Everything comes back to you

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/48866842.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Original Male Character(s)
Characters: Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Jonathan
Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Murray
Bauman, Holly Wheeler, Karen Wheeler, Ted Wheeler (Stranger
Things), Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Vickie
(Stranger Things), Erica Sinclair, Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington
Additional Tags: Jealousy, Love Triangles, Angst, Fluff, Will Byers Needs a Hug,
Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Hurt/Comfort, Good Sibling Jonathan Byers,
mike thinks he's homophobic, Coming Out, POV Alternating, Jealous
Mike Wheeler, Nightmares, Mike Wheeler Being an Idiot, Protective
Mike Wheeler, will making choices, Love Confessions, Drunk
confessions, Internal Conflict, Will Byers Has a Boyfriend, Getting
Murrayed, Post-Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2023-07-26 Completed: 2023-10-07 Words: 120,535
Chapters: 26/26
 Everything comes back to you
by wasabi8000

Summary

The world is ending, which means for the time being, Will is living at the Wheeler’s house
with Mike and El. Which means his life is once again a third-wheeling roller rink nightmare,
and he’s basically invisible to Mike.

Until Jonathan gives him $20 to go to an art sale, and he meets Tobias, a guy just as into art
as he is.

It’s not long before him and Tobias start dating.

And then suddenly, Mike’s paying attention to him after all.

or

Will gets a boyfriend. Mike doesn’t like it.

Notes

Hey everyone!!

Can’t believe I’m back on here after a year, but I’ve had this fanfiction in the works for a
while now. It’s pretty long, and I didn’t want to start posting chapters until I had it pretty
much finished, so here it is.

In case you guys don’t remember me, I was the one who wrote the fanfiction where Will gets
hit on by a guy at the gas station, and I (still am) obsessed with jealous Mike. So I had this
idea where Will actually gets a boyfriend and, well, Mike loses his shit.

This is a slow-burn with angst, and of course lots of jealousy. I had a lot of fun writing it and
I hope you guys enjoy!! :)
 Chapter 1

It’s 3pm, the curtains are drawn in the living room, and Nightmare on Elm Street is playing
on the TV, and even though it’s at one of the scariest parts- Tina is being dragged away by
Freddy Kreuger- Will has never been less scared. If anything, he’s annoyed, and it’s all
because of the whispers and giggles happening to his left on the couch.

“Mike stop,” El giggles.

“What? I’m serious. I can’t see,” Mike jokes. He’s wearing the light-blocking glasses he
made from a pizza box, the ones that El used in the sensory deprivation tank. “Did the power
go out? Why is everything dark?”

It’s the dumbest joke but somehow El can’t get enough of it, still laughing. She gestures to
his glasses. “You did this to yourself, Mike!”

“I didn’t pay the electricity bill? Shit, my bad.” This causes El to let out another round of
giggles and Mike grins at her reaction. “This is what I get for being cheap, I guess.”

“You need money.”

“I need money?”

“Yes,” El laughs, playing along. “You need money to pay the bill.”

“You got any?”

El shakes her head, beaming at him. “No, I don’t.”

“I don’t either.” And now Mike laughs, at his joke or the happy little bubble him and El are
in, Will really can’t tell. Whatever the reason, he knows he should be happy for them. Happy
that his friend is happy. Happy that his sister is happy.

But he... he just can’t.

Something inside him breaks and he stands up from the couch, chest rising and falling. And
when neither of them notice, something inside him breaks again. He clears his throat and
they both look at him.

“Who’s there?” Mike stretches his arms in front of him. “Krueger, is that you?”

“No, it’s me, Mike.” Will isn’t in the mood to entertain him. “It’s Will.”

“Will,” Mike’s voice turns suddenly earnest. “Will, I have something to ask you.” It sounds
meaningful, but he’s still wearing the glasses, so Will is skeptical. But his stupid heart speeds
up anyways.

“Yeah?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while now,” Mike says, sounding nervous. “It’s a big
ask, but... I have to know.”

Will’s mouth goes dry. What the hell was he talking about? He swallows anxiously. “Y-
Yeah?”

“Can...” Mike pauses dramatically. Will feels like his heart is going to burst. “Can you pay
the electricity bill?”

El giggles at this, leaning further into Mike’s side, and Will just stares at them, the sounds of
Krueger attacking his victim in the background, a fitting soundtrack for how he felt. He
clenches his fists to his side. “No, Mike,” he says flatly. “I can’t.”

“Noooo,” Mike throws his hands in the air. “I’m doomed to darkness forever!”

“Here,” El says, reaching her hands up to pull his glasses off. She smiles at him fondly. “All
fixed.”

Mike blinks quickly, like he’s adjusting to the light. “El... you did it.”

“I did it,” she repeats.

He wraps an arm around his shoulders. “You fixed the power, El. You’re my hero.”

El giggles, her eyes crinkling in the way they do when she’s happy. “You’re welcome.”

They go silent, turning back to the TV, and it’s only then that Will realizes he’s still watching
them, tears stinging his eyes- when did that happen? He shakes his head and jerks a thumb
toward the hallway. “I’m gonna go.”

Mike turns to him, slightly distracted, and nods. “Cool.”

He’s not even going to ask why he’s leaving? “Cool,” Will chokes out, and then turns around
to leave before he does something embarrassing like breaking down in tears in front of them.
Although if he did, he wasn’t sure if either of them would even notice. “See you guys,” he
adds, when he reaches the doorway, just to see if either of them respond. They don’t. Of
course. Maybe the TV was too loud. Maybe they just didn’t hear him. Maybe he said it in his
head but not out loud, because he does that all the time.

But the most realistic possibility was that they just didn’t notice. It wasn’t malicious. It
wasn’t on purpose. It was like Will was a fly buzzing around them and they tuned it out
because they didn’t feel like getting the fly swatter. Or something. Jesus Christ, comparing
yourself to a fly? That’s pathetic. He shakes his head and walks over to the stairs, heading up
to the Wheelers’ guest bedroom.

At first, staying at the Wheelers’ house while Hawkins rebuilt itself sounded like a dream
come true. Him and Mike living together, repairing their friendship, hanging out like the old
days, which might’ve been accurate if they were still twelve years old. But not now, not when
it also meant that El was also living with them, not when it meant that his home life was now
a never-ending third-wheeling roller rink nightmare, not when he one day found himself
actually wishing to go back to California, where he had barely any friends and hated his
classes. That’s when he knew it was bad.

“Hey,” a voice at the top of the stairs jolts him out of his thoughts. Will looks up to see
Jonathan standing at the top, about to head down. “Everything okay?” The brotherly concern
is obvious in his voice and a lump forms in Will’s throat.

“Yeah,” he nods, climbing the final few steps until he was next to him. “Just a sad movie.”

Jonathan pauses, the sounds of Nightmare on Elm Street playing in the background, almost
comically. He quirks an eyebrow, a habit he picked up from Nancy. “A sad movie?” Will just
shrugs, and it’s like Jonathan can tell Will’s not in a joking mood because his expression
softens. “Well it’s a good thing you got out of there.” The way he says it, it’s like there’s a
double meaning, and Will is grateful that he understands, that he knows how to say it without
actually saying it.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. Although if he’s being honest, it’s his fault for even agreeing to
watch the movie in the first place. What did he expect to happen? He’s watched movies with
Mike and El before, seen them snuggle into each other the further the movie went on, seen
them giggle and throw popcorn at each other, so really, what was he expecting this time? That
things would change? That he could handle it this time? Or maybe it was a sick version of
exposure therapy?

But no, he knows what it is. It’s the chance of that if he was close to Mike, if he was in the
same room as him, something will happen, some rekindling in their friendship, and just the
chance of that happening was something he couldn’t pass up. Even while his girlfriend was
perpetually in between them. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

When he looks up again, Jonathan is watching him, a worried look on his face. “Hey,” he
presses his lips together. “I meant to tell you this earlier, but they’re selling art supplies down
on Mulberry Street. Dirt cheap, since, y’know, what happened to the school.” He pauses for a
second. “Most of the stuff is probably burnt, or broken, or something like that, but you might
find something good.” He fishes into his jeans pocket and pulls out a $20 bill, handing it to
him. Will wonders if he had planned this, if that’s what he was headed downstairs to do. His
brother’s always been good at timing like that.

“Really?”

Jonathan gives him a sincere look. “Really. You deserve it, considering...” he trails off,
nodding toward the living room where the movie is playing. So he did understand.

“Thanks,” he says, tears stinging his eyes at the gesture.

“Don’t mention it.” He leans toward him conspiratorially. “And hey, if I lived with Nancy
and Steve I’d need a lot more than art supplies.”

Will laughs at that, finally feeling lighter.

-

A twenty minute walk later, Will has finally made it to Mulberry Street. He could’ve rode his
bike, but he wanted time to think, not only about Mike and El and how the hell he was going
to survive the next... who knows how long, but also just to fully take in the changes that had
happened to Hawkins. And so he did.

He watched the grass turn from a fresh green to a dying yellow to a dead gray the closer he
got to the center of town, where the northern crack in the earth was. The mosquitos and flies
that swarmed around him at the beginning gradually grew less and less until there was no
movement at all in the air, everything completely still. The atmosphere was full of tension
that made him shiver, that made goosebumps rise on the back of his neck. There were no
bugs, no birds, and hardly any people around. Those who wanted to flee Hawkins had already
done so and those who were brave enough to stay were firmly locked inside their homes.
Fear lodged itself in Will’s chest and he almost regretted walking alone until finally, finally,
he saw the town come into view. At first it was just a few people milling about, but as he
walked closer he saw booths and tents and signs. Clothes. Canned goods. Sanitary items. He
almost felt guilty coming to get art supplies. Privileged, in a way. But since he was there, he
might as well follow through.

He weaves his way through the crowds. Although there isn’t a table marked Art supplies,
there is one marked School, which sounds close enough. He beelines toward it, seeing a
rickety table holding about six or seven boxes. The first few are filled with binders, folders,
papers, and other stuff that he quickly skips past. Finally, he finds the box that came straight
from the art room, full of paintbrushes, pencils, and markers. There are even a few mini
canvases in there. His eyes light up. No way. He looks around. How was no one else fighting
over this? Maybe he was the only one interested. It’s not like he wasn’t used to being the only
one doing something, labeled a freak his whole life. But for the first time, he wasn’t
complaining. He digs through it eagerly, inspecting the different sized paintbrushes, already
envisioning different projects and paintings.

A few minutes later, someone else comes up beside him, scanning the boxes before digging
into the one to his right. Will is relieved they chose a different box, although he hoped they
weren’t finding anything too good considering it was one of the ones he hadn’t looked
through yet. A quick glance out of the corner of his eye showed it was full of pottery and
sculpting supplies and he breathes a silent sigh of relief.

“This is a goldmine,” the person whispers to themself.

“I know right?” Will replies automatically, then freezes. He wasn’t the type to strike up
conversations with strangers.

“They’re just throwing all this stuff away?” The person seems unfazed, and by their voice
Will could tell it was a guy. “A foolish mistake.”

A foolish mistake? Will laughs out loud at the phrasing, then tenses up, feeling awkward. “I
guess it is.”
The guy stops rifling through the box and finally looks at him. He was around his age with
unruly blonde hair and glasses that were slipping down his nose, freckles dotting his cheeks
that Will could only see from how close they were. He coughs nervously, stepping back to
create some distance between them. He wants to say something, but didn’t know what. The
guy also seemed at a loss for words, staring at him. “What’s your name?” the guy finally
asks.

“Will,” he replies automatically. “Will Byers.”

The guy finally pulls his gaze away, looking back down at his box. “I hope you’re not into
pottery.”

“Pottery?” Will repeats. “No, uh, painting.”

“I can’t paint for shit.” The guy crinkles his noise. “But I can sculpt.”

“I can’t sculpt for shit,” Will repeats playfully. Wait, what was he saying? “I mean, I never
have, but if I did, maybe I’d be good at it? I- I don’t know. I’ve never tried.”

His stuttering has gotten the guy’s attention again and he’s looking at him again, smiling
slightly. “Sculpting’s not that hard. It’s just forming shapes with your hands. Painting, on the
other hand, takes a lot more work. Depth and colors and contrast. I...” He looks at him and
looks away, almost shy. “I respect those who can perform the art.”

Will lets the words sink in. He’s never heard anyone describe painting so... eloquently. Pride
fills his chest. “I never thought about it like that,” he admits. “I guess it does have a lot of,
um, factors to it.”

The guy nods. They fall into a silence and Will scrambles to fill it. “What’s your name?”

“Tobias,” he says immediately, like he was expecting it. “Tobias Montgomery.”

“Will Byers,” he responds, then shakes his head, cringing. “I already said that.”

“You did.” Tobias gives him a playful look, then goes back to digging in the box. “So, what
are you looking for?”

Will’s mind goes blank. What was he looking for? “Uh, you know, just paintbrushes and
canvases. Anything really.”

Tobias nods and then gestures to all the people. “All these people are looking for what, food
and water, when this is right here.” Will laughs at that and Tobias continues. “Basic
essentials? No, art is what I need to survive.”

Will nods, amazed at the fact that someone gets it. “Yeah, exactly.”

Tobias looks pleased. “It’s like food and water are what we need to live, but art is what we
need to feel alive. If that makes sense.”
Will’s mouth falls open at the quote, and he nods again, eagerly. “It makes complete sense,”
he rushes out. “You- you get it.”

“I’m glad you feel the same way,” Tobias smiles at him.

“Yeah, yeah I do.” Will blushes as he says it, like he was talking about something other than
the art. And Tobias seems to understand, holding eye contact with him for an extra second,
before he turns back to his box, his cheeks slightly flushed.

“So what do you paint?”

“Um,” Will turns back to the box in front of him, thinking. “Fantasy stuff. Like dragons and
monsters and battle scenes.”

“Straight from the imagination. I like it.”

Will has to hold back a laugh. If only that were the case. “Yeah, just whatever pops into my
head.” He pauses for a second. “I draw too. There’s drawings all over my walls.” He
chuckles. “My brother says it looks like an art exhibit or something.”

“That’s a sight to see.”

“You can see it if you want.” The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them and
Tobias turns to him.

“You mean that?”

Will freezes, his face reddening. Why did he say that? “I- I mean if you want to. You don’t
have to-”

“No, I’d really like that.” Tobias is staring at him earnestly, a smile tugging the corner of his
mouth. “You live close to here?”

“A twenty minute walk,” Will shrugs.

Tobias wraps his arms around the pottery box and picks it up. “Let’s go then.”

Will’s heart leaps. He looks down at his own box, hesitating. “Don’t we have to pay for all
this?”

Tobias shakes his head. “They’re giving it away for free I assume. I think all of this is free,”
he gestures around them. “Food for the hungry. Water for the thirsty.” He hoists his own box.
“And art supplies for the starving artists who need to cope with the world ending.”

Will laughs out loud at that. “The neediest of them all.”

“Exactly,” Tobias snorts. Will grabs his box and then just like that, they’re walking back to
his house. Well, technically the Wheeler’s house, but it doesn’t matter. His mind spins with
questions. Was his room clean? Was his mom home? She’d ask a lot of questions. Were Mike
and El still on the couch together? His heart speeds up at the idea of coming home with
another friend, at what Mike’s reaction would be. Then he shakes himself out of it.

One, stop thinking about Mike.

And two, he probably wouldn’t even notice. Or would notice and forget about it a second
later, too preoccupied by the girl right in front of him. Like he always was.

Before he can go too far down that depressing train of thought, Tobias is talking again,
something about how art causes your brain to go into a “flow” state that makes time go faster,
and then Will is listening, enraptured.

As they walk, the sun sets around them, the grass transitioning from a dull gray to soft yellow
to fresh green again and Will thinks it’s a metaphor somehow. Or maybe that’s just his artistic
brain talking from listening to Tobias. He’s amazed at how easily words seem to come to
Tobias, at how many random insights he has about life, and he feels like he can listen to him
all day. Their conversation ranges from the differences between painting and pottery to what
inspires each of them to what the very first art piece was- red markings on an African rock in
100,000 B.C., according to Tobias.

And it’s interesting, it’s all so interesting, and Will is so caught up in all of it that he’s almost
surprised when the Wheelers’ house comes into view.

Tobias looks around, like he was also temporarily in a different world. “Is this Maple Street?”
Will nods and Tobias’s face lights up. “I live here too.” He looks around and then points to
the end of the street, toward a cul-de-sac about ten houses away. “Down there.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Tobias nods happily. “8292 Maple Street.”

Will smiles. “Small world.”

“Indeed it is.”

They stare at each other for a moment before Will nervously breaks his gaze away. “Well,
let’s go.”

Tobias seems to hesitate. “Sorry if I’m imposing.”

“Imposing?” Will shakes his head. “Hey, I invited you, remember?”

“Yeah, right.” Tobias looks shy. “You did.”

Will looks at him. “So you’re not... imposing,” he repeats the unfamiliar word.

“Good.”

“Good.” Will is nervous again, his hands sweaty around the box he’s holding. And then he
starts heading up the driveway, his heart pounding, Tobias following behind him. He prays to
God that nothing embarrassing would be happening behind the door, like Joyce singing while
cooking or Jonathan smoking weed in the living room or Mike and El making out on the
couch- God forbid. But it’s not dinnertime and Jonathan only smokes in his room and when
he opens the door, the couch is empty. He breathes a sigh of relief. “Well, this is it,” he
announces. “Home sweet home.”

Tobias steps in, looking around. “Nice place.”

“It’s technically not mine,” Will shrugs. “Long story.” When Tobias shuts the door behind
him, Will hesitates. “Uh, we can head up to my room, you know, to see all my art and stuff.”

“Sounds good.”

A stair climb later, they’re in the second floor hallway. Will realizes that both Mike and El’s
doors are open, which means they’re out, probably at a movie or something, which is a real
possibility considering they didn’t pay any attention to the one they’d just watched.

“Everything okay?”

Will snaps out of it, realizing he was staring at Mike’s door. “Yeah, sorry.” He shakes his
head. “I was just realizing that my friends are out.”

“You live with your friends?”

“Like I said,” Will shoots him a grin. “Long story.”

“I got time,” Tobias responds immediately and Will’s chest flushes at the words. Someone
cares about him. Someone wants to learn more about him.

“Cool,” he says, in what he hopes is a casual way. Then he heads into his room, Tobias
behind him. Will quickly scans the area for anything messy or embarrassing but luckily he’d
cleaned it just this morning. Perks of having a lot of time on his hands. He turns to look at
Tobias, still insecure, but Tobias is already looking at his walls, setting his own box down on
Will’s desk absentmindedly as he stares at the first picture next to his doorway, one of a
three-headed dragon breathing fire with a town of people shooting arrows at it.

“The dimensions are spectacular. It looks like a picture.”

“Oh c’mon,” Will rolls his eyes. “It doesn’t look like a picture.”

“Not a picture,” Tobias admits. “But a replica. It looks so realistic.”

Will turns to see if he’s flattering him or saying what he wants to hear, but he’s earnest, still
staring at the picture. “Did you trace this or something?”

“Trace it?”

“Like trace over something to draw it?”

Will shakes his head. “No. No, it was freehand.”

“I envy your brain.”

Will grins. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tobias turns to him, an excited, wild look in his eyes and Will is rooted to the spot,
his entire body flushing. “There’s others?”

Will blinks quickly. “Uh- yeah. All over.” He gestures vaguely to the rest of his room, at the
drawings taped messily across the walls. It might seem chaotic or messy to other people, but
the drawings surrounding him were comforting. They’d acted as an escape for him,
something to look at when times got hard. It was an alternate dimension where he actually
had control over the monsters instead of vice versa. Where the monsters were his friends, or
foes, whatever he wanted. Where he fought them with friends or alone or not at all, it didn’t
matter. And someone looking at them, especially so intensely, it felt vulnerable but also...
good. Like he was appreciated. Like he was seen for once.

“I like this one.”

Will sees him looking at the one above his desk, where a knight is sitting by a fire, polishing
his armor. His helmet is off, revealing his spiked hair, and he’s polishing his helmet with a
rag, a bottle of oil by his feet. Will’s always liked that one because it represents what happens
when the fight is over, at the end of the night, when the fighters are vulnerable-

“Vulnerability,” Tobias says quietly to himself.

Will’s eyes widen. “You get it!”

“Am I the first one to guess it?”

“No,” Will chuckles softly, looking down. “You’re the first one.” He looks away. “No one
else has really looked at them like you are, let alone guessed the meaning behind them.”

“A shame, really.”

Will looks at him, feeling like he was about to cry. “You mean that?”

“Yeah,” Tobias nods at him. “I do. Your art is... really good.” He thinks for a second. “And I
mean that. Sorry, I don’t want to sound like I’m an art fanatic who thinks anything is good.
I’ve seen some shitty paintings in my time, trust me.”

Will coughs out a laugh. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. But yours are not under that category. Honestly.” Tobias is looking at him with a
sudden interest. “So... tell me about that long story.”

Right, the long story of how he got to living with his friends in a house that wasn’t his. And
then they’re sitting, Will on his bed and Tobias on his desk chair, and Will is talking about
everything, more than he ever thought he would with a stranger. His childhood, feeling
misunderstood but using art as an escape, having to move to a new school in California and
struggling to make friends but still having his sister El, and moving back to Hawkins with his
childhood best friend only to see that the world’s ending. And of course he leaves out any
incriminating details about the Upside Down or Vecna.

But the most surprising part of all is not how he’s able to be this open, but how Tobias is
hanging on every word, seeming actually interested, nodding throughout, smiling at the
happy parts and frowning at the sad ones.

At one point he even reaches an arm forward in sympathy, placing it on his shoulder, and
Will’s skin buzzes from the contact. Then Tobias retracts it and they’re both blushing,
although Will chalks it up to nerves or awkwardness because no way is he going down that
path again.

And then it’s getting dark outside and Tobias says he has to leave and Will is apologizing for
talking about himself the whole time because he wants to learn more about him really and
then Tobias gives him a small smile and says he can learn more about him tomorrow at
around 7pm and then the address is there again. 8292 Maple Street.

Will walks him to the door. “I’ll be there.”

“You will?”

Will nods. “Definitely.”

Tobias grins at him. “See you then.”

“Yeah.” Something in Will’s chest flutters. “See you then.”

And then Will shuts the door behind him, pausing for a second and then leaning against it like
he’s in a movie or something. It’s only then that he realizes he broke a personal record.

He hasn’t thought about Mike in over an hour.

 Chapter 2

It’s the next morning and Will is standing in the kitchen, yawning as he grabs a box of
Honeycombs out of the cabinet. Judging by how light the box is, the Wheelers are almost out
of it, and he’s right when his bowl only fills up halfway, cereal dust sprinkling overtop. He
looks around for somewhere to recycle the box. Did they even have a recycling bin?

“Are those Honeycombs?” Will startles at Mike’s voice. He turns to see him standing in the
doorway, his hair slightly messy from just waking up.

“Oh, yeah. But we’re out.”

“Oh.” Mike looks disappointed.

Will hesitates, looking down at his bowl. “You can have half of mine if you want.”

“No, that’s okay,” Mike shakes his head. “I’ll just make toast or something.”

Will nods, that option making more sense anyways. Plus his bowl was barely filled enough as
it was. Why did he always have to be so selfless? He continues standing there for a second,
the box still clutched in his hand, before remembering what he was originally trying to do.
“Do you guys have a recycling bin?”

“Yup. Over there.” Mike nods his head toward the pantry. “It’s the white bin.”

“Thanks.” He walks over and opens the door, dropping the box in the bin. Behind him, he can
hear the rustling of Mike unwrapping the bread bag. His heart speeds up at the silence
between them, scrambling for a way to fill it.

Mike does first. “Is there a difference between wheat and whole-grain bread?”

“What?”

Mike is squinting at the bag. “Normally my mom buys wheat, but this week she got whole-
grain.”

Will shrugs. “It’s probably healthier.”

“Oh.” Mike nods. “Cool.” Then it goes silent again, that quiet, awkward tension back,
although if Will was being honest, it wasn’t anything new. Now that Mike and El were good
again- better than ever actually- it meant that Mike no longer needed to come to Will for
advice, which in retrospect was what most of their conversations were during spring break. El
won’t talk to me. I can’t say the thing El wants me to say. What do you mean El was lying to
me in the letters? So now that that was taken away, it left them to where they were now.
Quite literally talking about sliced bread. “Do you think El would like it?”

There it is.
“I don’t know, probably.” Will can’t keep the annoyance out of his voice and Mike seems to
notice, opening his mouth like he wants to say something, but then, as if on cue, El walks in.

“Good morning, Mike.”

Mike’s confused look morphs into a relieved one. “Morning, El.”

She turns to Will. “Good morning, Will.”

“Good morning,” he says, with noticeably less pep. He stares down at his Honeycombs and
listens as the previous awkward silence of the kitchen transforms into eager back-and-forth
conversation between Mike and El, slipping into their natural boyfriend and girlfriend roles
like it was made for them. Not even a minute later, Mike is waving toast in front of El and
she’s giggling, trying to grab it from him, and then Mike is putting the bread bag in between
them and playfully saying, “Make it yourself” to which she gives them those eyes as if to say
I don’t know how and Mike takes the bread bag back and softly says, “Fine, I’ll do it” and
Will is actually going to throw up, he’s actually-

“Hey, Will.” It’s Jonathan’s voice. He’s standing in the doorway, shooting an annoyed glance
toward Mike and El, who so far haven’t noticed him. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Yeah, sure,” Will says. He follows him out to the living room, grateful that Jonathan was
able to save him from The Mike and El Show, something that he never seemed able to do
himself. Instead he was always frozen in place, like a deer in headlights, watching them and
soaking in every detail like he was trying to convince his brain that it was over, that it was
time to move on, that this was his reality. But it never worked. In fact, it only made it worse.

But that’s good, right? If he has to get used to it for the rest of his life, he might as well face it
now. That’s what they said about the Mind Flayer, anyway, when he kept seeing it in his
dreams. But look how it turned out. It consumed him.

“Hey, so...” Jonathan is saying. They’re in the living room now, out of earshot from Mike and
El. “How did the art sale go last night?”

The art sale. Will’s chest flutters at the memories, images flashing through his mind. Rifling
through the box. Tobias coming up next to him. Will inviting him to his house and talking for
almost an hour. “Good,” he rushes out. “Really good.”

Jonathan’s mouth twists in sympathy, like he thinks Will is lying. “Look, I was in my room
last night and...” he trails off. “I heard you talking to yourself. But that’s okay. I know things
have been hard lately and I just want you to know that I’m always here, if you need someone
to talk to, you know?”

Will stares at him in silence. Talking to himself? Then he realizes and almost laughs out loud.
“No, no I wasn’t-” he shakes his head. “I met someone, at the art sale. His name’s Tobias.
And I invited him over.”

“Really?”
“Yeah,” Will nods, and he feels himself smiling. “He’s really nice actually. We both like art-
he does pottery and I do painting. And, well, he wanted to see my paintings so I let him. And
we ended up talking for a little bit.”

“Oh.” Jonathan suddenly looks a lot happier. “That’s great.”

“And it wasn’t an art sale, they were just giving everything away. It was a...” he tries to
remember what Tobias said. “A foolish mistake.”

Jonathan raises an eyebrow. “So you owe me $20 then?”

Will blanches. “Right, yeah, I’ll get that back to you-”

“I’m just kidding,” Jonathan reassures him. “Give it back to me whenever. I’m just happy
you met a, uh, friend.”

Will smiles again. “We’re actually hanging out again tonight, at around 7.” He checks his
watch. Nine more hours. “But he really liked my paintings, like on an entirely different
level.”

Jonathan raises his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Will can tell Jonathan wants to ask more, but he’s never been one to push. And Will isn’t sure
what exactly to tell him yet. “Well, I’m glad you found someone else.” He pauses suddenly,
like he said something he wasn’t supposed to say. Someone else. Someone besides Mike.

“I am too,” Will quickly agrees.

As if on cue, Mike and El come out of the kitchen, both with plates of toast. Jonathan casts
him a sympathetic look and then starts to leave, probably headed back up to his room. Will
knows he should follow him, but something keeps him rooted to the spot.

“Hey guys?” he asks once Jonathan’s gone.

Mike and El both turn to him. “Yeah?”

“What do you...” he hesitates for a second. “What do you think about my paintings?”

They’re both caught off guard, Mike especially, his eyes flitting away from Will and back
again. “Your paintings?”

“Yeah,” Will nods, feeling a selfish satisfaction that now Mike is forced to think about him.
“And my drawings too, I guess.”

“They’re cool,” Mike says.

“Just cool?”
Mike thinks for a second before snapping his fingers, like he was on a game show.
“Imaginative.”

El agrees with him. “Creative.”

Creative? Of course they were creative, it’s art. He shakes his head. “Yeah, but I mean, like,
the meaning behind them.”

Mike scrunches up his eyebrows, a confused look on his face, and Will would almost find it
endearing if his mind wasn’t flashing back to all the things Tobias said. Vulnerable. Inspiring.
Depth and colors and contrast- I respect those who can perform the art.

“The meaning behind them? Um, all of us. Fighting monsters.” He must see some kind of
disappointment on Will’s face because he keeps going. “Fighting the Demogorgon and the
Mind Flayer. And me being the heart, the leader.” He looks at El. “Because without heart,
we’d all fall apart.”

Will panics at the dangerous territory they were approaching because, you know, El didn’t
actually commission the painting. Before Mike can go any further, he cuts him off. “Right,
yeah, you’re the heart, Mike.” He clears his throat nervously. “I just meant, like, what do you
guys think about my paintings, like the...” he trails off, not knowing what he wanted to say.
It’s like he was fishing for something specific, something that would cause them to get it, to
see the emotions and fears and feeling behind the paintings. Because if they saw the
paintings, it meant they saw him.

But he gives up, seeing the blank looks on their face. Only one person saw it, and he was
currently about ten houses down the street.

The best Mike and El would be able to offer was that his paintings were cool, that they were
neat, that they were good depictions of fight scenes but nothing else. The hidden world
behind his paintings, the escapism and feeling of control and raw emotion he put into them
was invisible. Like he was too, in a way. They saw what was on the outside, but not the
inside.

He shakes his head. “Forget it. It’s not a big deal.” He looks at their plates. “Your food is
probably getting cold.”

“Yours too,” El jokes, pointing to his cereal.

He gives a small smile at that but Mike doesn’t react, still looking at him with confusion,
looking almost... concerned? He had to be imagining it. Will turns away unsurely. “I’ll see
you guys later?”

“Yeah,” El responds cheerily. “See you.”

Mike is silent for a moment before he seems to snap himself out of it. “See you, Will.”

He almost laughs. But you don’t see me.

The quote plays in his head as he heads up to his room. And then as he shuts the door. And
then as he sets his bowl of cereal down and stares at the paintings around his room.

You don’t see me, he thinks.

He checks the time. 8 ½ more hours.

But someone else does.

The rest of the day passes by at a snail’s pace. After eating his half-bowl of cereal- and then
going back down to the kitchen to grab fruit because it definitely wasn’t filling enough- he
spends the rest of the afternoon restless and agitated. In the spirit of art, he tries to make a
drawing, then crumples it up, then pulls out a blank canvas, and then puts it away again, and
then lies on his bed staring up at the ceiling, mind going on overdrive.

What were him and Tobias even going to do? Should he show up early? On time? Casually
late? Should he bring anything, like snacks or art supplies? What if Tobias forgot? What if he
forgot? No, he’s been thinking about this all day, no way would he forget.

At around 3pm, El stops by his room asking if he wants to join her and Mike in watching a
movie in the living room, and he’s so desperate for a distraction that he actually says yes. So
he spends the next few hours leaning into the right arm of the couch, Mike and El on the
other side, as Back to the Future plays, and Mike and El still do their whole giggling and
whispering thing, but Will is surprised he’s hardly affected by it. He must really be nervous.

Then dinner comes and it’s the usual mashup of both his mom and Mrs. Wheeler’s combined
cooking, plus everyone cramped around the dining table- in total him, Jonathan, Mike, El,
Nancy, Holly, his mom, Mr. Wheeler, Mrs. Wheeler, and Murray of all people. Luckily the
chaos allows him to fly under the radar and he’s able to push his chicken and broccoli around
nervously without anyone noticing. Well, except for Jonathan who keeps giving him small
smiles across the table like he’s proud, like he’s happy for him, and Will would hate the fact
that he always just seemed to know if he wasn’t in such desperate need of support.

Which leads him to where he is now, after dinner at around 6:45pm, standing in the doorway
of Jonathan’s room.

“Does this look good?” He’s talking about his outfit, a gray and red plaid button-up shirt with
charcoal-colored khakis. He’d spent ten minutes in front of the mirror debating whether or
not to keep his sleeves down or roll them up to his elbows, and he finally decided somewhere
in the middle, so they came halfway up his forearm.

“You clean up nice.” Jonathan looks over him approvingly. “This guy really must be
something special, huh?”
“Shut up,” Will feels his face go red. “I don’t know why I even came to you.” He starts to
leave.

“Will, wait,” Jonathan stands up. “I’m just teasing. Your outfit is good, honestly.”

“Really?”

Jonathan nods. “You’re looking your Sunday best.”

“What, like I’m about to go to church?” He’s suddenly panicked.

“No, no,” Jonathan quickly shakes his head. “I mean like it’s one of your best outfits. And it
is.” He pauses. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Will’s shoulders drop. “I’m just nervous.”

Jonathan gives him a sympathetic smile, then his eyes light up with an idea. “You know what
I always do when I need an extra boost of confidence?”

“What?” He watches as Jonathan turns around, opening one of his drawers. “You better not
be searching for weed.”

Jonathan coughs out a laugh. “No.” He rifles around for a few seconds before finding it.
“Here.”

Will looks at the bottle. “Is that cologne?”

He sees his skepticism. “What, you care about looking good but not smelling good?”

“No- I,” he cuts himself off, staring at the small bottle. “Is this really necessary? For hanging
out with a friend?”

Jonathan looks like he made a wrong move. “He’s a friend?”

“I mean-” Will blinks quickly. “I don’t know yet. I...” he trails off. “I don’t know yet.”

Jonathan looks relaxed again. “Well this will help your chances.”

Will hesitantly takes it from him and then sprays once on his neck, and another on his wrist.
He tries not to cough. “This is strong.”

“Exactly.”

“Something tells me this also doubles for covering up weed.”

“Something tells me it’s about time you get going.”

Will checks his watch. 6:50pm. Shit. “Yeah, I gotta go.”

“Have fun,” Jonathan says. Then his voice turns serious. “But not too much fun.”
Will rolls his eyes. “Oh my god.” But inside he’s internally grateful for Jonathan’s support,
more than words can explain. Especially after spending his entire life thinking he’s a freak,
hearing it from the movies, from other kids, from all of society. And the fact that one of the
closest people to him, supports him... it means the world. It’s something he’ll never take for
granted.

He begins walking down the stairs, so caught up in his thoughts that he hardly notices Mike
coming up the stairs, and almost bumps into him. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Mike stops moving, staring at him. “Is that a new shirt?”

“What?” Will looks down. “Uh, no, I’ve always had it. I just haven’t worn it much.”

“Oh. Cool. It looks good.”

Will’s cheeks flush at the comment. “Really?”

Mike looks surprised at his own words. “Yeah, I mean- it’s-” he stutters for a second. “Are
you wearing cologne?”

Will feels a wave of embarrassment wash over him. So it was that obvious. “I borrowed it
from Jonathan.”

“Well it, uh, it works.” Mike reddens slightly, something Will would normally miss if it
wasn’t for their close proximity.

“It works?”

“Yeah, like-” Mike cuts himself off, shaking his head. “You know, it smells good. Like-” he
cuts himself off again. “Forget it, I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

“Oh. Um-”

“Are you headed out somewhere?” Mike rushes out, clearly trying to change the subject.

Will panics. “Yeah the, uh, library. Gotta find some new books to read,” he chuckles
nervously. It goes silent and Will is almost positive Mike caught him in his lie, but when he
looks up, Mike is staring at his shirt again, a conflicted look on his face.

“Cool,” he says abruptly. “Well, see ya.”

“Yeah, see ya-” But Mike was already heading back up the stairs. Will watches him go,
confused, and then turns back around to go down the stairs himself.

As he reaches the bottom, he has a realization. No matter what just happened back there, one
thing is for sure.

If someone as oblivious as Mike noticed how he looked, Tobias definitely would.

-

He gets to Tobias’ house at exactly 7:01 pm, out of breath because he sped-walked the last
five houses. Luckily, when Tobias opens the door he looks the same as Will does, almost
breathless, but obviously not because he ran, but because he was nervous. Will’s eyes widen
at the realization.

“Come in,” Tobias says, opening the door wider.

“Thanks.” Will steps in and immediately is surrounded by the scent of sage- or lilacs or
lavender- he never was one to know different scents- but whatever it was he knew it smelled
good. And it completely matched the surroundings. House plants were everywhere, on tables
and desks and in pots in the corner of the room and the walls were covered with photographs
and artifacts and mirrors. The walls were painted dark green, giving the whole living room an
earthy, natural vibe.

Tobias looks nervous, watching his reaction. “My mom kinda goes crazy on the decorating.”

“I like it.” Will looks around in awe. “Compared to my room, this is a real art exhibit.”

Tobias relaxes, then shakes his head. “But this is all store-bought. Yours is original.”

Will looks down shyly. He’d only been here for less than a minute and was already blushing.
“I guess.”

Tobias smiles at his reaction. “Are you hungry? We still have food out.”

Will shakes his head. “No, I just had dinner.”

“Right, I forgot. Big family,” Tobias grins at him. “Or, makeshift family, technically.”

He remembered. “Yeah,” he blinks quickly. “Yeah. You got it.”

Tobias elbows him playfully. “Hopefully you’ll remember things about me.” He was being
more flirty this time. More touchy. Not that Will was complaining. Right when he starts
thinking about how to be flirty too, or shit, how to flirt in general, a little girl comes running
down the hallway.

“Tobias,” she squeals. “We’re out of markers! Please buy more. Please.”

Tobias huffs out a breath, casting Will a mock-frustrated look, before crouching down. “I told
you to stay downstairs.”

“We’re out of markers!” she says again, like that was a bigger issue. Which was something
Will could understand. “Buy more. Now.”

“I can’t.” Tobias’ voice is soft and Will’s heart swells. “Just use colored pencils or something.
It’s only for the next hour or two.”
She seems to remember something, turning to Will. “Is this him?”

“Lilia, my God.” Tobias puts a hand to his forehead. “Yes, now go.”

Lilia looks smug, seemingly forgetting about the markers. She runs back down the hallway
and at the last minute, turns around and makes a heart shape with both her hands, before
disappearing again.

It’s silent for a moment, Tobias refusing to look at him. “That was embarrassing.”

Will doesn’t even realize how much he was smiling until he talks. “It was cute.”

“Embarrassing.”

“Cute.”

“Embarrassing.”

They’re looking at each other now. “Cute.”

“If you say so.”

Will smiles at him, then looks back down the hallway. “She likes drawing?”

“My whole family is artists, what can I say?” Tobias jokes. “But no, not actually. My mom is
a lawyer and my dad...” he trails off, a pause Will knew all too well.

“Not in the picture?”

Tobias nods. “Yup.”

“Same here.” Will looks away. “He... wasn’t a good guy.”

“Neither was mine.”

Will looks back at him, heart thudding. He could understand. “It sucks, doesn’t it?”

Tobias’ mouth twists, struggling to find words. There was clearly a story there. Finally, he
nods. “It really does.”

Well said.

“On a note that isn’t depressing, downbeat fathers,” Tobias grins at him weakly. “Want to see
my room?”

Will nods eagerly. “Lead the way.” He follows Tobias into the kitchen and then another
hallway- turns out they live in a one-story house- and then he’s standing in the doorway of
Tobias’ room. It’s a little messy, but his mouth drops at just how interesting it is. Posters
cover the wall and a radio is softly playing rock music, not to mention there’s a whole pottery
table in the corner, complete with a tarp on the floor. “Wow.”
Tobias looks proud. “Yeah?”

“I didn’t even know a room could look like this.” He stares in awe.

“Oh, c’mon. If it wasn’t for the pottery wheel it would look like a normal room.”

Will shakes his head. “I guess we have different definitions of normal.”

Tobias laughs at that.

And then they both sit down and it’s a mirror of when they hung out in Will’s room, this time
Tobias on the bed and Will at the desk. And then Will is listening as Tobias finally talks about
himself, about living in Hawkins his whole life and selling his pottery at flea markets for a
quick buck and being a second parent for his sister since their mom worked long hours. He
even learns more about his father, about how he left when he was two and started a new
family, a family that Tobias is required by law to visit at least once a month.

“That’s bullshit.”

“I know.”

By the time he finishes talking, it’s been 45 minutes, although it didn’t feel like it. Longer or
shorter, Will couldn’t tell. It was like time had stopped completely. Tobias looks down,
somewhat sheepishly. “So that’s my life. I know it’s not as exciting as yours.”

Will tilts his head. “Trust me, that’s a good thing.”

“Yeah?”

And then the question is there and Will almost wants to tell him everything. Like everything.
Disappearing that one day in November only to be sent to an alternate dimension for a week,
getting possessed by the Mind Flayer, driving to Nevada to try and find El at a government
base. For a second, he even wants to tell him about Mike, about how that pain was almost
equal to all of it. But he doesn’t tell him any of those, the first ones because of obvious
reasons and the last one because of... less obvious reasons. Maybe he wanted to keep Mike’s
name out of their happy little bubble- even though technically Tobias already knew him as his
childhood friend. Or maybe he didn’t want Tobias to be jealous. Or maybe talking about it
meant that it was in the past and would never happen, although he hoped that wasn’t the
reason. For both his and Tobias’ sake.

Finally, after another hour of talking about art and their life stories and their families, Will is
back at the front door, this time with a book under his arm that Tobias lent him.
Mesopotamian Art in 14,000 B.C. He probably wasn’t going to read it, but the pictures
themselves were fascinating. His brain couldn’t even comprehend 500 years ago, let alone
16,000 years ago. And plus, though he’d never admit it, he liked the idea of having a part of
Tobias when he headed back to the Wheelers’ house. It was like a tether, something to tie him
back to the heaven that was ten houses down the street this whole time. A reminder that it
was real. That Tobias was real because honestly, he still couldn’t believe it.
As he walked back down the street, the night air fresh and rejuvenating, he was already
envisioning another painting to create that week. A knight, facing a slew of monsters and
dragons, facing the whole world, with the only defense being a flimsy shield.

But it wasn’t a shield.

It was Mesopotamian Art in 14,000 B.C.

 Chapter 3
Chapter Notes

Alright, here it is... the chapter where Mike finds out Will has a boyfriend ! Spoiler alert:
as you can imagine, he isn't too happy about it.

Over the next week, Will visited Tobias’ house more and more: one, because they didn’t have
school due to the whole earthquake slash fire situation that left the building in shambles, so
he had a lot of time on his hands, and two, because he just loved being there. He loved all the
quirky decorations on the walls, all the conversations they had, all the books and movies
Tobias recommended him that helped sustain him while he was at home. And although he felt
bad for not inviting Tobias to his house more- or at all- it’s because the Wheelers’ house was
basically a bed and breakfast at this point and he didn’t feel like dealing with so many prying
eyes, especially now that he knew what this is, which he learned at the end of the week when
Tobias was explaining something and their faces got closer and Tobias stopped talking and
kissed him. And he went home that night and excitedly ran past Mike and El on the couch
without stopping and knocked on Jonathan’s door until he let him in and told him everything,
and Jonathan looked happy, genuinely happy for him, and Will felt like crying.

And since then, he’s been on cloud nine, not only because he had a boyfriend, which Tobias
had made clear the next day, saying he “wasn’t one for a fling” which Will had laughed at
and agreed with, but also because he finally felt understood. Someone got why he loved art
and why it hurt to not have a father and what it was like to be a perpetual social outcast. And
once that void was filled, life was just easier. He’d see Mike and El flirt and hardly feel
anything, thinking about Tobias, thinking about times they flirted. All the free time he’d
previously spent staring at blank canvases and wondering why the hell he told Mike that El
had commissioned the painting he’d worked on for months was now replaced with ideas of
his own, ideas that seemed to come out of nowhere but once they were complete, had traces
from the books and movies Tobias had shown him. Jonathan seemed nicer and his mom
seemed nicer and hell, even Ted Wheeler seemed nicer because even if they were mean to
him, it wouldn’t affect him. It would bounce right off him like an arrow on a shield because
nothing mattered as long as he had Tobias.

And okay, maybe that was unhealthy or codependent or some kind of psychological thing,
but it didn’t matter, because after all he’d been through, he deserved it, or at least that’s what
Jonathan told him during one of their talks. He deserved to be happy. He deserved to have a
wild crazy love. A love so crazy that he was eagerly reading Colors: A Comprehensive
History and Analysis in the living room, cross-legged on the couch, in disbelief that early
tribes only had five colors to choose from: red, yellow, black, brown and white. He couldn’t
imagine being that limited. Maybe he should make a painting out of it, just to see what it was
like.
“Whatcha reading?”

Will looks up to see Mike standing in the living room doorway. “Oh,” he pauses. “Just a book
about colors.” Although that was barely the surface. As bad as it sounds, he finds himself
secretly wishing Mike would leave so he could keep reading.

“Colors,” Mike nods. “Cool.” He looks uncomfortable, like he wants to say something, and
Will puts his book down to give him his full attention. “Um,” he clears his throat. “We’re
good, right?”

What? “What do you mean?”

“Like-” Mike clears his throat again. “Lately we’ve been kinda distant? We haven’t talked
much and I...” he trails off and Will can tell he’s been thinking about this for a while now. “I
didn’t know if you were mad at me or something.”

“Mad at you?” Will echoes. He sets the book on the couch next to him. “I’m not mad at you.”

“Really?” Mike chokes out a laugh. “It seems like it.”

Will furrows his eyebrows. “Sorry if I gave you that impress-”

“You’re barely talking to me, you’re skipping meals to go to the library- or at least that’s
what Jonathan says- and you haven’t watched a movie with me and El in like, forever.”

Will thinks back. Was it that long? He does a quick calculation in his head. He met Tobias 10
days ago. “I didn’t realize.”

“If you’re mad at me Will you should just say it. Not do this passive-aggressive stuff.
Because it’s stupid.”

Will shakes his head, confused. “I’m not being passive-aggressive.”

“Okay, well whatever you want to call it, you’re acting like you don’t care about our
friendship anymore, so just tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it. Because I- I hate the
silence.” He crosses his arms, like he’s trying to stop himself from saying anything more. “So
just tell me what it is. What I did.”

Will blinks quickly. Weeks ago he would’ve begged for the opportunity for Mike to be in
front of him asking about what he did and how he could fix it and his words would’ve
overflowed about how he ignored him for El and didn’t write for a year and the whole fight
they had at the roller rink because Will didn’t tell Mike that El was lying about her life in
Lenora although how was he supposed to know that she was? Not that it mattered, because
Mike and El patched that up, anyway. He shakes his head at the memories, already feeling the
familiar heartbreak creep in. Not now. Not that he has Tobias. “You didn’t do anything,
Mike,” he says quietly.

“Bullshit.”
He looks up at him, seeing his crossed arms and clenched jaw. Why did he always have to be
so difficult? “Okay, fine,” he sighs, deciding to just get it off his chest while he had this
opportunity. “You- you did do something. You ignored me for eight months and then
apologized for it and then did it again while we’re living in the same house.” He takes a deep
breath, surprised at how angry he felt. “You were afraid that you lost me, the year I was in
Lenora, the year you hardly wrote or called, so you apologized and said we could be on the
same team or whatever. But as soon as we found El, I was invisible again.” Tears sting his
eyes and he quickly blinks them away. “And I’m still invisible, Mike.”

“You’re not invisible,” Mike whispers, his arms relaxing to his sides.

“I am. I am, Mike. There’s so many times that you’ve ignored me without even knowing it
just because El was there, and when she’s not there, our conversations are just awkward-”

“Awkward?” Mike blinks quickly.

“Yes.” Will looks at him pointedly. “Because all we talked about was El, back in California.
How she was lying to you. How you guys got into a fight. How she- she thinks you’re the
heart or whatever.” He looks to the side, his tears returning. “And now that you guys are
better than ever, what’s there for us to talk about? Nothing.” He throws up his hands.
“Because all you care about is El.”

“Will, hey.” Mike’s voice has gone soft, way too soft for the middle of a fight, and Will bites
his lip to stop from crying. “That’s because she’s my girlfriend, you know?”

Is he serious? “Yeah, I know, Mike.” He rubs his face with his hands. Don’t be obvious. “And
I’m happy for you guys, really. You’re great together-”

“You didn’t let me finish.” Mike is looking at him insistently. “She’s my girlfriend, but that
doesn’t mean- I mean not in the same, but you know. It applies to you too.”

Will leans back, starting to get frustrated. “What?”

“The way I feel, it applies to you too. It’s- you’re both-”

“Mike, what?”

“I care about you too.”

Will goes silent, looking at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Mike lets out a breath, then walks over, sitting next to him, the cushions dipping
under his weight. He stares at his hands. “I know I’m bad at showing it… and saying it.” He
swallows thickly. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel it.”

Will’s heart skips a beat. He feels like he did back in his room when he was packing, when
Mike was sitting on his bed and telling him that Hawkins wasn’t the same without him and
they should be a team again and be friends, best friends, and he was captivated, hanging on
every word.
But then he remembers Tobias, how he can show and say it, not to mention as more than a
friend. And then he feels a bit better. Like he still got what he wanted in some way. “Yeah,
that makes sense,” he says generously.

“And I’m sorry if I ignore you around El,” Mike rushes out. “Sometimes I feel like I have to
give her my full attention or I’ll lose her or something. I mean, she’s destined for great things
and I’m just a guy.” He laughs, then stops. “Wait, sorry, I shouldn’t talk about El.”

“No, no,” Will waves his hands. “You can talk about her. Just not only her.”

“Right. I’ll remember that.” Mike taps his head playfully. “It’s all up here.”

“For about five minutes.”

“Shut up.” Mike elbows him, laughing. Will joins him, and for a second, it feels like they’re
back to normal. He feels a warmth in his chest. “So we’re good?” Mike asks. “No more
pulling back?”

Will shakes his head. “I wasn’t pulling back.”

Mike fixes him with a look. “You were-”

“No, there’s another reason I’ve been… distant.” He swallows, knowing what he was about
to acknowledge.

“There is?”

Will nods, thinking. “Yeah. I’m not ready to say it yet. I... I think it would be best for me to
tell the whole group at once.”

Mike looks surprised. “That big of a deal?”

“You could say that.”

“What, is it a sudden interest in...” Mike leans over to see the book title. “Colors: A
Comprehensive History and Analysis?”

Will’s mind flashes back to when Tobias gave it to him, just yesterday, at how Will was
already out the door to go back home when he heard the front door open again behind him
and then Tobias was running up to him, the book in hand, until he was right in front of him
and embarrassedly muttering something about how it reminded him of him and Will had to
fight the urge to kiss him right then and there. He smiles at the memory. “Something like
that.”

Mike is watching him curiously. “Okay.” He looks down, drumming his fingers on his legs.
“Well, I’m looking forward to hearing it.”

Will just nods, hoping that would actually be true.

-

The perfect opportunity presents itself two days later. It’s a Friday night and Steve had kicked
the whole group out of Family Video, mumbling something about “prepubescent teenagers
scaring away the customers,” to which Dustin shot back, “What customers?” to which Steve
replied, “Exactly,” fixing him with a stare. So they all shuffled out, mumbling and
complaining as they debated where to go next. The arcade was open and so was the movie
theatre, but they all agreed to just hang out in Mike’s basement instead, considering they’d
already had enough excitement to last a lifetime. Plus Max was still on crutches and only had
some of her vision back. While El’s powers were greater than any of them could understand,
they weren’t perfect, and the consequences of Max’s sacrifice were palpable. Sometimes it
hurt Will to look at her, to see the physical evidence of Vecna, a part of which he knew still
lived inside him.

“You okay?” Will startles at Mike’s voice. At some point while walking, he’d come up beside
him.

“Just thinking.”

“About?” Will turns to him. It wasn’t like Mike to be this curious, this observant. But then
again, he had said he wanted to get back to how things used to be.

He exhales softly. “Vecna.”

Mike’s eyebrows scrunch in sympathy. “Hey, it’s okay, we’re coming up with new plans
every day. Don’t worry about-”

“And my announcement,” he says quickly.

“Oh?” Mike raises his eyebrows, almost playfully. “Tonight’s the

night?”

Will nods, his heart speeding up. “The whole group is here, so I might as well.” He swallows
nervously.

Mike is watching him. “I’m sure we’ll be cool with it. Whatever it is.”

Will lets out a self-deprecating laugh. “We’ll see about that.” He looks around, at the night
lights and cool air breezing past them, at Dustin and Lucas heading the group, debating
something animatedly, and then El and Max right behind them, El with a gentle hand on her
shoulder to guide her, and his chest clenches anxiously with the thought that it might never be
like this again, that they might look at him differently afterwards.

Even though he knew it probably wasn’t true. His friends had always been there for him,
through monsters and possessions and literal hell. For him being gay to be the thing that
pushes them over the edge, that makes them say no way, this is too much, we’re out, was hard
to believe. But regardless of what he believed, he wouldn’t know for sure until he told them.
Not to mention the fact that he had a boyfriend, too.

A chill ran down his neck, although he knew it wasn’t Vecna. It was the fear of rejection, of
vulnerability, of the voices in his head being right, that he was a freak and a mistake and
wrong. He shook his head. He couldn’t go down that path.

He just had to tell them.

They finally make it to the Wheelers’ house and it’s not long before they’ve completely
overtaken the basement, Dustin and Lucas sprawled out on the plaid couch, Max carefully
positioned in between them, Will on the stuffed armchair next to the couch, and Mike and El
sitting cross-legged on the floor behind the wooden coffee table.

Mike relaxes at the familiarity of it, at seeing everyone together in his basement for the first
time in months. It feels nice, cozy, and made him feel warm inside, but when his eyes land on
Will he tenses. Why does he look so nervous? Even from where he’s sitting, he can see how
wide his eyes are, his posture rigid, clearly lost in his head.

How is no one noticing this? Is it Vecna? Is he having some sort of vision? Did he need help?
“Will,” he calls out. “You okay?”

Will’s eyes flick to him and he looks suddenly determined, like Mike prompted him to do
something. “Guys, I have something to say.” Oh, right. The announcement. That’s what he
was nervous about.

Everyone stops talking and turns to him. “What’s up, Will?” Lucas asks casually.

“I...” Will fiddles with a thread on his sleeve. “I don’t know how to say this. But I want to.
Because you guys are my friends. And I love you all.” The seriousness of his words seems to
sink in and it gets even more quiet, both Dustin and Lucas straightening up from their
slouched positions.

“Yeah?” Dustin prompts.

Will goes quiet again and oh shit, he’s about to cry. Mike has to fight the urge to stand up and
go over to him. What the hell was this announcement? “You- you guys will accept me no
matter what, right?”

“Of course,” El replies immediately from next to him. “You are our friend, Will.”

The simple words seem to give Will the courage he needs because he takes a deep breath.
“Guys, I’m-” his voice cracks. “I’m just going to say it. I’m-” he swallows thickly. “I’m gay.”
Silence falls over them, and Mike can almost hear a pin drop, but then just as quickly people
are talking again.

“That’s okay, Will.”

“It’s okay.”

“We’ll always accept you.”

“That’s the big announcement?”

“Of course we’re fine with that.”

“I have a cousin who’s gay, or shit, should I not say that?”

“Thanks for telling us. Honestly.”

“We still love you Will.”

Mike is just listening, trying to process it, trying to get the full meaning of the words to sink
in. Will is gay. Will is gay. He likes guys. Not girls. He’s gay.

He looks up to see Will watching him and then he forces himself to snap out of it, and then
he’s nodding and smiling and saying positive phrases like everyone else because that’s what
Will needs right now. Their support. His support. And it’s not like he was faking it, right?
Will is still Will. The same guy, just- just with a new label. A label that Mike is for some
reason still processing.

“Thanks guys, I... wow,” Will chokes up. “This means so much to me, honestly, you don’t
even know.” And then El is getting up to hug him and Dustin and Lucas are leaning over to
give him fist bumps, but Mike is still dumbly frozen in place, although Will fortunately
doesn’t seem to notice, looking like he was in another world, like a weight has been lifted off
him for the first time in years. He looks younger, happier, and Mike’s heart sinks at the
thought that this had been weighing him down, that he had been dealing with it alone. He
should’ve known about it. Will gives another incredulous laugh. “And, um, there’s something
else too.”

“Bring it on, Byers,” Lucas says.

“Give us what you got,” Max adds.

“I...” he trails off. “I met someone.”

Someone whistles and he hears Dustin laugh.

“Will, my man!” Lucas calls out.

Even El starts clapping next to him, giggling happily. “Will has a boyfriend?”
Will hears her and gives a shy smile, one Mike has never seen before. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
He looks down at his hands and Mike frowns at the gesture. “I have a... boyfriend.”

Mike’s mind goes completely blank. A boyfriend? Will has a boyfriend? Since when? Not
even a friend- a boyfriend. Someone who was closer to Will than he was. That- that wasn’t
okay.

Unfortunately, while he’s having this very real realization that he needed time to process,
other people are noticing his silence.

“Mike.” There’s something in Max’s voice he can’t place. “Anything you want to say?”

“Nope,” he says without thinking.

“Nope?”

He realizes the callousness of his words and cringes. He looks up to see everyone looking at
him. “That’s not- sorry.” He sighs, trying to get it together, then infuses enthusiasm into his
voice. “I’m happy for you, Will, that’s great!” It’s probably too much, based on the way
Max’s eyebrows shoot up, but he can’t stop. “I mean a boyfriend, wow. That’s- man, that’s
just-” He laughs, then goes silent again. “I’m speechless.”

“Thanks, Mike.” But Will’s smile is hesitant.

“I- I can’t believe I didn’t notice. I mean, we literally live together, right? I never saw him.”
He turns to El. “Did you see him?” He turns back to Will before she can respond. “What’s his
name?”

“Tobias.” Will looks caught off guard. “Tobias Montgomery.”

“Ah. First and last name.” For some reason Mike feels irritated. Who is this guy? “Nice. Nice
name.” He drums his fingers on his lap impatiently. “So, uh, what’s he like?”

Luckily the question takes the attention off him and everyone turns back to Will, waiting.
Will takes a deep breath. “Well, we met down on Mulberry Street where they were selling art
supplies. So he’s an artist.”

“That’s so cute,” Max says. “You’re both artists.”

Will nods, blushing. “I know.”

Mike furrows his eyebrows. That’s not cute, it’s just coincidence. Simple, dumb luck. But he
decides not to say anything.

“What else?” Dustin prompts.

Will thinks for a second. “He likes pottery and knows a lot about history. He’s really smart
actually.”
“What, is he a professor or something?” The words are out of Mike’s mouth before he can
stop them.

“No,” Will rolls his eyes playfully. “But he does want to be a professor when he’s older.”

“Oh, yeah. Cool. That’s... what I meant.”

Luckily Will doesn’t seem offended, nodding happily at the fact. “He has like a million books
and knows all these random facts, especially about art. And you guys should see his room!
It’s insane- he has a pottery wheel in the corner and everything.”

“His room?” Dustin echoes with a toothy grin. “So you guys have been...” Dustin wiggles his
eyebrows. “Hanging out.”

The room erupts with oooohs and ahhhs and Will is mumbling “shut up,” but Mike can’t find
it in him to react to any of it because he’s suddenly putting the pieces together. All the times
Will went to the library. The obscure art books he came home with. The annoying cologne he
started wearing that would make Mike’s mind go blank every time he passed him. Skipping
meals. Skipping movie nights. Quite literally skipping around the house with happiness. He
was at Tobias’s house the whole time.

His chest feels tight. “He was the library?”

The laughter in the room dies down as everyone turns toward him, confused.

“The library?” Lucas asks.

Will looks suddenly sheepish. “Yeah, um, I’d tell everyone I was going to the library, but I
was, well, you know.”

“Will, you sly dog,” Dustin knocks him on the arm. “Sneaking around like that? I didn’t
know you had it in you.”

“Shut up, I wasn’t sneaking around.”

“You were, especially if Mike and El didn’t know.”

“It’s not like it was hard, he lives right down the street.”

“Where?” Mike asks.

“The cul-de-sac at the end of Maple.”

Mike’s brain spins with the new information. That was only a five minute walk. He crosses
his arms. “Well why hasn’t he visited you? Why does he make you walk there every time?”

Will rolls his eyes. “He doesn’t make me do anything, Mike. It was my choice to not have
him visit because- you know...” he’s struggling to find the words. “I didn’t know how you
guys would react.”
“And because he was sneaking around, Mike.” Dustin crosses his arms too, mock serious.
“That would ruin the whole plan.”

“For the last time, I wasn’t sneaking around!”

The room falls into laughter again and Mike forces himself to join them, if anything just to
stop Max from giving him these looks, like she knew something. Stop acting weird, he tells
himself. Just be a supportive friend.

“When can we meet him?” El asks.

“You guys want to meet him?”

“No, we want to keep hearing about his books and smarts and totally awesome room for the
rest of our lives,” Lucas says, grinning. “Yes we want to meet him, Will.”

Will smiles at that, looking happier than Mike’s seen him in a long time, which usually would
make him happy too, but now it only made something in his stomach sink. Who the hell was
this guy? “Okay, sure. I guess I can ask him to come over sometime-”

“Tomorrow,” El interrupts him. She turns to Mike. “Hopper is visiting, remember? It would
be a wonderful opportunity.”

“A wonderful opportunity,” Mike repeats. He tries to look excited. “She’s right. Everyone
will be here. My mom, my dad, Hopper, Joyce, Murray.”

Will’s face lights up. “That’s perfect.”

Then everyone is talking again. Dustin asks Will something and they’re deep in conversation.
Lucas and Max are whispering to each other. And he thinks El is even talking to him, and
he’s responding on autopilot, but throughout all of it he’s waiting for Will to look at him- not
even to say something- just to look at him. But he doesn’t. Not for a full minute. So he takes
matters into his own hands.

“Hey Will?”

Will turns away from him and Dustin’s conversation. “Yeah?”

He relishes under the attention. “Um...” he fights for something to say. “You’re sure it won’t
be too much for him? I mean, everyone will be here.”

Will nods, still looking at him, but it’s distant, like he’s envisioning someone else in his mind.
“He’ll be able to handle it. He’s good like that.”

He’s good like that. “Oh. Cool,” Mike says, regretting saying anything in the first place.
“Glad to hear it.”

And then Will gives a satisfied nod before turning back to Dustin. Mike looks down at his
hands, feeling weirdly empty. Just be happy for your best friend. How hard is that to do?
“Will.” Now it’s Max saying his name, looking suddenly serious. “I have an important
question to ask.” Mike almost breathes a sigh of relief. Finally, someone is realizing the
seriousness of this, the impact it could have, the problems it could cause. So far, everyone has
been blindly and openly supportive, which isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. No one knew
who this guy was and they needed to start asking questions. Thank you, Max. “Before the
dinner Saturday, I have to know...” she trails off. Everyone goes quiet, listening. Even Will
looks nervous. She looks up at him. “Is he cute?”

El bursts out laughing and Lucas and Dustin do too. Will’s face goes red, at a loss for words.
“I-I don’t know. I guess?”

“You guess?”

“You’ll see him tomorrow,” Will says, flustered. “You guys can decide.”

“Yes, but-” Max rolls her eyes. “I asked if you thought he’s cute.”

Will’s face grows impossibly redder. “I mean, obviously.” He gives a sheepish smile. “That’s
why I’m dating him.”

“Dating?” Mike’s voice is too loud and heads swerve toward him. He scrambles for a
justification. “Just, cause, that’s pretty serious, right?” He looks around for support but
they’re all still staring at him.

Finally, Lucas gives a playful grin. “Mike, he’s inviting him over for dinner with the family.
Of course it’s serious. You don’t just do something like that for a small flirtation.” He turns to
Max. “I remember the first time I invited Max to my house for dinner, like it was yesterday.”
He slings an arm around her and Max pushes him off, even though she’s smiling. “Flowers
on the doorstep. All dressed up. Sharing small smiles with the parents over wine and cheese.”
Everyone starts laughing although Mike can’t find it in himself to. Something in his stomach
twists and he suddenly feels sick.

“Shouldn’t we have at least met him before they started dating?” he asks.

“What, like Will needs our permission?” Max responds, challenging him. “He survived for a
week in the Upside Down by himself. I think we can trust his judgement. He knows how to
fend for himself.”

“Yeah, but still.” Mike pauses. “He needs a second opinion, right?” He looks around for any
agreement, but no one gives in. “We don’t know who this guy is.”

“Tobias?” Lucas scratches his chin, thinking. “He goes to Hawkins High, right?”

Will nods.

“It rings a bell. I think I’ve seen him around a few times.”

Dustin snaps his fingers. “Art room.”

“Art room,” Lucas echoes. “Always in there right as our class was beginning and his free
period was ending. Doing pottery. Blonde hair? Glasses?”

Will beams. “That’s him.”

“He didn’t talk much, but he seemed like a good guy.”

Dustin shrugs, turning back to Mike. “Seems pretty harmless to me.”

“But you didn’t hear him talk,” Mike says.

“Look, Mike,” Dustin says, almost sympathetic. “If there’s any red flags, we’ll see them
tomorrow. But from what we’ve heard so far, he’s a good guy. Right, Will?”

Will nods, and that stupid smile on his face is back. “He is. He’s really nice. Trust me, you
guys will like him.”

“That’s a bold assumption,” Mike says.

“Why?” And then Max is giving him that knowing look again and Mike just wants to make it
go away.

“Forget it.” He forces a smile. “He sounds great, Will. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“Neither can I.” Except Will’s smile is genuine.

Mike just wonders why his isn’t.

 Chapter 4
Chapter Notes

Tobias meets the family.

Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Tomorrow night comes a lot faster than Mike anticipated. The day had been full of movie-
watching with El, video games where he seemed to lose every time, and tensing every time
Will left the house, even if it was something as small as going to check the mail.

He didn’t know why he had such a bad feeling about this Tobias guy, or why he couldn’t stop
thinking about it, or why no one else seemed as concerned as he did, but he decided not to
read too much into it- not yet anyway- because if this Tobias guy showed up and turned out
to be a douchebag, he’d be telling everyone I told you so and this obsessiveness wouldn’t
matter in the long run. He’d even be grateful for it. Someone had to look out for Will, and if
no one else would, he’d gladly do it himself.

“I’m excited to meet Tobias,” El says. It’s about ten minutes before Tobias is about to arrive
and she’s sitting at her desk, brushing out her hair, a handheld mirror leaned against the back
of the desk and the wall. Mike is sitting on the bed behind her. “It will be nice to have another
friend in the group.”

Mike bristles. “Friend?” He shakes his head. “Tobias isn’t a friend, let alone joining the
group.”

El turns to him. “Why?”

“Why?” Mike blinks quickly. “We hardly even know him. He’s a stranger.”

“But he is important to Will.”

“Okay, sure, but what if this guy is an asshole? Or a dumb jock? And Will just can’t see it
because he’s cute or whatever?”

El blinks back at him. “Then he won’t be part of the group.”

“Exactly.” Mike breaths out a sigh of relief. “Exactly. Thank you, El.” He almost feels like
kissing her, but ten minutes before Tobias arrives is neither the place nor time to do that.
“Just remember that, okay? We need to have a skeptical eye tonight, especially because
everyone else is charmed by him, just because he likes art or whatever.”

El nods at him. “A skeptical eye.”

“You got it.” He anxiously looks at the door. “So whatever you do, don’t fall under his spell.”

“I won’t.” El sounds resolute. “I’m dating you, remember?”

Mike smiles at that. “Right, yeah. Thanks, El.” He feels grateful that someone is on his side.
And then a second later, like he’s about to go into battle. “Let’s go.”

A few minutes later, he’s standing in front of the front door, heart hammering. El is dutifully
by his side of course, and Jonathan is leaning against the stair handrail, looking happy in a
way that Mike knows isn’t because of the weed, and honestly, it scares him. If Jonathan isn’t
skeptical of this guy, he’s the only one who is. But the idea weirdly motivates him. He’ll
catch this guy. His mom, Joyce, and Nancy are in the kitchen, making final touches on
something that smells amazing. Dustin, Lucas, and Max are playing videogames in the
basement, an invitation Mike declined when they invited him. As for Hopper and Murray,
they’re bonding in the backyard, something about a government hovercraft that crashed a few
houses over that warrants inspection.

Although video games and government hovercrafts were both equally fascinating, nothing
was tempting enough to tear Mike away from the door, from getting the critical first
impression that would tell him all he needs to know. The first glance, the gut instinct, the
intuition he’d felt since first hearing the guy’s name, it would all be worth it to know he was
right. That this guy wasn’t good for Will. And then, in no particular order, he’d warn the
others about him and get them to agree Tobias was bad news and then at some point they’d
all meet up as a group to convince Will to break up with him and Will would do it, and then
afterwards be so grateful to all of them, to Mike especially, that their friendship would be
stronger than ever, things finally returning to normal.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of steps to getting there, steps that started now, with the door
opening. Shit, the door is opening. Mike straightens up, taking a deep breath, and a second
later, they walk in. Will... and Tobias.

Will looks like he was mid-laugh, while Tobias looks cool, calm and collected. It
immediately pisses him off.

“Guys...” Will’s cheeks are flushed. “This is Tobias.”

Mike turns, taking in his unruly blonde hair and thick glasses, wearing a tweed jacket that
looked one size too big for him. He really did look like a professor.

Jonathan is immediately walking forward, holding his hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

Tobias nods as he shakes his hand, his curls falling over his forehead. “Jonathan? I’ve heard a
lot about you.”

Jonathan looks flattered and Mike’s fists tighten. So he’s a charmer.

Tobias is now looking at him, his blue eyes visible through his glasses. “Mike?”

“Yes.” He begrudgingly leans forward for a handshake. “You’ve heard a lot about me?”
“Some.” It’s probably not meant to be taken as an offense, but Mike still does. They shake
hands and he pulls his hand away probably too fast.

“I’ve also heard some about you,” Mike can’t help but add.

“Good.” He’s looking back at Will, who giggles slightly. And he realizes this guy is
invincible because Will is hanging on his every word.

“Good,” Mike echoes. “The dining room is this way-”

“El,” Tobias cuts him off, and then El is shaking his hand. “Will’s sister, right?” What, did
this guy memorize their family tree?

“That’s me,” El giggles and Mike immediately tries to send her the telepathic message of El
you better not be getting charmed right now I swear to God.

“To the kitchen?” It’s Jonathan speaking now and Will, Tobias, and El all nod, following him
down the hallway. Mike is stuck in place, watching them go, before he shakes his head and
catches up to them.

“Tobias!” he hears Joyce’s voice from the kitchen. He walks in to see her giving Tobias a
hug. “I’m so glad to finally meet you!” She pulls back, staring back down at the pot she’s
stirring. “I hope you like rigatoni.”

“Not to be compared to spaghetti or rotini, or its distant cousin, linguini.”

This guy had to be joking, right? Mike looks over at Will, but he’s watching their interaction
with a smile on his face. “You know your pastas,” Joyce says.

“I learn what’s important. Will says you like pasta.”

“I do.” Joyce looks impressed and Mike wants to scream. Why is this guy so smooth? “Do
you mind getting the others up here from the basement? Dustin, Lucas, and Max. Dinner’s
about finished.”

“Sure.” Tobias turns to Will, who Mike realizes hasn’t looked at Mike a single time since
getting here, and they start whispering to each other, so soft Mike can barely hear their
conversation.

“You ready to meet them?” Will asks.

Tobias nods. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“They might be... a lot.”

“I can handle it.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”
“Okay, I just wanted to check.”

“Thank you, Will. Really.”

Well this conversation was going nowhere. Mike brushes past them. “I’ll do it.” He opens the
basement door, yelling down. “Guys!” he calls out. “Prince Charming is here.”

He hears the videogame pause and then Dustin is running to the bottom of the stairs, staring
up at Mike. He bats his eyes, playing along. “The one and only?”

Mike’s about to reply with something about a princess and a tall castle and everyone being
under a spell so watch the fuck out, but before he can, Max and Lucas are by Dustin’s side
and then they’re all running up the stairs, Mike dodging out of the way just in time. And if he
thought the kitchen was chaotic before, it just got worse. They skid to the top of the steps,
talking over each other.

“We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hopefully you like pasta.”

“You are cute.”

“Was the walk over here okay?”

“How are you?”

“What are your intentions with our boy Will?”

Tobias clears his throat. “Yes, thanks, yes, good, and good intentions only, I swear.”

Mike’s jaw drops. Was he really able to follow all that?

“He can keep up with us.” Max raises her eyebrows at Will. “Nice.”

Will beams. “I told you guys he’d be able to handle it.” Mike realizes Will’s looking at him.
Right, he was the one who said that.

“It’s only been five minutes,” he finds himself saying. “We’ll see.”

“Uh, yeah,” Lucas cuts in. “But we’re happy you’re here, Tobias. Will’s told us a lot about
you.”

“Has he?”

Lucas nods, grinning. “I mean, only that you’re smart and nice and so very interesting.”

“Is that so?” Tobias turns to Will, who’s blushing, and they stare at each other for a moment
before Will breaks their gaze.

“I may have said something,” Will mumbles.

“Tobias,” El chimes in. “What is your favorite thing about Will?” Mike almost rolls his eyes
at the question until he realizes it might not be so stupid after all. If Tobias says something
untrue about Will or weird in some way, everyone would see who he really is. He breathes a
sigh of relief, glad that El was back in the screening process.

Tobias thinks for a moment. “His creativity.”

“Yeah?” Will sounds touched.

Tobias nods. “His paintings, his drawings, his- his mind.” He pauses. “It’s...” he sounds
suddenly shy. “It’s beautiful.”

They all go silent, only the sounds of spoons against pots in the background.

“Wow, Will,” Dustin laughs. “I think you just found true love.”

“That’s...” Mike cuts in. “That’s pretty early to say that.”

Dustin looks at him. “It’s just an expression.”

“And besides, Mike,” Will adds. “Didn’t you tell us you loved El from the moment you saw
her?” When Mike doesn’t say anything, he prompts further. “You know, what you were
telling her when she was, um, in that pool?” He’s clearly changing the words for Tobias.

“Um, yeah. Right. I forgot.”

“You forgot?” El asks quietly from beside him and he freezes.

“I mean, it was pretty chaotic back there. In the- the pool. I don’t remember a lot of it. But
yeah, I did say that. We had to save Max, right?” But it’s clearly not the right thing to say
based on the frown El sends him. Shit.

“Dinner’s ready,” his mom announces, and Mike has never been so glad to hear his mother’s
voice in his life.

It takes ten minutes for them to get fully situated. Someone had to go get Hopper and Murray
from outside, his dad had to be cajoled from his La-Z-Boy, and it took time for his mom,
Joyce, and Nancy to transfer all the food from the oven to the table. A table which was still
too small, even after bringing up another one from the basement and pushing them side by
side.

In the midst of all of it, Lucas had pulled him aside. “You need to chill out, dude.”

“What?”

“Look, you’re taking your overprotective best friend role seriously, and I respect that, but you
might be doing more harm than good. It’s like you’re trying to catch him off guard.”

Mike reels back. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah, maybe later down the line. But it’s his first time meeting...” Lucas looks around,
widening his eyes. “Everyone. He’s already under a lot of pressure. Don’t make it worse for
him.”

Mike goes silent, not knowing what to say. “I’ll try.”

Lucas gives him a look. “Mike, we both know I’ll try means you’re not going to do shit.”

Damn. “Okay, so?”

Lucas huffs out a breath. “Just try to have some mercy, Wheeler.” He claps him on the back.
“Okay? Just for the next hour.”

“An hour is a long time.”

Lucas rolls his eyes, smiling. “It’s funny. Vecna came back and the world is ending and
you’re still the same Mike Wheeler.” He’s interrupted by Max coming up next to him. He
looks back at Mike as she guides him away to take their places at the table, mouthing the
word mercy with raised eyebrows.

Mike has never been one for lip-reading. Mercy looked a lot like get him.

