Chapter Text
Two months.
That’s how long it took for Willie to finally crack.
It was the fourth of July weekend and just like every other year, Mike, El and Willie took the long trek back to Hawkins to spend the weekend with the grandparents, along with meeting up with the former party members. They had just finished up at El’s childhood home with Hopper and Mike and Willie were sitting together at Lucas’s old house, both eating from the same piece of cake when he asked.
“Dad, when is Will going to come visit?”
Mike stopped mid chew and carefully put the plate on the table before turning to face his son.
“I don’t think we’re going to see him for a long time, honey.”
That was always the response. Willie had been asking since he had stepped back into the house, since he had said goodbye to Will at camp, and since Mike had lost his eternal love. He didn’t know how to tell Willie the truth, they would never get to see him again, and he didn’t know if he could even handle saying it out loud.
Before Willie could pester him further, the pop of a champagne bottle interrupted them.
Mike was really glad they all stuck to their promise to spend the Fourth in Hawkins as he watched Lucas pour more champagne into Dustin’s glass while El danced around the living room with a blushing Max. Without this welcome distraction, Mike didn’t know if he would have been able to focus on anything else besides Will.
He had kept replaying every moment, every new memory they had made together those last few weeks and every time he thought about it, his heart ached.
He couldn’t let himself disappear down that road, though. He had a son to think about.
A son who, very frustratingly, couldn’t seem to let the subject go.
“Maybe we can go visit him? You guys exchanged addresses for letters and everything, we might as well put it to good use.”
Mike tried to hide his laughter in a cough. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if he had shown up here randomly, like you want to do to him? Wouldn’t you be mad?”
Willie blinked up at him owlishly. “I wouldn’t be mad.”
Mike sighed. Neither would he, but he couldn’t tell Willie that.
“Listen, buddy, I know you want to see Will and so do I, but if he wanted to visit us he would have done so already.”
Willie crossed his arms angrily over his chest and pouted. “He promised me. He promised he would come visit.”
Mike pulled Willie closer and wrapped an arm around him. “I know, but sometimes in life, you need to do what’s best for you.”
“I don’t want him to forget about us, though,” Willie whispered. “I even gave him that letter you wrote him so he can’t forget.”
Mike’s mind started whirring with possibilities. “What letter?”
Suddenly, Willie froze up next to him and slowly sidled out from under Mike’s arm. Before he could get off the couch, Mike pulled him back down and made him look at him.
“William Jeremy Hopper Wheeler,” Mike tried to keep calm, bt the dread was building in his stomach. “What letter are you talking about?”
Willie shrugged sheepishly. “I think you might know.”
Mike did know. He had written that letter two days after the fight, when he had gone to Will’s house to apologize and he had already left for New York. He remembered pouring his heart and soul into that letter, writing down the feelings he didn’t even know he had. Mike had signed it, sealed it, and kept in a box in his closet, knowing he never wanted it to reach Will’s hands.
Turns out, that’s where it may be right now.
“Oh god, is that you went to that camp in the first place? You wanted to give that letter to Will? How did you even find it?”
Mike hadn’t even noticed the room had fallen silent until Willie had turned to eye El in panic. As soon as his friends started to avoid his gaze, everything clicked.
He pointed accusingly at El, his hand shaking with shock. “It was in that box you gave him for his birthday, wasn’t it? You’ve had that letter this whole time?”
El innocently smiled and tried to casually cross her arms. “Listen I just gave him the letter. I didn’t even tell him who Will was.”
All eyes turned to Max and Lucas who had been sneaking out of the room, both looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Lucas grabbed onto Max’s arm in fear once Mike got up and started for them, his eyes fuming.
Max was the one to come to their defense. “I know what we did was pretty bad, but if we hadn’t done it, you wouldn’t have reunited with Will. So, really, you should be thanking us.”
Mike looked absolutely livid. “ Thanking you? Is that what you want to call it? Are you seriously saying that right now?”
Everyone started arguing all at once, including Willie who just wanted to be involved. A loud whistle caused their fighting to come to an abrupt halt. All of them turned to glare at Dustin, who raised his arms in surrender. "Listen you're all being dumb. Max, El and Lucas, you guys shouldn't have given all that stuff to Willie. Willie, you should have asked your dad about the whole thing and Mike, you got to meet Will. Everything worked out."
"That's not the problem here," Mike flopped on the couch, running his hands clumsily through his curly hair. "I told Will right before we left camp that I want him to be happy and move on. When he reads the letter he's going to think I lied and that I'm actually still in love with him."
