Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Saturday evening, El was being dropped off at her house with Max in tow. Ms. Mayfield, now more engaged with her daughter, but still not great, drove them over with the car bought with tax money. They were going to have a sleepover at the new Byers' house in Hawkins, the one they had moved into since the old one had too many traumatic memories. When Max had successfully gotten down in her crutches, a better pain day for her, they walked up to the front porch. Before El could unlock the door with a key, a furious looking Mike slammed it open.

"The hell was that noise?" El heard Max say from behind her. El grabbed Max's hand to maneuver her out of Mike's way. He didn't spare them a glance, merely stomped past them to his bike. He pedaled off quickly, and El could practically hear the burning rubber like in cartoons.

"Mike. He looked angry?" El relayed, watching Mike leave her sight.

"Why? Do you think he was a dick to Will again?" Max responded, her face frowning in annoyance. El pushed the half-open door and helped Max inside. Then she gently grabbed Max's shoulder to pull her in the direction of the bedrooms.

"I do not know. We should go talk to Will, if you do not mind." When El saw Max nod, they changed course, heading to the end of the hall towards Will. When they reached his door, it was closed, and they could hear muffled thudding noises coming from inside. Max tapped the bottom of one of her crutches against the door in a knock.

"You good in there, Byers? Do I need to beat up Wheeler?" She half-yelled, placing her crutch back down. They waited and heard footsteps approaching the door. Will opened it, his face red and full of loathing.

"Everything's..fine." Will said through gritted teeth, his eyes practically twitching in anger.

"It does not look fine. Why was Mike mad?" El commented, seeing as her brother's shoulders slumped at Mike's name. His face lost its irritability in seconds. Will looked..sad. Something had definitely happened, but El was a good detective.

"You could join us for makeovers, Will. If you wanted." Max stated, her voice softer than before. Will shook his head, wringing out his hands in front of him.

"Are you okay?" El tried, closer with Will than Max was. Will nodded, though his expression betrayed him completely. He looked almost..regretful.

"It's fine, El, I promise. No thanks, Max. I don't know why Mike..why Mike was upset." He was lying to her. Will never looked in the eyes when he was lying. They had another fight. El had thought their fighting was done. The days of the upside down and lying were over. Will and Mike were best friends again, or so she believed? Why would they have fought again? Will abruptly shut the door in their faces, evidently refusing to continue the conversation.

"That was weird? What's up with him?" Max said behind her, turning around to walk to El's room. El moved to keep with her. When Max felt the different floor texture that indicated she was in front of El's room, she paused. El opened the door from behind her with her powers and together they headed inside. Max sat down on El's bed and laid her crutches beside her, now able to remove them from her arms after months of recovery exercises. El walked over to her dresser and grabbed a brush, sitting down in front of Max. Since she couldn't do makeup as well anymore, they had compromised with Max doing her hair. El didn't mind, she thought it was. Max took the brush ans began to brush the knots from El's hair. They had been doing an intensive game in gym class earlier and her hair was now mighty tangled.

"I do not know. I will talk to him later about it."
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On Sunday morning, El went to collect her brother for breakfast. He had been steadfastly refusing to leave his room for the past few days, only coming out for the occasional meal and bathroom breaks. El was tired of it, that and the angry music Will had been blasting. He does that when he’s painting.

“Will? Breakfast is ready,” El knocked on Will’s door, unsure if he was going to answer.

“I’m not hungry right now. I’ll come out later.” Will’s defeated voice said from behind the door. El frowned at the white door, still hearing The Clash floating out from Will’s room.

“Could I come in for a second, Will?” El knocked again, trying to get Will’s attention. Usually she was pretty persuasive, her friends almost always agreeing with her and helping her out. Surprisingly, the door opened inward, and Will immediately went back to his easel. El looked over at the canvas, it was currently a greyish-blue with several black blobs. She guessed that Will wasn’t close to being finished, the details were the last part. Will had always told her that.

“Are you okay, Will?” El began, ready to confront her brother. Wil liked to keep his feelings bottled up, but El was a good sleuth. She would get to the bottom of this. Then she’d make Mike apologize.

“I don’t know why you keep asking that. I’m fine.” Will said, his brush streaking across the canvas with a dark red. It reminded El of blood, she didn’t like it.

“What are you painting?” El asked, trying a different approach. She could ease her brother into this. Will turned to look at her finally.

“I don’t know at this point. I’m just making shapes I guess. It’ll find its way eventually. Sometimes paintings like that.” Will explained, gesturing around the canvas as he painted. Now he was painting with a deep green.

“Okay Will, look. Um..whatever Mike did, I am sure we can fix it. You guys have been good recently, I do not want all that to go down the drain.” Will turned to look at her again. His face was red and his free hand curled into a fist.

“Mike didn’t do shit, El. I just want to be alone, okay.” Will unclenched his fist, turning back to his painting. He tried to project calm, but El could see right through him. Will’s face was still red and his right eye was back to twitching. He was angry, really, really angry.

“You don’t have to cover for him, Will. I know that Mike has said stuff in the past, don’t blame yourself.” El tried. Will closed his eyes and smeared bright red on his canvas.

