Chapter Text
March 1997. Second year as teacher now. Only forty-one more to go.
To be fair, Mike didn’t even know he would make it this far after everything that happened in the last decade. But despite defeating Vecna something was still missing. Something he could not quite place.
Maybe it was this ass job he had now. When he was younger, he wanted to write – novels, comics; he didn’t care what it would be as long as he had fun while doing it. Sometimes he even imagined designing his own DnD-game. But the more he grew up, the more he realized that this was not going to happen, even after all the unrealistic things he had already experienced in his life. Mike needed a real job. A safe one. A job that could pay taxes and afford a life. So instead of following his dreams he became a teacher for English and History.
Now while this may not be even a little bit close to being a writer, Mike somehow liked helping children understand the world better. Just like Mr. Clarke did for his friends and him when they were in middle school. But soon he started to realize that he only liked the thought of doing so. Having to teach every day was really about to push him off a cliff. For the majority of time these children were a pain in the ass. Especially the six graders.
And now he had to do this for the rest of his life. How exciting, really.
“Last one for today.” Mike said to himself in a low voice. It was already 6 pm on a Friday night and he still sat there, in the teachers’ lounge. But at some point, he eventually had to start checking the eighth graders’ test. So instead of procrastinating (like he did the last two whole weeks), he just put on some music on his old Walkman and continued the work. (Even though there was no point of listening to the music over his Walkman since he was the only person left in school. Nobody could hear him anyway. But somehow the foam on his ears and direct music calmed him down.)
Because maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all you're my wonderwall
It was 6:52 pm when Mike finally left the school. The answers to the last question really gave him a headache. Was he also that stupid when he was in grade eight or were these kids the problem? (probably both)
On the way to his car, he let play Wonderwall again.
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)
You're gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)
He slowly let his fingers slide over the red brick wall of the school building.
Suddenly he stopped, looked at his car standing there in the parking lot all alone, and turned around. He didn’t even know why he did that, but in a way, it felt like the right thing to do. Still, he didn’t know where he was going.
His feet brought him to the Hawkins kindergarten, which was located right next to the middle and high school. There they still were after all those years – the swings. Not only some swings, no. These swings changed his life forever. (For the better of course.)
The first day of kindergarten probably was the scariest day of Mikes entire life until then. He knew nobody and was supposed to spend half of the day there WITHOUT HIS MOM? 5-year-old Mike couldn’t imagine a more terrifying situation.
All alone he just stood there, in the corner, fidgeting with his shirt, observing the other kids. They all had somebody to play with. Their sibling, cousin, their friend – some even played with the kindergartener. Everyone ran around, laughed, and yelled happily. All except this one kid on the swings. Just like Mike, he was lonely too.
So, he just walked up to that kid, sat down on the swing besides him and started swinging.
“Do you wanna be friends?” Somehow all the fear in him disappeared when he asked the question. For the first time Mike didn’t have to pretend to be brave, because for the first time he really was.
The other just nodded and started swinging too.
They weren’t alone anymore.
And that’s how Mike and Will became inseparable. (They like to forget about whatever happened when Will lived in California for six months.)
Looking at those swings made Mike smile. A warm feeling of comfort and joy overcame him. Asking Will to be his friend really was the best thing he had ever done.
Suddenly a loud, shrill music interrupted his inner reminiscing. He shut off his Walkman, which was still playing the song, put down his headphones, and pulled out his Nokia. It was old and already full of scrapes. A wonder itself, it was still useable after all the times Mike let it fall down. Few of the buttons he had to push extra hard to work. But he refused to buy a new one.
He just thought of Will and now he was calling him – how weird. But Mike couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes, Will?” He answered the phone.
“Mike!” He blurted out. “I have to tell you something!”
“Yeah? What is it?” His smile only grew brighter. Hearing Will’s excited voice made his so depressing day way better.
“I can’t tell you on the phone, you have to come over. But let me tell you this – it’s super great news!”
