Chapter Text
The piercing sound of an alarm shook Mike awake, practically rolling straight out of bed, still in that sleepy haze of being awake but not quite. Blanket still lazily tangled between legs, hair sticking up like he was electrocuted, mind and body on high alert for literally no reason at all. A shaky hand darted out to his vibrating phone, thumb trembling to shut the alarm off with a harsh press. Then another because it didn’t quite register.. And one more for good luck, and that’s what finally shut it off.
A throaty grumble sounded from Mike as he strode across his room, phone still in hand and the time read 8:10 AM, which was stupidly early, and he dove down to pick up a loose pair of jeans and a shirt that was almost dirty enough to be thrown into the laundry. He brought the collar up to his nose, giving it a quick sniff and check. It was fine. He could cover whatever unclean smell lingered on it with some overpowering cologne, the new one his Mom bought him that he hadn't used yet. Now, he has an excuse to. It didn’t smell great. It was something smoky and woody, something a guy would wear to get attention from everybody in the room - Whether it be bad or good attention, mostly bad. Since it smelled awful to any normal person. A dry cough came from him as he spritzed it all across his body, taking too deep of an inhale, uncurling his fingers to waft it away (like it would do anything.)
The start to his day wasn’t the best. But who was he to complain? It was better than most days, where he awoke even worse. One time he had even woken up on the floor, no blankets, pants half kicked off, shirt riding up and skin exposed to the nip of cold air in his room. Eugh, every time he thinks of that it sends a nasty shiver down his body. Thank God nobody found him like that, totally embarrassing.
He hummed some random melody as he moved out from his room, to the bathroom to quickly brush his teeth. Spit and rinse. Finally taking care of that bird's nest of hair, fixing his ebony curls and making sure they fall right against his freckled skin (repeatedly. Since they apparently seemed to have a mind of their own.) Not like he really had anyone to impress, maybe himself.. Maybe not. It was just a part of his morning routine. To make himself look some-what presentable, enough so that he feels confident enough to step outside of his house.
Speaking of.. He pulled the phone from his back pocket, the time read 8:59 AM. Crap, was he really about to be late? He didn’t exactly have much to worry about, though. He always showed up late to class, or even skipped. And his grades never really seemed to slip. He was actually fairly smart, despite never studying or taking notes. It was like a natural gift, a-top of his obliviousness. Which he never really took notice of, because why would he? He didn’t believe he was such, he was smart. And he could totally read rooms and people’s energy, and when they're upset or flirting. Or, something like that. He’d heard everything about his obliviousness, especially when it came to his best friend. Will Byers.
Which he never really understood. Because he knew Will. Inside and out, they were inseparable. And he never really knew why everyone seemed to point out about their supposed mutual crush on each other. Mike definitely did not like him like that. They were just friends, really, really close friends. Best friends. Mike.. Mike didn’t like guys. He’d grown up knowing that it wasn't right (for him to do it, at least), it was drilled into him from when he was little by his Dad. Whatever, he didn’t have time to dwell on this at the moment. He had to leave.
And leave he did.
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“Hey,” was the first thing Mike heard when stepping into school grounds. His head perked up, and he was met with his three friends - Lucas, Dustin and Max. Where was Will?
He parked himself neatly with the group, forming a half circle, not stringing too close but not too far. And just as he was about to open his mouth, Lucas had already beat him to it.
“Will hasn’t shown up, wasn’t he supposed to be with you?”
What? Well, it wasn’t exactly a bad thought. They usually always spent their hours with each-other, but Will couldn’t stay. Claimed he had something important early in the morning, which was never a problem in the past.
And still, he couldn’t get his answer in. His mouth hung open as yet another person stole his chance.
“Oh my god,” Max began, “Can’t you guys remember anything? Will’s tutoring.” Which was met with a couple mumbles of ‘oh yeah’-s and ‘right’-s. Mike felt his chest tighten, a feeling he couldn’t dare explore. Not right now.
“What? Since when did Will do any of that?”
“Hellooo? You were literally there, Mike? He told us, yes all of us, not even a week ago.” Max’s expression shifted with annoyance and used her hands to gesture as she spoke. “Do you even put that head of yours to use?”
He threw a sour look, giving a quiet huff. His arms found their way to tightly cross his chest, he could feel the rabid beats of his heart thumb against his chest. Who was Will tutoring? At this time? Will was never awake this early, he wasn’t exactly a morning person. So why would he ever wake up for some random person just to help them in school? And, why didn’t he think to tell Mike?
Mike was already having a bad morning, but this news seemed to worsen it. He wasn’t sure why, or why he felt the burn of jealousy start to run through his veins, or the random sprinkle of possessiveness and wanting to make sure Will wasn’t in any type of danger. He guessed it was all normal, so normal to think about all of this stuff. Because Will was his best-friend, he wouldn’t want some stranger to hurt him, or his feelings, or to break their mutual label of best-friends just so whoever this might be can get it.
He just didn’t get it.
Until, the brilliant (or maybe stupid) idea popped into his mind. And he could feel the way his body un-tensed and his mood almost lifted into something positive. And so could the others around him, who all mutually gave him the ‘don’t do it’ look.
Would he listen?
No.
Not in the slightest. Wouldn’t even hear anybody out.
“Did Will mention when the tutoring ended?” Mike lifted his gaze, and flicked it around towards everyone.