“El, please leave. Just..please. I’ll eat later.” Will sighed, looking defeated. She’d talk to him later. Then she would get answers. Maybe Mike would answer her.
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El sat down at the lunch table, basically claimed by her friends at this point. It had a handicap spot for Max, and El knows she uses it in the lunch after her. Though not all of the party shares lunch, El shares her lunch with Lucas, Dustin, and Mike in lunch B. Will and Max both have lunch in lunch C, after them. Lucas and Dustin were already blabbering about something, most likely in the new comic book Dustin had recently gotten for this birthday.

“What is the news?” El had started to say that to hopefully decipher nerd speak. She also said it when the conversation made nonsense, often because it dealt with things El wasn’t around for or didn’t get because of the lab. Unfortunately, neither of them looked up, too engrossed in their own bickering to pay attention.

“They’re bickering about random shit. Ignore them.” Mike complained, picking at his food with his fork. El was surprised that ike wasn’t joining in. Often when she arrived, she found all of them arguing about something that changed depending on the day.

“Hi, Mike.” El said, trying to get her friend’s attention. Mike didn’t look up, merely continuing to play with his food. “What happened on Friday with you and Will? You were both upset?” El could see Mike frown at her words.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mike said quietly, shutting her down. He was definitely moody. Mike was moody when he was sad. El just needed to be gentle.

“You left angrily from my house on Friday. I thought you were having a sleepover too, but you decided to leave. What happened?” El commented gently. Mike gripped his fork tighter, smushing his peas into his mashed potatoes.

“I wasn’t angry, something just came up. I had to leave. Will and I..” Mike trailed off at the mention of Will’s name, continuing, this time with his teeth grinding. “We’re fine.”

“Mike, you can talk to me. Whatever you said to Wil to upset him, whatever it was I promise, we can fix it.” El placed her hand on Mike’s shoulder, attempting to be soothing. Mike stiffened under her touch, and El sensed that his guard was up.

“I told you..everything’s fine!” Mike lashed out, his voice raising in volume in time with his jaw clenching. Lucas and Dustin finally turned back towards them, startled by Mike’s announcement.

“Oh..uh..hey, El. Don’t try to talk to him, Mike’s been passive aggressive the entire day. ‘Woooow, Dustin, your homework amazes me’” Dustin mocked, making quotation marks with his hands. “I even got more right than him. Mike’s just a hater.” Beside her, Mike rolls his eyes, continuing to mash his food together into slop. El didn’t know if that made it more or less appetizing. Hawkins Indiana food wasn’t great. El much preferred the food in California, even though most everything else about that school wasn’t the best.

“At least I didn’t annoy Mr. Brady into giving us more homework.” Mike murmured into his food, now moving on to stabbing it forcefully. Dustin turned to look at him, mouth open, ready to argue.

“Dustin, ou litewally jus said ‘nore him. Take yowr own adwice, dube.” Lucas chimed in, his mouth full of burger. Dustin turned back to his left, his nose wrinkled.

“You’re disgusting.” Dutin forcefully poked Lucas hard in the shoulder. El frowned at them, not understanding why finger assault was warranted. Dustin was doing that earlier? In fact, a piece of lettuce literally fell out of his mouth.

“I’ve gotta go, class starts soon and all.” Mike led, abruptly standing up, his leg bumping into the cafeteria table. He was now so tall that his knees reached the table. Oftentimes during lunch, El would hear his legs bang into the table when he got too excited. El looked over at the gray wall holding the analog clock. They weren’t even fifteen minutes into lunch and Mike was leaving? Maybe El wasn’t as good of a detective as she thought.
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Things were worse than she thought. Mike and Will have fought before. They had fought in July of 1985, at the rollerskating rink in 1986, and in the beginning of junior year, but even then they were close. Even during the tense week after the apocalypse ended, Mike had still driven both El and Will to school. It was awkward and silent, but they were together. Proximity eventually made them both sad enough to confront their issues. Or at least that's what Jonathon said.

Now El stood at the bike rack, the designated meeting place for the party after school. Max and Lucas had already left, having a date at the movie theater. Dustin wasn’t out yet, committed to asking their science teacher several questions everyday. Both Will and Mike were outside. Will, holding a now-dry painting under his arms, facing away from El, was standing to the far left of the bike rack. He kept glancing forlorn at Mike, who was standing next to the light pole 10 feet to the right of the bike rack. He was refusing to look at Will, keeping his eyes trained on his bike, chained to the middle of the rack. El stood between them, awkwardly in the middle of their fight.

“Mike, you’re not driving us? I know you didn’t drive us this morning, but I figured-” El turned to Mike, who continued to stare directly at his bike, avoiding her face.

“Jonathon’s driving.” Will spoke, his voice sounding defeated. El watched as Mike’s face changed. His expression changed from carefully blank to utterly desolate.

“Sorry, El. I just…can’t right now.” Mike lamented, he sounded truly regretful. El turned to Will at the sound of tires. Jonathan had arrived in his car. He stopped at the curb, and El heard the distinct noise of the car being unlocked. Will walked up to it, and got into the back. El could see his face through the tinted window, now staring unabashedly at Mike. El followed behind her brother and got into the front seat. Jonathan smiled at her.

