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"Woah."
Mike gasped dramatically, spinning in the empty food court as he stared at the sky. Sometime between the movie and the water fountain, they must've been taken into a new galaxy; there were hundreds of colorful stars and planets spinning above him.
Wait. Maybe that was Mike spinning.
If he spin faster it makes them shooting stars, he thought, laughing as he tripped over his feet to keep spinning.
"What?" Max giggled, colliding against his shoulder and causing them both to stumble.
"Look." He pointed up, still enthralled by the spinning (?) galaxy. He stopped, wobbling a bit but managing to stay upright. The sky kept making circles around their heads.
"Wow… wow that's…" Max trailed off, swaying. A distressed look spread across her face as she peered at Mike for a few seconds, then she pushed off of his shoulder and bolted toward the bathrooms.
"Max! Max, where are you-" A wave of nausea crashed over him, causing him to gag as he tried to sprint after her.
The fucking funny drug wasn't so funny anymore. He banged the stall door open, gripping the toilet bowl as he emptied what must've been all of his organs combined into it.
Holy fuck.
He could hear Max retching next to him, so at least he wasn't alone.
They were quiet for a while, processing everything that happened.
"I think the ceiling stopped spinning for me, finally." Mike croaks out. "Is it spinning for you?"
"Ugh," Max groans. "No. Fuck. You think we puked it all up?"
"I dunno. I don't feel good."
"Yeah, me neither. Ask me something."
"Huh?"
"To see if we're still drugged. Interrogate me, Micheal." Max put on a terrible Russian accent on the last sentence, and Mike would've gave her shit for it if he didn't feel like he was going to die in a food court bathroom stall.
"Uh. Okay, question." He thought about it for a second before a grin split across his bruised face. "When was the last time you peed your pants?"
"Today."
"You're shitting me."
"No! It was just a little bit though, when the torture doctor tried to peel your nails off."
Both of them laughed now, ribs aching with bruises and laughter.
"Yeah, I think you have a bit in you still."
Max's laugh tapered into a groan as her head banged against the wall. "Okay, my turn."
"Shoot."
"Why'd you break up with El?"
He sighed. "I've told you guys, it was mutual. It just… wasn't working out anymore."
Well, that's one fucking way to put it.
"Yeah, but you never told us the full truth. I've asked her too, she said there's some things you need to figure out by yourself."
"I don't- ugh. Can I just ask you a question now?" Mike deflected, pulling his knee up to his chest and resting his chin there instead of the grimy toilet seat.
"Whatever, sure."
"What-" He started, voice getting stuck in his throat. "You love Lucas, right?"
"Yeah? Wheeler, what fuck kind of question is that?"
"No, just. Like. Ugh. What's it like?" He asked lamely.
Oh my god, can he die?
"Being in love with Lucas? I dunno, he's a little annoying sometimes and he plans our dates like the day before, but he's really nice to me and, like, a really good kis-"
"Ew, stop! No, not with Lucas. Gross. Like, in general. What's it like to be… in love?"
His heart was beating through his chest, and he swallowed the nerves building up in his throat with difficulty.
"Um. It's hard to describe, usually you just know. It's like- they're your best friend, y'know? And you'd do anything for them, and every day you really want to be around them and be better for them and shit."
It's Hawkins. It's not the same without you.
I think it'd be easier if we're a team. Friends. Best friends.
"You want to tell them everything about you, and you don't have to say all the things you're thinking because they already know you so well."
I didn't say it.
You didn't have to.
"What's with the question, Wheeler? Find someone you love?"
He choked out a laugh. "Something like that."
"It's not El, right? 'Cause if it is I'm gonna take you right back for the Russians to actually kill you."
"No, no. No it's not El. I don't think I ever… really loved her. Not like that, anyways."
Max's stall was quiet for a minute. Mike could hear her shifting around before one of her shoes flew over the laughably short wall and hit his head.
"Ow! What the fuck? That could've killed me y'know, all my injuries and whatnot."
"You never loved her? Why not?"
"I don't know. I just- like, I tried really hard to. I really, really wanted to be in love with her. But it's like every time I kissed her, or hugged her, I was thinking about someone else."
