stranger things imagines.

new sister, new brother: mike wheeler.

{request for: -frankieology <33}

mike wheeler is practically writhing in his seat.
the news was delivered last night by the gentle tone of his mother:
we're adopting.
after a while of explaining the process through a stunned, already overburdened nancy and a babbling holly who seemed quite shocked too,
mike finally understood what this meant.
the chance for a brother!
finally,
after all this time being the only boy,
being suffocated by girly perfumes and tortured with gloss, polish, and tulle,
his parents have finally come to relieve his burdens by gifting him a brother.
on the ride to the pick up point,
mike bounces at the idea of a new friend,
a new brother.
all the games they'll play,
all the dirt they'll track into the house and the trouble they'll cause.
an unstoppable duo, maybe.
a perfect addition to a group of four boys.
"we're here!"
mike exclaims with his nose nearly squashed against the window.
"gross. you're like a puppy,"
nancy mocks from the side.
it's clear to see that she's not quite excited for this addition to the family.
having two younger siblings and less than attentive parents is hard enough...
to add another?
nancy just hopes, whoever they are, they don't stir up too much trouble.
minutes pass,
paperwork is signed,
and the greatest thing to ever happen to mike wheeler...
falls through.
"a girl?"
he claims incredulously,
and rather childishly.
nancy digs an elbow into his side as a quiet reminder to shut up.
"hi,"
the girl manages to say,
just barely above a whisper;
mousy voice and a wish to shrink away into oblivion.
the stare of the boy before her is sinking through her  skin and painting her in a thick layer of insecurity.
is there something in my hair?
she wonders.
maybe he doesn't want me there.
yeah...maybe that.
"y/n!"
mikes mother expresses,
brining the emotionally battered girl into her arms.
"this is nancy, our eldest daughter. mike, our son who's your age. and holly, who just turned four."
again,
she waves and greets,
"hi."
"kids, this is y/n."
mike thinks he remembers hearing that name.
though the details that followed were less than nice.
y/n's home life had been one of chaos and blunt wrongness,
to put it simply.
the vivid explaining of it all is enough to make anyone cower away,
especially a girl barely hitting the age of thirteen.
so mike won't make anymore of a show by wringing his face up sourly or saying passive aggressive words.
instead,
he'll grant y/n some peace in this overwhelming time by pressing his lips together and refusing to make a sound.
the car ride home is quiet.
mike can't remember a time when it's ever been this quiet.
if him and nancy aren't arguing,
then him and holly are.
if not them,
their parents.
there is always a noise in this car,
but even holly is sentenced to silence in this strangers presence.
when the car is parked at the house again,
y/n marvels at how nice it is from the outside.
but nothing could prepare her for the beauty that lies within.
the cleanliness of the home,
the smell of a real home cooked meal waiting for their consumption.
the sparkle,
the glimmer,
the feeling of belonging.
it is well lived in,
it's welcoming.
it's everything y/n's never had the pleasure of experiencing.
"mike, take y/n's bags up to the room, please,"
his mother says with a gentle smile.
though the sentence offers mike a chance to reject it,
he knows it is not a yes or no question.
so he gathers y/n's bags and walks to her room,
where she quietly follows in suit.
"you look disappointed,"
she simply states when they're alone.
mike goes to leave but is stopped short by her words.
"i thought you'd be a boy,"
he admits lowly.
why do her eyes never stay in one place?
he ponders to himself.
she cannot make eye contact, can she?
weird...
"i can be a boy,"
she says as she begins to unload the clothes in her suitcase,
still avoiding mike's eye.
"you can't be a boy. you're a girl."
"yeah, but...i can act like a boy. what do boys do?"
mike wants to laugh at her oddity,
but is rather intrigued by it instead.
so he shoves his hands in his pockets to begin,
"we make a lot of noise...we're pretty dirty, too. always outside, on our bikes. sometimes we go weeks without showering."
y/n's nose wrinkles up at the thought,
and mike thinks he's almost convinced her.
but he's proven wrong when she lets a light giggle escape from her lips and the words,
"okay. i can do that."
leave from her.
"we, my friends,"
he clarifies.
"also play dnd. can you play?"
"i can always learn."
mike considers this for a moment,
then let's a sigh leave from the space of his lungs.
"alright, y/n...maybe you can be a boy, after all."
y/n looks over her shoulder to give mike a gentle smile,
before she quickly turns her attention back to the suitcase before her.
the moment mike leaves,
the silence settles in her new room.
but it doesn't last long.
nancy soon knocks on the door and listens to it creak upon opening.
"how are you settling in?"
the moment she asks,
nancy cringes at herself.
she's barely had an hour in this house,
much less to herself.
settling in is hardly possible now.