“Hey, Will? El? How was your guys’ days?” Jonathan asked, faux cheerfulness evident in his voice. Will didn’t answer from behind her, and El saw his chin was now resting on his hand through the side mirror.

“Good?” El answered, confused. This mystery would take the whole party to solve.
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“So what are we doing tonight?” Max was floated over the threshold into the Byers house, El carrying her into the kitchen. On the counter, El had set out several items, a whisk, differently sized bowls, spoons, and two baking trays.

“I want to make snickerdoodles! And later we can watch movies and do makeovers!” El said gleefully, setting Max down on the tile floor.

“Uh..El? I can’t reach the counter? Or see? How do you expect me to bake, I can’t see what I’m measuring?” Max questioned, holding her arms up and demonstrating that her forehead was level with the counter. “Or is your plan to have me hear and smell as the cookies bake?”

“Neither! You can mix the dough, and then roll it into balls in the cinnamon sugar. I will tell you what it is, do not worry.” El lifted Max back up into the air until she could reach easily. “Also, dad helped me to build you a stepstool that is wheelchair friendly, so you can reach. I have wanted to bake with you for a while, and now I can!” El moved the stepstool, conveniently placed in the corner that El had painted pink and purple under Max’s wheelchair. Then, she placed Max in the notches made for the wheels.

They started moving about the kitchen, giggling at one point due to El accidentally getting a cloud of cinnamon to the face. When the dough was in the oven, El lifted her friend out of the stepstool and back to the ground. Then, El set the timer, and they both ventured out to the living room.

“Think of a movie to watch, while I go get my supplies.” El told Max, standing back up to wander back to her room. When she reached the hallway, El froze, there was movement in Will’s room. She could see shadow in the doorframe. El waited, ready to scare the intruder. The second he stepped out, El picked him up, flipping the intruder upside down.

“Wha- El?! What the hell?!” Will yelped as he was forcefully turned in midair. El blinked, seeing Will’s usually hidden forehead rid of the hair it hides behind. “Put me down, please!” El frowned, setting her brother safely back on the ground.

“Why do I hear yelling?” Max called from the living room. El shouted her response that everything was fine and turned back to Will. She eyed him up and down before speaking.

“Why are you here? It is DnD and girls night tonight.” El interrogated, arching her eyebrow up like she sees detectives do in old movies. El the detective was coming back out tonight.

“Just..didn’t feel like going.” Wil shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “What are you making? It smells cinnamon-y.”

“Max and I are baking snickerdoodle cookies. Do you..want to join girls night?” El asked, offering Will an olive branch as an apology for removing the gravity from him. “Also, I am sorry that I stole your gravity.”

“It’s okay, who needs gravity, anyway?” Will joked, smiling at her for the first time tonight. “What else are you doing, because I’m assuming you already finished baking since I can smell it.”

“Yes.” El nodded. “We are going to watch a movie, do makeovers, and talk meanly about evil people.” El motioned for Will to follow as she grabbed her makeup and hair-styling supplies.

“Sure? Here, I can grab the hairbrush and detangler. I’m a little worried that you’re going to drop it, El.” Will grabbed them out of the crook of El’s arm from where they were slipping out of her grip. El nodded her thanks. When they reached the living room, El sat down to Max, ready to beautify her friend. She grabbed a brush and dipped it into a pink blush.

“Max, when El said talk meanly, she meant-” Will began.

“Talking shit about our enemies, yes.” Max interrupted. “Not that I don’t want you here, but Will, why are you here? Did Mike kick you out of your DnD party? Blink twice if you need me to give him a talking to.”

“I just didn’t feel like going today, no he did not, and you couldn’t see if I blinked, so how would that work?” Will listed off his answers, counting them on his fingers.

“Fine, click your tongue then, don't be pedantic, Will. El, I want to watch the cartoons you’ve taped.” Max let herself be painted on. El continued to place blush, and now eyeshadow and lipstick strategically on Max’s face. Max’s eyes twitched occasionally, but otherwise she remained still. El remembers one of the first times they did this, and she accidentally jabbed Max with a mascara brush.

“So Byers, talk shit with us about your best friend. I can start, he is annoying, and a dick sometimes. Especially to you. He gets on my nerves so much.” Max ranted. El felt the need to chide her, save her for the fact she had gotten nearly his exact same rant from Mike on numerous occasions. Insults were their love language.

“I am done, do you want to braid my hair?” El interjected, saving an uncomfortable-looking Will from speaking. Max nodded, andEl moved to sit down in front of her best friend. Well, one of her best friends. Max felt around in front of her, until she found the ends of El’s hair, and began to separate them.

“Well, Byers? I’m not letting you off that easily. Complain about what’s going on, you know you want to.” Max stated matter-of-factly. El looked to her brother, who looked slightly green in the face.

“Max, I don’t really-” Will tried.

“Come on, lay down your feelings. I know he’s been avoiding you at school.” The only reason she knows that was because El told her. El feels slight remorse at this but her detective side is too eager to not take this opportunity.

“I mean, yeah, it sucks that he’s..avoiding me,” Will said, sounding strained. “But, I told you, it’s not anything-”

“Come on, Will. I know you don’t like to blame people, but-” Max interrupted, now halfway through El’s braid.

