Archive of Our Own

Mike was feeling anxious. He shouldn’t be, really. After all, tonight was supposed to be the most normal night the Party had experienced in a while and he should be taking the most from it.

For tonight they had decided to watch a movie. Sounds good. Sounds calm. No scheming and planning what to do in case Vecna attacks again, no stressing about keeping everything hidden from their families and no shitty and melancholic mood. They were gonna watch a movie, eat snacks and hopefully laugh together.

But scheming and planning were all that they were used to lately and Mike desperately hoped that the friendly get-together in the Wheelers’ basement would calm them all down. That they could be like they were before.

It had been only five months since Vecna had ripped Hawkings to pieces and with that, damaged everyone's morale irreversibly. And that didn’t just include their group. The whole town was seriously on edge.

The harsh tension had definitely been in the air since Will and Barb went missing all those years ago (it did feel like yesterday though) and it had grown with the mallfire and all the casualties. But the events from five months ago had changed the whole town and its residents forever.

Hawkings was now the second town in the States with the most disappearances and casualties, beaten only by that one town in Maine (Mike had forgotten its name. Delly? Derrings?).

There had been quite a handful of people who had hated and even tormented the Hellfire club and by extension, the other party members who were all some sort of outsiders. But after the recent catastrophe, this particular group consisting of highschool bullies and over-religious parents had almost forgotten them besides the occasional comments and all the members of the Hellfire club being banned from church (which was unnecessary, but Mike couldn’t pretend to be mad, he hated going anyway).

The townsfolk and their anger had clearly faded, which should have been a good thing. But from Mike’s point of view, this just meant that his home, the place where he had been born and raised in, was fading and oh he really disliked change.

Everyone's mood was down and the only ones who knew the true culprit was Vecna a.k.a. One were his friends and he himself. That meant that they were also the only ones who knew the true extent of the issue and apparently had to save the world in an extremely dangerous manner. Again. His friends had suddenly become duller and visibly exhausted and this worried Mike.

One of his biggest concerns was that El was maybe sort of definitely avoiding him a bit and he felt like he should be a bit more interested in saving their relationship, but he was surprisingly relieved when El’s expectations for him were lowered. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he did know that he was probably a shitty boyfriend, right?.

And Will was still feeling paranoid all the time because he could feel Vecna's presence and was definitely downplaying his suffering. Mike was sure that there was something that Will was hiding from him.

Something in their friendship had definitely shifted in the last year and Mike mourned the loss of their closeness.

Maybe the ‘Byers twins’ as people were calling them nowadays had made an anti-Mike pact in California or something. Will and El were a close and confusing pair.

Also, Max was still in a coma which made Lucas miserable because he really missed her and yearned for his girlfriend to be okay. And Dustin was grieving Eddie and they all had to somehow go back to school real soon because it was literally the end of August. And was Jonathan really mad at him for some reason or was Mike just paranoid and…

While worrying (which Nancy had forbidden him from doing because Mike was apparently making her stressed with his constant twitching), he had rearranged the pillows and chairs around the TV about four times already, spilled and then cleaned up some soda twice and vacuumed the floor very thoroughly and borderline aggressively.

He was suddenly snapped out of his frantic thoughts by the sound of the basement door opening and quick steps descending the stairs. Mike had been pacing around and upon hearing the noise he turned around a bit too fast to appear relaxed and casual. He made direct eye contact with Nancy who was carrying two bowls of popcorn.

Nancy secretly thought that Mike looked like an electrocuted dog at the moment: his hair was sticking up from all sorts of weird angles from running his hands through the black mess on his head and his eyes looked big, tired and a bit panicked. Nancy was certain that he had been worrying again.

Nancy knew that the situation had taken a toll on all of them, but she was getting a bit worried about Mike. He was her baby brother after all and she had noticed how he was stressing and whining more and more recently. They had also gotten closer over the spawn of the last months and she felt quite protective over Mike. She discovered that they were more similar than she had thought.

Nancy wondered how to calm him down. Mostly because she cared, but he was also getting on her nerves with it and she guessed the others were not gonna be spared as well.

And she wanted tonight to be fun, not another ‘Someone™ Has A Tantrum’ incident. And if she were honest, that Someone™ was most likely to be her brat of a brother, she thought with affection and concern.

She set the bowls she was holding down on the small coffee table, turned toward Mike and placed her hands on her hips.

“You’ve done a good job on making this room look decent, almost cozy even. When we were talking before, you swore that you were only worried that the room was going to look like a warbase. So what’s really got you so worked up, Michael?”

“What? What do you mean?” Mike crossed his arms over his chest. “I am not worried! You are worried!” he said, frowning. “I’m just..hanging around, cleaning, waiting for the others like a normal host. I’ve, like, never been calmer. Really!”. He turned his head away from her, because she had been just smiling at him knowingly and that irked him. Nancy went upstairs to greet the guests who were bound to arrive soon with it being 4:56pm and the Party had been invited over for 5:15.

Mike sat down on the couch trying to calm himself down because as much as it irritated him, Nance had been right, he had done a great job with cleaning and he was now just letting him work himself into a mood. Really, she thinks she knows everything and even if she is right a couple of times her ego shouldn’t be boosted like this! Mike thought.

