CHAPTER 1 - THE CALL

 December 4th, 1990, Mike’s Dorm Room.

Mike curses under his breath as he stares at the single sentence he has printed on the page sticking out of the typewriter on his desk. He looks out the window and sighs. Spouting out endless strains of words has never been difficult for Mike, and crafting stories was always second nature, but recently he’s just been, well, stuck. Writer’s block. Mike takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. It isn’t just his writing that’s stagnant, he hasn’t felt right for a while. It’s not because of El; no, she disappeared more than 3 years ago, and he came to peace with that ages ago. Actually, life has been pretty kind to him since he left Hawkins for college. He looks around his dorm room before glancing back at the paper. He groans and flings himself back in his chair, only to tip it over. He hits the ground with a thunk and his glasses go flying out of his hand.

“Careful, Wheeler,” a voice calls through the wall. “You good, man?”

Mike rubs his head and groans again. That was one of his roommates, Clark. He isn’t terrible company, but his ability to run his mouth far outpaces Mike’s, and it usually leaves Mike with a mild headache.

“Yep.” He rolls over and pulls himself up. “Just peachy.” He scans the floor for his lost lenses when a grating noise rattles from the common room– the phone. Mike swings the door to his room open and starts scrambling to the counter where the phone is ringing, but his path is cut off by Clark, who quickly swipes up the landline.

“Oy! Chunk, is this you finally calling to admit I was right?” Clark is looking at Mike with a stupid smug expression on his face, which quickly drops to an aggressive frown when he holds the phone out to Mike. “It’s one of your stupid friends.” He drops the phone into Mike’s now outstretched hand and retreats to his room.

Mike leans on the counter and holds the phone up to his ear. “Hey, this is Mike, who’s calling?”

“Mike! I’m glad I caught you! It’s Will.” The speaker buzzes.

Will! Mike’s face lights up instantly. “Will! Hey! What’s up? Anything new in the city?”

“Oh, I’ve been doing great here! Nothing too exciting since we last talked, but it’s been good. How’s it going with you?” It’s nice to hear the voice of his best friend again.

“Same as you, just great!” Mike lies.

“Cool. Good to hear. Um, oh, yeah, actually there was something I wanted to ask you.”

“Ask away.”

“Are you going back to your parents’ for Christmas?”

Christmas! Shit, Mike had forgotten the holidays were coming up with all the stress of college. He hadn’t called his mom in weeks! “Oh, yeah, totally– I mean– of course. Why do you ask?”

“Well, Hopper and my mom are going out on a ski trip, and I was thinking that Christmas would be as good a time as any to introduce everyone back at home to my boyfriend.”

Mike’s smile faltered. Right. Will’s boyfriend. He had almost forgotten about that. Mike isn’t really sure why he doesn’t like Will’s new significant other, but he’s always been disinterested hearing about him over the phone. It’s not like Mike is bothered that Will is gay or anything, they’re best friends, and besides, he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with it. No, it’s not that. If Will loves someone else more than Mike, then they can’t truly be best friends anymore, can they? Yeah that’s it. Mike is just afraid of losing his best friend. He’s jealous, in the truest definition of the word. He shifts his weight and grabs his arm.

“--stay at the motel. I still need to call Lucas and Dustin, but if we can all make it back then this Christmas can be a really sweet reunion for all of us. Mike? Hello? You there?”

Mike snaps back to the conversation at hand. “Oh, yeah, sorry. Got lost in thought for a second there. Yeah. I mean, yeah, that sounds great. We haven’t seen each other since we went away for graduation have we? Shit, it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve seen you! Uh, you, meaning you and Dustin, of course. Yeah.” Jesus, why is he being so awkward? “Because, uh, I saw Lucas and Max this past summer. Yeah. Well, I’ve missed you. I miss my best friend. It’ll be so exciting to see you again!”

“Yeah! I’ve missed you too, Mike. Awesome, well, I’ll see you then,”

“See you then.”

“I’ve gotta call Lucas now.”

“Cool.” Mike takes his weight off the counter.

“Yeah, cool.”

Another voice comes in over the phone. “Babe, are you almost done? I’m getting cold here.” Mike can hear that the voice is right up next to the receiver now. Right up next to Will. Ugh, why is he thinking about that?

“Sorry, Mike, I gotta go, someone here is feeling very clingy.”

“Goodbye, Will-” 

Dial tone. Will hung up.

“Cool.”

Mike exhales and puts the phone back on the switch hook. He rubs his face with his hands. He looks up to find Clark leaning on the doorframe to his room. He’s got a sympathetic smirk.

“Rough talk? What, did your girlfriend break up with you or something?”

“Shut up, Mouth.” Mike walks to his room.

“Shit, dude, I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry, I was just trying to-”

“No, it’s okay, Clark. I’m sorry for snapping. Nothing bad happened. Honestly I’m not sure what I’m upset about.” He goes to close the door.

“Do you… want to talk about it?”

He pauses. “Maybe another time.” He closes the door a little more.

“Is there anything I can do to help you out? I know you’ve been feeling down for a while now, I- I’m not stupid. Would a hug help?”

Mike stops. “Yeah, actually, it would.” He opens the door and steps out. Clark walks over and gives him a tight hug.

“You’re a great guy, you know that? You’ve helped me out a lot, and anytime you need a favor I’m here for you.” Clark pushes away and holds Mike’s shoulders. “Got that?”

“Got it. Thanks, Clark. You’re a great friend.” Mike wipes a tear he hadn’t realized came out.

“Anytime. Well, I’m going to call Chunk now that the phone’s free and ask him why he’s being such a stubborn ass.”

“You do that.” Mike retreats to his room and picks up his glasses off the floor. It’s gonna be okay. He is going to have a great Christmas with his childhood friends. With his best friend. They’ve been through so much together, monsters and the government. Will having a love life shouldn’t change what he and Mike have. Mike groans and picks up the fallen chair. He plops into the seat and closes his eyes. What is wrong with him?