Chapter Text
When Will, Ms. Byers, Jonathan, and Eleven returned to Hawkins after a year in Lenora; they didn’t have anywhere to stay. Luckily, Mike’s big mouth changed that as soon as possible.
The first night back, the Wheelers had the Byers for dinner. “So, will you be staying in a hotel? What’s your plan?” Mike’s mother asked, opening the oven and retrieving the trays of food from inside.
“Oh,” Ms. Byers smiled. “I’m not too sure. Maybe if Hop has room in his cabin—”
Mike interrupted her. “They can stay here!” All heads at the table turned towards him—meaning Ted, Nancy, Holly, Jonathan, Will, Eleven, and Ms. Byers. “What? We don’t have a basement for nothing!”
Jonathan and Will looked at each other, holding eye contact that Mike couldn’t read.
“Oh, that’s so nice, Mike, but I’m sure there would be more room for us at Hop’s—”
Jonathan placed his hand lightly on his mother’s shoulder while still making eye contact with his younger brother. “Will and I will stay here. El, Mom, you guys head to Hop’s. God knows you two have been apart from him for too long.”
Ms. Byers smiled widely at the last sentence, nodding in agreement. “Jonathan has a good point,” El said. “I have a good point too; Hopper’s cabin will not have enough space for four more people. It is good if we split.”
Nancy’s eyes turned sharp as they looked towards Jonathan, “I don’t know. You are making this desicion in front of us, not consulting us about it—”
Karen set the trays on the table, taking her gingham oven mitts off of her hands. “That’d be a great idea! Will and Jonathan will sleep in the basement, and if you two have no clothes because of the… situation, you may borrow some from Mike. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Mike was smiling, for his idea was being agreed with and plans were being made. Jonathan was muffling laughs, smirking at Will—who’s face was rosy. But when he looked at how Nancy was looking at him, his expression dropped.
“Yeah, totally. This’ll be a great summer,” Mike stabbed a slab of steak on one of the trays with his fork and pulled it onto his plate.
El smiled at her boyfriend and then took her right hand off of her lap and placed it on Mike’s left—which was resting on his leg. He immediately tensed, looking away from the steak while everyone else dug into the trays and stared into the contact his and Eleven’s hand were making.
He should’ve felt good. She wanted to hold his hand. So why was he feeling no spark, no good feeling from within, no sense of contentment?
Mike tried to change the feeling, doing what he should do—take El’s hand off of his then truly rope their fingers together. It didn’t help the numb feeling inside him. Eleven was grinning now, cheeks rosy as she cut her steak with one hand.
He could feel eyes on him and El, but he was unsure of who’s. So, he looked down the table, and sure enough, Will had a solemn expression on as he stared at his sister’s happy one and flicking every now and then to Mike’s.
“So,” Ted spoke up, not taking in how four out of the nine people seated at the table were not looking happy whatsoever. “How was California?”
— — —
Mike had a pile in his arms of clothes–folded—that he was sure would fit either Jonathan or Will, including his hellfire shirt. Eddie was not here anymore to lead the club, so it was over for all of them. Dustin kept his–it seemed like he worshipped the damn thing. He had way more in common with Eddie than Mike ever did, so that could be a reason why.
He did envy Eddie in some ways, though. For example, Eddie’s hair. It was spectacular in Mike’s view, and he began to grow it out himself to honor Eddie in a way. For months, he has been ignoring the comments from Nancy, Lucas, Max—before she entered her coma caused by Vecna—, his mother, his father, and even Holly about how it looks ‘dirty’ or ‘unkept.’ The only ones who respected the change were Eddie, the majority of the people in the club, and Dustin. Especially Dustin.
Mike could–if you asked him—bring up the hundreds of times Dustin had looked at Eddie, then Mike, and tell Mike how he was going to grow his hair out too. It never grew out too long, for Dustin’s mother would give him weekly trims.
Once Eddie passed, Dustin had a fall-out with his mother because he fought on not getting his hair trimmed that week. He began getting more upset often, not taking care of himself, letting his hair grow out, never leaving the safety of his Hellfire shirt, and rotating between staying at Lucas’ or Mike’s house. Mike was unsure how Dustin had such a bad fight he was unable to be home… the fight was literally over a weekly trim. Whatever, he needed to be there for Dustin.
Now that Jonathan and Will were staying, Dustin might have to be at Lucas’s only now—except for the day hours, of course. Between the final months of school and hospital visits, Mike and Lucas expressed their shared concern about Dustin and Max. The three went on daily rides to the hospital, then Eddie’s grave without fail, without caring about the weather.
Max, in the hospital for only a week or so now, has made no difference in any direction. It was truly unpredictable if she would awake or not.
Everyone was on edge.
“Mike?” Jonathan’s voice sounded from the doorway.
Mike whipped around, startled and dropping the folded clothes, them unraveling as they hit the floor. “Shit! Sorry, what’s up?”
