Hawkins 1976
Mike Wheeler age five looked around. He's confused and frightened by all these people he doesn't know. His fear builds after his mother says goodbye and gives him a hug. It's only a few minutes standing alone, but for Mike it seems like all the time ever. He glanced over at a little boy alone on a swing set. Mike walks over to meet him and stops about halfway there, confused.
The little boy with a bowl cut was swinging by himself, but this boy was different. He had a big plastic box on his chest and two-wires trailed from it up to his ears. Mike walked up to him, still confused. Was he a robot? Mike wanted to know.
"Hi, my name is Mike. Do you wanna be my friend?" Mike held out his hand to the boy.
The boy stopped swinging and looked up fully at Mike. He had been looking at his own feet.
"What?" The boy asked in a strange voice.
"I asked if you wanted to be my friend." Mike repeats more firmly as if gaining more courage.
"Sure. I don't have any of those." The words still sound weird to Mike.
"Neat. So uh, what's your name?" Mike asks
"Huh, I'm sorry, sometimes I don't hear good." The boy answers.
"I asked what your name was." Mike replies taking a seat on the swing next to him.
"Oh, I'm Will, Will Byers." Will says a bit loud.
"It's nice to meet you. We're best friends now. Okay?" Mike said triumphantly
"Okay." Will said with a confused smile and a slight blush.
Mike didn't think that Will was a robot anymore. The teacher explained that Will used the strange box thing to hear with because he was deaf. Other kids were mean to him, called him names and tried to hit him and pull on his ear pieces. Mike did everything he could to protect Will over those first months they got to know each other.
The two boys were inseparable. They did everything. Ride bikes, played in the woods, built legos. Mike quickly found that Will loved to draw. Not only that, he was really really good at it. Mike told stories and Will would draw a picture of whatever he was talking about.
Will didn't speak much and sometimes that made Mike think he couldn't hear him. Somehow though, whenever he thought this, Will would say something and reassure him. Almost as if Will was Professor X and could read minds.
Lucas joined up as their friend soon and was just as much Will's protector as Mike was. Lucas was quick to bring in Dustin. This put off Will a bit because Dustin was obsessed with learning about Will's hearing-aids. It embarrassed Will terribly and made him feel shy around Dustin. Eventually, Mike talked with Dustin about not being so weird about Will. Will hadn't said anything, Mike had noticed the difference in his best friend when Dustin would talk about and to him. Dustin felt awful about it and gave Will the biggest apology hug he'd ever gotten.
Hawkins 1981
Four friends now aged ten are messing around coming home from school. They are all bright and cheerful. It's Friday and they've all been allowed to spend the weekend at Mike's house. It was perfect for their planned D&D campaign. Mike's mom even said she'd buy them pizza and soda. Lucas and Dustin ran ahead laughing and joking with each other. Mike hangs back with Will so he doesn't feel left out.
"It's gonna be fun tonight. I've been working on this campaign for three whole weeks." Mike said grinning.
"That sounds awesome." Will smiled at Mike.
It was always rare to get Will to talk casually as he found it embarrassing and difficult. So the words Mike got out of him always made Mike feel a little bit special. He sometimes got butterflies when it happened. Mike snaked his arm around Will's shoulders, careful not to catch the wires for his hearing aids.
"What kind of pizza do you want?" Mike asked.
Will shrugged.
"Come on, you must have something you like on pizza."
"Lots of cheese." Will said quietly.
"Well okay then. I'll ask my mom to get that." Mike said.
"W-what about-what about Lucas and Dustin?" Will stuttered nervously.
"What about them? We're getting two pizzas, doing a cheese one is fine."
"But I don't need a whole pizza. I'll eat what-"
"Then you and I can share." Mike tried to sound reassuring. "It's really not a big deal, okay?"
Will nodded.
All four boys are sitting around a table full of D&D books a board and figures as they play out a long battle. It's going okay but they're all thinking they might need a break. It's an unspoken thought at first. Then Will seems desperate and signs something to Mike.
'My ears hurt, is it okay if I take out my hearing aids?'
Mike notices the anguish on Will's face. It hadn't occurred to Mike that Will had been wearing his hearing-aids for nearly 16 straight hours.
