Chapter Text
New York, May of 1993, 12:07 PM.
A string of sunshine falls through a gap between two curtains. The golden light hits Mike Wheeler in the face. He lets out a weak groan and pulls his blanket over his head. He does not want to leave his bed just yet.
“Wake up, sleepyhead!”
Dustin’s voice is way too loud for Mike’s liking. He is standing in Mike’s dorm room, next to the window.
Mike makes a sound that sounds like a hmpf. “Really, Dustin?” He sighs from under his blanket. “Why did you wake me this early? It’s a Saturday, for fuck’s sake!”
Dustin lets out a chuckle. “Yeah, it’s a Saturday. But it is also 12PM, mate. I figured you’d gotten enough beauty sleep.”
Another person walks into the room. It’s Lucas, holding a bowl of cereal. “Morning, Wheeler.” He grabs a spoonful of the cereal and shoves it into his mouth. Still chewing, he tries to form his next sentence. “It time t getup, the p sjust cam”.
Even without the voices being muffled by his blanket, Mike would have never been able to unravel Lucas’s words. He grabs the blanket with his hand and lifts it up, his head peeking out just a little bit. He looks at Lucas with one eye still closed.
“What did you just say?”
“Sinclair, please!” Dustin says. “Chew first, talk later.”
Lucas swallows. “I said, ‘It’s time to get up, the post just came.’”
Mike yawns and slowly shoves his body up with his arms, leaning on his elbows. His band shirt from The Clash falls loosely around his slim shoulders. He stares at his friends – his eyebrows forming a judgmental frown. “Seriously? You guys woke me up for this bullshit? Why would I care about the post?”
“It’s not just that!” Lucas starts. “My game starts in 2 hours – you know, the game you guys promised you would come watch. Oh, and Dustin and I got a letter from California.”
Suddenly wide awake, Mike leaps up in his bed like someone just launched a demodog at him. “What kind of letter?” He asks, completely ignoring the rest of Lucas his sentence.
Dustin and Lucas look at each other, brows raised. “I told you he would be interested.” Dustin says, and he turns back to face Mike. “There’s a letter for you too.”
Mike swings his long legs out of the warm, comfortable blankets and shoots out of the bed. He quickly slips his feet into the pair of slippers next to him and walks over to Dustin and Lucas.
“Where is this letter? What does it say?” He looks around in his room, like he’s expecting the letter to just spawn somewhere.
Dustin glances sideways to Lucas – it’s a meaningful look. “We haven’t opened ours yet. We figured we could open them all at the same time, if you want to.” Dustin watches Mike intently.
Lucas sticks another spoon of cereal into his mouth. Mike tries to block out the crunching sound of Lucas chewing when Dustin hands him an pastel yellow envelope. It's the kind of yellow that reminds Mike of sunshine, daffodils, and… other things.
Mike takes it out of Dustin’s hands. The paper feels soft and expensive. He turns it around and his heart skips a beat. He sees his own name, written in big, curvy letters. He stares at the way the M curls up and swings around itself. Mike completely forgets where he is or what he’s doing. It’s not his handwriting, he thinks. He would recognize his handwriting anywhere.
“Dude,” Lucas’s voice seems to come from far away, almost like Mike is underwater and Lucas is talking to him from somewhere Mike can’t reach. “Are we going to open them, or what?”
Mike snaps out of his trance state and looks up from the letter. He sees two more envelopes in Dustin’s hands. They’re in the same soft, yellow tint. He nods slowly. He feels like he has lost his voice.
“Ehm-“ Mike clears his throat. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s open them.”
“Great.” Dustin says. He turns around and walks to the living room of the apartment that the party members have shared for the past four years. Not the entire party, though.
After graduation, the party split into two. Mike, Dustin and Lucas went to college in New York to study at NYU. Lucas got a basketball scholarship – he studies engineering. Dustin is studying molecular science and technology – he won’t ever shut up about it. Mike doesn’t mind, since they’re all nerds anyway. Mike himself is almost finished with his English major in creative writing.
