Chapter Text
If you asked Mike Wheeler how all this started then he'd probably say he doesn't know . He'd look at you with those puppy sad eyes, straight in the eye and he'd say he had no idea. For many others, they'd believe it. They'd probably drop the question and move on to another topic. Others would but not Nancy Wheeler. Not Lucas Sinclair either. Because the two of them knew Mike much much better than that.
The two sat in the small dorm facing the dark haired man before them, carefully watching him and listening to every word he was saying.
"Just let me get this straight." Lucas said once Mike finished narrating the details of why he'd urgently summoned them on a random Tuesday in the middle of the a workday.
"So two months ago Will, your childhood best friend Will, one of my best buddies Will, confessed his feelings for you and asked you out right? " Mike gave a stiff nod, unable to be nonchalant with the tone Lucas was using but deciding not to take offense at it thus keeping his mouth sealed.
"You being you, ended up agreeing and decided to go on these dates right? ." Nancy continued, gaining another nod from Mike.
"But then three weeks ago, you went to see mom and Holly in Lenora where you met a girl whom you describe as utterly magical , instantly fell for this girl then spent those two weeks in Lenora getting to know her? Is that right?"
"Right"
Nancy could only gape as she looked at her brother intently as if he'd grown a second head, as if to see through him and dissect his every thought to arcertain that she was in fact speaking to her brother.
"Well I've gotta say, it's not as simple or as easy as you're making it sound but yeah, pretty much." Mike started, his cheeks flaming from the scrutiny the two were giving him.
He had chosen to talk to only them about his issues because he knew they'd be blunt with him, would listen to whatever he tells them yet they'd not judge him or look at him differently for it but it was still mortifying to hear them lay it out like this.
"No shit it ain't dude. This some different kinds shit you got yourself in man. Like, you got yourself in deep shit Mike."
"Lucas please."
"Sorry." Lucas said raising his hands in apology feeling chastised. Nancy did always terrify him and it was obvious in her voice that right now she was on a mission and did not welcome the interruption.
"Mike. What were you thinking?" she scolded."I know you told me that you're not sure this thing between you and Will will work since you're scared it may ruin your friendship and you're not certain you'd ever feel any true sense of romance for him, but still..." Nancy said, exasperation dripping from her every word. God she loved and adored her brother so much but sometimes she just wanted to take a pan and bang it on the back of his skull.
" I know Nance alright, I know. "Mike replied back sounding just as exasperated.
" Wait what? I thought you liked Will. Like romantically and stuff? "Lucas piped in, surprise dripping from his voice.
Mike sighed before standing up and running a hand through his hair. He'd told all his friends when he'd accepted Will's proposal that he thought he might be developing feelings for their other friend, and at the time he'd wanted to believe it was so but clearly it wasn't.
" Yeah. Yeah I do. But I don't think I like him the way he wants me to. I did like the idea of it at first. The concept of the classic childhood sweethearts turned lovers but it's just not working for me. I mean the two dates we went on? Awkward as hell. At least on my end. Add in that we live miles and miles apart and he's busy with preparing for his first exhibition and I'm getting ready to hand in my thesis, there hasn't been much time for me to connect with him like that. In my mind he's still just my best friend. It just can't register that he could be more, you know. "Mike said, his voice full of sincerity and a bit of sadness.
" I know it's probably different for him cause he said he's liked me since middle school but my brain and body still hasn't registered that Will could be someone I'd get in a relationship with so can you blame me? I go to this quite place that reminds me so much of Hawkins before the murders and strange happenings , meet this beautiful incredible girl who just gets me and I was just gone Lucas. I swear I tried to keep things surface level but she and I? We connected man. It was like I had been waiting for her my entire life. I know I sound cheesy right now but it's the truth. "Mike said, ending his long rant by sitting back on his chair again.
Taking a few moments to fully process and think about what they've just heard, both Lucas and Nancy sat still and just watched Mike who was shifting uncomfortably on his chair, wishing he was anywhere else but here. He knew he should tell them the whole truth and just get it out of the way but he just could not find the right words.
"Also, umm... You see..."he started but trailed off when both of them turned to look at him again.
"What, what is it?"Nancy asked her brother, looking at him with suspicion in her eyes.
" There's more... "Mike began
" More? What more could there be mate? Cause unless she's pregnant or something then I really don't think..." Lucas said with a teasing tone but trailed off as he slowly watched his friend's face take on a guilty look as Mike moved his eyes to the floor.
"No" Nancy said, voice full of disbelief. "Surely you're not serious"
"Nance..."
"Don't you dare Michael Edmund Wheeler . Don't you dare. Tell me it's not true." she said, rage mixed with disbelief accompanying every syllable.
When Mike just said nothing except stare at the floor, Nancy heard herself take a deep shuddering breath. Her heart heavy thinking of what this means for her brother. Sure Mike was almost twenty two but he was still her baby brother. Still living in his college dorm and though he was close to graduation in a few months, a baby would add onto his stress.
Mike was majoring in Literature and with his plan to become a writer, supporting a family would be hard with that kind of career. Her heart was heavy thinking of sweet, kind Will. Will whom she'd known since he was just a kid and whom she knew has had feelings for Mike for as long as she can remember. Though she didn't see him as often as she used to when she and Jonathan were still together, she still remembered him as the sweetest boy with a fragile heart that she wasn't sure would be able to take the heartbreak of knowing the boy he liked was in love with someone else and had a child on the way. Aching also for the girl who will be caught in the middle of this mess when she was most likely unaware of everything going on . For the tiny unborn creature in that girl's stomach that her brain was trying to come to terms with theur existence who would one day call her aunty.
