Chapter Text
Mike slowly began to stir awake, turning over and letting his arm fall onto the spot next to him. Feeling the cold empty blanket next to him, his eyes shoot open, looking over to the empty spot. He sat up quickly and looked around the room, no sign of anyone.
Mike shoots up off of the floor where blankets were stacked into a large makeshift bed that he had been sleeping on. Feeling a little panicked, he leaves the room in a slight hurry.
As he stumbles out of the room everyone in the common area looks over at him, confused.
Dustin, Lucas and Max are sitting on a rug on the floor, Uno splayed out in front of them, Holly is laying on the floor on her stomach coloring in a coloring book they had found while on a supply run.
Jane is at the sink, dipping a washcloth into a bowl of soapy water and washing dishes while Joyce stands at the manual ignition stove cooking what smells like eggs.
Will, sitting on the couch drawing, looks up from his sketchbook to see Mike looking panicked.
Mike stares at him for a moment, realizing he must’ve slept in, puts a hand up to his chest and lets his head fall as he feels his heart rate slow back down.
Dustin and Lucas look at each other and then look back at Mike, raising an eyebrow to him.
Will looks back down to his sketchbook and everyone else gets back to what they were doing, seemingly deciding to ignore Mike’s small outburst.
Mike walks over to where Will is sitting on the couch and sits next to him. He leans over his shoulder to look at Will’s sketchbook, seeing a couple sketched out figures with no discernable details on them yet.
He looks at Will’s face and quietly whispers “Whatcha drawing?”.
Will looks over at him and realizes just how close Mike is to his face, a light pink spreads across his cheeks and he looks away.
Will gets a small smile on his face and quietly says “Oh, you know.. Just a certain Paladin and Cleric”, glancing over at Mike’s face.
Mike smiles, remembering the party’s dnd characters and all the campaigns he used to run with them, he whispers “Yeah?”.
He thought they’d be like that forever, even as adults. Meeting up every so often to participate in a campaign that he and Will would have put together.
“You know” Will mutters “I wish we could play dnd again”
Mike leans back a little and looks down, staying quiet for a second.
“Me too..” Mike whispers, spacing out a little before saying ”Maybe, we will again someday” He looks back up at Will, trying to keep hope in his voice and expression to cheer Will up, even if he doesn’t have as much hope as he’s trying to portray.
“We’ll find somewhere more safe, free of those things.. Somewhere we can be as loud as we want”
Will looks over at Mike and smiles somewhat sadly “Yeah?”
“Totally!” Mike whispers, grinning widely at him.
“You’re such a cheater Lucas” Max whispers kind of loudly, catching Will and Mike’s attention. They look over to the group sitting on the floor surrounded by Uno cards.
“Yeah dude, how do you keep winning?” Dustin says quietly, “Guess I'm just better” Lucas whispers, shrugging his shoulders.
Everyone hears the opening to the bunker begin to make a clunk sound and then open, Hopper climbing down the ladder a little and then shutting the opening above him.
Hopper climbs all the way down and then looks at everyone in the room, his eyes falling on Mike. His face seems to twist a little in a strangely knowing yet unapproving way.
Mike suddenly feels naked, like Hopper has stripped him of all of his clothes, maybe even his skin just by looking at him. He looks over at Will and sees just how close they’re actually sitting.
A faint pink covers his cheeks as he scoots over, moving away from Will.
He’s decided he shouldn’t even be looking in Will’s direction anymore, he looks down and starts fidgeting with his hands, picking at his nails, a nervous habit he couldn’t seem to break.
He must be extremely obvious about something he himself is unaware of yet since Hopper seems to give him this weird look all the time.
Hopper looks away from Mike and begins walking through the bunker, over to his and Joyce’s room, disappearing through the door.
He was out scouting the nearby area of the woods again to make sure there were none of those monsters nearby.
Today’s supply run day and every time they get ready to go on a supply run Hopper searches the area just in case. He never said anything when he walked in, meaning it must be safe enough.
Joyce turns, holding a couple plates and then quietly clears her throat to let everyone know breakfast was done.
Everyone stops what they were doing, Will closing his sketchbook and Holly closing her coloring book. Max, Dustin and Lucas putting away Uno and Jane drying off her hands.
Will gets off the couch, finding his spot in the area on the floor where everyone usually eats, everyone else following suit.
Hopper was never able to figure out how to get the table from his cabin down into the bunker his uncle built out of paranoia a long time ago. It would’ve made too much noise so everyone just settled for sitting on the floor whenever it was time to eat.
Mike follows Will and sits next to him on the floor while Hopper comes back into the room a few moments later.
Dustin sits next to Jane, Lucas and Max sit across from them while Holly sits on the other side of Will. Hopper makes his way over to Jane, sitting next to her, across from Mike and Will.
