Chapter Text
For a brief moment after Will wakes up, he thinks he’s back in California. He’s met with a kind of heat that he could never get used to in Lenora; the kind that’s so unusual in Hawkins. He checks his surroundings, and to his relief, he finds himself lying on top of his trusty mattress on the floor of the Wheelers’ basement. He sits up and notices that Jonathan is still out cold on the couch. It’s a surprise he’s not in Nancy’s room, Will thinks.
He stands up and ponders whether he should put on his sweatpants over the shorts he sleeps in before going upstairs to the dining room. He decides against it when he feels droplets of sweat dripping down his neck. Trying to not wake up his brother, Will goes up the stairs as quietly as possible.
The silence of the basement is immediately disrupted by the sound of chaos coming from the kitchen: Nancy is cooking bacon for everyone, Mrs. Wheeler is cleaning up the orange juice Holly spilled all over the dining table, and Mike is asking everyone in sight if they have seen his walkie anywhere. He smiles at the sight of the busy morning – it reminds him of home. Not the Wheelers’ house, which is usually neat and organised, but when he still lived with his mom and Jonathan – and later Eleven – alone. It’s strange how a house with more people living in it can sometimes feel emptier.
Will and the rest of the Byers have been living with the Wheeler family for a year now. He had always dreamt of living with the Wheelers, because that meant living with Mike. That dream faded into the background as he turned fourteen and Mike started acting differently towards him. He remembers Mike becoming distant as his relationship with Eleven grew and how he, all of a sudden, couldn’t even hug Will anymore like they used to, not even upon seeing each other for the first time in a year when Mike visited California.
That dream faded into the background when Will realised Mike didn’t see him the same way he saw him. The way Will liked him. Loved him. That dream completely disappeared when Mike couldn’t see through his masked confession in the backseat of the van. How Will wished he could have gotten out of the van and wandered into the bleak Nevada desert, disappearing forever.
However, at this moment in time, Will is happy to have stayed. Upon returning to Hawkins, the empty desert morphed into his familiar town. Although the entire town was ruined by the opening of the gates to the Upside Down, he had never been happier to be in Hawkins, as a lost dream found its way back to him the moment he stopped searching for it.
He started living at the Wheelers’ house, sleeping in the basement with Jonathan. It felt uncomfortable at first: he felt guilty for taking up the Wheelers’ space, but he eventually realised that, besides Mr. Wheeler, everyone was happy they could help his family. Will is grateful for everything the Wheelers have done for him and his family despite what is happening in Hawkins. In return, he always offers to help Mrs. Wheeler – who now insists he calls her Karen – with chores, which she always declines, so he tries to sneak in a quick dishwashing session after joint meals sometimes. Karen pretends she doesn’t notice, but she can’t help but shoot a smile at him every time he does it.
But the Wheelers taking them in is not the only thing Will is grateful for. The friendship between him and Mike had not been strong for a few years, but Will had noticed a shift in Mike’s behavior since their return from California. He feels as if Mike has been acting differently, especially towards Will.
Shortly after their return, Mike decided to break up with Eleven. Well, that is what he tells everyone, but he can’t fool anyone as it’s known that the break-up was mutual. Now he is single again, it seems as if he has returned to his old self: the Mike Wheeler who always cared for Will the way he cared for no one else – the Mike Wheeler he had fallen in love with all those years ago. However, it’s not as if he is completely the same as he used to be. Yes, he takes more notice of Will now like he used to, but he feels as if Mike looks at him more than he ever used to.
There are times during the day where he swears that Mike is staring at him, and there’s this small, annoying voice in the back of his head that encourages these speculations. He’s staring at you, it says, he’s trying to make eye contact with you. But whenever he would look up, Mike’s eyes would be looking in every direction but at him.
This other time, they were reading comic books together in the basement. They were reading in silence as they sat next to each other on the couch, enjoying each other’s company. They occasionally broke the silence when they asked each other questions about where the other was in the comic: they were reading each other’s recommendations as they both ventured off into different kinds of comics when Will was in Lenora and they wanted to share them with each other. While they were reading, the same small voice got activated in the back of his head once again. Do you hear that? Listen closely, it whispered, as if it was trying not to hurt the silence in the room. He started listening closely, and eventually he could’ve sworn he heard Mike’s heartbeat next to him, louder and faster than it was supposed to be.
In spite of all of this, Will feels stupid for merely thinking that Mike could like him back. Wasn’t he in love with Eleven for years? Was he not so oblivious that he had not noticed Will’s confession to him? Because Jonathan had noticed. Jonathan noticed and talked to Will. Although he had never said the words directly, he knows that his brother knows about him and his feelings for Mike. However, he is too afraid to ever bring this up with Jonathan again.