“Well, okay.” Mike huffed, turned around on his heels, and walked to his car – this time for real and with no detour.
“I will tell you everything later, okay?”
There were thousands of possibilities about what Will’s news was going to be. So many that Mike couldn’t even think of a plausible theory.
“Okay.”
“See you soon then.” Will said before hanging up.
A long beep sound chimed, and Mike put his phone back into his jeans pocket. He got into the car as fast as he could. Will’s apartment wasn’t far away from school – maybe about a five-minute drive. But to be fair Hawkins wasn’t big itself, so everything was about a five-to-ten-minute drive.
Mike drove through town, past Dustin’s old place. It was run down by now. The majority of the houses were by now, almost nobody wanted to live here anymore after everything that has happened. They thought the town was cursed.
Mike took a deep breath – he really missed his friend. Him, Lucas, and Max, visiting about three times a year really wasn’t enough.
When he arrived at Will’s place, Mike knocked on the door. It took the other only about three whole seconds to open it. There he was – the biggest smile humankind ever got to see and the first and only person a bowl cut looked good on.
“Hi.” He said out of breath.
“Hey.” Mike said back, the corners of his mouth gently pulling up too. “May I come in?”
Will stood aside, letting him walk into the small corridor. Everything about this apartment was small. Sometimes Mike wondered how Will could even live there. For a second he thought maybe the big, important news would be that he finally found a bigger apartment – maybe even an affordable house. But then he remembered how Will always said that this was just enough for him and he liked it that small.
“Sorry, it’s messy, I know.”
“Since when are you apologizing for that?” Mike asked teasingly. “You better tell me this important big news you talked about on the phone.” He said, sliding off his vans and taking off his big jacket. For the beginning of march, it was way too cold for Mike’s personal liking.
Will shut the door and just kept smiling. “You smell like coffee and old books.” He simply commented with a giggle, completely ignoring what Mike just said.
“Yeah, was still in school.”
“But isn’t it like, 7 by now?” There was this little worried tone in Will’s voice that made Mike’s heart melt almost instantly. He was the most selfless person on this planet; how did he deserve this kind of affection?
“Yeah, I know, but I still had to grade some tests.” Mike just walked into the kitchen and took a cup from the shelf, making himself the sixth coffee of the day. He didn’t have to ask; Will would have let him anyway. On some days it felt like they were a couple in their forties – but that was just a silly thought Mike had sometimes. And when it was there, he tried his best not to think about it because of how silly it was. “You know these kids are getting more and more stupid?”
Will sat down at the table, observing Mike with a smile. “They don’t have a great role model with you and your caffeine addiction, you know. It’s bad for you.” It wasn’t in a serious or mad tone, not even a concerned one – Will knew that this wasn’t a newsflash for Mike.
“Oh, really?” Mike’s voice was full of irony while he poured way too much coffee and way too little milk into his cup. Most people would spit it out after the first try – but not Mike. There was something inside him that craved the bitterness – yet needed some of the milk to at least let it taste like something. Pure black coffee was even too much for him. “I really didn’t know this, thanks for telling me, mom!”
Will had to hold back his laughter. “Of course, honey.”
Mike sat down on the chair in front of him, stirring his coffee. “Are you going to tell me about the news now?”
The other bit his lip. “Well, you know for how long I wanted to draw comics, right? I mean like a real comic, not just one I made up.”
Mike nodded as answer.
“And for how long I’ve been sending out applications to publishing houses.” The excitement in Will’s voice grew from word to word.
Mike just nodded again. He knew all of this – even how many applications they were by now. About a hundred over the last three years alone. All of them either ghosted or rejected him. Mike never understood why though. Will’s artworks were perfect – these stupid publishers all just couldn’t see his potential. But that was their loss.
Slowly he put the information together in his head. But before he could place the last puzzle Will already gave him the answer.
“You won’t believe this but… a publishing house actually wants to hire me!”