And finally, him and Lucas were on the same page.

Dinner starts off uneventfully. First, everyone is commenting on the food, on how good it is
and what seasoning did you use for this and can I have the recipe although that’s mainly the
adults anyways. Then the subject inevitably changes to the news, to the 7.4 magnitude
earthquake and people fleeing the area and how it’s been cloudy for over a week now. And
then, finally, the conversation turns to Tobias and Mike is waiting, eagerly, for him to slip up,
to show his real colors, for all Mike’s suspicions to become true.

But then Tobias is handling every question like a pro.

“Where are you from?” Joyce asks.

“Hawkins, my whole life. A Tiger, born and raised.”

This raises a chuckle, although Mike doesn’t give in.

“How did you meet Will?” It’s Hopper.

“They were selling art supplies down on Mulberry Street. It was chance, or fate, depending
how you look at it.”
That then spurred a debate over chance versus fate, and as interesting as it was, Mike didn’t
listen, trying to stay focused. Although focused meant staring at Tobias, who was staring at
Will, who was staring back at Tobias, and then suddenly the discussion was interesting to
Mike again.

“Do you live near here?” It’s Joyce again.

“Right down the street. 8292 Maple Lane.”

“How nice! So you’ve visited each other?”

“Will’s visited me a few times. I’ve been here once.”

“Only once?” Joyce casts a disapproving look at Will. “I hope you know you’re welcome
anytime.”

“I wasn’t sure-” Will cuts himself off. “I wasn’t sure how you all would react. If he was over
here.” The words are vulnerable, and the table temporarily goes silent. Then it erupts back
into conversation.

“Of course he’s welcome!”

“We like Tobias.”

“You’re welcome anytime, son.”

“No judgement here.”

Mike stabs the rotini on his plate, although it’s not like anyone would notice. In fact, he could
jump up on his chair and scream and he’s still not sure if anyone would notice. All eyes are
glued on Tobias- Joyce, all his friends, Nancy, Jonathan, Murray, Hopper. The only exception
is his father, who’s chewing his pasta absentmindedly, like it’s an average Tuesday. Partly
because that’s just how he was- ridiculously unaffected by life- and also because as far as Ted
knows, this whole dinner is just to meet Will’s friend. If he knew the real reason, Mike knew
he’d be just as mad as he was, if not more. For the first time he actually has something in
common with his father. Mike shakes away the frightening thought, turning back to the
conversation at hand, where apparently Tobias and Jonathan just found out they have the
exact same taste in music.

“Joy Division?” Jonathan asks.

Tobias nods. “Brilliant stuff. The last album was some of their best work.”

“How about The Smiths?

“I love The Smiths. Reel around the fountain?”

“How soon is now?”

“Should I stay or should I go?” Mike’s jaw drops at the words. That’s Will’s favorite song.
Mike looks over and as expected, Will has a smile on his face, looking like he couldn’t be
more in love. He clenches his fork. What’s next, Tobias and Nancy both being newspaper
editors? Tobias bonding with Max over a lifelong love of skateboarding? Playing a game of
basketball with Lucas in the backyard?

He looks around to see if anyone else is suspicious of this guy’s too-good-to-be-trueness, but
everyone is seemingly unfazed, eating, smiling, listening, except for Murray, who’s looking
right at him.

And fine, if everyone was going to just sit back and let Tobias keep saying what everyone
wanted to hear like a goddamn chameleon without stopping to question it, that’s fine. But that
didn’t mean Mike had to.

He waits for a lull in the conversation and then goes for it. “What’s Will’s favorite movie?”

It takes Tobias a second to realize Mike’s talking to him. “Uh, Ghostbusters.”

“His favorite song?”

“Should I stay or should I go.” So he did know when he said it earlier, the charmer.

“Favorite food?”

Tobias seems to finally understand he’s being questioned and straightens up, tilting his head
slightly with an amused smile, like he’s on a game show. “Scrambled eggs.”

The conversations around them die down, people starting to pay attention.

“His birthday?”

“May 22nd.”

“His favorite TV show?”

“Airwolf.”

Mike starts to panic. “His favorite color?”

“Blue.”

How was he getting everything right? “His height?”

Tobias raises an eyebrow. “Do you even know his height?”

Mike stutters. “5’7”?”

Tobias smirks. “5’9”.”

And Mike feels like screaming. He takes a deep breath. “Okay, but what’s his-”
“Mike.” It’s Will’s voice, and he looks mad. “That’s enough.”

Mike deflates, leaning back in his chair. He looks around and sees that everyone is looking at
him. His parents, with confusion. Lucas, with disappointment. And Murray, like he’s amused.
He stares down at his plate. “Congratulations, Tobias. You passed.”

“Thanks, Mike,” Tobias replies, like nothing is wrong.

Joyce clears her throat, leaning over to give Tobias a small smile. “You really know a lot
about Will. I like that.”

Jonathan nods. “It’s nice to finally meet someone who cares this much about him.”

The words are like a slap in the face. Didn’t Jonathan realize Mike was right here? But no,
this random stranger is the first one to care about Will, apparently. “Someone else,” he
corrects.

“What?” Jonathan looks at him, wary.

“Someone else who cares about him.”

It goes silent again, and then Lucas is nervously laughing next to him. “Right, he’s saying we
all care about Will. Although I have to admit I don’t know his favorite food or shoe size or
whatever.” This earns a laugh from everyone and for the first time, the tension begins to
dissolve, the conversation transitioning back to... to something. Mike wasn’t really listening,
his head still buzzing.

He looks at Will and sees his cheeks are flushed, although he’s still refusing to look at him.
Hopefully he wouldn’t stay mad for long. If anything, he should be grateful that Mike tested
Tobias, that he passed. That he passed. Panic runs through him. Shit, what was his reason
going to be for why they had to break up? If anything his interrogation just reaffirmed that
he’s a good guy and cares about Will. Shit, shit, shit.

He hears the sound of chairs scooting and realizes everyone is standing up, starting to clear
off the table. He stands up too, mind racing for anything Tobias did wrong, any tone of voice
or wrong word choice or anything.

“Mike?” El is next to him, looking up at him with concern. “Are you okay?”

“What? Uh, yeah,” he blinks quickly. “Just- just thinking.” He looks around and then lowers
his voice. “What do you think about him?”

“Him?”

“That guy.”

“Oh.” El’s face brightens. “He seems nice. He is smart and respectful.”

He internally facepalms. He needed to switch tactics. “Okay, what do you not like about
him?”
Now El is quiet, thinking. “I don’t know.” She must see some kind of pleading look on his
face, because she’s thinking again. “His... his jacket was too big?” she offers after a second.

Mike huffs in frustration. That was hardly an argument, not unless he wanted everyone to
think he had a screw loose. “What about how he treated Will?”

El gives a soft smile. “Will seems very happy.”

The words cause a pang in his chest and Mike suddenly feels like crying. It’s a stark contrast
to the anger he’s felt all night, because he couldn’t disprove that one. The evidence was right
there, in Will’s smile and starry eyes and softness in his voice. Tobias made him happy.

She puts her hand on his arm. “Mike, he’ll always be your friend. You know that.”

And he hated that too. The finality of her tone, the certainty, the almost sympathetic way she
said it, and he restlessly looks around the room. Will might like Tobias, but they still barely
knew who the guy was. It wasn’t over.

He spots everyone standing by the top of the basement stairs- Max, Lucas, Dustin, and of
course Will and Tobias who were standing way too close to each other. He quickly goes over
to join them.

Max is talking. “You’re free to join us,” she’s saying. “We’re playing Space Invaders and
these goons,” she looks between Lucas and Dustin. “Are shit at it, so you have a real chance
of winning.”

Tobias strokes his chin, thinking. “The one on the Atari?”

Max nods excitedly.

Tobias grins. “Count me in.” He hesitates. “But I can’t stay for too long. I have to pick up my
sister at 8,” he says, checking his watch. “She has dance class.” Mike rolls his eyes. That was
basically the same as saying I have to leave to feed random homeless people around the city.
And who knew if it was even true? Tobias looks back at the kitchen. “And shouldn’t we help
clean up?” Holy shit. Maybe that’s what was wrong with him- he was trying so hard to be
perfect because he had something to hide. No one was this good. Which meant he was doing
it consciously. Because he had something to hide. The idea reenergizes him.

“A few rounds can’t hurt,” Mike says. Everyone turns to him, looking tense. “What?”

“As long as we’re talking about rounds of a video game and not rounds of questioning.” Max
raises her eyebrows at him.

“No, no more questions.” He shakes his head. “And you passed, remember?” he smiles,
despite the irritated way the words came out.

“Right.” Tobias seems hesitant though and Will steps closer to him in reassurance.

“It’ll be fun,” Will says softly. Tobias looks down at something and Mike does too. Oh great,
he’s holding his hand.
“Yeah, yeah.” Tobias is flustered. “Let’s go.”

Anger burns inside Mike’s chest, although he doesn’t know why. All he knows is that if he’s
feeling like this, his father is going to go through the roof. And it comforts him to know he
has an ally on his side, especially because El has already seemed to join the dark side,
bounding down the stairs after everyone without a care in the world, looking definitely not
suspicious and skeptical. Guess it was up to him now. He sighs, realizing he hasn’t moved
yet.

And apparently someone else has too.

“Struggling there, Wheeler?” It’s Murray, standing behind him, a wide grin on his face.

Mike furrows his eyebrows. “With what?”

“You tell me.” He has that singsong lilt in his voice and it pisses Mike off. “Tough leg day?
Deathly fear of stairs? A hatred for Space Invaders? Or perhaps maybe there’s another reason
that Mike here would like to share with the class today for why he can’t go down the stairs
and join the rest of his friends?”

What the hell is he talking about? “No, I’m just tired,” he lies.

“Hmm.” Murray brings a hand up to his chin, with an exaggerating thinking face. “You didn’t
seem tired during dinner. Quite the opposite, actually. That was a real impassioned interview
you gave. Ever think of working in HR?” Before Mike can respond, he’s talking again.
“Tired, no. Not on my list of adjectives. I’d say you were wide awake, angry, fired up, one
might even say. Determined to take this guy down.”

Mike doesn’t know where he’s going with this, but he already knows he’s not going to like it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And that’s okay, that is okay, my young friend. These things take time, and money, and
energy, and a prenup that was definitely not fair, but that is life, and life, as we all know, is a
game. A fun game. So enjoy it while you can, Mike. Go downstairs. Play videogames with
your gaggle of friends. But do me one important favor?”

“What?” Mike asks flatly.

“Keep an eye on Will and that suspicious boy for me. Watch their interactions and catch any
red flags and in between it all, pay attention that special little feeling you get in your chest.”
He starts backing away. “And no, it’s not heartburn. Have a little more faith in Joyce and
your mother’s cooking than that.” Then he winks and leaves.

Mike watches him go, his mouth slightly open, replaying Murray’s words in his head.
Something about leg day and working in HR and... heartburn? For all he knew, he was
reciting a poem. He did catch one thing though, one thing that actually applied to him. Do me
a favor? Watch their interactions and catch any red flags. Did this mean what he thought it
did? That Murray was suspicious too? His chest lights up with the thought. So he wasn’t the
only one that thought Tobias was too perfect.
He turns back around toward the basement, walking down with a newfound pep in his step.
Murray was the one who originally got his sister and Jonathan together, and he remembered
Nancy saying something about his “scary amount of intuition.” If Murray was telling him to
look for red flags between Will and Tobias, they were real. Mike just had to find them.

He freezes once he gets to the bottom of the stairs.

Lucas, Max, and El were all sitting on the couch, with Dustin and Tobias on the floor in front
of them, playing against each other. And he spots a red flag immediately- Will’s head is on
Tobias’s shoulder. It’s been like this the whole night- it’s like they don’t care about each
other’s personal space. And how long have they known each other? Two weeks? This was
ridiculous. He walks over and immediately sits next to Will, who straightens up, turning to
him.

“What took you so long?”

“Murray decided to have a little chat with me.” Mike crosses his arms. “I have no idea what
he was talking about though.”

Will’s smile is playful. “Too much vodka?”

“Probably.”

“Classic Murray.”

“It’s like I say, different day, same bottle.”

Will laughs at that and then the game over sound is playing.

“You lost,” Dustin gloats. “Haha, suck it, Tobias!”

“What happened?” Max demands, like she’s a coach. “You almost had him!”

“I don’t know.” Tobias blinks quickly. “I lost it at the end.”

“Play again.” Max crosses her arms. “I can’t have Dustin thinking his shitty moves actually
work.”

“But they did and they do.” Dustin stretches his arms out. “Just admit it!”

“It’s Tobias’s first time playing, so I’m not admitting anything.”

“Actually, I want to see Will play,” Tobias says. Mike looks over and Tobias is already
looking at Mike.

“Me?” Will’s voice has gone soft again.

“Yeah,” Tobias says, shifting his gaze to look at Will. And then they’re switching positions,
so that Will is at the controls and Tobias is next to Mike. He tenses at the change.
“Dustin versus Will,” Max says, leaning back. “An even match.”

“Shut up,” Will says. “I’ve actually won before. Dustin can’t even say that.”

“I can!” He holds up a finger. “Once!”

They all start laughing. “Exactly,” Max giggles. “Against someone who’s never played
before.”

“Okay, so? Space Invaders doesn’t discriminate based on playing history.”

“Well they should.”

Mike listens to the banter, although he can’t find it in him to laugh along. Tobias being next
to him instead of Will was jarring, and it was almost like Tobias was angling his body so
Mike could hardly even see Will. He huffs, resigned to looking at the screen. He watches as
they fight, Will slowly defeating Dustin, and a few minutes later the game over screen
appears. Will lets out a cheer of victory and Dustin is throwing down the controls, mumbling
something about low expectations affecting his performance. Mike instinctively turns to
congratulate Will, but oh right, Tobias is in the way. And he’s already congratulating him, if
the arm around his shoulders is anything to go by.

So he just stuffs his hands in his pockets and stares straight ahead, watching numbly as the
next few rounds pass. Will and Lucas. Lucas and Dustin. And then El and Max, who are both
strangely good at the game, with Max being the crowned winner. There isn’t enough time for
Will and Tobias to compete because Tobias has to leave to get his sister, and also because
they probably couldn’t bear to compete against each other because they’re a team or
something stupid like that.

Which leads them to where they are now, slowly standing up, everyone stretching and
yawning. Tobias looks around. “Sorry to leave so soon.”

“It’s okay,” Mike says immediately. Lucas gives him a look. “What? It is okay, isn’t it?” he
looks around.

Lucas sighs heavily, turning to Tobias. “What he means to say is, we understand. You gotta
do what you gotta do as an older brother. Trust me, I get it.”

“You have a younger sister?”

“Who acts like she’s older,” Lucas grins. “But yes, I do.” He clears his throat. “Anyways,
thanks for coming. This whole night has been fun. And you seem like a chill dude.”

Everyone nods at that. Mike forces himself to nod too.

“Chill, for sure,” Max agrees.

“Really nice,” El says.

“A match made in heaven,” Dustin teases, and Mike watches as Will’s cheeks go red.
Will looks down, smiling slightly. “I’m glad you guys think so.”

“As am I,” Tobias says.

As am I. Mike replays the words in his head. Why does this guy talk like a 15th century
philosopher? This is what Will wants? And nobody’s questioning it?

“Hopefully you’ll visit again soon,” Max is saying, and then finally, finally, they’re walking
up the stairs and Tobias and Will are saying goodbye for a little too long and finally Tobias
leaves, the door shutting behind him, and Mike lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was
holding. Until Will’s next words.

“Is it weird that I already miss him?”

What?

“No,” Lucas shakes his head. “The first time Max left my house after family dinner I was
devasted. I think I even cried in my room after.”

“Oh, shut up,” Max swats him.

“What? It’s true.” Lucas shrugs playfully. Then he turns back to Will. “But it’s not weird,
really. Young love is like that.” He turns to Mike. “You and El were just separated for eight
months, right?”

Mike blinks, realizing he’s supposed to give some sort of inspirational advice. “Yeah, yeah. It
was hard.” He thinks back, remembering those first lonely days in Hawkins. It was hard with
both El and Will gone, and the letters had been a lifeline almost, tying him back to what was
familiar. Once a week, he’d write El, which after a while had started feeling like homework
assignments but that’s just because he didn’t know what to say. Or something. He clears his
throat. “You just have to remember that you’ll see them again.”

Luckily the words are enough because Will is nodding, looking happier, and Lucas is giving
him an approving look. Even El is leaning into his shoulder. So why did he feel like... this?

Will yawns. “Well, thanks for coming.”

“Are you kicking us out, Byers?”

Will shrugs. “The show’s over.”

“Ah, yes, Tobias, the show,” Dustin jokes, even though it really doesn’t make any sense. But
they’re all tired and stuffed with pasta and videogames, so they laugh. Except Mike, who
feels strangely empty. Dustin claps a hand on Lucas’s shoulder. “To the bikes?”

Lucas hesitates. “Actually, my mom is picking me and Max up. Considering...” he gestures to
her crutches.

“Right, that young love we just talked about.” He huffs out a breath. “And hey, for the
record-” He looks around. “If Suzie was here, she’d totally be offering me a ride.”
That actually gets a laugh out of Mike, and he’s grateful for it.

During the next ten minutes, everyone slowly disappears. Dustin rides off into the distance on
his bike and Lucas and Max step into an SUV and El says goodnight and heads up to her
room and then it’s just him and Will, standing outside. Mike feels weirdly sentimental, like
this is the last time him and Will would be... him and Will. He turns to him, taking in
everything about him. His plaid shirt. His soft expression. The watch on his wrist. Was he still
wearing their matching watches?

“Mike?” Will is looking at him. “What is it?”

Mike blanches. Was he staring? “Nothing, just-” he crosses his arms, the wind suddenly
feeling colder. “Things are different now, I guess.”

An expression flickers across Will’s face so fast that Mike almost misses it. Sadness?
Nostalgia? Regret? Then Will is looking back at the street again. Toward Tobias’ house, he
realizes. “It’s good though, right?” His pitch rises slightly at the end, like he’s unsure.

Mike can’t help but reassure him. “Yeah, yeah of course,” he rushes out. “We’re getting older.
Falling in love. Teenage stuff.”

Will smiles at that, although Mike can’t tell if it’s because of the joke or he’s thinking of
Tobias. He hopes it’s not the latter. “Right.” Then Will goes silent, like he wants to say
something, and Mike waits. Finally, Will takes a breath. “You were right.”

“What?”

“That thing you said, last summer, about how we can’t stay in your basement playing games
for the rest of our lives...” he shakes his head, chuckling. “I was so mad at the time because I
didn’t get it, but...” he pauses. “Now I do.”

“You do?” he asks quietly.

Will nods, seeming more sure of himself. “Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if you remember
that night, but I was trying to get you and Lucas to try that stupid new campaign I had.”

“It wasn’t stupid.”

Will smiles like he doesn’t believe him, like he’s saying it to be nice. “Thanks, Mike. But the
phone rang and you and Lucas scrambled toward it, thinking it was El or Max and I
remember thinking, how can anything be more important than D&D? Than us?” He freezes
suddenly. “Than the group, you know?” He shakes his head. “But now I get it.”

“Get what?”

“That we’re getting older and meeting people. New people. Interesting people.” He looks
down, staring at his shoes. “We couldn’t stay kids forever, right?”

The words cut him somewhere deep in his chest and he goes silent for a moment. “Right.”
“So I guess I’m a year later than you, Wheeler, but I finally got the message.” He gives a sad
smile. “We call each other a few times a year because we’re friends. But girlfriends,
boyfriends, that’s who you send books of letters to.” He swallows thickly. “Sorry I got mad at
you for that, back at the roller rink.” He says the next part quietly. “I guess I just didn’t
understand the difference or something.”

Mike blinks quickly. “What? No, no.” He shakes his head. “Will, even though we’re friends,
I should’ve called more. I should’ve wrote more. I- I wasn’t thinking-”

“Don’t feel bad. I just told you, I understand.” And that distant look is back in his eye, like
he’s envisioning someone else. “Some people are worth writing letters to.”

Worth writing letters to? He’s suddenly defensive. “And this Tobias guy is?”

“And El is?” The comeback is too fast and Will realizes, quickly backtracking. “Of course
she is, sorry.” He lets out a breath. “She... she loved your letters.”

Mike’s heart is pounding, and the words spill out of him. “I should’ve written you letters.”

“Mike, don’t-”

“I should’ve written you letters- long ones- and I should’ve called more,” he continues.
“Even if I couldn’t get through because Joyce was hogging the line with that stupid
telemarketing job, I should’ve kept trying, because you’re my best friend, Will. Dustin and
Lucas are great, but they’re-” he looks away nervously. “They’re not you, you know? And
El-” he freezes, not wanting to go too far with it. “Well, she’s not my best friend,” he finishes.

Will goes silent. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” his voice cracks. He clears his throat. “But I’m glad you have Tobias now. You, uh,
seem to get along with each other.”

That small smile on Will’s face is back and it stings, but Mike knows he deserves every sting,
every ounce of pain, because he was a terrible friend the past eight months. And because
maybe Jonathan was right. Someone finally cared about Will. The thought pains him. Where
the hell had he been? Will turns to him, almost optimistically. “So, you like Tobias then?”

The words catch him off guard. “Um- that’s your job, isn’t it?” he jokes.

Will stares at him for a second. “You don’t.”

“What?”

“It’s obvious, Mike.” He turns away, staring back at the street. “I realized it in, like, the first
five minutes he was here. And then the questions you asked him at dinner. I mean, he
answered everything right and you still weren’t satisfied. And you barely talked at all during
Space Invaders and at the end of the night it’s like you couldn’t wait to see him leave. You
disapprove of him. It’s obvious.”
Mike almost relishes in the fact that Will paid that much attention to him. “I don’t disapprove
of him.” He pauses, deciding to be honest. “I’m suspicious.”

“Of what?”

“Of...” Mike trails off. This was it. The moment he exposed the red flags, the things Tobias
did wrong, the reasons he wasn’t a match for Will. What were they again? “First off, he
knows way too much about you. I mean, your height, really?”

Will relaxes a bit, chuckling. “Hey, you were close. I was 5’7” last year. 5’9” now.”

Mike tries to ignore the metaphor behind it, that he knew him then but Tobias knew him now.
“Okay, but you guys are always...” he motions unsurely with his hands. “Standing so close to
each other. I mean that’s kind of...” his mind scrambles for the right word. Excessive?
Annoying? Makes me want to scream every time I see it? “A lot.”

Will gives him a look. “Says the guy who was the reason the three-inch rule was invented.”

Mike thinks back to what Hopper said about him and El hanging out in her room together.
Shit, he was right. “Touché.”

“Any other reasons?” Will says teasingly, although there’s a hint of insecurity under his
words. Mike wishes he could capitalize on it, confirm it in a way, but... he can’t.

“He’s bad at Space Invaders?”

Will laughs at that, like he thought he was joking. “He’s never played before. But knowing
him, he’s probably going to research everything about it tonight and come back ready to win
it. That’s how he is.”

That’s how he is. The knowing way the words are spoken causes something bitter to rise in
the back of his throat. Desperately, he searches for something else to say, something to wedge
Will away from this person he knows so deeply, but comes up empty. He’s too perfect.

Right! He’s too perfect. “So he tries extra hard to win people over? To learn what they like?”

Will thinks for a second. “I- I guess.”

“Almost like...” Mike pauses, building confidence. “Like he’s trying to charm them, to get
them to like him because if he was himself it wouldn’t be enough, so- so he overcompensates.
He goes over the top.”

Will frowns. “I wouldn’t say it’s over the top-”

“And then bingo, everyone is charmed. And no one tries to look deeper, beyond the surface,
to who he really is-”

“Who he really is?” Will cuts him off, shaking his head. “No, Mike, look, I don’t know what
you’re trying to say, but it’s not a manipulation thing. He’s actually interested in me, and of
course, all you guys too, and he retains information, like, super-fast.” He gives a small smile.
“It might seem like he’s trying to charm everyone, like he’s trying to memorize information,
but that’s just who he is. He pays attention. Which is charming, but not in a bad way. I mean,
I like it.” Mike’s jaw clenches. “I think you just have to get to know him better.”

He goes silent and Mike realizes it’s his turn to speak. “Right, yeah,” he replies automatically.
“I’ll get to know him.”

“You should. He’s a great guy, honestly. He’s smart, he’s funny, he likes art, which of course
I’ve already talked about, but there’s a lot of things you’ll like-”

“Much to discover,” Mike says sarcastically, but luckily Will doesn’t seem to notice, nodding
in agreement.

“Exactly.” Then he yawns. “I should go to bed.” He pauses. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” Mike nods. “See you tomorrow.”

And then Will walks away and it’s just him standing there, looking out at his driveway, the
night air swallowing him whole. After a minute, he goes inside.
 Chapter 5

“So, what did you think?” It’s the next day, around noon, and Will is laying on his back on
Tobias’s bed, throwing a tennis ball up and down in the air. He’d come over to Tobias’ house
as soon as he could the next day, mind still spinning from the giant, very serious family
dinner they’d had the night before and how well Tobias had handled it. Extremely well,
actually. Luckily Will had been able to sneak out of the house easily, if you left out the part
where Mike was already sitting at the kitchen table asking him where he was going with
some look in his eyes Will couldn’t place, but that was barely an obstacle and soon enough he
was walking down the street and knocking on Tobias’ door, who answered as if he were
expecting him, which led them to where they were now- Will on his back on his bed and
Tobias at the pottery wheel in the corner, sculpting a pot or a vase or a bowl, he wasn’t sure,
but he liked it anyways.

“What I thought about yesterday?”

“No, about the last book you gave me.” He rolls his eyes. “Yes, about yesterday.”

Tobias smiles at that, then pauses. “It was a lot of pressure.”

“You didn’t show it.”

“I didn’t?”

“No, not at all,” Will shakes his head in awe. “You were perfect, actually.”

“C’mon,” Tobias protests, even though his smile grows at the words. “I wasn’t perfect.”

“Really? Because I saw it last night.”

Tobias lets out an incredulous laugh. “You did, did you? Well, too bad because perfect
doesn’t-”

“Exist, because it’s subjective to each person,” he finishes for him. Tobias gives him a
surprised look. “What? I listen to your rants.”

“Will,” he says his name so fondly that it makes Will blush. He turns back to face the ceiling,
focusing on throwing the tennis ball up down up down. “I appreciate that.”

“Well I appreciate you saying interesting things for me to listen to.” He can feel Tobias
staring at him but refuses to meet his gaze. He knows he’s being more flirty than usual but
it’s only because he’s just so happy. With Tobias. With the dinner as a whole. With how he’s
able to be himself and the world hasn’t suddenly crumbled beneath him. Well, it is crumbled
beneath him, but for a different reason. He shakes his head from those thoughts. “Everyone
liked you,” he finds himself saying. “Jonathan. My friends. My mom. Hopper. It’s
unbelievable. You’re unbelievable.” And then he finally meets Tobias’ eyes, face flushed.
They stay like that for a moment, staring at each other, before Tobias goes back to kneading
his clay, looking troubled. “Not all your friends.”

Will pauses, knowing exactly what he means. And he hates it, that Mike was somehow able
to take away this moment between them, to cause Tobias to look so worried, to cause lines to
appear on his forehead. “Really? I have no idea who you’re talking about,” he jokes.

“It wasn’t obvious?” Tobias plays along.

“You mean Dustin?” Will pretends to think. “That round of Space Invaders was pretty
personal, now that I think about it.”

“No, no, I was talking about Mr. Wheeler. He barely said a word the whole night.”

Will laughs at that, while simultaneously trying not to think about how someday that might
become a real possibility, if he ever found out Tobias was more than his ‘friend he met at an
art sale.’ “Nope.” He shakes his head. “It was actually Jonathan. All that stuff he said about
The Smiths and Joy Division? That was a test. He actually hates their music. Did I forget to
mention that?”

“You definitely did.”

“Well, damn.” They both laugh, but after a few seconds they fall into silence, the tension
back. Will takes a deep breath. “Are you talking about Mike?”

Tobias nods, pushing up his glasses. “I am.”

“Right.” Will stops throwing the tennis ball, gripping it in his hands, feeling the fuzziness
scratch his palms. “Look, he’s...” Words flit through his mind. Overprotective?
Temperamental? Has literally no filter between his brain and his mouth, and even though it
sucks, that’s just how he is? “It wasn’t personal.”

“Will, that was the most personal thing I’ve ever seen.”

Will coughs out a laugh. “Okay, fine. You’re right.” He sits up to face Tobias, his feet
hanging over the side of the bed. “Look, even though I’m Mike’s friend, I still don’t
understand what’s going on inside his head 99% of the time. I’m not sure anyone does. But
from what he told me, he was concerned that you were...” he thinks back. “Too perfect, you
know? That you were purposely trying to charm everyone because you had something to
hide.”

“Yeah, I was trying to hide that I was nervous.”

Tobias was nervous. Butterflies fill his stomach at the thought. “Well it worked.”

“Too well, apparently.” Tobias looks back down at the clay and Will’s stomach twists.

“But it worked on everyone else. Like literally everyone else,” he reassures him. He thinks
back. “But what he did, interrogating you like that.” Anger floods his chest. “It wasn’t cool.”
“It’s okay.”

“No, Tobias,” he says tensely. “It wasn’t. You were already under a lot of pressure and it’s
like he was trying to get you to say the wrong thing. To trip up somehow.”

Tobias smirks. “But I didn’t.”

Will relaxes at his words, at his confidence, at how he viewed it like a victory rather than
something terrifying, like he won a game show or something. And the fact that he had
someone that self-assured by his side was... comforting to say the least. “You didn’t,” he
agrees.

“Although if you happen to hear that Mike’s preparing any more questions, send them my
way first. A 24-hour notice would be appreciated.” He shoots him a teasing grin before
turning back to his pottery wheel, this time looking a lot less defeated.

“He better not,” Will mumbles weakly.

“No. Let him.” Tobias’ voice is light, but there’s an undercurrent of something else
underneath. “I have to prove myself.”

Will rolls his eyes. “You shouldn’t have to prove yourself. Mike is just being an idiot. No one
interrogated El when they first started dating. Or Max for that matter. Or Suzie.” He thought
back. Has this really never happened before?

“I guess you’re different to him.”

The words sink in and Will lets out a self-deprecating laugh. “No, no, I’m not different to
him. Trust me.”

“What do you mean? I thought you two had the longest friendship out of everyone.”

Will scoffs. “Time doesn’t mean anything, not when girls come around.” He shoots Tobias a
knowing look, but then realizes he wouldn’t understand. He’s filled with a wave of gratitude
at the thought. “Never mind, not girls exactly, just... growing up.”

Tobias nods. “I understand. The teenage years are full of ups and downs. Either you ride it
out together or you drift apart.”

“And we drifted apart.”

Tobias frowns. “Really? He still seems, I don’t know, protective over you.”

“Yeah, now that I’m right in front of his face, living with him. When he’s practically forced
to see me.” The words come out angrier than intended. He exhales softly. “I- I know I told
you we kept in contact the eight months I was in California, but, um, it was very scarce
contact. Like maybe three phone calls, and they were during holidays, like he was obligated
to talk to me because I was his great aunt or something.” He tries to laugh at his own joke
even though he just felt sad. “And I wrote him a few letters, but he didn’t return them. Or,
more like, he’d mention them when he wrote to El and she’d show them to me. I mean, at
least he said something. So I shouldn’t really complain-”

“No,” Tobias cuts him off. “You should complain. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a
friend for that long. Ten years, you said?”

Will nods.

“All the friends I’ve had have been from circumstance. A camp we attended together. Art
class. The kids of my mom’s work friends. Long story short, it was, well, short-lived. Ten
years...” he trails off. “I mean, you guys practically grew up together. Of course it’ll hurt to
not have contact for that long.”

“Yeah, but we could’ve prevented it. He could’ve prevented it.” He shakes his head,
remembering something. “He actually apologized to me last night for the whole thing, but I
know he was just saying it out of guilt. If he really wanted write or call or whatever he said,
he would’ve. I think he’s just trying to appease his conscious.”

“Appease his conscious?” Tobias repeats. “You really have been listening to my rants.”

Will beams. “I told you.”

They look at each other for a second, smiling, before Tobias looks away. “But I guess you’re
right. It’s not personal.”

“What?”

“Mike’s an asshole to everyone.”

Will laughs at that.

“I mean if he’s treating his best friend of ten years like that, I couldn’t really expect much
after ten minutes, could I?”

“Tobias,” Will says playfully. “You should’ve still been treated with respect.”

“And you should’ve been too.” He fixes him with a look. “Really, Will. I’m just as mad as
you are.”

Will raises his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I think I might have to have a talk with this Mike Wheeler about his behavior over the
past year.”

“Good luck, because I’ve already tried that.”

“Maybe it just needs a little bit of elbow grease.”

He giggles. “Thank you, really. But you don’t have to. When Mike and I were talking last
night, I told him that I understood, well, you know.”
“That he’s an asshole?” Tobias turns away, mumbling. “Good for you for being able to,
because I’m still struggling with it.”

He snorts at that. “No, no. That I understood why he did what he did, now that I know what
it’s like to get so caught up in, you know, this.” He motions between the two of them. “So lost
in another person that you end up blocking out the rest of the world.” He thinks back. “I think
I actually did the same thing to him these past few weeks, because he confronted me a while
ago about how I was skipping dinners and movie nights, which of course meant I was mad at
him and being passive-aggressive and whatever else.” He gives an exasperated shake of his
head. “But I wasn’t. I was just in another world. It wasn’t personal, it wasn’t on purpose. So
it was probably the same for Mike.” He suddenly feels lighter. “Because that’s just how
dating someone is.”

Tobias is nodding. “That’s true. Before my mom knew about us, she thought I’d started
smoking weed or something. Always zoning out and smiling at nothing.”

Will chuckles. “And El thought I’d become an avid reader. She pulled me aside one day
saying she’s ‘glad I found a way to cope with the world ending.’”

“Reading or not, at least you still found a way to cope.”

“I did,” Will smiles.

“And I did too.” Tobias looks suddenly nervous. “I’m- I’m glad I met you, Will.”

Will’s heart swells. “I’m glad I met you too. Really glad.” He clears his throat. “So forget
about everyone else, about Mike. This is what matters. Us. And it’s... it’s not like I didn’t
know this about Mike. He’s always been the competitive, intense one who can’t hide his
emotions for shit. He was like this with Max, when she first tried to join The Party.” He gives
Tobias a sympathetic smile. “I think he’s just resistant to outsiders.”

“Makes sense, when it’s only been you, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all those years, even though
technically Dustin joined in 4th grade.”

Will is impressed. “Tobias Montgomery, you really know your information.”

“Correction. I know you.”

Will blushes. “You just have a good memory.”

“About things that matter.”

This guy. “Tobias, you are a charmer.”

“Let’s just hope Mike can see that.” Tobias catches himself. “Or no, that’s a bad thing, right?
Let’s hope he doesn’t, because charming people is bad, apparently.”

Will laughs at that, at this guy with messy blonde hair and thick glasses who’s currently
leaning over a pottery wheel making jokes about a guy whose name used to send Will into a
dark spiral, used to make his lungs collapse and eyes fill with tears, but now, it all seemed
silly. Mike was his childhood friend who went distant on him, who was dating his sister of all
people, and he also happened to be a giant asshole- to him and his sister at times and his new
boyfriend especially. Because Mike was Mike. And it was all so suddenly and simply
laughable that he wondered how he hadn’t seen it before. How he had taken it so seriously. It
felt like a weight was lifted off his chest.

He turns back to Tobias and then they’re talking again, the conversation transitioning to
something else, and whether it’s art or the current news about Hawkins or their families, Will
doesn’t really know, because their conversations always flowed so easily and quickly that it
sometimes felt like he was watching a movie or listening to a song.

And the song continued throughout the rest of the afternoon. At one point Tobias was
teaching him how to make a clay pot of his own, his hands covering Will’s in a way that kept
distracting him. And then later they were on Tobias’ bed watching a documentary together
about Craftsmanship in Ancient Egypt, which sounded boring but was actually really
interesting. And then later they were sitting at the dinner table, eating dinner- chicken
casserole cooked by Tobias’ mom, who got off her shift early and was in a good mood. And
even though it was technically their first time officially meeting- a very serious family dinner
of his own- Will wasn’t nervous. He felt welcomed, appreciated, happy. Tobias’ mother was
smart and sharp-witted, just like Tobias, and his little sister Lilia was mischievous but
creative, like a version of Will if he had more courage. And he loved it. He loved all of it. It
was a break from the chaos at the Wheelers’ house, from the monsters and alternate
dimensions that Tobias’ family was blissfully unaware of, from the crush that had plagued
him ever since he was twelve and realized he’d drawn one doodle too many of Mike’s eyes
and hair and stupid face. It was a break from everything bad, everything painful. A break
from his life. And if he was being honest, he never wanted to leave.

But eventually he had to, and he was back on Tobias’ doorstep, saying goodbye, a book under
one arm and a VHS tape under another. And as he walked the long ten houses down the
street, he shifted the book and VHS to one arm so he could finally check his watch.

8pm. Shit.

When Will opens the Wheelers’ front door, he cringes, hoping his brother or his mom
wouldn’t be mad at him for being gone practically all day without telling anyone (unless it
counted that Mike saw him in the kitchen that morning), but luckily they’re nowhere to be
seen. Instead, his attention is drawn to noises in the basement, to the sounds of Nintendo and
familiar voices and laughter. The Party is over. Normally after hanging out with someone for
that long Will would be drained and want to head straight to his room, but he felt so
energized, so happy and carefree, that drained was the last word in his vocabulary. That,
combined with the fact that everyone knew, not only about Tobias but that he was gay, well, it
made him feel like he was suddenly a main character in his own life. It gave him an energy
that he didn’t know he had. A confidence, almost. A feeling of safety. So, he decided to head
toward the noise, toward the chaos. He set down his book and VHS tape on the kitchen table
and headed down the stairs, seeing everyone crowded around the TV in the basement- Dustin
and Lucas on the couch, eyes fixed on the game with controllers in their hands, Max on the
stuffed armchair next to them, talking to El, who was sitting on the floor next to her, and then
finally Mike, who was sitting in a folding chair he must’ve dragged over from the table, just
watching Dustin and Lucas play, which was weird, considering it was his system and he was
usually playing at all times with other people taking turns to play with him. He was stingy
like that.

Dustin’s face lights up when he sees him. “Well, look who it is.” His voice raises, like he’s
announcing something. “Will has finally returned from his honeymoon.”

The game pauses and he feels everyone looking at him. Will scrunches his eyebrows in
confusion. “How did you guys know where I was?”

Dustin jabs a finger at Mike, who’s refusing to look at him. “Mike couldn’t shut up about it.”

Will fights the urge to roll his eyes. Figures. He almost wishes he’d run into Jonathan or even
his mom that morning instead. Anyone who actually liked Tobias and was cool with them
hanging out. “It wasn’t a honeymoon. We were just hanging out.”

“For eight hours?” Mike asks, still not looking at him.

“He’s been counting,” Dustin jokes.

“Shut up,” Mike says, and his tone is irritated, tense, like he really was mad.

“I mean, yeah, I guess it was-” Will checks his watch, knowing they were right. “Eight hours.
But what else is there to do? It’s not like we have school or anything.”

“He has a point,” Lucas says, and it looks like they’re about to unpause their game, but then
Mike is talking again.

“You missed dinner.”

“Sorry?” It comes out like a question. “Tobias’ mom made dinner for us.”

“What did she make?” Max asks politely, and Will is grateful for it.

“Casserole.”

“Ooh, don’t tell me, the one with baked potatoes?”

“No, chicken. Although I could tell her about that, she might want to try it out.”

“Hey, mention macaroni casserole too,” Dustin chimes in. “That’s always good.”

“What is this, the cooking channel? We get it.”

Everyone goes silent at Mike’s voice. Will just stares at him, blinking. What was his
problem? Lucas gives a small laugh, seeing Will’s reaction. “Don’t take it personal, Will.
He’s been like this all day.”

“And by like this, he means insufferable,” Max adds.

“Insufferable?” Mike repeats the word. “If by insufferable you mean rightfully concerned
about the situation-”

“The situation?” Will asks.

“-then yes I’ve been insufferable.”

“No, that is not what we meant at all.” Max fixes him with a stare. “Insufferable has only one
definition, Mike. And you are it.”

Will feels his heart rate speed up. “What’s the situation?”

“Mike’s concerned that you and Tobias are moving too fast,” Lucas explains. “Or something.
I stopped listening after the first few minutes because it didn’t really make any sense.”

“Ditto to that,” Dustin says. “I felt like I was back in American History getting lectured by
Mrs. Flanaghan.”

“Lectured?” Mike raises his eyebrows at the both of them. “I wasn’t lecturing, I had some
valid concerns about Will and this- this guy.”

“Tobias,” Will corrects him, irritated.

“Yeah, Tobias,” Mike says offhandedly. “There’s real problem areas we need to look into.”

Will crosses his arms. “Mike, don’t tell me these are the same problem areas you told me last
night about him being bad at Space Invaders and standing too close to me.”

Dustin snorts and Max starts laughing. “We haven’t heard those.”

Mike’s face reddens. “Okay, forget it.” He looks around. “Forget those reasons. What we
should be focusing on now is this. Will just came back from an eight-hour date.” He looks
around for support. “Doesn’t that seem a little excessive to anyone else?”

Will feels anger rise within him. Why was Mike so hellbent on criticizing their relationship?
On getting everyone to find problems with it? When it was a dream come true that everyone
was as accepting as they were, that they weren’t homophobic, let alone disapproving of
Tobias himself? Mike turning people against him was literally the last thing he needed,
especially after how good his day was. “It wasn’t excessive,” he says.

“Really?” Mike asks. “We thought you got kidnapped.”

“And by we,” Max adds. “He means just him.”

Lucas turns to Mike like he’s out of patience. “Mike, how could Will be kidnapped by a guy
we met last night?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, turning to Will. “Forget it. Logic doesn’t
work on him.”

“It doesn’t matter that we just met him last night!” Mike protests. “He’s still a stranger.”

“Case in point,” Lucas mutters.

“Guys,” Mike looks around, trying to gain support. “Really think about it.”

Really think about it? Will reels back. Was Mike trying to get everyone to hate Tobias? He
had to fight back before Mike ended up actually converting people. “No, don’t really think
about it,” he says, looking around at everyone. “Tobias is a good guy. A great guy, even. And
you all should like him because I do.” He blushes. “He’s nice, and creative, and smart, and
actually cares about me, and he makes me-” he stutters. “He makes me happy, to the point
that I finally understand you guys. All of you- Mike and El, Lucas and Max, Dustin and
Suzie. So just remember what you all have and apply it to me. Because I feel the same way as
you guys do. So support me the way you would support... yourselves?” He hopes he’s not
confusing anyone. “I don’t know. I’m just saying, don’t turn against Tobias. Because I- I
don’t want you to.”

A second later he hears slow clapping and realizes it’s Max. El copies her, a smile on her
face, and then Dustin and Lucas join in too and they’re all clapping, slow at first but then
faster like they’re in a cheesy movie. Dustin even whistles and he feels his face go red.

“Okay, fine,” Mike shouts over the applause. When it finally dies down, he speaks normally
again. “We get it. You like him. Just promise me one thing?” Everyone goes quiet, waiting.
“Just watch how many hours you spend with him in the future.”

Is he serious? But Will nods in reassurance anyway. “Okay, fine. When I hang out with him
next time it won’t be eight hours.”

Mike relaxes. “Good.”

“It’ll be ten.”

Everyone erupts in oooohs and giggles. Dustin starts laughing so hard he’s nearly falling off
the couch and Max looks pleased, almost proud of him. His chest flushes with pride.

“Byers, I didn’t know you had it in you,” Max says approvingly.

And apparently neither did Mike, who’s looking at him like he’s surprised, like he’s a
different person, but Will doesn’t exactly dislike it. He knows Tobias has been rubbing off on
him. He sees it in the way he talks, using slightly bigger words, in the way he still feels
different from everyone, but in a good way, like he’s special, because Tobias is that way too
and he likes Tobias. He sees it in how he wakes up in the morning with a spring in his step, a
new confidence due to having someone care about him, about what he has to say. It’s like he
has a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to love himself. A reason to live, in a way.
Dustin’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “I don’t know what you expected, Wheeler.
You can’t control how long their dates are. Especially when you and El are hitting the 24-
hour mark since you live together.”

“We’re not having 24-hour dates though!” Mike stretches out his hands in protest. “And
that’s different because El and I have known each other for years, meanwhile Will and this
guy barely even-” he cuts himself off. “You know what, forget it. It’s not like you guys are
even going to listen anyways.” He crosses his arms. “Just play the game.”

“Mike, you ever think-”

“Just play the game.” His tone is serious and Dustin shrugs, unpausing the game. The sounds
of Donkey Kong 3 fill the room.

Will looks up and is surprised to see Mike is already looking at him, his gaze full of so much
feeling that Will has break it, focusing on Dustin’s left shoe instead. He realizes he’s still
awkwardly standing by the bottom of the stairs, so he walks over to the couch, where Lucas
scoots over to let him sit by him. He tries to ignore the way he feels Mike’s gaze on him the
whole time. What was his problem?

He tries to think about Tobias, about how Mike is an asshole and how did I ever take this so
seriously and this whole situation is actually funny but it’s not working, not when Mike is in
the same room, where it all feels so serious again and his heart is pounding and Mike is
definitely not focusing on the game, clearly staring at him. So he gives in, looking at him, but
then Mike’s eyes widen slightly and he jerks his gaze away, looking back at the screen. So
Will does the same, watching as Mario slowly knocks Donkey Kong off the ladder. After
about ten seconds of this, he dares a look back at Mike, only to see his cheeks looked slightly
red? This couldn’t be real.

Will forces his own eyes back on to the screen, and then he’s trying to distract himself with
the things Tobias said.

“I mean if he’s treating his best friend of ten years like that, I couldn’t really expect much
after ten minutes, could I?”

“Yeah. I think I might have to have a talk with this Mike Wheeler about his behavior over the
past year.”

“Maybe it just needs a little bit of elbow grease.”

He finds himself smiling at Tobias’ words. He really was funny. He remembers how Tobias
said his mom thought he was smoking weed because he kept zoning out and smiling at
nothing the past few weeks. Guess it was true because he was doing the same thing. He looks
around to see if anyone noticed him stupidly smiling at Donkey Kong falling off the ladder,
but luckily they’re all focused on the game- except for Mike who’s looking at him. Shit.

Fortunately, at that exact same time, the game over sound is playing and Lucas is letting out a
whoop, raising his fists in the air. “Take that! And that was my best score too.”
Dustin rolls his eyes. “Best two out of three?”

“Didn’t you say that three rounds ago?”

“Best five out of six?”

“Will,” Max interrupts them. “Do you want to play?”

Will opens his mouth to respond, but then Mike is already talking for him. “Don’t interrupt
him. He’s daydreaming.”

Will reels back. “I wasn’t daydreaming.”

“That’s what it looked like.”

“And you know what daydreaming looks like?”

“When I have an example right in front of me, yeah, I do!” Mike nearly shouts.

“So what if he was daydreaming?” Max rushes out before the situation can escalate. “I mean,
can you blame him? The perfect guy just fell into his lap a few weeks ago, a guy he just spent
the last few hours with, and now he’s here in your shitty basement watching us play Donkey
Kong. You really think his mind’s not going to wander?”

Mike thinks for a second. “He’s not perfect.”

“What?”

“You said Tobias is the perfect guy, but no one is perfect. And I’ll prove it.”

Will feels anger bubble in his chest. “Seriously, Mike? When are you going to stop searching
for reasons to hate him for no reason?”

“It’s not for no reason. You’re clearly being way too idealistic about him and someone needs
to do the dirty work of taking an honest look at this guy, of protecting you, and that’s exactly
what I’m doing.”

“What are you protecting me from? Happiness?”

Max snorts at that and Mike huffs out a breath.

“No, from him!”

“What do you mean? He’s not dangerous. If anything, being around Tobias is the safest I’ve
felt in a long time.”

Mike tenses. “You mean that? This is the safest you’ve felt in a long time?”

Will thinks back, and his voice softens. “Yeah. It is, actually.” And he realizes the words are
true. Tobias’ house was like a safe haven, an escape from the world, a place where he didn’t
have to worry about monsters and alternate dimensions and Mike especially. He looks up to
see Mike watching him, looking hurt.

“Okay, cool. Glad you finally found someone to make you feel safe, Will.” He stands up, his
folding chair being pushed back with a scraping sound. “I’m going to bed.”

“At 8:15pm?” Dustin asks in disbelief.

“Hey, 24-hour dates will do that to you,” Lucas teases. He turns to Max. “A guy can dream,
right?”

“Oh, shut up,” she swats him.

They laugh quietly before unpausing the game, and when Will looks up again, Mike is gone.
He looks over and sees El looking equally as concerned, staring at where Mike disappeared
up the stairs. Will can’t help but feel bad for the both of them, and although he hates to admit
it, himself especially. Why couldn’t Mike just be happy for him? Why did he have to make
everything so... difficult?

He flicks his gaze between the stairs and El’s face and then to his hands in his lap. Guess this
is what happens when you and your sister both get attached someone who also happens to be
an asshole.

Tobias would probably make a joke about it right now, but for some reason, Will didn’t feel
like laughing.

He didn’t feel like anything, really.

 Chapter 6
Chapter Notes

Will and Tobias find out the "real" reason Mike is acting out.

P.S. I love reading your guys' comments!! You all have some really good insights and
commentary :D

In the next few days, Mike seems more irritable, on edge almost. At dinner, he hardly
contributes to the conversation, and when Mrs. Wheeler presses for more- “Mike, you must
miss school, right? Weren’t you in the Hellfire club?”- Mike snaps back at her with, “Yeah,
mom, but there is no school, is there?” and everyone goes quiet.

When they go to the arcade in the mall, Mike’s playing performance is twice as bad and he
seems to get twice as mad when he loses. And after a particularly rough round against Dustin
in an alien shooting game, Mike storms off, something Will’s never seen him do before.

And when they stop on their way out at a pretzel stand, Mike refuses to get anything, saying
he’s not hungry.

And as unpredictable as his behavior is, one thing stays the same: throughout all of it he’s
refusing to talk to Will, to even look at him. It’s like he’s invisible. And luckily Will can
handle it, not only because he’s been through it before, but because he has Tobias waiting for
him back home. But it still hurts. There is one exception though, when they’re leaving the
mall and everyone else is talking, Mike happens to catch his eye for a brief second, during
which he looks downright distraught before he looks away again and it’s like the moment
never happened.

Half of Will wants to talk to him, to see what’s wrong and offer him advice and make him
feel better, like he’s always done, but the other half of him- the new half- is annoyed at him
for doing this, for brushing off El, for brushing off everyone, for being Mike, only concerned
with his own problems. And he had to learn eventually right? That no one was going to give
into his sulking and run up to him begging to hear what was wrong and try to fix everything
for him, which would just make him do it even more in the future.

But Will is still Will, and in the next few days he finds himself attending more movie nights,
staying for more dinners, anything to help lessen the tension. He wasn’t doing it for Mike, he
was doing it for El, who he could tell it was taking a toll on. He could see it in her strained
smiles and worried eye contact and fiddling with her sleeves. And he understood it, it
reminded him of himself almost, even though technically it was El’s job now to understand
Mike, to read him and give him what he needed, which was a job Will didn’t envy, even
though he knew he was good at it. His focus now was on Tobias, which was so much easier.
He hardly had to do anything and Tobias was smiling at him, talking excitedly, pulling him
closer. It was a breath of fresh air.

So after a week of this with no success, he gives up, spending more time at Tobias’ house and
in his room drawing and reading and tuning Mike out, and it’s simultaneously the most and
least peace he’s ever felt in his life. The dynamic of being close to Tobias and far from Mike
is a weird one, but while he was in it, he might as well take advantage of it. So on Thursday,
he finally invites Tobias over to his house to hang out because one, his mom is appalled he
hasn’t been over more often, and two, Tobias’ number-one hater is coincidently avoiding Will
like the plague, so honestly, the timing couldn’t be better.

Which leads him and Tobias to where they are now, in the kitchen, the second stop on his
house tour. “We have a refrigerator and a microwave and very nice overhead lights,” he
narrates, like a tour guide.

Tobias looks up approvingly. “Eco-friendly LED lights?”

“Uh- of course,” Will says, smiling in a way that says I don’t have a clue.

“Good,” Tobias teases. “Because if they were 60-watt incandescent lightbulbs, which are
notoriously bad for the environment, we’d have a real problem.” They both laugh at that,
before Tobias lets out a breath. “This place is actually nice, when it’s not crowded with every
person in your life eager to meet me for the first time.”

“You have a point there.”

“So tell me, Will Byers.” Tobias leans closer. “What is your morning routine in this fine
establishment?”

Will giggles. “I start off by making my way over to the cereal cabinet, and if we’re out of
Honeycombs-”

“You simply despair?”

“I perish, honestly.” Tobias’ eyes light up at their banter and Will feels his smile grow. “But if
we’re out of cereal, I have no choice but to turn to toast-”

“A common man’s food.”

“And so I perish, again,” Will supplies and Tobias laughs. Will loves the sound of it.

“And what do you put on this common man’s toast?”

He thinks for a second. How did he go from someone who didn’t even care about his life in
California to someone who cares what he puts on his toast? “Jam, peanut butter, the usual.”

Tobias clucks his tongue. “Can’t compare to Honeycombs though.”

“Honeycombs, or Honey Nut Cheerios.”

“I love those.”

“You do?”

Tobias blinks his eyes at him as if to say duh. “Uh, yeah. They’re nutritious and delicious.”

“Did you come up with that or is that from a commercial?”

“Do I look like someone who watches a lot of daytime television?”

Will snorts. “How do you want me to answer that?”

“Honestly.”

“I’d say no, because you watch documentaries, not daytime TV.”

“Will Byers, you know me so well.”

Will blushes. “I mean it’s obvious, that’s what you always talk-” he freezes when he sees
Mike standing in the doorway. “Oh, Mike, hey.” His voice comes out high-pitched.

“Hey.” Mike’s voice is flat.

“Um, you can come in.”

Mike is still looking between them. “Can I?”

Will steps back, creating some distance between him and Tobias. When did they get so close?
“Yeah- yeah I mean, it’s your kitchen, right?”

Mike is looking at Tobias now. “It is.”

“Okay, so...” Why isn’t he moving? “You can come in,” he repeats.

Mike looks back at him, and then seems to shake himself out of it, walking in and grabbing
the bagel bag, untwisting it and grabbing one, before turning to leave.

“You’re not going to toast it?” Tobias asks.

Mike turns back around. “What, are you a bread expert too?”

Tobias freezes and turns to Will, looking almost panicked that he said something wrong. Will
tries to defend him. “No, uh, he was just being polite. You usually toast your bagels, right?”

Mike’s shoulders slump, like Will caught him in a lie. “Fine, okay.” He walks back over to
the toaster and drops them in, pushing down the handle. “I just didn’t want to interrupt your
little conversation.”

Little conversation? “You weren’t interrupting anything.” Will says, his voice sounding
weirdly nervous.
“Agree to disagree,” Mike mutters.

Tobias turns to Will, his brows scrunched up, and Will returns the gesture with a small shrug.
Then it goes silent, Mike leaning against the counter, waiting for his bagel, and it’s the
loudest silence Will has ever heard in his life.

“What are your intentions with Will?”

“Mike,” Will says.

“It’s a valid question.”

“My intentions with Will?” Tobias echoes. “Um, to support him. In anything he sets his mind
to, anything that gives him a passion. And to- to care about him. To make him happy.” It’s
obvious Tobias is nervous, but Mike doesn’t seem to notice, only looking at Will.

“Is that a good answer?”

“You’re the one who asked the question.”

“You’re the one dating him.”

“Yeah,” Will says. “It’s a good answer, Mike.”

“Okay.” Mike is still looking at him. “Then it’s a good answer.”

“Good.”

“Look,” Tobias cuts in. “I get you’ve been a friend of Will’s for ten years-”

“Eleven, actually.”

Tobias lets out a breath. “Eleven, sorry. So you care about who he dates, and I respect that. It
means you’re a good friend. But you don’t have to worry because I... I care about him,
really.” Will melts. “As I’m sure you know, he’s sweet and kind and creative, and that’s
something that I won’t take for granted. I’ll appreciate it, daily.” Everything he’s saying is
perfect, like he’s rehearsed it- and knowing him, he probably has- but ironically, Mike’s face
seems to close off more and more with each statement. “I know you’re protective, and for
good reason. Will is... Will.”

“Yeah,” Mike says. “I know.”

“So you understand.” Tobias’ voice goes gentle, like he’s trying to appease him, and Will’s
heart tugs. “I’ll take care of him. You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m not worried,” Mike scoffs, although his expression betrays him, looking very much
worried. “I’m just concerned that you’re not the right fit for him.”

Seriously? Tobias looks at a loss for words, so Will steps in. “Mike, he is the right fit for me.
How many times does he have to prove it? He cares about me and I care about him and that
should be enough.”

Mike’s jaw clenches, an unreadable expression in his eyes. “So it’s true.”

“What?”

Mike’s voice lowers. “You don’t need me anymore.” Need him anymore? Where did that
come from? When Will doesn’t respond immediately, Mike continues. “I mean, you got
someone to depend on, to trust, to- to feel safe with.”

Will thinks. “Yeah, technically.”

The toaster dings and Mike reaches over, grabbing the bagels and throwing them on a plate.
“Then you don’t need me anymore.”

“What? Mike, that’s not what I’m saying-” But then Mike is already out the door. Will
watches him go, dumbfounded. They stand in silence for a second.

“That went well.”

Will can hear the disappointment in his voice and turns to him before Tobias can start beating
himself up. “Hey, what you said was perfect. Perfect. Like out of a Hallmark movie or
something. I don’t know why Mike reacted like that.” He shakes his head, staring again at the
empty doorway. “He’s been like this the past few days.”

“So once again, it’s not personal?”

“Not personal,” Will says hesitantly, like it was a lie somehow. “But I should talk to him to
find out for sure.”

Tobias nods. “Do what you think is best.”

Will silently lights up at the support, at the way Tobias immediately trusted his judgement.
“But not now,” he says playfully. “Now, we have to finish this house tour.” He grabs his hand
and pulls him toward the rest of the house.

Inevitably, they run into different people. El watching TV in the living room. Why wasn’t
Mike with her? Nancy and Holly playing a board game in the basement. Jonathan fixing his
camera on the workbench in the garage. They even pass his mom and Mrs. Wheeler on their
way out of the house, arms stuffed with groceries, which Tobias gallantly offers to carry
inside for them. And when they let him and they’re all heading back inside the house, one
question is playing through Will’s head. How could Mike not like this guy? Sure, he’s on his
best behavior and being overly nice to everyone, but that’s because he’s new and trying to
make a good impression. Not only that, but it was also just who he is. He had charm, but it
came natural to him, not like the type he saw in the salesman standing outside Bradley’s Big
Buy, or the jocks in California trying to talk up the girls in his class. It was natural.

And sure, you could say Will was biased, but everyone else seemed to like him too. Even Ted
Wheeler gives him a nod of acknowledgement when they passed by him in his chair, which is
more than Mike could ever dream of doing.
Finally, they reach the front yard again, this time without any groceries to bring back inside.
They stand in the driveway, finally alone.

“So, that was the house tour,” Will says breathlessly. “Even though it’s technically not even
my house.”

“Still, it was a good tour. I enjoyed it.” It goes silent between them and then the question is
hanging there: Should they keep hanging out, or were they saying goodbye? And weirdly,
Will finds himself leaning toward the last option, although he doesn’t know why. Tobias is
talking again. “If you want, you can come back to my house and we could hang out. Or
watch a movie. Or something...” he trails off when he realizes Will’s not saying anything. “Of
course, if you don’t want to, that’s completely fine.” He looks nervous, embarrassed, and Will
immediately feels bad. “I don’t want to impose or force anything. I should’ve realized you
didn’t want to.”

And then the words are spilling out of his mouth. “Mike thought we hung out too long a few
days ago.”

The words sink in. “Oh.” Tobias pushes up his glasses. “He seems to have a lot of opinions,
doesn’t he?” For a second he looks annoyed, but it quickly disappears. “Unless you felt the
same? I mean, it was a long day.”

“No, no,” Will rushes to reassure him. “I had fun. A lot of fun, actually.” He pauses. Why was
he letting Mike’s words get to his head? “I don’t know why I said that. I mean, that’s his
opinion, not mine. It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. He’s your best friend and his opinion matters.” He gives a self-deprecating
chuckle. “An opinion that I’m not getting.”

“Tobias-”

“I’m trying everything I can.” Tobias sounds distressed. “Everything and it’s not- it’s not
working.” He looks frustrated and Will realizes it’s probably because he’s not used to failing.
He probably passes every class, aces every exam, gets everyone to like him, and Mike is
throwing a wrench into the whole thing. A sudden wave of anger rises inside of him.

“I know you’re trying. And it’s working on everyone, on me- and okay sure, not Mike- but
that’s just one person. One person out of- what- twenty? Not a bad score at all,” he tries to
joke. “That’s still over 90%.”

“But Mike is your friend of eleven years.” It’s clear Tobias has thought about this before. “If
he doesn’t like me, it’s going to end up affecting you. I mean, it already is-”

He was right. “Okay, but in the future I’ll learn to not let it affect me-”

“What else does he like?” Tobias cuts him off.

Will thinks. “El? D&D?” He shakes his head. “Look, it doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have to
work this hard to get him to like you.”
“I’ll do what I have to.”

Will smiles at the way Tobias was treating this, like it was a mission or something. “I
appreciate that, but honestly, I don’t know what more you can do. You were perfect, and I
mean that.” He gives him a sincere look, and Tobias seems to relax a bit. “There...” he trails
off, confused. “There has to be another reason.”

And then Tobias’ eyes widen, like something clicked. “Oh shit.”

“What?”

A flurry of emotions flash across Tobias’ face. Realization. Shock. Anger. “There is another
reason.”

Will’s heart speeds up at his reaction. “Which is?”

But Tobias is still thinking, and he takes off his glasses, cleaning them aggressively, before
putting them back on. “It’s the reason he’s hostile toward me, toward us, and no matter what I
do, it’s- it’s never enough.”

Will waits anxiously. “Yeah?”

“Have you ever thought that maybe Mike is homophobic?”

Homophobic? He shakes his head immediately. “No- Mike would never be-” Then he
freezes. Was Mike homophobic? Why else would he be so resistant to literally the perfect
partner for Will- artsy, nerdy, respectful? If that wasn’t enough, there had to be something
else Mike was against.

His mind flashes back to when he first came out to everyone in the basement, at how Mike’s
reaction was the most delayed and his reaction was almost forced, although Will had chalked
it up to being caught off guard. He thinks about the family dinner they had, at the glares Mike
kept shooting the two of them the entire night. And even just thirty minutes ago, when him
and Tobias were flirting in the kitchen and Mike was just standing in the doorway with a look
of disapproval, disgust even, basically refusing to come in.

It wasn’t because Tobias wasn’t good partner for Will. It wasn’t because Tobias was a bad
person or had offended Mike in some way. It was because Tobias was Tobias.

A boy.

That was one thing he couldn’t change, which is why no matter what he did to appease Mike,
it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Which means Tobias was right- Mike is homophobic.

Which means it wasn’t in their heads that Mike hated Tobias- because Tobias was gay, he was
dating a boy-

Will’s blood ran cold. So Mike probably hated him too.

Ever since the night of the dinner, Mike had been cold toward him, mad about his eight-hour
date, not talking to him at the mall, and sure, they made up temporarily that one day he was
reading in the living room, but that was before his announcement. Before he found out he was
gay. And since then... everything has gone to shit.

He realizes he’s been quiet for too long and looks up to see Tobias patiently waiting. He
forces himself to talk. “I... I think you’re right.” He’s surprised at how shaky his voice
sounds. “I mean, why else would he be this hostile toward us?” He shakes his head. “But I
never thought Mike would be one of the... homophobes,” he whispers. “It’s stupid, but he was
one of the only people who didn’t make me feel like a mistake. He made me feel like I was
better for being different.” He feels tears prick his eyes. “But I guess I was wrong.”

Now Tobias is the quiet one, but Will still can’t look up, trying not to cry. Of course Mike’s
homophobic. Of course it was too good to be true, that everyone just accepted them just like
that. Well, except for Ted. He almost laughs at that. Guess he really is just like his father.

“Fuck Mike,” Tobias says suddenly and Will’s head snaps up in shock.

“What?”

Tobias takes a deep breath, like he’s holding back his words, looking angrier than Will’s ever
seen him. “Screw this guy. This friend of yours.” His jaw clenches. “All I’ve heard about him
is that he’s ignoring you and throwing out random apologies every now and then, and now he
has a problem with us being gay? Wow.” He gives an incredulous chuckle. “And to think we
thought it wasn’t personal, that he was like that with everyone.”

Will wishes he could match his energy, get angry about it, but instead he just felt sad,
confused, and on an even deeper level, ashamed. But most of all, afraid that they all were
right. Lonnie. The kids who’d bully him at school. And now, Mike. That it really is wrong,
the fact he liked guys, that he was dating one, and maybe everyone at the dinner thought so
too, but they just weren’t saying anything to be nice, and were just simply tolerating it,
waiting- hoping- for them to break up, and him and Tobias were deluding themselves
thinking it was okay for them to date, when really it was disgusting. It was a sin. It was
wrong and not right and he shouldn’t have been born like this-

“Will? Will?" Tobias is saying, sounding panicked. “Hey, it’s okay.”

Will shakes his head, not responding. If Mike thought that he was a mistake, after knowing
him his whole life, what was everyone else thinking? Nancy? Mrs. Wheeler? Hopper? It was
all a big joke, wasn’t it?

“Will?” Tobias is saying again. He feels a hand on his shoulder and realizes with horror that
he’s crying. Jesus Christ, not in front of Tobias. He wipes his eyes with his hand, but the tears
are still coming.

“I’m sorry,” he chokes out.

“Don’t apologize,” Tobias responds immediately. “It’s okay. Let’s-” he looks around, and
then he’s leading Will away, probably somewhere that isn’t the middle of the driveway, and
as soon as he feels a branch brush the back of his shoulder, Tobias’ arms are around him,
pulling him into a hug. He presses his face against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he’s saying again, his voice muffled.

“Don’t apologize,” Tobias says sternly. “Really. Listen to me for a second.” He pulls back,
grabbing both his hands in his own. “There’s nothing wrong with us. Nothing.” His voice is
insistent. “You’re probably not in the mood to hear science facts, but there’s several species
of penguins in the wild who are known to form homosexual relationships. Same thing as
males and females except no children obviously, but they build nests and everything and
they’re happy, they are, the researchers can tell-”

Will makes a noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

“And sure, it’s a sin, but you know what else is? Eating pork. Getting tattoos. Buying land,
because apparently the land belongs to God. And people violate those laws every day- the
people here violate them. And there’s even a passage, Leviticus 19:10, that states you can’t
pick up grapes once they’ve fallen on the ground. Grapes! But for some reason everyone
chooses the man lying with a man passage as the holy unspoken truth that can’t be changed,
even though that was written a modest 3,400 years ago. Logically it makes no sense.”

Will looks up at him with watery eyes. “Yeah?”

Tobias nods. “Yeah. Maybe it makes sense from the standpoint that we need to reproduce to
carry on the human race, but our population is already reaching its maximum. Plus there’s
enough straight people to carry it on for us. Straight people who also happen to be quite
judgmental.” He gives Will a small smile. “So I don’t know who told you that it’s a mistake
or wrong, but they’re just following what people have told them without actually stopping to
look at the facts. Because the facts say it’s normal. It has to be, because we were born like
this and we’re humans just like everyone else.” Tobias goes silent and Will realizes it’s his
turn to respond, although he was so caught up in his speech that it takes him a second.

“Wow,” he says breathlessly. “That... wow.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He wipes his eyes. “Thanks, Tobias.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s true.”

It’s true. Which makes it that much better. He nods, feeling better. “And it makes sense. No
one’s ever explained it like that before.”

“They don’t teach it in schools.”

Will gives a watery laugh. “No, they definitely don’t.” He pauses, thinking. “And I mean, it’s
not like Jonathan and my mom both don’t know that I’m... gay.” He still can’t help but
whisper it like a swear word. “And their reactions were great. More than I ever could’ve
hoped for. But it was more I love you despite this and less... I don’t know... this isn’t wrong in
the first place.”

“As it is with most people, I’ve noticed.”

He shakes his head, still in awe. “You really did your research.”

Tobias pauses. “I had to.”

And then this time, Will is hugging him.

It’s a few more minutes of them whispering and talking and Tobias asking a thousand times if
he really is okay before they finally say goodbye and Will is heading back to the Wheelers’
front door. Of course, Tobias offered for them to go back to his house, but Will turned him
down, knowing who he needed to talk to. And even though his eyes are probably still red and
puffy- although his chest is feeling lighter than ever at the thought that it wasn’t him that was
wrong, it was the rest of the world- he walks inside, hoping he wouldn’t run into anyone
who’d notice the complete breakdown he had in the front yard over the fact that his best
friend is homophobic. And luck must be on his side, because the living room is empty when
he enters. He quickly runs up the stairs and knocks on the door.

It takes Jonathan a while to open it, time during which he’s probably frantically opening the
window and fanning the air for obvious reasons, but when he does answer, he visibly relaxes.
“Oh, Will, it’s you.”

“It’s me.”

Jonathan gives him a closer look. “What’s wrong?”

Of course he could tell. Will shakes his head, tears stinging the back of his eyes again.
“Nothing, just-” he cuts himself off. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Jonathan opens the door wider and Will steps in, trying not to make
a face at the pungent smell in the air.

“Did a skunk go off in here?”

“Ha-ha,” Jonathan responds, closing the door behind him. Will takes a seat on his bed.
“What’s up? Is everything okay?”

Will doesn’t know how to answer, thinking back to the elation he felt that being gay might
not be wrong and the crushing disappointment that it doesn’t matter because Mike thinks it is.
“I... I was talking with Tobias.”
“Is everything okay with you guys?”

Will is surprised at the anxiety in the question. “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Good.” The bed dips as Jonathan sits down next to him.

“It’s just...” Will sighs. “We were talking about Mike, about how no matter what Tobias does
he still seems to dislike him. You’ve noticed that, right?”

“I have.”

Will nods, looking down at his hands. “And we didn’t know why but now we do and- and we
realized-” His voice is cracking, tears threatening to spill, but he forces himself to continue.
Just say it. “We realized Mike is homophobic, Jonathan.” The silence is deafening and when
Will looks up, he sees anger in Jonathan’s eyes, identical to Tobias’ expression just twenty
minutes ago.

“He’s homophobic,” he repeats tensely.

“That’s the only explanation I can think of. Tobias is doing everything right, saying all the
right things. Mike even asked him earlier today what his intentions with me were and Tobias
answered perfectly.” He shakes his head in confusion. “I mean everyone likes him. You like
him.”

Jonathan nods. “The guy is a godsend.”

Will smiles weakly at that then looks away, not understanding why this was affecting him so
much. “But Mike doesn’t. And I don’t think he ever will. It’s getting worse, actually.”

Jonathan rubs his face with his hands, agitated. “Mike.”

He feels himself start to ramble. “And I thought maybe he just didn’t like Tobias. Maybe
something about him rubs him the wrong way, I don’t know. But he’s avoiding me too.” A
tear slips down his cheek. “He thinks something’s wrong with me, I know it. I can tell. He
thinks I’m different and wrong and a mistake. Just like-” he chokes off. “Just like Lonnie.”

“Hey,” Jonathan says sternly. “Lonnie was a monster. Don’t for a second believe anything he
said.”

“Yeah, but-” he feels like he’s about to start sobbing. “Mike believes it.”

Jonathan turns to him insistently. “So what if he does? Does it really matter? You have a
bunch of people who love and accept you. Me, mom, everyone at the dinner-”

“Not Ted Wheeler,” Will cuts in.

“No,” Jonathan huffs out a laugh. “Not Ted Wheeler.” He turns to him, realizing. “See, he’s
probably just copying what he learned from his father. It’s not personal.”

“But it’s Mike.”

Jonathan goes silent at the words, looking at him. “It is…”

Will feels exposed under his stare. “But I- I guess you’re right. I mean, Tobias explained it all
to me already. That being gay isn’t- well, technically it is- a sin, but there’s a bunch of other
sins we don’t follow, like eating pork and owning land? I forget exactly what he said. But it
was written like 3,000 years ago and since then we’ve gotten rid of a lot of them, and this,
being gay, can be another one of them. We might just have to wait.” Hope fills his chest.

“I know that.”

“You do?”

“Well, not all the pork and land-owning stuff, but the fact that the Bible might not always be
right. I mean, it is just a book written by people.”

Will freezes at hearing it spoken so simply. A book just written by people. “You mean that?”

Jonathan searches his eyes. “Will, did you really think the entire time I was out here secretly
thinking you were a sinner or something?”

“No, I-” Will blinks quickly. “I thought you had decided to accept me despite that, despite
having a- I don’t know- a fatal flaw.”

“A fatal flaw?” Jonathan knocks his shoulder into him. “You really are too hard on yourself.”

Will feels warmth rush through him at being accepted by Jonathan again. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” And then Jonathan looks down. “I’ll always accept you, Will. Always.” It goes silent
between them, but it’s a comfortable silence. And Will feels better, the tears finally stopped.
He stares at Jonathan’s dresser, at the worn cassette player and dusty speakers he bought from
the flea market, the random CDs and soda cans, and marveled at how similar it was to his old
room in California, in Hawkins even. He feels a wave of nostalgia wash over him.

“So...” Now Jonathan sounds almost nervous. “You said you guys talked about Mike, right?”

Will turns to him, confused. “Yeah?”

Jonathan clears his throat. “So does he, uh, know about him?”

“Know about him?”

“Know how you... felt about him.” Jonathan says the words haltingly, like it’s awkward for
him too. Will freezes, not knowing how to respond, which Jonathan must take as him not
understanding. “You know, that you had a certain fondness for him at one point, a, what do
they call it, a-”

“I know what you mean!” Will cuts him off before he can go any further, or say something
embarrassing like a crush. Jesus Christ. “No, no, he doesn’t know.”

Jonathan scrunches up his eyebrows. “He doesn’t know?”

Will shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s really a big deal, you know?” He laughs nervously,
knowing it’s a lie, knowing it is very much a big deal because it overtook his life for years,
was the inspiration for paintings and drawings and poems at one point, was what took up
most of his thoughts daily, practically becoming a part of his identity. Mike. Mike Wheeler.
Even the words cause a reaction inside him, something full of longing and pain and
heartbreak. He tramps it down immediately. “It wasn’t really worth mentioning.”

“Really?” Jonathan seems surprised. “You never talked about him?”

A swell of irritation rises inside him. “I don’t know, does Nancy ever talk about Steve?”

It’s the wrong thing to say because Jonathan seems to close off at the words, shrinking away.
Will notices immediately. “Hey, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s okay.” Jonathan shakes his head. “She does talk about him, actually. Or did, once,
while we were at Hopper’s boarding up the windows.”

Will is grateful for the subject change. “What did she say?”

Jonathan gets a faraway look in his eyes. “It’s stupid.”

“No, tell me.” When Jonathan doesn’t say anything, Will leans toward him. “Hey, I meant
what I said, back at the pizza place. I’m here for you too, you know.”

Jonathan looks at him for a second, before letting out a breath. “We hadn’t seen each other in
a while, obviously, and it felt like the vibe between us was... off somehow? So I asked if we
were good, if we were okay, and of course she said we were- I mean, Nancy’s not going to
just come right out and say it, you know? And a few seconds later I made a joke about Steve
leading their group, and you know what she said?” He laughs, but it comes out bitter and
hurt. “That he’s grown up a lot since then. And she got this look in her eye...” he shakes his
head. “I can’t describe it, but it meant something.”

“Meant something?” Will raises an eyebrow.

Jonathan presses his lips together. “I think he’s matured a lot. More than I have anyways.” He
shrugs. “I can’t even decide if I want to go to Emerson or stay here.”

“And that’s okay,” Will cuts in. “It’s not like Steve’s in college.”

