Chapter Text
“Maybe we should call them.”
”We can do that?”
”I think so.”
Mike debates with Lucas near the phone with each other on how to approach their simultaneous break ups with El and Max, completely forgetting about Will and the D&D campaign they are currently playing.
“Yeah, but what would we say?” Mike comments.
Will notices the topic changing. He speaks in character, trying to shift attention back to the game. “We’ll say nothing! The Khuisar tribe still needs your help.”
Mike and Lucas look towards him. Mike speaks out in a bored, bothered tone. “All right, then, I’ll use my torch to set fire to the chambers, sacrificing ourselves, killing the Jujus, and saving the Khuisar.“ He continues sarcastically. “We all live on as heroes in the memories of the Kalamar.“
Lucas speaks up after him. “Victory." They unenthusiastically high five without looking at the other.
Look, Mike knows he's being a little bit of a dick but right now the campaign is definitely not his biggest worry, his biggest worry is trying figure out how to get his girlfriend back. Ex-girlfriend. Whatever.
Will’s face changes from visibly hurt to obviously angry. “Fine.” He tosses the wizard hat and staff he has on to the side. “You guys win.” Will marches to the studio and shuts off the boombox. “Congratulations.”
Okay, Mike is being a huge dick. He watches Will concerned. He’s never been this angry— at least not at Mike— and in this moment, Mike forgets about Eleven.
He tries laughing it off. “Will, I was just messing around.” I mean, he wasn’t. Not technically. And obviously Will can tell that because he takes the wizard robe off next and rummages around the basement to gather his things.
Mike smile falls and he walks around the D&D table. He really doesn’t need to hurt another person right now, especially not Will. Mike looks in his mind for every possible solution he can find to fix this. Usually back tracking and giving a Mike-apology (as the party calls it) works but Will looks like he’s ready to break the boombox over Mike's head. He walks over to Will, now completely ignoring Lucas. Will is what is important right now.
Will is what is important?
Will is what is important.
Mike never says it out loud but Will is always the most important thing to him. That day in kindergarten when everything non-Will associated flew to the empty part of his brain. it was the back where the unimportant information lies. And Mike definitely didn’t like when Will was pissed at him, the rare amount of times that Will is. He tries to desperately rationalize with Will again “Hey, let’s finish for real.”
“Yeah.” Lucas speaks up too, and Jesus Christ, it scared the living shit out of him. He keeps forgetting Lucas is there.
His focus goes back to Will. “How much longer is the campaign?” His mind tells him he should reach for Will— a deep, deep, part of mind. A part of his mind that always wants to touch Will (totally normal btw). A part of his mind that likes when Will touches him. But we’re not talking about that right now, we’re talking about-
Will turns aggressively fast to face Mike and the look on his face shatters Mike’s already broken heart a little more. That was weird. That’s weird, right? Your best friend being mad at you definitely shouldn’t break your heart. I mean, you should care. How much should Mike care? He cares a ton, that’s for sure. ”Just forget it, Mike.” Will snaps at him. He keeps packing his things.
”No” And for the first time throughout this whole interaction, Mike looks to Lucas for some help and actually addresses him. “You wanna keep playing, right?”
"Y-yeah, totally.” Lucas stammers out.
”We’ll just call the girls afterwards.” And in that moment, Mike realizes that bringing up Eleven again was definitely not the right way to go because Will raises his voice, actually yelling now.
“I said forget it, Mike. I’m going home.” Will hurriedly zips his backpack up and stomps toward the basement stairs.
“But… come on, Will.” Lucas quickly gets pushed out of the way.
”Move!”
Will makes his way up the stairs. Mike panics. His chest tightens and he follows Will. He follows Will through the house, out the open garage door, and stands with him outside on Mike’s porch, shielded from the pouring rain. He watches as Will grabs his bike and gets ready to ride it. “You can’t leave. It’s raining.”
He stands opposite to Will. “Listen, I said I was sorry, alright?" Will doesn’t respond. Mike keeps going. “It’s a cool campaign. It’s really cool. We’re just not in the mood.”
"Yeah, Mike. That's the problem." He turns to look Mike in the eyes now. Mike cowers back from eye contact. "You guys are NEVER in the mood anymore. You're ruining our party."
"That's just not true." Mike quips back.
"Really? Where's Dustin right now?" Will question Mike.
Mike thinks for a second and it registers to him he has no idea where Dustin is for a long time. Will is making him feel even more like shit.
"See? You don't know and you don't care and obviously he doesn't either and I don't blame him. You're destroying everything, and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl!" Will exclaims, enunciating every word with an action. His voice grows louder and angrier.
