Chapter Text
I. September 1986
Holly Wheeler was not good at keeping secrets.
It was a fact everyone knew on some level. She had let it slip to Karen on than one occasion how she'd seen a shadow stalking the fridge at ungodly hours. Nancy found out about almost every word the Byers brothers uttered in the basement. Mike knew their parents had been arguing more frequently these days.
So what happened at breakfast that morning did not surprise him in the slightest.
The day had started for Mike the way most of them did now - with abject terror.
"BREAKFAST!" Holly cried, pounding on his door until he woke up with a jolt.
"Coming!" Mike shouted, deeply frustrated.
He'd fallen asleep at his desk again. Which was not only a terrible news for his back, but also for the campaign idea he'd so painstakingly written last night. After rubbing his eyes with his sleeves, Mike stared at the drool on his notebook and let out a deep sigh.
For someone who prided on being an above average DM at the very least, Mike stole ideas from everywhere. He'd based that charismatic npc from last week's campaign on the one guy from geometry class. One of the trolls had repeated a line Andy had tried to intimidate Dustin with verbatim. Dustin had caught that reference and grinned. On some days Mike would describe himself as more of a collector than a writer. A collector of experiences, clues - phrases no one else would give a second thought to.
He used to pick up random stones from the side of the road as a kid, only to arrange them neatly in the basement. Sometimes... it didn't feel like that much had changed. He was still small and fascinated - with words, rather than stones. Stories, rather than bugs.
There was another knock on his door. A softer one.
Mike stood up and ran a hand through his hair. Somehow, the world seemed to be less of a horrible and nightmarish place whenever he was reminded of Will's presence.
"Give me a minute," he called, smiling as he tore the ruined page out of his notebook and tossed it into the bin. There wasn't really an end to all the ideas he could collect, was there?
He opened the door and grinned at Will. The two of them made their way down the stairs together.
Things were... confusing, between them. Not in a bad way, specifically. Just that sometimes Mike would say something and Will would get too quiet; sometimes Will would laugh in that carefree way he rarely did nowadays and Mike would have to avoid all eye contact with him. In case Will found a hidden truth in them that he didn't quite like.
They were the last to arrive at the table. Half of the breakfast had already disappeared.
Mike poured some coffee for himself and listened to Nancy and Jonathan tell everyone about their plans at the WSQK radio station that day. It was a Saturday which meant no school for him. Small mercies.
"Mom, can I go to Mary's today?" Holly was saying.
Karen gave her a weary look. "It's not safe over there, sweetie."
Ah.
She lived near one of those cement paths, then. Definitely not safe. Although it did look like Vecna had taken an interest in hibernation of late.
"That's not fair!" Holly exclaimed as she wiped her fork with a napkin. "You let Jonathan go into Nancy's room every night!"
The whole room grew silent for a moment. Peaceful.
Then, in a matter of seconds, Nancy glowered at Holly who was already on the verge of tears, Karen snapped, Jonathan tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, and Joyce tried to get everybody to calm down - in vain, of course.
Mike grimaced at his breakfast. He could finish it in his room. Or ask Will if they could eat together in the basement.
At this point Karen and Nancy were just talking over each other. Something about how she and her boyfriend were both adults, goddamnit. Joyce and Jonathan were engaged in a weird staring contest that was half captivating and half terrifying. Holly had covered her face with her hands and Ted was nowhere to be seen.
That was when Mike felt a slight pressure on his shoulder. He tensed and looked at Will.
Will was already looking at him.
Right after the Byers had left for California two summers ago, Mike had ridden his bike through the forest before he went home. He'd tried to find the spot where Castle Byers once stood, tall and proud, only to find its slowing pulse. A couple of photographs destroyed by wind and storm and the hand of someone he'd hurt. A couple of drawings crumpled and torn under all the wood. A mixtape that was somehow left intact. He'd turned the mixtape over in his hands and taken it home.
The pressure on his shoulder increased. There was concern in Will's eyes.
Mike shook his head, his heartbeat competing with his thoughts in a race neck and neck. "The family who bought your old house - what were they called?"
Will raised his eyebrows, clearly not having expected this. "Um, the Daltons, I think?"
He eyed Holly then, before looking at Will again.
The Daltons were a perfectly polite family, or so he'd thought back in '85. At least, from the way Will described them. A father who worked as an illustrator, a mother who worked night shifts at the hospital and –
"Oh my god," Will whispered, his face doing something complicated as he realised. "You think – could we – ?"
Mike nodded vigorously and caught Holly's attention, motioning for her to follow them out of the room.
~
"Oh my god," Holly whispered, her face breaking into a wide grin. "Seriously?"
Mike and Will exchanged a glance.
Will nodded. "Why not?" he replied, aiming for nonchalance. "I'll just quickly inform my mom and then we can go."
But Mike had known him for long enough to know that his feelings were conflicted. There were a lot of good memories they'd shared in the former Byers house. Mike had lost his first tooth there on a cold autumn evening, screaming excitedly when he'd realised what had happened. Will had tried to teach him how to draw during one of their rare sleepovers over there.
Yet as he saw Will turn and quickly go into the living room, Mike remembered the way Lonnie looked at them. The way his eyes narrowed with disgust before he'd throw an offhanded comment that would make Joyce furious.
