Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Mike trailed right on Dustin’s tail, nearly hovering as he leaned into the screen, like he was truly driving. He hadn’t blinked in God knows how many minutes, his body itching as he kept a steady pace on Dustin.

Lucas, who was nowhere near as locked in as the other boys, kept a solid pace in 5th. He launched a red shell forward, letting out a breathy laugh as he sat back against the couch.

Mike, unfortunately had a run in with Lucas’s shell, not only crashing but falling off of the map entirely.

With the boost of a couple mushrooms, Dustin crossed the finish line, taking home another first place victory.

“Oh come on!” Mike sprung off of the couch, gesturing at the brightly lit TV screen in disbelief. “That’s bullshit!” His face shined a bright white against his dark hair.

“It’s not bullshit,” Dustin corrected, “It’s science.” He smiled, a sort of competitive smirk pasted across his face. “Physics, really. It’s all very strategical in the sense that—“

Lucas threw his hands up and sighed. “It’s a game! Mike is just a sore loser.” 

“I’m not!” Mike scoffed, crashing back onto the couch, letting out a creak beneath him. “Come on, let’s just… play another round.” He grabbed a hold of his controller, going back to the cup selection. He mindlessly scrolled through them, eventually coming to a halt. “What map? And not Rainbow Road, we’ve played that track for the past hour.”

It was true. Dustin insisted on playing all four versions of Rainbow Road available on Mario Kart 8. Everytime, he’d sweep the others, arguing that it was because Lucas and Mike were ‘wreckless’ when choosing their karts.

“Moo Moo Meadows,” Dustin threw out, adjusting his body into what he called his Ideal Gaming Posture. Feet flat on the ground, back straight, shoulders relaxed. (By the second lap, he’d be hunched over his controller, chest nearly to his knees.) “And where’s Will? Surprised you didn’t invite him over.” 

“He did,” Lucas nudged Mike, laughing, teasing. “Will already had plans.”

Mike shifted, his breath stilling at the sound of Will’s name. “Yeah, with his sister… him and El planned to go out, apparently he couldn’t reschedule. I mean, I don’t know what could have been so important that he couldn’t have come over. It’s just—” Mike stops himself and swallows the end of his sentence. 

“Yeah, Max is with them too,” Lucas shrugged, “No clue what they’re up to.” 

Dustin shot a look at Lucas, mouthing a silent ‘why on Earth would you say that?’ in Lucas’s direction

“Really?” Mike questioned, his voice a little higher than normal, like he was going through the early stages of puberty again. “Why? Since when does Will even like Max? She’s probably trying to corrupt him with her evil mind tricks or whatever she does!”

“First off, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about,” Lucas started, mildly offended by Mike’s ignorance. “Secondly, they’ve been friends for years, not my fault you were paying attention to El and only El during that one summer!”

Mike groaned, rolling his eyes. “Why are we still talking about this? We’ve been broken up! It’s been like four years anyways.” Mike fought, scooting deeper into the crack between the couch cushions. 

“Time doesn’t erase the fact that you were a dick,” Lucas said flatly.

Mike scoffed, a hand quickly running through his hair. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Does time erase the fact that you two dated?”

With the timing of that like synchronized swimmers, Mike and Lucas simultaneously furrowed their brows, looking at Dustin in pure confusion.

“Like, if someone else wanted to date El, that’d… be fine?” Dustin swallowed, insecurity written all over his face, like he feared whatever answer he was about to receive.

“Like who?” Lucas thought for a second, the gears in his head starting up.

“Well—”

“Wait, you?” Lucas’s jaw nearly fell off of his head. “Isn’t that like… against Bro Code?”

“Mike…?” Dustin asked, his cheeks slightly pink and puffy.

Mike slowly blinked, completely uninterested. “Yeah, I don’t care.” He muttered, eyes still glued to whatever rabbit hole he fell into on his phone within the last three minutes. “Go ahead.”

Lucas raised a brow, slightly taken aback. “That was…”

“...Significantly easier of a conversation than I thought.” Dustin’s shock slowly shifted into a weird fuzzy state, like a little kid working up the courage to ask out their first crush on the playground.

Mike sat his phone down beside him and shrugged. “Why would I care?”