He feels a sudden sadness while thinking about the rest of the party. He and El broke up in the summer of ‘89. After that summer El, Max and Will went to college in California. They study at the Institute of Arts.
Mike pulls himself out of his inner pining and quickly follows Dustin and Lucas to the living room. Dustin throws himself into the small couch. Lucas sits down next to him, almost spilling what’s left of his cereal. Mike slowly sinks down into the plaited chair opposite of them, the envelope still in his hands. He’s holding it very carefully. The soft paper feels fragile in his hands somehow.
He thinks he knows what this means. But he also hopes that he is wrong.
God, he wants to be wrong.
Dustin starts opening his envelope. Lucas follows by putting down his cereal and opening his.
Mike stares at his own envelope. He needs to open it. He needs to know.
He finds the seal on the back and peels it open, his fingers lingering a little bit too long with every movement. His hands are shaking. He tries to keep them steady while he folds out the letter that’s inside. Then he starts to read the message that is written on the thick paper.
William Byers
He feels a weird feeling in his chest, like he’s about to explode. He takes a deep breath and continues reading.
William Byers, son of Mrs. Joyce Hopper and Mr. Jim Hopper,
and
Carlton Richardson, son of Mrs. Erin Richardson and Mr. John Richardson,
hereby invite you to attend their wedding
on the 15th of July, nineteen ninety-three
at the Sunshine Gardens
Malibu, California
They would also like for you to celebrate with them
by attending their rehearsals
on the 11th and 13th of July
Pastel tie, suit or dress required
He feels his heart sink to his feet. There it is. Mike keeps staring at the paper, his eyes fluttering over the first sentences. Over and over.
William Byers and Carlton Richardson – hereby invite you to attend their wedding.
Their wedding. Will is getting married.
To Carlton.
Mike clenches the letter. The corner of the paper creases with his touch.
He’s barely aware of the fact that Dustin and Lucas started talking again, their voices raised in enthusiasm.
Mike swallows. He hasn’t spoken to Will since the fall of 1990. The distance he feels from Will goes further than just physical separation. It isn’t just in the 2788 miles between Cali and New York. Something has festered its way into their friendship. Yeah, something. He scoffs softly.
At some point during that fall, he had stopped calling Will. He had stopped picking up the phone when Will called him. And even now – almost three years later – he doesn’t want to admit to himself why he did what he did. But Mike knows he can’t deny nor forget the series of events that led up to this moment.
Three and a half years ago, Will met his boyfriend – Carlton – at art school in California. And this made Mike feel… things. Things he did not understand – things he didn’t dare say out loud. These feelings made him want to crawl out of his own skin, or fly to California, or… scream. Every time Will mentioned Carlton, Mike felt this pit in his stomach. It brought out a fury in him that became harder and harder to ignore. In time he didn’t know what to say to Will anymore, let alone tell him about this feeling that he couldn’t quite name yet.
So Mike did what he does best. He hid his feelings away – buried them deep.
Somewhere during all of this, he lost Will. Mike lost his best friend.
Everything hurts just thinking about it. About him. Mike lets out a shaky breath. He has lived the last year believing that Will hates him. He must hate him for what he did to him.
The letter in his lab is a rude wake-up call – even more rude than the way Dustin and Lucas woke him up five minutes earlier. It’s proof that Will is out there. Existing. Living his best life, without him in it. Looking at the letter stirs something in him. The feelings he wanted to move on from are still there, boiling underneath the surface.
Will is getting married.
His fingers brush over the paper, and all the repressed emotions flow over him like a tidal wave.
Will, his former best friend, invited Mike to his wedding. No – his and Carlton’s wedding. Mike feels like he’s about to puke.
Dustin’s voice pulls him out of his pining. “WILL IS GETTING MARRIED!” He hears him shout out. “Fuck yeah! This means we can FINALLY reunite the party!” Dustin jumps up from the couch and starts dancing on the spot.
Lucas laughs and joins Dustin in his dance. “And I get to see Max!”
