Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There were many places Will Byers wanted to spend his summer. Palace Arcade, trying (in vain) to beat any of Max’s high scores. The cinema, watching the new sci-fi movie that was about to be released, starring Michael J Fox. Mike’s basement, playing out the new campaign he’d spent all damn morning setting up…

Outside a Lingerie store was on the absolute bottom of Will’s list, bested only by the Upside Down. Yet here he was, eyes darting around in panic, and definitely being mentally scarred even more than he already was. 

(Okay, that isn’t funny. At all.)

He’s supposed to be helping Mike find some gift for El that says “I’m sorry”. There is one glaringly obvious issue with this:

Will knows absolutely nothing about Girls. 

And even if Will did know something about girls, he’s pretty sure this is a terrible way to go about fixing this situation. Buying El something is not gonna explain what actually happened from Mike’s point of view. And also, should Mike even be taking relationship advice from Lucas, who has openly admitted to making thousands of mistakes and being dumped five times?

But again, what would Will know? Maybe all this is just normal teenage behaviour. There’s another thing Will knows nothing about; being normal. He’s painfully reminded of this as he catches sight of the lover half of a mannequin in bikini bottoms. Maybe the Upside Down wasn’t so bad…

Will decides this is his que to leave. Mike and Lucas seem to think the same way, as they back away from the store slowly, then book it in the opposite direction. Will’s about to follow them when a familiar laugh collides with his ears. A split second later, an equally familiar shock of red hair literally collides with Will’s body, brunette following suit.

“Hey watch i—” Max begins but then she pauses, pushing red sunglasses down her nose in shock. “Will?” 

Will blinks, not sure what to say. He looks over to El, who’s wearing possibly the most colourful romper he’s ever seen. Definitely the most colourful thing he’s ever seen her wear, a stark contrast to her usual greys, browns and blues. His eyes trail to the plastic bag hanging from her arm. 

They’ve been shopping, his brain points out, which is actually pretty obvious considering they’re in a shopping mall. That isn’t the point though. The point is that the girls are here, and so is Mike and this is definitely not going to end well…

“You shouldn’t be here!” Will blurts, which is definitely not a good way to greet two of his friends, but in his defence, they did just literally walk into him.

“Why not?” Max opposes, her hands immediately moving to her hips. She glares at Will, then nudges El.

“Yeah, why not?” El echos, hitting Will with a challenging glare of her own. A chill runs down Will’s spine. Anyone who says girls are sweet has never been stared down by Max Mayfield and El Hopper. Will gulps.

“No- uh- I didn’t mean—” He raises his hands in surrender. “You surprised me?” He offers weakly.

Max softens at Will’s obvious discomfort, but Will does notice that she smirks slightly at having successfully intimidated him. Terrifying, girls are. Absolutely terrifying. She speaks with less sass this time.

“We’re just having a bit of a girls’ day, aren’t we El?”

El nods in confirmation. She smiles at Will and holds out the shopping bag for him to see their purchases.

“My new style! Bitchin, right?”

In the bag Will can see a lot of bright colours. Blue, purple, pink and yellow. It’s very… loud. As is all the new fashion coming in from Starcourt Mall. 1985, the summer of neon, apparently. Will looks back up at El’s enthusiastic grin. She’s so endearing.

“Yeah. It’s really cool El.” He smiles, then looks down, feeling awkwardness consume him. He doesn’t know what to say next, unfortunately Max does.

“I’m assuming if you’re here then Mike and Lucas aren’t far away?”

Will shouldn’t rat them out to their girlfriends. He really shouldn’t. It’s only going to cause more stupid drama. He should just make up some lie and then warn the boys that they’re about to get busted. Will absolutely 100 percent should not tell El and Max anything.

“Yeah.” 

Will does it anyway. 

See, the thing is, he really doesn’t want to keep traipsing around after Mike and Lucas as they fail to do the simple thing and talk to El. The last thing he wants to do is spend any longer hearing Mike complain about his girl troubles. Maybe this way they’ll sort their issues out faster.

Maybe they’ll break up! Will hears from the part of his brain that he wishes didn’t exist. Before he can jump onto a train of self-loathing, El speaks up.

“Mike said Nana is sick.” Her brows are pinched together in malcontent. “I knew he lied.”

God, what has Will done?

“Y-yeah. Uh, he did.” His mind is racing to try and save this situation. What the hell can he do to fix this. What can he possibly say that won’t blow up in this face?

“Of course he did!” Max interjects. “And now him and Lucas are trying to save his ass from getting dumped.” She scoffs, and crosses her arms over her chest. 

Will pauses because… yes. Yeah, that’s exactly what they’re doing. That’s exactly what he’s supposed to be helping them do, yet here he is definitely not helping. Not that Mike and Lucas actually acknowledged that he was there anyway. 