"just fine,"
y/n answers with a polite smile.
"i know it's...weird, but i appreciate you being so kind to me."
nancy feels her heartstrings begin to weigh heavy under those sorrowful eyes.
what she must have seen and heard already,
nancy wonders.
what a cruel world.
"you're safe here. mike can be, well, difficult...he's just at that age. if you ever need anything, you've got a big sister now."
the offer accompanied with the notion that y/n has a trusted big sister makes her body fill with a familial warmth,
though she's unsure of what to name it considering this is the first she's ever felt it.
"i know you've already got a little sister, but thanks for making room for me."
"of course. i won't be able to actually talk to holly like this for another ten years. i've got your back if you've got mine."
y/n nods her head.
"you can count on me."
and with that,
nancy leaves the girl with a tender smile then closes the door shut.
y/n continues to hang her clothes,
fill her drawers,
and fluff her pillows just right.
"dinner!"
the voice rings throughout the house,
belonging to only ms wheeler.
y/n realizes how little she's heard from mr wheeler since her arrival.
matter of fact,
has he said anything at all?
she chews her lip at the idea of stepping on anyone toes.
especially the one in charge of her well-being.
maybe if she makes herself quieter,
makes herself less noticeable,
the wheelers won't even remember she's there.
they can live their happy lives in the nuclear family way without being intruded on by y/n.
she takes her seat and makes good on her promise by chewing in intervals of the words:
i am not here.
until mike belches loud enough to draw the stern eye of his mother,
and is followed by giggling words,
"your turn, y/n."
eyes follow to the little girl sitting wide eyed in her seat.
a hue of shame covers her cheeks at the stare of mr wheeler,
eyes narrowing like he might be challenging her.
can't you be a boy?
he asks with nothing more than a look.
she's saved by the grace of nancy,
who nudges her brother of impropriety.
"girliest burp ever, mike. y/n doesn't even have to make a peep to beat you."
despite the joke being made at mike's expense,
he laughs heartily into the palm of his hand.
y/n gives nancy a look that's full of appreciation,
where it's returned with welcoming.
"so, y/n, what are your hobbies?"
mr wheeler asks now.
y/n's answer being her first and greatest love of reading begins to make its way to the tip of her tongue,
but she holds back in worry of sound boring;
of making the wrong choice for mr wheeler.
"i'm not sure,"
she answers carefully with a smile.
"you like to fish?"
she surveys his expression;
the crinkles in his eyes,
the ever so subtle upturn of his lips,
the expectation is his eyes.
she knows how to answer,
"yeah...love it."
"huh. look at that, mike, got a real friend to fish with."
mike's eyes find y/n's again,
where hers glimmer with a sense of pride.
told you.
she says without ever having to open her mouth.
and as though he's understood this look,
and heard the words like she might've spoken them,
mike smiles a gentle smile.
dinner passes by with much more ease.
y/n senses when to laugh quietly and when to let out a snicker.
she garners the reaction necessary for mr wheeler's tales,
nods her head when ms wheeler speaks,
smiles at nancy whenever she can,
and gives mike a fraternal turn of the lips.
the moment they're dismissed,
y/n trails into the kitchen to ask her savior of a newfound sister,
"can i help with the dishes?"
nancy turns her head full of bronzed hair and says,
"sure."
so y/n steps to nancy's side,
where wet dishes are passed her way to be dried and put away.
nancy directs her to what dish belongs in what cabinet,
helping y/n gain a sense of understanding of her new kitchen.
"what was home like for you, y/n? if-if you don't mind me asking."
nancy laughs awkwardly at her choice of wording,
which is rewarded with a chuckle of y/n's own.
"no, not at all. it was, uh, you know...difficult. couldn't be great if i'm here, you know?"
y/n says with a shrug.
"i'm grateful though. for you and your family. can't tell you how...how much it means."
she shakes her head of the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks,
then covers her tightening throat with a laugh.
"we're glad you're here. truly."
mike soon enters the conversation with a proclamation of,
"they are. i wanted a brother."
his disdain does not sound exactly definite.
like if y/n might utter the right words at the right time,
he'll change his opinion of her.
she cannot blame him for harboring such a look of ire.
she's an intruder on the only family he knows.
if y/n could hear thoughts,
she imagines mike's would sound a little something like:
what fair is it to intrude on my family up just because yours is messed up?
so y/n gives him a nod of acknowledgment.
"not glad to finally have a fishing partner?"
y/n asks with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
mike scoffs.
