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God Mike was lonely. He had spent months alone and it was eating away at him. He had lost contact with most of the party during those months. Mike thought that he should be making new friends in collage, that he should be leaving Hawkins behind. But part of him didn’t want to leave Hawkins behind. He missed the whole party, but most of all he missed will.
Ever since Mike had arrived at his college he had this looming pit in his stomach. The only thoughts that went trough is mind were about how bad he had messed up with Will. He had been so absorbed in El because she felt safe and “normal”, that he’d ignored the boy he’d wanted all along. Now Mike could have neither Will nor El.
Mike had been in the middle of writing a short story for his creative writing course. But he had a giant wall in his brain blocking him from getting even a sentence down on the page. Mike leaned back in his desk chair and let out a long and frustrated groan.
He had leaned too far back in the chair because it had tipped backwards, sending Mike tumbling off. He landed sprawled out on the floor of his dorm room. Mike sighed and turned his head to his right, his line of vision was focused to the space underneath his bed.
There was a lot of dust clumps along the flooring underneath the bed. Scattered along were a couple socks and shirts that had been discarded and lost beneath the mattress and bed frame. But then something caught Mike’s eye.
There was a small tan box titled ‘POLAROID, DO NOT TOUCH’. The box felt out of place in the array of dirty laundry and dust under Mike’s bed. Mike sat up and slid the box out from where it was sitting under his bed and he set it in his lap. The box felt quite familiar to Mike but he could not remember what it was or what photos it might have contained. Mike carefully lifted the lid off of the box.
Sure enough, as the label had said, the box was filled with Polaroid photos. But these Polaroids were special, they weren’t of the party or some stupid stunt Mike pulled as a kid. Every photo was of Will.
Years worth of memories all captured into one small cardboard box. Some were pictures taken when Will wasn’t looking, others were clearly a selfie of some sort. But in every photo Will looked beautiful. Like a soft faded memory that Mike yearned to hold again.
They seemed to be organized in somewhat of a chronological order, oldest on top. The first picture Mike picked up to look at was a photograph of Will’s empty bedroom.
~
”Cmon Will… you have to come back..” a silent tear had rolled down Mike’s face as he sat in Will’s empty bedroom. Every corner was untouched, the room was like a frozen memory. It was strange to be in Will’s room, his space, knowing that Will was not there.. It was like Waiting for a ghost.
For all he knew Mike could have been waiting for a ghost. He didn’t know whether Will was alive and scared, hiding from some monster. Or if he was dead in a ditch somewhere like the police wanted them to believe. But Mike hoped and prayed that Will was alive. And if- no- when Will comes back, Mike will be the first one by his side. Hugging him until his ribs crack and never letting go of him again. Joyce’s voice cut through the still silence.
”Mike? Sweetie your mom is here..”
”okay. Thank you Ms.Byers…” Mike wiped his eyes. Before he left wills bedroom he snapped a photo of the room with his Polaroid.
~
Mike put the photo to the side. He hated even thinking about that time. Not knowing whether Will was alive or dead was one of the worst things Mike had ever experienced. He didn’t want to have to deal with the sorrow that came from that memory.
But the next photo Mike fished out from the box brought much happier memories back to him. It was 1985, Will was back home in Hawkins. The photo was a selfie of him and Will reading a comic book together. Both of the boys had stupid grins on their faces.
~
“Wait up, Mike! I didn’t finish reading that page…” Will had reached out and stopped Mike’s hand from turning the page.
”you’re a slow reader” Mike nudged Will’s shoulder as he teased the other boy. Will shot a playful glare at Mike and nudged him back, letting out a small laugh as he returned to reading.
Will’s hand was still slightly on top of Mike’s hand. The feeling of Will’s fingers resting on top of his shot fireworks through Mike’s heart. Mike looked up at Will’s face. Will’s hazel eyes looked so soft and focused as he read each and every word that had been inked into the page.
Mike took the time to study Will’s face. The way his hair covered the sides of his face just slightly, the beauty mark just above his lip. The way his nose stuck out just slightly and the soft and rosy pink color of his lips.
”okay. You can turn the page now.” Will said as he gave a nod of his head to motion for Mike to flip to the next page.
”wait real quick.” Mike leaned over and grabbed his Polaroid camera from his backpack beside him. “Say cheese!”
~
Mike’s lips turned up into a small smile at the memory that came flooding back as he looked at the picture. He longed to be a kid again. Back when all that mattered was that Will didn’t catch him staring. Too much had changed since their carefree days of childhood.
