Chapter Text
November 16th, 1989
"Why is Professor Smith such a harsh grader?"
It was two days before Thanksgiving break. Mike was sprawled out on his bed, staring at an essay he turned in a few weeks ago with a big red C- on the corner of the paper.
"Maybe he's not a harsh grader, maybe you just suck at writing," Max said through a smirk, bracing herself as Mike threw a pillow at her head. She sat on the floor, Lucas’ head resting on her lap.
Lucas, who Mike's question was originally directed towards, and who was also pissed off that that same pillow had been tossed around at least six times in the past hour, huffed, "Dude, throw that pillow one more time and see what happens." He grabbed the pillow and threw it to the side, "And you know he just has high expectations for us, especially you. You're like, one of the only people in that class who's actually majoring in English."
"I guess, but I've never gotten below a B before. And I was really proud of this."
Mike was never the kind to care about his grades before college, but he really wanted this writing career to go somewhere, and his parents had been on him about keeping good grades or else he would lose car privileges.
Other than the fact that he's only three months in, his freshman year has been going pretty well. He ended up at Indiana State with three of his best friends: Lucas, Dustin, and Max.
They only chose ISU because they weren't ready to leave yet, later realizing it was a little dumb of them, but it didn't matter. They were all planning on transferring somewhere else for sophomore year - another reason why Mike was so worried about his grades.
Will and El were the only ones who were strong enough to leave Indiana behind once and for all. The others don't blame them for wanting to leave, they know that they've always deserved to get out of Hawkins and leave their trauma in the past.
Mike and El had broken up two years ago - nothing messy, just a quiet, mutual kind of thing where they both realized they were better off as friends. And that was that.
And yeah, Mike and Will had become best friends again, like Mike had promised Will on that tower years back, and the summer before everyone left was the most fun they've ever had. It made up for all those years they had spent fighting inter-dimensional creatures.
The whole Party had a blast. Mike spent half his time with Will, obviously. Whether it was at the lake, their job, or the basement where they spent hours watching movies - alone or with everyone else - they were always together.
But when August rolled around, Will left for New York and not once did he call. Mike had waited by the phone that first week, but nothing came. He tried calling a few times, but Joyce would answer every single time and say Will was busy.
Mike was given no explanation, there wasn’t any fight, nothing he could point to and say that’s where it went wrong.
He wanted to keep calling, wanted to make sure he wasn’t losing Will again, but he reminded himself that the phone worked both ways.
If he wants to talk to me, he’ll call. That had been his motto for the past few months.
At some point, he had no other option but to accept it.
Well, he’d be lying if he said he was over it. He wasn’t, unfortunately. There was a bigger story behind the sudden ghosting. Mike knew it deep down.
Dustin rolled his eyes, "It's like, your third bad grade ever, you'll be fine. Don't overthink it."
All Mike ever does is overthink things. Why do you think he hasn't called Will in over two months?
Mike sighed. "Whatever, man. Are you guys down to hit up the diner? I want waffles."
Max, Lucas, and Dustin shared a look, then agreed. Mike shut his notebook, grabbed his keys, then practically pushed them out the door.
After they arrived at the diner and ordered their food, they started talking about plans for Break. Max turned to Lucas and said, "Oh and don't forget we need to pack tomorrow like as soon as we get back from class." She side-eyed Dustin, "And I can assume you're already packed?"
Dustin gave her a sarcastic smile, "Of course, why would I not be?"
Max mocked his smile, then kicked his shin under the table.
Dustin yelped, "Ow!"
In October, Lucas had bought tickets to New York for him and Max, to enjoy the city and visit Will, and Dustin decided to tag along, too. Mike had been planning on going too - until he found out who they were going for. So, he decided to sit the trip out and visit his family in Hawkins instead.
Lucas grabbed Max's hand and interlocked their fingers, smiling softly to reassure her they would be spending all afternoon tomorrow packing, then drifted his eyes over to Mike. "Hey man, are you sure you don't wanna come? Everyone's gonna be there, and it would be weird if you're the only one who's not there."
Mike coughed, then looked down and started fiddling with his hands. "Um, it's- it's like, still weird for me, y'know, the whole Will thing." He cleared his throat, "Plus, Holly is really excited to see me. She said she wanted to show me her campaign. Can't let a little sister down, right?"
Lucas made a face that Mike couldn't read. "Uh, yeah, I guess," was all he could manage.
They sat in silence for a moment too long.
Max looked at Lucas, then Dustin, then finally, over at Mike, and narrowed her eyes.
