Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler had always felt trapped in his own skin.
He was stuck in a mask of sorts that was moulded by the small community that makes up Hawkins, by his father, his mother, Will’s dad. In Mike’s childhood, he would hear Lonnie always bring up Mike and Wills’s “strange” friendship. Several times this was talked about around dinner, causing Will to go silent and Joyce to get angry (“This isn’t the time, Lonnie, the kids are right there!”). So many times Mike had felt obligated to be something he wasn’t, to act differently because of the people around him. Hawkins is like a prison to Mike.
That’s why it’s a good thing Mike is leaving Hawkins, leaving today.
Leaving with Will.
When Will enrolled in NYU around a year earlier, claiming he wanted to be near Jonathan and people he felt safe with, while also being in a new and more open environment, Mike actually found this to be a great idea (not surprising to Mike, Will always had amazing ideas!) and so enrolled too. Their acceptance letters came not too far apart.
Much to his dad’s disapproval, he’s studying english at NYU, Will studying art- but, honestly, Mike could not care less about what anyone thought. He was leaving this suffocating town with his best friend of, what, 10? 15 years? That was enough for Mike to be happy for a lifetime.
When Mike and Will had started planning, Mike had been the happiest he’d been in a while. After the mess that was graduation and El’s death, the only thing that really kept him happy and optimistic about the future was Will.
Though he’d had his episodes of dread, Will was always there to distract him, talk to him, or just be there. Will’s presence was always grounding and a sense of comfort for Mike.
Anyways, their months of planning led up to this day- August 3rd, 1989. This is the day they start their drive to New York, and, yes, it is quite early, but New York is a big city! They need time to settle in and unpack in their new apartment, and find nice places to go on walks and go out for dinner, and-
They just need some extra time, Mike and Will both agreed on that.
Mike wakes up extra early that day, about 7 in the morning. He’s sure Will is up right now, too, they both have been buzzing to get out and see the sights on their way to and in the city. God, Mike is just so excited to live with Will. That’s the thing he’s most excited for, they’ve been dreaming about it since they were kids.
And now it’s finally happening.
After deciding it’s been too long daydreaming about his soon to be new life, Mike jumps out of bed and practically dances over to his supercom.
“Will, you there? Over,” He says, maybe a bit too loudly for 7:15. A moment passes where it’s just static, but then Will’s voice bursts through. “Yeah, I’m up. God, my stuff barely fits in my approximately, like, 7 suitcases, I don’t know how we’re gonna fit our stuff in the car,” he laughs, voice sounding a bit too pleasant for this early. “Yeah, same, I have a lot of luggage. We’re gonna have to spare the space in the backseats to sleep,” Mike says back, chuckling. “I wouldn’t even be surprised if we ended up sleeping on the roof, honestly.”
Will snickers at this, making Mike glow with pride- he’s always felt making Will happy, making him laugh is his only point in life. If Will was a planet, Mike was his atmosphere.
“Anyways, I should go eat. Same with you, I know you don’t eat breakfast apart from like, a singular cup of coffee. We need our energy for the drive, Michael.” Will tells Mike, a smile leaking into his voice. “Oh, right, William, I forgot you were the car’s designated backseat driver. Also, when have you ever complained about my lack of eating breakfast up until now?”
Will replies with an offended squawk, followed by, “Not ever, really, but I just need to survive on the drive.” A pause. “Okay, I gotta run, but I’ll see you in a bit! Bye, Mike.”
“Bye, Will.” Mike answers a bit too late, sighing giddily as he pushes down the antenna of his supercom.
He then changes out of his pyjamas, throws them into his 3rd suitcase last-minute, and rushes downstairs to eat his breakfast.
The Wheeler house that morning seems more hopeful than usual, Mike notices, wondering if that even makes sense. The early morning light seeps through the windows, painting the whole bottom floor in a golden glow.