Joyce begins handing out plates of scrambled eggs and then grabs her own, taking a seat next to Hopper.
Everyone eats in silence, that’s how most activities get done these days, everyone is too scared to make too much noise, even in the bunker.
As Will leans forward towards his plate to take a bite of his food, his knee grazes Mike’s slightly. Sending shockwaves through his leg, Mike glances down at their knees as he chews, staring for a moment too long before looking away.
As everyone finishes eating, Hopper sticks his hand out to the middle of the floor between everyone and begins tapping a message in morse code.
Everyone freezes, paying attention to Hopper’s tapping. “Get ready” the message said, Hopper looking between everyone to make sure they understood.
Hopper didn’t seem to like talking no matter what, not even whispering. Mike had heard his voice maybe a handful of times in the last year since everything started.
For this reason he made everyone memorize morse code so that he could talk to us easier. Dustin had suggested everyone learn sign language in the beginning but Max and Hopper had grown frustrated at their struggle to memorize it so the idea got scrapped, everyone settling for morse code.
Everyone else had memorized some of it already meaning every so often someone would sign something to try and communicate something faster.
Everyone gets up simultaneously, carefully putting their plates down by the dish washing station and then going to their respective rooms to get ready for the supply run.
Mike and Will change into thicker clothes facing away from each other.
Mike glances behind himself every so often instinctively, he couldn’t help himself. Ever since everything had happened Will had started working out and Mike couldn’t help but try to get a peek at the muscles Will had grown, his frame was obviously a little wider but he’d never seen whatever muscles he’s gained.
Will refused to show him no matter how much he or anyone else asked.
Though every time he glanced back, the words his dad used to say would begin playing through his head.
He thought he saw Will glance back and catch him at one point, causing him to turn his head back in front of him so quickly he thought he got whiplash momentarily.
Mike got ready as quick as he could after that, layering up for the harsh cold of the outside and then grabbing his bag.
He turned to look at Will again, seeing him layered up as well and grabbing his bag. They both exited their room, joining everyone in the common area.
Once everyone was in the common area Hopper climbed up the ladder and opened up the latch to the opening, pushing it up and then climbing out.
Everyone climbed out one by one, starting with Joyce.
As everyone climbed up Hopper and Joyce would lend out a hand helping them up onto the ground.
Holly climbed out after Mike had, when she made it out she walked over to Mike immediately, grabbing his hand.
Mike looked down at her as she looked up at him, gripping his hand, her face was twisted into one of fear and worry. Mike’s face softened at her and he squeezed her hand to try and ease her fear.
Ever since everything started and Mike found her curled up, shaking in his closet, she’s been more attached to Mike than she ever was before. But after a couple months of sleeping with him and Will, Mike finally convinced her to sleep in Dustin’s room, one room being too small for three people to live in.
He also just really wanted the room to be his and Will’s only, but he would never admit that, his fathers condescending voice echoing in his head the moment the thought threatened to form.
Once everyone was out of the bunker Hopper shut the opening, closing the latch. He moved to the front of the group, leading them towards the town.
A thick line of sand leading the way out of the forest, Dustin had come up with the idea, saying that sand was the quietest to walk on and then suggesting that everyone walk barefoot because shoes made too much sound.
Everyone walked in a line on the sand, Holly walking between Mike and Will, gripping onto Mike’s hand tightly as they walked.
—-------
They arrive outside of Melvalds and everyone stops, Hopper turning around and making sure everyone’s looking at him.
He points to the ground outside of Melvalds indicating everyone to ‘meet here as soon as you’re done’, everyone nods and begins to go their separate ways, heading for different stores.
Will and Mike group up, Holly still gripping onto Mike’s hand meaning she wasn’t going anywhere without him, Mike leads them towards the music store that was down the street from Melvalds.
As they walk up Will looks at Mike and tilts his head, confused, none of them besides Max had a walkman and she wasn’t ever willing to share with the likes of Mike and it’s not like they could play the music on some sort of speaker.
Mike just smiles and begins walking into the store, Will, still looking confused, follows him into the store.
They begin walking through the store and Mike brings Holly around the corner of one of the aisles out of Will’s sight for a moment and leans down onto his knees in front of her. He pulls her hand off of his and signs ‘distract him’, a pleading look on his face.
Holly glances around the aisle to look at Will and then looks at Mike again, a conflicted look taking over her face. Mike signs again ‘Please’.
Holly looks down and then nods and Mike hugs her, he pulls away and signs ‘Thank you’. He stands back up as Holly begins walking over to Will who’s looking down at a couple of CDs, his hand caressing the top of one.
She grabs his sleeve, getting Will’s attention and pulling him over somewhere else.
Mike walks over to the spot Will was looking at and starts looking for what he remembers Will’s favorite artist being.