But he was honestly grateful for his sister. For her clocking his bullshit from time to time. He had been trying to be less rude and more caring. He thought that maybe his attitude is why El was ignoring him a bit (a lot).

He also had been wondering if Will might be avoiding him a bit. Lucas had told him recently while in a little stress-caused spat, that he was bitter and acted like somebody’s very white grandfather and he knew that he had been especially annoying towards Will recently.

Mike had no idea why, it was just something about Will that had always made him defensive. But he and Will were always on the same side. And they didn’t argue often, only bickered lightheartedly (only if they did argue, it was serious).

Mike supposed he could admit that he was a moody person, but he figured it wasn’t that bad because he knew his friends weren’t the most stable right now either.

And at least El and Will did appreciate him. The painting was the most thoughtful gift he had ever received and he almost couldn’t believe that El saw him in that way.

He suddenly remembered that he still hadn’t found the right moment to thank her for it. Thinking about it now, he also might have been distant himself. How could he not have brought up that masterpiece with her in five whole months.

He stood up from the couch, full of determination. He planned to make this night go very well and to make sure that he would thank her properly tonight. As he was climbing up the stairs with newfound motivation, the doorbell rang.

.

Mike was sitting behind the kitchen counter, listening to Nancy joke with Steve and Robin. They had both been doing volunteer work for the town and were done for the day. Robin apparently really liked helping out with preparing food to the people who had lost a lot and didn’t have the means to fend for themselves nor to leave Hawkins. Steve had volunteered too, to keep her company.

Mike figured that Robin’s excitement for helping people had something to do with her new friend Vicky, who was also a passionate volunteer.

Steve and Nancy sometimes teased Robin for being obsessed with her or something. He thought that it must be an inside joke, but when he had asked Nancy, she had just suggested he ask Robin himself.

He wouldn’t dare though, because to be honest, Mike was a bit intimidated by Robin. Sometimes when she looked at him, she had this knowing spark in her eye, like she knew more about Mike than he himself.

His sister and her friends were chatting about how Robin had gotten her hands on a tape for the movie they were gonna watch tonight (“They don’t even show it in some of the cinemas yet!” and “Steve, I’m telling you that Keith has like super good connections in movie theaters somehow and you too would get some bonuses from working with him, if you weren’t such a poser!”). As Mike was snickering at their banter, the doorbell rang again.

He was happy for the excuse to leave Nancy and co. chatting away. Although Mike did think that they were cool (especially Steve, Mike secretly admired him a lot), he had been feeling like a fourth wheel. After all, he was still two to three years younger than his sister and her group and though he’d never admit it out loud, they made him feel a bit stupid.

When he opened the door he found Dustin smiling back at him. He is in a good mood today Mike thought. Must have gotten a letter from Suzie. He soon found out that he had been right. After leaning forward to give him a hug, Dustin started excitedly rambling.

“She actually did it! She convinced her family to visit Indiana on winter break!” Dustin exclaimed with much joy in his voice and Mike truly hadn’t heard from him in a long while.

“So all I have to do now,” continued Dustin, while shaking off his sneakers, “Is to convert to Mormonism in that time or something like that to get her father to approve of me. How hard could it be, really? Or maybe my mothers pie is good enough?”

Mike couldn’t help it. Dustin’s unusually good mood made him feel better as well and by the time they reached the basement, he was beaming alongside his friend. Dustin flung himself to the couch, thoroughly enjoying being the only one there before the room was bound to be crammed with people soon.

Turned out that Dustin was truly invested in the ‘Becoming a Mormon in Four Months’ idea.

“How many books on becoming a Mormon do you think survived in the library? Oh and dude, did you know that they can’t drink coffee for some reason?”

Really? Maybe they just really like slow and dysfunctional mornings Mike wondered. For all he knew, Suzie’s family could very well be not allowed to eat Dustins’s mothers pie as well, but for his friend's sake, he really hoped that they could. Dustin didn’t really strike him as the Mormon type (but to be fair, he didn’t know a lot about that ‘type’ at all).

While Dustin had chosen to relax on the couch, Mike had remained standing with his hands on his hips, ready to rush to the door because Nancy, although closer to the hallway, was in a heated discussion with Steve about his recent date with a girl and wasn’t ready to stop her lecture..

Even Mike himself thought that no matter the fact that they were almost in an apocalyptic setting, a walk ending in an abandoned car next to the landfill was not the best activity for a first date.

Mike could hear their voices all the way down from the basement: “She said that she was outdoorsy and liked old cars, okay?” “So take her to a park or a car show or something, you seem creepy!”.

The Byers and Lucas arrived at the same time. They were all a bit late, but this was to be expected.

Jonathan, Will and El were late because Jonathan always insisted on driving them in his ‘new’ car which was anything but new. It was okay though because that meant that now that Will and El were both sixteen, they got Jonathan’s old car (more like ancient, but it worked half the time so that was still exciting) to share.

Lucas was late because he always stayed at the hospital with Max till the end of visiting hours. Both the hospital and the Byers’ house (they had been able to move back to their old residence because no one had wanted to buy the house while they were away) were quite far from Mike's own house so the delay of their arrival was understandable.