Mike felt like he was being interrogated, even though no one was speaking. The ceiling lamp in the middle of the table suddenly became too much.
He started looking anywhere but at his three best friends in front and beside him.
It didn't last long.
He ran out of things to stare at and ended up making eye contact with Max, who was still staring.
Max opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, then a voice popped out of nowhere.
"Okay, so, who got the waffles?"
Mike let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Oh- um, me."
When their food arrived, Mike could sense Max glaring at him, like she had something to say, but he ignored it.
They found new things to talk about - the muggy weather, classes, anything. It was random conversations that kept Mike’s mind from circling back to whatever Max was itching to say.
After eating and talking for a little while longer, they paid the check and dipped, full and slightly drowsy.
When they left, Max - knowing the guys would be too tired to argue with her while also trying to use the little energy she had left - shouted, "I call shotgun!"
The drive back was calm. Music was playing faintly, Mike was tapping on the wheel to get his mind off the traffic they had stumbled upon, forgetting it was that hour, and Dustin and Lucas had passed out in the backseat.
Max kept glancing at Mike every few seconds. Mike, assuming it was going to be what she failed to say earlier, was avoiding looking at her.
It didn't work. Again.
She turned in her seat, "Hey."
"Hi?" Mike questioned.
"So, about New York-"
Of course.
"No. Max. I already said I didn't want to go."
"You don't want to go because of Will."
"That's just not true."
Max scoffed, "Then what is it?"
It was Will, but Mike refuses to admit it.
And for the record, it's totally unfair that Max knows Mike better than he knows himself. Sometimes he regrets telling her his private matters.
"I don't- it's- it's just complicated," Mike mumbled.
"Mike, you know you can tell me anything, right? Who am I to judge? I just want you to be happy."
She made a face at her sudden niceness, like it didn’t quite fit. “And I know you’d be happy seeing Will.”
Mike opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, then closed it.
Max took that as a sign to continue.
"Okay. Weren't you guys best friends, like, not even four months ago? What could have possibly happened?"
"I- I don't know, Max."
He seriously didn’t know. It was killing him.
Max groaned, "Can you please just call him? Or literally get your ass on a plane to New York?"
Mike sighed and looked out his window. They were driving past a pretty scenery. It reminded him of when Will would find something he liked - a scene just like this, or an object in a store - and would say “Just took a mental picture.” Mike would smile and do the same, incase Will forgot about it later.
He looked back towards the dark road and shook his head, as if he was trying to shake those memories away.
"I'm sorry, Max. I just... can't. I don't think it would do any good. It would just make things more awkward. He clearly doesn't want to talk to me. I've made my peace with that." He sighed, because he knew he hadn’t. "And it's- it's too late to get a ticket, anyway."
Was he finally throwing in the towel on their friendship?
Max was about to retaliate, but decided against it. She took a deep breath in, then released it.
"Okay, if that's what makes you happy, y’know, not seeing your best friend of over a century after three months."
Mike whipped his head toward her, a smile peeking through his frown. "Why are you guilt-tripping me? That's so unfair!"
"I'm not! I'm just stating the facts!" She shrieked, a little too loud, almost waking the two in the back.
They reached an intersection, Mike stopped and looked at Max, then at Dustin and Lucas - who were still knocked out - then back at the road and drove off.
"Well, your facts are, in fact, not facts."
Max giggled when he said that, probably because it made no sense, and Mike had barely realized what had just come out of his mouth a minute later.
"Shut up," he said, giggling and accepting defeat.
She shook her head and turned up the radio. The two of them started humming along to Madonna's Like a Prayer.
Safe to say he was in the clear for the night.
When they got back to campus, the guys dropped Max off at her dorm. Mike and Dustin had to look away while Lucas and Max shared a passionate kiss in the doorway.
"Gross. We're right here," Mike said, pointing his finger into his mouth, fake gagging as a joke.
Dustin did the same, "Yeah! Gross."
Max flipped them off as she pulled away from Lucas. "Goodnight, boys."
"Goodnight," they said in unison as they walked away.
Once Mike got back to his dorm, he plopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling, thoughts spiraling.
Would it be so bad if I went to New York? Maybe they're right. Maybe I should go. Or maybe I should call him. But what if he hates me? What if he doesn't want to see me, or what if Joyce answers again and says he's still busy? It's been almost three months. How busy could he be? What do I do?
His eyes kept closing and opening until he finally dozed off, leaving those thoughts lingering.