"I swear Nance I tried to tell him but I just haven't found the right time. I did tell El though, she was a little mad at me but she understood and gave me a chance to make things right. I'm terrified for her and the baby but I love her so much Nance. So darm much I feel like I'm suffocating from how much I love her. I know I probably sound insane to you guys right now cause it's just been a month knowing her but I knew Nance. From the first day I ran into her in the rain and she offered to share her umbrella with me, I knew right at that moment that this girl was gonna change my life. I love her and I love that baby and will do anything for them to both be safe. Anything. "Mike said, his voice shaking yet firm and unwavering in its conviction.
Nancy had never heard her brother sound so anguished. She'd never heard him sound so passionate. So... utterly and devotedly in love. That was what it was. Her little brother was very much in love, that she could not dispute .
Ever since high school when Mike had told her he liked both girls and guys, he'd dated a few people but none of the relationships had ever gone anywhere. He wasn't a player by any means, no, in fact Mike was too nerdy for that. But he was also careful about who he allowed close to his heart. Their parents' disaster of a marriage having been responsible for shaping how they both viewed romantic relationships. Like herself, she knew he struggled with allowing people too close. And just like her with Jonathan all those years ago, it seemed he'd met someone who had instantly dismantled the defenses around his heart. That he'd fallen in love so hard, so fast it had left him with no thought to be rational thus the situation at hand.
Hearing him talk now, she was elated for him to have finally met someone who made his heart race but she couldn't help but wish it was under better circumstances. She knew from first hand experience what a shitty thing it was to be in love with someone else while you're dating a different person, or almost dating another person as it was the case with Mike and Will. With her mind working on overdrive, Nancy knew exactly what she had to do next.
"You need to call Will and tell him you're coming over this weekend. I'll get you the plane ticket and you can still salvage this. You owe him that much. For both his sake and your friendship's, you need to deal with this head on. " Nancy said, voice leaving no room for arguments and Mike could only nod in agreement.
He'd been avoiding calling Will the past few days ever since El had called him down to Lenora and told him she was pregnant, leaving him both flabbergasted and terrified yet excited and joyful. His emotions had been on a roller coaster ride since he'd met El but he'd be lying if he said he held any regrets when it came to her. He didn't. Not even a bit.
Mike had never considered himself a bold, brave or selfish person but he knew that for her, for that baby, he'd burn down entire planets if he had to. That was how much El meant to him.
It may seem fast for some people but not for Mike. She'd consumed his entire being from the very first second they'd met. He'd been so fascinated with the small town girl who had walked home with him from the book store , shielding him from the rain, whose name he'd learned was Jane Hopper but was generally called El and whom he'd offered a warm cup of chocolate milk as she waited for the rain to let up at his mom's house.
It had been while he was preparing their drinks in the kitchen that she'd somehow come across his half written manuscript for his first ever novel that he must have had left in the living room earlier that day and she had read it or at least part of it.
He'd come back to find her holding the pieces of paper and had tried to quickly get them back, blushing from embarrassment but instead she'd apologized for invading his privacy and handed them over.
Then she'd told him that it may sound cliche but she meant every word but that there was no need to be embarrassed. That his style of writing was captivating and he should share it with the world. And Mike agreed it did sound cliche but something about how she'd said it made him know she didn't just say it for the sake of saying it. That she meant every word. That she really did find his writing captivating and wasn't just saying it to appease his ego the way so many people tended to do to writers like him.
It had been a moment where he'd stared at her beautiful brown eyes, full of sincerity and light teasing yet open, truthful, full of mirth and mischief that he'd felt it. A deep tinge in his heart, as if something just clicked into place, leaving him breathless in how perfect it just felt.
Mike doesn't know how long they'd stayed just stealing shy glances at each other as they drank their milk in comfortable silence, neither needing any words between them, with the rain beating on the windows and their hearts following the same rhythm.
He'd taken her home after the rain stopped and feeling more braver than he normally did, had asked her if she'd be up to showing him around Lenora. He'd watched how her face lit up at his request as she gave him her number, excitedly talking about all the places she'd show him as she planned to meet him the following day that when he'd uttered the words, "you're so beautiful",watched as she paused a bit then blushed and shyly replied "Thank you.", Mike had known he was a goner. At that moment he had not thought of anything or anyone but the girl in front of him. About how beautiful her brown eyes were. How luxurious her long brown hair looked. How delightful the smell of strawberries mixed with chocolate that she gave off was. And it had been that way for the following two weeks he'd spent in the small town. Those entire two weeks had truly been the best of his life, in every way. So when he and El had finally allowed the heat that had been building up between them to take over the day before his flight back to LA, he'd made up his mind that he would end things with Will as soon as he was able to.
He'd already told El everything, not wanting to keep anything from her and she'd not been pleased, the first time in their time together she'd been mad at him but she had understood. Knew that it was never his intention to deceive anybody. He'd been terrified that she may find his bisexuality a hindrance even though he knew from the time he had spent with her so far that she was not that type of girl, it hadn't been less terrifying to fully bare himself to her. But she'd not been grossed out or anything, in fact she'd just gave him a hug and told him this changes nothing between them while joking that one of her friends at the local community College she attended she was was a lesbian.
It had been another moment that had solidified his feelings for her, solidifying that what they had was not just a phase or lust or a fleating feeling. That it was real. It was true. And it was theirs.
So taking Nancy's advice as soon as she and Lucas left, he picked up the phone and dialed Will's number, thankfully finding that he was home and told him about his impending visit. He couldn't help than to wince though at his best friend slash almost boyfriend and his excitement knowing that they had two totally different ideas about his visit. Putting down the phone, he brushed a hand through his hair again and picked up his school supplies, heading to his next class and allowing the busy bussle of the day to distract him from the looming weekend ahead.