Just before opening the door, Mike got a strange feeling in his stomach. It was like a mix of fear and excitement. He didn’t know why, but every time he was with the Byers twins, these were the feelings that surfaced.

He really shouldn’t be intimidated by his own girlfriend and his best friend, but he couldn’t help it, it was like an instinct. They were both super cool and now, they were both almost certainly ignoring him.

He definitely had to have a talk with both of them, but just the thought of it, the feeling that a change might be coming terrified him. But at the same time he really missed both of them. All the time. After all, they were his favourite people. Seeing them together made him feel guilty somehow though. Weird.

.

It was strange watching his friends chatting away and laughing in his basement. Mike had known that it wasn’t possible for things to go back to normal after all that they had been through. And it wasn’t the same as it had been before. They were older, bigger and their Party had grown: Steve and Robin were a welcome addition and even Nancy hadn’t hung out with them before like that.

Of course, Max wasn’t there and it felt like an important piece of them was missing. But she was with them in their thoughts and the doctors had said that there was a great chance that she’ll wake up this year so hope was in the air.

Mike wished that Eddie were with them though. His death had deeply affected all of their Party. Well, mostly those who knew him.

It would have been nice, if Eddie could have met Will and El. He was sure that they would’ve gotten along well. Eddie had heard plenty about them from Mike though (he might have been annoying his idol with stories of the people he missed the most and even though Eddie probably didn’t care that much, he had been always there to listen).

But for now, everything was as calm and as normal as it could be. It was almost too good to be true. Mike was sitting on the couch, pressed between El and Lucas, watching Jonathan and Steve, who were trying to carry the TV to the basement. Nancy stood by nervously, muttering unnecessary instructions at the boys.

Will was squished in between Lucas and the couch's armrest, his knees brought up to his chin. Robin and Dustin were sitting on some pillows and discussing the movie they were about to watch.

Dustin was afraid that the movie was going to be a bit too childish and they should watch a horror movie instead of ‘Stand by Me’, but Mike actually agreed with Robin: they had been through horrors themselves so a sweet coming of age movie was a good idea. Besides, he secretly hated horror movies. He was more jumpy than he’d like to admit.

Mike turned to glance at El only to find her spaced out as if deeply thinking about something. He nudged her lightly, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“You okay?” he whispered. “Later,” she mouthed back, “We need to talk, I think.”.

Mike was suddenly very nervous, although he had been sure a moment before that he wanted to talk to her. But he was still grateful that he didn’t have to bring it up himself. It’s a good thing, we have been avoiding each other he thought to himself and he decided that he felt relieved rather than scared.

“Oh thank fuck, yes we should,” He smiled at El and she smiled back, clearly relieved herself. They then resorted to casual conversation and Mike was thankful to have her in his life.

In the meantime, Nancy had made sure that the TV was fine and all the wires had been connected correctly. She hadn’t really done this before, but she wasn’t about to leave the boys alone to work on their precious new 25 inch television set. Her mom had left her in charge of their guests after all.

She looked proudly around the room. Her friends were happy and she melted a little, seeing Jonathan and Steve clap each other on the back and laugh together. They still were a bit awkward around one another, but if something good had come out of this big preparation and planning for the inevitable doom, it was that there was no longer any negative tension around those two.

As Nancy followed Jonathan to the armchair to share it, she noticed a flicker of worry in her boyfriend's eyes. Following his gaze, she found Will, whose eyes were fixed on Mike and El, as he was half-listening to Lucas talk about something. He had an unreadable expression on his face, but Jonathan knew his brother better, so she trusted him to know when something was wrong.

She had been sure for a while now that her brother had done something to wrong Will while they were in California. Nancy was also almost sure that Jonathan knew, but he had refused to tell her anything himself. But when she had tried to ask Mike about it he had gotten really defensive. She thought that they might have had an argument, but they seemed to have solved it, judging by the way they were acting close again.

But something was still wrong and by the looks of it, it was her brother's fault. Again. Will was such a sweet kid, one of her favourites of Mike’s friends. Mike's favourite too, it seemed. Nancy genuinely believed that Will could do no harm and knowing Mike, it was probably his ignorance.

She couldn’t understand how he could visibly care the most about Will from his friends and also manage to be the most hurtful towards him. Their friendship dynamic was definitely… interesting.

She furrowed her brow and turned back to the quest of turning on the movie. They seemed to have successfully put the VHS tape in.

It’s not that Nancy didn’t trust her friends, but even though her mother had allowed them to move the family TV, she wasn’t sure if her father would be happy with it. The new television set was very precious to Ted Wheeler and he was one grumpy man. They’ll have to be extra careful not to accidentally change any settings nor leave a mark on it.

Now, Robin was actively shushing everyone because the movie was starting. She always got passionate about anything cinema related and she was especially proud because she had gotten her hands on this one before some of the movie theaters and now she was buzzing with excitement of sharing this with her friends. Nancy found Robin’s behaviour endearing and made a mental note to thank her later for acquiring the movie for tonight.

But for now she settled into the armchair, close to her boyfriend, and fixed her eyes on the screen. The quest of transporting the TV was successful, her friends were lovely and it didn’t feel like babysitting the younger ones for once because they were all less of a bunch of nervous wrecks and more like normal teenagers. Speaking of which, it really wasn’t her job to worry about her little brother's complicated relationship with his friend. Nancy allowed herself to relax, resting her head against Jonathan's shoulder.