He woke up the next morning feeling sick. He was drenched in sweat, his socks had rolled off and onto the floor, there was drool everywhere, and to make matters worse, his roommate, Eric, was hovering over him.
Mike jumped. "What the hell?"
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. It's just- someone's on the phone for you." He looked at Mike weirdly, probably noticing the dried-up drool on his chin.
He glanced over at his clock that read 8:12 AM. It was too early for him. He didn't have class until twelve.
A part of him hoped Will was on the other line, but he knew not to get his hopes up. He had been disappointed one too many times in the past.
Mike rubbed his eyes and realized he had accidentally slept with his contacts in. "Do you know who it is?"
"Um, some man named Hop- Hoppy or something?"
Hopper.
He rubbed his eyes again, then groaned as he got up, making his way over to the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, kid."
A smile spread across his face.
"Hop. What's up?"
"I hope it's not too early for me to be calling." It was, but whatever.
"No, it's fine, I was already awake." Liar.
"Okay, good, good. How are you? You're doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. You?"
"Good, and I'm good too."
"Cool."
It was pure silence for a minute until something in Mike's brain clicked. Hopper doesn't just call out of nowhere. There's always a reason.
Mike sputtered, "Did you- sorry you just- you haven't called in a while. Did something happen?"
"I just wanted to check in on you."
"Okay..." Mike said, confused.
"Oh, and try to convince you to come to New York?"
Well, looks like Mike was right. He was safe from Max for the night, but at this point, he wasn't safe from anyone - not even from people almost 700 miles away.
He rolled his eyes, "Did Max call you? I should've known she would."
Max knew Hopper could convince Mike to do, well, anything.
Hopper laughed, "So close. It was all three of them. Plus El."
"You're joking." Mike deadpanned.
"Wish I was. Come on, Mike. What are you gonna do in boring old Hawkins when all your friends are in New York? Even your sister's gonna be here."
Mike didn't even know Nancy would be there. He had assumed she was coming back, too.
"Nance? Really?"
"Yeah, Wheeler. Really."
How does Mike get out of this now?
"Well, actually, Holly wanted to show me her- and my family-"
Hopper cut him off, "Mike. I don't know what happened between you and Will..." Oh, perfect, he knows. "But you can't forget about everything you guys have been through together. I know your friendship is too important to let go of it like it was nothing. Can't you get your shit together and make up?"
Mike couldn't believe he was having the same conversation for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.
"Hop, I don't think-"
He paused. He thought of what Max had said last night.
I know you'd be happy seeing Will.
She was right. She was always right, unfortunately.
Would it be so bad? Probably. But he would be in New York, uncovering new territory, being able to spend time with his favorite people, and maybe try to mend a friendship in the meantime.
It was worth it.
Will was worth it.
He's taking the towel back. And screw it. Looks like he'll be letting Holly down after all.
He cleared his throat, "Um- okay. Okay, uh- yeah. I'll get my shit together, and I'll get on a plane, and I'll go to New York and- I'll have to figure out a way to get a ticket this late, but I'll be there."
Mike could hear Hopper smile through the phone. "Good, great. I knew you'd say yes."
Mike wrinkled his nose, "Well, I'm gonna have to buy that ticket like, right now, huh?"
Hopper chuckled, the kind of chuckle that made his entire body move while he did so, "About that, Dustin knew you'd crack, so he called your mom last week, and- well, you know him, you know where I'm going with this."
"Of course he did." Mike sighed.
"Well, we can't wait to see you. All of us."
Oh, he's so going to regret this.
Sarcastic as ever, Mike replied, "Yeah! So excited!"
Later in the day, when he was walking to his usual coffee shop to meet up with none other than Lucas, Max, and Dustin, he was mentally preparing himself to hear everything they had to say.
Max spotted him first, "Oh, look who it is! You're late."
Mike mocked her face, then plopped onto the couch where they sat, right next to Dustin. "I'm not late, you're early."
Dustin patted his arm, "So, receive any interesting calls lately?"
Mike smirked, "No, actually. Why do you ask?"
Lucas laughed, "Oh, come on, Hopper already told us you said yes."
"I can't believe you listened to Hopper and not your own best friends." Max interrupted.
"If it makes you feel better, I only said yes because the man scares me."
They laughed.
"And, you guys are so annoying." Mike held up his thumb and index finger and slowly closed them in on each other, "I'm this close to canceling."
"You mean helpful and amazing and the bestest friends ever." Dustin grinned, ignoring the second part of what Mike said.
"Whatever, dude."