“He didn’t do anything!” Will yelled, now visibly upset. His hands were balled into fists again, and his fahad gone from green to an angry red. “I’m going to my room, thanks for letting me hang out, but my stomach hurts.” Will stood abruptly, nearly knocking over the detangler.

“Will, hey, I didn’t-” Max began to apologize.

“It’s fine.” It was not fine. El could see her brother’s shoulders shaking slightly. Something was seriously wrong. What happened between him and Mike.

“I pushed too hard, didn’t I? Max asked from behind her. El frowned, analyzing the interaction with her sleuthing skills.

“Yes, but I think that Will is also stressed because of what is going on between him and Mike. Just apologize and you should be good.” El spoke, calmly, deciding that she needed to get to the bottom of this. Lucas and Dustin needed to get in on this. Maybe they gleaned something at DnD.

Chapter Text

RING! Lucas jumped, suddenly hearing the phone downstairs. He was reading a comic book, one of the ones he shares with Max. This Wonder-Woman comic was one of his favorites.

“LUCAS! YOUR FRIEND IS ON THE PHONE!” Lucas’s mom called up the stairs. Lucas stood up, bringing the comic with him. Maybe Mike was going to finally explain why he was being mopey? He descended the stairs, seeing his mom holding out the phone towards him.

“Here, honey. Say hello to your friends for me. Dinner will be ready soon too, so call your sister down when you’re done.” Lucas grabbed the phone and nodded to his mom. She walked back to the kitchen, where his dad was mixing together…something for dinner.

“Hello? It’s Lucas?” Lucas said into the phone, leaning back against the wall.

“Hello, Lucas. It is El. Why are you not at Mike’s?” El’s voice floated out from the receiver, confused. “I called there first, but Mrs. Wheeler said that you and Dustin were not there?” Lucas absentmindedly twirled the cord between his fingers.

“Oh, yeah Mike cancelled tonight. Why?” Lucas asked, remembering the disappointing call from Mike a few hours ago. They were so close to defeating the boss, and now they had to wait another week?! Annoying as hell.

“He cancelled?” El’s voice sounded briefly staticky, and Lucas could hear talking in the background. “Why did Mike cancel? Was he mad at you or Dustin?”

“I don’t think so. We didn’t do anything. And I don’t know why he cancelled. He gave a bullshit excuse about chores, but I don’t really believe him because the Wheeler’s house is always neat and Mike’s room is always messy. He wouldn’t stop DnD for chores.” Lucas explained, ranting about his annoyance towards his friend.

“Why did you lie that Mike cancelled?” El’s voice sounded far away. Lucas guessed she was talking to one of the disembodied voices. When El stopped talking, Lucas could hear a garbled response, one he couldn’t parse out.

“El? Who’s with you? Besides Max obviously, hi Max, who else is there? Will?” Lucas heard Max respond to him loudly.

“Hi! Will’s here too!” Max yelled. There was another pause, Lucas assumed it was Will saying something he couldn’t hear.

“Hey Lucas, how did Mike cancel on you? Did he tell you earlier?” El asked after a moment of silence.

“Nope. He called earlier on the walkie. I assume he called Dustin and Will too.” Lucas explained again, this conversation now beginning to heavily confuse him.

“Mike didn’t call Will. Will just told us that.” El responded, sounding concerned. Lucas frowned, unsure.

“That’s odd. Do you know why Mike cancelled then? Are they fighting again or something?” Lucas asked, trying to recontextualize the past week of Mike mopiness.

“Yes.” El affirmed.

“What about?” Lucas questioned, wondering what Mike did this time.

“I do not know. Would you talk to Mike for me to figure it out?” El asked, and Lucas assumed from her tone that El was attempting to be persuasive.

“Sure. I gotta go, dinner’s ready, but I can. Let me know if you figure anything else. Also, my mom says hi.” Lucas hung the phone back after hearing a chorus of goodbye’s from the phone.

“ERICA! DINNER!” Lucas yelled up the stairs. Now, to figure out his friend.

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“You may work in pairs on the worksheet. Make sure to choose someone you can focus with,” Mr. Bryant said to the kids. Lucas immediately moved to sit over next to Mike, his partner in most things in math, by bringing his chair over to Mike’s desk.

“Do you want to start on problem 1 together or work separately and compare answers at the end? Lucas asked his friend, who was currently sitting with his head down.

“Honestly, I don’t really care, Lucas.” Mike looked up and swiped the paper closer to him. He peered down at it and groaned annoyed. “You know what, you're helping me. The only thing that makes me think the Universe likes me is that you are in math with me.”

“Gotcha, so number 1.” Lucas looked at the first problem. It was an algebra problem. The best kind of math. “Okay so-”

“Max has broken up with you how many times?” Mike cut him off loudly. Lucas glared at him and looked around at the sudden amount of people that were staring at them.

“Wheeler! Sinclair! Attention on math, please!” Mr. Bryant scolded. Mike shrank and mumbled his apology.

“So, how many times?” Mike asked, now whispering. “Like 3?”

“It was only twice, first of all. Second of all, we’re not getting any math done are we?” Lucas responded, slightly annoyed at his friend.

