’s one of the things Will loved most about his mom and- future step dad- moving there. Whenever he was able to visit from college, walking along the beaches and smelling that salty ocean water cleared out all his senses, helping him to forget almost all of the troubles that corroded his mind for a few short minutes.
That ocean water smell drifted from the beach a few blocks down and through the open windows of Joyce and Hopper's house. It was hot today, so having the windows open and, once again being close to the ocean, made it much easier to feel that breeze and cool off during breakfast.
Sitting at the round dining room table was Hopper, Jonathan, and Will, while Joyce finished buttering up the huge stack of pancakes she just made in the kitchen. Will always adored her pancakes, and especially after eating store bought or college cafeteria breakfast, he missed her cooking. She had her own pancake recipe and each one came out extra thick and fluffy. Jonathan liked them too, however different from Will, he never acknowledged it out loud, so the more he ate everyone had to just assume he was satisfied.
Hopper sat cross legged at the table, reading the daily newspaper. He had work in an hour, and it was a bit of a drive to get there, but he always made time to eat Joyce’s cooking, and that’s another thing Will admired.
He doesn’t like to think about him a lot, but Will's own father Lonnie never acted this way towards his wife. When Will was in elementary and Jonathan was finishing up middle school, every morning Joyce would try and make a super quick but yummy breakfast for everyone, including Lonnie, who just like Hopper, had to work early. However, unlike Will's soon-to-be stepdad, Lonnie would wake up, make so much noise getting ready for the day, and leave without eating or saying goodbye. He acted as if the three of them didn’t exist unless he wanted something. Seeing his mom now with someone not only ten times better, but who both Jonathan and himself look up to, he couldn’t ask for anything better.
Just like any other couple though, they do have their fights. All out of love of course.
“Hop…I told you to stop kicking your feet up on the table. Especially in your dirty work boots- that’s where food goes...” Joyce sighs, walking up behind Hopper and slapping his head with a spatula. Hopper who, only just now decided to set up his leg on the table, brought it back down in shame quickly, avoiding eye contact with any of his fiancés two kids. Will held in a laugh, watching as his mom carried over the tray of pancakes and set it down. Immediately the three guys start picking at it, grabbing pancakes to drop on their plates before Joyce could even sit.
“Hold on hold on, save me at least two! Gosh it’s like I'm living with- wild hyenas or something.” Joyce drops into her chair, pulling it closer to the table.
Will grabs three thick buttermilk pancakes, and as the family begins to eat, he starts reminiscing on the fun he’s had this past year. It’s been one year since he followed in his brother's footsteps and joined him at New York University. Jonathan convinced him after graduation that it’s a really good school, especially for someone like him who’s into the arts and music, and after finishing two semesters there he couldn’t be more thankful for his brother. Not only is he still close to family, since Montauk is just a drive away, and Jonathan is on campus with him, but he’s stepped into bigger things, like nailing a great job, being proud of all the projects he’s made so far, making new friends and-
“Will!” Hopper yells, which causes him to flinch. He tends to do this a lot. He gets so deep in his own thoughts that he forgets to pay attention to his surroundings.
“Your mother.” He cocks his head towards Joyce, who was clearly trying to ask him something.
“No, it's fine.” Joyce shakily says, pouring syrup on her stack of cut up pancakes. “Um…well this goes for the both of you-“ she looks at Jonathan briefly, “As me and Hop finish planning our wedding, we wanted to know if there’s any last minute guests you two would like to invite.”
The two boys think for a minute, Jonathan blurting out a couple random guys names who he must be friends with at college. Hop and Joyce don’t seem to have a problem with it, but their eyes dart back to Will, who is fidgeting with his fork.
“Why not that boyfriend of yours.” Hop suggests unenthusiastically.
There it is. “Boyfriend.” Will has been avoiding this conversation for as long as possible these past few weeks, and that’s why he hardly talks about him. Maybe he wouldn’t mind talking to Jonathan about this guy, but Hop and his mother intimidate him. Especially Hop, who always seems to have a somewhat grumpy face.
“He’s…he’s not my- boyfriend.” Will's face turns red, also avoiding eye contact.
