Chapter Text
Mike
It was summer in Hawkins, which was usually the best time of the year. It meant that they could go swimming, stay outside longer, since the sun wouldn’t set as early and that they wouldn’t have to worry about a freezing cold basement. And, in addition to everything a new mall had opened in Hawkins, giving them a lot of new things to do, which included going to the cinema every other day. They didn't even have to pay for it since Steve would let them, even if a little annoyed, in through the backdoor of Scoops-Ahoy and they would sneak in their own snacks.
And Mike thought everything was great up until the moment Mikes parents, or rather his mom, announced during family dinner that their cousins would come to visit them over the holidays.
Mike almost choked on the water he was drinking: ”What?! Why are they staying here all of a sudden? The last time they visited was what, like – almost five years ago. Why now?”
“I had a talk with Mrs. Grose a few days ago and she informed me that the kids haven’t left their estate since your aunt and uncle died two years ago, so we decided it would be nice for them to get out of the house and have some contact with people their age again. Which means that you, Mike, will show Miles around Hawkins and include him in your activities,” Karen said strictly. “I want them to have a good time here and help them find back into a normal life.”
“Great, and Nancy has to do nothing, of course.”
“No, she’s going to help me with Flora and Holly,” Karen declared.
“But mom…”
“No buts you two are going to help me and make them feel welcome. I understand that you need to work Nancy, but I still want you to at least try to help where you can.”
“Besides you kids got along amazing the last time they were here,” Ted said from across the table, looking up from the newspaper he was reading. Shrugging his shoulders after earning a disgusted look from Mike.
Mike turned back to his mom trying again: “Mom, please, Miles is really weird – and honestly kinda scary – do I really have to? I don’t think he would even fit in with the group, I doubt that he’s interested in D&D,” he mumbled the rest, ”or anything else that is considered fun.”
“I won’t discuss this any further with you Mike. You are going to include him and show him everything, I’m sure you’ll find something you’re all interested in.”
Great. Now he had to deal with his creepy cousin out of all things, last time they visited he hid a spider in Mikes room fully aware that he’s scared to death of those things. Besides that Mike had also heard that Miles got expelled because he hurt a boy at his school really bad, which didn’t help the menacing aura Miles had to him anyway and the bad feeling in Mikes stomach he felt every time he just thought about him. But that wasn’t even the worst thing, the worst thing was that Miles seemed to absolutely adore Will occupying him every second he got and basically stealing him from Mike.
There was just something about him that didn’t sit quite right with him. Something was wrong with him he just couldn’t pin point it.
. . .
The next morning Mike had gathered everyone in his basement. Dustin, Lucas and Will sat squeezed together on the worn out couch that stood in Mikes basement while Eleven and Max had settled down in the left over armchairs. On the table in front of them lay opened bags of chips and other sweets.
Mike kept pacing through the room relentlessly.
“So you wanna tell us us why exactly you called us hear at eight in the morning during the holidays? We could still be well asleep you know.” Max said, visibly annoyed by the fact that she had to be in Mikes basement out of all places she could be at the moment.
Mike just kept on pacing. Will had a concerned look on his face, waiting for Mike to elaborate, though he didn’t seem to notice too far gone in his own head.
Dustin gave it another try waving his hand to get his attention. ”Hellooo, earth to Mike.” Which surprisingly seemed to finally pull him out of the thoughts that kept spiraling through his brain.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, -– right.” Mike cleared his voice before continuing, ”So the problem is as follows: My cousin is coming over.”
“You mean your cousin as in Miles?” Lucas asked raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, exactly.”
“And that’s a big deal because?” Max asked genuine confusion on her face.
“Yeah, that’s a big deal because?” Eleven repeated, which seemed to be a thing she was doing a lot with Max since Mike and her had broken up.
Mike was stunned for a second until he realized that they had never met Miles. “That’s a big deal because he’s weird!”
Max stared at him aloof. “Aren’t we all considered weird too anyway?”
