Chapter Text
Hawkins, Indiana, was dead.
The Midnight Bloom was alive.
Will Byers hadn’t meant to end up there. It was Steve’s fault. Or Dustin’s. Or Robin’s. He wasn’t sure who to blame yet.
Probably Dustin, though. He was the one who dragged the whole party to that fuckass club.
All he knew was that the air smelled like cigarette smoke and cheap hairspray, the bass from the speakers rattled his teeth, and Robin Buckley was on stage in a suit that barely covered her ass and a fake mustache, singing Queen like she owned the place.
They were enjoying it, though.
It was actually pretty fun.
---
It had been a hot, boring summer night for the party. School was finally over, and all they had to do now was wait for the start of their junior year of college.
Since they defeated Vecna and the Upside Down, things had been… normal. Too normal for them.
The mall, ice cream, pubs, Mike’s basement, D&D campaigns, a few shots of tequila.
That’s how they spent most of their summer days, but it was starting to turn into pure boredom. They needed something new.
“Come on! There has to be something to do other than watching the same movies in Mike’s basement!”
Max shouted, legs crossed as she sat next to Lucas and Jane.
“Yeah, thank you, Maxine. My basement is the coolest place in town, but if you wanna burn alive, go ahead.”
Max stuck her tongue out, and Jane chuckled beside her.
“So? Are we going somewhere or what?”
Lucas asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve been to every possible club, and they were all boring ‘cause, I mean… it’s Hawkins.”
Will said, absentmindedly tidying up the D&D stuff. He was getting a bit tired of it too. They were eighteen, they needed to have fun. Real fun. Not just play Dungeons & Dragons all night.
Lucas sprawled across the couch, and Max rested her head on his chest.
“If we were in Las Vegas, we’d probably be having so much fun right now,”
he sighed.
“Yeah, no shit.”
Max slapped his arm jokingly. Jane looked around, confused.
“What’s Las Vegas?”
She was still learning about the world, it was kind of cute. Mike smiled at her.
“It’s a city in Nevada, full of cool people and clubs that sell beer to everyone.”
Jane wrinkled her nose.
“I don’t like beer.”
Mike laughed at her innocence, and in that moment, Dustin—who had been silent the whole time, gasped.
“Fuck! The club!”
The room fell silent.
“The club?”
“What club?”
Dustin jumped up and pulled a flyer out of his jeans, reading it out loud.
“The… ‘Midnight Bloom.’ It’s a new club that opened near Hawkins.”
Will stepped closer, reading along.
“‘Gender swap drag night.’ Dustin, what does this mean?!”
Dustin stood there with a mischievous grin.
“Well, basically, it’s a show where boys are dressed up like girls, and girls are dressed up like boys.”
“How do you even know about this club?”
Lucas asked, clearly confused.
“Robin works there. And she somehow managed to convince Steve to work there too.”
“Wait, wait, wait—”
Max stood up, hands on her hips.
“You’re saying that if we go there, we’re gonna see Steve dancing in lingerie and fishnets?”
Dustin nodded.
“Exactly.”
“I’m up for it.”
“Yeah, let’s try something different.”
“Hopper is never going to allow me to go with you guys…”
Jane pouted.
“I’ll cover for you when we get back home.”
“Really? You’re the best brother ever!”
Will smiled fondly. Mike was the only one who hadn’t answered yet.
“Wheeler? You coming with us?”
“Huh? Dunno… I think it’s kind of stupid.”
“You are stupid.”
Max groaned.
“You’re an asshole.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You’re—”
But Dustin cut in.
“Children, children, stop fighting. Mike, you coming or not?”
Mike thought for a moment.
“Yeah… guess I am.”
And that’s when everything started.
---
When they arrived and took their seats, the club was dark, just a crowd of people waiting for the show to begin. The party was buzzing with impatience.
Mike felt like he was about to die.
He couldn’t stand seeing men dressed as women, not because it disgusted him, but because he knew he was going to love it.
He knew something was wrong with him. That was kind of why he and Jane broke up right after they graduated. He just didn’t know what it was.
Well… he did know.
He just didn’t know how to accept it.
The stage lights flickered on, and the performers began to appear.
Men in red corsets, high heels, fishnets, heavy makeup. Women in suits with fake mustaches.
