Chapter Text
The Starcourt Mall was always busy on Saturdays, and today wasn't much of an exception. The air was tinged with the scent of waffle cones, chlorine from the indoor fountain, and a weird sort of smell the mall always seem to carry. The lights shone from above, casting a glow that made everyone look a shade paler than they were. Mike Wheeler for one looked like a vampire in a sailor's outfit.
Mike stood behind the counter of Scoops Ahoy, his stupid job. His elbows rested on the glass display as he gazed at the ice cream with both hunger and disgust. His sailor costume was itchy, and the hat, God the hat, kept falling over his eyes. He pushed it back up for what felt like the millionth time that hour, and glanced over at Max, his stupid coworker at his stupid job.
Max sat on the counter, watching Mike with a grin. It was almost as if she liked seeing Mike suffer, and if you asked her, she would probably say she did. She swung her legs back and forth, sipping a Cherry Coke her boyfriend, Lucas gave to her half an hour ago. Her ginger hair flowed perfectly from the top of her head to where it ended at her shoulders. She looked like a girl straight from a cool music video about a sailor, and Mike looked like he just got shipwrecked.
"You kinda look like a sad, Victorian child sailor." Max pointed out, taking a long sip of her Coke.
"I look like someone to wants to quit."
Max shrugged as she reached out to knock Mike's sailor hat off, to which she got smacked on the arm for. "You say that every day."
"Yeah, and I mean it every fucking day." Mike groaned.
"Yet." Max hopped off the counter so she could see Mike's reaction to what she was about to say. "You're still here. I know you won't quit. You need money for your long distance romance phone bills."
Mike's face was now painted dark red, but with the lighting making everything pale, Mike hoped that helped with making it seem like he wasn't blushing too much. It didn't matter though; Max knew about his phone calls with Will. Mike hated when she called it romantic, because it wasn't. Was a guy not allowed to call his best friend? Mike asked that a lot, and he never liked the response Max gave. Max would joke about how since El 'dumped Mike's ass' for the second time, that he could go for her brother now. Again, Mike would counter that with Will just being a best friend.
"It's- it's not romance! I haven't seen him in months, okay? No shit I wanna call him."
Max nodded. "Yeah, but it's like, every time you get a break."
Mike glared, his face the polar opposite of Max's grin. He was minutes away from his break, his phone call with Will, but he was seconds away from cursing out Max and her entire bloodline. Just in time, because Mike never gets the last word, a kid slammed his hands on the counter, his fingers smearing stickiness all over it. Mike gripped the counter so hard he thought his hands might fall off, but anything not to strangle a kid.
"Do you have bubblegum flavor?!" The kid shouted, staring up at Mike.
Mike forced a smile. "We're out."
The kid stomped and tried to reach over the counter, but Mike smacked his hand away. "You were out yesterday!"
Rolling his eyes, Mike shrugged. "Still out."
The kid flipped Mike off before walking out of the store, mumbling something about 'this shop is bullshit.'
"Kids these days." Mike muttered, glancing at the clock. One minute.
"Just go call your boyfriend." Max sighed loudly. "Tell him and El I say hi!"
"Got it!" Mike grinned, already in the back room the second he got Max's permission. He threw off his apron and hat, smiling in content as the noise of the mall was replaced by the soft hum of the freezer. Mike turned on the radio; 'California Dreamin' by The Mamas & the Papas. He raced over to the phone and dialed the number to Surfer Boy Pizza. As he waited for Will's answer, he listened to the song. Mike wanted to go to California. He wanted to see the sun, the beaches, the scenery, El, Joyce, Jonathan. He wanted to see Will, too. He really wanted to see Will.
"Mike?"
"Will!"
"Hi." Will said, grinning so big Mike could practically see it through the phone. "How are y- Yes, I'll do that in two minutes! Sorry- uh, we kinda have a lunch rush right now." Will muttered.
Mike nodded and smiled, even though Will couldn't see. Unbeknownst of either of them, they both did small, subtle gestures like they could see on another, whether it was a smile, a look, or something of a ghost nudge as if the other was right next to them. "I mean, I could call you back lat-"
"No." Will said, almost too fast. "Please no. I wanna talk now. Besides, El and Argyle think it's, like, cute- well, sweet how we always call each other, so they usually just let me take a little break."
Mike leaned against the freezer, his shoulders tensing at the temperature. "Cool. Uh, how's California?"
Will groaned. "God, it's hot as shit. Well, Argyle says this isn't hot for Cali, but y'know, it's hot compared to Hawkins."
A small laugh from Mike reached Will's ears, making him smile and blush. "Yeah, it's pretty cold here right now." Mike said. "Cloudy, too."
Will sighed and nodded. "I miss clouds. I..I miss you."
"I miss the sun." Mike whispered. "And I miss you."
Mike didn't hear Will respond, and he got nervous that Will was uncomfortable. He hard muffled voices. Maybe Will was telling El how weird Mike was. "W-Will?"