“My bad, I was just coming up to ask about the clothes. Looks like you got them ready, though.” Jonathan sighed, giving him a small smile.
He nodded, eyeing the messy pile on his bedroom floor. “Yep.”
Jonathan saw something recognizable behind Mike. “What’s that? On your desk?”
“The… uh, the painting El commissioned and that Will painted, why?” Mike grinned sheepishly, looking at it while remembering what Will said to him in the van. He remembers he didn’t even care that it was El who told Will to say all that stuff about how Mike was the heart. It only mattered that it was Will’s voice that was speaking the words.
Did Jonathan hear what Will said in the van? If he had, he shouldn’t be asking about why it’s on display. It had an important backstory, a meaningful one, so there should’ve been no room for questions. If he hadn’t heard, that’s a different story.
The painting had been there since he had returned from California. He immediately—upon returning—tried to put it in his binder of Will’s artwork, but the painting wast too large for it.
“No, no, its nothing. I’ll bring these down for you, yeah?” Jonathan kneeled down and gathered the messy clothes into his arms, then stood and stepped back. “Thanks for this, Ill be sure to let Will know.”
Mike nodded eagerly. “Okay, tell him I said hey.” Shit, why did he say that? Who says that? Jonathan nodded in response, turned, and walked out. Oh, god. Mike puts his hands over his face and dramatically flops—facefirst—onto his bed.
“Mike?” Not again, please.
He doesn’t clock the voice right away, rolling over and sitting up. It’s Eleven. “What’s up?”
“We were going to head to Hopper’s cabin—me and Joyce, I mean. I told her I wanted to spend some time with you before we left. I…I missed you.” El shut the door, stepped forward and offered Mike a small smile.
Mike furrowed his eyebrows. “You missed me? We were just together at dinner.”
“Yes, we were. I meant us being alone together. How we were last summer, do you remember?”
“Oh.” Mike frowned, then quickly replaced it with a smile because he was supposed to be happy at the idea of last summer, right? Whenever he thought of last summer, he didn’t think about the hours spent making out with El. He thought about his fight with Will in the rain. When he idiotically shouted at him, ‘It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!’
“I remember,” he nodded, widening his smile to create the illusion of only remembering the scenarios with El. “What about it?”
Eleven reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, but quickly dropped her hand, since her recent time spent in the lab cost her hair. “Would you like to continue? I miss the feeling of being with you…kissing you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, sure,” he pursed his lips, and moved over so El could sit beside him.
El took that offer, sitting down and setting her hand on Mike’s cheek, thumb bumping into his nose.
He took it upon himself to skip the awkwardness of waiting for her to make the first move. He began leaning in to kiss her, hand now settling on her waist.
As soon as El’s lips met his, the bedroom door opened.
“Oh, I’m sorry, you two! Hop called and he’s just so eager to have us home, I thought—“
Mike and Eleven pulled away, turning towards Ms. Byers, who was standing in the doorway. “Yes, let’s go see Hop,” El said, smiling at her. “Could I see you tomorrow, Mike?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll ask my Mom… later,” Mike bit his lip, watching El as she stood.
Ms. Byers set her hand on her daughter's shoulder. “I will see you soon, Mike. Thanks for that idea of yours, it means a lot to us that you were so easily open to having Will and Jon stay here.”
.
“Yeah, totally,” Mike grinned at her, eyes flicking between El and Ms. Byers.
“Bye now, Mike!” Eleven exclaimed as the two women walked away.
He looked over at the clock, ‘7:17,’ it read. He was late. Late to heading over to Lucas’s and biking with him to the hospital. Dustin was probably there—no, he was surely there.
He stood, grabbing his wallet and running downstairs.
“Mike! Where on Earth are you rushing to?”
“Mom! Don’t you know already? Lucas, Dustin and I are going to see Max!” He groaned loudly, opening the basement door and running down the steps. Mike then rushed out the door to the outside, grabbing his bike and running it over to Lucas’s.
When he approached the driveway, both boys were already sitting on their bikes. Lucas scoffed, “There you are! You’re real lucky we waited for your slow ass.”
“Thanks so much,” Mike rolled his eyes and swung his leg over his bike, feet landing on the pedals.
Dustin asked, “So where are the Byers staying?”
“Yeah, how’s that going?” Lucas began pedaling on his bike, Dustin and Mike following and catching up with him.
Mike smiled at the two. “Well, Will and Jonathan are at my house. Dustin, if you’d like to continue staying at my house, I’ll set up an air mattress in my room. El and Ms. Byers will be at Hopper’s cabin.”
“Really? You didn’t want El staying at your house? Y’know, your girlllfriendd?” Lucas teased, winking at Mike.
