Chapter Text
Mike wakes up in his bed. His head is aching a bit, feeling so heavy. To be honest, this has been his routine for nearly a year. The same feeling of emptiness, as he’s expected to manage through the day. He rubs his eyes to fully awaken and gets changed in a rush.
Mike opens the curtains. Outside, the street is calm. This November month is colder than usual.
Mike scans his room to find out that the comic book he was reading yesterday is missing. Maybe he left it downstairs?
He rushes down the stairs.
As always, he is the last one to wake up, so the house is already busy.
“Mom, have you seen–”
Mike stops when he spots his comic book issue left on the carpet of the living room. He turns his head to the dining table of the kitchen to find there is this familiar presence. A shiver of melancholy goes through his body. He straightens up immediately.
“Oh. Hey.”
“Morning,” Will responds almost inaudibly.
Of course Will is there. He lives there. What did you expect?
Mike goes to the other side of the room to fill his bowl with cereal. He looks back to where Will sits. There is an empty chair next to him. He imagines sitting there like he would have a year ago… But they aren’t friends like this anymore. Are they friends at all?
His gaze lifts up to realize that Will was looking him in the eyes.
This atmosphere feels so uncomfortable.
“I’m, uh,” Mike mutters. “I’m gonna eat in my room. I’m kinda obsessed with this new comic book series, so…”
“Cool,” Will responds, with a facial expression as unreadable as usual.
Mike hesitates.
Are we friends anymore?
Mike and Will used to be best friends. But it feels like it was an eternity ago. He remembers vividly how they used to do everything together. How they could talk non stop about movies, comic books or literally anything. How they would laugh about their fake adventures. How they would play games or draw monsters and dragons with color pencils. Mike was so happy back then.
That mere thought twists painfully in his stomach.
Mike leaves the silent room, quickly grabs his comics on the floor, and heads back up to his room.
After finishing his bowl, Mike crumbles on his bed, head first. He remains still, waiting for his sad thoughts to vanish. He feels so lonely and so miserable. He sighs deeply to evacuate the last ounces of remaining sorrow.
Forget about it. Read your stupid comic book.
In fact, this stupid comic book has been quite enjoyable so far. It distracts him away from all the negative emotions.
-
Mike spends the rest of the day reading, only interrupted by lunch. There are not many people to hang out with lately. Max is in a coma, Lucas spends his days at her bedside, Dustin enjoys his new friendship with Steve, El gets trained at Mrs. Byer’s and Hopper’s to get prepared in case of Vecna’s return. Well, he could still visit her, but he doesn't as much since they broke up. Well she broke up with him.
Somehow, Mike blamed it on Will. Thinking back about it, this was quite unfair. El had realized that her feelings were not exactly reciprocated. They eventually had an argument that put an end to their relationship.
“Do you even love me?” he remembers her asking him, tears running down her cheeks.
Mike’s lack of response was eloquent enough back then. When she left the room sobbing, Mike knew this was finished between them. He didn’t even try to hold her back.
At first, Mike had felt heartbroken. But then he realized that she was right. Mike cared about El, but not like that. Anyway, she really needed to grow on her own, far from his protectiveness. It clearly made her stronger, more self-confident, more herself.
But the worst part wasn’t about El…
“Why did you tell me all of that about the painting?” Mike shouted to Will, with an anger he never felt before. “Why’d you lie?”
“I didn’t!” Will responded without skipping a beat. His face was filled with mixed emotions that Mike couldn’t clearly read. Sadness, anger, shame?
“El made it clear that she didn’t commission it!”
Will had his mouth open, silent, but the guilt was very loud in his eyes.
“Well, if you don’t want to explain, then…” Mike yelled, leaving the room.
Those were the last words they shared, before… Well, before they became this. Mike regrets his words. He sometimes wonders what would have happened if he didn’t get angry, or bring the painting subject up.
The fact they were starting to live in the same house didn’t make it the least easier. Mike was the one avoiding Will the first week. He wanted Will to apologize first. But then, Mike realized how harsh he had been. He tried several times to tell him that he’s sorry. But Will had already shut himself, and would try his best not to be in the same room.
“You two are ruining the party, you know that?” Dustin spit once when they were hanging out the four of them. It was rare to see him that pissed off. But he was right.
“Just forgive him already for whatever he did” Lucas begged Mike another time.
“I want to, but…”
“But what?”
