Tear In My Heart

by levitheweiner

Summary:

Michael Wheeler had never in his life felt what it was like to struggle. He had everything he ever wanted handed to him. He had two parents and two sisters. He wasn't popular, but he was liked. He had a girlfriend who he wasn't sure how to feel about.

Michael was handed everything he wanted.

William Byers was different. He knew what it was like to struggle. He didn't have everything he ever wanted, he had a select few items that he adored and took care of. He had two parents and two siblings. He wasn't popular and he wasn't liked. He didn't have a girlfriend, he didn't even like girls.

William worked for everything he wanted.

 

Or.

On a summer long vacation to California to see family, Michael meets a lifeguard who changes his perspective on life.

Notes:

Please be nice! Please tell me your opinions!!!

Chapter 1: The Wheelers Go To California

As the plane lands on the tarmac, Mike lets out a breath of relief. He hates planes. He hates even more being in the middle seat between his sisters while his parents sit in first class. He hates that his on flight screen didn't work. He hates that he didn't bring any books. He hates that his phone died not even an hour into the four hour flight. And he hates that he cannot sleep on planes. 

 

When they are signaled to get up and off the plane, he rushes to grab his carry on and get off the plane. With his older sister Nancy rolling her eyes at his impatientness and his younger sister Holly squealing about finally being in California. 

 

As Mike deboards, he waits for the rest of his family inside. He's blasted with the air conditioned air, finally able to relax himself as he stands on stable ground. He soon spots his family, and follows them to baggage claim, waiting around for his luggage before they leave for their grandparents.

 

“So, your father and I will share a room with Holly. Mike and Nancy, you two will share the other guest room.” Mike's mother, Karen, tells them in the car ride to their grandparents. Mike nods, okay with the arrangement. Nancy didn't care all that much, she was 21, she planned on going out at night anyways. And at 18, Mike appreciated that. It would give him privacy to call his friends back home. 

 

As they arrived at their grandparents home, they are welcomed with open arms.

 

“Oh Michael! Its been far too long since we’ve seen you!” His grandmother, Beatrice, quickly took him into an embrace after hugging the entire family. “You’ve grown so much! You must have many girls back home!”

 

“Oh grandma! Did Mike not tell you about his girlfriend!?” Holly smiles, holding out the syllables of girlfriend. 

 

Beatrice gasps. “Michael! A girlfriend? Why is the first time I'm hearing about this!”

 

Mike shrugs “I thought I had told you.”

 

“Well what's her name?”

 

“Her name is Jordan.”

 

“That's a boy's name! Why does she have a boy's name?” 

 

Mike shrugs, “It's just a name, grandma.”

 

Nancy interrupts the two, “Hey how about we go out for dinner! We should go to the diner we went to as  kids!”

 

Beatrice turns her attention to Nancy, “Oh yes! Of course! Ted, Karen? Any objections?”

 

Ted shakes his head. 

 

“That's a great idea! Good suggestion Nancy. That would be wonderful!” Karen smiles

After an hour of putting their luggage away, the family goes to the diner.

 

It's a small place, the walls have chipping paint and the leather on the seats is peeling. The atmosphere is soft and inviting. The family sits at a table and looks through the menu.

 

“Oh Mike! Do you remember the time we came here and you exploded the ketchup bottle?” Nancy teases

With a groan, he says “Oh god. Don't remind me.” 

 

The family joked around and looked through the menu. Only calming down when the waitress comes by. Mike looks at her, she has long hair tied back into a ponytail with slightly crooked bangs. 

 

“Hello! My name is Jane, I’ll be your server today. What can I get you started with?” The girl smiles widely at them. 

 

The family goes around the table and tells her their drink order.

 

“Alrighty, I will be right out with your drinks.” She clicks her pen and walks to the kitchen.

 

A few minutes later, she walks out with their drinks. She looks up when she hears the door ring, and smiles brightly. 

 

“Do you need a few more minutes to look through the menu?” She says, not looking at them, but at the guy who has just walked into the diner. 

 

Mike looks at the guy. He was taller than Jane, with short messy brown hair. He was nicely tanned and had a mole above his lip. Something about him made Mike's heart skip a beat, he didn't understand why. 

 

Karen nods. “Yeah, just a few minutes more and I think we’ll be ready.”

 

“Alrighty! Ill be right back then.” She smiles and quickly goes off to see the boy. 

 

Mike is watching the pair intensely. 

 

“Will! Did the park close early?” 

