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Mike sat at Will’s bedside, wrapped tightly in a blanket. He’d been there for hours with no sleep, and he didn’t see himself leaving any time soon. Joyce had been with him for the first few hours, up until she had to leave for work when it became morning. She’d tried to stay, but Mike had insisted he’d call if anything happened.
Sitting there in the hard blue chair brought back vivid memories of three years before when he’d done the same thing, sitting next to Will, praying he would wake up. Three years ago, he did. He could only pray this would work out the same.
Just the night before, the party had been hanging out in Mike’s basement, trying to imitate old times. Max had only recently gotten out of the hospital herself, so it was really the party’s first time together in far too long.
Nothing had felt right. They’d been separated for too long and had too many fights. It just didn’t feel the same.
Then, Will just… fell.
No one knew what had happened. They all started panicking. El called 911 and then Joyce, Lucas and Dustin ran upstairs to find Mike’s parents, and Mike and Max stayed to make sure Will didn’t die laying there.
Mike’s parents got to the basement quickly, and an ambulance showed up soon after. Mike’s mom drove the rest of the party to the hospital to find Will and meet Joyce, Jonathan, and Hopper. Lucas and Dustin had left after a lot of apologies as they had to get home, and Hopper had taken El and Jonathan home as it was late. Mike practically had to beg his mom to let him stay. Joyce had to work that morning, so Mike was left in Will’s room alone.
Mike wasn’t alone for much longer. He snapped his head up upon hearing a door creak open and watched as Max walked in, her orange hair dripping wet. Wondering why, Mike looked out the window to see rain pouring down. He hadn’t even noticed, too preoccupied with Will.
“You’re still here?” she asked, standing over Will on the other side of the bed.
“Yeah,” Mike said, following it with a yawn. “Haven’t left.”
“You need sleep,” Max said simply, still staring at Will.
“I know.”
She looked up at Mike. “I’m serious. I know you’re worried, but you need to sleep.”
“He might be dying , Max.”
“Have they figured out what’s wrong with him?”
“No, just that he’s in a coma. I doubt they’ll figure it out.”
“How come?” she asked, looking back at Will’s unconscious body.
“I think it’s related to the Upside Down. I can almost… feel it. I thought this was all over,” he sighed, more tired than anything.
“We thought that the other times too. But hey, maybe this is just… dehydration?”
“ Dehydration ?” Mike asked incredulously.
Max sighed, stepping away from Will. “I don’t know. I just want him to be okay.”
“Me too.”
Mike needed Will to be okay. Actually, Mike just needed Will . He’d found while Will was in California that he could hardly live without him. He’d assumed he’d miss El more than anything. He thought that was how having a girlfriend was supposed to work. But he’d missed Will the most. Every time he rode his bike to school, it felt wrong to not have Will beside him. It felt wrong not to have Will to share homework answers with, not to have Will to play games at the arcade with. Everything felt wrong without Will.
Except, he couldn’t tell Will that. He’d just seem pathetic, which was the last thing Mike needed Will to think about him.
“You aren’t with El,” Max pointed out, making her way to Mike’s chair.
“She’s at home.”
“Why aren’t you?”
“I told you, Will might be dying. I need to be here.”
“You’ve spent every waking second with El since you met her. Since Will got back, you’ve barely been spending any time with her at all,” Max said, beginning to pace around the room.
Mike inhaled sharply. She couldn’t have been implying what Mike thought she was.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve spent all of your time with Will, not your actual girlfriend. She wanted to break up with you last month. She was about to do it.”
“What?” Mike asked. He didn’t know about that. He’d never even had a thought that El wanted to break up with him.
Although, he supposed that was probably why she wanted to. The more he thought about it, he realized he really hadn’t paid much attention to her recently.
“I had to talk her out of it, told her you were just distracted with fixing everything after the entire Upside Down disaster. I don’t think she ever let go of the idea, though.”
Mike didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say.
Max started talking again. “I don’t know why I talked her out of it. I already knew.”
“You already knew what ?”
“That there’s a reason you haven’t been spending time with El.”
“What’s your point? That I should be spending time with my girlfriend instead of my dying best friend?” Mike asked.
“Mike, do you like Will?”
Mike’s eyes widened. “What? No! I like El—El’s my girlfriend , Max!”
“ Mike. ”
“I don’t—” Mike exhaled sharply. “I don’t know, okay? Will’s my best friend. I can’t like him. I can’t—” Mike couldn’t even finish his sentence, instantly breaking down into tears.
“God, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were this deep in denial—”
“I’m not in denial,” Mike choked out.
Max took a deep breath. “Look, it’s okay to like Will. He’s great, and you two grew up together, and—”
“I can’t like him. He’s a boy , Max. And I have a girlfriend!”
“Mike, look at me.”
Mike obliged, facing Max with his bright red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.
“You’re allowed to like him. You can’t control that. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” Mike said quietly, as if he was only breathing the words.
“It is. ”
Mike was silent for a moment. It would explain… a lot. When Max told him El wanted to break up with him, he wasn’t upset. In fact, he felt relieved . The past few months, he hadn’t had any strong desire to be near El. Sure, he still loved her, but it was starting to feel like he felt about Max, Dustin, and Lucas. He loved El as a friend.
He loved Will as more than that.
“Shit,” Mike muttered.
“It’s okay to like Will. It really is. But it’s not fair to El to keep leading her on.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “I’ve been a horrible boyfriend.”
“You have. But El will understand,” Max said.
“She always does,” he laughed slightly.
“Will you please at least come with me to get a snack from the vending machine?” Max asked, back to worrying about Mike’s wellbeing.
“Fine. But only if you buy it for me.”
“Whatever you say, Wheeler.”