For the sake of his own safety and the safety of his finally restored friendship with Mike, he believes that keeping his feelings to himself is for the better, no matter how much keeping this secret suffocates him. So, Will lives off the moments he believes Mike is staring at him or thinking about him in the way he wants him to, because that sparks a feeling of possibility within him. A spark of hope. In another life, Mike knows that the painting Will made for him wasn’t commissioned by El. In another life, Mike knows Will loves him. In another life, another dream, Mike loves him back.
Will sits down at the dining table in the chair that, though never spoken of, everyone in the house has unanimously agreed is his. He loads up his plate with scrambled eggs, some bacon, and two pieces of toast. He starts indulging in his breakfast when the reason he chose this chair as his favorite sits down next to him with a loud sigh.
“Have you seen my walkie?” Mike asks him.
Will, whose mouth is full of eggs and toast, nods, and then swallows his food. “It’s in the basement,” he answers, “on the desk next to my mattress.”
Mike pumps his fists under the table as he mutters a quick ‘thanks’ to Will. Hw starts smiling. What an idiot, he thinks, though his heart starts beating faster and his stomach starts tingling. Now look who’s the idiot. He forces his eyes off Mike and back to his breakfast. Don’t start dreaming now.
Will eats the rest of his breakfast in silence. He takes his plate from the table to the kitchen counter and then retreats to the basement, which has gotten hotter during the half an hour he spent upstairs. He changes into his clothes for the day: a casual striped tee and the first pair of shorts of the year. This is not his first choice of shirt, though. Where in the world is my yellow tee?
“Mike? Will? Is anyone there?” Dustin’s voice crackles through Mike’s walkie. Will dashes towards the desk. He yanks out the antenna and the signal jumps.
“HELLO? Son of a b–”
“Dustin?”
“WILL! Jesus, I’ve been trying to reach you for twenty minutes. What if my house was on fire, man? No, what if I had been Vecna’d?”
Will laughs. “So that means we’re still on for this afternoon?”
“Yeah, of course. I was just draining my entire battery trying to tell you that you could come over earlier if you want. Lucas is coming earlier too, so he can see Max at visiting hours later,” Dustin says.
“Sure. I’ll tell Mike. See ya, Dustybun.”
“You mother–”
Will laughs and turns the walkie off before Dustin can finish. These moments – well, maybe not the ones where Dustin uses every swear in the book against him – make him realise how much he loves his friends. It’s rare for friends who met each other in elementary school to maintain their friendship throughout the years, but somehow, although not flawlessly, The Party made it work. He treasures every hangout, because for a moment when he was a mere twelve year old boy stuck in another dimension, he thought he would never see his best friends again. A twelve year old boy shouldn’t be thinking about the possibility of never growing older alongside his friends, about the possibility of staying twelve forever, but it was all he could think about as his entire body was shaking from the cold, toxic Upside Down air. How he would never see Dustin again. Or Lucas. Or Mike. Mike…
Footsteps race down the stairs.
Will jumps from the loud sound. “My God, Mike! Ever tried walking down the stairs without sounding like you dropped a bomb on the house?”
“You know I do it on purpose. It used to be normal before you occupied the basement.”
“‘Occupied’? Really?”
Mike smirks. “So… who were you talking to? Yourself?”
“Yeah, me, myself, and the seven voices. No, it was Dustin on the walkie. He said we can come over earlier.”
“And what if I don’t want to?”
“Sucks for you. I do.”
“Whatever you say, Will the Wise,” Mike says with a grin.
The tingling in his stomach this morning was nothing compared to the backflips it was doing right now. Will the Wise. Mike hadn’t called him that in years.
Too baffled to say anything, he smiles at Mike to mask his stare. He smiles back before going back upstairs, leaving Will behind in the basement to freak out. Will the Wise. Mike stopped calling him that when they were fourteen, when he started dating Eleven and began ignoring him. He tried making Mike say it once, but the tone he said it in didn’t make him feel as good as the name used to make him feel. Not to mention that the name was tainted by their fight in the rain right after it. He never expected to hear the name fall from Mike’s lips ever again, nor that it would make him feel flustered. Tongue-tied.
“Will, are you coming up or what?” Mike yells, pulling Will from his trance.
“Y–yeah, coming…” he mutters. He tries to calm himself before going upstairs. He checks his face in the bathroom mirror for any redness on his cheeks. Nothing, he thinks, and he goes up to the ground floor of the house. Mike awaits him at the top of the staircase, leaning against the doorpost.
“What were you still doing downstairs?”
“Nothing,” Will says quickly. Nothing? “I mean, I was trying to find my yellow T-shirt. I think I lost it. It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
He hurries towards the garage. He grabs his bike and rides it outside off the porch onto the street. Mike catches up with him when he is already past Lucas’ house.
“In a hurry, aren’t you?” Mike pants as he tries catching his breath, “Can we go a bit slower?”
