Wednesdays really should be outlawed, Mike Wheeler thought miserably.
Nobody liked them. Really; nobody. It was the time when the last energy reserves from the weekend had just been completely depleted, the next weekend was still nowhere in sight, and one was in general just tempted to lie down and die. Mike was no stranger to that temptation. He had started downright hating this particular day of the week back in middle school, and it had only gotten worse from there.
He dragged himself up the front porch, unable to supress a huge yawn. The reasonable part of him knew that his extreme tiredness at the moment was largely his own fault, but in his defence, he hadn't had much choice in the matter: combine the latest issues of the X-Men that just came out with an excited Will Byers, an even more excited Dustin Henderson, plus lots of coke, and you had a recipe for disaster that guaranteed you would not get much sleep that night. At the time, school had seemed like a secondary concern to Mike. Of course, the next morning school begged to differ and proceeded to kick his tired ass even more than usual. Add to that his day job at the Hawk (which he normally liked), and you had one hell of a day that Mike really could have done without. Right now, as he pushed open the front door of their home, he just wanted some peace and quiet.
"Miiike!"
"What the…huff! Ow! Get off, Holly!"
Or his little sister steam railing out of the kitchen and into his arms, properly knocking him over in the process. That worked, too.
Holly disentangled herself from him and proceeded to tap insistently on her new 'Dora-the-Explorer' watch. "You're late again!" she complained, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet restlessly. For some reason, and completely incomprehensible to Mike, in the last few months his seven year old sister had developed an aversion to staying still for more than two seconds at any point ever.
Where does she take all this energy from? Mike wondered, not for the first time. Aloud he said: "Holly, calm down. It's barely five minutes past six."
"That's almost…20 minutes late!" Holly stated mercilessly. Then she crossed her arms, obviously satisfied that she'd gotten the equation right.
Mike took this moment to reflect that he'd really drawn the shortest straw in this family: no sooner was the bossy older sister out of the house than the formerly cute younger sister realized that someone else had to be the bossy one now. And it was decidedly not going to be her brother; that was for sure.
"Come on! Have to show you something!"
As Mike was being dragged into the kitchen, Holly's designated babysitter for the evening looked up from his artwork. And smiled. That smile was still the exact same Will Byers smile as years ago when Mike had first met him, and just like then, he returned it practically on instinct. But as for the rest of his childhood friend, Mike still had to resist the urge to blink and rub his eyes. His mind still couldn't quite keep track of the transformation his friend had gone through.
Will really looked the part of high schooler now, having gotten taller over the years, until he almost matched Mike (though not quite, as Mike was fond to remind him). He'd stopped wearing his hair in a bowl cut years ago and opted for a looser, longer style quite similar to his brother's, which somehow worked wonders to make him look older. His new glasses didn't hurt, either. On the occasions when there were still shadows under his eyes, they concealed them pretty well. All in all, Will was hardly recognizable as the scrawny, tense kid Mike Wheeler had met on the swings, and Mike sometimes wondered if he himself looked so wildly different now, too.
But when Will smiled his (unchanged) open smile – like now – he was pretty much the definition of 'trustworthy babysitter'. Or at least Mike's parents seemed to think so, hence why he had gotten this job.
"Hey, Mike. We're just finishing up homework here." he said by way of greeting. He gestured at the table in front of him. Indeed, there were piles of what looked like Holly's math books scattered everywhere. The sight made Mike involuntarily think of his own pile of homework weighing down his backpack, and he let out a resigned sigh.
Will looked his friend up and down and raised an eyebrow. There was a little playful undertone to his voice: "How was your day?"
"Don't even ask." Mike collapsed into the nearest chair. He stared at Will accusingly: "I don't get it: your eyes were clearly open when we reached the last page; I saw it. You can't have gotten more sleep than me. How you can be so chipper after such a long night is beyond me."
Will shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal: "I don't need a lot of sleep."
"Sure; okay. Whatever it is your taking; I want some!"
"It's the Byers-efficiency gene. It's not for sale."
"I hate you right now."
"No you don't."
"Look what I made!" Holly interrupted their nonsense-conversation, thrusting a piece of paper into Mike's hands. His eyes had to take a moment to adjust. The thing was filled with lines and squiggles, some of which almost, with some imagination, maybe resembled stick figures. The rest just looked like colours thrown onto the page in random order, with no regard for symmetry or logic – except maybe in his sister's eyes. Holly was beaming proudly. For her sake, Mike's tired mind tried its best to find some coherent picture in all the chaos. "It's – ahm – quite something."
His little sister nodded eagerly: "Will likes it, too. He says I draw really good." She threw a quick glance at Will and blushed up to her hair roots.
Mike couldn't help grinning: "Is that so? Well; in that case you can be proud of it; there's no higher praise."
Now they were both blushing.
"Mike!" Will muttered in embarrassed protest.
It was little things like these that always cheered Mike up and made him forgive the world for things like Wednesdays. Because Will still had that little adorable blush when someone praised his artwork – as if anyone couldn't. What he produced in their Art classes frequently drew the envy of pretty much all the other participants. It was a mystery to Mike how Will himself apparently refused to see it like that.