"Oh. Sorry." Will muttered. "El, she says hi! And she, uh, she also said you should come visit us in California. Over spring break."
Heaven itself seemed to shine over Mike's face; he was practically glowing. "Hell yeah! Oh, hi, El. Yeah! I- I should come visit you, I really wanna see California."
Then there was the awkward silence. There always was. It was usually filled in with a 'how's your day?' Or 'What are you doing tomorrow?' The questions were nice, but it was usually the same thing. they couldn't talk about too much personal stuff, Max and El were always listening. Will even said he overheard El calling Max and talking about them, which made Mike cringe with shame and embarrassment.
"So.." Will laughed quietly. "How's Hawkins?"
"The same." Mike sighed. "This dipshit of a kid threw his ice cream at me earlier. Max said it improved my outfit."
Will giggled as he imagined it. "You need to send me a picture of your outfit! Speaking of that, you should send me more letters. I love calling you, but mom says the phone bills are expensive. She also says I should stop calling you here cause it's the store's phone, not mine."
"Oh." Mike's smile transformed into a pout. "I can send you more letters, yeah. I'll ask my mom today about seeing you guys over spring break."
"Great!" Will nodded. "Y'know, I've been paint-"
"Ahoy, shithead." Max interrupted. "Hate to break you guys up, but your break's over."
Mike groaned and shook his head. "C'mon, Max, cover me for five more minutes?" Mike gave his best puppy dog eyes.
Max's face lit up, and she walked over to the phone. "Yeah, of course I will!"
"Really?"
Max nodded again and took the phone from Mike. "Yeah! Okay, bye Will, you two can talk later." With that, Max slammed the telephone back into the holder.
"Wha- you bitch!" Mike cursed. "No one's even in line, you couldn't let me be on break for five more minutes?"
Max's eyes darkened, and she pushed Mike out of the back room. "I don't care, okay? And don't call me a bitch."
His hat fell over his eyes again as Mike put it back on and leaned against the counter. "Is it that time of the month?" He rolled his eyes.
Mike regretted saying that within a second; Max didn't say or do anything, just gave him a look that quite honestly terrified him. "Sorry." Mike mumbled. Max shrugged and walked to the back room, going on her own break now.
Ding!
Mike looked up, his eyes rolling when he saw Erica Sinclair, Lucas' brat of a sister. "What do you want?" Mike sighed.
Erica crossed her arms and gestured to his hat. "Uh, aren't you supposed to say 'ahoy'?"
"I don't want to say ahoy."
"Say ahoy." Erica demanded.
Mike couldn't believe he was letting an eleven year old boss him around, but he didn't feel like arguing more. "Ahoy." He said, not an ounce of enthusiasim in his voice. "What can I get for you?"
"Strawberry ice cream in a cone." Erica said without hesitation. "And make sure you're generous with the scoop."
Mike grinned and leaned forward, getting in her face. "Sure thing. But, uh, aren't customers supposed to say please?"
To Mike's disappointment, Erica shrugged, unfazed. "It's not mandatory. Isn't it in your policy that you have to say ahoy?"
"I did say ahoy."
"But you weren't going to." Erica pointed to the ice cream. "Now hurry up, sailor. I'm supposed to meet Tina in five minutes, so.."
If Mike kept listening to Erica talk, he would've gone insane. He drowned out the noise as he began to scoop her ice cream. "Twenty cents." He handed Erica the ice cream, then held his hand out.
Erica dropped the coins in his hand and licked the ice cream. "Thank you, Mr. sailor."
"Please don't call me that." Mike muttered, watching as Erica walked away.
His fingers tapped on the counter, making a soft rhythm as he tried to think of things to cure his boredom. He had heard the songs loop on the radio at least three times, and he knew most of them by heart, whether he liked the song or not. A camera sat in the corner of the shop, usually used for taking pictures of ice cream, at least that's what the company policy said. Surely no one would mind if he used the camera to take a picture of himself in his stupid uniform for Will. One problem; Mike couldn't take the full body picture himself, so that meant he would have to ask Max.
"Max.." He whined sheepishly, rolling his eyes as she appeared from the back window.
"Yes, dingus?" She leaned forward and waited for Mike's request.
Mike lifted up the camera and handed it to her, trying to think of a good reason he would need a photo of himself in the sailor costume. "Can you take a picture of me? It's for..my mom." He nodded. "Yeah, my mom."
Max nodded, her expression emotionless. "Why would your mom want a photo of you in your work uniform?"
Shit. Mike didn't think that far ahead. "Because.. she said she wants to frame it."
"Okay." Max examined the camera, but continued to speak to Mike. "Not sure if anyone's told you yet, but you're a shit liar, Wheeler. Just say it's for Will, and I'll take the picture. Simple as that."
Mike shrugged, pushing up the sailor hat like he always did. "Why would Will want a picture of me like this?"
