Chapter Text
It wasn’t like Will thought Mike and El were going to stay broken up forever. Logically—he knew this breakup wasn’t going to last. It never actually did, and that was fine. He loved El; she was his sister, one of his best friends, the other half of the “Wonder Twins,” as Dustin had so eloquently begun calling them. If there was anyone who deserved to be happy, to have someone love them, it was her.
And he loved Mike. He deserved to have the girl he’d always wanted, his personal Superman, the girl he rescued from the woods.
The girl who made his life begin the day they met.
(Not him. Never him.
No.
He only mattered when he was in danger, or when he was possessed, or when there was even the slightest chance of feeling like he was finally, finally, fucking finally getting over Mike—just for Mike to tighten the nearly impossible grip he had on him.)
But that didn’t mean that he didn’t—selfishly, he knew—just…hope that maybe this time it would. Because when Mike and El weren’t together? When they weren’t ElandMike? They got to be MikeandWill again—and God, it was like nothing ever changed when that happened.
Like there was never an Upside Down.
Like there were never Demogorgons or Vecna or Mind Flayers running rampant around Hawkins.
Like—maybe Mike’s life started the day they met on the swings. When Mike asked him, at five years old, if they could be friends. And Will had said yes.
(It was the best thing I ever did.
Mike said that.
He said it.
That, Will was positive, was the day his life started.)
“Jesus H. Christ.” A hand clapped him on the shoulder. “Do they ever fucking stop to breathe?” Dustin hooked his chin over Will’s shoulder as he, too, stared at El and Mike—lost in each other, lost in trading kisses—in front of Will’s locker.
(Okay.
Fine.
It was Mike’s locker, too.
Unofficially.
Technically, it was assigned to just him. But Mike could never remember his own combination, and Will took pity on him because he had never not tried to make Mike’s life easier.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.)
“Doesn’t look like it.” Lucas sighed from beside them. His bag was hooked over one shoulder, his varsity jacket unzipped. “I thought they were still broken up, though. What the hell?”
Max, her board clutched under one arm, scrunched her nose. “She said she dumped his ass! That does not look like dumping his pathetic ass. Jesus.” She sighed.
Will shrugged. “How am I supposed to get in my locker if they’re—doing that?” He waved a hand.
Dustin hummed. Will could feel the vibration of it in his shoulders. It was a comfort he didn’t expect. “Have you tried—gee, I dunno—asking them?”
“I did. I’m not sure they heard me over, well…kissing.” Will squinted.
He just wanted his chemistry book, okay? That’s all. Mike and El could do whatever they wanted. They were allowed to make out. They were allowed to be in love. But couldn’t they just—not do it at his locker?
(Their locker.
Unofficially.)
“This is disgusting.” Max huffed. “Seriously. How the fuck do they do that?”
“It’s sweet,” Lucas shrugged. “Now Mike’ll stop sulking.”
“It makes me wanna barf.” Dustin beamed. “Plus—c’mon, the boy just wants to get his books, guys. There’s literally so many fucking makeout spots.”
“Hu—oh. Hey, guys.” Mike had finally pulled away from El. His pupils were blown, his lips red and kiss-bitten, a dazed little smile pulling at them as his eyes wandered back to El.
“I—hi.” El waved. She’d had her hair pulled back—not that it fucking mattered anymore, since Mike had basically tugged most of it free. “Max. I no longer dump his ass.”
Max sighed, leaning against the wall. “I can see that, El. It’s fine. We’ll try harder next time.”
“There won’t be a fucking next time, Mayfield—” Mike scowled.
“There will.” El smiled up at him. “You make me mad, I dump your ass, and then kissing.” She giggled. “It is our routine.”
Mike grinned back at her, lovestruck.
Will was going to be sick.
“Can you guys—uh. I need my chemistry book.” Will finally sighed.