Max sipped her iced coffee, swallowed, and placed it back on the table, “It’s gonna be so fun! We're gonna explore the city, try like, a shit ton of new food, get drunk, and Will even got us into a couple of frat parties! Isn't that awesome?"
First of all, Will? At a frat party? No way. Secondly, Mike is either going to die on this trip, or- yeah, no, he's going to die.
"Yeah, awesome,” he groaned as he got up to order his coffee.
Mike could tell they were beaming with excitement, but he wasn't sure if it was a coffee high or if they were genuinely this excited.
Probably both.
-
After class ended on Friday, Mike ran to his dorm to try to pack all his stuff as quickly as he could. He had been delaying packing, the same way he delays everything else in his life.
Eric walked in while Mike was debating what shoes to pack. "Hey- hey, where are you going?"
"Oh, hey man. Didn't I- didn't I tell you? I'm going to New York."
Eric looked confused, "Um, no? I thought we were hitting up Sarah's tonight. She told me she had some chick named Mary or something for you."
Mike's stomach churned. It's not like he didn't want to meet someone, but no one had really caught his eye at school, and he doubted this random person would either.
"Oh. Shit. I totally forgot. But... I'm gonna have to give you a rain check. This trip is like, super important to my friends or whatever, so..."
"Oh, well, alright, dude, it's cool. More girls for me."
"Yup," Mike mumbled, wondering how to rain check a rain check.
Somehow, he managed to pack everything he needed, and he made his way to Lucas and Dustin's dorm, where they were already waiting for him.
Max was standing by the door, tapping her foot on the floor, clearly annoyed. "Dude, where have you been? We needed to leave thirty minutes ago."
Mike sighed, "It's only thirty minutes. We'll be fine."
"Don't blame me if we miss the flight." She shrugged and started walking away.
"We're not gonna miss the flight," Mike said, trailing behind her, Dustin and Lucas following.
They got to the gate with like, five minutes to spare. Max glared at Mike, but he pretended he didn't see it. At least they made it.
As they boarded the plane, Mike made his way to his seat and sighed, way too dramatically, like he was trying to gain attention.
Dustin clearly heard his overdramatic sigh and laughed. "Why are you grumpy? Did you not drink your morning coffee?"
"No, actually, I didn't. Because someone was rushing me to class this morning." He glared at Max.
Max glared right back and scoffed. "We could've gotten coffee on the way here, but someone decided to be late."
Lucas, as usual, was annoyed with their bickering, so he butted in. "Okay, guys. We get it. Maybe let's just keep quiet until we get some coffee in our systems. Sound good? Max?"
Max sighed, "Yup."
Mike slumped into his seat and slid his Walkman on. Shout by Tears for Fears started playing.
The three hour flight went by in the blink of an eye. They landed around four in the afternoon. Mike barely woke up twenty minutes before they landed, clearly oblivious to the fact that he had fallen asleep on some lady's shoulder.
When he noticed, he got up quickly. "Oh, sorry."
Like that was gonna make up for the past hour and a half he had spent hogging her shoulder.
When the plane landed, and everyone started departing, Mike realized what he'd agreed to. He would be spending one whole week in New York with his best friends and Will, his supposed best friend who he hasn't seen since what feels like forever.
He didn't even know what he was going to say. What if it's even more awkward than the California reunion? Is that even possible?
Mike was sure he was about to have a heart attack.
The last time he had seen Will was the day before he left, when everything was perfect and Mike was sure they would remain best friends.
But they didn't.
The four of them turned the corner and saw the little family that was Joyce, Hopper, and Will standing there with a corny little sign that read, 'MIKE WHEELER, MAX MAYFIELD, LUCAS SINCLAIR, & DUSTIN HENDERSON.' And to top it all off, Will was the one holding it.
Mike immediately made eye contact with him, then looked away, scared that it was too much.
There stood Will, with a small smile on his face, a slight blush in his cheeks, dried paint all over his jeans, messy hair, and a puffy coat that seemed to be eating him alive.
His eyes shone in the sunlight that was reflecting through the window, the mole above his mouth moving upward as his lips turned into a smile.
Hopper had spotted them and practically yelled, "Hey, Hey! Look!" They had to awkwardly walk over, trying to act like they didn't know his loud ass.
Joyce was the first to hug Mike, giving him a hug that he had been needing for a while.
"Mike! Has it really only been a few months?"
She said it like it was nothing. The past few months had felt like centuries.
