Chapter Text
Mike felt stuck. Both in a metaphorical and very literal sense of the word. Here he was, at the ripe age of 17, smushed in the backseat of Lucas’s old olive-green ‘79 Ford LTD; trapped in the sweltering seat in between Jane and Dustin, eyes squeezed shut–hoping, praying for some amount of cool air to sneak its way out of the barely functioning AC system up front, and into the back of this sauna on wheels. That is, until the sound of a bright laugh came from his right, ripping him from his sweaty stupor.
Will, the bastard, had somehow managed to finesse his way into getting the window seat, and was snickering at some joke Dustin had just whispered into his ear.
“Right, Mike?” Mike slowly pried his eyes away from Will’s soft chestnut waves–when had his hair started to get so…like that?–and turned to Dustin.
“Huh,” he grunted, “What’d you say?” This only sent the two of them into another peal of laughter, Will wiping a tear from the corner of his eye while Dustin just managed to catch his breath in order to wheeze out,
“I said, you look like you're actually about to shit your pants, dude. Are you sure you’re okay? Do we need to pull over? I see some good tree cover coming up, you wouldn’t traumatize any innocent drivers passing by, I promise.” Mike’s already flushed cheeks began to shade an even deeper red, as he took on an affronted look and huffed out,
“I’m not about to shit my pants, Dustin, Jesus. I’m just sick and tired of being trapped in Lucas’s shitty old car!” A squawk of offense came from the driver’s seat–Lucas looked away from the road in order to scowl at Mike through the rearview mirror.
“This car is not shitty, Mike. She’s a one of a kind beauty. You’re just mad you’re stuck in the middle seat.”
“There’s no air conditioning!”
“I don’t know about you Wheeler, but it’s pre-tty damn breezy up here,” Max drawled from the passenger side, “I feel like I’m in Antarctica, or something.” Asshole, he thought as Max craned her neck around to smirk at him. He retaliated with a withering glare.
“When are we gonna get there, though,” Will piped in, “And are we sure Steve really has a place for us to stay? I’m not entirely confident in his reliability. The last time we asked him where a good swimming spot was he recommended ‘Wally’s Hole’, which turned out to be a that stagnant, mosquito infested pond a mile out from Lake Tippecanoe.”
“Hush, hush, Byers,” Dustin chided, “We are absolutely set for this week, I promise you. Steve won’t let us down this tim-HEY! Jane, I saw that eyeroll.”
“Remind me how Steve’s mom came to be in the possession of Reefer Rick’s musty-ass cabin?” Lucas inquired from behind the wheel.
“Well, basically,” Dustin sighed, Oh boy, Mike thought, here we go, “It all started after Hawkins split, right? ‘Ol Rick didn’t really want to come back, understandably, so he put it on the market. Turnbow Realty didn’t want to take it because it ‘reeked of the devil’s lettuce’ or some shit, so it went to the only other real estate agency in the greater Hawkins area, which just so happens to be…” he paused for dramatic effect, throwing a wink at Jane, who giggled, “Harrington LLC. They haven’t sold it yet, so Steve told me he’d give us the key so we could kick off this summer right.”
“As long as there’s air conditioning, I’m sold.” Mike breathed, eyes drifting back over to Will, who nodded in agreement, gazing out the window. The chatter of his friends began to fade into the background, Lucas announcing that they were only five miles away, Jane clapping with excitement, and Max letting out a whoop! As she rolled down her window. Mike found himself oblivious to all of these developments and noises alike, instead electing to discreetly stare at Will from under his eyelashes. He watched how his eyes flickered along the treeline as they flew down the old farm road, the hair that he had struggled to tear his eyes away from not three minutes earlier whipping in the summer wind. He was completely content to gaze away for the remaining four and a half miles of the drive, but Will then chose this exact moment to turn over to look at Mike.
Their eyes locked, Will gave him a sort of puzzled look. You okay? he seemed to ask. Mike nodded a quick yes, absolutely, all good here, with a thumbs up to confirm his okay-ness. If anyone questioned why his face had returned to a deep cherry red, he’d just say it’s at the fault of that stupid fucking air conditoner again.