Mike’s eyes flickered over to him, then—like he’d just realized Will was even there. “Wi—Will! Hey!” He tried to be casual.
He failed.
“Hi, Mike. Can I have my book, please?”
“Ye—yeah! Totally! Chemistry, right?”
“Jesus—dude, just grab the fucking book, you’re so awkward, oh my God.” Dustin groaned behind him.
Will pinched the arm Dustin had wrapped around him. “Your chin hurts.”
“You’re buff now, man. What the hell could my chin possibly be hurting?”
“I’m not—”
“You so are.” Lucas nodded appreciatively. “Are you sure you don’t want to sign up for basketball tryouts?” He grinned easily. “I bet I could convince the captain to give you a spot.”
“Dumbass, you are the captain—” Dustin snorted, finally detangling his chin from Will’s shoulder to push Lucas, who pushed back, who got pushed back, before they were both shoving and sending Max and Will in opposite directions.
“Shit! Sorry, Will!” Dustin muttered as he hauled him back up. He dusted off the back of Will’s shirt while Lucas was busy pleading for forgiveness from Max.
“Oh, fuck off, Stalker. Knock me down again and I promise I’ll—” Max began.
“It’s okay, Dustin. No harm, no foul, right?” Will tugged his own bag closer. “Can I have my book now, please?”
“Shit—yeah—sorry!” Mike fumbled around before finally holding the book out. “You coming over after school? Figured we could do a movie night.”
“Hell yes!” Dustin cheered. “The party’s been reunited!”
“We’ll be there.” Lucas nodded.
“I’ll be there. Lucas might be dead before the day’s over with.” But Max was grinning, her hip bumping into Lucas’. It was sweet.
It did nothing to help the nausea he was still feeling.
Nothing to help the way tears burned behind his eyes.
Nothing to help the ache in his throat.
“Will?” El frowned. “Are you going to come too?” Her eyes were wide, earnest. His sister. The sweetest girl he’d ever known. “You love movie night!”
“I’m not sure.” He finally smiled as he tugged his chemistry book out of Mike’s hands, making sure not to touch them. “I actually have a lot of homework, you know? Plus, Mom wants me to clean my room, and I’m pretty sure if I don’t, she and Hop will ground me until we graduate.”
A lie.
El nodded solemnly. “He is very good at threatening that.”
“You—what? Your room’s always clean—since when are you messy?” Mike frowned. “You have an organization system for everything.”
“I just—I dunno. Haven’t been in the mood to keep up with cleaning. Really busy lately, you know?”
“But—movie night—” Mike began, then El shifted beside him, drawing his attention back toward her. He got that stupid, goofy smile again, and Will had to go. He had to.
“I’ll see you guys later,” he waved.
Dustin watched him go. “Hm.”
“Everything okay?”
Dustin shook it off. “Yeah, buddy. C’mon.” He ruffled Mike’s hair. “Tell us all about you two getting back together.”
Will wasn’t—technically—avoiding the rest of the party. Was he volunteering to stay back to clean paintbrushes instead of heading off to lunch for the last week? Sure. Was he the first one out of the classroom when the bell rang in any class he shared with any of his friends? Possibly. Was he technically having Jonathan lie to Mike every time he called asking for him? Well—Jonathan liked lying to Mike, so he wasn’t sure that even counted, really.
(Except Jonathan was starting to get suspicious.
“Why am I lying to Mike, exactly?” Jonathan frowned from where he was sitting at the desk in their room.
“Do you really want to know?” Will had cocked an eyebrow from where he was lying on his bed.
“You told me to tell him you went running. Do you even run?” Jonathan frowned. He spun the Rubik’s Cube in his hands, thoughtful. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you run for, like, pleasure, man.”
“I don’t.” Will blinked up at his ceiling. He missed his old room. His old ceiling—the one he and Mike had decorated with glow-in-the-dark stars when they were six and Mike had wanted Will to not be in the dark all alone. “I could, though.”
