Stonathan ❤️

70

NOT MINE!!

all credits go to SnowButterfly on ao3

It's no secret that the new absence of the Byers family has left a hole in many residents of Hawkins. Several intertwined family and friend groups are weighted down by this change, and a group of weird, dorky high school freshmen that call themselves the party is no different.

A lull of dull sadness hovered over the group for days after they first left, with Will's and El's signature spots left empty. The group didn't hang out together, with it being too sad or even blasphemous to do anything without Will and El. However, after much insistence by the missing two, they started to hang out and have fun again.

Of course, they still miss the other two terribly, but some are taking it worse than others. Dustin acts like nothing is wrong, and, when asked, he explains that he knows they're still here in spirit. Lucas is similarly okay, but Mike and Max haven't been as much.

Max lashed out at them often right after El left, and she continued to be standoffish, but that suddenly changed one day. She revealed that she and El talk almost every day now, and they 'figured things out.' Mike doesn't know what that means, but he hopes that he and Will can 'figure it out.' Since then, the redhead seems to be floating on air.

Will and he have been... strained. It's just not the same when Mike can't see his best friend face to face, and everything seems to remind him of Will in some sense. There's just something so painful about being so far away, a kind of pain that the others don't seem to have.

This pain is often accompanied by weird thoughts. Mike has never once considered how much he likes to be in physical contact with Will until he couldn't be anymore. The little touches like a brush of the hands when passing the dice between them or their shoulders together when they sit next to each other at lunch meant more than he ever realized. Mike can hardly admit it to himself, but he wants to feel Will's soft hands and floofy hair.

What does this mean about him or how he thinks of Will? Mike couldn't say. Or he doesn't want to, at least. If he is ever faced with these thoughts, he can just say he misses his friend. They've known each other for over half their lives, so it would only be reasonable.

Weirdly, at their campaigns, which Max is officially a part of now, he gets odd looks whenever he mentions Will, and no one says why. Mike knows that they're thinking something, but they refuse to spill. He waits for them to say something, but nothing comes, and he would have assumed that he's just being paranoid.

If it weren't for Dustin. His friend can't hide his emotions to save his life, so his confusion and curiosity might as well be written in sharpie on his face.

"'Are you going to tell me what's bugging you already?" Mike bluntly asks the curly haired-boy one day in a dip during the campaign. Dustin jolts, nearly dropping his papers onto the floor.

"W-What do you mean?" Dustin asks, his voice shaking and eyes darting around. Mike just glares at the boy.

"Your poker face sucks. Tell me."

Dustin glances desperately around the room, but no one else will save him. Max shrugs, and Lucas tilts his head at Mike.

"Fine," Dustin sighs dramatically, "Are you and Will... dating? We've all been wondering."

The question chills Mike to his very core. The notion of such a thing had never once crossed his mind, and it's a logical impossibility. In a panic, Mike stutters out an answer.

"What?! N-No! I would never be-! I'm not like that! I'm not... gay." Mike has to force out the last word.

"Dude, chill," Dustin says, making a motion like he's patting Mike's knee but in the air instead. "We were just wondering. You seemed extra down when Will left, and Will is, you know, gay."