Work Text:
HAWKINS, 1979
Getting to spend less time playing with Will was probably Mike's least favorite part about coming back from Winter Break. Not the homework, not Mr. Richards and his weird mustache, not even that mouth breather Troy. And sure, class was fine and all, he got to be in Mrs. Bailey's homeroom with Lucas and Will. But it wasn't the same as just being with Will in his basement. Nothing could compare to that, Mike thought.
But despite all his wishes that some miracle would happen and they would extend break, Mike found himself back at Hawkins Elementary, standing by the doors and waiting for his mom to leave so he wouldn't be embarrassed. (seriously mom I'm fine! You don't have to walk me in like I'm a baby!)
Will usually got there a little later, something to do with his dad oversleeping or Mrs. Byers needing to go to work. Mike didn't mind being late to class if it meant walking in with Will though. It was their routine; they'd walk in, be forced to sit across the room due to the "incident" (Mrs. Bailey it was an accident! How were we supposed to know the marker was permanent, the label was wiped off!), and then slowly but surely build the confidence to beg Mrs. Bailey to let them sit together just this one time. This "one time", of course, was everyday. Mike thought Mrs. Bailey might've been playing favorites with Will, I mean who wouldn't when he flashed his signature shy smile (and also the piles of art he'd made for the class, but Mike was sure the smile was the leading factor.) Regardless of the reason, today would be no exception.
Mike watched as his mom slowly drove away, giving her a passing wave, and waited what felt like hours until he saw Mrs. Byers' car roll up. Will stepped out of the backseat first. He and Mike had hung out the day before, but Will had to go home early so that Mrs. Byers could give him his 'back to school' haircut. It was, of course, the bowl cut. Mike loved it, regardless of other students teasing. It fell around Will's face perfectly, to the point it didn't even seem like a common style, it felt uniquely Will.
He was also wearing a new top that Mike had never seen before. It was a little big, and awkwardly fitting (probably hand-me-downs from Jonathan) but Mike couldn't see Will as anything but perfect. Some of the kids teased Will for being "girly" and a "pretty boy" but Mike couldn't wrap his head around that. Will was pretty. Very pretty, Mike thought. Especially today now that he was back in his line of sight after 15 cruel hours.
Mike vaguely saw Mrs. Byers give Will a smooch on the head and drive off, but what he was more focused on was the way Will beamed at him when he finally, finally noticed his presence. He giggled and hurried across the grass, Mike meeting him halfway and pulling him into a hug. Will had gotta a little taller over the break, so Mike's head rested by his shoulder (which, in all honesty, wasn't a bad thing. Mike quite liked the crook of Will's shoulder. He felt happy there, complete. Even if he grew past Will in the future he thinks he'll always find peace there).
Will pulled back with a giggle, "hi," he said softly, big toothy grin on his face.
Mike mirrored his expression, "Hi," he beamed.
Will's voice was one of Mike's favorite sounds. Will didn't speak very much-- he didn't have to, not with the way Mike somehow always understood-- so every time he treated Mike with a word or a small phrase made Mike's heart full.
"Are you ready to go to class?" Mike asked. Will nodded eagerly, grabbing Mike's hand and dragging him through the school doors, skipping every few steps of the way. When they finally reached Mrs. Bailey's class Mike was pleasantly surprised with the two empty seats next to each other in the back. They both preferred to sit in the front of the classroom, but if two adjacent desks were open then who were they to say no? Mrs. Bailey let out a half-hearted, "Please try to be on time more this year, boys," but she smiled as they took their seats regardless.
As the class settled, Mrs. Bailey began her lesson. Will was bouncing up and down in his seat, visibly excited to see her.
"She's my favorite teacher too," Mike whispered to him. Will looked over and smiled, now kicking his feet in addition to the bouncing.
"You're totally her favorite student too, Will." Mike whispered with a soft smile, Will let out a small giggle at his words and turned his attention back to the front of the class.