He spots The Smiths and grabs it immediately, looking over to Will to make sure he’s still distracted. Mike looks back down and then spots The Clash, remembering a specific song by them that Will used to play a lot when they were younger, he grabs it and then shoves both of the CDs in his bag.
He begins looking around the store for a walkman, he turns to look at Will again, seeing Holly turn to look at Mike with a questioning look on her face as if she’s asking ‘how much longer?’ Mike raises up his hand and puts up his index finger, asking for one more minute.
Holly nods and turns back around to keep Will distracted and Mike begins looking again.
He walks around an aisle and finally spots a few walkmans, he walks over quickly, grabbing two of them and shoving them into his bag.
Will’s 19th birthday was two days away and Mike needed to get him something, even though they were literally in the middle of an apocalypse and could die if they made any sound.
Still, Mike was determined to find something and remembered the Music store that was right down the street from Melvalds and knew it was perfect with the supply run that was coming up.
He looks over to Holly who was already looking at him and nods. She looks up at Will and smiles, he smiles back at her and she runs over to Mike, grabbing his hand again.
Will follows her over to Mike as Mike looks around at some of his own favorite bands. He sees a CD by Butthole Surfers, remembering how much he used to enjoy their music and shoving the CD into his bag as Will looks at him confused again.
Mike looks up at him as he signs ‘Why?’ confusion written all over his face. Mike signs back ‘Maybe we will find a walkman someday’ and then shrugs his shoulders, trying to appear like he isn’t about to start sweating profusely.
Will nods and shrugs and Mike sighs mentally, feeling relieved he didn’t question him further.
They all leave the music store and begin walking towards a couple other stores, grabbing other necessities.
—------
Mike, Will, Holly, Joyce and Hopper are all sitting on the ground outside of Melvalds, waiting for Dustin, Lucas and Max. Hopper seems to be growing more and more impatient until we finally see them turn the corner.
Everyone stands up as the group gets closer. Joyce signs ‘All done?’ as they walk up and Dustin nods.
Joyce looks over to Hopper and nods and they all begin walking back towards the forest.
Mike looks up to the sky and sees the sun is beginning to set, he feels Holly grip his hand tighter and freeze in place. Mike stops and sees everyone else freeze, staring towards a building.
He looks up towards the building everyone’s staring at and sees it. The Monster.
It’s climbing up the wall of the building, its front arms longer than its body, long claws digging into the building and pulling itself up. It stops in place and one of the hardened plates on the side of its head lifts.
He tenses up immediately and feels Will grab his shoulder, his hand shaking. A clicking sound echoing through the air as the creature listens.
Mike feels frozen in place, terrified.
He thinks back to when everything began, everyone running and screaming, people being thrown and killed. He remembers walking into his home, feeling his stomach twist in immediate overwhelming grief causing him to feel like throwing up.
Hopper turns around and lifts his hands up carefully and begins to slowly walk backwards, ushering everyone to follow.
Slowly everyone begins to follow, Hopper turns back around, keeping his hands up.
The monster seems to hear something in a different direction, quickly disappearing as it runs towards whatever it may have heard.
Everyone immediately seems to feel relieved, Will’s hand gripping Mike’s shoulder momentarily before letting go and falling to his side again.
Mike looks at Will and the boy just smiles slightly at him, he’s still visibly shaking. Mike gives a small smile back and then turns to look towards Holly at his side, still gripping his hand, a terrified look on her face.
Mike squeezes her hand and she looks up at him, he pulls his hand away and signs ‘it’s okay’, she nods and he holds his hand towards her again, a small smile on his face. She grabs his hand and gives him a small smile in return.
Everyone walks back towards Hopper’s cabin, still a little tense until they finally make it to the bunker outside of the cabin.
Hopper opens the latch, pulling up the door to the bunker and everyone climbs down one by one.
Finally Hopper climbs down and then shuts the opening above him. Everyone finally lets out a sigh, the tense feeling in the air finally dissolving.
—-----
After a quiet dinner Mike retreated to his and Will’s room, lighting a candle so he could see. He sighed and let himself collapse slightly onto their makeshift bed.
He rolled his head to the side, staring at his bag that held the walkmans and CDs.
Will comes into the room startling Mike just a little, causing him to sit up and look at him. Mike hadn’t bothered changing before he collapsed onto the bed, making Will look at him and smirk, raising an eyebrow at seeing Mike still in his day clothes while in bed.
Surprisingly enough everyone still had day and night clothes even though they were in the middle of an apocalypse. Mike thinks it’s a little stupid but he enjoys the sense of normalcy that comes from changing between day and night clothes, even while everything definitely wasn’t normal.
“Seriously? No night clothes?” Will whispers, teasing. Mike looks down, the slightest pink covering his cheeks as he looks up and shrugs trying to play it off. “Didn’t feel like it” He whispers back. Mike totally didn’t just forget about changing when he felt the exhaustion from the day hit him.