“It’s… It’s complicated”
“Ughhh! For God’s sake!”
The more time passed, the harder it became to find the courage to speak back to Will. Everything was an uneasy, silent distance between them, with too much inertia to be disrupted.
A year has passed now. And Mike has never wanted Will so badly back in his life.
-
Mike doesn’t know why he was dwelling on these memories. He barely even read his comic book this afternoon, and now it’s already late.
A sudden change of atmosphere brings him back to reality. The light just turned off.
He wakes up from his bed, sighing. Unfortunately, the switch was not helping to restore it back. Voices start rising in the house. When Mike leaves his room, he spots Nancy and Jonathan doing the same.
“You too?” she asks, already knowing the answer.
Mike shrugs in response.
“Mom, what’s happening!” he shouts.
“The power is out! Your dad went to see whether it’s the breaker.”
The three of them lean on the balustrade of the stairs, waiting for the result of the investigation before unnecessarily coming down. Meanwhile Holly bursts out of her room. “It’s all dark everywhere!”
“Well it’s not the breaker! It means the problem’s from outside,” Ted Wheeler calmly says.
“What does it mean?” Karen Wheeler asks with a worried voice.
“Well! It means that some workers have to come and fix some electrical installations,” he replies, sounding a bit impatient. “I would call the company to get it fixed, but the phone’s out.”
Mike, who was carefully listening to the conversation, has an epiphany. He rushes back to his room and returns with a walkie in his hands.
“Lucky that I recharged the battery yesterday,” he says, while passing by Nancy, climbing down the stairs.
He then explains to his dad that he can use it to contact people outside with emergency frequencies. Mike doesn’t remember him ever using a walkie before so he explains the basics.
While Mike’s mom prepares some candles she usually keeps for Christmas. They eventually get in contact with local authorities.
At the same moment, the entrance door opens: this is Will. He probably spent the day at El’s.
He looks puzzled at the lack of light and fails to bring it back with the entrance switch. Jonathan rushes towards him.
“Will! Hey. Good you’re home. The power’s out, we’re trying to reach–“
Ted Wheeler interrupts him with a loud “Uh-huh.” while speaking to the other person through the static. “You’re telling me there’s nothing to be done?”
“Sorry, sir. It’s not just your house, whole grid’s down. We’re doing our best. Until then, please use candles and blankets to stay warm.”
Ted Wheeler produces some grumpy mumbles and hands back the device to Mike.
“No lights tonight?” Holly asks with excitement.
“No, honey. But it’s okay. We’ll make it cozy with candles. Why don’t you go upstairs, and I’ll tuck you in a minute? Be careful with the stairs!”
She gives her a flashlight, and Holly heads back to her bedroom, making ghost-like sounds. Mike wishes he were as reckless.
Ted Wheeler sits on the couch, contemplating the TV screen. Well dad’s gonna be grumpier than ever without his TV, he thinks looking Nancy in the eyes. She raises her eyebrows to signify she agrees with it, without having to share any word.
“The heaters,” realizes Will.
“Aren’t working, But it’ll be alright. We’ve got blankets,” Jonathan replies.
Mike knows well enough how cold the basement can be during winter, and this is with a functional heater. Karen Wheeler joins Will and Jonathan, as she has the same thought process, it seems.
“You boys. I know the basement gets cold even with the heating working. Jonathan, you can take the couch, and Will, maybe you could share with Mike–”
A rush of heat reaches Mike’s head. But he has no time to reflect on the idea that–
“No.”
Will’s reply is faster than light (ironic since there is none).
“Uh, no thank you. It’ll be fine,” he rectifies his answer to sound more polite.
Maybe it’s better this way, Mike thinks. But he can’t help but feel a pain in his chest. Will didn’t even consider it. Not a single second. He would rather freeze to death than to share a room with him for a single night. Is that so? Every reminder of their broken friendship is like a knife twisting in Mike’s heart.
“But if it gets too cold–” she insists.
“We’ll let you know,” Will interrupts her.
-
Nancy settles some wood in the fireplace, then Mike lights a matchstick to start a well needed fire. It might not keep the house warm, but at least it would prevent it from freezing.
Next to them, the radio seems to be their dad’s new distraction. He flips frenetically through the channels.
“We reached out to Roane County Water and Electric, a spokesperson says that the reason for the outage is still unknown.”