Mike set down that photo and reached into the box to pull out another. As he glanced at the next Polaroid photo he let out a small huff of a laugh.
Will was smiling as he held a beautiful drawing of what was obviously Will the Wise. With beautifully shaded hair and a face that managed to replicate Will’s almost perfectly. The drawing was done entirely in crayon.
Next to Will stood Mike, holding up a rather ugly crayon drawing. It looked less of a drawing and more of a blob of blue scribbles.
~
”No, Mike! Using the same color blue just a different crayon won’t create any shading it’s just going to make a mess!” Will snatched the sky blue crayon from Mike’s grasp and shoved a navy blue crayon at him.
”how do you know what’s possible and what is not! Maybe you can shade with the same color!” Mike grinned as Will let out an aggravated sigh.
”what the hell are you even drawing, Mike?” Mike couldn’t help but let out a small giggle at Will’s question.
”why that is quite a simple question to answer my friend. You drew Will the Wise, the Cleric. So I drew Mike the Brave, the Paladin!” Mike held up the messy drawing done entirely in sky blue crayon with a proud grin on his face. The action earned a laugh out of Will, which was enough for Mike.
”It’s a mess! I’ve seen babies draw people with more definition than that!”
“excuse me! It’s called taking artistic liberties. For all you know you’re shunning the next Peter Picasso over here!”
“Pablo Picasso…” Will muttered under his breath.
”whatever, come here let’s take a picture” Mike grabbed his Polaroid camera.
~
Mike’s smile grew at the memory. He and Will were so young and naive. Will was incredibly right that the drawing Mike had made was terrible. He was nothing like Will, who had always been an artist.
Mike lifted his lead up to look at the painting Will had made him. He had hung it on the wall. Mike always knew Will had made that and that El didn’t commission it, but he was too worried about what might happen if he brought it up to Will. “You’re the heart” wills voice rang in Mike’s head.
He turned his attention back to the box of Polaroid photos. The next photo Mike picked up was a picture of Will playing an arcade game. Will wasn’t aware Mike took the photo. Taped to the back of the picture was a strip of pictures taken at a Photo Booth.
~
The Polaroid camera flashed. Will just looked so perfect and focused, Mike couldn’t resist taking a picture.
“C’mon… I almost beat the high score!” Will muttered under his breath, his eyes locked onto the game screen. The lights in the arcade were fluorescent and bright, which hurt Mike’s eyes. But he didn’t mind much since he got to spend the day with Will.
Will looked just as beautiful as he always did, that determined look in his eyes still didn’t kill the signature softness that was always present. Will’s hands moved nimbly across the arcade game, hitting the buttons in a rhythmic pattern.
“Damn it! I was so close!” Will groaned as he banged on the game console. The ‘game over’ screen flashed at them as Will’s bottom lip stuck out in a small pout.
“hey I saw a photo-booth over there earlier. You said you wanted more photos of us so would taking some stupid picture together cheer you up?” Will perked up immediately as Mike made the offer. Will grabbed Mikes hand and started walking.
”yes yes yes! Let’s go!”
~
Mike peeled the photo strip off of the photo. He stood up and walked over to his wall, where he pinned it directly next to Will’s painting. Mike smiled as he looked at their happy and young faces. It made him feel a bit better looking at it. Mikes stretched out smile squeezed next to Will’s adorable bunny teeth.
Mike returned back to his spot in the floor by the box. The next photo he pulled out completely shattered Mike’s happy demeanor.
The photo was of him and El, squished together all happy and couple like. But off to the side Mike was pushing Will out of the frame.
The photo evoked many different feelings inside of Mike. The first one being, he missed El. He missed her so much. He just wanted to see her again, one last time. She looked so happy in that photo, even though Mike was a dick to her back then. Mike never deserved her. He wished she were still here.. she could have had that happy face right now.
Second, Will was being shoved aside, out of frame. Forgotten. Mike was a real jerk to him then. He was a jerk to everyone, but he was especially bad to Will. He had been so so stupid.
~
”What is your problem, Mike?! You’ve been completely ignoring me lately!” Will had stepped up and confronted Mike as soon as El had left to go back home.
“what? I’m not ignoring you! You’re just being needy, Will! I have a girlfriend now! Not everything is going to be about you and what you want to do!” Will scoffed at that.
“nothing is about me ever, Mike! Can’t you at least make time for your best friend?!” Mike paused at those words. He wanted to make time to be with Will, he really did. But he was scared. Scared of the way Will made him feel.
”Jesus, Will… I’m sorry, now can you stop being so dramatic?!”