“Yeah, but that’s not what Nancy is talking about,” Jonathan sounds distressed. “They used to
date, you know? And back then, Steve was just a dumb jock, but if he’s matured since then,
then he might be a real, I don’t know-”

“Contender for Nancy’s heart?” Will jokes.

“Something like that,” Jonathan banters back, although his tone falls flat. And then Will
realizes how serious he is.

“I’m just kidding, you know. You and Nancy are perfect for each other.”
Jonathan smiles at his words, although it doesn’t meet his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“If Mike matured a lot, could you see yourself ever going back-”

Will immediately shakes his head. “No. No. One, I could never see that happening, because
Mike is Mike. And two, even if he did, I’m with Tobias now.” He pauses, eager to go back to
the original subject. “Look, if Nancy really loved Steve, she wouldn’t leave him to be with
you, right?”

“I guess.”

“I mean it. Something about you made Nancy choose you over Steve.”

“Back when he hadn’t grown a lot yet.”

Will elbows him in disapproval. “Now who’s being hard on themselves?”

Jonathan smiles at that, looking down at his hands. “Something about those Wheelers, huh?”

The meaning behind the words sets in and again Will feels familiar sensations wash over him.
Sadness. Frustration. Resentfulness. “Yeah.” He clears his throat. “But I overcame it, and you
can too.”

“You overcame it?” Jonathan is looking at him like he can see right through him. “That fast?”

Will avoids his eyes. “Yeah, I did, Jonathan.”

“That’s good,” Jonathan says, although it sounds forced. “Tobias is a great guy.”

Will nods. “He is. It’s just...” He looks down. “I wish I could tell him everything. And I’m
not talking about Mike, I’m talking about the Upside Down. Vecna. El’s powers. Me being
trapped in an alternate dimension for a week. And not mentioning it... it feels like I’m lying
to him somehow.”

Jonathan shrugs. “So don’t lie.”

“What?”

“You trust him, right?”

Will nods.

“So... let him in on the terrible secret that will change the trajectory of his life forever.”

Will laughs at that, before turning serious again. “But I can’t. He’s... he’s not part of the
group.”

“So?” Jonathan raises his eyebrows. “Neither was Max. She was a random girl who moved
from California and you guys told her everything. And you’re better for it. Another brain on
the team.”

“And Tobias is smart.”

“Exactly.” Jonathan gives him a half-smile. “So tell him. Or, I guess, get the permission of
The Party first.”

“Mike is gonna lose his shit.”

“Let him.” Jonathan shrugs. “And maybe if Tobias can prove himself, Mike won’t have a
reason to.”

Will’s chest lights up at the realization. Tobias would prove himself. He’d probably come up
with some intelligent theory connecting all the dots, finding a missed clue or hidden loophole
that would solve something. “I think I will,” he says optimistically. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.”

“No, I mean it.” Will shoots him an earnest look. “I don’t know what I’d do without your
advice.”

“You’d still survive.”

“Barely.”

They look at each other and laugh. Will hops off his bed.

“And hey, with Nancy,” Will says, as he walks to the door. “Buy her some flowers or
something.”

Jonathan rolls his eyes. “After a year, it takes a lot more than flowers.”

“Still,” Will shrugs lightheartedly. “Flowers couldn’t hurt.”

Jonathan looks at him as if a deeper meaning set in. “Flowers. Yeah.”

Will gives him a small smile and then shuts the door behind him, back in the hallway, feeling
a thousand times lighter. Sure, it still hurt that Mike was homophobic, but between the talks
he’d had with Tobias and Jonathan, it was like he had enough love and support to survive it.
And now, the thought of Mike disapproving of him, of Tobias, of their relationship, didn’t
hold as much weight anymore.

Well, it still did.

But now it was ounces instead of pounds.

 Chapter 7
Chapter Notes

Will has a nightmare.

Hey guys! I still love reading your theories/opinions in the comments. It seems to be a
good split between people wanting Will/Tobias and people instead thinking Tobias is
“too perfect” or a vision from Vecna and wanting Will/Mike. I'm not going to spoil one
outcome over the other, but I love hearing what you guys think!!

It’s dark. It’s dark and it’s cold and goosebumps have risen over his entire body, over his neck
especially, and he can hear screaming, although he’s not sure who it is. Then he recognizes it.
El.

Will tries to call out to her, but he’s unable to speak, unable to move, his entire body
paralyzed. But at the same time, he feels painfully charged, electric, like he’s overtaken by
something outside himself, something evil, and he desperately tries to wiggle his fingers and
toes to no avail.

“El!” he calls out, but his mouth doesn’t move. Nothing moves.

He hears El cry out in pain. “Stay back, you freak!”

Will isn’t sure whether she’s talking to him or what he’s possessed by, and he honestly doesn’t
want to know. “I’m sorry!” he cries out.

He feels a wave of energy shock through him and then El falls to the ground, to the bottom of
whatever black void they’re trapped in. “Stop it!”

“I’m trying!” he yells back, with his mouth that can’t move. It’s like he’s screaming inside his
head. “El, I’m sorry!”

The thought seems to spur the thing possessing him because then El falls again, to an even
lower ground, and she’s crying now, sobbing. “Stop. Stop!” Goosebumps rise on the back of
his neck and another surge of energy rises through him, against his will, pushing El
backwards, slamming her against an invisible wall. “Will, stop!”

Then he realizes. “It’s Vecna doing this, not me,” he screams. And somehow, the thought that
El thought he was the one hurting her was more painful than the electric shocks coursing
through him. “El, it’s not me! You know I love you.”
“You lie,” El is shaking her head. “If you did, you wouldn’t be doing this.”

He’s desperate for her to realize. “It’s not me!” He braces as another wave of electricity rolls
through him, through his fingertips, and El collapses once again.

“Not Vecna.” El says once she recovers, shakily standing up. “You. You, Will.” El looks at
him deliberately. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t be doing this.”

“It’s not me-”

“Loving him.” Will chokes, the next words ripped out of his throat. He can only stare as El
slowly steps closer. “I know you want him, and it’s sick. You’re sick.” El seems less afraid
now, and more angry. “How could you do this to me?”

Will feels tears welling in his eyes, knowing immediately what she’s talking about. “I’m
sorry.”

“Sorry won’t fix it. You have to pay.” El’s voice drops an octave and Will realizes it’s not El at
all. It’s a taller creature, a slimy one, walking toward him slowly. “You have to pay, Will. For
your sister. For your friend. For yourself. You’ve been misunderstood your whole life.” He’s
getting closer now, his long fingers reaching out grazing his cheek, and even though they’re
in a black void, his back hits a wall. “Come with me.”

“What?” he chokes out, tears stinging his eyes.

“Your suffering can end, Will. You belong with me. You always have.”

It’s only then that he realizes the chills on his neck and electric shocks in his body have
disappeared, because what was possessing him is in front of him. “I...” His chest rises and
falls quickly. “I want to go home.”

“You’ve said that before, Will.” Vecna is still stepping closer. “But you don’t go home until I
say you do. Last time it was a week. This time...” He trails off and Will squeezes his eyes
shut, trying to remember what Max did to save herself.

“She thought about love,” he remembers Lucas telling him. “Happy moments. That’s why her
favorite song helped.”

And then images flood his mind, of his friends laughing, of arcade games pinging, of worried
voices asking him if he’s okay. Hugging him. Taking him away from the danger. “Hey Will, if
we both go crazy, we’ll go crazy together.”

His eyes snap open. No.

But the memories seemed to have helped, his body feeling lighter, like he can move his limbs
again.

He squeezes his eyes shut, thinking of his mom this time, his brother, but the lightness
dissolves and his limbs feel stuck again.
And Vecna’s voice is even louder.

“Surrender, Will. Your time has come.”

So he thinks of Lucas, laughing as they play D&D, or Dustin, showing them how to use
walkie talkies for the first time. And he’s happy but he’s not- he’s not safe.

Vecna seems to notice, and Will's stomach gets a dropping feeling, like he’s sinking into the
earth.

And he’s terrified.

Fuck it.

So he gives in fully, thinking of Mike.

Mike rescuing him from this nightmare. Mike wrapping an arm around him to take him home
like he did at the arcade. Mike’s concerned eyes watching his every movement, asking him
what’s wrong, if he’s okay, what he needed. And Will never saying anything because he
already had what he needed. Mike.

He tries not to think about what that meant, even as the darkness starts clearing and his feet
feel steady on the ground again.

“It’s sick, Will.” He can’t tell if it’s Vecna or his own thoughts, but he squeezes his eyes shut,
shaking his head.

He should think about his friends, his mom, his brother. Art class. Hawkins.

Vecna’s hand reaches out, coldly grazing his cheek, and he flinches back, squeezing his eyes
shut. And then images are flashing through his mind. Mike’s brown eyes boring into his,
grounding him. A hand on his shoulder. The fact that he was right down the hallway in real
life.

Vecna is still talking, but he can barely make it out, the insults and threats growing more
distant, fading away.

The black void seems to spin, seems to grow and shrink at the same time, seems to go in and
out of focus. He closes his eyes, willing himself to wake up, wake up, wake up...

Will shoots up in his bed, drenched in sweat. The room is dark and Vecna is gone. It was a
nightmare. But somehow he can’t believe it, chest still rising and falling rapidly. It was
different from his other nightmares, it felt like real life. Like he was just... somewhere else for
a little bit. Somewhere darker. The Upside Down. He swipes his cheek and realizes he was
crying, and then a second later realizes he still is, a sob rising from his chest against his will.
He buries his chest in his arms like he used to when he was back in Hawkins, in those first
few weeks he returned from the Upside Down, and lets himself cry, because that was the only
way he could get it out of him. The pain. The fear. And then the shaking would start, his body
purging whatever energy was inside him. But he liked that feeling because he knew it was the
beginning of the end.

After a few minutes of crying and shaking, he stands up, his bare feet hitting the floor, and
heads toward his bedroom door, knowing that he needed to get some water. Or more like, he
needed to walk around the Wheelers’ kitchen to remind himself that he was here not there.
He cracks open his door, feeling the cool air hit his pajamas, and tiptoes toward the stairs.

He flinches when he hears a door open. “Will?”

Will whirls around, seeing Mike peeking out of his bedroom, face barely illuminated by the
hallway nightlight. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” Mike’s voice is softer than he’s ever heard it, looking at him with concern,
and Christ, was he really that obvious?

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just getting some water,” he lies.

Mike hesitates for a second. “I... I heard you scream.”

Shit. “Yeah, just a nightmare.” He waves his hand, hoping Mike wouldn’t realize how much it
was shaking. “They still happen, I guess.”

“Yeah.” But Mike seems unconvinced, still staring at him like he can see right through him.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”

How was he supposed to answer that? “I’m fine. I just- I just need some water. Nightmares
take a lot out of you, you know?” he tries to joke, but his voice comes out shaky. Especially
when he knows it didn’t seem like a nightmare, it seemed like real life which was terrifying.
And he was still terrified.

Mike cracks open the door more, looking at him, and Will can see his wrinkled pajamas.
“What was it about?”

Will shakes his head, not wanting to relive it, and Mike seems to understand immediately.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it.” He glances at him and looks away. “I’ve had
nightmares before. A lot, actually. But in the end, it’s just a dream, you know?” he says it
optimistically, like he’s trying to make Will feel better.

“But it felt real,” Will says immediately, not knowing why he’s disclosing so much to Mike,
why he was letting his voice crack all embarrassingly, his eyes filling with tears.

Mike’s eyes widen. “It felt real?” he repeats softly.

Will nods. “Like real life,” he chokes out. “Like... like Vecna was really talking to me. It
might sound stupid-”

“It doesn’t.”
“-but ever since I stepped back in Hawkins, I felt him. Vecna. The way he thinks. The way he
talks. And he- he talked to me just now and he wants me to join him or something?”

“That’s what Max said, according to Lucas. He kept telling her to join him.”

The confirmation causes a wave of fear to wash through him. “So it’s real?”

“I-” Mike cuts himself off, like he said too much. “I shouldn’t have told you that right now.”

Fear washes through Will, so strong his knees go weak. This wasn’t a nightmare. This wasn’t
a vision. Vecna was back. And Will was one of his targets. His main target. He always has
been. And if Vecna had done what he’d done to Chrissy, to Fred, to Max, who were random
people in his eyes, what was he planning for him? Fresh tears spring to his eyes.

And then suddenly Mike is a lot closer. “Let’s get you that water, yeah?”

Will barely registers the words before Mike is turning and heading down the stairs. Will
watches him go for a second, not knowing what to do. It reminds him of his dream, and he
realizes with a start what exactly got him to wake up. This. Mike finding him and comforting
him and leading him somewhere safer. Jesus Christ. Why didn’t thinking about Tobias work?
Wait a minute.

Did he even try thinking about Tobias during the dream?

“Will?” Will looks up to see Mike frozen on the stairs. “You coming?”

“Uh, yeah.” He clears his throat. “Sorry.”

He follows him down the stairs, the whole time his mind racing for an explanation. Tobias
knows nothing about the Upside Down or Vecna, so he definitely wouldn’t be able to help
him in a crisis. Which is why he thought about Mike. Plus, Mike was the one who helped him
through his nightmares and possessions all those years ago. His subconscious naturally
reverted to what was familiar.

He really had to tell Tobias about the Upside Down.

“Here.”

Will looks up to see they’re already in the kitchen, and Mike is holding a glass of water.
When did that happen? He grabs it from him, taking a few sips, before putting it back down.
“Thanks.”

And now that Mike has completed his task, it goes silent, and Will finally realizes he’s alone
in the kitchen with Mike. Last time this happened, they’d started talking about the difference
between wheat and whole-grain bread. He shifts his weight uncomfortably. “You didn’t have
to do this.”

“I did.” Mike sounds resolute, although Will doesn’t know why. “This is… it’s what I do.”
Will just stares at him, not knowing what to say, and Mike looks away awkwardly. “So, uh,
what was your dream about? It might give us some clues.”
Will relaxes slightly, now that the Mike he knew was back, the problem-solver who gathered
information and came up with ideas to lead the team. This was normal. “Uh, at first I was
fighting El? But it wasn’t me doing the fighting, it was like I was overtaken by something.
And I tried to tell El that, but then she-” he cuts himself off, remembering what El said, about
him being sick, and leaves that part out. “She morphed into Vecna, and then he was telling me
to join him and that I have to pay and my suffering can end. And of course he was scary, all
slimy and veiny and at one point he reached out and touched my face?” He knows it sounds
graphic, but he tries to leave in as much as he can, to give Mike as much information as
possible. They needed to figure this out. “And it ended when I thought of... happier times.
And then I woke up.” He looks at Mike, expecting him to be looking thoughtful, on the brink
of some brilliant realization, but instead he’s looking at him with so much worry that Will has
to jerk his gaze away.

“Are you okay?” he whispers.

Will nods his head in agreement. “Yeah. Yeah.”

“Don’t lie.”

“What,” Will’s voice cracks and he spreads his arms out. “What do you want me to say? That
I’m fine? That everything’s fine?”

“No, that’s not-”

“There’s this monster haunting all of us and killing people and he just showed up in my
dream twenty minutes ago, of course I’m not fine Mike! How could I be?” The gravity of his
own words sets in and Will feels his breathing speed up, panic spreading through him again.
“Vecna’s out there. He didn’t die. And he’s been attacking random people, people he’s never
come in contact with before, meanwhile he’s still inside me. I can feel him, I can hear his
thoughts, and-” his voice catches. “He just showed up in my dream, Mike. It means I’m next.
It means...” his face crumples. “You know what it means. I-”

And then before he can react, Mike is stepping forward and hugging him. And Will doesn’t
think Mike has ever hugged him this hard, and the effects are immediate. His breathing slows
down and his heart rate drops and his eyes fall closed, his head resting against his shoulder.
And then his arms seem to find their way around him too, the flannel of Mike’s pajama shirt
soft against his hands. And Mike is whispering, although he doesn’t know what because his
mind is beautifully blank for once.

They stay like that for nearly a minute and Will finally starts to relax, but the more he relaxes
the more he returns to normal, and the more normal he feels the more he realizes that
standing in the kitchen hugging Mike is definitely not normal, and he tenses, pulling back.
Mike’s arms slide down his sides reluctantly.

“What’s wrong?” And Mike is still looking at him with so much concern, so much softness,
that Will has to check for a second that this is reality, that he isn’t still dreaming in a sick
vision from Vecna. Plus, didn’t he just figure out less than 24 hours ago that Mike is
homophobic?
“Nothing, just-” He looks down at his feet. “We can’t be doing this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Mike rushes out, too fast, although Will doesn’t know why.

“No, I mean, I...” he sighs heavily. “I don’t need this anymore.”

Mike goes silent for a second, defensive. “Well you looked like you did.”

“Okay, sure,” Will surrenders. “Maybe I did, but that doesn’t matter. Because, you know...”
he trails off, but Mike keeps staring at him, clueless. He lets out a breath. “Tobias isn’t here.”

“Tobias isn’t- wow,” Mike sounds almost offended and takes a few steps backwards. “Okay,
sorry for forgetting Tobias does everything now.” He pauses as if he expects Will to correct
him, but when he doesn’t, his eyes narrow. “So when you see a vision of Vecna, Tobias is
going to know what to do? Or if you start floating in midair, he’ll know to play your favorite
song? Or if you have a nightmare like this, he’ll know how to comfort you because he’s
actually been here the last eleven years and understands everything?” Mike’s chest is
heaving and Will just stares at him. “This is my job, Will.”

And as much as Will wishes he could believe it, or even be happy about Mike saying it in
some weird way, he knows it’s not true. The last eight months- nine, if you counted the time
they lived together- Mike all but abandoned him. And even before that, when Mike first
started dating El, he was distant, not wanting to play D&D, hanging out less, turning down
Nintendo because they weren’t little kids anymore. And all that energy he had toward Will-
that frantic, protective, obsessive energy- had went toward El instead. And he knew that.

“You quit your job a long time ago, Mike.”

“What?”

Will just shakes his head, starting to head back toward his room.

“Will.” Mike’s voice cracks, although Will ignores it. “I’ve already apologized. I know I... I
hurt you, and I’m sorry.

“You’re sorry?” Will laughs.

“Yes, I am. So why can’t you just- just accept it already?”

Will whirls back around. “Because I met someone that actually does it. Takes care of me or
whatever. Sorry that you-” he stumbles over his words. “Sorry that you have a problem with
that.”

“Yeah, I do have a problem with that.”

And really, he admitted it just like that? “Oh, wow, fantastic.” So Mike is homophobic and
proud. “Maybe someday you’ll learn to accept him. Accept us.”

“Well maybe someday, you’ll learn to accept that I’m the only person who can protect you.
Tobias can’t do shit.”
“You don’t even know Tobias!” And then Will realizes how loud their voices have gotten,
that people are still sleeping, and he shakes his head. “Forget it. I’m going to bed.”

“Will-”

“Goodnight, Mike.”

“Will, c’mon.” Mike’s voice sounds desperate and it would almost make him turn back
around if it wasn’t for the fact that Mike thought that who he loved was a sin.

“Goodnight,” he says again, and then he’s heading up the stairs, back in his room a few
seconds later. He looks around at the darkness, breathing harshly. He had to hand it to Mike,
he wasn’t scared anymore, he was just angry. Angry that Mike still affected his emotions so
much. Angry that Mike openly admitted he has a problem with him and Tobias. And most of
all, angry at Vecna, not for terrorizing him, but for showing him that the only way out was by
thinking of Mike.

That was the worst part of all.

 Chapter 8

“You okay?”

It’s the next day and Will and Tobias are standing in front of the arcade, Jonathan’s car
driving off in the distance after dropping them off. The group had plans to meet at 7pm and
normally Will would’ve turned them down, especially after everything that happened last
night- his nightmare and then the fight with Mike in the kitchen that followed- instead
preferring a quiet day of movie-watching and pottery-making with Tobias to calm down and
process things, but he needed a distraction. And the chaos of the arcade- the neon lights and
sound effects and coins clinking everywhere- was a welcome distraction from his thoughts,
which otherwise might’ve run wild in the silence of Tobias’s house.

“Yeah,” he answers automatically, then pauses, knowing he’s lying. “I mean...” Just say it.
“Other than having a bad dream last night.”

Tobias’ eyebrows scrunch in sympathy. “About what?”

Will freezes, wishing for probably the hundredth time that month that he could just tell
Tobias everything. “A monster,” he answers simply. “Which sounds stupid but it was... pretty
scary.”

“What did the monster represent?” Tobias is staring at him curiously, ready to analyze.

Will’s mind flashes back.

If you loved me, you wouldn’t be doing this.

I know you want him and it’s sick.

Your suffering can end, Will. You belong with me. You always have.

He shivers. “Feeling like I’m... wrong. Like I need to pay for the way I am.”

“Don’t let Mike get to you,” Tobias responds immediately. “It’s no coincidence that the same
day you found out Mike is homophobic a monster appears telling you you’re wrong for the
way you are.”

Will stares at him, wishing that were true. He forces himself to smile anyways. “That makes
sense.”

Tobias pushes up his glasses, satisfied. “It’s not anything to worry about. Because I accept
you, and so does Jonathan. And if Mike doesn’t, then that’s his problem.”

Will swallows thickly, already dreading the fact that Mike was in the same arcade they were
about to walk into. “You’re right.”

“So,” Tobias’ expression turns bright. “You ready to head in?”

Will nods. “Let’s do it.”

So they walk into the arcade, and Will realizes everyone is already there. Max and El in the
back right corner, playing a shooting game. Lucas and Dustin in the front, Dustin playing
Dragon’s Lair and Lucas encouraging him, and then Mike who just returned from the
concession stand, a box of popcorn in his hand. He freezes when he sees them walking in.

“The man of the hour,” Tobias mutters sarcastically.

“What’s up guys?” Mike asks, coming up to them. “A little late, huh?”

Will checks his watch. 7:05. “Five minutes.”

“Still,” Mike says, looking at Tobias. “It’s late.”

Tobias bristles. “We were talking outside.”

“Oh?” Mike says a little too hastily. “About what?”

About what? Will fights the urge to roll his eyes. “Nothing, Mike, we were just-”

But then Tobias is talking. “About everything and nothing. The limitations of time, the
vastness of the universe, the economic problems plaguing our society at large and at small,
before finally constructing a rough estimate of resources needed to solve those problems, at
which point it was 7:05, so we rushed in here because how could we be late for Dog Dug.”

“Dig Dug.”

“Dig Dug,” he corrects himself. “My apologies. That was something we must not have
covered.”

Will feels his chest swell at how easily words came to Tobias, his chest sparking with
admiration. “It was a deep conversation,” he plays along. “We were able to cover a lot in five
minutes.”

“I see that,” Mike says tensely, looking between them. He takes a deep breath. “Well now that
your conversation is over...” He turns toward the rest of the arcade. “El and Max are playing
the asteroid shooting game, Dustin is playing Dragon’s Lair, and there’s not that many people
here so feel free to join in wherever.”

“Thanks,” Tobias says shortly.

“Mike, I’ve been here before,” Will says, trying to lighten the mood. “I don’t need a tour.”

“Yeah, but in case Tobias doesn’t know-” he stops himself. “But no, wait, he knows
everything apparently.”

“Mike, you flatter me.”

The words cause Mike to press his lips together, a look of fury passing over his face before he
suppresses it, smiling. “Yeah, no problem, man.” He looks at Will and then looks away.
“Have fun.”

Will lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, watching as Mike finally walks away.
“That went well.”

“He really is a douchebag.”

“What?”

“Sorry.” Tobias shakes his head. “But it’s true. I mean chiding us for being five minutes late?
Asking what we were talking about? If we were a guy and a girl, I doubt he’d be this
investigative.”

Will’s mind flashes back to last night, to Mike saying It’s Tobias’ job now? and Tobias can’t
do shit, and Tobias couldn’t possibly understand you since he hasn’t known you for eleven
years.

And then to earlier today, in the Wheelers’ house leading up to the arcade, where Mike still
seemed mad, hurt even- although Will couldn’t fathom why- but still kept his eyes on him in
a concerned way that reminded him of when he was 12, like he was ready to spring up at any
moment in case Will was in danger.

“I think he’s just... protective.”

“Protective of heteronormative values.”

Will snorts at that. “You really are witty, you know that?”

“So I’ve heard. From you and Mike.” He holds his fingers up in quotes. “He knows
everything apparently.”

“Something tells me it was sarcasm.”

“Something tells me that too.”

They both laugh at that before finally heading off to the center of the arcade, settling on a
random arcade game Will’s never heard of, one with lasers and astronauts and aliens they
have to destroy, and it’s pretty lame, which is probably why no one is playing it, but it’s the
most fun Will’s had in a long time just because he’s with Tobias, who is taking everything so
seriously, plotting the right angles and shooting times and strategies to win, and when it’s
Will turn, he tries to follow Tobias’ instructions the best he can, but when he does mess up,
Tobias lets out a cry of exasperation, his hand immediately covering Will’s on the joystick,
trying to do it himself. And then Will finds himself messing up again and again and Tobias is
in disbelief that he’s failing so hard, which causes Will to start purposely doing the wrong
thing, at which point Tobias is nearly pulling his hair out, which causes Will to start laughing
so hard he nearly falls off the chair, until he glances up and sees Mike staring right at them-
glaring, really- before Mike’s looking back at his own game so quickly Will almost thinks he
imagined it.

And then him and Tobias finally tire of the game and transition instead to Asteroids,
something Will actually knows how to play, but he lets Tobias try it first anyways, coaching
him through it. And of course, Tobias is a pro right off the bat, discovering the hyperspace
feature on his own and destroying a saucer within the first minute. He watches him go for a
few rounds before he hears Dustin calling out to everyone, something about a Dragon’s Lair
competition, and then him and Tobias are reunited with the rest of the group, gathered around
the clunky machine, and it’s decided they’d all play a round, with the top three scorers
competing against each other.

So then Max is playing, and then Lucas, and then Mike- who scores way below what he
usually does- and then El and Will and Tobias and Dustin, and then the top three scores are
announced. Max, Lucas, and Tobias.

Even though Will isn’t surprised Tobias mastered it right away, he still lets out a woop when
Dustin announces his name.

And then he hears Mike next to him. “It’s not like it’s hard.”

Max turns to him. “Mike, you literally scored the lowest.”

“Yeah, because I was distracted.”

But before either of them could ask what he was even distracted by, Dustin is motioning
everyone closer, and then Lucas is up first for the final round. They all watch intently for the
next few minutes, watching as Lucas makes it through the first few levels before getting to
the Sliding Stairs and succumbing to the fire.

“Damn it!” he shouts. “That’s what got me last time.”

“You have to go left,” Tobias says, and Lucas looks up at him.

“What?”

“The fire. It comes from the right, so you go left, right, left again, and then escape.”

Lucas is still staring at him. “Show me.”

So Tobias does, taking his place in front of the machine, and as they all gather closer, Will
feels pride flush in his chest as Tobias’ confidence, at all his random knowledge, at the fact
that he was his. He steps closer to see the screen better and a few minutes later- minutes filled
with Tobias skillfully evading different enemies and obstacles with stunning accuracy- Will
finally feels lighter, like the weight of the world is lifting off his shoulders for the first time.
Sure, Vecna was still alive, and sure, he showed up in his dream last night, but with the way
his friends were cheering in a nearly empty arcade, talking over each other and laughing, he
feels safe in a way. Like nothing could touch them here. It’s peaceful, almost.

Until that peace is broken by the voice next to him.

“How are you?” It’s Mike, whispering.

Will is caught off guard. “Um, good.”

“Good?” Mike raises an eyebrow. “Look, Tobias might be buying that, but I’m not.”

“What?”

“You’re clearly not okay. You keep looking around the room and crossing your arms like you
do when you’re nervous.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” Mike shakes his head. “I just don’t know why Tobias isn’t realizing it.” Mike
glares at Tobias, who’s currently furiously pressing the enter key and the joystick, Lucas
watching in awe behind him.

Will feels a sudden wave of defensiveness. “He did realize it. When we first walked into the
arcade, he- he asked if I was okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Mike.”

Mike looks at him before looking away. “That’s great.” He swallows thickly, like he does
when he’s thinking about something, and Will stays silent, waiting. “Why did you come
here?”

“Why did I come here?” Will echoes. “I-” He goes blank for a moment. “I wanted a
distraction. The lights, the noise, the people.” He has a sudden flashback to last night, to his
nightmare, to standing with Mike in the kitchen alone, vulnerable. “I just didn’t want to think
for once. I wanted distractions, you know?”

Mike nods like he doesn’t believe him. “Or is it because I’m here?”

“What?” he asks. “Jesus Christ, Mike. You can’t actually think-”

“Game over!” Dustin shouts out. “That’s the highest score yet!”

They both turn to look at the screen, where Tobias is currently top of the leaderboard. Will’s
jaw drops. “Above MADMAX?”

“Above MADMAX.” Dustin repeats. He slaps a hand on Tobias’ shoulder. “You, my man,
are in the hall of fame.”

“Am I?” And now Tobias is looking at Will, and Will flushes, pride overwhelming him.

“That’s amazing!” he exclaims, and he genuinely means it, remembering the group trying to
beat Max’s score for weeks to no success. And then Tobias beats it on his second try?
Amazing.
“I researched some stuff online,” Tobias admits.

“Still,” Will beams. “That’s incredible.”

“Honestly, it really is,” Max chimes in. “As much as I wish I could be mad, I’m just
impressed.” She turns to Will. “I don’t know where you found this guy, but keep him
around.”

And then Dustin and Lucas are nodding excitedly, talking over each other.

“We have to see him play Galaga!”

“No, Pac-Man! Just think about the reaction times.”

“Or Dig Dug! No one can get past the Ender’s loop.”

“Asteroids.”

“Tempest.”

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that he cheated?”

They all freeze at Mike’s voice.

“Cheated?” Max repeats.

“Yeah, I- I mean,” Mike rubs his forehead. “He had other, outside information that he found
online. Isn’t that cheating?”

They all go silent for a moment before Dustin talks. “Suzie says the internet is free to the
public. Fair game.”

“It’s not our fault you don’t know how to use it,” Max adds.

And Mike looks so distressed that Will almost feels bad, but then Tobias is talking again.
“Luckily I do.”

“You do,” Will repeats softly, fondness seeping into his voice. And he’d almost be
embarrassed at it if it wasn’t for the fact that Tobias just beat all their scores. And he was
currently standing in a room with all his friends who were accepting of- no, loved- his
boyfriend. Well, except Mike, who looked tenser than he’d ever seen him. But he ignores it,
still staring at Tobias, at his bluish-green eyes, his blocky glasses, the oversized sweater he
was wearing. Jonathan was right, Tobias was a godsend. He was lucky to have him in his life.
Did he tell Tobias that? He probably should. They stare at each other for another few seconds
before a voice breaks him out of his trance.

“Get a room!” Dustin says jokingly.

He jerks his gaze away, hearing Dustin and Lucas softly laughing in the background,
clapping their hands. How long were they staring?
But before he can get embarrassed, Lucas is talking again. “Max, why don’t you ever look at
me like that?”

“Because you’re absolute shit at Dragon’s Lair?”

“Absolute shit?” Lucas stutters out, in shock. “I was top three!”

“After what I saw just now...” Max quirks an eyebrow. “You have a lot of room to improve.”

Lucas flops his arms down dramatically. “Tobias? See what you did?” But there’s no bite to it
and then Lucas and Max are smiling at each other a second later, Lucas wrapping his arm
around her. With the attention off them, Tobias steps closer to him.

“Impressed?” The way he says it is so confident, cocky almost, that Will feels a blush creep
down his neck.

“Yeah,” he nods breathlessly. “Yeah, that was... amazing.”

“I wouldn’t say amazing.” Tobias rolls his eyes, grinning.

“Phenomenal.”

“There it is.”

Will giggles at that- actually giggles- and Tobias is looking at him in a way that he almost
wants to kiss him, but obviously they can’t because they’re in front of his friends, they’re in a
public place, but that doesn’t stop Will’s eyes from drifting down to his lips-

There’s a noise and Will turns to see Mike walking away, and a few seconds later the double
doors slam shut behind him. They all watch him go.

“What’s his problem?” Lucas asks.

Everyone shrugs in confusion and El makes eye contact with him, worried, and he shoots her
a sympathetic look in return, mouthing I don’t know.

“You guys take these games pretty seriously, huh?” Tobias jokes, trying to break the tension.

Will forces a smile at that, although he knows that’s not the case.

He just wonders what actually is.

Mike grips the bathroom sink tightly, his knuckles turning white, breathing quickly. What the
fuck? Why did he feel like this? Tears sting his eyes and he looks up at the mirror, and almost
reels back at just how angry he looks. He tries to calm down, to return to sanity, but then
visions of Will and that guy fill his mind and suddenly his heart rate is speeding up again,
rage filling his chest.

He pushes himself off from the sink, walking toward the back wall of the arcade bathroom
and back again, pacing, running a hand through his hair. His mind scrambles for an
explanation for why he was upset.

Did Tobias do something? Did he hurt Will somehow? He shakes his head. No, he was
perfect. Respectful. Even asked Will if he was okay before they walked into the arcade, which
was probably why they were late. That was Mike’s job, Jesus Christ. They didn’t need
Tobias. Not him, not the group, not Will, even though maybe he thought he did, based on the
way he was staring at him with stars in his eyes, just because he won a stupid video game that
he probably found cheat codes on the internet for which didn’t count at all. Tobias was a
cheater and a charmer and the fact that no one could see it was insane. Absolutely insane. He
had to show them. He had to prove it to them if it was the last thing he did, and he would, he
just needed more time, more proof-

He jumps when he hears the door open. “Mike? Are you in here?”

It’s Lucas’ voice and Mike relaxes slightly. Or tries to relax. His body is still tense, his heart
pounding way too fast. “Yeah.”

Lucas walks in and then stares at him. “Are you okay, dude?”

“Yeah, I just needed to go to the bathroom.”

“Really? Because it looks like you’re in the midst of some type of breakdown.”

Mike goes silent, not knowing what to say, knowing he was probably right. So he decides to
just say it. “They shouldn’t be dating.”

“Mike.”

“No, I mean it. He basically cheated on this game, and no one cares because they’re all
charmed. I mean, top of the scoreboard? Really? On, what, his second try? How is no one
questioning this?”

Lucas just looks at him. “Mike, you know he’s smart.”

Mike scoffs. “Oh, great, so he’s fooled you too.” He paces around, running a hand through
his hair. “Great, so you believe him, and everyone else does, and Will does.” He feels tears
sting his eyes, but quickly blinks them away. “It’s like I’m on a prank show or something.
There’s no way that I’m the only guy who sees who he really is-”

“Mike,” Lucas cuts him off. “Just listen for a second.” Mike forces himself to stop moving,
turning to Lucas. Lucas takes a deep breath. “I didn’t want to be the one who have to say it,
but is this... you know?” He looks at Mike expectantly.

“Is this what?”

Lucas spreads his hands out unsurely. “Is all this, this inability to accept Tobias because of...
you know...” He widens his eyes in emphasis, but when Mike doesn’t get it, he sighs. “Don’t
make me say it.”

“Say it.”

“Because of your...” he lowers his voice to a whisper. “Religion.”

“My religion?” Mike’s voice jumps an octave. “What, you think I’m homophobic?”

“Mike, I know you’re homophobic.” He fixes him with a look. “The reasons you’ve given so
far for why they shouldn’t be together are stupid. Tobias is too perfect? I mean, come on,
that’s a dream come true for anyone. And everyone else agrees that Will pretty much met his
soulmate, except you-”

“They’re not soulmates.”

“-case in point, Wheeler.” He crosses his arms. “And look, I respect religion as much as the
next guy. Your beliefs are your beliefs. But I’m Catholic too. I go to church every Sunday
with my whole family. But somehow, even I’m able to overcome what I was taught because
Will’s not a sinner, he’s Will.”

Mike feels tears sting his eyes again. “I know he’s Will.”

“Then act like it. Because seriously dude, you’ve been ruining the vibe for a while now. And
Will doesn’t deserve that. Neither does Tobias.”

At Tobias’ name, Mike feels a red hot strike of anger shoot through him. His eyes widen at it.
What if he really was homophobic? “Is it genetic?”

“Being gay?”

“No, being homophobic.” When Lucas just blinks at him, he rushes to explain. “My father
is.”

“Uh, my father is too probably, but I don’t think that matters. It’s really up to each person to
decide for themselves how they feel about it.”

Experimentally, Mike thinks of Will and Tobias, of them holding hands, staring at each other,
talking in their own little world, and a wave of fury overtakes him. This is how his father felt
all the time? Shit. “I don’t think I can change it,” he chokes out.

“You’ve hardly even tried.”

“It’s too strong, Lucas. It makes me want to scream, or- or punch something.”

Lucas is looking at him with awe. “The church really got you, huh?” He thinks for a second.
“Hey, admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?”

Mike twists his mouth to the side. “Right.”

“So, Rome wasn’t built in a day.” He leans back against the wall, shooting him a generous
smile. “I guess for today, force a smile when you see them and then go home and pray for
Will’s repentance for his actions or whatever. And maybe over time, you’ll be doing more of
the first one and less of the last one. Or something. I don’t know. Max is better at talking
about this stuff than me.”

Mike scrunches up his eyebrows. Repentance for his actions? Like regret for dating Tobias?
He nods eagerly. “I’ll be praying.”

Lucas looks concerned again. “O-kay. Not too much though, right?”

“Right.”

“Alright then, Saint Wheeler.”

And then they’re headed back to the arcade, and as Mike follows him through the bathroom
door and down the hallway, he feels a little bit better, knowing that what he felt finally had a
name. Homophobia. Something real and concrete that explained why he was having a
breakdown in the bathroom, why he hated Tobias so much, why seeing them together made
him lose his mind. And sure, of course he felt guilty that he was now in the same category as
his father and Troy- the guy who bullied them in middle school- but he wasn’t like them. He
cared about Will, he did, just not the fact that he was dating a boy. A boy who happened to be
standing way too close to Will at the moment. Him and Lucas walk in to see everyone back to
playing video games- except for Tobias and Will, deep in conversation against the snack
counter.

“We’re back,” Mike says, probably a little too loudly.

“Mike,” Dustin calls over his shoulder, eyes still glued to his game. “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He walks over to lean against the counter too, the action causing Will and
Tobias to separate a bit. “Sorry, I was just mad I scored the lowest on Dragon’s Lair.”

“That was a pretty delayed reaction,” Tobias says.

Mike looks at him, irritated. “Well sorry I was a little tired. It took me a while.”

Tobias looks straight ahead. “Eight hours of sleep is the key. That’s how I stay sharp.”

Was this guy trying to start a fight? “Okay, and the rest of the hours are spent looking up
cheat codes on the internet, right?”

“Mike,” Will swats his arm. “Stop.” And Mike feels suddenly hurt that Will is taking Tobias’
side. Especially after last night, after he woke up to Will’s screams and waited patiently until
he went to go get a glass of water- like he knew Will always did- and then comforted him and
was even planning to invite him to stay in his room for the night if he was scared, before
things went south.

“And besides,” Mike continues. “Eight hours is unrealistic if some of us have nightmares.”
Will looks at him incredulously. “Mike-”

“You’re right,” Tobias cuts in, and he grabs Will’s hand. “Some of us do have nightmares.”

Mike stares down at their hands. “PDA in an arcade? Really?”

Dustin chimes in over his shoulder. “Says the guy who made out with El at one of our D&D
tournaments.”

“We weren’t making out-”

“Ah, so it’s a tradition,” Tobias says, looking at Will. “Well in that case-”

“No!” Mike exclaims, then freezes. He feels Lucas looking at him, his eyes wide. “I mean,
uh, fuck, go ahead. Be my guest. No judgement here.”

“He said no judgement,” Tobias echoes, but Will is stuck staring at him, a confused look on
his face.

And then El is walking up to him, and Mike is grateful for the distraction. He turns to her,
seeing her wide eyes looking up at him. “Mike, you okay?” Her voice is soft and Mike
wishes he could give into it, be comforted by it like usual, but something is preventing it and
it’s Tobias’ hand still grabbing Will’s. What, did he think he owned him or something?

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says, still staring at joined hands, before forcing his gaze up, back into
El’s warm brown eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Okay, good,” El says, although she doesn’t look convinced. “Want to play Galaga?”

Mike hated that game, but he needed to get away from the smug way Tobias was looking at
him, like he won or something. “Let’s do it.”

And then a few minutes later they’re playing Galaga, and Mike is playing absolute shit,
losing way too easily, but at least El can finally win, and her eyes are crinkling in the way she
does when she’s happy and she’s squirming with excitement and she even kisses Mike when
she gets a new high score, but somehow, he can’t match her excitement. He can’t even feel
happy or interested or anything. His eyes keep flicking back to where Will and Tobias are
still standing by the counter, deep in conversation. Why aren’t they playing any games? What
are they even talking about? Then he sees Max staring at him with a knowing look on her
face, one he recognized from when Will first came out to all of them in the basement, and he
cringes. Did she always know he was homophobic?

Then he forces himself to turn back to the game, to El, diligently playing the role of
boyfriend- smiling when he has to, frowning when she loses, giving her a kiss on the cheek in
between games. Going through the motions of what a boyfriend does, which usually was
natural, but now it felt like he was just mimicking what he did in the past. And sure, he was
probably doing it now because he was distracted by his homophobia, which was practically a
medical condition at this point, but something else was nagging at him. The fact that he
wasn’t just doing it now, but that he’s done it before. That he’s done it for the past year.
Writing her letters. Buying her flowers. Wearing her favorite colors to the airport, purple and
yellow. Doing what he thinks he should do, what El would want. Not knowing what he even
wanted.

Jesus Christ, he shouldn’t even be thinking like this. El just saved the world, saved Max, and
he was lucky to even be her boyfriend. She was a superhero and he was- well- a nobody. And
if he wanted to keep her, he needed to step it up. His mom married his dad because he made a
lot of money. And El dated Mike because he rescued her from the woods and gave her food
and a place to live... until it became Hopper’s job. So what did he have to offer now?

Impulsively, he wraps an arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her head, and then lets
her go. He needed El, he needed El to need him, especially now that Will didn’t need him
anymore. He looks up and is surprised to see Will is already looking at them, before he
makes eye contact with Mike and quickly looks away, back in conversation with Tobias so
fast Mike thinks he imagined it.

Mike watches them for a moment, watches the way Tobias leans closer to him and Will
mirrors the movement, the way Will smiles up at him, the way Tobias grabs his hand. The
way they keep talking and whispering and flirting.

And the way that Will never looks over at him again.

Mike turns back to El’s game, the anger dissolved out of him, replaced by emptiness. If he
couldn’t even keep Will, how could he keep a superhero? Soon enough, he’d lose everybody.

“I won!” El exclaims, and Mike is quick to celebrate with her.

“That’s great, El!” He forces enthusiasm into his voice. “Do you want to play again? I have a
few more quarters.”

El nods eagerly, holding her hand out, and Mike digs them out of his pocket, placing them in
her palm. He watches as she plugs them into the machine, the screen lighting up as the music
restarts.

He just hoped he’d have more than quarters in the future.

An hour later, they’re all saying goodbye, walking out of the arcade. Jonathan’s car is parked
out front and Mike, El, Tobias, and Will head toward it. But then he feels a hand on his
shoulder.

He turns around to see Lucas looking at him. “You were good out there,” he says. “For the
last half hour at least.”

“What?”
“No anger, no sudden outbursts, no glaring at the sinful duo.” He grins at him. “Not bad for
Day One of overcoming homophobia.”

Mike offers a half-smile at that, wishing he could chalk it up to self-control, but if he was
being honest, he didn’t have any fight left in him. He felt like an observer in his own life,
almost floating above his body as he watched Will and Tobias, El glued by his side the whole
time. “Thanks.”

Lucas looks at him for a second. “You sure you’re good man?”

Mike forces himself to nod. “Just tired.”

“Get some rest, Wheeler.” Lucas claps him on the shoulder like he’s a coach. “And hey,
remember, don’t pray too hard tonight.”

Mike gives a half smile. “I won’t.”

“Good.” And then Lucas is heading back to the SUV, where Max is waiting patiently for him
to help her get in, her crutches under her arms. Mike feels a pang as he looks at them,
wishing he had someone to protect like that, to take care of. El seemed to do it all on her
own, and then some. If anything, she was protecting him. Protecting all of them.

He turns back to the car, seeing Tobias open the door for Will, and he feels rage flood through
his chest. And he’s suddenly thankful Lucas can no longer see him because he knows he’s
glaring.

“You ready?” El blinks up at him.

He rips his eyes away. “Uh- yeah. Yeah. Let’s go.”

As expected, El opens the door all on her own and Mike uselessly follows after her. Will and
Tobias are in the back row and Mike can hear them whispering to each other, although he
can’t make out the words. And he’s not sure he wants to anyways.

The next ten minutes are full of him staring out the window, El staring at him, and at first he
doesn’t know why but then he realizes it’s probably because she wants to recreate Will and
Tobias in the backseat, who are acting like they’re in a teen romance movie or something,
giggling to each other and whispering and even not hearing Jonathan the first time he asks
Tobias where he lives. But for some reason, he can’t force himself to talk to El.

And then finally, finally, they’re pulling into Tobias’ driveway and Mike breathes a sigh of
relief that it was finally over, but then Will and Tobias are taking forever to say goodbye.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Will asks.

“You will see me tomorrow, Will.”

Will laughs at that, although it’s the dumbest joke Mike’s ever heard. “You mean that?”
“Of course.” Tobias hops out of the car, but then leans back in. “We can watch that one movie
you were talking about. The movie I’ve never seen.”

“Ghostbusters?”

“Yeah.”

He’s never seen Ghostbusters? He had to be kidding.

“I know you’ll like it,” Will beams.

“I’ll like it if you like it.”

“I’ll like it more if you like it.”

“I’ll like it more if you like that I like-”

“Okay,” Mike says suddenly. “We get it.” The car goes silent and he freezes. Don’t be
homophobic. “I mean, we get it that you’re seeing the movie tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Tobias says hesitantly, then turns back to Will. “We will.”

And then Will is giggling again. “We Will.”

And Mike wants to bang his head against the window.

Luckily at that moment Tobias chooses to finally shut the door and then Jonathan is putting
the car in gear, driving off a few seconds later. It's oddly silent with Tobias gone. “Miss him
already?” he asks, unable to help himself, and immediately regrets it with the look Jonathan
shoots him in the rearview mirror.

“Is there a problem if he does?”

The way he says it, Mike feels like he did something wrong and he shakes his head. “Uh, no.
No.”

“Good.”

“I do,” Will says softly.

Mike turns behind him, seeing Will with a small smile. “What?”

“I do miss him already.”

And then Mike turns back around, a wave of sadness welling within him. Being homophobic
sucks. “Oh, nice.”

A few seconds later, they’re back at the Wheeler’s house. Mike quickly undoes his seatbelt,
getting out of the car practically as soon as it stops. “See you guys.” And then he’s walking
up the driveway through the front door and then up to his room. And as soon as his bedroom
door shuts behind him, he feels like crying.
But he doesn’t give in.

He doesn’t do anything really except get ready for bed before he can think too much.

And then half an hour later, he falls into a dreamless sleep.

 Chapter 9
Chapter Notes

Will has another nightmare.

Also, him and Mike talk about Mike's "homophobia."

As always, thank you for all your comments and analyses <3

Will blinks. It’s dark and it’s cold and his body is flooded with goosebumps, crawling on his
arms, his legs, the back of his neck. An ominous presence is near him, but doesn’t know
where. Until he feels it, above him somewhere. But when he looks up, he sees only a stormy
red sky, lighting flashing every few seconds.

The Upside Down.

He panics immediately, trying to move only to realize he’s bound by vines. Like Max was, he
realizes. That is, before her bones snapped and she went half-blind.

This had to be a dream. Because if this was real life...

“You thought you could escape me,” a deep voice jolts him out of his thoughts. “That it was
that easy.” Will looks around frantically but can’t see anyone.

And then Vecna is right in front of him, his face inches away, and Will flinches back violently.
“Will.” Instinctively, he tries to get away but his arms and legs are trapped. “We meet
again.” Vecna tilts his head to the side, watching him, his words slow. “And we will continue
meeting.”

“Stop! I want- I want to go home.”

“Go home?” Vecna pauses and laughs, a low, dark laugh. “Go home where you’ll be safe?
Or where you think you’ll be safe?”

Will squeezes his eyes shut, turning away, shaking his head. “Let me go.”

“Remember.” Vecna backs up slightly, moving slow. “I’m always with you. Dreaming. Or
awake. Because we’re a team, Will. We always have been.”

“No!”
“Admit it!” Vecna’s voice is louder than he’s ever heard it. “It’s always been you.” He backs
away and begins walking back and forth. Pacing. “My spy. My bridge. The manifestation of
my plans.”

“It’s not me! I don’t-” Will’s crying now. “I don’t want this, any of this, just- just- let me go-”

“Not until you admit it!” Vecna snarls. He picks up a rock and throws it. Will flinches as it
narrowly misses his head.

He panics, lunging forward only for the vines to press him back against the wall. “No!”

He had to get out of here. He had to wake up, wake up.

This time, he remembers to think of Tobias.

His intelligence and confidence and kind eyes. His pottery. His room. His mom and sister.
Them watching Ghostbusters tomorrow. He lets himself feel- or- or try to feel-

“Admit it Will!” Vecna’s voice is angry, almost inside his own head, and there’s a giant
roaring sound, like Vecna is picking up more than rocks.

Tobias holding his hand. Tobias staring at him when he thought Will wasn’t looking. Tobias
getting the highest score on Dragon’s Lair.

“There’s no use in resisting. You are my potential, Will. You are the future of my vision. My
manifestation.” There’s the squeaking of something in the distance and the flapping of wings,
growing louder. Demobats.

And then the vines tighten around his wrists and legs. He winces in pain.

It wasn’t working.

Desperately, he thinks of his mom. Her comforting words. Her concerned eyes.

The vines continue to tighten.

His brother. His unwavering support. Singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” together.

More vines snake up his torso.

He squeezes his eyes shut, a tear slipping down his cheek.

An image of Mike flashes through his mind, like an intrusive thought, and the vines loosen
momentarily, before tightening again.

Jesus Christ. This cannot be-

“Will,” Vecna’s voice is louder than ever. “Your time is up.” There’s a slithering sound and
then the vines are moving faster, coiling around him, crawling up his limbs, and Will panics.

Fuck it.
He thinks of Mike.

Mike’s eyes. His voice- “Will, are you okay?” The feeling of his hand on his shoulder. The
feeling of his arms wrapped around him. The fact that in real life he was down the hallway
from Will, sleeping, or probably hearing Will scream and ready to save him. Mike was there.
He would always be there.

Vecna lets out a cry of outrage and Will looks up, scared, only see his face fading away, his
voice growing distant. “Pathetic, Will.” The rumbling grows softer, the squeaking of the bats
retreating. “You’ll be back.”

“What?”

“This won’t be the last time.” Will can barely hear him. He looks above him, where the gray
clouds are separating, light streaming down from them. “You’ll be back.”

He shoots up out of bed, his chest heaving, sweat covering his body and his white t-shirt
sticking to his skin. He looks around at his dark room, at the dresser and the nightstand and
his closet, and it should be proof that he’s safe, that he’s back in reality, but it doesn’t seem to
comfort him at all, his breathing quickening. Vecna was there. He was right there. He might
even still be in the room.

In the room? he thinks. He’s a part of you. Awake or dreaming.

Tears spring to his eyes at the remembrance of what Vecna said. And he gets the same feeling
of needing to escape, to wake up, even though he’s already awake. He needs to go
downstairs. To pace around the kitchen, to feel the cool tile against his feet, to catch his
breath which was ridiculously uneven right now. He flings off his sheets and plants his feet
on the floor, standing up and immediately feeling dizzy, his breaths increasingly faster and
shallower. What if Vecna was possessing him right now? What if he was about to destroy
something? Or hurt someone? How did he know what was him and what was Vecna? He
stumbles to the door, turning the knob.

He steps out into the harsh light of the hallway and doesn’t even know if he can make it down
the stairs to get water, or if that would even help. His mind flashes back to the end of the
vision, where once again, thoughts of Mike brought him back to reality. And he knows he
should be beating himself up for it. but he’s panicked, panicked and traumatized and only one
thing can make it go away.

And he needs this to go away.

As if on their own accord, his legs walk over to Mike’s door, and then his hand is knocking.
Once. Twice. And then again. And again. And he wishes he could stop but he’s seriously
freaking out. And as much as he probably would regret this tomorrow, he wants- he needs- to
see Mike. He needs to make this go away. To feel safe again. He needs- he needs Mike,
where the- where the hell was he? He keeps knocking until the door opens, and Mike is in
front of him, blinking sleepily, before his eyes widen. “Will? What’s wrong?”
He wishes he could talk, but the words are stuck in his throat. What if Vecna was the one
stopping him from talking? What if the next words were Vecna’s, not his own, and Mike was
about to get possessed? Or something worse? Panic overwhelms him and he starts to pull
away, before he feels Mike’s hand on his shoulder, pulling him into his room. A second later
the harsh light is replaced by soft darkness, Mike shutting the door behind them.

And then Mike sounds just as panicked as him. “What’s going on?”

“N-nightmare,” he chokes out.

“About Vecna?”

He nods. Mike’s hand is still on his shoulder and he focuses on it, letting it ground him. “He-
he told me-” He inhales and shakes his head, unable to talk.

Mike’s hand on his shoulder tightens and it looks like he’s about to hug him before he
hesitates, like he’s remembering something. “Um, just take a deep breath.”

Will laughs bitterly. Did he really think it was that easy? “I- I can’t-”

Mike looks conflicted, his eyebrows twitching together, his other arm not on Will’s shoulder
reaching forward slightly before he puts it in his pocket. He shifts his weight. “Just, uh,
inhale. Like this.” He demonstrates.

“Jesus Christ, Mike.” But luckily the anger is enough to distract him from his fear and he
forces himself to take a deep breath. They stand there in silence for a moment.

“Would it help to talk about it?” And the softness is back in Mike’s voice, the softness that
has Will seriously wondering how this Mike- the one in the middle of the night- is the same
as the one in the day.

“Yeah,” he responds. “Yeah. It was...” he shivers, looking away. “Terrifying. Vecna... he

talked to me. He was there. Right there.”

“But you weren’t floating or anything, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

Mike drops his hand from Will’s shoulder, relieved. “So it was just a dream. Not actually
him. Unless he found a way to communicate through dreams in a hyper realistic way. Did
Lucas mention anything about that with Max?”

And just like that, Mike is back on investigative mode where it’s safer, where they’re both
comfortable.

“I don’t think so.”

“Did you actually see Vecna? Or was it just a voice?”

“I- I saw him.”

“Where was all this?”

“The Upside Down.”

“Did he show you any past trauma?”

“No, he was telling me how we were a team. How we’d always be.”

They go on like this for the next few minutes and the questions are great, they’re figuring a
lot out, but Will feels the familiar panic creeping back in. Not that Mike seems to notice.

“What was his message exactly?”

Will lets out a shuddering breath. “That he’s always with me. It doesn’t matter if I’m asleep,
or awake, because I’m his spy, his- his bridge to this world.”

“Spy?” Mike repeats the word. “Did he tell you what that meant? Or show you?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Mike continues. “Did he drop any hints about what he’s planning?”

“I... I couldn’t really tell, Mike. I don’t-” he chokes off. “I don’t know.”

“You couldn’t tell? But weren’t there any clues?”

And the memories start flooding back, all too vivid. Vecna’s slimy face in front of his, his
beady eyes looking right through him, the vines paralyzing him, the Demobats, Vecna’s voice
that practically became his thoughts with how loud it was.

Mike is still talking but he’s not even listening, his breathing getting shallower. Vecna was a
part of him. Listening to everything. Here right now. No escape. Did he still even have an
identity at this point?

“Will?” Mike is asking, but his ears are ringing, white noise, panic coursing through his
veins. And he just wants it to go away. Why didn’t Mike just hug him before? Why was he
asking all these stupid questions? Why was it so hard for Will to breathe? “Hey, Will, what’s
wrong?”

And Will comes back for a second, looking at Mike, at the foot of space between them, with
no idea how to bridge that gap. How to ask for what he wants. What he needs.

“Mike, can you-” He swallows thickly. “Can you do what you did last time?”

“Get you water?”

“No.” Will feels like crying. “Not that. The other thing.”

“What other thing?”

Will feels his head spinning, and... he’s about to have a panic attack. “The- in the kitchen...”
Tears of frustration prick his eyes. “Fuck, Mike.”

“Will, what-” Then it clicks and Mike realizes. “Oh. Oh, Will, c’mere.” And then he reaches
out, wrapping his arms around Will and pulling him in, squeezing tight. Will buries his face
in his shoulder, his arms finding their way around him too. “It’s okay, Will. It’s okay,” he’s
whispering and finally, finally, Will feels his breathing slow down, his heart rate drop, his
thoughts calm down. Stop completely. He breathes slowly, in, out, and realizes he’s copying
Mike, mirroring his breathing. But it grounds him and he squeezes his eyes shut, pressing his
face harder against his shoulder, and in response Mike tightens his arms around him. “You’re
safe, Will. Okay? You’re safe. You’re safe with me.” He keeps whispering into his ear and
Will feels himself relax even more, almost wanting to cry at how effective it was.

About a minute goes by before he forces himself to pull back, wiping his eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Mike says softly. “I get it. I mean, if Vecna showed up in my dream I’d be
running to-” he cuts himself off. “To El, you know?” He chuckles nervously. “Because she
can actually fight him.”

“Right,” Will says weakly. “And I’d be running to Tobias but, you know...”

Mike nods. “He can’t do what I do.”

“What? No,” Will reels back. “He doesn’t know about the Upside Down.”

“Oh.” Mike just looks at him. “That too.”

Will purposefully ignores the that too because suddenly, he’s brought back into reality. It’s
2am and he’s standing in the dark in Mike’s room. Just because he couldn’t handle another
nightmare. Which apparently was so intense that he ran in here but now he just felt... normal.
How was Mike able to do that? He looks up to realize Mike is watching him intently, with the
same intensity from when they were kids. He looks away nervously, crossing his arms.

“Well, thanks for being here.”

“Uh, yeah.” Mike seems to sense the tone change and sticks his hands in his pockets.
“Anytime.”

Anytime? Will shakes his head. “There won’t be a next time.”

Mike looks confused. “You don’t think you’ll have another nightmare?”

“No, Mike.” Will rubs his face with his hands. “I can’t be doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“You know, coming to you.” When Mike doesn’t get it, he sighs. “We’re not little kids
anymore.”
Mike looks away, and when he talks again his voice is soft. “Yeah, but I’ll always be here,
Will.”

And then Will feels like crying again. He had to get out of here. “I appreciate it,” he says
shortly. “Well, I should head back-”

“I mean it.” Mike’s voice is still soft, so soft that Will is once again thinking he’s still
dreaming. Or in a vision from Vecna. But before he can go too far down that train of thought,
Mike is talking again. “Look, I know I’m bad at showing it. Since, well, El. But what I’ve
come to realize is just because you’re in a relationship doesn’t mean you have to only go to
them. I mean, I know I probably did that with El but I think I...” he swallows thickly. “I think
I finally understand how I made you feel all those times. You know, at the airport and the
roller rink when you were the third wheel, and now I know how it feels. And it’s... it’s really
bad.”

“Yeah,” Will says, a little confused.

Mike’s eyes widen, like he said something wrong. “I mean, not bad because you’re both
guys. I support that of course. Well, I mean, it makes me a little mad-”

“A little mad?”

“-but I’m trying to overcome it. Lucas is helping me. I guess I’m just, I don’t know, really
religious or something-”

Will blinks, trying to keep up. “You’re religious?”

“Yeah, and it’s just that... the church really got me. I don’t know.”

And Will just looks at him, not knowing what to say. So Mike was homophobic. And he
knows he should be angry or upset or even vindicated that he was right, but instead he’s
just... tired. All the panic from before had drained out of him, leaving him exhausted.
“Well...” he looks down at his feet and then back at Mike. “Thanks for telling me.”

“You’re not mad?”

Will sighs. “I don’t know. You said you’re trying to work on it?” Mike nods eagerly. “Then I
guess it’s okay. For now. As long as it doesn’t take too long.”

“I’m sorry, I-” Mike pauses. “I wish I wasn’t homophobic.”

Will smiles at him sadly. “I wish the world wasn’t homophobic.” He cracks open Mike’s
door. “Goodnight, Mike.”

Mike takes a second before responding. “Goodnight, Will.”

-
Mike yawns as he stares at the TV. It’s the next day and he’s in the living room watching
Ghostbusters with Tobias and Will on the couch. He can’t believe he really forced himself to
sit in on their date night, but he needed to be there in case something happened to Will,
something that Tobias would have no idea how to deal with. Two nights in a row of
nightmares is not something to mess with.

El was supposed to join them, but Joyce whisked her away at the last minute, something
about a clothing sale on Mulberry Street, which meant it was just him... and Will and Tobias,
who were practically one unit based on how close they were sitting next to each other on the
couch, deep in conversation. He leans further away from them, irritated. Didn’t Tobias say
he’d never watched this movie before? He wasn’t even paying attention. Neither of them
were. He casts them an annoyed glance but they don’t even notice, still whispering to each
other. So he huffs, but they don’t notice that either.

“Guys,” he finally snaps. “Watch the movie.”

Will looks at him over Tobias’ shoulder. “Mike, I was just giving him some background
information.”

“What’s there to understand? There’s ghosts and they bust them. Ghostbusters.”

Tobias gives him an incredulous look and then turns to Will. “Who invited this guy?”

“I live here,” Mike cuts in before Will can respond. “I don’t have to be invited.”

“Still.”

Will looks at him. “Mike, you and El would whisper to each other during movies all the
time.”

“So? We’d seen those movies a million times.”

“Still,” Tobias cuts in. “Sounds like a double standard to me, Wheeler.”

Mike shoots him a glare. “Okay, whatever. Whisper all you want.” He turns back to the
movie, crossing his arms, waiting, but luckily Will and Tobias stop whispering.

He watches the next half hour of the movie more or less in peace, before he’s distracted
again, this time by Tobias putting his arm around Will’s shoulder, and out of the corner of his
eye he can see Will snuggling into it. He tenses, his jaw clenching, trying to focus on the
plotline, but then there’s more movement and he glances over and they’re holding hands.
What was this, a picnic in the park?

He can’t help himself from staring, reminded of last night, when Will was in his arms. If he
had his arm around Will right now there wouldn’t even be a risk of Vecna appearing. Will
would be safe. With him. Like he should be. But instead Will was snuggled into a random
guy’s arm, a guy they only met a few weeks ago. A guy that so far was revealed to be a
charmer, and a cheater, and-
“Problem, Wheeler?”

Mike startles to see Tobias looking at him. Was he staring? “Nope, no problem.”

“Is there something you wanted to say?”

“No,” he says again, irritated. Then he looks at Will, who’s hardly paying attention, eyes still
on the screen. And Will probably forgot all about it. He crosses his arms, facing forward.
“Nothing, just reminds me of last night.”

At that, Will makes a strangled noise. “Mike, what-”

He looks back at Will, who’s finally looking at him. “So you remember then?”

“What? Yeah I remember, but what- why are you-” He’s stumbling over his words and
something in Mike’s stomach flips.

“Because.” He holds eye contact. “I can do a better job.”

Will flushes, looking away. “That doesn’t matter right now.”

“Why not?” Mike presses. “It can happen any second-”

“Only if I’m having a nightmare-”

“You know he can strike in the daytime too-”

“What are you guys talking about?” They both turn to Tobias, who was momentarily
forgotten.

Mike lets out a breath. “Nothing.”

Tobias raises an eyebrow. “Nothing?”

“Nothing.” He cuts his gaze over to Will, who’s giving Mike a look, and he sighs, deciding to
just end the conversation. “El and I watched a movie last night too,” he lies. “That’s what you
guys reminded me of.”

“Okay.” Tobias doesn’t look entirely convinced. But then he mumbles. “Must’ve been nice
for it to be just the two of you.”

“It was great,” he says tensely. He looks back at Will, who’s now refusing to look at him,
looking back at the screen like nothing is wrong, and the anger is back, boiling deep in his
stomach. He wants to storm out or force himself between Tobias and Will or take Will by the
shoulders and just... he didn’t even know. Punch him or hug him or something. All he knows
is that the air suddenly feels hot and stuffy and he wants to get up and leave, but then he gets
a vision of Will floating and Tobias just standing there uselessly and nope, he’s staying right
here.
He forces himself to turn back to the movie, even though he’s breathing fast, his jaw
clenched, because no way is he leaving Will after he’d had two Vecna nightmares in a row.
Did the rest of the group even know about this? If anything they should be talking about it,
forming plans, finding clues. Will should be with the group right now- with him- not
watching some movie he’s already seen with a guy who didn’t even know what the Upside
Down was. Will hanging out with Tobias alone was dangerous, a liability even. He makes a
mental note to tell the group about that later.

In the meantime, he keeps trying to focus on the movie, where the Ghostbusters are currently
trying to close the gateway between their world and the ghost dimension, and after a while he
finds himself getting lost in the plot again and calming down, but then Tobias and Will are
whispering to each other and this time he knows it’s not “background information.”

“Guys, seriously?”

“Mike, can you just relax?” It’s Will, and he sounds actually angry. Mike tries to swallow his
anger.

“This is a good movie, Will.”

“You’ve seen it before?” Tobias asks him, and Mike widens his eyes as if to say duh. “So
then shouldn’t you be able to follow along even if there’s interruptions?”

Mike blanches. “I- I guess.” And then he looks over at Will who looks like he’s proud of
Tobias almost and Mike feels like screaming. “Fine. Keep whispering.”

“That’s what you said last time,” Will points out.

“Okay, well I mean it this time.” He knows his voice is harsh and he tries to turn it down a
notch, if anything to not look like he’s not homophobic. “You guys can talk or giggle together
or whatever.”

“Giggle together?”

“You know what I mean, like-” Mike fumbles for the word. “Flirt. It’s fine.”

“Oh, so we’re flirting right now.” At first Mike thinks Tobias is mocking him, but when he
looks up, he’s saying it to Will, whose face goes red.

“I guess,” Will mumbles shyly.

“Flirting during Ghostbusters,” Tobias continues, leaning closer. “That’s a bucket list item.”

“It is?”

“On mine, at least.”

Mike’s gonna do it. He’s gonna take the TV remote and break it in half. He’s gonna take the
TV and smash it to pieces. He’s gonna take a match- there’s gotta be one somewhere in this
house- and burn this whole place down.
“Mike, are you okay?” Will’s voice takes him out of his thoughts. He turns to Will, who’s
looking at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah. Yeah.” His voice is rough and he clears it. “Just… stop flirting.”

“Didn’t you just tell us we could?” Tobias asks incredulously with raised eyebrows. “And
you know you can leave, right?”

“No I can’t.”

It goes silent for a moment and then Will turns to Tobias. Mike can hear him quietly say,
“Let’s just watch the movie.”

And they do. They get through the remaining 20 minutes, quite tensely if Mike’s being
honest, before the credits start rolling and Mike stands up. Will didn’t get possessed, which
means this had been a colossal waste of time. He doesn’t even need to look behind him to
know that Will and Tobias are back to whispering. “Movie’s over.”

“We know,” Will says. “Tobias was just telling me an idea he had.”

“An idea?”

“Nothing that would concern you, Wheeler. Just going out into town,” Tobias tells him.

What the hell? He whips back around. “Are you sure that’s the smartest idea? When Will has
been having vis- er, nightmares recently.”

“Which is exactly why he needs a distraction.”

Mike crosses his arms. “Which is exactly why he needs to stay here, where he’s safe.”

Tobias looks at him in disbelief. “Safe? Maybe you should ask Will what he wants.”

Mike turns to Will. “What do you want?”

Will looks like a deer caught in headlights, put on the spot. “It would be nice to get out of the
house, Mike.”

Mike stiffens. But it wasn’t safe. And he, of all people, knew about Will’s safety. It’s why he
couldn’t fall asleep last night after Will came into his room, staying awake for hours listening
for any screams or fighting or possessing sounds, before he finally passed out around 6am.
And now Will was about to go miles away, to God knows where in town, because Tobias had
some idea, and it just- it wasn’t safe. “No.”

“No?”

“Will, it’s still dangerous. You’re a- a target, you know? You don’t know what’s going to
happen.”
Tobias raises his eyebrows at him. “It’s highly unlikely another earthquake will occur. The
aftershocks already hit two weeks ago.”

“That’s not what I mean.” He fixes Will with a look. “You know what I mean.”

Will looks suddenly nervous. “I don’t think it’s likely to happen in the day. When I’m
awake.”

“You don’t know for sure. The- the earthquake has been known to strike others during the
day. Or evening. Or morning, even.”

Tobias nods. “He’s right. An earthquake isn’t dependent on the time of day.”

Mike looks at him, tired. “Jesus Christ. You know what? Forget it,” he shakes his head. “If
you think it’s safe, go. Just don’t stay out too long.”

“What, are you giving us a curfew?” Tobias raises his eyebrows.

And Mike really doesn’t have time for his bullshit right now. “No. I’m just saying, keep an
eye on Will and if anything- anything weird happens, come right back here, immediately.
Okay?”

Tobias furrows his eyebrows, sensing his seriousness. “Okay.”

And then a few minutes later, they’re out the door. Mike stares at the closed front door,
feeling like a part of him was missing, floating somewhere out in the world vulnerable and he
couldn’t protect it.

He just hopes Tobias would.

 Chapter 10
Chapter Notes

More proof stacks up that Mike isn't actually homophobic. In classic Mike fashion, he
doesn't get any of it.

This is the halfway point of the fanfic! It could be more or less based on what I have
planned, but the actual angst/climax of the story is still to come :)

It’s exactly two hours later and Mike’s reading a comic book in his room when he hears the
front door open, Will and Tobias’ voices filling the foyer, sounding happy and carefree and
not at all terrified. Which means Vecna didn’t get Will. He breathes a sigh in relief that Will’s
okay, and then another one in annoyance when he realizes they’re still hanging out. He gets a
flashback to last week, to Tobias and Will’s eight-hour date that no one else seemed to be
concerned with. Why were they spending so much time together?

He continues flipping through his comic book, trying to tune them out, until he hears Joyce’s
voice rise up from the kitchen. “Honey, it looks amazing.”

What looks amazing?

“Thanks Mom, I wasn’t sure about it, but Tobias convinced me.”

Tobias convinced him to do what? A flare of anger strikes in his chest and he tries to tramp it
down, but it’s no use. He gets up and opens his door, heading down the stairs, following the
sounds of praises and compliments. Does he hear Murray too? What was happening? He
walks in, looking around and seeing Joyce and Murray and Tobias and Will.

Will.

His... his bowl cut is gone. Instead his hair is shorter, gently swooped away from his
forehead, and Mike feels his mouth go dry.

“Do you like it?” Will turns to him.

“I...” he swallows thickly, his words caught in his throat. “You- you got a haircut.”

“Yeah, I got a haircut,” Will chuckles, and they all laugh at that, but Mike isn’t even mad
because it buys him time. Time to assemble his thoughts which were ridiculously
unorganized right now. He looks so different. He looks older. Cooler. Good. Then Will’s
talking again. “But I asked if you liked it.”
He nods quickly. “Uh- uh yeah. It looks good. Really good.”

“I told you,” Joyce swats Will on the shoulder. “And you didn’t believe me. It makes you
look more mature.”

“And more handsome,” Murray adds, and Mike realizes he’s grinning at him. He looks away.

“I wouldn’t have gotten it without Tobias,” Will is saying. “He convinced me.”

“Will needed a change,” Tobias adds, throwing his arm over his shoulder, but Mike hardly
even reacts to it because he’s still staring at Will’s hair. He looked so... different. He feels his
face heat up.

“Did they put gel in it?” Joyce asks him, staring at his hair in wonder.

“Nope. All natural. The barber said I just have to brush it with water and it’ll stay like that.”

“Really? I can’t believe that.”

“Michael, I bet you’re not complaining.” It’s Murray again.

“What?”

“You’ve hardly stopped staring, unless, of course, you’re a barber aficionado. You’d make a
good study, you know, for the art of the tonsorial- that is- those who give shaves and other
haircuts- or as you kids might call it, barbering. I think I know a guy who could teach you,
considering your interest-”

“My interest?” Mike stares at him. “I’m not into barbering.”

“Really?” Murray tilts his head to the side, amused. “You’re telling me you don’t look at
every haircut with the same wild intensity I’m seeing right now?”

Wild intensity? “No- no, I-” he takes a deep breath, trying to get Murray out of his head. “I’m
staring because it- it looks good.”

“Mike, you said that already,” Will gives him a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, because-” he looks at Will’s hair and rips his gaze away. “It’s the truth. I mean, we’re
all thinking it, right?” The kitchen goes oddly silent before Joyce is jumping in.

“Right. Right, Will.” She leans forward and ruffles his hair with her hand, causing Will to
make a sound of protest. “We all like it.”

Murray coughs. “Some of us more than others.”

Mike glares at him. What was his problem?

Tobias checks his watch. “Will and I should get going. There’s a documentary on at 6 about
early pottery in the Amazons.”
“Ooh, that sounds interesting,” Joyce says.

Mike nods along, although he’s still staring at Will’s hair. After Joyce ruffled it, a few strands
slipped out of it, falling against his forehead. Jesus Christ. When he shifts his gaze back to
Will’s face, he blanches when he realizes Will is already looking at him, a confused look on
his face. But then Tobias grabs his hand and then they’re walking out, and Mike just watches
them go, not even finding it in him to protest anything about Will’s safety.

“Ah yes, the haircut that started the awakening of Mike’s barbering career,” Murray
singsongs once they’re gone. Then he claps a hand on Mike’s shoulder, lowering his voice.
“Or the awakening of something else, perhaps.”

What?

But Murray is already walking away. Once he leaves, the kitchen is silent again, and when he
turns back it’s just him and Joyce, her expression just as confused as his.

“Too much vodka?” Mike offers weakly.

She laughs at that, but then her eyes widen in realization. “Is that where my last bottle went?”
She clucks her tongue in disapproval and turns to the cupboard, starting to rummage, and
Mike takes the opportunity to head back into the living room. When he gets there, Will and
Tobias are nowhere to be found. Did they go into the basement?

He can’t even find it in himself to check, instead climbing the stairs to his room and shutting
the door behind him, his heart racing although he doesn’t know why. He’s not nervous. He
didn’t have any caffeine. Going up the stairs wasn’t that much effort. But then his brain
throws him another image of Will’s hair, of the way it swooped across his forehead, the few
strands that escaped over his right eye, the way it framed his face perfectly...

Shit, he realizes. Murray was right.

He’s into barbering.

Mike wishes he could forget about Will. About his stupid haircut and stupid nightmares and
stupid face, but then it’s a few hours later, around 9pm, and music is blasting from Will’s
room, and Mike’s unable to focus on anything else. It’s Day of the Lords by Joy Division, but
it keeps playing over and over. And Mike knows something is off about it. He can feel it.
Will never plays the same song over and over, unless it’s Should I Say or Should I Go, and
even then he wouldn’t play it this loud. And especially not for this long.

He throws down the comic book he was hardly focusing on anyways and heads over to his
door, opening it and heading down the hall to Will’s room. The music is even louder out here.
How did Joyce or Jonathan not tell him to turn it down yet?
He knocks on the door. No response. So he knocks again, louder. Still no response. His heart
starts racing. Was something wrong? Did Vecna possess him and hijack the radio as to not
raise suspicion, to cover up the noise? Was Will was currently floating? Or worse? He
knocks more frantically this time, then tries the knob. Locked. What the hell?

But then the door opens, and Mike breathes a sigh of relief... until he sees it’s Tobias, his hair
slightly messed up. “Not the time, Wheeler.”

“Is Will okay?” he can’t help himself from asking. He tries to look past him into the room,
but Tobias is blocking the entrance, the door only open a crack.

“Trust me, he’s being taken care of.”

Taken care of? Mike furrows his eyebrows. “Why is the music playing so loud? Why is it
repeating?”

Tobias looks guilty for a second, then schools his features. “I’ll tell him to switch to a
playlist.” He starts to close the door again before Mike stops him.

