Chapter Text
This is going to be the worst summer of his life, Miles just knows it. After everything that happened at his school and with Flora’s most recent teacher, Miles was being shipped off to stay with his extended family – the Wheelers. He’d have to spend a whole month with them in stupid Hawkins.
The scenery zips by quickly outside the car window, Miles watches it pass in swipes of forest green and dirt brown. His mind wanders, considering what Hawkins will be like. He’s pretty sure he’s been there once when he was a baby or something but he doesn’t recall. Whenever his family used to see the Wheelers it would be either at Miles’ house or at some other relatives. What he has gathered though is that Hawkins is a boring little town in Indiana. He dreads the mind-numbing monotony of the summer already. Thankfully he’s brought his guitar, so he will probably stay inside the whole time, play music and wait for it all to end so he can go back to the estate. Maybe at most he could explore some of the woods, find some nice hidden spots; he’s always enjoyed time in nature around their estate.
On the evening of the 31st of May, Miles Fairchild arrives in Hawkins like a phantom. He already feels the drudgery of the town settle upon him and he sighs, resigned. When the car stops at a house on Maple street, Miles sees the Wheeler family standing outside waiting to greet him.
Generally he didn’t really like them. He felt fairly neutral towards his aunt Karen, he didn’t mind her overall but it’s not like he liked her either. His uncle Ted he loathed, that man was such a boring, lazy asshole and he always had a stupid off-hand remark for everything and everyone. Miles could’ve admired that if the things he said weren’t so braindead. His three cousins he liked at varying levels. Holly was probably his favorite out of all the Wheelers as she often reminded him of his own sister. Nancy he could respect to a certain degree but often found her ego too big and her attitude annoying. Lastly, Mike, the worst of them all. They’ve never really gotten along and the hatred was mutual. Miles liked annoying him and finding pleasure in the others' suffering.
Mike didn’t find anything about this situation funny and honestly thought Miles was evil. He also was not looking forward to having this embodiment of Satan in his house. Plus his mom was forcing him to include Miles when he hangs with his friends. And that’s another thing, Mike doesn’t want Miles anywhere near his friends, most of all Will, because he will probably freak them out and Mike can’t have that. WIll doesn’t need that after the two years he’s had. Mike hopes the situation will resolve itself when they all meet and Mike's friends realize they don’t like Miles at all and Miles realizes it’s mutual. Then he will mind his own business and Mike won’t have to see him all summer. Yes, that would be perfect.
When Miles exits the car he is greeted by Karen Wheeler first who welcomes him with a quick hug which he returns with a performative pat. Ted claps him awkwardly on the shoulder and Miles figures that this side of the family is where he gets the cold in his bones. After all Ted was related to Miles’ father. Nancy greets him but doesn’t approach and Holly hides with Nancy. Mike doesn’t greet Miles at all really, but he’s already scowling and is thus made to get Miles’ bags for him and carry them to the guest room.
“But, mom, everyone’s coming over soon! I don’t have time! Dustin’s leaving tomorrow and we’re having a campaign.” Mike whines at his mother who quickly scowls.
“It will only take you a moment, Michael! The more you grunt and whine the longer it takes.”
Mike huffs but goes anyway. His face is painted with this large, ugly glare when he looks at him and Miles smirks, knowing he’s already getting under the boy's skin.
Karen shows him inside and explains where everything is when they hear a smattering of sound by the front door. Then a whole quartet, looking around fifteen, which is the same age as Miles, enters the house like they live here too and greet Mrs. Wheeler. They come up to Miles and start talking to him as if he were Mike.
One of them, smaller than the others with a somewhat silly bowl-cut, asks him “Woah! Mike, did you change your hair? It looks good!”
And that’s when Miles truly looks at him. The other three do not register in his mind at all, only this boy who just seems to glow like an angel in Miles’ vision. He’s breathtaking, he thinks, the boy has somehow found the one spot in this part of the house where the setting sun casts a long golden streak over him. It bathes him in light like he is sacred, something holy. Like a spotlight zeroing in on the most important part of this scene. Truly, Miles feels like his heart has been stolen in one look.
He is about to go up and introduce himself, explain that he is not that idiot Mike, when said idiot comes thundering down the steps. Mike lands heavily and groans in annoyance when he spots his friends already have found Miles. Now that they see the two “Mikes”, the three – a boy with curly hair, a boy with dark skin and a redheaded girl – all begin shouting. They cannot reconcile the fact that Mike has a doppelgänger. On the other hand the sunny angel boy is silently staring at Miles, eyes wide and observant as he also tries to piece this together. And Miles keeps his eyes locked with the boy in an intense staring contest, excitement coursing through him at being looked at with such wonderful sparkling eyes.