 

“Yeah. I just stopped by to get a milkshake.” Will smiles and hugs her.

 

Something churned in Mikes stomach. He kept his eyes trained on this Will. He watched the two talk for a while. Eventually Will looks over at Mike, making eyecontact.

 

Mike looks away quickly, his cheeks getting hot. 

 

Eventually, Jane came back to get their orders. 

 

The family ordered. 

 

Mike glanced over to the bar tables, spotting Will. Will was already looking at him, smiling. 

 

When Jane comes back over with their orders, getting some help from another server, she passes out the dishes.

 

Mike looks at his burger and fries and notices a slip of paper in his fries. He looked around the table, making sure they weren't watching him, and quickly put the slip in his pocket. He starts eating his fries to feel more discrete about it. 

 

After the dinner, the family goes back to the house. Mike rushes to the bedroom hes going to share with Nancy, and goes to the conjoined bathroom. He locks the door and digs for the note in his pocket.

 

He unfolds the note and reads what it says:

 

Hey! This is probably really weird, but this is Will (if you didn't catch my name) I'm Jane's brother and I caught you staring at me quite a few times. I just wanted to tell you I think you’re cute. 

 

At the bottom of the note Will had written his Instagram username. Mike's heart is racing fast. It shouldn't be doing that, he has a girlfriend. A girlfriend, he's not gay. 

 

Nevertheless, he pulls out his now charged phone and opens Instagram. He has a few messages from his girlfriend, but he looks up Wills instagram. Its public, so he scrolls through it.

 

Hot. Mike thought. 

 

He froze. He shouldn't be thinking like that about another guy who is in fact hot. He is in a relationship.

 

He dropped his phone, and when he picked it up, he had accidentally liked one of Will's posts. From two years ago. Like a weirdo. 

 

“Shit!” He goes bright and quickly unlikes it. But that didn't stop him from still following Will.

 

“You okay in there Mike?” Nancy asks from inside the bedroom

 

“Oh uh… yeah.” He replied. Instead of dwelling over the incident more, he opens up the messages from his girlfriend.

 

Mikeeeeeeeeeee

Mikeyyyyyyyyyy

Babyyyyyyyyyy

Answer me!!! You should've landed by now.

Fine, ignore me. 

 

Mike sighs and responds 

 

Sorry, my phone was dead and we got dinner. 

 

Jordan quickly sees the message and replies 

 

Going out to dinner with your family never stopped you before. Did you meet someone else :((( 

 

Mike sighs 

 

No, I didn't baby. 

Why dont you go to bed now? Its late over there isnt it?

 

She sends another message

 

Okay fine. Goodnight, love you Mikey.

 

Mike doesn't respond. He doesn't like saying I love you to Jordan. When she first told him all he said was “That's cool.” 

 

Thinking back on it hes never-

 

Willthewise requested to follow you!

 

The notification took Mike's attention and he quickly accepts it. 

 

After a few minutes Will messages him 

 

Hi!

 

Mike's heart skips a beat

 

Hey.

 

Mike couldn't see if Will responded, Nancy was banging on the door. 

 

“Okay Mike. Hurry up, you've been in there for far too long!!”

 

“Oh uh yeah!! Sorry Nanc!” He washes his hands, even though he didn't need to, and walks out of the bathroom, going to his bed.

 

Mike didn't care for looking at what Will had sent him. Whatever feeling was in his stomach and heart worried him. Had he gotten sick?

 

He had quickly changed into some pajamas as he contemplated. He didn't have to worry about Nancy seeing him, she was in the shower and they tended to run a while.

 

Mike laid back down on the bed, looking at the ceiling. He didn't understand what his body was doing to him since he met Will. It was a weird feeling. 

 

Mike was probably laid like that, thinking and staring, for a good hour and a half while Nancy was in the bathroom. Only snapping out of it when Nancy asked him “Mike, are you okay??” and looked at him worried. 

 

“Huh..? Oh yeah. I'm fine.” He sits up

 

“Okay…Well, I'm going to sleep. Night Mike.” She lays on her bed

 

“Yeah…Night.”

The next day, Mike woke up to Holly jumping onto his bed.

 

“Mike! We're going to a waterpark! Get up get up!!”

 

Mike groans, “Jeeze Holly…”

 

“Grandma is making pancakes with mom! Get up!”

 

“Fine…” He rubs his eyes and slowly sits up. Adjusting to just being woken up.

 

Holly jumps up and runs out of the room after hes awake. 