“No. Tell me. What’s going on?”

“Jesus Christ, Wheeler.” Tobias looks irritated, although Mike can’t imagine why. He just
wanted to know if Will was okay. If he was safe. He tries again to look past him, but Tobias is
stubbornly blocking his view. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal.” Mike tries to sound resolute. “If something’s happening, I have to know.”

“You have to know?”

“Yes.”

Tobias rolls his eyes. “When a man and a woman- or should I say, a man and a man- really
love each other...” He trails off and then Mike’s eyes widen.

“What?”

And then at that moment, Will comes up behind Tobias. “What’s going on?”

Mike stares at him, at the way his hair was mussed up and his cheeks were slightly red. And
then it hits him. “Um- uh, nothing.”

“Wheeler here was just checking in, I can’t imagine why though.”

“Oh.” Will looks embarrassed, avoiding Mike’s eyes. “We were just hanging out.”

“Hanging out,” Mike nods. “Yeah.”

It goes silent between them. And then Tobias looks at Will, seemingly having a silent
conversation, before Will nods and disappears into the room again. And then it’s just Mike
and Tobias.
Tobias takes a deep breath. “Look, we-”

“I get it,” Mike says tersely. “You don’t have to explain. Just- is the loud music really
necessary?”

Tobias looks at him for a second. “It’s only because Will can get so loud.”

“What?”

Tobias smirks at him, before closing the door with a thump. Mike stands there for a second,
staring at the closed door, his heart hammering again although he knows it’s not because he’s
worried about Will this time. He stays in place for a second before he feels creepy, and then
turns around to head back to his room.

So Will was safe. He wasn’t possessed by Vecna or having a vision or something worse, he
was... taken care of. He feels anger burn in his chest at Tobias’ words. If anyone could take
care of Will, it was him. Then he realizes what exactly that means and his face flushes again,
quickly pushing away the thought as he heads back to his room.

He flops down on his bed, picking up his comic book again and trying to read. Even though
his heart is pounding and his mind is spinning and his mouth is suddenly dry. And he can’t
get Tobias’ smug expression out of his mind. Or Will’s, either. He squeezes his eyes shut.
Stop thinking about this.

And if he thought focusing on the plot was difficult before, it was impossible now.

It’s not any better the next morning. He gets up at 8am, which is way too early, but it’s
probably because of how early he fell asleep because he couldn’t stand thinking anymore and
called it a night around 10pm, music still playing from Will’s room and everything, only to
open his bedroom door and see Tobias of all people sneaking down the stairs.

“Tobias?”

Tobias whips around, caught off guard. “Uh- yeah?”

He almost wants to check his watch to make sure it’s not still nighttime. But he knows it’s
not, based on the morning light shining onto the hardwood floors. “Did you stay here last
night?”

And then Tobias looks at a loss for words, more so than Mike’s ever seen him, but before he
can savor it too much, Will’s opening his door too, looking at both of them with a panicked
expression on his face. “We were watching a movie and fell asleep and I guess we lost track
of time-”
He’s saying it like he rehearsed it and Mike shakes his head. “I know that’s not true.”

“You know it’s not true,” Will repeats shakily, looking scared, but then Tobias is jumping in.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend, Wheeler?”

“What?”

“Why are you acting so scandalized when you have a girlfriend? This shouldn’t be a shock to
you.”

“Yeah but we don’t-” Mike stumbles for the right word. “We don’t sleep together.”

“You don’t?” Will looks genuinely confused.

“No, she was raised in a lab. It’s not- it’s not my job to teach her that stuff...” Why were they
even talking about this? “Look, the problem is you guys just started dating and this isn’t... it
isn’t right.”

“Because we’re both guys?” Tobias asks. He is way too confident for someone still in his
clothes from last night.

“No, because-” Mike trips over his words. “Because- you know- he’s Will.”

“He’s Will.” Tobias is unconvinced.

“Because he’s Will and you’re corrupting him.”

“Have you ever considered that maybe Will actually wanted it?”

“Tobias,” Will says sternly.

“No, I haven’t.” Mike feels heat flush to his cheeks. “I haven’t.” He shakes his head. “Look,
I’m just trying to brush my teeth.”

“Be my guest.”

Mike avoids Will’s eyes as he rushes into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He
finds himself weirdly out of breath, Tobias’ words playing in his head. Have you ever
considered that maybe Will actually wanted it? And then last night. It’s only because Will can
get so loud. He shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He can’t think about this right now.

He brushes his teeth, washes his face, combs back his hair, anything to feel clean, and
emerges from the bathroom to thankfully see that Tobias was gone. He could hear Will and El
talking downstairs, probably having breakfast together, but he couldn’t bring himself to join
them. He couldn’t do anything really besides go back in his room, lie on his bed, and wonder
what the hell was wrong with him.
-

It's only a few minutes later when he hears a knock on the door.

It’s his mom. “Come down for breakfast! I made eggs and bacon.”

Mike scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. His mom only made eggs and bacon when guests
were over. If it was just him, El, and Will, they usually just grabbed their own food. With a
sigh, he opens his bedroom door and jogs down the stairs and into the kitchen, and then he
realizes why his mom was cooking. Tobias was still here.

“Really?”

For the first time, Tobias has the decency to look embarrassed, shrinking into his seat at the
kitchen table. “His mom invited me. I couldn’t say no.”

Mike looks over to see Joyce, leaning over the toaster in frustration, muttering something
under her breath as she toyed with it. How would she feel if she knew what Will and Tobias
were doing last night? This morning, even? Another wave of anger floods through him at the
thought, but he forces himself to push it aside and pulls out a chair, sitting down. It’s only
then that he realizes El is also at the table next to him.

“Did you sleep good?” She looks up at him.

His anger softens at her concern. “Uh, yeah. I did.” He stares down at the plate of eggs and
bacon in front of him, picking up a fork and stabbing the eggs. “Unlike some of us.”

“Mike,” Will says.

He glares at him. “Am I wrong?”

“Yes, you are. I mean-” he pauses. “Well, technically no, but-”

“Finally!” Joyce’s voice breaks them from their conversation. “It’s working.”

They all turn to see Joyce victoriously staring down at the toaster, the button lit up and
ticking again. “That’s great,” Tobias says good-naturedly. That charm again. Mike glares at
him.

“Is it great Tobias? Is it great?”

“It is, Mike.”

“Let me guess, you know all about toasters-”

“I don’t, I just-”
“Everyone,” Mike’s mom interrupts, walking over with a plate full of fruit. “Have some.
Please.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler,” El says from next to him.

Mike waits expectantly, but when Tobias doesn’t say anything, he coughs. “I see your charm
is selective to certain moms.”

Tobias glares at him. “Maybe I didn’t want you to think I was a fruit expert.”

Will snorts at that and then looks at Mike. “Sorry.”

“Forget it.” And then Mike looks down at his plate, at the eggs and bacon. At least he had
good food.

So he digs in, tuning everyone else out, only looking up when Joyce eventually brings over
the toast with a jar of jelly. And as they eat, both him and Will’s moms start talking about the
news, the state of the town, and a bunch of other boring things, and Tobias is joining in with a
clever comment every now and then and Will is probably smiling at it (he doesn’t even want
to look) and El turns toward him every now and then with a comment of her own, which he
just nods at, and then twenty minutes later, Joyce and his mom are pushing back their chairs,
collecting dishes and getting started on the cleanup. And then Mike finally allows himself to
look up, now that he had no more food to focus on. Which is when he sees it. The bruise on
Will’s neck.

“What happened?” He doesn’t even realize he interrupted a conversation until Will, Tobias
and El go silent, their moms still obliviously washing dishes in the room next to them.

“What?” Will asks.

“Did you get hurt?” Mike motions to his neck. “You have a bruise.”

“No,” Will responds immediately.

“But you have a-”

“I know.”

So he knows? So then why wasn’t he remembering where it’s from? “Look, if-” he catches
himself right before he says Vecna. “The thing that caused the earthquake grabbed your neck
in a dream or something, this could mean-”

“It’s not that.”

Mike reels back. “Okay. So then what is it?”

Will just shakes his head, turning to Tobias, who looks at a loss for words. “It’s not a big
deal,” Tobias finally says.
“Did he do this?” If Tobias was violent, that would finally give Mike the proof he needed that
Tobias wasn’t a good guy. If he hurt Will, there’s no way everyone else would support their
relationship. Finally, they could talk Will out of it, get them to break up-

But then Tobias, the absolute fool, admits it. “Uh- yeah, I did.” He looks embarrassed but
also almost... proud? He looks between Tobias’ slight smile, and Will blushing, and the
circular mark on his neck-

And then it hits him. Oh. Oh.

“You did this.” His voice is eerily calm.

“I did.”

“You,” he looks away in anger. “You gave him a hickey.”

“Mike,” Will hisses. “Keep your voice down.”

“What’s a- a hickey?” El whispers.

Mike almost forgot El was there. “Uh, nothing.”

But she doesn’t let it go. “Tobias hurt Will?”

“No, no, not hurt.” He pauses and takes an agitated deep breath. “Maybe you guys should
explain, since you were the parties involved. Yeah?”

It goes silent. And then Will is frowning at him. “Why are you so mad about it?”

Mad? Then Mike realizes how hard he’s clenching his jaw and forces himself to relax. “I’m
not mad.”

“You are Mike, it’s obvious.” Will crosses his arms. “You look like you want to kill
someone.”

“Kill someone? No, I-” he switches his gaze between Will’s neck and Tobias’s smirk and a
wave of rage floods through him. He shakes his head, trying to hide it. “I’m not mad, I just-”

“So it’s true, you really are religious.”

“What?”

Will shakes his head. “I had no idea you were this- this puritan. This mad over a hickey.
What- because we’re not married? Or is it the other thing?”

Mike’s blood runs cold. “Who said anything about marriage?”

“No, that’s not what I’m-” Will cuts himself off. “You’ve had a problem with this- with us-
and you said...” his voice starts shaking. “You said you were trying to work on it, but you’re
not- it’s getting worse, Mike.”
“What’s getting worse?”

“You. Us. Your feelings about us.” He quickly lowers his voice when Joyce and Karen look
over. “I can’t keep feeling guilty all the time. I shouldn’t be guilty. It’s not a sin.” He looks
over at Tobias, who nods.

“Michael, I’m assuming you’ve eaten pork before. Or plan to own land one day. Or have
picked up grapes that have fallen on the ground.”

“Yeah, I have, but-”

“There are no buts,” Tobias says. “Either you accept us, or you don’t.” Tobias looks over at
Will, who to Mike’s horror, has tears in his eyes. “Because Will needs you to.”

“I- I accept you guys,” Mike rushes out, although it sounds fake to his own ears. “I’m cool
with it.”

“You’re not, Mike,” Will chokes out. “Don’t even try to fake it.”

“I’m not... faking it,” Mike says unsurely. He turns to El for support, but she’s just looking at
him with wide eyes. “I support you guys.”

Will pushes back his chair. “Right.” He stands up. “Keep saying it and maybe you’ll convince
yourself.”

“Will, c’mon.” But Will is already walking away, and Mike watches him go, his mouth open.
Tobias sends Mike a glare before following him, and then it’s just him, El, and Joyce, and his
mom in the other room at the sink. Joyce watches them leave, her eyebrows scrunched up.
“What was that about?”

“He was feeling sick,” El jumps in, and Mike feels a wave of gratitude wash over him.
“Tobias is helping him.”

“Oh. How sweet.”

Something in Mike’s chest tightens at Joyce’s words. He really had to overcome this
homophobia.

“It is... sweet,” he grits out. His mom shoots him a strange look, but before he can react to it,
El is tugging his arm, and then he’s following her, up to her room. A few seconds later he’s
sitting on her bed as she closes the door behind them.

She takes a careful seat on the desk chair across from him, fixing him with a look.

Mike cringes, expecting her to ask him what a “hickey” was again, but the next words are
somehow worse. “Mike, why are you homophobic?”

“What?” he shoots out. She tilts her head in the way that means she knew Mike heard her,
and he sighs. “I was born like this.”
“Born like this?”

“My father.” He takes a deep breath, launching into the same explanation he told Lucas.
“He’s homophobic. Supports Reagan and all that. And my mom, she’s so religious. Keeps a
Bible on the fireplace and everything.”

“I don’t understand.”

Mike sighs again. He really didn’t want to explain this. “They both think that...” he lowers his
voice. “Gays are sinners. That it’s not right. That two men or two women shouldn’t be
together.”

She squints her eyes. “But Will and Tobias are together.”

“I know,” he sounds irritated and quickly softens his voice. “I know. But that doesn’t mean
everyone agrees with it. Some don’t. I don’t, I guess.”

“But Will is your friend. Why can’t you support him?” The words are spoken so simply, so
innocently, that Mike feels tears spring to his eyes. He quickly blinks them away.

“Because I was born homophobic, El.”

“Mike, I was born in a lab and learned how to live in society. You can do the same, despite
having homophobic parents.” When Mike doesn’t say anything, she raises her eyebrows.
“Right?”

He blinks quickly. “Yeah. I mean, yeah, I’m trying. I want to. It’s just hard because of how
angry I get seeing them together. I can’t help it.”

“So fight it.”

“Fight it?”

El looks at him, the familiar determination in her eyes he’s seen time and time again, her
mouth quirking up slightly. “Defeat it.”

“This isn’t a monster, El,” he says. “It’s in my genes.”

“Genes?”

“Yeah,” Mike nods. “Like I can’t change it. It’s in my DNA.”

El stares at him for a second before processing the words. After a second, she nods. “Okay.
But that is sad for Will.”

And Mike feels a pang in his chest. “Yeah- yeah it is.” He looks away. “It is. I wish I could
change it.”

“And you can’t?”

“I- I can’t,” his voice cracks, and El immediately walks over to him, the bed dipping under
her weight. She wraps her arm around his shoulders, pulling him close to her, and Mike leans
in, wanting to relax, wanting it to be enough, wanting to be comforted.

But there’s still something missing. Something wrong.

He just doesn’t know what it is.

 Chapter 11
Chapter Notes

I see all your guys' comments about how you can't believe Mike hasn't realized yet that
he's not actually homophobic... TRUST ME it's coming!! A few things need to happen
first for him to realize it.

This is a bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one will make up for it :)

It’s the next day and they’re at the Family Video Store. Steve, Robin, Dustin and Erica are in
a heated debate against the counter, and from what Mike can tell, they’re arguing about the
ending to some movie he hasn’t heard of. Lucas and Max are aimlessly walking throughout
the aisles. They said they were going to pick out a movie ten minutes ago, but from the looks
of it, they’re doing a lot more talking than searching, and when he looks over, he sees El
wistfully staring at them. Immediately, he feels a stab of guilt. That should be them.

Before he can think about it too much, he looks over and sees Will and Tobias still huddling
by the door. They seem stressed almost, tired, and although secretly Mike wishes they got
into a fight, he knows it’s not that based on the way they’re still whispering to each other and
Will is refusing to meet Mike’s eyes. Although he can’t say the same for Tobias, who glares
at him every thirty seconds on the dot. He sends him a half-hearted glare back before turning
to El. “Want to pick out a movie?”

Her eyes light up, like she was hoping he’d ask that. “Yeah!”

Mike forces a smile and follows El as she runs over to the horror section, a section that Mike
wasn’t quite in the mood for. They’d all had enough horror to last a lifetime, and secretly he
wishes they could go back to watching nerdy sci-fi movies, like they did before everything
happened. Like Star Wars. That was one of his favorites. Will’s too.

And then a memory overtakes him.

The nights that him and Will would watch Star Wars marathons on the floor of Mike’s
basement until they could barely keep their eyes open, both of them falling asleep at some
point and then Mike waking up in the middle of the night to static on the TV, then lazily
leaning over to shut it off before lying back down, inches away from Will. And he could’ve
woken Will up so they could both go upstairs to his room, like they were supposed to, but he
could never bring himself to do so, instead letting him sleep on the fuzzy carpet with the few
blankets and pillows strewn around, falling back asleep next to him, and he secretly loved it
because it was their own little world where no one could touch them. The rest of the world
was far away.
No Tobias. No Vecna. To his surprise, his eyes sting with tears at the memory. When did they
get so distant?

“This one!” El says. Mike looks over, grateful for the distraction. Prom Night. And of course
out of all the horror movies, it was one of his least favorites. But it was El, and she’s had
more trauma than any of them, and maybe horror movies were a way to face her fears, to
have control over them, and he couldn’t take that away from her.

“Let’s do it,” he agrees.

“Great,” she says happily, and he wishes he could meet her mood, but he feels empty.

“Great.” They make their way back up to the counter and as Robin takes the movie from El
and scans it, Mike’s eyes wander back over to Will and Tobias. Will looked so different now.
Taller, of course, but also broader and tanner and had that new haircut that made Mike’s
stomach drop every time he saw it. He wasn’t the same shy little middle-schooler he used to
know. He was older. He had a boyfriend. Someone else.

And was mad at Mike, can’t forget that.

He tears his gaze away before they could notice, turning back to where Robin is stuffing the
movie into a paper bag, stapling it. “Prom Night, for the lady and gent.”

“Thanks, Robin,” El is saying, but Robin doesn’t respond, her eyes locked on the door, where
someone just walked in.

“Hey, Robin.”

“Vickie!” Robin’s voice is weirdly high-pitched. “What are you- uh- doing here?”

Mike turns around to see Vickie, her face oddly red. “Just picking out a movie.”

“Do you need any recommendations? I mean, you probably don’t. You probably already
know what you want,” she flaps her hands around. “You’ve been here before, right? You
probably know this whole place inside and out.”

“Inside and out,” Steve repeats from behind her at the counter, blinking in exasperation
before staring back down at a VHS.

“No, I-” Vickie clears her throat. “I’d actually love some recommendations. If- if you want
to.”

“Of course I want to!” Robin says way too loud. “Because, you know, here at Family Video,
we love customer service. Right Steve?” She elbows him.

He looks up. “That we do,” he says flatly.

“Okay, cool,” Vickie beams. “Show me around then.”

“Right. Yeah.” And then Robin is scrambling away from the counter, so fast she knocks into
Mike.

“Hey!”

But Robin barely hears him, heading over to Vickie and then they’re walking away, talking,
laughing, in the same way he saw Lucas and Max moments before.

“Stay calm,” Lucas suddenly says from behind him.

He jumps. “What?”

“You can pray for their salvation later. But don’t ruin this moment.”

“What moment?”

“You really don’t know?” Lucas raises his eyebrows at him, but Mike just blinks at him,
clueless.

"Know what?"

Lucas rolls his eyes. “Follow me.” Mike shoots El a confused look before following Lucas to
the back of the video store, near the Old Western movies. Once they’re alone, Lucas casts a
furtive glance from side to side, before looking back at Mike. “Are you sure you can handle
this?”

“Handle what?”

Lucas sighs. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this because you might cause a scene.”

Mike blinks in confusion. What the hell? “I won’t cause a scene.”

“Really? I’ve seen you with Will and Tobias.”

Mike fights the urge to make a face at their names together. It seemed like now that’s all he
heard. Will and Tobias. Tobias and Will. Like they were a unit or something.

Lucas pauses, watching his face. “Yeah, I definitely shouldn’t tell you this. Forget I said
anything-”

“No, no.” Mike blinks quickly. “Sorry. I can handle it.”

“Promise?”

Mike sighs impatiently. “Promise.”

“Okay Wheeler, if you promise.” Lucas takes a deep breath. “Robin and Vickie, well... they-
they like each other.”

Mike furrows his eyebrows. “I know that.”

“No, I mean like... in a way that’s more than friends.” He raises his eyebrows meaningfully.
“You know.” When Mike doesn’t get it, he rolls his eyes. “Romantic.”

Mike stares at him in confusion. “But they’re both girls.”

“Which is why I was afraid of telling you.”

Then it hits him. “Oh. Oh.” He turns around, steeling himself for the reaction of seeing them
together. They’re in the comedy section, giggling to each other about something on the back
of a VHS box, but for some reason he doesn’t feel any rage, or hot flashes of anger, or
clenching of his jaw. He stares at them for a second before turning back around. “I’m fine
with it.”

“You are?” Lucas says skeptically, like he thinks he’s lying.

“I am,” Mike insists, trying to show him he really meant it. “They’re... cute together.”

“You’re definitely lying.”

“I’m not!” Mike quickly lowers his voice when he sees El look at him. “I’m not. I don’t feel
angry or anything. Seriously.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Maybe I’m only homophobic
toward guys.”

“Yeah,” Max laughs, peeking through from the other side of the shelf. She was listening?
“Keep telling yourself that.”

Him and Lucas are equally confused. “What do you mean?” Lucas asks.

“I don’t know,” she shrugs, perusing through the shelf. “I just find it interesting that Mike’s
hardly religious, yet he’s taken up this ‘being gay is a sin’ thing like his life depends on it,
and it conveniently doesn’t apply to girls. Or boys even. It just applies to Will.”

Mike blinks at her, lost. “What? I don’t get it.”

“And I didn’t think you would.” She tilts her head sarcastically at him. “But maybe someday
you’ll remember this conversation and say to me, ‘Wow Max, you are so wise. Thank you for
noticing what was right in front of me because I was too stupid to realize it.’”

“Uh-”

“Lucas, I picked out a movie.” Max turns to Lucas, dropping their conversation completely.

“Oh, uh, great.” Lucas looks at her, then turns back to Mike, looking equally confused. He
shakes his head, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Girls.”

“Girls,” Mike responds in agreement.

He watches as Lucas leaves him to go over to Max and he stands there uselessly for a
moment, before El is back at his side. “What was that about?”
“Um, nothing,” he stammers out. “D&D stuff, you know.”

“Oh.” She shrugs without asking anything further. El never was into that nerdy stuff. Which is
why he never talked about it with her.

But that’s what happens when you get a girlfriend. He looks around, at Lucas standing next to
Max at the counter, and Will whispering to Tobias, and Robin giggling with Vickie.

You grow up.

Much to Mike’s dismay, Tobias stays stubbornly locked by Will’s side the entire night. When
they’re leaving the video store. When they’re getting into Jonathan’s car. And then when
they’re getting dropped off and Tobias hops out with him and Will instead of at his own
house, Jonathan turning off the ignition. What, was he sleeping over? Again? He couldn’t be
serious.

He watches as Will and Tobias head toward the front door, still deep in conversation.

“Shouldn’t you be going home?” he snaps before he can stop himself.

Tobias turns around. “One can argue that I should, but I’m not.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Tobias repeats incredulously, then turns to Will, who’s glaring at Mike.

“Because he’s my boyfriend, Mike.” The words sting, although Mike tries not to show it.
“You never once had a problem with Max sleeping over at Lucas’, or Nancy at Jonathan’s.
How is this any different?”

Right, this was quickly turning into a homophobia thing. He struggles to backtrack. “It’s fine,
it’s fine. I was just asking-”

“You weren’t asking Mike, you were-” Will cuts himself off, rubbing a hand over his face,
and Mike realizes just how much this was bothering him. That it had probably been bothering
him all night. “Forget it.” He hesitates for a second. “Goodnight, Mike.”

He’s still rooted in place by the car. “Goodnight.”

And then they disappear through the doorway, the front door shutting behind them. He
watches it emptily, the night air breezing past him.

“What’s wrong?” he hears El from beside him. He almost forgot she was there.
“Nothing,” he says flatly. “Nothing.” He looks up and sees Jonathan looking at him in
disapproval, before he shakes his head, heading inside. He watches Jonathan go. “I just-” he
takes a deep breath. “I wasn’t expecting Tobias to stay the night.”

“He stayed last night.”

“I know,” he rushes out, irritated. “I know. That’s what I’m saying. Two nights in a row.”

“Mike, it’s our thirtieth night,” El says playfully. Mike knows it’s a joke, but he can’t find it
in himself to laugh.

“It is,” he says weakly. “You’re right. I should be more accepting.”

“It would do you good. Tolerance is the virtue of life. That’s something Joyce told me.”

“Did she?” Mike suddenly feels tired. “That’s a good quote.”

“It is.” It goes silent between them, and Mike fights for something to say, but he can’t think
of anything.

Luckily El breaks the silence. “Do you think it’ll wear off?”

“What?”

“Will and Tobias. What they have.”

Mike feels a wave of hope leap in his chest. Someone else might be on his side. “Uh, yeah.
Hopefully.” He turns to her. “Why? You don’t think it’ll last?”

“No, no,” El shakes his head. “It just... it feels like it has with us.” Mike freezes, unsure if he
heard her right, but El is still talking. “We used to be like Lucas and Max, or Will and Tobias,
but now we’re just...” she trails off. “Nothing.”

Mike shakes himself out of his stupor. He had to fix this. He couldn’t lose Will and lose her
too. “Who said we have to be like them?”

El gives a watery laugh. “No one said it, Mike. It is obvious.”

Obvious? How long had she been thinking this? He panics. “But- but we’re different from
them, El.” She just looks at him, skeptical, and he forces his brain to say the right words, and
fast. “I mean, of course we’re different. We met in the woods for God’s sake. That’s crazy,
you know?”

“Crazy,” El repeats blankly. It's like Mike can’t tell what she’s thinking, and it terrifies him.

Say something meaningful. “Back in the woods, that was…” He impulsively grabs her hands.
“That was when I realized I loved you.”

El’s face finally shows emotion. “You… you love me?”

He nods quickly. “That’s why I said it in the pizza shop.”

El smiles, but then frowns again, like she’s remembering something. “That's not what you
said when Tobias visited.”

“I... said a lot of things when Tobias visited.”

“No I mean,” El squeezes her eyes shut. “You said you said it only to save Max.”

“Did I?”

“Yes, Mike.” And it’s clear it’s been bothering her for a while now. Why didn’t she say
anything?

“I- I didn’t mean to.”

“You didn’t mean to?” She raises an eyebrow.

And it feels like something is about to crack between them, that this was something they
wouldn’t be able to come back from, but then Mike imagines El walking away and him
standing alone in the dark and walking back to the house having... no one. And then the
words are tumbling out of his mouth effortlessly. “I mean, of course I said it to save Max, but
also because it’s true, El. I’ve known you for so long- how could I not love you? And when I
met you in the woods, it- it changed my life. It changed everything,” He thinks back to seeing
El in the woods. The confusion he felt. The excitement that someone could finally help them,
help them to find Will. And El was so nice and so pretty and he wanted to help her in return.
And he did. He gave her food and shelter and a bunch of other things. A relationship, even.

Which couldn’t end. Not now.

“El, you mean so much to me. And we’ve always been… you know, Mike and El. And sure,
things might not be as passionate as they used to be, but that’s because we reached the
plateau stage of a relationship.”

“The plateau stage?”

“You haven’t heard of it? It means we’re at the top of a hill.” He makes a motion with his
hand. “And leveled out. Like a plateau.”

“A plateau,” El repeats unsurely.

Mike nods.

“Is that why when we were separated, you called every day on the walkie talkie, but now that
we’re in the same house we don’t talk as much?”

It’s spoken so matter of fact that Mike immediately feels a stab of guilt. “Uh, yeah. Yeah,
that’s why.” He hesitates, thinking. “But also because I’ve been distracted,” he admits.

“By Will and Tobias?” El asks amusedly.

Mike sighs. “They’re annoying, you have to admit that, right?”

“Not really. They keep to themselves.”

“Oh.”

“Look, can we just...” El looks away. “Have more movie nights?”

“Of course,” Mike promises, and he means it. “We definitely can.”

“Good.” El looks back at him, her gaze hopeful. “Good. That’s what I wanted.”

And they stare at each other, the crickets chirping around them, the wind picking up, and
Mike realizes what he’s supposed to do. He bridges the gap between them, and then they’re
kissing. After a few seconds he pulls back and then El is smiling again. He feels a wave of
relief. “So we’re good?”

El nods, and entwines her hand with his. “We’re good, Mike.”

He smiles back, relieved. “Okay, cool.” He takes her hand, and then they’re walking back to
the house together, Mike opening the front door for her. Once they’re in the foyer, they say
goodnight and kiss again- although if Mike is being honest, that one probably wasn’t
necessary- and then they both head upstairs to their rooms.

Once his door is shut behind him, he breathes a sigh of relief.

El and him were good again.

But after the relief is gone, he feels... flat. Numb, almost. Like something was still missing.
He forces himself to shake the thought away. El was a superhero. He was lucky to have her.

He pulls his shoes off and then flops down on his back, staring at the ceiling, still feeling the
same.

This is one hell of a plateau.

Mike wakes up at 3am, hot and stuffy, the sheets tangled around him. This summer heat was
getting annoying. He squeezes his eyes shut and buries his face into his pillow, throwing a leg
outside of his bed to get some coolness, but then he hears a knocking at the door, probably
the thing that woke him up. Not now.

He steadies his breathing, trying to fall asleep again, but it continues. Faster. More persistent.
He lets out a huff of frustration, sitting up. Was this part of a dream? Was it a squirrel in the
attic? A chipmunk? The knocking continues, and nope, it’s definitely the door.
He swings himself out of bed, irritated, walking over to the door and wrenching it open.

It’s Will, looking panicked. “Mike, I-” he sucks in a breath. “I had another nightmare. I don’t,
I don’t know. It felt real- like real life-” He looks on the verge of tears. “I don’t know.” He’s
rambling, but for some reason, Mike can’t feel sympathy. Wasn’t Tobias in the room with
him? What was he doing here? “I think it was Vecna- I- I think it was. I couldn’t tell. It was
almost my own thoughts. But there was a voice and- and- it was so evil-” and his eyes are full
of tears and he’s tripping over his words. “And he was talking about Max and Eddie and it
could’ve been a vision-I’m not sure- and I think I saw them. All of them. On... on trees?” and
then Mike feels a swell of sympathy, and he’s about to say something, but then his eyes are
drawn to the purple mark on Will’s neck- to the hickey- and bile rises in his throat.

“I can’t help you.”

“What?” Will chokes out.

Mike hates himself for what he’s about to say. “Don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“Y-yeah but-”

“So go to him.”

Will just stares at him, his eyes wide, a look of betrayal. “What?” he asks quietly.

“You heard me.” Mike swallows thickly. “Go to him.”

“Really?” Will’s voice is small, and it almost makes him give in, it almost makes him lean
forward and pull Will into his room and hug him with everything he had, but he doesn’t.

“It’s not my job anymore.” And he knows it’s true. Tobias was in Will’s room. Mike just
made up with El that night. This is how it was. How it had to be.

But still, a small part of him is waiting, waiting for Will to correct him, to insist it is his job,
but instead Will emptily blinks at him and then takes a step back, lost, and then heads back
down the hallway, to his room, and Mike feels like crying. “Exactly,” he whispers, even
though he knows Will can’t hear him. “That’s what I thought.” He shuts the door. “That’s
what I thought.” He stands there for a second, the silence suffocating, the darkness
surrounding him, his instincts begging him to follow Will.

He makes it all of about thirty seconds before he does exactly that. He opens his door, quietly
so no one would hear, padding down the hallway to Will’s door which is open just a crack.
But then he hears voices.

“What’s wrong?” It’s Tobias, his voice a little rough. He just woke up. “Hey, Will, what’s
wrong?” Will doesn’t respond, but Mike hears a sob. “Hey, was it a nightmare? Will, tell
me.”

He can’t tell you, idiot. He needs you to hug him.

“I- I can’t.”
“Will, what-” But then he seems to get the memo because the bed is creaking and it’s silent
and all Mike can hear is “Will, Will, Will” and muffled sobs against something- against a
shoulder- and Mike doesn’t need to listen to this. He wrenches himself away from the door,
angry. He was right- Will didn’t need him. He had Tobias.

Once he gets back to his room, he throws himself on his bed, still warm from his tossing and
turning, not understanding why he felt so upset. Will had Tobias. He had El. The world was
back in orbit.

But for some reason, he couldn’t fully fall asleep for the rest of the night.
 Chapter 12
Chapter Notes

All I gotta say is, buckle up for this one.

They’re at breakfast the next morning and Mike is exhausted. Since a guest is here, his mom
has gone all out preparing hash browns, bagels, and fresh fruit, and they’re all sitting at the
kitchen table- him, El, Tobias, and Will. He’s just finished his hash browns, his plate cleared,
everyone else done too. Breakfast was awkward to say the least, full of weird silences and
Tobias shooting Will concerned looks- not that he was noticing. Not that he was even looking
at Will, because that wasn’t his job anymore. Why did he have to say that last night? It didn’t
even make any sense. It was his job. It would always be his job-

“Mike.” He rips his gaze away from Will, seeing Tobias looking at him, looking unusually
concerned. “Can I talk to you?”

“Uh- sure.” He ignores both Will and El’s questioning looks as he pushes back his chair and
stands up, following Tobias to the living room. “What’s... what’s up?” He asks awkwardly
once it’s just the two of them. Have him and Tobias ever talked alone before?

“I think Will has trauma.” The words rush out of him uncharacteristically.

“What?”

“You know-” Tobias waves his hands around, agitated. “Trauma. PTSD. Bad memories. And
I just-” he cuts himself off with a sigh, rubbing his forehead, like this was difficult to say. He
drops his hand. “I wanted to talk to you because you’re his childhood friend and you might
know why he has them.”

Mike pauses. So Will definitely hasn’t told him about the Upside Down. “You don’t know?”

Tobias huffs in frustration. “No, I don’t know Mike. And he’s not really telling me. Which is
why I’m asking you.”

Mike blanches. What was he supposed to say? There’s a psychopathic monster in the Upside
Down using Will as a spy for Hawkins and it wakes him up in a cold sweat a few nights a
week, sorry for the inconvenience? “I don’t know.”

Tobias narrows his eyes skeptically. “You don’t know?”

“I-” he freezes under Tobias’ stare. “I mean, I know he had an abusive father. Lonnie.”

“An abusive father?”

Jesus Christ, Will didn’t really tell him anything did he? How were they even dating? “Yeah.
He left when Will was young but he used to call him some... some bad names.”

“Bad names?”

“Y’know. Gay stuff.” Mike cringes as soon as the words leaves his mouth. “Gay insults.
Like-”

“I get it,” Tobias cuts him off. “I- I think I understand now.”

You don’t understand half of it. “Okay, good.”

Tobias turns away, then hesitates. “Uh, Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For telling me all this.”

“Oh. No problem.”

Tobias nods, and then he’s walking back into the kitchen, toward Will, and he tries to ignore
the pang in his chest. This is probably how fathers felt when they handed off their daughter to
the groom in a wedding. Or something.

He shakes his head. First the homophobia, now being the father at a wedding? He had no idea
why he was relating to Ted Wheeler so much, but he did know one thing.

It probably wasn’t a good thing.

It’s later that day and Will and Tobias are on the couch in Tobias' basement, Will’s head
against Tobias’ shoulder, watching reruns of Scooby Doo, and it should be relaxing, but
something is different. Tobias is acting careful with him, his normal intellectual banter gone,
being weirdly gentle and soft and generally un-Tobias-like. Staring at him with concern when
he thought Will wasn’t looking.

Will turns his head to look at him. “What’s going on?”

Tobias scrunches up his eyebrows. “Nothing’s going on. Why? Are you okay?”

Will straightens up, propping himself on his elbow to look at him. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” Tobias turns back to the TV, but Will is still looking at him.

“Tobias, is there something you want to say?”

“Is there something you want to say?”

“Okay, what is this?” He leans over to grab the remote and pauses the TV. “You’re acting
different.”

Tobias’s eyes widen. “Different?”

“You keep checking on me, like, every five seconds. And asking if I’m okay.” It’s bringing
him back to when he first got possessed by the Mind Flayer, when people kept stopping by
his house to check on him, asking the same question over and over. Was he okay? And he
hated it.

“I just want to... make sure you’re okay, you know?”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Tobias sighs heavily, leaning more into him. “Because of your nightmare last night.”

“My nightmare?” Will thinks back to last night, when he woke up from visions of Vecna
taunting him again, this time with Max and Eddie. He cringes when he remembers how he
went to Mike’s room first. At Mike’s weirdly cold reaction. At the way the panic was still in
his chest even after Tobias comforted him, and it stayed that way the rest of the night as he
tried and failed to sleep. “It’s not a big deal.”

Tobias gives him an incredulous look. “Not a big deal? Will it- it didn’t even seem like a
nightmare, it seemed like PTSD or something. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And now that
I know the cause-”

“The cause?” Will cuts him off, mind scrambling back. Did anyone tell him about the Upside
Down? Of course not. That was going to be his job, when he got to it. There’s no way Tobias
could know about Vecna.

Tobias looks sheepish. “Look, Will, I...” he takes a deep breath. “I know.” Will goes silent,
confused. “I know about Lonnie.”

The name strikes fear in Will’s chest. “What? How?”

“Mike.”

“Mike?”

“Yeah, he told me. At breakfast today.”

“Why-” Outrage fills his chest. “Why did he tell you?”

“I was asking about the nightmares. About what your fears were-”

“And he just told you?”

“I mean, I asked-”
But Will is already getting up. “He had no right- no right- to tell you any of that. I can’t
believe he... he just told you?”

Tobias stands up too, looking nervous. “I mean, I asked him why you were having
nightmares and he said it was because of Lonnie. What he called you.”

Will’s head is spinning. “What he called me? That- that isn’t even what the nightmares were
about. Jesus Christ, why would he tell you that?” He feels his breathing speed up, his
nervous system going into overdrive, keyed up ever since last night.

Now Tobias looks confused. “Was he not supposed to?”

“Obviously!” He shakes his head, trying to calm down his anger to no avail. “I just- I can’t
believe- what the hell is his problem?” Tobias freezes, and Will realizes that Tobias has
probably never seen him this angry. Or angry at all, now that he thought about it. He rushes to
reassure him. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. I just-” he shakes his head. “I have to go.”

“Now?”

Will almost feels bad, but then the rage takes over his chest at Mike. At Mike always
sabotaging and making things difficult and now apparently telling personal things to his
boyfriend behind Will’s back. And then he’s nodding his head. “Yeah. Now.”

“Okay, okay.” Tobias wipes his palms on his pants. “Do what you have to do.”

Will feels a wave of sympathy toward him. “Hey, I’m sorry I’m cutting this short. It’s just- I
can’t handle Mike doing this stuff anymore.”

And that statement lights the fire in Tobias’ eyes again. “Oh no, I understand.” He nods
emphatically. “Do what you have to do.” Will lets out a sigh, relieved that he had his
approval.

The next few moments are a blur. He’s saying goodbye to Tobias, He’s heading up the
basement stairs. He’s out the front door, toward the street, emotions filling his chest. Hurt.
Embarrassment. Anger.

But most of all, betrayal.

Mike yawns on the couch next to El, trying to focus on the movie in front of him. He’s
sticking to the promise he made about watching more movies together, and now they’re
watching a sappy rom-com. It’s one about a girl who moved away, then moves back home,
and is reunited with her first love, and it’s all so predictable but El is captivated by it so he
decides not to say anything. He forces himself to keep watching, even though he’s almost
falling asleep.
That is, until he hears the front door slam shut and then Will is walking in.

“You told Tobias about Lonnie?”

Mike’s blood runs cold, first at the anger in Will’s voice, then at the words themselves.
“What?”

“You heard me, Mike.” He’s now standing in front of the TV, arms folded across his chest,
holding an arm out in emphasis. “You told him about Lonnie, about what he- he used to call
me.”

Mike panics, turning to El to tell her to leave, but she’s already getting up. Thank God for El.
He watches her go, until it’s just him and Will, the silence thick between them. “Answer me,
Mike.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he shoots out. “I did, but it’s just because he was asking-”

“Asking about what? There’s no way he could’ve known.”

Mike freezes at the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen. His mom was already preparing
dinner. “Can we talk in my room?”

Will hesitates, but then nods. Mike stands up, awkwardly passing Will, and heads up the
stairs. A few seconds later, they’re in his room. Mike is barely closing the door behind them
before Will is talking again, pacing.

“You had no right, Mike. Absolutely no right to tell him any of that. Not about Lonnie, or
what he said about me or what I am, because it was my job to tell. To my boyfriend. It was
between us.” The words are spoken angrily, meaningfully. “It’s like you’re trying to sabotage
our relationship- and it’s- it’s not right.” He stops pacing, turning to him.

“Will, I’m sorry. He wanted an explanation for your nightmares and what was I supposed to
say? You saw Vecna again? Or should I say the thing that caused the earthquake, like you
keep saying every time you lie to him?”

“Sorry that my partner isn’t a superhero like yours.”

“Will that’s not what I’m saying-”

But Will is still talking. “Do you see me trying to break you and El apart? Or telling her
things about you that will make her look at you differently? No, I’ve been nothing but
supportive.” He pauses, looking close to tears, although Mike doesn’t know why. “But you
can’t even do that.”

“Will, I-” He pauses, realizing just how distraught Will looked, how his eyes kept looking
around the room. “Why are you so worked up right now?”

“Worked up?”
“Yeah.” It hits him. “Is it because Tobias couldn’t comfort you? And now you’re stuck on
fight or flight mode or something?”

The words must come out wrong because Will coughs. “Wow, Mike.”

“I’m just asking-”

“No, Mike. He was able to comfort me. And even if he didn’t, who’s fault is that? I tried-”
his voice cracks. “I tried to- but you wouldn’t-” Mike feels a stab of guilt. He should’ve just
hugged him.

“Will-”

“I’m just- I’m tired of you being an asshole.”

Mike flinches back at the words. “What?” And then he takes in Will’s fast breathing, his
darting eyes, his anger over a small thing. “This… this isn’t just about Lonnie, is it?”

“No it’s not,” Will replies without missing a beat, and then pauses, like he surprised himself.
He locks eyes with Mike. “I mean, I don’t know...”

Mike feels his heart sink. He leans against his bed, feigning casualness. Everything was fine.
Will would get this off his chest and he’d go back to normal. “Just say what you need to say,
Will.” For the first time, Will stops talking. He sucks in a breath, thinking, gathering courage,
and Mike’s heart races at the sight. “Will... what?” When Will keeps hesitating, he feels a
swell of anxiety rise within him. “Look, just say what you need to say-”

“You’re not a good friend, Mike. You...” Will almost loses his nerve, but keeps going.
“You’re not a good friend. You can’t accept who I am. Or who I’m dating. And now you’re-
you’re telling secrets behind my back.”

“I wasn’t trying to tell secrets-”

Will cuts him off. “You said you’d work on it. Being homophobic or whatever. But it’s
getting worse.”

“I told you, my father is homophobic and I am too. I was born like this.”

“And so was I!” Will bursts out. “But at least one of us can change.” He pauses, lowering his
voice. “But you’re not even trying.”

“I am,” Mike says, and is surprised at how desperate his voice sounds. “I am, really. But
Tobias just- he just makes me so mad.”

“Because he’s a guy.”

“Because he’s dating you!” It goes silent between them, the only sound being Mike’s fast
breaths. They lock eyes and it’s like they’re on the precipice of some realization, but then
Will is talking again.
“Because I’m a guy.”

“Yeah,” Mike says, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “Because you’re a guy.”

“Wow, Mike.” And then Will is angry all over again, his jaw tense as he leans against Mike’s
desk. “That’s... you’re so...” He lets out a sharp sigh, resigned. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Mike freezes in confusion. “Do what anymore?”

“Us. This friendship. It’s... you’re distracting me from Tobias anyways.”

“What do you mean?”

“Forget it.” Will shakes his head, frustrated. “Just forget it. I wish I had known... I just- I had
no idea you were like this.”

“Like this?” Mike echoes. Before the words can fully affect him, he’s snapping back. “I had
no idea you were like this either.”

“Like what?”

He fumbles for something to say. “So- so eager for a boyfriend.”

“What?”

“You’re ignoring me, you’re ignoring El. All for what? A guy you met at some street fair? It’s
pathetic.”

“Pathetic? Wow.” Will’s eyes are full of tears and Mike knows he went too far, but he can’t
stop himself.

“Yeah, Will. You follow him around like a lovesick puppy and it’s annoying. I see it. And El
probably does too. You hardly even know this guy but you treat him like- like he’s a god or
something.”

“Because I like him.”

“Because you’re gullible! You hardly even know him and from what I’ve seen, he’s a
charmer and a cheater at Dragon’s Lair and he’s clearly hiding something.”

“Hiding what?”

“I don’t know!” Mike shouts. He walks closer to Will. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out!
And no one is helping me. Everyone is just believing he’s a good person without looking at
the facts-”

“Facts? What facts?” Will’s volume matches Mike’s. “Have you ever considered that maybe
he’s just a good person? That maybe he’s a nice guy? The nicest I’ve met in a long time,
actually and I finally feel like I have someone who understands me-”
“You finally met someone who understands you?”

Will nods.

“How can he understand you if he doesn’t know about the Upside Down? Or Lonnie? Will, I
know about all that stuff, and I’ve been here the whole time, but you’re not even talking to
me.”

“Mike, you ignored me for a year.”

The words sink in and Mike feels a wave of guilt. “Yeah, but I’m- I’m here now.”

Will lets out an empty laugh. “Because we’re forced to live together due to Vecna cracking
the earth open and Hawkins being in shambles. It’s circumstance, not choice.”

Will’s thought about this before. “Yeah, but still-”

“Plus you have El.”

The words catch Mike off guard. “Uh, yeah. I do. And she’s- she’s great.” Great? What kind
of adjective was that? But the words cause Will to deflate a bit.

“Exactly. Exactly.” He sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “You have El and I have Tobias
and that’s it.”

But it can’t end like this. Mike needs to convince him, needs to show him that Tobias isn’t
good for him, that he’s using him somehow. “Have you ever considered that Tobias is taking
advantage of you just because of your looks?”

“What?”

Mike freezes like he said something wrong. “I just meant-”

“My looks?”

The words sound incriminating when said back to him. “Not that I think- I... I mean it’s-
look, I just meant-” Get it together, Wheeler.

“Is this because of my haircut?”

Mike’s eyes flick up to Will’s hair against his will, to the way it swooped gently across his
forehead, and his mouth goes dry. “No- I mean, that’s part of it, but-”

“Tobias isn’t with me just for my haircut. Honestly Mike, your reasons are getting more and
more ridiculous.”

Mike feels a swell of irritation. “Forget it, look-”

“No, you need to look. I like Tobias. Okay?” Will’s gaze is unwavering, almost challenging.
“And we’re going to date for a long time. So you need to get used to this.” And something
inside Mike breaks, cracks open.

“Then why are you hiding from him?”

“What?”

Mike’s had enough. “Why doesn’t he know about the Upside Down?” He steps even closer.
“Or Lonnie? It’s like you’re- you’re hiding yourself from him because you know if he knew
the truth, if he knew who you really were, he’d reject you, right? He’d leave. And then you
wouldn’t have your little boyfriend anymore, would you?”

Will is looking at him in awe, in stunned silence. “What?”

“You heard me. You’re hiding the most important events from your life from him because he
wouldn’t accept you if he knew how- how flawed you are.”

Tears well in Will’s eyes. “Fuck you,” he mutters.

And the next words that pop into Mike’s head are terrible, but he can’t stop himself from
saying them. “Fuck you? I thought that was Tobias’ job.”

Will lets out a sob. “He didn’t- shut the hell up, Mike.”

“Or what?” And he knows he’s destroying everything, sabotaging it, but Will has a boyfriend
and it- it hurt, and he had to return the pain somehow. He had to get it off his chest. “Or what,
Will? What will you do?”

“We’re done,” Will says abruptly.

“Done?”

“Us. We’re done.”

Mike pauses for a second, confused. “With this conversation?”

“With this friendship.”

Mike reels back. “You don’t mean that.”

Will glares at him. “I do.”

“Will-” his voice breaks.

“You’re being mean, Mike. You’ve been mean the past month and I’ve been talking to
Jonathan and Tobias-”

“You can’t trust Tobias.”

“I can’t trust you.” Will snaps. “When I came out, I thought you’d be the first to support me.
But no, it was Max. And then Dustin. And then Lucas and then El and you were just- just
sitting there. Not saying anything. And I just brushed it off because maybe you were
surprised, but it turns out you’re homophobic-”

“Will-”

“-which means you hate what I am. You hate me. You think I’m different and wrong and
flawed- I mean, you just said it yourself- which means you’re not a real friend-”

“Will-”

“-and maybe you never had been and I was just too stupid to realize it because I wanted a
friend, and you did too, which is why you asked me to be your friend on the swing set in
kindergarten, not because it was me, but because there was no one else around.” Will sniffles,
a tear sliding down his cheek. “Just like now. It was circumstance, not choice. And now you
have other friends, you have El, and you don’t need me anymore. And I don’t need you
either.”

The words burn, but Mike forces his tears back. “Good.”

Will’s mouth trembles. “Good.” He looks like he’s about to start sobbing. “So we’re done
here?”

“Yeah,” Mike chokes out. “Yeah. We’re done.”

“Okay.” Will turns away and wrenches open the door. “See you around.”

“See ya.”

And as soon as Will leaves, Mike is stuck standing in place. He blinks and a tear slips down
his cheek, which he quickly wipes away. What just happened?

He hears Will’s door slam shut and he quickly walks forward to shut his own door. And then
he sinks onto his bed, like he’s on autopilot, Will’s words replaying in his mind. You’re not a
real friend. We’re done. I don’t need you either. And the tears spring up in his eyes again and
his face crumples.

Shit. It might be over between them.

His brain quickly scrambles for how they could fix this. He could accept Tobias, give him a
gift or something, even if it was all a giant act. No one would be able to tell the difference,
right? Or he could get El to talk to Will, to explain what homophobia is and how he couldn’t
change it. Her explanation might make more sense. Or maybe he could rent a movie for him
and Will, a stupid one, one that would make them both laugh and forget everything.

His chest seizes up at the thought of him and Will together on the plaid couch in his
basement, laughing and sharing popcorn like the old days. He took it for granted. He took it
all for granted.

Because now they might never have it again.

Desperately, he starts debating which plan to put into action- the gift, El talking, or the
movie, when the things he said to Will flood his mind.

He wouldn’t accept you if he knew how flawed you were. Fuck you? I thought that was
Tobias’ job. You follow him around like a lovesick puppy. It’s pathetic.

His blood runs cold. He said all that? Jesus Christ, what was wrong with him? Homophobia
might make you into a bigot, but it doesn’t turn you into an asshole.

And his chest clenches again, this time when he realizes that no movie would fix this. Not
even a thousand movies would. And neither would an apology. And especially not something
as dumb as a gift.

The only thing that could fix it was time.

And that could be anywhere from a few weeks to a lifetime.

It’s a couple hours later and Mike hasn’t left his room. Instead he’s been lying on his back,
curtains drawn, staring at the ceiling, eyes still spilling over with tears. But he knew it wasn’t
just from the fight with Will, it was everything- the trauma they went through and Max
almost dying and him and El not being the same anymore and four extra people living in his
house. He couldn’t even remember the last time he let himself cry this much- cry at all,
actually. Maybe this would be his plan, to cry for hours once a year and get it all out of his
system at once so he didn’t have to worry about it the other 364 days. That could work, right?

There’s a knock on the door. It’s his mom. “Honey, dinner’s ready.”

Shit.

He wipes his eyes with the heels of his hands. How was he supposed to eat with everyone
when it was probably super obvious that he’d been crying? “I’m not feeling good,” he calls
back immediately.

“Really? What’s wrong?”

Mike hesitates. But he can’t let Will think he won, that Mike was too distraught to eat with
everyone. “Uh, never mind,” he calls back. “I’m feeling better.” Then he remembers that Will
could be listening. “I’m feeling great, actually!”

“Oh, okay.” He hears the confusion in his mom’s voice, but luckily she doesn’t question it.
“Dinner in five then.”

“Cool!” He forces enthusiasm into his voice. “Great,” he mumbles, then forces himself to sit
up, wincing at the headache he now had. He was probably dehydrated from crying anyways.
His feet hit the floor and he walks over to flip on his light switch. Let’s see how bad the
damage is.

He looks in the mirror.

It’s bad.

His eyes are puffy and red, and he still has tear tracks running down his cheeks, which he
quickly wipes away. Even his hair is messed up, sticking up in random places. Jesus Christ.

If he could just sneak into the bathroom, splash some cold water on his face, maybe brush his
teeth or something, no one would notice at dinner. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was a plan
nonetheless.

So he takes a deep breath and cracks open his door, heading out. But at the same time, he
hears another door opening. Will’s door. Fuck.

Will’s eyes widen when he sees him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Mike chokes out, then clears his throat. Of course his voice had to be messed up too.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Will is looking at him with concern. “Is... is this because of our fight?”

“No!” Mike rushes out. “No! Of course not. I was... watching a sad movie.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “You don’t have a TV in your room.”

“Book, I meant.” A swell of irritation rises within him. “Look, I’m just trying to get to the
bathroom.”

Will’s face closes off at his tone. “I’m not trying to stop you.” He brushes past him, and it’s
only then that Mike realizes Will’s eyes are slightly red too, but before he has time to process
it, Will is heading down the stairs.

Regret quickly fills his chest. Why did he always have to talk without thinking? Before he can
think too much, he heads into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. In the light, he
looks even worse. No wonder Will basically stopped in his tracks when he saw him.

He leans down, turning on the faucet and splashing cold water on his face, thoughts
overwhelming him. They weren’t friends anymore. Will was still dating Tobias, and him and
Will weren’t friends anymore. Bitterly, he remembers the days when he was going to reveal
Tobias as the faker and charmer he is, causing Will to turn to him with gratitude after
breaking up with him, their friendship stronger than ever. But the opposite happened. He
loved Tobias and hated Mike.
He turns off the faucet, grabbing a towel and wiping his face. Which means he lost Will for
real.

He looks in the mirror and is horrified to see his eyes have filled with tears again.

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbles. He presses the towel against his eyes, trying to ignore the waves
of sadness rising within him. What the hell?

“Mike!” his mom is calling. “Dinner!”

“I know!” he chokes out. “Give me a minute!”

He stares back at his reflection, at his red-rimmed eyes, and curses under his breath. Fuck it.
He’d just have to stick with the sad book story.

He wrenches open the door and heads downstairs, avoiding everyone’s eyes when he enters
the kitchen. He has tunnel vision as he finds his chair, pulling it out and sitting down,
refusing to look up from the plate of green beans and chicken in front of him, even though he
can feel everyone staring at him. Finally, he looks up and accidently makes eye contact with
Will. They both look away.

“Mike, is everything okay?” It’s Nancy. And he really did not feel like explaining his
emotions to his sister right now.

“I watched- I mean, I read a sad book.”

Silence. “How sad was this book?”

He looks up and everyone is looking at him, some with concern, some with surprise, except
now Will, who’s pushing around the chicken on his plate. “Uh, pretty sad I guess.”

“Which book was it?” his mom asks.

“Does it matter?” Mike snaps.

His mom hesitates, looking around the table. “I guess not.”

And then finally, they take the hint and move onto other topics. Joyce starts talking about her
and El finding discounted jewelry at the flea market on Oak Road, which they’ve later
determined is actually worth a lot, and his mom is asking questions about it. Then the jewelry
talk morphs into talk of the town- as it always does- and Murray is chiming in with his two
cents- why is Murray here?- when the conversation finally comes to a lull and Joyce turns to
Will.

“So Will.” She takes a forkful of potatoes. “Why didn’t you invite Tobias over tonight? It
would’ve been nice to see him.”

Will’s response is immediate. “Mike wouldn’t like that.”

It takes Mike a second to realize Will’s talking about him. He responds clumsily. “Uh, no I
wouldn’t.”

“Mike.”

“Hey.”

“C’mon, Mike.”

“What?”

El cuts in. “It’s okay, Mike. We all know how you feel about Tobias.”

Murray nods in agreement. “Jealous.”

Mike snaps his neck up. “Jealous?”

“Jealous of Tobias.” He looks around the table. “Or am I missing something here?”

Mike feels blood rush to his ears and rushes to correct him. “I’m not jealous, I’m...” But did
he really want to say homophobic? “Angry.”

“So we’re playing the synonym game. Same dish, different pot. Or is it the other way
around?” He strokes his chin. “Same pot, different dish.”

Joyce snaps her fingers. “I think you’re thinking of the pot called the kettle black.”

“No, that’s not it.”

Mike rolls his eyes.

“All idioms aside...” Murray has an amused lilt to his voice. “Something fishy is in the air.
I’ve noticed for a while now that the vibes between you two...” he waves his fork between
him and Will. “Are off. I sense hurt, devastation, feeling green under the gills. Ope! There’s
another one!”

Joyce claps her hands at that and Mike seriously considers leaving the table.

“But just because things are not going swimmingly,” Murray smiles, then pauses dramatically.
“Doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. You two. After dinner. We need to talk.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Jonathan adds, looking at Will. “A good opportunity to get some
closure.”

Will furrows his eyebrows at him, while Mike feels his stomach drop. Closure? What, like
the end of their friendship? “It’s not over.”

Will gives a bitter laugh. “It is, Mike.”

Mike turns toward him. “What?”

But Will is already back to picking at his chicken. Embarrassingly, Mike feels tears prick his
eyes again. Why was he so emotional today? He ducks his head down and aggressively blinks
them back. “Okay, whatever. Good.”

He looks up and sees his mom staring at him with concern. “Honey, did you and Will get into
a fight?”

Why was everyone so nosy today? “Sure, yeah.”

“This looks like more than a fight.” Murray leans back, crossing his arms. “This looks almost
like a breakup.” Mike nearly chokes on his green beans, but Murray continues. “Joyce, this
reminds me of Hawkins’s prom in 1962. Jennifer Bolinski. She may have won prom queen,
but she lost Richard’s heart. They were acting just like this at the afterparty.”

Joyce nods in remembrance. “They were devastated.”

Mike looks up to see Jonathan and Will having some telepathic brother communication,
where Jonathan is shooting him a questioning look and Will is glaring at him.

“Nevertheless.” Murray slaps his thighs and stands up. “Conflict resolution waits for no man.
Shall we, boys?”

Mike pauses, looking down to see his plate is now unfortunately empty. But before he can
ask for seconds, Will is standing up too, although it looks like it’s just to avoid Jonathan’s
stare. A stare Mike realizes is now directed at him, Jonathan seemingly trying to analyze the
hell out of him. Mike rips his gaze away and stands up. “Okay, fine, yeah, let’s do your stupid
couples counseling or whatever.”

“You said it, not me,” Murray responds jovially and Mike suddenly realizes what he said.

His face goes red. “I just meant- because you said that thing about Jennifer or whatever her
name was- and that one guy-”

“I’m no stranger to Freudian slips, Mike.” Murray fluffs out his napkin before setting it on
the table. “But thank you for your fishy explanation.”

Joyce laughs at the pun and Mike narrows his eyes. He looks over at Will, who is giving him
a confused look, before he looks away quickly.

“Let’s get this over with,” Will mumbles.

“Will’s got bigger fish to fry, I see.”

Joyce swats him. “Stop it, Murray!”

Murray grins at her, and then gives both of the boys a pointed stare. “Basement. Now,” he
mouths.

Mike rolls his eyes and then finally they’re heading out of the kitchen, toward the door that
leads to the basement, Murray in front and Mike and Will trailing behind him. Mike’s anger
starts to dissolve the further they get down the stairs, when the voices of everyone at dinner
grow distant and he finally realizes that it really is just him, Will, and Murray alone in his
basement. He feels weirdly nervous as they reach the bottom. He can’t help himself from
looking around, realizing that some of Will’s drawings are still tacked to the walls. His heart
tugs at the sight.

This was worth saving.

“I don’t want to talk,” Will says from beside him, and Mike bristles.

“Neither do I,” he replies immediately.

“Finally, you two have something in common.” Murray raises his eyebrows. “Now take a
seat.”

When Will hesitates, Mike decidedly brushes past him, going to sit down on the left-hand
side of the couch. He waits a beat before Will sighs and heads over too, sitting on the
armchair diagonal to the couch, a whole three cushions and extra foot away. “Really, Will?”

“I thought you wouldn’t want to share a couch with someone you hate.”

“I don’t-” he takes a deep breath. “I don’t hate you.”

“You just hate what I am.”

“Yes,” he says without thinking. “No. I don’t hate what you are.”

“You just said it.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t- I didn’t think about it-”

“Gentleman, please,” Murray cuts in. “It’s not counseling if the counselor can’t talk- can’t
intervene, if you will.”

“Intervene then.” Will crosses his arms. “Because this can’t be fixed.”

Mike feels panic fill his chest at the words, at the realization that his thoughts earlier in his
room might have been right. No movie or gift or talk from El could fix this. Only time could.
Which at the moment seemed like it would be a lifetime. Nothing could fix this. What did
that even mean? That was a pretty bold claim, even for Will.

Mike looks up to see Murray looking at him with something like... concern?

“Can’t is a strong word, Will.” Murray’s gusto is back as he turns to Will. “And I’ve seen
many couples- and friends- in my two decades as a journalist, back before I got involved in
all this supernatural interdimensional mumbo-jumbo, which is what first inspired me to get
my IRC.”

“IRC?” Will raises an eyebrow.

“Interpersonal Resolution Certification.”

“That sounds fake.”

“The website online said it was legit.”

Will leans forward. “Tobias says you can’t trust everything online. Most websites are from
the government, but some can be created by average people who just want money.”

“So you’re telling me the $500 I spent was a scam?”

Will’s jaw drops.

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” He lowers his voice. “It was $1,000, actually.”

“Murray!”

“Oh loosen up Will, really. It didn’t cost anything.” He turns toward Mike. “So uptight, this
one.” When Mike doesn’t respond, Murray takes a deep breath. “Anyways, let’s get down to
business, shall we? Unless you’d prefer to spend the rest of the night debating the merit of
my very real and very useful certification.” When no one says anything, he claps his hands
together. “Perfect. So... Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, friendship once a bread is now a
crumb...”

“I’m leaving,” Will starts to stand up.

“No!” Murray holds out his hands. “No! Christ, where is your patience? These things take
time, yes? You two should know that, especially after having a friendship of what, ten
years?”

“Eleven,” Mike quickly corrects.

“Eleven. Which has now, en quote, ended due to a fight. A fight I’m assuming is relatively
recent based on how red Mike’s eyes are-”

“I read a sad book!”

“It would’ve been more believable to say you were high, Mike.”

Will sits back down, looking at Mike. “It wasn’t because of a book?”

“No it was-” Mike feels himself tripping up. “It was a lot of things. I don’t know.”

“Triggered by your fight,” Murray finishes. “There, one mystery solved.”

Mike glares at him. “Murray, I don’t-”

“Now, would either of you gentlemen care to explain what this fight was about?”

Will takes a moment to respond, a moment during which Mike can feel him staring at him.
Then Will shakes himself out of it. “It started because Mike told a very personal secret about
me to Tobias.”

Mike rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t telling secrets, he asked me about it.”

“How could he have asked about it? There’s no way he could’ve known-”

“I told you, it was the nightmares!” Mike bursts out. “The nightmares you have, and he
wanted to know the cause, and what was I supposed to say? Vecna? Max being possessed?
Eddie? So I said Lonnie-”

“You could’ve made something up!”

“Or you could’ve told the truth to him, but you didn’t. He doesn’t know about Lonnie, he
doesn’t know about the Upside Down-”

“Because if he knew the real me he’d reject me, right?”

“He wouldn’t reject you-”

“That’s what you said.” And then Will is close to crying again. “And it’s true because you
have too. You’ve known me since... what- kindergarten? And you can’t stand to be around
me just because I’m dating a guy. And even before that, when I moved to California, you
couldn’t write because... I don’t know, I’m me. I’m flawed or whatever you said. Which
means I’m a mistake.”

Mike goes silent, trying to process the words, words that sounded weirdly similar to Will’s
monologue in the van back in Utah.

Will is still talking. “I’m different, right? Something’s wrong with me.” He pauses, like he’s
waiting for Mike to correct him. “I’m... I’m flawed.” He repeats himself, waiting, but Mike is
focusing somewhere in the corner, replaying Will’s words in the van.

It’s just, she’s so different from other people, and when you’re different, you feel like a
mistake. But you make her feel like she’s not a mistake at all. Like she’s better for being
different. And if she was mean to you or she seemed like she was pushing you away, it’s
probably just because she’s scared of losing you, like you’re scared of losing her.

It felt like he was missing something, but he didn’t know what.

“Mike?” Will’s voice cracks, and when Mike looks at him, from the distance of three couch
cushions and a foot away, Will’s eyes are full of tears. “You have nothing to say to that?”

“To what?” Mike replies automatically.

“To-” Will takes a deep breath, collecting his thoughts, and in that time Mike’s mind is
already spinning back to Will’s speech in the van.

These past few months she’s been so lost without you. So yeah, El needs you Mike.

And she always will.

What did that mean?

Did El even say that?

“To everything I said, Mike,” Will is saying. “To what you yourself said. You can’t get mad at
me for not telling Tobias about Lonnie and the Upside Down when you yourself said that he
would reject me if he found all that out.” He pauses when Mike doesn’t respond, still lost in
thought. He stares at him. “Anything to say to that?”

Mike blinks quickly. “To what?”

“Okay.” Will’s voice is weirdly emotionless. “Good to know.”

“What?”

But Will is already standing up. “Good to know you have nothing to say to that. Because
Tobias does. But oh right,” his voice shakes. “You hate him too, don’t you? Even though he’s
someone that says I’m not a mistake, that I’m normal.”

Mike scrambles to remember what Will was originally talking about, but his mind keeps
bringing him back to when Will was tearing up and talking about feeling like a mistake and
different and needing Mike and he... he knew he was missing something, some vital piece of
information. “Sorry,” he says, while his brain is still buffering.

“Sorry,” Will scoffs. “Okay. Wow. Uh...” He spreads his arms out and then slaps them down.
“So am I.”

“Mike,” Murray cuts in. “Is there anything else you’d like to say to Will? You know, along
the lines of you not thinking he’s an eternally flawed being? Radical idea I know, but you
seem to be struggling with it.”

“Forget it Murray,” Will says, and his voice is flat, flatter than Mike’s ever heard it. “If you
have to coax it out of him, it’s not genuine.”

Mike scrunches up his eyebrows. “Will-”

“We’re done.”

The words hit even harder the second time. “What?”

Will is walking toward the stairs. “I mean it this time. I’ve... I’ve heard what I needed to. To-
to move on.” His voice is eerily emotionless as he walks up the stairs. “I hope you have a
nice life, and I wish you and El the best.”

And then he’s gone.

“Will!” Mike says again, even though Will can’t hear him.

“Mike,” Murray says suddenly, standing up. “Pardon my French, but in all my years as an
IRC counselor, I have never seen anyone fuck up a conversation quite so badly.”
Mike crosses his arm defensively. “Fuck it up how?”

“And you don’t even know!” Murray says hysterically, throwing up his arms. “Fantastic!
Mike Wheeler doesn’t even know what he did!” He claps a hand on his shoulder. “After
seeing Demogorgons and demobats and jars full of unknown liquid, I never thought I’d be
surprised again, but Mike Wheeler, you just did it.”

What is this guy’s problem? “Just tell me what I did, so I can fix it.”

“Mike,” Murray grins. “You sweet, stupid creature. At this point you’re even convincing me
that Will deserves better. And I was your guys’ number one supporter from the start.” When
Mike keeps staring at him, Murray sighs. “Look, you caught me in a good mood, so I’ll tell
you. Your good friend Will just wanted reassurance. Simple, plain reassurance. That he’s not
a mistake. A flaw. A... I don’t know, he was throwing out a lot of synonyms there. But I’m
guessing if you’re anything like your sister, you didn’t get much of that in childhood.”

“Reassurance?”

Murray nods. “And clearly that’s affecting your relationships, friendships, friendship-turned-
relationships, relationship-turned-friendships, acquaintanceships even, whatever you kids call
it these days.”

What the hell is he talking about? “O-kay. Just tell me how to fix it.”

Murray extends his hand, touching Mike’s chest. “Look inside, my friend.”

“Inside?”

Murray hesitates. “You’re homophobic, right?”

Mike nods.

He takes a deep breath. “Let’s think about replacing that phobic with something else, yeah?”

“Huh?”

But Murray is already turning away, toward the stairs, the sound of his boots echoing as he
climbs. Then the basement door closes behind him.

Mike watches the closed door, waiting, but when Murray doesn’t come back he sighs, staring
at the ceiling. Now for the guessing game.

Homosapien.

Obviously.

Homophobic.

He already knew that.

Homosexual.

His mind goes blank, his heart rate speeding up.

Homosexual, his brain repeats.

No, he mentally shoots out. No, of course not.

But it was too slow.

He panics.

He wasn’t homosexual. Sure, he’s always thought both guys and girls are attractive, but he
made the decision from a young age. Girls. And he stuck by it.

It’s why he was dating El. It’s why he’s only ever had crushes on girls. It’s why he focuses on
the girl love interest in movies.

And Will didn’t have that option, and neither did Tobias, so they had to choose guys. Against
society. Against homophobes. Against Mike.

But he liked girls, so that was it. He wasn’t homosexual. And if he was attracted to guys at
all, hypothetically, it didn’t matter, he was safe because he liked girls.

So Murray was wrong, if that’s what he was implying. Or it might have been another word.
Mike makes a mental note to check the dictionary later that night.

Homophilic, his brain shoots out. A liking of the gays.

A liking of Will.

He nearly chokes at the thought. Nope. No.

He stands up, out of breath. Too much thinking.

And for once, he’s actually eager to get back to family dinner.
 Chapter 13
Chapter Notes

Warning: This chapter is a bit depressing, at least from Will's point of view, but it's
setting the stage for what's to come.

Also, I saw a lot of comments in the last chapter saying how Tobias seemed
manipulative for letting Mike take the fall for telling Will about Lonnie, which is
interesting because it really wasn't my intention to make Tobias manipulative! I've
written him as a Classic Nice Guy™ who treats Will right, and therefore pisses Mike
off. If it was a scenario where Tobias ended up being bad/toxic and Mike was like "I told
you so" that wouldn't feel as satisfying to me... bro needs to be humbled and step up to
the plate!

I just wanted to add that info if it gives any more insight into his character/the storyline.
Of course, Tobias always COULD turn toxic or into something else, but up to this point
he hasn't had any ulterior motives. He does like to piss Mike off though, but it's because
he thinks he's homophobic, not him intentionally trying to turn Will against him. Love
your guys' theories tho, it has me seeing everything from a different perspective I never
considered and possibly influencing the storyline (I had this mostly written by the time I
published it but things can always change).

Hope you guys enjoy!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It’s noon and Will is sitting at the easel in his room, staring at the blank canvas, not sure how
much time has passed. More than ten minutes but less than an hour. He wants to paint
something, but he doesn’t know what. He can’t think of any ideas, or feel any inspiration, or
even any emotions if he’s being honest. Just like his canvas, he’s been empty the past few
days, walking around in a weird blur.

He’s also been avoiding Mike. It’s hard to tell someone to “have a nice life” and then still
share a house with them, and Will can’t count the number of times he’s walked into the
kitchen only to see Mike and back out again before he saw him, or walked around a corner
only to run into Mike and then they’re both awkwardly mumbling “sorry”s to each other. The
worst is family dinners, when him and Mike are forced to be in the same room, sitting
diagonally across from each other, and he wishes Mike would just ignore him, but instead he
can feel Mike glancing at him, and then as the dinner goes on, downright staring, like he’s
trying to catch Will’s eye, but he doesn’t give in.

He knows Mike feels bad. He’s always been able to read him like a book. And he also knows
that Will ignoring him drives him crazy.
But he doesn’t care. He’s not trying to do anything or get any reaction out of Mike. He’s just
trying to move on. And even if Mike apologized right now, it was too late. He’s tired of Mike
saying the wrong things in the heat of the moment and not saying the right things when it
counts. He just needs to keep moving forward, to focus on Tobias and his family and his art,
if he could just paint something.

He takes a deep breath, forcing himself to look at the blank canvas, to think, but he can’t feel
anything. No tendrils of inspiration. No ideas racing through his head. Not even enough
anger to fuel him into making something. And he should feel angry, but instead he was just…
numb.

And then the words are playing back in his mind. Pathetic. Flawed. You follow him around
like a lovesick puppy.

He gives a bitter laugh to himself. That’s why.

If he thought Mike’s silence in California was bad, it was nothing compared to hearing
blatant insults said to his face. And it hurt. He hated to admit it, but he really did feel
ashamed- embarrassed almost- his brain cycling through all the events of the past month,
wondering if he did follow Tobias around or treat him like a god or if in some weird way he
really was flawed after all his baggage from Lonnie and the Upside Down. And even though
he’d just spent all that time on a cloud nine of self-acceptance and love spurred by Tobias,
Mike’s words just seemed to take it all away.

And he hated that too, how much influence Mike still had on him.

He forces himself to look back at the canvas. Just paint something. Anything.

And then the phone rings, jolting him out of his thoughts. It’s the phone his mom bought him
to keep in his room “in case of emergencies.” Even though it was a privilege to have his own
phone, it was also a constant reminder of how he was different from everyone else. In danger.
A freak. Wrong.

Jesus Christ.

He quickly walks over and picks up the phone before he can think anymore. “Hello?”

“Hey, Will. It’s Tobias.”

“Oh. Hey.”

“Hey,” Tobias sounds hesitant. “Um, I just wanted to check in since, you know, it’s been
three days since I last saw you.”

Will leans over to look at his calendar. Has it already been that long? “Oh. Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize,” Tobias rushes out. “I wanted to give you space, since, you know...”
When Will doesn’t say anything, Tobias takes a deep breath. “You confronted Mike.”

And Mike is back in his thoughts again. Fantastic. “I did.”

“How did it go?”

“Good,” Will responds automatically, even though his voice sounds flat to his own ears. Then
he realizes exactly what he said. “I mean, not good. Not at all. I don’t know why I said that.”

“What happened?”

“We got into a fight,” Will swallows. “A big one. He said a lot of things. Mean things.” He
shakes his head. “I don’t want to get into it. Basically, I... I ended our friendship.”

Tobias goes silent. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Will nods. “You were right. Someone who doesn’t accept me for who I am isn’t a
real friend.”

“But still...” Tobias trails off, and Will is almost irritated that this is the time he’s showing
empathy and not dragging Mike’s name. “You must be sad, right? You two were friends for
so long.”

“I’m not sad,” Will says. If anything he felt numb. “I’m... I’m angry at him. He’s an asshole.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice,” Tobias mutters dryly.

Will laughs. “Right, how could I forget?”

“Wait, does this mean...” he trails off, and there’s a tinge of hopefulness. “We’re on the same
team now?”

The words bring a small smile to his face. “I guess we are.”

“Alright, finally!” Tobias exclaims. “So we can finally talk about his arrogance? And
defensiveness? And the- the bigotry that underlines his every move?”

Will laughs despite himself. “I guess we can.”

And then Tobias fires off, listing things Will never even thought of, like the way Mike
couldn’t hide his emotions for shit and glared at people across the room and got angry for
seemingly no reason.

He nods, even though those things weren’t bad, they were just Mike.

“And when he talks to you,” Tobias says. “He’s not even looking at your eyes, he’s looking at
your lips.”

“Yeah, he does that with everyone.”

“No, I mean just you, Will. I’ve seen it several times.”

Will pauses. “What?”

But Tobias doesn’t hear him, going back to listing a dozen more things. And Will keeps
listening, wishing he could chime in about his own things he dislikes about Mike, but he feels
weirdly guilty about badmouthing Mike, even though Mike basically did the same thing to
his face. And just like that, the words are back in his head.

You’re ignoring me, you’re ignoring El. All for what? A guy you met at some street fair? It’s
pathetic.

You’re hiding the most important events from your life from him because he wouldn’t accept
you if he knew how- how flawed you were.

If he knew the truth, if he knew who you really were, he’d reject you, right? He’d leave.

“Will?” Tobias says on the other line, and he realizes he’s gone silent.

“What?”

“Sorry, was... was all this too soon?”

“No-”

“I know he was your friend and I shouldn’t-”

Will shakes his head. “No,” he says more forcefully. “No, it’s not that, it’s just-” He looks
around. “It’s not him. I’ve been trying to work on this stupid painting for an hour but I can’t
think of anything.”

“I can help.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, if you want...” Tobias sounds unsure.

“Of course.” Will smiles. “Now?”

“Now.”

“Okay.” A wave of gratitude comes over him. “Come over then.”

“Hang up the phone then.”

“You hang up the phone.”

