Someone else's mouth

One

Note: Hi everyone! This Fan fiction was originally meant to be a one shot but I decided to break it up into mini chapters. I hope you all enjoy!! more notes at the end!

April 10th 1990

Mike wheeler fell in-love too late, and with the wrong timing, and that was the kind of mistake that never stopped punishing him.

It had been a year since Venca died- a year since Joyce bought that axe down and everything finally stopped screaming.

Max and Lucas had a one- bedroom apartment, in an area Lucas insisted wasn't bad.After everything they had experienced danger began to feel theoretical.

Dustin is off at university, He usually calls once or twice a week just to check up on Mike, but also to remind Mike that he's wasting his potential and he could be doing better things with his writings.

Joyce and Hopper disappeared somewhere far still grieving El's death, Mike can't seem to remember the place's name...something starting with a D? Nance and Jonathan found their way back to each other, they always do. And Will...

Will was in LA studying art. He rarely called even though Mike now wishes he did everyday. And when he did call, his voice sounded older, far away. Mike found himself wishing those long calls would never end. And when they did Mike replayed them in his head until the words had lost their meaning and only Will's voice remained.

Will Byers, who was once his best friend and trusted companion with skin like he carried the sunlight with him that you could catch when you look into his eyes long enough.The gentleness in his smile, like he's letting you in on a secret, How his eyes always found mike's in a crowded room. Even when Will was angry, Mike's first instinct had always been to close the distance between them.

For years, Mike had buried those feelings under shame. He used to degrade himself for thinking this way, hearing his dad's voice in the back of his head "Things were simpler when people knew how to behave." or the classic "back in my day we didn't have boys kissing each other."
anytime the topic was bought up, and he'd start scoffing dismissively, glancing down and pressing his lips thin as if the conversation itself disgusted him.

So... Mike stayed silent.

He never confessed. Not out of doubt, but. Fear. Fear of being seen. Fear of losing the one person he couldn't afford.

Now he carries the guilt around with him everywhere, from being a shitty boyfriend for all those years then being a shitty best friend. For wanting something or someone even his mind was too afraid to name.

Yet, it had only made the silence louder.

Mike now spends his time in his compact one bedroom apartment tucked above the noise of the busy street in New York which his parents helped him obtain, staring at the ceiling as it starts to become blurry by the simple act of his thoughts spiralling, each crack a reminder of what could've been and everything he couldn't fix, the popcorn ceiling stared back at him, pressing down on him, cold and unforgiving.

A sharp chime cuts through the silence.

Mike flinched turning his head in the direction of his laptop perched open on his coffee table, the screen glowed against the dim room. He slowly sat up, head throbbing, body stiff from the hours he'd spent doing nothing. His bladder being the thing that reminded him he's still human- barely.

The notification blinked again.

. A few weeks ago during one of Mike's "Will" episodes he had decided to listen to Dustin's advice and do something with his life. Therefore he decided to email different publishers on his book- more out of spite than hope just to justify all the hours he'd spent writing instead of sleeping, not actually expecting to get an answer back. The email reads:

Dear Mike,

Thank you for sending us your manuscript. We have read it with interest and would welcome the opportunity to discuss it further.

If you are able to travel to Los Angeles, we would be glad to arrange a meeting in our offices, please let us know if this would be convenient.

Yours sincerely,
West line Books

For a moment, Mike just stared.

Los Angeles.

His chest tightened,sharp and immediate.

No.
That couldn't be the thing he focused on.This was good.This should be huge! So why did his hands begin to shake? Someone had read his work and actually enjoyed it- this was the type of thing authors waited years for.

LA was massive. Ridiculously so.
Millions of people, he certainly wouldn't run into Will. There was no universe in which he'd run into him. Not the boy who had existed a thousand miles away from one another, living the life Mike had only imagined in fragments and fear.

Mike stood up rubbing his sweaty hands onto his grey joggers, feeling the rough fabric against his palms until he felt grounded again,  he reached for his telephone mounted on the wall to call Dustin and tell him the good news, and that also he won't be as much of a loser anymore.

The phone-line rang 3 times until Dustin picks up."Hello?"

"Mike?" he says on the other line, all confused like Mike had broken an unspoken rule

"Hey, I took your advice and sent out my manuscript to publishers, well i did it a few weeks ago now and i got a reply."

"Holy shit." Yeah that's what he thought except he was thinking about Will when his mind had wandered there . "Dude that's great what did they say?"

"They said they read it with interest and are interested in discussing a full book, I just need to travel to LA sometime next week." Mike's face grimaces as he mentions LA as it makes him think about Will and the thought of Dustin mentioning Will is weighing down on him.even if he secretly wants Dustin to mention Will just so Mike has an excuse to allow his mind to think about Will and that god-forsaken smirk he's got.

"Hey man, that's incredible! Will you be staying at Will's?" Dustin asks causally not realising the mental distress he was about to put Mike under.

Mike coughs, being taken aback by Dustin's question "Oh.." He faintly scratches his scalp. "Well I was more thinking of just booking a motel." He shrugs his shoulders, then remembers Dustin can't see him."yeah i wouldn't wanna bother him." He quickly adds.

"Oh...that makes sense."

It didn't.

"Yeah well I'll update you closer to the time." Mike says leaning his shoulder onto the wall where the telephone is hung up.
"Yeah. yeah okay well goodbye, I'm wishing you luck. And dude, seriously. Well done, I'm proud of you." Dustin comments. Mike gives his thanks and the call ends.

silence echoes through his apartment. However, the same cannot go to Mike's mind which is running from the simple remark 'Will you be staying at Will's?'

The question chimes in Mike's mind, again, again and again.

Why would I stay with will?

Didn't Will have roommates? A routine Mike no longer fit into? Did he still tilt his head when he listened? Still bite his lower lip when he was worried or nervous? Did Will have a boyfriend?

The thought of Will laughing, making jokes, eating, literally doing anything with another man sends Mike into a state of helplessness and overwhelming amounts of jealousy as he lays back on the couch and contemplates his entire life.

Note: i hope you all are enjoying it so far ill be releasing chapters when i can but do lmk what you guys wanna see!