~
Mike cringed at the memory. If he ever got a chance to meet his younger self from back then, he probably would have punched his straight in the jaw. He hated himself for how he had treated Will then… Mike set the Polaroid back in the box, burying it underneath a few others.
The next photo he picked out was a photo of the Byers’ car. It was packed and ready to go to Lenora. Looking at the photo of that car made Mike remember how bad he had wanted to sob then. Not just for El leaving, but for Will.
~
The Polaroid camera flashed and printed out the photo. Mike stared at the car blankly. It was packed and ready. It was real. The Byers were actually leaving Hawkins. Mike could still feel the faint hint of El’s lips on his.
That had been a determining factor. He cared for El so so so very much. Be he didn’t love her like that. Mike barely even knew what love felt like. But he knew loss, and he knew hurt.
He didn’t want the Byers’ to go. He didn’t want El to go. But most of all he didn’t want Will to go. Not after how Mike had treated him.
~
Mike sighed and set down that photo. It didn’t take much time before the photo directly next to where he had set that one caught his eye.
It was a photo taken of Will’s bedroom in Lenora.
~
Will had just closed the door, leaving Mike alone in Will’s bedroom. Mike was supposed to be unpacking his things from the duffel bag he brought, but something about standing there felt like he was standing in Will’s sanctuary.
Will’s bed looked as if it had been made in a rush. Art supplies and drawing were scattered throughout the room. Resting on every and any surface.
The room simply just felt like Will. Mike looked over to Will’s dresser, which was a clutter of trinkets and other random items. On top of it, perched in the only neat part of the dresser was an old familiar crayon drawing done entirely in sky blue crayon.
It was the awful drawing of Mike the Brave that Mike had drawn when they were kids. Mike smiled. Will had kept it all these years.
”Mike are you almost done in there?” Will’s voice called out from the hallway.
“Yeah I’m done!” Mike threw his duffel bag onto Will’s bed. He took one last look at the room before he swung open the door.
~
Mike felt a sort of comfort at the thought of a space that was entirely Will. He really missed him. Most of the Polaroids were simply bad pictures taken in a hurry or were repetitive. He found a few recent ones of the party at their graduation until he picked up a particular picture.
It was a photo of him and Will in Mike’s kitchen the night of their senior graduation.
~
The rest of the party had left. Will was the last one that remained at Mike’s house. Mike looked over to Will, who was sitting across from him at the kitchen counter. Will was drinking a Coca-Cola slowly. Mike didn’t want this moment to end. He wasn’t ready to let go.
”so… are you excited for college?” Mike tapped his fingers on the countertop.
”yeah, I mean I’m kinda ready to leave Hawkins. You know, finally live a somewhat ‘normal’ life.” Will tilted his head to the side slightly as he spoke.
”you’re not going to miss it here at all?”
”if I’m being honest? Not really.. I’ve been possessed, bullied, faced death multiple times, and been through hell here. It’s not as much of a home to me as it feels like a prison.. the only thing I’ll miss would be you and the party.” Will fidgeted with the pull tab on his soda can.
He made a fair point. Mike also wanted to get out of Hawkins after all. It hadn’t been a very warm place for him over the years either. He wasn’t ready just scared of losing Will. He couldn’t lose touch with him. Mike couldn’t lose him again.
”Do you think we’ll stay friends? Y’know even with going to different colleges?”
”of course we will” will smiled
”promise you’ll keep in touch?”
”I promise.”
”hey.. I brought my Polaroid. We can take one last photo together?” Mike held up the camera and Will’s smile grew as he nodded.
~
Mike ran his thumb over the photo. Neither of them had lived up to that promise. They hadn’t exchanged information and they had in fact lost contact.
Mike was just about to set the Polaroid photo back in the box when he noticed some writing on the back of it.
‘heres the new phone number for my dorm. It’s already set up - Will’ beneath the writing was a phone number.
Holy Shit.
Mike had never moved faster in his life. He scrambled up to his feet, falling down a couple times as he tripped over his own foot. He got back up as fast as he could and when Mike stopped on two feet again he dashed out of his room.
He skidded down the hallway into the kitchen, where the phone was kept. Mike immediately started punching in the number that was written on the photo.
The first few times he had made a mistake and messed it up. This cause him to accidentally call the phone of an elderly woman who became very distraught by his call.
But he finally got it right and the dial tone blared against his ear.
“Pick up pick up pick up” he mutter. And then the dial tone cut off.
”hello?” The familiar soft and comforting voice of Will Byers came through the phone speaker.
”Will…”