“No, you do it. I’m the one who called.”

“Okay.” Will smiles. Things will be okay. “I’m hanging up now.”

“Ouch. That kinda hurts Will.”

“I’ll be seeing you in ten minutes!”

“Still.”

“And you told me to hang up.”

“It was a test.”

“And I failed?”

“Miserably.”

Will laughs. “I’ll see you in ten minutes.”

“Deal.”

And the line goes dead.

Ten minutes later, Tobias is in Will’s room, a stool pulled up next to him at the easel. “So
what are we working on?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“Let’s see...” Tobias pretends to think for a moment, and then reaches forward and grabs a
brush, dipping it in blue and gently making a streak across the blank canvas.

“Hey!” Will protests.

“It’s further than you got, right?”

Will gives him a look, and then grabs another brush, dipping it in a reddish-brown color and
dragging it underneath the blue. Then he squints. “It looks like a dock. A fishing dock.”

Tobias nods once. “Then it is.”

They spend the next 30 minutes making random brush strokes and adding colors, and as they
get further Tobias lets Will take the lead, just watching. And at first he’s watching the canvas,
Will’s brush strokes, but toward the end Tobias is looking at him instead, and it gives him
flashbacks from when they were watching Scooby Doo, before him and Mike’s fight, when
Tobias knew about Lonnie and kept checking in on him. He sighs. “I can feel you looking at
me.”

“Because you’re acting different.”

Will turns to him. “I am?”

Tobias nods. “Like you’re sad. But trying to hide it.”

Will just looks at him for a second. “What?”

“It’s in the painting. How far apart the poles on the dock are. The vastness of the ocean. No
fish in the water. Not even a fisherman. And a cloudy sky on top of that. It’s just... empty.”

“It’s not empty.”

“It is Will.” And there’s a sternness in Tobias’s voice, a disappointment even. “I... I can tell
you’re upset about Mike. Unless you just happened to develop generalized depression.”

“Depression? I mean, the world is ending,” Will tries to joke, but then he realizes Tobias
doesn’t even know what that means. Only Mike does.

Tobias is studying his reaction. “What did he say? Mike?”

“In our fight?”

Tobias nods.

Will hesitates. “It’s better not to repeat it.”

“I’m your boyfriend.” He says it insistently, and Will has a sudden urge to reassure him,
before it’s replaced by numbness.

“I know, I know. I just...”

“Look, if this is anymore homophobia shit, and you’re at all believing it, I’ll go downstairs
and talk to him right now-”

“No, no,” Will shakes his head. “I’m over it.”

“You’re not over it.” Tobias takes a deep breath. “You’ve hardly even looked at me the whole
time we’ve been here. I mean, I know we’re painting, but you’re... you’re distant. Your mind
is someplace else. On Mike.”

The way he says it is somehow different, and once again, Will wishes he could reassure him.
“I’m sorry,” he says lamely.

“Don’t apologize,” Tobias says. “I just want to understand. Like I told you before, I don’t
have a lot of experience with long-term friendships. It’s only been kids at art camp or my
mom’s work, so if there’s a grieving process, I’ll respect it. I just...” He shakes his head, like
he’s thinking about something.

“What?”

Tobias looks at him for a second and goes back to his hands, unsure of himself, something
Will can’t remember ever seeing before.

Will is suddenly nervous. “Tobias, what is it?”

Tobias just shakes his head again, giving a sad smile. “Nothing. Just my brain coming up
with stupid theories.”

“Hey,” Will playfully elbows him. “There’s no way your theories are stupid.”

“I hope this one is,” Tobias says without missing a beat.

Will pauses. “Why? What is it?”

Tobias pushes up his glasses and sighs, and then he looks at Will, his gaze heartbreakingly
vulnerable, before he stares across the room. It’s somewhere in between his poster of The
Smiths and his painting of a knight in battle. “Do you like Mike?”

Will nearly chokes. He quickly puts the paintbrush he was holding back into the can, buying
himself time. “What?”

“Will, I think you heard the question.”

Will feels his heart rate speed up. “Uh... no.”

Tobias raises an eyebrow, challenging. “Uh no?”

Will leans forward and grabs a towel, wiping off paint that was trickling down the side of the
can. “What, as a friend?”

“No, not as a friend.”

“Oh. Uh, no.”

Tobias is still looking at him. “Why do you keep saying uh in front of it?”

“Because I’m put on the spot.” Will leans back and looks at him, trying to seem braver than
he felt. “And Mike’s my friend, so I’m a little confused...”

He trails off and Tobias doesn’t say anything. And they stay like that, in a stranded moment
of silence, before Tobias backs down. “Of course. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Tobias is shaking his head. “I’m being insecure, and- and I shouldn’t be. It’s
not fair to you.”

“Tobias-”

“I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now, but I just feel stupid now.”

Will straightens up. “Hey.”

Tobias refuses to look at him. “I should probably go. Just to clear my head. Like you’ve been
doing the past few days.” He stands up.
Will looks at him. “Are you sure?”

Tobias nods, avoiding his eyes. “I am.”

“Let me walk you out-”

“That won’t be necessary.” The words are like a slap in the face and Will stays seated at his
easel.

“Oh. Okay.”

Tobias meets his eyes briefly, looking conflicted, but then he just presses his lips together and
heads out, and Will is left staring at the open door.

He blankly looks back at his easel, at the half-painted dock and bleary ocean beyond it. The
gray skies. The lack of fish or fisherman. Jesus. It really did look depressing. No wonder
Tobias thought that he liked Mike, because this looked like a breakup painting. Luckily it
wasn’t.

Luckily it never would be.

He hears footsteps approaching his door and looks up hopefully, thinking Tobias came back.
But instead, it’s Mike. His face falls.

“Did you not want to see me?”

“What?”

“You looked disappointed.” Mike looks suddenly defensive. “I can go.”

“What? No, Mike, that’s not-” Will pinches the bridge of his nose. How were him and Mike
already fighting? “Forget it. If you came here to apologize I’m not hearing it.”

“I didn’t come here to apologize.”

Is this guy serious? Will just looks at him. “Okay. Cool.”

“Yeah,” Mike replies, but there’s no bite to it. In fact, he looks nervous. He clears his throat.
“Did you know the earliest known painting is approximately 40,000 years old?”

Will freezes, processing the information. “Yeah, I think so.”

“And that the Renaissance is a period in European history marking the transition from the
Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an
effort to revive and surpass-”

“Are you reading this off something?”

Mike freezes like he’s been caught. “No.”

It’s only then that Will realizes Mike is holding a piece of paper. He looks back up at Mike.
“Mike, what is this?”

Mike casts a glance to the side, probably to Tobias who just headed out. “I just wanted you to
know that Tobias isn’t the only one who cares about art.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “You care about art?”

Mike nods. “For sure.”

“Since when?”

“Since...” Mike freezes. “I don’t know. I always have.”

“That’s a lie.”

Mike’s shoulder’s drop. “Okay, I didn’t used to, but I do now-”

“Why?”

“Because you do, I don’t know.”

There’s a pause, an insinuation, but Will’s brain is too filled to process it. Too filled with
Tobias leaving just now after their first fight and the fact that him and Mike are in an even
bigger fight, which he almost forgot about with the way Mike was standing in front of him
spitting out art facts like his life depended on it.

He tiredly rubs his forehead. “Okay, well, uh, thanks for the information.”

Mike hesitates, hovering, and Will waits. “Do you feel reassured?”

“What?”

“Was…” Mike swallows thickly. “Was this reassuring?”

Reassuring? Will scrunches his eyebrows, confused. What the hell was going on today? “Uh,
no?”

“No?” Mike looks disappointed, and then furrows his eyebrows like he’s mad at himself. “I’ll
fix that.”

“Fix what?”

But Mike just shakes his head, and then he’s gone.

-
The next few days are a blur. Tobias is distant, which Will isn’t used to, and every time he
calls the conversations are short, overly polite, neither of them brave enough to bring up what
Tobias asked the other day, or Will’s answer, so instead they dance around the topic with
aimless small talk, and it’s nice and all, but by the 3rd phone call it starts feeling like his
mandatory Christmas calls with his Aunt Susan and less like he’s talking to his boyfriend.
And he knows they should hang out in person, that there’s no reason not to, but he honestly
just doesn’t feel like it. And it’s not personal to Tobias- he just doesn’t feel like doing
anything nowadays. He has to force himself to leave his room to eat and shower and talk to
people. Even movies and paintings aren’t an escape anymore because his always mind drifts
off into pathetic and flawed and you’re hiding parts of yourself from him and a bunch of other
phrases from him and Mike’s fight that his brain won’t let him forget.

And Mike’s definitely not helping either, stopping by his room once a day with a random art
fact.

“Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors.”

“Yeah, I know, Mike.”

“Really?”

“It’s like basic knowledge.”

“Oh.” And Will almost feels bad, but then Mike is talking again. “Did Tobias teach you
that?”

“No? It’s a basic-” He sighs. “I think we learned this in what, 2nd grade? Along with the
rainbow-” He cuts himself off when he sees Mike has already walked out. “Forget it.”

And Will is back to square one. Back to Mike trying to get closer to him and Tobias drifting
away. The opposite of what should be happening.

Because what should be happening is that him and Mike aren’t even talking at all since Mike
is openly homophobic, on the same level as Troy and Lonnie. And Tobias helped him realize
that, which means him and Tobias should be two peas in a pod. Not only because of that, but
because of a bunch of things- they both like art, they have absent father figures, they’re both
misunderstood, meeting Tobias is what caused Will to come out of the closet, to fully be
himself with his friends for the first time in his life. Tobias comforted him during his
nightmare and talked to Mike the next day to figure out what they were about. They even
made a painting together. A sad painting of an empty ocean on a cloudy day, but a painting
nonetheless.

He feels his eyes sting with tears. He should be so grateful for Tobias.

And he is.

So why haven’t they hung out in four days? his brain challenges. Why does he almost dread
their phone calls yet finds himself looking forward to Mike stopping by his room every night,
 his heart pounding in a way he knows is more than just nerves, always getting up to answer
the door, even though he could easily ignore it?

If he had an answer, he’d... have one. But he didn’t.

He stares at his painting, at the stupidly depressing clouds and gray-blue water and the empty
sky, no birds or anything. He knows he should switch to a new canvas, that it probably wasn’t
good for him to stare at it every day, but that meant starting a new painting, which felt like an
overwhelming amount of effort.

So instead, he reaches over and unscrews the container with black paint, grabbing a
paintbrush and dipping it in. And without hesitation, he swipes it across the painting. And
then again. And again and again and again until all that’s remaining is the dock, and he paints
over that too, all the while struggling to feel... anything.

Once it’s completely covered, he leans back, staring at the still-wet black canvas. This was
probably even worse to stare at every day, but he didn’t care.

He didn’t care about anything, really.

Chapter End Notes

Once again, sorry for the depressing ending, but the next scenes are Mike's point of view
and all go together, so I decided to save them for the next chapter.

As always, let me know your thoughts :)

 Chapter 14
Chapter Notes

Things intensify, that's all I gotta say.

Enjoy!!

It’s 5pm the next day and Mike is sitting cross-legged in front of the living room coffee table,
anxiously flipping through History of Artists: From Abbasi to Zoppo, searching for an art
fact. The book has served him well the past week, but he’d already plowed through the
bulleted “Fun Facts” at the end and now was forced to sort through the actual art biographies,
which just seemed to be unending monologues that he couldn’t understand, let alone pull
facts out of. Did Will really like this stuff?

These books had started appearing over the past two months on his family bookshelf. Mike
didn’t know from where or why, but he was grateful for it now. Or was grateful when they
were easy to understand.

He huffs, flipping the pages faster. He was only rushing because he had a movie with El in an
hour at the actual movie theatre in town that just reopened, and he really needed to make it up
to her. Even though they technically made up last week, the fight with Will had thrown him
off and now he was back to being distant- if not more than before- and he could only say the
word “plateau” so many times before El would stop believing it. And that was the last thing
he needed. He might’ve lost Will, but he couldn’t lose El. Not now.

The doorbell rings but he ignores it, continuing to read. In the early 1630s, Ribera moved
away from sharp chiaroscuro toward a more luminous, golden overall tonality, became
increasingly interested in color, and employed more expansive but balanced compositional
schemas, without, however, completely abandoning his Caravaggesque roots.

What the hell did that even mean?

The doorbell rings again but Mike ignores it again, still reading. Ribera participated in the
growing preference for Bolognese art, brought to Naples from Rome, after seeing a wide
range of works in Neapolitan collections, including those of Guido Reni and Peter Paul
Rubens (1577-1640), which are often cited as catalysts-

The doorbell rings a third time. “Jesus Christ.” Mike finally stands up. “If only there were
eight other people living here.” He walks over and opens the door, the warm summer air
hitting his face.

“Wheeler?” It’s Tobias, standing there in all his oversized jacket, thick-glasses glory.
Mike sighs. This is literally the last person he wants to see right now. “Yeah?”

Tobias raises an eyebrow at him. “Can I come in?”

He looks at him. “Depends. Why are you here?”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Tobias says angrily, then takes a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m
just-” he huffs it out, looking more stressed than Mike’s ever seen him. “I’m here for Will.”

“Right,” Mike says, still not wanting to let him in, although he doesn’t know why. But to be
fair, he doesn’t know why he does half the things he does nowadays. “I’m not sure if he’s
here,” he lies.

“Which is why there’s an art book half open on the table.”

Mike turns behind him, seeing the book he placed facedown. “That’s not-” He stops himself
before he admits he’s trying to find art facts. To someone who probably knew 20 off the top
of his head. He sighs. “Yeah, he’s here.”

“In his room?”

“Where else?”

“Okay.” Tobias fixes him with a look. “So can I come in?”

Mike realizes he’s still blocking the doorway. “I guess.” He steps aside and Tobias walks in.
But instead of going directly up the stairs to Will’s room, he hesitates for a second, blowing
out a breath. Mike looks at him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tobias rushes out, irritated. “I’m fine. I just...” He pauses. “I haven’t seen Will in
an admittedly long time, not that it would concern you, Wheeler. So I’m taking a second. To
prepare.”

Mike opens his mouth, but then realizes he does the exact same thing. “Alright, take your
time.” He debates going back to the book in the living room, but then Tobias is talking again.

“What did you do, by the way?”

“What?”

“To Will.” The anger is back in Tobias’ voice. “During your fight.” When Mike looks over,
he’s glaring at him.

“Uh, I don’t-”

“Because in case you haven’t noticed, Will is different now.”

“Different?”

“Yes. For one, he’s not hanging out with me nearly as much.”
“Sounds to me like he’s on the right track.”

“And two,” Tobias ignores him. “He’s been acting all numb and detached and depressed for
the last week because of something you said, something he won’t even tell me-”

“Will’s been depressed?”

Tobias glares at him. “You didn’t know?”

“No, I- I... I knew,” he trips over his words. “I knew he’s been sad.”

“More than sad,” Tobias says. “He’s been a shell of himself. Empty.”

“He has?”

“Mike.” The word is said with so much emphasis Mike feels guilty. “You can’t seriously be
this oblivious. Will is...” he cuts himself off. “He’s not the same, Jesus Christ, and if you
could just tell me what you said-”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed.”

They both turn to see Jonathan, standing in the doorway.

“Jonathan,” Mike says.

“Mike.” The word is spoken tensely. Then he turns. “Tobias,” he says, nicer. “Could we talk
for a second?”

“Sure.” Tobias pushes up his glasses. “See ya, Wheeler.” He barely glances at him before he
follows Jonathan down the hallway.

And then they’re gone.

Mike stands there for a second, dumbfounded. What was that? Part of him- the old part-
hopes that Jonathan was having a talk with Tobias because he finally figured out he wasn’t a
good guy- a charmer and a video game cheater and a bunch of other things. But at this point,
he knew it wasn’t true. Not that Tobias wasn’t a good guy, but that anyone would pick up on
it. If anything, Mike was the bad guy now.

Which means whatever their talk was about, it probably wasn’t good. Not for him at least.
Which means he had to warn Will. He closes the front door and then turns, taking the stairs
up two at a time before he’s in front of Will’s door. He lets out a breath, looks around
nervously, and then knocks twice.

A few seconds later, Will opens the door. “Hey,” he barely reacts to him.

“Hey,” Mike says, confused at his lackluster reaction. Is this what Tobias was talking about?
“Can I come in?”
Will shrugs, opening the door wider, and Mike walks in. His eyes land on Will’s easel. “So,”
he forces optimism into his voice. “Working on anything good lately?”

Will shrugs again. “You can look.”

Mike walks over so he can see the painting and freezes when he sees it’s painted all black.
“That’s... interesting,” he says unsurely.

“You don’t have to lie, Mike.”

“I’m not! It’s interesting. It’s... different.” Will huffs out a breath and then Mike regrets
saying anything at all. “Forget it.” He scratches his head, thinking. “So, um-”

“You can just say it.”

“What?”

“Your art fact.”

“Oh. No. I’m still working on it.”

Will looks at him, tired. “You don’t have to keep doing those-”

“I want to,” Mike cuts him off. “Trust me, I want to.”

“O-kay.” Will says, confused. “So then why are you here?”

Mike swallows thickly, his mouth dry. “Uh- I think Tobias and Jonathan are forming some
sort of coalition downstairs.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “Tobias is here?”

“Yeah, he was going to visit you but then Jonathan whisked him away. Like I said, coalition.
Conspiracy, even.”

“About what?”

Mike raises his hands and then flops them down. “Probably me.”

Will almost laughs at that. “Probably.” Then he pauses, thinking, and his expression goes sad
again. “It’s probably because of our fight.” His voice is small and Mike immediately feels a
pang in his chest at Will’s reaction. Yep, he was definitely the cause of this.

He tries to make Will feel better. “Hey, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Will lets out a bitter laugh. “Wow, Mike.”

He freezes. “I mean, I know I said some things-”

“Really mean things-”

“And I-” He doesn’t know what to say. “I shouldn’t have.”

Will pinches the bridge of his nose. “Mike, this is the worst apology I’ve ever heard.”

Apologize. That’s what he needed to do. “Which is why I’m sorry. I regret what I said.”

Will is looking at him like he doesn’t believe him. “And why do you regret what you said?”

“You know, because you’re depressed.”

Will sighs. “Did Jonathan send you here?”

“No, I-”

“And you’re just trying to make me feel better, but you still believe every word you said?”

“No, no. Look.” Mike decides to be honest. He sighs. “I actually don’t... completely
remember what I said. I was caught up in the heat of the moment.”

“You don’t remember...” Will whirls toward him. “You don’t remember? Really?”

“No,” Mike says, relieved to finally be getting some emotion out of him. “I don’t, Will.”

“Because it’s been haunting me every second of the day. That I’m pathetic, that I’m flawed,
that Tobias would reject me if he knew about everything with the Upside Down and Lonnie.”

And Mike is stunned. “I said all that?”

“How could you forget?”

“I don’t know, I just-”

“Mike, just leave.” Will’s tone is harsh although his expression is anything but, looking like
he was five seconds away from crying.

But he couldn’t leave. Not when Will looked like... this. All watery eyed and biting his lip
and unable to meet his eyes. Not when his protective instincts he had when he was 12 are
coming back in full-force. Not when the cause of this isn’t some monster or creature from
another dimension, but himself. And he could fix it, if he just knew what to say.

“Will, I still care.”

The words cause Will’s face to break, before he forces himself back to a straight face.
“Leave, Mike. I’m serious.”

He steps closer, trying to remember something from the fight, anything, before he blocked it
all out. Then it hits him. “I remember what you said about the swing set.”

“Mike-”
“That I only asked you to be my friend because there was no one else around. And sure, that
might be true-” He interrupts Will, who opens his mouth. “But even though I could’ve asked
anyone, none of them...” He looks at Will in the eyes to drive his point home. “None of them
would’ve been as good of a friend as you were. As you are.”

Will’s face crumples. “Shut up, Mike.”

“No one would’ve played D&D with me or made me drawings to hang up in my basement or
agreed to wear these matching watches with me.” He holds up his wrist and is relieved to see
Will is still wearing his. “No one would’ve stayed up late talking on Walkie Talkies or
watching Star Wars-”

“Mike, stop-”

“No one else would’ve rode bikes through town or pulled that one prank on Mr. Clarke that
he totally deserved.”

Will gives a watery laugh, but then cuts himself off. He looks like he doesn’t believe him and
it kills him.

“Will, you have to believe me,” Mike says, his voice cracking. “No one, and I mean no one,
would’ve been a better friend. You did all those things plus a thousand others that I don’t
even have time to name. Things that I...” he swallows thickly. “I missed this past year. A lot.”
He pauses. “Which is why it was...” he’s surprised to feel himself choking up. “Fuck.”

Will looks at him, his expression matching Mike’s. “What?”

“I meant what I said, when I was trying to save you from the Mind Flayer. It was...” He trails
off, his throat burning with the effort of trying not to cry. “It was the best thing I’ve ever
done.”

“Really?” Will chokes out.

Mike nods, not trusting his voice.

“Really?” Will says a second time, and it’s filled with so much feeling and he’s nodding
again.

“Yeah, yeah.” And this time the tears in his voice are obvious but he doesn’t care. “And I... I
don’t want you to be mad at me.” He blinks and a tear falls down his cheek. “And I’m sorry
I’m homophobic and that I’ve been a shitty friend and that I haven’t told you how much you
mean to me. As a friend, I mean.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And...” He fights for something to say. “Look, just... you should hate me. Really.”

Will looks down. “I don’t hate you,” he says quietly.

“You should. I was an idiot. I am an idiot.” He feels like he’s going to start crying, his face
crumpling, and he clasps his hands above his head. “I think I just felt like I was being
replaced or something? Which, I mean, is kind of accurate.” He laughs although it sounds
more like a sob. “Because you obviously don’t need me anymore.”

Will is looking at him like he’s made of glass, like he’s never seen him this emotional. “I still
need you.”

Mike sniffles, not knowing if he heard him correctly. “You do?” Will freezes like he wasn’t
supposed to say that. He opens his mouth and then closes it. “Will, you don’t have to lie.”

“I’m not lying.” Will looks embarrassed. He sighs, looking down at his fingers. “Tobias can’t
really… do anything when it comes to my nightmares.”

“Yeah?”

Will nods. “Yeah. I hate it.”

Mike swallows thickly. “Oh.”

Will looks up and they stare at each other for a second, and something suddenly feels
different between them. Will clears his throat, taking a step back, his cheeks slightly flushed.
“But, I mean, he’s my boyfriend. So we’ll figure it out.”

“Figure it out. Yeah.”

Will narrows his eyes like he said something wrong. “Why’d you say it like that?”

Mike blanches, confused. “Say it like what? I- you’ll figure it out, right?”

“Right.” Will’s tone is stern and Mike’s stomach does a flip.

“Right.” His heart is pounding. “Right.” He looks up, and Will’s eyes flit up to meet his,
almost guilty. Which means- was he staring at his lips? He looks down at Will’s lips on
instinct. Will swallows thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and Mike wants to-

“Mike,” Will whispers and Mike looks back up.

“Yeah?”

Will doesn’t respond, looking down again, and this time he’s definitely looking at his lips.
Mike’s heart jumps at the realization. And it feels like he’s right on the edge of figuring
something out, but he’s not sure what. He wants to say something but his mouth is dry. And
he just… he wants Will to be his. No one else’s. The thought is dangerous because it has him
leaning in. Will’s breath hitches, but he doesn’t pull away, and it looks like Will is leaning in
too-

There’s the sound of someone coming up the stairs.

Will pulls back quickly. “You should go.”

Mike stands there for a second, dazed. “What?”

“I said you should go.” Will wraps his arms around himself. “Now.”

Mike scrunches up his eyebrows, struggling to process Will’s words. What just happened?
“Will, what was…” he trails off, and when he looks up, he realizes Will is looking at him,
looking just as scared as he did, waiting for him to finish the sentence, but when he doesn’t
his face closes off further.

“Go, Mike.”

But he didn’t want to. He needed to figure out what just happened. They needed to talk more.

But just like that, the footsteps on the stairs reach the top and Tobias is standing in the
doorway of Will’s bedroom. He takes one look at Will’s expression and another at Mike’s,
apparently assessing the situation. “I think you’ve done enough damage here, Wheeler.”

Mike doesn’t even have it in him to fight back. He just nervously looks over at Tobias, and
then back at Will, and then takes a few clumsy steps backwards. And then he leaves, heading
into the hallway, jogging down the stairs until he’s in the garage. Why did he end up in the
garage? He didn’t know. Maybe he would hop on his bike and leave town. Or pedal until he
outran his thoughts, which were racing so fast it was just white noise. And Will’s lips. Fuck.

“Mike?” There’s movement to his right and Mike jumps, seeing Jonathan sitting at his
workbench, fixing his camera. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” His voice comes out too high, but luckily Jonathan doesn’t seem to notice, wiping
his hands on a towel.

“Okay, well. I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“Look, now is not the time-”

“It is the time.” He turns and fixes him with a look, and Mike suddenly remembers the talk he
had with Tobias earlier. Shit. “What did you do to my brother?”

“Nothing,” he sputters. “Nothing. What, you mean just now?”

Jonathan raises an eyebrow, confused. “I was talking about your guys’ fight. Did something
happen just now?”

“No! No,” Mike shakes his head. “That’s what I’m saying. Nothing happened. Now, I mean.”

Jonathan puts down the towel and fully faces him. “It sounds like something happened just
now.”

Mike flushes, feeling like his thoughts were on full display. “No.” Then he freezes. Did
Jonathan see them? “Why, were you upstairs a few minutes ago?”

“I was not.” Jonathan looks almost amused. “So it happened upstairs a few minutes ago?”
“No, nothing happened, that’s what I’m saying! I mean, it-” He pauses. “It almost happened.”

“Almost happened?”

Holy shit, he needed to stop talking. “Forget it.” He clumsily brushes past him and grabs his
bike. “I’m going for a ride. I have to clear my head.”

“From the thing with Will that almost happened upstairs a few minutes ago?”

Mike ignores him, pushing his bike forward and flipping him off. As he glides down the
driveway, he can hear Jonathan laughing lightheartedly behind him, but if this stopped
Jonathan from whatever serious talk he was about to give him, he wasn’t complaining.

He just had to get out of there.

“And we’ve both seen it- the change in you, I mean,” Tobias is saying from where he’s sitting
at Will’s desk chair. After Mike left, Tobias immediately started to tell him about his talk with
Jonathan, Will sitting at his easel, and Will wishes he could listen, but his mind was still
reeling from whatever the hell just happened with Mike. Why was he looking at him like
that? Like he- he wanted to- He closes his eyes. There’s no way.

“Will?”

He opens his eyes. “What?”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about. You’re acting different. Melancholy. Dejected.”

“What does dejected mean?”

“Dejected?” Tobias thinks for a second, then pushes up his glasses. “You know, discouraged.
Sad. Disconsolate, even.”

Will sighs. “I don’t know what disconsolate means-”

“It’s a synonym for despondent. Or crestfallen.”

“Is this even English?”

“Yes.” Tobias looks irritated for a second. Then he sighs. “Never mind. I don’t need words to
explain it. You know what I’m talking about. Jonathan has seen it, and I have too, even
though Mike hasn’t, apparently.”

“Of course he hasn’t,” Will mutters without thinking. “He hasn’t seen a lot of things.”
When Tobias doesn’t respond, Will looks up to see Tobias looking at him in distrust. “What’s
that supposed to mean?”

“What?”

Tobias narrows his eyes. “What’s he not seeing in you, other than the depression? Because as
far as I know, he knows everything: your nightmares, your trauma, basically your entire
childhood. He knows you better than I could ever dream of.”

“So?”

“So?” Tobias gives a bitter laugh. “How do you think that makes me feel, Will?”

Will stares at him. “What, are you jealous or something?”

“Of course I’m jealous!” Tobias throws up his hands. “Of course I am! We didn’t talk for
days and you were fine, but you and Mike get in one fight and it’s like the world is ending.
And I’m invisible.”

“You weren’t invisible.”

“I was to you. Even Jonathan said you’ve been talking about me less.”

“What- why would Jonathan even tell you that?”

“That’s not the point, Will.” Tobias sits back down- Will can’t even remember when he stood
up- and takes his glasses off, wiping the lenses with his shirt. “That’s not the point.”

“I...” Will trails off, feeling helpless. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Of course you don’t. You don’t have the words and mine are too difficult to understand
apparently.”

“Tobias, that’s not-” he sighs. “I just didn’t know the definitions.”

“It’s not that. It’s the way you said it.” Tobias puts his glasses back on. “Forget it.” He stands
up again, looking at the easel. “I’ll just leave you to keep making depressing paintings.” But
then he freezes and Will realizes from this angle he can actually see the painting, that it was
all black. “You painted over it?”

“Yeah,” Will says unsurely. “I mean, you were right. It was depressing.”

But Tobias barely hears him, and it’s like he’s having some giant realization. “You painted
over it.” Then he whispers to himself. “For me, you make a painting. But for Mike, you
destroy it.”

“What?”

Now he’s looking at Will. “Just think which one is harder for you to do.”
Will scrunches his eyebrows up, processing the words. “Tobias, what does that even-” But
when he looks up, he’s already walked out. “Tobias,” he calls again, and he can hear the
sound of Tobias’ footsteps down the stairs. He knows he should get up and chase him, like
he’s in some cliché movie scene, but he just... can’t.

So he sits there, self-sabotaging, not doing anything. He turns back to his painting, lost in
thought, and as soon as he starts debating if he should just throw the whole painting away, he
hears footsteps coming back up the stairs. He stands up eagerly.

But then it’s Jonathan. “We need to talk.”

“Oh my God, not now.”

“Yes, now.” Jonathan fixes him with a look and then walks in, shutting the door behind him.
He sits down on Will’s bed. “What is going on?”

Will looks at him for a second and then sighs. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Will shakes his head.

“Okay, then I’ll explain it to you.” Jonathan leans forward, locking eyes with him. “Tobias
and I had a very interesting talk earlier about how you’re devastated over Mike’s fight,
although neither of us know why, let alone what to do about it, and a minute after I send him
up to talk to you, Mike comes down the stairs into the garage all nervous talking about
something that almost happened between you two and then immediately pedals off on his
bike to, en quote, clear his head.”

Almost happened? Will feels his heart speed up. So it wasn’t in his head. “That- that makes
no sense.”

“So you don’t know what he’s talking about?”

“No,” Will shoots out, shaking his head. “I mean- we had a conversation.”

“A conversation?” Jonathan is looking at him skeptically.

“Yes, a conversation.”

“About?”

Will shrugs. “Mike was giving some bullshit apology and bringing up stuff from our
childhood but I... I wasn’t going to give in. I’m over him now.”

“You’re not over him.”

Will freezes at the words. “Yeah, because we were friends for what, eleven years?”
“Will,” Jonathan’s voice is more serious than he’s ever heard it. “I’m not talking about the
friendship.”

Will goes silent. “What?”

“You know what.”

Will coughs out a laugh. “You can’t actually think-”

“I do think, Will. And I think Tobias is starting to too.”

“Did he say something?”

“He didn’t have to.” It goes silent and they stay like that for a second, in a stranded moment
of tenseness, before Jonathan drops his shoulders. “Look, Nancy is doing this exact same
thing. Not sure who to choose, stringing both people along, and it’s not okay, Will. It’s not a
cool thing to do.”

“Okay, so that’s what this is,” Will laughs bitterly. “You’re just thinking about Nancy and
projecting it onto me.”

“What?” Jonathan furrows his eyebrows. “No.” He shakes his head. “No. Will, I know you.
And I’ve seen things.”

“What have you seen?” Will spreads his hands out and then slaps them back down on his lap.
“What have you seen, Jonathan?”

“You- you still look at him like you used to.”

Will gives a watery laugh. “Like what?”

“Like he’s Mike.”

Will shakes his head, his eyes spilling over with tears. “No I don’t.”

“Hey,” Jonathan crouches down so he’s in front of Will. “I’m not trying to hurt you.” He
presses his lips together, shaking his head. “Look, if what I’m saying is true, in any way, I’m
sorry you’re going through it alone and I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t talk to me about
it.” He locks eyes with him. “But can I offer you one thing of advice?”

“I don’t need advice-”

“Will.” Jonathan’s voice is gentle.

Will sighs, then looks at him reluctantly. “Okay, what?”

“From what I’ve seen, Tobias makes you happy. He cares about art. He cares about you. But
Mike... he causes, well, this. And you deserve better than that, really. And I’m not going to
ask what almost happened between you two, but even if...” he trails off. “I don’t know, in a
perfect world Mike reciprocates somehow...” He shakes his head. “You should turn him
down.”

This time Will laughs for real. “That’s never going to happen.”

Jonathan hesitates for a second, like he wants to say something, but then stops himself, giving
a small smile instead. “Right. I’m just saying, if it ever does... know what you deserve.” Then
he looks away. “Because relationships take work. If you only act when things are good, it’s
not sustainable.”

Will looks at him. “I didn’t know things with Nancy were that bad.” Jonathan starts to protest
but Will keeps talking. “I mean, she’s stringing you along? Doesn’t know who to choose? I
should’ve known about this.” He looks at him insistently. “You know you can come to me for
advice too.”

“I know, but you’re going through a lot too.”

Will sighs impatiently. “Stop acting like I’m in some love triangle.”

“You said it not me,” Jonathan teases.

Will rolls his eyes. “I’m not.” He’s eager to change the subject. “Did you ever buy her
flowers like I said?”

Jonathan nods. “Yeah.”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah,” he says again, although it’s hesitant. “Yeah. It did. But I think us living together is
the bigger issue. Always running into each other. Not having enough space. Getting stuck
into a routine without a break from each other.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Those Wheelers, huh?”

“Right,” Will chuckles. But then it goes quiet again.

“But you’ll actually get to escape it.”

“Yeah,” Will answers, too quickly. “Looking forward to it.”

“Good,” Jonathan watches him for a second. “You should call him.” He pauses. “Tobias, I
mean.”

“I know,” Will says, irritated.

Jonathan stands up, stretching. “Tell him you’re sorry, you messed up, you want to fix
things.”
Will looks at him. “Have you done this before?”

Jonathan smiles. “A few times.”

Will laughs and then looks down at his hands. “Thanks. Really.”

“It’s nothing.” He heads over to the door. “See you later?”

Will nods, feeling lighter. “See you later.”

After Jonathan walks out, Will’s eyes land on his phone.

Jonathan was right. He shouldn’t even entertain the thought of Mike reciprocating or how he
might have looked at him in a certain way or what the hell he meant by telling Jonathan
something almost happened between them. Because even if Mike reciprocated- which by the
way, he never would- Will should choose who he deserves. It's that easy.

He reaches over and dials the familiar number, holding it to his ear and waiting. The phone
rings once, then twice, then three times. His heart starts pounding. It rings a fourth time, and
then Tobias picks up.

“Yes?”

He’s mad. “I’m sorry.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s me. Will.”

“Right.” Silence.

“Right.”

“Why did you call?”

“To apologize,” he says automatically, but the words feel forced. Relationships take work, he
reminds himself. “I shouldn’t have let you leave like that. Just...” He sighs. “We should talk
in person. Can you come over at 7?”

“I should be available.”

But then he freezes. Why did he choose his house? Mike was here. But it was too late to
change it. “Meet me in the backyard? It has more privacy.” He waits but doesn’t hear a
response. Did the line go dead? “Tobias?”

“You’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

“What? No! No.” Christ, how bad were things that Tobias thought he was breaking up with
him? “The opposite. Making up.”

“Oh,” Tobias says, more relaxed. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Will nods, even though Tobias can’t see him. “See you then?”

“See you then.”

“Cool. Um, bye.”

“Bye.”

Will slowly pulls the phone away from his ear, still feeling unsettled.

They really needed to have this conversation.

 Chapter 15
Chapter Summary

Mike comes to a startling realization.

Chapter Notes

Hey guys!! Sorry if the updates seem to be slower- the last half of this requires a lot
more editing than the first half.

Anyways- hope you guys enjoy and love your guys' comments as always! Everyone
seems to have a different opinion which is crazy, it really is half and half between Byler
and Willias.

Enjoy!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

He wanted to kiss Will. He wanted to kiss him.

Mike squeezes his eyes shut, pedaling faster. He couldn’t think about this right now.

He’s been aimlessly biking around town for 30 minutes, waiting for his body to tire or his
mind to slow down, whichever came first, but so far neither were happening. If anything, it
was all getting worse.

Did Will want to kiss him too?

“Shut up,” he mumbles to himself. He pedals faster down the gravelly road he’s on, small
pebbles flying past his ankles, and the air rushes past his face. He can smell food cooking on
a grill in the distance and hear laughter from a playground and it normally would be peaceful
if he wasn’t stuck on thinking about his best friend’s lips.

What was wrong with him?

He veers down a cobbly path, nearly a missing few overgrown branches, and stands up as he
pedals. He shouldn’t even be thinking about kissing Will. That was Tobias’ job. Right?

Red hot anger burns through him. Fuck Tobias, he thinks, like an instinct. He almost laughs at
himself. Somehow despite everything, he was still homophobic. Still hated a gay man. Cursed
him out automatically in his head like his father probably would- it was just that ingrained.
Which is probably why he said all that mean stuff to Will in their fight, stuff he barely
remembered, stuff that didn’t even sound like him. It was just the homophobia taking over,
like the Mind Flayer once did with Will.

Mike sighs a breath of relief, waiting for the justification to comfort him like always, but
instead he still felt tense, unsettled, something still nagging at him. He forces himself to
think, frustrated.

Why else would he hate the guy kissing Will?

He swerves, narrowly missing a tree root.

Because he’s a smartass.

Leaves swipe past his shoulders.

Because he’s choosing him over Mike.

He spots a large rock up ahead.

Because it should be him instead.

His eyes fly open. What?

He barely has time to react before his bike hits the rock and he’s tossed to the side. Things
slow down. He’s in midair, then he’s landing on a patch of grass, then he’s watching his bike
skid for a few feet and then stop against a tree trunk, and then it’s quiet, just the sounds of
birds chirping and his own thoughts. His thoughts.

Because it should be him instead.

And then a bunch of things are suddenly making sense, like the fall knocked him into reality.

Why Tobias entering Will’s life made him so angry.

Why he was barely religious but still felt so homophobic.

Why Robin and Vickie didn’t trigger said homophobia in the Family Video Store.

“No,” he says to himself. “No, no, no, no. That’s not- I’m not- there’s no way.” He laughs,
almost hysterically. “There’s no way. Absolutely no way.” It’s only then that he realizes he’s
fully talking to himself and looks around to see if there’s anyone around, but it’s just trees.
He squints through the branches and realizes he’s about 500 feet away from the trailer park,
the one Max lived in.

It was better than nothing.

He quickly skids to his feet, brushing off the dirt and realizing there’s a small cut on his knee
he didn’t even feel, and grabs his bike, wrenching it away from the tree and hopping on
clumsily, gliding down the rest of the path.
And in the 60 seconds it takes to get to Max’s trailer, his brain is flooding him with
flashbacks.

When he first met Tobias at the family dinner and Mike hated him right away.

When he’d walk into the living room and see them watching a movie or walk into the kitchen
and see them cooking together and he wanted to scream.

When they’d be holding hands or laughing together or whispering all close and he that rage-
that homophobia- that hatred of seeing two men together- would flood within him.

Was all that homophobic anger he felt... jealousy?

It couldn’t be. He wasn’t gay. If anything, he probably just missed Will’s friendship and was
jealous about that.

So why didn’t he miss Lucas’ friendship when he started dating Max? Or Dustin’s friendship
after Suzie?

Because him and Will were friends. Best friends. In Mike’s mind, even closer than him and
Tobias. Which meant- shit.

Luckily Max is already outside when he gets there, hanging up clothes on a clothing line.

“Training for a marathon, Wheeler?” she asks from behind a yellow shirt.

He hops off his bike, panic clear in his voice. “I need to talk to you.”

She peeks her head out, and her eyes widen at his seriousness. “Did something happen? Is
everyone okay?” There’s fear in her voice.

Mike quickly nods. “Oh, yeah, everyone’s fine. Nothing to do with Vecna.”

Max lets out a breath. “Jesus Christ, Wheeler, then what-”

“It has to do with me.”

“With you?” Max raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he nods. “I realized something.”

Max stares at him for a second before something seems to click and she suddenly bursts out
laughing, nearly dropping the few shirts she was holding. “Oh my God, don’t tell me. You
finally realized.”

Mike scrunches up his face at her. “Realized what?”

She holds up a hand, still laughing. “I owe Erica 10 bucks.” She straightens up, wiping her
eyes. “I thought it would take you at least another two months.”

“Take two months for what?”

“Let me guess, this has to do with Will?”

Mike feels his face go red. “It might.”

“And has to do with your feelings for Will?”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Mike holds up his hands. “I didn’t say anything about that.”

“You didn’t have to. It’s like the fear of God was struck within you.”

“Fear of God?” Mike scrunches his eyebrows up and then shakes his head. “No, no. This is
nothing to do with feelings. I just had this thought.”

Max looks at him incredulously. “This thought.”

“About Will.”

“I can only imagine.” She’s holding back a laugh.

He glares at her. “Forget it.” He turns back toward his bike.

“No,” Max shakes her head. “Sorry. Don’t leave. I’m genuinely interested in helping you
with whatever this is. You and...” The corner of her mouth twitches. “All your thoughts.”

It looks like she’s about to start laughing again, but Mike lets it go. This was better than
nothing. “Okay fine.” He takes a deep breath, looking toward the woods. “I had this thought.”

“So you said.”

“About...” Just say it. “About kissing Will.”

Max doesn’t miss a beat. “Was it the haircut?”

He turns back toward her. “The haircut?”

Max widens her eyes, making a motion above her head. “You know, two weeks ago-”

“I know,” Mike says tensely. “No, that’s not- I’m not that shallow.”

Max smirks at him. “So it is feelings.”

“What?” Mike feels heat rush to his cheeks. “No. That’s not what I-”

“So it’s not feelings?”

“No, it is, I just-” Mike runs a hand through his hair, agitated. “Can we talk about this
inside?”

Max pauses. “Why? You’re afraid of people hearing?”

Mike looks around at the trailer park, the surrounding trailers, the distant voices of people
talking. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

Max looks at him, sympathetic. “We can head inside. My mom is out anyways.”

Mike lets out a sigh of relief, dropping his shoulders. “Cool.”

“Cool.” Max puts down the few shirts she was holding into the basket and then walks toward
the trailer, Mike following her, the whole time his mind racing. Did he really tell Max all
this? Was this real life? But before he can get too far, Max is holding a cup of water in front
of him. When did they get inside?

“Like I said,” Max grabs a cup of her own, filling it up and then holding it up to Mike like a
toast. “It’s like the fear of God is struck within you. Drink up.”

“This is water, right?”

Max tilts her head. “Yes. It’s water.”

“Cool.” He drinks it eagerly, not realizing how parched he was. Then he puts it down on the
counter and looks up to see Max has already headed down the narrow hallway to the living
room. He quickly follows her and then sits across from her on a worn Lazyboy. The air
smells like cigarettes and he tries not to make a face.

“Okay, so.” Max spreads her hands out. “What’s going on?”

Mike hesitates. What was going on? He hardly even knew. “I... I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure.” Max rolls her eyes. “Okay, then. Let me guess.” She leans forward, her
elbows on her knees. “Tobias came into Will’s life and it made you incredibly angry although
you didn’t know why, so you attributed it to homophobia because that’s what made the most
sense even though you’ve probably never been that religious in the first place. So you stuck
with that theory until Will did something or Tobias did something and then you realized what
you should’ve known from the beginning- you like Will.” She shoots Mike a meaningful
look.

His mouth drops open. “What- wait, you-” he splutters. “You knew this whole time? And you
didn’t think to tell me any of this?”

“Like it was my job?” Max raises her eyebrows. “Plus, part of me thought you figured it out
weeks ago and were using the whole homophobia thing as a cover-up until you could figure
out your feelings.”

“No, that’s not-” he cuts himself off with a sigh. “I figured it out ten minutes ago. Back in the
woods.”

“Oh my god, don’t tell me you were frantically biking through the woods to escape your
feelings.”

“I wasn’t... frantically biking.”

“And what, you spontaneously realized as soon as you saw my trailer?”

“I hit a rock.”

“And it hit your head right.”

Mike rolls his eyes. “Look, I know it’s funny but I...” he trails off. “I don’t know what to do,”
he says, hating how vulnerable his voice sounds.

Max leans back, resigning. “I know. I wouldn’t either. But just...” She looks around, waving
her hands helplessly. “Just tell him how you feel.”

“He has a boyfriend!”

Max pauses, like she wants to say something. “Look, it might cause Will to feel... conflicted.
But he deserves to know. And you deserve to get it off your chest.”

“But just because I want to kiss him doesn’t mean I like him.”

“And just because I want to meet Lucas’ whole family doesn’t mean I like him either.”

“That’s cute.”

“Shut up.” Max crosses her arms.

“Look,” Mike sighs. “You and Lucas are different. With me and Will, this might’ve just been
an intrusive thought or something. Maybe I just like kissing people.”

“Haven’t you guys been friends since, like kindergarten?”

“Yeah.”

“And didn’t you guys used to talk to each other on walkie talkies to fall asleep after the
Upside Down happened?”

Mike tenses. “Will told you that?”

“Yeah, who else?”

Mike mumbles. “Will...”

“Look, my point is you guys have been close since you were kids. So if you think you like
him...” she trails off. “It’s definitely legit.”

Mike raises an eyebrow. “Definitely legit?”

“Verified. Valid. Real. Something you seem to be struggling with.” She raises her eyebrows
at him.

“But I’m not gay.”

Max scrunches up her eyebrows. “I didn’t say you were gay.”

“Then what-”

“You could be bi.”

“Bi?”

“Attracted to both boys and girls.”

“What?”

“I heard Steve Harrington talking about it. At the Family Video Store. Or wait-” she casts
him a playful look. “Were you too busy getting lost in Will’s eyes or whatever?”

Mike ignores her. “You can like both?”

Max nods. “Bisexual. Bi means two. Like bicycle. Or bifocals. Or biweekly. You know?”

But Mike barely hears her. “You can like both?”

“Yes. I just said that-”

And there’s a moment of realization, where something seems to be clicking. Time slows
down. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” Mike leans forward, raking his hands through his hair. “This
isn’t good.”

“Mike Wheeler,” Max says, almost teasingly. “Are you bisexual?”

“Unfortunately,” he says, his voice cracking.

“Hey,” Max leans forward, sensing his seriousness. “It’s okay. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is a big deal. It means this is real.”

“Yeah, but-”

“I thought because I liked El I was safe, that I wasn’t one of them, but you can- you can like
both?” He sounds hysterical to his own ears. “Steve has to be lying.”

“He seemed pretty serious.”

And Mike feels like crying.

“Hey,” Max looks at him earnestly. “Will is gay and we all were pretty accepting. Except
you, ironically.”

“Yeah,” Mike nods. “Because I found out he had a boyfriend five seconds later. Apparently.”

“But what I’m saying is...” Max’s voice is gentle, more gentle than Mike’s ever heard it. “If
you do tell Will, you’ll both be able to understand on the same level. He’ll get it.”
“Yeah, but he won’t...” Mike swallows thickly knowing what he was about to acknowledge.
“Reciprocate.”

Max scrunches her lips to the side. “You don’t know until you try, Wheeler.”

Mike looks up hopefully. “Wait, why? Did he say something?”

Max shakes her head. “No, no. I’m just saying, y’know? Trying to be optimistic. I mean,
what do you want me to say, it’ll never work? Don’t try at all? It’s completely hopeless?”

Mike’s face drops. “At least you’d be realistic.”

Max sighs heavily, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I still think you should go for it. I
mean, if you really didn’t realize it until now, how are you even going to act normal around
him anyways?”

“I can hide my emotions.”

“Mike, that is the least accurate statement I’ve ever heard.”

He laughs despite himself. “Okay, okay. I’ll… tell him.” His heart starts pounding.

“Good.” She looks at him, concerned. “Hey, don’t be nervous. Whatever happens, you’ll
come out of this.”

“Barely,” he chokes out.

Max rolls her eyes. “I mean it, Wheeler. You’re Mike and Will. You guys go together. Me and
Erica-” she cuts herself off. “Forget it. I... and some other people, think you and Will are
compatible. Whether it be friendship or whatever else. You’ve always been a duo.”

Mike looks up at her. “But Tobias-”

“He’s too intellectual,” Max cuts in. “Will is always trying to keep up with him, read the
latest books, watch the recent documentaries, even if he doesn’t realize it. But with you, he
relaxes. He’s himself. He’s Will.”

Mike looks at her hopefully. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Mike holds eye contact with her for a second and then looks back down to his hands. “Still, I
don’t think I can... tell him. There’s no way. It would change everything. I mean, he’s Will.”

Max pauses for a second. “I’m going to regret doing this.”

“What?”

“Have you ever heard of liquid courage?”

“Liquid courage?” Mike repeats. “What, like alcohol?”

Max nods once, then stands up and heads to the kitchen, pulling open a drawer. She rifles for
a few seconds before pulling out a small brown bottle. “Viola.”

Mike squints. “Is that whiskey?”

Max puts a hand on her hip. “And are you a guy about to confess his feelings?” She walks
over and places it in Mike’s hand. “You can have it. My mom won’t notice. She has... a lot of
them.”

Mike stares down at the small 1.7 oz bottle. His face flushes. “I’ve never gotten drunk
before.”

Max gives him an understanding smile. “It’s nothing scary. If you’re anything like my mom,
you’ll become more talkative, more outgoing, and say anything that’s on your mind,
regardless of the consequences. And maybe even feel good doing it.” She reaches forward
and pats him on the shoulder. “So, perfect for your situation.”

Mike stares down at it, at the tattered Jim Beam label and the brown colored liquid. He feels
a surge of motivation. “Can I have another one?”

Max looks at him for a second and then rolls her eyes, smiling. “Sure.” She starts walking,
but then stops, turning around. “And hey, if you tell anyone I gave you this, I’ll deny it,
fiercely.”

Mike salutes her. “It never happened.”

“Good.” She walks over and fishes another identical bottle out of the drawer, holding it up
and then giving it to Mike. “With great power comes great responsibility,” she says in a deep
voice.

Mike chuckles, even as a wave of nervousness washes over him. Could he do this? But going
back to his house with his thoughts, with what he knew now, was even worse. How could he
sleep? How could he do... anything? Nope, he definitely needed to drink this, to talk to Will
and get this off his chest. To rip off the band aid and face whatever happens.

Max is watching him. “You’re really going to do it.”

He takes a deep breath, standing up. “I am.” He drums his fingers on his legs nervously. “Do
you mind if I drink one here? Just to see what it’s like?”

“Sure.”

He hesitates for a second and then unscrews one of the bottles, holding it up and taking a
swing. He immediately cringes, swallowing. “It tastes like shit.”

“So I’ve heard. Why else do you think they mix it with... anything?”

Mike nods. “Makes sense.” He looks back down at the bottle, only half empty. “This better
be worth it.”
 “It will be. And hey.” Max looks at him with a rare look of earnestness. “Things might go
better than you expect.”

Mike looks up. “Really?”

Max nods. “It’s been you and Will since the beginning. Don’t think that Tobias being here
changes any of that.”

Mike rolls his eyes. “Oh my god. Where were you all these past weeks? This is what I’ve
been saying the whole time. Tobias is an outsider, he’s a stranger, and the fact that Will won’t
acknowledge that-” he cuts himself off. “Is this the alcohol?”

“Nope, that’s all you Wheeler.”

“Right.” Mike smiles at her, his eyes crinkling. He looks back down at the bottle, holding it
up. “Thanks.”

“No problem. And keep me updated. I’ll try to keep it a secret from Lucas, until you’re
ready.”

He nods gratefully. “Did I mention he was the one who told me I was homophobic in the first
place?”

“Why am I surprised? He’s oblivious as hell.” Max rolls her eyes.

Mike laughs at that, then heads toward the front door. “Well, see ya, Max.”

“See ya, Wheeler.”

And then just like that, he’s out the front door. He finds his bike still lying by the clothesline,
and stuffs the two bottles into his pants pockets before grabbing the handlebars and standing
it up. After a moment of hesitation, he takes the half-finished bottle back out again and
finishes it, trying not to make a face at the sour taste. He had to talk to Will.

He stuffs the empty bottle back into his pocket and then hops onto his bike, pedaling, aiming
unsteadily back toward the woods.

Toward his house.

Toward Will.

Chapter End Notes

I'm sorry for the cliffhanger!!! The next chapter will be up tomorrow, I just have to
finish editing it :)
 Chapter 16

By the time Mike gets back to his house, he feels all warm and fuzzy and like talking to Will
wasn’t that big of a deal after all. It’s almost like what he wished would happen when he got
on his bike in the first place. Head cleared. Body relaxed. The realization that everything
would be okay.

And it would be. He’d park his bike in the garage, find Will, tell him how he felt, and it
would be okay because they were Will and Mike, just like Max said. She saw it, and a bunch
of other people probably did too. Will probably did. It was a fact of life. Will and Mike. Mike
and Will. Mill. Wike. Or if you combined their full names- Willichael. Milliam.

He laughs at that one. Milliam. Milliam Byers. Milliam Wheeler.

He’s not paying attention and his bike knocks into the metal trash can in the garage. “Shit,”
he mumbles, backing up and then hopping off. He clumsily kicks down the kickstand and
then stretches.

Woah. Why did his limbs feel all warm and heavy? And like his body was buzzing all over?
But it felt nice, he had to admit. Like he just got out of a hot tub while on vacation. Or was
basking in the sun. Or something. He yawns languidly, and then freezes when he remembers
why exactly he was drunk in the first place.

He was about to tell Will how he felt.

As his heart rate speeds up, he remembers the last bottle still in his pocket. He definitely
needed more courage.

He looks around to make sure the garage was empty, and then fishes it out of his pocket,
unscrewing the cap. “Here goes nothing,” he whispers, then downs it in a few gulps. He
makes a face, cringing, then shoves the bottle back into his pocket. And before he can think
too much, he opens the door.

He feels a cool gust of air against his face and then he’s suddenly outside. Wait, was this the
door leading to the backyard instead of the house? How did he mix them up?

But then he sees Will sitting on the patio ledge, his knees drawn up to his chest, and it’s the
right choice after all. Will. He walks toward him eagerly.

“I want to talk to you.”

Will looks scared for a second. Why did Will look scared? It was just him.

He sits down next to him, probably too close because Will scoots away and smiles
uncomfortably. “What is it, Mike?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“You said that already.” Will clears his throat and looks around, like he’s expecting someone.
Is it Tobias? It probably was.

He rolls his eyes. “Waiting for Tobias?”

Will looks at him in surprise. “I am.”

Mike laughs without meaning to. “Waste of time.”

“What?”

Mike looks down at his hands, everything suddenly feeling very funny. “I said waste of
time.”

“Yeah, I heard you, Mike.”

Will sounds angry but Mike barely feels the sting of it, instead looking up at the sky. He can
see stars if he squints. “Because I’m right here.”

Will goes silent for a second, and Mike almost thinks Will didn’t hear him. He’s about to
repeat it when Will talks again. “What do you mean?”

He holds his hands up like it’s obvious. “I’m here, Will. You don’t need him.”

“Right,” Will says unsurely.

“Plus, you and Tobias hang out way too much anyways,” he mumbles.

Will’s expression closes off. “Thanks for the feedback.”

Shit. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to-” Mike pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing. Focus. Make
conversation and then lead into it. “Why’s he coming over? Just to hang out? Watch a
documentary?” He looks away, unable to help himself. “Turn the radio up super loud?”

Will turns his head to look at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mike looks at him for a second, before his gaze drops over to Will’s neck, to the hickey. It
was hardly visible anymore. Good. He shrugs. “It’s not supposed to mean anything. You guys
just seem to enjoy music. Together.”

Will glares at him. “That’s not what you mean.”

“Whatever.”

“Mike, did you come here to start a fight or something?”

“Nope.”

“O-kay.” It goes silent between them. Mike struggles to think, his head feeling foggier all of
the sudden, like his thoughts were moving in slow motion. Or not moving at all. Luckily Will
breaks the silence. “If you really want to know, I’m waiting for Tobias to come over because
we got into a fight. And we’re making things up in-” he checks his watch. “Half an hour.”

“I got you that watch,” Mike says.

“What?”

“You just checked the time on the watch.” He fumbles, clarifying. “Our watch.”

Will goes silent. “Mike- what?”

“It’s so obvious, Will,” Mike splays his hands out. “You’re mine.”

And that is definitely not what he wanted to say.

“I’m- I’m what?” Will splutters, looking at him, and Mike can’t look at him, staring straight
ahead.

“I meant to say- I’m trying to say-” his words are coming out slower. “Shit, Will you know
what I mean.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Will is staring at him. “Mike, what is going on?”

Confess your feelings, idiot. “Will, you mean a lot to me.”

Will stares at him for a second. “Are you drunk?”

Mike blanches. “No. What? Who told you that?”

“No one told me that. I can tell.” Will fixes him with a look. “You’re... you’re acting
different.”

Shit. “Okay, yeah, I’m...” he looks around uselessly before surrendering. “I’m drunk Will.
Because something happened tonight.”

Will looks at him, horrified. “Did you and El break up?”

“What? No. No, we’re fine. Great, even.” He nods, snapping his fingers. “Fantastic. We are
fantastic.”

“Well I’m glad you and my sister are fantastic.” He pauses. “Then what-”

“I realized I’m not homophobic.”

Will goes quiet, processing the words. “You’re still homophobic, Mike.”

“I’m not-”

“You made like three digs at Tobias in the first 30 seconds of us talking.”
“No, no, no, there’s another reason for that.” He takes a deep breath. “It was because...” he
trails off, feeling fuzzy and delirious and like he definitely should not have chugged that last
bottle in the garage. “I was jealous.”

“Jealous?”

“I should be Tobias. Or no, Tobias should be me. We...” he snaps his fingers. “We should be
Tobias. You and me.”

“What?”

“I’m tired of you and Tobias. Seriously.”

“Mike, you...” Will shakes his head. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

Mike barely hears him. “And I know we almost kissed earlier-”

“We- what?” Will shoots out, stumbling over his words. “We almost- Mike what?”

“C’mon, you know what I’m talking about.” Mike levels him with a stare.

Will’s face reddens. “No, I don’t. I really don’t.”

“Okay,” Mike stretches his legs out. “Then I almost kissed you.” Will coughs out a laugh at
that. “I’m serious, Will. I wanted to.”

“Mike, do me a favor and never drink again.”

Does he not believe him? “Will, the reason I got drunk was so I could, you know, tell you
this.”

“Tell me that you thought about kissing me?” he whispers the last part, then shakes his head
in disbelief. “You’re drunk, Mike. This is nonsense.”

Mike frowns. “So you wouldn’t have kissed me back?” It goes silent and when Mike looks
over, Will’s face is red, his mouth dropped open. They lock eyes for a second before Will rips
his gaze away.

“I’m not answering that.”

“Let it be a mystery then,” Mike mumbles.

“Okay, I’m leaving.” Will goes to stand up.

“Will, wait.” Mike straightens up, fumbling. “That’s not- it’s not only that.” Just say it before
it’s too late. “I like you.”

Will freezes, his body tensing, and everything goes quiet for a second. “You what?”

“I like you.” He’s surprised he can say it so confidently. Probably the alcohol. “I like you,
Will. I realized it today.”
Will slowly sits down, and his voice comes out quiet. “Don’t joke about that.”

“I’m not joking, Will, fuck.” He runs a hand through his hair, agitated. “I think I’ve liked you
for a long time, you know? But I was too stupid to realize it and I thought I was homophobic
because Tobias made me mad but it was because he was dating you and I, I just couldn’t
handle it-”

“Mike,” Will cuts in firmly, although his voice is shaking slightly. “I’m going to leave now so
I save you a lot of embarrassment in the morning, okay?” He goes to stand up again but Mike
can’t let it happen. He grabs Will’s hand, pulling him back down, and Will stares at their
joined hands in disbelief, before looking back up at Mike. “Mike, what-”

“I like you, Will. Seriously.” There’s a pause and then Will pulls his hand away. He tries not
to feel hurt at it. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe-”

“It’s impossible to believe-”

“But it’s real. I swear.” The words sound fake to his own ears. Probably because the alcohol
is making it hard to think, hard to feel. He just feels all numb and fuzzy and like this was a
dream he’d wake up from. Like he was reading words from a script. But then he looks up at
Will, at the tears that have formed in his eyes, and suddenly an emotion wells up inside him,
something like sadness and guilt and longing and it’s like a switch is flipped and he can feel
everything. “It’s real because I- I...” he fumbles for the right words. “I care about you.”

“Mike, I…” Will’s breath is trembling. “I can’t trust your judgement here.”

“You should.” His voice comes out all shaky and he blinks quickly. Don’t cry, don’t cry. “I’m
not homophobic. I’m- I’m hardly religious. I’m fine seeing Robin and Vickie together. I think
about you all the time. Too much. I think I even dream about you. No, I definitely do.”

Will stares at him in confusion.

And he keeps going, before he loses his nerve, the emotions spilling out of him. “I miss you,
Will. I miss us. I miss when we would hang out, when we would watch movies together in
my basement and bike through town and talk on our walkie talkies until we fell asleep.” He
takes a shuddering breath, his eyes burning. “I miss when everyone used to joke that we were
like the same person. When we were inseparable. When I was the one who stayed by your
side at the hospital and the one who slept on your bedroom floor when you had nightmares. I
miss being the one you went to when you were scared. I miss when you needed me. And
when I needed you. And I- fuck- I miss you, Will, so much. Even though you’re right here,”
he gestures at him, sniffling, and yep, he was definitely crying. He wipes his eyes clumsily. “I
miss you and I miss us and I... I want us to be friends again, or more than friends. Either one.
Both. Probably both.” He trails off. “I think you should cut me off because I’m not going to
stop.”

Will stays quiet for a moment and he looks serious. More serious than Mike’s ever seen him.
“Mike, I...” he hesitates, and for a second, Mike is stone-cold sober, his heart pounding,
hyper aware of every movement, every word, everything happening in slow motion. “Fuck it,
you’re not even going to remember this anyways.” He takes a deep breath. “A year ago, I
would’ve loved to hear this. I would’ve wanted it more than anything... everything you’re
saying. But,” his voice is matter of fact, like he’s already discussed it with someone else.
“You’re too late.”

It goes silent between them, just the sound of crickets in the distance and the wind rustling
the trees.

“What?” he chokes out.

“Even if you mean all this, you’re too late.”

“I’m not too late.”

“You are.”

“Will-” There’s tears in his voice and Mike has to stop himself from breaking down right then
and there. “I’m not too late. It’s always been us. And we’re- we’re the perfect match.”

“The perfect match? Mike, you’ve hurt me more than everyone in this house combined. And
you still are.” It’s only then that Mike realizes Will has tears in his eyes again. “I finally get a
boyfriend, someone who cares about me after you ignored me for a year, and now that I’m
happy, now that everything is going good you...” he stumbles over his words. “You get drunk
and what? Confess your feelings that you just realized now? And I’m supposed to believe
it?”

“Yes,” he pleads. “Yes, Will. I’m sorry but that’s just...” he spreads his hands out uselessly.
“That’s just how it is.”

Will stands up, and hesitates, like his next words are painful. “Look, even if by some stretch
of reality this wasn’t just the alcohol talking...” he looks away, biting his lip. “I can’t do it.
All you do is hurt me, apologize, and hurt me again and I deserve better than this. I deserve
better than you.”

“Will-”

“I have to say no. Okay?”

Sadness wells up inside him. “Don’t do this.”

“And you’re dating my sister! El! Did you forget that? She deserves better too.” He trails off,
his voice softening. “Hey, Mike, don’t cry.”

Was he crying? Oh shit, he was. A sob rises from his throat. “Fuck,” he covers his face with
his hands. “Will, don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?” his voice cracks on the last word. “I didn’t even know this was an option.
Mike, you’re not even gay.”

“I’m bisexual.”
“Bisexual?” Will repeats. “What, you like guys and girls?”

He looks up at him. “You knew what that was? And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Because it would’ve made all... this,” he spreads out his arms. “A lot easier.”

Will goes pale. “Mike, don’t... don’t tell me you’re serious.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell me that you’re actually serious about what you’re saying.”

“I am serious, Will, that’s what I’ve been trying to say-” He’s almost relieved, but then
freezes when Will looks downright distraught.

“I’m dating Tobias, and you choose now-” He looks panicked, his eyes wide. “Mike, you
better wake up in the morning and say you didn’t mean any of this. Because if you’re serious,
you can’t- this-” He chokes off. “Oh my God, Mike. What am I supposed to- who am I
supposed to- that’s a choice I can’t-”

“You really wouldn’t know who to choose?”

Will whips toward him. “There’s not even a choice. Because this can’t be real, you saying this
isn’t real.”

“I am real, Will. You can’t just deny it. I’m not the Mindflayer.”

“Mike, what- are you trying to crack jokes right now?”

“No, I just-” He runs a hand through his hair and tugs. “Don’t leave me hanging like this.”

And Will just stares at him in disbelief for a moment, but then he looks somewhere over
Mike’s shoulder and freezes. “Tobias.”

Mike hears the gate door shut, footsteps heading over.

“Will,” a voice calls. The moment is broken and Mike feels like crying again, until he
realizes Tobias is right there. He quickly wipes his eyes. “Mike,” the voice adds, noticeably
less thrilled.

“We were just talking,” Will rushes out.

“About very important things,” Mike adds on.

And then Tobias is standing in front of him, next to Will, and instead of the burning anger he
usually felt, he just felt this bottomless sadness well up inside of him. Like he just lost
something irreplaceable. Jesus Christ, didn’t Max say alcohol was supposed to make you feel
good?
He turns to look at Will, but he’s not even looking at him, avoiding his eyes. And then he
remembers what Will said. You’re too late.

He feels like he’s going to start crying again. And if he does, he’s not going to stop.

He quickly stands up and is surprised when the ground seems to sway beneath his feet. He
sidesteps, recovering, then faces Tobias and Will. Tobias is outright glaring at him while Will
is still refusing to look at him. He clears his throat. “Gentlemen,” Mike salutes. “I will be on
my way.”

“As you should,” Tobias responds immediately.

Mike bites his tongue, giving him a curt nod before turning away, his eyes burning. He walks
unsteadily toward the house, feeling tired, drained, like he just wanted to head up to his room
and sleep this off. He opens the back door to the kitchen and heads in, closing it way too loud
behind him- where the hell was his coordination? He looks around to see if anyone witnessed
it, only to see El sitting at the kitchen table.

He checks his watch. 7pm. “Late night snack?”

“No, Mike.” El’s voice is somber, quiet, and his internal alarms are immediately set off. Be
the boyfriend.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, walking closer. “Why are you...” he trails off, things suddenly
feeling funny again. “Sitting?”

“I’m sitting,” she glares at him. “Because you missed our movie night.”

Mike’s blood runs cold. Shit. The movie night. The reason why he was rushing to find Will’s
art fact. Before Tobias knocked on the door and Jonathan whisked him away and Mike went
upstairs to talk to Will and almost kissed him and then he sped off on his bike. Him and El
were supposed to go to the movie theatre at 6pm. An hour ago.

“I’m sorry,” he quickly says.

El gives a bitter laugh, one Mike’s never heard before. “You’re sorry.”

Mike pauses, trying to get his brain to catch up with the situation. “I should’ve been here.”

“Yeah, you should’ve, Mike.” His name is said with anger and it scares him. “You should’ve
done a lot of things.” When Mike doesn’t say anything, she turns on the kitchen chair, facing
him. “You should’ve been here for the movie night. You should’ve been here for tonight’s
family dinner. You should’ve hung out with me more this whole week. This whole month.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “You... you should’ve signed your letters with love not from.”

Mike panics, trying to find the right words, hating how slow-moving and fuzzy his thoughts
still were. “I thought we fixed that?” he rushes out clumsily. “Back at the pizza shop,
remember? I gave the speech.”
“Yeah, you said it, but where is it? I can’t see it. I haven’t heard it since. You don’t act like
it,” her voice wavers. Mike takes a second to think, to process what was happening.

He blinks quickly. “El, I-”

“All you do nowadays is complain about Will and Tobias. You’re obsessed.”

What the hell? Mike forces himself to laugh. “I’m not obsessed with Will.”

“No, I mean Will and Tobias.” She looks at him, confused. “I get you’re homophobic, but
you’re more focused on hate than love and it’s not good for me.”

“What-” He shakes his head. “Hold on El, where is this all coming from? Who’s telling you
all this?”

“No one is telling me anything,” she huffs. “But I’ve been talking to Joyce-”

“Will’s mom?”

“And my mom.”

“Yeah, sorry, sorry.”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I’m drunk,” Mike says, like that’ll make anything better. “I’m- I’m intoxicated. I’m not
thinking clearly-”

“Even better.”

“Which means-”

“This isn’t even about tonight. I’m talking about weeks. Months. It hasn’t been the same
since I moved to Lenora. And even since we were reunited. Since we were stuck in the same
house for two months.” She looks at him. “You’re distant. Not like you used to be.”

“El-”

“When we were separated-” her voice shakes. “For 353 days, you talked to me on the walkie
talkie. “But now...” She shakes her head, brow furrowed. “What happened to us, Mike?”

Once his thoughts finally catch up to him, it’s like the switch is flipped, and instead of feeling
numb and confused and fuzzy, he’s emotional again, remembering when he first saw El in the
woods, when he hid her in his basement so she was safe, dancing together at Snow Ball,
sharing their first kiss, hanging out in her room with Hopper a living room away, writing
letters, living together, before somewhere along the way it all felt like going through the
motions.

“I don’t know.”
El just looks at him. “I don’t know either. But at some point.” She takes a deep breath. “I
started lying about my life in Lenora, in the letters. Telling you that everything was perfect
when it wasn’t. When it was awful.”

Mike’s heart sinks. “You could’ve been honest with me. You know I’ve been bullied in the
past too.”

El nods like she doesn’t believe him. “Right. But this was worse. Way worse.”

Mike thinks back to his own experiences, to Troy, to that day on the cliff where he jumped
off to save Dustin’s life... until El caught and saved him. El saved his life and what could
Mike do? He couldn’t even comfort her through letters- she didn’t even tell him.

“You didn’t tell me because you didn’t need me, right?” he finds himself saying. “Because
you’re a superhero, you’re El, and you...” He gives a crooked smile. “You probably handled
it yourself.”

“What? No.” El shakes her head. “Not at all. I needed you. I needed anyone.” She stares out
the kitchen window, the setting sunlight filtering in. “High school is different from the
Upside Down. I can’t fight it. It’s like everyone else has the power. People made fun of my
clothes and my hair and I didn’t have any friends.” She sighs, frustrated. “Even Will made
friends. Well, a friend. Some guy named Ben.”

Mike tenses. “Who’s Ben?”

El turns to him, seeing his reaction. “Oh my God.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry, Will and
Ben were not a gay couple. You can turn your homophobia alarm bells off.”

“That’s not-” Mike cuts himself off, frustrated. “Forget it. I’m happy for him. Them. Their
friendship. Whatever.”

El just looks at him, confused, but decidedly lets it go. “Anyways.” She sighs, looking down
at her hands. “What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t tell you about all this because you’d
think I was a freak. A- a monster.”

Mike snaps out of it, turning toward her in surprise. “El, I would never-”

“It happened, didn’t it?” And she’s close to crying again. “When you saw how they all made
fun of me on the rink. And then when I hit Angela with the roller skate. The way you looked
at me was...” she trails off, eyes teary. “Like I was a monster.”

“El, what? No. No. If anything I was just shocked, you know?”

“But even at dinner that night.” And she’s back to staring out the window. “When someone
mentioned Angela, you were like, ‘She didn’t look fine.’”

“Well yeah, because she didn’t.” Mike scrunches up his eyebrows, confused. “How is that-”

“We’re too different, Mike. And we don’t understand each other,” El whispers, wrapping her
arms around herself. “I know you said we’re in a plateau, but it’s going downhill.”
“Yeah, but-” He cuts himself off, giving a sad chuckle. “Fuck, I knew this would happen.”

“What?”

“This. You realizing you’re a superhero and I’m just Lois Lane, lucky that you landed on my
doorstep. It was only a matter of time before you realized you’re out of my league. I mean,
you’re out of everyone’s league.”

El blinks at him. “I may be a superhero, but I’m still a girl.”

The words are strangely insightful. “You’re right. Sorry. I never meant to make you feel-”
he’s cut off by the sound of laughter outside. He turns toward the window, where he can see
Will and Tobias sitting side by side, laughing. Within seconds, tears fill his eyes. So he made
his decision.

“Mike, are you okay?”

“What? Oh yeah,” he blinks quickly, turning back to her. “Yeah, sorry. It’s the alcohol. Mood
swings and all that.”

She’s still watching him. “I’m not stupid.”

“What?” How did he always manage to say the wrong thing around her? He sighs. “No, I
didn’t mean you were-”

“You’re sad about Will.” The words are spoken matter of fact, her eyes shifting between him
and the window.

“Uh, yeah,” he says, surprised at her intuitiveness. “I am.”

“Why?”

And the simpleness of the word, the innocence, has him fighting back tears again. “Uh... I
don’t know,” he says shakily. He swallows. Get it together.

“Mike, what’s wrong?” El’s brown eyes are wide with concern, staring at him, and Mike
avoids her gaze, a lump in his throat.

“Nothing,” he whispers. “Nothing, El.”

“Mike,” El’s voice is more insistent. “Friends don’t lie.”

His eyebrows twitch together before he quickly schools his features. “I’m not lying.”

“You are.” El puts a gentle hand on his arm. “What’s been going on lately? Why are you so
sad about Will? Why are you drunk on a Wednesday night?”

He sighs, vision blurring with tears. Things were changing too fast. And he was about to start
crying. “El, let’s just watch that movie, okay? I think the theatre’s still open.”
“Not unless you tell me the truth.”

He walks forward, leaning next to her on the counter, staring straight ahead. “I can’t.” He
blinks and a tear slips down his cheek.

El leans forward too next to him. “You can tell me-”

“No,” he whispers harshly, shaking his head. “I can’t. It’ll change everything. It’ll hurt you.”

“Mike.” She turns and faces him. “Friends. Don’t. Lie.”

He looks at her, seeing only sincereness and care. He takes a deep breath. Fuck it. “El, I...” he
trails off. “I realized something tonight. Something that I think I’ve known for a long time
but never admitted to myself. Something that makes…” he swallows thickly. “Too much
sense.”

“Just say it.”

“I think I like Will.”

And once the words are out of his mouth he wishes he could take them back, that it wasn’t
true, that this is all one giant dream he’d wake up from, but then El’s eyes widen in
realization, like it made sense. “You... like Will?” she repeats. Mike nods wordlessly, his face
crumpling. “You like Will,” she repeats, thinking. Not upset, just processing the words.

“Yeah,” he croaks out, because he doesn’t know what to say, and another tear slides down his
cheek. “I think? I mean, no.” He shakes his head. “I know I do.”

It goes silent between them and he wants to jump into a black hole or have the ground split
beneath him or something where he could disappear forever, but then he’s feeling arms
around him, El tugging him toward her. “It’s okay,” she whispers. “It makes sense.”

He presses his face against her shoulder. “It’s not okay, El. I’m the worst boyfriend in the
world. And this, it- it makes no sense at all.”

“It makes complete sense, Mike. He’s your best friend. He’s always been.”

And now Mike is about to start sobbing for real. “Not anymore. I’m messing everything up.
I’m messing us up.” He pulls back, his eyes full of tears. “You deserve so much better than
me, El.”

“Don’t say that.” El has one hand on each of his shoulders, her eyes watery too, but she gives
a laugh. “We both tried our best.”

“I didn’t try hard enough,” Mike continues. “You’re right, I didn’t sign the letters with love. I
didn’t put in enough effort. I’ve been distant this whole time. I’ve been a shitty boyfriend.”

“But now we know why.” And it looks like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. “I
thought you were distant because you thought there was something wrong with me. That I
was a monster.”
“El- what?” He shakes his head. “No, no, you’re a superhero.”

“A girl,” she corrects.

“A- girl.”

