Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler had been living the dream. Or that is what he would tell people who asked. Which, not many did. He rarely talked to his old friends, who had moved on with their lives, and his family was also sort of out of the picture. Not to say he didn’t talk to his parents, but he really didn’t. Only really during holidays. But other than that, he stayed to himself.
He had stayed in Hawkins for years, unlike his friends. He eventually did move out of Hawkins, to Chicago. Why did he choose Chicago? He wasn’t for sure. But he thought, that maybe he would be able to sell his stories there. A big city has more opportunities. He would’ve chose New York, but Will had moved to New York. That’s where he’d gone to college.
He remembered the last time he’d seen Will, which would’ve had to have been 3 or 4 years ago. He’d tried to stay in touch with all his friends, but he let his issues get the better of him. He struggled heavily with alcoholism for a long time. Nancy forced him into rehab after he had called her whilst drunk one too many times.
Mike was doing slightly better, compared to the previous years. He was still hardly making ends meet, he only sold a couple hundred of his books. So, he worked part-time at a video game store down the block. He usually made enough to cover rent for his shabby apartment, and for the groceries. He didn’t blow all his money on alcohol anymore, and now only drank as a special treat once and a while.
Mike Wheeler was only 28, and he had already felt like he wasted whatever potential he once had. He had no romantic relationships, no social life, and hardly any money. He just, existed. His routine was always the same. Wake up, breakfast, shower, go to work, come home, watch tv and have dinner, write, go to bed. Every day. He felt like a trapped dog, walking in circles til it’s paws turn raw.
And here he was, sitting on his couch, eating his microwaved dinner, watching a game show. He laughed at a joke the host made. Then, the phone rang. Mike grumbled, unhappy with having to get up and abandoned his tv. Usually, he’d let it ring, but for some reason, he felt like this call may be important.
“Hello?” He said into the phone.
“Hey, is this Mike?” A familiar voice said.
“Yes.. it is, who’s this?”
“Hey man! It’s Lucas.”
Mike was surprised, “Lucas? Damn. I haven’t heard from you.. in probably two years! How’ve you been?”
“Yeah.. sorry for not keeping in touch. School kept me busy for a while.. then I heard about you struggling a while back, and I’d tried to call you, but you never answered. I was surprised you did this time!” Lucas said, a hint of regret tinging his voice.
“No worries, dude. Anyways, how’ve you been?” He repeated, not wanting to talk about the past few years.
“I’ve been really good. Uh, I was calling to invite you to mine and Max’s wedding, actually. It’s next weekend..” Lucas said, Mike could hear the excitement in his voice.
“No way! I didn’t know you two were engaged. I’m happy for you. I’ll be there.” He asked. And he was truly happy for the two. In fact, this was the best news he’d gotten in months. Lucas and Max deserved to be happy together, and he guessed they would.
“Great! Will you be one of my groomsmen? You’re one of my best friends, so it only makes sense you be up there with me.” Lucas asked.
“Yeah, of course! What day’s the wedding? And where..?” Mike asked, quite surprised that Lucas asked him to be a groomsmen. Sure, they were friends, but Mike truly didn’t think he was worthy enough for something like that, even if it was just a groomsmen.
“The wedding is next Saturday. But, Max wants everyone in Hawkins on Friday, to celebrate and catch up beforehand.” Lucas explained. That made sense, Mike supposed. “Dustin and Will are going to be stoked when they see you, man.” Lucas added.
Will.
“Oh.” He managed to sputter, “Who else is going to be there?”
Mike could visibly see the face Lucas made, even if they were miles apart, “Well.” He said after a moment, “Obviously Will and Dustin. Your family, Robin, Steve, Jonathan. Hopper, Joyce. El should be there. Uh.. my family and Max’s, obviously. Murray should be there. A bunch of extended family. Mr. Clarke might come, I invited him..” Lucas rambled.
“Hold on. Eleven?”, Mike interrupted, genuinely surprised. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “El’s alive?”
“Yeah? You didn’t know..?” He said, then he came to a realization, “Shit, you haven’t been answering your phone.”
