Work Text:
1989
Will loved breakfasts at his house. He, Jonathan, and his mom had moved into a bigger house with Hopper and Jane almost a year ago, and (to Will’s surprise) they had quickly developed a family dynamic that was both fun and comforting.
He and Jane had bonded so quickly that it felt like they were truly twins, as everyone now affectionately called them. He was mostly surprised at how Hopper had stepped in, not only with his mom but also as a parental figure. While he was intimidating in size, he always spoke to Will in gentle tones, and he always tried to bond with Will through things Will liked; unlike Lonnie, who had tried to steer Will into liking “manly things”.
And when Will came out a couple of months ago to his friends and family, Hopped had hugged him and said, “proud of you, kid,” while pretending he didn’t have tears in his eyes; and, well, if Will also wiped his eyes a little, that was nobody’s business.
All in all, Will felt at peace at home; something he never did when he was younger. It was nice. And breakfasts were his favorites, especially in the summer, because everyone talked animatedly and passed around fruit, eggs, and pancakes, taking their time and sharing their weird dreams or day plans.
Today was no exception; he was putting maple syrup all over his eggs and pancakes, and Jane had made a that’s gross face at him, like every other time he did it. But he liked it ever since Mike convinced him to try it all those years ago. It was at that moment, when everyone was laughing at Will trying to get some syrup into Jane’s eggs, that the house shook.
Everyone stilled instantly, tension rose to his shoulders. He was about to shout when a light suddenly materialized in the middle of their living room. All at once, Jane and Will raised their arms, Hopper grabbed a pan (which he somehow made look intimidating) and pulled Joyce behind him; Jonathan stood up, and everyone collectively held their breath. The light suddenly evaporated, and in its place was…. A girl?
She couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old; clad in a set of pink pajamas, eyes hooded as if she had barely woken up; her hair was in a messy braid, and she looked absolutely terrified. She gaped at them. Will half expected her to shout or cry in absolute horror, standing in front of Will’s family, which looked menacing enough for a 5-year-old. However, the girl slowly took them in, and her face relaxed.
She still looked a bit confused, but then she locked eyes with him and gave the biggest smile Will had seen in such a tiny recipient. She shouted “DAD!!” and started running towards him. He let out an oomph when the girl collided with his legs and locked herself there.
“Dad!?” - said simultaneously Jane, Jonathan, and Hopper.
His mom just looked surprised, her eyes unusually large as she looked at the girl and then at Will back and forth, as if trying to see if they looked alike, even though the former had her head buried in Will’s leg.
Suddenly, the girl started sniffling and something inside of Will stirred; he hated seeing kids cry. He remembers how adults (minus Joyce) always dismissed him when he cried, and he didn’t want the girl to feel that way. He took her hands and slowly pried them away from his legs, crunching down to look her in the eye.
“Hey, hey. What’s wrong… girl….?” The last word sounded like a question, but the girl giggled a little and looked at Will through tear-filled eyes.
“You’re being weird”. She laughed again and then sombered. “I’m sorry, please don’t be mad. It was an accident”.
Will had never been so confused in his life
“What was an accident?”
“The light. I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to see it once,” she sniffled again and looked at Will with puppy dog eyes, tilting her head as in a practiced gesture, and Will knew right there that, if this was really his daughter, he could never be mad at her.
“It’s okay”. He said hesitantly. “Why don’t we um…”
He trailed off and turned to look at the rest of his family, all of whom were still frozen.
“Why don’t we sit?” He tried again. “In the living room”.
That seemed to do the trick, Jonathan scowled and said, still defensively,
“Who is she?” The girl turned to look at him and smiled, a little bit more confident now that she had confirmed that Will wasn’t mad at her.
“Hi uncle Jon”. Jonathan’s scowl smoothed instantly. Will almost laughed.
“Uncle?” He looked like he was tasting the words, and Will gaped at how Jonathan smiled a little.
“Uncle Jon” Jane said mockingly, with a poorly hidden smirk. She had lowered her arm, deducing that this girl was not a danger.
“Right” scoffed Hopper. “We still need a name, kid”. He said, with no real bite; it reminded Will of how he spoke to him when he first started dating his mom.
“My name is Ellie,” she said, frustrated. “You know this, grandpa”.
Hopper started choking on air, and his face turned a ridiculous shade of red. Will snickered. The whole situation was simultaneously super weird and funny.
“Right, the couch. After you, grandpa,” He said to Hopper, not bothering to hide a smile.
Hopper looked like he tried to glare at Will, but he still had a gobsmacked look, so he just huffed and walked to the living room. The rest followed, but Will shot a meaningful look at Jonathan.
“Hey,” Will said. “Can you call the party? Maybe they can help, I would do it myself, but…” He stood up and held his right hand up; Ellie was still clutching it with both of her tiny hands, and Jonathan smirked at Will.
“Sure.” He said. “I’ll let them know.”
Will guided Ellie to the corner couch and sat her down. He himself was half-sitting, half-standing on the armrest. Ellie seemed to look around the house in confusion.
“Where are my pictures?” she asked, frowning at Hopper.
“Um…” he said. Will found it funny that Hopper was basically rendered speechless after being called “grandpa”.
He chuckled again and Joyce answered instead.
“Hi, honey,” She said, smiling softly at the girl in the pink pajamas.
“Hi grandma” Ellie said, without missing a bit. His mother smiled wider.
“Do you want something for breakfast? I can make you some pancakes.” Ellie perked up immediately.
“YAYYY pancakes!!” She stood up but paused, looking at Will.
“Dad, can I have pancakes?” Even though he planned to make fun of Hopper, Will was also rendered speechless when Ellie called him “dad” especially with her puppy eyes aimed at him at full force.
He just nodded, smiling. Ellie continued.
“With chocolate chips?”
“Sure,” Will shrugged and was rewarded with the sweetest smile from Ellie.
She giggled and clapped, and oh god, she was so cute. She finally let go of Will and ran to stand in front of his mom.
“He said yes, grandma, can I have pancakes now?”
Joyce laughed and grabbed Ellie by the hand.
“Sure, honey, come on, I’ll make you pancakes with extra chocolate chips.”
They went to the kitchen, and Will found himself looking at them fondly.
“Why does she keep calling you dad?” Jane asked, looking at Will with an amused smile. Will blsuhed. Right, the problem.
“I don’t know… do you think she’s from…?” He pondered out loud.
“The upside down?” Asked Jane.
“The future” Said Will.
“Like that movie?” Jane was referring to Back to the Future, which they had just watched with the party last week. Will felt his stomach twist. What if this was from the upside down? He shook his head. No, they destroyed it. It was over.
“What movie?” Jonathan had suddenly appeared in the living room with a walkie-talkie in his hand.
“The one with the car where the guy kisses his mom,” Jane said brightly
“Ew, Jane, don’t say it like that,” Will grimaced. Jane just stuck out her tongue at him.
Jonathan ignored them.
“That would make sense. I don’t understand how but… she did recognize all of us.”
Hopper cleared his throat, apparently gathering his wits again.
“Well, whatever it is, we need to figure out that this is not a threat.” He said.
“She’s like five,” Will deadpanned.
“I’m not saying she’s dangerous, but we don’t know how she got here or…” He trailed off when Ellie’s laugh trailed to the living room.
“Right,” Will said. “We should wait for Dustin and Mike. They will have theories”. He said, easily.
“Mike,” Jonathan repeated, “will have theories” with a tone that suggested what he thought of Will’s idea.