“Oh. Yeah, sorry.” Will slows down.
“It’s okay. Unless I die from a lung or loss-of-breath related death. In which case I will haunt the basement forever,” Mike smirks.
“Well, in that case…”
Will speeds up again.
“Wait–WAIT!” Mike calls after him. Will looks back at Mike, who’s trying to gain distance on him. He grins widely. Will the Wise.
They arrive at Dustin’s place within a matter of minutes due to Will’s speeding, from which Mike is still wheezing. They drop their bikes in the front yard and notice Lucas’ bike is already there. Mike knocks on the front door, which is opened by Dustin before he can knock a second time.
“Were you stalking us or what?” Mike comments.
“You’re late.”
“We’re here earlier than we were supposed to be!”
“Whatever, man,” Dustin jokes and lets them inside, “Lucas is in the yard. You go, I’ll get you something to drink. Preferences within five seconds or else you get room temperature tap water.”
“Do you have cranberry juice?” Will asks.
“We–” Dustin opens the fridge. “Well, look at that, we do. Since when does mom buy cranberry juice?”
“I’d like–” Mike starts.
Dustin cuts him off. “Sorry, man, it’s been five seconds. Tap water for you.”
“Wait, wh–”
“Lucas is waiting, guys!” Dustin grins and then turns away to fetch them some drinks.
They walk towards the yard. Somehow it was warmer outside than inside, and as the sunlight settles on his skin, Will realises how much he had missed heat that came from the sun. Maybe Lenora rubbed off on him without him noticing.
Lucas is already sitting in the yard, sipping a cold diet coke. “You’re finally here!”
“We’re not even late!” Mike says. He and Will sit down on the bench next to Lucas’ chair. Mike pulls a pair of Ray-Ban Clubmaster sunglasses from his pocket and puts them on. Will stares at him. How have I never seen these glasses before? They look good, Will thinks.
His thoughts muffle Dustin yelling from inside the house. “WILL! ICE?”
Mike bumps Will with his elbow. “What?” Will says.
“Dustin is asking–”
“WILL!”
“ICE!” Mike yells back, answering for him.
Will smiles. “Thanks.”
Mike smiles back faintly before continuing his conversation with Lucas, which Will also missed. “So you haven’t noticed anything different about her?”
“No, but I’m going back later today. I’m gonna try Kate Bush again until she wakes up. I can feel that it will work someday, so it can’t hurt trying, right?”
“Yeah,” Mike says. Dustin walks through the door and hands them their drinks. Will mutters a quick ‘thank you’.
“Jesus, Dustin,” Mike looks disgusted at his glass of water, “how warm is room temperature water at your place?” He stands up and goes inside. Dustin takes his place on the couch and strikes up a conversation with Lucas. Will doesn’t pay attention to what they’re saying and takes a sip of his juice. He enjoys the slight sourness of the cranberry as it touches his lips. He doesn’t understand how something so sour could also be sweet. Maybe that’s why he enjoys it so much.
Mike comes back outside with ice in his glass. Will sees that he notices his spot has been taken, but he doesn’t make an effort to call Dustin out for it, so he sits down in the empty chair opposite of Will.
He joins the conversation, but Will still can’t be bothered to participate. Instead, he finishes his drink, places the empty glass on the table in front of him, and carefully fixates his gaze on Mike. The way he curles his hand around his drink, his pinky under it as if he’s trying to balance the glass on it. The way his curls frame his face. The way the sunlight reflects on the dark lenses of his glasses. What if he’s staring as well?
“Will?” Mike says.
“Hm?”
“What are the plans for tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Your birthday?”
Right. “Oh. Yeah. I just– I don’t really want to do anything. Sixteen’s not a big deal anyway.”
“Wait, seriously?” Lucas says surprised.
“Yeah, I mean, everyone always makes it this whole thing–”
“Isn’t it?” Dustin chimes in.
“No? I mean– I don’t know. I don’t want to celebrate it.”
“Why not? I was looking forward to Princess Byers’ sweet sixteen!” Lucas says.
“I just–”
“Guys, let it go,” Mike says to Lucas and Dustin. Will smiles. In his mind, he thanks Mike for the save.
“Fine. I was looking forward to it–shit, gotta go,” Lucas says, looking at his watch, “Visiting hours.”
“Yeah, I think we should go too, then,” Mike says. He stands up, and Will follows him. They all walk to the front door together and say their goodbyes. They grab their bikes and wave at each other for the last time as Lucas goes the other way and Dustin closes the door.
They bike home without saying a word, until Mike ends the silence: “I hope it was okay that I told them to back off.”
“Yeah,” Will answers, “thanks.”
“I think they were just excited. You weren’t here last year, either.”
“I know. At least they didn’t forget about it, right?” Will says.
“Right,” Mike nearly whispers.
I hope he didn’t forget it again, either, Will thinks.