Robin was the star of the show, dancing to the notes of “I Want to Break Free,” while Steve…well, Steve was visibly embarrassed. It was obvious he didn’t want to be there.
Will was mesmerized. He felt safe there, like he didn’t have to hide.
Mike felt like he was about to faint.
It was too much.
And he couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to be on that stage himself.
His breathing hitched. Then sped up. Then broke.
He started hyperventilating.
Jane noticed immediately. She placed a hand on his trembling knee and whispered:
“It’s okay, Mike. Breathe in. Breathe out.”
Mike was sweating. He hoped Will wouldn’t notice. He didn’t want him to think he was being homophobic.
“Do you want to go out?”
“Yes. Yes, please.”
They slipped out of the club, and Mike let out a shaky breath of relief.
“I’m sorry.”
Jane shook her head.
“No, it’s okay. I know it’s hard.”
“How can you be so good with me, El?”
“Because you’re my friend, Mike.”
Mike’s voice rose.
“That’s exactly the point! We used to date,we used to kiss,then I broke up with you and you’re still so nice to me… why?”
“Because I want you to be happy. But you clearly aren’t, and it breaks my heart.”
And in that moment, he broke down and hugged her.
---
She hugged him back.
She truly wanted him to be happy.
Of course she had been upset when Mike broke up with her. She thought he didn’t love her anymore. But she felt slightly better when she realized she wasn’t the problem.
“I think I might like boys,” he said, before starting to cry.
She didn’t understand why.
Will had cried too when he said he liked boys, but she thought it was because he was scared of Vecna. Now Vecna was gone… and Mike was crying too.
She felt confused.
“If that’s true… if I like boys… I’m not normal, El. Boys are supposed to like girls.”
“But Will likes boys, and you never said anything about him.”
Mike only cried harder.
“That’s… that’s different.”
Jane didn’t understand why, but she didn’t want to pressure him. So she just held him and let him cry.
Everyone knew they had broken up. They told people they were better as friends.
Mike didn’t come out.
He couldn’t come out to the others when he had barely come out to himself.
---
“Guys! What are you doing here?”
The rest of the party had just stepped out of the club.
“I…uh…I…”
“I asked Mike for a cigarette, but I didn’t smoke it because I’m too scared of Hopper finding out.”
Thank God, Mike thought.
“Dude, the show was amazing! You should’ve seen Steve’s face when he had to take off his fishnets!”
Dustin exclaimed, while Lucas and Max laughed uncontrollably.
Will was silent.
“Wait, Steve stripped down?”
“Yep… I did.”
Steve walked out of the changing rooms, now dressed normally, but still wearing makeup.
Dustin burst out laughing.
“Man, you look ridiculous!”
“Oh, you think so? Come here then!”
Steve lunged at him, chasing him down before planting a loud kiss on his cheek, leaving a huge lipstick stain.
“You suck.”
“What’s going on here, guys?”
Robin stepped out too, still in her suit but finally free of the itchy mustache.
She looked radiant.
“Rob! You’re beautiful!”
Will exclaimed, smiling for the first time that night.
“Thanks, kid. You know, you should try this too sometime.”
“What? You want me to dress up?”
“Why not? If Steve did it, you can do it too.”
Will felt his cheeks burn.
“But I can’t sing… or dance!”
Robin stomped her foot like a petulant child.
“Come on! You just have to lip sync and move freely! It’ll be fun!”
Will hesitated.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Yay!”
---
On the drive home, Mike was behind the wheel. Will sat in the passenger seat, while the others were half-asleep in the back.
“So… are you gonna do it?”
Mike asked quietly.
“Do what?”
“The drag thing.”
Will shivered slightly.
“Maybe. Why not?”
“Don’t you think it’s weird?”
“No… I don’t. Do you?”
Mike sighed, eyes fixed on the road.
“Yeah. I mean, no, not really. It just… it would be weird. To see you in drag.”
Will smirked, a little nervous.
“You wouldn’t like it?”
Oh, Mike would fall to his knees for Will in drag.
He would love it.
But he couldn’t say that. He couldn’t admit it.
“Shut up.”
He smiled anyway. Will shifted in his seat, getting more comfortable.
“I think I’m gonna do it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I want to explore a bit.”
Mike nodded faintly.
“Cool.”
“Cool”