“I don’t think people run for pleasure,” Jonathan squinted. Because he was a good brother, Will didn’t ask exactly how high he was. “Should we take up running?” Because he was a good brother, Jonathan didn’t pry about why he was lying to Mike.
“I don’t think we’re meant to be runners.”
“Jesus, yeah, no, you’re right. God. Steve would laugh his fucking ass off if he saw us trying to run.” Jonathan winced.
And because he was the best brother, Will didn’t mention that Jonathan had, once again, managed to work Steve into the conversation like it was nothing. But he wasn’t a great brother, so he most definitely noticed the way Jonathan’s cheeks heated up and saved that away to tease him another day.)
The point was, yeah—technically, he was avoiding the party. Except not really the whole party. Just Mike.
And El.
But only if she was with Mike.
(It wasn’t like he could avoid her, really, right? Siblings and all.)
But he had definitely not been avoiding the way Lucas kept eyeing the two of them in the rare moments where Will hadn’t successfully managed to evade Mike.
Definitely not avoiding Max’s pointed stares and raised eyebrows. Or the way she kept asking—outright, which was rude, really—“You avoiding us, Byers?”
(Yes.)
“No, no, don’t be ridiculous,” he’d say. “Just been really busy. Classes and all.” Before he’d all but sprint to class.
He definitely wasn’t avoiding Dustin’s scrunched eyebrows. Except—okay, maybe he was—but only because that look? That was dangerous. That was Dustin’s I’m discovering something and I need to know more, immediately, please look that had been scaring Will since they’d met, all those years ago.
It wasn’t like he was brushing anyone off or anything, really. He took calls—just not from Mike—and he still showed up for lunch for at least the last ten minutes, and he was still, technically, keeping the promise of friends don’t lie.
(Except he wasn’t.
Because sure, no one asked him directly if he liked Mike.
No one asked him if it was because of El and Mike getting back together—again—that he was suddenly busier than ever.
They didn’t ask those questions, no.
But lately, it felt like everything he was saying was such a goddamned lie.)
“William Byers,” a voice sighed.
He dropped his chemistry book. “Shit.”
“Hello to you too.” Dustin grinned.
“Why are you like this?”
“Steve says I’m naturally charismatic, and it makes me overly confident,” he said proudly.
Will sighed and bent down to retrieve his book. “What’s up?”
“Oh, just a little of this, just a little of that.” Dustin’s eyes were alive with fascination. “So, you skipped lunch. Again.”
“I was—”
“Busy, yeah, yeah.” Dustin waved him off. “You’ve said that a million times, buddy. C’mon—walk with me, talk with me.” He looped an arm around his shoulders, spinning them around to come face-to-face with Mike and Lucas. “Jesus, fuck—do you two mind?”
Lucas arched an eyebrow. “Chemistry’s the other way.” He frowned as he clutched his own chemistry book closer to his chest.
Mike scowled. “What are you two doing?”
“William and I have very fucking important business to attend to,” Dustin sighed.
“We do?”
“Shhh!” Dustin hissed. “Yes, we do. Very fucking important. Very big. Very top-secret, actually.”
“You and Will?” Mike frowned again, looking between them.
Will couldn’t actually blame him for that. It was an unspoken rule of the party, really, that when they branched off into twos, it was always Mike and Will, and Lucas and Dustin.
(Except for when it was Mike and El or Lucas and Max.
He wondered if Dustin was ever as lonely as he was when that happened.)
“Will and I,” Dustin confirmed with a nod. “Very important, Michael.”
“With—what?” Mike frowned. His eyes looked Will up and down, like he could see whatever was going on. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Did Vecna—I mean, is he back or something?”
“No.” Will frowned. “I just—”
“Anyways,” Dustin chirped cheerfully, “Will and I are ditching chemistry. Tell her we have urgent business to attend to.”
“What does that even mean?” Mike threw his hands up in exasperation.
