Byler ༉‧₊

So good

Will had a sneaking suspicion that praise affected Mike.

Hints and clues had been bubbling in Will's subconscious for some time, but it wasn't until the night of the power outage that he had finally put two and two together.

A mean storm had swept through Hawkins that night and Will remembered Mike being particularly excited to have a stormy backdrop for the double horror feature that they were planning to watch on their television set.

As soon as Mike had arrived home from campus that evening, he had ordered pizza for them so they could commence their traditional Friday "Fright Night" with all the fixings. They had sat down on the couch together with plates balanced on their laps, ready to while away the hours with some classic horror, but as soon as the beginning credits started to roll, the power had gone out.

Snapping their heads over to each other and locking eyes, they groaned in unison.

"Oh, that's just great," Mike huffed between a slice of pepperoni with double cheese.

"Haven't you already seen Poltergeist, like, ten times?" Will laughed, reaching for a second slice.

"Yeah, but Hellraiser is showing after and I, uh, never really got to really watch it."

Will chuckled. The whole party had gone to the theatre back when it premiered and Mike probably only caught a glimpse of the whole show in between locking lips with El. A while later, when the movie had come out on VHS, the whole group of them had made plans to have a watch party in Mike's basement but when the day arrived, their plans had fallen flat due to a fight that had erupted between Mike and El. The two had called it quits and broke off their relationship only a short time after, citing irreconcilable differences. Mike still refused to go into detail and El wouldn't budge either when questioned.

"Well, maybe the power'll come back on by that time," Will offered.

"Yeah, here's hoping," Mike said, jumping up from the couch, "I'm gonna go get some candles."

"Can you bring a board game or something?" Will called out to Mike's retreating back.

Despite Will's initial optimism, the storm and power outage had persisted. Resigning themselves to a board game marathon, they had made a comfortable station on the floor, complete with blankets and pillows. They were currently playing Monopoly while Will rattled off potential plans for the weekend when Mike piped up, cutting him off.

"Hey! Sorry—before I forget, did I tell you that I aced the exam?" Mike said, rolling the dice and scattering them on the board.

Mike, in particular Mike-fashion, was studying to become a robotics engineer and had been sweating over his midterm studies on engineering mathematics.

Will watched Mike smile sheepishly in reaction to the grin that was spreading across his face.

"What!" Will exclaimed, leaning over the game to shove Mike on the shoulder. "Great work, dude, I'm proud of you."

Interestingly, Mike, who had started taking a sip from his glass of Coke, sputtered, causing the drink to splash in his face. Will watched on as his friend went into a coughing fit before wiping at his flushed face with a napkin.

"Wrong tube," Mike gasped between coughs while slapping at his chest.

Will, smirking at his friend, nodded slowly.

"But seriously, I knew you had it in the bag," Will continued once Mike had somewhat regained composure.

"Thanks man, it means a lot," Mike said, his voice cracking slightly.