"Oh my god, Wheeler. What the fuck are you saying right now. Who the hell were you thinking about?"
Mike took a shaky breath, steeling himself for the conversation that would inevitably ruin his life. But he had to say it to someone. He was fucking losing his mind. "You said that - that the person you love is like your best friend. That they can always know what you're gonna say before you say it."
"Yeah? So.." He could practically hear the gears in her head turning and he squeezed his eyes shut. "So the person you love is someone you're close with?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I spend, like, every day with h-them. And it's weird, because we have different music taste and we always end up in petty arguments and I don't even think they'd like me back. And it would probably be worse for everyone if they did."
Mike could feel the nausea building up again, but not from the drugs. Max was silent on the other side.
After a minute, he let out an awkward half-laugh. "Mayfield? You OD in there or something?"
"No. Still alive to talk to you, unfortunately."
"Maybe you should die, actually."
"SO what do you like about them?" She said, and Mike could practically taste the apprehension in her voice.
He would probably rather be dead in an underground Russian base than be here right now. He's pretty sure he's gonna die right here, anyway. He can see the headline: Local, underpaid Scoops Ahoy employee kills himself in a mall bathroom because he can't keep it together for once in his life.
Max is going to hate him, which is like, whatever, who cares, but then she'd tell everyone probably. And he's gonna lose Lucas, and Dustin and-
"They're funny, even if their jokes always land a few seconds too late and no one really laughs. And smart, and really creative. And usually it's weird when people spend time together and never talk, but it's like, with them it's totally normal. It's easy to just… exist."
"Oh."
"Oh, what?"
"Just… I don't think you're thinking very clearly, Wheeler."
"I think I'm thinking a lot clearer than usual unfortunately." He grumbled.
"That's not saying much."
Mike chucked her shoe back over to her and heard it land in the toilet bowl with a small splash. He hopes she's flushed it before.
"Ew, what's wrong with you?"
And Mike knows, he knows she's not talking about that. But his twisting stomach doesn't get the memo. Suddenly, Max slides under the stall separator, a grimace on her face.
"Look, Mike." Oh god, they're on a first name basis now. "I think you're… something, for sure. But you are the most unattractive person to me, personally, and I'm in a very committed relationship with your best friend, and I just. Yeah. So sorry, but also not really. Also, you look like shit. You have blood in your hair."
"What the hell are you talking about? Also, leave me alone, I literally took the torture for you!"
"Right, thanks. So you don't have a weird little crush on me then?"
"I'd rather drink this toilet water and then bleed out being mauled by every Demogorgon there is, thanks."
"Thank fucking god, okay, wait. So who are you talking about then? If it's one of your friends, and it's not me or El. Cause we're like, your only friends unless you're hanging out with other girls in secret, which is just weird."
Mike let out a long, self pitying sigh. He deserves it.
"Remember a few years ago when the Byers moved to Lenora?"
"Yeah? You moped around like all year."
"Me and El wrote letters like every week. And she'd give me a bunch of updates on everyone, and one time she told me Will was painting something for a girl he liked. And it was just like, really weird to hear that. It's not like Will wasn't allowed to have a crush on a girl or whatever, it's just that it had always been just me and him. Friends. Best friends."
Mike still had his eyes shut and forehead pressed to his knee as he blurted out probably the most dangerous secret he will ever have. He could feel Max's eyes on him, processing his ramble of a speech.
At least if Max hates him, nothing really changes. Which is maybe why he's telling her.
"And then I realized that's why he was all upset that summer when me and El were together all the time, because now he didn't have anyone. Then I showed up at the airport in that ridiculous outfit that you told me would help me fit in, and he was holding the painting and I didn't know how to act around him. And it was like, oh, maybe it wasn't for a girl after all, maybe it was for me. So I asked him 'hey, what's that?' so he could have the chance to tell the truth."