"yeah, right. dad never actually takes us fishing. he just talks about it to have something to say."
and there it is.
the blessing of understanding,
kissing the crown of y/n's head.
mike does not envy her for coming in unannounced to play pretend.
mike is envious that his father,
who rarely has anything to do with his blood borns,
might now play father to this stranger.
"you and i can still go. no need for him now, is there?"
y/n shoots him a smile that's full of joy.
mike cannot help but to return it,
even if he'd rather scowl at her for the next day or two.
"yeah, see! there you go, mike,"
nancy chimes in now.
a promising companion in a sport deemed manly.
y/n promised she could be a boy or a brother,
and she seems to be making well on it now.
"wanna go tomorrow? you can show me the best spot."
"sure. but bring your bug spray or else you'll make yourself bleed with all the scratching,"
mike says through an uninterested sigh.
but y/n knows better.
watch the flow of his limbs as he exits the kitchen,
accompanied with pink cheeks.
mike wheeler is excited.
when the dishes are finished and the two girls fingers have pruned,
nancy pats y/n gently on the shoulder to say,
"give him some time. he's never been a big fan of change."
"i understand. i don't blame him any."
she smiles at the girl with grace and decides to inquire,
"you're so kind."
y/n laughs at this.
"you say that like it's a surprise."
"well...a little. i think you're deserving of some anger, considering, you know..."
nancy eludes to y/n's parental past of neglect.
"anger does no good anymore."
is what y/n settles for.
truth be told,
y/n is angry everyday.
there's a melancholic ache in her chest every morning she wakes up,
and there's a burning fury in her core every night she sleeps.
it never ebbs away.
but to take it out on the family willing to save her from a corrupted fate?
well,
how would she be any better than her malignant mother and furious father,
destroying anything good and ruining the peace?
no,
y/n may be angry but she will not resort to the way of her damned parents.
so she'll breathe when her lungs threaten to burn,
she'll smile when her tongue threatens to spit venom,
and she'll be the greatest daughter to the parents that deserve her good hearted nature.
y/n thinks these things as she falls to sleep in the room adjacent to mikes.
matter of fact,
it seems to be the one right next to hers.
she can hear the faint thrum of music and along with it,
his gentle humming.
y/n recognizes the song and closes her eyes to it,
listening as her heart beats to the bass.
then it shuts off abruptly,
leaving her in complete silence until a knock rings against the shared wall.
one knock, two knock, three knock.
are you sleeping?
she translates the synchronicities,
becoming fluent in a langue she's never studied.
one knock.
no.
she waits for a reply in the beats,
but it never comes.
y/n lays back down on the firm pillow and begins her trek to slumber,
when a single, gentle knock finds way to the wall.
one knock.
goodnight.
y/n raises her knuckle and taps twice.
goodnight, mike.
***
it's early morning when mike and y/n make way to the pier to fish,
just like she'd promised.
although she didn't think mike would be this eager,
it's nice to see his facade falling.
"i thought you were weird at first,"
he admits as the line sinks beneath the surface,
baiting whatever fish may take it.
"rightfully so."
mike turns to face y/n at this.
"you don't think that's, like, mean?"
"i don't expect you to think any differently. this whole situation is odd."
mike nudges her with his shoulder like one might to do a younger brother.
she smiles under the action.
"you're too understanding."
"what does that mean?"
mike reels in his line to cast it out again,
hoping for better luck this time.
"get a little angry or something. you're not angry?"
"your sister asked me the same thing."
he rolls his eyes at being compared to his sister,
yet again.
"no, i'm not. not anymore, at least. what happened, happened. why waste my breath?"
"i don't believe that. i think you're angry. and...and you should be."
mike faces her with eyes pooling with empathy.
it stuns her to hear such a statement and see such a sight.
"you're pretty cool, alright? they...your parents, they're-they're assholes."
mike looks away and back into the lake,
where two lines are swimming beneath the water of the lake.
this next part,
he muffles in sake of his pride.
"i'm glad you're here, away from them."
"me, too."
and truer words have never been spoken.
she's been offered refuge in a time of damnation.
but before anymore sentimental words can be spoken,
a tug comes from the end of mike's line.
"mike!"
y/n calls,
bringing his attention to the bending rod.
"oh! oh, my god!"
he calls out.
it takes a great effort before the fish surfaces.
y/n and mike watch as it flounces around to try and survive out of his habitat.
"nice, mike! that's-that's huge."
she snaps a polaroid picture for the boy and his family to admire.
mike poses by the flipping fish with a thumbs up and a huge smile.
it takes an even greater effort to unhook the fish and set it free again,
but it's finally completed through four dutiful hands.
"awesome,"
y/n laughs as her and mike revel over the picture,
having packed their stuff and left.
a fish this big is good enough to call for a days end.
they need all the time possible to brag,
though the win is mike's all on his own.