.

Mike wasn’t exactly bored. It was probably an objectively good movie. It’s just that his mind had been racing all day and now, with El who was sitting right beside him wanting to talk… It was difficult to stay still. He wasn’t bored, he was just restless. He would have preferred a movie filled with action to keep his mind busy.

He enjoyed Stand by Me, he really did, but at that moment he would’ve rather watched Top Gun. He went to see it with Lucas when it came out a few months ago, almost right after the disaster, to take both of their minds off the harsh situation. He hadn’t liked it as much, but that was something he’d never admit to Lucas, who had been a changed man after seeing it.

Although he really would’ve appreciated watching it now, he desperately needed a distraction.

How the hell is she so calm? Mike knew he wanted to have a conversation too, but how did one just not freak out at the thought of having The Talk. He had begun bouncing his leg without noticing it himself.

She was just sitting there, next to him, fully focused on the movie and she even had the smallest hint of a smile on her face. Thefuck? How does one just relax like that?

If he had to guess then it had something to do with her superpowers or being raised in a lab or something. I am never going to understand her, he realized.

Wait. I haven’t been understanding her, have I, he pondered.

This idea didn’t particularly shock him. It should have. But to be fair, he didn’t really believe in fate and he hadn’t believed that El was his soulmate for a while now. It was just his first time really, truly thinking of what that might have meant.

Mike did care for El and he even loved her. But he didn’t understand her as well as he should have. And neither did she understand him. Maybe that was it. Maybe they both just needed to be understood.

And what about the painting?

And still, was that all of their problems? Was this something that they could fix? Was it something he even wanted to fix? Did she want to fix this?

Woah. And what did that mean? That Mike had suddenly come to realize that he had no desire to continue on in this relationship. The thought felt weird. They had both been all the other knew for a while now. And he did love her deeply. It was just that…

Mike was not in love with El. He knew that now. And maybe, just maybe, he never had been. And maybe the love he felt for her wasn’t the right love he was supposed to be feeling towards El. Towards his girlfriend.

It was admiration. It was care and it was trust. It was even the comfort of the familiar. But was it romantic or all consuming, per se?

Well…fuck

He glanced at her again. She was really very pretty. What was wrong with him? Why didn’t he like her like that? Mike loathed the idea of hurting her.

He watched her blink and breathe. Mike thought now, upon a closer and less panicked look, that her smile might be a bit sad. And for a moment there, he was almost sure that El knew. He really hoped that she felt the same. He would have liked to believe that she did. She really needed time to herself and Mike now felt that he had been keeping her from it.

(But what about the painting?)

Mike knew that he didn’t know nor understand El as well as he should have and he didn’t want to assume anything. But she was still one of his favourite people and he felt as if he was right about this.

Mike knew that El loved him and although he couldn’t understand her before, he thought he did now. After realizing that they weren’t made for each other like that. It was almost ironic that the price of figuring her out was understanding, that they were probably done. He wouldn’t say doomed. They would figure it out. After all, they were friends first.

Mike turned his head back to the screen. He was in a small state of shock. Sometimes, when he was confused, Nancy liked to tease him. “Is that too much grownup thoughts for your teeny tiny brains, Mikey?”. Now he had to agree with his sister.

These feelings were new and complicated. He guessed that realizing them is the first step to acceptance? He wasn’t sure and the insides of his ‘teeny tiny’ brain were starting to sound like one of his mom’s self help books that Ted made fun of and that his mother had made him read once he had badly lashed out due stress again and caused a scene at dinner.

He finally noticed his frantic leg-bouncing and forced himself to stop. Mike imagined that he might look properly shaken at the moment. He looked around the room to see if anyone had noticed his internal panic. Everyone seemed invested in the movie. But when Mike turned his head to the left, he was met with Will watching him with a worried expression.

“You good?” Will mouthed. Mike hesitated for half a second and then nodded. He expected Will to smile at him and turn away or something, but apparently he had hesitated for too long.

Will raised his eyebrows. “You sure?” he whispered to Mike, clearly not believing him. As an answer, Mike gave a bit too forced “Mhmh!”.

Instead of giving up, Will answered with a matching “Mhmh!”. He was clearly fed up with Mike's bitter behaviour and was starting to get annoyed.

(But if you had asked anyone else but Mike, you’d hear that he just looked concerned for Mike, which by the way was one of Will's most common moods. And the other way around.)

“Okay, but then tell me why-” Will started again with a loud whisper.

He was interrupted by Lucas who was sitting between them. He looked at both Will and Mike with a hint of annoyance in his face and told them to cut it out.

“If y'all are going to fuss over each other again, don’t do it over my head. Oh, and Mike? You are being all twitchy and bouncy again” he whispered at them grumpily.

Mike was about to be offended and snap back at Lucas, when he looked at Will’s expression. Will was looking at Lucas with considerable concern in his face. Then he looked back at Mike as if reading his mind and his expression read “Don’t!”

To be fair, it wasn’t common for Lucas to snap at them like that. At Mike? Maybe. But never at Will. Mike promised himself to ask if he was okay when the movie ended, instead of pissing him off again. He wondered if something had changed in Max’s condition or something.