“Uh… yeah. I- I’m actually supposed to be… you know… assisting.” Will sighs, he can feel himself cracking under Max’s scrutinising gaze. Screw it. “To be honest they probably haven’t even noticed I’m gone.” 

El looks between Max and Will, her brow furrowed, biting her lip. She pauses for a beat then asks nervously.

“Do you… want to join us?” She offers, looking at the ground, then back up at Will. She smiles shyly. 

The offer shocks Will to his core. El… has never really spoken to him outside of you know, saving his life. He has the strangest feelings towards her. She’s the reason Will’s here right now, but also… 

She’s your replacement. Says that nasty voice. Will silences it immediately, he’s got nicer things to think about, like the fact that El seems genuine in her offer. Like she truly does want Will to spend the day with her. That she wants to be friends. Real friends!

Will’s stomach flips. “I mean… Can I?” He glances at Max, seeking her approval before he gets his hopes too high. It’s fine. He can always just go back to convincing Lucas and Mike to participate in his campaign… or head to the arcade by himself.

To Will’s surprise though, Max grins. She pushes her sunglasses back up the bridge of her nose like she’s in a teen drama. “Sure!” Her cheeks darken as she realises how eager she sounds. “I mean… if you want…” She shrugs, in an attempt to save her chill image. 

Max has always been intimidatingly cool to Will. He initially found her awesome because she’s from California, she plays video games better than any boy he’s ever met and she can skateboard! But then Dustin eagerly explained to him how Max had stabbed her abusive step brother with a sedative (from behind, total Rouge style!) and threatened him with a nail bat! It’s hard not to be impressed by her.

This summer though, he’s slowly observed Max’s “girl boss” mask slip. After spending basically a whole month hanging out with her and Lucas whilst Mike’s been… busy with El… he’s starting to see that maybe… maybe she’s not so different from him… Perhaps she can sense this too and that’s why Will finds himself being dragged by each arm into a store called Flash Studio.

There’s a flash of a camera and captured forever is Will wearing a feather boa and a denim jacket with sparkly studs, El and Max either side of him in gloves, the shiniest purple and yellow button ups he’s ever seen and ridiculously oversized headbands. 

Another flash and Will’s giving both girls bunny ears as they make smouldering faces, gloved hands framing their chins like supermodels. Will would never normally do something like this, for fear of being called a you-name-it, but he’s finding himself grinning widely as the photographer yells out “Wardrobe change! Wardrobe change please, thank you!” 

They strut out of Flash Studio with three identical sets of photos, and Will snorts as he sees one of himself with the largest sunglasses known to man taking up most of the frame. He looks to the girls and they all burst out laughing at seemingly nothing in particular. This is probably the most he’s smiled in a long time. Who knew El-the-superhero and Max-the-badass could be so… dorky.

“Where to next?” Will asks when he’s finally able to breathe again. El looks at him with eyes more sparkling than the earrings she was wearing moments ago. Her eyes dart to a shoe store across the mall. Max follows her gaze and smirks at Will.

“Hey Byers, ever worn a pair of stilettos?”

The answer is no, of course, which prompts Max to find the tallest heels in the world (apparently 4 inches is standard!?) and El to insist Will tries them on. They’re white and pointy and Will’s fairly certain that, provided he doesn’t break his ankle, if he kicked someone they’d end up with a puncture wound. Getting the shoes on is easy enough, it’s a good thing Will’s only part way through a growth spurt, but well…

“G-guys?! I can’t walk in these!” 

Max is covering her mouth and sniggering whilst El races to Will’s side and grabs his arm in an attempt to steady him. She looks up at Will and blinks a few times, her jaw dropping.

“You’re like a giant!” She squeals, clapping her hands in excitement. Will looks at himself in a mirror and has to agree with her. He’s gotta be like, 5’9” or something, a foot taller than the first time El would’ve seen him. He feels a bit like a baby giraffe, awkwardly gangling limbs. “I have to try some!”

Sensing a disaster waiting to happen, Max assists Will in stepping out of the ankle-killers and helps El find a much more sensible height shoe. Safely back in his sneakers, Will looks up to see El wearing brightly patterned heels and looking just as graceful as his own attempt at wearing the impractical shoe style. He moves over to hold El’s hand that currently isn’t gripping Max’s.

“You’re about as graceful as a newborn Zebra.” Will snorts as El takes a few shaky steps forward.

El bursts into giggles at Will’s comment. She stops focusing on her feet to look at Will and in that split second her ankle twists and she’s on the ground. The trio are still cackling with laughter as they help El back to her feet but then Will notices a group of girls death-glaring them from across the store.

