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Completely in his own world, Mike was playing with his dinosaur toys on the floor.
Ignoring the hard floor that bored into his knees, way too focused on his own little game.
,,Mike don't you want to play on the carpet?”
The echo of his mother’s voice sounded through the kitchen but he barely heard it as his two dinosaurs were right now in the middle of a huge fight, with loads of roars.
The red dinosaur was biting the green one, which Mike made to let out a wince as it was surely destroyed by the other. But then the blue one rushed to help and-
A little huff was heard from across the room.
Mike's head immediately shot up because it was Will and Mike always noticed himl. Something about that just came naturally to him. Obviously the other boy seemed displeased, telling from the upset little noise.
So Mike stood up, abandoning his toys in the middle of the fight that he had found intriguing enough before to even ignore his mom's voice and rushed to Will.
Karen rolled her eyes slightly though there was a hint of affection in it as she saw her son acting so caring to his best friend.
Mike's knees were slightly red and hurted a bit from the earlier playing on the rough carpet, but at that moment it didn't bother him.
,,You okay?”
He asked his best friend hesitantly, tilting his head at the question, big brown eyes gazing up at him.
Will looked up from his picture that he was drawing currently, the colour all over his little hand. He was about to show Mike the problem but hesitated.
Mike just kept his gaze onto him, signaling him silently that he listened to him and did care about whatever Will had to complain about.
Will reached out his hand showing him the yellow crayon that now was broken. Probably broke while he was drawing, putting a little too much pressure on the paper.
,,Oh no, it broke.”
stated Mike staring at the crumbles in Will's hand.
,,Can't finish my painting. Need the yellow colour.”
Mumbled Will shyly, always scared to ask of anything. Not as scared whenever he was with him though.
He was proud that the other boy felt so comfortable around him. Whatever happened Will would always turn to him and Mike felt the same. He liked how Will would be brave enough to complain to him about stuff. How he wasn't afraid of touching Mike like he was with all the other kids.
At the beginning Will had flinched back a lot whenever Mike would've reached out to him. It was something that Mike wasn't used to, he had always been a very touchy person and normally others didn't mind. But Will had. Or so for the first two weeks. Mike had started to ask, ask to lay a hand on his shoulder or hold his hand when they walked around in kindergarten. Till Will had started initiating touches himself. Mike would feel protective of the boy, being especially soft with him and now they were cuddling every sleepover.
Mike rushed over to his own drawing corner,which was messy even though he barely spent time on it. He searched through the drawers until he found his own, nearly untouched crayons.
He never had been someone who drawed a lot. Sometimes he would join Will but that was because he wanted to spend time with him and not because he actually enjoyed the act of it.
Carefully he opened the box and pulled out the still new looking yellow crayon. Rushing over to Will excitedly and handing him his crayon.
Will's eyes lighted up.
,,Thank you!”
Mike smiled back and managed to pull himself up, onto the chair next to his friend.
,,What are you drawing?”
,,Turtle.”
Stated the other boy concentrated. Mike giggled.
,,But turtles aren't yellow. They're green!”
,,I know. But it's on the beach and sand is yellow.”
Mike nodded and looked over to Wills drawing. He was drawing the sand on which the turtle was placed.
,,I like the beach!”
Exclaimed Mike. As he didn't get an answer he tugged shyly at Will's sleeve. Had he been too loud? Or too talkative? Was Will annoyed by him? He knew that sometimes he was a bit much but usually not for Will.
,,Will?? Do you like the beach too?”
The other boy shrugged and for a second he was scared that he had upset him but then finally he got an answer and let out a breath in relief.
,,I don't know. I have never been at the beach.”
Normally Mike would've asked him why but he wasn't able to miss Will's sad tone in his answer so he didn't want to keep making him sad.
Instead he wobbled over to the other boy and hugged him.
,,Don't be sad Will. It's boring anyway. No one ever wants to play in the sand with me when we are there. Nancy is always reading her boring book, dad sleeps and mom wants to tan”
,,I would play in the sand with you.”
Mike smiled wide, excited about the the thought of spending a vacation together with Will.