Mike’s mom bustles around in the kitchen, her morning cooking filling the house with the familiar, comforting smell of bacon and maple syrup. Holly sits across the table from Mike, drawing with new pencils, with her tongue stuck out one side of her mouth. This reminds Mike of Will so much, making him smile fondly. Ted, as per usual, is sat on his La-Z-Boy, watching the news.
Nancy lives with Jonathan in New York now, so Mike and Will are being greeted by them when they arrive the next day. He hasn’t seen Nancy in a few months, so is (surprisingly) excited to see her after that long. He’s sure Will is also buzzing to see Jon, given that they call every day.
After Mike is done eating, he announces he’s going to quickly check he has everything packed. He runs upstairs, skipping a stair every step, and once he’s sure he’s definitely not forgotten to pack something crucial like Will’s painting or his toothbrush, Mike secures his bags and drops them off in the living room downstairs.
He checks the time- it’s only 8. Great, he has to wait a whole half hour until he leaves to see Will.
He hasn’t got much to do now everything is packed away, so Mike just sits with his dad in the living room. He doesn’t usually do this, but he thinks that it’d be nice just to sit with him before he moves across the country.
“Hey, dad,” Mike says cheerily, and though he knows he’s not been close with his dad growing up, he still wants to hang out with him one last time, even just for 10 minutes, even if it’s in complete silence. Nothing could ruin Mike’s mood today.
“Hi, son,” Ted replies happily enough. He says in hopes of starting a conversation, “Are you excited to be going to university now? I know you weren’t too keen until William enrolled.”
“Yeah, dad, I’m glad I did it. And I’m sure you and Mom think it was the right choice for me.”
“Of course, Michael. Though I think you should have picked something like-“
“Business, yeah, yeah. I know. But I wanna do this, and theres not really much I can do to change my decision even if I wanted to, so…” Mike says back, slightly irritated.
God, Mike had made it clear he wanted to do English, and his dad just wouldn’t give up trying to change his mind. God forbid a guy have a dream outside his dad’s basic expectations. Ted grunts in response, as expected, so Mike gets up and stalks away into the kitchen to sit with Holly.
They endorse in conversation until Holly is told to get dressed, so she skips upstairs, humming to a familiar song Mike expects to be one of her favourite by Tiffany. And suddenly, They’re leaving for the Byers’ in 10 minutes. Mike has never been this nervous in his life, and they aren’t even out of Hawkins- Mike can feel that his nervousness has a bit (a lot) to he seeing Will. Mike isn’t exactly sure why, but his brain is probably confused. And overwhelmed. It’s fine.
In bathroom, Mike looks in the mirror, checking his hair is fine and his outfit isn’t completely horrible, as all his decent clothes are in his bags. He’s dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a Pixies t-shirt- not too bad.
He was sure Will would approve of the music related outfit, or at least he hoped- Mike needed to be on perfect behaviour for Will today. Yes, he can get overwhelmed and mad, but he absolutely can not take it out on Will, or else he’ll kill himself.
Well, he won’t, but he’ll be very upset with himself.
Mike’s internal conflict is broken when his mom calls, “Mike! Time to go, sweetie!” from downstairs.
Oh, jesus, Mike thinks. This is really happening, huh?
So he grabs his jacket from his room quickly and rushes downstairs. He secures his backpack on his back, grabs two suitcases in one hand, and the third in the other. He marches outside, and sees his mom waiting for him outside the car. Holly is sat in the backseat, Ted in the driver’s seat.
“Alright, I’ll put your stuff in the back, and you go sit in with Holly. I’ll be just a sec.” Karen says, smiling with a bittersweet look in her eye, which makes Mike quite sad. He obliges, and sits next to Holly. After his mom gets into the car, the engine turns on, and the car slowly creeps down the cul-de-sac.
The drive goes relatively quickly, considering Will lives on the other side of town. Small conversations come between intervals, but they can all see Mike needs a bit of time to relax before the long day ahead of him.
Holly grabs onto his hand halfway through, squeezing Mike’s fingers fiercely, and though he knows Holly is surely sad about him leaving, it just gives Mike more hope. “Hey,” he says softly, leaning down to look Holly in the eyes. “You know I’m gonna miss you, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Of course, Holls. I’ll call everyday.”