It’s Stacey and some of her friends from school. They’re the same age as El and Max but you wouldn’t know it. They act like they’re more mature than aged wine, but really they’re the kind of people who make sweet boys like Dustin cry, and roll their eyes at Will, El and Max’s innocent fun. 

Will wishes that people staring didn’t affect him as much as it still does. Hell, he ought to be used to it by now, after the whole Zombie Boy thing, but somehow the judgement of people around him is still enough to make Will feel like a complete freak. He looks down to his feet in shame, hearing the ghost of past insults being hurled at him, but then something else pierces through to his ears.

Laughter.

Will snaps his head up to meet El and Max’s eyes. They’ve resumed their giggling from moments ago, seemingly unbothered by Stacey-what’s-her-face. As Will looks between El and Max and the ridiculous girls he begins to snort as well. God, it must suck to be as mean as those poodle-headed girls, if your only sense of fun is putting others down. What a sad life!
When El’s Reeboks are back on her feet, she turns to Will with expectant eyes. “Your turn!” El proclaims, which takes Will completely by surprise, because so far he’s been the one following, not the one leading. His heartbeat picks up as he scans the store names in Starcourt Mall. What if Will’s idea isn’t as good? He’s laughed more today than he has all summer…

But then all his nerves disappear as he spots it. A bright neon sign that reads TIME-OUT ARCADE. Perfect! Maybe he’ll finally beat Max at something! He races out ahead of the girls, making a beeline for the dark room with bright neon lighting and patterned carpet.

“Where are we going?” El laughs as she sprints and stumbles around the sea of people to catch up with Will. Max practically squeals with excitement as they enter the place. She books it over to the nearest Dig Dug Machine and gasps when she sees the leaderboard. 

“Pfft!” She scoffs “Only 5 hundred thousand points!?” 

El’s eyes nearly bug out of her head. She stands behind Max, watching over her shoulder as the redhead chucks a quarter into the machine. Will smirks as El watches Max make her precise and calculated moves. They’re gonna be here a while, Will thinks, so he wanders over to a claw machine. There’s a BLINKY plush that’s sitting on top of the pile that Will’s sure he can grab.

Left a bit… now back… too far… Will’s tongue is poking out slightly as he concentrates on getting the positioning of the claw to be exactly right. Almost… perfect! He slams the “GRAB” button and watches with baited breath as the claw lowers and closes around the red ghost.

“Yes. Yes!” He hisses as the claw begins to raise, Blinky in tow. “Come on!”

El and Max find him just as the claw deposits its cargo into the PRIZE hatch! Will turns to face the girls and their ecstatic grins are contagious! Max holds up her hand for a high five and Will enthusiastically slaps his hand against hers.

“Nice one Byers!”

Will chuckles as he retrieves the ghost plush from the prize chute. His cheeks burn at the attention, but he doesn’t mind so much. It’s a nice change, not being ignored all summer long. He hands Blinky to El as she bounces on her toes.

“Max got 8 hundred thousand points!” El crows as she accepts the ghost, and hugs it to her chest. Will’s jaw drops. He holds up his hand for another high five, and Max doesn’t disappoint, his hand comes away stinging from the sudden contact.

“Nice one Mayfield!”

El drags them both over to the PacMan machine, holding Blinky like it’s her baby. She gives Max and Will the most gut-wrenching puppy eyes Will’s ever seen, even pouting slightly for good measure. “Show me how to play!” She begs, blinking in an attempt to convince them. As if Will and Max even needed convincing.

“Where the hell did you learn that?” Max scoffs but there’s no real venom behind it. Will throws a quarter into the coin slot and steps up to the joystick. He breathes in sharply as the ghost begins to move around the screen, but he’s not really scared. Will knows the movement patterns of the ghosts better than the back of his hand. He zones out completely as Max explains what he’s doing to El who is clinging on to her every word. The only thing on his mind right now is don’t get eaten!

El and Max watch him intently, holding their breath with every movement of the Joystick. Max is hissing “Yes!” and El is cheering “Go Will” but he can’t afford to pay too close attention to them. He moves left, then up, then right, and Blinky is gaining on him, Pinky is headed towards him from the other direction, and it looks like he’s about to lose a life when–! Boom! Power pellet! 

Will whoops at his narrow escape, but the relief is short lived, after all, he only gets ten seconds of safety before Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde are after him again! He rounds a corner and collides with a ghost, sending it flying back to the spawn point. The remaining ghosts flash as a warning that he’s about to be in trouble again and–

“Shoot!” 

One life down, Will has to be careful now, he’s only got one left, at least until he gets to 10 thousand points, which he isn’t far from! He has to be laser focused now. He makes it to 40 thousand points before his luck runs out. GAME OVER flashes across the screen and Will cries out:

“Noooo! Damn it!”