"Do I need to spell it out for you?" Max sighed to herself. "Obviously he thinks it's cute. Now," She held the camera up, getting ready to snap the picture. "Say 'It's for Will!'"
Mike kept his monotone expression and voice as he said it. "It's for Will." With that, the camera flash blinded him, making his face contort in displeasure as Max captured the image.
A loud laugh came from Max when she saw the photo. "You're like, the dorkiest dork to ever dork."
"Shut up." Mike grumbled and snatched the photograph from her, looking over it.
In the picture, Mike stood there in an awkward pose, looking lanky and tall in his uniform. His hair, which nearly reached his shoulders, was frizzy and disheveled. His face was scrunched up in what Max called his 'signature bitch face.'
"Great." Mike muttered, stuffing the photo into his pocket. "Thanks."
***
After his shift, he ran outside to mall to get picked up by Nancy, who hated when Mike was late, which was often. Her car sat in the street, the window rolling down to reveal an annoyed looking Nancy, clearly not in the mood for Mike's tardiness. "Get in, shithead. Mom said I have to drop you off at home before I can go see my friends, so hurry up."
Mike rolled his eyes and got into the passenger seat, slamming the door. "You got a new boyfriend already since Jonathan left? Or did you go back to Steve?" He looked down hiding his teasing smirk.
The car moved quickly as Nancy floored the gas, and Mike knew he got under her skin. "Neither. I'm seeing Robin."
"You're seeing Robin?" Mike got smacked on the head for that.
"Shut up, dickhead. You know what I meant. We're..hanging out. I don't need a boyfriend all the time."
"Seems like it." Mike shrugged. He reached into his jeans pocket and took out the photo of himself. He gently ran his finger over the creases of where he had folded it as he pictured Will's reaction. Would he actually think it was cute? Surely he had to; he was eager to see it.
Nancy gave a dry laugh and grabbed the photo. "What's this? You look like a dork. Let me guess, you're gonna send this to your boyfriend, right?"
Roses painted Mike's cheeks as he shook his head and took back the photo. "You shut up, Nancy. Will just said he wanted to see it, okay? It's like the first time he's seen my face in months, I look different."
"Yeah, you finally hit puberty and decided to grow out your hair. Better than getting an orange mohawk, though. That's one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had."
Mike rolled his eyes and looked out the window, staying quiet.
When he got home, he dashed to his room and sat at his desk. he fumbled to get a piece of paper he could write a letter on. When he had everything he needed set him, he wrote 'Dear Will,' and then stared at his paper. He hated writing letters. With words, you could stutter over them, and take back things you didn't mean, but letters were permanent. People could read the letter over and over again, analyze every little thing and imagine words in the wrong tone. Letters were intimate; and Mike sucked at intimacy. Eventually, he wrote what came to his head.
'Dear Will,
Ahoy. Here's the picture of me in my sailor uniform. It's stupid, I know, so I hope you get a good laugh out of it.
Sorry I haven't written letters, I know you say you like them. For how much I like writing, I suck at writing to you.
Mom says she'll think about letting me come there for spring break, so I'll let you know soon.
You should send me a picture of your pizza uniform!! Or I can just see it in person, that would be better.
Anyway, I guess that's it. Hawkins misses you. The party misses you. I miss you.
Love, Mike.'
Mike scribbled out the last part about Will being missed, but it was still somewhat legible. He folded the letter and the photo, stuffing it into an envelope and licking the seal. He stood up and looked around his room; messy and empty. The room became blurry as Mike's eyes were filled with glossy tears, remembering how Will would always help him clean his room when it got like this. Maybe he missed Will more than he realized. Lucas and Dustin were great friends of course, but no one compared to Will. Nothing compared to the countless nights Mike and Will had sleepovers, but really just talked and giggled the whole night. Nothing compared to when they were little and played pretend as a knight and a sorcerer. Nothing compared to when Mike was five years old and went up to Will on the swings and asked to be friends, which was the best thing he ever did. Nothing and no one could even come close to Will.
Mike held the letter close to his chest and took a deep breath. He would send it tomorrow, and he would get Will's response soon enough. Maybe Will would really send a picture of himself in his uniform, Mike would love that. Mike would love to just see Will's face; see how much he's changed since a few months ago. Maybe he got taller, like Mike did. Maybe Will got a new haircut, or grew his hair out. Maybe he wore different clothes in California. Maybe Will was learning how to surf. Mike doubted that, and Will would probably tell him about it anyway. But what would Will's reaction to Mike be? Mike had gotten a lot taller, and his hair was a lot longer. His face had matured a lot, but his eyes were still the same, they always were.
Hundreds of thoughts clouded Mike's mind, but they were all about Will. He might be able to see Will in a few weeks, he might be able to hug him and talk about all the things they couldn't talk about over the phone or in letters. Mike would really get to see Will.