Mike’s eyes wander away from the letter and up to his friends. He does not know what to say. A million thoughts race through his brain – but he can’t seem to keep track of them. How ironic that he studies English and still struggles to find the right words. And he wants to be a writer. God, he’s a joke. He feels his throat tightening up.
Fuck. He hates when this happens. He does not want his friends to see him like this. He swallows and quickly wipes away the water that’s forming in his eyes.
He locks eyes with Lucas. As soon as Lucas sees Mike’s face, he stops dancing and gives Dustin a shove with his elbow.
Dustin bends over, grabbing his stomach with his hands. “Ouch! What was that for?!” He squirms out in a high-pitched voice. Then, his eyes land on Mike, who looks like a lost child in a supermarket aisle.
He walks up to Mike and sits down on the armrest of the chair Mike is sitting in. “Mike. You are coming with us, right? It's gonna be great!”
“I.. I don’t know”. Mike drags a hand through his hair. His palms are sweaty. His hair was already a mess, but he manages to mess his curls up even more.
“What do you mean, I don’t know?” Lucas spills out in an unbelievable tone.
Mike jumps out of his chair and starts pacing the living room. Back and forth. A stream of words starts spilling out of his mouth like word vomit.
“I don’t know, okay?! I haven’t talked to Will in at least two years and.. And now he invites me to his WEDDING? His wedding! It can’t be right. He must’ve send me an invite by mistake. Or maybe someone fucked up the invites without him knowing. Or…”
He keeps pacing – back and forth.
“I just don’t know if I should go. It’s gonna be weird, or awkward. Or… I don’t know.”
He stops in his tracks to look at his friends. They stare back at him, their eyes widened.
“Mike, come on. This is Will we’re talking about. He send you an invite, so I’m sure he’s not angry at you.” Lucas says. “You’re making this way bigger than it is, really.”
“Yeah,” Dustin adds to it. “And besides, even if there’s some bad blood between you two, this is the way to fix all of… that!” He makes a vague gesture with his hands.
“Really, Dustin? You think the wedding of my friend and his.. his boyfriend is the ideal moment to talk things through?” Mike says sarcastically.
“You mean your best friend." Dustin corrects him. Mike stares at him. "Mike, we have to be rational here! It’s really fucking weird if you don’t come along.” Dustin sits down in the couch again. “Like everything hasn’t been weird enough lately.” He adds under his breath, thinking Mike doesn’t hear him.
Mike stares at his friend. He feels his mouth slowly drying out. “What has been weird?”
Dustin looks away quickly, like he’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Wheeler, are you serious right now?” Lucas sighs and puts his face in his hands. “YOU have been weird! You know how weird we feel about all of this. You’ve been acting like Will doesn’t exist! Every time someone brings him up, you freeze. You two used to be inseparable. What happened, man?”
Mike is starting to panic. He knew his friends wouldn’t understand. And he can’t even blame them, really. Because did he ever try to explain to them why he did why he did? Why he refuses to have any contact with Will? Every time one of the party members brings it up, Mike shuts down completely.
He feels it happening again.
He sits down on the armrest of the couch, the letter still clenched in his hands. He stares down at the stupid yellow paper.
“I can’t talk about it. It’s not like I don’t want to! I just- I don’t know how.”
“Look,” Dustin tries to find Mike’s gaze. “We know you guys fought. We just don’t understand why, but you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” He hesitates before speaking again. “We just… we feel like the party is ruined. You didn’t even came along for Christmas last year, Mike. Everyone else was there!”
Mike is lost for words again. He remembers that last Christmas. He knew Will would bring Carlton, because his friends had told him. He couldn’t just go and watch the two of them together the whole holiday. He’d rather choke on a whole fucking turkey, thank you very much. Or stay alone in his apartment until the new year. So that’s exactly what he did. He stayed in New York while everyone else went back to Hawkins to celebrate.
“This wedding could actually be a great opportunity to restore the friendship you and Will once had. If you two stop fighting, the party will be whole again.” Dustin continues. “Will must think about it the same way, because why else would he invite you? I’m sure he misses you.”