"I'm just saying. Just making sure she appreciates the praise enough." he clarified.
"I do!" Holly protested vehemently. So vehemently that Mike was actually a little taken aback. He wondered whether his sister's vocabulary had even extended to 'appreciate' yet or if she just liked talking back to him.
He turned to her. "Anyway, young lady: Weren't you supposed to do homework?"
Holly puffed herself up to her full height – meaning she just about came up to his chest. "Did it all. It wasn't even hard. And I'm not a lady." As if to underline the point, she stuck her tongue out at him.
Bossy little sisters are next on the to-be-outlawed list, Mike pondered.
There was a little chuckle. Mike threw a glare in Will's direction, who could barely suppress his grin.
His friend cleared his throat: "Ahem. She's right, though: I think we're all done here. That next Math test can come." The grin dimmed and he gave Mike a questioning look: "Are you ready for ours yet? I still don't get what exactly Mr Hanson wants from us."
"And you think I do?! That man is a fucking mystery box; who's to know?" Mike quickly glanced at Holly. "You didn't hear that!"
"Did!"
"Holly…"
"Fuckin misery box!"
Mike groaned: "Dammit."
Will's expression was insufferably smug. "And that's why they don't leave you in charge here, Mike." he stated dryly. "You're a bad influence."
"You seem to have done alright with me all these years."
"Nah; that's all a front. You just don't see how damaged you've left me on the inside."
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. Do you want me to start a repair mission?"
"No thanks. I think I like the damage, all in all."
Mike nudged him: "That was the right answer. Positively crazy; that's us."
Will laughed out loud. Then he glanced at the kitchen clock. "I should get going. Still got stuff to do."
Mike didn't want him to leave quite yet. They'd barely even seen each other over this stressful week. "You sure we can't slot in a little Star wars movie? Or two?" He made his best pleading eyes at his friend.
"Mike, we have a test tomorrow!"
"Problem?"
"Oh my God, Mike…" Will broke off, shaking his head. "I'm not even going there. Holly, let's clean up this mess and then I'm off, okay?"
"Okay!" Holly jumped to her feet and promptly collected all her books, pencils and anything else that was lying around. Staggering only slightly under the pile, she ran up the stairs to her room.
Mike stared at the spot where she had vanished, uncomprehending. "Why does she listen to you? She barely even listens to mom now, let alone me."
Will shrugged: "I don't know. Maybe I'm actually good at this." He absentmindedly went through the stack of lose paper that Holly hadn't managed yet. Mike saw that most of them were filled with drawings and doodles, and he briefly wondered how they had even gotten any Math done in between all that.
A few moments passed in tired silence.
"She's really good at drawing, you know. I'm not just saying that."
Mike, busy opening a coke from the fridge, raised an eyebrow at his friend: "Don't tell me you could actually see something in – whatever she made there?"
Will shook his head in mock disappointment: "You lack the artistic eye, Mike. I think it's beautiful."
Before Mike had a chance to reply, or hit Will for his insolence, Holly sprinted back into the room, somehow having gotten her hands on that big cookie jar that their mother always kept out of sight on the fridge. Apparently, that spot wasn't as safe as she thought.
Holly beamed and held up the jar. "One for the road?" she asked.
Mike snorted. He could only guess she had gotten that phrase from one of dad's movies or other.
Will looked down to the proud cookie thief questioningly. "Thank you. And what's the price for this?"
Mike's little sister looked up at him hopefully: "Taxi?!"
Will gave a sigh. Then he took a cookie and leaned down. "But only to the front door!" he consented.
"Wohoo!" With a giggle, Holly jumped onto his back and let herself be carried through the hall, something she apparently never got tired of. There was a short struggle where Will tried to pack all his things into his backpack without losing his balance, which looked rather more difficult than usual, with Mike's little sister shifting around on his shoulders. With her wide smile, she looked like she was in heaven.
Once he was finally done, Will threw a warning glare at Mike. "Don't say anything." he advised.
Mike laughed quietly: "I wouldn't dare." Nor did he. He opted to follow the odd pair in amused silence, instead.
To his credit, Will managed to get both of them to the front door in one piece and without smashing anything else in the hallway into a million. Mike took pity on his friend's situation and opened the front door for him, which earned him another Byers smile. His stomach did a little flip. He would really miss those, he couldn't help but think.
Will gently lowered his passenger to the ground and replaced her with his backpack. Then he turned to Mike, completely missing the adoring look Holly gave him. "So; I guess I'll see you tomorrow in Ms Smith's, then?"
Mike groaned: "Don't remind me."
Will chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. "Hey; Mike? Can we have a sleepover again sometime, maybe? If- if that's not too childish now."
"Never too childish, Will." Mike assured him. "Whenever you like; I don't have the energy to study at night, anyway."
"Got it." Will jumped on his bike. "I'll call you. Bye, Mike. Bye, Holly." With one last wave, he turned around and pedalled off the Wheeler's yard.
Holly stayed where she stood, looking after Will with a look in her eyes that Mike could only describe as star-struck.
