Chapter Text
The postal service arrived at the edge of town, not able to go any further into Hawkins because of the “earthquake” damage, so Mrs. Wheeler drove the Byers to the edge of town to pick up the last of their items.
It appeared not much could be salvaged after government raids, but Will still had hope. As they piled the boxes into the basement, Will moved every one of his to a secluded corner of the room, hopefully mostly out of sight. Time seemed to drag as he waited for everyone to leave the room. They all seemed to be clinging to him. Mike especially.
It’s not that Will didn’t enjoy it, he always soaked up any of the sunlight he could grasp onto…but after he told Mike that One wasn’t dead it’s like Mike wouldn’t leave his side. Even when Will was using the bathroom Mike knocked if any longer than 5 minutes had passed. Will could just sit in the basement and draw to get his mind off the fact that no body knew what to do while Vecna was out there regaining strength, but Mike would keep “popping in”. Again, Will loved Mike more than anything…but this was an especially stressful time for Mike to be present every moment Will wanted to go through his things.
After talking to Johnathan about it, Will’s older brother found a way to take up some of Mike’s time so Will could look through his things in peace.
Will opened the first box, which was the largest, and found his box of new art, as well as notebooks for school with doodles and such within the pages. There were clothes thrown in, but underneath that there was the box.
It was blue with a red heart in the middle, and a yellow crown on top. Will had always thought of Mike as the Heart.
He hesitated to grab it…he had secretly hoped it perished the way he secretly wished these feelings for his best friend would vanish. He opened the box just a crack, peeking inside before his eyes widened at the sheer amount of paper the old shoe box was holding.
He felt his heart swell when he opened it fully. It was filled to the brim with notes and holiday cards and folded notebook paper as well any small piece of paper that Mike wrote to Will on, it seemed Will kept. His cheeks burned with embarrassment. This was like a big yellow one-way sign screaming to everyone his obsession with Mike Wheeler.
He thought right then to throw it away-to get rid of it before someone could find it and make fun of him or worse. But the note at the very top stood out to him.
“Wanna watch Star Wars after school today? Maybe a sleepover too??”
It reminded him of the countless times they laid on the basement floor for a night of sleepovers and movies. Those were the best years of his life it seemed, though they always say childhood is the best time of your life, he didn’t quite get to live it to its extent before Vecna got his hands on him.
Just below the note in Will’s hand, there was a ripped page of a yellow notepad. At the top, it said: “Halo”
The projector shined on your hair,
and it made a halo.
A halo of light.
Though it seemed like just the light’s glare,
I know it’s your halo.
Your halo of light.
A real life angel in front of my eyes
But it seems like nobody else saw your halo.
Your halo of light.
Will’s heart fluttered, remembering then how he felt when he first read that little poem.
January 10th, 1983
It had been a tough day at school. Mike and Lucas didn’t show up to school since they were sick all weekend, and Dustin had just caught the bug, so Will was forced to brave the cruel world of middle school on his own. It started once he stepped foot on the sidewalk and Troy spotted him alone.
“Hey fairy, where your boyfriend?” Troy yelled from across the street. Will sped up, quickly entering the school where he’d be safe under the eyes of the teachers. Well, most of the teachers anyway.
The day seemed to be going fine until recess, where Troy tripped him before he reached the swings.
“Watch where you’re going, fairy.”
Will scraped his elbow and chin from the fall, and spent all the rest of recess in the nurse’s office.
Then at lunch, Will choked on his milk in front of everyone in the cafeteria. It was so mortifying, he ran out and hid in the bathroom until the bell rang. It was already a bad day at school, but when he got home his mom told him his dad left for good this time.
He cried, because his dad was gone. Finally gone. No more nights spent hiding in his closet to escape ridicule, no more nights of his mom crying and no more nights of them screaming back and forth. No more being hit for stupid things, and thank god no more baseball.
But even then, the news was bittersweet. He laid there in his bed contemplating what life would be like now before his mom called him for dinner.
The meal was quiet, the scraping of utensils on plates and macaroni being chewed was amplified by the quiet no one was used to at this time of night.
The phone ringing made everyone jump in their skin a bit. Joyce excused herself to answer the phone.
“Oh, oh yes of course. Oh no, it’s not too late, come on by, I’m sure he’d appreciate that. See you.”
She hung up the phone and smiled at Will before sitting back at the table.
“Looks like you’ve got a surprise visit. Now it won’t be long, it’s just so Mike can drop off something because he won’t be going back to school until Wednesday.”
Will light up. The rest of dinner was spent with Will buzzing in his seat. Once the car pulled into the driveway, Will leapt from his chair, running to the door before Joyce could even put her fork down. Will ran outside, not caring that he was in his pajama pants. Karen Wheeler rolled down her window and smiled at her son’s best friend.
“Hey Will! Mike has been feeling so sad he can’t play out with you till Wednesday, so he wanted to drop off one of his toys and a note-“
“Mom! They’re action figures!”
“Oh-well alright then, Michael.”
“Hi Mike!” Will said, his smile wide as he looked through the window. Mike smiled and pressed his forehead to the glass. His nose looked red and rubbed raw, and his eyes were tired despite being lit from seeing his best friend.
“Thank you, Mike.” Will said.
“Yeah of course. I hate not seeing you for so long. It’s like I’m dying.” Mike said, finishing his sentence with a cough. Will placed his hand on the glass, and Mike did the same. It was the closest they’d been in three days. (Which was more like 3 years in their minds)
Karen handed Joyce the action figure and the folded piece of yellow paper while the boys were pre-occupied gazing longingly at each other through the glass barrier.
When Will was pulled away from the car, he rooted himself in the dirt driveway, watching the Wheeler’s car leave, only going back inside once Mike disappeared.
Joyce handed Will the action figure before opening the note, assuming it was for her. Her eyes widened the further she read, realizing very quickly it was from Mike Wheeler to her son. He handed it over, a knowing smile on her face.
“This is also from Mike. I didn’t mean to read it sweetie, I’m sorry.”
Will raised a brow, wondering what was in the note, before reading it to himself. A soft blush appeared across his cheeks as his heart fluttered and his stomach flipped. Mike had called him an angel. Mike Wheeler, the boy heaven sent just for Will, had called him an angel. Will smiled, and when he saw his mom smiling at him he couldn’t help but let out a happy noise before hugging her.
She laughed, also seaming happy. Though, for a different reason of course. He felt like he was special that day. Special to Mike. Will sped off to his room after that, eager to play with the action figure as well as add the poem to the shoe box under his bed. Back then the box was only halfway full.
Will was snapped back to 1986 when the thump of footsteps raced down the stairs. He shoved the poem back into the “Mike” box, quickly shoving it under the nightstand next to the couch.
“Hey! Jonathan just made me fold his clothes with him? I don’t know what that was about but it’s time for lunch.” Mike said with a straight smile.
Will nodded, trying to appear calm as if he hadn’t thrown the box away from at the first sign of another human.
“Yeah. Yeah I’ll be up in a sec.”
“Okay. Oh, by the way Jonathan wanted me to ask if you’d seen his rainbow pin? I don’t know what it’s for but he said it might be with your stuff.”
Will blushed furiously. Of course Jonathan would mention the pin argyle gave him to show he was an ally. And of course Jonathan would try and say it’s in Will’s stuff.
“No, I haven’t seen it.” Will said, rolling his eyes before getting up and following Mike up the stairs.