Mike scoffed. “Oh, please. It’d be… better if she stayed there. Hopper would take a knife to my throat within an instant if she was here. Even if I ran away from here, that man would find me in an instant and. Beat. Me. To. The. Ground.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Dustin shook his head. “You’re exaggerating.”
Mike gasped, pedaling harder. “Dude, I’m offended you would even think of saying that to me. Last year, he threatened me to… stop seeing her. It, uhm, didn’t work. Y’know? Since I’m still,” he paused for a second. “Dating her.”
Dustin nodded. “Hey, Mike… I’ll take you up on that air mattress offer. I don’t want to overstay the Sinclair’s welcome by being there too many nights in a row.”
“You know that my parents don’t care,” Lucas ensured, taking one hand off the handlebar to adjust the walkie talkie in his bike’s basket.
Mike piped up, “My mom doesn’t! Please stay more often, because I love watching my dad get angry at you eating any of our food. It’s the only time he ever shows any sort of emotion. It’s really entertaining, y’know?”
“Well, I’m glad to know there’s someone who enjoys big ol’ Ted’s complaints,” Lucas cackled, slowing down as the three turned their bikes into the driveway of the hospital where Max was staying.
Dustin looked towards Mike as he hopped off, now walking it over to the bike racks. “Did Will not want to come? How is he?”
“Will’s good—I think—but I didn’t ask if he wanted to go. I was late, and I didn’t see him when I was trying to leave,” Mike explained while entering the code of his bike lock in—’7117’— and looping it around the bar of the bike rack.
“You do not need a bike lock, how many times do I have to tell you? This is Hawkins, what is ever getting stolen?” Lucas grumbled and then continued, “For Pete’s sake.”
Mike clapped his hands together. “Oh, I don’t know, Lucas, how about people’s lives? For example, Bob Newby, Will’s dog, Billy Hargrove, your girlfriend? Who—by the way—surprisingly stole her life back. Lots and lots of stealing, right in front of you.” Mike considered mentioning Eddie, who’s life was stolen like the others, but that would not go well. He didn’t know if Dustin would ever get better, but it’d only been a short amount of time since his death, so there’s room for improvement.
“Oh, thanks real nice of you to say. Let’s just go inside and see said girlfriend, yeah?” Lucas slammed his bike into the rack and pulled the other two inside.
Dustin rubbed his eyes. “Stop fucking fighting, jeez.”
“Sorry,” Lucas and Mike apologized in unison.
They approached the front desk. “Vickie, hi!” Lucas grinned at the short, redheaded teenager at the counter.
“Go on in, you three. Go see Mayfield,” she grinned and hiked her thumb over her shoulder.
Dustin nodded. “Thanks, milady.” Vickie rolled her eyes playfully, doing her thumb motion again—which in her terms, usually meant, ‘Get out of my face, you idiots.’
They rushed over to the elevators, shoving themselves into the first open one they could find. “So, Dustin, who’ll you be staying with tonight?” Mike asks, hitting the elevator buttons.
“Lucas. I don’t want Teddy Bear to be upset because of too many new people staying at once. One new person at a time, y’know?” Dustin grinned, snickering at calling Mike’s father, ‘Teddy Bear.’
The elevator opened to Max’s mother standing there. Lucas froze, smiled at her shakily and pulled the other two boys past her. Mike didn’t understand why Lucas was afraid of her. He understood Lucas had problems with Billy, but he couldn’t recall being told about Max’s mother. Mike knew from bits and pieces from the two that she was an alcoholic.
“Max!” Lucas exclaimed, slamming the hospital room door open and sitting beside Max’s beside. He flipped the radio on, Kate Bush’s voice filling the room. There were the typical tubes coming out of her nose, clipped together between her lip and tip of her nose.
In Mike’s free time that he used to grow his hair out, he also learned how to braid. Kept him entertained during class—doing tiny little ones that weren’t noticeable to the trained eye. Dustin sat beside Lucas while Mike approached the other side of Max, taking the hairbrush from her bedside table, taking her hair bands out, and rebraiding them.
“You’re laying here constantly. How do you manage to get them messed up within a day? Must be the tests they run you through,” Mike mumbled as he lightly tilted Max’s head towards him and went on to do the opposite braid. “I need to learn more hairstyles for you. Maybe I’ll ask Nancy to teach me.”
Lucas smirked at the whole encounter. “If Max could see you right now, you have no idea how hard she’d laugh.” He began to do a Max impression, “‘Wheeler learned to braid hair? Never thought I’d see the day.’”
Mike laughed. “Accurate. Imagine if she can feel things right in this moment. Do you know how hard she would slap me for moving her head? Touching her face?”
“You’d get whiplash,” Dustin snorted. “Your thick skull would never stop spinning.”
Mike tied the final band on. “Well fuck me. She needs to have nice hair for her doctor tests.”
“What, that her hair doesn’t look nice already?” Lucas snarkily replied, raising an eyebrow.
