Work Text:
Mike is sitting in the living room, attempting to read a book for school. However, the sun is shining directly in his eyes, making it hard to see. He tries lifting the book to cover his eyes, but that's just way too uncomfortable.
"NANCY!" His mom calls from the kitchen. Then, "MIKE! HOLLY!"
Crap, his mom is probably mad at them for trashing the basement the other day. Whatever, it's an excuse to escape this horrid sunlight.
Mike sets the book down and gets up from the couch. He and his sisters gather in the kitchen, all expecting to get yelled at by their mom. "I need you guys to go to the store for me," she says instead, handing car keys to Nancy and a list to Mike.
Holly sees her siblings getting things and asks, "What about me? What do I get?"
"You get the most important job of all," Karen tells her, "You get to watch over them."
Holly grins. Mike and Nancy gasp. "What?!" They exclaim in usion.
Their mom raises her eyebrow. "I know you two are going to try to get up to some mischief. I also know that Holly won't lie to me."
"You little shit," Mike whispers to his younger sister.
"Mom, he cussed!" Holly snitches, staring at Mike with a shit eating grin.
Mike groans in annoyance. He turns to the entryway to put his shoes on, and his sisters follow.
Once they're finally at the store, Holly climbs into the cart, and Nancy pushes it while Mike reads over the list. "Okay, the first thing she wrote down is milk," Mike tells Nancy.
"We should probably get stuff that's not cold, first," Nancy suggests.
Mike nods. "Oh, right," he says, then scans over the list for something that isn't cold. "Um... oh! Bread."
Nancy starts pushing the cart towards the bread isle. Holly giggles, pretending that she's on a pirate ship. Mike searches for the brand of bread that his mom usually gets, then takes it off the shelf and places it in the shopping cart.
"Promise me you'll be careful not to squish it?"
Holly nods, but Mike doesn't believe her. Instead, he picks her up out of the cart– almost breaking his back in the process– and sets her down on the ground. He grabs her hand so that she won't run off.
Somehow, they manage to get the rest of their not cold groceries without problem. Then, they end up in the candy isle. Holly begs them for a KitKat bar, and Nancy eventually gives in. When Mike goes to grab a KitKat, he notices that the Reese's Pieces– Will's favorite candy– are right next to them. He grabs both chocolates and puts them in the cart.
"Mike," Nancy warns.
"I'll pay for it!" Mike promises. "I'm not even getting it for me! I'm getting it for Will!"
Nancy smirks. "For Will, huh?"
"Shut up," Mike grumbles.
"You never shut up about Will," Holly complains. "Will this, Will that, Will Will Will."
Mike just shakes his head. He doesn't talk about Will that much. Does he? Well, if he does, it's because they are best friends! No other reason. At all.
"Anyway, can we go to the toy isle?" Holly asks.
Nancy sighs. "Sure," she agrees. "We can look."
So, they find themselves in the toy isle. Mike has never seen so many stuffed animals in his life. He and his sisters probably don't even have this many combined.
Holly lets go of his hand and runs to a pink unicorn. "Oh my gosh! It's so cute!" She exclaims. "Can I get it? Please?"
"Holly, I said we could look," Nancy reminds her. "I didn't say I'd buy you anything."
While his sisters are arguing, Mike gets drawn to a tiger plush. He knows that Will likes tigers, and it's the perfect size to cuddle.
He grabs it to check the price, but he honestly doesn't care, he'd buy it no matter the price. Deciding that it's not crazy expensive, he drops it in the cart.
"Why does Mike get a stuffy?" Holly questions, clearly upset.
"Yeah," Nancy agrees, glaring at Mike. "Why does Mike get a stuffy?"
Mike glares back. "Because I have a job and it's not even for me."
"It's for me?" Holly asks, her eyes lighting up.
Even though he feels bad, looking at how excited his sister is, Mike tells her, "It's for Will."
Holly rolls her eyes. "Everything is about Will! You only care about Will!"