"...and speaking of holidays," Mrs. Bailey continued, now unmuffled in Mike's ears as he begrudgingly turned his attention away from Will, "I'm sure most of you spent the holidays with your families! Is that right class?" The 3rd grade class erupted with 'Yes!'s and a few 'I was with my grandma!' or 'I was with my aunt!' scattered around. Mrs. Bailey laughed, clapping her hands rhythmically to regain the attention of the class.
"Good! That brings us to our first project back from break!" She said cheerfully, but the class broke out in 'boo!'s and objections.
"Now, now, class. This is going to be a fun project to get your brains geared up for the final half of the year! You're going to be imagining your own family! You can draw your present one or create a future one! And plus, we get to use supplies from Ms. Dawson's art room! Now doesn't that sound like fun?" The class, like clockwork, returned to cheering. What interested Mike though is the increased excitement coming from the boy beside him, Will nearly bouncing out of his seat and beaming. He didn't cheer loudly like the other kids, but he didn't have to, not to Mike. Mike knew Will loved art, he had a growing binder to prove it.
Will looked over at Mike excitedly, further conveying his feelings with just a simple glance. "You're going to do so good on this project, Will! Your art is gonna make everyone else's look like garbage." Mike said, failing (even though he wasn't particularly trying) to hide his matching excitement at the thought of having more Will art to collect.
Mrs. Bailey clapped rhythmically again to gather the attention of the students. "Now, to start this project, today we're going to focus on marriage, the foundations of a family. Does anyone here know what marriage is?" She asked, looking for participants. There were quiet murmurs until a girl, Mike thought her name was Tracy or Stacy or something, raised her hand.
"Yes, Macy?" Mrs. Bailey said (huh, maybe Mike should pay more attention to the people in his class who aren't Will). "Marriage is when two people love each other," the girl, apparently Macy, said shyly.
Mrs. Bailey smiled gently. "Yes, that's right," she said, "good job Macy," she finished, walking over to give Macy a sticker.
Will stared wide eyed, mouth agape, in awe of the conversation, turning to face Mike who responded with a small smile over furiously blushing cheeks.
"Can anyone be in love?" Some kid, Mike couldn't be bothered to check, asked. Mrs. Bailey smiled softly, and if Mike wasn't too busy staring gleefully into Will's eyes, he would've seen the passing glance she sent their way.
"Yes, sweetie," she said kindly, "anyone can be in love."
The rest of the lesson blurred by as Mike was caught up in his own thoughts. Marriage is when two people love each other. Anyone can be in love. So Will and Mike could be in a marriage? Technically his own parents were married, Mike thought, but they weren't as close as Mike and Will so it must not be a good marriage. Mike figured that he and Will would make the best marriage, and by the look on Will's face, Mike knew he felt the same.
Mike got a ride from Mrs. Byers to their home, despite his dad's complaints that Mike was never home anymore. Mike couldn't help it, he loved being at Will's house. And he guessed he loved Will too, seeing as they were going to get married and all. Besides, how were they supposed to complete the best family project ever if they couldn't work together like a family?
They had it all planned out, Mike would write the words for the poster and Will would do all the art. Mike wasn't sure if Mrs. Bailey had said it was permitted to work in a pair, but he figured with Will's high standing, and their superb collaboration skills, she would give it a pass. Plus, it'd be fun to look back at this when they did get married, Mike thought. He didn't know what age you were supposed to get married, his parents were pretty old, but Mrs. Bailey was pretty young, so he was assuming he'd pop the question at around 12, just to be sure. A four year wait would be torturous, but at least he got to spend time with Will in the meantime. Then they got to do married things like take each other's names (Mike thought 'Mike Byers' sounded kinda nice), watch TV together, and best of all- share a room. It'd be like a never-ending sleepover!
Mrs. Byers knocked gently on the door, letting herself in. "Dinner’s almost ready boys!" She said cheerfully, kneeling down to ruffle Will's hair who was currently sitting criss-cross on the floor, drawing. "Whatcha' working on bud?" She asked, a glimmer in her eyes that Mike only recognized in his own when he saw Will's work- pride. Will excitedly showed his sketch to his mom, rocking back and forth, unable to keep still. It was a drawing of him and Mike. They were standing in suits like the ones Mike saw his dad wearing, in front of a house that looked like it was straight out of Mike's campaigns, which it definitely was. There was the word "MARRIAGE" written in bold yellow text at the top, outlined in blue.