Mike scoffed. “You know what I meant by that, asshole.”
“Uhm, guys?” Dustin nodded towards the doorway, where Max’s mother was standing. What the fuck?
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just wanted to let you boys know how much I appreciate your concern for Maxine and how you spend so much time playing music for her… pampering her… and overall being there for her,” she stepped inside and shut the door, walking over to the end of her daughter’s bed.
Mike froze, then dropped the brush onto the bedside table.
“It’s not a problem, Ms. Mayfield,” Lucas sighed shakily. “We care. She’s our… friend.”
She nodded. “I know.” Then, she took one hand and wiped her eyes with it. “I know she is.” Max’s mother hesitantly reached out and fixed the blanket near Max’s arm. “I don’t get to see her like this often. I would rather escape this than… than face the truth of the madness.”
Mike set his hand on her shoulder. “I understand. This shit is crazy, so if it was legal for my age, I’d totally be escaping it too.”
“Oh my god,” Dustin rubbed his eyes again and laughed. Lucas shook his head and put his hand overtop of Max’s.
“Just… thanks for not letting her be alone in here.” Her hand lingered on the bedrail, and Mike retrieved his hand. “She’s never had many friends.”
Lucas spoke, “Max also has two more of us… but they aren’t here right now. They are getting settled in.”
“Okay, I’ll get out of your guys’ hair now,” she tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped back. “Thanks again.”
“Bye, Ms. Mayfield,” Lucas called out as Max’s mother left the room.
Dustin leaned back in his chair, “Well, wasn’t that fun.”
“The funnest,” Mike agreed, swiping Max’s stray hairs from her face. “Maybe I’ll learn makeup, too. Doll her up for tests?” The other two boys chuckled at the idea of Max with a full face of makeup just for some doctor feeding her a thermometer.
Mike walked around the bed, pulling a chair beside the other two. “I’ll bring Will here tomorrow.”
“Good,” Lucas smiled.
Dustin whooped. “Yeah, Byers!”
— — —
“Honey, is Dustin coming tonight?” Karen asked, approaching Mike as he kicked off his shoes.
He shook his head. “Tomorrow. He is going to ‘let the others settle in.’”
“Okay, well, goodnight. It’s late, so everyone else is asleep. I was just waiting for you to come back so I could sleep.” Mike’s mom patted his head. “Have a good sleep, baby.”
“You too, Mom,” he smiled at her, turning and heading up the stairs. Closing his bedroom door, he pulled his shirt off and kicked his pants off, sending them into a small pile on the floor. Mike flopped onto his bed, only lying in his boxers and pulling his blankets overtop him.
Eddie’s grave was a good time, sitting against the headstone while Dustin told him all the stories of the day. It was the only place nowaday where Dustin truly seemed himself.
Dustin wasn’t the only one struggling. Mike could never sleep anymore. He now had undereye bags that showed at school and sleeping hours that concerned his parents. It wasn’t like he had nightmares, or he was afraid to sleep during the night, he was just… unable to.
“I hate this,” Mike groaned to himself, rolling over and burying his head into a pillow. Maybe if he suffocated himself with the pillow hard enough, he would sleep. That’d be a different type of sleep, though. A rather forever one.
There were rumors he’d seen in pamphlets from doctor’s offices that say if the human body doesn’t get sleep in 10 days or more, it will die. Mike’s body never seemed to quit. Maybe he had a good five minute rest during the night that he was completely unaware of, but there was also the time spent in school sleeping. Forget math class, he seemed to transfer back to kindergarten.
Some nights, Mike wished Vecna could come and curse him so that he could finally rest. He wondered what it’d be like to be in Max’s position. He was in Lenora for a majority of the time Max was cursed, so he never truly knew what it was like.
A knock sounded on Mike’s bedroom door. “Mmph?” Mike asked from the pillow, words being muffled.
“Mike?” It was Will. “Could I come in?”
He sat up, covering his lap and legs with the blanket. “Yeah, sure. What’s wrong?” The door opened and a puffy-eyed Will came out from behind. “Oh, shit. C’mere.”
Will followed the direction, walking over to Mike and sitting down. Immediately, as soon as Mike put his arms around Will, he crumbled from the contact and broke into sobs.
Fuck. What happened?
Mike’s hand rubbed his back as he cried, Will’s head in the nook of Mike’s shoulder. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he whispered, holding Will closer.
“No,” Will sobbed. “No, no, it’s not. He’s back, Vecna’s back, Mike.”
Mike furrowed his eyebrows, “What? Will, is he here? Can you feel him?”
“No,” Will sniffled, pulling back and wiping his eyes. “The nightmares are back. It’s Hawkins’ fault. There’s something wrong with this place.”
“What happened in the nightmare?” Mike whispered to him, frowning.
Will bit his lip, “I don’t want to talk about it…can I stay with you tonight?”