Will rolls his eyes, the smirk turning into a proper smile “Well, you're not sleeping in the same bed as me in those clothes” Will whispers.
Mike turns a shade pinker “Yeah uh.. Pff no, why would I do that” He stammers a little, still whispering.
Mike can’t help but take the implications of Will’s words wrong, he knew he hadn’t meant it that way, they sleep in the same bed every night for god’s sake, but the thought that he could have meant it that way makes Mike’s heart do little flips in his chest.
His father’s voice cuts through his Will filled thoughts, as it always does.
“You know what happens to people like that, Mike? They end up dead from all the diseases they spread, it’s disgusting” The voice echoes in his head, a memory from one of the times a commercial came up on the TV while him and the rest of his family sat in the living room, his mom forcing him to sit through a movie that was playing on one of the channels.
The commercial was talking about AIDS awareness, causing his dad to go on one of his “That’s what those damn queers get” tangents.
Mike doesn’t understand why he keeps feeling this way over someone who’s supposed to be his best friend, he knows it’s gross and wrong. That’s exactly why his dad’s words keep playing through his head whenever he gets those thoughts, to remind him of how far he is from being normal.
Mike immediately pushes back any thoughts he had about Will to the deep dark pits of his mind that he tries to ignore.
He gets up and he and Will begin changing again, facing away from each other. This time he doesn’t give into the temptation to turn around and try to see any muscles Will might have.
Mike changes into some old Star Wars sweats his mom had gotten him for christmas one year and an old band shirt.
They lay down on their sides of the makeshift bed, laying in silence for what felt like forever.
“Is something wrong?”
Mike turns his head to look at Will, who’s laying on his side facing Mike, a concerned expression spread across his face.
He thinks for a moment, wondering if he made it obvious that something unpleasant crossed his mind earlier.
“I’m okay” Mike whispers finally, looking away from Will. He hates lying to Will, but he’s found himself doing it a lot more in the last year, having been confined to sharing a room with the boy. He’s been forced to face a lot more things about himself than he’d have liked.
Will’s eyebrows furrow as he whispers “Friends don’t lie, Mike”
Mike feels the guilt begin to swirl in his stomach, making him a little nauseous.
Will’s face softens a little “Mike, come on, you know you can talk to me, I’m always here for you” He whispers, bringing a hand up to rest on Mike’s arm.
Mike feels the heat from Will’s hand, turning his head to face Will again. He feels the heat from his best friend’s hand in his chest as his dad’s voice begins to echo in his head again.
He looks away again, “I’m sorry, I just” Mike begins.
“Coming across that monster earlier, while we were out…While Holly was next to me” He feels Will’s eyes burning holes into the side of his face as he talks.
“It scared me and I thought back to when we found her, when we found my parents….. I know we’ve encountered those things multiple times since then and I should be used to it by now, but.. It’s still scary, I’m still scared that I might lose Holly too”
Mike knows it wasn’t exactly the whole truth, but it was part of it. That had been on his mind after they ran into that creature while coming back from the supply run.
Will’s face falls into one filled with affection as he hears Mike’s words.
“It’s okay to be scared Mike, I mean, I was terrified earlier too.. And a memory like that isn’t just gonna go away because you think you should be over it by now” Will whispers.
Mike looks over at his best friend, the threat of tears beginning to burn his eyes just a little.
“There’s nothing wrong with still being sad and scared about things like that, I mean, we’re constantly in danger when we’re out there, everyone’s scared” Will forces a small, reassuring smile as he finishes.
Mike’s eyebrows furrow and he presses his lips into a thin line, his breath catching his throat trying to hold his tears back as he thinks back to the moment he walked into his home, finding the state of his parents and his little sister, thinking about everything Will just said.
Will reaches his arms out and pulls Mike towards him, pushing Mike’s head into his chest and wrapping his arms around him, beginning to run his hands up and down Mike’s back.
Mike begins to curl up into Will’s body as he silently sobs into his chest, his hands coming up to grip Will’s shirt.
Mike hadn’t done this in a few months now, things like this happened relatively often after everything first happened and he found the state of his home.
There were multiple nights where Mike would be laying there and just start sobbing out of nowhere and Will would hold him, caressing his back as he soothed him.
He never had to tell Will why, he just knew. That’s why he’s Mike’s best friend.
Eventually Mike began to calm down, he had wrapped his arms around Will and their legs intertwined somewhere in the midst of Mike sobbing into his chest. “Can we stay like this?” Mike whispered “Of course” Will whispered back, his face buried into the top of Mike's head into his long curly hair.
Mike decided to ignore the echo of his dad’s voice for one night and just let himself be in Will’s arms. Soon after he felt the lull of sleep take over his body as he fell into a dream he hoped would be nice for once.