 

Mike stretches on the bed, looking around. He grabs his phone and checks the time, its 7:05, and he looks through his notifications. 

 

Jordan has sent him another wall of texts

 

Goodmorning babe!

Hope you have a good day <3

I plan on hanging out with the girls today!

What are your plans?

Hello?

Mike?

Aaaannnssswwweeeerrrr mmmmeeee!!!!

 

Mike sighs, and responds

 

Sorry, I just woke up.

Goodmorning J

I'm going to the waterpark today.

 

Jordan didn't respond as fast as she typically did. Mike shrugged it off. He saw a few messages from Will, ones from yesterday.

 

I mean it by the way. I think you’re cute. 

Could we hangout sometime? You seem really cool. Even if you like year old photos..(I saw the notification, you're not slick;) )

Mike? 

Ah you must've fallen asleep. Goodnight Mike.

 

Mike blushed, and types

 

Oh yeah sorry I fell asleep. (A complete lie.)

I would like to hang out with you too! You seem cool. 

 

Mike eventually got out of bed after a few minutes from waiting for a response from Will but nothing came. 

 

He went to the kitchen and sat down with his family, piling up pancakes on his plate and drowning them in syrup.

 

Ted watched his son, “Do you want pancakes with your syrup?”

 

Holly giggled at her dad, eating her own pancakes.

 

Mike shakes his head and starts to eat his pancakes. He feels a vibration from his pocket, and grabs his phone.

 

Its a message from Will. Mike smiles softly.

 

“Ooooo is that your giiirlfriieend!!” Holly looks at Mike and giggles.

“Holly, leave your brother alone.” Karen places a hand on Holly's back.

 

Mike furrows his eyebrows. Why would they think I got a text from Jordan? 

 

He looks at the text

 

Hey! Sorry, I just got to work. What days are you free? I'll arrange something! Since you aren't from here I'm assuming.

 

Mike smiles softly,

 

I think I’m free this weekend.

 

He brings his thumb to his mouth and bites his nail, waiting for a reply. He smiles a little more when he receives it. 

 

Perfect! So am I! I’ll plan something fun :)

Chapter 2: Mike might be an Idiot!

Notes:

This story might just progressively go downhill because I am so bad at writing highkey. Also these characters definitely dont act how they do in the show so like yuh.

Sorry for any mistakes! Im trying!

After breakfast, the Wheeler family embarked on a 45 minute drive to the waterpark. Mike, again, has to sit in between his sisters. Holly kept asking questions and asking if Mike wanted to play mermaids with her. Unknowingly, Mike agreed to play with her as he was nodding along to her story, and saying “Uh-huh” every so often. 

 

Arriving at the waterpark, the family went to the entrance gate and paid for season passes. Ted thought it would be a good idea seeing how they would be there for the season, and he was trying to still save money even if they didn't need to.

 

Mike looked around, he was honestly excited for the waterslide. Looking at the other activities, Mike notices a man with the same haircut Will has. A smile pulls on his lips, hoping that it truly is Will.

 

I wonder if he has abs… Mike stuns himself. Why did I think that? I shouldn't be thinking of some dude's abs…Especially not Will's...I barely know him…

 

“Mike! Come on!! You said we could play mermaids!!” Holly pulls Mike out of his thoughts.

 

“Huh? Holly I didn't agree to that-” 

 

“You totally did Mike!! Nanc! Tell Mike he agreed to play with me!!” She whines to her older sister.

 

“You did Micheal. Play mermaids with our darling sister.”

 

Mike groans. "But I wanted to go on the waterslide!"

 

"Mike that's scary!! Play mermaids with me!"

 

He groans, "Fine! I'll play mermaids with you!"

 

As the Wheeler family finds a nice place to set their belongings. Karen helps to put sunscreen on Holly and Ted. Nancy puts her own on, not needing the help. Mike, however, refused to put some on. Even after the pestering of his family, he refused to put sunscreen on. Saying that he didn't need sunscreen. 

 

“You’ll have a sunburn before we even leave.” Nancy shakes her head. 

 

“No I won't. It's cloudy.” Mike says plainly, there are only a handful of clouds in the sky, not enough to block the sun's UV rays.

 

Nancy stares at her brother. “How did you not fail high school?”

 

Mike rolls his eyes before being dragged off by Holly to play mermaids in the zero entry pool. 

 

“My mermaid is going to have a rainbow tail! And she's going to be the queen mermaid! Oh and she can talk to alllll of the sea creatures!!” Holly rambles, “And your merman can…have a yellow tail.” 

