Chapter Text
1985
“Hey, hey, eight centimeters, eight centimeters!”
“But we’re just reading comics!”
“Yeah, but you’re an alpha in the middle of adolescence, so I don’t have to trust you, Wheeler,” Hopper pointed out from his recliner.
“But she’s just my friend, and besides, I’m with Will,” Mike complained, and Eleven nodded, not really understanding why Hopper was so worried or angry just because they were reading comics together.
What happened after attacking the Mind Flayer and the deaths at the lab?
What Mike liked most, above everything else, was that now he was with Will. After feeling like he was losing him for the second time, after seeing how something from the Upside Down controlled him and hurt him, Mike gathered the courage to ask Will if they could dance together at the Snow Ball. At first, Will was nervous. He had presented as an omega just a few weeks earlier, and being so close to an alpha felt strange, even if it was Mike. For a moment, he thought Mike was joking with him. But when they started dancing and Mike kissed him without warning, Will realized it wasn’t a joke. And that’s how they started dating, just like Max and Lucas did a few months later.
For Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Byers, it was incredibly sweet to know that the childhood friends were now together and that they were each other’s first love. Jonathan and Nancy were a little surprised to find out that their siblings were dating too.
Their relationship didn’t change drastically.
Since Will had presented, Mike had been more protective and more attached to him, but now the difference was that Mike couldn’t keep his lips off him. Sometimes Will asked him to play Dungeons & Dragons with him and the others, but Mike found it much more fun to kiss his boyfriend.
Another thing that happened was that Mike and Eleven became very close after Hopper revealed she was alive and that she was staying with him, and after Mike got furious with Hopper for hiding it from him. They grew closer, and Mike made it his mission to help Eleven feel like a normal girl.
Months passed and summer arrived.
Starcourt opened its doors, bringing with it part-time jobs, suffocating heat, and the strange feeling that everything was changing, even though no one could say exactly how. The atmosphere felt off, but no one knew why. Dustin was about to return from summer camp. Lucas and Max were breaking up and getting back together. Jonathan and Nancy worked at the newspaper. Karen and Holly spent their days at the pool. Ted Wheeler was… just there.
•
“You’re late,” Lucas complained.
They had left Hopper’s house to get to Starcourt to go to the movies with their friends and his boyfriend.
“We’re going to be late if you keep whining,” Mike rolled his eyes and grabbed Will’s hand to enter the mall, with Max and Lucas behind him, complaining.
The scent of so many pheromones still affected the boys; even though they had presented almost a year ago, it was still overwhelming for them.
“You wouldn’t be late if you didn’t spend so much time reading comics with Eleven.”
“I’m sorry I want to teach my friend about Reed Richards and Sue Storm.”
“You showed her the Fantastic Four? Wow, I didn’t think you had good taste, Mike,” Max raised an eyebrow and commented mockingly.
Will squeezed Mike’s hand a little, trying to keep them from starting an argument right there. Mike raised their intertwined hands and kissed Will’s hand, letting him know he heard him.
“Oh, gross, that’s so cheesy.”
“Oh, sorry I want to have a romantic moment with my boyfriend.”
“I’m having a romantic moment with my girlfriend,” Lucas stepped closer to Max and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Mike and Will went first, heading down the escalators, with Lucas and Max following behind, asking for permission and apologizing if they bumped into anyone on the way down, but they were running very late for the showing.
At the bottom of the escalator, Mike bumped into someone first, but he apologized and grabbed Will’s hand again to keep going together. That was something a little new. It was very rare for Mike to be far from Will. If he was far away, it meant Mike was with Eleven, teaching her about life. But it was always like this:
Mike and Will.
“Watch it, nerds.”
Mike turned and looked at Lucas’s younger sister, who had presented as an alpha a few weeks ago, something that surprised no one.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Lucas asked his sister.
“Isn’t it your time to die?” Lucas turned around when he heard Erica and her friends laughing.
“Psychopath.”
“Idiot!”
“Street rat!”
“Fart face!”
Lucas made a disgusting noise at his sister, and Max turned around angrily.
“That was very mature.”
Mike rolled his eyes, and Will just let out a laugh. The four of them went into Scoops Ahoy, where Steve worked, unofficial babysitter, best hair in Hawkins, and Will Byers’ ex-brother-in-law… yeah.
“Hey, dumbass, your kids are here!” The four watched as Steve opened a window behind the cash register.
“Again? Seriously?” the alpha asked.
And just like that, Steve helped them sneak into the movie theater again through a secret door that no one—no one!—was supposed to know about.
•
From that moment on, everything started going to shit that summer for Will Byers. The chills came back after the power went out in the theater. He knew it wasn’t a coincidence… but he had to pretend to his friends that everything was fine.
Dustin returned from camp and announced he had a girlfriend. Dustin Henderson, with a girlfriend, Suzie, with a Z. And he made them climb the highest hill in Hawkins so he could talk to her using the device called… he couldn’t remember what it was called.