Will misses him. Mike fidgets with the paper in his hands. He knows Dustin has a point. It’s not fair of him to ruin the entire party. He’s being selfish. But he’s also afraid. So afraid.
“I have to think about it, okay? I can’t just.. I can’t decide right away.” He says.
“That’s fine” Dustin sighs. “We’ll take what we can get. But please – don’t shut us out. You can talk to us, you know.”
“Yeah,” Lucas adds. “You can talk to us man, always.”
“Thanks guys”. Mike breaths in deeply. “I just think I need to figure this one out on my own.”
“Alright. But you can figure this shit out later, because we have a game to go to.” Lucas says.
Mike sighs. “You have a game to go to.”
“You promised! Come on, it will be fun. We can go for drinks after.”
Mike thinks about it quickly. Maybe it’s a good idea to go to this game, a good distraction. And going for drinks afterwards might be the best way to forget about his problems for a little while.
“Alright, alright!” He holds his hands up, surrendering. “I’m coming.”
“Great decision Wheeler. We’ll leave in an hour!” Lucas shouts over his shoulder while walking into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Mike steps into the small bathroom and closes the door behind him. He feels a weight rest on his chest like he’s being crushed.
A shower should clear his head before going to the game.
He jumps out of his pleated trousers, throws his shirt on the floor, and turns on the water. He steps under the hot stream and lets it flow over him. Maybe he can wash all of his sorrows away if he stays under the burning water long enough.
He grabs one of the bottles that’s on the shelf and starts washing his hair. He can’t seem to slow down his racing thoughts.
How can one single letter make him feel this way? And what even is it that he is feeling? Is it disappointment? Anger? Or are those just fill-in emotions to conceive something else entirely?
Is he jealous? No. He can’t be.
He just knows he’s confused. Very confused.
He grabs the faucet and turns it further – he needs the water to burn his skin even more.
His mind wanders off to a memory. It was the summer of 1989, just before they all went to college. The party just had a movie marathon at the Wheeler’s house. They ordered pizza, shared stories and laughed their asses of.
Eventually almost everyone had gone home. The only ones left in the Wheeler basement were Will and Mike. They sat on the couch together, close as always. Will’s knee pressed into Mike’s thigh.
Mike’s breathing stocks at the memory of Will’s body being so close against his.
“You know- I am going to miss this.” Will said to him.
“What? The basement?” Mike smirked.
“Yes, that was exactly what I meant, Mike.” Will said while laughing.
Suddenly the air shifted into something more tense.
Will looked at Mike intensively. “I- I actually meant I’m going to miss you. I mean, us. Being together every day. It’s going to be weird, you not being near me.”
“Oh.” Mike’s breathing had stopped for a moment and he felt the familiar feeling of a buzz in his stomach. He looked at Will a little too long. “Yeah, me too.” He looked to his feet, and then back up to Wills face. “I’m going to miss you too.”
“You’re going to call me, right?” Will asked him.
“Yeah! Yeah, of course. I’ll call every week.” Mike smiled to his best friend.
He did as he had promised. He called Will every single week. They shared their college experiences, laughed over the phone, and talked about classes – sometimes until late at night. The party met up when they could, mostly during the holidays. And the weekly calls between Mike and Will went on for a while.
Until that one phone call. The memory suddenly goes dark in Mike’s mind.
No!
He rubs his hair aggressively with his hands. The shampoo is burning his eyes. He does not want to think about that fall – the last time he spoke to Will. He puts his head under the streaming water and rinses out the shampoo with his eyes closed.
He never thought about El this much. Not even when they were together. And he never once thought about other girls.
Fuck. He wanted to take a shower to clear his head – not to make things even worse!
He turns of the water and grabs a towel. He wraps it around his waist.
It must mean something. The way he can’t stop thinking about Will, the way he cares about him this much. The fact that he keeps reliving all the moments that Will was close to him – so close that Mike could feel the heat radiate of his body.
Mike sighs. This shower hasn’t helped him at all. If even, he feels more confused than before. The only thing he really knows for sure is that he misses Will. He misses his best friend.