 

“What? A yellow tail? I hate yellow!” 

 

“Fine. You can have a blue tail and you’ll be the court jester. And your merman is really ugly.”

 

“What! That's so mean, Hols!” Mike pouts. "I'm not ugly!"

 

She shakes her head. “Fine! Your merman won't be ugly. But he’ll be really dumb!!”

 

Mike rolls his eyes, “What! That's probably even worse!”

 

"I mean you didn't put sunscreen on even after mommy told you..." 

 

He groans and crosses his arms, "Fine alright! Ill be a really dumb, court jester, merman who has a blue tail!"

 

As the two look around the area to find a spot to play mermaids, Mike spots Will. He's about 20 feet away from them, talking to another lifeguard. But it's him, Mike knows what Will looks like. After a few seconds, Will turned his head and noticed Mike. A smile grows on his face as he walks over. 

 

“Hey Mike!” 

 

“Hey Will!” Mike stares at him. God he's so hot. And I’m just a loser playing mermaids with my sister in my ugly swim trunks. What if he thinks I’m ugly?? Why am I thinking this?? I don't care what another guy thinks of me.

 

“Hello? Earth to Mike??” Will furrows his eyebrows.

Holly stares at her brother.

 

“Huh...Oh uh what?”

 

“I asked if I could play with you guys. I'm on my break right now so I can.”

 

“What! Yes! You can play with us!!” Holly squeals. “You can have a yellow tail!”

 

“Oh Sweet! I love the color yellow!” Will smiles at Holly, then looks at Mike. “What color is your tail Mike?”

 

“Blue..” Mike feels self-conscious. Maybe he should've put sunscreen on, he can feel the skin on his face heating up.

 

“That's cool! Blue is a nice color!”

 

“Yeah..I love the color blue..”

 

 

Throughout their time playing mermaids, Mike was staring at Will for 90% of it. There was something about him that just pulled Mike in. It felt like Mike's internal compass pointed at Will. The time he spent playing mermaids with Will and Holly made him forget about everything. He forgot about Jordan, he forgot he didn't put sunscreen on, he forgot what he ate in the morning, he even forgot that he hated the color yellow. 

 

Will reminded Mike of the color yellow. He was warm and inviting.

 

Maybe yellow isn't so bad after all..

The Wheeler family stayed at the park till closing. Mike was able to talk to Will a few times throughout the day. He could honestly listen to Will talk all day and not get bored. Mike had gotten changed out of his swimming trunks and sat at the beach chairs the park had, waiting for his family to be ready. But Mike must have gotten lost in his thinking, as his mother was standing in front of him with his father and sisters nowhere insight.

 

“Mike? Are you ready? Hello??” Karen placed a hand on her son's shoulder. “Jeeze I should've made you put sunscreen on. You are burnt.”

 

He jumped a little. “Huh? Yeah I'm ready..” Not catching what she said after that. 

 

Mike didn't look at his mom as he said that, because Will was walking over. The Will that, while not having defined abs, he still was very nice to look at. 

 

“Hey Mike.” Will smiles.

 

“Who's this sweetie?”

 

“This is Will. He's a friend I made.” Mike keeps his eyes locked on Will. If staring at Will was a job, Mike would be the richest man in the entire world. 

 

“That's nice!” Karen looks at Will “Hello Will, it's nice to meet a friend of Mike's!” 

 

“It's nice to meet you as well ma’am!” He smiles politely. “I was wondering if I could take Mike off your hands? If that's okay with both of you.” Will looks between the two, keeping his eyes on Mike afterwards. 

 

“That's fine by me! Mike, why don't you hang out with Will!”

 

Mike lights up a little, “Yeah! That sounds fun.” He smiles.

 

Will smiles back. “Alright!”

 

Karen smiles, kissing the top of Mike's head. "Stay safe Mike. Text or call us if you need anything alright?"

 

"Alright mom." He pecks his moms cheek before she leaves the two boys alone.

 

Mike looks at Will. “Why are we hanging out now? I thought we were hanging out this weekend?”

 

“Well that's so we could spend a full day together. But since I saw you here, I thought it wouldn't hurt to hang out now.” Will smiles 

 

“I guess you’re right.” 

 

“Are you hungry? We can go get some food.”

 

“Yeah! Sure. Food sounds nice.” Mike smiles and gets up from the chair. 

