Archive of Our Own ^beta

Cold winter air blanketed the fleeting sunlight, which crept onto Mike Wheeler's bed. Will Byers was scared awake, another nightmare, Mike thought. Will unsuccessfully tried to remove a familiar arm from his waist. “Five more minutes.” Mike's half asleep words caught Will by surprise, he halted. Did Mike even remember what he did last night?

“We're gonna be late for school.. Mike.” This position of theirs felt usual, for Will. However, the pain on his neck wasn't. He pressed against the wounded area with his hand, which elicited a hiss of pain. “Mike, what happened last night?” He kept his hand close to the injury. 

“I don't know..” He sat up, letting go of Will finally. “We snuck out to a party, and then we went home together.. I think we just fell asleep. I can't remember anything else. Why?” Will resists the urge to punch Mike. He nervously rubbed his affliction to ease the pain. “What are you doing?” Mike reached for Will's hand, which smacked him away. 

“It's nothing.. leave it alone.” Mike raised an eyebrow. Whilst Mike didn't even remember how they'd got home, Will could remember everything down to Mike's hurried kisses. “Mike, leave it alone.” He got up, but Mike pulled him back down. “I told you it's nothing.” 

“Right, just like how you tell me your nightmares are nothing.” Will let out an exasperated sigh. Images of last night's drunk intimate moments clouded his mind. “Were you even gonna tell me that you had another nightmare?” Mike pried Will's hand off of his neck. “Who did this to you?” 

“No one.”

“Oh please, you're telling me you gave yourself a hickey?” He eyed Will's hickey with utmost contempt, jealousy flowing into his heart. Will's hickey was akin to a bruise, purple, faintly blue, and painful to touch. Mike couldn't deter his eyes. 

“So what if I did? Why does it matter to you? You already have El to worry about.” It was as if something had possessed Mike. Suddenly, he got out of bed. “Mike?” Will called again,”Mike? Where are you going?” Mike threw his hands up in desperation, already pleasantly annoyed by Will's comment about Eleven. 

They'd broken up ages ago. 

“To shower, weren't you the one saying we can't be late to school?” Will didn't protest. He watched Mike leave and got up to stretch. Mike's mirror reflected Will's ruffled hair and eye bags, indicating inadequate sleep. In an attempt to distract himself, he made Mike's bed. However, minutes later, he found himself wordlessly laying back down, staring at the ceiling. 

💝

Keys were fished out of Holly's bag, and Mike opened the door, ushering her in. She happily ran down the corridor looking for their mother, Mrs. Wheeler. Her voice rang out like an annoying alarm,“Mike honey, are you home?” She called out from the kitchen,”Can you come here? I want to talk to you!”

A sigh resounded from Mike. He took off his shoes and headed for the kitchen. When he entered, Mrs. Wheeler smiled at him affectionately. “What?” She quickly cut vegetables, acting like his question was a mere figment of imagination. The silence stretched long. Too long. 

“Mike, did you go to a party last night?” Mike's breath hitched. “Tell me the truth.” He didn't immediately respond since weighing options took a fair amount of time. “There's nothing wrong with going to parties.” She tried to hold her gaze, but Mike's eyes were darting around the kitchen. “I won't be mad. Did you go to a party last night?”

 Finally, Mike croaked out one word. “Yes.”

“I knew it!” She grinned, discarding the knife. “I saw something on Will this morning. I know it wouldn't be from your ex or Max, who loves Lucas.” Her explanation overwhelmed Mike. “So that got me thinking, where on earth did he get that mark from? Then I realised you must've snuck out to a party!” 

Is she talking about Will's hickey?

If Mike could choose any power, he would choose to be invisible for situations like this. “I mean, what other girl could do this? Except one he must've met at a party!” Mrs. Wheeler sounded extremely proud of her theory. In her eyes, such an explanation had no faults. “Mike?” 

However, she didn't know that the fault was standing right in front of her. “Hm?” Mike responded, snapping out of his thoughts. “I mean, it definitely must've been a girl at the party.” Mike wasn't a girl. Therefore, he couldn't have done that to Will. Like his mother says, it must be a girl from the party. Not him. 

For some reason, Mike's stomach disagreed with her theory. An increasing urge to vomit crawled up his throat. “Mike.” Her voice softly reached Mike, noticing his changing demeanour. ”It’s fine to have a girlfriend. You can move on, you know. I won't be mad about going to parties, you know? Next time…”

“Just tell me.” 

“I don't like girls.” Well, that came out wrong, Mike wanted to disappear. 

Consequently, she approached Mike to pat him on his back like a dog. “These days, we have to be open-minded.” It almost sounded like she wanted to convince herself to conceal her hatred; those were Mike's thoughts, anyway. 

“No.. I mean I- girls at my school are boring.” She let out a sigh of relief. Mike's heart dropped to his already sickening stomach.  

“Yes, of course they must be boring.” After her confirmation, Mike forgot the rest of their conversation. Almost as if he was asleep for the rest of it. Now he sat on his bed, silently crying whilst their conversation replayed in his head. He put his arms around his shoulders, trying to cradle himself from relapsing. 

Such attempts were futile. He stood up and then rummaged through his drawer. A hiding place he knew all too well, a blade previously placed between two comics emerged from his drawer. “Mike, are you there?” In surprise, he dropped the blade and whipped his head around. 

Guilt etched into his heart as if Will could actually see what he was doing. “Mike, did you forget movie night?” Will echoed from Mike's Walkie Talkie. “You haven't been answering.” Mike registered Eleven's voice, and quickly, he put the blade back to its designated hiding spot. 

“I've just..” He cleared his throat,”I've been busy helping with dinner.” He could almost imagine them gossiping about his lies. He felt the need to add,’I haven't forgotten.’ But restrained himself. Will's voice echoed once more with El, gigging in the background; 

“Everyone will be over in thirty minutes.”