“Well with the small details I’ve heard it kinda sounds like it..” Joyce mumbles. “Why do you keep avoiding putting a label on it?”
“It’s not…it’s not me avoiding it. You’ve never met him before so it’s not like you’d understand” Will sighs.
“Well try and make us understand then.” Joyce presses, which only makes the knot in Will’s stomach tighten. Ever since he came out, thanks to Robin, Will’s life has blossomed, and not hiding who he truly was anymore felt like a breath of fresh air. Talking about people he was into romantically though was something he still gets nervous over, especially since his longest ever crush was on his childhood best friend.
“He’s kinda like me…or- how I was back before I told you guys I was…you know.” Will’s eyes meet his mothers for a split second before looking back at his plate. “Nobody knows who he…Carlton that’s his name… really is or- what he thinks…or anything about our relationship. So until he’s ready to open up more, labels are a future thing…” Will shrugs. In this moment he could feel Jonathan’s burning retinas on his face beside him.
The table stays silent for a second, Hoppers chewing being the only slightly louder sound in the room. Will wonders if he said something wrong, or just sounded stupid, but no matter what he said, nobody in this room would understand these types of heavy topics better than Will himself.
“Okay well…even if he isn’t your boyfriend yet, would he still want to attend the wedding even as just a friend? A small plus one? We won’t tell anyone who he truly is to you” Joyce asks. You can tell she just really wanted to meet this boy, and Will doesn’t blame her. Her son, small and fragile, finally has somewhat of a romantic partner in his life after all the tragic shit he’s been through. He would want to meet his child’s partner too.
“Well I can’t trust any of you when you’re drunk. Especially Hopper.” Will stares across the table at the blue eyed cop, whose eyebrows raise in shock.
“Oh so now we’re pointing fingers at the old man? Well that’s no fun.” Hopper wipes his mouth with his napkin, and that’s when Will realizes that in this short amount of time he’s spent talking to and listening to his mom, Hopper has finished three pancakes and a whole glass of orange juice.
Will lets out a laugh, and just replies with a short, quick answer. “We’ll see. I’ll ask him, but I'm sure he’d like to go.”
“Even if he doesn’t, it’s fine. We still have the whole Wheeler family on the list, and Lucas, Dustin and Max can attend if they’d like.” Joyce responds. This gives Will a mix of anxiousness and excitement. He’s done a lot this summer with his family specifically, and only once was he able to meet up with his friends, and by his friends, that meant just Lucas and Max back in Hawkins. The Wheelers were on a rich luxury vacation and Dustin was spending a camping trip with Steve. He was excited to learn that maybe he had a chance to see everyone collectively again, but it freaked him out at the same time.
A party was supposed to stick together, through thick and thin. Despite being either a two hour drive away or living across the country due to school, being in the know of each other's lives was what friends did. That changed though, and regardless of the talks Will had with him years ago after he moved to California, about how this would never happen again, the cycle repeated itself, and Mike and Will lost contact once more.
At first it felt weird, not talking to Mike anymore. Maybe not so much in person, but even over the walkie or on the phone. The last time he spoke to Mike was possibly when the Wheeler himself called him wishing him a great school semester…last September. It was a short call, but Will appreciated it at the time. Now he’s practically gotten over it, with help from his distracting brother and Carlton, but he still wonders what happened. Was Mike's new life just so busy that he didn’t have time to talk to Will anymore? Does he still talk to the rest of the party? Would he even want to come to the wedding?
“You’re really inviting them? Th- the Wheelers I mean. You sure they’d want to come?” Will asks, Jonathan giving him a sarcastic look which basically reads “yeah, duh.”
“You kidding Will? Of course they’d wanna come. We lived with them for a whole year during Hawkins quarantine, remember? I talk to Karen from time to time over the phone and- just last week she was asking me if we had a date settled yet. She offered to help prepare some of the extra little desserts.” Joyce smiles. Will's mother doesn’t show much when it comes to physical expressions, but you can tell by her smile and the way her hands were fidgeting that she was extremely excited for this wedding. Made her look like an innocent, sweet young girl.