He nodded quickly. “Yeah, yeah, it’s no problem.” Mike scooted over, lifting the blanket for Will.
“Thanks,” Will laid on the opposite side of the bed, eyes locked on the ceiling. “How's Max?”
“Unconscious,” Mike sighed, tilting his head to Will. “Did you get the clothes from Jonathan?”
Will flicked his eyes to Mike but quickly looked back at the ceiling. “Yeah, what’s the Hellfire Club? You have a shirt that says that.”
“It’s, uhm… a D&D club that Eddie made,” he explained in the simplest terms he could. Mike regretted the way he treated Will last summer, but it was too late to change what happened. He basically spent the whole summer being impossibly rude to Will for wanting to play D&D, then as soon as Will left for Lenora, he joined a D&D club and became obsessed.
Will parted his lips, making a small, “Oh,” sound. Okay, so Mike was the biggest asshole and 100% should swap places with Max. If Vecna was back, Mike would be his first and only target. “What was it like?”
“You should really ask Dustin that,” Mike joked. “He was way more immersed in it than I was, y’know.”
Will snorted. “Glad to see you haven’t changed.”
Mike groaned, a laugh escaping his throat before he could stop it. “Don’t be like that,” he pulled his hands over his face.
“Sorry,” Will replied, a laugh following.
Mike put his elbow in the mattress, lifting himself up a tad. “No, don’t be sorry, I’m the self-pitying idiot here. I don’t even know why your still friends with me.” He smiled at the end of the sentence, voice raising in pitch to give the illusion that he was joking.
“You’re my best friend, Mike. Why would I leave you?”
Mike sighed. He hated those words. ‘Best friends.’ It should’ve made him feel relieved. Relieved that he still wanted to be Mike’s friend. Instead, there was this sinking feeling in his stomach, like everlasting doom. “If you want me to count on my fingers, I will.”
“Mike,” Will said gently. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
He sighed, ignoring Will’s reassurance. “I’m not. I’m just stating what I’ve done. I…I don’t know how you deal with me. I’m sorry for what I said to you last year and I’m sorry how I treated you last summer. Also, I’m sorry for how I acted at the roller rink…you’re right. El was struggling in that school, and I obviously didn’t see that. Angela and those others are not her friends. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you the first time around.”
Will propped himself up with his elbow—the same position Mike was in—leaned forward, and hugged Mike. “At least you realized,” he chuckled, and the hug was over before it even started in Mike’s eyes.
“I guess so,” Mike sighed, flopping onto his back and directing his eyes back to the ceiling. He could feel Will’s eyes still on him, but he didn’t know whether to look at him or continue his ceiling staring.
Eventually, Mike heard a slow in Will’s breathing. He looked over, watching the calmness of Will’s chest rising and falling. The dried tears had stained his cheeks, but his face wasn’t as red as before.
He knew Will was asleep now, but he still didn’t tear his eyes off of him.
— — —
“Mike!” He shot up, sitting and looking around to see who it was, but there was nobody in his room but Will, who was sleeping. The hell? “Mike! Breakfast!”
The bedroom door opened wide, and his mother was standing there with her apron on. “C’mon downstairs—why is Will in your bed?”
“He—ah, nightmare. Comfort, okay?” Karen nodded in response, turning and leaving the room with the door still open.
Mike tried to slide out of bed, making sure not to wake Will. He shut the door and grabbed a pair of clean pants from one of his open drawers, looking back to see if Will was up every few seconds. Then, while pulling on a white tank top, Will stirred and rolled over, now facing the wall.
“Shit,” Mike hissed, grabbing his walkie talkie and shoving it in his pocket. He thought about waking Will, but instead, he decided to not.
He ran downstairs, making his way into the kitchen. “Two plates, please?” Karen nodded, sliding two plates of eggs and bacon—with the silverware on the side—across the counter to her son. “Thanks, Mom. I’m bringing this up to Will.”
“Will’s upstairs?” Jonathan walked in, a confused expression on his face.
Mike whipped his head around, struggling to balance the plates in his hands. “Uhm, yeah.” He ignored when Jonathan asked why, rushing back up to his room.
When he returned, Will had rolled back over, fingers clutched tight in the pillow his head was on. Mike set the two plates down on the bedside table, making sure the material of the plates didn’t clatter against the wood of the table. He turned the other way, kneeling to the floor and picking up the clothes from the prior day and tossing them into his hamper.
Last night, the lights were off when Will had come in. Now, if he saw the state Mike’s room was in, he’d be disgusted. Mike began grabbing empty water bottles that lay on his dresser, tossing them into the trash can that sat by his desk.
He heard a quiet groan, and the mattress squeaked. Mike turned his head, and Will was pushing himself into a sitting position with his eyes squinted.
“Hey, I grabbed you breakfast,” he smiled at Will, taking a plate off of the bedside table and setting it on his lap. “Thought we could eat up here once you woke up.”
