Chapter Text
Three years ago, Hawkins stopped falling apart.
The gates closed.
The fighting ended.
And slowly, life started pretending to feel normal again.
But… normal didn’t really feel like normal anymore.
Things didn’t break all at once.
It just… shifted.
People changed.
Distance grew.
Afternoons stretched longer.
Friendships that used to feel effortless started taking more work than anyone expected.
Mike.
Dustin.
Lucas.
Will.
Will had moved back to California not long before everything ended.
After that, things just… drifted.
No big moments.
No clear line.
Just time doing what it does.
Mike was halfway through getting ready
not ready ready, just standing in his room while his jacket sat half-zipped on the bed
when he heard the phone downstairs ring.
He paused.
Another ring.
Then his mom called up the stairs,
“Mike! Phone!”
He sighed and headed down.
The kitchen was warm.
Too bright compared to the rest of the house.
The corded phone sat on the wall like it always did, stretched just far enough that he could lean against the counter as he picked it up.
“Hello?”
There was a beat of static.
Then—
“Dude, pick up faster next time.”
A familiar voice cut through the line.
Dustin.
The one holding the group together.
Mike rolled his eyes, even though Dustin couldn’t see it.
“I just picked up.”
“Yeah, after like three rings,” Dustin said. “That’s basically ignoring me.”
Mike leaned his elbow against the counter, resting his face in his hand.
“What do you want?”
A beat.
Then Dustin’s voice shifted
not much, but enough to notice.
“You’re coming tonight, right?”
Mike didn’t answer right away.
Because he already knew how these conversations went.
You could hear Lucas there in the background,
but it was mostly Dustin talking—pushing, insisting, not letting it go.
And Mike would do his best to sound like he didn’t care as much as he actually did.
“Wait… what’s tonight?” Mike asked, frowning.
Dustin went quiet for a second.
“You’re serious?” he said. “Max’s party. I told you about it ages ago.”
Mike frowned, shifting the receiver against his ear.
“You didn’t tell me anything.”
“I literally did,” Dustin shot back. “You just don’t listen.”
“That’s not true.”
“That is absolutely true!”
Mike rolled his eyes.
“Whatever. I still don’t know why you think I’d go to any party.”
Another pause, shorter this time.
Then Dustin’s voice dropped slightly.
“Because everyone is going to be there.”
Mike hesitated.
That landed differently.
He leaned more fully against the counter, quieter now.
“Everyone?”
“Yeah,” Dustin said. “Lucas is coming, and like half of our graduating class. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Mike should’ve just said no.
He knew that.
But something about the way Dustin said it
like it mattered if he showed up or not—made him pause.
“…fine,” Mike said finally. “I’ll come.”
“Good,” Dustin said instantly. “Don’t bail.”
Mike opened his mouth to respond
but the line cut to the repetitive beeping of disconnection.
The kitchen went quiet again.
For a moment, he just stood there, his hand still hovering near the phone, like he was waiting for something else to happen.
Nothing did.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see them.
It was just..
things never felt the same anymore when they were all in the same room.
And lately…
that feeling got stronger when he thought about Will.
He stood there a moment longer.
The kitchen suddenly felt too quiet now that the call was over.
The phone hung against the wall, swaying slightly from where he’d put it back a little too quickly.
Mike glanced toward the hallway.
Upstairs, the house was still
just the creak of old wood and the low hum of nothing.
Everything looked normal.
Everything sounded normal.
But it didn’t feel that way.
Not to him.
Because nothing really felt like it used to anymore
not school,
not empty afternoons,
not even being around the people who had known him his whole life.
He let that thought sit for a second.
Uncomfortable.
Heavy.
Then he pushed it aside.
There was no point overthinking it.
He exhaled, turned from the counter, and headed back toward the stairs.
The night wasn’t going to wait for him.