“Well that’s nice. Sorry I just…haven’t really spoken to any of them in a while.” Will shrugs, which catches his brother by surprise.
“Seriously? I see Nancy and the other two at least once a month and I’m not even dating her anymore. Thought that was your whole party's motto. To never split up or whatever..” Jonathan stands up, letting out a yawn as he carries his plate over to the sink. “Thanks mom, that was good.”
Will didn't really know what to respond with, because it wasn’t his choice to end all communication with the Wheelers. With Mike. It just happened on its own (which he internally blames all on Mike). Thankfully, Will didn’t have to say anything. Hopper followed Jonathan, dropping his plate in the sink and grabbing his keys hanging right next to Joyce’s on their hooks. “Alright I'm off. Sorry I couldn’t give a proper goodbye to you two since you’re leaving today, but I'll see you both soon.” Hopper gives Jonathan a light high five, roughing up Will's hair as Joyce walks her fiancé to the porch. Just two lovers saying their ten-millionth morning goodbye to each other. It was cheesy but again, Will loved to see it.
Today was move-in day back in college. The semester started on the 2nd of September, so in two days, but it was required to be moved in by the last day in August to give all students proper time to set up their dorms and meet their roommates.
Jonathan kept the same room as he did previously, since he was grades above Will. It always felt weird to him, going to school with his older brother, but it took Jonathan a bit after high school to settle on actually going to college.
All freshmen get smaller dorms for their first year, and after that they upgrade to bigger ones. That was one of Will’s icks last year. His dorm was small, and he shared it with some guy who smelled pretty funky, but Will wasn’t one to judge that hard. He’s been in the Upside-Down and touched a lot of disgusting, way smellier things there compared to his roommate. The guy was nice though, and they hung out a few times. Will wouldn’t have minded becoming close friends with this guy to get through college easier, but turns out he flunked his classes and got kicked out, so maybe it was a good thing Will didn’t associate himself with that kid further.
This semester however, Will gets his own dorm all to himself. The dorm he was promised was supposedly really big, and with all his paychecks and tip money he’s earned at his job, he was excited to spend it all on decorations these next few weeks. Today though was about moving in the necessities, like his bedding, toiletries, clothes and some snacks.
Will and Jonathan drove back to the NYU campus on their own, while their mother followed behind, offering her assistance in moving in heavy boxes. Both cars were packed with stuff, filling up equal space in both back seats and trunks, Joyce’s trunk even hanging slightly open. What sucked was that both boys had housing pretty far away from each other. To get from Wills dorm to Jonathan’s, you had to walk a couple blocks, but at least Will’s was closer to Campus.
It felt strange. For the first time, Will was going to live on his own. His family counted that as last semester, but he didn’t. He had a roommate, which meant there were two people living together, not one. Now, he’ll be all alone. Alone with his thoughts and alone with his work, and also alone in his sleep, which he was definitely looking forward to. His roommate and Hopper both snored like hogs. Finally, he’ll have peace.
The next two hours were spent moving boxes into each Byers dorm. They started with Jonathan’s first. Since he kept the same dorm, he didn't take a lot of stuff home with him during summer vacation. Just clothes, a few of his music players and some notebooks he was screen-writing in, coming up with a script to some- sci-fi horror film in the making. Will was excited to read it when he was done.
Most of the boxes in both cars were for Will. Having a much larger space than last year meant he was able to bring more things from home with him, like a few stuffed animals, extra blankets, and a comfy chair that Jonathan was ever so kind as to put together for him. However once again, it wasn’t a lot. He wanted new decorations, stuff that was more mature than what his room was decorated with back at home in Montauk. Drawings from when he was a kid lined his walls like they did in Hawkins. It made him feel at home, safe and the same, but it wasn’t the type of decor wanted in college, at least that’s how he pictured it.
And if Carlton were to come over and hang out in Wills dorm once in a while, the last thing he wanted from this guy's mouth was to be made fun of for all the “baby” drawings around his room.