"I–" Mike starts to argue, then he realizes that he doesn't have a good argument. "I'm sorry. I'll buy you the unicorn, okay?"
Holly lights up again, and hugs Mike. "Thank you," she whispers, then runs away to go grab the unicorn and put it in the cart.
The siblings get all of the cold groceries, then go to the checkout to pay. Mike pays for the stuff for Will, and the unicorn for Holly. Then they go home.
Nancy helps their mom put the groceries away, Holly goes upstairs to play with her new stuffed animal, and Mike goes down to the basement to put the stuff for Will in a yellow gift bag.
It's not anywhere near Will's birthday, nor is it Christmas time. Mike just thought Will would like this stuff. Does he really have to have an excuse to buy a gift for his best friend?
No. He doesn't. Leave him alone.
Once the gift is ready, Mike takes it upstairs and walks to the entryway. "I'm going to Will's!" He shouts back into the house before opening the door and leaving.
The bike ride to the Byers' feels as longer than it usually does. Mike's so excited to see Will's face when he sees his gift, but unfortunately he lives all the way across town, so he has to wait.
Eventually, he gets there. Mike drops his bike by the porch and knocks on the door, waiting for someone to answer.
Jane is the who opens the door. She has a crochet project in one hand, and the other on the door handle. Mike doesn't even get a chance to speak before she turns away and calls out for Will.
"How'd you know I'm here for Will?" Mike asks, stepping into the familiar house that is basically his second home.
Jane gives him a knowing look as she shuts the door. "Why else would you be here in the middle of the day?"
"Maybe I wanna hang out with Joyce!" Mike argues.
"Right," Jane laughs. Joyce isn't even at home in the middle of the day. She's at work. Mike's argument makes no sense.
Will walks out from the hallway at the same time that Jane goes to sit on the couch. "What?" He asks, then sees Mike and smiles. "Oh, hey, Mike!"
Mike smiles back. "Hey, um..." he holds out the gift bag. "I got you a thing."
"A thing?" Will questions.
Mike nods, and the boys head into Will's room, sitting across from eachother on the bed.
"So... what did you get me?" Will asks, taking the bag from Mike.
"Just open it," Mike tells him, not wanting to spoil it.
Will listens, pulling out the candy first. He laughs. "Oh my god, I was literally thinking about how much I wanted this earlier."
Mike grins. "I guess that just proves how well I know you."
"Yeah," Will agrees, setting the candy down next to him and grabbing the next thing out of the bag. He gasps when he sees the tiger. "It's so cute!" He exclaims, holding it close to his chest.
Then he leans forward, pulling Mike into a hug. Mike hugs him back, and pulls him so that they collapse against the bed, laying by the pillows. This causes them both to laugh.
"Why'd you get me these things?" Will asks through the laughter.
"I just saw them and thought of you," Mike explains as Will rolls off of him. "I know it's not your birthday or Christmas or anything, but I thought you'd like them. Especially the tiger."
Will smiles. "Well, I do. Thank you," he says, still holding the tiger.
"Nancy and Holly kept complaining that I was getting stuff for you," Mike tells him. "Mostly Holly. She thinks that you're all I think about."
Will laughs again. "Nonsense. You also think about D&D, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, books, science, the Party, and dinosaurs."
Mike shrugs. "I mean, she's technically not wrong," he realizes. "I do think about you a lot."
Probably more than he should. Maybe even more than people usually think about their best friends.
"It's like we've been best friends since kindergarten or something," Will jokes.
"Will." Mike says, trying to tell him that he's not joking.
"What?" Will asks.
"I think I'm in love with you."
Will just stares at him, surprised.
Mike hides his face in the pillow. Will definitely hates him now. At least their friendship ended with a gift. "Please just say something," Mike begs.
"I– I love you, too," Will admits.
Mike perks up at that, turning his head to look at Will. "Seriously?"
Will nods. Mike cups his face and leans in, pressing a kiss to his lips.
Their friendship definitely ended with that gift. Just not in the way Mike originally thought.