“It means take legible notes so Will and I can read them later. See ya!” Dustin waved as he tugged Will along with him.
“Uh—bye?” Lucas called after them.
Will was pretty sure Dustin wasn’t going to murder him. Probably. Except they were in a long-abandoned room that Will was positive was where the Hellfire Club used to meet. Plus, Dustin kept looking at him—eyes squinted, mouth tight.
So. Maybe he was wrong.
“So,” Will finally sighed. “What’s the urgent business?”
“I’m trying to deduce something.” Dustin frowned. He leaned in and squinted harder. “Shhhh. No talking.”
“I’m barely talking—”
“Barely talking is still talking, William. Jesus Christ.” Dustin snorted.
“You’re making me nervous, Dustin. Jesus, sue me.” Will huffed. “I talk when I’m nervous sometimes—”
“Shhhhh!” Dustin pressed a finger to his mouth. Which—gross.
“Your finger smells like bologna, Dustin. When did you last wash your hands? I mean, seriously—”
Dustin scoffed, but he removed his finger.
Thank God.
“Well, excuse me! Maybe you’d know I had bologna for lunch if you’d been there—” Dustin sighed and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m going to say something. And I really need you to be honest with me.”
“Sure?”
He swore that if Dustin was about to ask him something stupid, he was going to scream.
“I think you’re in love with Mike.”
Oh.
Maybe he’d scream anyway.
“I—what?”
“Yes.” Dustin nodded solemnly. “I don’t know if you know this, but you’re in love with Mike—”
“Dustin, I already—”
“I know this might come as a shock to you,” he sighed. “But ever since El and Mike got back together, you’ve been weird. Mike said you started running? Will, that’s bullshit. You hate sweating—”
“Dustin—”
“And at first, I thought maybe you were jealous you were single. Which—you’re a catch, buddy. Really. Anyone would be very lucky to have you.” Dustin patted the top of his head like he was an unruly dog or something.
“Dustin, really, I—”
“But then I saw that it was just Mike you were avoiding, you know? And El—but only if she was with Mike. Obviously you aren’t into El.” Dustin frowned. “I mean, for one, she’s your sister. For two, she’s a girl. So—not El, right?”
“Right. Dustin, listen, I know—”
“So. Logical conclusion?” Dustin grinned down at him, pleased. “You’re in love with Mike and heartbroken that he and El made up. You’re welcome.”
Will sighed. “Dustin, I already knew I was in love with Mike.”
Dustin blinked. “So—this isn’t fucking new information to you?”
“No.”
“What? What the fuck, buddy! You never mentioned it—”
“Why would I mention that I am in love with our best friend, who, by the way, is with my sister?”
Dustin blinked. Again. “Oh. Well. I guess that does make sense.” He scratched his chin. “Does anyone else know?”
“No, Dustin. I’d like it to stay that way.”
Dustin beamed. “Hell yeah! I figured it out before the others.” He clapped. “Now. Onto the more important news I have for you.”
“Dustin, we could be in chemistry right now—”
“Shhhhh!” Dustin waved a hand. “You don’t even like chemistry—”
“I like not failing chemistry—”
“Now, I don’t know if you know this, buddy, but you’ve got it pretty bad for Mike—”
“No way,” Will sighed. “How could I not have known that?”
“Don’t be condescending, William. I am here for you. I am an ally. Your ally, thank you very much.” Dustin grinned. “And I have a plan!”
“A plan for what, Dustin?” Will groaned into his arms. “You keep saying—things! And I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“I’m going to help you get over Mike. Obviously.”
“You—what? Dustin, what are you talking about?” Will finally sighed as he scrubbed a hand over his face.
“I’m helping you get over Mike. Are you deaf? Clearly you need a hearing test—”
Will held up a hand. “You want to help me get over Mike?”
“Obviously, buddy.” Dustin softened. “You look kind of—well. Miserable, man.”
