"Another fucking Demogorgon, can you believe it?" Dustin sighed as he threw a small bouncy ball at his ceiling and caught it again when it came down. "Seriously, I thought we were done with all this. Right, Mike?"
Mike wasn't really paying too much attention. He was sitting on the end of Dustin's bed and staring at the wall. He was in a bad mood. He shook his head when Dustin called to him again. "What? Yeah, it's pretty bad."
"That's what I'm saying. First a gate, then the Mind Flayer, and now this. The universe hates us, Mike! I think that's it. The universe just hates us for no good reason."
Mike laughed. "Oh yeah, I've thought of that one before."
"And what did we even do?" The ball flew up to the ceiling and back down into Dustin's palm again. "I mean, I've been a great person so far. Good grades, nice friends. I've only ever read a single one of those Playboy magazines and I don't think that's enough to make me deserve all this. It was one magazine, Mike."
"Yep, I get it," said Mike. "You sound pretty innocent to me."
" Exactly. So I don't get it. It's like a big plot hole. None of us did anything to deserve this! I mean, Lucas is awesome. You're cool, as far as I know. Will's got it the worst and he definitely didn't do anything. Max is great, kinda mean sometimes. Jane's pretty cool, except she's killed people, but I'm not counting that."
"I don't think it really has to do with any of th-"
"And out of the billions of people on earth, why us? Why Hawkins? It's just such a low probability and here we are!" Dustin caught the ball again, this time chucking it at a wall. It didn't bounce back to him. "It's just so... stupid."
Mike sighed, scooting over on the right edge of the bed so he could look down at Dustin. "At least we're all in it together though, right? Imagine if it was, like, just you. And nobody else even knew what you were talking about."
Dustin shook his head. "No thank you. I'd go crazy, I think. Or I'd die. Who would defend me from the great variety of demo-creatures? I'm not that capable."
"Yeah, so at least we've got everyone here. We've got an advantage then."
"Now we just have to figure out how to defeat the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer and close the gate." Dustin sighed. "Easy enough, I say."
"Well, at least someone's positive."
"Hardly."
Mike stared out at the wall, quiet for a moment. Hanging out with Dustin again made him sad that he'd lost contact with everyone at Harvard. He missed conversations like this. Maybe Harvard would've been better if he had actually kept in contact with everyone while he was there. It seemed so obvious now.
Dustin sat up and looked at Mike. "Did you and Will make up with each other?" He paused. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I just... you two are so close usually."
I should tell Dustin. Dustin would listen to me, right? I bet he doesn't like Brad either. Dustin's good at first impressions. Dustin had always got the real nature of people before his friends. He liked Max first, he liked Steve first, and he was always starting stuff with Mike's dad for no reason. He had good taste in people. That was it.
"We... aren't. I mean, it's only been a day and we haven't really talked since last night. Maybe it'll work out."
Dustin looked concerned now. "You didn't talk at all this morning? He was at the house, didn't you see?" 'The house' was the Hopper-Beyers house, it was deemed the secret base.
Mike shook his head. "Not really. He looked kinda sick, so I didn't want to bother him. I would've said something..." It was a lie. Mike wasn't sure how to go about the Will situation so he was glad he had an excuse not to talk to him at the moment.
"Oh, right. He told me he had a headache. He looked tired. Bet he stayed up late."
Mike raised an eyebrow. "Why would he stay up late? He went over to the motel fairly early last night."
"Well, may I remind you, Will's got a boyfriend, and sometimes when two people love each other very-"
"Oh my god, Dustin." Mike scrunched up his face and threw a pillow at his friend. "You're horrible."
Dustin laughed. "I'm just saying."
"Yeah, well, never say again." Mike sighed, crossing his arms. He didn't like the thought of whatever Dustin was getting at one bit.
Dustin poked Mike's leg. "Hey, did I say something wrong?" he asked. "You're all mopey again now." He climbed up and sat next to him on the bed. "Seriously, what's wrong with Will and you? Has it got to do with... the boyfriend?"
Mike looked at Dustin, trying to figure out if he should tell or not. In the end, he decided it would be the best idea to just get it out there.
"Yeah. It does." He leaned back against the wall. "It's my fault, too. I'm an idiot."
"No you're not," said Dustin, a stern look. "What did you do?"
Mike sighed. "Well, let me get this out in the open first: I like Will. Like, maybe I love Will. Not as a friend." Well, now that was there. No going back. Hopefully, Dustin was okay with it.
Dustin nodded. "I feel like I called that one a long time ago."
Mike shoved him. "Liar. You had no idea."
"No really!" Dustin threw his hands up. "In middle school, I used to tell Lucas you acted like Will was your girlfriend. I guess I just called it."
"That doesn't make any sense."
Dustin shrugged. "Sure it does. Just continue your story."
"Okay, well, I just realized I liked Will a couple of days ago, but I didn't really talk to him at all while I was at Harvard or anything."
"Yeah, I didn't get any calls either. What's up with that? Too busy hanging with the preppy Harvard kids?"
Mike laughed. "Something like that. Can I talk?"