Speaking of Carlton, he should be close by. A couple days ago when Joyce, Hopper and Jonathan were out running an errand, Will called him to update him on what he’s been doing this past week. The two talked about once every week, updating each other on their lives over the summer and where they would be next semester, classes and housing wise. The calls were quick though, as Carlton’s family was always somewhere close and he didn’t want them to hear the way he was talking to a boy. It made Will upset, both about how Carlton wasn’t sure if his family would approve of both their relationship and their son's sexuality, but also how little they were able to talk because of it. He missed him over the summer. One of the best things he got all year was the affection from Carlton, both verbally and physically. Will experienced things he’s never experienced before, like flirting, kissing, touching. He’s done the majority of it, all thanks to Robin who told him to “sneak into a bar one day and test out your luck.”
And that reminds him, he also has talked to Robin more times this past year than his supposedly “best friend.”
After moving the last of the boxes into Will's dorm, everyone was tired out. Hopefully they didn’t have to do this next year, as Will really liked this room and wanted to keep it like Jonathan did. As soon as you walk in, you’re immediately greeted with the view outside the large window on the back wall of his dorm. You could see campus from it, along with the small park and a few gorgeous neighborhood streets faintly behind. Even on a rainy day, the view would still be nice, especially to draw, which is why Will moved the wooden desk that came with the room to be right up against the window, his bed to the right and bathroom to the left. It was a large open floor plan, no unnecessary wall dividers, so adding a few bookshelves and a sofa was an idea Will kept written down in the back of his mind for later.
“Did you want any help unpacking your clothes or- putting your bedding on or-?” Joyce asks, and before she could finish, Will had the answer to her question in his mind already. No. She’d definitely be pushing herself if she helped him anymore. Joyce was sweating and tired, chugging down a bottle of water.
“No, no it’s okay mom. The best part about all this is decorating and putting stuff away myself, it’s fine you deserve a break.” Will waves his hand “You had to carry all those boxes up three flights of stairs anyways.”
“Well it wasn’t just me. You carried some, and Jonathan helped for the most part.” Joyce mumbles, Jonathan glaring up back into reality from whatever mind scape he was wandering in while sitting in Will’s newly built chair. “Mom you carried more than all of us, I kept offering to take some and then you’d yell at me.”
Will lets out a laugh, but in the next few seconds of silence, he knows it’s coming to an end. His mom would have to leave soon, Jonathan would return to his dorm and Will would be left all alone, for the first time ever. It’s not like his mom and Hopper aren’t just a short drive away, but with how busy his schedule gets during the year, it’s very rare he’s able to make time to fit family in. The courses he signed up for this year are much harder than the ones he took last year, and on top of that he’s gotta return to his job, (which pays way too little for the amount of hours he works.) In these final moments, he stares at his mom and brother, glaring down at his mother’s engagement ring and reminiscing on the relaxing summer he’s had, dreading what’s coming next.
And as if Joyce could read his mind, she stuffs her hands awkwardly in her pockets and sighs. “Well it’s getting late. I kinda wanna make it home before it’s dark. You know…getting older my eyes aren’t the best at night.” She smiles. This makes Jonathan stand up, stepping over to his mother who was ten times shorter than he was. He places his right hand on her shoulder before pulling her in for a hug, short and light, but he mumbles something sweet close to her ear and she can’t help but laugh.
Then she turns to Will, and for a split second he could immediately tell his mother was about to give him more attention than she did Jonathan. Whether that mattered or not was entirely up to his older brother, but Jonathan has learned to not really care. “Now just like last year, I want at least one to two phone calls from you a week okay?” Joyce grips either of Will's arms tightly, locking him in place.
“Uh- i’ll try, although depending on how busy I am with s- school and work I'll try.” Will shrugs. Joyce’s mouth twitches a frown, but she begins rubbing his arms before pulling her son into a hug. “Good. You know I'll always worry about you. Kind of a “trauma” thing we all have which won’t go away.”
“‘We’ all have, or just you?” Will argues back with a sarcastic smile, Joyce’s face turning red. She ignores his comeback and steps towards the door of Will’s dorm, repeating the phrase “I love you” to both her songs about seven times.
“Well don’t walk out by yourself- I gotta go back to my place anyways I’ll just walk you out.” Jonathan follows her out of the dorm, to which Will feels the obligation to follow behind. None of them were going to let their mother walk all the way to her car alone, that’s just rude.