“Okay.” Will nodded. “Okay. Let me hear what you’ve got.”
Dustin beamed. “Great! I made a fucking spreadsheet!”
Will was beginning to really wish he was in chemistry.
By the time Will was back home—Dustin having invited himself along—he was mostly sure he was hallucinating. Probably.
(Except he didn’t think he’d be hallucinating Dustin asking what he thought was most attractive about Mike.
“Is it the bitchy attitude?” Dustin had asked, a piece of paper out in front of him, pen in hand.
“What?”
“The bitchy attitude,” Dustin sighed patiently. “Is that what’s attractive to you about Mike?”
“He’s not bitchy.”
“He is,” Dustin nodded to himself. Will was pretty sure he wrote down: blind to bitchy Mike. Concerning? Yes. Surprising? No. Confer with Steve & Robin.
“Dustin—” Will sighed as he rubbed at his temple.
“Shhh. Let me help you, Byers. Jesus fucking Christ.” Dustin sighed. “Now. How do we feel about his hair?”
“I—Dustin!” Will blushed.
“Ah.” Dustin nodded. Will watched him write: totally in love with Mike’s hair. Weird because not very nice to look at. Will = loves Mike’s rat nest.
“It’s not a rat’s nest, Dustin—”
“Spoken like a boy in love with a weirdo.” Dustin patted his hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you a boy with a better rat nest.”
He wished there would just be a fire drill.)
“Why are you following me?” Will sighed as he unlocked the door and headed to the kitchen.
“I feel like you’re genuinely not appreciating my matchmaking skills, William,” Dustin sighed. “I am best friends with Steve Harrington, you know? I get relationships.”
“When did you last have a girlfriend?” Will scoffed, but grabbed two cups out of the cabinet.
Hop’s keys weren’t on the hook. Jonathan’s coat wasn’t tossed over a chair. His mom’s shoes hadn’t been toed off by the door. They were alone—for now.
“Irrelevant.” Dustin scowled at him. “Oooh—red Kool-Aid?”
“Obviously.” Will used his hip to shut the fridge door. “Ice or no?”
“Ice, obviously. I’m not a fucking heathen.”
“Will? Are you here?” a voice called. “I am home.”
“Kitchen, El!” Will grabbed two more cups when he saw El and Mike in the doorway.
El was grinning. “Dustin!”
“The one and only.” He winked.
“What are you doing here?” Mike frowned.
“I am helping our dear William with something, Michael.”
“With what?” Mike scowled.
“Chemistry,” Will cut in quickly. “Uh—he’s—he is helping me with chemistry.”
“I could help you with chemistry.” Mike frowned, eyebrows furrowed.
“You could. But I’m me, so why not ask me?” Dustin purred.
El smiled as she took the cup he offered her. “I am glad you are not avoiding us anymore. I have missed you.” She squeezed Will’s hand.
He hated that she’d noticed.
He was definitely not winning any brother-of-the-year awards from her.
“Yeah.” He tried to smile. “Me too, El.”
“Mike and I are going to go study in my room. Have fun!” She waved as she turned to go down the hall.
Mike hovered. His mouth twisted like he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what. “I—uh—you’re sure you don’t want my help?”
“Be gone, Michael.” Dustin waved him off. “We are busy.”
“You’re drinking Kool-Aid. That doesn’t scream busy, Dustin.”
Dustin huffed. “Michael. There’s a process. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I think I would, actually, Dustin.” Mike glared. “Seriously—I can help—”
“It’s okay, Mike.” Will smiled. “Really. We’re good.”
“You’re sure?” Mike frowned.
“Yeah. Of course. Dustin’s going to be great at helping me.”
Mike paused, his frown deepening. Finally, he sighed and followed El down the hall.
Dustin blinked. Waited for El’s door to shut.
“Hm. Step number one,” he said. “More emotional distance from Mike.”
Easier said than done.