Then Mike speaks up, “Guys! Shut up! This is just my evil cousin Miles from Maine, he’s visiting for a month. I literally told you this yesterday!”
“Dude, you did not mention he looks exactly like you!” The curly haired one exclaims.
“Does it matter?! Besides, we're not that similar.”
“Are you kidding me? If you had better hair, you’d be identical!” The redhead grins.
“Whatever. My hair’s fine. Miles, these are my friends, Dustin, Lucas, Max and Will.” he points to everyone as he gives their names.
“Will liked his hair…” Max mutters off-handedly and Mike glares at her.
Miles’ eyes are still locked with Will as he considers his name.
Will.
William.
He figures he likes the name, it suits him. Miles thinks that it has a certain quiet dignity to it and sounds noble. He can already imagine Will fitting amongst the finer things in life.
Max then steps forward first to greet Miles, extending a hand. She figures any enemy of Mike’s is a friend of hers, even if he looks like a sick carbon copy of the boy. But Miles completely disregards her gesture, instead pushing past her and walking up to Will. Miles sticks his hand out, palm up, to Will, who after a confused, flustered moment extends his in return. When Miles grasps it, he uses the moment to turn it over, his fingers splayed against Will's pulse. He’s quietly pleased by the fluttering rhythm as he brings the top of Will’s hand up to his mouth.
“A pleasure, William, truly, to meet someone as radiant as you,” and presses his lips to the back of Will’s hand.
The moment sucks the air out of the room and Miles looks up at Will from under his lashes and his unruly, dark curls, enjoying the pink that dusts the boy's skin. Vaguely Miles thinks he can hear Mike’s head exploding nearby but his attention is solely on Will who soon stutters out a reply.
“U-Uh, ye-yeah, you too, Miles, uh, it’s a pleasure, yeah…” making Miles’ lips quirk up into a self-satisfied smirk.
When Miles pulls away, finally letting the air back in the room, he barely spares a glance at Mike’s other friends, simply tossing out a “Hi, Mike’s other friends.”
Mike is now fully glaring at Miles when he turns to his friends and tells them they should get started with the campaign. Dustin agrees as he has to leave early and they’d only planned a short one anyway. Miles thinks whether he should follow or not, when Mike tells him this is strictly party business, plus Miles doesn't know anything about D&D. He reminds him that his mom is forcing him to include Miles and he will keep up his end of the deal, but Miles can join them for the mall tomorrow. Honestly, Miles hadn’t even wanted to join Mike at all before, but now that he’d seen Will, he was eager to be around the boy more. But he settled for the mall tomorrow, feeling way too exhausted by today's trip to play even somewhat nice.
So as Miles retires, the party head downstairs into the basement and set up the campaign. But they're all still too flabbergasted by Mike’s cousin and continue to talk about him, much to Mike’s annoyance.
“He was a total asshole, right, I’m not the only one?” Lucas asks, everyone nodding along.
Except Will who quietly adds, “I don’t know guys he seemed pretty nice, I mean a bit strange and intense but not that bad.”
“Pfft, of course you’d say that, Will!” Lucas scoffs.
“What?! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Will sputters.
Max then adds, “Yeah, I mean that guy was all over you! He like totally snubbed me and just went straight to Princess Will!”
“Hey!”
“No, for real, Will, you can be innocent but c’mon that guy was like totally all over you!” Dustin adds
Lucas also chimes in with, “Yeah! He was like kissing your hand, man!”
Dustin, Lucas and Max laugh at that and begin to reenact the moment, much to Will’s embarrassment and Mike’s chagrin.
Dustin then pulls Will into it, acting like a dashing prince or something, “Oh, William! I have never met someone as beautiful as you! Marry me! I will whisk you away to my castle on my horse!”
The party laughs, even Will joining in, until Mike, scowling at the display, tells them to knock it off and get back to the table so they can play. They roll their eyes at the party pooper and sit down anyway. When they’ve settled, Mike leans closer across the table to Will.
“Don’t mind that creep, Will, he’s just trying to get under our skin. He’s always been like that, even when we were kids, he’d do anything to annoy me. Just ignore him, ok?”
Will nods with a placating smile and the party erupts into teasing Mike and Will about the interaction. They start up the chivalrous act again and don’t let it go the whole night as Will pretends to swoon. The campaign takes longer than anticipated to complete which Dustin is not happy about in the morning when he wakes up to leave for “Camp Knowhere”.