“But you can’t help what your heart wants.” She steps back, giving him a bittersweet smile.
“And I think we might be better off this way. Mike and El. Not boyfriend and girlfriend.” She
cuts Mike off when he opens his mouth. “And not just because of this, what you said just
now. I’ve been thinking it too, for a while.” She sighs. “This relationship has been stressful.
I’m always trying to impress you. You’re always trying to impress me. Instead of just
hanging out, we’re trying to schedule movie nights and dinners together and it’s just...” she
shakes her head. “It’s not fun.”

“Not fun,” Mike agrees.

“I’ll always love you, Mike.” There’s tears in her eyes. “But... I have to love myself more.
Does that make sense?”

Mike finds himself nodding, tears in his own eyes. “Of course it does, El. You deserve that.”

“Thanks.” She smiles and looks down. “And if I love myself, if I block everyone else out, I
can finally focus my powers on what matters. On defeating Vecna, you know? My emotions
were always all over the place with Angela and Brenner and, well, relationship problems.”
She pauses and they both cautiously laugh, the tension lifting. “But if I’m focused, I can
finally build strength and confidence and become powerful. More powerful than I ever have
before.”

Mike stares at her in awe. “That... that makes perfect sense. Wow.” He shakes his head
incredulously. “You’re amazing, El.”

She beams. “See? Things are already better between us.”

Mike nods, pressing his lips together in a smile. “They are.” He hesitates for a second,
knowing there was one more thing he had to say. “And hey, um, thanks by the way. For that
painting you commissioned.”

El scrunches up her eyebrows. “What painting?”

Mike looks up at her, confused. “The painting Will gave me, that you wanted him to paint.”
When she doesn’t say anything, he continues. “You know, about me being the heart of the
group, the leader. It’s what...” He sighs, almost embarrassed. “It’s what gave me enough
confidence to make the ‘I love you’ speech in the first place.”

El just looks at him, confused. “I never commissioned a painting. Will’s art is his own art.”

“What?” Mike scrunches up his face. “No, I get that he painted it himself. But El, you’re the
one who gave him the idea.”
She frowns, shaking her head. “He never told me what he was working on. And we definitely
never collaborated on anything.” She looks at Mike emphatically. “Will’s art is his own art.”

Mike freezes, the words sinking in. “Then what... why did he say all that in the van?”

“Say what in the van?”

“You know,” Mike says impatiently. “That you commissioned the painting to tell me I’m the
heart of the group. That even though you sometimes feel like a freak, I make you feel better
for being different.”

“Mike, you definitely did not make me feel better for being different.”

Mike snorts at that. “Okay, touché. But...” he brings a hand up to his chin, and then snaps his
fingers. “That you only pushed me away because you were afraid of losing me? Even though
you’ll always need me?”

“When did I push you away?” El looks at him, confused. “I sent letters every week.”

Mike goes silent, the gears turning.

“Will... said all that?”

Mike nods.

“And he said that... I said that?”

Mike nods again.

“Oh, Will,” El whispers to herself. Then she turns to him, her eyes wide. “So that means he
gave you his painting?”

“I mean, yeah. That one, at least.”

“Mike, there was only one painting. The one he worked on all summer.”

Mike’s chest burns as he remembers what El wrote in one of her letters. “For the girl he liked,
right? I remember it from one of the letters.” El gives him a look. “Or wait- guy, sorry. Since
he’s gay.” He furrows his eyebrows. “He didn’t know Tobias back then, did he?”

“No,” El says, with a teasing tone.

“Then who was it? Ben?”

“Ben?” El coughs out a laugh. “Mike Wheeler, how did I date you for two years?”

“El, just help me figure this out.”

“Mike. He gave the painting to you.”

His heart drops. And then speeds up. And then he’s suddenly smiling. “Wait.” He shakes his
head in disbelief. “You’re not saying...”

“And now everything is making sense,” El whispers to herself. “You’re who he painted it
for.”

“Which is why he brought to the airport.” Mike is suddenly full of energy. He turns toward
El. “Did he say that specifically? That it was for someone he liked?”

“No, I just assumed.”

“Oh.” Mike’s smile drops.

“Based on the hours and hours of effort he put into it.” She fixes him with a playful look.
“Plus he even had a first draft that he ended up trashing.”

“First draft?” He freezes. “Of what?”

El thinks for a second, remembering. “Something about a swing set.”

“Oh my god. Are you serious?”

El nods.

Mike starts pacing up and down the length of the kitchen. “Holy shit. Holy shit. I might
actually have a chance.”

El looks at him. “What happened on a swing set?”

“It’s when we met! When I asked him to be my friend.” He stops pacing, looking out the
window. “Eleven years ago.” He turns back to El, excited. “I was thinking about this the
other day. If Will was a girl, we’d probably have been dating this whole time, right?”

“Mike, I’m the wrong person to ask about this.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He stops pacing then starts again. “It’s just- he had to have liked me, right?
Before Tobias came along.” He glares out the window, where Will and Tobias were still
talking side by side.

“Maybe.”

“And I just-” he cuts himself off, realizing. “Shit, I shouldn’t be saying all this in front of
you. We just broke up.”

El gives him a sad smile. “Yes. But it’s mutual, right? It might hurt for a while, but it’s for the
best.”

Mike stares at her in disbelief. “God, I wish I could be like that. Mature and... not jealous.”
Something seems to click for El. “Wait, so was all that just jealousy with Will and Tobias?
Not homophobia?”

Mike nods. “Yup.”

She smiles at him. “I knew you were better than that.”

Mike returns her smile. Things were back in orbit. Until he remembers something, squeezing
his eyes shut. “Shit! The art fact.”

“The art fact?”

“Yeah. Every day I memorize an art fact to tell Will. Because Murray said I need to give
more reassurance or whatever.”

El just looks at him for a second, her eyebrows scrunched up. “Yeah, I’m going to let Will
deal with this from now on.”

“Hey!”

She laughs, shaking her head. “Forget it. Go get your art fact, Mike Wheeler.”

He gives her a nod and starts jogging, but then freezes when he gets to the doorway. “And
hey, El?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. For everything.”

She smiles at him. “You’re welcome, Mike.”

He nods, and then heads through the doorway.

It’s late by the time Will returns to his room. Him and Tobias had talked for over an hour in
the backyard until the sun set and they were forced to stop, the whole time talking about deep
topics Tobias had brought up, like childhood trauma and attachment styles and love
languages and a bunch of other psychology terms that Will could barely keep up with. It’s
like Tobias was trying to troubleshoot their relationship to see where things went wrong and
how to fix it, and while Will appreciated it, it was exhausting, especially when everything
else Mike had said was still playing in the back of his mind the entire time.

He closes his bedroom door behind him, feeling like he just took a tough exam and has no
idea whether he passed or failed. Even as they said goodbye, Tobias was still clearly lost in
his head, analyzing and thinking and hardly in the moment. And Will wasn’t either. For it
being a weekday night, they’d usually watch a movie together, but they both parted ways
without much thought.

Which led him to where he was now. Lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. And then
Mike’s words from earlier are playing in his head.

I like you.

We’re like the perfect match.

I’m bisexual.

Don’t do this, Will.

I miss you. I miss us.

He squeezes his eyes shut. This was somehow worse than the things that used to haunt him,
of Mike calling him flawed and pathetic and like a lovesick puppy. He’d almost prefer those
instead because they were realistic- the idea that two hours ago Mike had sat down next to
him and started drunkenly confessing his feelings was not. And it was messing with his head
a lot more.

He almost wanted to get up and knock on Jonathan’s door to ask him if alcohol could really
affect someone that much, could make someone who was previously homophobic into
someone who would confess their feelings for a guy.

But if he did that, it would open a whole can of worms where Jonathan would start reminding
him of what he said earlier- if Will had to make that decision, Tobias is what he deserves.
And for some reason, he just didn’t want to hear that right now.

So instead he just keeps staring at the ceiling and thinking. After a few minutes of this, he
sees out of the corner of his eye that his easel is slightly moved to the left. He furrows his
eyebrows, swinging his legs out of bed and walking over to it, which is when he sees it.

The color wheel is older than the United States, painted in white letters on top of the already
painted black background.

What the fuck? Was this Mike’s art fact?

He stares at it, blankly, before he feels like laughing.

And then crying.

And then screaming.

 Chapter 17
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

It’s the next afternoon and Will is in the kitchen trying to scrounge together a meal. He didn’t
have much of an appetite, probably due to the nervous anticipation of waiting for Mike to
wake up. It was past noon and he still hadn’t left his room, which means he was either
hungover or avoiding him. Probably both.

On the other hand, El had been up early that morning, cheerily saying good morning to him
and looking a lot lighter and happier, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and it
would put him in a good mood too if it wasn’t for the weight of his best friend drunkenly
confessing his feelings to him on his shoulders.

He realizes he’s blankly staring at the refrigerator and forces himself to move, walking
forward and grabbing the bread bag from the top of the refrigerator. A sandwich was fine.

Then he hears voices from the living room. “Good morning, Mike.” It’s Nancy, and Will’s
heart starts hammering. He was awake.

“Morning.”

“Any particular reason you’re wearing sunglasses indoors?”

“Nope.”

“O-kay.” Nancy says. “Rough night last night?”

“Understatement.”

Will focuses on unwrapping the bread tie, even as his hands are shaking.

“I remember my first hangover.” It’s Jonathan. How did everyone know Mike was drunk last
night? Did he say something when he walked back into the house? Or do something? “It was
an unforgettable experience. And not in a good way.”

He hears Nancy laugh. “Agreed.”

Will swallows thickly, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a jar of mayonnaise. He
unscrews the lid and grabs a knife, dipping it in. Just make the sandwich. You’ll be fine.

“Do you need any ibuprofen?” he hears Nancy ask.

“I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure, Nancy.”

Will fights the urge to roll his eyes. Why was Mike always so... Mike? But then he tenses as
he hears footsteps approach the kitchen.

“Oh, hey.” Mike’s voice sounds surprised, a stark contrast to the flat voice he had before.
“Uh, whatcha making?”

Will refuses to look up, trying to hide his nervousness. “A sandwich.”

“Oh, cool. That’s- cool.” He hears Mike walk closer. “Do you need any help with it?”

“It’s a sandwich.”

“Right.” There’s a moment of silence. Will can feel Mike practically bursting at the seams
with nervous energy. “Um,” he finally says. “What kind of sandwich?”

What the hell? “Mike, I don’t want to do this.”

“What?”

“You know- act like everything’s normal.”

“Then let’s talk about it,” Mike says immediately, and Will almost drops his knife in surprise.

“What?”

“Let’s talk about it,” he repeats, way too confidently.

He finally looks at Mike, taking in his tangled black hair and wrinkled shirt and too-large
sunglasses. “I can’t take you seriously with the sunglasses on.”

“Fine.” He takes them off and then blinks quickly, adjusting to the light. “Fuck.”

“Consequences of your actions,” he can’t help himself from saying.

Mike just looks at him, and Will looks back down at his sandwich. “Are you mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad at you?” Will brushes past him, opening the refrigerator. Where’s the
turkey?

“Because of last night.”

He finds it, grabbing the bag and closing the refrigerator a bit harder than necessary. “No.”

“You’re lying.”

“Mike-” He rubs his temples. Now he was going to be the one who needed ibuprofen. “I’m
not mad. If anything, I’m- I’m confused.”

“Confused about what?”

“About what you said last night.” He avoids Mike’s eyes, turning back toward the counter. “If
you even remember.”

“Of course I remember.”

But Mike definitely did not remember. Because if he did, he wouldn’t be standing here
talking to Will like everything was normal. Or standing this close to him. Or alternating his
eyes between Will’s hands making the sandwich and Will’s face in a way that was making
him completely forget how to make a sandwich.

He takes a step to the side, putting some space in between them. “Are you still drunk?”

“No,” Mike says. “Why?”

“Because you’re way too confident right now.”

“I’m actually nervous,” Mike mumbles to himself, and Will wasn’t sure if he was supposed
to hear it. He looks back up at Will. “But I also know how I feel now. I’ve made peace with
it.”

Peace with it? This can’t be real. He had to get him out of here. He turns toward him, fully
making eye contact. “You’ve gone from being vehemently homophobic to in love with your
best friend in one day?” Mike blushes at the words, but he keeps holding eye contact,
nodding. Will’s mouth drops open and he flushes, looking away. “I don’t believe that.”

“Why not?” And then Mike is closer, and Will inhales sharply.

“Mike.” He nearly drops his knife. “You can’t just... do this.”

And Mike’s voice is tense again. “What did you and Tobias talk about last night?”

“Relationship stuff.”

Mike’s posture stiffens. “What, so you’re still together?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Because, you know, I confessed my feelings to you a few minutes beforehand.”

Will nearly chokes. So he did remember. “You were drunk. And you probably still are.”

“Drunk words are sober thoughts.”

He looks up, Mike’s eyes piercing into his own, and can feel his cheeks heat up. “Sober
thoughts you didn’t have before yesterday.”

“Will, c’mon.” Mike takes a step back and his voice is almost pleading. And this definitely
cannot be real life. “Can we just talk about this?”
Will focuses on cutting his sandwich in half. “Until you can say it sober, I’m not believing
it.”

“I am sober.”

He finishes cutting and puts the knife down, too loud. “Then say it. Say what you said last
night.”

Mike opens his mouth, before his eyes dart to the living room and he hesitates, like he’s
suddenly aware of everyone a room away. “Not here.”

“Right.” He coughs out a laugh, grabbing his plate. “And that’s a problem Tobias never had.”

Mike just looks at him, speechless, and Will takes the opportunity to pick up his plate,
carrying it into the living room.

“Will, we’re watching Jeopardy.”

“I’m going to eat in my room.”

“Okay,” Jonathan says hesitantly, and it sounds like he wants to say more but Will’s already
heading up the stairs. Once he reaches the top, he heads into his room, closing the door
behind him. He sets the plate down on his desk and then pulls out his desk chair, sitting
down, trying to catch his breath.

So Mike remembered last night. He remembered pretty much everything. He leans an elbow
on his desk, twisting his hand in his hair, staring at the wall. He remembered what he said
and wasn't denying it. If anything, he was trying to convince Will it was true.

Deep down, he feels a wave of giddiness spread through him. A wave of the hope that he’d
tramped down long ago. The last time he felt this optimistic was when he was standing in the
airport waiting for Mike to walk through the terminal. But that was before he dodged his hug,
before he ignored him for El, before Mike was... Mike.

And then he feels a stab of guilt for even thinking this way. What about Tobias? What about
El? What about the fact that he deserved better? What about the fact that Mike was drunk
and probably still was? What about the fact that the only thing Mike had to offer was shitty
art facts and drunken confessions? That wasn’t a sustainable-

There’s a knock at the door and Will sighs, standing up. It was probably Jonathan coming to
check on him. He walks over. “I’m fine,” he starts saying, as he goes to open the door. “I was
just talking to-” It’s Mike. “Mike.”

Mike’s looking at him with a wild look on his face and Will barely has time to react before
Mike leans forward, one hand on each side of his face, and then he’s kissing him, pressing
their lips together. They stay like that for a second, Mike’s lips soft against his own, before
Mike pulls back, out of breath. And then he’s talking. “I meant it, I meant everything.” And
he starts going off on a monologue, like he’s in a movie, but Will is barely listening, staring
somewhere over Mike’s left shoulder, his brain full of white noise. Staring between the
chipped paint on the wall and the stair rail. He can’t listen. He can’t even think.

And then he finds himself talking. “No,” he cuts Mike off, somewhere between I needed
liquid courage and I knew what I had to say.

Mike goes silent. “What?”

“No, it’s- it’s not that easy Mike.”

“What’s not that easy?”

He blinks quickly, his eyes filling with tears, and he hates it because he’s not sad, he’s angry.
Hot, unbridled rage. “It’s not that easy Mike. You can’t just kiss me and expect everything to
be fixed. Because it’s not. You’re with El and I’m with Tobias-” Mike tries to cut in but he
stops him. “You think just because you want me you can have me? That it’s automatic? That
I’m going to reciprocate just because you finally realized? Where-” his voice cracks. “Where
were you all those years?”

Mike’s voice goes soft. “Years?”

“Yes, Mike. And you were too stupid to notice. It was always you, and I- I hated it.” His eyes
spill over with tears, his cheeks hot.

“Will, I had no idea.”

“I know.” And the anger is bubbling over. “Trust me, I know. Every day of my life I wanted
you and I needed you and you weren’t there. And now you just- you just realized?” He lets
out a hysterical laugh. “Overnight, you just realized. Just like that. I can’t-” he sobs, knowing
full well everyone downstairs could probably hear him, but he didn’t care. “I can’t do it.”

He looks up to see tears in Mike’s eyes. “Will, I’m sorry. I- I wish I could go back in time-”

“But you can’t.” He tries to glare at him, even though his vision is blurred with tears. “And I
meant what I said too last night. It’s too late.” He wishes that the cutting words would make
things easier, that the chance to inflict on Mike what he’s felt all those years would feel
satisfying somehow, but seeing the pain flash across Mike’s face felt like a punch in the gut.

“It’s too late?” Mike chokes out.

He forces himself to nod. “I choose Tobias.”

“Wow, okay,” Mike says shakily. “So…” he spreads his hands out uselessly and then slaps
them down at his sides. “You choose Tobias.”

He nods again, even as his face is crumpling. “Yeah, Mike. Because he was there. He was
there the whole time.”

“Okay, I get it,” Mike forces out shakily, sounding just like him, angry but also about to cry.
“I get it. But…” He shakes his head. “But-”
“But what?”

“But I broke up with El.”

He stares at him in shock for a moment, before it hits him. “Okay, now it makes sense.” He
lets out an incredulous laugh. “Now it all makes sense. Now I can believe it.”

Mike looks up. “What?”

“I’m the rebound.”

“No, what? Will,” Mike takes a step forward. “You’re not a rebound. If anything, you’re the
reason I broke up with her in the first place.”

“That’s terrible, Mike.”

“Will, what- what do you want me to say?” Now Mike is the one who sounds hysterical.
“I’m- I’m trying-” He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to-”

“I want you to say this is real,” Will says without thinking, surprising himself. “I mean-”

“That this is real?” Mike blinks quickly, looking at him. “It is. It is, Will, I-”

“That’s what you keep saying, Mike,” he shouts, then cuts himself off, realizing how loud
their voices have gotten. He looks around and then lowers his voice to a whisper. “If it is, you
should give El time to heal. Give yourself time to heal. I mean, when did you guys even
break up?”

“Last night, after I talked to you.”

Will pinches his nose. “Jesus Christ. So you were drunk for that too? How am I supposed to
believe anything you’re saying-”

“Can I kiss you again?” It goes silent, and Mike is staring at him, a blush spreading over his
cheeks. “To prove it to you.”

“What? No.”

“Okay.” Mike swallows thickly.

Will struggles to get back on track, his heart pounding. “I mean…” he waves his hands
around. “I mean, how about you come out as gay first? Or bisexual? Do you even know?”

Mike gives him a look. “Bisexual.”

“Okay.” Will flushes. “But you have to do the work first.”

“The work?”

“Yes.” Will tries to give him a stern look. “You’re acting like we can just start dating or
something-”
“Why can’t we?”

He stares at him for a second. “Mike, are you still drunk?”

“I’m not.”

“Okay, well you should realize, you just broke up with El. And I’m dating Tobias-”

“Who you will break up with.” When Will goes silent, Mike fixes him with a look, probably
meant to be commanding but Will can see a bit of fear in his eyes. “Right?”

Will’s mouth is open in shock. “Mike, I feel like you’re still drunk.”

“I’m not.”

He turns away. “Okay, then say all this two days from now. Or a week from now. Because I
can’t-” he shakes his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “This has to be a vision
from Vecna or something.”

“I’ll prove it to you,” Mike rushes out. “It’s not a vision from Vecna. You’re safe.” He
swallows thickly. “I think. I mean, that’s actually…” He takes a deep breath. “That’s another
reason why I think you should stay away from Tobias. Not just because of the… the jealousy
thing I have. But because he’ll have no idea what to do if you start floating. It’s a real
liability.”

“A liability?”

Mike nods. “We can’t afford to lose you.” Then he pauses, casting him a small smile. “I
mean, I can’t anyway.”

Will’s heart skips a beat. “Oh. Uh…” He takes a step back, into his doorway, feeling his face
flush. And Mike was still looking at him with that soft expression. How was this real? “I’ll
keep that in mind.”

And then Mike nods, like his mission is complete, and turns away, and Will closes the door
softly behind him. After he hears Mike’s footsteps head down the stairs, he turns around,
pressing his back against the door like he was in a movie.

What the hell just happened?

Mike heads down the stairs slowly, not ready to face his sister and Jonathan, who probably
heard everything. But he also wasn’t ready to go back to his room either and be faced with
his thoughts of everything that just happened. Somehow the silence was even worse. Along
with this headache.
Was he still drunk? Will had asked so many times he almost believed he still was, that he was
under some influence making him do all these crazy things, but he knew he wasn’t. Right
now he was the opposite of drunk, feeling every emotion fully, too aware of his surroundings,
of his thoughts. Conscious of every move. Hungover, probably.

He reaches the bottom of the stairs and looks up, expecting to see Jonathan and Nancy still on
the couch, but freezes when it’s his father, reading the newspaper in his La-Z-Boy like it was
an average Thursday. When did he get here?

He clears his throat, but his dad doesn’t look up, his glasses low on his nose, that permanent
small frown still on his face. Nothing that indicated he had just heard an earth-shattering
conversation between him and Will. Where he kissed him. And confessed his feelings.
Loudly. Shit.

But if his dad had heard anything, he’d be having some kind of reaction, right? Especially as
a homophobe. Mike could never hide it. But then again, he was never a homophobe,
apparently. He takes a few quiet steps down the hallway, trying to make it to the kitchen, and
he’s halfway there-

“So I’m assuming you and El are over then?”

He freezes. “What?”

Ted keeps looking at his newspaper. “You and that one girl. That… that strange girl we took
in.”

“El? Yeah, I mean-” Mike blinks quickly. “Technically, yeah.”

“And you’re with Will now?” he says it matter of fact.

“What?” Mike shoots out. “No, not at all.” There’s a moment of silence.

“Mike, stranger things have happened in this town.”

“We’re not together.” And he doesn’t know why he’s being so defensive about it. Or where
the hell his confidence about his feelings for Will went.

“That’s… alright then.” Ted flips his newspaper to the next page and Mike can’t tell whether
it’s an invitation to talk more. He hesitates for a second and is about to keep walking, until he
hears him again. “Rehearsing for a play, then?”

He freezes. “A play?”

“Mike, that was some-” He ruffles the newspaper, adjusting it. “Some pretty heavy dialogue.”

Is this real life? Mike stares at his father incredulously. The last time he talked to Ted for this
long was when… he didn’t even know when. When the FBI came knocking on their door
asking about El and he was forced to give his family an explanation? Or one of their family
dinners maybe? He’s at a loss for words.
Then he clears his throat. “Uh, how long have you been down here?”

“Since Nancy and Jonathan finally left the only room where I can find peace of mind.” He
exhales a laugh at that, then looks up at Mike. “Don’t look so scared, son.” He nods his head
to the side. “Take a seat.”

Take a seat? Okay, this was definitely weird. Mike tensely walks over and sits down on the
couch across from him, his posture rigid. “What’s up?”

“Do you know how I ended up with your mother?”

What? “With mom? Um.” He blinks quickly, like this was some quiz he was supposed to
pass. “You proposed?”

“Correct. But how did I get her to say yes?”

Mike squints his eyes, grimacing. “I… I mean, you charmed her?”

“After that.”

“What? Dad I don’t-”

“I did the work.” Ted keeps staring at the newspaper. “I promised to provide. And then I
provided.”

“You mean money?”

“Money is one thing. A big thing, I’ll admit,” he grumbles. “But there are other things too.”

“Okay,” Mike says hesitantly, confused. “Like what?”

“Like taking time to heal. Or letting them know that it’s real.” Mike pales as the words sound
familiar. “Or, you know…” Ted hesitates, looking uncomfortable. “Coming out.”

And then Mike is panicking. Full-on panicking. His dad heard everything. Everything. Which
means- a homophobe just found out he was a homosexual. A real homophobe. Scratch that,
his father just found out he was a homosexual. No. He had to tell him it was a play. They
were rehearsing. It was a script. That’s believable right?

And then as soon as he says, “It was a play,” his father speaks at the same time.

“It’s okay.”

“What?”

“I…” Ted finally puts down the newspaper and looks up at him. “I figured I’d check one
thing off your list.”

And the realization sinks in. Mike’s mouth drops open, staring at his dad, wondering if this
was real life. Maybe he was still drunk. Or maybe this was a hangover. Alcohol withdrawal
can cause hallucinations, right?

“It’s okay,” his dad is saying again. “Really. Mike.” He leans forward. “You look like you’re
about to have a stroke, son.”

He shakes himself out of it, and then his eyes are filling with tears. And his brain is saying no
no no no no all over again because sure, he might have just came out, but he could not cry in
front of his father. And this wouldn’t be tears. This would be full-blown sobbing. “Ah,
Mike.” His father’s voice is soft, looking at him. And then after a second of hesitation, he
looks toward the kitchen. “Karen! Can you-”

And then his mom is coming in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, her eyes wide
and sympathetic like she heard everything, which she probably did. “Oh, Mike.” She’s
walking toward him, and he’s shakily standing up from the couch, tears already falling down
his cheeks.

He holds his arms out, like he’s a little kid again, and she quickly reciprocates, wrapping her
arms around him and squeezing tight, her hand on the back of his head. And he’s crying.
“I’m- I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry, Mike,” she’s whispering. “It makes so much sense.” She tightens her
grip. “You always cared about him.”

And yep, now he’s sobbing. But it felt good at the same time. Like this was how it was
supposed to be, like some missing part of him had fallen back into place. But still it’s…

“It’s-” he hates how his voice is hiccupping. “It’s not normal.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He can feel his mom shaking her head. “You’re Mike. You’ve always
been Mike.” She pulls back, looking at him, her eyes teary. “And I’ll love you no matter
what.”

Mike nods, unable to talk, his face crumpling, and his mom pulls him back in. He feels her
head tilt as she looks at Ted. “Ted,” she whispers. “Give some motivational advice.”

“I already did.” His familiar drawl is back. It goes silent, and Mike can imagine them holding
eye contact. “Okay,” he sighs. “Ditto to what your mom said.” There’s a meaningful pause.
“To… all of it.”

And if that was the closest thing he’d get to an I love you, son, he was going to take it. He
pulls back, giving Ted a watery smile. “Thanks, Dad.” He looks at both of them. “Thanks,
both you guys.”

“Don’t thank us, Mike.” His mom is dabbing her eyes on the dish towel she walked in with.
“I should’ve known. I should’ve been there and helped you through it.”

“Eh.” Mike shrugs, giving a lopsided smile. “I just realized last night.”

She lets out a surprised laugh. “Why does that not surprise me?” She looks at him again. “Oh,
come here.” And then she’s hugging him a second time.
 And as Mike hugs her back, as he stares over her shoulder at the light coming in through the
windows in the kitchen, he doesn’t know what’ll happen next. He doesn’t know how long it
will take to win over Will, or if Will and Tobias will even break up.

But he knows whatever it is, he’ll be okay.

Chapter End Notes

Love all your guys' comments as always! This fanfiction may be longer than 20 chapters
now that I'm looking at it, probably closer to 25. But things are finally coming together,
even though the conflict isn't over yet >:)

Hope you enjoyed!!

 Chapter 18
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Mike takes a sip from his soda, making a face at the carbonation. It was a Sunday night and
the group was at the arcade, and honestly, Mike was grateful for it. Really grateful. The past
three days had been weird, full of sympathetic, knowing looks from his parents and Nancy
and Jonathan looking at him like they already knew everything and Will full-on avoiding
him, spending almost all his time at Tobias’ house. At least he assumed it was Tobias’ house,
because he wasn’t in his room. Not that Mike was looking for him. Or thinking about him.
Constantly.

He looks around, trying to distract himself. Dustin is playing Dig Dug and Lucas is playing
Tempest, games he’d been watching them play earlier, but he’d left, frustrated, because they
kept talking about wanting Tobias to play to “see his reaction times.” And even though Mike
told them that Tobias’ “reaction times” were just poorly disguised cheating techniques, they
wouldn’t listen. So he was partly at the snack bar because of anger, too.

El and Max are playing some racing game, giggling, and Mike is relieved to see El distracted.
Even though they were on good terms, they were still keeping their distance from each other,
which was probably for the best.

Even though his friends were happy, he felt lost, stranded. In the weird stage of life where his
parents knew something about him that his closest friends didn’t. And something that Will
knew but refused to believe. Something that he himself could hardly believe, if it was even
true.

But it was.

He knew it was, based on the way he kept catching himself staring at Will in the days after.
The way he’d laid in bed that night, long after the alcohol and the hangover had worn off and
he kept imagining Will’s face as he fell asleep. When he realized this wasn’t the first time
he’d done that. That he’d done it a bunch of times, but he always thought was just because
him and Will used to talk to each other through walkie talkies before falling asleep and his
brain had just associated the two but it’s… it’s something different. He knows that now.

And when he’s not thinking of Will, he’s replaying events in his head. Analyzing. Regretting.
Trying to figure out what he missed all those years, searching for clues like this was some
puzzle from the Upside Down. The painting. Never sending letters. Their fight last year.
Saying, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” The fact that Will probably liked him at that
time, that he had for years. Mike asking, “What if you want to join another party?” Will
saying, “Not possible.”

Someone bumps his shoulder and he jumps. “So how did it go?”

“What?” he replies dumbly.

It’s Max. She fixes him with a look. “Three days ago. The liquid courage. Please don’t tell
me I gave you that for nothing. That stuff is expensive, you know-”

“It went fine.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Fine?” She turns toward the arcade, toward the corner where Will
and Tobias were huddled together in front of the claw machine, something Mike had been
trying very hard to ignore. “I mean, they’re still-”

“I know,” Mike snaps. “You don’t have to- I know.”

“Okay.” She looks at him. “So you got rejected?”

“What?” He blinks quickly. “No, no. Not at all.”

“Rejection is a part of life, Wheeler.”

“I didn’t get rejected! He needs time.”

Max pauses. “Time to win stuffed animals with Tobias?” They both pause as Will lets out a
sound of surprise. Mike looks over just in time to see Tobias grabbing a stuffed cheetah out
from the bottom of the machine, handing it to Will, who’s beaming.

“How is Tobias so fucking good at everything?” Mike can’t tear his eyes away, his chest
rising and falling angrily. “I mean seriously, how am I supposed to compete with this?”

Max scrunches up her eyebrows. “So it’s a competition now?”

“I don’t know!” And Mike hates how distressed his voice sounds. He clears his throat. “I
think Will doesn’t believe what I said.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t either.”

He whips toward her. “What?”

“I mean, think about it. You guys were friends for years, most of the time with you dating his
sister, he finally gets a boyfriend, only for you to spend the whole time being homophobic,
and now you’re trying to tell him that scratch that, you actually like him, while you’re drunk,
might I add-”

“Which was your idea-”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, in the way that I said it.” Mike’s voice goes small. “But it didn’t…”

He trails off and they both turn back toward Will and Tobias, who have now moved on to
Asteroids, standing way too close to each other for a one-person game. “Right.” She leans
back against the snack counter. “So how are you going to tell El about all this?”
“I already did.”

“What? When?”

“After I talked to Will that night.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Mike Wheeler, you’re wasting no time at all.”

“And my parents know.”

She nearly chokes. “Your- your parents know?”

Mike nods. “They kinda overheard Will and I’s fight the next day. The fight where I may or
may not have impulsively kissed Will.”

Her mouth drops open. “Jesus Christ, Mike. You’re a machine.” She shakes her head. “You
know what you want and you just- go for it.”

Mike purses his lips together. “Yeah, I can. But Will is being all wishy-washy about it.”

“Wishy-washy?”

He crosses his arms. “You know, like he can’t make up his mind.”

Max goes silent, looking back out at Will and Tobias. “It seems like he’s made up his mind.”

“No he hasn’t,” Mike snaps. “Look, I have reason to believe-” he cuts himself off. “I have…
sources. A source. A very trustworthy source telling me that Will may have made a painting
for me. A painting that I received-”

“Mike, are you the source in this scenario?”

“No. Max, can you be serious right now?”

She schools her features. “I’ll try.”

“El told me in one of her letters that Will was working on a painting for someone he liked.
Well, he didn’t say it, but he was spending so much time on it that she figured. And he gave it
to me, when we were on our way back from California, with this whole speech about how El
commissioned it because she saw me as the heart of the group and I make her feel like she’s
better for being different and that she’ll always need me. Well get this.” He pauses for
dramatic effect, holding up his hands. “El told me she never commissioned it. Which means
it was Will’s thoughts.” When Max doesn’t say anything, he keeps going. “Will felt that way
about me.”

Max crosses her arms. “Okay, that’s great but…”

“But what?”

“That was before Tobias, wasn’t it?”

Mike deflates, going silent. “Yeah, but…” he trails off, unable to think of anything else to
say. And then suddenly, he’s angry. “Max, weren’t you the one telling me that Will and I
belong together? That Tobias is too intellectual for him?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “And I meant it. But that was before Will… you know.” She widens her
eyes for emphasis.

“What?”

“Chose Tobias.” She glances to the side. “I thought the confession would be a slam dunk, but
if it wasn’t, if this is still happening.” She gestures to Asteroids, where Tobias and Will start
laughing together on cue. “Then Will might know something we don’t. Tobias might be good
for him. And we might just have to respect it.”

“I’ll never respect it.”

“Mike.” She gives him a look.

“What? I won’t.” He uncrosses his arms. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Will still doesn’t believe
me. That’s why he’s still with Tobias. I mean-” He pauses, thinking. “He was saying all this
stuff about me having to do the work first.”

“The work?”

He scrunches up his eyebrows, remembering. “Giving myself time to heal. Giving El time to
heal. And uh…” He scratches the back of his head. “Coming out.”

Max lets out a low whistle. “Well Wheeler, looks like you have your work cut out for you.”

“But I don’t think I can. Come out, I mean.” He looks around, scared of anyone even hearing
him.

“It’s not that bad.” Max faces him. “Just do what Will did. Sit everyone around in a dramatic
circle and say ‘Guys, I have something to say,’ in a wavering voice.”

“Max,” he says, trying not to laugh. “C’mon, you have no idea what it’s even like.”

“No, I don’t.” Her voice softens a bit. “Look, if you’re not ready, find another way. Serenade
him. Write him a poem. Give him a rose under the moonlight.” She looks up, seeing Lucas
waving her over. “I have to go. But look.” She turns to him. “You’re Mike and Will. You’ll
find a way.”

And then she’s walking off.

Mike watches her go, helpless. If he was going to find a way, he needed to find it fast.

-
“And then that’s when I said, ‘This place runs on tax dollars, not quarters.’”

Everyone laughs at Tobias’ joke, and Will tries to laugh too.

“So they gave you the refund?” Dustin asks.

“They gave me the refund.”

They’re all gathered at a snack table, done playing arcade games, listening as Tobias tells the
story of how him and Will lost a dollar in the Asteroids game, not getting any playtime for it,
and when he tried to get a refund, the worker gave him a hard time about it until Tobias
started spitting a bunch of logic and the worker eventually refunded him the dollar.

And everyone is eating it up. Dustin is laughing harder than Will has seen him laugh in a long
time, El is endlessly curious about the process of how arcades make money, and Max just
looks impressed. So does Lucas. But Will finds himself faking his laughs and Mike just looks
pissed.

“Are you sure you didn’t bribe the guy?”

They all go silent at Mike’s voice.

“Mike,” Tobias says, and waits a beat, like he’s about to make another joke. “Why would I
willingly give him more money?”

And as expected, everyone laughs. Will fights the urge to roll his eyes. He doesn’t know
what’s gotten into him tonight. Normally he’d be laughing too, harder than anyone, admiring
Tobias’ intellect and wit and staring at him with stars in his eyes, but every time he feels
himself drifting in that direction, he feels Mike glaring at both of them and his whole thought
process is disrupted.

And Mike’s doing it again now, looking back and forth between him and Will with his jaw
clenched. Plus, now that Will knew it was jealousy, not homophobia, even bordering on
possessiveness, he found himself looking at Mike more than he should.

And then it happens. Him and Mike lock eyes, and it’s almost like they share a moment of
exasperation, of bonding over being the only ones not laughing, holding eye contact for a
beat too long, Mike’s mouth quirking up, and Will quickly rips his gaze away.

But it seems to have given Mike confidence.

“Tobias, I’m just saying,” Mike leans his elbows forward on the table. “It’s only a dollar.
Why couldn’t you just let it go?”

“Because it’s money?”

“What, you can’t afford to lose it?”

“Of course I can afford to lose it.” Tobias’ tone is lighthearted, although Will can tell he’s
getting mad. “But aren’t we a little young to be belittling each other on income? None of us
are old enough for jobs. I mean, first discriminating on sexuality and now income? No one is
safe around this guy.”

Everyone laughs again, almost like a sitcom. He looks over and sees Mike still glaring at
Tobias. “Some of us do have jobs, actually.” He then switches his gaze to look at Will, almost
meaningfully, and there’s no way he’s talking about how looking over Will is his “job.”

“What’s your job then?” Tobias challenges, and Will looks at him, curious.

“Uh,” Mike blanches, looking at Will and looking away again. “You know…” He looks
down, drumming his hands on his thighs. “Window washing. For my family. And the
neighborhood.”

It’s a blatant lie, but Tobias doesn’t notice. “That’s hardly sustainable,” he snorts. “That’s
what? A dollar a day?”

Mike narrows his eyes at him, angry. “You know what?” He stands up. “Forget it.” He looks
at Will. “Your boyfriend’s an asshole.”

“Mike-”

But he’s already walking away.

“What is it with Mike and storming out of arcades?” Lucas asks, and it earns a few laughs,
but Will hardly hears him, watching Mike go and for once feeling like he’s… siding with
him? What if Mike really did have a window washing business? That was kind of offensive.

“Will?” Tobias is looking at him.

“That was kind of mean.”

“Mean?” Tobias coughs out, raising his eyebrows. “You do realize Mike is homophobic,
right?”

He freezes, realizing Tobias doesn’t know the truth. “Homophobic. Yeah,” he stutters. “But
still, we should, uh, treat everyone with equality, right?”

Tobias is staring at him in disbelief. “Only if they treat us with equality first.”

And how could he argue with that? He thinks for a second, not knowing what to say. Is this
how Mike always felt? That he could never win against Tobias’ wit? “You’re right,” he says
lamely. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tobias says cautiously, still watching him, before eventually he turns back to the
conversation. And they all talk for another ten minutes, the conversation somewhat forced,
about arcade games and what they’re doing that week and no one else bringing up Mike or
the refund story. At one point, Will looks back toward the arcade, wondering where Mike
went, and when he looks back Tobias is looking right at him, his eyes slightly narrowed.
“Will, you want to play another game?”

“No.”

“I figured.” He gives him a meaningful look, although Will’s not sure what for.

“Okay.”

And then at that point, people start heading out. Dustin says he has a virtual date with Suzie
to get to. Lucas and Max suddenly have somewhere to be. El tags along with them, rather
than waiting for Mike, which is downright weird.

And then it’s just him and Tobias, sitting at the snack table, the arcade noises pinging around
them. Tobias is staring at his hands.

“So,” Will says unsurely, turning to him. “What do you want to talk about?”

“You and Mike.”

“What?”

“I’m not stupid, Will,” Tobias huffs, looking at him. “You of all people should know I’m not
stupid.”

Will takes a second to respond, blinking quickly. “Yeah, I know. That’s all you talk about,
right?”

It comes out wrong, and Tobias coughs out a laugh. “Wow, Will.”

“No I mean like, that’s your thing. All the big words and jokes-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Not intellect. Because anyone with half a brain can see
what I’m seeing.”

Will panics for a second. “What are you seeing?”

Tobias looks back down at his hands. “You and Mike kept looking at each other. The whole
time we were sitting here.”

Were they? Will scrambles for an answer. “That’s probably just because we’re friends again.”

“You’re friends again? Since when?”

Shit. Did he really not tell him? “Four days ago, I think.”

“Four days ago? Will, what-” Tobias shakes his head. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“I guess I forgot.”

“You forgot?” Tobias runs a hand through his hair, laughing almost hysterically. “Will, this is-
you realize this all looks very suspicious, right?”
Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “Why would it be suspicious?”

“I don’t know, why would it be suspicious?” And Tobias is locking eyes with him, his eyes
piercing, and Will looks away.

“You’re the one saying it, not me.”

“Because it is!” Tobias nearly shouts. “It is, Will. And now you’re suddenly defending him,
even though he’s homophobic-”

“He’s not homophobic, actually.”

“Okay.” Tobias pauses and looks at him. “Are you going to tell me why or am I going to have
to wait another four days to find out?”

Will lets out a huff of frustration. “I can’t tell you why. It’s… personal.”

“Oh wow, okay.” Tobias rubs his face with his hands. “So you have a secret with your
childhood friend of ten years that you can’t tell your boyfriend about- Will, this is the subplot
of every B-movie, and you know how they end? You know who the main character ends up
with? Every goddamn time?”

“I thought you only watched documentaries.”

“Will, I’m being serious here.” Tobias turns to him, his voice wavering. “Tell me, or- or we’re
done.”

“Done?”

“Breaking up.”

“Tobias-”

“I’m serious, Will.”

Will looks at him, his heart pounding. “I- fuck. He was really drunk when he said this. Like,
really drunk.”

“Oh my God.”

“And I don’t even think he meant it and I still don’t. He’s an idiot. And he broke up with El
which means he’s looking for a rebound-”

“Oh my God.”

“And he… he may have said he… likes me? As more than a friend.” Will swallows thickly,
avoiding eye contact, staring at the arcade wall clock. 9:03pm.

“Okay, that’s… that’s Mike.” Will realizes Tobias’ hands are shaking. “The important thing is
how you responded.”
“I said no.”

“You did?” Tobias sounds genuinely surprised.

Will looks at him, confused. “Of course I did. I’m dating you.”

“But if you weren’t dating me?”

“Tobias, what- what is this?” He splays his hands out. “What are you trying to get at?”

“Will, you should know what I’m trying to get at.” Tobias looks back down, twisting his
hands together. “I mean, you’re gay and your childhood best friend apparently confessed that
he likes you, a friend that I also happened to suspect that you liked at one point, before even
knowing all that, and you’re- you’re just answering with interview answers-”

“Interview answers?”

“And I can’t even tell what you really want. I feel like I can’t tell what’s going on inside your
head or if you’re just saying what I want to hear-”

“I don’t know!” Will nearly shouts. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I want.”

“Okay.” Tobias laughs again, that hysterical laugh again. “There it is. That’s what I wanted to
hear. You don’t know. You don’t know who to choose.”

“No, fuck.” Will brings a hand up to his forehead. “Look, Mike wasn’t even being serious. He
was drunk.”

“And if he is serious.” Tobias looks at him, his eyes wild. “If he did mean everything he
said?”

Will freezes, thinking. “I- how could I even make that decision?”

Tobias suddenly stands up. “Okay, that’s what I needed to hear. Thanks, Will.”

“What?”

“Thanks for telling me that someone else confessed their feelings to you and you can’t even
make that decision.”

Will realizes how bad the words sound said back to him. “Tobias, wait-”

Tobias pauses, leaning on at the edge of the table with his hands. “Imagine if I told you some
girl or guy told me they liked me and now I was at a loss for how to make that decision-”

Will’s heart sinks.

“Yeah, exactly.” Tobias pushes his glasses up. “Exactly, Will.” He pushes back from the
table. “I’m leaving.”

“But how will you get home?”

“Oh, so now you care?” Only then does Will realize how upset Tobias looks. “It doesn’t
matter. I’ll find a way. Remember, being smart is all I talk about. It’s my thing.”

Will marvels at his exact recollection of what Will said. And then he realizes. “Tobias, you’re
too good for me.”

“Will, don’t.”

“No, I mean it. I can’t- I can’t keep up with you. You’re too smart. Too intellectual. You
deserve better.”

“Don’t flatter me as a way of getting Mike instead.”

Will reels back. “That’s all you think- okay, forget it.” He turns away. “Find your way home,
then.”

“I will.” He hears Tobias turn away and when Will looks back, he’s walking out. He watches
him go, tears filling his eyes.

What just happened? He sits there uselessly, wiping his eyes, basically crying at a snack table
in the middle of an arcade. But he didn’t care, feeling guilty instead.

Was Tobias right? Was it weird that he didn’t tell him about making up with Mike? If realizing
Mike liked him and wasn’t homophobic could even be considered making up.

Why didn’t he tell Tobias about it? Did he really just forget? Even though they’ve hung out in
the meantime? But how could he forget something like that?

What if he really was trying to hide it? He swallows nervously.

Maybe because if Tobias knew, that would only lead him to one conclusion, one possible way
it could end up, but that’s not true because Will didn’t like Mike, because Mike had turned
into an asshole. A homophobic asshole.

No, he corrects himself from the automatic thought. He was just jealous.

And then his chest does this flutter and he squeezes his eyes shut. Stop. It doesn’t matter what
Mike felt, because he was too late. Will was dating Tobias and Tobias was great. Other than
the fact that he still didn’t know about the Upside Down because Will hadn’t told him yet…
still. And the fact that he ended every fight by walking off instead of trying to work things
out. And how complex his ideas could get sometimes where instead of asking for clarification
Will just zoned out for most of it. But that was all minor, compared to Mike’s selfishness and
impulsiveness and- and general Mikeness, which couldn’t be solved. It’s an easy choice for
anyone. Tobias is the right- he should be the right-

He sees movement out of the corner of his eye and looks up. It’s Mike walking toward him.
“Oh my God,” he mutters.

“Will, what-” Mike’s out of breath when he sits down across from him, and his eyes widen at
Will’s expression. “What did he do to you?”
“What?” Then Will realizes he was crying a few moments ago. He quickly wipes his eyes.
“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Mike echoes, looking downright angry. “Look, if he said or did anything-”

“He didn’t, Mike. Can you just leave?”

“Leave? What, like Tobias left you here?” Mike takes a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm
himself down. “I mean, what if you started floating?”

“You really think Vecna is going to get me on a Sunday night in a rundown arcade?”

Mike’s mouth quirks up, like Will made a joke. “Maybe.”

“Well he’s not. So you can go.”

“Not worth the risk.” Mike keeps looking at him, and they hold eye contact for a few
seconds. Will rips his gaze away, feeling his face heat up, and Mike clears his throat. “So,
where did everyone else go?”

Will takes a deep breath, letting the question distract him. “Dustin had some date with Suzie
planned. And Lucas and Max took off too. El went with them.”

Mike nods, although Will can tell he’s barely listening, his eyes still locked on Will’s. “Are
you okay?”

Will feels a lump in his throat. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“I should probably stop asking. I know you hate it when people keep asking.” He looks
around the room, restless, before his eyes land next to Will on the table. He twists his mouth
to the side. “He should’ve known you wanted the dragon.”

“What?”

Mike gestures to the stuffed cheetah, still sitting next to Will. “From the claw machine. You
probably wanted the dragon, right?”

Will’s mouth falls open. And then he closes it, a fresh wave of tears springing to his eyes.
“Damn it, Mike.”

Mike looks worried. “Will, what-”

“Stop making this so difficult.”

“Making what so difficult?”

“This decision,” Will snaps tearfully. “Stop saying things like that. And looking at me like
that.”

“How am I looking at you?”

“Like- like-” he stutters out. “You know how.”

“Will, I don’t-” he cuts off. “This- this is all so new to me.”

“This? There is no this,” Will cuts him off, motioning between them. “This isn’t a thing.”

“Not yet.” Will’s mouth drops open at his boldness. “Am I wrong?”

They stare at each other, in a stranded moment of silence, and Will rips his gaze away. “Is
Jonathan here yet?”

Mike deflates at the question, leaning back. “Yeah, he got here five minutes ago.”

“And you just left him out there?”

“I was going to get you guys, but I didn’t know Tobias had left you here.” Mike looks at him,
irritated.

Will stands up. “Okay. See you outside then.”

Mike glares at him. “See you outside.”

Will turns and heads toward the arcade doors before he can think any further, pushing them
open, and then beelining toward the main doors, where he can see Jonathan’s headlights
shining through the rainy glass. It’s raining outside?

He hardly hesitates as he runs outside, covering his head with his hands, and Jonathan leans
over, opening the passenger door for him. He quickly jumps in, greeted by the sound of
reggae music.

He scrunches up his face at it. “Is this from Argyle?”

Jonathan grimaces. “He gave it to me as a parting gift.”

“I figured.”

Jonathan laughs at that, and Will does too, but then the moment sinks in. Will stares blankly
out the windshield.

“Everything okay?”

Will blinks quickly. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Jonathan drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “Are we taking anyone else?”

Will freezes, and it’s like he has a whole moment where the car is a metaphor and he has to
choose who to take. Tobias, who is probably walking somewhere in the rain, and Mike, who’s
still angrily sitting at the snack table. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Jonathan raises an eyebrow, and Will can feel him looking at him. “How
do you not know?”
“I don’t know, Jonathan,” he snaps, dangerously close to tears. “I don’t know who we’re
taking.”

There’s a pause, and then Jonathan switches off the engine, and the reggae music goes silent.
“Will.” He turns toward him. “What’s going on?”

Will leans his elbow against the window, his hand in his hair. He stares out the rainy window,
seeing figures gathered outside, none of which looking like Mike or Tobias. “Lots of things.”

“Like?”

Fuck it. “Mike confessed his feelings.”

“Jesus Christ.”

He turns toward Jonathan, who’s looking horrified. “It was a few days ago. He was drunk.
Really drunk.”

“Okay…” Jonathan trails off. “So he didn’t mean-”

“But he’s sticking by it.” Will looks away, toward the anonymous figures again. “Alcohol
can’t last four days, can it?”

Jonathan pauses. “It can’t.”

“Fuck.” And now Will feels like he’s really going to cry. “I don’t know what to do.”

The silence is suffocating, and Will can practically feel Jonathan thinking. “Have you talked
to Tobias?”

“I told him just now.”

“At the arcade?”

“He figured it out.”

Jonathan swallows. “Himself?”

Will nods.

“Then that should be the first indicator.”

“Of what?”

“You guys don’t have open communication.”

“Jonathan.” Will’s throat stings. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.”

“I’m not a shitty boyfriend.”

“I didn’t say you were.” Jonathan goes quiet, like he has more to say. “Just… you might be in
this situation.” He pauses. “If it were Mike, you would’ve told everything-”

“Shut up.”

“Will, I’m serious-”

“Shut up, Jonathan.” And Will is actually going to cry.

“Hey,” Jonathan’s voice softens. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to-”

“Well you are.” A tear slips down his cheek. “You are. And I’m- I’m trying my best-” He
takes a deep breath. “But it’s so hard. I mean, I have the perfect boyfriend and then there’s
Mike and I just-” he shakes his head. “I just can’t-”

“It’s a hard decision,” Jonathan cuts in, looking at him insistently. “It is. And you already
know what I would say.” He reaches over, putting a hand on Will’s shoulder. “That I wish
you’d choose the guy who’s perfect, who puts a smile on your face, versus the guy who made
you cry for what, five years?”

“I don’t know when it started.”

He retracts his hand. “Okay, well the guy who caused you to sob in the back of a van in
Utah.” Will laughs despite himself. “But this is life.” He leans back, staring out the rainy
windshield. “And I know I told you before what I thought was right, but, I mean, it is your
life.” Jonathan turns, so he’s looking at him. “Only you know what’s right for you. And if it’s
Tobias…” he trails off, like his next words are important. “There wouldn’t even be a debate.”

The words sink in, and Will leans his head against the window, a few more tears falling down
his cheeks. “I hate Mike.”

“You’re not the only one.” Jonathan sounds amused, but also frustrated. “He’s got a grip on
you for sure.”

“A grip on me,” Will repeats, sardonically. Then he looks out the window. “I think we’re
picking up Mike. I don’t know where Tobias went. I… might have told him to find his own
way home.” He turns toward Jonathan. “We got into a fight.”

“You did?”

Will nods. “After he figured out Mike and I made up because we were ‘looking at each other
so much,’ he thought it was suspicious that I didn’t already tell him about it, so I… told him.
That we ‘made up’ because Mike wasn’t homophobic anymore. Because apparently he ‘likes
me.’ Even though he was drunk and broke up with El but still, even knowing all that he…”
He inhales sharply. “He didn’t take it well.”

“I can imagine,” Jonathan replies immediately. Will looks at him curiously.

“You can imagine?”

Jonathan looks at him and looks away again. “It’s nothing.”

“No, tell me,” Will says, eager for a subject change.

He sighs. “Nancy told me about a conversation she had with Steve, back in Hawkins.
Something about a how he had a dream about a Winnebago RV where he could travel the
country with him and Nancy’s six little nuggets.”

Will snorts. “Six little nuggets?”

“Word for word. And I know it sounds stupid but… at least he had a plan. Any sort of plan.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “Wait, was Nancy into it?”

“No,” Jonathan scoffs. “God no. She wants to focus on her journalism career and stay in
Hawkins. And definitely not have six babies. Let alone be cramped in an RV with them.”

“Okay,” Will says unsurely. “So then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that I don’t know what I’m doing!” Jonathan rushes out. “I graduated and
I’m accepted into Lenora Community College but Nancy is going to Emerson and I’m not
going with her and she doesn’t know it-”

“Still?”

“Yeah, still Will. You’re not the only one that keeps secrets.” Jonathan huffs out a breath,
gripping the steering wheel. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I mean…” Will trails off. “You’ve got some time. We’re in the middle of an
apocalypse. No one is thinking about higher education right now.”

“But they will, eventually.” Jonathan looks down. “And I have a feeling that at the end of all
this, I still won’t have an answer.”

Will goes silent, staring out the window. “You don’t have to stay here. Or there, if we end up
moving back to California. Mom and I will be fine.”

“But who’s going to pick you up from the arcade?”

Will rolls his eyes. “You know I don’t have any friends in California.”

Jonathan casts him a sympathetic glance. “Okay… but who’s going to keep Mom sane?”

“Hopper.”

“God, don’t say that.”

Will laughs at that, then turns toward him. “Look, whatever you decide, it’ll be okay. Either
you and Nancy end up at the same college, or you do long distance, which… well, I guess
Wheelers aren’t the best at that.”
 Jonathan snorts. “They really aren’t.”

“They’re not the best at close distance either.”

Jonathan laughs at that, really laughs, and Will feels himself relax. “Look,” Jonathan turns
toward him, getting back to the original subject. “I just don’t want you to ever feel like this.
Like you made a choice and can’t go back to something that would’ve been better for you.”

Will swallows thickly. “You think Mike would be a bad boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend? Think about how he’s been as a friend.” When Will goes silent, he continues.
“Choosing bad runs in the family. Our mom-”

“So that applies to Nancy?” he asks defensively.

“I don’t know yet. I… I don’t know yet.”

It goes silent, the rain pounding on the glass. Jonathan doesn’t know yet. And to be honest,
neither does he.

He just hopes that eventually he would.

Chapter End Notes

This is part 1 of the "arcade scene" as I call it. I had to split it in two since it's so long,
and also I'm making some changes to the second one (namely making Tobias angrier cuz
I wrote him way too chill/accepting in the first version lmao).

Right now this fanfiction is set at 25 chapters (it was originally 20) which I think is
pretty accurate! I'll adjust as things change :)

Hope you enjoyed!!

 Chapter 19
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Mike sighs, checking his watch. 9:20pm. Will’s been gone for over 10 minutes. He sighs,
standing up. If he wasn’t coming back to talk, they’d have to do it in the car. Or after getting
home. He feels a surge of pride that Will lives with him at his house, with Tobias down the
street. Because it meant Mike was the one who saw Will in the kitchen first thing in the
morning, when his hair was still mussed up. Mike was the one who would see him in the
afternoon, painting or watching a movie, when he wasn’t at Tobias’. Mike was the one who
would hear Will in the middle of the night when he had a nightmare, and used to be the one
he would go to. That would change. He’d tell him he was open to Will knocking on his door
again. That he wanted him to. That he wanted to hug him, to have Will feel safe in his arms.
Sometimes he felt like he needed those hugs as much as Will did.

He shakes himself out of his thoughts, heading out to the arcade lobby. He sees headlights
shining through the glass. That had to be Jonathan’s car.

Just as he’s walking toward it, he sees Tobias, standing near a potted plant in the lobby.
“You’re still here?” he blurts out.

Tobias turns and sees him, then narrows his eyes. “Yeah. I needed a ride. I can’t walk in this.”
Mike sees it’s raining.

“Okay. I need a ride too.” He pauses. “Why aren’t you with Will?”

“Why aren’t you with Will?”

Mike reels back. “Because he’s being a bit of an asshole tonight.”

“Wonder why,” Tobias says sarcastically, then glares at Mike. “So, when was I supposed to
find out?”

Mike stares at him. “Find what out?”

“That you like Will.”

Will told him that? “Um.” His mind goes blank. “You weren’t,” he replies dumbly.

“Right.” Tobias laughs, then takes off his glasses and cleans them on his shirt. “Right. Okay.”

“No, I mean-” Mike squeezes his eyes shut, begging himself just to think. “I just found out
four days ago.”

“You found out?” Tobias asks, putting his glasses back on. “How did you just find out? You
basically spent the last month sabotaging our relationship.”
“I thought I was homophobic.”

“There’s no way you can be that dense, Mike.”

Mike mutters. “I surprise myself daily.”

Tobias snorts out a laugh at that, and Mike looks up. The tension lifts, slightly. “The dangers
of lacking self-awareness.”

Mike gives a half smile at that, then takes a deep breath. “But I’m aware now, so.” He clears
his throat. “So.”

Tobias looks at him. “So?”

Mike rolls his eyes. Wasn’t it obvious? “So I can take over now.”

“Take over?” He’s in disbelief. “Mike it doesn’t work like that.”

And the words are out of Mike’s mouth before he can stop them. “It does if Will liked me for
years.”

Tobias goes silent, and then his voice is a whisper. “Years?”

Guilt immediately shoots through Mike. He shouldn’t have said that. “I mean, I’m guessing,
based off what Will told me. Not in those exact words, but…” He squints, trying to remember
the words. “That it was always me, but I was too stupid to realize-”

“Yeah, I get it,” Tobias says tersely. He takes a deep breath, says to himself. “I knew it.”

“Tobias-”

He doesn’t hear him. “I saw the signs, but I ignored them. I thought I was just paranoid or
insecure but-”

“It’s not like it’s over,” Mike rushes out, not knowing why he was trying to comfort him.
“Will still hasn’t made a decision.”

“Yet.” Tobias looks at him, and his gaze is hurt. “Fuck, Mike. Why couldn’t you guys have
figured this out before? Why’d you have to drag me into it?”

“We… we didn’t know?” he replies dumbly, then cringes at his response. “I don’t know, I
mean-” He looks around for a distraction. “Is that Jonathan’s car outside?”

Tobias shrugs. “Probably.” His voice drops. “Based on how Will passed by me without
saying a word and got into it.”

“Hey, he probably didn’t see you.”

“Even better.”
Mike swallows thickly, not knowing why he felt so bad. This was Will’s boyfriend. His
competition. The guy Will was currently trying to make a decision between. He should be
hurling insults at him or beating him to the car or just be in a general jealous rage. But instead
he was rooted to the spot. He clears his throat. “At least we’re in the same boat.”

“What?”

“You know.” He pauses. “Hanging on the edge of Will’s decision.”

Tobias goes quiet, facing front again. “Mike, we both know he’s already made the decision.”

“No,” Mike shakes his head. “I talked to him, fifteen minutes ago. He was undecided. Torn
about it.”

Tobias goes quiet again, thinking. “God, why does this feel like the finale to a game show?”

“What?”

“Like this is the final round of a game show or something.”

Mike coughs out a laugh at that. “It actually does.”

Tobias pushes up his glasses. “We made it to the final two.”

“The only two.” Then Mike hesitates. “Well, there was some guy named Ben in California. El
said they had a strong friendship.”

“Oh God, don’t even.”

And Mike is smiling despite himself, at the fact that someone could relate to him. “I didn’t
ask for any more information.”

“A smart move.”

Mike turns toward the glass doors again, lost in thought, imagining what Will and Jonathan
could possibly be talking about. If they were talking about him. If it was good or bad.

He can feel Tobias looking at him out of the field of his vision. “You’re going to win, Mike.”

“Tobias-”

“No, I mean it,” Tobias looks down. “It’s obvious. I should’ve seen it from the beginning.
He’s always liked you. And I think I was just a… a distraction. An escape from the
heartbreak.” He grimaces. “Someone to take away the pain for a little bit.”

Mike scrunches up his eyebrows. “That’s just not true.”

“It is. And if you don’t believe it, you’re just as naïve as I was.” Tobias shakes his head,
looking away. “I mean 10 years against one month? I never stood a chance.”

“Tobias-”
“I can say all the right things and be the smartest guy in the room but none of it matters if I’m
not Mike Wheeler,” he says sarcastically, but Mike can tell there’s hurt underneath it. “And
you put in no effort at all, you fuck it up even, and Will still-” he huffs. “He still likes you. A
lot. It’s…” He shakes his head. “We might’ve had a chance if you didn’t-” he gestures
vaguely. “Suddenly turn gay.”

“I didn’t suddenly turn gay,” Mike says defensively. “I’m bi.” He clears his throat
uncomfortably, the word being new to him. “Bisexual.”

“Yes, I’m aware of the acronym.”

Mike just looks at him. “Look, I…” he gives up, sighing. “I’m sorry. I should’ve realized all
this earlier.”

“Yes, you should’ve.”

“But I mean, can you blame me?” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Liking guys isn’t exactly
the easiest thing to come to terms with. Especially when, you know, I always liked girls, so
I-”

“You could get away with it,” Tobias finishes, nodding. “Right. But with me and Will,” his
voice turns sad again. “When you only like guys, it’s something you can’t ignore.”

Mike purses his lips together. “Right.” He looks at Tobias and looks away again, his
conscious nagging at him. “I… look, I have no idea who Will’s going to choose at the end of
this, but if this messes up your relationship-”

Tobias laughs. “If.”

“-then I just want you to know that I’m sorry. And this is my fault. All of it.” He looks away,
back toward the glass doors. “I mean, I spent my whole childhood not knowing part of me
likes Will. Then I think I’m homophobic as soon as he starts dating you. And then I figure out
my feelings when you’re at the height of your relationship and probably on the road to
buying a promise ring or something-”

Tobias snorts. “We weren’t on the road to buying a promise ring.”

“Yeah, but-”

“And we weren’t at the height of our relationship either,” Tobias continues and Mike goes
quiet. Tobias hesitates. “Even if you ignore the main issue of you, Will and I still had
certain… incompatibilities.”

Mike scrunches up his eyebrows. “Incompatibilities?”

Tobias nods. “Even though we both like art, mine is more of a fascination with the history of
it. The sociocultural side. Whereas Will just likes…” he trails off. “Y’know, painting.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Mike says defensively.

Tobias rolls his eyes. “I know, Wheeler, calm down. It’s not an insult, just an observation.”
He goes silent again, thinking. “And he’s so… passive. Have you noticed that?”

Mike crosses his arms. So they were really going to talk about this. “What, like submissive?”

“No, Mike- what?” Tobias turns to him. “Passive. It means go with the flow, yielding. Not-”
He pauses. “Well, I mean technically yes.”

“Oh.” Mike feels himself flush.

“In the sense that he goes along with plans easily, and doesn’t always speak up for what he
wants.” He looks at Mike. “Is that what you meant?”

“Yeah,” Mike fumbles. “Yeah, yeah. It is.”

Tobias rolls his eyes. “Okay, fine. He’s submissive in that sense too, if you must know.”

“Fuck. Okay, alright.” Mike rubs his eyes with his fingers. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Tobias looks at him tiredly. “Anyways, what I was trying to say is that he’s passive,
in daily life.” Tobias pushes up his glasses. “Always going with the flow. Like he wants the
other person to take the lead and he’ll just do what you suggest and you can’t even tell if he’s
really enjoying himself. And I… I don’t even know if I’m doing it right. Any of it. I’ve never
had a boyfriend before.” He pauses, thinking to himself. “I don’t even know if he really
wanted the haircut.”

“It was a good idea,” Mike rushes out.

Tobias looks at him, and then smiles slightly. “It was, wasn’t it?”

They both laugh together for a moment, and wow, Mike is really interacting with someone
who likes Will and not losing his shit.

“Um,” he clears his throat, feeling generous. “I think you did a good job. You know, being
Will’s first boyfriend. He seemed happy. Like, he was in a whole cloud nine for the first
month.”

Tobias nods. “Getting drunk on potential. The hallmark first stage of a relationship.”

Mike thinks back to when he first met El, the words oddly relatable. “Right.” He looks down
at the ground. “But then you realize you’re not soulmates. You’re just two people. People
who happened to meet, to- to land on each other’s doorstep and it’s not fate, it’s just life.”

Tobias goes silent. “That was uncharacteristically insightful.”

“El and I broke up.”

Tobias nods. “Will told me earlier.”

“It was a few days ago. And mutual.”

“Because of Will?”

“Because of… a lot of things. But Will was the tipping point.” Mike sighs, running a hand
through his hair. “I think we had certain incompatibilities too.”

Tobias nods, pursing his lips together. “When I saw you guys, you didn’t seem to have much
chemistry.”

“Okay, let’s not go that far-”

They’re interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. It’s Will, rushing in and looking
disheveled. His eyes widen when he sees them. “Oh, you’re both here. And… talking.” He
says the last part like a question.

“We are.” Tobias’ words are icy.

Will looks nervous, still hovering by the door. “Jonathan’s car is outside.”

“Is that an invitation for both of us or only the one that doesn’t need to find their own way
home?”

“It’s for both of you.” Will looks at Tobias, then at Mike, then blinks quickly, flustered. “Just
come out.” Then he leaves, the door shutting behind him.

Tobias rolls his eyes at Mike. “The irony of Will telling us to come out.”

Mike pauses for a second, then snorts at he realizes. “Right.”

“Well,” Tobias takes a deep breath. “You ready for the finale?”

Mike twists his mouth into a smile. “I think I am.” They walk toward the doors. “Y’know, I
think we could’ve been friends if we met in a different way.”

“Really?” Tobias looks at him. “Because I don’t.”

“Yeah,” Mike laughs out. “Honestly, I don’t either.”

They push open the glass doors and are met by the falling rain.

Mike stares out the window on the ride home. So far it’s been silence, Jonathan asking about
their night, silence and more silence. He can sense Will’s nervousness from the passenger
seat in front of him, but has no urge to do anything about it. If anything, he’s siding with
Tobias, who’s sitting next to him, who just like him is currently hanging in the brink between
heartbreak and elation.
A few minutes later, they turn onto Mike’s street, his house coming into view. Jonathan
reflexively starts to slow down.

“Actually,” Tobias speaks up. “You can drop me off at my house.”

“Okay,” Jonathan replies evenly.

It goes silent.

“Will,” Tobias talks again, but this time Mike can sense some hesitation. “Is… are you good
with that?”

Will nods from the passenger seat, and his voice comes out shaky. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Tobias sounds disappointed. “Cool. Um, Jonathan just drop me off up there,” he
adds unnecessarily.

Jonathan nods, continuing to drive down the rest of the street, and the tension is palpable.
Mike shrinks back into his seat, part of him wishing that El was here. She was always good at
breaking up some of the hostility, just by being there. Now it was a bunch of strong
personalities in one cramped car.

A few seconds later, they pull into Tobias’ driveway, and Jonathan puts the car in park.

“So, this is it.” Tobias slowly unbuckles his seatbelt, popping the door open, his eyes locked
on Will who’s refusing to look at him. “I’m heading out now.”

Will doesn’t say anything, and Mike can see him playing with his fingers nervously.

“Will,” Tobias says again, and Mike almost feels bad for him. This really was a competition
and Tobias is clearly losing, and this is the moment he’s realizing it, that Will was going
home with Mike, that he was barely responding to Tobias, that he probably made his decision
already. Now Tobias will have the shut the car door and head back to his house realizing him
and Will pretty much broke up. Mike couldn’t imagine being in his situation, and he wishes
him the best-

“Alright, I can’t do this,” Tobias says again. “Will, can we at least talk about this?”

Mike jolts his head up. “Talk about what?”

Tobias glares at him. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He cuts his eyes back to Will, who’s now
turned and looking at Tobias. “C’mon Will. We can’t leave it like this.”

“You can.”

“Mike, for the love of God-”

“I’ll talk,” Will cuts in, his voice soft, and Mike’s stomach drops.

“Okay.” Tobias relaxes, nodding. “Good.”

Tobias starts to get out of the car but Mike leans over, whispering harshly. “What are you
doing? I thought you said I was going to win this- this game show or whatever.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a game show.” He hops out of the car. “And there’s always twists at the
end. That’s how they keep their ratings up.” He smirks at him slightly. “Tactics of modern
day television.” And then he shuts the door. Mike sits there, momentarily stunned.

“Mike.” Mike jumps, almost forgetting Jonathan was in the car. “Why don’t you take a seat
up here?”

He looks up and realizes the passenger seat is empty. Which means Will went with Tobias.
He huffs. “I’m fine. I’ll just stay back here.”

“No. I want to talk to you.”

Mike knocks his head back on the seat. Jesus Christ, could this day get any worse? “Okay,
fine, fine,” he mumbles. He pops his own door open and shuts it with more force than
necessary. And then he hears laughter. Will and Tobias are walking toward the front door and
somehow Will is laughing. When just a few seconds ago he was pretty much depressed.
What the hell had Tobias told him? Why was he so smooth all the time? No one could have
that much charm without having some secret at the bottom of it-

There’s a knocking on the window. “Wheeler,” Jonathan’s voice is muffled through the glass.
“I don’t have all day.”

He rolls his eyes, opening the car door. “Everyone has all day. It’s an apocalypse.” He ducks
in and closes the door. The corner of Jonathan’s mouth turns up at his comment, before he
schools his features again, like this was about to be a serious talk. Oh God.

Jonathan puts the car in reverse and starts slowly backing out. Mike stares at Tobias’ front
door, which just closed behind the two of them, and his chest aches. What if they ended up
patching things up? What if Will fell into his charm again and they ended up better than
ever? More importantly, what if Vecna appeared and Will started floating and he was trapped
in a house with someone who had no idea what was going on because Will could never be
honest with him about anything, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg of the problems in their
relationship-

“Mike,” Jonathan cuts in, looking at him. “You alright?”

He blinks at him. “I’m fine.”

Jonathan nods, even though he looks like he doesn’t believe him. And then he goes silent,
drumming his hands on the wheel, seemingly building up courage to something. “Can I tell
you a story?”

“A story?” Mike scrunches up his eyebrows. “Uh, sure.”

Jonathan nods, putting the car in drive. They start driving down the street. “You know Will
and I’s mom? Well, when she was young, she was pretty. Really pretty. I’ve seen the pictures.
And she probably had tons of guys going after her, you know?” He looks at Mike briefly.
“But you know who she chose?”

“Lonnie,” Mike cuts in. “Look, I know this. Will told me-”

“She chose who was wrong for her.” It goes silent.

Mike looks at him, confused. “I know. And he was a terrible father and called Will names-”

Jonathan nods quickly, like that wasn’t important. “I know. But before that, back when they
were dating, there were always red flags- little warning signs that people pointed out to her.
Like how he got angry so quickly or didn’t like when she’d stay out late.”

Mike listened. This was new information.

“And important people pointed these things out to her. Her friends. Her mom- our
grandmother, technically. But she didn’t listen.”

Was this about Tobias? Did Jonathan finally pick up on some of Tobias’ red flags?

“Maybe even her best friend told her these things,” Mike chimes in.

“Uh, yeah, yeah. People she should’ve listened to, but she never did. I mean, they got
married. Had two kids.” Jonathan chuckles bitterly. “You know the rest.”

“Right.”

“And you know, there was another way this could’ve been prevented.”

“If they never met?”

“It’s too late for that,” Jonathan says absentmindedly, turning and pulling into their driveway.
“I mean, it was too late for that,” he catches himself. He looks at Mike, nervous. “If our mom
wouldn’t listen, someone could’ve went to the other half of the relationship. To Lonnie
instead and told him not to pursue her.”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Mike says unsurely.

“And if I could go back in time somehow, to before I was born, and make that happen
somehow I would. But I can’t. All I can do is make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, you
know?” He puts the car in park, but doesn’t move to get out.

Mike nods eagerly, finally understanding where Jonathan was going with this. “So you’re
going to tell Tobias?”

“Tobias? What? No.” Jonathan chuckles. “That would be like telling Hopper in this
situation.”

Mike heart slowly sinks as he realizes. “No.”

“Mike-”

“No.” He blinks quickly. “No. Jonathan don’t-” He pauses. “Don’t compare me to Lonnie.”

“I’m not comparing you to Lonnie, it’s just the situation-”

“Bullshit.”

“-of Will debating whether to choose someone who’s causing him a lot of heartache-”

“Heartache?”

“-when he has a perfectly good boyfriend-“

“He’s not perfect! Fuck, Jonathan.” He rubs his face with his hands. “I can’t believe this is
happening.”

“Mike, it’s nothing personal,” Jonathan tries to sound comforting, but it just infuriates Mike
more.

He throws up his hands. “What- what even are my red flags?”

“You didn’t write for a year, you hardly called, Will’s cried over you more times than I can
count on one hand-”

“I apologized for all that! I know I fucked up-”

“Not to mention the fact that you’re literally homophobic.”

Mike goes silent at that. “I’m not homophobic.” Jonathan just stares at him, not looking that
surprised but also not like he believes him either.

“You’re not?” he asks slowly.

“I wasn’t homophobic, I was jealous of Will and Tobias. The whole time, apparently.” He
slides down in his seat. “That’s why I couldn’t stand to see two men together or whatever.”

“So you realized you also like guys, and were jealous that they could be open about it-”

“No! I realized that I like Will, Jonathan! You don’t have to play dumb. I realized I like Will-
or as you see it I liked Joyce-”

“Mike-”

“And now I’m getting compared to his abusive father,” his voice starts to shake. “When no
one cares about Will’s well-being more than me.” He pauses. “I mean, do you even know
where he is right now? With a guy who knows nothing about the Upside Down or Vecna or
what to do if he starts floating, that’s where.”

“He’s planning to tell Tobias soon.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Mike looks at him angrily. “Look, forget it. This isn’t the 1800s; I don’t
need the blessing of the family. I just need Will’s.”

“And he’ll probably give it to you!” Jonathan nearly shouts. “Which is why you need to take
yourself out of the running. It’s messing with his head.”

“And why do you think it’s messing with his head?” Mike matches his volume. “Because he
needs me. What, you want him to stay in a relationship that he almost left for another one?”

“I want him to stay in a relationship that he’s safe in, where I can trust the person not to break
his heart.”

“I’m not going to break his heart!”

“You already did, Mike. I mean-” Jonathan runs a hand through his hair agitated. “What do
you expect me to do?”

“I expect you to believe me.”

“Yeah, well me believing promise after promise after a history of broken promises is
reminding me of how Will and I got here in the first place,” he snaps, his chest heaving. “And
if there’s even the slightest chance, even a hint of that happening again, I’m not going to take
it.”

“Jonathan-”

“Look,” Jonathan turns to him insistently. “If you really care about Will, if you really want
him to be happy-” He takes a deep breath, staring outside. “Let him be with someone who’s
good for him-”

“I am good for him-”

“This whole time, I mean. Not ups and downs, not fighting and then making up again,
someone who was dependable and consistent from the beginning.”

Mike freezes, not having a counterargument. “Fuck, Jonathan-”

“He deserves better, Mike.” Mike goes silent, the words cutting deep inside of him.
Jonathan’s refusing to look at him. “Don’t you agree?”

Mike avoids his eyes, a feeling of guilt gnawing in his stomach. Like he wasn’t heroically
fighting for Will. Like he was being selfish. What if Tobias really was better for Will? Nicer
and smarter and- and perfect. “Okay, yeah, he probably deserves better and I should
probably let him go but I can’t-” his voice cracks, and tears fill his eyes.