"And he said it was nothing, and then we got in a fight and then El went missing and we had to travel across the whole fucking country in Argyle's sketchy ass van. But then he gave me the painting, and he said so many things that made me happier than I think I've been in a while! And then crushed it by saying it was El who told him to paint it. And everything he said made me remember why I was so scared to go see him, and why I couldn't hug my best fucking friend after a year, and why I could never finish writing a letter to him without throwing it away."
"Because, if I actually thought about why, I wouldn't be able to face him. Cause I'm disgusting, and dirty, and normal people shouldn't have thoughts about wanting to kiss their best friend. They shouldn't."
Mike swallowed hard, not being able to continue without his voice cracking.
"But Will's a boy." Max stated, a small smile on her face like it was a joke. Like it was something that doesn't consume every single fiber of Mike's being and make him want to vomit with how in love he is with Will Byers.
His best friend.
Who, unfortunately for Mike, is a boy.
"Max." He whispered, finally looking up at her. He could feel the sting of tears threatening to embarrass him even more, because somehow that's possible.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
They were quiet for a moment, and Mike was just about to drown himself in the fucking toilet bowl before Max could when she finally spoke again.
"Well, it kinda makes sense, I guess."
"What??"
"Yeah, like, you guys are always together. And you give him way too much free ice cream when he shows up. And whenever we have movie nights you share a blanket even if there's enough for everyone, and he always puts his feet in your lap and you look away before he could see you turn red-"
"Shut up, I do not turn red." He hissed, but there was no real malice behind it. Only a sense of overwhelming relief that she hadn't stabbed him or called him slurs or something.
"Whatever, Wheeler. What I'm trying to say is that, like, you guys are practically made for each other. God, I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner…"
"Please, I'm glad you didn't. I barely realized it before El told me she never commissioned that painting."
"Is that why you guys broke up? You realized you, uh, like Will?"
"After she moved back here, I went to her and told her the painting was really sweet of her and that it basically saved our relationship. And she had no idea what I was talking about. So… one thing led to another and I freaked out, and she told me there were some things I needed to figure out. That she doesn't think she's what I really want."
"Shit."
"Yeah."
Mike nudged his shoe against Max's socked foot.
"Does this mean we're like, kinda friends now?" He teased.
"You wish, Wheeler." But she was smiling, tired eyes twinkling. "So are you gonna do anything about it?"
"What?"
"Will," She started, nodding her head pointedly like Mike was a small child. "Are you seriously not gonna go for it after all this? I feel like a crazy Russian torture session should make you realize life's too short to wait forever for a boy who totallyyy likes you back, but maybe you are just that stupid."
"Hey, fuck you!" He said, kicking her leg. He sighed, mouth twisting as he slid further down the wall. "He doesn't like me back, he's not like me."
Max let out a short, loud laugh that bounced off the walls, causing Mike to wince.
"You're joking, right? That boy is so far gone it's insane. Plus, weren't you literally the one who said he basically confessed his love to you with that stupid painting?"
"It's not stupid…" Mike mumbled.
"Whatever. But seriously, I've always thought it's been different between you two, but I was never able to actually piece it together. It's like, now, I have the missing piece of the puzzle and it all makes sense. Movie nights, remember?! And, haven't you guys shared a lollipop one time?"
"Oh my god, Max!" He said, heat rushing to his face. "When we were like, ten! What is Lucas telling you, Jesus Christ. But, I dunno. What if I'm crazy and he doesn't actually like me? I would genuinely kill myself, there would be no recovering from that."
"No, no, he wouldn't reject you! Wait, let's practice." She cleared her throat before putting on a voice that was eerily close to Will's. "Hey, Mike! It's Will, your best friend and…" She batted her eyelashes. "Maybe more?"
Mike snickered, kicking her leg again. "Oh my god, please shut up."
"No, you have to practice! How are you ever gonna ask him out of you can't even get the words out?"
"Fine, fine. But for the record, this is so stupid." He cleared his throat awkwardly, peering at Max through his lashes from where his chin fell on his knee again. "Hey, Will, I just thought I should let you know I think about you all the time and you're the only one I've ever really… er, wanted."
"Never say that to anyone again. Wow, that was embarrassing." Max snorted before putting her Will voice on again. "Oh, Mike! I've been hoping you'd say it first, 'cus I loveeeeee youuuu-"
"He would so not say that!"