He glanced back at Will, who gave him a small smile before turning away. Mike had hoped to maybe get to talk to his best friend about his thoughts. He had actually found it brilliant when Lucas had suggested they bicker somewhere else. But he should probably talk about his revelations to El first and now he didn’t want to disturb Will because he really seemed to enjoy the movie.

This reminded Mike that he too should probably try to focus on the screen for at least some part of the film. He tore his eyes away from Will, giving up on the thought of talking to him and looked at the screen.

The same group of kids that Mike remembered from the start of the movie when he had still been paying attention were currently running away from some rat of a dog whose owner was screaming some bullshit. He tried to focus really hard for a while and discovered that the movie actually made him nostalgic.

He recognised quite a few similarities between the kids on screen and his own middle school friend group and the main character reminded him of Will a lot.

Mike suddenly felt that he missed Will. Which was unreasonable and unexplainable, Will was sitting right there, on the same couch as him. But he felt a strong urge to reach out to hug his friend. He felt completely lost.

He was being overly emotional again. He did that sometimes. Mike knew that he lashed out a lot and got offended easily. He used to be overly affectionate when he was sad and cry when he missed his mom.

His dad sometimes said that he was behaving like a girl and that he should stop ‘bitching around’ and his mom used to sigh at him all the time.

But now that he thought of it, when was the last time he had hugged Will? He did hug Lucas and Dustin on a regular basis as ‘goodbyes’ and ‘hellos’, but he wasn’t doing that with Will.

Which was weird, they were the closest, right? I must be because Will too was avoiding him. But still, could it be that the last hug they shared was more than five months ago?

Mike suddenly remembered their awkward side-hug at the airport in California. He doubted that Will even remembered or thought of it, but it spawned in his head from time to time. He still wasn’t sure what came over him at that moment. Sure, it was strange to see both his girlfriend and best friend after such a long time, seeing how much they had changed. And they hadn’t kept in touch as much as they should have.

It probably didn’t count as a hug anyway. Could it be that he hadn’t hugged Will for over a year? What was going on with them?

Mike suddenly felt sick to his stomach, but he just crossed his arms and really forced his eyes to the scene playing on the screen. He had started bouncing his leg again, but he didn’t notice. And he definitely focused on the movie. And he definitely didn’t have tears in his eyes.

.

By the end of the movie, Mike had created a list of things he should do in his head. He wasn’t exactly a list-person, but his mothers self-help book had a chapter on how they helped to reduce stress and make decisions and at the moment, Mike needed to do both.

The list was titled ‘Mike’s to-do list of tragedy and doom’ and it involved a lot of Talks (which Mike passionately disliked).

Mike's to-do list of tragedy and doom:

Talk to El. End things? Ask about the painting?
Talk to Lucas. (Doesn’t seem so bad now, don’t it)
Talk to Will (please)
Hug Will? (maybe)

The credits were rolling and everyone was starting to talk and move around again (Steve looked like he had just stirred from a deep slumber and now he was trying to convince Robin that he hadn’t slept through the entire movie).

Mike had made up his mind. He was going to talk to Lucas first. That’s because for one, Lucas was sitting right next to him and he wasn’t yet engaged in a conversation with someone else so Mike figured that he could get it over with. Another reason for that decision was that this conversation didn’t involve anyone, who might have been mad at him.

Lucas looked a bit zoned out and now that the lights were on, Mike could see the worry on his face. He made sure to try to make his voice empathetic, when he asked: “Hey, man, what's wrong?”

Lucas looked a bit startled for a moment, but then his face fell and the poor dude was looking sombre again. He sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Lucas spoke: “I don't know, I guess I am worried about Max again”. He brought both of his hands to his face and laid his head against the backrest of the sofa. “Did you know that she is speaking? Well, mumbling nonsense is more like it.”

Mike had known that. He asked Lucas: “Wait, didn’t the doctors say it is a good thing? That it’s a sign that she might wake up soon, you know?”

“I know that that’s what they think,” Lucas said, “But they don’t know how she went into the coma. And I’ve been hearing her say things that sound like ‘please no’ and ‘run’!”.

Lucas turned to Mike now and he was visibly upset and Mike hoped that he hadn’t caused that just now, by asking him about Max. Lucas continued: “I mean, what if Vecna is bothering her? What if, for all of those five months, she has been suffering? She might be suffering now and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it, until El finds her in her mind again!”

Suddenly, Will spoke. “He is not with her right now.”. Both Mike and Lucas turned to him and at the same time and with a matching tone of confusion, asked him: “What?”.

Mike was confused. “And how exactly do you know that?”. But Lucas looked hopeful. “Wait, are you sure? How can you know?” he asked Will.

Will looked a bit ashamed over bringing it up. He glanced down at his hands before replying: “I can sort of like, sense his… location? Well, not exactly, but more like his presence’s location. Does that make any sense?”.

He turned his face to Mike and Lucas and upon seeing their expressions, which clearly said “no”, he hurried to continue. “As you know, I can sense when he is close to us. So…now I can sort of sense when he is close to something or someone else too. Or, like, thinking about them. And he is not. Close to Max currently nor is he thinking about her so…”

Lucas let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that's good, I think. Are you sure?”. Will gave a small nod and then Lucas smiled.

