Chapter Text
The summer of 1986 had some very big differences from the summer of 1985 as far as Will was concerned. For one, Vecna was dead and gone, and there was no fleshy-spider-monster running around and terrorizing Hawkins (which was a great relief, as you can imagine). For another, the Byers had moved back to Hawkins from Lenora and were living in a nice new house with Hopper and El now that Hopper and Joyce had gotten married. Instead of El being cooped up alone in a cabin and spending all of her free time with Mike, El lived in the room next to Will, and she and Mike were taking some time apart after their breakup. (Things had ended very amicably between them, so there really wasn’t much of a reason for this other than Max’s insistence that they should at least take a few weeks before inevitably becoming best friends again.) Instead of Mike only caring about El and ignoring everyone else, Mike was actually pretty free this summer, and very willing to hang out with Will.
But, as everyone was growing up, they were busier this year. Dustin was now a counselor at his camp which meant he was away until end of July. Lucas was also at a basketball camp which would keep him away until mid-July, and El and Max were both busy lifeguarding at the pool. Because Mrs. Wheeler had to get a job after she divorced Ted, Mike (much to his chagrin) was now spending a lot of the time babysitting Holly as Nancy had decided to move to Boston early to work an internship there before school started. Will had gotten a job at the record store in town, which he liked well enough, though it was a little lonely as he often manned the front desk himself.
Which was why Will was extra excited when Mike invited him over for a movie night, just the two of them. Will knew that realistically this was just because the other guys were out of town and El and Max were keeping their obligatory distance from Mike until Max decided El’s post-breakup reflection time was over. Still, Will’s chest had still felt warm at the words “just the two of us.” With the school year ending and everyone getting into the swing of things that summer, he felt like he hadn’t gotten nearly enough time with Mike in long a while. He and Mike had seemed to move past the tension that had existed between them when Mike had first come to Lenora in the spring, and they even seemed like they could maybe be fully back to being best friends.
The only problem now was Will’s unending, fairly all-consuming crush on Mike. But that wouldn’t stop him from spending time with Mike; even if that time was spent being painfully aware of how straight Mike was and how oh-so-not-straight Will was, it was better than nothing. Mike was his best friend, and that was more important than any far-fetched dreams he might have.
So, it was a Tuesday night that Will was sitting on the edge of the basement couch in the Wheeler house, ready for Mike to start listing out the movie options. Mike had barely opened his mouth before they both heard the front door upstairs slam.
“Oh, shit,” Mike muttered, looking up from his place by the VHS player. He turned to Will, his eyes wide with realization. “I forgot I’m babysitting Holly tonight while my Mom goes out again.”
Will’s eyebrows shot up.
“Oh! That’s okay. I can…” he shrugged and motioned toward the stairs, already sitting up to leave.
“No! I mean, well, you can go if you want, obviously. But you could stay. She’d just be down here with us. I know that’s weird though, I totally get if you’d rather go.” Mike sheepishly looked down at the stack of movies.
Will shrugged. Might be a little weird, since he hadn’t seen Holly in almost a year and had never really talked to her anyway, but time with Wike was time with Mike.
“I don’t mind if you don’t,” he said.
Mike smiled up at him. “Cool.” He got up and headed toward the stairs. “Be right back.”
Will leaned back into the couch as he waited for Mike to come back. He tried to think back to a time where he’d even really seen Mike interacting with Holly; did he used to babysit her ever? When Will was over at the Wheeler house Mike had usually disappeared with him and the rest of the party into the basement, and at the dinner table Holly hadn’t really contributed much to the conversation. Will knew Mike hadn’t been particularly excited about being babysitter for the summer, but he seemed pretty used to it by now. Will wondered what babysitter-Mike looked like. He smirked a little to himself.
Potentially a total disaster.
Potentially very cute.
Likely a little of both.
Soon he heard the door at the top of the stairs swinging open and Mike hopping down the stairs. The padding of little feet sounded behind him.
“Okay,” Mike said, heading back for the stack of movies.
“So this narrows down the movie choices. Let’s see…” He grabbed the stack and moved to the other end of the couch to start thumbing through.
Will tentatively looked over to greet Holly as she neared the bottom of the stairs. She was bigger than he remembered; she must be around 6 by now. She wore a pink set of pajamas and her long blonde hair fell around her head like a halo. Even though she was older she was still very cute and already looked more like her mom than either Nancy or Mike.
“Hi Holly,” Will said, smiling at her from the couch.
Holly watched him carefully as she moved to Mike. She stood in front of his knees and poked him, still looking at Will.