“I mean yeah… But with Miles it’s different he’s the creepy kind of weird! Apparently he got kicked out of school for hurting a boy. Not to mention all the pranks he pulled on me the last time he was here and I heard he pulled even creepier pranks on the teacher that was supposed to watch over Flora. And these pranks must have been bad because she actually left. Overall he just has this eerie vibe to him and it’s freaking me out just thinking about it.” he shudders.
“I don’t think he’s really that bad, I mean most of what you mentioned are just rumors right? And while, yes, he did pull some pranks on you I’m sure he didn’t have any malicious intentions.” Will finally said, even if to Mikes displeasure. “Maybe you should try talk to him about it?”
“It’s not that simple, you don’t know how threatening he can be. He’s always so oddly nice to you, it’s scary honestly.”
“Well maybe you were weird towards him too, I don’t think that it’s all on him.”
Mike looked at Will, perplexed, usually Will was always on his side and completely trusted him but since the argument that day in the rain something had changed, and Mike hated it. He hated himself. He hated himself for saying that – it’s not my fault you don’t like girls – he didn’t even know why he said it, but it was out there and he couldn’t take it back, no matter how hard he tried. He knew it hurt Will. He knew his younger self would also hate him for saying that, saying that to the one person that never betrayed him, to the one person that was always on his side, the person he swore to always be there for, to always protect. He knew he messed up and that it was his fault, but he didn’t know how to fix it, to make it right again.
“I do think Will has point, but... I don’t know something about that guy is off. Like he acted so weird and distant towards Dustin, Mike and me, the only one he seemed somewhat normal with was Will. There’s just this iffy vibe I got from him,” Lucas said, pulling Mike out of his thoughts and earning himself an eye-roll from Max.
Dustin nodded. “I agree.”
“I’m sure it won’t be a problem, you just gotta get over yourself for once especially you Wheeler.”
Eleven nodded in agreement to Max’ comment.
“You can’t be serious right now. Did you listen to what I just told you?!”
“I did, but most of what you said doesn’t have much prove. Besides you gave me a chance and look at us now all sitting happily in your basement and watching you have a break down about your cousin coming over,” Max said, flashing Mike a sarcastic grin, “and as I’ve been told Lucas and El didn’t start off on good terms either, but that went well so why not just give it another try. And, hey, if he’s a douchebag at least I’ll have something entertaining to watch... Seriously though I think it’ll be fine and if it isn’t, well you can still say I told you so.”
Dustin shifted on the couch uncomfortably, while Lucas kept staring at his feet trying to avoid having to look into his girlfriends eyes.
“Fine.” Mike finally gave in even if he was still very resentful about it and absolutely didn’t believe that this would go well in anyway. At least he still had three days to convince himself that it would be fine and absolutely no problem to have Miles around 24/7 for the rest of the holidays.
. . .
Will
Will had been torn out of another nightmare that morning by Mikes voice calling through the walkie laying next to his bed.
He had started having these nightmares after he got abducted into the upside down for the first time. And they were already bad back then, but they had only gotten worse since he had been possessed by the Mind Flayer. The dreams were extremely vivid, it felt like he was back in the upside down again. He felt cold and lonely. His nightmares came in two variants. Either everyone he had ever loved had forgotten about him, leaving him there to die, alone, like he never even existed, or, if the dream wanted to be extra cruel to him, it would show Will how his loved ones all died a horrific death in the attempt of saving him. And he just stood there forced to watch them. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t call out to them, warn them. He just had to stand there and watch it happen. Every. Single. Time.
At first Mike would sleep at his whenever he could to help him with the nightmares. And it actually helped, the knowledge of Mike sleeping right next to his side decreased the nightmares for a while. And even if they weren’t fully gone, it still helped, because every time he did have one, he would wake up to having Mike next to him, immediately there to comfort him and show him that everything was fine and that he was still there and wouldn’t just forget about him.
But all of that didn’t last forever and Mike started drifting away further from him and the rest of his friends, seemingly only having El on his mind. Will had originally hoped he would never have to meet her, Mike was constantly talking about her and he couldn’t help but feel jealous of her. He felt guilty for ever thinking or feeling that way, she was really sweet and kind, she hadn’t done anything wrong. But still Will couldn’t help it and he hated himself for it, he shouldn’t feel that way about his best friend, but he did and he knew that Mike would never reciprocate his feelings.