The update seems to anger him, so he switches to some soft music channel.
Mike eventually decides to grab back his walkie and heads down to the basement. His mom catches him on the way.
“Mike?” she whispers.
“Hm?”
“Honey, I’m worried for Will and Jonathan. Can you look after Will for me?”
Mike nods timidly. It’s not like Mike doesn’t want to. Will would never let that happen, though.
In the basement, it already feels colder than usual. The insulation has always been terrible here.
Mike sits at the bottom of the stairs and deploys the antenna. He wants to know who else is affected by the power outage.
“Mike here. Dustin, do you copy?”
Nothing. Just the sound of the static.
“Lucas? You here?”
Static.
“Mike? Is that you?” a weak voice responds, almost cracking.
“Lucas? You ok?”
Mike clearly hears a wet sigh.
“I’m at the hospital.”
Of course he was. A sudden realization strikes Mike. Max needs electrical medical assistance devices for her coma.
“Wait… Is she… Is…”
“She’s fine. At least for now.”
Mike is relieved. He feels dumb for not having thought of it before. He also didn't think that the outage was that widespread.
Mike feels a presence behind him. He recognizes Will’s footsteps on the stairs.
“The emergency power should last a few days, then the generator needs refueling,” Lucas continues.
Mike hears Will’s footsteps pausing. Maybe he realized what they were talking about.
“I was so worried, I drove here as soon as the lights went out, I thought she’d–”
“I know, Lucas. It’s okay. She’s gonna be okay.” Mike tries to reassure him.
He then turns his head to see Will standing still five feet away. Will just looks worried. But as their eyes meet, Will quickly looks away, and walks past Mike.
“Imma catch you later, it’s time to go to bed soon. Good night, Lucas!”
“Good night!”
Mike feels like he’s intruding Will’s space and has the urge to go back upstairs.
-
What a shitty day! Mike thinks as he crumbles back to his bed in his pajamas.
He then hears a sound of static from his desk.
“Mike?” says an all too familiar voice.
He straightens up and goes grab the device. El hasn’t called him for a while. It’s true they had some distance after their breakup. But still they remain on good terms overall.
“El?” Mike replies.
“Are you okay?”
“I mean, it’s getting cold in the house and I can’t properly read my comic books with candlelights… But otherwise, I’m okay.”
Mike’s bedroom wasn’t the coldest to complain about. Nothing compared to the basement, where–
“And you?” he asks before his mind drifts away.
“Hop made a big fire in the chimney, and the cabin is not too large, so it’s warm enough.”
There’s a pause.
“Mike. Will is scared.”
Mike’s mouth twitches. He’s well aware of Will's aversion for the cold since he got possessed.
“Have you talked to him?” Mike asks.
“Yes. You should not let him alone in the basement. He has Jonathan, but…”
Jonathan is supposed to sleep with him, but nearly everyone, except their parents, is well aware that he sneaks to Nancy’s room every night. Maybe El also knows? Will is left all alone in the cold. What El suggests is what his mom already suggested. But Will already said no.
Mike sighs.
“I would but–”
“Mike!”
“Fine. I’ll talk to him,” he says in defeat.
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he sighs.
Mike takes a candle and puts it inside a lantern that her mom gave him. He quietly sneaks out of his room and reaches the entrance of the basement.
He knocks at the door a first time.
Nothing.
He knocks a second time.
This time, he hears footsteps getting closer. The door opens.
Will is wearing his blanket all around him to keep him warm. His eyes look sleepy and his hair is messy.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Mike starts.
“No.”
“Um, Mom asked me to check on you.”
Well she did ask him to look after Will earlier. But if it wasn’t for El…
“I’m fine.”
“It’s freezing down here.”
Will changes his posture, as though he wanted to prove he wasn’t cold.
“I’m okay, Mike. I’ll manage. You can go.”
Will’s lips are blue, his face is pale and his breath irregular. Why do you say you’re okay when you’re clearly not? Mike thinks. He wants to help Will, like he always has in the past. But Will has built a wall between them and wouldn’t let Mike get through.
Mike is not ready to give up yet. “I talked to El, she said you’re… scared.”
Maybe if it comes from other people, Will wouldn’t be so stubborn?
“I’m not scared. I’m not a baby, Mike.” Will says, sounding clearly annoyed by the insistence.
“No, I know. But she said Jonathan is sleeping down here to keep you company.”