“Who’s that?” she whispered to Mike, though if she was trying to be subtle, she didn’t exactly succeed.
Will laughed, a little confused. He knew he had never talked that much to Holly, but she had definitely known who he was.
“I’m Will. Will Byers. Do you remember me? I used to come over here a lot.”
“Will?” she said, cocking her head to the side. Mike looked up to see their little exchange, slightly amused.
“Yea, its me. It’s been a while, huh.” Will leaned forward on his knees, making himself closer her height.
Not taking her eyes off of Will, Holly leaned into Mike’s knees to whisper closer to his ear.
“He’s handsome now,” she said, completely audibly.
Will bit the inside of his lip to keep from immediately laughing. He glanced at Mike whose eyes had suddenly significantly widened. He wasn’t sure if his eyes deceived him, but Mike’s face looked a little pink in the light of the lamp on the couch-side table, as if a blush had risen on his face.
Before Will could say something, Mike jumped in awkwardly.
“Anyway,” he said, coughing a little. “We have E.T., that should be kid friendly. How does that sound Holl?”
Holly made a face. “I wanna watch Cinderella.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “You watched that this weekend. Besides, Will doesn’t want to watch Cinderella.”
Will shrugged, eyebrows lifted. “I don’t really mind. I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”
Mike looked surprised. “You haven’t seen Cinderella? The most classic Disney movie?”
Will shrugged again. “Not all of us have kid sisters, Mike.”
Mike rolled his eyes.
“I’m sure I saw it before Holly was born. It’s a classic, you have to see it at least once.” He got up to put in the VHS.
Will tried to ignore the warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest at the thought that Mike liked Cinderella.
Ok so that was really cute.
Will wanted to tease him but couldn’t come up with anything to say, so he just sat back on the couch.
Holly still looked curiously up at Will, then climbed up onto the couch in the space between Will and where Mike had been sitting, but a little closer to Will.
She looked up at him. “Can I hold your hand during the movie?” she said casually.
For the second time that night, Will had to bite his lip to keep the surprise laughter that bubbled up in him. He fought off the laughter but couldn’t fight the grin.
“Um—” he said.
“Holly!” Mike said from the TV, sounding close to mortified.
“—No it’s ok,” Will said hurriedly, glancing at Mike and then back to Holly. “Sure, you can hold my hand if you want.” He reached out his palm on the couch and she rested her little hand in his. Will was so not used to little kids, but he had to admit that she was pretty much stealing his heart here.
Mike finished putting in the movie and walked back to the couch as it started. He sat down in his former spot on the couch. Holly reached out her other hand toward him.
“I wanna hold your hand too,” she said.
Mike rolled his eyes a little. He scooched closer on the couch toward her. “Ok, Holl.” He gave her his hand. “Now shh, watch the movie.”
Will couldn’t help but notice that, with only Holly between them, he and Mike were actually sitting fairly close together, a lot closer than they would have sat otherwise. He focused in on the TV but kept Mike’s outline in his periphery. God it was frustrating sometimes, when all he wanted to do was just look at Mike, take him in, but he knew it would be weird. Still, he could make out the dark curls, the way his broad shoulders hit the back of the couch, the way his knee extended way past Holly’s. That would have to be fine for now.
Will actually enjoyed the movie, if he was honest. It was no Top Gun, or horror movie, but it was sweet, and it was really cute to watch Holly enjoy it. It seems that Mike’s tendency to shush talkers during movies was not a Wheeler tendency, as Holly was very vocal about her observations.
“Cinderella has two sisters?” she said, looking up at Mike. Mike nodded. “That’s like you, you have two sisters! Me, and Nancy.” Holly counted on her fingers. Will grinned at how Holly looked very pleased with herself. Mike groaned.
“Can you please stop comparing me to Cinderella, please?”
Will guessed that this was not the first time Holly had drawn these comparisons. Holly turned and looked up at Will with a big grin on her face at Mike’s annoyance.
Yea, he liked this kid.
“What, you mean you don’t also talk to animals and make them do your chores for you?” Will smirked.
Mike threw up his hands. “Good, now you’re teaming up on me. Just what I need.”
Mike was cute when he was defensive.
“Blue dress!” Holly exclaimed a little later during Cinderella’s transformation scene. She took her hand out of Mike’s for a second and jammed a pointed finger into his sleeve. “Blue shirt! You’re just like her, Mike.”
Will full on giggled. Mike shot him a don’t you dare look, and Will tried to stifle his grin, shrugging innocently.
“No you’re right, Mike. Your shirt’s about one shade darker. No resemblance at all.”