“El is alive?” Mike said, disbelief in his voice.
“Yes. El is alive. She called me and Max a couple months ago.”
Mike went silent, “Lucas, I have to go. I’ll see you next Friday. It was nice talking to you.” He finally managed. He had to sit down. He was spiraling.
“You okay, man?” Lucas asked, worrisome. After years of knowing Mike, he could tell something was wrong, even if they hadn’t spoken in forever.
“Yeah, I’ll see you.” Mike felt like he was going to throw up. He sat on the ground, still holding the phone.
“Okay..” Lucas said, skeptically, “I’ll see you next weekend. Give Will and Dustin a call, by the way.” He said, before hanging up.
Mike let the phone dangle as he sat in the floor.
El is alive.
Of course he was ecstatic, but he’d spent most of his 20s mourning her. He didn’t truly believe that she was alive, even if that’s what he’d told the party. In fact, that was one of the reason’s that he drank. He missed El. He missed her so badly it hurt. But at some point, he realized he never saw her romantically. He loved her, yes, but not in the way he pretended he did.
That took a lot of time to admit. It hit him especially hard when he realized he saw Will like that. He had been drunk out of his mind, puking into his toilet. He remembered how shitty he was to El. And he was. Especially after she and Will moved to Lenora Hills. He was brought back to their fight about his issue with not saying he loved her. And then that brought him to their final moments together when he still couldn’t say it.
That’s when it hit him.
He didn’t love her. At least, not in the way it would’ve been implied if he had said it back.
So he hadn’t.
And it tore him to pieces. Maybe he’d hallucinated it. That’s what he told himself. Maybe it was a grief-fueled episode. Maybe he was going insane.
But she was alive! Oh, El was alive. He wanted to apologize for everything. But, what if she was still in love? What if she had been waiting for him while he was slowly coming to terms with his own feelings? He had finally figured himself out.
And what had he decided? He had been in love with Will for years, but he suppressed his feelings and used El as a way out. When he had realized that, he felt even worse about things with El. But he couldn’t change when already happened.
Mike laid on his floor, soaking in all the news he’d just found out. He felt less queasy, so he sat back up, and put the phone back. He tucked his knees under his chin and buried his face in his hands. “Shit.” He muttered.
He sat like that for a good while, long enough to where he felt stiff. He thought about calling Lucas back, to maybe see if he had her number, but he didn’t want to be a bother. So, he stayed on the floor.
El’s alive.
And he would see her, next weekend. He would see everyone next weekend. He felt happy. But then, it hit him. He hadn’t talked to these people in years and years. They had been trying to reach out with no reply for half a decade now. The only person he had talked to in the past 5-6 years, besides from Lucas that day, was Nancy. And even she couldn’t stand to be around him anymore.
She had stopped calling after three months of never getting an answer, and that was right after he’d gotten out of rehab, which had been about a year or two ago.
Mike Wheeler had shut everyone out and was about to see them all at once in less than two weeks. What he had been happy about just a moment ago, seemed quite unpleasant now. He could feel the anxiety building up already. He would have to explain why he’d been MIA for years. So much explaining. And he’d see El. Oh, how it worried him. He hoped she had found another.
He also needed to pack. And take leave off of work. And get Max and Lucas a gift. Shit. So much to do.
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It was the Thursday before the wedding. Mike could not afford a flight, and even if he could, he would rather drive anyways. So, that is what he did. He loaded his suitcase, that he had packed the night before, into his rust-bucket he called a car. He closed the trunk and got in his front seat.
He also had a backpack, for a couple books he was bringing, that he sat in the passenger seat alongside his gift for Lucas and Max. He put a tape into the tape deck. It was an older one that Will had made for him when they were younger. It was a birthday present one year and, like everything Will gave him, he kept it.
Anyways, the drive was about three and a half hours long, and it was about noon, so he was planning to be there by 4 at the latest. He pulled out of the parking lot, and started on his way, the voice of Robert Smith coming out of his radio.
Soon, he would be with Will, and his friends. And his sisters. And he would see El. Maybe. Just maybe. He would allow himself to enjoy something for the first time in a while.