“Yeah, well. He is.”
Wow. What kind of fib is that?
Mike could clearly see the empty mattress from where he stands. He rolls his eyes and sighs.
“You know I have ears, right? I can hear him sneak into Nancy’s room every single night. I’m literally next door.”
“Can you just go? I’m okay.”
Why is he so bullheaded?
“I don’t believe you. You just don’t wanna cause any trouble, or whatever.”
Will has always been like that. Making himself small so as not to disturb others. This last year, he has done his best to be helpful to Mike’s mom for the chores. Like he wants to prove that he’s not a burden. His selfless nature is something Mike likes about him. Mike had to be protective over him to compensate for it. He would ask Will what he likes and find ways to please him. For instance, he discovered his taste for David Bowie, the Cure or the Smiths, and would play these on his walkman, him and Will each listening with one ear. It’s saddening to think about these memories.
“No, Mike. I want to be alone. I don’t wanna talk to you, okay?”
That hurts. But Mike doesn’t want to display it, so he remains impassive.
“Fine. You made it clear earlier that you don’t wanna sleep in my room. But I just wanted to come down here to say that you can, of course. It’s not exactly warm, but it’s better than this.”
Don’t say ‘no’ this time.
Unlike earlier, Will seems to consider the option. He eventually lifts his eyes to Mike’s.
“Thanks,” Will says. “But no.”
What else did Mike expect? It’s not like they were on speaking terms anymore. But still, one part of Mike still hoped for Will not to be so stubborn for once.
Mike remains here, as though it could change Will’s mind. But he has to forfeit.
“Okay.”
Mike opens his mouth to reiterate the proposition. He refused twice already. But three times the charm, a voice in his head tells him. But what’s the point anymore? He doesn’t want to look desperate, begging for Will to sleep in his room.
“Good night, then,” Mike finally says.
“Good night.”
Mike closes the door.
At least I tried.
Will would rather freeze to death than spend time in the same room as Mike. Mike’s eyes fill with tears at that thought. He lets out a breath he’s been holding for way too long. A tear rolls on his cheek. He wipes it immediately.
Mike closes the door of his room behind him, and sits on his bed. Maybe their friendship is dead forever. So shattered that it cannot be mended anymore.
-
Mike doesn’t know for how long he has been dwelling on what he could have done differently, but suddenly, he hears a soft noise, like a knock, coming from his door. Mike gasps.
When he opens, he finds Will covered in all his blankets, a pillow in his hand.
“I changed my mind,” Will simply states.
Mike tries his best to not show any sign of satisfaction. He can’t help but feel relieved. Will’s not going to freeze downstairs, scared and alone.
Mike looks Will in the eyes, but he can’t read his face.
He lets Will go in, then closes the door behind.
Mike realizes that his heart is racing. Being alone with Will was something he hasn’t experienced for a long time. The silence in the room is heavy, until Will breaks it.
“Um. Do you still have that spare mattress? The one we used for sleepovers?” Will asks.
Mike relaxes his posture, realizing he has been stiff since he opened the door.
“Yeah, I’ll get it.”
Mike manages to pull the said mattress from under the bed.
“This should work.”
“Thanks.”
The silence becomes loud again. Will finishes to settle his mattress with the pillow and blankets that he has brought from the basement. Mike watches him, while sitting on his bed.
When they used to have sleepovers, they would talk and laugh instead of sleeping. Mike’s mom would sometimes come to the bedroom to scold them, and switch off the light. What could they talk or laugh about now? Mike doesn’t have updates anymore about Will’s life. What does he listen to? What are his favourite movies lately? What does he like drawing now?
Mike gives up on trying anything. This is already a miracle that Will changed his mind. He slips under his own blankets.
The candle on his night table dances vividly. Mike considers blowing it out. He knows he cannot sleep well with the light on.
“Do you want the candle on or–“ he rather asks.
“On, please,” Will replies immediately.
“Okay.”
Mike already knew the answer. He’d rather not sleep well than letting Will have nightmares.
Mike’s heart is still racing, and he hates it. He forces himself to breathe slowly to pace it down. After a few minutes, he feels calmer.
“Well, good night,” Mike mutters, while turning his back to Will.
“Good night.”
The room goes back to quiet.
Despite the uneasiness of the situation, Mike can’t help but feel a form of joy to be in the same room as Will. Mike might not sleep well, but he surely will.