El glanced at him, her head tilted in confusion. "Well, are you?"
"Yeah. Yeah I am."
Everyone took a collective breath.
"So what now?", Willie asked, turning to face his dad.
No one said anything, but all seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Mike stood up and clenched his fists in determination. He didn’t know if Will ever came back to Hawkins, but….
Maybe Joyce could help him out.
"I need to go to his old house."
El gave a quick hug before he ran for the door, pulling him in close for a second. "Good luck."
Mike didn't have time for luck. He rushed around, grabbing keys and his coat, while the others watched him in a shocked silence. He finally paused and glanced back at his family, each of them showing support. Willie smiled the brightest.
Mike rushed through the hallway and pulled open the front door, his mind already forming a plan. Sprinting across the lawn, he headed for the dark void that made up the woods and plunged through, his fears kept at bay with the adrenaline rushing through his body.
The sounds of nightlife and the twigs snapping kept Mike grounded and he barreled through the woods, his feet carrying him down the familiar path to the Byers’ residence.
As he started to head left, the sights and sounds overtook his senses and memories flushed through him.
The evergreen tree where Max had climbed up as far as she could and tied a scarf near the top. A stream of water heading back towards town where Dustin and El had a paper boat race. Even the broken nest of twigs shoved together that used to be where Mike and Will used to-
Wait.
He came to an abrupt halt and wandered closer to the broken structure. It was crushed down by various plant life, the familiar blue tarp shredded to bits, probably by animals.
It was Castle Byers.
Carefully, Mike sifted through the twigs and broken nails that littered the area until his hands brushed against the worn out mattress that used to be Will’s refugee whenever he was scared. Mike hadn’t even realized he had been crying until a solid tear slid down his cheek and onto his hand.
This place had been such a big part of his life. He had spent so many rainy nights huddled under the tarp with Will, watching as he sketched the world to life. After Will had moved away, no one had been there to take care of the place.
Mike wanted to crawl underneath the tarp and just cry, letting all his emotions out that he had been holding in for Willie’s sake, but he knew he couldn’t.
The only way to make his heartbreak go away was to actually try to heal it.
He stood up, brushing the dirt off of his dark jeans and followed the worn out path until he reached the clearing.
Mike almost passed out as soon as he looked at the house.
It was still the same worn out white color, the awning providing the porch with coverage from the weather and the monsters that always seemed to lurk nearby. The familiar station wagon peeked out from the backyard and if Mike squinted, he could still see the scratch that Max had made when she first became their party’s zoomer.
The front steps creaked when Mike moved to the front door. A small cracked welcome sign was swinging back and forth as he knocked.
He knocked again.
Nothing, no light turned on in the darkened house, no barking from a pet, no smile from Mrs. Byers as she greeted him with love.
Turning on his heel, Mike stumbled down the stairs, his mind blank. His plan had failed, there was no way he was ever going to get to see Will again to tell him the truth.
That he loved him.
Mike mindlessly shuffled back the way he came, the dark and looming forest waiting to swallow him whole. His mind was racing through all his regrets, fighting with Will, saying such hurtful things, reuniting with him and throwing it-
"Shit," he muttered under his breath, rubbing his cheek in pain.
Mike was in such a hurry that he collided with something, no someone, standing right in the darkness of the woods. He was on the ground within minutes, his mind pausing as he tried to gather his bearings.
"Ow, what the hell?"
Mike felt chills run down his spine and he scrambled to his feet, his heart working overtime as he helped the man up.
"What are you doing here, Will?"
Will rubbed his forehead where he had ran into Mike and grimaced. "I was trying to make a romantic gesture, that's what."
Mike looked him up and down, studying him as if he wasn't real. Will looked like he had been traveling for a while, a black book bag slung over one shoulder and his messy brown hair blowing against the wind. The bags under his eyes made him look troubled but when Mike looked into his eyes, they were clear as day.
And staring right at Mike.
"I just went to your parents’ house, but they said you had just left."
Mike was still trying to wrap his head around everything. "You're actually here right now? In Hawkins? I’ve been coming here every year and I never see you."
Will smiled shyly and ducked his head. "Yeah. My mom likes to spend holidays with Jonathan and I in New York. This year, though...This year I had something important to do so I let my mom use my car for her trip up to New York and I stayed because...” Will’s face turned serious and his gaze was intense. “I...I finally read the letter."
