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“But… But then I realized he’s just my Tammy.”
The words rang in Mike’s mind. They seemed to bounce off the walls of his head. Will’s words seemed to fade, not into nothingness, but into static. No longer could Mike decipher what Will was saying, instead choosing to focus on that one sentence.
To start, Mike didn’t even know what a Tammy was. He racked his brain for an explanation but couldn’t find one. Obviously, it was a metaphor, but that still didn’t explain what it was for! But Mike could ignore whatever Tammy was. What he could not ignore was the fact that Will had a crush. Will had a crush on someone, some random guy, and didn’t tell Mike. He was supposed to be the one that Will would talk to, would share things with. Who would Will have even shared this with?
Then, it suddenly dawned on Mike. Robin. Mike suddenly had the irresistible urge to scream. What gives Steve’s girlfriend, of all people, the right to steal Will away from him? He had seen them talking but he didn’t think they were suddenly best friends. He didn’t think he had been replaced.
”Or me.” Dustin’s voice broke through the static and through the cacophony of Mike’s thoughts. Suddenly Dustin stood up and moved to hug Will. Lucas quickly followed suit, leaving Mike sitting there on the couch, alone.
“Or me,” Mike said as he also got up to hug Will. Mike didn’t even know what he was agreeing to. Maybe this was why Will liked Robin more than him. At least Robin could listen to Will! Here Will was, crying, laying everything on the line by telling them that he was.. gay? And Mike couldn’t even listen.
Much to Mike’s dismay, Robin’s watery voice followed his repeating, “Or me.”
Would it have killed her to have an original thought? Now, with Mike’s face covered by Lucas’ shoulder, his face shifted into disgust. Robin really thought that Will cared if she gave her support? Mike feels a smug satisfaction knowing that he gave his support first and he was the one currently hugging Will. She couldn’t even get up from her seat! Mike rolled his eyes at the thought.
“Guess you didn’t need truth serum, huh?”
What?
To make matters worse, Will laughed. He laughed at her terrible joke. The next few moments seemed to blur as Max asked to hug Will and he started talking about saving the world with El. Mike nodded along absently as he stared at Will. Honestly, Will was the bravest person he knew. He stared at him, memorizing every curve of his face, like he would be tasked to draw him from memory (Not that it would even go well, that was Will’s thing).
Suddenly, everyone started to disperse, going back to what they were doing before the announcement. Mike followed Robin absently back down to the basement, going back to work on the bomb.
Mike didn’t think he had put this much effort into something in a long time. He certainly hadn’t put this much effort into anything school related. School didn’t matter when the world was ending, at least, that’s what he told himself. Everything had to go right with this. If something went just a little bit wrong, the entire world ended. Mike suddenly started feeling a little nauseous.
“Have you decided what record you’re going to replace it with? I get that you think that it’s a good song but it’s not.. an end of the world song,” Robin inquired, which somehow made Mike’s nauseousness even worse.
Mike’s face crinkled into a scowl. “Replace? I built it. It’s staying.”
”Seriously? How about… Just-”
”No.”
”Just Like-”
”No! I built this!”
”’Just Like Heaven’ by The Cure,” Robin shouted quickly.
Mike paused, considering for a moment before saying, ”I said we’re using my record!”
Robin rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, “Will would agree with me..”
Anger flared inside Mike. Who did she think she was? Will would not have agreed with her. Will would have sided with his friend, his best friend.
“Excuse me? He would not agree with you. He would definitely choose mine over..” Mike paused, his face contorting into a scowl, “yours.”
Robin tried to give a response but Mike quickly continued. “I don’t know who you think you are. Will doesn’t need you! You’re like… infecting him!”
She scoffed, “Infecting him? What are you talking about?”
“I- Y-You know! Don’t act stupid! Will doesn’t rebel! Then he becomes friends with you, out of nowhere by the way, and instantly starts not listening to Mrs. Byers!” He gestured wildly, like that will help her understand. “And.. And! You have these inside jokes with him.. like truth serum? Did Will.. tell you? He did, didn’t he?”
Mike felt out of breath, which made sense considering how much he just waved his hands around. Robin stood in front of him with a look that looked dumbfounded, not angry like Mike had hoped for.
”First, Joyce and I are cool now. Second, is it a bad thing that I have inside jokes with him? I’m his friend, Mike. He can have more friends than just you,” She crossed her arms on her chest.
”That’s not..! No! That’s not what I’m saying. Obviously he can have friends that aren’t me.”
”Is this just because I knew? Because I knew that he didn’t like girls?” She paused, her lips turning into a smirk, “And that I knew who Tammy was?”
Mike’s blood ran cold. It didn’t make sense. Why would Will tell Robin? Why not him? Mike’s hands clenched into fists. Will was supposed to go to Mike if he had problems. He wasn’t supposed to go to Steve’s weird girlfriend!
Mike’s mind wandered to Tammy. How was it fair that Robin got to know who this mystery guy is? This guy should be glad that Will had a crush on him! Honestly, Mike felt resentful to whoever this guy is. He should have appreciated Will’s feelings. Will was amazing!
”You know who Tammy is? Who is it?”
”Yes and no.”
”What the hell does that mean?!”
“It means I know and I’m not telling you.”
“What?! Will would want me to know,” Mike almost shouted, his anger piqued.
“Then why hasn’t he told you? Maybe.. I’m just the most trustworthy,” Robin smirked.