"wanna stop for ice cream?"
y/n picks her head up from the concrete she'd been so focused on to find mike with a mirrored smile.
"sure."
the pair skip their way to the nearest ice cream shop,
where their once busy hands now become sticky with summery treats.
they tell their fair share of jokes and even challenge each other to a burping contest,
in which y/n automatically wins because of mike's surrender.
he watches in silence as the girl of unknown origins comes out of her shell a bit.
she cheers under her win and pumps a fist in the air.
"yeah, yeah. you should learn better manners, y/n,"
mike teases.
"hey, don't hate the player, hate the game."
y/n and mike collapse into laughter at the trite saying,
before they've reached home and enter with the events of today staining their skin and clothes.
"look, mom!"
mike begins the moment the front door opens,
but the sounds of shattering glass,
a loud yell,
and the thunderous voice of mike's father are a recipe for painful remembrance.
y/n feels the blood drain from her body at the idea of being back home again.
though rationally,
she knows she isn't,
her brain isn't quite convinced.
she shakes her head of the growing voices that belong to her vile parents,
but they trump her every attempt at grounding.
y/n covers her ears in hopes of drowning them out,
she clutches at her chest in hopes the ache will ebb,
she blinks rapidly in hopes the images will disappear.
they are taunting,
they are reminding her of her insignificance,
they are abandoning her,
they are harming her.
"y/n!"
she comes back to the life before her,
where she's safe and where she's out of harms way.
nancy and mike circle over her with wide, panicked eyes where they now stand in the yard,
away from the scene that's brought her no good memories.
"i'm sorry...i'm so sorry,"
y/n says through a laugh,
reaching to scratch her sweltering neck.
nancy holds y/n's wrists with her own shaky hands,
while mike lends her a sip of water.
"here, drink it."
"i'm fine, guys. really."
y/n stretches out the knots that have tangled in her anguished muscles.
"are your parents okay? i heard...i heard a crash."
y/n tries to find the feeling in her feet again,
all while trying to steady her voice and find color too.
"they're fine. mom dropped a dish and dad just reacted, you know?"
mike explains.
y/n shakes them away from her,
feeling much too suffocated and embarrassed,
then nods.
"good, good. nancy, did you see mike's fish?"
nancy presses her lips together to prevent pressing the issue further,
then opens them to say,
"no, i haven't."
"show her, mike,"
y/n suggests with an easy,
though still unsteady,
smile.
y/n allows this moment where the attention is not on her to step back and breathe.
she lets the cool air fill her lungs until they practically burn beneath such strain.
only then does she truly bring ease to her nerves.
when the three kids make way to the house again,
y/n is able to step through without much commotion this time.
mike hangs back with y/n to whisper,
"did it sound like home?"
maybe it was the obvious answer,
or maybe mike could just see the affliction in her eyes the moment a word sounded too sharp,
or glass shattered against the floor,
or voices raised to echo.
"yeah,"
she answers truthfully.
mike grabs her hand into his,
giving it a cordial squeeze,
as though to say:
you're safe.
so she squeezes it back.
thank you.
***
the weeks have come and gone but the wheeler kids have adapted quite well to their newfound sister.
in fact,
they can't imagine not having such a wondrous girl in their family.
the sudden surprise is now being considered a blessing by the wheeler family.
mike knew the moment she entered the car,
that she was a girl of tattered existence.
and though she denies any anger or sorrow,
mike can see through these lies and into the truth,
in the way only a brother can.
so when he could,
mike would offer y/n some peace of mind when her memories got to be too much to bear.
it wasn't long before he was granted the entire truth of her childhood,
one that seemed stolen from her.
and though most of it was beyond repair,
mike promised to salvage what he could and make their home,
her home too. 
nancy helped y/n decorate her room to her taste,
which is a privilege she was never granted before now.
nancy also took y/n shopping as frequently as possible,
which was a lot of fun and great bonding for the two;
gossiping in dressing rooms,
giggling in ill fitted clothing,
lugging home great shopping bags.
and mike treated y/n like a brother would.
she was invited to dnd campaigns,
where she played better than anyone fathomed.
she rode bikes until her sneakers wore thin,
she scraped her knees,
dirtied her clothes,
swam alongside mike,
and sewed the fissure in her heart with the sturdiest string:
familial love.
tonight,
y/n lies to bed in her perfected room,
finding sleep comes easier to her with each passing day.
but before she drifts away completely,
two knocks echo from the other side of the wall like clockwork.
one knock, two knock.
goodnight, y/n.
y/n smiles a sleepy smile and rises an exhausted arm from all her frolicking today.
one knock, two knock.
goodnight, mike.