While flying down the many flights of stairs, Will passes by a bunch of people also moving into the same building as him, avoiding cardboard boxes that were lining the hallways and a dog that was running in and out of one of the rooms. Pets definitely weren’t allowed here, but that was none of Will’s business
As they make their way to the parking lot and watch their mom get in the car, she rolls down her window and repeats a bunch of rules of “what to do” and “what not to do,” which flies through one of Will’s ears and out the other. It’s not like he’s a bad, rebellious kid, but his moms way too overprotective and some of the stuff she even recommends him not to do would prevent him from having a social life.
“Too bad I couldn’t meet your boy- I mean uh…” Joyce fumbles, but Will knows what she was trying to say. “Carlton? Yeah he’s…supposed to me moving in one of the houses by Jonathan I think…so maybe next time” Will shrugs. He felt awkward saying that. Talking about Carlton in general. It is definitely nerve-wracking, he’s been with him for almost nine months yet the label “boyfriend” is still nonexistent. Carlton shows affection the way a partner should, but with no labels Will doesn’t exactly know what they are, and every time he tries to ask him about it his curiosity is turned down.
After saying their goodbyes to their mom, Jonathan turns to Will while scratching his head. “Do you need me to help unpack or anything?”
“I already told mom no, I'm fine. Why, you going back to your place then?” Will asks.
“Yeah, I’m gonna go put some of my clothes away and meet up with a friend in the dining hall.” Jonathan replies, “If you get hungry you’re more than welcome to join us…unless you’re gonna hang out with that guy.”
“Uh…yeah we’ll see. If I walk in later you’ll know my answer.” Will nods.
He watches Jonathan walk off, and after saying two goodbyes in the span of about two minutes, he’s all alone. There’s no breeze over here, the weather's not like it was by the water, so it was pretty hot while the sun set. The street lamps were flickering on automatically, lighting up the campus and parking lot in front of him.
One lamppost switched on which was placed standing directly over a parked car, surrounded by people talking a mile a minute. Will couldn’t help but notice as they were probably the loudest bunch in the vicinity…but also because they sounded extremely familiar.
The station wagon's engine was rumbling, with all the windows rolled down as well as the doors wide open, two adults leaning against the vehicle while talking to someone standing. A younger girl was seen sitting in the back seat, looking down at a book she was attempting to read as her eyes scrunched in concentration.
“Cmon you saw him, the guy acts like a total asshole. There’s gotta be something you can do about it.” The one guy- most likely being run down by his parents- argues.
Oh my god.
There’s no way.
As if on its own, Will's body motioned itself towards the closest lamppost, standing behind it almost as a way to hide from the people in front of him. Why was he hiding? He didn’t even know himself.
“Money doesn’t solve everything Mike. If he causes any actual problems to you in the future then report it to your dean. Until then just try your best to get along with him.” The woman sighs, rubbing her shoulders as if she was cold. The weather was almost dripping hot out though, so whatever she was doing must’ve been a comfort thing.
“Plus it’s not nice to form those types of opinions about people you don’t even know, son. It’s not a good impression.” The older man slowly says, fixing his glasses while leaning off the car. He let out a grown, to which their son Mike made a grossed face at.
My eyes have to be going crazy. I have to be seeing things.
There’s no way that’s fucking Mike Wheeler.
“Now, you made sure you had everything? You didn't leave anything in the back seat or the trunk?” The woman asks, checking in the back seat as her daughter glares up at her for a brief second.
“No. I checked like…a million times-“ but before Mike could finish speaking, his words were cut short.
“We’re gonna go okay? We have a long drive back home and we wanna check into the hotel as early as possible tonight so we can get home as early as possible tomorrow.”
“Yup…and I'm not looking forward to driving all this shit again.” The old man sighs, Mike stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“You know, you wouldn’t have had to drive over ten hours to get me here if you just hadn’t enrolled me.”
“Keep dreaming, kid.” His mom pats Mike's shoulder before slipping into the passenger's seat, next to her husband who walked around the car earlier and placed himself in front of the wheel. “It’s for your own good. Pretty sure you’re gonna like it.”