"You don't know what Will would say! You've never confessed your love for him before!"
Both of them were laughing now, unable to stop. Maybe there was a little Russian funny drug left in them. Mike tried to say something else to continue their made up love confession, but he could hardly get a word out before they were laughing again.
The loud bang of the door opening startled them, both looking at the two boys in the bathroom doorway.
Lucas and Will watched them, eyes wide with shock and fear at the sight of the pair in a tiny stall together.
Mike stole a glance at Max, who was already looking at him, which was all it take for the two to dissolve into laugher again.
"Oh, for God's sake." Lucas said, grabbing Max by her arms and hauling her up. "I'm so glad you're safe, we've been looking every- wait, where's your other shoe?"
"In the toilet!" Mike piped, ribs aching from laugher.
Will was kneeling next to him now, eyes scanning his face in worry.
"Mike, what did they do to you?"
"Oh, this? S'nothing, really." Mike said, grinning lazily. Now that he wasn't distracted, he could feel the dried out blood cracking as he moved his face.
"Oh my god, this is so gross." Lucas' voice carried from the stall over, clearly fishing Max's shoe out of the toilet.
"Come here, we have to get home. We can fix you up there, okay?" Will said, brushing Mike's bloody hair out of his eyes.
"Okay. Pick me up?"
"What?"
"Can you help me get up? The evil Russians drugged us, I don't trust myself to stand up yet."
"Er, okay." Will said awkwardly, hauling Mike up by his underarms. Mike stumbled before grabbing onto Will to balance and letting his forehead fall on his shoulder.
"Hi."
"Hi?"
"We should leave." Max said in a stage whisper, half tugging and half falling as she dragged Lucas out the door.
"Yeah, we should. Ready, Mike?" Will said, voice still soft and worried.
Mike let himself practically get carried out the door, giggling when Will had to stick his foot in the door before it closed. He's gonna be so embarrassed he acted like this once it's all worn off.
"Do you remember what flavor the lollipop was?" Mike asked. The mall was empty now, aside from Dustin nervously pacing near the exit.
"What lollipop?"
"From fourth grade? When we had to share the last one because I threw a fit about not getting one."
"Oh my god, I forgot about that!" The tip of Will's ears were pink now. "Um, I don't know. Probably like cherry or something."
"Mmm." Mike hummed. He was perfectly content to stay with his body weight leaning against Will, one arm around his neck.
"Okay, I don't know what kind of situation you guys think we're in, but we have to get the fuck out of here before the Russians find these two again." Dustin yelled, clearly irked at Max and Mike's lack of urgency.
Dustin opened the back door of the car for them. Mike was still wobbly as he climbed in, grabbing Will's arm to lead him through.
How was he seriously still nauseous? It's been like, uh, a while? Probably a few hours.
"First aid kit's in the trunk, you and Lucas can fix him up in the back, Max… uh. Is she okay to sit up front?"
"Fuck you, Dustin. I'm perfect."
"Mmmkay. Everyone in?"
Mike ended up leaning against the door with one leg on the seat. Will sat in the middle seat and Lucas was on the other side, handing him the medical supplies as Will requested them.
It was dark outside now. The real stars were out, but they weren't as pretty as the twirling blue array when he was high.
Will was taping up the cut on his cheek now, hands shaking but ever so delicate against his face.
Mike peered at him blearily. "Thanks, man. You're great, Will. Just…" He was mumbling, eyes falling shut as his fatigue took over. "I'm glad you're here."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad too. And I'm done, you look better."
If Mike had to guess - and he was usually right when it came to Will - he was smiling. Maybe even ducking his head bashfully.
A small smile cracked Mike's own face. He thinks everything's gonna turn out okay, even if he really doesn't have it all figured out yet. But at least now, he doesn't have to wake up everyday consumed by his secret. He thinks Max'll actually help him be able to confess to Will one day. Hopefully.
For now, he was allowed to lean against him, feeling his chest rise with every breath. For now, this was enough.
Being with Will always was.