Then Lucas hugged Will. Just like that. That baffled Mike. It looked so simple and so casual and it was something that he could definitely do himself. Then why did it feel so difficult?
And since when?

Lucas mumbled a simple “Thanks man!” into Will’s shoulder and then stood up, presumably to join the conversation Dustin was having with Steve about basketball. Dustin was probably about to explode with boredom and Mike truly felt sorry for his friend. Both he and Dustin weren’t particularly fond of sports and couldn’t care less about discussing them (But unfortunately for Dustin right then, Lucas and Steve were the exact opposite).

As Lucas walked away, Mike noticed three things. He even made another list for his discoveries, because the one had helped and he wanted more of his thoughts organized instead of bouncing around his head. The second list looked like this:

Mike’s professional observations (regarding his to-do list):

Lucas looked a lot calmer
Will had left the couch
So had El

Revisiting the first observation, he could cross out “Talk to Lucas” from his list. Although he wasn’t about to give himself a pat on the back, because Lucas's improved mood should be mainly credited to Will.

Which brought him to the second thing he had noticed. You see, Will hadn’t mentioned being able to sense Vecna's presence from a distance before. Mike wondered if it was a new development or had it been around the whole time.

That must be disturbing to Will and it must make him paranoid. Was Will upset now? Did he mean to share this at all? Mike really wanted to talk to him.

But El had also stood up from the couch and was now standing by the basement stairs, looking at Mike. When she noticed that he had seen her, she turned around and made her way up the stairs. Mike figured that the gesture meant that he should follow her.

As he climbed the stairs he prepared himself for whatever was about to come. He would have liked to say that he was anticipating this conversation, but Mike couldn’t change the fact that in his opinion, any change sucked ass.

.

Will shut the bathroom door and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights because he knew his way around the Wheeler bathroom and the darkness helped him feel less overwhelmed.

And he was feeling overwhelmed, all right. Firstly, he hadn’t shared many details to his friends about his unfortunate connection with Vecna before. His mom and the doctors knew all that they needed to know and he didn’t like to think about it a lot.

Also, Will didn’t want anyone worrying about him, everybody had troubles of their own (or rather he feared that they wouldn’t worry nor fuss and instead simply not care.)

But this wasn’t his main concern at the moment. The real issue was Mike Wheeler. Again. What is wrong with me, thought Will. The world could be ending and he was here, crashing out over his stupid crush looking at him for more than five seconds and interacting with Will in a normal friendly manner.

This very morning, Will had thought that he might be finally getting over Mike. He had thought about the way Mike treated El in California and physically cringed. Then he had told Jonathan about his progress and his brother had called Mike a manchild and they had laughed.

But then. Mike had simply looked at him with care. Their eye-contact wasn’t even that long but that is the thing about him. Will was convinced that looks can kill and Mike Wheeler was about to be charged with manslaughtering Will.

It was pathetic, honestly. It was his sister's boyfriend who he was down bad for. And he wasn’t even that high up on Mike’s list of priorities. After all, he had forgotten Will’s birthday. Which was understandable to Will, really.

Mike had been worried about his relationship with El and other important stuff. Will had already forgiven him and maybe shouldn’t have done so quite as fast (in Jonathan’s opinion at least), but it was Mike.

What had he done to be cursed with being a homosexual man in love with his (ignorant) best friend as an addition to all his other traumatic experiences?

.

Will was in the middle of simultaneously yearning for and cursing his own best friend when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He first figured that someone simply wanted to use the bathroom and got ready to flush and wash his hands (to cover up his meltdown).

But then he noticed that there were actually two sets of footsteps and their owners had just gone into Mike's room. The walls were thin in the Wheeler house and the room was right next to the bathroom.

Will was about to escape from his position, not wanting to intrude on someone's conversation, but then he heard something that caught his attention.

“Mike…be honest with me.” It was his sister’s voice. El continued: “Do you truly believe in what you said to me, back then.”

Oh! That sounds like something serious and private and I definitely shouldn’t be listening right now, thought Will, frozen in place.

“What do you mean?” asked Mike in a tone that indicated that he knew exactly what she meant. Will could almost see his expression at that moment: a mix of defensiveness and guilt. Will cringed inwardly.

“You know exactly what I mean, Michael,” El’s voice replied, unimpressed, “Back at that pizza place, where you told me you loved me.” She was quiet for a moment. “Do you realize that you still don’t say it to my face? You’ve never just simply said those words.”

It sounded like Mike was about to argue (Will couldn’t help, but to roll his eyes at him from the bathroom), but El cut him off with a firm shush.

“Don’t even start with that, I’m not mad at you. But my point is: I’ve been thinking. About relationships in general. And about our’s. And it occurred to me that we started dating before I knew what the word even meant. And now…”

She trailed off for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Her tone remained neutral with maybe only a hint of sadness. “Are we in love?”

The silence filled the air for a few seconds, before she continued: “ And I ask because I’m not sure that I knew back then that there are other types of love. And you clearly aren’t able to say the words to my face”

Mike had remained silent for a while, but now he said something, but did so so quietly that Will could make out the words. El didn’t reply instantly, but when she did, she sounded surprised.