'Yeah of course' Mike signs back.
Will gets up instantly and goes to retrieve his carry case from his backpack. He carefully places the device away and closes the case and puts it back in his bag. He goes over to the table again and sits down. Mike watches and can tell something is still wrong.
Before Mike can say anything, Lucas taps Will's hand speaking slowly.
"Do you need a break?" Lucas' voice was full of concern.
Will shook his head at first but then one of his ears throbbed painfully.
"Ow." Will said involuntary. "Ow." He couldn't stop the tears from falling. He smashed his hands over his ears and tried to duck his face. Mike wordlessly directed the two other boys to give them space. Dustin and Lucas went upstairs to get more food.
Mike brought Will an ice pack and coaxed him over to the couch. Holding the gel-pack to Will's ear after carefully wrapping it in a paper towel. Mike felt bad. He should have noticed sooner and stopped them before the big combat encounter.
"I'm sorry Will." Mike said knowing Will couldn't hear him.
Will collapses against him.
It's only a couple of minutes before Mike hears Lucas and Dustin coming down the stairs.
"Hey guys we brought you some food and soda too." Dustin said a little too loud for how late it was. Mike hissed at them both. Dustin set the food he was carrying down and Lucas followed suit.
"Is he okay?" Dustin asked.
Mike shook his head.
"I forgot he would have had his hearing-aids in, like all day and then we played so late." Mike said adjusting the ice pack a bit.
"Oh man. I should have thought of that too." Lucas scolded himself.
"That would have been-crap like, sixteen hours." Dustin chimed in.
The boys ate and played missile command on Atari. Will joined them and the other boys found they were easily outmatched. After an hour or so, Will had fallen asleep and Mike sat down on the floor with his two other friends. They all talked about Will.
"He usually won't say anything though." Lucas offered.
"That's true, but if he won't than we should be more aware." Mike said sharply.
"Don't you think you're babying him a little?" Dustin suggested.
"I just ended up treating him like a baby holding an ice pack to his head for like fifteen minutes." Mike snapped.
"He needs our help, Dustin." Lucas said.
"I just think it'd be better if he learned it was okay to say he needed a break." Dustin shrugged. "What do I know."
"Come on Dustin." Mike groaned. "This isn't about you right now."
"No, it's about him and here you both are not including him in the discussion. Pretty lame if you ask me., Why not just sit down and talk to him tomorrow?" Dustin raised his eyebrows to punctuate his question.
Mike sighed softly.
"Fine, but he's pretty sensitive about it." Mike said.
"So you do it alone." Dustin offered.
"I already said fine. Drop it." Mike snapped.
"Okay then. See you all in the morning." Dustin yawned and went to find his sleeping bag.
The next morning around 10am Dustin and Lucas decided to go on a junk food run since they would run out of pizza soon. This gave Mike the perfect chance to talk with Will. Will had already been awake since 7:30 that morning his normal school wake up time. He let everyone sleep while he just entertained himself drawing.
Mike got his attention lightly so he didn't startle him. Mike signed to Will seeing that his best friend wasn't wearing his hearing-aids.
'Can we talk for a bit while they're gone?' Mike signs slowly.
He'd gotten much more confident in his signing ability but he's still afraid to speak at a normal pace.
'Yes. Okay. Wait just a minute.' Will replied.
Mike watched as Will got his hearing-aids out and started to put them in. Mike was going to go over and stop him. Will didn't need them. They could talk just fine as they had a moment earlier. Will walks back over a soft smile on his face.
"You don't need those just for me Will." Mike said confused.
"I like to hear you, Mike." Will said in his usual voice.
Mike's own voice caught for a second. Then he felt his face heat up and he smiled stupidly.
"Okay then." Mike exhaled. "Will, I want you to know it is always okay to ask for a break."
"I don't want to ruin the game." Will said softly sounding full of shame.
"Oh come on. There are plenty of things that stop the game sometimes Will. Like Lucas having to go home. Or those times Dustin has those stink-bomb shotgun shits." Mike smiled.
Will actually laughed.