Now it was Mike's turn to duck his head in embarrassment. "Listen, Will, I'm really sorry about it that I didn't know that's what Willie had given you in fact I didn't know everyone had planned this whole-"
"Mike, I'm glad you wrote it."
Mike clammed up and just stared at Will in confusion.
Will took a deep breath and started pulling out something from his bag. "You remember how every time something was stuck in my head, I had to put it down on paper, draw it out so that I could actually let it go?"
He held out a pile of papers to Mike, who carefully held them in his arms, his mind going blank as he flipped through them.
"Will, these are…," Mike's sentence died in his throat. Each drawing was done in a rush, but it was clearly an artist's sketch. And they were all of Mike. He examined the pictures closer, until they all just became a blur in his head of freckles, warm smiles, and dark hair.
“I tried so many times to just forget about you, but obviously it didn’t work”, Will chuckled and fiddled with his hands nervously. “It got so bad that I accidentally started drawing you when I was showing one of my summer school students how to draw a person.”
Mike was at a loss for words. He just gawked at Will in response, who took it as reason enough to continue on. Slowly, he lifted the same string from around his neck that he had the night of their second fight and Mike flinched inwardly, preparing himself for the flash of the gold ring that was still implemented in his memory.
Except there was nothing. Just the simple red string remained.
“Matt and I had a long talk and decided that it was just never going to work out. We’ve always had our problems and we just never seemed to be able to feel like ourselves around each other. I realize now it’s because of you.”
Will stared directly at him, his hazel eyes almost burning holes into Mike’s. He approached him slowly until he stood directly in front of Mike, his eyes scanning his face before briefly falling on his lips.
"You know, when we were younger I was always scared I was going to tell you the truth, that I had feelings for you and I promised myself I would never be the first to say that I love you because of it." His eyes lit up like a kaleidoscope. “So when I say I love you, it’s because I stopped listening to the voice in my head that is constantly trying to bring me down. I want to be happy and I want to be with you because...I love you and I won’t ever stop.”
Mike's heart burst at the seams. He leaned agonizingly closer until their noses brushed together and he studied the stars revolving around in Will’s eyes.
How many times had he looked into those eyes and felt the world falling apart? How many times had he felt like he was grounded to earth and safe for the first time? He reached for Will, dragging him closer until they were chest to chest. "I’ve spent so much time regretting our story. All the mistakes I’ve made, all the lost time, and I just don’t want to regret any more missed chances with you.”
Mike took a deep breath and took his last chance.
He surged forward and when their lips connected, Mike could swear he felt the earth shift. It felt like a renewal, a second chance from the universe to actually get it right.
Mike pulled away and cradled Will’s face in his hand. “I love you, Will. So much. You're it for me."
Will grinned, his smile radiating all the love in the world, letting the drawings of Mike flutter to the ground as he wrapped an arm around Mike’s neck, pulling him close.
In the midst of kissing, suddenly Will giggled and Mike watched the way his face lit up even more. “You know, if it wasn’t for Willie we wouldn’t even be standing here together right now.”
Mike chuckled and buried his face into Will’s hair. “God, how did I not realize how much I needed you? I literally named my child after you.”
Will nudged him until Mike looked into his teasing eyes. “Well, if it makes you feel better I adopted a cat when I first left and named it after you. Guess we both were too dumb to realize.”
The pair burst out laughing and fell to the ground, not even caring about the twigs and dirt brushing against their backs. Together, they looked up at the night sky, the clear shining stars, and Will pointed as a bright shooting star flew across. “Quick, make a wish.”
Mike grabbed Will’s hand and turned to face him.
“I got my wish right here.”
Willie stared at the blank paper before him, his pencil poised to write, but nothing happened. He sighed and tossed the pencil to the floor, twisting around in his seat to look out the window.
It was July 4th and instead of being outside with his family, Willie was sitting in his dad’s old childhood bedroom, wishing he was brave enough.
He heard a whoop of laughter from his grandparent’s backyard and shifted in his seat to watch Dustin accidentally flip a hamburger onto the grass. All of his parents’ childhood friends had congregated at the Wheeler’s house to celebrate the holiday.
Well, all except Will.
His dad had come home late last night, after Willie had gone to sleep, and left before he even woke up. Willie even asked his mom if that meant he had found Will, but she had given him a quick hug and told him that they couldn’t get their hopes up.
Willie really wanted to, though.
He remembered how happy his dad had been at Camp Cattaway and how much Will had made him feel like he belonged.