“I don’t know…” Dustin talked slowly, with caution like he was trying to ease Mike into the conversation. “You still… act weird when we bring up dating around you, didn’t know if it was like a touchy subject or anything.” 

Mike let out a groan. “It’s not, I just don’t care about dating. Nothing to do with El.”

“But, she’s the only person you’ve dated, it’s gotta be at least slightly related to her.” Lucas slid closer to Mike as Dustin took a seat on the ottoman in front of Mike, surrounding him in a way that was slightly uncomfortable and incredibly awkward.

Mike tensed up at the sudden closeness. “Guys, I swear it’s not that big of a deal. Just, not my thing, y’know.”

“No!” Dustin shouted, “You just haven’t found the right one.”

“Yeah, man. Just ‘cause you don’t feel it with one girl doesn’t mean there’s not another one out there for you.”

“Plenty of stars in the galaxy!” Dustin grinned.

Lucas placed a hand on Dustin’s shoulder and shook his head, letting out a quiet laugh.

“What do you even look for in a girl anyway? Like what’s your type?” Lucas sunk into the couch, pulling down a blanket that was hanging on the back of the couch, getting comfortable like Mike was his free entertainment. “Let’s hear it, Mike.”

Mike swallowed, his palms suddenly feeling clammy and his heart beating like he just ran a mile. “I—”

“Blondes or Brunettes?” Dustin cut him off. “Simple, basic starting question.”

Mike tried to envision a blonde and a brunette.

The only blonde he could think of was his mom.

Shit.

“Brunette, I guess.”

“Wrong.” Lucas corrected. “It’s ginger.”

Dustin scoffed, “okay, whatever, ignore him. How about personality?”

Dustin and Lucas leaned in closer, intrigued as they watched Mike contemplate the question for way longer than necessary. 

He racked through his brain, trying to think of any character trait, just one. Despite being a writer, his mind drew a blank for a solid thirty seconds. 

What traits did he find attractive?

“Creative? I don’t know. I like writing so… someone that’s also interested in the arts?” He responded, almost like he was asking a question, like he was unsure with himself.

Lucas nearly let out a laugh.

“What?” Mike went red. “These are hard questions!”

“You’re overthinking it.”

“I’m not.”

Dustin threw his head into his hands. “What about hobbies? Interests?” 

“Uhh, D&D?”

At this point, Lucas was nearly hysterical, his eyes watering from laughing to hard. Dustin, who typically kept himself more contained, also had tears of laughter streaming down his face. 

“What’s so funny?” Mike half-yelled into Lucas’s face. “Not everyone is girl-obsessed, man!” 

“I’m not ‘girl-obsessed,’ I just love my girlfriend!”

“You’re a twinge obsessed, Lucas.” Dustin pointed out, trying to stay neutral between the two.

“Reasonably so, have you met her?”

Dustin pushed Lucas aside, “Point is, Mike, the right one will come eventually. Just give it time.”

“That’s the problem. How much time do I need to give?” Mike sighs and hesitates. “I don’t even know what love feels like, how am I gonna know when it’s the ‘right one.’” He turns to Lucas, who’s already getting a response ready.

“You just… know.” He shrugged. “And that sounds stupid, but it’s true. It’s this feeling of… completion? Like you could spend forever with them. And you love them, obviously.” There’s a genuine smile on Lucas’s face as he talks.

Completion. Forever. Love.

Had Mike felt love? Been in love? He didn’t know. He never loved El, that was for sure. Despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t. He couldn’t be a good boyfriend. Hell, he couldn’t even be a good friend. He couldn’t be normal.

Mike tugged on the extra skin around his fingernails, fidgeting around anxiously before speaking up, “What if—”

The basement door swung open faster than the three boys could look up. Holly stood in the doorway, dressed in an oversized pink hoodie, ears and a horn sticking out the top of the hood. She hopped down the staircase, her socks nearly causing her to slip off the bottom stair. 

“Hey, Mike!” She smiled, stabilizing herself on the railing. “You guys want pizza? Mom texted but I know you always ignore her. And you guys are messy, jeez!”

Mike rolled his eyes and picked up his phone. Surely enough, his mom texted him forty-three minutes ago.