"Really Will, it's not a big deal just because you're the only one, okay? We all want you to be able to play. If things happen and it's a bit later, who cares? I don't. Dustin and Lucas told me they don't. You're a part of this party and I-lo-we care about you. Okay?" Mike almost said something that scared himself.
"Thanks Mike, I'll remember." Will promised.
November 7th, 1983
Mike sent Will home on his bike. According to his Mom, Will wasn't home and had called over to the Wheelers' home. At first no one panicked, thinking he might be at school. He wasn't and that was when Mike started to panic. It was the worst day of his life. He'd let Will go home alone and something had happened to him.
The cops, especially the chief of police was a huge asshole. Mike was already talking with Lucas and Dustin about going out to look for Wiill. They wouldn't be able to right away and this made for an even more hellish wait for all three of them. It didn't help that none of their parents seemed to care about Will.
When they met up late that night to go find Will a storm had rolled in. It didn't stop them. They searched for nearly and hour when Mike saw Will's bike laying on the ground. Mike didn't get hope from the discovery. Instead, this made him even more desperate.
They did call out while riding but all of them knew it was unlikely Will would hear them. Mike suddenly stopped his bike. He saw a brief flash of something red. He turned his bike's light toward where he thought he'd caught a glimpse. Sure enough, there was something red up against a tree facing away from them.
Mike never ran so carelessly before. He almost tripped and face planted just as he reached the right tree. He saw a crumpled form. It could have been Will, he wasn't sure. When he got closer, he knew it was Will. Soaked to the bone, shaking and huddled in a ball. Mike approached but there was no gentle way to warn Will this time.
Mike's hand clasped the boy's shoulder and Will's head snapped up and looked around. Dustin and Lucas arrived a short few moments later.
"Will are you hurt?" Mike asked terrified.
"Holy shit-is he okay?" Dustin yelped.
"I don't know." Mike suddenly realized his mistake.
'Hurt?' Mike signs.
Will shakes his head
'Fell. Broke. Can't go home.'
Will's shivering hands manged just barely to sign.
'Don't understand' Mike signed back.
Will holds out his hearing-aid box. The bottom smashed open, batteries gone. Mike understood instantly why Will would think he couldn't go home.
'I'm gonna get you home, okay? I'll take you home.' Mike signed.
Will pulled himself back and Mike jumped a bit. Then Mike realized what happened.
'Not your home. My home. Not your home. My home.' Mike signed twice for emphasis.
Will was letting out a frightened cry.
"Guys, we're going back to my house." Mike said sharply. Catching their confused looks, he continued. "Listen, I'll explain later, he just can't go home to his house okay? Trust me."
All four boys, Will on the back of Mike's bike went back to Mike's house and snuck Will into the basement. Will was still wet and shivering. Mike got him some dry clothes and a couple of blankets. When Will was settled on the sofa, Mike turned to Dustin and Lucas.
"His dad, he, he beats him. Really really bad sometimes. He never says anything. He's afraid to go home because his hearing-aids broke." Mike explained.
"Shouldn't we tell someone we found him at least?" Lucas questioned.
"I'm thinking on it. I should probably stay with Will. I'm the only one who knows sign."
"What about Jonathan? He can probably help." Dustin offered.
"He's at work now, right? We could probably call him." Mike starts to walk over to the phone.
Mike hesitated. What if Jonathan insisted on taking Will home? There really wasn't a simple answer. Mike couldn't keep Will here forever. He looked over at Will, puffy dark eyes, probably not having slept in two days at least. Mike blew out a breath and started dialing. The phone rang through and Mike swallowed a fearful lump in his throat.
A voice clicked on the line and said hello. Mike almost didn't answer. Then he did when the person who answered said hello again.
"Is Jonathan Byers there?" Mike's voice shook more than he hoped it would.
"Hold on." The voice said. The phone crackled and popped from being set down. After less than thirty seconds a familiar voice picked up the phone, sounding confused.
"This is Jonathan."
"Jonathan, it's Mike. We found Will, he's with us at my house. Can you come? By yourself? Just please you'll understand when you get here. Please. Just you." Mike hung up. He hoped Will's brother honored his word.