Will types his name onto the leaderboard, but knows from the look on Max’s face that his victory is bound to be short-lived. El gives Will a consoling pat on the back, whilst Max smirks and stretches her arms, like she’s preparing for a race. She cracks her knuckles dramatically and says in a gloating tone: 

“Congrats Will. Now let the master show you how it’s done!”

55 thousand points! Max completely knocked him out of the park! That’s just embarrassing! Will used to be the number one in the party at Pacman! The redhead nudges him slightly with her crossed elbows. “Good game.” She says and her expression seems genuine, but Will can feel the sarcasm in her voice.

“Yeah, good game.” 

El steps up to the machine now, and another quarter goes in. She’s so nervous that her palms are sweaty and she’s gripping the joystick with white knuckles. Will doesn’t understand how a game of Pacman is even comparable to the things El’s faced before, but he kind of gets it. The adrenaline rush he feels when it’s his hands controlling the game is all too reminiscent of the one he felt running from god-knows-what.

El is more focused than Will’s ever seen her before, even more so than when she uses her powers. This must be so much pressure for her, going just after him and Max, 1 and 2 on the leaderboard. She’s muttering things under her breath, pointers that Max and Will told her earlier, as she jerks the joystick down. She’s… really good?! 

Max cheers as El collects the first piece of fruit, cherries, boosting her score by 1 hundred points. Will claps for her as she passes the first level. El is grinning now, and leaning right into the screen and likely damaging her eyes but it’s totally worth it! Time passes and El’s got 10 thousand points, and hasn’t even lost a life! She’s memorised the patterns of all the ghosts, just by watching Will and Max play!

She can’t escape them forever though. Eventually she slips up and the ghosts catch up to her. She bangs her hand on the side of the machine in frustration, like Dustin often does, but keeps going, until she’s down to her last life! 

Up! Right! Left! Down!

“Go El!”

Ten seconds until the power pellet wears off.

Nine.

She moves up, collecting another piece of fruit.

Eight.

Left, she catches a ghost.

Seven. 

Will’s holding his breath.

Six.

The last few dots are on the other side of the screen.

Five.

There’s a ghost on her tail.

Four.
She’s going to make it!

Three!

Max grips Will’s hand in anticipation.

Two!

And… and… and—

One!

“NO!” El pulls at her hair in agony. GAME OVER is written across the screen in it’s devastatingly blunt manner. El sighs in frustration and steps back dejectedly. Will’s about to console her when Max gasps, dropping Will’s hand and covering her mouth in pure unfiltered shock. 

“El!” She squeals, ambushing the brunette girl in a tackle-like hug. El makes confused eye contact with Will and he shrugs in response. He steps forward to look at the Arcade machine, and then blinks because surely that can’t be right!

He looks again and, nope, it’s still there! Giant pixelated numbers across the screen. 70000.

70 THOUSAND POINTS!

El completely destroyed Will and Max. She’s a beginner. This is her first time ever playing a video game and she freaking crushed two well-versed players. Will is a legend at PacMan, Max is a goddess! PacMan veterans! This should be humiliating. This should be more embarrassing than the time Will got asked to dance by a girl at the Snowball. 

But when Will looks at El’s face of pure shock, all he feels is pride. As she jumps up and down and squeals there’s a surge of warmth in Will’s chest. He’s so happy for El. He urges her over to type in her nickname for the leaderboard. 1st 70000 ELH. El races back to Will and Max, bouncing off the walls with the pure elation of her victory.

“I came number 1!” She’s still muttering excitedly as they head down the escalator towards the food court. Some Ice-Cream that they’re not gonna pay for sounds really good right about now. They’re nearly there when El stops everyone and hisses: “I have an idea!” The smirk on her face screams mischief. 

Will follows her gaze to just in front of Orange Julius. Standing there, all holding drinks and flirting with one of the workers is Stacey-what’s-her-face and her posse of poodle-haired-haters. El taps the side of her head to indicate she’s going to use her powers to do something. Will’s stomach flips in a mixture of nerves and excitement, as El and Max drag him to hide behind a pillar, peering around to do the worst stake-out in history.

El narrows her eyes in concentration, there’s a low buzzing noise. Will is paralysed in anticipation, he can’t take his eyes off of Stacey. He breathes in sharply as El leans forward just a little bit more. She jerks her head up and then BOOM! Stacey’s cup explodes!

There’s juice all over Stacey and her friends, frothy from the sudden agitation and dripping down their faces. It’s in their permed hair, on their clothes and running down their arms. Will gasps and swiftly joins Max and El in their laughs of disbelief. The looks on the popular girls’ faces are priceless. Max turns Will and El around quickly before they’re spotted and grabs each of them by the hand as they sprint towards the ice cream parlour.

“See El, what’d I tell you?” Max wheezes as they run. 