Mike almost spit out his coffee out of his cup. “Wow, Will this is… this is great! I’m so proud of you!” But something was wrong – The smile in his face started to fade. He slowly licked his lip. “There is just this one problem…” He began. “The company – It’s in Seattle.”
In this moment something in Mike twitched. It was like his stomach, lungs, and heart – all of his organs actually – created one big knot. But Will didn’t seem to notice. He just kept trying to explain to him what great opportunities this would mean.
“Seattle?” Mike asked. “That’s in Washington, dude.”
“I know.” Will said. “But this is the only publishing house that would like to hire me. I’m tired of sending out thousands of applications. I don’t want to wait and try out for another one.” He paused before he kept on talking. “And also…” Will almost didn’t dare himself to say it. “Maybe it’s better if I finally get out of Hawkins.”
The knot got tighter with every word that came out of his mouth. “Out of Hawkins? You want to leave Hawkins?” This couldn’t be real. Mike knew about all of the applications, but he never thought about Will actually moving away. Not until today at least. “Aren’t you happy here? I mean it’s… it’s over. Vecna is dead, nothing will happen anymore. You don’t have to leave.” Mike couldn’t understand this. Yes, not everything was perfect – but moving to the other side of the country?
“Mike, what the hell?” Will asked in shock. “You know I’m definitely not happy here. I don’t care if we defeated Vecna – this town is a shithole; you know that better than anyone else. And you can’t tell me you’re happy here yourself.”
Will was right. Mike was everything but happy. He was lonely, depressed, and overall, just tired. “But you can’t just leave me like that! Not like everyone else did!” He blurted out. There was still too much pain and hurt from everyone, he loved starting a new life far away from this place. “Hawkins is not the same without you. You’re the only one I have here.” He tried to explain.
“You still have your family, your job – your colleagues.” Will attempted to calm him down. And somehow, he was right. Nancy and Jonathan didn’t leave Hawkins (yet). But the job and colleagues? He talked to them so much as he talked to a professional therapist. Which meant like never.
“Yeah, but like I said – that’s not the same! I want my best friend. I need my best friend.” Deep down he knew this was probably the most selfish thing he had ever said. Even more selfish than the things he said to him on that rainy summer day back in ’85. But the fear of losing Will (again) was too strong. Mike knew how much he has wanted this for basically his whole life – and it wasn’t like Mike wouldn’t have wanted that for him too. But Seattle? That was way too far away. Basically a second Lenora Hills. Why not something like Indianapolis?
“You know what?” Mike tried desperately to form his thoughts and feelings into sentences but instead of real words only stammers would come out of his mouth – until he exploded. “Fuck you, Will! Go to Seattle but leave me alone with it!”
Will looked at him in complete shock. This was like ’85 all over again. While Mike didn’t even meant to say this, his anger and all the hurt he felt just overcame him. And now it was too late. Too late to take it back. He didn’t know what to do, only that he could not bear Will’s face any longer. So, he stood up, took his shoes, and ran out of the apartment to his car. On the way he realized he forgot his jacket – the rain poured down on him mercilessly.
With his heart rate going faster and faster, his breath heavier and heavier, his mind full of insults (rather to himself than to Will) and chaos; everything around him just got so loud. The other cars on the street, the wind, the rain dropping down on the windshield – everything.
So, when Mike finally sat down in his car he just screamed. He screamed so loud he was sure the whole town could hear it. His voice was full of rage and pain. In all of his exasperation he didn’t know what else to do. This was the only way to regulate his emotion. And even this did not help him.
How could his best friend do this to him – how could he just leave him?
He looked up to the house door of the apartment complex – the lights went out but the door was still open. Mike waited some time, but Will didn’t come after him, no matter how hard he wished he would. This time he really fucked up.
Maybe this was what he deserved for being such a selfish asshole. They weren’t kids anymore and Will knew his worth by now; he didn’t have to run after Mike anymore.
Tears ran down his already burning red cheeks. “God, I am so stupid.” He whispered to himself while brushing them off. But it didn’t help, they were like a waterfall – they just kept running.