Will frowned; he knew Dustin was the smartest, academic-wise. But Mike was also smart in an unconventional way. He was, after all, one of the few people who had believed Will was alive when everyone else thought otherwise.
“In the meantime,” Will continued, ignoring Jonathan. “We should talk to.. Ellie..” The name sounded familiar in his tongue.
“And figure out where she’s from.”
Jane nodded, excitedly.
“Let’s go to the kitchen.”
They all walked there, took their seats, and finished their cold breakfast with an unspoken agreement to act as normal as possible, at least while eating. His mom was stacking three giant pancakes in Ellie’s plate, looking at her as though it were her real granddaughter. Will’s heart clenched at the domesticity of the scene, and he saw Hopper redden again. Will elbowed him, and Hopper gave him a “don’t you dare” look, which Will knew not to take too seriously.
Ellie’s eyes brightened at the plate in front of her.
“Dad! Auntie Jane! Look at my pancakes, they are so big” she started eating without waiting for an answer.
Will and Jane exchanged a grin. Auntie Jane she mouthed, grinning like crazy. Will smiled back, fondly.
Suddenly, the door burst open, startling everyone but Ellie, who was focused on drowning her pancakes in syrup.
“Will! Will! Are you okay?” Mike Wheeler was standing in the door, looking around with a desperate look in his eyes, hair ruffled, breath panting like he had rushed to the house without taking a breath— actually, now that Will thought about it, that’s what he probably did.
“Hi Mike,” he waved, his heart traitorously hopping around in his ribs.
Even though Mike and he were back to being best friends, Will was still embarrassingly in love with him, but he got used to the permanent ache that was in his chest. He figured it was better to have Mike as a friend than not at all. Plus, it definitely got easier once he and Jane broke up, not that he told his sister that.
“I’m okay,” He continued.
Mike’s gaze snapped towards Will, and he walked straight to him, pupils dilated, still flushed from biking too hard and looking over Will as if assessing the damage. Will couldn’t stop the blush rising in his cheeks at having Mike’s entire attention on him; he suddenly became very aware of his pajama pants and his Cure t-shirt that already had tiny holes in it.
“The rest of us are also fine. Thanks for asking,” Jonathan spoke up and smirked at Mike, who turned to him. Will could have sworn Mike’s face grew redder. Jane was hiding a laugh behind her hand.
“You said code red. I barely put some clothes on before pedaling here. Asshole.” Mike grunted, with no real bite.
“Bad word,” Ellie said with her mouth full, barely looking at Mike, and then returned to her pancakes.
Mike looked at her for the first time, frowning.
“Who’s that?” he asked Jonathan. Will saw the moment Jonathan’s smile turned wicked, and he groaned, anticipating the worst.
“Why don’t you ask dad over there?” Jonathan pointed at Will, who glared at him.
Traitor, he thought. Mike looked back at Will, confusion written all over his face.
“What?” Mike asked, turning to Will with his eyebrows shooting up to his hair. Will took his eyes from Mike before he did something embarrassing, like brushing away his overgrown curls from his forehead.
“We actually don’t know,” Will rushed. “This morning… ugh, it’s so hard to explain. Why don’t we wait for the rest of the party?”
He really didn’t feel like explaining this more than once. Mike nodded, like he understood the last part without Will saying it out loud. Will’s heart flipped again.
They didn’t have to wait long. Ellie was still eating her pancakes in concentration when, ten minutes later, the rest of the party arrived. Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Nancy arrived at the door, also looking like they had rushed over, although not as much as Mike had. Jonathan smiled apologetically, while Nancy admonished him that he could have said “code yellow,” whatever that was. They went to the living room; but his mom stayed with Ellie in the kitchen, asking her to help with cleaning up so Will, Jane, Jonathan, and Hopper could retell her sudden appearance to the rest.
“You’re saying,” Max said hesitantly, “that this girl is your daughter from the future?”
She didn’t seem convinced, and neither did the rest of the party. Mike was unusually quiet, weirdly not biting at Max like he always did. Will eyed him, then nodded to the redhead.
“That, or an alternate dimension. We are not sure.”
Will looked back at Mike, who was frowning so hard that Will suddenly felt the urge to smooth the crease between his eyebrows. He put his hands in his pockets instead.
“Well, why don’t you ask her stuff and try to figure it out?” Max asked, rolling her eyes at him.
“It’s not that easy,” explained Dustin, “we technically shouldn’t ask too much in case it disrupts the time continuum or whatever. We need to ask the right questions and maybe—“ he was interrupted by a shrill scream and Ellie running into the living room, hugging Will by the knees.
“Dad! Can I play outside?”
He heard chuckles all around him and felt himself flush all the way to his neck. He is not used to someone calling him dad. It was the weirdest, nicest feeling ever.
“Um,” He looked around for guidance, facing amused smiles and smirks from everyone except Mike, who was looking at Ellie, still frowning as if she had smacked Will instead of hugging him.
“Why don’t you say hi first? Do you… do you recognize everyone?” He crunched once more while Ellie turned to Dustin, who was on the far left of the living room.
“That’s Uncle Dustin, Uncle Lucas, Aunt Max, “ she continued, pointing while she surveyed the room. “Grandpa, Auntie Jane, Uncle Jon….” Ellie trailed off, unsure, as if she was noticing something was different.
“Go on,” Will prodded.
“Aunt Nancy…”
At that, Nancy turned a shade of red Will had never seen on her. Jonathan flushed too, and everyone else snickered.
When Ellie’s eyes trailed to Mike, she hesitated. Will’s heart twisted; if this was his daughter from the future and she didn’t recognize Mike, did that mean they were no longer friends?
The thought made him sad all of a sudden. He felt a tugging in his sleeve. Will looked down and understood that Ellie wanted to whisper something to him. Will knelt again, leaning towards Ellie, hoping she would say anything other than “who is that man?” Will was not sure his heart could take it. Instead, she whispered,
“Is he mad at me?” Will turned to see Mike and realized he was still frowning.
Will sent a pointed look at Mile while saying, out loud:
“No, he isn’t mad at you, that’s just his face,” Ellie giggled. “Do you know him?” he asked again, hopeful.
Ellie turned to Mike, who was now smiling awkwardly at her. Ellie smiled back, softly, and said
“Mike”,
like it was an inside joke between them.
She looked at Will with a face that said duh and Will laughed, relieved.
He turned to look at Mike and, instead of mad, he now looked sad. He was wriggling his hands and pointedly not looking at Will nor Ellie.
“Ok,” said Jane. “I think we established she knows everyone. She then turned to Ellie,
“Ellie, can you tell me if we look different from how you remember?” Ellie perked up at that, nodding enthusiastically. She hesitated before saying,
“You look like in your pictures, not like in my house”. She mumbled, like that explained everything.
The rest of the party looked confused but Jane just nodded like she understood.
“How old are you?” Dustin piped up, giving her his friendlest smile, showing all his “pearls” as he called them. Ellie just frowned.
“You know this uncle Dusty, you went to my birthday.” She sounded so sad at the idea that someone had forgotten her birthday that Will wanted to hug her and hiss at everyone else so they would stop asking stupid questions.
“It’s a game!” Mike said, surprising everyone.
“A game?” Ellie questioned.
“Yes,” Mike nodded with a playful expression. “We are playing at…. Interviews! In case we get famous, we are… yes, practicing at interviews.” Mike smiled with a playful wiggle of the eyebrows.