That's not fair. This is bullshit. True bullshit. Why would Will say that? There's nothing wrong with hanging out or kissing you girlfriend. Why should Mike feel bad for having a girlfriend? Lucas has a girlfriend, nobody makes him feel bad about that. And it's Max for Christ sake. Lately it seems nobody wants him and El together besides him and El.
Mike's blood boils. He furrows his brow, taken aback by pure disbelief. He's dating El, what's the problem with that? Will can't understand. He wouldn't. In fact, Mike doesn't get it. He's been by Will's side basically their whole lives, cherishing every moment, every painting, every word, every truth, every lie, every smile, every laugh. He cherished Will. He cherished all his friends, but he loved Will.
In a cool friendship way, obviously.
Because Will is his friend. And he loves his friends. All of them. Will is his friend. Friend. And he loves him. Friendly. Mike backtracks, then realizes there's nothing to back track about because nobody but him can hear he said that (or think, in reality).
No way. Mike loves El. He thinks. That hasn't exactly been a thought for him. But if he's capable of loving Will, he must love El. Right? As Will put it, 'they swapped spit'. And he didn't hate. At all. Mike is not... Mike likes girls. Always has, always will. He was sure. Will can't blame him for that. And he can't blame for that fact he doesn't.
Mike thinks it. He doesn't say, but he thinks it. He thinks it. And before Mike can think not to say it, it comes up like word vomit.
"El's not stupid! It's not my fault you don't like girl." That was not smart. He notices how close Will is now. He also notices the hurt look on his face. He searches Will's eyes, hoping he knows Mike didn't mean that.
Mike takes a breath and he notices he hasn't been breathing properly this whole time. He revokes his glare and speaks in a calmer, still unapologetic tone. "Look, i'm not trying to be a jerk. Okay? But we're not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never going to get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?" Mike doesn't mean that either. He can hear the mocking tone but he can't stop himself. Not when it comes to Will.
Will stands there, the look on his face carving a hole in Mike's chest. He's on the verge of tears and voice wavers from disappointment. "Yeah. I guess I did." Will hangs his head low. He gets on his bike and pedals away, ignoring Mike's voice calling his name.
Mike watches Will ride away on his bike, tempted to follow him in the rain. Will always tempts him to do stupid things, good or not. His chest heaves from heavy breathes. Mike takes a tiny step but remembers where he is. A drop of rain hits his face and he flinches back at the feeling.
He moves, wiping at his cheeks, reddening them. Another drops at the other side, his sight blurring. Is he so pathetic that he's crying after hurting Will's feeling? How ego-filled can one 13-year old boy be? His body feels cold, empty. The rain hits ear. It echoes in slow motion before it slowly fading to the background while he replays the moment from his basement to his garage again. He shouldn't have gotten defensive. Will was right. He truly can't remember a single meaningful conversation he had since Dustin came back from camp.
Was Will right? Was his relationship with El really ruining the Party. It sure as hell just ruined his relationship with Will. Friendship, he meant friendship. Friends... right. Will was his friend. Best friend. Which makes his next thought the worse of them all.
Was El worth ruining his friendship with Will? Mike didn't have to think twice bout that, he feels guilty, but he doesn't have to. Nothing would be worth it. Nothing in this world would tear him from Will. Not even Superman (pun intended). Not even his stupid conservative parents could, the many times his dad tried. Will. His smile was something Mike definitely couldn't live without.
And he practically made Will cry. Who is he kidding? He did make Will cry. Mike gets that disgusting feeling in his stomach when he thinks about Will in a way he knows he shouldn't. Mike liked girls, he was sure of it. He'd heard... stories. Of boys who thought they liked girls. Mike didn't exactly not like girls.
He didn't exactly not like boys either, did he?
His stomach flips and not in a good way. Where was this coming from? He had a girlfriend. A girlfriend he liked. Liked. He likes a lot of things. He likes his friends, he likes D&D, on occasion he kind of tolerated his family, and he liked Will. Even though Will should count as his friend. Right now, El felt more like the friend. Friends who kiss? Thats not a thing, Mike. You're just saying that to make yourself feel better for...
For liking Will. Who's a boy. And you're a boy. You're both boys. And you have a girl. A pretty girl. A strong girl. A pretty, strong girl. A boy. A girl. the words morphed together in Mike's head. Was there actually a difference? It didn't feel like it to Mike at the moment. Right now, it feels like Mike cares for two important people in his life. Why wasn't that okay? No. It was okay. It was very okay. I mean it wasn't okay that he liked someone while dating El. Or not, I guess. He isn't dating El anymore.