Shit, he muttered to himself. “I’ll go get the pizza… and my pajamas.” 

Lucas and Dustin nodded, making their way to their own bags they packed, pulling out their pajamas.

He waved back, following Holly up the stairs.

“Mike, where’s Will?” Holly asked.

Mike quickly shut the basement door. “Oh, uh, with El… and Max.”

“Awh,” she sulked. “Are you upset he didn’t come? You look sad.” She jumped into the kitchen counter, her legs swinging off the edge.

“No, I don’t mind.” Mike replied, searching through the pizza boxes his mom left out.

Two boxes of pepperoni, half a box of sausage.

“I thought he was your best friend.”

“Hmm?” Mike slammed the pizza box shut.

“Will,” Holly crossed her arms, “Isn’t he your best friend?”

Mike froze, his grip tightening on the cardboard, bending it in his hands. Will was his best friend. No… Will is his best friend, obviously. Best friends. 

“Yeah,” Mike stuttered, “but my friends can have other friends.”

Holly tilted her head in confusion. “But I thought you said that—”

“—It doesn’t matter, Holly,” He sighed, turning away towards the stairs.

Will is obviously his best friend. Why would she even ask that? It was always him and Will. Mike and Will. Will and Mike.

~

Mike carefully crept down the basement stairs, balancing three boxes of pizza and three cans of coke in one hand and a blanket and pillow in the other.

“Jeez,” Dustin yelled, “how much pizza did we get?” He shot up, immediately coming to assist Mike with the load.

“Two and a half,” Mike said, setting the pizzas down on the table, “Top one is sausage, only a few pieces left.” 

“Shit, let me get a can.” Lucas reached forward, instantly cracking open his icy cold can of Coke. “Pepperoni?”

Mike nodded, shoving one of the boxes into Lucas’s lap.

The three sunk into the couch, kicking their feet up on the ottoman, covered in layers of blankets, pillows, everything you needed for a real, authentic sleepover. “Movie?” Dustin asked, before grabbing a hold of the remote.

It wasn’t a question, though. Obviously there would be a movie and obviously Dustin had to pick and obviously he would pick Back to the Future. Every time. Without fail.

Lucas scrolled on his phone, occasionally letting out a half-amused laugh before turning his phone towards Mike, who’d give a little smile in return.

The basement was relatively dark, the TV illuminating the three as they chowed down on copious amounts of greasy pizza.

At some point, Mike’s phone vibrated. He picked it up, being nearly blinded. Apparently he had his brightness on full and hadn’t noticed. He smiled, a real smile, before texting back.

“What’s that smile for?” Lucas asked, attempting to peek over Mike’s shoulder. Much to Lucas’s dismay, Mike angled his phone screen away from him, which only made Lucas more curious.

“What? A girl finally text you?” Dustin laughed, nearly choking on the crust of his pizza.

“No,” Mike briefly frowned before shifting his full attention back to his phone.

“Who is it?”

Mike peeked over his phone at the two boys, their eyes wide like a dog who was being teased by the most delicious bone. “It’s Will.”

Mike blinked and suddenly Lucas was halfway across the room, holding Mike’s phone, laughing like a maniac. On instinct, Mike ran after Lucas in an attempt to rescue his phone. After a few shoves and one kick in the shin, Lucas dropped to the ground, the phone falling out of his hands and onto the floor, where Mike quickly scooped it up.

“I can’t believe you guys,” Mike sighed, falling back into the familiar comfort of the couch. “Grow up, both of you.”

Mike, mistakenly, let his guard down, giving Dustin the optimal opportunity to once again, take Mike’s phone. 

Mike crashed onto the couch, sprawling out his limbs in an attempt to cover as much surface area as possible. “Fine. No phone, no couch. You guys can sleep on the floor.” Mike huffed, pulling a blanket up to his shoulders, acting as if he was going to go to sleep.

“Fine,” Dustin tossed Mike his phone, hitting him in the head in the process. One final attempt to get one last hit on Mike.

Mike scoffed, scooting over to his newly designated spot on the couch. “Fuck you guys,” he laughed, before kicking his feet up on the ottoman.