“Twice, gotcha. How did you..you now..fix it?” Lucas began to solve the problems, knowing Mike wasn’t going to be any help.

“I don’t know, I apologized. Or she apologized. We just kinda talked it out. Why?” He finished solving the first two problems and watched as Mike began to copy his work.

“Explain this part?” Mike said, side-stepping the question.

“I’ll explain if you explain first.” Lucas began to solve the third problem, this one now dealing with sin. He reached around and grabbed his calculator from his bookbag. Mike rolled his eyes and turned his face downwards.

“Will said he wanted some space or whatever. You turn, what the heck is this?” Mike mumbled, pointing aggressively at a part of the second problem.

“Well, you have to use Side-Angle-Side and it means that x is going to be 5. Got it?” Lucas explained, watching as Mike nodded. They continued working in silence as the teacher neared. Lucas watched as Mike began to draw gibberish on his paper. When Mr. Bryant officially walked away, Lucas checked behind him to make sure he was far enough to begin interrogating Mike for drama.

“What the hell did you do to Will? Why does he want space? Did he say anything else? Did he explain? Do you know why he’s mad?” Mike looked up and glared at him, before stealing the paper out of Lucas’s hands. He began to copy up through problem 5.

“Miiiike! Explain!” Lucas complained, yanking his paper back. Apparently Mike hadn’t only been copying. He also drew several frowny faces across the page.

“Next problem?” Mike looked up, and continued to glare at him.

“Nope, explain first! What did you do?” Lucas teased, drawing a small smiley face on his friend’s paper.

“Nothing. Fuck off.” Mike whispered the last part, seeing Mr. Bryant begin to walk closer to them. He then began to struggle through the last few problems.

“Hey, I’ll help, it’s fine, you don’t have to-” Lucas tried, recognizing that pushing wasn’t going to get him any further. Mike kicked him under the table in retaliation.

“It’s fine, Lucas.” Mike paused and watched as Lucas drew a small question mark next to a frowny face atop his paper. “..did you..give her space? Max I mean? If she asked?”

“Uhhh, I mean technically, the first time I gave her too little space and the second time I overcompensated and gave her too much space until she…until Vecna. If Will wanted some space, you guys are kinda attached to the hip, so he might just think you’re being a bit too clingy, just give him some space. Let him reach out to you, unless you get worried about him, in which case I would reach out directly. I wish I would’ve done that for Max.” Lucas mumbled the end bi, remembering the numerous conversations he’d had with his girlfriend about leaning on him when she needed to. Max still preferred to deal with things on her own, a consequence of being in an abusive family, but now sometimes she would talk things through with him. Lucas was forever grateful for this. Mike nodded at him.

“Thanks Lucas, really. Also thank you with the math, but uh..problem 7 is currently murdering me, so can you help me fix that?” Mike responded, looking torn between miserable, tired, and happy.

“Of course.”

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His locker, his locker, Lucas need to get his calculator from his locker, his locker, his locker, his-

“Holy crap! I’m so sorry!” Lucas clutched his nose, the one he just smacked into the side of the person he just ran into. “Are you okay, Lucas?” A hand came to rest on his shoulder. “ Lucas shook his face out, and dropped his hand from his throbbing nose.

“You’re fine, Will. Why did you suddenly barrel towards me from, I'm assuming, the end of the hallway?” Lucas began to spin his lock, not looking at his friend. When I clicked open, he opened the door around Will, covering the locker next to him.

“I needed to ask you something. Do you need to go to the nurse, are you sure you're okay?” Will took a step towards him and began to inspect his nose. “It looks a little swollen already. Do you need an ice pack?”

“I’m good, Will, really.” Lucas grabbed his biology textbook and folder from the bottom of his organized locker pile. Then he placed his calculator back into the side of his locker. “What’d you need?”

“You just had class with Mike, right? Math with Mrs. Peterson?” Will asked, almost shy. Lucas knitted his eyebrows, confused.

“No, Mrs. Peterson was last year. We had Mr. Bryant last period.” Lucas answered, settling his things against his chest. “Mike was there though, yeah. We finished a worksheet together towards the end of class.” Will frowned, and his face flashed sadly before returning to a careful mask of neutral.

“Was he in a good mood? Like happy?” Oh. Mike and Will had a fight, right.

“Not really. Math is not the greatest for pretty much everyone but Dust and I. Also, he’s sad cause of your fight. I’m sure he wants to apologize, it’s going to be okay, Will.” Lucas tried for a reassuring tone, mirroring Will’s earlier placement of his hand on his shoulder, while ignoring the pain from his slightly smushed nose.

“He doesn’t!..You know what, never mind. Thanks, Lucas.” Will stepped back, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I have to go. I’ll see you at the bike rack?” Lucas nodded, and stacked his things in his arms. This is a weird conversation.

“Good luck talking to Mike. Hope you guys are good by the end of today. Maybe we can all go to the arcade!” He shut the locker door and moved away from Will. Waving goodbye, Lucas began to make his way to his biology class. The arcade is going to be awesome.