Willie really hoped they would work it out soon.
Willie begrudgingly got up, taking his time down the stairs to admire the pictures of his dad’s family scattered over the walls. There were a few of just his dad as a baby, dressed to the nines as he sat on his mom’s lap, crying his eyes out. Even pictures of his Aunt Nancy and Aunt Holly were there, looking regal and like they were trying hard not to roll their eyes at the camera.
Willie bounded down the rest of the stairs and burst through the back door, the laughter and noises that he had heard from upstairs louder and filling him with excitement. Lucas and Max were trying to figure out the fireworks to be used later that night while Dustin waved at him with his grilling spatula. Finally, he spotted his mom over by the swing set that had been put up for Willie when he was younger, studying her camera.
“Hey, sweetie, did you finally finish?”, El asked as he approached her and grinned cheerily at him. Willie mounted the swing next to her and gently pushed himself before shaking his head no. El rubbed his back comfortingly. “It’s okay, Willie. Whatever happens, your dad and I still love you very much.”
Willie leaned into her side, always a mama’s boy, and gestured at the camera. “Did you get any good photos?”
Showing him the camera, El started flipping through the photos of her friends. “Some of them turned out really good, like th-”
Suddenly, Max yelled out and both mother and son hurried off the play set, running towards the rest of the group until Willie stopped in a dead halt.
Standing in front of the gathered group was his dad, who looked sheepishly around, and…
“Will? Is that really you?”
Lucas was the first to step forward, his mouth agape as he studied the man standing nervously next to Mike.
After glancing cautiously at Mike, Will approached Lucas too.
“Listen, I just want to apologize to you, all of you. I know I left abruptly and you guys have no idea how sorry I-”
He was tackled in a hug before he could even finish. Lucas finally pulled away, his grin seeming to eat up the rest of his face. “Will, I don’t care about any of that. I’m just so glad you’re back now.”
Will looked like he was about to cry. He tugged Lucas into a hug again and everyone started laughing, all of them wiping tears from their eyes.
Dustin went for a hug next and ruffled his hair as if they were little kids.
Even his Aunt Max, who Willie knew hated hugs, tackled Will into a tight grasp before punching him in the arm playfully. “Don’t ever leave again, you hear me?”
Will’s smile was the biggest out of all of theirs. “I won’t. I promise”
“You know, friends don’t lie. You actually got to keep your promise this time.”
El finally stepped forward, her face morphed into one of no emotions. Will and El studied each other, and Willie really thought this was going to be it, this was how Will was going to die, when suddenly the two burst out laughing. Will pulled her into a long hug and El held him close, as if afraid he would disappear if she let go.
“I missed you, Will.” El pulled away and even from Willie was standing, he could see the tears lining her face. “We always promised each other we would never be apart.”
Will ducked his head in shame. “I know, El. I let you down. It’s one of the biggest regrets of my life. Can you ever forgive me?”
El held his face in her hands, studying him, before pressing a light kiss against his cheek. “Will, I forgave you the day you left.”
Will wiped his tears on his sleeve and finally turned to face Willie. “And I made a promise to you, too. I’m really sorry I didn’t come sooner, Willie.”
Willie didn’t even bother waiting, he ran towards Will and fell into his open arms. “Just promise not to do it again, okay?”
Willie ruffled his hair and grinned. “I absolutely promise. Besides,” He glanced behind him at Mike, who was trying to discreetly wipe the tears from his eyes. “You’re going to be seeing a lot more of me.”
It took a minute for everyone to finally get it and once they did, chaos ensued. Everyone was laughing and jumping around, happiness for Will and Mike filling the space around them.
Mike leaned down among the commotion and pulled Willie in for a hug. “Without you, none of this would have happened, Willie. Thank you.”
Willie preened. “So letters really do work, huh, Dad?”
Mike grinned. “You bet they do.”
That was all the answer Willie needed.
He slipped past Will and his dad, past Dustin and Max, and tiptoed through the house until he landed back in his room, staring at the paper he had carefully laid out on the desk.
Grabbing the pencil off the floor, he paused, thinking of the best way to start.
No. If there was one thing he learned recently, he needed to stop thinking and take a chance.
Carefully making sure each word was legible, Willie started writing the letter to the kid he had met at Camp Cattaway.
His own love letter.
Dear Charlie,
I never believed in the power of taking chances.
That is, until I reunited my dad with his first love.
It all started with a letter...