Chapter Text
“The basketball team is having a party tomorrow night” Lucas says casually as the credits begin to roll on tonight's first movie of choice, Star Wars.
Movie nights in Mike and Will’s shared dorm room are a tradition at this point and is where the party has found themselves every Friday night since the beginning of their freshman year.
Much to everyone’s delight, the party still hangs out, maybe even more so then they did before coming to college. With the weight of needing to save the world every three months off their shoulders, they are finally able to be normal teenagers. For the last couple teen years they actually have left.
Bottom line is, the comfort of having the party all together has been making the first year of college easier for everyone.
“And why the hell should we care?” Mike questions. Max rolls her eyes at his predictable snotty response to literally anything fun ever.
“Personally, I. am. In.” Dustin declares. “It's officially been 3 weeks since Suzie broke up with me so I need to get back in the game.”
“Finally” Lucas groans. “I’ve been telling you that since the day you two called it quits.”
“And I promise there will be plenty of hot girls at this party” Lucas states with a wink.
“I think it could be fun,” Will says with a shrug. Mike gives Will a look of confusion because Mike and Will never really go out.
“We’re not really the type of people that go to parties.” Mike states it to the group, but still is only looking at Will, so his voice remains soft.
“But we could be'' Lucas says, punctuating with a point of his finger. “Plus I also promise there will be plenty of hot guys for you Byers” Will hums in acknowledgement. He sounds neutral, not letting his friends read too far into his thoughts regarding potential hot guys at the party. Mike glares at Lucas, irked by the suggestion of Will finding a love interest. Other than him that is.
“And you all know it’s my duty as girlfriend to support Lucas in his aspirations. Even if those aspirations are lame ass college parties” Max says, sounding less than enthused.
Now it's Mike's turn to roll his eyes. He’s been bitter since his recent breakup with El.
And bitter for other reasons.
So Lucas and Max being in their honeymoon phase after recently getting back together is not exactly helping his wounds to heal.
El on the other hand seems to have moved on embarrassingly quickly, and doesn’t seem to be in the same cloud of sadness that Mike has been residing in.
However, Mike’s sulking has less to do with the fact that he misses El, he knows that they are much better off as friends, and more to do with the fact that he’s just flat out lonely.
And maybe the sulking is partially fueled by the fact that he has his eyes on someone else. Maybe…
“Sure. Let us go to this party. Should be fun!” El offers. These days, she's interested in anything Max is interested in, so no shocker there Mike thinks to himself.
“Ok buddy, everyone else is in, you?” Lucas asks, obviously directing his question to Mike.
“Nah, you guys go without-” Mike starts. But he catches Will's gaze and folds. He’s too caught up in Will’s hopeful hazel eyes to be embarrassed by how fucking pathetic he is sometimes.
“You know what, sure. Let's have some fun” Mike says with a faint smile. Again addressing the party but still holding Will’s stare, his voice soft; he is never living down the Will voice allegations.
Will gives him a reassuring smile and turns away with a faint splotching of pink on his cheeks.
“Well then it’s settled! The party….goes to a party….tomorrow night” Lucas exclaims.
He pauses for dramatic effect. Hoping the joke lands. It does not. Mike scoffs at the attempt at humor.
Lucas goes to parties frequently but is almost never able to convince anyone but Max to come along with him. So his excitement comes from finally being able to bring his best friends with him.
“Let’s do pizza here before” Dustin suggests.
“Yeah sure, just offer up Will and I’s room” Mike complains sarcastically, flying his hands in the air and dropping them back down to his lap.
“Don’t listen to him” Will states. “We are more than happy to host, you all know this” Will gives Mike a judging glance.
Mike tries not to think too hard about the implications of Mike, Will, and we in the same equation, and adds, “Fine, as long as we don’t get pineapple. Shit’s nasty.”
“Ahh a California delicacy” Will reminisces with a dramatic sigh, glancing at El who has an equally nostalgic look on her face, a tad dramatic for fruit on pizza…
“Literally….ew” Mike says with a shiver.
"God, you are so dramatic Wheeler. You might as well be a teenage girl” Max says.
“Rich coming from you, you literally are a teenage girl”
“Shut up..” Max says, leaving it at that.
Because technically speaking Mike is right. At 19 years old she is in fact a teenage girl, even if Mike sometimes acts more like it than she does.
The bickering pair both roll their eyes and the dorm room returns to a comfortable silence. The room still being illuminated by the TV screen, nearing the bottom of the Star Wars end credits, and some string lights that Will had picked out for the dorm.
Mike rises from his spot next to his best friend on the futon and takes the vhs out, he turns to Will
“What do you want to watch next?”