“Or I'll hate it.” Mike gives a sarcastic smile, holding his hand up and waving to his family. They all yell sweet, loving things to him while he just stands there, almost queen style waving at them as the lamppost above flickers when they drive away.
And just like Will did earlier, Mike stood there for a moment, staring at the pavement underneath his dirty sneakers, almost waiting for something to happen.
After hearing both the mouths of Karen and Ted Wheeler, Will could tell for a fact he wasn’t dreaming or seeing things. Standing just a few feet away from him was in fact Mike Wheeler, his once good friend…once best friend, now gone radio silent with no communication in over a year.
Seeing him made Will’s heart race, he didn’t know what to do, nor what to think. It’s not like he has feelings for him anymore, so any of those connecting thoughts of why he felt nervous were thrown out the window. It was the idea that Mike maybe chose to dump their friendship for his own reasons without sharing, and now they’re sharing almost the same college experience together. Did Mike remember Will went here? He must have. Why did he also enroll here? If he wasn’t already going to a college like he said he was, why did he show up here a year after high school graduation?
So many questions for Mike ran through Will’s head, but that one thing was stopping him from going up to the guy and asking them. Did Mike even want to talk to him? Even want to see him? Did he even like him anymore?
Okay…maybe that was three things, but right now the last thing on Will’s mind was keeping track of any sort of numbers.
As the nervous pit in Will’s stomach tried to keep up with the thoughts swarming his head, the lamppost behind Mike flickered again, which almost acted as a stage cue for Mike to start walking. He spun around and headed straight back for campus, still staring down at his dirty vans. Before he could step off the sidewalk and over the crosswalk however, a guy on a skateboard coming from the left zoomed past Mike, almost running over his feet.
“Watch where you’re walking dude!” The guy yelled, and with his tone of voice you can tell he was smiling while he spoke. Will could tell he definitely almost hit Mike on purpose.
The interaction made Mike jump, cursing under his breath while his head turned down the street.
“OH FUCK YOU!” He yelled, yet the guy was long gone, turned down about two other blocks by now.
Will almost let out a laugh, but he didn’t. He kept quiet as Mike still stared in this general direction.
Um…the dude’s gone now. Why is he still looking over here?
Is he trying to look out for another rider?
…
Did he hear me? Did I laugh?
“I can see you.” Mike says, and that’s when Will noticed that Mike's eyes are locked on him from far away.
Or that. I forgot. There’s a big light over me and this skinny post isn’t covering shit.
“Hello? Why the hell are you hiding behind a post watching me?” Mike starts walking over.
Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit he’s getting closer. Do I run? Do I say anything? I look like a total creep right now, what am I doing?
“Who are you I’m so-“ Mike gets close enough to see Will back away from the lamppost, letting go of the metal he had his hands resting on. Both of them were now lit up by the orange light shining down, casting shadows over their faces from above.
“Will…”
Mike looked just like Will last remembered him, hardly anything has changed except for his hair, which he figured might’ve. Every year Mike has a new haircut. A new hairstyle which his friends either love or hate. This one reminds him of what it looked like almost three years ago, back during the whole quarantine and battle-against-Vecna era, only a little more curly. God, they had so many crazy eras it sounds stupid labeling them.
His style hasn’t changed either, so it’s nice to see something which still stuck. He wore a navy green collared shirt with the buttons undone. Will remembers his dad picking on him for not buttoning up his shirts, but Mike complained it was always too tight, and every shirt irritated his neck. He also wore khaki pants and a gray jacket, to which Will’s only thoughts on that were how badly he was sweating. He had to be hot.
He didn’t know what to say. Mike looked utterly shocked, and the only thing Will could stutter out was an unstable “H…hey.”
“Will…I- I- I oh my god-“ Mike stutters a mile a minute. “Hey-“ he repeats after Will.
“Sorry I’m just…shocked. I haven’t seen you in forever.”
And who’s fault is that?
“Yeah…yeah it’s been awhile. Um…how are you?”
“How am I? I’m uh…I’m doing alright. How have you been?” Mike awkwardly asks.