“I’m gonna be so lonely without you to help me with my campaigns. And everything else.” She says, sighing.
“Oh, but I’m sure Derek could write beautifully. Am I right?” Mike replies teasingly, nudging her lightly. This brings out a light giggle from her, so Mike feels fulfilled that he cheered her up, even just a bit, for just a moment. He catches his mom looking at him emotionally through the rear-view mirror, giving him a watery smile.
The car slows just then, causing Mike’s stomach to jolt. We’re here, Mike thinks vaguely, and, yes, they have in fact made it to the Byers’ house. Mike can distantly see Hopper, Joyce and Will waiting outside their home, Joyce clinging onto Will, clearly on the brink of tears.
When Mike gets out the car, he immediately starts towards Will, brushing off his sweats. “Hey, there,” he says serenely, a shy smile creeping up his face.
“Hey yourself. You ready?” Will replies slightly breathlessly, grinning widely. He’s leaning on the side of Mike’s car that he dropped off the previous night, so they could get in and drive as soon as their bags were packed in. He’s wearing light jeans and a band t-shirt of The Cure, their song Just Like Heaven titling the top. Why Mike finds this endearing, he isn’t so sure. And why he had this thought, he also doesnt know. Don’t, he thinks. It’s not endearing, I just like the way my best friend dresses. But he pushes that thought aside, and says, “Well, I’m gonna start packing my stuff into the trunk, if you wanna as well.”
“Sure,” Will replies, and accompanies Mike to the car, as they help each other fit the plethora of bags they have into it.
The two families converse happily, periodically sending fond glances towards Mike and Will as they joke around and laugh airily like their lives aren’t about to change massively.
And as the last bag is packed into the car, Will and Mike’s families approach, suddenly looking extremely sad, understandably so. Mike is embraced by his mom fiercely as Holly is squeezed between them. They’re both crying, and his dad surprises Mike by looking slightly proud. He grips Mike’s shoulder, nodding in approval before Mike surprises himself and finds himself hugging his dad.
He sees Will crying while hugging Joyce, who is completely distraught, and pulls back, tucking Will’s hair behind his ear. Hopper then pulls Will into a tight hug, and then the goodbyes are over.
It’s a group of people who are either crying (Joyce, Karen and Holly) or smiling (Hopper, most likely because he’s finally going to be free of Mike, and Ted, who finally seems proud of Mike).
Will gets into the passenger seat, Mike gets into the driver’s seat. Mike starts the car, his body moving on autopilot. He doesn’t feel like this is really happening, but as the car slowly starts to turn and creep down the driveway, he sees the Wheelers and the Byers’ waving through the rearview mirror, bringing Mike to tears.
Will finds Mike’s arm, holding onto it like it was a lifeline, and as Mike looks over to Will, he sees tears cascading down his face as one hand is out the window, waving. Mike lets out a shaky sigh and the car speeds up.
When they make it to the road, Mike turns on the radio. It’s playing Under Pressure by Bowie and Queen, coincidentally one of Will’s favourites, making Will quietly laugh in surprise.
Can’t we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can’t we give love that one more chance?
Why can’t we give love, give love, give love, give love…
“You good?” Mike asks Will softly.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m all good.”
A pause, then a quiet, “Cool.”
The morning, fresh breeze fills the car, and the sun, bright and uncovered, shines down onto Mike and Will.
This is ourselves Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure…
Hearing music he associates with Will so strongly fills Mike with a sense of hope. And when he looks over at Will, resting his chin on his hand as he looks out the window, eyes closed, face bathed in sun, his head is full of just one thought that he thinks couldn’t be moved. Even if the ground split into four, even if the world was turned upside down, seeing Will so at peace and happy with Mike, seeing Will finally free from the hell that was his past makes him so, so happy he might cry.
Will had been through so much, too much for someone so young, pure, and kind, that seeing him being happy just makes Mike feel like maybe he can be happy too.
And Mike’s happiness starts with Will.