,,Yes! We would build the coolest castle ever!”
Will nodded a smile slowly coming back onto his earlier saddened face.
,,What else do you do at the beach?”
The other boy asked him and Mike started telling him about everything that he and his family had done in the vacations. Will listened concentrated while continuing his drawing of the turtle.
,,Well, you can see lots of fish but there are also those balls that have spikes. I don't remember what they're called, mom told me once but I forgot it. You must be careful not to step into those. And then there are crabs too. Nancy is scared of them but I think they are pretty cool anyway. We eat a lot of ice cream too and then of course we go in the water but I can't go too deep yet without any support because I am not that good in swimming yet. And last vacation there also was a pool with water slides!”
Will was smiling but he still seemed a bit unhappy. Did the water slides make him sad? Why would they make him sad?? They were cool. Or was it the crabs that were scaring him?
,,Will?”
Will raised his head.
,,Hm?”
,,Why are you sad?”
,,I'm not. It's cool Mike”
He nodded excitedly, not noticing that Will was in fact still sad. He was five after all, how was he supposed to get that Will was lying.
,,When will you go to the beach?”
Will just shook his head and it made Mike sad. He took Will's hand and squeezed it.
,,What is wrong? Why can't you go to the beach?”
He mumbled, his voice shaky by now and lips wobbling slightly as he almost cried about the idea of upsetting Will.
The other boy gazed to him, at the tone of Mikes tearful voice.
,,We don't have the money.”
,,Oh.”
Of course Mike hadn't considered that, it wasn't like he had any idea about how much a vacation cost as obviously his parents covered the prices.
,,But it is okay. Here, for you.”
Will gave over his drawing to Mike which cheered him up a bit.
Carefully he took the paper and placed it with extra care into the folder that he owned that was filled with Wills drawings.
,,Thank you! This goes into the Will art gallery!”
His friend smiled shyly which made Mikes urge to hug him even bigger. So he did it again without thinking much about it. This time he didn't let go for a long time, holding Will as close as possible to him.
,,I'll ask my mom, maybe you can come in vacation with us!”
A genuine smile crept on Will's face and he nodded.
Then they decided to continue playing. This time Will joined Mike and they played with the dinosaurs together.
It got late and as the doorbell rang, Mike groaned annoyed as he was pretty sure that it was Will's mom.
,,Already?”
He complained. Karen chuckled.
,,Already? You have been playing for six hours now!”
,,That's not enough time!”
Shot Mike back who had not really a feeling of any timespans yet whatsoever.
Joyce entered and Mike pushed his grumpyness away. Yes he didn't like the fact that Will had to leave but he actually thought Will's mom was really nice and he didn't want her to think he was rude and then he could never be allowed to play with Will again.
Will stumbled over to his mom.
,,Bye Mike!”
,,Bye Will. See you Will.”
He yelled after Will as they were already halfway out the door.
***
At dinner Mike was happily eating his cheese sandwich and then asked with full mouth.
,,Mommy, can Will come to vacation with us this holidays??”
Karen looked up, surprised at his request.
,,I mean if Will's mom allows it then we could definitely do that.”
His mom was very aware of the financial problems regarding the Byers household. Joyce was basically raising her kids alone because Lonnie decided at least three times a year to leave his family just to then come back months later, without contributing a single cent for his children.
Mike had early on into the friendship with Will learned that. Once he had asked him to come together with him to the waterpark, a bit further out of the town. As his friend told him that his mother couldn't drive him Mike had just asked him if his dad could drive and Will had started crying. He felt sorry and immediately tried to comfort him and in the end Will had just answered that his dad wasn't there.
When Mike had come home that day his mother had explained the situation. Or at least most of it, leaving the crueler things out. Ever since, Mike had been holding a big grudge against Lonnie Byers and whenever the man decided that for two days he would care about his children and come home, Mike had done nothing but glared at him non stop. He deserved it for hurting Will like that after all.
So his mom knew about the family situation of the Byers, at least partly, and so did Mike. Yet obviously it was not understandable for Mikes sister, Nancy, why Will was allowed to go but none of her friends.