Even now that Mike and El had broken up, Will didn’t dare to hope especially not after the fight he had with Mike. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls, the memory still echoed through his brain and it hurt every time he thought about it. He wished he could have told him that it was, at least in some way, but he was too scared to fully lose Mike, so he didn’t. He kept it to himself.
Even though he felt hurt he couldn’t help but worry about Mike when he called that morning. He immediately got himself ready and biked over to Mike’s. Just to find out that the huge problem was that Miles would come over. Will had never understood the problem Mike had had with Miles, and he still didn’t. Like sure some of the pranks weren’t amazing but they weren’t as terrible as Mike described them, at least in Wills opinion. Besides that Miles had always been very nice to him, sure he had this eery vibe going on, but once you got past that he was actually very sweet, at least as long as you didn’t get on his wrong side. But to Will he had always felt somewhat comforting. In a way he even reminded him of Mike, though Mike definitely did not think the same.
Will couldn’t wait for the next three days to pass. He hadn’t seen Miles in a while, but he hoped that it would help him get away from the struggles he had with Mike or that Miles could help him overcome them.
Miles and him had kept in contact through letters for sometime, Will had often ranted about stuff to Miles and Miles had given him tips on what to do or just tried to be there for him and Will had done the same, even if it was only through letters. But after Will had vanished and the stuff with Miles parents happened, the writing had stopped because there was just too much going on leading to them losing contact.
Mike never knew about the letters and Will had decided it was better to keep it that way knowing how much he disliked Miles.
. . .
Mike
It was an especially hot Monday morning when Miles finally arrived, and Mike just wanted to lock himself up in his room and stay there until Miles was gone again.
The three days he had hadn’t helped at all and he felt just as sick to his stomach as before. He would even argue that it had gotten worse. He constantly had to think about the way Miles had been around Will, always staying close to him. It annoyed Mike and he didn’t even know why, he usually didn’t feel this way about someone being around Will. Or maybe he did, but because he knew that he was still the one Will would turn to if something happened it didn’t bother him as much. With Miles it felt different, he felt as though he lost all control about the situation, he felt like Will didn’t need him anymore, he felt replaced. And then there was the way Will had looked at him - he hated it. And he felt stupid for it, because it happened five fucking years ago so why did it still bother him? And why did it bother him in the first place?! It’s not like Will owed him anything, he was his own person and he could handle himself well enough, he didn’t need Mikes protection, but even knowing that it still hurt something deep inside of him.
Karen called him and Nancy downstairs the moment the car had parked in front of their house, to greet his cousins.
Holly, Karen, Nancy and Ted already stood at the door when he finally arrived downstairs. Flora hopped out of the car first radiating with happiness and running towards them hugging one after another, almost knocking Mike off his feet and getting a genuine laugh out of him. “Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad” he thought, but then Miles got out of the car and his smile immediately froze. Flora let go off him.
“Are you okay?”
“Hmm? Oh, uh, y-yeah, I’m fine.” He gave her an awkward smile, which seemed to be enough to convince her that he was, because she turned around to look at Miles, who was walking towards them.
Miles greeted them, shaking everyone’s hand and smiling politely. It reminded Mike of his own smile. He disliked that the two if them looked so similar, it felt wrong because they were so different, yet they looked like they could be twins.
“Mike, Nancy, can you please help get their bags out of the car?” Karen asked.
Nancy started walking towards the car, “Sure mom.”
Mike also started walking towards the car, but then noticed that Miles had turned around to walk inside without even trying to help.
“Aren’t you gonna help?” Miles looked at him like Mike had just asked him to put on a step dance performance or something. “Why?”
Mike shook his head and blinked in disbelieve. “Because those are normal manners, I mean this is still your stuff we’re talking about and -” He stopped in the middle of the sentence, because his mom shot him a strict glance, obviously trying to stop him from making things awkward.
Even though Mike knew that his cousins grew up spoiled, he didn’t remember them being that bad, not even understanding normal things like helping with carrying your own things.