“There’s more to life than stupid boys!” The girls say in unison. Will raises his eyebrows as if to say What about me? Max pauses for a moment.

“Actually, I have an amendment; There’s more to life than stupid relationships.” Max says firmly. El nods in agreement. 

Will's heart swells. That’s exactly how he’s been feeling all summer. It’s amazing to see that some of his friends, despite both having boyfriends, can see that there’s still other important aspects of their life. He’s so sick of feeling like he’s being left behind by the rest of the party because they’re “growing up” and “maturing” whilst Will’s stuck. 

“I like this philosophy.” 

Steve still looks ridiculous in his scoops uniform, is all Will can think as he’s handed his ice-cream cone. “Okay, here you go, you got a strawberry, a vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream and a chocolate peanut butter swirl.” 

Will loves all Ice-Cream, but the fact that they aren’t paying for this just makes it taste so much sweeter. The trio thanks Steve while devouring their delicious treats. They’re about to turn around and leave when he pauses and squints at El, who has a whipped cream moustache.

“Wait a second. Are you even allowed to be here?”

Will, El and Max share a giddy glance, before booking it out of Scoops Ice-Cream parlour, leaving Steve to scratch his head in perplexion. They burst out of the Mall, and Will is absolutely in heaven with this perfect blend of Chocolate and Peanut Butter. 
“You wanna trade?” Max offers, and it takes all Will’s self control not to hiss something stupid like my precious! At her. Thankfully El does want to trade, so the girls switch cones, leaving Will to enjoy his Ice-Cream a perfectly normal amount. This is honestly the happiest he’s felt in days, weeks, heck, maybe even months! Nothing could bring Will’s mood down right now.

“That’s ridiculous. Why can’t I just mow Old Man Humphries’ lawn?”

Except that. Mike Wheeler’s voice carries over from the bike rack, right where the three boys left their bikes this morning. His heart stops. God, why? If Mike and Lucas see him he is in for it! He ditched them, to hang out with their girlfriends!

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” Max voices Will’s feelings perfectly. It’s funny how she does that. She’s almost like a version of Will that has more confidence. 

He looks to Max and El, his stomach swirls with nausea, and it isn’t from too much Ice-cream. Can we leave quickly? He tries to communicate with his eyes, but it’s useless because El and Max are giving Mike and Lucas an absolute death glare! The girls start marching over to the bike rack. Will has to bite his lip as he follows them in tow. 

“Isn’t this a nice surprise?” Max announces loudly, but from the tone of her voice she clearly thinks it’s anything but. 

Mike and Lucas whip around to face Max. Mike’s eyes trail over to Will next and he blinks, taken aback. Will’s stomach drops, and he wishes the earth would swallow him whole, but he puts on his best nonchalant face anyway. Finally Mike’s gaze falls on El; he's so shocked that he drops his bike.

“What are you doing here?” He points at El, completely gobsmacked.

“Shopping.” El challenges. Will holds his breath as Max speaks up. Trust her to make Mike upset.

“This is her new style. What do you think?”

Mike’s blinks at Max in disbelief, then turns to Will. Will can feel himself cracking under Mike’s gaze. His heart thumps as Mike opens his mouth and begins to speak.

“What the hell is this, Will?” He gestures to Max, then El. “You know El’s not supposed to be here! And you just disappeared on me and Lucas, I was worried!” 

Will bites his lip. He can’t say anything. If he does he’s definitely going to cry, or yell. He isn’t really sure which would be worse. He just breathes in sharply and lets the tension build between him and his friends. Yes, he knows he’s pathetic,but he can’t help it. Being confrontational is not in his nature. It’s his absolute last resort.
“Jesus, you don’t own Will and El!” Max scoffs. “What are they, your little pets?”

“Yeah. Are we your pets?” El echos, mimicking max’s scornful tone almost perfectly.

“What? No!” Mike’s eyes dart to Will’s for a moment, but Will just glares at him. He can feel all the horrible resentment bubbling up in him from weeks of being ignored. He tries to swallow his feelings, but he can feel them burst from his lips.

“Don’t pretend like you care about me!” Will snaps. 

Mike flinches at the harsh words. Will’s never spoken to him like that before. Mike stands with his mouth hanging slightly agape, his expression a mixture of shock and hurt. Will immediately feels terrible. Shit, he’s a horrible person. He’s terrible, and rude and inconsiderate and Mike probably hates him and–

“You treat me like garbage.” El says, which interrupts Will’s spiralling train of thought. “And Will, too.”

“What?” Mike asks softly, he looks a little dazed, like his mind is still stuck. He looks back to Will, a pitiful expression in his eyes. Will has to look at the ground. He is not going to cry, damnit! 