"Oh yeah, sorry I keep interrupting." Dustin scooted back, getting himself prepared for listening.
Mike exhaled. "You're fine. Anyways, I called Will on his birthday– Well, I didn't actually remember it was his birthday but I mentioned us being best friends and he said he didn't think we were best friends anymore."
Dustin's eyes widened. "You're kidding! Will said that? About you?"
Mike frowned. "Yeah. But I kinda get it. We didn't really talk much anymore. But we got here and he shows up with this... this... Brad and I don't know how you feel about Brad but I hate him."
Dustin laughed. "Yeah, I got that much. You guys are always glaring at each other. But I am curious what's wrong with him?"
"Everything. He's horrible to Will, have you noticed?"
Dustin thought for a second. "Not really, but I'm not really paying attention to them either. More stuck on the Upside Down problem at hand. But I can see Brad being a jerk, so it's not like I don't believe you."
"Good, because he is. A jerk."
Dustin sighed. "And why do you think he's a jerk? Like, anything specific?"
Mike tried to find a specific example. It was more of little things and things that were hard to explain. "I don't know. Just jokes he's made and stuff he says. I mean, I spent an entire night with those two. Do you know what Brad did when Will had a vision? Nothing. He said it was just a nightmare and he'd be fine."
Dustin leaned forward. "A nightmare? While he's walking around with his eyes rolled back and screaming?"
Mike imitated Brad's voice. " It was dark!"
"Oh my god, that's so stupid."
Mike smiled. "Yeah, glad you get the point. Anyway, here's the problem. I kinda confessed to Will that I loved him yesterday and told him that Brad reminded me of Lonnie."
Dustin stared for a second. "Wow. Okay. Yeah, now it makes sense that he's mad."
Mike shook his head. "But does it? Like, I have a point! He can't stay with that guy."
"Okay, yeah, maybe, but yikes, Mike. Lonnie? That might have been a little strong. What exactly did you say?"
Mike laughed nervously. "I... Uh, I said that if he stayed with Brad he'd end up like Joyce."
"Yeah, what the hell, Mike? That might have been a bit too forward."
Mike rolled his eyes. "It's true though. I didn't say anything I didn't mean. He just has to realize I'm right and I don't want him to figure it out the hard way." Mike sighed and looked at his friend for advice. "I guess my question is: What do I do?"
Dustin stared blankly. "You're in deep shit, Mike. I don't know if I can help."
Mike lay down, groaning. "You're no help. Thanks a lot." He just needed someone's advice. He had no idea what to do and Dustin summed it up pretty perfectly: He was in deep shit.
"Okay, fine. Here's the best I've got." Dustin cleared his throat, about the reveal his life-saving plan. Mike was somewhat excited. Then it came: "Just talk to him."
"What?" Mike sat up, confused by the simplicity of the answer. "You think I haven't tried talking?"
"Well, I know you've probably tried, but you've gotta make him listen. Don't bring it up right away. Just ease into the conversation. Talk about something else with him. Then not only are you gonna fix the problem but you're also spending more time with him."
Mike nodded, satisfied. "Alright, I guess that's pretty good, but how do you suggest I start this conversation up in the first place?"
"Just start talking to him. That easy. Preferably when he's alone. Don't bring up Brad or anything going on right now at all. Just talk."
Mike continued to take it in. "You know, you've got surprisingly good advice, Dustin."
"How do you think I've managed to keep up a long-distance relationship for six years? I'm just really good at this love life stuff for some reason. Suzie says I'm easy to communicate with."
Mike's eyes widened. "You're still dating her?" Mike had honestly thought Suzie was a thing of the past. Apparently, it hadn't just been young love.
Dustin smiled triumphantly. "Seven-year anniversary is just around the corner! We've even exchanged promise rings."
Mike leveled his eyelids. "Promise rings? Really?"
"What's wrong with promise rings?"
"They sound dorky."
"Okay, you have no right to say that." Dustin crossed his arms defensively. "Don't make me remind you of some of the gifts you gave Jane back in middle school. Or even Will for that matter. Remember the jar?"
"What jar?" Mike did not remember the jar.
Dustin lit his face up mockingly. " Reasons you're my best friend!" He made a rainbow motion. "Lucas and I made fun of you behind your back for days. Where did you think of that?"
Mike laughed, the memory of the jar coming back to him. He had given it to Will on his thirteenth birthday, full of pieces of paper with all his favorite things about him. "I saw Nancy give something similar to Jonathan and I thought it was cool. Don't make fun of it. It was nice."
"Then don't make fun of my promise ring." Dustin flashed his hand in front of Mike, displaying the silver band. Mike tried not to laugh. It was still dorky.
"Okay, fine. Back to the Will thing. You really think that's gonna work?"
Dustin rolled his eyes. "Mike, I know that's gonna work. I can see it. He just wants to normally talk to you. He gets frustrated when you bring up Brad. I think he's conflicted. He doesn't know what to do. If you let him just talk to you. Just normally, maybe he'll realize how much better of a person you are." Dustin shrugged. "I don't know. Makes sense to me, but you can do whatever you want."
"No, no. I'm gonna use that. That's good."