Before Will has time to respond, Dustin cuts in, “Fine just don't ask us dude, whatever.” he teases.
“Hmmm” Mike acknowledges, but not changing his question. “Will what do you want to watch?”
“Uhhh, what do you got?” Will asks, leaning back farther into his spot on the futon and crossing his arms.
Mike proceeds to happily list off his most recent Family Video purchases. Well purchases is a strong word, because in reality he just convinced Steve to give him his 3 tapes for free while everyone was home over break. I guess Steve was feeling extra generous that day because he didn’t take much convincing.
After Mike has listed off the options, Will takes a moment to contemplate.
“Back to the future sounds good,” Will says.
“Cool” Mike responds, replacing Star Wars with Back to the Future.
“Ahh perfect. Let's relive that one time I was escaping Russian guards with a high Steve, an equally high Robin and…. none other than Erica Sinclair.” Dustin says with building intensity.
Lucas laughs loudly, “I remember that,” he says through his laugh.
“Correction. You remember me telling you about that.” “Which isn't even a little funny by the way.”
“It was actually hilarious-” Lucas starts, cut off by Dustin “And also it's not the same as actually living through it.”
“There's far worse things that have happened to us for you to relive. Would you like to pick a different one?” Mike asks, the joke losing its traction as Mike is clearly in a rush to just start the movie.
“Well that could get dark…” Will offers.
“Very” El agrees.
“Oh god no. Just put in the damn movie” Dustin says.
“That's what i thought” Mike says, punctuated with a click of the play button on the tv.
_________
Dustin reaches out his hand awkwardly to ring the doorbell, but Max quickly swats his hand away and reaches for the door knob instead. “No one's gonna hear that over the music, dumbass” she says as she steps into the crowded house.
“Right…” Dustin responds, apparently a moment too late because Max is already far gone into the crowd, Lucas trailing a few steps behind her.
Without missing a beat, Dustin is on his promised mission to practice his flirting, and is off to first find some liquid courage.
Dustin has made it clear that there is no hope he will ever find a girl even half as gorgeous and smart as Suzie. But tonight is instead focused on healing his broken heart with kisses from other girls. Obviously a fool proof strategy according to Lucas. And obviously a terrible idea according to everyone else.
Dustin suggested that Mike join him tonight, claiming that they could be each other's wingmen. “You need to get back out there, you can't sulk about El forever dude,” Dustin had said to him last night.
If only Dustin knew that breaking up with El is hardly the reason for his sulking.
Honestly Mike doesn’t have a whole lot of interest in being Dustin's wingman, or Dustin being his. Plus he likes to live by the mentality that girls are a waste of time generally speaking. I mean everyone knows how the whole ‘let's be boyfriend and girlfriend’ thing went with El. So Mike isn't exactly eager to find another person- another girl, to swap spit with.
But to each their own, if Dustin wants to waste his night away flirting with girls then so be it. Mike is not.
Shortly after Dustin joins the party, El is ushered off to join a game of beer pong with some girls that she recognizes from living on the same dorm floor as her and Max. She looks nervous as hell, and a little confused about what game she just agreed to play. But more than anything she looks happy to be invited to do something, and spend her time with someone other than the party. As great as they are. Mike smiles to himself, he’s happy that El’s happy, and seeing her smiling reminds him that their breakup really was for the best.
That leaves Will and Mike still standing in front of the now closed front door. “So” Mike says after realizing the rest of the group has quickly abandoned them.
“So….” Will echoes. “Wanna dance?”
Mike is caught off guard by the question.
Not that he should be, it’s a normal question.
It's normal to ask your best friend to dance at a house party.
But his stomach has decided to do backflips as a response to Will’s very normal..normal question.
“I-uh-um” Mike stumbles. A vocalization of his currently racing heart and uneasy stomach.
“I mean we don’t have to, but I just know you love this song” Will says with a hesitant smile.
Mike, for the first time since they have walked in, tunes into the song blasting out of the speakers and spilling music into the entire house. Mike does love this song. He loves that about Will, he remembers little details about Mike that most people don’t care to see.
Mike's heart swells. Will knows Mike’s favorite song and wants to dance with him to it. He blushes at the thought.
Mike is suddenly forced to remember that he hasn’t contributed anything decent to this conversation for an awkward amount of time when he hears Will lightly clear his throat.
“Uh, yeah, of course,” he jumps to answer. “I really do love this song so…” Mike trails off nervously.
Why the fuck is he nervous, he thinks.
It’s just Will.
But he knows there is nothing just Will about Will.
And although Will has now turned away from Mike with crimson cheeks, Will can hear the smile in Mike's voice.