Mike could see the twitch in Dustin’s lips, like he didn’t want to say anything. But everyone knew he couldn’t keep it to himself. “Uh, they’re usually an hour long. So, he should be here by now. Or already in class.”
“Don’t get any ideas, Wheeler!” Max said, her voice firm but quietened. Because she knew he was already so far gone. But Mike had already turned on his heel and left, weaving and dodging through the crowds of people. A couple comments here and there thrown at him for pushing and shoving.
He had to find Will.
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Will was already packing all of his belongings into his backpack - Books, more books but smaller and pieces of paper that Mike couldn’t exactly read what’d been written on them. It was all just a big blur from so far away. But it was obvious what they were, just notes. Notes about whatever the hell Will could be teaching.
Mike had found him in the school's library, which was more crowded than it usually is. Unknown students filled the chairs and were littered around the various bookshelves that carried almost every single book ever written. Educational or not. Mostly educational though.
Speaking of, his ‘student’ seemed to have already fled the scene. Maybe whoever it was could feel Mike’s intense aura. Anyone could really. Because it was radiating off him in intense waves, and he smelled of determination and a weird need. A need he didn’t want to name.
Whatever. He brushed it off as he found Will at an almost empty table. Still packing whatever else might be laying on the table into his open bag, clearly focused and not paying much attention to the outside world. And Mike just stood. Stared. There was something about Will being so calm, so focused, that sent a quiet zap through his chest. He didn’t want to disturb him, wanted to watch him just a little longer. Watch the way Will’s tongue poked from his bottom lip, pressed against the corner of his mouth. The way he moved with immense carefulness like these objects had feelings.
Then he noticed Will looking back at him, and he felt his cheeks burn. With embarrassment maybe? He didn’t know, all he knew was the sudden heat that flowed through-out his chest and crept up his neck, filling his cheeks with a quiet pink-y hue. He noticed Will’s expression - His brow slightly raised, lips moving like he was speaking. But Mike didn’t hear a word until he heard his own name.
“Mike? Hello? What’re you doing here? You never come to the library. Alone, at-least.” Will’s voice felt sweet like honey to Mike’s ears. He noticed the way Will stood, back straight, straighter than any of their friends. He always had good posture.
“Um. I-” Mike stammered, “Just came to see where you went. You weren’t at the reception. Or outside, or in class, anywhere actually. I- We just wanted to know where you went. That’s all”
He gave a shrug, trying to seem the littlest chalant, taking a quick and careful lean against the table. Which creaked in protest.
“We? But you’re alone? Where is everybody else if they wanted to know?”
“Okay. Well. I just wanted to know where you were.”
Will’s face tightened, the zip of his backpack cut through them with the shuffle of fabric as he slung it up and onto both of his shoulders.
Mike still couldn’t help but watch. He knew it was a little weird, but there was a pull inside of him that told him that if he looked away Will would just.. Disappear into thin air.
Will didn’t say anything.
And it made Mike’s heart race.
“I heard,” Mike hummed, “That you’re tutoring people?”
Will nodded, “Yeah. Just for some extra cash-”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did?” Will’s eyebrows pinched tighter, adjusting the straps of his backpack.
“Oh. Yeah, I forgot.”
Will let out a quiet ‘hmm’, eyes narrowing. His hand moved to push the chair back against the table. Will was always polite like that, cleaning up after himself, making sure everything he touched went back into their original place. It was annoying sometimes. Annoying to Mike, that he had started to pick up on some of it. The first time he ever cleaned up after himself he was questioned relentlessly, something along the lines of ‘Who are you? What did you do with my good friend Mike Wheeler?’
“Soo..”
That brought Mike back in.
“Oh, yeah, I was wondering if maybe you could tutor me?” That earned Mike a laugh, a gentle one. One that he knew so well, and one that made his stomach do summersaults, made his heart flutter and his thoughts halt.
“Tutor you?” Will repeated, “As in, I help you with your grades? Mike, you’re smart. You don’t need that.”
He wasn’t wrong. Mike always managed to keep his grades up and steady without much thought or need to maintain them, he hardly ever studied and the only time he really did was in Science. Or health. Or something along those lines. Despite all of this, he rarely paid attention unless it was something he actually liked. Or peaked his interest.
“No, you’re totally right actually. But it wouldn’t hurt to get some extra help maybe?”
“Um. No.”
No?
What? No? Will never said no. Not to Mike at-least. And for some weird reason it felt like his heart fell straight through his ass.
“You don’t need it, really. Your grades never drop, not in the years I've seen anyway.”
Mike almost forgot how smart Will is too. He knew too much. It was weird.
“Okay. You’re right.” Mike sounded defeated, his eyes tore away and took a quick dart around. A slight twitch in the corner of his mouth. “Um, I’ll see you after school then?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
They both left together, until they had to go their separate ways to their designated classes. Mike had completely forgotten about his friends, he never returned to them. And he knew he was in for a lecturing from Max about ditching and doing something ‘stupid.’
Oh, but she hasn’t seen it yet.
Not at all.
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Mike had to figure out how to get Will to tutor him, had to figure out how to get all of Will’s attention yet again. To take up all of his free-time, keep it from anyone else who might need his help.
He wasn’t sure why he felt this way, wasn’t sure why this was the only thing on his mind. But something deep inside him told him it was right, and that he needed to do this.
He had to get stupider.
Had to put no effort into his work, put in no homework and answer wrong even though he knew the right answer.
Needed to get his grades to drop. Drastically and fast.