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They’re not going to the arcade. Well, Lucas might go to the arcade anyway, but the party? They aren’t going to the arcade. Instead, the party is going to stand at the bike rack severely confused. Max and El had arrived at their predictable time, 3:05, from their math class at the back of the school. Dustin and Will had arrived at their predictable time, 3:01, from their history class together at the end of the school day. Lucas arrived slightly later than his usual time at 2:55, and instead arrived at 2:59 from stopping at the nurse to return his ice pack. Though his nose wasn’t too painful, upon seeing his swollen and red face, his biology teacher had sent him to the nurse. Mike, however? He was..nowhere to be found. Even his bike was gone. Usually, Mike drove, but the past few weeks, since he'd stopped driving, Will and El, he’d switched to his bike. Usually Mike was the latest of all of them, arriving inconsistently from 3:07-3:15 due to his tendency to meander through the hallways. But right now, it was 3:10, and Mike was gone, completely. All traces of him were gone.

"How the hell did Mike beat you? He’s never been this early. Like ever.” Max stated, noticing the strange lack of Mike’s excited voice.

“Did something happen during English, Will? I know you were planning to talk to him then.” Lucas adjusted his backpack and walked over to Max to help her onto his bike. When she was settled against him, Lucas stepped off, leaning the bike against the ground.

“He didn’t let me talk to him. You know how we're allowed to sit wherever? Mike sat as far away from me as he could and then sped out of the room before I could talk to him.” Will scowled, hopping onto his bike with a clang. Lucas winced seeing him smack onto his bike accidentally.

“Jeez, Mike is such a dick sometimes. You really need to yell at him over this.” Max said from between his shoulder blades.

“But Mike didn’t-” Will started.

“He probably had to babysit Holly. You know how pissed he is when his mom makes him do that.” Dustin mentioned, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

“Guys, it wasn’t Mike’s fau-” Will began again.

“That is not true. Mike only pretends to not like to babysit Holly. He asked Joyce to teach him to cook so that he can make meals for Holly. They were making grilled cheese around a month ago.” El chimed in, remembering the slightly burnt grilled cheese Mike had made her. Lucas remembers being given grilled cheese as a gift from Mike since he was practicing cooking. That was a weird week.

“Mike wasn’t-!” Will yelped, attempting to get the group’s attention.

“True. Remember when he came covered in green paint because Holly wanted to paint? He looked adorable. But still, he’s just sulking because he was mean. He’ll come around.” Dustin responded, reminiscing aloud.

“You know what. You aren’t listening. I’m going home. See you later El.” Will left, putting his kickstand up finally.

“Wait- Will?!” El yelled to her speeding brother. "I am going to figure out what is going on with my brother. Goodbye!” El waved cheerfully and then pedalled quickly.

“So..we talked about the arcade, we still doing that?” Dustin asked, putting his kickstand up and setting his feet down to keep himself upright. Lucas felt Max shrug against him and then nod her head. “Cool.” The three of them rushed off, feeling confused, yet excited. Even blind, Max was convinced she could beat the boys and take back her top score, recently stolen by Mike. Lucas and Dustin were convinced they could win.

Chapter Text

Dustin was puzzled. Don’t get him wrong, he loves a good puzzle. Riddles? Mysteries? Jigsaw Puzzles? All of them. All of them are great. But right now? This puzzle was a sad puzzle. A mournful puzzle? Whatever, it’s not good. Dustin vows to figure this out. So far, only around 3 of the puzzle pieces to this..20 piece puzzle?

Piece 1. Will and Mike had a fight.

Piece 2. Mike is avoiding Will.

Piece 3. Will is pissed. Mike’s fault?

That’s all he has. Dusin needs to do some seriously good digging. That’s how he ends up bringing his new cat, Mews the Second, to the park on a leash. Mews 2.0, one of the many nicknames that his cat has, has a tiny purple collar, with a gold star sticker stuck to it from El. The blue leash connects to it, and holds his cat. Will agreed to talk to him here, with the caveat that he would keep an open mind. Dustin doesn’t really get the ‘open mind’ stipulation, since it’s him. An open mind is practically in Dustin’s nonexistent job description. Mews the 2, was brought along as a scheme. Will is Dustin’s nicest friend. He is a pure sweetheart, so he would never take a comfy cat off his lap. Never.

“Okay, Dust you’re good at.. people right?” Will asks, sitting uncomfortably on one of the benches. Dustin nods and places his cat in Will’s lap. When Will had first spotted the calico cat, he had paused uncertainly. “Wh is there a cat here? Dustin, why did you bring your cat?” Luckily, Dustin had been able to distract his friend with his kitty. Mewy Dewy had started purring, and Dustin had silently thanked his cat for being an excellent scheming master.

“So, William. It has happened again.” Dustin said as seriously as he could while scratching behind the ears of his pet.

“It? If you’re referring to Mike and I’s..” Will sighed and began to pet Mews the Second. Mews 2.0 curled into a loaf shape and tucked his paws underneath him. “We fought again.”

“That really sucks. Yes it does, yes it does! Aw, you’re so cute, good kitty. Such a good boy.” Dustin cooed and pressed a kiss to his cat’s head. Will stared at him unimpressed.

“Mike has been avoiding me like the plague. You’re intelligent and great at plans. How do you think I should go about apologizing?" Will asked, continuing to lightly pet the cat loafing in his lap.