His skin burns and aches in shame, his heart pounds his chest. His tears fall faster because he knows what he feels isn't right but he can't help himself. He wants to scream but he can't. He won't ever let this out, he came to terms with that a very long time ago. It would be okay if he liked someone while dating El, just not someone like Will.
A boy.
His friend.
That word started to feel like poison now. Friend. That's all Will will ever see him as. Mike has also come to terms with that too. He thinks. He had to teach himself not to read into things with Will. Looking for things to make himself feel better about that disgusting flutter in his chest when Will dares to look at him. Sometimes, Mike let it himself get excited just to make himself feel better, even though he knows Will really isn't aware of what he's doing. He hates Will for it, though. Letting Mike delusion himself into believing their really was signs. No matter what Will did, Mike was his pathetic friend clinging onto a false hope.
Then Mike got a girlfriend and realized that whatever Mike might have read would've been pointless because there's no way Will and Mike could ever be with each other like that. It was a really stupid thing to think anyway. Not too long ago, Mike would've taken this summer into a special place in his heart but every moment Mike spent with Will felt like a betrayal to El. He was so sure he liked El and he couldn't screw that up because it meant whatever was wrong with him was fixed. Mike was fixed. But now in his quest to fix himself, he ruined Will. The one good thing in this fucked up world.
Mike cannot have that.
A hand touches Mike's shoulder. He jump from shock, whipping around. His breath slows when he sees Lucas.
"What just happened? Did he actually go out in this rain?" Lucas looks behind Mike.
"I think I just fucked everything up" Mike's voice is quiet, clear to anyone close close enough to hear, he's been crying
Lucas makes eye contact. He shows Mike a small note of empathy before switching to confusion "What did you do?"
"What were you thinking, Mike?!" Lucas screams over the shout of the rain hitting the concrete. He pedals a few paces behind Mike, who is laser focused on not skidding and falling of his bike. In truth, he's thinking about what to say to Will.
"I-I don't know. It just... came out. I didn't-" He stops because he truly has no excuse. His eyes water again but he pushes the feeling back down. He has no right. Not when he basically just told Will something that he's been bullied for for God knows long. Something that Mike know he doesn't feel. God, Mike hopes he doesn't feel.
Mike can't see it but Lucas gives him a look from behind him.
They get to Will's house. Mike barely stops before he hops off his bike and rushes to bang on the door. "Will!" He waits a beat. "Will, I'm sorry man, alright? I was being a total asshole. Please, can you just come outside and we'll talk." He waits a beat. "Will, please." He says quieter. He bangs on the door again.
Lucas walks to the window and looks inside. He cups his hand against his face and rest it on the window. He peers into the Byers' living room, seeing the dim lighting. "Hey, Will!" Mike pounds on the door louder. "Come on. man! We're sorry!" He knocks on the window glass. "Will!" Mike pound on the door harder. Then turns to kicking out of frustration.
"Good idea, Mike." His attention shifts to Lucas who's staring at him from his position near the window. "If he didn't want to open the door before, he'll definitely wanna open it after you put a hole in it."
"If you have a better idea, please be my guess." He goes back to pounding the door.
"If you weren't a dick, we wouldn't be out here right now." Lucas fully turns his body in confrontation to Mike. He takes a step toward him. Mike snaps his head in Lucas's direction, glaring. "Don't act like you weren't also being a dick." Lucas turns back to the window and mumbles. "Not like you were."
Before Mike can make a snap comment back at Will he hears a bark from behind him. Him and Lucas whip around to see where the noise came from. They spot a tiny, golden coloured dog. Except the dog was dirty.
"Chester. Do you know where Will is?" The dog yips. Chester turns and heads for the forest. Mike and Lucas give each other a small look before booking it after the dog. Mike thinks to himself that he finally has use of his long, lanky legs because he's far ahead of Lucas.
He spots Will, his back to Mike, on his knees, holding onto a baseball bat. His head is staring down at the broken remains of what Mike can only guess is Castle Byers.
"Will!" He calls to get his attention. "Will!" Lucas yells from behind him. They both fall to their knees on either side of Will. He puts a comforting hand on Will's back and ducts his head into Will's line of sight to try and grab his attention. Will flinches away from the touch slightly and tries to shrug Mike's hand off his shoulder but Mike ignores it. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Will turns to Lucas and Mike tries to pretend like it doesn't kill a little piece of him inside. "He's back."