“So you're not denying it? ...That’s nice. So…I want to know what you think, because I really don’t see us as boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. I do love you a lot, but I have realised that…people love their friends? So, maybe we should, uhhh, just be friends?”

El sounded really nervous now. And so was Will. He had sat down, his back against the bathroom door. Is this a breakup talk? Both he and El were anticipating Mike’s answer.

“Okay, I get what you mean. I agree with you, I think. This is new to me to be honest but, yeah. Um I was actually about to bring it up. This was not working” said Mike with a nervous tone and El let out a relieved sigh.

And then she let out a little chuckle. Mike continued and Will could hear that his voice had become less strained: “You know, I just thought about breaking up today. It’s good to know that you are one step ahead…But, uhm, what about the p…hmph!”. Mike’s sentence was cut off as El hugged him, or at least that is what it sounded like.

What just happened? Will’s thoughts trailed off as El was telling Mike something along the lines of “Now, friends don’t lie, so please tell me, what were you thinking when you..”.

Will was in shock. Did they just… break up? Just like that? He would have thought that maybe one of them would cry and that Mike would have thrown a fit but…this had been quick and Mike had stayed reasonable. Which was very unlike Mike.

A small grain of hope rose in Will’s chest and he immediately pushed it down. Mike was still just Will’s straight best friend, if he could even call him his best friend, seeing how Mike somedays couldn’t care less about him.

And it was embarrassing and unproductive to hope, so Will turned his attention back to the conversation happening in Mike’s room. Breakups can not be so simple, can they?
He was right, because the next sentence coming out of Mike’s mouth made his heart drop.

“Most of it makes sense, but um… El? What about the painting?”

“What painting?”

Oh. Oh no. No no no no no…

Will had almost forgotten about the painting. Well, not really, the threat of El or Mike bringing his lie up with him had still been on the back of his mind. Although a lot of time had passed since he gave it to Mike and he had honestly hoped that his little dishonesty would go unnoticed.

He hadn’t intended to lie to Mike about the painting and before that, Will hadn’t been able to lie to Mike. Ever. But at that moment, he just wanted to console his friend and save his relationship with El. Also, by claiming the painting was commissioned by Mike's actual girlfriend, he had been able to reveal more about the symbolism and feelings behind the artwork.

But as it turned out, his effort in keeping Mike and El happy together had been a waste and the lie had been unnecessary. It did surprise Will how easily their breakup went. He had been convinced that they were really meant to be.

Mike could not find out the truth behind the painting. But it was inevitable now and Will could only hope that Mike was dull enough not to connect the dots and realize that Will had feelings for him.

After all, Mike had proven to not be the sharpest in social aspects sometimes. Still, Will had the strong urge to storm into the room, grab the painting and flee the country with it.

.

While Will was panicking in the bathroom, only a few meters away from El and Mike, Mike’s room was filled with temporary confused silence. Mike was looking at El expectantly and he was beginning to grow nervous at Eleven’s clearly puzzled expression.

Their breakup had gone rather well and although Mike was a bit taken aback by things moving so fast, he had been pleased by the way his and El’s dynamic had instantly shifted into something more comfortable.

But what he didn’t get was how could El have simply forgotten about the painting. It had been a big part in keeping them together and Mike had been confused about El breaking up with him after seeing him so thoroughly and intimately through the artwork.

He realized he’d just been staring at El dumbly and not answering so he gathered himself and pointed at the painting which was hanging over his bed, next to his posters and Will’s old drawings.

“Uhmm, that painting”

When El looked at the painting and then back at Mike with the same look of confusion on her face he began to explain uncertainty.

“That’s the painting you asked Will to paint for me, right? The one you commissioned to show me that you still needed me? He told me so in the van, when we were trying to find you and it helped me with pulling myself together”

El still looked lost, but then she regarded him with a kind look that seemed to say: You are a bit stupid and that’s okay!

“No silly,” she replied, “I’ve never seen this painting before, you must have been tired of being on the road and I think you misunderstood Will.”

She looked at the painting on the wall and muttered to herself: “I always thought it was for someone he liked, but I now know that you can love your best friend too, I guess. It’s beautiful”

El stood there for a moment, facing the painting, her brow furrowed and she seemed to be deep in thought. Then, almost like snapping out of a trance, she turned to Mike and smiled at him.

“Come on now! Or they will eat all of the popcorn and I want some too!” she exclaimed. El grabbed Mike by the hand and pulled him out of the room and down the stairs and Mike almost fell over.

He wanted to think about Will and what El's lack of knowledge on the painting meant, but he wasn’t given any time to dwell on that. She had led him straight to the kitchen where everyone seemed to have gathered.

.

He glanced around the room, looking for Will. Mike didn’t see him at first and that worried him a bit. He was reminded of Will’s previously gloomy mood and wondered if he was better now.

Mike was about to ask someone about Will’s whereabouts when the boy appeared behind him. Mike jumped a bit and wondered where he’d been. Will looked a bit shaken, but as he caught Mike’s glance, a small smile appeared on his face.

“Hi,” Will whispered and Mike greeted him back quietly. “Where were you?”

Will looked almost panicked for a second, but as he replied, his face was neutral again so Mike thought that he must be imagining things.