“Why would you apologize? Mike’s the one being a dick and avoiding you. Yes he is, yes he is. He’s evil, but you're so cute and fluffy and adorable, and I wuv you.” Dustin booped his finger against his cat’s nose. He needed to make sure that Mews the Second didn't think that he was upset with him. Mews the Second deserved the best, and only the best.

“Dustin, pay attention. Yes, Mike is avoiding me, but it’s my fault.” Will explained, pinching the bridge of nose as he sighed heavily again. The cat in his lap sprawled out and stretched, begging for pets. Will reluctantly began to pet him again, until the cat started to purr contentedly.

“What? Did you tell him to take a hike? You’re way too nice or that, Will. I love you dude, and your kindness, but you need to stop blaming yourself for other people’s actions.” Dustin stated matter-of-factly.

“You said you’d keep an open mind! Mike is not to blame for this! It’s my fault! Stop blaming him!” Will tried to stand abruptly, beginning to yell before remembering the cat laying in his lap. Mewy Dewy’s ears flattened at the sudden noise. Dustin frowned, and covered his cat’s ears protectively.

“Will, there’s no need to overreact. I get it, you have self-esteem issues. You don’t need to-” Dustin began explaining, trying to get through to his friend. Then Will did something unexpected. He picked up Mews 2.0, placed him next to him on the bench, and awkwardly shoved Dustin backwards. Dustin looked up at his friend bewildered as he began to stomp off.

“Wait-! Will!” Dustin called, standing and pulling Mews 2.0 against his chest. Mews the Second began to wriggle, trying to get inside his shirt. Will didn’t spare him a second glance, instead he balled his hands into fists and shoved them over his ears. A tell-tale sign of being ignored. This mystery was still not yet solved.

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Will was a non-starter. He was now aggressively avoiding the party, particularly Dustin. According to El, every time she tried to talk to him, he would, either figuratively or literally, slam a door in her face. Joyce and Hopper had both tried to talk to him to no avail. Even at lunch, Will was now sitting alone at any open or semi-open table he could find. He even decided to do a school project with Sarah Johnson instead of Lucas or Max who are both in his Spanish class. The only plus side to this was that Mike now came around more often. He was avoiding only Will, so staying with the party was almost a surefire way that he wouldn’t have to talk to him. Even now, Mike was planning to hang out with the party in the basement, well most of the party. Will still wasn’t here. The party had decided to rewatch Back to the Future, a movie that some of their older friends despise, but the party enjoys. This rewatch, suggested by Dustin as a part of his scheme, was perfect since if he was absent he wouldn’t miss anything. When the party, minus Will, arrived at 4:00 pm for movie night, Mike was in the kitchen making popcorn and preparing snacks. Dustin immediately volunteered to help him. This part of the plan was already going smoothly.

“Can you grab the popcorn?” Mike asked from where he’s currently perched atop the counter. He grabs the M&Ms and pours them into a bowl, then pushes that bowl away from him, grabbing chips. Dustin walks over to the lower right cabinet, being familiar with the Wheeler house. The popcorn is pushed to the back, so he leans down to take it. After finishing pouring the chips, Mike grabs a large bowl from above him and sets it down, knowing that Dustin can’t reach it.

“How many bags? Like 4?” Dustin begins to take several bags out of the box. When Mike nods at his question, he stops and begins to tear open the plastic covering. “Hey, uh..Mike?” Mike pauses from where he’s dumping skittles into a bowl. His bow furrows and he looks at Dustin, confused with his sudden uncertainty.

“Yeah?” Mike stands and turns away from him. “I’m still listening, I’m just making drinks.” Dustin places the first bag into the microwave, setting it to two minutes and thirty seconds.

“Will is upset. And you’ve been avoiding him since your fight. You’re really hurting him. He’s avoiding the party now, and it’s really upsetting the party too. All of us are concerned, and we’re worried. We just want to help.” Dustin watches as Mike slams the refrigerator door, his shoulders slumped and shaking. He places the sodas and water on the counter, ripping them like a lifeline. The microwave beeps insistently, popcorn popping loudly in the silence of the kitchen. When it stops, Mike is still standing silently, staring at the cans and bottle.

“Am I a bad person?” Mike asks, his voice shaky and quiet. Dustin stops, confused. A bad person? Why would Mike think that? When the popcorn stops,Mike takes it out, pouring it into the large bowl. He grabs the next bag and places it in, shutting the microwave door with faux calmness. When the popping resumes, Dustin falls out of his trance and shakes his head vigorously. Mike doesn’t look at him, merely staring at the ground.

“No, of course not! I just want to help you out! I promise! Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, it’s okay!” Dustin practically shouts, standing a few steps away awkwardly. The kitchen falls silent after his declaration, and Dustin can hear the beginning of the movie, meaning the others got tired of waiting. The next popcorn bag finishes before Mike speaks again. When it's done, Mike places the new bag immediately in the microwave. The full one sits patiently for a few seconds, laying on the counter untouched. Mike speaks again in a few moments, after opening the bag slowly and carefully.