 

“We can go to the diner or we can go to my place. My mom was talking about making pasta, and she's a great cook.” Will starts walking out of the park, Mike eagerly follows him.

 

“Pasta actually sounds really good right now. Plus we could probably watch a movie or something afterwards.” 

 

"That sounds good!" He smiles “But you don't mind me driving to my house, right? How do you know that I'm not a murderer?”

 

Mike shrugs “I mean, I guess I would have to be bleeding to know you were a murderer. And there would be nothing I could do for you to stop you from killing me.”

 

Will chuckles and leads Mike to his car. It's an old Ford Fairmont, it's rusting, but seems to be in a decently good condition, especially with how the car is. From the looks of the vehicle, its either an old family car given to Will, or a car Will had bought himself.  

 

Will opens the door for Mike. Something stirs in Mike, he doesn't understand what it is, but its a nice feeling to have. 

 

“Ah, you’re such a gentleman Will. You must be lucky with the girls.” Mike smiles at him as he gets in. 

 

Will furrows his eyebrows, getting in the driver's seat. “Mike, don't you know I’m gay?”

 

“What? You’re gay? I didn't know that.-” 

 

“Mike, there is literally a pride flag in my Instagram bio. And I was flirting with you, and I thought you were too-”

 

“Oh! Oh uh.- Oh god- Will I’m….I’m not gay. Sorry oh my god. This is awkward.” He shifts in his seat. 

 

Will’s eyebrows shoot up, “Oh god! Mike, I am so sorry! I can uh..drive you back to where you are staying if you want..” He looks at the steering wheel, he has never felt more embarrassed in his life. 

 

“It's okay Will. I uh..still want to hang out with you. I'm not like..homophobic or anything...I'm like…friends-ish with a lesbian, well she's more like my friend's friend and we don't hang out much but she's super cool, she can speak multiple different languages and shes like besties with my sisters ex, and her girlfriend helps babysit Holly sometimes- Oh god I'm rambling aren't I? I'm sorry, Will.-” Mike looks at him, he is very nervous.

 

Will looks at him and smiles softly, “It's okay you dont need to apologize..I uh...I like your voice.” He scratches the back of his neck “I uh…Sorry, I don't want to make things weird between us.."

 

Mike shakes his head “Lets just go to your place okay? I want to try your moms pasta.”

 

Will smiles softly. “Yeah. Alright.” He starts his car “Oh and Mike?”

 

“Yeah?” He looks at him

 

“You need to wear sunscreen.”

 

Mike blushed and looked out the window “It was cloudy…”

 

“Mike there were like three clouds in the sky. You need to wear sunscreen in California. Actually you need to wear it like everywhere, not just here."

Chapter 3: Yellow is a very nice color

Notes:

Chat this is definitely going down hill. I cannot write, pls bare with me. And the characters are so like out of character just bare with it okay im doing my best okay...I have the passion to write, not the ability.

Also Hopper taking the Byers last name? I think so (like ik Byers is Joyces married last name and like her maiden name is like maldonado but...i like byers better so like...lets just roll with it)

The drive to Will’s home was nice. The two talked the entire ride. Mike felt like he finally truly belonged somewhere. Back in Hawkins, he may have been decently liked and popular, but he didn't feel like he belonged there. With Will, it was different. Everything about Mike was different around Will. But it's a good different, he finally feels like himself around Will.

 

Arriving at Will's house, Mike looked around at it. It was smaller than his own, but it looked cozier. There was a beautiful garden, Mike immediately loved it. His own house had no garden, neither of his parents enjoyed it. 

 

“Thats a really pretty garden.” Mike says as he gets out of Will's car. 

 

“Thanks Mike.” He smiles at Mike, leading him to the front door.

 

Walking inside was like entering an entirely new world. It wasn't a messy home, but you can tell people lived there. There were family photos covering the walls, photos from different vacations and events. Mike yearned to be a part of a family like this. 

 

“Is that you Will?” A female voice comes from the kitchen. 

 

“Yeah! I brought a friend over, hes in Cali for the summer.” Will takes is shoes off at the door.

 

Mike does the same, looking around. His phone buzzes in his pocket, he ignores it.

 

The lady from the kitchen pokes her head out to look at the pair. 

 

“Hello! I'm Joyce! Its nice to meet you…”

 

“Mike. My name is Mike. Its nice to meet you Joyce.” Mike smiles, he can see the resemblance in the two. Will had the same softness his mother had.

 

Joyce looks at Will, “Remember the rules now okay?”