“You said Nana was sick.” El continues. “And you ignore Will.”

“She is sick!” Mike lies through his teeth. “And– I wasn’t ignoring Will…” He trails off, looking down at the floor. Will can feel that anger bubble up inside him again. Yes, you were. He thinks, gritting his teeth. 

“Yeah– we were just trying to find a present for Nana! Cause she’s super sick.” Lucas ads. Max glares daggers at him. Lucas gulps and backs away a bit. 

“Bull.” Will mutters under his breath. Mike lets out a soft sigh at being called out.

“Okay, fine! We’re here to get a gift for you, El.” El just stares at him blankly. “Just -- we couldn’t find anything that suited you. And I only have, like, three dollars and fifty-cents, so it’s hard.”

“Super. Hard. It’s expensive.” Lucas backs up, which earns an eye roll from his girlfriend. (Although if Max’s glares mean anything, maybe ex-girlfriend is more accurate.)

“You. Lie.” El says bluntly. Mike looks at El like he’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 
“Why do you lie?”

There’s a screeching of tires as the bus pulls into the mall. Will glances at his bike, locked safely in the rack, then at the bus. El looks at the bus, then at Will and Max, and nods firmly. She takes a step closer to Mike, speaking loudly.
“I dump your ass.”

Max’s jaw drops. Will covers his mouth to muffle a soft chuckle of surprise. With all the emotions he’s feeling right now, the most prominent one is satisfaction. Mike’s face screws up into an expression of confusion and scorn as Max links arms with Will and El. They clamber onto the bus, squeezing three to a seat. It’s a bit sweaty being stuck between Max and the wall, but Will finds he doesn’t even feel the heat. 

There’s a humm of people chatting, in Will’s ears. Then, through the buzz of conversation, he hears a giggle that’s becoming increasingly familiar today. He looks over at El, who’s high-fiving Max, and he can feel a grin spreading across his face. El looks so happy.  

He leans over the redhead, spilling some ice-cream on his leg, Which feels horrible, but Will doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about the heat, or the noisy people, or even Mike. Right now all he cares about is the wide, toothy grin on El’s face. 

“You guys are so cool!” Will says, holding his own hand out to El. She claps their palms together in a terrible, sticky, high five. It doesn’t even make any noise, and Will lets out a soft snort as he leans back into the seat, gently nudging Max over. Max shoves him back.

“Of course we are!”

Will smiles widely as the Mall gets smaller in the distance. Maybe he’s in deep shit when he sees Mike next. Maybe he’s going to regret hanging out with the girls when tomorrow comes. Maybe he’s selfish, and an idiot, and all sorts of other things his brain can come up with. But right now, at this moment? 

Will wants to finish his ice-cream.

(And also, he’s happy.)

Chapter Text

Crack! 

He stretches his lengthy arms out above his head, in an attempt to straighten his spine. The basement couch was not a very good place to sleep, but Mike hadn't been able to move after he'd raced home. The prickle of tears in his eyes had stung him all the way back from the stupid Mall, but Mike Wheeler is stubborn. He refused to let them fall in front of Lucas. He's not that pathetic.

“Don’t pretend like you care about me!”

The sheer anger in Will’s voice is like a slap to the face as yesterday replays in his mind. In the eight and a half years that Will has been his best friend for, Mike has never heard such a hostile tone from the boy. Not directed at him, at least.

“Bull.” Will mutters under his breath.

Mike's eyes move down to stare at his feet. He scowls as he realises he slept in sneakers. He tears the blue Reeboks off and hurls them across the basement, hitting the wall with a loud thud, before the shoes fall in a heap on the ground.

Fuck Will! He thinks, clenching his jaw. How could he say that?! Did he really think that?! Couldn't Will see that caring was Mike’s whole problem? 

Mike digs his nails into the palms of his hands. Hard enough to draw blood. He takes in a gasp of air in pain, then attempts to exhale his emotions along with the oxygen.

It doesn't work.

He still feels like a cake mix from hell. Instead of his ingredients being eggs, flour and milk, Mike's a horrible franken-cake of aggression, self hatred and burning jealousy. 

Sounds appetising.

He glances at the palms of his hands and stares at the crescent cuts, red droplets forming and sitting atop his skin. He opens and closes his fist a few times, watching the blood pool together and run into the lines of his palm. Fascinated, he reaches his hand up to his mouth and sucks at the wounds, until the red river ceases.

He feels a bit sick, but the warm metallic taste of blood isn't solely to blame. He hasn't eaten since breakfast yesterday, opting to sit frozen on the couch, hiccuping as tears flowed down his cheeks.

The way Will couldn't even meet his eyes. Mike swallows the lump in his throat. He shouldn't care this much. It doesn't matter. Friends fight all the time. 