“I could ask the same from you. Are you alright?” Will asked, and looked him straight into his eyes. Mike’s brain short-circuited for a moment. He figured that he must be tired and to be honest, he was feeling quite overwhelmed from his emotions.

“Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I be,” he finally answered. “Are you okay though, you looked a bit upset earlier and I was wondering, if you wanted to talk about it?”

Mike was proud of himself. He was on the edge of completing his stressful to-do list and so far, it hadn’t been that bad. While others had been focused on the movie, he had decided to become a better person because his and his friends’ lives were in danger and he wanted to be a great friend while he still could.

He was so excited about completing his to-do list, that when Will replied, he was a little taken aback.

“No, don’t bother, I’m fine,” said Will looking at the ground. “Thanks though!” and just like that, Will had slipped past him.

This threw Mike completely off his tracks. Sure, it had been a confusing evening and he had been broken up with (although it went well, things changing still stressed him out), but he thought he was doing a good job communicating.

But Will didn’t trust him. Anymore. Which was really sad. He used to tell Mike everything. It used to be them against the world.

Now Mike knew that he had fucked up more than he thought somewhere. He observed Will. He looked (good) happy, laughing at something Dustin had said. But Mike could see that Will was avoiding his glance.

Mike was suddenly hit with the truth that he could not lose Will. No matter what. Will was clearly going through something and didn’t want to talk to Mike about it. And then there was the matter of the painting. Why had Will lied to him back then? And if Will really viewed Mike the way he described him while talking about the painting, then why couldn’t he trust him!

He had never felt so distant from his best friend. And at the same time, he had never needed someone's presence more. Suddenly, Mike felt very tired. So he just stood there, mostly zoned out and only half listening to the Party joke around with each other.

At some point, El leaned over and asked him something about if he was okay and if they should tell the others about their breakup at their next meeting/scheming session.

Mike nodded and mumbled something in agreement and that seemed to satisfy El, who turned back to her conversation with Nancy.

At one point, when Mike briefly looked up because Steve had knocked something over and it had made a loud sound, he found Will staring at him, his eyes filled with concern and some other emotion that Mike couldn’t exactly distinguish, as Will turned his head away as soon as they made eye contact.

.

Mrs. Wheeler came to kindly kick them out at half past 8pm. She loved to have her house filled with laughter instead of deafening silence, but it was Holly’s bedtime soon and the laughter of her children’s friends could be very loud.

As the group of giddy teenagers were all squished together in the hallway, Mike finally reached Will.

“Will, wait a minute!” Will, who was about to step out the door, stopped and turned. While the others exited the house, the two of them stared at each other for a while, Mike suddenly unsure of what he wanted to say and Will patiently waiting.

“Okay, so,” Mike started. “Everything has been a little…strange lately and I feel like we haven’t talked to each other in a while.”. He felt himself growing more and more fidgety and forced himself to calm down. Will was looking at him with his big eyes, clearly surprised.

Mike continued: “What if I come over tomorrow, like I used to? We could, I don’t know, watch a movie or something? Talk about nonsense and hopefully catch up?”.

“Uhm…yeah, sure!” said Will and Mike felt himself relax noticeably. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous, even though they sadly weren’t as close anymore, it was still just Will.

“Okay, great!”. He sighed with relief and smiled at Will, who smiled back at him, still looking a little unsure, but also definitely more relaxed.

“Uhh well, okay, I’m gonna…” started Will, starting to turn toward the door to leave, when Mike cut him off with a hug.

He felt Will go very tense in his arms and then almost instantly relax and hug him back after a few moments. Mike wasn’t entirely sure where that action had come from, but it sure did feel good. He was suddenly almost on the verge of tears (although he would’ve never admitted it).

He had missed Will a lot. And they stood there like that, in silence (except the sound of their friends laughing and bickering about…was it Mormon culture?).

“Are you okay?” he felt Will whisper against his shoulder. “I’m going to apologize to you tomorrow,” promised Mike. “You don-” started Will, but he was interrupted by his sister's yell.

“Come on, Will! Mum will be worried!”

They pulled away from the embrace and if Will did see that his eyes were wet, he didn’t mention it.

.

Will was looking out from the backseat window of Jonathan's car. He was feeling a variety of emotions. Firstly, he was nervous and confused. What is going on with Mike? Is he going to ask about the painting?

But secondly. He was hopeful. And he hadn’t felt that in a while. He was actively trying to push it down because if he thought about it rationally, he didn’t have a chance at all.

But he did have a feeling. And Will felt good being hopeful

Jonathan rolled down a window and Will felt the cool breeze on his face. Summer was ending soon.

Fall was coming and Will Byers was feeling hopeful.

.

Mike was helping Nancy clean up in the kitchen. He was washing dishes, but his mind was elsewhere. He was feeling several emotions at the same time.

Firstly, he was confused and scared. Many things had happened during this short evening and turns out that he had the right to feel anxious after all. And he didn’t even want to think about his feelings regarding El. And Will. He was incredibly lost and refused to think about it any longer.

But secondly, Mike felt determined. Determined to fix things with Will and ask about the painting. Determined to complete his silly little list and be a better friend. And to start the new season well.

He hadn’t been that determined in a while and it felt good.

Fall was coming and MIke Wheeler felt determined.