Little Mike had once tried telling Will that it was probably because Lonnie never had a best friend in his life, but they'd both known the truth - even then.
It was a bizarre concept, in Mike's eyes. The way two out of the three Wheeler children had had a large part of their childhood tied intrinsically to the small house on the outskirts of the woods, without even knowing it.
"Mom's cool with us going," Will informed, emerging from the living room and bringing Mike out of his thoughts as he stood beside him.
Holly beamed and wrapped her arms around them in a quick hug before running out of the house to get her bike.
Mike cleared his throat and stepped away from Will, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. "We should, um -"
"Um, yeah," Will replied, eyes trained on the floorboards. "Yeah."
They followed her without another word.
~
For a moment, Mike found himself unable to breathe.
They were standing outside the former Byers house, watching as Holly ran ahead and rang the doorbell. The Daltons had not made any significant changes, at least to its exteriors. They did seem to put a bit of an effort in gardening, though. It felt as if centuries had passed, since the last time he'd been here. But also as if no time had passed at all.
Mike gripped his bike handle tighter, wondering if he should ask Will how he was doing.
The door opened, revealing Mary Dalton. Holly's best friend. Holly's best friend who now lived in the house where Mike's best friend used to live, for the longest time.
"You're here!" exclaimed the girl, grinning at Holly. She was about an inch shorter than her, wore round glasses and long heart-shaped earrings.
Holly nodded. "Mom wasn't going to let me. Anyway, you need to show me that –"
The door closed behind the girls, stifling the rest of the conversation. Will made a small sound next to him.
Mike gulped and wordlessly wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
Will stiffened at the sudden contact, and Mike saw him eyeing their surroundings. There was no one around for miles, only leafless trees and the sound of girls laughing from one of the bedroom windows.
Then, slowly, Will leaned into the touch and Mike's rapid thoughts and rapid heartbeat slowed to a comfortable pace.
This was okay. They were okay.
"It hasn't changed much," Will observed, taking it all in again. "Except..."
"Except what?"
Will sighed. "Except, it seems so much smaller now. I don't know, it may sound silly but my house used to feel like a huge place. Lots of hiding spots."
Mike grinned. "Hide and seek used to be a nightmare when we played here!"
The memory made Will smile too. "I doubt it would be as hard now."
Lately, silences between them had begun to grow into this awkward, uncomfortable thing – stretching and stretching with tension and apprehension like a rubber band.
But the one that had settled between them now was peaceful.
They spent the next hour reminding each other of the shenanigans they'd gotten up into in that house. Mike's hand didn't leave Will's shoulder until the time he had to use both hands to gesticulate. But after that, it returned right where it belonged.
"You know," Mike began cautiously, "this is going to take a while. We could... maybe ride our bikes in the forest until then?"
Will gave him a curious look. "And have the girls yelling our names and losing their way if they need anything?"
Mike's eyes flitted all over as he tried to formulate a response. "I mean, isn't there an adult in the house?"
"Mrs. Dalton is probably fast asleep at this time and Mr. Dalton's usually even higher than Jonathan and Argyle used to be."
"Okay," Mike replied, grinning softly. "Guarding the little princesses, it is!"
His arm was still around Will's shoulder but he seemed to have no complaints about this. Also, it was cold.
"Is this about El?" Will asked slowly. "Do you want to visit her?"
Mike opened his mouth and closed it. He shook his head no.
He hadn't thought about El for a long time. It probably made him a bad friend, he supposed. Especially after they'd promised each other that they would be just as close, if not closer after their break up. But he'd made a similar promise to Nancy a few years ago. No more secrets. And what had occurred of that?
"Mike, it's okay," Will assured, finally stepping away from Mike and his arm. "I can wait here for Holly while you visit El. She's your girlfriend, after all."
There it was. An opportunity to tell him the truth. If only he wasn't so scared.
Mike didn't even know what he was that scared of. Maybe it was because Will was El's brother now. Maybe he'd finally start telling him about how much of an asshole he's been to everyone in the last two years. But Mike already knew that. He was already trying to make up for it - volunteering with Lucas for spying on the army officers, offering to pick Holly up from school everyday, making plans and giving suggestions whenever he could...
"I'm sorry," he said to Will, voice suddenly thick. He knew exactly what was scaring him.
Will's eyes widened. "It's okay, Mike," he said hurriedly. "I don't mind at all. I know that you and El haven't gotten much time to meet up -"
Shit, shit, shit–
"Will," Mike interrupted, with what he hoped was a pleading look in his eyes. Taking in a deep breath, he looked at the grass beneath their feet as he revealed, "El and I broke up."
Silence.
Mike couldn't bring himself to look at Will, but he decided to go on. Might as well get over with it now. "It was mutual. She said she needs to focus on saving the world and I- I was never really in love with her."
He risked a glance and found Will looking at him with an unreadable expression. So they were back to rubber band silences, then.
And before either of them could break it, with a question or an explanation or something else, the door to the Dalton house swung open.
A middle-aged woman who Mike assumed to be Mrs. Dalton smiled at them, blissfully unaware of the tension. "You're with Holly, right? Won't you both come in?"