Chapter Text
★☆ Nancy ☆★
Nancy Wheeler was going through it. Her boyfriend broke up with her (which was a long time coming, but still!), she hasn’t gotten a good night's sleep in months, and now her idiot brother was moping around the house! His mood had everyone on edge around him, and it was terrible. One wrong word and he would either start crying, yelling at her, or storm up to his room. Mike had never been the best at the whole regulating emotions healthily thing, but there was only so much Nancy would take.
It was painfully clear that he was distraught, and Nancy was sure she knew why. Will Byers, the love of his life, the boy Mike has been in love with since he was six, officially moved out of their house.
The Byers were living with them for at least two months until they received a surprising amount of hush slash “sorry about all this, I really didn’t think this would happen” money from a certain Sam Owens, and bought back their old house. The family who lived there was just happy to get it off their hands and get out of Hawkins, which was very reasonable considering the town was collapsing in on itself.
Mike loved Will living with them. He would sneak down to the basement every night for sleep overs, they would watch movies for hours, go to the arcade, and were just constantly together. They were attached at the hip. Mike and Will were always… special, so it’s no shock how much Mike enjoyed the Byers stay. (Nancy, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than her ex and his family out of their house)
When the Byers were in California, Mike was a mess. He would sit in the basement, dialing their house for hours, until he’d go upstairs and lock himself in his room. It was pathetic, honestly, but she couldn’t help but feel bad for her little brother. He was missing his boyfriend, who could blame him? At least he was trying to talk to Will, unlike her, who was avoiding talking to Jonathon like her life depended on it (but Mike did not need to know about how shitty her love life had been)
When everyone came back to Hawkins after all that Russia-California bullshit, Mike looked so much happier, and Nancy couldn’t help but smile. Even though the two boys kept her awake well past midnight, which was most definitely wrecking her already messed up sleep schedule, she was glad her brother was feeling like himself again. It was refreshing, being able to talk to him for more than five minutes without a single tear. She didn’t know how Will could fix his mood so easily, but she reminded herself to thank him when she got the chance.
Nancy knew he was going to be upset by the Byers moving out. They lived on the other side of town, which is very inconvenient for sleepovers, but she didn’t know he would be this affected. His problems were becoming hers, so she knew she had to do something.
For both their sakes, Nancy was going to fix her brothers’ relationship.
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★☆ Mike ☆★
Mike Wheeler was miserable. Will, his best friend, was moving out of their house. Not only did he no longer live with them, he lived on the other side of town. It took a good forty five minutes to bike there, let alone walk! Mike loved having Will near. After everything that happened between them, it felt so good to be able to talk again. With everything going on in Hawkins, he had been feeling extra stressed, and Will was the only person he could talk to about it. But he’s gone (well, he still lives in the same town and they can still see each other, but you get it), and his sister, Nancy, looks at him like some hamster being studied.
Mike and Nancy used to be close. She used to play games with him and ask him about his day. Mike would never admit this to anyone, but he used to think she was the coolest person ever. Nancy was nice to him, and sometimes she would play Dnd with the party. He thought everything was going great, until she got to high school. Suddenly, liking your younger brother was embarrassing or something, so she just stopped. Stopped talking to him, stopped asking him questions, stopped playing with him. Mike used to cry to Will about it.
Even though the world was ending, they still rarely talked to each other. Which was why Mike was so surprised when she started watching him. She would ask him little questions. A “How did you sleep?” during breakfast. “Are you gonna see Will today?” during lunch. It creeped Mike out.
He told Will about it one day. They were at the park, just walking, and he mentioned how weird Nancy had been acting. Will was there for him when Nancy stopped talking to him, so he knew why Mike would think it’s weird.
“Maybe she’s making up for lost time?” he suggested.
“No, something's off,” Mike replied. “It feels like she’s, I don’t know, examining me or something”
Will laughed and called him paranoid, and the two continued their walk. Mike trusted Will with the world, but this didn’t feel like paranoia. He was as much an overthinker as the next person, and this wasn’t overthinking. This was observation. Being watched. Studied.
And suddenly, it stopped. Nancy went back to ignoring him. They stopped talking, and Mike had never been more relieved. He could walk around the house without feeling her eyes burning holes into the back of his head. Of course, he was still upset about Will leaving, but at least now he could cry without Nancy poking her head through his door. When he told Will the news, he rolled his eyes and laughed.
“I told you, you’re too paranoid,” he said.
And Mike finally believed him. Nothing was wrong. Nancy probably just felt bad for how she used to treat him. All was well. Until Nancy came down to the basement (which she never does, because one, she hated the basement, two, she never had the need) and sat down next to him. Mike gulped.
“Hey, can we talk?”