Nonetheless he gave up trying to convince Miles to help and proceeded to walk towards the car getting their bags out of it. With more force then necessary and still frustrated.
After him and Nancy had carried almost all of the luggage inside he went outside to the car again to get the last one, which was a relatively large box covered with a black blanket. He lifted the blanket to take a look at what’s underneath. “Holy shit!” Underneath the blanket was a terrarium in which a huge black tarantula sat. Mike immediately dropped the blanked, his heart beating like it was going to jump out his chest at any moment.
Mike closed his eyes trying to calm his nerves, taking a few deep breaths and counting to ten then opening them again. He took another deep breath before finally lifting the box trying not to think about what was inside of it.
He brought the box up stairs to the guest room as fast as he could, putting it on the desk that stood underneath the window. Relieved when he finally got it out of his arms.
He took another glance under the blanked to make sure the spider hadn’t somehow escaped. Another shiver ran down his spine when he saw that the spider was still there. He dropped the blanked again and wasted no time getting out of the room making sure the door was closed behind him.
Having brought everything inside he helped his mum make the bed for Flora in Holly’s room. The two would be sharing it for the holidays, since they didn’t have another spare room and Karen wasn’t too fond of the idea of letting one of them sleep in the basement. But Holly and Flora didn’t seem to mind, rather excited that they could basically have a holiday long sleepover.
After finishing that too his mom started making something for lunch, allowing him to finally go back up to his room.
Mike closed the door behind him and let himself fall down onto his bed burying his face in his pillow. He let out a frustrated groan. Turning onto his back after having stayed like that for a few minutes, he ran a hand down his face and got up to grab a comic of his as an attempt to distract himself. He started reading but found himself constantly getting distracted by his own thoughts never really able to focus. He was about three quarters through the comic when he heard his mom calling them for lunch. He got up not remembering anything of what he just read and dragged himself down the stairs.
He entered the dining room, the table was already set and the others had seemingly just sat down, his mum rushed from the kitchen into the dining room with something steaming inside of a pot in her hands.
“Mike can you please get Miles? He must have overheard me calling.”
Mike gave a barely visible nod and turned around to go the stairs back up.
He knocked on Miles door waiting a few seconds for an answer, when he didn’t get one he decided to just open the door. Inside Miles was walking around his room, unpacking some of the things that were still left, while listening to music over his Walkman.
Noticing Mike he turned around a questioning look on his face.
“Mom asked me to get you, we’re eating now.” He said pointing towards the stairs. Miles gave him a short nod, put his Walkman away and followed him downstairs.
The way down stairs was silent. As were the first few minutes at the dining table, only disturbed by Ted turning the pages of his newspaper and Flora’s and Holly’s chattering about the horses that Flora and Miles seemed to own, until Karen couldn’t take it anymore.
“You have already unpacked your things I assume?” Karen looked at Miles a kind smile on her face, very obviously trying to lighten up the awkward atmosphere.
“Yeah, and I wanted to ask if you happen to have a pet shop around here? I might have to stock up on some things over the holidays.”
“For your spider right?”
“Yes, the insects and everything are probably not going to last until we’re back, so…”
Turning towards Mike she suggested: ”How about you show Miles around town a bit?”
“That would be great, thanks” Miles had a smug grin on his face, resulting in Mike hating this even more. But Mike didn’t dare to say anything against it, sure that that was exactly what Miles wanted: to piss him off, and he wouldn’t give him the win that easily. So Mike would have no choice but to spend the next few hours biking through town with him.
After lunch they got a second bike out of their garage, Mike guessed that it was Nancy’s old one. They had to pump up one of the tires, or rather Mike did, since the bike hadn’t been used in quite a while. But after that they were ready to leave.
They drove around for a while, Mike told him a few things about the places they passed and overall it was fine. Mike wasn’t as annoyed as he thought he’d be, Miles didn’t talk a lot and seemed kind of bored and Mike was fine with that if it meant he could have his peace.
But of course Miles eventually got bored of Mike’s half-hearted yapping about places he couldn’t care less about.