Will’s heart twisted as he realized that Mike being nice to his future kid was going to be the death of him.
“I want to play!” Ellie announced excitedly.
Mike stood up from the couch and sat right on the floor, patting at the space in front of him for Ellie to sit. Ellie instantly dropped Will’s hand and skipped towards the rug in front of Mike, sitting in an identical pose; her legs bended in front of her, hands on her knees.
Mike grabbed the remote next to him and used it as a makeshift microphone, and using an exaggerated TV presentator voice, he said:
“Gooood morning Indiana. We are here once more with the one and only Ellie Byers. Tell us Miss Ellie, you are quite young for someone so famous. How old are you for everyone back home?”
Mike smiled proudly and held the remote closer to Ellie, who was giggling so hard she was blushing. Will couldn’t help the fond smile that was tugging at his lips. He was so in love with Mike Wheeler that it was as ridiculous as this interview.
“I’m six,” Ellie responded proudly.
“Six,” Mike said with mock surprise, “that’s an impressive age to be a famous….” He hesitated.
“Painter!” Ellie exclaimed.
Mike smiled and looked up at Will fondly. Will, for his part, felt himself blushing even more at Mike’s quiet pride.
“Painter,” repeated Mike, softer this time. Clearing his throat, he returned to the silly presentator voice
“So tell us, Ellie, who inspired you to be a painter?”
“My dad,” Ellie beamed and looked back at Will. “He is the best artist ever; he taught me how to draw with pencils!”
Will felt suddenly really fond of this kid whom he had only met for a couple of hours. Mike continued:
“And tell me, Miss Ellie, for the people at home who might not know you yet, do you live with your dad?”
“Yes!” she beamed. “I live with my two dads” she smiled, as if that was the best thing someone had asked her.
There was a collective intake of breath around the living room. Will stood dumbstruck, looking at Ellie. A flow of questions almost left his mouth: Two dads? Am I married? Do I like my husband? How do I get over Mike? Speaking of… Mike also looked gobsmacked.
“Mr Mike?” Ellie prodded, giggling like she didn’t just drop the biggest bomb on all of them.
Mike shook his head like he wanted to physically reboot himself, then put on another silly face, though this time it felt a little forced. They went back and forth with a couple of random questions like what was Ellie’s favorite thing to paint (the sky); what was her favorite color (pink); her favorite animal (unicorns), and her favorite food (chocolate chip pancakes).
Finally, Mike said,
“Okaaaay, Miss Ellie, we are going to give you a couple of questions, and if you answer them correctly, you’ll win um…. A brand new….” Mike looked around for help.
“Brush!” Will interjected, “For your art,” he cleared to Ellie.
She beamed at him.
“Okay!,” she said excitedly.
“So, question number one. What year is it?”
“2007,” Ellie said easily. Will paled, and Mike looked like he choked on air.
“Co…correct!” He rushed to say. “Where do you live?”
“Massachusetts!” Ellie said brightly.
“Correct! Last question,” Mike breather, “how did you get here today? What’s the last thing you remember?”
Ellie frowned,
“We,” she started, “we came to Indiana to visit my grandparents. I fell asleep, and then I heard some noises; I woke up, and I saw a light. I know not to approach lights, but I was curious.”
She looked guiltily between Mike and Will.
“I tried to touch it, and suddenly I was in the living room”.
Mike looked lost.
“Bonus question!” shouted Dustin from across the room, who seemed to understand the situation faster than anyone else. “for… for two brushes instead of one,” he rushed to say. “What do you mean you know you know not to approach lights?”
“My dad,” she looked at Will while she said it. “He sometimes makes lights if he has a bad dream. My dads told me I should not touch them because I could get lost.”
She turned to Mike, lips wobbling, and said softly,
“I’m sorry.” She hugged a surprised Mike, burying her tiny head into Mike’s shoulder. Mike looked up at him, and Will nodded at his unspoken request. It was the end of the interview.
Will could hear everyone else talking in shushed tones, probably trading theories back and forth, but he couldn’t look away from Mike holding Ellie with such care that, at this moment, Will couldn’t even fanthom falling in love with someone else.
Will’s mom, who was absent from the whole explanation and interview, entered the house with a couple of bags from the supermarket. She approached Will with a knowing look in her eyes, then turned to Mike and Ellie, and crouched down in front of them.
“Ellie, honey,” she said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Do you want to change out of your pajamas? I got you a dress and some shoes.”
She dangled the bags grinning at Ellie. Will’s jaw fell.
“You bought her clothes?” He asked
“And a couple of toys” answered his mom without looking back at him. Ellie grinned at her and got out of Mike’s arm to hug her instead.
“Thank you grandma!” Ellie rushed to take the bag and peer inside. “It’s rainbow” she half-shouted.
“Come on, let’s go change and look at your toys”
She took Ellie by her hand and pulled her towards her room. Will turned to look at the rest of the party, who were already looking at him.
“So, any ideas?” Dustin asked.
“She’s obviously from the future,” Mike said, although he sounded miserable.
Will didn’t understand what could be bothering him so much. He thought Mike might be excited at the confirmation of time travel; after all, he loved Back to the Future.
“Thank you, genius, we wouldn’t have figured it out,” Max deadpanned, and Miked showed her the finger before continuing.
“I think Will’s powers in the future somehow opened a portal to now; she said she was visiting her grandparents, so it’s probably only a shift in time and not place. Thank god, or else who knows where in Massachusetts she would be.”
Will shuddered at the idea of Ellie, all alone in a house full of strangers instead of her family.
“Like in Back to the Future” supplied Lucas.
“Exactly” Mike nodded.
“Ok,” Interjected Will, “makes sense, but how do we get her back? I’m sure my future self is freaking out.”
Mike didn’t even look at him; he just stared at his hands, moping. Will bumped him with his knee, trying to catch his eye but Mike wouldn’t budge.
“Well, if you opened one in the future, I’m assuming you can open one now,” Dustin said to him.
Will frowned.
“It sounded like he did it by accident,” Mike said. “Ellie said that it happens when Will has…nightmares,” he said the last word softer, like he didn’t want to speak it into existence. Will blushed again; he needed to get it together.
“What if El…” Dustin started, but Will was no longer paying attention.
He glanced back at Mike, who looked more miserable by the second, and put a hand on his knee. Mike startled and looked up at him, guilt flashing in his eyes. Will frowned.
“Are you okay?” He whispered quietly to Mike, who broke eye contact immediately and looked everywhere but at him.
“Yeah,” he breathed
“You don’t sound okay,” Will insisted.
“It’s just…” he hesitated, “I’m not an uncle.”
“What?” Will asked, confused.
“I get why Jonathan, Jane, and even Nancy have the uncle and aunt title… although, gross.” Mike started speaking faster, still looking pointedly at his hands,
“But Dustin, Lucas, even Max got uncle and aunt treatment, and I’m…. I’m just Mike.” The last part was so quiet that Will wouldn’t have heard it if he weren’t all over Mike’s space.
“I…” Will didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”
Mike frowned.
“Why are you sorry? I’m the one who fucked up so bad with you that I’m not even in your life in the future.” Mike threw his hands, exasperated.
“Mike, no.” Will rushed to say, “You didn’t fuck up.”
Mike scoffed like he didn’t believe Will.
“Then why doesn’t your daughter call me uncle?” Mike bit, frustrated.
Will felt frustration bubbling up as well.