This conversation reminds me of something you’d have with the store clerk, but I always expected our first interaction again to be awkward…if we ever had one.
“Um…I’m doing good. I just said bye to my mom- she helped move Jonathan and me back in here.”
“Oh that’s right, you go here! I- I totally forgot.” Mike speaks a little louder, which makes Will’s eyes widen from the sudden volume change.
“My uh…my parents were getting tired of my laziness back at home, so they enrolled me here. Told me I gotta start doing something or they’ll make me get a 9-5 job.”
“Wait hold on…so- getting a job scared you enough to come to school?” Will lets out a laugh, which makes Mike slightly smile and wave his hands. “No! No no it wasn’t like that. I didn’t have a choice!”
“You just said it was either go to school or get a job, so you chose school!” Will defends himself, Mike raising his hands in the air.
“Okay okay- in my defense, going from doing absolutely nothing to immediately working a blue-collar 9-5 job might just make anyone feel like the most depressed fart in the entire world.”
“Tell me about it.” Will grabs his own shoulder, “I go to school here and used to work almost everyday on top of that. All while you…took a gap year I guess?”
“Um…yeah if you wanna call it that. Again I wasn’t planning on going to school but the cards went into my parents favor.” Mike rubs the back of his neck. “That sounds- terrible though. You plan on doing that again this year? Working that much?”
“If they ask me too I mean…sure. I don’t mind it. I like making money.” Will replies, to which Mike then asks where he works.
“I work at the ‘Cosmic Diner’ just a few blocks away from here. Sometimes I also pick up assistant shifts at the school's library. So yeah…I’m always doing something.”
Mike stares at him for a moment, eyes running briefly up and down, almost as if he’s looking at a whole new person. Did he expect Will to end up this busy? Did he feel sorry for him? Think working this much was stupid? Crazy? Will admits that’s what he would’ve thought if he was in Mike's shoes.
Before Mike could ask Will any other questions about work again, or comment on how terrible his choice of working 30+ hours a week while some-what balancing school was, Will hits him with his own question. “If you weren’t planning on going to school at all- what’s your major in anyways?”
“Oh- business. I dunno- my parents picked it. My dad works in business so they told me to major in it. Could make a lot of money in the future like he does.”
“Casually bragging about having a rich dad.” Will jokes, to which Mike gets “offended” and pushes Will’s chest back with his fingertips, “That’s- not what I meant, you know that.”
“Do I?” Will asks. It’s a question that just slips from his mouth. He didn't mean to ask it, because he knew it would make the conversation go silent, and it did. It was the truth though. He didn’t know Mike, not anymore. His personality could’ve done a whole 180 this past year and Will never would’ve known.
As Mike opened his mouth to say something, a voice came from afar. The parking lot. Will and Mike turned their heads as a car pulled in two spots away from the lamppost they were standing underneath. The window was open and a head stuck out of it before diving back inside, rolling the window up and stepping out of the car.
Holy lifesaver…
The person stepping out of the car was a guy, golden tanned skin and blackish-brown hair that was extremely fluffy and curly. He wore a t-shirt underneath a navy blue jacket and some khaki shorts. Now that Will’s looking at him, he notices his outfit is very similar to Mike’s. Mike must’ve noticed that too, as he looked down at himself to analyze what he had on.
“Carlton!” Will smiles, taking just a step forward before it wasn’t needed. Carlton got close super quick, walking up to Will and diving in for a hug. Will's arms wrap around his middle back, hugging him back in return even tighter as Mike just awkwardly stared.
“How ya’ been? Who’s this?” Carlton asks. His eyes darted over to Mike, who was his exact height. It either frightened or shocked Mike, as he stumbled back a bit.
“I’m good! I was actually about to go look for you. My mom was just here, you missed meeting her.” Will backs up, but he notices Carlton doesn’t say anything, probably because Will didn’t answer his second question.
“Oh- this is Mike. One of my uh…old friends.” Will hesitates. He honestly didn’t know what to call Mike, and was debating whether or not to even use the word friend again. This conversation with Mike felt almost ‘normal’ the more they got into it…well- before Will ruined it. Smiling and joking. Mike even touched him in a playful manner. Something Will never thought would happen again.