☼ ☼ ☼
Jane was quick to hop out of the car along with Lucas as soon as they arrived, both taking it upon themselves to see who could be the most chivalrous and carry all of Max’s, albeit few, bags into the cabin. Dustin met Steve on the front lawn, greeting him with a teasing punch to the stomach as Steve hooked an arm around his head to muss up his hair.
“They’re so odd,” Mike muttered to himself, shouldering his duffle bag after heaving it from Lucas’s stuffed trunk.
“What, Nancy never goofs around with you?” Will asked as he brushed past him, hand accidentally grazing Mike’s unoccupied arm, “You too are closer now.”
“Not like that,” Mike replied, gesturing over to where Steve and Dustin had now toppled into the grass, a pseudo WWE match now beginning to take place, “if I even so much as poked Nance she’d knock me into next week.” Will chuckled, ducking his head, “I wish I was kidding!” Mike exclaimed, “That girl packs a punch. She may be half a foot shorter than me, but don’t discount her ability to perform a nasty K.O. She’s tiny but mighty.”
“And you are certainly not mighty,” Will noted, poking Mike’s bicep.
“Hey!”
“It’s the truth!” Will called over his shoulder as he picked his way down the steps to Rick’s (Steve’s mom’s?) front porch before disappearing inside. Mike stood for a second, a smile creeping up the corners of his mouth, the residual feeling of Will’s touch making his whole right arm tingle.
“C’mon Wheeler!” Mike stumbled as a stronger, significantly less butterfly-inducing touch nearly bowled him over as Max all but strangled his arm in an effort to yank him up the driveway. “We haven’t got all day!”
“We have quite literally the entire week, Mayfield.”
“Not if you keep standing there like a yearning loser,” Max whispered, a teasing glint in her eye.
“Remind me why I ever told you anything,” Mike groaned, dragging a hand down his face and casting a wary glance down at the short redhead. She tsk’d, shaking her head as she pulled them through the doorway.
“Because, Wheeler, you’re hopeless.”
“Am not!”
“You have no game.”
“Yes I do–”
“Casting him a woeful look with those puppy dog eyes of yours every time he sits next to Jane instead of you during movie night doesn’t count.”
“What? Of course it doe–”
A deep rumble interrupted their conversation as Lucas, Jane, and Will exploded out of the hallway in front of them, voices overlapping as they argued over who got dibs on what bedroom. Will was claiming the basement, and Jane and Lucas were in a heated competition for the upstairs bedroom. Before Mike and Max could jump in on the squabble, Max already rolling up her metaphorical sleeves in order to fight for her desired bed, Dustin slammed the front door shut, making them all jump.
“Who gives a shit about the beds?! Let’s go!” he yelled as he hurtled past them, taking the basement steps two at a time in his hurry to wrench the downstairs sliding doors open, creating a shortcut to the lakeshore. The remainder of the party froze, all glancing at one another in silence for a solid five seconds before they all erupted into a flurry of movement, clambering and squishing together as they squeezed their way down the basement staircase.
“Oh you’re so, so screwed Dustin!” Lucas yelled as he managed to pull ahead of the rest of them, jumping out of the open door and into the outside. Mike, Will, Max, and Jane managed to make it out just in time to catch Lucas make a flying leap, tackling Dustin, both fully clothed, off the end of the dock, creating a splash that echoed out across the lake and bounced off the pines that dotted the shoreline.
“Race ya,” Will said, whispering conspiratorially into Mike’s left ear, “Michael.”
“Oh you’re so on,” he replied, leaning in closer, “William.” Will’s cheeks began to flush a light pink, but before Mike could even register the fact, Will was already pulling away, kicking off his Adidas as he raced down to the dock.
“Shit.”
“See, Wheeler,” Max suddenly appeared beside him, clapping him on the shoulder, “No,” she tilted her head to the left, “game.” she tilted her head back to the right.
“Whuh–huh? Excuse me?” Mike gaped, eyebrows furrowing, “Did you see, what I just did, he–”
“–is beating your ass.” Max replied, jerking her head over to Jane who had perched herself on a nearby rock in order to untie her Doc Martens. “Like I said, you're losing the game. Look–he’s already in the water” Mike turned to look out past the dock and sure enough, there Will was, hair flicking water droplets into the air, catching the late afternoon sunlight as he shook his head. Once he noticed Mike looking, he waved and called out,
“Mike! Hurry up! The water’s not too cold if that’s what you’re scared of!”