“I don’t know, I’m not Will from 2007. But Mike…” Will squeezed Mike’s knee,
“You’re my best friend. I’m sure we will still be best friends. Maybe, maybe you are a writer, and you travel all around the world. Maybe you live in New York while the rest of us live in Massachusetts. Maybe you have kids on your own, and that’s why Ellie doesn’t see you that much. But I bet we are still best friends. I bet we call each other every night.”
Will moved his hand from Mike’s knee to his hand that was currently next to Will’s thigh, pressed against the floor as if he was trying not to fall through it. He interlaced their pinkies, as he and Mike did all the time now. Don’t ask Will, he is not sure when it started but he was not complaining either. It usually made Mike grin softly at him, but right now, Mike just looked as if Will had kicked him instead.
“Yeah,” he said, sounding sad. “Yeah, I guess. I’ll just… get some air.”
Will’s throat closed as Mike swiped his eyes as if he were stopping tears from falling, and stood up. He watched him exit the house and felt a pang in his heart.
What if Mike was right? What if they are not friends in the future? Will’s stomach twisted. What if they are not friends because Mike somehow found out Will was in love with him? Will was going to throw up.
“… Will?” Jonathan’s voice snapped him out of his spiral.
He turned and saw everyone looking at him, expecting an answer to a question he didn’t hear.
“Um…sorry, what?” Jonathan looked at him, a bit exasperated and a bit concerned.
“El is going to try and find you in the future, she will have to… piggyback? Are you okay with that?”
“Um, sure. Sure… now?” He asked nervously.
“I mean, yes? Don’t you want to try?” Jonathan quirked an eyebrow.
Will tried to get Mike out of his mind and focus on the problem at hand.
“Yes. Yes. Let’s try it out”. Will said, glancing toward the back door, towards Mike.
He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Lucas; he looked at Will, then at the door as if understanding. Finally, he said.
“I got it.” Will nodded because he didn’t know what else to do.
It was almost twenty minutes later that Lucas and Mike came back; the latter with red rimmed eyes like he had been crying, and Will almost dropped the blindfold and marched towards Mike. Screw the plan, he needed to fix whatever was bothering him. Jonathan, however, seemed to read Will’s mind and held him back subtly.
“Can it wait until after we send your kid home?” His brother whispered, half-joke, half-understanding in his tone.
Will gulped and nodded, but searched Mike once more; he found him already looking back and smiling a bit, although it didn’t reach his eyes. Will looked at him and raised his eyebrows; a silent talk later? Mike hesitantly nodded; once again proving how they could almost read each other’s minds.
Will took a deep breath and turned around so Jonathan could knot the makeshift blindfold behind his head, so he could help Jane look for this older self. What a weird sentence, Will thought. He could hear someone, probably Hopper, turn on the TV so the living room filled with static.
Will breathed once, twice… by the third breath, he was standing in a black void facing Jane.
“Hi” she smiled. Will smiled back. “Ready?”
“Ready” Will confirmed.
He closed his eyes once more, trying to open his mind almost physically. He waited. Nothing happened.
“Jane?”Will questioned.
He opened his eyes to Jane frowning.
“I’ve never tried to contact someone from a different time; this is hard,” she half-whispered.
“Okay”, said Will, “take your time.”
After a few more tries and several minutes with nothing happening, Jane grew frustrated.
“Hey,” Will said, “let’s head back; it’s okay, it’s the first time you’re trying this. We can try again later, or we can think of something else.”
Jane nodded and reached for an invisible cover in the back of her head. Will did the same, and he was suddenly back in the Byers’ living room, blinking to the sudden brightness.
“Nothing, huh?” said Dustin, unhelpfully.
Jane shook her head.
“It’s hard, I’m not really sure what I should be aiming for,”
“It’s okay,” said Dustin, “it was just a theory.”
“Now what?” asked Nancy.
Dustin shrugged, like it was just a minor inconvenience and not the life of a six-year-old.
“I think we have to get to the library, we could check out some theories there—“
“Pass.” Interrupted Hopper.
“I’ll come,” propped Nancy, and then she turned to everyone else pointedly. Will flinched a bit. Nancy could be intimidating.“And we need hands so everyone…”
“Not Will,” said Mike. Everyone turned to look at him.
“What?” Will asked.
“Not you. Ellie… you should stay, after all, she… you…dad?” Mike trailed off.
“Okayyyy,” said Nancy, eyeing Mike, “everyone else, come on.”
Everyone started shuffling towards the entrance. Will didn’t want Mike to go; he still needed to talk to him, so he scrambled for an excuse.
“Wait, Mike…” he reached for him without a plan.
Thankfully, at that moment, Ellie came rushing out of the main bedroom; with her new colorful dress, branding something in her little hand.
“Mikeeeee” she squaled.
Mike turned to look at her, surprise etched all over his features. Ellie stopped, looking at everyone already halfway through the door.
“Where are you going?”
“They are going to the library, Ellie, they’ll come back later. Right, guys?” Will answered.
A chorus of “yes” and “yeahs” filled the room. Ellie shrugged and turned back to Mike.
“Can I paint your nails?” She asked, batting her eyelashes. Mike opened his mouth like a fish.
“Um…” Mike turned to look at him, and Will was torn between the urge to help Mike and the opportunity to keep him here while the rest left for the library.
“Ellie,” Will decided at last, “Mike is also going to the library”.
Ellie looked utterly distressed.
“What?” she shouted at Mike, “Don’t go. Stay here with us. Right, Dad?” Ellie turned to Will for support.
“Um…” it his turn to be speechless.
“I’ll stay.” Said Mike, smiling at Ellie, “but I’m not painting my nails.” Ellie gasped,
“Why noooot? You let me do it all the time! You say I’m the only one who paints your nails right,” she stated proudly.
“I do?” Mike asked, surprised.
Will could hear everyone snickering behind him.
“Yep” Ellie popped the p. “Plus, grandma got me a makeup set, and it has your favorite color.”
She branded the deep blue nail polish at Mike. Mike just gaped at her.
“Please Mikeeeeyyyy,” Ellie used a powerful combination of a puppy dog look and a cute little voice that Will knew Mike would fold for.
“Yes, Mikey,” he heard Max say, “stay with Ellie and let her paint your nails.” She snickered.
Mike sent her a death glare but turned back to Ellie and said, “okay,” in a tone so soft it reminded Will of how we used to talk to him all the time. His heart swelled.
That was how he and Mike ended up sitting on the living room floor; Hopper and Joyce in the kitchen making lunch; and Ellie painting Mike’s nails. She was humming a song that Will didn’t recognize; she had her tongue out in an adorable gesture of concentration while trying (and failing) not to paint all over Mike’s fingers. Mike was smiling at her softly. Will wanted to ask Ellie so many questions, but didn’t even know where to begin or if he was even allowed to. Was her other dad nice? What was his name? Did she know how he and Will met? How did he get over Mike when all he could think about right now was how adorable he looked while letting his daughter paint his nails?
At the end, Mike beat him to the questions.
“Ellie,” he started, “you said I let you paint my nails all the time?” he sounded almost hopeful. Will couldn’t help leaning a bit towards him, awaiting the answer.
“Yeah, every weekend,” she beamed at Mike, who beamed right back.
“You are pretty good at this,” lied Mike, and Ellie giggled.
“Do you paint the nails of everyone each weekend?” Will elbowed him playfully, reminding him not to ask too many questions. Mike smiled bashfully at him, and Will could almost hear him say: “I just want to know if we are still friends.” Will bit his lip and smiled right back at him.
