Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler stared at his phone like it had personally betrayed him.
“No, no, no ....come on,” he muttered, refreshing the page for the fifth time in under a minute. The restaurant’s website blinked back at him, painfully calm, painfully unhelpful.
No reservations available.
It was Valentine’s Day. Of course it was Valentine’s Day. The single most cursed day for first dates, and yet Mike had been so confident. He’d planned this for weeks carefully, meticulously, like a campaign map laid out on his bedroom floor. He knew exactly where he wanted to take Will: a small, warm Asian place downtown, soft lighting, paper lanterns, food Will loved but never really got to have growing up(all thanks to Lonnie). It was supposed to be perfect.
Mike scrubbed a hand through his hair and tried again, this time opening the reservation app instead of the website.
Still nothing.
“Okay,” he said to the empty room, voice tight. “That’s fine. That’s totally fine. I’ll just figure it out.”
He didn’t figure it out.
He switched apps. Then browsers. Then he tried calling.
The line rang twice before cutting to an automated voice cheerfully informing him that reservations were currently unavailable online or by phone. Mike ended the call and let his forehead thunk lightly against his desk.
He could see it already Will smiling softly across the table, a little shy, a little unsure, like he was waiting for the moment to disappear. Mike hated that thought. Hated how much Will always expected things to go wrong, like joy was something temporary, borrowed…fuck lonnie byers for torturing will’s kind soul.
Mike wanted this night to prove him wrong.
His phone buzzed in his hand. A text from Nancy, who he’d already messaged in a mild panic fifteen minutes earlier.
Nancy: I checked their site too. Looks like they stopped taking reservations entirely. Sorry, Mike :/
Mike groaned out loud.
He typed back quickly.
Mike: Are you sure there’s nothing you can do? Like ...call someone? You’re good at talking to people.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Reappeared.
Nancy: Even I have limits, Romeo. It’s Valentine’s Day. Places like that are chaos.
Romeo. Great. Exactly what he needed.
Mike dropped back into his chair, staring up at the ceiling. He could already feel the panic setting in, that familiar buzzing under his skin. What if this ruined everything? What if Will thought Mike didn’t care enough? What if this was another thing that started hopeful and ended disappointing?
He sat up abruptly.
“No,” he said, more firmly this time. “I’m not screwing this up.”
He reopened the restaurant’s page, scrolling until he found the fine print he’d missed before. His eyes skimmed the text, heart sinking and then stopping altogether.
Reservations currently paused. Walk-ins only.
Mike stared.
Walk-ins.
Which meant if he went early enough, if he waited, if he tried there was still a chance.
A stupid, fragile, very Mike-shaped chance.
He exhaled slowly, clutching his phone like a lifeline. Okay. That was something. Not ideal. Not planned. But it is possible.
And if there was one thing Mike Wheeler was good at, it was holding onto hope even when it made absolutely no sense.
“So,” he murmured, standing up and squaring his shoulders, “we’re doing this the hard way.”
The day hadn’t even started yet, and Mike was already bracing himself for chaos.
But for Will?
It was worth it.