,,Mom! This is unfair! Why can’t Barb come on vacation with us? Why always Will. I'm older and yet Mike is the one who gets everything. Him and Will sleep over all the time and I'm barely allowed to.”
Mike glared at her. She didn't know. She didn't know how scared Will would be with his father in that house, he told him about it and Mike never wanted him to go back home, wanted to keep Will in his basement forever. She didn't know about Will's nightmares or the small amount of food he would sometimes get. She didn't know about the bruises on his arm, and the smell of alcohol stuck on him after another night with Lonnie home. She didn't know about the times he called in the middle of the night or the scared screams that he made when he was sleeping.
She simply didn't know. And of course that wasn't really her fault but her reaction still upset Mike.
His mother took Nancy aside for a bit, talking to her and eventually she came around and it was settled. If Joyce agreed then Will would come in vacation with them.
***
Mike was laying on the floor sobbing, begging his mom to ask Joyce again.
His head was dizzy by now through all the crying but he couldn't stop.
In the last two days Mike has imagined the week that he and Will would spend at the beach and how happy they would be. He wanted to see Will happy and laughing.
Lately the other boy had again became more shy, he talked less and his smiles were less honest and Mike knew that the blame was on Lonnie. So he thought that he could at least make him happy again for a week. For whatever reason though Joyce had said no and now Mike was mad at her too. Didn't she want Will to be happy?
,,MOM!PLEASE!”
Karen seemed more than overwhelmed by the major breakdown of Mike, as the boy normally was a content kid who didn't complain much, knowing that oftentimes there was no use in it.
,,Sweetie, there's nothing we can do. If Will's mom say no then we have to accept it”
,,BUT WILL WANTS TO! SO SHE SHOULD LET HIM!”
,,Oh, Mike”
His mother tried to comfort him, placing a hand on his shoulder calmingly, but Mike wouldn't stop sobbing and then he just grabbed the telephone himself, wiping some of his snot away loudly.
,,Hello?”
Mike asked hesitantly. He was mad at Joyce but also he majorly respected the woman and had not the intention of actually being rude to her.
,,Mike hello, what do you need?”
,,Please let Will come with us. You don't have to pay anything, we have enough money. My mom said we would pay. Please, please, please just this one year. I'll never ask again!”
Will's mom let out a big sigh at that, and Mike's hope rose at the sound that seemed like a defeat.
,,Mike can you give me your mom please?”
He nodded, even though obviously she couldn't see that. Excitement built in his chest as he handed the telephone back to his mom.
After seemingly hours that had Mike impatiently waiting his mother came back into the living room.
Mike jumped up, dropping the dinosaur that he had tried to play with while being way too nervous to come up with any storyline.
He looked up at her with big puppy eyes, hopeful.
,,Will is allowed to come with us”
Mike let out a happy scream.
,,Yes! Is the telephone still on? I need to talk with Will about what he has to pack.”
,,Mike, I think he can pack for himself.”
,,Pleaaase.”
With an affectionate eyeroll his mother handed him the telephone again and Mike started his endless talk about what Will needed to pack.
***
As Mike woke up the day of their leaving he was still tired. As always they started their drive in the middle of the night and Mike had barely closed an eye, too excited about the vacation that he would spend together with Will.
As his mom told him that they would now start and pick up Will as well, his tiredness faded very quickly and he happily climbed into the car.
He had taken several comics, toys and cassettes with him onto the backseat so he and Will could pass time during the drive.
They arrived at Will's house and a still exhausted Will wobbled out of the house, his mother and brother saying their goodbyes to him, hugging close.
Mike spotted his dad rolling his eyes slightly at the affection of the Byers. He was aware of his dads thoughts about boys showing affection. He didn't think it was right. He thought that just made them grow up to be ‘fags’ whatever that meant. But Mike didn't care. He was happy that Will had such a good mother and brother.
He smiled as Will opened the car door and sat down next to him.
,,Hey Will!”
Exclaimed Mike way too excited, while Will just mumbled a tired, little:
,,Hey.”