The first time Prince Charming came on screen, Holly delightedly breathed, “he’s handsome.” Will shot a quick glance at Mike, wondering if he would react, remembering her earlier use of the phrase. Mike was studiously not looking at Will then. Will turned his eyes back on the screen.
Holly was hopping up and down in anxiety as Cinderella, the pumpkin, and the mice were rushing away from the castle and turning back into their true forms, but she was fast asleep before the prince even found Cinderella again. Will looked down to see her eyes shut, leaning into Mike’s arm. Mike noticed him looking and craned his neck to see her face. He smiled a little bit.
“I always let her stay up past her bedtime and then this happens,” he said softly, glancing up at Will. He slowly put his hands underneath her arms and then stood up, picking her up. “Be right back.”
Will was already on thin ice, but at this point he absolutely melted. He watched as Mike carried Holly up the stairs and then took a deep breath when he was alone.
So that was really, really cute.
Dammit.
Throughput their childhood, Will had always known Mike was a stubborn, loud kid; he didn’t shy away from a fight, he wasn’t afraid of showing displeasure or knocking down anyone’s opinion. But Will had always been the one person Mike softened for; Mike had been gentle with him, always making sure he was okay, making sure that he was being heard. Mike was loud, but he was quieter with Will, with always a certain tenderness in his voice. Mike might huff and scoff at other people, but not at Will. Almost never at Will.
What with the distance that had grown between them last summer and then while Will was in Lenora, he felt like he hadn’t really seen that side of Mike as much in a really long time. Sure, Mike was nicer to him now than he’d been in Lenora, but it still wasn’t quite the same as when they were younger. He knew they weren’t little kids anymore, and there probably wasn’t much of a reason for Mike to treat him the same way he had done when Will was tiny and couldn’t protect himself the way he could now.
Still though, seeing Mike being gentle and caring toward Holly made him glow, reminding him of the many sides to Mike there were. Even some of them weren’t for him anymore.
After a few minutes, Mike came stomping down the stairs again as the movie neared its end.
“Sorry about that,” Mike said, settling back down on the couch. Will noticed that it was maybe a hair farther away than he had been sitting before, but still closer to him than his spot at the beginning of the night had been. He tried not to think about how embarrassingly obsessive that observation was.
“It’s no problem,” Will shrugged. “She’s fun.”
“You only say that ‘cause she doesn’t bully you,” Mike said.
“Bully?!” Will laughed. “You think her comparing you to Cinderella is bullying you?! I should re-introduce you this kid named Troy sometime.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay. Still though, being completely emasculated in front of your friend by your little sister isn’t exactly the most fun thing ever.”
Will smiled a little, warming at the vulnerability. “Don’t worry, I don’t you’re any less of a man just ‘cause you have two sisters and wear blue sometimes.”
Mike looked at him and smiled back. “That’s a relief,” he quipped. “Besides, I don’t look like her at all.”
Will shook his head seriously. “No, definitely not. With that hair? You’re a total Snow White.”
“Will!” Mike’s mouth dropped open in (somewhat mock) outrage.
Will giggled, putting his hands up.
“Sorry, sorry. It was right there, though, I had to.” He stood up stretching, knowing it was time he should be getting home.
Mike stood up too. “Holl’s a bad influence on you, you used to be on my team.”
Will looked back at him as they walked up the stairs. “I am on your team Mike.” He couldn’t help the genuineness, looking into Mike’s glowing dark eyes for that split second before turning forward again.
Mike cleared his throat.
“You sure you’re okay biking home? I’d offer to drive you, but I can’t leave Holly.” The two of them paused by the front door as Will put on his shoes.
“I’m good. Our new house is much closer than the old one,” Will said. He knew biking home in the dark on Mirkwood probably would have freaked him out but going in the other direction wasn’t as bad since it didn’t hold those memories.
“Ok. I’ll see you soon, yea?” Mike said.
Will allowed himself to look at Mike for a long moment with his hand on the doorknob. Mike’s ebony curls swept just past his shoulders; his lashes fluttered as he blinked a little sleepily at Will. His freckles crinkled a little with the gentle smile Mike was giving him. Will’s heart shivered as the dark eyes locked with his, almost as if he was drinking Will in just as much as Will was doing. Will forced himself to twitch up his smile politely, nod, and turn the door handle.
“Yea,” he croaked. He nodded again. “Goodnight, Mike.” Tearing his eyes away was a feat of discipline, but Will had always been strong like that. Unrequited love was not easy, but Will was a champion sufferer.
He made his way down to his bike and rode off the street, only noticing as he pedaled away that Mike was watching him from the door, a silhouette in the hallway light, seeing him off into the night.