The morning blooms with pastel yellows and deep oranges, painting the pale blue sky. After a late breakfast, Mike tells Miles to get ready, his friends will be here soon and they’re gonna go see a movie. He also reminds him that he’s only doing this because his mom is forcing him to. So Miles finds something he won’t overheat in and joins Mike downstairs just in time as the party arrives on his doorstep. Miles is then reminded about the only reason why he’s even joining them when he sees Will standing by his bike in adorable little shorts and a striped shirt.
It becomes quickly apparent that Miles is lacking in transportation and Mike does not have a spare bike. He’s almost relieved because maybe that means he won’t be joining them, but Will cuts his relief short when he offers Miles to ride with him. This, Miles thinks, is the best idea anyone's had all year. He gladly goes over and hops on behind Will, tuning out whatever nonsense Mike is spewing nearby. Will asks him if he’s holding on tight and Miles proves it by wrapping his arms around Will’s middle, not around his shoulders like a normal person. This once again flusters Will who fights against the heat in his face just as Mike fights to not kill Miles. The others laugh unbothered and set off towards the mall.
Once they’ve arrived at the Starcourt mall they make their way to Scoops Ahoy! which Miles notes is an ice cream shop. They said they were going to see a movie but he doesn’t question it as he stands next to Will. There they are greeted by Steve Harrington in his sailor outfit as he eventually, after some light prodding, sneaks them into the movies for free. They have managed to sneak into a showing of “Rambo: First Blood Part II” which they aren’t crazy into but it was either this or some overly sappy rom-com, plus a free movie is a free movie.
Will finds his seat next to Mike as usual and Miles quickly drops in next to him, their shoulders brushing as he does. Throughout the whole thing, Miles comments on the movie to Will who either answers with his own thoughts or laughs at the jokes. It lights up Miles from the inside, he adores the attention from the pretty boy. Often people treat him like he’s a freak, which he probably is, but it’s nice to not be judged immediately for once; to not rub someone the wrong way straight out the gate.
He’s finding that Will is the nice, quiet type but he can tell there’s hidden depths there too. There seems to be something kind of sad to Will, a weight to his shoulders that Miles really wants to understand. Will is so immediately fascinating to him that he just looks forward to getting to know him. A bonus of his intentions is that it will definitely piss off Mike.
Mike, who, having to listen to the two whispering and giggling through the whole thing, feels like he might explode. He’s so annoyed by what Miles is doing and a part of him doesn’t understand why he’s so pissed off anyway. This is the sort of shit Miles always pulls, and usually Mike is able to mostly brush it off. But this time, hearing Will giggling is driving him up the wall. And he’s aware that perhaps it’s because while everyone in the party are best friends, Will and Mike are best friends. Whatever, Miles is only trying to get a rise out of him and he won’t take the bait.
As much fun as Will is having talking to Miles, he can’t help the feeling that overtakes him every time Miles turns his intensely dark eyes on him. The look makes him feel like he’s a butterfly under inspection, pinned to a board and unable to flutter free. Will feels a little nervous under his stare, stripped down to his core. But there’s also a sort of dangerous edge to it that excites Will. Something about it pulls Will in, like he’s entered Miles’ spiderweb and can’t get out. Interestingly, he doesn’t even want to, it’s not scary or horrifying at all. Not like it felt being seen by the Mind Flayer, instead it’s like they’re playing a game he’s actively learning the rules to.
Miles has also noted how Will gets flustered and bashful and shy but never pulls away or tells Miles to stop. It excites him to no end, knowing that Will might want this too. He dares to be flirtatious and a bit forward, knowing that if Will told him to stop or felt uncomfortable, he would heed his words. Miles, though he’s not usually as considerate, wants desperately for Will to like him.
They’ve barely watched the movie when it’s ending and they sneak back out, heading back to Scoops Ahoy. There they decide to indulge in some ice cream and sit for a bit. Steve comments on the second Wheeler, asking if this is some more freaky shit they should be dealing with.
“Oh, no, this is some bullshit and I am dealing with it!” Mike huffs moodily.
“Not even a Wheeler either,” Max adds.
Steve raises his eyebrows before Lucas explains, “Nah, man, don’t worry, that’s just his cousin who’s visiting for the month.”
As Mike scowls and stomps after Miles who is pulling Will to a booth, Max pipes up again, “Yeah, if either of them survive that long without murdering each other. Seriously, those two hate each other’s guts.”
Steve nods as he hands them their ice creams, shooing them away. Back at the booth Miles is busy telling Will about his stables.
“Yeah, we have a few horses, but my favorite’s this black one who only lets me ride him. I already learned from a young age but I could probably teach you too if you ever visit!”
“Damn, man, your house is big enough for horse riding?” Lucas asks as he approaches.