,,Oh, You're tired?”
Will nodded and almost immediately fell against the window, exhausted.
Mike decided to meanwhile start one of his new comics. For a while his sister was just watching them for a bit before slightly pushing Mike who was in the middle seat.
,,I barely have space!”
,,You have enough space! Stop pushing me!”
He yelled back and starting pulling on her hair as she pushed even more. In a span of very little time they had gotten into a rowdy and loud fight, their parents just rolling their eyes, used to it.
Will woke up, rubbing his tired eyes slowly.
,,Great Nance. Now you woke up Will.”
,,As if that's my fault.”
His sister pouted but Mike had already directed his attention back to Will who was eying Mikes forgotten comic interested.
,,What are you reading?”
Mike excitedly picked the comic back up and showed it to him. He started rambling about whatever was happening in the comic and Will listened. After Mike had catched him up on what had happened so far, they continued reading it together, a comfortable silence forming.
***
His parents and Nancy were both laying lazily in the sun while Mike and Will were keen on building the biggest sandcastle ever.
For over an hour now they had been forming the sand to take shape into the castle. They built a whole water system for it as well and now they were nearly done.
Will looked up from his spot, to Mike.
,,You're red. You must put on sunscreen.”
He mumbled.
Mike looked over to Karen, who was asleep. Normally she reminded Mike of the sunscreen every two seconds and he hated it with a passion. She always put on way too much anyway and afterwards his skin would be all oily.
He was happy whenever his mother was sleeping for serval hours so that he wasn't called out about it. But now Will was telling him to and somehow that was okay.
His friend reached for the sunscreen and squeezed some out of the plastic tube. With care he started applying it onto Mikes face and Mike giggled at the touch. It was nice when Will took care of him like that and much more tolerable than from his mother.
He heard the ice cream truck bell ring before he even saw it. With a lot of energy he jumped up and ran to his dad.
,,Please give us money. We want ice cream.”
His father grumbled annoyed but eventually reached in his pocket and gave them some money.
Mike grabbed Wills hand
,,Come! We'll get ice cream!”
They ran over to the truck. Mike got himself a chocolate cone and a vanilla one for Will, that was Will's favorite after all. Mike had only ever eaten chocolate ice cream, not willing to risk trying another sort and end up not liking it.
But since it was Will's favorite sort, he was kinda curious, tempted to try it. He gazed over to his friends ice cream. He was happily eating it, somehow managing the skill of not having ice cream smeared across his whole face, unlike Mike whose face was already covered in chocolate ice cream.
,,Will?”
,,Hm?”
,,Can I try yours?”
The other boy nodded and handed him over his ice cream. It surprised Mike, if he had been asked to share his ice cream he would've immediately refused, wanting to keep more for himself. Alright he probably would've made an exception for Will.
But Will had always been like that, sharing thing without making a big act of it.
Mike tried some ice cream. It was good, but didn't even come close to chocolate.
,,You wanna try mine too?”
He offered, not wanting Will to miss the delicious chocolate taste. Nancy gave him a surprised look, as he offered to Will even though normally he would run away if Nancy asked for even one spoon.
But Will shook his head, seemingly happy with his own ice cream.
Later they went in the water a lot as well and back at the pool they slided down the water times a dozen times.
That summer was a memory that had burned itself into Mikes memory. A vacation he didn't forget together with his favorite person.
Years later they were standing at the exact same spot, watching the sun set slowly. Their hands were intertwined and the only sound was the waves crashing onto the shore.
Things had changed by now, not only that they had grown. Their features from when they were kids, developing. But a whole new connection had formed between them.
To be fair it had taken its time for Mike to realize, to accept himself in some ways as well, but once he did there had been nothing holding him back and now they were together.
And to be honest Mike couldn't imagine a better person to have a future with, share a thousand summers with, than Will.
,,I love you.”
He whispered into Will's hair. The wind taking the words with it, carrying them across the seas. A I love you to which a thousand would follow across every universe in which Mike Wheeler would fall for Will Byers.
,,I love you too.”
Came back Will's whisper.