 

Will goes red “Mom! It's not like that!”

 

Joyce furrows her eyebrows “Alright…Well, dinner should be done shortly. Can you get your dad from the garage?”

 

“Yeah.” Will looks at Mike, slightly less red than he was before, “I can give you a tour of my house.”

 

Mike nods “Yeah. That sounds nice.” He gives him a smile, following him around like a lost puppy.

 

Will shows him all around the house. Mike likes it, he likes how small it is, its like a warm hug. The walls have nice bright colors, different from his own home's beige color palette. There are mementos and knick-knacks everywhere. Mike wishes he could stay forever.

 

Their last stop was the garage, Will opens the door and shows the inside. It's a workshop, and the current project is a desk. 

 

“Hey dad, dinner is almost done.” Will smiles. 

 

“Okay…I’ll be right out.” His dad continues on the desk before looking up. “Whos that?”

 

“Oh, this is Mike. He's a friend, he's here for the summer.”

 

“Will we be seeing more of him?”

 

“Probably.”

 

Mike feels intimidated by him, he feels unwelcomed by the way he looks. Especially how he looks at him. 

 

“Mike, this is my dad Jim. Dad, this is Mike.”

 

“Its uh…nice to meet you Ji-”

 

“Its Mr. Byers to you.” He glares at him

 

Mike shifts “Its nice to meet you Mr. Byers..”

 

“Play nice dad.” Will shakes his head “Come on Mike. Lets see if my mom needs any help.”

 

“Okay..” Mike looks away from Jim, and follows Will back to the kitchen.

Having dinner with the Byers family was nice. Mike stayed quiet, only talking when talked to, he was scared of Jim, just something about the way he looked at him made it feel like he could read his thoughts. 

 

“So Mike, will you be staying the night?” Joyce looks at him.

 

“Oh uh..” He looks at Will, “I mean…am I allowed? I dont think my family would mind..”

 

“Of course you are allowed!” Joyce smiles, and looks at her husband.

 

Will smiles “I think it will be fun! But it's your choice.”

 

Jim glares at Mike, and he shrinks in his chair. 

 

“I think…I think I will..” Mike looks back at Jim. He should stand up for himself. It's not like this grown man would hurt his son's friend.

 

Will smiles “Awesome!”

 

Mike smiles at that. There is just something so special about Will. Something about him just completes Mike, even if they have only just met, Mike feels whole. Mike has never felt like this with another person before, not even with his girlfriend.

After dinner, Mike helped to clean up. Wanting to feel helpful and to get his mind off Jordan, and distract himself from wanting to be next to Will again. 

 

“You are such a sweet young man Mike! I'm glad you're friends with Will now.” Joyce smiles at Mike as she dries the dishes. 

 

Mike smiles, “Me too. I'm glad I made a friend here. This summer won't be that bad.”

 

“Now, you better not hurt Will. Hes a good kid alright? Be a good friend Mike.” 

 

“Dont you worry.” He smiles “I really like him, hes better than all of my friends back home combined.”

 

Joyce laughs softly “Thats good to hear. Thank you for your help Mike.”

 

“No problem! Thanks for having me.” He smiles.

 

As hes done helping in the kitchen, and done talking with Joyce, he goes to Wills room. It was probably his favorite room in the house. The walls were a nice yellow. But the walls were covered in posters and pieces of art. It truly felt like Will and it made Mike feel warm. 

 

Mike feels another buzz from his phone. He sighs and pulls it out of his pocket. 

 

There were many messages from his girlfriend. 

 

He didn't care about reading the previous ones, so he read the most recent one. 

 

God Mike, you haven't texted me since this morning! You are being such a bad boyfriend!

 

Mike shakes his head, he hesitates on responding. Has he been a bad boyfriend? He spent the day with family, and hung out with a hot friend. Its not like Jordan doesn't spend time with hot guys or her friends and doesn't text Mike. She's just being hypocritical.

 

Oh come on Jordan. I have been hanging out with my family and I’ve made a new friend. Cut me some slack okay?

 

It took less than two minutes for her to respond

 

Mike, it has literally never stopped you from texting me before. You’ve met someone else haven't you? What's her name? Is it the new person who followed you? What's her name!

 

He sighs

 

I haven't met anyone else. And it was my new friend Will. 

Come on Jordan, cut it out. I wouldn't cheat on you.

 

You better not Mike. 