“Coming!” Mike shouted back with a wide smile, before turning over to Max again, deathly serious, “I don’t need a peep out of you for the rest of the afternoon.”
“If you say so,” Max sang back at him, dragging out the ‘so’ before spinning around to grab Jane’s hand and lead her down to the waterside. As Mike quickly peeled off his socks and made his way to the very end of the dock, he hollered out to Will,
“And you’re sure it’s not too cold?”
“Yes!” Will replied, “it’s downright peachy if you ask me, right, Dustin? Lucas?
“Oh yes,” Lucas said with an emphatic nod.
“As warm as Lucas’s car,” Dustin agreed, shooting Mike a thumbs up.
“Hey!” Lucas gasped, “Rude.” He dunked Dustin back under the water, drowning out his chorus of ‘I’m sorry’s’. Well, Mike thought, here goes. As soon as he committed to jumping in, however, he heard Jane shriek as she cautiously dipped her toe into the water from the sandy shore.
Oh. Oh no.
☼ ☼ ☼
“You are all so, so dead,” Mike grumbled from behind his cup of hot chocolate. Lucas and Dustin were still trying to stifle their case of the giggles that had been plaguing them since around 5pm (coinciding with the start of Mike’s bout of hypothermia, funnily enough), while Max smirked from where she was reclined on the couch, and the twins both watched Mike with looks of mild worry.
“Do you need another blanket?” Will asked, eyes furrowing with concern, but the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, like he didn’t know whether to be genuinely worried for Mike’s health or amused if he was just hamming it up to be a dramatic little shit. Mike would want to say that yes, he’s essentially on death's door at the moment, but unfortunately he does know himself at least a little (contrary to public opinion, according to Max), so he says,
“No, no, I’m good. Just a little tired now, is all.” The group hummed in assent, Lucas and Dustin now seeming a little drained after laughing at Mike’s expense for the past five hours.
“I could get some sleep,” Jane murmured.
“I call couch!” Dustin announced. He was met with one of Lucas’s signature judgmental looks and replied with a shrug, “I want the TV.”
“I’ll blow up the air mattress out here for me, then,” Lucas sighed, standing up to pat Max and Jane on the shoulders as he walked over to the supply closet, Dustin standing up to follow him. “No way am I subjecting you two to Dustin’s snoring. The man’s a beast.”
“Thanks babe!” Max said, planting a kiss on Lucas’s hand before he pulled away. “C’mon, Jay,” she said, grabbing Jane’s hand. Before the two girls whisked themselves away to the bedroom at the end of the hall, Max leaned over to Mike to whisper, “Enjoy your sleepover, Wheeler.”
Mike froze, mug halfway to his lips. Oh no. He looked up at Max, hoping to find even an ounce of sympathy, but coming up empty handed as all she gave him was a wink shot over her left shoulder.
Will, oblivious to Mike’s inner turmoil, plopped himself next to him on Rick’s old wool rug. “So,” he started, “basement?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Mike replied with a soft smile, “only this time we’ll have an actual bed, not our ratty old sleeping bags from middle school. I think mine still has that stain from the time you dropped your grilled cheese on it.”
“Ew, Mike. And you kept it?! Nasty.” Will wrinkled his nose. “And you don’t mind sharing?”
“Hm?”
“The bed.”
“Oh! Not at all,” Mike stuttered out, “do you? Because I understand. Like, if you do. I can sleep up here if you need me to–Dustin’s snoring is, like, almost offensive to be in a room with, but I’m sure I could make it work–”
“Mike.” Will leaned forward in order to catch his eye, right hand shaking his shoulder in reassurance. “It’s all good. I don’t mind, Mike, really.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Thank god. If I had to have my eardrums obliterated by Dustin’s snores while slowly freezing to death, it would be the end of me.”
“Well we don’t want that,” Will smiled, quaking his head down at Mike and standing up. “Coming?”
“Yes,” Mike replied, hoisting his assorted blankets around his shoulders and balancing his hot cocoa in one hand, “right behind you.”
As Mike treaded carefully down the carpeted stairs to the basement, he was sure of two things. One; that he would not provide Max with any more fuel for her teasing–he did not have the patience to deal with it for an entire week–and two; he was still toe-numbingly cold.