Jonathan turns to him, his eyes wide. “Hey, Mike-”

“I- I know I always talk about how he needs me, but I need him. When you guys moved away
and I was left in Hawkins I… I don’t know, I felt so alone.” He shakes his head. “And it
didn’t make any sense because I had Dustin and Lucas and a bunch of other new high school
friends, and El and I were in constant communication, practically-” He laughs, and it turns
into a sob. “But it’s because Will wasn’t there. I know that now.”

Jonathan stares at him, looking almost confused. “Okay, that’s great if that’s true, but the
debate is whether Will-”

“Whether Will needs me. I know,” Mike finishes. “I know. And he does. All those times he
had nightmares-”

“Mike, that was years ago.”

“The recent ones.”

“Recent ones?” Jonathan blinks in confusion. “He’s been having recent ones?”

“Yes. The past few weeks.” Mike pauses, trying not to get distracted. “He needs me because-”
He bites his lip, debating whether or not to say this. “Fuck. He was calling out my name,
Jonathan. Right before he woke up. Every time I’ve heard him.”

Jonathan pauses. “Mike.”

“What?”

Jonathan takes a deep breath. “Have you ever considered that maybe you were the
nightmare?”

Mike almost thinks he’s joking. He has to be. But when he looks at Jonathan, he’s dead
serious. “Jonathan- what?”

“I’m just saying, you cause him a lot of heartache during the day, so it’s not that crazy to
assume-”

“Okay,” Mike lets out a bitter laugh. “Wow.” He pops open the car door, getting out. “You
really don’t know me at all.”

“Mike-”

He turns back. “I’ll prove it to you. I’m not like Lonnie, I’m not even close to him, because I-
I care about Will so much-” His voice breaks. “So much I feel like I can’t stand it sometimes.
Like I’m going crazy over it. Over him. And yeah, we had our ups and downs. But that’s just
what happens in friendship that’s what, eleven years long? And yeah, it took me a while to
realize my feelings, but that’s because I had a girlfriend and we live in a homophobic society
and I didn’t even know Will liked me!” His chest is heaving. “And now that I know all this, I
can’t just sit back and do nothing! Even if he has a perfect boyfriend and you think he
deserves better than me because it’s Will’s decision.” He motions down the street. “And he
might not even choose me. Which is- is fine.” His eyes fill with tears. “But I can still prove it
to him somehow.”

“Mike,” Jonathan says after a pause. “Just let him go.”

 “No.” Mike wraps his arms around himself, feeling vulnerable. “No, I can’t. I just- I need to
prove it to him and it’ll fix everything.”

“Mike.” Jonathan says again. “It’s over.”

Mike barely hears him, mind spinning back to the eight months they were separated. To his
feelings. His weirdly strong feelings that he stuffed down and- and stored in the drawer in his
desk, the second one from the bottom. His eyes light up. It’s not over.

“What?”

Did he say that out loud? “It’s not over, Jonathan. I- I can prove it to him.” Ideas and pictures
start springing into his mind, forming together, forming into a plan.

“If you have to prove it to him, that means it’s not-”

“I have to go!”

“Mike-”

But he’s already heading back toward the house, toward the front door, toward his room,
toward the second drawer from the bottom. Toward the thing he could show Will to make
him realize. Realize that he cared. That he always did. And then his mind is spinning with
more ideas, of ways he could show Will, ways he could prove it. And then he’s smiling,
because now he knows.

He’s going to win this game show.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you guys enjoyed!!

As always I love reading the comments- I've seen Mike defenders, Tobias defenders,
Mike haters, Tobias haters, people saying Will shouldn't pick either and focus on
himself, and even giving Mike another love interest. Ya'll are blowing my mind because
when I first wrote this I was so convinced that everyone would love Tobias more than
Mike and I'd have to grapple with that, but all your guys' perspectives have me seeing
things differently haha. I swear every character has good intentions, they just get in their
own way sometimes and have insecurities/fears that drag them down and cause them to
act out in different ways!

Anyways let me know what ya'll think! <3

 Chapter 20
Chapter Summary

Will finally makes a decision.

It’s breakfast the next morning and Will is poking at his cereal, sitting at the kitchen table.
Usually he’s not up this early, especially after how late him and Tobias stayed up talking, but
he could barely sleep last night.

A break.

Him and Tobias were taking a break.

He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, only that it felt like the best option after they talked
in circles for nearly an hour, Tobias asking questions but never being satisfied with any of the
answers and Will not even knowing what the right answer was.

So then Tobias brought it up. A break. Three days of no contact. Of reflecting, as he put it.
And Will wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, or what good could come of them leaving
things how they were for three days and coming back expecting things to magically change,
but he agreed anyway, if anything just because he was getting tired.

And so they agreed on it and he walked home, riddled with guilt and confusion and anger at
Mike. Guilt that he was hurting Tobias. Confusion about why his mind was so muddled, so
blank, like he was afraid to even begin thinking because he didn’t want to know where it
would end up. And the anger was the worst part of all, the feeling that he wanted to scream at
Mike and push him away and then pull him back again… or something. All he knew was that
there was only one thing worse than the pain Mike caused by not liking him back for years,
and that was liking him only after he got into a relationship at a good guy, so now he was
breaking another heart in the process. And he… he hated Mike for it.

“Will.” He looks up, seeing Mrs. Wheeler smiling politely at him. “You enjoying your
cereal?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

And a consequence of being up this early is that now he’s sitting at a table with none other
than both of Mike’s parents. He looks at the clock. It’s only 8am? He should’ve stayed in his
room. Or if anything, taken the cereal back to his room, but he didn’t want to be rude. But
now he was sitting at a kitchen table where both of Mike’s parents kept randomly looking at
him- even Ted, above his newspaper- who Will doesn’t think has ever acknowledged him in
his entire life, and it was such a weird situation that Will was seriously considering leaving,
half-finished cereal be damned-

And then Mike walks in.

“Oh. Hey guys.” He looks between Will and his parents, looking just as uncomfortable as
Will did.

“Hi, honey,” his mom answers. “Why are you up this early?”

“No reason.” Then Mike looks out the window, where it was starting to rain. “Shit, is it
supposed to rain today?”

“Language,” Ted says.

“It’s supposed to rain later on,” his mom says. “Why?”

Mike’s eyes dart at Will and then away again, nervous. “Nothing, forget it. I didn’t think
anyone would be up.” Then he shifts uncomfortably, and it’s like another thought comes
through his head. “Wait, what were you guys talking about?”

His mom frowns. “Nothing. Will was just eating breakfast.”

Mike looks at her and they hold eye contact with her for a second, having some silent
conversation, before he relents. “Okay.”

“Were you headed somewhere?”

Mike looks out the window again. “No.”

“Well, do you want to take a seat with Will-”

“I’m done, actually,” Will cuts in, holding up his bowl. “Just finished.”

“Oh.” Mrs. Wheeler looks at him, surprised. “Did you like it?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “Yeah. Good cereal.” Good cereal, what kind of line was that? He had to
get out of here. He stands up, turning to leave, when he hears Mrs. Wheeler’s voice again.
“So Will, before you go.” She wipes her hands on a dish towel. “How are things going
between you and Tobias?”

Will freezes. “Uh…” He sees Mike giving her a death glare. “Not bad. I mean, we’re-” he
stumbles over his words. “We’re on a break right now. As of last night.”

“That doesn’t sound promising,” Ted mumbles, still looking at his newspaper.

Mike looks mortified.

“I guess it’s not?”

“Will, just get out of here. They’re being idiots.” Mike’s refusing to look at him.
Will looks between Mike and his parents, confused, before deciding to take Mike up on the
offer to get out of there. “Right. See you guys.” And before he can think any further, he heads
out of the kitchen.

Ever since that morning in the kitchen, Mike had been acting weird. First off, Mrs. Wheeler’s
suspicion that Mike was heading somewhere that morning was right, because Will runs into
him twice later that day as he’s coming back inside from the garage, beads of rainwater on his
raincoat, hair distractingly damp.

And then the next day, it happens again. From the living room window, he sees Mike bike
down the driveway, his backpack looking stuffed to its limit. Was something happening with
Vecna? Was the Party meeting to plan something? Was Mike not telling him to keep him safe
or some bullshit?

His suspicions are pretty much confirmed when he hears Mike asking his mom in the kitchen
if they have any “waterproof lights, like Christmas lights.” Yep, they were definitely trying to
communicate with the Upside Down.

Mike’s mom tells him to check the basement and when Mike walks out of the kitchen, Will
stops him in the doorway. “Okay, what is going on?”

Mike startles, looking at him with wide eyes. “What? Uh- nothing.”

“You’re acting suspicious.”

“You’ve noticed?”

Will blinks quickly. “I mean, yeah.”

Mike looks down, smiling to himself, before he looks back up at Will. “Don’t worry about
it.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Will echoes, looking around. “Mike, if this is about the Upside Down
I want to be involved.”

“It’s not.”

“You don’t have to protect me-”

“Really, Will, it’s not. It’s-” he stutters. “It’s a good thing, actually. Hopefully.” Then he looks
nervous. “Just trust me, okay?”

The moment suddenly feels intimate and then he’s agreeing without meaning to. “Okay.”
What the hell? Why did he-
“Good.” Mike smiles at him, with that fond look in his eyes that Will isn’t used to, before
he’s gone again, heading toward the basement, his feet echoing down the steps. Will stands
there for a second, mind blank, before he eventually heads back to his room.

The day after that isn’t any better. Mike is acting even more suspicious, if that’s even
possible, probably because he doesn’t have to hide it from Will anymore. He’s biked back
and forth from the house at least three times before noon, and another five times before
dinnertime. Not that Will’s noticing. Not that he’s been checking out his window out of the
corner of his eye while he works on a painting he doesn’t really care about, peaking through
the blinds only to see Mike carrying a radio or stuffing a binder into his backpack or at one
point even carrying a Ziploc bag of quarters.

Mike has always been hard to understand, but this was just impossible. If it wasn’t for the
Upside Down, what could it be? Their friends hadn’t hung out in the past three days, since
the arcade night, and no one has called Will or said anything through the Walkie Talkies. El
was acting normal and so was Jonathan, and Will was always good at seeing what people
were really thinking. Which meant this was Mike’s secret. No one except him knew what he
was planning.

Will bites his lip, replaying what Mike said yesterday in his mind.

“It’s a good thing, hopefully. Just trust me, okay?”

And why did he look so nervous when he said that? Was all this… for him?

Will shakes his head, not letting himself get that far. For all he knew, Mike was making some
extravagant D&D campaign. That would explain the binder, at least.

But no, Mike had lost interest in that last summer, and they’d barely played any games since
him and El had gotten back to Hawkins. Or no games at all, actually. Or maybe only one?
Will couldn’t really remember, this past month has been a blur-

The phone in his room suddenly rings and he’s taken out of his thoughts. Grateful for the
distraction, he stands up from behind his easel and sits in his desk chair, taking the phone off
the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Will?” It’s Tobias’ voice.

Will straightens up, the swivel chair creaking. “Tobias, hey.”

“Hey.” Tobias pauses for a second, like he’s waiting for Will to say something. “Um, how are
you feeling?”
“Good.”

“That’s good. But about the break, I mean.”

“Oh.” Will blinks quickly. Has it been three days already? He checks his calendar. Day 3. At
10pm. Tobias was probably waiting for him to call. “Good. Good.”

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“No, of course not.” And Will hates the fakeness in his voice. He sighs. “Okay, yeah, maybe
a little. But I’ve been thinking about it. Um, reflecting.”

“Reflecting,” Tobias repeats like he doesn’t believe him.

“Yeah.”

“And what have you come up with?” And Tobias already sounds checked out, like he knows
how this is going to go, and Will wants to impress him, he wants to prove him wrong, but his
mind comes up blank.

“Lots of things.”

“Will…”

“No, really.” He thinks for a second, feeling like he’s back in class. “This- this break. This
pause in time. Time has passed. 72 hours. Three days. No contact, but we’re thinking about
each other, so in a way we are together-”

“You sound like me trying to reach the word count in an essay.”

Will snorts at that. And then he feels a wave of admiration toward Tobias, fondness almost,
and he clutches the receiver in his hands. “I’m sorry. I’ve- I’ve been distracted.”

“By Mike?”

Will goes silent. “By… lots of things.”

“But mainly Mike.”

“Tobias.”

Tobias sighs, and then it goes quiet on the receiver. They stay like that for a moment and
when Tobias talks again his voice is soft. “Where did we go wrong, Will?”

The words have him finally reflecting, thinking back to that day they first met, back at that
street fair that was giving away art supplies, when they were both rifling through boxes side
by side. He remembers Tobias calling it a “foolish mistake” before they both even knew each
other, causing Will to laugh, and then the rest was history: they started talking and ended up
walking back to Will’s house and talking for an hour before deciding to do it again at Tobias’
house the next day. And most of all, he remembers the overwhelming feeling that someone
finally understood him. Everything. Liking art and liking boys and having a father that wasn’t
really there. And all the art books and the documentaries and movies they’d watch together.
The escape from the Upside Down, from being Zombie Boy, and most importantly the escape
from Mike. Finally having the weight of liking Mike, of liking El’s boyfriend, off his
shoulders. It was heaven, at least for a little while.

But now he had Mike. So- so what did that mean?

He feels tears sting his eyes. “I hate Mike.”

Tobias seems to understand the meaning behind the words. “Could’ve fooled me,” he jokes,
even though some sadness slips through. “Look, I- I’ve been doing some reflecting of my
own.” Will just nods, clutching the receiver tighter, waiting for some type of guidance. “And
in our relationship, we had a certain dynamic. We’d do things together, and it would give you
a distraction.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you liked the experience of dating me. All the things we did and what we talked
about and everything we had in common but I…” Tobias trailed off, almost insecurely. “I
don’t know if you ever liked me.”

Will goes silent, blinking in shock. Did he really think that was true? “I did like you,” he
rushes out.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Will nods, knowing it was true. “You’re so funny and clever and confident.” He leans
his elbows onto his desk. “And you got the top score on Dragon’s Lair. Above everyone.
You’re the best, Tobias. Really.”

Tobias goes silent, and Will waits anxiously. “But I’m not-”

“Don’t say it.”

“I’m not Mike.”

“You’re not Mike and that’s why I liked you.”

“That was before he liked you back!” Tobias exclaims. “Your whole demeanor changed after
you guys got into that fight.”

“Yeah, because we were best friends-”

“But then after you made up, you changed even more.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “What? How?”

Tobias lets out an empty laugh. “And you don’t even know. Will, you became distant. You
stopped initiating everything. Movie nights, hangouts, phone calls. Even when we hang out
with your friends, you’re not really there. At least not with me. And the fact that you even
need to make a choice, it’s- it’s insulting, Will.”

“I’m sorry-”

“And I think above all else, above how much I might like you, I deserve better.” Tobias takes
a shaky breath. “Being with someone who isn’t sure about me is just… it’s the worst feeling.
No one should experience it.”

Will grips the phone, the words sinking in. Tears sting his eyes. “You’re right.”

“I am?” And the way he says it, Will can tell that if he agrees to it, this is it. He hesitates,
nodding slightly.

“You are.”

The line goes silent. Will can hear the sound of his own breathing. “I figured,” Tobias finally
says. “I… should’ve realized this earlier.” His voice goes quiet. “I could’ve protected
myself.”

“No,” Will shakes his head. “I could’ve protected you. If I realized I wasn’t over Mike.”

“But I see your point of view,” Tobias says. “I mean, you thought he was straight and dating
your sister. Of course you’re going to take the next best option.”

“Don’t call yourself that.”

“What?”

“The next best option.” Will shakes his head. “You’re not… look.” He readjusts the phone
and then takes a deep breath. “What you said is true. You deserve to be somebody’s first
option. You deserve…” he trails off, realizing what he was about to admit. “You deserve
someone that doesn’t have a Mike in their life.”

Tobias snorts. “Everyone deserves that.”

Will gives a half smile. “He can be a lot.”

“That’s an understatement.”

Will laughs, and then it goes quiet. A wave of sadness washes through him. “I’m sorry it
ended like this.”

“It’s alright.”

“Maybe in another lifetime-”

“Don’t,” Tobias cuts him off, sounding emotional. “Don’t pull that in another lifetime
bullshit. This is all we have. And this is how it worked out. Okay?”
Will nods. “Okay.”

“Especially because Mike’s made it very clear you’re his first option.”

Will bites his lip. “And someday someone will do the same for you.”

“As a gay kid in high school in Hawkins, Indiana?” Tobias gives a bitter laugh. “Not likely.”

“Hey, you never know.” Will twists the telephone cord around his finger. “Stick with that art
club and see what happens.”

“Are you calling art gay, Will?”

“I’m not calling it straight.”

Tobias laughs at that. “You’re not completely wrong.”

And then the line goes quiet again, and Will can feel that this is the end of the conversation.
The last time they’d talk. But it just felt so wrong that they weren’t face-to-face, that this
wasn’t happening in person for such a heavy conversation. “I’m sorry this ended up
happening over the phone.”

“Well, I… still have some of your stuff.”

“My stuff?”

“Paintbrushes, notebooks…” Tobias clears his throat uncomfortably. “I gathered it all

together already.”

“Oh,” Will blinks quickly. Tobias knew this was coming. “Right. And I still have some of
your stuff.” He remembers all the art books still in the living room bookshelf. “A bunch of
your stuff, actually.”

“Did you want to exchange it tonight?”’

Will nods. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Okay.” Tobias pauses. “Meet you halfway down the street?”

Will smiles weakly. “That works for me.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“See you.”

And the line goes dead. Will puts the receiver down slowly. This was the first time him and
Tobias were meeting up where neither of them were excited. It felt weird, but also…
necessary. Like it had to happen.

He looks around his room, standing up to gather the few VHS tapes that belonged to Tobias.
The Evolution of Pottery. Amazonian Art: A Look at the Past. Caravaggio. Before he can get
too sentimental, he grabs a flashlight and heads downstairs to the living room. As expected,
all the lights are off, everyone settled in for the night. Moonlight filters in through the blinds,
casting lines on the carpet, and Will tries to be quiet as he leans down to crouch in front of
the bookshelf, selectively searching for titles he recognized. His eyes zero in on the only
book sticking out of the shelf, History of Artists: From Abbasi to Zoppo, and his eyebrows
furrow in confusion. Did he even read that one?

He takes it out and leafs through it, seeing the corners of pages folded down and certain
phrases underlined. And now he’s even more confused. Neither him nor Tobias were that
messy, always leaving books exactly as they found them. But then he gets to the end and his
breath hitches.

It’s the bulleted Art Facts section, and about 95% of them are already crossed off in pencil.

The earliest known painting is approximately 40,000 years old.

Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors.

The Renaissance is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages
to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive
and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity.

Mike’s art facts. That’s where he’s been getting them.

He slams the book shut, like he saw something he wasn’t supposed to. And then he feels like
laughing. Of course Mike didn’t suddenly care about art. Of course he was getting them from
somewhere. Of course Mike was Mike.

But then the laughter gets stuck in his throat because the thought of Mike quietly leafing
through the book, searching for an art fact, searching for something to tell him, something
that was good enough, almost every day…

It had his heart fluttering and mouth turning up and throat constricting with emotion and all
things that were not supposed to happen five minutes before meeting Tobias to exchange
their things.

Shit. He had to get going. He puts all the books on the floor and stacks the VHS tapes on top
of them, then stands up, heading toward the front door. Right as he’s in front of it, he pauses,
almost expecting someone to interrupt him. Mike asking him where he’s going or his mom
coming out of nowhere or even Jonathan rushing out to tell him he’s making a mistake.

But no one emerges. The house is completely silent.

And it reminds him of when Tobias first came to his house, how no one was around for what
seemed like the first time, how he walked in carrying art supplies and now he was walking
out carrying Tobias’ books and VHS tapes, and he feels his eyes sting at the realization. Even
if this was right, it still hurt.

He opens the door, knowing this had to happen.

Not only because Tobias deserved better…

But because he was in love with Mike.

 Chapter 21
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

By the time Will makes it to the sidewalk, he can already see Tobias standing in the middle of
the street. Probably because he already had Will’s stuff together. And didn’t spend a full
minute wistfully staring at an art book Mike wrote in. He feels another wave of guilt
overcome him as he walks closer.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Tobias pushes up his glasses, looking tired, emotionally exhausted. Will knew the
feeling. A nearby streetlamp casts a yellow hue over both of them. “Is that everything?”

It takes Will a second to realize he’s talking about the books and VHS tapes Will’s holding.
“Yeah.” He blinks. “Yeah, it should be.”

Tobias nods. “And this is everything of yours.”

Will looks down at Tobias’ arms, seeing a box filled with paints and brushes and a few
paintings. His eyes widen. “Are those the paintings I made for you? You can keep them.”

“Can I?” Tobias looks unsure. “I thought you’d want them for your portfolio in the future.
You know, if you ever want to get into art school or something.”

His throat tightens at the gesture, at his selflessness. It reminds him of himself in a way, of
how just four weeks ago he offered Mike half his bowl of Honeycombs when he finished the
box. And a month before that told him that El commissioned the painting he’d worked on for
months. And a years before that swallowed his feelings, all to make things easier for
everyone else. Tobias and him really did have a lot in common. Tobias was him in this
situation, and he was Mike.

And then he has a moment of panic. What was he doing? Was Jonathan right?

“Will,” Tobias takes him out of his thoughts, as if reading his mind. “It’s okay. This is the
right decision.”

“It is?”

Tobias swallows thickly, nodding. “It has to be. The trust has already been breached.”

The trust has already been breached. Will replays the words in his head. It sounded like a
military term, but was true nonetheless. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” He gestures to the
paintings. “And you can keep them. They were meant for you.” Then he remembers. “Plus I
kept the pottery you gave me. I didn’t even think to bring them.”
Tobias relaxes. “Okay.” Then it goes silent between them, the only sound being the wind
through the trees and cicadas in the distance. “Well, this is it.”

Will feels tears prick his eyes. “This is it.”

“Do you want to-”

“Yeah.” And so they trade off the things they’re holding, trying to balance everything. And
then a few seconds later, it’s done- Will is holding the box of paints and brushes and Tobias
has all his books and videos back, with Will’s paintings balanced on top. “I should’ve
brought a box for you.”

“It’s fine.” Tobias puts them down on the road next to him. “As long as no cars drive by.”

Will laughs softly. “I haven’t seen a car drive down this road since the gate opened- or,
earthquake happened, shit.” Tobias looks confused, and Will realizes that’s another thing.
Now Tobias will never have to know about the horrors of the Upside Down. He saved him
from it, in a way. At least he did one thing right. “Tobias, I’m sorry.”

“Will, you don’t need to apologize-”

“No, I do. I know firsthand how bad heartbreak hurts and now I’m doing it to you and it’s
awful. It’s-” He shakes his head, vision blurring with tears. “You were such a good boyfriend.
I mean really, the perfect boyfriend. You didn’t deserve this.”

“I wasn’t perfect. Because perfect doesn’t exist.”

Will remembers what Tobias always used to say. “It doesn’t exist, because it’s subjective to
each person. Right?”

Tobias goes silent, and when he speaks again he sounds choked up. “You remembered.”

“And you always remembered things about me.” Will puts his own box down too. “I think we
both needed someone to understand us at the time.” He bites his lip. “And we found it and
I’m- I’m so grateful. For everything. For meeting you.”

Tobias nods, and it takes him a while to get the words out. “Likewise.”

“And I’ll never forget all the times we had. Meeting your family and doing art together and
watching documentaries and everything in between. Getting my haircut. Playing arcade
games. Watching movies-”

“Will,” he cuts him off. “I don’t like crying in front of people so you’re going to have to
stop.”

“Oh.” Will blinks. “Okay, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tobias swallows thickly. Then he whispers. “We really did have a lot of good
times.”
“We did,” Will echoes. And then he feels the loss wash over him. “We could stay friends.”

Tobias doesn’t miss a beat. “Mike wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Secret friends?”

“And that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Or a precursor for my murder.”

Will laughs. “Right.”

Tobias’ voice goes serious. “And I don’t think I could stay friends with you without wanting
it to be more. Even if more doesn’t work for us.”

Will goes silent, realizing. “Same here, actually.”

“So this…” Tobias takes a deep breath. “This is it. For real.”

“I mean, I’ll see you around.”

“Will…”

“I know, I know.” Will looks at his feet. “It just hurts. I mean, we spent so much time
together- it’s just gonna be weird for a while.”

“It is.” Tobias grimaces. “But it won’t be that weird for you. You’ll have Mike again. Like
you always did, before I… came along.”

“But I’m glad I met you,” Will rushes out, his guilt coming back. “Without you, I’d still be
walking around thinking being gay is a sin. Or that I’m the only one obsessed with art. Or the
only one who likes… guys. And a bunch of other things.”

Tobias purses his lips together in understanding. “I know. Look, I didn’t mean that in a bad
way or to sound bitter or anything.” He sighs. “You deserve happiness, Will. Really. And it’s
not your fault that Mike is the one you want.”

“I just wish this could’ve happened differently-”

“You can’t control matters of the heart,” Tobias cuts him off. “So there’s no use in trying.”

Will pauses, nodding. “You’re right.” And then silence falls between them, and this time,
Will knows it’s the end of the conversation. No more meeting up to exchange items. No
future hangouts. It was over. “Tobias, I’m really going to miss you.”

Tobias pauses. “I’m going to miss you too, Will.” And then he steps forward, opening his
arms, and Will gives into it, hugging him. Tobias rests his chin on top of Will’s head. “Thank
you for being my first boyfriend.”

“Thank you for being mine too.”

Tobias lets him go, and then bends down to pick up his pile of books. “It was a pleasure
knowing you, Will Byers.”

Will gives a watery smile. “You too, Tobias Montgomery.”

Tobias casts him a last look, and they share a moment of understanding, that this was right,
and Will feels lighter in a way, even though he was still felt the sadness wash through him.

And then Tobias turns away and starts walking toward his house and Will does the same, and
he can’t help but turn as he’s halfway down the street, seeing Tobias’ receding figure.

It was real. It was all real. He met a random guy, had a relationship, and now it was over.

Then he turns back, toward the rest of the street, toward the Wheeler’s unassuming white
house, and he feels like laughing at the fact that he gave it all up for Mike.

He gave up the perfect boyfriend for Mike.

Simply because he wasn’t Mike.

And as he walks up the driveway and through the front door, he almost wishes that Mike
would be waiting for him, sitting at the kitchen table, ready to ask him questions and hug him
and just be Mike, and that Will could erase this pain immediately. But instead the house is
silent, just like it was when he left, so he heads up to his room and closes the door, setting the
box down on his desk.

And then he lies down on his bed and has a good cry because that’s what he should do. He
should do exactly what he told Mike to do with El. Heal first. Let time pass and heal first.

So he tries to heal. He stares at the ceiling through his tears and thinks about Tobias and tries
to ignore the box sitting on his desk. And when he hears Mike’s footsteps in the hallway to
use the bathroom around 1am, and feels that familiar longing in his chest, he’s crying all over
again.

It would always be Mike.

This has just proven it. He could meet 10 guys, 100 guys, the perfect guy, and would give it
up for Mike. Which meant he was probably locked in for life.

He sighs and rubs his face with his hands. But this time, he knew Mike liked him back.

A small wave of giddiness rises up inside him before he quickly tramps it down, feeling fear
instead. What if Mike was just drunk? And he was going along with what he said because he
felt bad and had just broken up with El? What if he was just afraid of being single? What if
he was losing his mind alongside everyone else with this being the end of the world and woke
up one day realizing he didn’t mean any of it?

A fresh wave of tears springs to Will’s eyes. Or what if he did mean it, but Mike was Mike,
and he dropped him after a while? That’s what he did when they were friends. So how could
Will trust him to maintain a relationship?
And he felt like he was a kid again, vulnerable, depending on Mike to take care of him. To
know what he was doing. To not let him down.

Some things never change.

He rolls over, switching off his lamp, and then pulls the blanket over himself.

He’d worry about this in the morning.

Will can tell things are different between him and Mike. It starts at breakfast the next
morning, after he tried to wake up later to avoid Mike’s parents, and came down at the perfect
time of 10am, only to see Mike already sitting at the table.

And for some reason he didn’t want to think about, he sat across from him. And now they
were wordlessly eating breakfast together.

He glances at him, in between spoonfuls of his cereal. Taking in his long brown hair, his dark
eyes, the way he was blinking quickly as he spread jam on his toast, like he was nervous.
What was he nervous about?

And then he’s trying to decipher if he was serious about all this. If he really meant everything
he said. If he really liked Will-

Mike clears his throat. “What is it?”

Will looks down. Stop being obvious. “Nothing.”

But Mike is still looking at him. “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare last night?”

“No.”

“No?” Mike echoes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Will says, not knowing why he was so irritated.

“Because if you did.” Mike leans forward, and Will refuses to look at him. “You can come to
me.”

“Okay, thanks,” Will says shortly. Mike leans back, hurt, and Will feels bad. He takes a deep
breath. “Sorry, I guess I’m just-” He sighs. “Last night, um, Tobias and I broke up.”

“Oh,” Mike says, and Will can tell he’s trying to stay neutral.

“Yeah.” He stares down at his cereal. “Because of a bunch of reasons.” He looks up at Mike,
who appears to be hanging on his every word, looking like how Will felt, searching for
answers. “But it was for the best, I think.”

“Yeah,” Mike agrees, but now he’s definitely not neutral, looking almost relieved in a way.

“And I just…” he trails off insecurely. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen next.” And
he’s looking at Mike for some reassurance, some sign that he didn’t give Tobias up for
nothing, anything-

But then El walks in. “Hey guys.”

Mike leans back from him. “Hi, El.”

She looks between them. “I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?”

“No, no,” Mike shakes his head quickly. “Nothing at all.”

“Really?” She looks at Mike like she doesn’t believe him.

“Nothing at all,” Will repeats Mike’s words, the anger evident in his voice. “Just having a
friendly conversation.”

“Oh, okay-”

He pushes back his chair, standing up. “I’m leaving anyway.”

“You didn’t finish your cereal,” Mike says.

He glares at him. “I’m not hungry.”

“Okay.”

And then he puts his bowl in the sink, leaving before he can do anything embarrassing like
cry over the fact that Mike practically became putty in El’s hands when she walked in.
Nothing at all. Their conversation was nothing at all, apparently. Even though Will was about
to find out- that- that maybe- no, it’s stupid.

“Will, wait-”

He can hear Mike’s voice, but doesn’t stop, heading up to his room. He shuts the door behind
him and then sits at his desk, waiting. Waiting for Mike to chase him, to knock on the door,
hell to even kiss him like he did that one time. But there’s nothing. Only the sounds of him
and El talking in the kitchen downstairs, their voices muffled.

Tears sting his eyes. Of course. This was how things were. Breaking up with Tobias didn’t
change anything. Mike was still Mike, and for all he knew him and El were about to get back
together or something. He strains his ears to listen to what they’re saying, but they’re too far
away.

So instead, he settles for feeling sorry for himself. And he does a pretty good job of it,
spending the afternoon by making a sad painting, one of a forest that has no leaves or bushes,
just sad pieces of bark spiking up to the sky. Then in the evening before dinner he plays the
saddest songs he has on his cassette tape while unloading Tobias’ box, regretting his decision
while not really regretting it. And all throughout family dinner he picks at his broccoli and
rigatoni, feeling Mike’s worried gaze on him but not looking back at him. Ignoring him.
Relishing in it almost, and he can feel Mike’s restlessness, his urge to do something, but he’s
blocked by the rest of the family, by the table in between them, and it’s too late by the time
Will goes back to his room as soon as he’s excused.

And so he sits behind his easel after dinner, staring at his sad forest painting, feeling strangely
empty, and as much as he wished it was because of yesterday’s breakup, he knew it was the
absence of Mike, of what he thought he would be getting. Not that he was sure what that was,
exactly. But definitely not Mike dismissing their conversation as soon as El walked in at
breakfast, or not knocking at his door any time that day, especially when he knew Tobias and
him broke up. Compared to all those times he’d knock on his door at the seemingly worst
times.

And then the doubt creeps back in.

What if Mike just liked the chase? Or the idea of being with Will? And now that it was
becoming a reality, he was realizing he didn’t want it?

Even though at dinner he could practically feel the energy of Mike worrying about him. But
still, that wasn’t anything new. Mike had always worried about him. That was him being a
friend. He probably thought it had something to do with Vecna. And that didn’t mean
anything at all- if anything it was confirmation that things were the same as they always
were, as they always would be-

His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of something sliding under his door. He looks over
to see a piece of paper, slightly wrinkled, with something written on it. His heart starts
pounding as he goes over to pick it up.

It’s a note with Mike’s handwriting.

Meet me at Castle Byers at 8pm. -Mike.

His mouth drops open. So Mike did want to talk to him.

He feels his mouth start to curl up in a smile until he realizes. Didn’t he destroy Castle Byers
last summer that one night in the rain? After Mike and Lucas didn’t want to play D&D
anymore? He panics. Shit.

He almost wants to tell Mike to choose another meeting spot until he realizes this was a note.
Unless he wanted to write it underneath and slide it back under Mike’s door, something he
was not nearly brave enough for.

So instead he checks his watch. 7:30pm. For all he knew, Mike could already be on his way.
He sighs, deciding he’d just cross that bridge when he got to it.
And then in the next half hour, he catches himself doing a bunch of stupid stuff, like fixing
his hair in the mirror and debating whether to change his shirt. Even spraying a bit of
Jonathan’s cologne on his neck. It felt weird that he was giving into his feelings rather than
suppressing them like he’s done for God knows how long, but also hopeful, in a way. Like
this might finally be it. That his feelings would finally be-

He stops himself from thinking any further. All Mike’s note said was that he wanted to meet
up, to talk. That could mean anything from admitting he was just drunk that night to an
announcement that he was getting back with El. But why would he want to meet at Castle
Byers? That seemed like a pretty… meaningful location.

He shakes his head out of his thoughts, jogging down the stairs toward the garage, where his
bike was, next to an empty space. Mike’s bike was gone too. His heart flutters at the
realization. This was real.

And then, before he can think any further, he hops on his bike and starts pedaling toward his
old house, toward the woods behind his house, which they sold to a new family. Hopefully
this wasn’t trespassing.

He bikes over the curb and toward the backyard, diagonal until the well-manicured grass
turns into shrouded woods, and then even further, biking between the trees. It’s already
getting dark and he squints as he tries to find the fort, which would probably be even harder
to find considering he’d practically broken it down into a pile of wood. But maybe the flag
was still standing.

He squints, looking around, when he suddenly sees a bundle of lights, wrapped around a fort.
That’s new. He bikes closer, but then his jaw drops when he realizes it’s Castle Byers.
Completely rebuilt, with Christmas lights weaved in and out of the bark. This couldn’t be
real.

He steps off his bike and drops it absentmindedly, the whole time not taking his eyes off the
fort. Was this a vision from Vecna? He’d heard about what Max described- hallucinations of
grandfather clocks that caused people to lock their eyes and slowly walk forward- and this
seemed to fit the bill. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, feet moving at their own accord, and his
heart began pounding at the idea that he was about to walk into a trap.

Until he gets to the entrance of the fort and all the fear drains out of him.

It’s Mike, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, blankets and candles surrounding
him. Music is playing softly from a radio, and Will recognizes it as Back to the Old House by
The Smiths. One of his favorite songs.

“Mike-” he chokes out. “What is this?”

Mike looks up from a pile of papers he’s holding, looking nervous. “You made it.”

“Yeah, but what-”

“Just listen.” Mike clears his throat, looking back down at the papers. “Dear Will. How’s
California? Is it hot there? I mean, that’s a stupid question. Do you like your classes? That’s a
stupid question too.” Then he throws it to the side, moving on to the next one.

“What?”

“The letters I never sent,” Mike rushes out, like he doesn’t want to lose his nerve. “Dear Will.
Sorry it’s taken me so long to write. I liked the letter you gave me, especially the part about
your new math teacher. He does sound like Mr. Clarke. Too bad there’s not an AV club.” Will
blinks in shock, stepping closer. “Sorry I didn’t reply right away, I didn’t know what to say,
so I just mentioned it in El’s letter. Hopefully she showed it to you.” He swallows thickly,
looking up with Will with something like guilt, before looking back down. “I’ve just had a
case of writer’s block. Even though I can write to El no problem. Shit, this makes me sound
like an asshole, doesn’t it? This whole letter does. Forget it.” Then he picks up the next one.
Will crouches down at the front of the entrance, at a loss for words.

“Dear Will. I know I should’ve written something by now and it’s almost Christmas, but I
haven’t forgotten. I’ve tried calling, because I think it’s easier, but the line is always busy.
Are you hogging it talking to your new friends or something? Just kidding, it’s probably
Joyce’s telemarketer job that El told me about. Hopefully. But if you have new friends, that’s
great. I’m happy for you. El said she has made tons of new friends and goes to parties. Do
you go too? Is that where you met the girl you’re making a painting for? Sorry, I’m not
jealous. I just thought I was the only one you made art for.” Will makes a sound at that, but
luckily Mike doesn’t notice. “I’m happy for you. And her. Jesus. Forget it, I’m not sending
this.”

He moves on to the next letter and Will finally enters the fort, crouching down in front of
him. “Dear Will. You haven’t sent me a letter in a while. I know I sound like a giant hypocrite
because I haven’t sent you any, but it’s just something I noticed. And I deserve it. I don’t
know what’s wrong with me. When I try writing to you it feels like I’m writing to a girlfriend
or something. So we should just stick to phone calls, I think that’s for the best. Letters are
romantic, you know? And we’re friends. We’re friends. So I can’t… I can’t write to you.”

He moves to the next letter, the last in the pile, and Will scoots closer, leaning back on his
heels. Mike blinks quickly, looking between Will and the letters, nervously distracted. He
clears his throat. “Dear Will. I know this letter is kinda unnecessary because we’re about to
see each other in two weeks, and I said writing is romantic and all that, but I just had to get
this off my chest. Especially because I know you’re never going to see it.” He takes a
shuddering breath. “I missed you. A lot. I know it doesn’t seem like it, because I’m an idiot
who can’t write and barely calls, but I have. It feels like I’ve lost you and there’s this… this
emptiness inside me.” Mike’s voice cracks. “Like, I hang out with Dustin and Lucas for
hours, and then check the mail and see El wrote a letter to me, and then I read it and write one
back to her, and the night is over and there’s still something missing.” He sniffles. “You’re
my best friend, Will. I mean, I don’t think we’ve spent more than a week apart since we were
5, and we just made it eight months. We should get an award or something.” Will chuckles
tearfully at that, and Mike looks up at him. “I just can’t wait until I see you again, and
hopefully we can fix things and get back to how we were. That’s all I want. And hopefully
what you want, although I get it if you don’t. Just… I hope you do.” He finishes it in a
whisper.

Will is staring at him, openmouthed. “You wrote all those?”

Mike nods, and wipes a tear that slid down his cheek. “And never sent them. Like an idiot.”

“But I… I thought you just didn’t want to write to me.”

“No, I thought writing letters was romantic. Which explains a lot, actually.” And the way he
chuckles to himself, Will can tell it wasn’t all drunk thoughts. It was like he learned
something about himself. Which means-

“This is real?”

“Yes.” Mike looks at him insistently, and Will’s heart tugs. Then Mike’s eyes widen. “Shit! I
forgot about that part.” He leans over and grabs a black box, bringing it to his mouth and
inhaling. A second later, he pulls it back and shows it to Will. 0.00. “Completely sober.”

Will gives a watery laugh. “Mike.”

“And also,” he reaches to his other side. “This is for you.”

He holds something out. It’s the dragon from arcade, the one from the claw machine.

Will nearly sobs. “Mike.”

“It took me like twenty tries to get it, but I just- I figured you wanted it. And I thought it
would be a good touch for this.” He gestures around and Will finally takes a second to take
everything in. The Christmas lights weaved in and out of the wooden slats. The candles
causing everything to have a warm flickering. The letters that Mike apparently wrote to him
on the floor next to them. Along with pillows and blankets that reminded Will of when they
were kids, of their sleepovers in Mike’s basement.

His face crumples. “It’s perfect.”

“Yeah?” Mike asks softly.

“Yeah.” Will repeats tearfully. “This is what you were working on?”

“Yep.” Mike looks proud. “I borrowed the breathalyzer from Hopper and had to get Lucas to
help me with rebuilding, but I did most of it myself. I just…” He looks nervous, and then
reaches down to grab Will’s hand, entangling their fingers. “I wanted you to know that I
care.”

Will stares down at their hands. “I know, Mike.”

“No, you don’t.” Mike purses his lips together. “Look, I’ve been thinking. A lot.”

Will raises an eyebrow. “New territory for you.”

“Shut up,” Mike laughs and playfully pushes him, and it feels so natural that Will feels like
crying again. “But that talk that we had with Murray, in my basement… Well, he was right,
about a lot of things.” Mike swallows thickly. “And now that I’m not homophobic anymore,
well, not that I ever was, technically. Now that I don’t think I’m homophobic, I can tell you
this.” He scoots closer, his eyes insistent, and Will feels his heart swell. “There’s nothing
wrong with you, Will Byers. There never was.”

“What-”

“You’re not flawed, you’re not a mistake, you’re not wrong.” He grabs Will’s other hand.
“And you might be different from other people, but that’s okay. Because a bunch of people
accept you. I accept you. I’m- I’m like you, actually.”

Will just stares at him, his brain trying to catch up with Mike’s words.

“And all that stuff I said about how Tobias wouldn’t accept you if he knew the truth about
Lonnie or the Upside Down? I was just jealous. Really jealous and hurt and I took it out on
you and it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done.” He shakes his head, his eyes pricking with tears.
“And it’s not even true.” He looks down, squeezing Will’s hands. “He knew about Lonnie,
some of it, and stayed. And he probably would’ve for the Upside Down stuff too. Because
how could he not? You’re Will Byers.” He sniffs, his voice trembling. “You’re amazing and
kind and funny and creative and that’s why… I love you.”

Will’s eyes widen. “You love me?”

Mike nods, twisting his mouth to the side in an effort not to cry. “I think I always have.”

“Mike-” And then he’s scrambling onto his knees and leaning forward and wrapping his arms
around him, squeezing tight, and Mike is doing the same, and Will is burying his face into his
shoulder, sobbing. Mike loved him. He accepted him and he loved him. And he felt a weight
fall off of him, one that had been there since their fight in the rain, since he thought Mike was
homophobic, since he thought Mike thought he was flawed, when his entire life Mike had
been the exception to that rule. And he still was. He always was. He was just… blocked for a
while, in typical Mike fashion. But now he was back. And he loved him back.

And Mike is whispering it in his ear I love you I love you I love you and the song in the
background is now playing Well I Wonder by The Smiths and Will thinks he could stay there
forever, in Castle Byers with warm lights all around them and his favorite songs in the
background and Mike in his arms. But eventually the position gets uncomfortable with him
leaned over Mike, who was still cross-legged. So he pulls back, wiping his eyes. “Took you
long enough.”

Mike smiles at that, but he looks nervous. “Will, you- you feel the same, right?”

It’s then that Will realizes he never said it back. “Mike, you know I do.” There’s a beat of
silence, of Mike waiting for something, and he realizes he wants him to say the words. “I
love you too, Michael Wheeler,” he says, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice.
Mike’s eyes crinkle with happiness, and the sight has Will giggling. “You had me worried
there for a second, Byers.”

“Oh my God,” Will rolls his eyes.

“I did all this,” Mike gestures. “Only to be rejected after I confess my feelings?” He shakes
his head teasingly. “What more can a guy do in this world?”

Will laughs at that, feeling free and giddy. “Lots of things. Like sending letters or calling
more-”

“Hey!” Mike laughs, pushing him again. His shoulder goes warm at the contact.

Will looks up at the top of the fort, where he can see stars peeking through the slats. “Maybe
building an extension onto Castle Byers.”

Mike scoffs playfully. “It was hard enough to rebuild as it is. You should’ve seen it- the storm
did a real number on it.”

Will tenses, realizing Mike didn’t know the real reason. “Oh. Right.”

Mike immediately senses his mood change and scoots next to him, grabbing his hand. “What
is it?”

And it’s so distracting that Will nearly forgets what he was upset about. “Oh, um.” Then he
looks sheepish. “The storm might not be a storm.”

But Mike doesn’t look surprised. “Is its name Will Byers?” When Will doesn’t say anything,
he untangles their hands and reaches up to the top of the desk, grabbing something. It’s the
picture of the four of them in their Ghostbusters costumes that he had ripped in half. “I
figured the storm didn’t do this.”

Will looks closer. “Did you tape it back together?”

“Yeah,” Mike responds automatically. “Of course I did.”

A fresh wave of tears spring to Will’s eyes. “Mike, you’re trying to kill me here.”

Mike’s eyes widen in alarm. “Why? Did you want it that way? Was it some kind of art
piece?”

Will lets out a watery laugh. “No, of course not. I’m just…” He shakes his head in disbelief.
“I’m just really happy.”

“Good.” Mike puts the photo down, turning his full attention to him. “Good.”

And then they’re looking at each other and not saying anything and Will’s heart speeds up.
He gets nervous, looking away, and when he looks back Mike is looking at his lips. He bites
his own lips, shifting closer.
“Will?”

“Yeah?”

Mike’s eyes flit up to his. “Can I kiss you?”

He nods. “Yeah. Yeah.”

And then Mike closes the distance, pressing their lips together, and Will’s mind goes blank,
forgetting everything about how to kiss, but then Mike’s moving his lips and Will is too and
Mike tentatively brings a hand up to his cheek. They pull back a few seconds later.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“You’ve wanted to do that for so long?” Will asks. Then he realizes. “And you already did,
actually. A week ago. At my bedroom door.”

Mike cringes, resting his head on Will’s shoulder. “I had no idea what I was doing.”

Will smiles. “Honestly, neither did I.”

“Seems like we’re figuring it out though.” He grins.

“We are.”

Mike beams at him, his eyes full of something like love, and Will recognizes that look from
before. A lot of times actually. Even from back in the van.

This time, he’s the one to lean forward and then they’re kissing again, and it’s full of
tenderness and longing and Mike is so, so gentle, one hand on each side of his face, and when
they pull back Will can’t help but giggle.

Mike leans back, smug. “Yep, Castle Byers is definitely the new makeout spot.” And then as
a quiet afterthought, “Especially because you can get so loud.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Mike, what-”

“No, sorry, it was just something I heard-”

Will’s eyes widen.

“Heard from Tobias! Not- not actually. I didn’t-” he blushes. “One night, the radio in your
room was too loud. And I asked Tobias why. And he said that, you know, it’s because you can
get so loud or whatever-”

“Okay, I get it,” Will flushes, heat rising to his cheeks. “I can’t believe Tobias told you that.”
“I thought he was making it up just to make me mad. So it’s true then?”

And Will blushes deeper. “You’ll probably find out someday.”

Mike coughs at that. “Yeah. Yeah, definitely.”

They look at each other for a second before Will impulsively grabs a paper from the pile. “So
these letters…”

“Hey!” Mike scrambles to grab it out of his hands. “It was a one-time reading session, Byers.
Those things are personal.”

“Even though they were addressed to me?”

“Addressed and never sent.”

Will leans back, giving up the fight, watching as Mike shuffles them and stacks them on the
floor, straightening them out. “Luckily I have a good memory. You thought I made the
painting for a girl? Who I met at a party? Mike, do you know me at all?”

Mike laughs at that. “I was jealous, okay? And obviously not thinking clearly.”

He cranes his neck to look at the letters, finding the sentence that he was looking for. “‘I’m
happy for you. And her. Jesus. Forget it.’ Mike, what even?” He laughs through his words.

“Oh my God.” Mike gives up organizing the papers and covers his face with his hands.

And Will smiles at him, before letting his voice soften an octave. “You know the painting
was for you, right?”

Mike doesn’t seem surprised. “Yeah, I asked El about it.”

Fear washes over Will, that same, familiar fear, even though Mike and him had literally just
confessed their feelings, and Mike and El were already broken up. “And, um, how did she
react?”

Mike shrugs. “It made a lot of sense to her, actually.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows. “What, like she’d figured it out?”

“No, no. Like it made sense for us to end up together, since we’d been friends for so long. Or
something.” He rubs his forehead. “It was a long conversation. And I was drunk.”

Will flops on his back, covering his face with his hands. “I’m a total asshole.”

“What?” Mike scoots to lie down next to him. “No you’re not.”

“I am.” He peeks between his fingers to look at Mike, and blushes at how close their faces
are. “I basically crushed on her boyfriend for years and gave him a painting and now you
guys broke up.”
“Yeah, a painting that you used to create a whole speech about how El thought I was the
heart, which saved our relationship for a while.” He scoots closer. “Will, you’re the most
selfless person I know. Even Sparky thinks so.”

“Sparky?”

Mike grabs the stuffed dragon. “It’s what I named him.” He holds him up to Will’s face, the
wings tickling his cheek. “Will, so selfless you are. Feel bad do not.”

“Mike, stop.” Will pushes him away, laughing. “Why is he talking like Yoda?”

“A dragon Yoda is. Sparky just like.”

“You’re so stupid,” Will says, but he’s laughing. “Yoda’s not even a dragon.” Nevertheless,
he takes Sparky from him, looking at him and turning him over in his hands.

“But anyways,” Mike adds. “I think our breakup was bound to happen eventually. We had
some serious problems. You know, trying to always impress each other, lying, being
boyfriend and girlfriend instead of Mike and El. We just work better as friends. Plus friends
don’t lie.” He pauses. “Also I think she was just glad I wasn’t a homophobic bigot. A lot of
people are.”

Will nods, still staring at Sparky, before the words sink in. “Wait, a lot of people?”

Mike squeezes his eyes shut. “Shit.” He leans up on one elbow, looking down at Will. “So, a
few people may know.”

“A few people?” Will blinks at him, alarmed.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Mike reassures him. “They were all cool with it.” Will just goes silent,
shivering as a gust of wind passes through the fort. Mike looks at him, distracted. “Are you
cold?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Mike shakes his head. “I planned for this.” He reaches over and grabs one of the blankets on
the floor, shaking it out and pulling it over them. He moves closer to Will, so their sides are
touching. “Better?” he whispers.

Will nods, the warmth instantaneous.

Mike smiles at him. “Good.” He stares at Will for a second, lost, before he seems to shake
himself out of it. “So anyways.” He turns fully on his back, holding his hand up as he lists on
his fingers. “The first one was Max. I, uh, think she knew from the beginning actually.”

And for the next ten minutes, Will listens as Mike recaps how each one of their friends found
out Mike actually wasn’t homophobic. Max, when Mike rode his bike over to her trailer right
after realizing his feelings. El, during their breakup talk. Lucas, when Mike needed his help
and had to explain why he was impulsively rebuilding Castle Byers in the middle of the
woods. Even Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler after accidently overhearing Mike and Will’s fight.
And he knows he should be nervous or panicked about the future, about if they’d think Will
was wrong for breaking up with Tobias or basically dating El’s ex-boyfriend, but it was hard
to worry when Mike and him were sharing a blanket in a fort under the stars and Mike’s
voice was practically lulling him to sleep. It was hard to worry about anything actually. It felt
like everything was going to be fine. And in the case that it wasn’t and everything went to
shit as soon as they left this bubble, he knew Mike would protect him.

He doesn’t even realize his eyes are starting to close until Mike nudges him gently. “Byers,
don’t fall asleep on me.”

“Sorry.” He yawns.

“It’s okay,” Mike says, and it’s said with so much tenderness that Will has to check to make
sure he isn’t actually dreaming. “You want to go back to the house?”

He blinks sleepily and then turns onto his side, burrowing further into Mike. “No.”

Mike doesn’t say anything and Will can feel Mike’s heart beating faster. He takes a deep
breath. “Will, as much as I wish we could, we can’t fall asleep here.”

“They won’t notice.”

“Two missing teenagers in the middle of an apocalypse. Yep, definitely nothing to worry
about.”

Will laughs at that, the sound muffled against Mike’s chest. His mom and Jonathan would
definitely worry. “You’re right.” He forces himself to sit up and Mike does the same, their
knees touching under the blanket. He watches as Mike begins blowing out the candles, the
scent of smoke filling the air.

“This was a huge fire hazard.”

“Shut up, it was romantic.”

Will bites back a smile. “It was.” Mike turns back and smiles at him, before he starts to stuff
his bookbag with the items he brought. And Will feels heavy and tired and like this was a
moment stranded in time, a moment before they go back to the real world, and it was so
intimate that it felt like he should say something meaningful. So he does. “I forgive you.”

“What?” Mike turns to look at him again, his movements paused.

“I forgive you,” he repeats. “Completely. For all the fights, all the things you said, all the
heartache I ever experienced.” He looks down at his fingers, tears stinging his eyes that he
finally made it to the other side. The side he never thought he’d see. “I think it was all worth
it.”

Mike goes silent, staring at him, and then he abandons his bookbag, scrambling over to Will
and wrapping him in his arms. Will hugs him back, hard, sniffling through his tears.

“Hey, don’t cry.”

 He shakes his head. “I love you so much, Mike. You have no idea.”

He buries his face back into Mike’s shoulder, and now Mike sounds choked up. “I love you
too, Will. So much.” He slowly traces his fingers up and down Will’s back, comforting him,
and Will has to pull back, already feeling himself start to fall asleep again. He wipes his eyes
with his palms. “Thank you for doing this.”

Mike pulls back, looking at him like he’s made of glass. “Yeah. Yeah, Will.” And it’s the
softest he’s ever heard his voice. “I wanted to.”

Will smiles at him, feeling shy. “Cool.”

Mike beams. “Cool.”

And then a few minutes later, they’re back on their bikes, pedaling back to the house, Mike in
front and Will sleepily trailing behind him. It felt like a dream almost- the abandoned streets,
the cool summer air, the fireflies that would whiz by his vision in small dots of light. And
Mike turning back every now and then to make sure he was still there, that he hadn’t gotten
taken by some creature, and the warmth in Will’s chest whenever he did.

And then they’re back in the Wheeler’s garage, and Mike is stacking their bikes together and
turning toward him and pulling him close and then they’re kissing and giggling and kissing
again and Will feels like he’s so happy he could burst.

And then they’re heading up the stairs, holding hands all the while, and then at the top they
whisper goodnight to each other over and over until finally Will is back in his room, smiling.

And that night, he sleeps better than he has in a long, long time.

Chapter End Notes

Ahhh so there it is :) Hope you guys enjoyed!!

EDIT: I saw some of the comments and there WILL be more chapters (set to 25 right
now). Mainly follow-up on how people react, Mike and Will addressing things from
earlier in the fanfic, a scene with Murray, and of course one last Vecna scene :)
 Chapter 22
Chapter Notes

Hey guys!! I saw some comments on the last chapter wondering if there are more
chapters or if that was the last one. THERE'S MORE. There's still some loose ends to tie
up, like the Party's reaction, Jonathan's reaction, MURRAY'S reaction, plus Vecna
making a final appearance. It should all fit in next three chapters. Plus, I have an
epilogue planned.

Also, sorry if the updates seem slower. I had this whole thing pre-written by the time I
started posting and this is the point that it was somewhat unfinished, so now I'm writing
some of these chapters from scratch. I'm also in the middle of a somewhat stressful post-
graduation job search so there's that LOL.

Anyways hope you enjoy some much awaited Byler fluff <3

When Will opens his eyes the next morning, it’s like he’s waking from a dream. Mike fondly
staring at him. Sharing a blanket. Hearing “I love you” whispered into his ear. He almost
rolls back into his pillow to return to the dream, if he’s lucky before the second voice kicks in
like it always does telling him it’s wrong and it’ll never happen and why are you like this.

But it’s not a dream. It’s memories.

And then he’s covering his face with his hands, smiling, the events from last night playing in
his mind. Seeing Castle Byers in Christmas lights. Mike reading the letters. Even kissing.
Several times.

He could easily stay there all day, thinking and remembering and feeling, but he forces
himself to get up. And for the first time, he’s actually excited to start the day. He rushes
through his morning routine with a nervous anticipation, getting dressed, brushing his teeth,
combing his hair, before finally bounding down the stairs.

And then he walks into the kitchen and sees Mike, turned away, waiting for the toaster to
ding and it’s like his mind goes blank, completely nervous, like he had a crush.

But then Mike turns around and sees him, his face lighting up. “Will!”

He smiles shyly. “Hey, Mike.”

“Hey. Good morning.”

“Good morning.”
They stare at each other for a second and Will doesn’t know what to do with his hands or how
to stand or what to say, this dynamic between them so different, so he walks over to the
cabinet, where the cereals are.

“Actually,” Mike cuts in. “I made that for you.”

Will turns and looks at the table, where there’s a plate of scrambled eggs. And then he goes
quiet, touched, trying not to cry in the middle of the Wheeler’s kitchen at 10am.

Mike gets nervous at his silence. “It- it’s your favorite, right?”

“Yeah,” he whispers. “Yeah. It is. Thanks.”

Mike just nods at him, smiling, and turns back to the toaster, which Will is grateful for, taking
the opportunity to sit down and try to absorb that this was actually reality. But so far, it was.
The eggs, the Wheeler’s kitchen, Mike making toast like this was just an average Friday.

He hears footsteps and looks up, seeing Jonathan walk in. “Hey guys,” he yawns. Then he
looks at Will’s plate. “You made eggs?”

“Mike made them for me.”

Jonathan freezes. “Mike… made them for you?”

“Yeah,” Mike responds immediately before Will can. “Why? Surprised?”

Jonathan goes quiet for a second. “No, just… confused.”

“Why, because I’m acting nothing like L-” He darts his eyes to Will, hesitating. “That one
guy?”

Did he mean Tobias? Will is about to jump in, to tell him that’s all it the past and he didn’t
need to keep bringing it up, but then Jonathan is talking again. “Mike, look, I shouldn’t have
said-”

“But you did.” Mike glares at him, and what is going on? “You did, Jonathan.”

Jonathan opens and closes his mouth, leaning against the doorway. “Mike-”

“But it doesn’t matter, because I proved it to Will.” Mike looks at him, his expression
softening momentarily, before turning back.

And now Jonathan is looking at Will questioningly, and he tries his best to somehow
telepathically tell his brother that Tobias and him broke up and Mike showered him with the
most romantic gesture of his life less than 24 hours ago and after a second Jonathan seems to
get it, slowly switching his gaze between him and Mike. “Alright, well.” He takes a deep
breath, straightening up from the doorframe. “I’ll let you guys be.”

They both watch as Jonathan walks out, and Mike’s posture relaxes. He grabs his plate of
toast and walks over, taking a seat across from Will at the table.
Will looks at him. “What was that all about?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mike stretches his legs out, touching Will’s, and he feels butterflies at
the contact. Mike seems to notice, pressing his legs further against him, smiling, and Will
blushes. Him and Mike were practically playing footsies in the Wheeler’s kitchen. How was
this real life?

Then someone else walks in and Mike leans back in his chair, frustrated, leaning his head
back. “Isn’t there any privacy in this house?”

“If you start paying bills, maybe,” Ted says automatically. He stops when he sees the two
boys sitting across from each other. Mike’s eyes widen, although he doesn’t move away, and
all three of them stay like that for a few seconds. “But in this case, I suppose it’s fine.”

And then he’s gone as quickly as he entered.

They sit in silence for a moment. “Did Ted Wheeler just… back down?”

Mike gives him a lopsided grin. “I guess so.”

“I never thought I’d see it.”

“Will Byers, you do some crazy things to people. To me especially.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Mike’s leg presses against him again. “It is.”

Will blushes and looks away. “It goes both ways.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Will can barely handle the way Mike’s looking at him, full of fondness and adoration
and love. And he know he probably looks the same, if not more. “You always have.”

“Will.” Mike leans forward and covers his face with his hands, and Will feels giddy to know
that he was just as affected by this as he was.

“What? It’s true.” He leans toward him. “I felt like I was going crazy so many times over
you. Clinically insane, even.”

Mike snorts at that. Then they both pause, hearing voices in the living room. Other people are
starting to wake up. Mike sighs in mock frustration. “Looks like we just have to hang out in
Castle Byers from now on.”

Will’s heart swells at him acknowledging the previous night. “Yeah. I guess we do.”

They stare at each other for a second before Mike seems to shake himself out of it. “We
should probably eat.”
Will looks down at his untouched eggs. “Right.”

And so for the next ten minutes, they eat together, domestically, even as people walk in and
out of the kitchen, trying to act normal although Mike keeps giving him secret looks that
definitely aren’t normal and Will’s face is red in a way it normally isn’t. But no one seems to
notice and once their plates are clear and the kitchen is empty, Mike stands up.

“So.” He holds out his hand. “Want to watch a movie?”

Will laughs and takes his hand. “Is this you asking me on a date?”

But Mike doesn’t respond, still staring at their connected hands, his mind evidently blank.

“Mike?” Will raises an eyebrow teasingly. “That movie?”

Mike snaps out of it, mumbling, “Shut up. I’m just having a lot of feelings.”

Will’s heart flutters at that. “Feelings?” he teases.

“Yeah. Feelings.”

“What kind of feelings?”

Mike looks at him for a second, thinking, and then before Will can react he leans down and
kisses him. It only lasts a second, and then Mike straightens up and starts walking over to the
doorway. Will stays frozen in place, staring ahead.

“Will, that movie?”

He turns and sees Mike smirking at him. He rolls his eyes and shakes himself out of it.
“You’re so stupid.”

“Last night would disagree.”

“Yeah,” he says simply, standing up and walking over to him. “It would.”

Mike swallows, nervous, and Will smiles. He gets the sudden urge to lean his head against
his shoulder, but then Nancy is walking in.

“Hey guys.”

“Hey,” Mike says, annoyance clear in his voice.

Will nudges him. “Hey,” he says, a lot nicer.

After Nancy passes them, Mike grabs his hand. “Let’s go to the basement,” he whispers.

“Read my mind.”

And then they’re heading down to the basement, which is thankfully empty this early in the
morning. They start by sitting next to each other on the couch, but then Mike slings an arm
around Will’s shoulder and he’s leaning into it and then Mike is tugging him down so that
they’re laying side by side, facing each other, legs entangled and faces inches apart. And Will
is too distracted to care about anyone walking in on them, studying all the details of Mike’s
face: his dark brown eyes, his messy bangs, the sharp slopes of his cheekbones, and he looks
back up, embarrassed, only to see Mike doing the same, eyes roaming his face like he was
seeing him for the first time.

It feels like they’re in their own bubble, safe from the world, and he feels drunk on the
feeling. The closeness, the warmth of Mike against him, the way he was looking at him. The
filter between his thoughts and words didn’t seem to matter much anymore.

“I wanted this for so long,” he whispers.

“I know.”

“No, I mean- this. Sleeping next to you. All those nights we had sleepovers in your basement
I just wanted to, I don’t know, climb into your sleeping bag and fall asleep with you and wake
up next to you, even though the rest of the party was right there.”

“So why didn’t you?” Mike whispers back. Will laughs disbelievingly at his question, and
Mike must be staring at his lips because he flicks his gaze up. “What?”

“Why didn’t I?” Will asks. “Mike, you had a girlfriend. And would’ve been totally weirded
out.”

“I wouldn’t have been weirded out.” Mike shakes his head, furrowing his eyebrows. “I
would’ve liked it.”

“I’m talking back then. Not now.”

“I know.” Mike wraps his arm around him, pulling him close. Will lets out a breath. “And I
thought about it, back then. Really. Especially at the sleepovers, when you’d wake up with
nightmares I wanted to- to I don’t know. Comfort you. By hugging you. Until we fell asleep.
Together.” Will smiles at the blush rising on Mike’s cheeks. “Even on the nights you didn’t
have nightmares, or the nights we didn’t have sleepovers, I still wanted to, but I just pushed it
away. I thought I was just a good friend or something.” He shakes his head. “I really was an
idiot.”

“You weren’t an idiot.” Will looks up at him. “Just really, really homophobic.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mike says, but there’s no bite to it. Especially because seconds later Mike is
absentmindedly tracing circles on Will’s arm. And in response Will starts playing with
Mike’s hair and Mike is sighing contently and Will knows that if there is a heaven, this would
be it.

He softly giggles into his chest. “I’m so glad you’re not homophobic.”

“I had to replace that phobic with something else.”

“What?”
“Forget it.” Mike shakes his head. “Something Murray said.”

“Oh.” Will resumes his movements in Mike’s hair. They stay like that for a few minutes, just
content in each other’s presence. And it’s so calming. Mike pressed against him. Mike’s
fingers tracing shapes on his arms, along his back. Their chests rising and falling in sync.

He doesn’t even realize he’s fallen asleep until he feels Mike laugh against him. “Will, how
do you fall asleep so easily?”

Will yawns. “Usually I don’t. It takes me hours at night sometimes.” Then he remembers last
night in Castle Byers, when he almost fell asleep lying next to Mike, and all the nights Mike
would hug him after nightmares and he’d nearly fall asleep standing up. And then he realizes.
He burrows closer into Mike. “You make me feel safe.”

Mike pauses. “Do I?” There’s a note of insecurity to it, a disbelief, and Will pulls back
slightly, looking at him.

“Of course you do.”

“It’s just that…” Mike shifts uncomfortably, and Will waits. “You said the same thing about
Tobias. That he makes you feel safe or whatever.”

Did he? He thinks back, and then remembers that one night in Mike’s basement, over a
month ago, after he got back from his 8 hour date with Tobias and Mike was coming up with
all these reasons why it wasn’t okay and Tobias couldn’t be trusted and was even dangerous
only for Will to cut in with, “If anything, being around Tobias is the safest I’ve felt in a long
time.” And how that had caused Mike to storm off. He blows out a slow breath. “Oh. Well,
yeah, I meant that in the sense that his house was a safe haven.” In his arms, he feels Mike
tense up. “Mike. Hey. A safe haven because it was a distraction, you know? From everything
with the Upside Down and the apocalypse and my…” It’s still hard to say after all this time.
“My feelings for you.”

Mike pauses. “Yeah?”

Will nods. “Yeah. It was a break from reality. A very painful reality. So it felt safe.” He lets
his voice take on a playful tone. “But now that I have you and you actually know about the
Upside Down…”

“I’m the safest option,” Mike plays along.

“Exactly.”

Then Mike goes serious, the arm around him pulling him closer. “I’ll protect you from now
on, my cleric.”

Will snorts. “You’re so corny.”

“What? It’s true.” Mike tugs him impossibly closer, his voice softening. “I’ll always protect
you.”
Will’s heart skips a beat. “I- I know.”

“Good.” Mike hugs him and Will lets himself be hugged, his forehead falling against Mike’s
chest.

He pulls away after a minute. “You’re going to make me fall asleep again.”

“Can’t have that. We’re supposed to watch a movie.”

“I thought that was just an excuse to get me down here.”

“Will Byers, what kind of guy do you think I am?”

Will laughs at that. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

Mike quickly detangles their limbs and springs up, heading over to the basement’s VHS
shelf. “A guy that was about to put on Star Wars until you started assuming things.”

“A movie we’ve seen a thousand times? Are you sure you didn’t have other intentions?”

“My intentions are sentimental value. Will, what were you thinking?”

Will flushes, smiling. “Nothing.”

“Like I said, Castle Byers. Anytime. Anyplace.”

“Oh my God.”

“Even right now, if you want.”

“Mike.” Will laughs, covering his face with his hands.

Mike grins at him, then goes back to setting up the movie, taking the tape out of its sleeve
and putting it into the VHS player. Once it’s playing, he bounds back over and sits next to
Will, placing the remote on the table. “Ta-da.”

“I stand corrected.” Will leans his head against his shoulder. “You’re a real gentleman.”

“Thanks.” Mike goes silent. “If only your brother thought that.”

Will straightens back up, looking at him. “What?”

Mike’s eyes widen, like he didn’t mean to say it out loud. “Forget it.”

Will leans forward and grabs the remote, pausing the movie. “If only my brother thought
that?”

Mike sighs. “No, it’s just-” He huffs. “I don’t know, it’s something he said.”

“Jonathan?”
“Yes, Jonathan.”

“What did he say?” Will’s surprised at how angry he felt, the urge to protect Mike coming
over him. To make whatever was hanging over him disappear. “What was it about?”

“Us.”

“Of course.” Will flops back on the couch. “What, something about how I deserved better?”

“Yeah,” Mike says, but it’s empty, and when Will looks at him it’s like he’s lost in his own
head, overthinking.

“Hey.” He leans toward him. “It’s not true.”

Mike looks at him and looks away. “But it’s true that it runs in your family.”

“What?”

Mike looks down, playing with his fingers. “He told me this whole story about how Joyce
had all these guys when she was younger, but she ended up choosing the one who treated her
like shit. And it…” he swallows thickly. “That must mean it runs in the family.”

“He said that?” And now Will is actually angry. “When?”

Mike looks at him, alarmed. “After the arcade that one night, after Jonathan dropped you and
Tobias off at Tobias’ house.”

“He shouldn’t have said that.”

“Will, it’s okay-”

“No it’s not.” He’s seething. “Jonathan doesn’t even know- he had no right-” He takes a deep
breath, trying to calm down. “He’s probably just projecting because Nancy’s hurting him
right now.”

Mike’s eyebrows pinch together. “She is?”

Will nods absentmindedly. “She’s torn between Jonathan and Steve.” He pauses. “What,
Nancy doesn’t confide her relationship troubles in you?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Will smiles at that. “Makes sense.” Then he takes a deep breath. “Just… don’t believe what
he said. I deserve what I want and I want you.”

Mike nods like he doesn’t believe him. “Okay.”

“I’m serious.” Will takes his hand, entangling their fingers. “I want you, Mike Wheeler. And
everything you did with Castle Byers, it was amazing.”
“But if I didn’t do all that…” And Will can’t remember a time Mike’s ever sounded this
insecure. “Would you still…”

“Would I still choose you?”

Mike nods quickly.

Will smiles. “What, if you had nothing to offer and were just some kid walking up to me
asking to be friends at a swing set?” He squeezes his hand. “I will always choose you.”

Mike looks like he’s about to cry. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

And they stay like that for a second, staring at each other, before Mike’s eyes widen in
remembrance. “That was your first painting, right?”

“What?”

“Us on the swing set.” When Will doesn’t say anything, he prompts further. “You know, the
one you scrapped before starting the other one that you actually gave me.”

Will’s at a loss for words. “How… how do you know that?”

“El told me.” Mike scooches closer, looking a lot happier. “Why’d you change it?”

He rolls his eyes. “Because it was obvious as hell.”

“I wouldn’t have noticed.”

Will scoffs playfully. “No, you wouldn’t have. You never noticed anything.” Then he looks
down, thinking, staring at their still entangled hands. “What do you think our friends will
think?”

“About us?” Mike repeats. Will nods. “They pretty much already know.” He begins listing off
on his fingers. “Max said it was about time, Lucas was just glad I wasn’t homophobic, El said
it made sense-”

“No, no,” Will cuts him off. “I mean actually seeing us together. Not just hearing about it. I
mean, won’t it change the dynamics of the group? Won’t it be weird?”

Mike twists his mouth to the side. “Well, we already know they’re not homophobic. Thanks
for that.”

“No problem.”

“We should invite them over. It’s been a while since we’ve all hung out here anyways.” He
stretches. “Play some video games, make popcorn, announce that we’re dating.”

The words make Will’s stomach flip. “We’re dating?”

Mike freezes. “We’re not?”

“No, no, we are.” Will trips over his words. “I mean, I want to. If you do. We just never
officially said it-”

“We’re dating.” Mike locks eyes with him. “Will, you and I are in a committed relationship.”
Will laughs. “I mean it. There’s no getting out of it. We’re locked in.”

“We are?”

“Yep.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Neither am I.”

“Cool.”

“Cool.”

Will beams. “You know, we really are terrible at watching movies.”

They both turn to the paused screen. “You’re right.” Mike slings an arm around him,
unpausing the movie, and that’s how they spend the rest of the afternoon, rewatching Star
Wars, snuggling, whispering to each other, and the whole time Will has a nervous anticipation
in his stomach for when everyone comes over, for what they will think. If they’ll think Will is
an asshole for breaking up with Tobias, or Mike is too for going from El to Will. He feels a
sinking feeling in his chest, a fear of being judged, but now it was for morality rather than
sexuality.

But when he focuses on the warmth of Mike next to him, the fuzziness in his limbs, it didn’t
feel wrong, it felt right.

And if he saw it, everyone else would. They had to.

 Chapter 23
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

The opportunity for the Party to see them together comes two days later. After some planning
and phone calls, they managed to get everyone over to Mike’s house on a Sunday night. First
to arrive is El, considering she lived there, and until the rest of them got there, it was just
Will, Mike and El in the basement. Mike was toying with the Nintendo system that had
suddenly stopped working, and El and Will watched him work in silence.

And Will just felt awkward. For the past couple days him and Mike had been in their own
little bubble, ignoring reality, ignoring other people, basically having their own honeymoon
away from the rest of the world, but standing next to El was a stark reminder that it was real.
Not only were Mike and El not dating anymore, which is weird enough as it was, but him and
Mike were boyfriends. And the three of them hadn’t talked about it yet, at least not together.
Why the hell hadn’t they talked about it yet?

“I’m going to grab some snacks,” he blurts out. Mike makes a noise of acknowledgement,
still ducked under the TV, but El shoots him a strange look. In return, he gives her a nervous
smile. Stop being weird. He heads up the stairs, grabs a bowl from the kitchen, fills it with
various snacks from the Wheeler’s pantry, barely glancing at what he was grabbing, and after
a moment of hesitation heads back down the stairs. That only killed two minutes. Why was no
one here yet?

As he heads back down the stairs, an image pops into his head of Mike and El making up, or
kissing, or something, and his stomach twists. Just act normal.

But when he comes back downstairs, everything is still the same, but now El is unfolding a
plastic table, probably for the snacks. Of course.

He sets the bowl down on the table, avoiding El’s eyes, and starts trying to arrange them in a
decorative way. And then arranges them again when they don’t look right. And then again.
And again. What was wrong with this bowl?

“…Will.” He looks up to see El looking at him, and he can tell it’s not the first time she’s said
his name.

“Yeah?”

She gives him that same strange look from earlier. “Are you okay?”

“What? Yeah.” Then he panics momentarily. “Why, are you okay? I mean, is- is this okay?
Are you not… is it weird?”

El looks confused, staring at him, but then she seems to understand something, her mouth
opening in a silent “o” gesture. Then she’s motioning him to the corner of the basement,
away from Mike who was still fixing the Nintendo. Once they’re out of earshot, she lowers
her voice. “It’s okay.”

“What?”

“Is that what you are worried about? What I think about you and Mike?” Will hesitates and
then nods, tears prickling his eyes. “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not, El,” Will insists, relieved they were talking about it. “It’s- it’s not. He was your
boyfriend.”

“Was my boyfriend. Not anymore.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Will.” El puts a hand on his shoulder. “I dated him then. You date him now. Everyone is
happy.”

Will almost smiles at El’s simplicity. And it was something he’s missed these past few
months. When’s the last time they talked? Like really talked? “But…” he trails off, not
knowing what he was trying to get at. “It has to hurt, right?”

“A little,” El admits. “But not a lot. Mike and I are better as friends.” She pauses
thoughtfully. “If anything, it had to hurt for you more.” Will blinks, confused. El lowers her
voice even more. “You liked him all that time?”

Will realizes what she’s talking about. “Oh. Yeah. But it’s fine.”

“Will, it wasn’t fine. I showed you his letters and you were there for our dates-”

“He was your boyfriend-”

“You knew him longer than I did. You had dibs.”

Will laughs despite himself. “Dibs? Where’d you learn that from?”

“Max taught me it.”

“Oh.” Then Will pauses. “Look, El, if you’re really okay with this-”

“I am.” She fixes him with a look. “Friends don’t lie.”

His shoulders drop. “I know, I believe you. Just…” He feels tears sting his eyes again. “It
feels like we’ve gotten distant, since we’ve moved back to Hawkins. And we didn’t talk as
much and all this stuff was going on behind the scenes and now I’m- I’m with Mike and I
just-” he takes a deep breath. “Don’t think that I ever wanted to hurt you.”

“I know,” her voice goes sympathetic. “I know, Will. And I never thought that.” She reaches
forward and pulls him into a hug. “It’s okay. It’s all worked out now.”
Will nods against her shoulder. “I know,” he whispers. “Thanks.”