“He's my friend.” Mike whispers desperately, as if voicing it will remind his brain to act normal for once in his life.

“Will is my best friend. El is my girlfriend.” He says softly, his eyes falling to the card table, where Will spent all morning yesterday setting up a DnD campaign. The game had been forgotten in the rush that was fixing his and El’s relationship. (That went well.)

“I dump your ass!”

Will had laughed. He laughed, and linked arms with Max like they were best fucking friends. 

It was all Lucas's idea to go running around the mall anyway. Apparently a gift would win El back after he'd been forced to lie to her. And yes, he was forced. He truly had no choice, because he–

Well… Hopper said… he told Mike…

Mike takes a deep breath in. Okay, maybe he didn't have to lie to El. He could have just explained that Hopper said they needed space. But– 

“Argh!” Mike huffs, hands threading into his hair.

Will had walked away from Mike, without a second glance. Arm in arm with Max fucking Mayfield, and El, Mike’s ex-girlfriend in tow! Since when did Will even care about the girls!? 

This was too much. It was bad enough that El was mad at him, but Will too? He couldn't deal with that. Will’s never mad at him. They’re best friends.

(They– they used to be best friends?) 

He had to talk to Will. He kind of wants to yell at Will, scream at him that it's bullshit, he was worried sick, but he decides that's probably a bit stupid of him. He'll sound crazy.

(Maybe he is crazy.)

He jumps up from the couch, and nearly passes out, his vision blurring and balance giving way. He feels bile rise in his throat, but he swallows quickly as he stumbles across the room. Maybe he should eat something before he goes looking for Will.

He yanks his mistreated shoes back on, before deciding deodorant is probably a good idea too. 

When Mike finally makes it out the front door, he's his smack in the face with a fat droplet of water. Then another. And another. It's pouring. Fuck it. Mike thinks, mounting his bike and pedalling fast. 

Someone in a car passing rolls down their window to yell at Mike. He doesn’t really hear what they’re saying. Something about being careful because of the water on the road. Mike doesn't care. 

He races through the streets of Hawkins, ignoring the thunderstorm around him. He has to talk to Will. What he's going to say, Mike isn't sure yet. He runs a few scenarios through his head as he swings onto Cornwallis, skidding a bit as the water on the road splashes up around his tyres.

“Will, what the hell is your problem!?” Yeah. That'll blow over well.

“Will, I'm sorry that I made you feel like I don't care about you. I actually care about you so much that it's kind of weird…” He probably can't say that either.

He nearly misses the turn onto Mirkwood, so lost inside his own brain. 

When Mike reaches the Byers house across town he's panting with exhaustion. He chucks his bike down on the ground near their front porch and sprints up to the door. A trail of wet footprints follow him. His heart is racing in his throat and his slice of toast is probably going to make a reappearance, but who cares. 

He bangs on the door, fist pounding against the wood.

“Will! WILL!” 

Mike knocks more rapidly, slamming his palms against the door. He has to be here. Mike has to say something–

The door flies open. Mike stands with his hands mid air, stunned for a moment, because woah. Will. Mike’s mouth goes bone dry.

He's wearing shorts so short they're barely there at all, and a yellow flannel, buttoned up but rolled up to his elbows. That's not the kicker though. Will’s hair. Mike’s heart beats in his ears. Will’s hair has waves in it. No dead straight bangs across his forehead. Waves. Soft chestnut waves.

“...Mike?” 

Mike blinks twice, letting his hands fall to his sides. God, he must look stupid. Why can’t he just be normal around Will?

“Mike…” Will repeats, eyebrows pinching together in concern. “Are you okay?”

Mike can't stand it any longer. He falls into Will's chest, wrapping his arms around the shorter boy's body. Will flinches a bit.

“Ew, Mike, you're saturated!” Will grumbles, but he still wraps his arms around Mike's shoulders, patting his back.

“I missed you.” Mike mumbles into Will's shoulder. Will squeezes him a little tighter.

“I missed you too.” He says softly, but then he pulls away to hold Mike at arms length. “But I'm still kind of pissed off at you.” Will mutters, green eyes narrowed. He has a wet patch all down his shirt from Mike’s soaked clothes.

Mike fidgets with his hands, picking the dried blood out from under his nails. He stares down at his shoes, feeling a touch of shame sinking into his being.

“I'm sorry for treating you like garbage…” 

Will’s eyes soften slightly. His thumb gently rubs Mike’s arms. A bolt of lightning strikes somewhere nearby. It has nothing on the electric tingles running down his arm at Will’s touch.

“I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I just– I got so distracted with El and I was being a total asshole to you.” Mike speaks quickly. “And I got mad when you said that I didn't care about you because that's just not true! You're my friend, Will!”