“No,” Ellie says, “sometimes auntie Jane lets me when she visits, but not every time.”
“So I’m your favorite?” Mike said, teasing.
Ellie smiled and nodded, then hesitated.
“Sometimes, sometimes it’s dad.” She stated simply, looking at Will. Will just smiled at her, and Ellie turned her attention back to the nails.
“Will?” Mike confirmed. Will’s heart was about to burst out of his chest. Ellie looked at him and rolled her eyes. Wow, Will thought, feisty.
“Yes, dad” she said for emphasis.
Mike lifted his left hand as if surrendering (Ellie was painting the right one)
“Okay. Got it,” he defended.
“So…” he continued, “I’m at your house a lot?” He asked, sounding so hopeful that Will wanted to cry.
Ellie huffed.
“What do you mean? You’re there all the time.” She snapped,
“Stop asking me questions because I get distracted… distric” She frowned.
“Distracted?” Mike supplied.
“Yes, distracted. Talk to dad,” she said, apparently annoyed.
Mike turned to look at Will with an amused smile.
“Wow, Byers, your kid has an attitude. I wonder who she got it from,” he said, teasing.
Will smiled,
“Don’t look at me, she must have gotten it from her other dad.” Will regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.
For one, he was not entirely comfortable thinking about a complete stranger he was supposedly raising a child with. Mostly, he regretted it as soon as Mike deflated completely, looking like a kicked puppy and no longer meeting his eye.
“That’s what Aunt Nancy says,” Ellie supplied. “Done, now give me your other hand,” she ordered.
Will tried to pick up the conversation with Mike again, but he was giving short answers and asking Ellie some other questions about her favorite things. Will knew that he wouldn’t get Mike to open up in front of the girl, but he didn’t know how to take Ellie away so they could talk in private.
After Ellie finished painting both hands, she carefully put the lid on the polish, and then she leaned forward and kissed Mike on the cheek.
“Thanks, Mikey” She said.
Mike beamed at her with a starstruck look on his face.
“Thank you, Ellie, they are pretty.”
“You are pretty,” she said, easily, and Mike blushed.
“He is,” Will blurted without thinking.
Mike gasped and looked at him, now blushing so hard that he looked sunburned. Will blushed too but smiled shyly at Mike, not breaking eye contact. At that moment, Will’s mom shouted,
“Lunch is ready! Go wash your hands, kids.”
Ellie stood up and grabbed Will by the hand. Will started forward, but Ellie didn’t move. She held back as Mike stood up, and then she grabbed his hand too. Will tried not to swoon as the three of them held hands on their way to the bathroom.
Will eyed Mike in what he hoped was a subtle way and found him still blushing. Will was blushing too, and he hoped that Ellie would stop acting all cute with Mike. It was messing with his heart.There was no such luck, as Ellie insisted that Mike lift her to reach the sink. Will looked away.
Hopper smiled at Ellie when they entered the kitchen, and Ellie sat in the closest chair, next to the old man, leaving only one chair beside her. Will and Mike looked at each other, and Mike tilted his head as if saying, go ahead. Will started towards the chair next to Ellie, but she looked at him with suspicion.
“I want Mikey to sit next to me,” she stated.
Will laughed and shrugged, sitting in the chair next to Mike’s right instead. Mike sat rather shyly in the chair that Ellie was patting, and grabbed his fork as Joyce placed the last bowl on the table.
“Okay, kids, let’s eat,” she said, enthusiastically, as if this was an everyday occurrence.
“Thank you grandma”
“Thank you Ms Byers,” said Mike and Ellie simultaneously.
“Why are you calling grandma that?” Ellie demanded, looking at Mike like he had offended her.
“Um… what do I call her again?” Mike tried.
“Joyce” Ellie shrugged.
Will’s mom smiled fondly at her, then turned to Mike.
“I’m glad to hear you finally start calling me Joyce”. She says, teasing.
Mike chuckles, and Will feels his heart swell once more.
They start eating the pasta his mom prepared, and Will finally allows himself to ask Ellie questions. He figures he can get to know her without accidentally breaking the laws of physics.
“So, Ellie…” he started, unsure, “tell…grandpa… how’s summer so far.” Will emphasized the word, smiling at Hopper who, once again, failed to glare at him.
Ellie swallowed and began telling the story of her lemonade stand, which Mike had apparently helped her with. They learned she was entering the second grade in August, that they were visiting Hopper and Joyce because of some sort of anniversary (no one dared to ask a follow-up question), and that Jane had promised to take her to the pool next week.
After eating and putting the dishes away, Ellie yawned.
“Time for my nap,” she announced, looking expectantly between Will and Mike.
“Um,” Will said, “Yeah, nap. Nap. I… um, I will tuck you in?” He cringed at the end.
He had no idea how nap time worked, but Ellie just nodded and turned to Mike.
“Can you read me a story while I fall asleep?” she asked him.
Mike smiled softly at her, but Will could see he was moping again; he was also quiet at lunch, asking only two questions amid the hurricane of information Ellie offered.
“Yeah, come on Ellie” Mike said, and then paused to look back at Will “Um, can she… your room or?” He trailed off, looking at Will’s mom.
“My room, yes.” Will confirmed. “I’ll meet you in a few minutes”.
Will knew that it would not do him any good to see Mike read a story to Ellie, it would just put more thorns in his heart. How was Will supposed to then raise this same child with another man, without thinking back to this moment and all his love for Mike? God, did he even love his… Ellie’s other dad? Unfortunately for him, Ellie seemed to have other plans.
“Why? You are always next to me during storytime, dad” Ellie looked at him with her big brown eyes and Will sighed, aware that he couldn’t say no to her more than he could say no to Mike.
Maybe it was a good thing he just had one of them in the future or he would be a walking doormat.
When they arrived to Will’s room, Ellie looked around frowning.
“Dad, where are my pictures? Where are my stuffed animals?”
“Oh, um, they are at…the…I um, took them this morning, before you woke up.”Will said unconvincingly, trying to avoid hinting that she was actually stuck in 1989.
“Is it a joke?” Ellie said, “You changed the whole house to be funny? Everyone looks different, is everyone laughing at me?”
She wobbled through the last words, and Will kneeled to hug her.
“No. No, Ellie, no one is laughing at you. It’s… It’s complicated.” Ellie snuffled against his shirt, and Will turned to Mike for help.
Mike looked heartbroken, as if Ellie’s crying was physically hurting him; and he kneeled too.
“Ellie, since you are big now, can I tell you something?” Ellie emerged from Will’s shoulder to look at Milke.
Will shook his head at him, panic rising. Mike just raised his eyebrows as if to say trust me and well, Will already established he couldn’t say no to Mike.
“Well,” Mike continued, “when you touched the… light his morning, that changed everything here. That’s why everyone looks different and why you don’t have your things here.”
Mike was speaking so softly that Will didn’t want to move. So far, Ellie seemed to be taking everything pretty well.
“But” Mike soothed “the important thing is that your dad… your family is here. With you. And we will figure out how to get everything back to normal, okay?”
Ellie stopped crying and smiled at Mike.
“Okay,” she turned to Will, “then, can I have your tiger for my nap?” she asked hopefully, pointing at Will’s bed.
Will flushed because he forgot he left the stupid tiger on his bed (ok, it was not stupid, it was his comfort tiger). He nodded and put a strand of Ellie’s hair behind her ear.