“Everyone thinks I am. I probably am. You’re one of the smartest people I know, and you believe it. No, no believe, you know it. You know I’m a bad person. You know I have an awful temper and a bad attitude, and a terrible way of treating people.” Mike pauses for a moment, then continues, interrupting Dustin as his mouth falls open to rebut Mike’s claim. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t assume that I did something wrong. You’d want the full story. To answer your unspoken question Dustin, I don’t know what I did. I know it’s my fault, he wouldn’t have gotten mad at me for nothing. Why do you want someone who’s only going to end up hurting everyone around them because they’re an uncaring asshole?”

“Mike-” Dustin tries to get a word in, just as the microwave begins to wail to tell you the food is done. Mike’s shoulders begin to shake and he starts crying silently.

“Can you..can you do me a favor, Dust? I don’t feel well, and I need everyone to leave. You can take the food, just leave.” Mike hiccups, grabbing the bowl of M&Ms and walking upstairs, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Bye.”

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“Can you get the key for me, Lucas? It’s in my left pocket.” When they arrived at Max’s house, with the government's hush money, she and her mom were able to move out of the trailer park, though it still wasn’t the nicest. The paint was peeling in most of the rooms, and most of their furniture, as few as there were, were patched and filled with holes. Max instructs Lucas to help her open the door. Lucas, groped around in her pocket and accidentally caused a giggle from Max. He had tickled her by accident earning him a death glare. Lucas opens the door and they all pile into the tiny house. Max leaves them to find her wheelchair, sitting in the foyer waiting for her. When they reach the living room, they sit in their usual spots. Dustin can’t help but side eye the empty chairs to the left of her. He really wants an explanation.

“Are we going to do this or what? How are we figuring out what Mike did?” Max says, wheeling herself over to Lucas.

“I do not know what to do. Will has been so sad at home, but he will not tell me what happened. ” El looked the party over, missing her friends. The party didn’t feel complete without them.

“It’s really bad, this time. It’s almost like when you and Will were in California. Mike was mopey, just like this, but I didn’t think he was intentionally avoiding Will. At least not intentionally. I don’t think they're speaking at all. They're not even close, it’s weird. Like really weird.” Lucas comments. When Max makes her way over, Lucas taps the wheelchair and then takes her hand. Dustin had asked Lucas about it once, Max doesn’t like being surprised so it’s a way of alerting her to his presence.  He had also asked Max about it. Although Max had bribed his silence with the promise of a cookie, Max had told him that she cares a lot about what Lucas does for her. Safety is hard to come by when you’re adjusting to life without the use of your limbs as they used to be and your eyesight.

“What should we do about it?” Dustin asks down at the thread she realized she was tugging at in her hands.

“How do we get the full story?” Lucas brings his other hand up to say something until Dustin starts talking.

“We could tell Mike you made cookies. Oo! Or you got a dog! Mike loves dogs, remember Chester? He loved Chester!” Dustin smiles at his friends, reveling in his brilliant ideas.

“So we’re luring him? That wouldn’t help Mike open up. He’s practically a lockbox.” Max stated, shutting down his idea. Dustin frowned, annoyed that his plan was shot down. “And what about Will? I know that we need to go to Mike. He’s the one that needs to get his head out of his ass. Will doesn’t like blaming people. He’ll never blame Mike, even though it's no doubt his fault.” Max interjected, always eager to get a dig in at Mike. Dustin didn’t blame her. Both Max and Mike bickered and insulted each other relentlessly. It was their love language.

“I don’t know if it was Mike's fault though. He seems to think it is, but I’m honestly not sure.” Dustin stated, remembering his earlier conversation with Mike. The party had taken the food, and gone directly to Max’s house. The movie night was going to resume when the scheming and/or planning was over. “Okay, I have another idea, don’t shoot it down!” Max rolls her eyes, and Lucas stares at him unimpressed. At least El looks hopeful because El is a good supportive friend.

“If you suggest we say I got a cat, I’m going to strangle you.” Max deadpanned, seemingly already annoyed with his plan.

“So..Max, you and Mike bitch to each other all the freaking time.” Dustin begins, mentally counting off the times that he and Lucas have had to physically separate the two of them when they began to go too far in their bickering. “I think you can get it out of Mike. Just talk to him, and get him to lower his guard. Not about the fight, but anything else. Make him angry, and then he’ll spill everything. Meanwhile, El can talk to Will and get him to talk to Mike. Will already wants to talk to Mike, I’ve seen him stalk him in the halls at school, so I think he’ll be easier anyway. Lucas and I will then talk to them together when they’re better and on the high of being friends again, and we’ll fix things in the party. Plan completed!” Dustin yells, triumphing when no one outwardly objects.

“You want me to bicker with him? Huh, that’s new.” Max says sarcastically, adding a fake laugh at the end of her joke. Lucas chuckles, and Dustin rolls his eyes. That was not funny, Lucas is just in love.

“Yep, everyone have any questions or can we begin the movie?” Dustin asks, clapping his hands together excitedly. Everyone else shakes their head.

“We can watch it now.” El states, the remote clicking in the living room to turn the small tv on. Then she begins to float over the bags the party had used to bring the food over from the Wheeler house. As the movie begins to play, Dustin grabs several pieces of popcorn and shoves them into his mouth. This plan had better work. If it doesn’t, the party might lose two members, and that could mean another world ending event. The world will suffer greatly.