She pulls back. “Hey, I should be thanking you. You lied about your painting to try and save
Mike and I’s relationship?”

Will groans as he wipes his eyes, embarrassed but also relieved that everything was in the
open now. No more secrets. “It’s what he needed to hear.”

“You have always known him the best.” El says, and there’s no bitterness or resentment in
her words, only understanding and love.

And finally, the last bit of weight on his shoulders was finally gone. He smiles at her. “We’re
a long way from California, aren’t we?”

El giggles. “Hard to believe Hawkins has been even crazier.”

“Understatement of the year.”

“Fixed it!” They both turn to see Mike victoriously holding up a wire. “Somehow two of the
wires got switched.”

El laughs. “It must have been Holly.”

Mike frowns. “She’s always touching my stuff.”

The doorbell rings, and they all turn toward the top of the stairs. Will can hear the door open-
Mrs. Wheeler letting them in- and then Lucas and Max are bounding down the stairs, Lucas
carrying a six pack of Coca Cola.

“What’s up guys?” Max greets all of them. “Are we the first ones here?”

“Yep,” El answers, taking the six pack from Lucas and placing it on the table. In the
meantime, Will doesn’t miss the way Max and Lucas’ eyes curiously dart between him and
Mike. To his left, Mike walks over from the Nintendo, standing next to Will protectively.

“So Mike,” Lucas sounds like he’s on the verge of laughing. “I see you’ve gotten over your
homophobia.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mike says.

“Gone from hating a gay man to loving one.”

“A real redemption arc if I say so myself,” Max chimes in.

“Yeah, yeah.” Mike rolls his eyes, smiling. “I was an idiot.”

“We know.” Max gives him a playful stare.

“But all jokes aside, we’re happy for you guys.” Lucas grins at them. “Two of our best
friends dating, that’s great! I mean, even though that technically already-” He clears his
throat. “It technically already- but this time… Max, help me out. This time-”

“This time it’s better,” El cuts in.

They all go silent, and then there’s a moment of agreement. “It’s better.”

“Yup.”

“You all seem happier.”

“You really do.”

The doorbell rings again and this time it’s Dustin coming down the stairs. “Are you guys
ready to NINTENDOOO?” He cups his hands around his mouth like an announcer, and
everyone laughs.

“You heard the man,” Lucas echoes.

They all grab snacks and head over to the couch, grabbing controllers. Normally Mike would
be first to grab one, sitting in the middle of the couch and dictating who plays when because
it was his Nintendo, but this time he opts for hanging back, staying with Will, and they both
end up squeezed together in the giant stuffed armchair. And Mike’s hardly paying attention to
the screen.

He leans closer to Will, the proximity causing Will’s skin to buzz. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Will whispers. He looks around, seeing the once empty basement now
flooded with activity. “It’s weird having everyone here.”

“You miss when it was just the two of us?”

He feels butterflies at the quietness of Mike’s voice. He nods. “Yeah.”

Mike beams at his answer, looking forward like he’s proud. “Me too.”

They both watch the game for a moment, where Dustin is currently accusing Max of
cheating, and Max is calling that “a shitty excuse for his own poor gameplay.” And Lucas is
laughing his ass off. Things were the same as they always were. “They seem to be cool with
it.”

“They do.” And now Mike is back looking at him, in that certain way that Will now knew
what it meant.

His eyes flit down to Mike’s lips, and he hesitates. Should they…? But their friends were
distracted playing Nintendo and they all knew anyways and Mike just looked so good in the
fuzzy plaid button-down he was wearing, so he decides it’s okay and he leans forward,
closing the distance between them. And it’s perfect, life is perfect-

“What the hell?” They spring back and turn to see Dustin staring at them, openmouthed.
They turn to each other, panicked, and Mike starts frantically counting on his fingers. “Max,
El, Lucas…” His eyes widen. “Dustin!”

“Yeah, that’s my name!” Dustin sounds hysterical. “What in God’s green earth is going on
here?”

Lucas claps his hand down on his shoulder. “Buddy, we’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Clearly!” Dustin exclaims. Will laughs despite himself. “El.” He holds his hand out
emphatically. “You seeing this?!”

She nods. “I am.”

“And- and you’re okay with this?”

“I am,” she repeats.

“So, this is a threesome situation or-”

“No!”

“God no!”

“Ew, Dustin, gross.”

“Look,” Max turns her body so she’s facing Dustin. “I’ll spell it out for you. Will liked Mike.
Mike liked El. Will starting dating Tobias. Mike got mad and thought he was homophobic,
but it was really just jealousy-” Dustin’s eyes widen, like it made sense. “Mike then stole my
vodka and confessed his feelings-”

Mike cuts in. “You gave it to me!”

“Which Will didn’t believe because he said it while drunk. But then Mike broke up with El
and Will broke up with Tobias and they had some sort of tender moment under the stars last I
heard and viola! The rest is history.”

“Who told her about the tender moment under the stars?” Mike demands.

Lucas shrugs. “Sorry, man. Girlfriends.” He cuts his eyes to Will. “Or boyfriends. Y’know?”

Mike relaxes. “Yeah.” His voice drops a few decibels, turning to Will. “I know.”

“Alright, let’s keep those tender moments under the stars,” Dustin grumbles, turning back to
the TV. “PDA is not okay, especially when my girlfriend is 1,500 miles away.”

“So, you’re okay with it?” Will asks unsurely.

Dustin looks at him. “Yeah I’m okay with it. It’s just the old switcharoo.”

“Dustin!”
He looks around. “What? It is! Now can we please get back to the game, this time with no
cheating.”

“I wasn’t cheating!” Max exclaims.

“El, watch Max and make sure she’s not cheating.”

“Will do.”

Max rolls her eyes. “Dustin, if anything you should be watching me so you can learn how to
actually play this game.”

“No, you should be watching me so you can learn a thing or two about honest and fair
gameplay.”

“Oh my God.”

And then the next round starts, everyone’s eyes glued to the screen except Will and Mike.

“Disaster averted,” Will whispers.

Mike nods. “That should be everyone.”

“Even your parents,” Will jokes.

“Hold on.” Dustin throws down his controller. “Did I hear that correctly? Mike’s parents
knew before me?” He looks around in disbelief. “You’re telling me Ted Wheeler has been
walking around with this information?”

Will starts laughing and Mike does too.

“Guys, seriously? Okay, this I’m not okay with!”

Mike wraps an arm around Will’s shoulders. “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, they found
out accidentally.”

“And so did I!” Dustin picks the controller back up. “This is absolutely ludicrous. I thought
we were friends here.”

“To be fair, you could’ve figured it out yourself,” Max adds, eyes glued to the screen. “It was
pretty obvious from the beginning.”

“Obvious?” Mike’s eyebrows pinch together.

“Very.” She gives him a quick glance. “The interrogation you gave Tobias at the first family
dinner.”

“Ah.”

“The fact that you barely go to church but took up defending homophobia like your life
depended on it.”
“Right.”

“When you found out Robin and Vickie liked each other, were completely fine with it, and
said, ‘I guess I’m only homophobic toward guys.’”

Will snorts. “You said that?”

“I… I thought I was homophobic only toward guys. How was I supposed to know?”

“Common sense, Wheeler,” Max answers. “Something you seem to be lacking on a

consistent basis.”

Mike rolls his eyes.

“She’s not wrong,” Will adds, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Shut up,” Mike swats him.

“I still love you though.”

Mike relaxes. “Good.” He tightens his arm around his shoulders. “And I love you too.”

“1500 miles never felt so far,” Dustin starts singing. “If only I could drive a car. I’d walk if I
had no other way.”

“That’s beautiful, Dustin. If only your playing skills were that beautiful.”

“Well I’ll have you know that they are, Max.” He starts frantically pressing the buttons, the
screen flashing with Dustin’s attacks. “Because I just won!”

The game over sound plays, and Max throws down her controller. “What the hell? How did
you-” She shoots Dustin a look. “Dustin, did you start cheating because you thought I was
cheating?”

Dustin’s eyes widen, caught. “Uh, no.”

“Which is a yes.” Max rolls her eyes. “Let’s start over. This time, Lucas, watch Dustin to
make sure he’s not cheating.”

“Aye aye, captain.”

She grumbles. “I can’t believe it’s come down to this.”

And as their friends start a new round, Will leans further into Mike, sighing contently. For the
next few minutes, they watch the game on the TV, before Will’s mind starts wandering,
getting bored. He looks around the room and his eyes land on a brown binder peeking out of
the TV shelf. It must’ve gotten displaced when Mike was fiddling with the Nintendo.
“What’s that?”

Mike looks over. “Shit. Uh, nothing.”

“Nothing?” Will asks skeptically. “Like it’s completely empty, you don’t know what’s in it, or
you don’t want me to know?”

“The… the first one.”

“A completely empty binder?” He squints. “Mike I can see papers in it.”

Mike shifts uncomfortably. “Okay, the third one. It’s just embarrassing.”

He turns to him, confused. Then his face lights up. “Baby photos of Mike?”

“It’s not baby photos!” Mike protests, but it’s too late, Will’s curiosity getting the best of him.
He springs up and grabs the binder, bringing it back to the chair and sitting down. And Mike
looks nervous.

He hesitates. “Hey,” he whispers. “If you really don’t want me to look inside I won’t.”

“No…” Mike drums his fingers on his legs. “You can, it’s just…”

“Mike.” He lets his voice take on a disappointed tone. “Is it one of those magazines?”

“No! What?” Mike whirls toward him. “No. Why would I keep that in a shelf in the
basement? That’s not even where-” He cuts himself off. “Uh, never mind. Okay, now you
have to look at it because it’s not that.”

“Alright,” Will says unsurely, looking down at the binder. And with Mike by his side, he
slowly opens it to the first page, the first sleeve he realizes, and inside the clear plastic is one
of his drawings. It’s an older one, from before he went missing, one of a forest with a tiger
hiding in the trees. From a time before any dark creatures or monsters. “Oh. Cool,” he says
offhandedly. “I remember that one.”

He continues flipping through, expecting it to be a scrapbook of sort, of things Mike decided

to keep throughout the years, but the next page is another one of his drawings. And the one
after that. And the one after that. And they’re all chronological, going from elementary
school to middle school and he flips faster through them, before eventually getting to the last
one he made right before they left for California.

These were all the drawings he gave to Mike. And he kept them.

His mouth drops open. “Mike, what-”

Mike is covering his face with his hands. “I know, it’s stupid. I just didn’t want to lose them
and sometimes when I hang them on the wall they fall off and I just wanted them all
together-”

“No, don’t be embarrassed.” He grabs Mike’s hands and pries them away from his face,
entangling their fingers. “I’m very flattered.”

“If you say so,” Mike mumbles, refusing to look at him.

Will looks back down at the drawings to take the attention off him. “Did you look through
them a lot?”

Mike nods. “I did when you first went missing. And… when you were found. And whenever
I got something new to add.”

“Just you being a good friend?” Will teases.

Mike smiles at that. “A really good one, apparently.”

And for the next few minutes, Will flips back through the pages, reminiscing and making
comments, with Mike listening. About halfway through, he realizes. “You didn’t need the art
facts.”

“What?”

He looks up at Mike. “You cared about art the whole time.”

Mike processes the words, then makes a sound, a happy one. “Yeah. I did.”

“Yeah.” They look at each other, and Will gets the urge to kiss him but forces himself to look
away, his cheeks flushed slightly.

“Y’know,” Mike starts. “I actually had another art fact that I was too scared to say. I thought
it was stupid.”

“What was it?”

“Nothing.”

“Mike, you can’t just tell me you had an idea for an art fact and not say it.”

Mike’s cheeks redden. “Promise not to laugh.”

“I don’t promise.”

“Will.”

“Okay, fine.” He takes a deep breath. “I won’t laugh. What is it?”

Mike toys with his fingers, nervous. “I have seen many works of art in my time. But out of all
them, you’re the most beautiful.”

It takes Will a second to process the words. “I… what?”

“Don’t make me say it again.”

Will repeats it, trying to understand. “You’ve seen many works of art, but I’m-”

Mike nods. “You’re the most beautiful.”

“Mike.” Will feels tears sting his eyes. “You’re going to make me cry.”

“As long as you’re not laughing.”

“Of course I’m not laughing. Fuck.” He blinks his tears back. “That’s so sweet.”

“It is?” Mike looks up. “I thought it was stupid.”

“Yeah, it’s stupid. But it’s also sweet.” And then he leans forward, kissing him, not caring
about anyone else in the room. Mike giggles into his lips.

“Okay. Good.”

When they pull back, Mike looks back down at the book. “I mean, it was either you or this
thing right here.” He points to an animal from one of the earliest drawings, which looked like
a cross between a sheep and a horse. Before Will really knew how to draw animals.

Will rolls his eyes playfully. “Oh, shut up.”

“What are you guys looking at?” They’re interrupted by Max looking at them, along with
everyone else, the game over screen playing in the background. It takes Will a second to
come back to reality.

“Oh.” He blinks, looking down at the binder. “My drawings.”

Lucas looks over curiously. “You brought those?”

“Mike had them here.”

“Mike had them?” He switches his gaze over to Mike, raising his eyebrows.

Mike flushes. “You guys act like we weren’t friends too before this.”

“Still, my man. That is pretty romantic.” Then he looks over to Max, pouting. “Max, why
don’t you have a romantic binder filled with my drawings?”

Max raises an eyebrow. “Because you don’t draw?” She looks at Mike. “And because that’s
corny as hell.”

“It’s not- it’s not corny.”

“It’s not,” Will defends him. “It’s practical, right? Because the drawings fall off his wall.”

“Just like how I keep Max’s hoodies around my room in case I get cold despite having a
closet full of clothes,” Lucas chimes in. “Mike, we can see right through you.”

Will bursts out laughing.

“And Will,” Lucas turns to him. “How come we never got any of your art?”

“Yeah,” Dustin chimes in. “My metaphorical binder is empty.”

“Same here.”

“Same.”

Will blinks. “You guys never asked?”

Max gestures to the binder. “And Mike asked 75 times?”

“Okay, you got me. Us. Whatever.” Will rolls his eyes. “Happy?”

“Very,” Max smiles.

Lucas grins. “Look, we’re just messing with you guys. We’re all happy for you, right?” He
looks around where everyone is nodding. “We support it.”

“And now Mike can finally stop complaining about Tobias,” El adds.

The room goes silent, and then everyone erupts into noises of agreement.

“Finally!”

“Agreed.”

“It was getting annoying.”

“Hey,” Mike defends. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Lucas looks at Mike. “It was pretty bad, dude.”

“Pretty bad,” El agrees.

“Okay, well, he…” Mike starts automatically, then sighs. “Forget it. He was a nice guy. Is a
nice guy. I… I can see that now.”

Lucas laughs. “The irony of Mike finally accepting Tobias after they broke up.” Then he
pauses. “How did he take it, by the way? The breakup? If it’s not too…”

“No, no,” Will rushes in. “It’s fine for me to talk about. He was mature about it, of course.
And it was mutual on both sides since we both understood, you know, everything. And why it
had to be this way. And we exchanged our things and that was it.”

“So you’re still on good terms?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“It’s just-” Lucas flicks his gaze over to Dustin, both looking vaguely guilty. “Is it too much
to ask if we still hang out with him? His reaction times on Dragon’s Lair and Galaga are
unmatched. Like once-in-a-lifetime unmatched.”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” Will blinks, thinking. “I don’t think he has a lot of friends from
around here anyways.”
“Good,” Lucas relaxes. “Because we can learn a lot from him. Like, seriously, between the
three of us, we can dominate that arcade.”

“Hey, go for it.”

Max folds her arms. “No comment from Mike about Tobias using cheat codes on the
internet? I’m impressed.”

“What can I say?” Mike stretches languidly. “I’ve matured.”

“Clearly.” But it’s not sarcastic. She looks pleased.

And that’s how they spend the rest of the night, playing video games, eating snacks, before
eventually settling in to watch a movie, and Will can’t remember the last time he felt this
happy. With Tobias, it was a month-long cloud nine, full of ups and euphoria and excitement,
but sitting next to Mike on the floor with a blanket pulled over them as they watched
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, surrounded by their closest friends, Will
wasn’t on cloud nine. He was complete. At home. Even though technically his home was
back in California and his old home was a few streets away, he felt at home.

Because sometimes home isn’t a place; it’s a person.

But then, as if on cue, a chill runs down his neck, making him shiver, as if to remind him he
wasn’t safe, there was no home. Not if Vecna still existed. Not if Vecna was inside him, inside
his brain.

His eyes go wide, locked on the TV screen where a battle scene was happening, not
processing what he was seeing. His heart starts pounding, waiting, but nothing happens, and
the chill is gone a second later. He blows out a breath.

“You okay?” Mike whispers from next to him. His hand is already grabbing Will’s before he
can respond.

“Oh, um, yeah.” He tries to focus on the warmth of Mike’s hand. “Just… I got cold for a
second.”

“Room temperature cold or chills on the back of your neck cold?”

And of course Mike could see right through him. He squeezes his eyes shut. “The second
one.”

“Shit.” Mike pulls him closer, even wraps a hand around his waist, and it’s distracting enough
that he almost forgets about Vecna. Almost. “Just stay close to me, okay?”

Like he needed to be told that. Like it wasn’t as natural as breathing. “Okay.”

And for the rest of the movie, he stays pressed into Mike’s side. And it works. He feels safe
as the movie ends. He feels safe as everyone stands up, getting ready to go. He feels safe after
everyone’s gone and Mike and him head upstairs, saying goodnight to each other.
 But then after he closes the door behind him and is suddenly alone, the feeling is back like it
never left. Pure, unadulterated dread. And the chills on the back of his neck have amplified.

He shivers, deciding to just get into bed and sleep it off.

It only works for a few hours.

Chapter End Notes

Ahh sorry to leave it on that note! Vecna does make one final appearance before this
thing officially ends.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!!

 Chapter 24
Chapter Summary

Will has a nightmare.

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Will shrinks back at the sight before him. Vines, slithering everywhere, under his feet, on the
surrounding trees, on the ground in the distance. He looks up, seeing a red sky cracked with
lightning. The air is dry, dusty, and he coughs. And coughs again.

And he immediately knows he made a mistake, falling asleep on his own, which is weird
because in a dream he’s not usually this aware.

And his senses aren’t this vivid either, everything feeling like real life. The ground was solid
beneath his feet and the dry wind felt like it was really ruffling his hair. Which meant- was
this-?

He panics, making a move to run, until he realizes his feet are bound by vines.

And then he hears Vecna. “Will.”

“No,” he chokes out, tears already filling his eyes. “No. Let me go.”

“Finally, I get you alone.” The slithering of vines increases, gathering together, until Vecna
rises up from them. “I’ve been waiting, Will.” Will turns his head to the side, trying to find a
way out, even as the vines start to creep up his legs, paralyzing him. “It’s time.” Vecna steps
closer, his beady eyes not leaving Will’s face. “Come with me.”

“No.”

There’s a roaring sound, like a bunch of rocks gathering, and then more vines come from the
distance, headed toward him. “It’s been difficult enough trying to get you, when you’re with
that boy. You think I’m going to stop now that I have you?”

It takes him a second to realize that meant Will was protected the whole time, being with
Mike. Being on the frequency of love and friendship and happiness.

And now he was alone.

He had to think of Mike, he had to get Mike into his room.

“Mike!” he tries to call out, but something is wrong, feeling like he was shouting it but
nothing was happening.

Vecna’s laugh is loud and deep, reverberating through his ears. “Pathetic.” There’s a static
sound and then Will’s vision flickers, momentarily showing his empty bedroom before
returning to the Upside Down. And it happens again, the scene overlayed, and Will feels a
surge of panic at the realization that it meant it wasn’t a dream. He was in another place at
the same time as his room. “I don’t see him, do you?”

“Mike,” he calls again, but it’s silent, his throat stuck, like when you try to scream in a
dream. And now he’s sobbing, the memories of the warmth of Mike’s arms, of Mike, feeling
like a 1,000 miles away. “Mike!” he mouths, his throat closing up. The vines are up to his
stomach now, cold and wet, and he desperately tries to pry them off, but his hands keep
slipping and the vines are squeezing tighter and tighter.

He begins thrashing around, trying to scream, anything to wake up Mike or Jonathan or

anyone, but then his vision flickers again to his bedroom and he sees his body, completely
still and silent. That’s why Mike wasn’t coming. No one could hear him. Vecna probably did it
on purpose.

“You see, Will?” Vecna whispers lowly. “No one is coming. No one knows. And now, it is time
for you to join me. For us to rebuild this broken world, together.”

He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to focus on his thoughts, to think about love, to think about
Mike, to think of anything except the vines that were up to his chest now.

He thinks of Castle Byers and tries his best to hold every detail in his head of that night. The
Christmas lights weaved in between the wood. The soft music crackling through the radio.
Mike’s voice as he read the letters he never sent.

The vines loosen, but only slightly.

So he tries harder, thinking of Mike’s eyes, his hands, the tightness in his hugs. Him
whispering that he loved him, over and over.

But then he remembers his empty bedroom and the fear heightens, doubt creeping in.

“Will, you know how this is going to end.” Vecna steps closer. “There’s no use in resisting.”

Will shakes his head desperately, and then he thinks of love from everyone- his mom
communicating with him through lights when he first went missing, Jonathan hugging him in
the pizza kitchen, his friends accepting him in the basement the day he came out. He imagines
a world where being gay is okay, where everyone is accepted and no one is bullied and
people are happy. Hell, he imagines a world where the Upside Down never happened and it
was just him and his friends, going to school and playing D&D and watching movies.
Paradise on earth.

And for a second, it’s enough. He opens his eyes, seeing his bedroom, really seeing it, feeling
the softness of the covers and for a second he can move his body and he takes full advantage
of it, sitting up.

But then it’s like Vecna can tell he’s slipping away, because then he’s starkly back in the
Upside Down, with such a real feeling to it that the breath is knocked out of his chest, his
mind gone blank. And the vines from a distance are finally close enough that they start
stacking on top of each other, forming a wall in front of him, around him, and as a collective
unit they begin moving closer on all sides, boxing him in. The vines from the ground move up
to his throat now, wrapping around his neck and squeezing, and he’s openly sobbing now.

He's thought of it all. He’s thought of Mike and his family and his friends. Hell, he’s even
thought of an ideal universe where everything is okay and happy and safe. There wasn’t
anything else.

This was the end.

The vines move across his face, on top of his head, into his mouth, and he knows if he dies,
he’ll die thinking of Mike.

He’ll die knowing Mike loved him, and he loved him back.

And Mike will be okay. If Will’s the sacrifice, maybe Mike can finally move on from this whole
mess. They all can.

And he’ll miss Mike. He’ll miss him a lot. But he can visit him as a ghost, and maybe
someday, they’ll be reunited. A long, long time from now.

The feeling gives him peace, his vision going dark, and he feels his body relax, surrendering.
It’s okay. It’ll be okay.

The sudden change in emotion causes the vines to stiffen, then relax suddenly, slipping off
him, and his eyes shoot open, seeing his bedroom again, then the Upside Down, then his
bedroom.

It takes a moment for him to realize he’s alive. And before anything can change, he uses all
of his willpower to heave himself out of bed, even as his vision is flickering back to the
Upside Down like a television caught between two channels. He wrenches open his door and
tries to make it to Mike’s room, but he slows down, disoriented, his vision staticky. He looks
down and sees red marks on his arms. Was he still dreaming? Was this real life? When he
looks up, the hallway morphs into a dark alley with vines, and back again.

Panicking, he stumbles into the bathroom, the harsh white light blinding his eyes, and grips
the marble counter with sweaty hands. He stares down at the sink, feeling like was about to
throw up or pass out or- or die, and his arms were still red and hurt, everything hurt. And
Vecna’s voice was sounding in his head and he was so scared he couldn’t even cry-

He hears a noise from behind him and jumps, but then Mike’s arms are wrapping around him
from behind, squeezing tight, and all the tension drains out of him.

“Mike-” he chokes out, his throat raw.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he’s whispering into his neck. “Fuck, I’m here, Will.”

His arms start shaking, hardly able to hold himself up, and Mike notices, turning him around
and hugging him properly. Will starts sobbing into his shoulder. “I needed you.”

“I know,” Mike rushes out, apologetic. “I’m here now.”

Another wave of panic washes over him, and he grips the back of Mike’s white t-shirt like his
life depends on it. Which maybe it does. He looks around quickly, his vision still flickering.

“You’re not calming down, what’s-” Mike pulls back and sees the panic in Will’s eyes. “What
happening?”

“I…” he’s almost hyperventilating. “I can still see the Upside Down. He’s trying to get me.”

“Now?”

Will nods, his vision going back and forth although Mike still looked the same. “Mike, I’m so
scared.”

Mike quickly pulls him in again, hugging him tightly, one hand on the small of his back and
another in his hair. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, Will. I’m not letting him take you.”

Will’s voice trembles. “This- this is real life?”

“Yes. Yes, Will,” he whispers. “You’re here. Not there.” He grabs him tighter, slowly swaying
back and forth. “Just calm down, okay? Follow my breathing.”

And Will does, taking shaky ins and outs, gripping onto Mike for dear life, and he finally
feels himself start to relax. Vecna’s voice grows dimmer in his head, and his vision stops
switching, staying stable.

After a few minutes of nothing else happening, his terror slowly dissolves into sobbing, and
Mike holds him through that too, running his hand up and down his back. “It’s okay, let it
out, it’s okay.” He sounds choked up too. “Fuck, Will, what happened?”

And Will finally pulls back, wiping his eyes. “It wasn’t a dream. I- I was there.”

“You were there?” Mike looks down and sees the red marks on Will’s arms. “The Upside
Down?”

“I almost-” he stops himself from saying died because of how panicked Mike suddenly looks.

“What happened to your arms?”

“Vecna he-” Will inhales shakily. “He… the vines. He almost- because I was alone. It was his
only chance.” He can hardly get a few words out.

“It’s okay,” Mike finishes for him. “Here, just- just sit down.”
Will’s legs nearly collapse and Mike rushes to support his weight, lowering them both gently
to the floor. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No, just- just tired. And sore.” His mind flashes back to the vines- the tentacles- the way
they wrapped around him and went inside his mouth and he panics again. And Mike reads
him like a book, immediately pulling him into a hug. And Will quickly reciprocates, inhaling
Mike’s scent. “Just stay with me.”

“Of course. Of course I will.” He pulls back, and then moves to sit next to Will with his back
against the counter. “I’ll stay here all night if I have to.” He says it like a joke, and Will
wishes he could laugh, but his eyes fill with tears again.

“Thanks,” he croaks, and Mike’s eyes widen, and he leans forward like he’s about to hug him
again, but then they both hear footsteps.

And then Jonathan is standing in the open doorway, looking between the two of them.
“What’s going on?” he asks quietly.

Mike tenses. “Will had a nightmare.”

“About Vecna?”

“No, about me,” Mike says sarcastically. “Right, Jonathan?”

“It was about Vecna,” Will cuts in, not knowing where Mike’s hostility came from. “It was a
vision. The most realistic one yet.”

Jonathan’s eyes flash with something like guilt and he crouches down. “You’ve had them a
lot?”

Will nods. “But Mike’s been helping me.”

He feels Mike’s arm tighten around him and when he looks up Mike is glaring at Jonathan. “I
have.”

“Okay,” Jonathan says unsurely, then looks at Will. “Are you okay?”

“He is now. I’m handling it.”

“I get it, Mike,” Jonathan says tensely. “I know. I can see it now.”

Will looks between the two of them. “Did you guys get into a fight or something?”

They both pause, looking at him. “I guess you could say that.”

“Yes.”

“Mike-” Jonathan turns to him.

“Wait,” Will pauses, his brain finally putting the pieces together. “Is it because of what
Jonathan said? About that talk you had in the car?”

Jonathan freezes guiltily and Mike nods.

Will takes a deep breath, wishing he could get angry on Mike’s behalf- because he was- but
he’s too exhausted. So he settles for shooting Jonathan a look instead. “It wasn’t cool, what
you said,” he says quietly.

“I know,” Jonathan says. “I know. It’s not an excuse, but I was going through a lot at the time
with Nancy and the thought of you going through something similar just- just triggered
something. Especially when I thought about Lonnie. And then I started blindly trying to
protect you from a guy that you didn’t even need protecting from.”

Mike goes quiet, then half smiles. “Hey, I spent the last month and a half doing the last one.”

Jonathan snorts. “Right.” He looks at Mike. “Look, I think we both care about Will and don’t
want to see him get hurt, and sometimes we take it too far. Does that make sense?”

Mike twists his mouth to the side and looks at Will. “It does.”

“But from now on, we can be on the same team.” Jonathan’s eyes drop down to Will’s arms
and he gasps quietly, seeing the red marks. “Did Vecna…”

Mike nods. “He did.”

“So they’re not just dreams anymore.”

“Will said he was really there.”

“Fuck. We have to figure this out.” Jonathan goes quiet, and then sounds almost amused.
“But I guess not now.”

Mike’s arm around him was having its typical effects and Will was fighting to keep his eyes
open. He yawns, seeing them both looking at him. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Mike says softly, fondly. “Let’s get you to bed.”

He registers the words- and realizes it means he would be alone again- and he panics. “I- I
don’t know, guys.”

It goes quiet, and Jonathan and Mike seem to have a silent conversation. Then Jonathan
sighs. “I can’t believe I’m saying this as the older brother but…” He stands up, taking a deep
breath. “You guys can sleep together. For Will’s safety.” He points his finger comically. “But
no other reasons.”

Mike laughs at that. “I highly doubt tonight’s the night for that.”

“Whatever keeps away Vecna,” Will mumbles, then realizes exactly where in the
conversation he decided to say that. His eyes widen. “Sorry, that’s not-”
“No, it’s okay,” Mike says, his voice unnaturally high-pitched. He clears his throat, his face
red. “Let’s just go.”

Jonathan looks even more amused. “Alright, have fun you guys.” And he pauses
emphatically, like he’s about to make a joke. “But not too much fun.”

Mike practically yanks Will up, embarrassed, and they head down the hallway together.
“Jesus Christ, how am I already missing when he hated the idea of us together?” Mike huffs,
then pauses once they’re in front of their rooms. And his voice is quiet again. “So, your room
or mine?”

Will blinks sleepily, thinking. “Your room or the one that Vecna was in 20 minutes ago?”

Mike’s mouth presses into a straight line. “Mine, then.”

Will nods, feeling a shiver wrack through him. Mike immediately grabs his hand, rubbing his
thumb back and forth. “Do you need anything from your room? Like a pillow or anything?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t want to go back in there.”

“That’s fine. You can use my pillow,” Mike says, not seeming upset in the slightest. Then he
leads Will into his room, and once they’re inside he softly closes the door behind them. Will
looks around, at the small lamp on the nightstand, the clothes on the floor, and bites back a
smile at seeing some of his old drawings on the wall. Mike sees him staring. “Sorry, my
room’s messy.”

“No, I like it. It’s you.” He turns back to Mike, and they both stare at each other for a second.
“I mean- it reminds me of you.” He turns away, blushing, then forces himself to look at the
walls. “I can’t remember the last time I was in here.”

“Too long.”

Will smiles sadly. All the wasted time. “Too long.”

Mike clears his throat and then turns toward his bed which was pushed up against the wall,
lifting the covers and getting in. And then Will flushes, realizing it was now his turn to get in
next to him.

He gets nervous. “I can sleep on the floor.”

“Will.” Mike gives him a look, lying on his back. “There’s plenty of room.”

“You sure you don’t mind?”

“The only thing I mind is if I wake up to you on the ceiling because you slept on the floor out
of politeness.” He pats the space next to him. “C’mon.”

But something’s nagging at him. “Is… is that the only reason?”

Mike looks at him, then seems to realize. “Reassurance, right,” he quietly says to himself,
then looks up. “And of course I want to sleep next to you,” he says nervously. “You’re my
boyfriend.”

Will’s heart skips a beat. “If you insist…”

“I very much do.” Mike’s gaze is intense and Will smiles.

“Okay.” He swallows thickly, walking closer and climbing in, feeling butterflies in a way he
knows isn’t just fear of Vecna. The bed is warm and it smells like Mike and when he settles
in, their faces are inches apart. And it’s so suddenly intimate that Will feels his face redden.

“Is this okay?” Mike whispers, and Will can feel his breath on his lips.

“Very okay.”

Mike smiles, his eyes crinkling. “Cool.”

“Cool,” Will echoes back, barely a whisper. And he doesn’t know where his tiredness went
because now he’s wide awake, entranced by the darkness of Mike’s eyes and the few pieces
of hair falling over his forehead, and the chapness of his slightly parted lips.

“So…” Mike starts, slightly teasing. “Whatever it takes to keep away Vecna?”

It takes Will a second to process his words, and then he rolls his eyes, his face heating up.
“Shut up, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Hey, it could work,” Mike says, but Will knows he’s just teasing. “And I don’t know why
you’re so scandalized, it was your idea, not mine.”

“It wasn’t my idea!”

Mike grins at him. “Whatever you say, Will Byers.” Then it goes quiet again, Mike
seemingly lost in thought.

“What?” Will prompts after a few seconds.

Mike’s eyes flick across his face, and his voice is almost sad. “I just wish I would’ve realized
all this sooner.”

Will bites his lip. “Me too.”

“I’m sorry,” he says gently, inching closer. “Really. For all the pain and wasted years I caused
by being an absolute idiot.”

“Hey, it worked out, didn’t it?” He cards his fingers through Mike’s hair, cradling his cheek,
because he can do that now. Mike leans into his touch.

“It did.” He closes his eyes contently, and Will yawns, already feeling his eyes start to close
too. Mike wraps an arm around him, pulling him into his chest, and Will sighs contently. But
then he feels the edge of the bed next to him, the air at his back, and tenses. “What is it?”
Mike asks.

“Nothing, just…” Will squirms uncomfortably. “What if Vecna pushes me off the bed or
something?”

Mike pauses for a moment, thinking, and then rolls overtop him, switching sides, so now that
Will was sandwiched between him and the wall. “How’s this?”

“Better,” Will exhales, feeling the wall at his back and Mike in front of him. “Safe.”

“Safe,” Mike repeats, sounding happy. He drapes an arm overtop him and entangles their
legs. And Will feels the last bit of fear drain out of him, the nightmare starting to fade into a
distant memory. Mike mumbles into his hair. “Just wake me up if you have another
nightmare.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“Will…”

“No, I mean it.” He burrows further into Mike’s embrace. “I feel different from before. Safe.”

Mike can’t keep the smile out of his voice. “Safe.”

“Safe,” Will mumbles, half asleep. He hears Mike lean over to switch off his lamp, and then
the room goes dark. And just like that, fear washes through him at not being able to see
anything, even though Mike is right next to him. And he just- he needs something. Some
reassurance. One more thing before he falls asleep. “Mike?”

“What?”

He feels embarrassed. “I love you.”

Mike’s response is immediate. “I love you too.”

His arm tightens around Will as he says it.

And finally, that’s enough for him to fall asleep.

When Will wakes up the next morning, the first thing he realizes is that he slept throughout
the night without a nightmare. The second is that Mike is currently propped up on his elbow,
watching him. He blinks, his eyes adjusting to the light. “Were you watching me sleep?”

“Uh, no,” Mike rushes out, sitting up. “No. Why?”

Will smiles, starting to wake up more. “Because you were watching me sleep.”

“No I wasn’t.”

“So you were sleeping with your eyes open?”

“Yes?”

“Mike, that’s terrifying.”

Mike huffs, flopping back down. “Ok, fine. So what if I was? You looked peaceful.”

“Peaceful?”

“Yeah.” Mike looks like he wants to say more, but he’s embarrassed. “Look, can we just
forget about this? You’re actually still dreaming by the way. This never happened.”

“Oh, am I?”

“You are.” Mike looks at him. “I can’t believe you dreamed that I was watching you sleep,
Will. That’s so embarrassing.”

And Will laughs at that, covering his face with his hands. “Oh my God, Mike.”

Mike grins at him, then sits up again, his voice going soft. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good,” Will answers, sitting up too. “Really good.”

“Good.” He looks away and back again. “Because I’m here?”

Will rolls his eyes. “Yes, because you’re here.”

“Cool.” Mike looks happy, proud even. “I slept good too. Great, actually.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Mike leans forward, their faces inches apart. “Yeah. I did.” Will’s heart starts
pounding, and then Mike closes the distance, kissing him, his head tilted to the side. Will
grabs his shoulder for purchase, feeling the t-shirt material against his hand, lips moving
eagerly. It’s the first proper kiss they’ve had, completely alone, and Mike pulls back a few
seconds later.

“Wow,” he says breathlessly.

“Wow.”

Mike’s looking at him like he wants to keep kissing him, his eyes fixed on his lips, and it’s a
look Will realizes he’s seen many times before, even before they started dating. He almost
laughs at the thought and leans back in, and Mike reciprocates, kissing him fervently. They
still haven’t graduated to making out, but were getting close. When Will twists a hand in
 Mike’s hair, he makes a small noise against his lips and abruptly pulls back, looking
embarrassed. “We have to stop.”

“What?”

“Nothing, just-” He cuts himself off. “My bed cannot be the new makeout spot. For obvious
reasons.” He hops out of bed before Will can ask him what he means.

“Alright,” he says unsurely. He leans back, watching Mike walk over to his dresser with the
attached mirror and start combing out his hair. Will stares at his back, hardly believing this
was real, hardly believing that Mike was his. After everything they went through, all the
girlfriends and boyfriends and break-ups and drama, they ended up just as they started. Mike
and Will. Friends. Best friends.

Boyfriends.

He feels himself smiling and is grateful Mike is facing away. Would he ever get used to this?
The happiness? The butterflies in his stomach? Especially when it’s such a contrast to how
his life has always been. He thinks back to when he was younger, after Vecna made his first
appearance, when he used to dread the days and years ahead. The fear he’d be facing. The
visions and nightmares gradually worsening. In his darkest moments, he used to wish that
Vecna would just take him permanently so he wouldn’t have to face it anymore.

But now, seeing Mike fixing his hair in his mirror, wearing a too-big white t-shirt, all he
wants to do is have more and more days ahead of him.

“You ready?” He looks up and sees Mike staring at him.

He nods. “Yeah,” he smiles. “Yeah, I am.”

He stands up as Mike opens the door, and they head downstairs to breakfast. Together.

Chapter End Notes

There is officially one chapter left, and then the epilogue! The last chapter will mainly
be tying things up (getting EVERYONE'S reactions to them together) and the epilogue
will be placed at some point in the future.

Thank you for reading as always!! <3

 Chapter 25
Chapter Notes

Here it is!! Sorry for the delay on this one. This whole fanfiction was pre-written except
for these last few chapters. I also FINALLY landed a full-time job, so things have been
busy. But anyways, I hope you guys enjoy! :)

Mike stares at himself in the mirror, nervous, adjusting his sleeves, then his hair, then
smoothing down his dress shirt. His first official dinner with the family since Will and him
started dating. “You got this,” he whispers to his reflection. “Just be cool. You got this.”

He’s interrupted by Will opening his bedroom door. “Hey are you almost-” Will freezes, then
sounds like he’s about to start laughing. “Why are you wearing a tie?”

Mike blanches. “What, is it too much?”

Will tilts his head at him. “It’s way too much, Mike. This is just our weekly family dinner.”

“The first one since we started dating.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you have to dress up for it.” He sounds fond as he walks over
to Mike, reaching out to undo his tie.

Mike tries not to get distracted at the close proximity. “But I have to make a good
impression.”

“A good impression?” Will looks up at him. “When you’ve known everyone in that room for
upwards of ten years?”

“You know what I mean.”

Will exhales. “Yeah. I do.” He pulls off Mike’s tie, walking over to set it on the bed. “But
everyone already likes you.”

“Yeah, as an individual. Not as your boyfriend.”

“Mike, most people already know you’re my boyfriend.”

“Not your mom. Or Hopper.”

“Right.” Will turns back, and now he finally looks nervous. “I guess you really are meeting
the parents.”
“Exactly! Exactly, Will.” He holds out his hand. “So give me the tie back.”

Will’s laughing. “No! I’m not letting you wear a tie to a dinner in your own house.”

Mike pouts. “Okay, fine, but when they view me as street slum, it’s on you.”

“Mike, what.” Will is still laughing, and Mike loves the sound. Then Will walks over and
places his hands on his shoulders. “Look, if Jonathan now approves of you, anyone will.”

“He approves?”

Will nods. “We talked about it earlier. He says he likes this new version of you. That you
seem to- to really care.”

“I do.”

Will blushes slightly. “Right. So just show that side of yourself tonight. Look at me lovingly
or whatever. Be a gentleman. A good boyfriend.”

“I can manage that,” Mike says.

“I know you can,” Will says quietly. “You are the best. Boyfriend, I mean.”

Mike’s heart flips. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Will beams at him.

“Let’s go then.” Mike grabs his hand, feeling more confident, and they walk out the door.
Then he sees someone coming up the stairs, and steels himself. It begins now. He’s about to
frantically try to be a good boyfriend, whatever that means, until he realizes it’s Murray. His
shoulders drop.

“Well, well, well.” Murray sounds delighted. “What do we have here?”

“Nothing,” Mike says, then turns to Will. “Just keep walking.”

Murray blocks them, a glass of wine in his hand. So he was drunk. Fantastic. “Let me guess,
holding hands is a type of exposure therapy for homophobia?”

“Not in the slightest,” Mike mumbles.

“Hey, don’t blame me for not being up to date with the latest therapeutic methods.”

Mike glares at him. “I thought you had an Interpersonal Resolution Certification.”

“Great memory, this one.” Murray turns to Will, winking. “I see why you chose him.”

Will blushes. “Murray, I don’t-”

“So tell me.” Murray holds a hand up to his cheek. “What is all this, you two sneaking
around? Ooh, don’t tell me. Am I first to find out?”
“Not by a long shot,” Mike grumbles.

Will sighs. “What he means to say is, a lot of people know.”

“Late to the party then.” Murray pinches his nose. “I find that tragic, considering I was one of
your first supporters.”

“Thanks?” Mike says.

“You’re welcome. Now, tell me.” Murray turns to them with a new gusto. “Who confessed to
who?”

“Alright, I’m leaving-”

“Mike did,” Will answers, and Mike turns to him in surprise.

“Mike did?” Murray’s eyes light up. “An unexpected turn of events. Let me guess, this was in
a drug-induced state?”

Mike blinks, surprised. “It was.”

“Of course.” Murray swirls his wine around in his glass. “Considering Michael here’s
absolute fear of turning inward and facing who he really is, for fear of what he’d find,
probably due to his upbringing of being rejected by parents for what they did see.”

Mike’s mouth falls open. “How did-”

“And Will,” Murray turns to him. “I’m guessing you didn’t believe him due to the
subconscious belief that you’re unworthy of Mike’s affection, due to your own father
abandoning you at a young age which instilled the intrinsic belief you’re flawed, only to
blame it on him being drunk for the reason why you couldn’t accept his answer.”

Will looks pale. “That’s not-”

“But now you two have made amends, probably through the power of reassurance.” Murray
winks at Mike. “Which therefore caused Will to feel like he wasn’t a mistake, putting him in
a happier mood, which in turn caused Mike to feel like he was needed, and now you two are
cycling back and forth in a little love bubble that is absolutely sickening for anyone else to be
around, but oh so beautiful.”

Mike’s eyes are wide and he looks at Will.

“You got us,” Will says weakly.

“Hey, loosen up, you two.” Murray shakes his head and takes a sip of his wine. “Love is
nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s what makes the world go round, marriage
officiants get paid, what makes Vecna stay away. In fact-” He snaps his fingers. “Mike, I
think that means you, my good friend, are vital to this whole operation.”
Mike feels a swell of pride rise up within him and grips Will’s hand. “I know. And I’m taking
it seriously.”

“That’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.” Murray points a finger at them. “You know, I always
thought the key to defeating Vecna would be a final move- me in midair, harnessing the
power of kar-a-te, taking that bastard out, but if it’s as simple as Mike whispering sweet
nothings in his best friend’s ears, then that works too.”

Mike feels his face redden. “Alright.”

“Wow.” Murray takes off his glasses and wipes a fake tear from his eye. “The character
transformation is beautiful. Mike, you’ve come such a long way from that trainwreck in the
basement a few weeks ago. It’s like watching a pupa form a cocoon into a butterfly.”

“Thanks?”

Murray clears his throat, putting his glasses back on, back to business. “You two-” He puts a
hand on each of their shoulders. “Need to celebrate. There’s some pinot noir in the top left
cabinet in the kitchen. Don’t tell your mother I told you that.” So he was drunk.

“Okay,” Mike says hesitantly again. “Why are you up here anyways?”

“Your mother wanted me to grab oven mitts from the linen closet. The universe has a funny
way of timing things, eh boys?” And then finally, Murray heads up the rest of the stairs. Mike
and Will stare at each other, before breaking into laughter, going downstairs.

“I can’t with him.”

“You started as a pupa?”

“We’re in a sickening love bubble?”

“But it’s oh so beautiful.”

They continue talking and laughing they head further down the stairs, before Mike feels the
familiar nerves prickle his stomach, especially as he hears the voices of everyone in the
kitchen. Why was he so nervous? Is this how Tobias felt? He thinks back to that day in the
kitchen, when Tobias met everyone for the first time, and cringes at the way he interrogated
him with questions about Will. And gave him a hard time in general. If someone did that to
him, he didn’t know if he’d be able to handle it.

“You okay?” Will is looking at him, concerned.

He forces himself to nod. “Yup.”

“You have nothing to worry about.” He gives his hand a quick squeeze before pulling back,
and Mike takes a deep breath.

“Let’s do this.” They head into the kitchen, and it’s the typical chaos of a Sunday night
dinner. His and Will’s mom are pulling things out of the oven and setting them on the table,
Nancy is pouring drinks, his father is positioned at the head of the table, reading a newspaper,
Holly next to him. Even Hopper is here.

Jonathan is standing, watching the action, and looks over when they walk in. He sees Mike
and gives him a half smile. A peace offering. Mike gives one back.

“Sit down, sit down, everyone,” his mom is saying, fluffing out her apron. Mike goes to take
his usual seat, only to see it’s taken by El, which means- El’s spot is open. The one next to
Will. He looks over and El winks at him, shooting him a thumbs up. He realizes, and gives a
grateful smile. El is the best.

Murray comes in, wielding two oven mitts. “Oven mitts, for la mademoiselle.” He bows
dramatically, and his mom takes them from him, looking done with his antics, and Mike
snorts.

Gradually, everyone else sits down and they pass the dishes of food around in a circle, and
when Mike hands them to Will, he makes sure their fingers touch. Every time.

As they begin eating, Mike’s jitteriness slowly subsides with Will by his side. He really did
have a calming effect on him. He glances around the table, seeing if anyone was looking at
them, but everyone was either eating or absorbed in conversation. Just like normal.

They continue like that for a few minutes, and at one point Joyce is asking everyone if they
liked her mashed potatoes, since it was a new recipe she tried. And everyone’s nodding.
“Really?” she asks, like they might be lying. She turns to Mike, who’s sitting across from her.
“You like the potatoes?”

“I do.”

“Along with your son.”

It goes silent, and everyone turns to Murray, who’s frozen with a spoonful of green beans
halfway to his mouth. He slowly puts the spoon down. “Sorry.”

It goes quiet, and Mike realizes it’s his turn to speak. He takes a deep breath, almost grateful
for the opportunity, although he can feel Will shrinking next to him with the spotlight on
them. “I do.”

Joyce’s eyebrows are scrunched up, confused. “You like my son?”

“Uh, very much,” he says awkwardly. He turns to Will who’s silent, staring at him. “He’s a
great guy.”

Joyce is still confused. “I don’t-”

Will turns to her, his voice soft. “Mom. We’re dating.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widen, and she brings a hand up to her mouth. “Oh, honey. That’s… that’s
wonderful.” She turns to El. “I knew there was the breakup but I didn’t know the rest of it.”
“Wheeler,” he hears Hopper’s voice from the other end of the table. “Stop dating my
children.”

At first Mike thinks he’s serious, and his blood runs cold, but then Hopper cracks a smile, and
people are laughing, the mood lightened. “Right, yeah, sorry,” he says breathlessly.

He feels something squeeze his knee under the table and looks over at Will, who’s smiling at
him. He smiles back.

“So that’s why you’ve been acting so weird-o lately,” Nancy says from across the table. “Not
that I was completely in the dark.” She shoots a glance at Jonathan, who looks vaguely guilty.

“Sorry,” he mouths to Mike. Mike shrugs, not mad. If anything, it helped him avoid having to
have a heart-to-heart with his sister.

“Oh, Karen,” Joyce is saying wistfully. “Our two boys together.”

His mom nods, her voice soft. “Seems like we should’ve known from the beginning.”

“We really should’ve.” Joyce is looking between them, like she couldn’t be happier, even
more so than when Tobias visited.

Mike feels his throat close up. Fuck.

Luckily the attention is taken off him definitely not trying not to cry by Joyce turning to Will
with a teasing voice. “I’m not going to fall in love?”

Will’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, then he seems to realize. “Oh my God.”

“In fact, I remember you calling it gross. That’s gross, Mom.”

Will leans back in his chair, embarrassed. “Mom, that was years ago.”

“Still.” Joyce’s eyes dart back to Mike. “I guess you made an exception.”

Will glances at him, embarrassed. “Yeah. I did.” When Mike’s still confused, he whispers to
him. “It’s something I said when I was younger.”

Mike lowers his voice too, but luckily the conversations pick up again around them anyways.
“You said you weren’t going to fall in love?”

Will shakes his head stubbornly. “Nope.”

Mike smiles. “And you did twice.”

“Also no.”

“What?” Mike tenses. “How many times then? Was there someone else?” He pauses, then
huffs, rolling his eyes. “Was it Ben?”

Will blinks. “How do you know about Ben?”

“I know a lot of things, Will.” Will laughs, a beautiful sound, and Mike tries not to get
distracted. “I’m serious-”

“Once.”

“What?”

“I only fell in love once.”

“Oh.” Mike blushes. “Oh.” And then he’s smiling like an idiot in the middle of a family
dinner. “Really?”

Will nods. “I only knew Tobias a month and a half. And Ben was a friend. And you’re-” He
looks away and back at him again. “You’re Mike.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Will looks down at his plate shyly. “It was never a competition.”

Mike feels his heart glow. “Or a game show.”

“A game show?”

“Something Tobias said.”

“Oh.”

They both hear tapping on a glass and turn to see Hopper standing up. “I’d like to make an
announcement.” Everyone slowly quiets down, looking at him, and he takes a deep breath.

“He better not propose,” Will mumbles next to him. Mike has to bite his lip to stop from
laughing.

“Hopper’s cabin is back in business,” Hopper is saying. “Completely rebuilt, good as new
again.” He holds his glass up. “Better than it was, actually. New windows. New flooring. A
metal roof that can withstand trees and demogorgans alike.” He pauses and they all chuckle
at that. “Somewhere for you all to visit.” His eyes find someone at the table. “For El to visit.”
His voice goes quiet. “Or live, if you’d want that, kid.”

Mike looks over at El, and she’s nodding, happy tears in her eyes. “Yes,” she says. “I want
that.”

“Good.” Hopper smiles. “Me too.”

And Mike’s happy. Happy that El is happy, that now she had something good going for her.
Not that she didn’t, but it just felt like ever since the breakup she’s been… stranded in a way?
And even though she told Mike during their breakup talk that she needed to fight Vecna on
her own, she still needed a rock. Everyone needs a rock.
Mike looks at Will, who seems to be sighing a breath of relief. He laughs. “Too soon for a
proposal?”

Will grimaces. “Maybe after all this apocalypse stuff is over.”

Mike laughs again at that, and he can’t remember the last time he’s felt this light and carefree.
“You know what, maybe we really should steal that bottle of pinot noir.”

“Mike!” Will turns to him, scandalized. “I am not stealing a bottle of wine. Besides, are we
even sure there’s any left?”

They both turn to look at Murray, who is having an animated one-sided discussion with
Jonathan and Nancy, and by their faces Mike can tell it’s some unsolicited relationship
advice. “Probably not,” he agrees.

“Then again, he usually sticks to vodka.”

“Maybe his tastes changed?”

“Maybe.” Will thinks. “Lots of things have changed.”

“Yeah,” Mike smiles at him. “They have.”

And then for the next ten minutes, they finish eating and then once dinner’s over, they push
back their chairs with everyone else, heading to the kitchen for clean-up. Mike stays behind,
trying to scrub a dollop of ranch he dropped out of the tablecloth before his mom totally
freaks, which is when he hears it. A staticky sound coming from the living room. He freezes,
then looks up at Will. He’s distracted, talking to El as they bring their plates over to the
counter.

Mike puts his napkin down and follows the sound to the living room, heart racing, until he
walks in and realizes the static is coming from a walkie-talkie he left on the coffee table.

“Earth to Mike! To Will!” It’s Dustin, over the line. “Anyone! We have an SOS.”

Mike snatches the walkie-talkie up. “Dustin, it’s me. It’s Mike. What’s wrong?”

“Mike! Thank God.” He hears rustling in the background, like there’s other people with him.
“Go outside. The sky.”

The sky? He takes a few steps toward the living room window and opens the curtains. It’s
already getting dark outside, but red streaks of lightning are flashing in the sky. And he can
hear a distant rumbling over the sound of the voices in the kitchen, like the earth was moving.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” He scrambles into the kitchen, walkie-talkie still clutched in his hands.
Everyone is still milling around near the sink. “Guys!” he exclaims, pointing to the walkie-
talkie. “We have to go outside. Now!”

Everyone looks at each other, confused, before setting down their plates and glasses,
following him through the living room, toward the front door. He pushes open the heavy door
and heads out, the air too cold against his skin for mid-May. He shivers. Where is Will?
Where the hell is Will?

Luckily Will comes up right next to him and Mike grabs his hand, not caring about anyone
seeing. “What happened?” Will sounds scared.

“It was Dustin, on the walkie-talkie.” He holds it back up to his mouth. “Dustin, are you
there?”

“Yeah,” Dustin answers. “You seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Yeah.” Mike swallows thickly. “Where are you?”

“I’m with the rest of the Party.”

“Shit,” Mike curses. “Sorry, it was family night dinner.”

“Yeah, we remembered. We’re on our way over to your house now. Give us five, over.” The
line goes dead, and Mike realizes his hand is shaking. He looks back up at the sky, the
lightning only worsening. He sees Nancy holding her hand out, and that’s when Mike realizes
little particles are falling from the sky, like they did when the gate first opened.

He turns to Will and pales when he sees him touching the back of his neck, because the
familiar movement meant-

“He’s here,” Will whispers. “His… his plan is progressing.” He turns to Mike, his eyes wide.
“A week ago was my last nightmare. The one where he realized he couldn’t get to me,
because I had you-”

“And I’ve been with you this whole week.”

“He’s tired of waiting.” Will’s eyes are full of tears. “Just like El, he wanted me on his team.
And when she didn’t give in during spring break, he went forward with it. The gates opened.
But nothing else happened. And I think these past two months he’s been waiting. Waiting for
me to join him. To change my mind. But I haven’t, so now-” The earth shakes, like the gates
are widening. “Now he’s doing it himself, Mike.”

El rushes over to them, her eyes wide. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Mike tells her. “Dustin called us on the Walkie Talkie. I think this just
started.” He turns to Will. “Tell El what you told me. And about your visions. I don’t think
she knows.”

“Visions?” El scrunches up her eyebrows. “From Vecna?”

Will nods.

“For how long?”

“The first one was a month ago.”

“And you haven’t said anything?” El looks angry, and rightfully so. They should’ve been
meeting as a Party, planning, sharing information, coming up with theories, but with
everything happening-

“I was distracted,” Will echoes Mike’s thoughts. “With… everything.” He doesn’t even need
to say it.

“Right.” El clenches her jaw, then looks up at the sky. “Sum them up in sixty seconds,
because that’s about all we have.”

And Mike listens as Will gives her the rundown. The first one of Vecna possessing him to
hurt El. The second one of him calling Will his spy, and that he’s with Will awake or
dreaming. And all the rest, of Vecna showing him the victims, or taunting him, or telling him
to join him.

Mike’s chest aches, especially as he remembers that halfway through he told Will to “go to
Tobias” for them. Which basically meant to handle them himself.

“And how do you get out of them?” El is asking.

“What?”

“You know,” El prompts impatiently. “How do you get them to end? There’s no way Vecna
just lets you go freely.”

“Um.” Will looks nervous. “I just think of love, you know? Love in general.”

El looks skeptical, but doesn’t push it. “Right. That’s similar to what Max said.” She turns
away. “I’ll talk to the others.”

They both watch her go, joining the group again. “I lied,” Will says.

“What?”

“I lied.” Will squeezes his eyes shut. “About how I wake up. I don’t think about love in
general.”

“What do you think about?”

He sighs. “I think about you, Mike, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

It takes Mike a second to register his words. “Wait, really?”

Will nods, almost guiltily. “Ever since the first one.”

Mike feels butterflies fill his chest. “That’s cute.”

“No, it’s not cute,” Will says. “It’s terrifying, because it means if Vecna wants to get me, he
has to go after what’s stopping me from going. Which is you.” He looks like he’s about to
cry. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I’m scared.” He swallows. “I’m scared
he’s going to do something to you.”

“Will…”

“I mean it.” Will turns to him, his chin trembling. “You don’t know what he’s capable of. Or
how he thinks. He’ll do anything.”

“Hey.” Mike quickly wraps an arm around him, pulling him close, but then a shock of
thunder claps in the sky, and they both jump.

“And that timing, fuck. It’s true.”

Mike opens his mouth to comfort him, but isn’t sure what to say. What if Will’s right? What if
Mike is Vecna’s next victim?

“Guys!” They turn and see a group of bikes in the distance, Dustin in front and Max and
Lucas close behind. A few seconds later, they’re skidding to a stop in front of them. Dustin’s
out of breath. “Is everyone okay?”

Mike nods quickly. “Just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

They all turn and look at El, who’s whispering intensely to the rest of the group. She turns
and sees them looking and motions them over. Bikes fall to the ground and footsteps on grass
are heard over the thunder and slight rumbling in the earth, until everyone is huddled in a
circle in the Wheeler’s front yard: El, Hopper, Joyce, Murray, Nancy, Jonathan, Max, Lucas,
Dustin, Mike, Will, Mike’s mom, Holly.

And even Ted. This was serious.

“So like I was saying.” El looks around the circle meaningfully. “As of right now, there’s no
demobats. Or Demogorgons. Or any other creatures controlled by Vecna. Whatever’s down
there isn’t able to pass. He’s weaker now, I can feel it.”

Will nods from next to Mike. “The chills I have aren’t as intense as they usually are.”

“Exactly.” El’s eyes light up. “His power runs on people. Every victim he took gave him
power. But lately, there’s nothing, especially after he figured out I won’t be on his side.”

“And I won’t either,” Will adds. When everyone looks at him, he explains. “I’ve been having
these nightmares- these visions- where he keeps telling me to join him, to team up with him.
But of course I refuse every time and-” He lets out a shuddering breath. “I think he’s tired of
waiting.”

A clap of thunder strikes again and Will jumps, and then everyone starts nervously
whispering to each other. Mike wraps an arm around his shoulder.

“But he can’t do anything,” El whispers, and she’s staring at the ground, like she’s seeing
something else. Then she looks up, her eyes wild. “He doesn’t have enough power.” El’s
words are resolute, and as if on cue, the wind dies down. Mike looks up, seeing the sky
starting to clear, the clouds breaking apart and revealing the dark blue of the night sky again.
The particles falling down slowly stop and so does the rumbling in the earth, so that now
everything was quiet, just the sound of cicadas and crickets in the background. Back to
normal.

He turns to El. “Did you-”

“I didn’t do anything. It’s a fact.” She looks at the sky. “Tonight was just a threat. And that’s
all it will be, unless he…” she trails off.

“He takes another victim.”

“Or recruits one of us.” She looks at Will.

“Or kills two birds with one stone.” Will’s looking at Mike. El looks confused, but then her
mouth opens in an o gesture.

“You think-”

“I don’t know.”

El looks down, thinking. “Mike’s ‘I love you’ speech in the pizza kitchen is what allowed me
to save Max. Vecna probably didn’t like that.”

Will lets out a choked sound. “Fuck.”

Mike turns to him. “Will, it’s okay-”

He’s cut off by Will hugging him, hard, his arms wrapped around him, his face buried in his
shoulder. “I don’t want him to take you,” he says tearfully.

Mike squeezes him back, trying to joke. “Hey, I don’t want him to take me either.”

“Mike.”

“I won’t let him take you,” El says determinedly. They pull back. “Either of you. We need to
plan more. All of us. Put our heads together.”

Will nods, wiping his eyes. “We need to strategize.”

“Theorize,” Mike adds.

“Analyze.” The corner of El’s mouth turns up. “And not get involved in anymore love
triangles.”

Will snorts at that and Mike smiles. But then Mike thinks back. Without Tobias coming into
their lives, him and El would probably still be dating, which meant El would be feeling
insecure, and Mike not feeling needed. Meanwhile, Will would still be having nightmares on
his own, possibly getting Vecna’d in the middle of the night with no one to save him.
The rest of the Party comes up to them, and El derisively takes the lead, already talking about
the next times they can meet up to plan. But now El was confident. She had a certain air about
her now, an independent confidence. She wasn’t worried about whether Mike could say the l-
word or not; she was worried about defeating Vecna. Every ounce of strength she had was
now devoted to the right cause, the most important cause.

He turns to his right, where Will is listening to the group. And Will was safe. He’s made it
clear that having Mike by his side is what keeps away Vecna, and in the past week they’ve
been sleeping in the same bed, he hasn’t had a single nightmare, which was a great
accomplishment, until Mike found out it basically meant he was in danger.

But whatever happens, Mike knew he’d be able to face it. He was always at his sharpest and
smartest when he knew he was needed, when there was some goal he was trying to reach that
usually involved saving another person. His best ideas came out of spur-of-the-moment
desperation, and from the looks of things, there will be a lot of those in the future.

They were all in the right frame of mind to defeat Vecna, and if it came from a love triangle,
so be it.

“Mike, you have anything to add?” El’s looking at him. Did he zone out?

He clears his throat. “All I gotta say is… let’s beat this thing.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then everyone busts out laughing.

“Mike, that is the most cookie-cutter thing you could’ve said.”

“Let’s beat this thing? Thanks for nothing.”

“Why are you talking like a movie character?”

Mike feels his face heat up. “Alright, forget it. That’s the last time you’re getting
motivational advice from me.”

El smiles at him. “We’re brainstorming ideas right now.”

Mike frowns. “Ideas? Well let me sleep on it first.”

El looks at Will. “Yeah, you’ll be sleeping on it alright.”

Max looks between El and Will humorously. “O-kay, what was that about?”

El grins. “Nothing.”

“Sleeping on it alright?” Max echoes.

Mike looks at El, confused, and then she rolls her eyes. “I see you guys sneaking into each
other’s rooms at night.”

The words sink in and then the entire group erupts into oohs and laughter.
“Wow guys, you’ve only been together a week.”

“It’s because of Will’s nightmares!” Mike exclaims defensively. “He doesn’t get them when
I’m there! What, do you want him to get Vecna’d in the middle of the night?”

“Seems like you guys are multitasking.”

“We’re not- we haven’t- I mean, unless Will wants to.”

“Mike,” Will says sternly.

“Forget it, just-” Mike’s face goes red. How did this get off track so easily? “Let’s just keep
planning. Alright?”

“Alright, alright,” Max says, rolling her eyes. She rubs her hands together. “So, who’s next?”

Dustin speaks up. “I’ve got an idea guys. I’ve actually been thinking of this for a while.”

They all lean in, listening.

Dustin pauses. “Let’s beat this thing!”

They all start laughing again and Mike rolls his eyes, but this time he’s laughing too. Sure,
the world might be ending and they might have all rushed into the Wheeler’s front yard in a
panic and he may have learned tonight that a supernatural monster is planning to get him
because he’s an obstacle in his plans, but at least he could still laugh with his friends.

His friends and his boyfriend.

And sure, life wasn’t perfect. But when is it ever?

Mike feels Will lean further into his side, listening as Lucas talks about a plan that involves
attacking Vecna’s hive mind.

And sure, maybe Mike lived in a reality where he had to help defeat a supernatural monster’s
hive mind. And that was super weird.

But it was also a reality where Will was his.

And so maybe he’s okay with it.

Will leans his head against his shoulder and warmth spreads through him.

He’s definitely okay with it.

 Epilogue
Chapter Notes

Sorry for the wait on this!! I finally got my first 9-5 job after graduation and that has
been taking up all my time (and energy) lmao.

Anyways, the epilogue! This takes place three months after the end of last chapter.

Enjoy <3

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Three months later

Will wipes his brow in the sun, panting. “How was that?”

El nods, stepping forward to take the bow and arrow from him. “Better.”

Will squints at the target. Bottom ring. He had to keep practicing.

Lucas sighs loudly from behind them. “Tell me again why we’re practicing with bows and
arrows when- you know- guns exist.”

El turns to him, raising an eyebrow. “Because in an apocalypse, guns will be in high demand,
meanwhile few people know how to use a bow and arrow.”

“Right,” Lucas says. “And you ever think why they don’t know?” He pauses dramatically.
“Because guns exist.”

“Lucas,” El says, exasperated. Then she decidedly turns to Max, ignoring him. “You’re up.”

“Sweet.” Max takes the bow and arrow and gets into position, focusing in on the targets
they’ve set up around Hopper’s cabin.

Will walks back, taking his gloves off. Within seconds, Mike is by his side. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Mike looks shy. “You looked pretty good up there.”

“Oh, did I?”

Mike nods. “Almost had me wishing I was one of the targets.”

Will snorts. “Mike, that makes no sense.”

“It did at the time.” Mike’s eyes have strayed from his face, and Will realizes, to his arms. “It
did at the time.”

Will looks down at his arms, exposed by the t-shirt he was wearing. He shrugs, embarrassed.
“All the training we’ve been doing.”

“No, even before that.” Mike rubs a hand over his face. “Ever since spring break. The
airport.” He seems to be struggling with a memory. “It- it caught me off guard.”

Will thinks back. Was that why Mike dodged the hug? There’s no way. “Oh. Really?”

Mike can hardly look at him. “Really.”

“Well I’m flattered-”

“Oh my God,” Dustin says, who was apparently next to them the whole time. “How are you
guys still in the honeymoon phase? I mean, seriously, how many times must I listen to you
guys flirt with each other like it’s the first time you’ve ever met-”

“Just ignore him,” Max says, still positioned with her bow and arrow. “He’s just upset that
Suzie cancelled their meet-up last minute.”

“Her dad,” Dustin corrects. “Her dad cancelled it. It’s not my fault that flight prices spiked
this week.”

Max shrugs, then pulls the bow and launches it. It strikes the target. “Bullseye.”

“Yes!” El gives her a high five. “That’s how you do it.”

Max straightens up and smirks at all of them. “No guns needed, boys.”

They roll their eyes. “And that completes our first round," El says cheerily.

“First round?” They all echo, then erupt into collective groans, like El is some teacher who
just assigned them homework. And Will goes along with them, but he’s also smiling, because
as much as he sometimes hated training and El’s relentless drive for all of them to repeat it
until they got it right, this is also the happiest he’s seen her in years. She had a purpose now,
and even if that purpose was sporadically training them outside Hopper’s cabin in the event
of a Vecna attack- which was a real possibility based on the signs he's been leaving the past
three months- it was a purpose nonetheless.

And even if it was clear Vecna didn’t have enough power for a real attack, since none of his
signs seemed to muster up any real damage- a demobat here, a grandfather clock there- Will
would still show up to these trainings, because it was the closest thing he had to a normal life.
Six friends, hanging out in the woods, doing activities together. If he ignored the fact that all
these activities revolved around defending, attacking, or killing, it’s almost like he was a
normal teenage boy.

With a normal teenage relationship.

He turns and looks at Mike, who’s kicking the dirt in frustration along with Dustin. He can’t
help but smile. Since everything, him and Mike have been stronger than ever. As of right
now, Will was still living in the Wheelers’ house, even though his mom was in the process of
closing a house for them, only two blocks away, for her, Will, and Jonathan. El was still
living with Hopper- luckily the four cracks in the earth and Brenner dying have been enough
to disrupt the whole FBI system, which means so far no one has tracked down El or shown
up to their door demanding her to move back into secrecy.

Somehow though, their school system was able to recover and now school was back in
session, which meant Will was now attending the same high school as everyone else, starting
sophomore year. Which was great, but it was clear he had missed some things. Within the
first week, he found out that the whole Party joined a D&D club without him, which hurt, not
only because of Mike and their final talk before he moved about how Will would never join
another party, but because they had never mentioned it. Almost like they were keeping it a
secret from him. But when Will had stormed off during that lunch period, Mike quickly
followed him and cornered him against the freshman lockers, telling him that it never crossed
his mind to tell him, which was stupid and he was sorry and he even wanted Will to be a part
of it, and the earnestness in his eyes had Will immediately forgiving him, even though he
pretended to hold a grudge. But then later that night when Mike asked him to come into the
basement to show him something, and he saw Dustin and Lucas sitting in front of a D&D
board just like old times, Will almost started crying.

But luckily he didn’t, and they ended up playing all night.

“You okay?” Mike asks him. He must have been staring into space.

“Oh. Yeah.” He also used to hate it when people asked him if he was okay all the time, but
when Mike does it, it doesn’t bother him. He knows it’s just another way of him saying ‘I
love you.’ “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good.” Mike steps closer to him, almost protectively, like Vecna really was in the woods
and they were aiming arrows at him.

That was another thing. Will’s nightmares were almost completely gone. Almost. There were
still times he woke up in a cold sweat, even with Mike next to him, or would have full-on
nightmares when he took naps on his own. And even though him and Mike didn’t even sleep
together every night, because sometimes it was impractical, he still had a walkie-talkie right
by his bed that he’d call Mike on, and he’d always be there in less than a minute. He shivers.
Without Mike, he didn’t know what would happen.

Mike looks at him. “You’re thinking about something.”

You. “I’m just happy.”

“Happy?” Mike echoes incredulously. “We just found out we’re doing another 30 minutes of
bow and arrows!”

“Still.” Will leans his head against his shoulder. “I’m happy.”

Mike pauses, then smiles, his voice softer. “I’m happy too.”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Dustin calls out. “Mind helping us?”

It’s only then that they realize everyone is out in the grass grabbing the arrows they’ve shot,
before the next round. “Oh, shit.”

They start walking toward the field. “They’re right, sometimes we really are in our own little
world.”

Mike shrugs. “Better than this one.”

Will laughs. “Better than this one.”

They reach the field and start picking up arrows, and Will can’t help but reflect back on the
last couple months. And even before that. The days of love triangles and fights and making
up and all the ups and downs. It felt like such an opposite from how things are now- calm and
predictable. Safe. Happy.

Not that he didn’t still struggle with guilt about everything that happened with Tobias, at the
idea that him and Mike were blissfully happy while Tobias was heartbroken somewhere- in
Will’s mind it was always under some metaphorical dark bridge- until the day that Dustin
pulled him aside with wide eyes to tell him he’d seen Tobias hanging around with some guy
from the high school’s Quizbowl, and had seen them “whispering flirtatiously” under the
bleachers. And he didn’t know if Dustin expected him to be devastated or saddened or what,
but he just felt relieved. Really relieved.

It made him feel like things worked out how they had for a reason, not that him and Mike had
chosen each other and left Tobias out in the cold. Especially if Tobias had someone from
Quizbowl, it really was a good match. Maybe the universe did know what it was doing.

Except for creating interdimensional homicidal monsters, of course.

He almost laughs at the thought.

Finally, they finish picking up the arrows and head back to the shooting base. From the cabin,
Will sees a figure peek out of the front door. It’s Hopper. “Kids!” he yells out. “Dinner in 10.”

Dustin and Lucas let out whoops of celebration, probably at bows and arrows getting cut
short.

Meanwhile Will is just confused. “Hopper learned how to cook?”

Then his mom peeks out. “Fried vegetables and pot roast.”
He groans. “Of course.”

“Sounds good!” El calls back, not looking upset at all. That was another thing. It wasn’t only
that she had a purpose now, it was that she had Hopper and was living with him again.
Something that seemed like an impossibility considering that they all thought he died a year
ago.

Which reminded Will that the stakes really were that high.

He turns to Mike, watching as he picks up a bow with a look of vague disgust on his face,
then turns to Will with his nose wrinkled. “I’m pretty sure I’m next up.” And then Will feels
emotional, at the idea that someday he wouldn’t have… this. Mike. Impulsively, he steps
forward, wrapping Mike into a hug. Mike nearly drops his bow, hugging him back.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dustin exclaims.

“Jesus, Dustin,” Mike shouts back. “Even I’ll pay for the flight ticket.”

“Really?”

“No.” Mike shakes his head, rolling his eyes. After a few seconds, he lets go of Will. “What
was that for?” he whispers.

“Nothing. Just needed it.”

Mike gives him a soft look. “Okay.”

Will nods, embarrassed. Knowing Mike could be taken away from him- knowing that they all
could- meant he had to enjoy each moment to the fullest. Which started now, with Mike
stepping up to the target line, putting his bow and arrow in place. He watches as Mike lines it
up, squinting with concentration.

“God Mike, you have me almost wishing I was the target.”

He lets it go, missing the target by a laughable amount, hitting somewhere to the left in the
trees. He whips around. “That’s your fault!”

El chimes in. “It would be if you weren’t shooting like that ever since we got here.”

“Oh my God.” He rolls his eyes. Then he points a finger at Will. “You.”

Will can’t stop laughing. “What?”

“Forget it.” He turns back around, trying again. This time he hits the very edge of the target,
so close that it clips it and falls into the grass. But Will claps nonetheless.

“You hit it!”

“Shut up,” Mike grumbles, then turns to El. “Am I done yet?”
 El sighs. “Let’s just remember to not have Mike shoot when the apocalypse comes.”

“Sounds good to me,” Mike says joyously, putting the bow down. “Are you guys ready for
dinner?”

The question is enough to have everyone nodding, and they all start heading toward Hopper’s
cabin. Will can already smell the food.

They crowd into the cabin, gathering around the kitchen, taking things from the stove and
rushing out thank yous and spreading out throughout the cabin, because the table was too
small, in chairs and couches and the floor, and Will looks around, feeling like he could cry at
the warmth, at the quiet conversations, at how much he loved everyone in this room. At the
thought that it could all be gone tomorrow.

He tries not to think like that, though. And usually he does a good job of it. With the routine
of high school, friends, dinner, sleep, and repeat, Will could almost convince himself he’s
living a normal life.

And sure, maybe a Demogorgan could smash through the roof right now. Or the earth could
split beneath their feet. Or something. The possibilities were honestly endless.

But right now, Mike is pressed into his side, talking to Dustin. Lucas and Max are laughing
about something in the corner. Joyce is beaming at Hopper in a way that Will isn’t
immediately thinking gross and instead finds himself almost happy that his mom is happy. El
is thoughtfully picking at her vegetables. She looks up, catching his eye, and smiles. Will
smiles back.

And sure, he didn’t know what would happen tomorrow. Or five minutes from now. But he
did know that everyone was the most equipped to handle it that he’s ever seen them.

Because Vecna’s weakness was love. Happiness. Good memories.

And well…

This place was chock full of it.

Chapter End Notes

Well... that's a wrap! This fanfiction has been a lot of fun to write and seeing your
comments has been the best part. Shout out to all the loyal readers that would comment
every chapter, I remember your usernames whenever I see them <3

Ngl, I have been toying with the idea of a sequel, something where Vecna really goes
after Mike and Will's relationship to get Will so he can get enough power, but if I'm
being honest, it would be a while before that would get posted. This entire fanfiction
took me about eight months to write and I didn't start posting it until it was already
written (minus the last few chapters) because posting chapters live and knowing people
are waiting always gave me pressure/writer's block lmao. Writing it at my own pace and
then posting it when I'm ready really is the only way my brain works lol.

But anyways, let me know if that's something you would be interested in, and of course
any other comments! :) This fandom has been so welcoming and thank you for falling in
love with Byler's love in this specific timeline/universe. Here's to hoping Byler becomes
canon in Season 5 <3
Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!