Will looked down at the plate, rubbing his eyes roughly. “Aw, thanks, Mike. You have plans for today?”
“Not sure,” Mike sighed, grabbing the other plate off of the table and sitting himself down by the end of the bed. “Are you feeling better from last night?”
Will nodded. “Yeah, thanks. I don’t think I’m going to tell the rest about the nightmare. It’s not that important, and it’s probably because of my fear of this ol’ town.”
“We live in a fucked up place,” Mike agreed, stabbing a piece of bacon with his fork and bringing it close to his mouth.
Will snorted, “How are you already up and running this early in the morning? Did you get any sleep?”
Mike froze, “Yep, the, uh, full eight-hours. Recommended by doctors and…stuff.”
Will closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’re a horrible liar. Your pants aren’t just on fire, they’re burning down forests and causing destruction to nearby villages.”
“Villages? Are we playing D&D right now?” Mike joked, pointing his fork at Will.
Will raised an eyebrow. “Don’t change the subject, Mike the Brave. Why didn’t you get any sleep?”
“I dunno,” Mike frowned, taking the piece of bacon off his fork and dropping it back onto his plate, moving the food around with the tip of it. “I just…wasn’t tired. Do you have plans today?”
Will shrugged. “Alright, fine, let’s change the subject. I don’t have plans either, would you like to make any?”
Mike nodded eagerly. Of course he wanted to hang out with Will. Who wouldn’t? “Yeah, would you like to head to the arcade or the drive in?”
“I… wanna see Max,” Will brought his fork to his mouth.
Mike continued moving the food on his plate around, chopping it with the fork and moving it. “Alright, cool. You should see my braiding abilities, they’re real impressive.” Mike kept a neutral expression, but his head was racing with questions. What if it reminded him of Vecna? What if he gets upset because of it? What if he doesn’t go insid the room?
“You braid hair?” Will coughed, setting his fork down to cover his mouth.
Mike grinned, beginning to laugh. “I know, right?”
“Mike Wheeler, of all people,” Will scoffed, shaking his head and further covering his face while laughing. Mike moved his plate off os his lap to he could lean back, flopping and cackling even harder.
— — —
“Hey, Vick, we’re bringing a new one,” Mike said while walking over to the front desk. “Meet Will.”
Vickie grinned, standing and putting her gloved hand out over the countertop, “Nice to meet you, Will. I’m Vickie!”
Will offered her a small smile, gentily taking her hand and shaking it. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“Oh, this one’s shy compared to the others,” Vickie grinned at Mike.
He shrugged. “Who, Lucas?” Vickie tilted her head, nodding roughly. “Right. Well, we’re going up.”
“Tell Mayfield I said ‘hi,’” she stepped back, sitting back down.
Will turned to Mike as they approached the elevators, “We don’t have to use visitor passes?”
“Vickie knows us too well,” Mike answered. Vickie had been on shift for every one of their visits, so she was interacting with the three on the daily. She even knew Lucas’s favorite vending machine candy. Will nodded, still carrying a confused expression.
When the elevator opened, Mike half-expected it to be a repeat of the previous night. It wasn’t, so Will just followed him down the hall to Max’s room.
“Hey, Max,” Mike greeted her, walking over to the bedside table and clicking the radio on. “Brought Will today. It’s just me and him right now. Lucas and Dustin will be coming later.”
Will furrowed his eyebrows. “Has El seen her yet?”
“Not since she saved her life,” Mike frowned at the mention of El, taking Max’s hair into his hands and unbraiding it.
Will took the other braid out, running his fingers through her hair to untangle it. “Here,” Mike said, passing the hairbrush from the table to Will’s hands.
“Thanks,” he murmured, raking the brush through her hair while the knots untangled. “Do you think she’ll wake up?”
Mike paused. “Right now? No. Eventually? Probably.”
“Poor Max is gonna be missing the summer,” Will snickered, setting the brush down and taking his hands out of her untangled hair. “We should get summer decor for the room, like beach balls and palm trees.”
Mike smiled, “It’ll remind her of California.” He leaned across the bed, waving his fingers in Will’s face. “It’d be totally tubular.”
“Tootally tuubular,” Will echoed. Mike expected Max to wake up then and there to tell the two that people there don’t actually say that. Will did live in California for a year, so if he felt like saying what Max would’ve said, he could just say it.
Mike split one side of Max’s hair into three thick strands, flipping each over the other. “You think she’ll have vision problems by the end of this?”
“That’s a realistic outcome, but I really hope everyone escapes this bullshit unscathed,” Will replied. Mike made no sound of protest against that truth, tying the hairband around the end of Max’s braid. “So..”
Mike looked up, “Hm?”
“How—how’re you and El?” Ah. The dreaded question.