“Of course, Ellie, come to bed now”.
She took off her shoes and climbed to Will’s bed. She arranged the pillows and looked at them, expectantly. Right, the story. Will looked around, picked up a D&D book, and tossed it at Mike as he walked to the closet to retrieve a blanket; he covered Ellie with it and lingered awkwardly at the foot of the bed. Ellie made a grabbing motion with her hand and patted the right side of the bed, clearly signaling she wanted Will to lie next to her for story time. Will sighed and tried to do so without taking up too much space, but ended up with an arm all along the headboard for comfort. Mike hovered on the side of the bed before sitting awkwardly at Ellie’s other side.
“Mikey, you have to sit closer so you can show me the pictures” she said, exasperated.
Mike hesitated and looked at Will, who shrugged as if to say let’s just do what she says. Mike sat awkwardly, his lower back hitting the headboard, so Will practically had his arm around Mike’s shoulder.
Mike’s long legs were almost reaching the end of the bed as he positioned the D&D book between him and Ellie, who didn’t look put off by the choice of literature. Mike cleared his throat and passed the pages until he found a dragon in the book.
“Well, this is the story of a Cleric…”
“Dad!” Ellie interrupted, grinning like she knew this story already.
Will's heart did a whole somersault at the thought of Mike telling stories about him to his daughter.
“Right, Will the Wise,” Mike said, and Ellie nodded, like this name was familiar. “And… and his friends: Lucas, Dustin and Mike”
“Pa-lee-ne” Ellie said somberly, nodding.
“What?” Mike laughed.
“Pa-lee-ne, Mike is a… knife?” Ellie questioned, and Will chuckled.
“Paladdin,” he clarified. “A knight.”
“That’s what I said,” she huffed.
“Right,” Mike bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Will’s eyes followed the movement closely.
“So, one day, Will the Wise heard that there were people in trouble in a nearby town…”
Will watched as Mike told the story of their last campaign, which was a quick one, all things considered. He smiled softly as Mike changed voices and animatedly created storm sounds with wushes and splashes.
Will closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander, to imagine a world where he and Mike were raising Ellie, where they could lie in their bed for storytime every day. He imagined lazy breakfasts with his own little family, quiet mornings when he and Mike would make Ellie chocolate chip pancakes. Will could picture it: holding the spatula in front of the stove, Mike making coffee, and then hugging him from behind and kissing him in the kitchen.
“Will?” Mike whispered.
Will opened his eyes and looked at Ellie, who was fast asleep, facing Mike.
“What’s wrong?” Mike prodded, and Will realized that there were tears in his cheeks. He was crying, and the fact that they were practically cuddling Ellie didn’t help his bruised heart.
“Nothing,” he lied, but it was no use; Mike was already frowning.
“Are you sad she has to leave?” Mike asked, and Will shook his head.
“No, I know the other me is worried. I just—” Will halted as Mike’s thumb connected with his cheek. Will held his breath, looking at Mike with his mouth open. Mike’s hand lingered, patiently swiping away Will’s tears with a touch so gentle that Will’s pulse quickened.
“Will,” Mike started, but then pressed his lips and frowned. His hand flew away as if Will’s skin had suddenly burnt him.
“Mike?” Will questioned, but Mike was no longer looking at him, frowning instead at the book still in his lap.
“Nothing, I, just… I’m glad you are happy in the future,” he said quietly.
Will’s heart twisted with guilt; he was just thinking of a future that didn’t exist, although he was sure he could be happier with it.
“Well, I think you are also happy.” Will’s voice came out hoarse.
Mike finally looked at him.
“Turns out you were right, we are still friends,” but his face twisted again as if the words tasted bitter.
Ellie suddenly fussed in the blanket, she snuggled closer to Mike and whispered “daddy”. Mike froze, eyes open in a comical way. Will also paused, breath hitched. Ellie didn’t move anymore, and her breathing returned to normal.
“I guess she confused us,” Mike said miserably.
“Mike, what’s wrong?” Will asked, surprising even himself with his forwardness. He couldn’t stand how sad he looked and needed to know how to fix it. Mike just shook his head again.
“You must be so worried,” Mike whispered.
Will knew he was changing the subject, but decided not to press.
“Yes, I keep thinking… what would older me do?” Will said.
Mike gasped and sat up, looking at him excitedly. His emotions were giving Will whiplash.
“Will!” he said loudly, and Ellie stirred once more.
Mike closed his mouth suddenly, but turned his head towards the door. Will slowly got off the bed and followed Mike into the hallway. Once they closed the door, Mike started talking fast, like he always did when he wanted to share a new plot twist for a campaign.
“I got it! You just said it! What would you do?”
“Yeah…?” Will tilted his head in confusion.
“Think about it,” Mike continued. “If you woke up and your daughter was gone, you knew about the lights, which are probably portals, and you knew she was back at this house at some point in time… what would you do?”
“Um… panic?” Will said.
“You look for a message! If we assume this works with Spielberg’s laws,” Will smiled at this, “then we can assume that anything we do now will directly impact the future, correct?”
Will nodded, and Mike continued, louder and faster,
“So, if that hypothesis is correct, that means you can send a message to the future!”
“How? Where…?” Will started and then gasped, “The room! I can paint a message there with today’s date, and then I would come and get my kid because I saw the message in the room. Ellie said that all her things were supposed to be there, in my room so…”
“So you are both at the same place, just different time, this will definitely work,” Mike finished, grinning.
Will grinned back. He couldn’t wait to tell Jonathan that Mike figured it out.
They rushed back into the room. Will quietly picked up a brush and some of his old acrylics. He raised the brush towards the wall, next to the door. He hesitated,
“What time is it?” he asked Mike.
Mike looked at his clock
“1:32”
So Will wrote in the wall:
SOS
June 24, 1989
2:32 pm
Mike looked at the painting and then back at Ellie. He smiled at Will as if he understood that Will wanted a few more moments with her. Will smiled back at Mike.
They sat on the floor with their backs pressed to the side of the bed, shoulders touching, listening to Ellie breathe.
“She’s a great kid,” whispered Mike after a few minutes.
“She is,” beamed Will, “I’m… relieved? In some way… I never had a good example of a dad. I guess I thought…” he trailed off, but Mike just bumped their shoulders together
“Seems to me you’re a great dad,” Will smiled. Mike always understood him. He ignored the pang in his heart.
“You are also great, Mikey.” Will teased, and Mike chuckled.
“She said I was her favorite,” he replied smugly.
“Hey! She said I was also her favorite.” Will bumped Mike’s shoulder again.
“You’re my favorite, too,” said Mike, with that soft voice and that soft smile that drove Will crazy.
He hoped his face was not as red as it felt as he shyly looked away. Mike intertwined their pinkies together, and Will looked back at him.
They smiled at each other; Will could feel his heart beating so hard, it was a miracle Mike hadn’t asked about it. He thought about the future and decided to just enjoy today, so he gathered courage and put his head on Mike’s shoulder.
Mike tensed for a second and then relaxed, putting his head over Will’s own. This feels nice, he thought as he fell asleep.
“Dad?” Will awoke to someone moving his shoulder. “Dad!” Will’s eyes snapped open.
He realized he was asleep on Mike’s shoulder, who was already stirring. Will twisted gently, trying to look back at Ellie. Mike blinked his eyes open and moved his head from Will’s. Will instantly missed it.