To his left was, obviously, Mike, squeezing his hand tightly, fingers intertwined as if he were afraid to let go. To his right was Eleven, who had somehow also become very close to Will since Hopper and Joyce had grown closer.
So he was surrounded by his favorite people: his friends and his boyfriend.
“What time is it?” Eleven asked Mike.
“Almost five.” The three of them knew that meant El had to go back home or Hopper would kill Mike for not being able to take care of his daughter.
“Hey guys, this is fun, but—” Mike let go of Will’s hand to point at his watch.
“I have to go home,” El replied.
“We’re almost there,” Dustin said, pointing at the hill, without much hope.
“Sorry, man. It’s time to head back,” Mike said. He grabbed Will’s hand again to go down with them, but Will didn’t move. “Will?”
“I… want to stay with them. You can go with Eleven so she gets home safe,” Will swallowed when Mike looked at him with that pleading expression, the same one he used every time Will said he had to go to the bathroom alone or had to leave early.
He wanted to stay.
And he also wanted Mike to go with Eleven and not get in trouble with Hopper.
“Are you sure? I could tell Hopper I fell or that we got delayed or something.”
Will shook his head quickly.
“No. Go. If Hopper gets mad at you again, it’ll be worse. Besides…” He looked at Dustin, Max, and Lucas. “It’s fine. I like staying with them.”
“Thanks, man,” Dustin said.
Mike hesitated. He could leave any of his other friends behind, but Will was his boyfriend. He sighed. Still, he didn’t want to leave Eleven alone.
“Okay,” he said, squeezing Will’s hand. “Don’t take too long, okay?”
Will nodded and let go of his hand. Mike gave him a quick goodbye kiss, even though he didn’t want to leave, and then turned around and started going down the hill with Eleven.
“Curfew?” Dustin finally asked.
“A new Hopper rule,” Lucas explained, and Dustin nodded in understanding.
And that was their afternoon and night, unsuccessfully trying to contact Suzie. Max and Lucas were the first to leave, and Will had to follow them because he had a rule at home: return before it got completely dark. So he had to leave Dustin.
But the summer continued.
•
But the summer kept going, and everything went to hell.
First, Mike and Eleven fought. According to Mike, it was because Hopper didn’t trust him for being an alpha and because Eleven hadn’t presented yet, and his alpha instincts were affecting things. So he told Eleven she couldn’t go out to buy something for her grandma. After that, he locked himself in his basement with Lucas, talking nonstop about how to fix their friendship and regain her trust. It was pretty sweet that Mike felt like a bad friend and wanted to fix things, but it was starting to get annoying, and Will just wanted to play D&D.
They went to the mall to buy something for Eleven that said: “I was the worst best friend in the world.” On the way, Mike even saw things he could give to Will. Will wasn’t very interested in being there. He preferred playing with his friends. With Mike.
“Can we play now?” Will asked.
“No,” Mike and Lucas replied, annoyed. They hadn’t found anything, and Lucas was sure Max hated him for not seeing her all day.
They left the mall to get their bikes and go back to Mike’s basement. Will was starting to get irritated too. He wanted to play, and they were busy fighting with their girlfriend and friend.
“What a nice surprise!” The three of them heard Max’s voice. She was with Eleven and looked very… different… Shit. She was outside, in public, in a place where she wasn’t supposed to be.
“What are you doing here?”
“Shopping.”
“It’s her new style. Do you like it?” Max asked sarcastically.
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know she can’t be here?”
And that’s how the fight started. Mike, Max, and Eleven argued about why Eleven couldn’t go out and why she had to hide. It ended with Eleven telling Mike he was a bad friend.
Will felt a small sense of relief.
•
Now it was Will who was fighting with Mike and Lucas. Especially with his idiot alpha boyfriend. He had only asked to play one game, just one, the only one that summer. Lucas and Mike mocked his campaign, and what hurt the most was that Mike joined in. He turned off the music, took off the costume, and yelled at both of them.
The argument continued outside Mike’s house. It was raining, and Will was already getting ready to go home when Mike grabbed his arm to stop him. That was when the real fight started. They had never fought like this, not even as friends. This was different.
“God, you’re such a crybaby, why do you always have to be so dramatic, God, omegas are so dramatic!”
Will’s expression changed in an instant, from angry to deeply disappointed and sad. He could accept hurtful comments about omegas from his father, from religious people, or on TV, but hearing it from your boyfriend was the worst thing that could happen to anyone.
“Fuck you, Mike.”
Will went to his bike and started pedaling, not caring about the shouts Mike was making from the porch of his house.
Will got on his bike and started pedaling, not caring about the shouts Mike threw from the porch.
No wonder Eleven was so mad at him. He was a bad boyfriend. And a bad friend.