He looked back down, eyes flicking between Max and Will. He hoped Max would wake up right now to take the spotlight off of him. “Uhm, good, I think.”
“You thi—nevermind,” Will bit his lip to keep from saying anything more.
Mike locked his eyes on Will, “We’re fine, Will. El and I are fine.”
“Just checking,” Will raised his arms in defense. “Wasn’t implying that there was trouble in paradise.”
Mike studied Will’s expression, confused why he wanted to know. “Good, because there isn’t. El loves me and I…” he swallowed. “Feel the same.” Mike could’ve sworn he saw a hint of a smirk on Max’s face.
He tilted his head, confused. Mike attempted to stay neutral, because there wasn’t anything wrong in his relationship with El. They were actually happy, and they hadn’t fought since California.
Mike thought he loved El. It’d make sense, for they’d been dating for years. He knew El loved him, but he didn’t believe he’d deserved it. Mike had been such a dick to her, so she loved him for what? What had he done for her to love him like she did?
He couldn’t even say it to her without Will’s hand on his shoulder. Pathetic. Disgustingly pathetic.
“That’s great, Mike,” Will whispered, voice lowering in volume. “I’m happy for you two. You’re my best friend and El’s my sister, so I’m glad to hear you’re doing well, okay?” Those words again.
Mike kept his voice at an equal level, murmuring, “Thanks, Will.”
“No problem, so, teach me how to braid?” Will gave Mike an awkward smile, gesturing towards the side of Max’s head that remained untouched.
Mike nodded, walking around the bed to the side Will was standing by. “Okay, split that piece there into 3 equal ones.”
Will immediately followed the direction, taking Max’s red hair into three.
“Then, take the piece closest to her face and cross it over the middle one.” Mike watched Will’s hands work on Max’s hair, not paying attention to the hair, but more how well his hands were sculpted.
It was… normal to find his best friend’s hands attractive, right? It’s just a good work ethic, Mike told himself. Meant that Will most likely worked out while in California.
“Okay, then take the one farthest from her face and put that overtop the new middle piece, and make sure to tug it tightly so it doesn't look too loose,” Mike spat out the next direction, still staring at Will’s hands.
His fingers flexed tightly around the hair, tugging it towards himself then moving them back up in a stroking motion. Mike choked at the sight, face going red as he let out a strangled cough-ish noise.
“Jesus, are you good? You need water?” Will’s head snapped back to Mike, who was covering his face in pitiful shame.
Mike nodded, “M’ fine, it’s okay.”
“Mike.” Will said, harsher but not yelling, more like how a parent orders you with a firm direction. “Go get water. I’ll keep Max company, yeah?”
Mike looked down back at Will’s hands, then his face. “Yeah, okay. Just continue passing the hair over like that until you run out of hair.”
“Got it,” Will smiled, head turning back to Max.
Mike, once he shut the door, collapsed onto the closest bench. He covered his face again—even more shame washing over him. He tried convincing himself that finding Will’s hands—a guy’s hands— attractive was normal. It didn’t fully work, but he continued trying.
It wasn’t normal to think that way.
It was wrong. It was disgusting. It was hated upon.
Because that way of thinking was wrong, Mike was able to convince himself another way. It was just respect for Will. Not attraction. Never attraction.
He… respected Will because he was an artist. Because they’re best friends. Because Mike hadn’t slept in forever. Because it—it wasn’t attraction.
Mike was attracted to El. He was supposed to be. People do what they’re supposed to do. Mike was one of those people.
“Mike?”
He widened his fingers, peeking out from behind to see who was trying to grab his attention. He dropped his hands. “Lucas?”
“I thought we were going later?” Lucas asked, plopping down beside him.
Mike flicked his eyes to him, “Could say the same to you.”
“Yeah, yeah. You here alone?” Lucas nodded towards the hospital room door.
He shook his head, “Nah, Will’s in there.”
“Then how come you’re sitting out here all alone?” Lucas adjusted his shirt, fixing the collar.
Mike sighed, running his lanky fingers through his hair. “Will told me to go get water.”
“For him?”
“For myself.”
Lucas paused, visibly confused. “I feel like there is a big fat wad of context that I’m missing out on.”
“No, no. I just coughed, and he said I should get water. Told em’ I was fine, but he told me to get some again,” he informed Lucas. “I’m sitting out here because I don’t need water.”
Lucas chuckled to himself, then quickly escalated, doubling over in fits of laughter. “Man, oh my—” Lucas paused for a wheeze, wiping his eyes aggressively. “He really walks you like a dog. Did you bark? Please tell me you barked.”
“I did not–” Mike gasped, face heating. “Will does not ‘walk me like a dog.’”
Lucas snorted, “Oh, yes he does. Remember your fight in the rain? You came crawling back to him, dragging me with you to his house.”
“I’m going to see Max,” Mike hissed, standing. “Fuck you.”