“Ellie?” Will said groggily. She was there, with her braid loose once again, smiling at them both as if them falling asleep in this position was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Can I watch TV for a while?” she asked. Will turned to Mike,
“Mike, what time is it?” Mike scrambled to stand up and looked at his watch.
“2:12,” He said gloomily. Will turned back to Ellie.
“Ellie, no TV. I think… I think everything will go back to normal in a few minutes.” Ellie practically jumped at him.
“Really?” she said, giggling. Will smiled,
“Really, but, well, we will not see you for a few years. Can you say bye to grandma and grandpa?”
Ellie sobered up.
“What do you mean you will not see me?” she asked, lip wobbling.
“You will see us! It’s just… um”
“Ellie,” Mike suddenly said. “Have you watched a movie called Back to the Future?”
She rolled her eyes, forgetting she was about to cry.
“It’s my turn to pick the movie; we have watched that old movie a lot of times,” she whined, and Mike laughed.
“I was just saying, remember how Marty went back and then met his mom and dad, and then when he went back, he saw them again?” Ellie nodded.
“Well, his parents had to grow up and wait for him to grow up to see him again.” Mike completed.
“Oh.” Ellie said, “You are… more little?”
“Yes,” said Will, grateful for Mike’s explanation. “We loved having you here, and we are going to miss you.”
He said, choking up a little. Suddenly, Ellie was hugging him so hard that Will almost choked for real.
“Come on,” Will lifted her in his arms, “let’s say bye to grandma and grandpa.”
Joyce and Hopper actually cried a few tears while Ellie hugged them goodbye. His mom promised that she would get Ellie another present once she got back home, and Will was sure her daughter is spoiled rotten by her.
At 2:20, both Will and Mike led Ellie back to Will’s room, where Mike gave her the biggest hug, silently petting her hair. Will looked away, letting the tears fall freely this time.
Finally, Will knelt down.
“Thank you for visiting, Ellie,” he said, smiling despite the tears. “I love you.” He let himself say and then hugged Ellie for five whole minutes. Ellie sniffed a bit too, and whispered I love you too.
At 2:30, Mike announced it was time. Ellie bounced excitedly.
“Are you sure you want to be here?” Mike suddently asked.
Will turned around so fast he got dizzy.
“Of course, Mike, it’s my kid, why wouldn’t… oh” Will said.
He realized that it was risky for him to be there. If the other dad came through, he would know who it was and… mess things up? He hesitated.
“I think it will be fine.” He was sure that future him wouldn’t do anything that could jeopardize Ellie.
Mike nodded, as if reaching the same conclusion; he looked down at his watch and frowned.
“2:32,” he said, and Will held his breath.
The house shook just like this morning, and a bright light appeared suddenly. It dimmed away, but, instead of a girl, this time there was a tall, handsome guy standing in the middle of the room. Will barely had time to register the stranger when Ellie practically flew off towards him, squealing,
“DADDYYYYY!!!”
The man caught her easily and hugged her hard, burying his head in her little shoulder.
“Ellie, are you okay?” The man asked. Will’s mouth fell open; he recognized that voice.
“Mike?” Will croaked. His mouth suddenly felt very dry.
Older Mike (?) snapped his head up in surprise. He took one look at Will and grinned so wide that Will almost looked away… almost.
“Hi, mini Will,” Older Mike (!) said.
“Thanks for taking care of this little rascal,” he said while tickling Ellie, who wormed a little bit in his arms, laughing freely.
Will just gaped; he couldn’t answer if he tried. Older Mike (!) looked… good. He was handsome now, sure, but the older version looked more confident, like he had truly grown into his skin. He was taller (if that were possible); he sported longer, curly hair, a pair of glasses, and a band t-shirt so faded it was probably one that the current Mike already had.
And his body, god, he was lean but muscular, and his cheekbones just looked more prominent and… oh god. Will was staring, gaping like a fish out of the water. Older Mike (!) was smirking at him like he knew exactly what Will was thinking. He was probably as red as Nancy had been earlier today. Ellie, unaware of Will’s turmoil, was excitedly telling Older Mike (!) everything about her day.
“And she got me this dress, isn’t it pretty, daddy?” Older Mike (!) peeled his eyes from Will to look at Ellie.
“It’s sooo pretty, bunny”
Alert! Alert! Code red! Cuteness overload! Will was melting, critical heart failure incoming.
“WHAT?!?” Current Mike finally seemed to find his voice and shouted at his older self, who smiled proudly at him.
“Surprise?” he shrugged in a gesture so painfully Mike that Will almost stumbled.
“But… but,” current Mike tried. “She called me Mike! She calls Will dad, and she calls me Mike”.
He looked so distressed, it would be funny if Will wasn’t in a similar state. Older Mike (!) sighed while Ellie giggled.
“That is Max’s fault,” he explained, annoyed. “She and Jane convinced Ellie to call me Mike as a prank. She’s been at it for days, it’s driving me crazy” he groaned.
“And anyways,” he continued “Will is usually dad and I’m daddy”
At that, Will actually choked on air; current Mike got so red that steam could come out of his ears, and Older Mike (!) chuckled.
“I know how it sounds, but” he shrugged, “I’m her favorite.” Ellie smacked his arm playfully.
“Anyways,” Older Mike (!) continued as if both teenagers were not about to combust, “our ride is almost here. Thank you again; I would go out, but I think Hopper would have a heart attack.”
He laughed at that and Will finally found his voice again.
“Wait! Isn’t this… going to mess with, well.. This?” He asked, hesitantly, avoiding looking at the current Mike.
“God, I forgot how cute you were at this age.” Will actually squeaked at that. “As for your question, not really”.
Older Mike (!) continued, unbothered as Ellie was currently playing with his curls. Will felt like melting.
“It was bound to happen today anyway, so…” he shrugged and turned to look at his teenage version, who just got even redder.
Older Mike(!) continued,
“Thank you both, and oh, before I forget…” He carried Ellie with one arm (seriously, was he trying to kill Will?) and reached for his pocket.
He took out a small envelope and left it on top of the dresser, winking back at Will. So, yes, he was trying to kill him. He then turned to Ellie,
“Let’s go back to the future,” he wiggled his eyebrows, and Ellie groaned.
“We are not watching that one! It’s my turn to choose—”
A bright light appeared, cutting the rest of her sentence, and when it dimmed, neither Ellie nor Older Mike (!) were there anymore.
Will was afraid to move. Was that real? Did that mean….? He closed his eyes, afraid to look at Mike. What if this was not the same reality? What if Mike was freaked out? What if everything was ruined because…
“Will!” He felt Mike’s hands in his shoulders, shaking him a little. “Please look at me,” Mike whispered with what their friends called the Will voice.
He slowly opened his eyes, heart smashing against his ribs. He found Mike, already staring back at him with a goofy smile and tearful eyes.
Will tilted his head, and suddenly, Mike was closing the space between them. He stopped when his face was so close that Will had to twist his neck a little, since Mike was a bit taller than him, even now. Mike was still wearing that giant grin, and Will found himself smiling too.
Mike started laughing, and Will followed. He could also feel tears down his cheeks; this time from pure joy. Mike’s thumb rested at his cheek once more, and this time, he craddled Will’s face, rubbing his jaw gently. Will was still smiling so hard he thought his face would hurt later, but he was just so happy.
“Mike,” he said softly, and it looked like that was all Mike needed, because he was suddenly inching forward. Will looked at his lips and then closed his eyes.