 

He sets his phone down. Done with all Jordan has to day and looks around the room. Theres a pride flag in the corner, surrounded by posters of bands he assumes Will likes. 

 

Will walks into his room, he had taken a shower and is now standing shirtless in his bedroom in pajama pants. “Hey Mike, would you want some pajama pants and a shirt?”

 

Mike stares at Will. His mind not processing the words that just came from the shirtless man infront of him.

 

“Mike?”

 

“Huh? What? Oh uh.. Yeah.”

 

Will smiles and shakes his head. Grabbing some from his drawers.

 

“They might be a slightly small.”

 

“Thats okay. Thanks Will.” Mike smiles and takes them from Will's hands. He slightly grazed Wills fingers, and Mike felt like he was shocked from the way it felt. But there was no jolt in his skin, only the feeling of Will's fingers still on his after being handed the clothes. 

 

“No problem Mike. The bathroom is across the hall, if you forgot.”

 

Mike nods, and walks to the bathroom. His mind jumped through many different thoughts, and the main thought was Will is so much more attractive than Jordan. This though confused him greatly. His girlfriend was very conventionally attractive, but she's a girl and Will isn't. He shouldn't think Will is more attractive than a girl, especially not his girlfriend.

 

When Mike walked back into Will's room after changing, Will was setting up something on the TV.

 

“What are you doing?” He asked.

 

“Im putting on a movie. Any suggestions?”

 

“Hmm…Have you ever watched Lord of the Rings?”

 

“Mike. Of course I have watched Lord of the Rings. Do you think Im uncultured because I’m a lifeguard?”

 

He gasps, “No! I just haven't met anyone who has watched it, other than my friends Dustin and Lucas, but I made them watch it.”

 

Will smiles, “Its my favorite series.”

 

“Then we have to watch it! Come on, put it one!” Mike smiles brightly and sits next to Will on the floor.

 

He laughs and puts the movie on. The two quickly getting immersed into the fantasy world. 

Notes:

like and subscribe for another "fire" chapter

or don't you have free will i'm just being silly. but do tell me if this is trash.

IT IS BYLER ENDGAME JUST BARE WITH ME CHAT OKAY ITS A STRUGGLE FOR ME ASWELL

Chapter 4: Sleepover, but more over than sleep

Notes:

yet another fire chapter yall (not really) please enjoy!!

also idk what im doing with these chapter names

Throughout the movie, Mike and Will joked and laughed. They felt comfortable with each other. And honestly, Will is falling for Mike, but he knows he can't. They come from different backgrounds and Mike is straight. Will is used to falling for guys he cannot have, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Something about Mike just pulls Will in, and he can't stop himself from being pulled in. 

 

After the almost three hour movie, the two boys decided it was almost time for bed. However the Byers family didn't have an extra bed for Mike to sleep in, so Will suggested that they could just share his bed. Mike had hoped Will would suggest it so he could stay close to him. And Will had hoped that Mike wouldn't reject the idea. The only person to have any objections was Jim, but his wife made him shut up about it. 

 

The two boys eventually went back to Will's room after talking to Will's parents. They weren't fully ready to go to sleep yet, so the shorter man decided to start talking.

 

“So tell me about Hawkins. What is it like?” Will gets comfortable on his bed.

 

“It's nice. It's so much smaller than Lenora, and like everyone knows everyone.”

 

Will nods, “I would hate living in a place like that. I like being anonymous.”

 

“I wish I could be anonymous. Everyone knows me. My sister used to be like queen bee at the school, and then it passed onto me. We both hated it.”

 

Will leans against this head board. “I couldn't imagine being popular in high school.” He looks at Mike “I had like no friends. Sure there were people I talked to but I was never close with them. Like don't get me wrong, I like being alone, but it would’ve been cool being liked by more people, y'know?"

 

“What? You weren't liked?” Mike is shocked, “You were probably like the…” Hottest  “...the uh….coolest guy in school.” 

 

Hottest? Why would I think that? 

 

Will shakes his head “Mike I was a nerdy gay kid who did art and the school musical. The only people who talked to me were the people who needed stuff from me.”

 

“That's insane! There was nobody there that liked you either? Like no guys had crushes on you?” He turns towards Will, leaning on his arm.

 

“Nope,” He sigh.

 

Mike moves his body to fully face him. “Thats like statistically so wrong. There definitely had to have been some guys to have a crush on you! 

 

“I mean yeah, there were other gay kids, but they didn't like me. Sorry to burst your bubble Mike, but I have no social bone in my body. Jane had to force me to make a move on you…and that move was wrong. You’re straight.”