His face went serious, but within seconds, his smile was coming back and he was snickering. “You’re not going in there to see Max, and we both know that.”
“Fall in a ditch,” Mike retorted, walking away and entering Max’s room again. “Lucas is here, by the way.” Will’s head turned to Mike once the door shut. “Just showed up. He’s a bastard.”
Will choked, tilting his head. “He’s a bastard for… showing up to see his girlfriend?”
“No,” Mike denied. “He said something to me out there…I—I don’t want to talk about it. He’s just a bastard.”At the moment he finished his sentence, the door reopened and Lucas walked in.
He cheered, leaning over to Will and giving him a side hug. “Sup, man! Mike giving you a hard time at home?”
“Hey!” Mike exclaimed defensively as Will shook his head.
Will looked at Lucas, hands resting on his thighs. “No, Mike’s been fine.”
Lucas pointed with a triumphant grin, “That’s exactly what everyone says when Mike gives them a hard time. Or just you, because you’re too nice. Max would be painfully honest if she was in your shoes.”
“I’m not giving Will a hard time. Why do you hate me?” Mike sank into one of the chairs, crossing his arms. “What’d I ever do to you?”
Lucas snorted, sitting down beside Mike and Will. Ignoring Mike’s question, he leaned over to Will and said, “Do you walk Mike like a dog?”
“What the hell?” Will’s expression twisted.
Mike leaned back in his chair, “See? Bastard.”
“What on earth is going on?” Will muttered to himself. “I really hope Max can hear you right now.”
Lucas smiled at that, placing his hand overtop of Max’s. “Yeah, I wish that too.”
“Stop, you made him mushy,” Mike curled his lip, running his hands through his hair. “Reverse it. Max wouldn’t like that.”
Will smiled, his teeth shining through. “She would. It’d be cute to her.”
Mike glared at him, “Don’t encourage him—please.”
“No, please. Encourage me,” Lucas grinned at the other two. Mike rolled his eyes at him, making a small sound of protest at the direction.
For the rest of the time they stayed, it was full of arguing between the three boys about whether or not Will walks Mike like a dog.
For your information, Mike believes he is not being walked like a dog.
— — —
Mike, being painfully awake, only heard the sounds of Dustin’s snores. He kept his eyes on his hands, clasping and unclasping them over and over again.
He kept that movement up until there was a new sound.
“Mike?”
“Yeah? Who’s it?” Mike asked back, not trying to wake Dustin. He slid up in bed, sitting now.
The door creaked open a tad. “It’s Will…nightmare again.”
Mike welcomed a small smile to his face despite the event. He was just happy to be seeing Will. “C’mere, just don’t poke the sleeping bear.”
“Who? Oh, Dustin,” Will sighed as he shut the door behind him, bringing a hand to his face to wipe the tears that were falling.
Mike’s smile dropped at the sight of him, “Come on over here, Will. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Will followed the command, sitting down beside Mike. He lowered his voice now that they were in close proximity. “Do you want a hug?”
Will nodded tearfully, turning sideways towards Mike. He swung his arm around Will, pulling him close to his bare chest with his hand pressed against Will’s waist.
His head dropped, forehead resting in the nook between Mike’s neck and shoulder. Mike took his free hand and placed it on the back of Will’s head, rubbing circles into his best friend’s hair.
This was a normal situation, Mike reminded himself.
It was normal to comfort your best friend. Shirtless.
That was normal.
Mike hated the word, ‘normal.’ It was obnoxious, but that might be because he’s biased on the use of it. All he told himself was;
‘Normal. You’re normal. What you do is normal. How you feel is normal.’
If Max were there, she would have laughed in his face.
He tried to distract himself from battling what was normal or not, listening in on the pattern of Dustin’s snores from the air mattress or the way Will’s sniffles started slowing, his body growing limp within minutes while resting on Mike’s.
Mike kept his hand in Will’s hair and the other on Will’s waist, afraid to wake him if he moved.
“See? You’re okay now,” Mike whispered—seemingly to Will, maybe even himself. “You’re okay.”
He looked down at Will, face hidden. All he saw was his lanky fingers running through Will’s hair, messing it up.
Mike kept his eyes locked there, reaching his hand that was on his waist to the other side of him.
He shuddered, murmuring for a third time, “You’re okay.”
— — —
Will coming in after nightmares became a daily occurrence. Even Dustin—who slept there half of the days—took notice, but he didn’t press further then, “Why don’t you inflate a second air mattress for Will?”
After two or so weeks, Will grew tired of having to come upstairs after the nightmare happened, so he just started coming upstairs with Mike at night instead.
His reasoning was, “I’m only having those nightmares when I’m not here.”
Mike easily agreed to Will staying with him. It was like how Dustin stayed with him. Totally.
It was all wholesome, innocent, and a very ‘best-friend-ish’ routine.
Until it wasn’t.