Mike looks up into Will's eyes. Brown to green. He can feel tears prickling in his own. His voice gets a bit choked as he continues.

“You're my best friend. I never want you to feel like that's not the case.” 

Will takes a deep breath in. He chews on his lip, before speaking, his soft tone barely audible about the hammering rain.

“I'm sorry for what I said yesterday too…”

Mike stares in mild shock. He wasn't expecting an apology in return. He doesn’t deserve an apology.

“You don't have to apologise, Will. You didn't do anything.”

Will huffs out a laugh. “You sound like my Mom.” He comments, then continues. “Anyway, I did. I lashed out at you… and I ditched you to hang out with your ex-girlfriend, which is like, a total jerk move.”

Mike scoffs lightly. “Will, as much as it pains me to say this, you are allowed to hang out with people other than me.” 

Will snorts at Mike’s wording. He pulls Mike back into a hug, not caring about the boy's soggy attire now that he's already been dampened.

“You're freezing.” Will whispers in Mike’s ear. “Come on. Let's get you something dry to wear.”

***

Half an hour later, Mike's wearing his own hoodie that Will totally stole in the winter. It's a little bit short on Mike's longer arms, but at least it's dry. He's also been given a pair of Jonathan's jeans, which are fine for the length, but Mike’s got the build of a twig. He’s had to borrow one of Will’s belts to keep them up. Will returns from the kitchen with a mug of hot cocoa and thrusts it upon Mike.

“Drink.” He orders. 

Mike does so, even though it's June, which is not a cocoa month. He sits curled up on Will's couch. Will settles down next to him, fidgeting with his hands. Mike knows he's got something to say, so he waits patiently for Will to voice his thoughts.

“El and Max are really cool.” Will finally admits.

“Yeah, I know.” Mike agrees. “Don’t tell Max I said that!”

Will mimes zipping his lips, which makes Mike giggle. When he speaks up again, Will’s voice comes out quieter.

“But I still don't get the whole girlfriend thing.” 

Mike sits for a moment, processing this. He chews on his lip, mind running through all his interactions with El. He looks down at his lap, feeling awkwardness consume him, though he's not sure why.

“I don't think I do either.” Mike confesses. Will shuffles closer to him on the couch, resting his head on Mike's shoulder.

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” Mike says softly. “I mean, don't get me wrong, I really like El, but…” He trails off looking out the window. 

Will rubs his arm in an attempt to help Mike feel more comfortable talking to him. Girls are not a topic Mike and Will ever discuss. It's the one off-limit subject, because Mike knows Will thinks it’s scornful. 

Or at least, that's what Mike had told himself. They don't talk about girls because of Will. But now, he's beginning to wonder if he might be part of the equation too. Maybe Mike’s not as interested in discussing girls as he thought he was…

“But I kind of felt… nothing when she dumped me.” 

Will’s eyebrows raise, and Mike swallows a lump building in his throat. He keeps talking, voice shaking.

“Like, I was shocked, but… not upset. Just… caught off guard.” Mike explains. His hands move together to tangle and untangle his fingers, body spilling with anxious energy. 

“Yeah?” Will asks softly, moving his head off of Mike's shoulder. He mourns the loss of contact for a moment, until they lock eyes. The air is practically knocked from Mike’s lungs.

“Yeah.” He confirms, heart racing. Will’s hair looks so… soft like this. Fluffy, like a cloud of chestnut brown, that Mike wants to reach out and run his ever moving fingers through. 

But he doesn’t.

That'd be weird.

Instead, he looks back out the window, eyes searching for a distraction. Thankfully, one arrives, as the storm eases and rays of the setting sun pierce through the grey clouds. The beam hit the water droplets, refracting the white light into a spectacular display of colour.

“Look.” Mike whispers. Will turns his head to see the sky, bursting with an arch of brilliance.

“It’s like a painting.” Will breathes. He grabs Mike’s sleeve and drags him out to the front porch.

They stand, framed by the doorway, staring out at the natural beauty. Mike feels a little bit breathless as his eyes trace the curve of the rainbow. He feels Will’s hand clasp around his as they observe the sky, and suddenly all the energy of the storm manifests in that single touch and– Oh.

Oh.

It's symbolic, in a way, that this is how Mike finally put the pieces together. His knees feel kind of weak and his stomach erupts with a herd of butterflies, hatching from their chrysalises all at once. His mind starts to race with a barrage of thoughts, but then Will speaks, and they're silenced at once.

“This is nice.” 

The sound of his voice and the gentle squeeze of Will’s hand makes Mike’s heart beat so loudly that he's sure the other boy can hear it. It doesn't matter right now though. Mike has plenty of time to work through this realisation. Right now, he wants to bask in the glory of the moment. 

“Yeah, it is.” He replies, squeezing Will’s hand back.