Well, well, how about that…
He cleared his throat loudly. "I'm closing the door now…"
"Noo!" She quickly jumped over the threshold before Mike could deliver on his threat. She hit him on the arm and stared at him accusingly. "You're mean, Mike! Why can't you be as nice as Will?"
"I won't answer that. Hey; 'as nice as Will'? I see. You two seem to be getting along alright, after all. Whatever happened to you never wanting a babysitter? Ever?"
His sister pouted: "He's not my sitter! I'm not a baby anymore!"
"Well, he's certainly nice for a sitter; I'll admit that."
It took less than a second for the pout to disappear and for Holly's eyes to resume their dreamy look. It was rather cute, actually. She looked at her picture that Will had called 'beautiful', and smiled: "He's nice, and he's pretty, and he likes me! I'm going to marry him!"
Mike nearly spilled his coke. An uncomfortable amount of it went up his nose and prevented him from commenting for a while. "Okay; that escalated fast!" he finally croaked in a hoarse voice. "Didn't see that coming. Someone is smitten!"
"I'm not!" Holly protested vehemently.
Then: "What is 'smitten'?"
"It's what you are lil' sis. You're head over heels!"
"That doesn't even make sense! You're stupid!" Holly gave him the outstretched tongue once again and ran off, back upstairs.
Mike chuckled to himself. He already knew he was going to tease her over this forever. He briefly considered grabbing the walkie and telling Will about his little admirer. Then he decided he wasn't actually that mean a brother. And too tired, besides that.
What a day. That summed it up pretty well.
Mike stared up at the ceiling of his room, his thoughts wandering, not thinking about anything in particular. Life really was strange enough already without his little sister falling in love with his best friend.
He doubted it was anything serious – she was seven, for crying out loud; everyone had crushed at that age – but it still felt a little strange that she would go for Will over one of her classmates. Not that it didn't make sense, Mike reflected. Will had something about him that made people like him. Apparently even his little sister wasn't immune to that.
"Nice and pretty." Mike repeated absentmindedly. Sometimes he envied his little sister. For Holly, being a child, that was reason enough to marry him, and never mind the age difference or that Will had never shown interest in any girl as far as Mike was aware.
He sighed. Somebody would have to let her down gently, and Mike had the uncomfortable feeling that, with Nancy out of town, that was going to be him. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation.
Perhaps it was the exhaustion, but as he lay there, Mike's thoughts kept coming back to Will. Maybe it was nostalgia, too. The way he grinned. His sense of quiet calm that he had adopted after the entire Upside Down incident. The calm that didn't mean Will couldn't shout when they won a campaign or a new year needed counting down.
That was perhaps what Mike treasured most; this side of Will Byers that most people didn't get to see; the Will who was upbeat and funny and had a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step when the right music was playing. And, Mike now added to the list, the Will who seemed to be utterly incapable of getting mad at Holly – and the other way around –, a feat that no other member of the Wheeler family had managed to date.
"Dammit." Mike sighed in the darkness of his bedroom.
Usually, those thoughts would have brought a smile to his face, but lately they were always accompanied by a certain sadness.
It was the sense of something ending: Will had been his friend for pretty much as long as he could remember. But now their time in high school was nearing its end and it looked like after that the party would all go their separate ways: Dustin was headed for Indiana State University; Lucas and Max were planning their work-and-travel tour through the country; El had been accepted to Indianapolis, provided she passed her exams this year – which looked likely – and Will would be moving in with his brother in New York to study at the Academy of Art.
As for Mike, he had postponed the decision for the longest time, since he was still completely unsure what he wanted to do, or where to do it. He only knew who he wanted to do it with, but in that respect it didn't even matter where he went; he would always be leaving someone behind. It sucked.
They of course hadn't planned to split up like this. In fact, at the beginning the idea had floated around that they should all apply to the same colleges to keep in contact. Sadly, those plans rather quickly dissolved into getting accepted anywhere at all, what with their distinctly different course objectives and not always perfect grades.
As a result, the atmosphere at their last D&D session had been a lot more nostalgic than usual. Dustin had barely even been playing, too busy with making plans for 'one last hurrah' as he called it. Lucas (nostalgically) had called him an idiot. Dustin called Lucas a numpty. El asked what Dustin meant with 'hurrah'. Max explained to her that she shouldn't even mind; the boys were all idiots. El nodded gravely, agreeing with her point. Two of those boys then proceeded to get into an 'offended' argument with them, while the other two just rolled their eyes at each other about it all.
Mike could still see Will's fond grin as he'd watched the others bicker back and forth. There had been sadness, too, but his friend had refused to let it shine through. Like he was resolved to enjoy what time they had left, and for them to enjoy it, too. Probably more the latter. Will was like that.
Now the smile did steal onto Mike's face. He replayed the memory in his mind. He couldn't really fault his sister, if he was being honest. Will Byers was everything anyone could ever want, in his opinion. It was easy to fall in love with him. Easy to love…
It took a couple of seconds before Mike fully registered what he had just thought.
Wait…
Oh.
Oh.
Wait; what?!
1) Literally, this was written in less than two hours. And not beta'd.
2) First time writing this relationship.
Don't judge, please.