•
And something came back. Will felt it when he destroyed Castle Byers, the only place that still remembered his childhood. Now it was gone, destroyed by anger.
They were back in Mike’s basement with the group, except Dustin, because no one knew where he was. Will explained what he had felt. He said it was worse now, that the Mind Flayer was trapped there with them, in Hawkins.
The Mind Flayer had returned.
And now the host was Billy Hargrove. Billy, Max’s stepbrother. Another omega in town.
It seemed to like omega and male hosts. Great. Now they needed a plan: put Billy in the sauna to be one hundred percent sure he was possessed.
While they worked on the plan, Will stayed silent with Lucas and Mike. Especially with Mike. He spent more time near Eleven and Max. They didn’t ask why, but they had a pretty clear idea of the cause of his silence.
He sat on a nearby rock to watch Billy. He wondered if Billy also felt bad for being an omega. Jonathan had felt so bad for being an omega. Max complained constantly. And Billy and Will had two things in common: being hosts and being omegas.
Will stayed there, elbows on his knees and hands together, watching Billy from afar. He knew Billy was a bad person, but still, it was strange.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“Are you okay?” Max asked, carefully approaching him. “You’ve been a little… sad.”
“Yeah… I was just thinking about something I heard,” Will said. Max looked at him with pressed lips.
“Boyfriends are idiots.”
“Yeah. Sometimes,” Will said.
Max gave him a small punch on the shoulder, her way of comforting him.
“Hey, Will, can you help me? Please?” Lucas asked.
Will nodded, still a little angry about what had happened the night before, but now there were more important things. While he helped Lucas, he tried to apologize, but Will didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want apologies. He just wanted peace and to focus on the tools they were looking for to trap Billy.
While they waited, Will felt Mike trying to get closer. Trying to apologize. Offering excuses for what he said on the porch. Making jokes to lighten the mood, to pretend everything was back to normal. No real apology. Just scattered comments, awkward attempts to normalize things, as if he could rewind time and erase that word: omegas.
Will listened. He nodded sometimes. But he didn’t look at him. His hands were busy adjusting cables, checking a knob he had already checked three times.
“What I said… I was just angry, okay?”
“Yes,” Will finally replied, without emotion.
•
They locked Billy inside the sauna. For a moment, Billy snapped out of it and told Max what was happening. That it wasn’t his fault. That he was being forced to do horrible things. Billy was terrified. He didn’t know what to do. Then the thing possessing him took control again and escaped.
Everything went to shit. Billy attacked Eleven. Mike tried to stop him to protect her. Everyone fought, trying to keep Billy from hurting anyone else. But he escaped.
Nancy and Jonathan joined the group. The crazy woman who had been eating fertilizer had a seizure at the same time they attacked Billy, which confirmed Nancy’s theory. The Mind Flayer was already attacking, and they needed to know who else had been possessed. The only thing they knew was that Billy had taken Heather and her family, but no one knew where they were hiding. There was only one clue: Mrs. Driscoll. She could show them where the lair was. New plan: go to the hospital and follow her.
Only Nancy and Jonathan went in. The rest had to stay in the waiting room.
Mike didn’t know how to approach Will. Somehow, Eleven and Max had been taking all of Will’s attention, keeping him from talking. Will told Eleven that she told Max what Mike said about omegas, that omegas were “dramatic,” which made Max furious. She did everything she could to keep Mike away, and he was convinced they were conspiring against him.
Then Lucas said he would distract the girls so Mike could talk to Will, who was sitting in one of the chairs, reading an old magazine.
Mike sat next to him. Will didn’t even look at him. Mike shook a bag of candy and offered him some. Will simply held out his hand without looking.
“So… now you’re closer to Eleven and Max too.”
“Yeah, I guess. They’re fun,” Will nodded and looked at him. “Max is fun.”
“Yeah, sure,” Mike said sarcastically.
Will let out a small, humorless laugh.
“I didn’t know there was competition.”
“Will…” Mike lowered his voice. “About yesterday… I’m sorry. I was furious because Hopper wouldn’t let me be Eleven’s alpha friend, and I didn’t want to lose her. Do you understand? I was a bad boyfriend for saying that about omegas. I just… I messed it up.”
“You were rude. I just asked to play for a bit. You and Lucas mocked me, and then you said that,” Will said, going back to the magazine.
“I know. And I’m sorry, okay? I’ve been a complete idiot.” Will smiled slightly. Just slightly. “Yeah. I guess you have.”
“Yeah, but I still love you,” Will said.
Mike kissed his forehead.
Mike stayed there a few more seconds, sitting next to him, as if that kiss had fixed everything. Will went back to the magazine, but he wasn’t reading anymore. He was just flipping the pages without seeing them. Slowly, Lucas, Max, and Eleven sat nearby, starting a brief conversation.
Mike thought they were fine again, that it had just been a strange fight, their first fight.
Will knew they weren’t, that something was starting to fracture.