"Hey, Mrs Byers- crap- I mean- Mrs Hopper? I don’t know, sorry. But yeah. Only three months."
Hopper butted in, "Mrs Hopper. Thank you."
Joyce reached over and squeezed Hopper's arm, Mike smiled.
She looked back at Mike, tears filling up in her eyes. She wiped Mike's singular tear away, pushed his hair to the side, the way she knew he hated, and squeezed him so tight Mike wasn't sure she was ever going to let go.
"We missed you," she said.
"I missed you guys, too," Mike said, lips turning upward into a smile.
After a moment, Mike walked over to Hopper, where he was greeted with Hopper's hand ruffling through his hair.
"Wheeler. Glad you made it."
"Yeah. Took a little convincing but- here I am."
Hopper laughed and hugged him, patted him on the back a couple of times, then fixed his hair for him.
"Thanks."
As he turned around, he saw that Max and the others had already reunited with Will and El, meaning he would have to go over there eventually.
He looked back at Hopper, who nodded and nudged him in their direction. Mike groaned under his breath and started walking over to them.
Will was already looking at Mike, but then went back to listening to whatever Max was saying when he realized he was coming.
Everyone kind of shut up when they realized what was happening. Max closed her mouth and grabbed El's arm, moving them to the side the moment it clicked in her brain. Dustin whispered to Lucas, "Oh shit."
Will smiled, but it looked almost... forced.
"Hey, Will. "
"Mike. Hey."
They stared at each other for a moment too long. Mike had been expecting it to be awkward - but not this awkward. He'd expected a hug, too. Clearly, things weren't going the way he'd hoped.
California reunion, step aside, we have a new winner.
"Hi, Mike," El said, an attempt at easing the tension.
Mike blinked and looked at El, "Hey, El."
Hopper cleared his throat. "How about we get you guys to your hotel?"
Everyone agreed, but Mike had just realized he completely forgot to ask Dustin about that. He nudged his arm, "Dude, tell me we're sharing a room."
Dustin winced, "So actually, you're staying with Joyce, Hop, El and... Will."
Mike stared at him, mouth hanging open like his brain had just short-circuited. "What? Dustin, you're kidding."
Dustin patted him on the back and leaned down to grab his stuff. "You'll be fine," he said, tossing his bag over his shoulder like the information he'd just said was nothing.
Mike scoffed. He will not be fine. He's going to need a miracle to survive this week.
They grabbed their luggage and started walking out of the airport, Mike trailing behind the others since everyone was talking to Will.
As they walked outside, he realized he should've packed his big coat in his carry-on. It was freezing.
Will must hate it here. Mike knows how cold Will gets - how it seeps in and settles in his bones. Sometimes it got so bad that Will wouldn't even go outside, like the cold air was something to fear. Mike would bike across town - wind biting at his face, fingers going numb on the handlebars despite his gloves - just to see him. He would do it every time. It didn't matter what the weather was. He would do anything if it meant keeping Will warm and fearless.
Mike frowned as the memories rushed through his mind.
El must’ve noticed Mike was out of it and asked, “Mike, are you okay?”
Everyone stared at Mike like he had something on his face. He realized he had been staring at Will for a while now, not saying a word.
He blinked and looked away.
"What? Oh- yes- I mean yeah, it's just really cold."
El nodded and said, "You'll get used to it."
Once they got to the car, Mike decided to sit in the back. He assumed Will would be in the middle with the girls, and also hoped Dustin and Lucas would sit with him, but from what Mike could see through the window, Max and El had been nudging Will to sit in the back. Of course.
Will squeezed into the back, elbow barely missing Mike's face as he sat down.
Mike smiled awkwardly, "Tight space, huh?"
Will pressed his lips together, "Mhm."
Then, to make things even worse, Dustin scrambled into the backseat.
"Dustin, your ass is in my face!" Mike squirmed.
Will muffled a laugh as Dustin finally squeezed himself between Mike and Will. "Sorry," he giggled.
It was too cramped. Mike wanted to kick himself for choosing the back knowing he's the tallest of the group.
The car door shut when Mike decided to finally say something. “Maybe Max and El should sit in the back. We don't have enough leg space back here."
Will glared at Max, then at El "Yeah."
"I think we're fine," Dustin added.
Mike and Will snapped their necks towards Dustin, sharing a look that said: seriously?
Hopper chuckled, "Well, it's too late now, we'd be holding up the cars behind us. So, buckle up!"
Mike rolled his eyes and put his seatbelt on, elbows clashing with Dustin's.
This is going to be one long car ride.