Mike kissed him (!!!!!!!!!) slowly at first, and then his hands were suddenly on Will’s hip, deepening the kiss. Will melted into it, kissing back with equal fervor and raising his hand to Mike’s neck. It was perfect, it was everything Will had dreamed of.
Mike laughed against his lips, and Will thought it was the best sensation in the world. Mike broke the kiss, and Will whined, but then Mike rested his forehead against his, and Will melted again.
“I thought,” Mike started, and he suddenly leaned back to look fully at Will. “I thought I lost my chance. When Ellie called me Mike, Will I… I” he sighed, pouting. He took a breath and continued,
“I’m in love with you. I wanted to tell you today, actually. But then the code red and Ellie and… I couldn’t tell you. Not after hearing how happy you were. I didn’t want to take that away from you. I thought it was too late and I had messed up too much and—” Will kissed him again, because he knew Mike was about to enter a rambling spiral.
“You’re in love with me?” Will asked, hopefully, after breaking the second kiss.
Mike laughed breathily.
“Will! That’s all you got?” He grinned at him and Will grinned back. “Yes, Will, I love you. I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for a while. It’s been driving me crazy!”
“It’s been driving you crazy?” Will gasped indignantly, “I’ve been in love with you since we were twelve, Mike!”
“Wh.. What?!?!” shouted Mike again. “You… that long?” He asked, with a look so soft, so smitten that Will couldn’t even feel embarrased at his impromptu confession.
“Yes, Mike,” Willed kissed him again, a soft peck on the lips, then on the cheek. “When Ellie arrived, all I could think about was how I was supposed to raise that girl with someone else when I am so in love with you. I kept imagining you with me in the future, instead. It made me sad thinking it wouldn’t be youmhfph!” Mike kissed (!!!!) Will again.
“I love you Will, I love you so much. I have loved you for years.” He said in between kisses.
“I love you too, Mike” Will laughed.
They stayed like that for a while, kissing and laughing from sheer happiness, until they heard the front door slam open and a chaos of voices come from the living room.
Mike sighed with exasperation but gave Will a few more kisses (!!!!) before Will said,
“Come on Mike, let’s tell them Ellie went home”.
Mike groaned but stood up instantly and grabbed Will’s hand, tugging him out of the room and into the living room without letting go.
“It’s a movie” Jonathan was shouting at Dustin. “You cannot try to build a time machine with my car!”
“It was just a suggestion,” Dustin was saying
“A stupid one” deadpanned Nancy.
“Well you have a better one?”
“What if we watch Poltergeist and then leave Will alone? Maybe if he gets scared…” Lucas started
“That’s not how it works!” Dustin shouted “I explained this a million times! You need to account for variables and…”
Will looked at Mike, cringing a little, but eventually cleared his throat.
“Um… guys? Guys? GUYS!!!”
Everyone stopped bickering to look at him. Will took a deep breath.
“Ellie already went home”
“WHAT?!?!?!” everyone shouted. Will smiled apologetically.
“Mike figured it out,” Will said, smirking directly at Jonathan, who returned a deadpan look. “He figured that since she had moved time but not space…”
“He could leave a message,” Dustin finished, smacking his hand into his forehead. “Brilliant”
“Or obvious,” Jonathan coughed.
“I didn’t see you suggest it” Mike said cheekily. Will stifled a laugh.
“Wait,” Max squinted her eyes at them, “when did she go home?”
“Ummm” Mike and Will looked at each other.
“2:32 pm?” Mike said, but it sounded like a question.
“That’s almost an hour ago,” Lucas threw his arms around. “Couldn’t you call and say, hey guys, you can get out of the library of despair because Mike finally used his head?
“Hey!” Mike exclaimed, "Don’t yell at Will. We were… processing,” he finished, blushing. Will gaped at him
“Be cool” he hissed at Mike.
“Processing what, exactly?” Nancy asked, arms crossed, but she had a ghost of a smile. Will suddenly became very aware that Mike was still holding his hand.
“Ummmm” once again Will and Mike looked at each other.
They should have talked about what to tell the others instead of kissing so much, but Will couldn’t even regret it. One look at Mike and he knew they were on the same page. He smiled at him, getting lost once again in this ridiculous bubble of happiness.
“Wait” Max exclaimed, breaking their moment. “You saw him, didn’t you? The other dad?”
Everyone turned their heads to them, and Will felt his face burning.
“You did!” Max cackled.
“Well, was he handsome?” El asked with a knowing look, and Will felt Mike’s eyes burning through his head. He was smirking. Will was going to kill him.
“Yeah, yeah. We saw him. He was… um. Very handsome.” Will finished.
Everyone was smirking at him, except for his mom, who was looking fondly at both Mike and Will, and Lucas, who was still smirking but only at Mike.
“Well?” Max prodded, “What’s his name?” She finished, smiling as if she were about to win a bet.
Oh god, she probably was. Will looked at Mike, who was smiling at him with such a love-sick look that Will couldn’t help but smile back. Without looking away from Mike, he said,
“Mike, his name was Mike.”
A beat; then cheering and whistling around the room, so loud that Will almost couldn’t hear when Hopper bellowed,
“WHEELER!”
2004
Will woke up slowly, rubbing his hand along Mike’s jaw. They had ended up a tangled mess of limbs, like almost every night since they first kissed 15 years ago. Mike stirred and opened one eye to look down at Will.
“Good morning,” he kissed him, and Will instantly melted, as he did every time, despite their time together.
“Good morning,” Will giggled. “Ready for today?”
“So ready!” Mike grinned. “Let’s bring our girl home.”
The wait had been long. For three years, they had searched for Ellie in every single foster care center, until the day. When Older Mike had left the letter all those years ago, they thought it was a joke; a reference to the Back to the Future movie: do not open until May 2004. They found it while moving around some boxes. Will did not know what to expect: maybe a recount of their best moments, a warning, a private joke they were too young to understand back in 1989. Instead, it was just a piece of paper:
June 24th , 2004
113 Austen Dr
Bring the prize
Mike and Will had spent the last month and a half decorating the room they knew was Ellie’s from the moment they had bought this house. They had filled every form, told everyone, and bought around eight unicorn plushies, which seemed a bit excessive to Will, but Mike insisted.
They arrived at the fair, an event organized by several foster care houses for anyone considering adoption to meet the children. They registered and went out to the patio. Many parents, couples, and families gathered around the barbecue, and children played all kinds of games in the garden and the playground.
Will reached for Mike, with his heart beating so fast that it might fall out; Mike instantly wrapped his hand around Will’s, gripping him as if to steady both of them simultaneously. They started toward the playground, but Will suddenly had an idea.
“Wait,” he said to Mike, his head bobbing towards one of the far corners where there were easels that no one was using. No one but one little girl in a colorful shirt. “She wanted to be a painter.”
Mike beamed at him, his eyes suddenly filling with tears, and then they were practically sprinting towards the painting station. There she was, so tiny Will could have cried, swiping wildly at the canvas with what must be the eighth color in the barely noticeable print. Her tongue was poking out like when she painted Mike’s nails all those years ago. Mike and Will smiled at each other, and then, they crouched next to her.
“Hi,” breathed Mike. “I am Mike, and this is Will. I like your bunny,” he gestured to the canvas. The girl turned and smiled back at them.
“Hi, my name is Ellie!” she said excitedly.
Will laughed, wiping away the tears and reaching for his bag.
“Ellie, would you like two new brushes?”
The end