“Oh! Nice to meet you Mike.” Carlton enthusiastically reaches his hand out, grabbing Mike's and shaking it firmly. The entire time Mike just stared at the guy, slowly nodding as his face turned even more pale than it already was.
Is he nervous? Mike never got nervous meeting new people.
Staying inside rotting for over a year must’ve gotten to him.
“How do you two know each other?” Carlton asks, but he stares specifically at Mike, so Will avoids answering the question, assuming it’s for him.
“Um… kindergarten.” Mike says, bringing his hands down by his sides. Will notices him using the nail of his middle finger to pick at some dead skin on his thumb.
“Wow. Oh so you two go way back! That’s crazy. I wonder what little Will looked like back then-“ Carlton smiles as Will cuts over him. “Oh god, big bowl cut. BIG. Thick too, it was massive.”
This makes Mike awkwardly laugh, the first time he even showed any other expression besides nervousness since Carlton showed up.
The three stand there quietly until Carlton looks down at the watch on his wrist, and then back over at Will. “Yeah sorry I wasn’t here earlier. Or- I was. I mean when you got here. I unpacked all my stuff and left to go pick up a few things at the store.”
“Like what?” Will asks, obviously pertaining to the invisible bags in both his hands.
“You know- cigarettes, packs of gum…and-” Carlton’s voice trails off into a mumble. Will knows what he bought, but he wasn’t saying it in front of Mike, even though the freckled faced old friend stood there completely oblivious.
“Did you wanna come back to my dorm and hang out for a bit?” Carlton asks Will, but for once Will doesn’t jump at the opportunity.
“Eh…I dunno. I have a lot to unpack in my new place. The dorm is huge and there’s probably like…a hundred cardboard boxes in there.”
“Then I’ll help! Two makes the job go by quicker instead of one.” Carlton smiles. The way he spoke just prevented anyone from saying no. He inserted himself into events and there was no taking him out. Not that Will wanted too. Even though he turned down both his mom and Jonathan from helping him unpack, he couldn’t turn down Carlton. He was different.
“Okay.” Will nods, but his eyes peer back over to Mike, who couldn’t help but switch who he was staring at every few seconds.
Carlton smirked at Will, his thick pink lips hinting at something before looking back at Mike. “Well it was nice meeting you,” he said. “We’re gonna go.”
Mike finally popped back into reality after realizing he was spoken to, his eyes focused on Will who was starting to walk shoulder to shoulder back the way he came with Carlton. “Oh…okay. Bye- Will. See ya later.”
Mike's tone came with at least two voice cracks, to which Carlton couldn’t help but smile at once they fully turned around. Will however, fixated on that last part Mike said. See ya later. Did he just say that to say it in front of Carlton? To make it sound like him and Will are on decent terms? Or did he mean that in a literal sense: that he plans on talking to Will again?
The more Will thinks, the more he realizes that more questions arose after speaking to Mike again than he ever had before, and for some reason that bugged him. Mike wasn’t a part of his life anymore, nor did it seem like Mike wanted to be a part of his, at least not before. Now, Will doesn’t know what to think. He shouldn’t be overcome by these questions and answers either, as he has Carlton, and right now he prefers Carlton a hundred times more than he does Mike, and thanks him for pulling him out of that awkward interaction.
At the same time though, Will can’t help but feel like Mike hasn’t moved, and his eyes are stagnant on the back of Will’s head. It took him a lot of strength to not turn around out of curiosity, to not make himself look stupid looking back, but he was right. Mike just stood there, watching, hands by his sides, occasionally looking around like a robot to not make it obvious if one of them were to turn around.
The further Carlton and Will got away however, instead of thoughts and questions slowly disappearing with the help of Carlton talking Wills ear off, they only lingered. It’s not even the first day yet, Will isn’t even fully moved in nor has he gotten his local job back yet, and already he has a large weight of stress on his back. Mike Wheeler is back. He’s back in his life right when he was beginning to forget about the past, and he knew it was going to be awkward. He just has to prevent his curiosity from getting the best of him.