 

Mike shifts a little, it feels weird being called out like that. Like the word straight doesn't connect to him. “Well still, Will there had to have been someone who had a crush on you! Youre so…”

 

He stops himself before he can say something he would honestly regret saying. He knew what he was going to say. But he shouldn't be calling other people that, especially not when he has a girlfriend, and the person is a guy.

 

Will looks at Mike, his voice is softer than it was before “Im what?”

 

Mike feels small. He feels wrong. If he could have someone cut open his brain and clean it of every single thought of this genre, he would have it done in an instant. 

 

“Mike?” Will looks at him, he is more concerned about why Mike has suddenly gone quiet. 

 

Mike swallows the lump that formed in his throat. “Nothing. Its nothing, I wasn't going to say anything.” He moves, he lays down on Will's bed. 

 

“Are you sure? You can tell me anything Mike…” Will looks at him, he's worried.

 

Will is worried about Mike, and all that Mike can think of is how cute he looks when his eyebrows come together, and his lips turn downwards. 

 

“I'm sure Will…I'm tired…Goodnight..”

 

“Okay…I uh…Goodnight Mike..” Will frowns, and also lays down. He lays on his side, facing away from Mike.

 

Mike lays next to him, and stares at the ceiling. There are glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, they are in the shapes of real constellations. Mike only knows this because one of the constellations that was made was Hercules, which is his favorite constellation. 

 

A small smile pulls on his lips.

 

But it slips just as fast as it came. He almost called Will hot. It wouldn't have been the first time it happened, and probably wouldn't be the last. He can't keep doing that. He shouldn't be thinking like that. He has a girlfriend. And he's not gay. 

 

Is he?

 

It's not like he could even experiment. He is in a relationship and he isn't a cheater. He also doesn't want to break up with Jordan because he likes her. She's nice and they go well together. 

 

At least that's what her friends say. Dustin and Lucas always change the subject when his girlfriend gets brought up, in favour of talking about one of theirs. Mike doesn't mind when that happens, he likes Suzie and Max. He doesn't really like talking about his relationship anyways. 

 

When he's hanging out with Jordan and her friends, they can't get enough of talking about their relationship. He hates hanging out with them because of this, but he has to deal with it. She has a decent amount of friends, and she is arguing with one at least every week. She never mentions why they do, and he never goes out of his way to ask. 

 

Sometimes, late at night Mike wonders if he's going to end up like his parents. Stuck in a marriage because of kids. He knows his parents love his siblings and himself, but he doesn't really know if they love each other. He worries that when they end up alone in the house after Holly leaves for college, they’ll finally divorce. But he wouldn't know if that will happen until it does.

 

And after the thoughts of wondering if he’ll end up like his parents, he thinks about Jordan. He thinks about her in the ways teenage boys should think about their girlfriends, but he cringes every time he does. He's unsure why he doesn't like the thought of his girlfriend in the dark hours of the night, but he assumes everyone thinks those thoughts. Maybe he just finds it weird thinking those thoughts about an unsuspecting person. 

 

Afterall, he doesn't talk to his friends about his relationship. He doesn't really like talking about Jordan. He knows she is there, she is his and he is hers and all of that, but he doesn't like talking about their relationship. And for some reason, Mike doesn't want to tell Will he has a girlfriend. 

 

Mike hasn't noticed how long it was of him staring at the ceiling. He eventually stops his staring and quietly gets on his phone. He scrolls through instagram, and looks at some of his friends' stories. Jordan is at a party, there are people in it he doesn't recognize but he doesn't really linger on the photo. He eventually gets tired of this, and glances over at Will.

 

Will is sound asleep. Even if it's just the back of his head, Mike enjoys staring at him. The way his hair lays on the pillow he's resting on, to the way his shoulders look under the faint moonlight seeping in from the window. Everything about Will feels so inviting and warming. 

 

Mike stared at Will for what seemed like forever before eventually falling asleep looking at him.

Notes:

Hey chat thanks for reading!

It is still only the second day the Wheelers are in California, and the very rusty cobweb covered gears in Mikes head are started to get cleaned...maybe...

Anyways, I hope yall are enjoying this story. Im not the best at executing stories but Im trying to post fanfics..and let me just say...there are loads on my google docs account, yall just arent ready for those...especially because i LOVE writing angst no comfort...eheh

(you can point and laugh if you want btw, i wont take offense)