“So, you and Will are still friends, right?”
Mike felt offended at that question. “Of course we are!”
But as he said it he started doubting himself. They were still friends right? Sure they had been more distant after the fight, but that was normal, maybe they just needed a break for a while. But then again it wasn’t like Will to distance himself from Mike even if they fought. Will usually couldn’t even stand to fight with people, he hated everything about it ever since he was a kid, constantly hearing his parents fight and as much as Jonathan and Joyce had tried to protect him from it he still saw it. Will wasn’t stupid and he noticed the bruises on Jonathan that his dad had left. He heard the way Lonnie yelled at his mum threatening to hurt her and the kids. And Mike knew all of that, he was probably the only one Will had entrusted everything. And so he tried to avoid fighting with him as much as possible and even when they did fight he never yelled at him and he was always the first to apologize. But even after apologizing it didn’t feel like it had fixed anything this time. Maybe Will just needed some time, but still, Mike felt guilty for being the reason that Will had been hurt.
Miles smirks. “Doubting yourself?”
“What?! No! Why would I?” Mike said defensive, but the answer came out just a bit too quick to really be convincing.
“I don’t know, you tell me. You just looked like you were questioning it.” He shrugs, that stupid smirk still on his face as if he knew more than Mike did himself. “So how’s Will been?”
“Fine.” He rolls his eyes, not keen on keeping the conversation about Will going on any longer. He really didn’t want Miles to know anything about the fight, between him and Will, he didn’t need his cousin interfering and possibly messing things up even more than Mike had already managed on his own.
“So, nothing interesting going on?”
“No. And if you’re so interested in him why don’t you just ask him yourself?” Mike tried to make it sound as casual as possible but it still came out fiercer than intended.
“I mean I would, but he isn’t here right now. So I’m asking you.” He stated as a matter of fact. “Besides the last question wasn’t even just about Will.”
“Right...” Mike said disdainful. As if you care about anyone else here, he thought.
“So?”
“Nothing interesting.” Mike answered him, trying to keep the conversation as short as possible. Not wanting Miles to know anything else. But the smirk on his face told him that he had already figured out a lot more than Mike had wanted him to and possibly more than Mike had been able to himself. Couldn’t this guy just keep his nose out of things that didn’t involve him?!
The rest of the drive was silent. Miles seemed satisfied with the information he had gotten, so he didn’t ask any further questions. Which freaked Mike out even more. He hadn’t said more than he had intended right? Though his reactions probably said enough either way. Why did he even react that way to such a simple question. Mike tried to shake the thoughts off, but they just kept on sticking to him like gum under a shoe.
Once they arrived back home Mike wasted no time getting back to his room and ready for bed. It was only half past eight but Mike felt exhausted. He hoped that a bit of sleep would help him clear his mind, maybe tomorrow he would know why he felt this way about Miles and Will and why Miles question had made him doubt everything. Surely a good nights rest would do the trick.
He closed the blinds in his room and lay down. The silence felt welcome, even if his conscience was still screaming at him questioning every little thing he had said and done.
The silence however didn’t last long, suddenly disturbed by an E-guitar blasting from the other room. Mike inhaled sharply startled by the sudden noise. He tried to ignore it and pulled his pillow over his head in a desperate attempt to shut out the noise. He didn’t want to leave his comfortable bed just to have to talk to Miles again and beg him to turn his guitar down. He kept turning and even put another pillow over his head but to no avail. Finally he gave up not being able to take it anymore and extremely pissed off.
He stood up and marched over to Miles room this time he didn’t knock. Miles sat on his bed guitar in hand.
“Can you turn that off others are trying to sleep.” He said grumpy.
“Sorry, I wasn’t aware you went to sleep this early during summer holidays.” His tone made clear that he didn’t feel sorry at all, but Mike didn’t bother acknowledging it, he was too tired to argue. Luckily Miles still turned the guitar down and Mike went back to his room, falling asleep almost instantly once his head hit the pillow. He could still faintly hear the guitar and he was sure that Miles had done that on purpose, but it was quiet enough for him to ignore it.