"We're doing a project on family, Mrs. Byers!" Mike said excitedly, Will nodding along. "Me and Will are gonna get married!"
Mrs. Byers' smile faltered, a somewhat sad look in her eyes. "Oh, boys," she said softly, "I'm sorry. You guys can't get married." Will's smile dropped to a frown, and Mike immediately started speaking.
"Is it because I didn't ask your permission?" He said, frantically. "I'm sorry, we weren't planning on getting married until at least 7th grade so I thought it'd be okay to wait to ask!" Will nodded along with Mike's words, looking expectantly toward his mother.
Mrs. Byers chuckled sadly. "No, it's not because you didn't ask for permission, Mike, but thank you for the explanation anyway," she said, patting his head. "I'm afraid it's not legal for two boys to get married, not yet anyways."
Tears spilled down Will's cheeks, breaking Mike's heart even more. "But- but- Mike!" Will cried in confusion. Mike grabbed his hand.
"Mrs. Bailey said anyone can be in love, and marriage is when two people love each other, and me and Will love each other, so why can't we get married?" Mike asked, matching tears running down his face. Mrs. Byers wiped both of their eyes.
"I know you boys are very close and care for each other very much, but this is just where the world's at right now. Do you understand?" Mike and Will nodded sadly. "Alright," Mrs. Byers said, now looking directly at Will. "I can help you fix a new project, but you have to put that drawing away before your dad comes home, okay? It's a very beautiful picture, and I'd love to hang it up, but this is a touchy subject and we wouldn't want to make dad mad after a long day of work, right?" She asked, holding Will's chin up so that he was looking into her eyes, although he still avoided them. He shook his head softly, and that was all the response Mrs. Byers needed. "Good, now you boys come eat, it's getting late."
Mike and Will finished their dinner in silence. Will was quiet, even more quiet than usually. Once they'd finished their lasagna, Mrs. Byers informed them that Mike's mom was at the door. Will glanced at Mike sadly, then hurried off to his room. It hurt Mike that Will didn't even want to say bye, but he figured he was still sad about the project. He said his goodbyes to a smiling Mrs. Byers, and Mr. Byers who seemed a little funny after drinking from some glass bottle.
Mike was about to follow his mom out to the car when he heard his name. "Mike!" Will exclaimed, running to catch him in time.
Mike smiled, happy Will decided to say bye after all, "Will."
Will shuffled nervously before shoving a piece of paper into Mike's hands. It was the drawing from before, only colored in. Mike beamed. "You want me to keep it?" He asked gently with a smile. Will nodded. "Okay then." Mike said, then carefully folded the drawing so that it would fit into his pocket, undetected by his mom. He turned his head to see his mom waiting impatiently in the driver's seat, beckoning him towards her.
"Later?" Will said, his voice coming out small to the point where his question could be easily missed, not to Mike though. Never with Mike. And as such, Mike immediately knew Will was referring to the drawing.
"Definitely," Mike said smiling, Will returning his expression. "And hey, even if it's not allowed by 7th grade, we'll totally find a way anyways. In 9th grade we'll be high schoolers! Then nothing can stop us, promise." Will nodded eagerly, giggling and pinky-swearing with Mike.
"bye." Will said softly, big toothy grin on his face once again.
Mike mirrored his expression, "Bye," he beamed.
With that, Mike walked happily to his mom's car. Getting in the backseat and tuning out his mom's nagging about saying goodbyes quicker as he thought about his and Will's future together. Ninth grade. Six whole years from now. But it was okay, Mike would wait, because come 1985 he and Will would be together, and even better, they'd be getting married. Somehow. Mike hadn't fully planned that part out yet. Either way, Mike was excited, counting down the days (probably like a bazillion or something). Ninth grade. He and Will would probably be more inseparable than they were now, and there would be nothing, nothing, that could tear them apart.
...
Right?