“Oh, yeah, I guess, there’s a lot of land to explore. We even have a hedge maze.”
“Woah!” Max exclaims, “I’ve always wanted to go in one!”
Miles does not extend an invitation for anyone else and Mike scoffs, “Trust me you’d rather not go in that one. He’ll just make you get lost and leave you there until it gets dark.”
“That was one time, Michael, you really should be over it, your mom came to get you quickly.”
Mike simply glares until Will speaks up, “I’ve always wanted to learn to ride a horse, y’know, like they do in those fantasy movies?”
Lucas nods, his D&D character literally is supposed to ride a horse.
“Great! Then I promise I’ll teach you sometime!” Miles smiles at Will.
Once the ice cream’s done, they head back out to the Wheeler house to hang out in the basement as being outside today is just too much. When they’re there, Karen greets them, offering lemonade and ice tea which they gladly accept. Will gulps it down hastily, extra winded from having to pedal both himself and Miles around. Miles is busy watching Will’s mouth and the way his throat moves as he swallows. He then excuses himself to go to his room, really not all that interested in watching them play their weird game. Max had also stepped away, saying she’s gonna go hang out with El, have a girls night.
Mike rolls his eyes, ever since Max and El started getting along and hanging out he’s been worried about what things Max is corrupting El with. She hangs out with him less and gets mad at him more often. Half the time he's not even mad about it, just confused because he has no clue what he’s done or not done. Whatever, he’s here now, playing D&D with Lucas and Will.
They play for two hours until they decide to take a small break, Lucas going to restock the snacks, Will going to the bathroom as Mike calculates some things and writes down their progress. When Will is upstairs in the bathroom he hears the soft strumming of a guitar, his ears pick up a vaguely familiar tune. He exits the bathroom to find where it’s coming from and finds himself in front of Miles’ room. Will knocks softly, waiting to be let in, worrying that he’s intruding. Then the door softly swings open and there stands Miles with a bored, closed off face, like asking ‘what’. His expression quickly softens when he realizes it’s just Will. Then he smiles because Will’s here!
“Can I help you with anything, William?” his tone is open and gentle.
“Oh! No! I was just curious because I heard you playing. You brought a guitar?”
“Yeah! I like playing, it calms me down and lets me disappear for a while. Do you play?” He asks in exchange as he ushers Will inside.
Will notes the light blue guitar on the bed and Miles heads over and picks it up.
“No, I-I don’t play, but I wish I did. I could never afford to learn” Will replies shyly.
Miles lights up, “I could teach you!”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. It would be my pleasure and honor, William.”
“Ok, yeah! That sounds great! Thanks, Miles!”
Miles' heart picks up at Will’s excitement, his eyes glittering and smiling. Something unfamiliar but pleasant blooms in Miles.
“Then let's meet up tomorrow, ok? And I’ll show you.”
Will hums in agreement, “Could you play something? Just a little.”
Miles nods and picks up the instrument, his fingers settle in their positions and he begins to play a familiar tune. Will breathes a pleased sigh and hums along, the occasional word slipping through. This is everything Miles could ask for, a pretty, kind boy paying him such close attention. When Miles stops Will tells him it’s one of his favorite songs.
They then talk for a while about other songs they like and find they have a lot in common. His heart beats fondly at the sight of Will’s smile and excited eyes. He promises to show him some more songs that he hadn’t known and Miles promises the same as well.
A sort of silence settles and Miles just plays around with the guitar as Will observes, enraptured. Then it’s broken by the door being opened without warning, revealing Mike.
“Hey, have you seen–” he’s cut off when he spots Will sitting there on the bed with Miles, guitar held in Miles’ lap, “-Will?”
He wants to accuse him of something, to venomously ask Miles what he thinks he’s doing alone with Will, but some remaining reasonable part of him stops while he’s ahead. Instead Mike informs Will that they’re ready to restart and to come down. Will nods and bids Miles a goodbye for now, the silent promise that he’ll call tomorrow so they can arrange the guitar lesson. Miles grins and waves at him, looking forward to it too.
As Will and Mike head downstairs Mike just about interrogates Will on what the two had been doing. Had Miles pulled him in there? Had he ambushed Will? Will knows he can just decline Miles, right? He shouldn’t feel obligated to stay just because Miles is a guest or something. Will stares, a little disappointed in Mike but understanding that Mike just worries for Will. He then explains simply what had happened, that they were just talking about music is all. At Will’s blunt answer and clear dismissal, he drops it and they re-enter the basement, finding Lucas already waiting. They continue with the campaign and Will is having fun but part of him can’t help thinking about spending more time with Miles and the inexplicable giddy feeling it sends through his bloodstream.