"He's on the way." Mike Sighed. "I hope this is the right thing to do."
Mike walked over to the couch. He sat down next to Will whose head was now next to Mike's lap. He sighed. If only he was bigger, if only he was a superhero he could protect Will. He wanted to. Will needed his protection.
After about fifteen minutes and a brief explanation to his mom, Mike lead Jonathan to the basement. The older boy stopped at the bottom of the stairs and saw his brother. He wanted to run to him. He wanted to say things would be okay. Mike had showed him the broken box and hearing-aids. Will would not believe him. Especially if Lonnie were still at home. It took Jonathan a good few minutes before he got up the nerve to go over to the couch.
Mike watched with an eagle eye. Dustin and Lucas backed him up. If anything went wrong they would jump in to protect their friend. They all watched as Jonathan got down on his knees and lightly touched his brother's shoulder.
Will woke up slowly which is probably why the little boy didn't panic right away.
"Jonathan." Will said in a flattened voice.
"Yeah bud, it's me. You're okay. We, mom and me, we missed you buddy. We missed you."
Mike sneered at this. He hated that neither Jonathan nor his mother had learned sign language. It would help Will communicate right now. Mike hoped Will would be able to follow everything okay. There was really no excuse. Will said Jonathan was trying, but this would have been a good time to show it.
"Don't worry, okay? Dad is gone." Jonathan said slowly, making sure Will could follow his words.
"Gone?" Will asked.
"Yeah, he's gone. Mom kicked him out." Jonathan's words felt hollow.
Sure the man was gone now but nothing could undo the damage that made Will want to come here instead of go home. Mike was feeling his anger boil over.
"You're not taking him home Jonathan." Mike spat also signing it so Will could see.
"What?" Jonathan asked stunned.
"If you want him to come home, your mom has to come here and confirm that he's gone." Mike's anger built.
He was brought out of it when Jonathan nodded in agreement.
"Okay, that's a deal then. She'll be by in the morning." Jonathan said.
Mike watched Jonathan get up and leave the basement. Lucas and Dustin just stared at Mike in shock. Where had he gotten that courage? Mike walked over to the couch.
'It's okay now. You sleep. I'll protect you.' Will signed without speaking.
Two Weeks later
It turned out Jonathan had not lied and Lonnie was gone. Will seemed to be happier and he smiled much more. He even laughed some at Dustin's lame jokes when Mike translated them into sign language. Even though he'd lost his hearing-aids, Will seemed to be happy.
Mike had a surprise for Will though. It was close to Thanksgiving now, but Mike felt it was almost like Christmas. He told Will that he had something to give him. Will smiled but looked a bit confused. The day passed terribly slow as it often does when you want to do something.
Finally, the last bell rang and Will got on the back of Mike's bike and they headed to his house. Mike was positively floating with excitement. It took Will a second to catch up to him as they both sped down the stairs. On the table where they usually played D&D was a small cardboard box with 'For Will' scrawled in red crayon. Mike signed for him to open it.
Will looked at him completely confused.
'for you' Mike signed and smiled softly.
Will walked to the table and opened the box carefully. His head snapped up in surprise. Then he looked down in the box again to be sure he hadn't made a mistake. Very carefully Will reached into the box and pulled out hearing-aids just like his old pair.
'Merry Christmas' Mike signed a big smile on his face.
Will's face stiffened as tears fell. He moved so fast that Mike almost got knocked over by Will's hug. They hugged for almost a minute. Mike heard Will crying and he knew they were happy tears. He would never tell Will about how he'd been able to do this.
Mike had gone to his mom and asked if she could help him sell some toys to make some money to help get Will a new set of hearing-aids. She agreed and then contributed the rest herself. Mike didn't need those toys anyway. The hug was all the payment he needed.
Will pulled away and went back to the box and pulled out the device. He started to put it on and then stopped.
'Battery?' He signed
'Already in. New ones.' Mike replied simply.
Will carefully put his hearing-aids on while Mike watched. The familiar buzz hit Will's ears as the device came to life. He looked at Mike beaming.
'can you say something, please' Will asked
"Merry Christmas Will." Mike Smiled. "I love you."