Returning to Hawkins~~Mike wheeler x reader

Chapter eleven

Main Street, After School

The next afternoon smells like fall.

Not the kind you see in movies — no golden leaves or soft sweaters — but the real Hawkins version: damp pavement, old brick, and something fried lingering in the air from the diner down the street.

You didn't plan on coming to Main Street.

It just... happens.

Dustin needs new batteries. Lucas wants fries. Will wants to stop by the store with the window display he keeps sketching. Mike tags along because he always does.

You walk in a loose cluster, backpacks slung over shoulders, weaving around cracked sidewalks and faded storefronts that look like they haven't changed since you left.

"You know," Dustin says, "this place would thrive if someone opened a comic store."

"There is a comic store," Mike replies.

"Not a good one."

You grin. "You say that like Hawkins can support standards."

Dustin scoffs. "Unbelievable."

⸻

You end up at Bradley's Big Buy first.

The bell over the door jingles as you step inside, the air heavy with dust and cardboard. Dustin disappears down an aisle immediately. Lucas follows more cautiously. Will lingers near the front, studying a rack of postcards.

Mike drifts beside you.

"So," he says casually, "you always hang around abandoned towns now?"

"Only on weekdays."

He smirks. "Makes sense."

You browse aimlessly, fingers trailing along shelves of things no one's bought in years.

"You still steal candy?" he asks.

"I never stole," you say. "I borrowed indefinitely."

"Uh-huh."

You pause at a rack of keychains. One of them is a tiny bicycle.

You don't buy it.

⸻

Afterward, Lucas drags everyone to the diner.

The booth squeaks when you slide in. Vinyl sticks to your legs. Someone feeds quarters into the jukebox, and a song you don't recognize crackles to life.

Dustin steals fries from everyone's plate.

Will draws on a napkin.

Mike sits across from you, tapping his fingers against his milkshake glass like he's got too much energy and nowhere to put it.

"So," Dustin says around a mouthful of food, "dance."

Mike groans. "Again?"

"I'm going with her," Dustin says proudly, pointing at you. "As friends."

You nod. "Still friends."

Mike takes a long sip of his drink.

"That's great," he says evenly.

Lucas raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment.

⸻

When you leave, the sky is already darkening.

Main Street glows under flickering streetlights, everything a little softer than it looks in daylight. You walk slower now, no rush to get anywhere.

At the corner, everyone stops.