It suddenly dawned on Mike, Tammy was… Dustin. Will had to go to Robin because she was Steve’s girlfriend! Steve would know if Dustin had a crush on Will but obviously Will would never go to Steve for advice, so he went to Robin.
But… Dustin…? Seriously? Out of every person in the party he chose Dustin?
”It’s Dustin. Will’s Tammy. He has a crush on Dustin..” Mike said, less to Robin and more to himself.
Robin, instead of giving Mike the validation he so desperately craved, bursted out laughing, saying, “Pftttt… Yeah Mike. It’s Dustin.”
”I knew it!” Mike promptly turned on his heel to go find Dustin, leaving Robin next to the bomb.
”Hey, dingus! We still have to work on the bomb! Hello..?”
Mike pays no mind to whatever she said, instead, focusing on finding Dustin. When Mike finally found him, he was crouched over by their makeshift armory messing with a rifle.
Obviously, Mike liked Dustin, but what he didn’t get was how Will had a crush on him. Dustin’s great but he wasn’t something spectacular! Dustin had a very punchable face, at least, that’s what Mike was thinking. Dustin should be honored. He should be honored that Will had a crush on him, Mike knew that he would be honored.
It would be perfect, Mike could convince Dustin that his feelings for Will were romantic and Will would be happy. That’s all he wanted really, for Will to be happy. Will deserved to be happy after everything he went through. After everything Mike put him through. His mind flashed back to that fight in the rain, where Mike let his emotions get the better of him. He hadn’t meant to say it and now that it turned out to be true, Mike felt even worse.
”Hey man,” Mike said, standing behind Dustin. Dustin turned around, curiously. “So.. so. Uhm. How’d you like Will’s talk?” Mike sighed internally, so much for being smooth.
”It was good, I’m proud of him! I’m glad that he can be honest with us about who he is,” Dustin smiled.
“Yeah, well, who do you think Tammy is?”
”Tammy?”
”Yeah! Y’know.. Will’s crush,”
”Mike, I’m not stupid,” Dustin said. Mike could not grasp what he was trying to say.
“You knew the whole time?!” Mike almost felt sick, Dustin knew. He knew and just let Will have a crush on him! It’s terrible, no, it’s despicable. Mike wanted Dustin to prove him wrong, show him that he’s not thinking the worst of Dustin.
”Uh.. duh, Mike. It’s not the hardest thing in the world to figure out. Honestly, I think I’ve always suspected it,” Dustin rolled his eyes at Mike like he was explaining algebra to Steve. Mike swore there must be steam coming out of his ears.
”You asshole! You knew this whole time and didn’t say anything?”
”You.. wanted me to say something to you..?”
”No, mouth-breather, to Will. How could you just let him have a crush on you without saying anything. It’s sick.”
Dustin stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. He didn’t understand how someone could be this oblivious.
”Mike! He didn’t have a crush on me! It was you! It’s always been you!” Dustin paused, watching Mike as he took this new information in. “I shouldn’t have told you, but I wasn’t just going to let you yell at me for no reason. Lucas and I have always suspected it, I mean, it’s not that hard to guess. It’s always been WillandMike not.. Will, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas.”
Mike felt like a semi truck just hit him at full speed. Will… liked him? It felt like a cruel joke, obviously Will didn’t have a crush on him. He almost felt disappointed at the thought of it. Almost. Will was so perfect, he couldn’t ever have a crush on someone as imperfect as Micheal Wheeler. Mike didn’t deserve him. He didn’t deserve Will’s love. He couldn’t even count all the terrible things he’s done to Will on two hands!
A part of Mike was happy. Some sick and twisted part of him. Mike shouldn’t be happy that Will had a crush on him. It’s wrong. But that isn’t fair, he supported Will. Mike couldn’t be gay though.. right? He dated El, he went through all the motions, acted like he was feeling something other than emptiness all the times they would make out. Everyone felt like that though!
Dustin still stood there, trying to gauge Mike’s reaction, “Hey, listen man, it’s okay if you don’t like him back. It is. You don’t even have to say anything to him! He said the crush was in the past, that he accepted the fact that his crush didn’t like guys. He got over you Mike, don’t worry.”
At this, Mike suddenly bursted into tears. He felt his face heat up, he shouldn’t be crying over this. Was it true? Will got over him? He couldn’t believe that he could just be some crush that Will could get over. Some selfish part of him, wanted, no, needed, Will to still have a crush on him.
What did that make Mike? He wanted Will to like him. He wanted Will. It didn’t make sense. He dated Eleven! He was not some.. queer. But clearly he must be, because the ways he thought about Will, both unconsciously and consciously, aren’t straight. It was not normal to stare at your best friend’s lips, to wonder what they feel like.
Mike wanted Will and he was too late. He was too stupid to realize that he’s been in love with his friend for years. If only Mike had been smarter, he could be with Will. Now, Mike will be forced to watch as Will gets some stupid boyfriend. Will will get a stupid guy to like him and they would be stupidly in love and it would be stupid! Everything about this was stupid.
”Mike.. Mike what’s wrong,” Dustin asked as he pulled Mike in for a hug. He didn’t get a response at first, instead feeling the way Mike’s chest expanded and contracted as he sobbed.
“I- I’m.. I’m in love with him,” Mike barely whispered it, like if he said it louder, he would actually have to acknowledge what it meant. Dustin squeezed him tighter as he said it. “I’m in love with him, and I’m too fucking late. I’m too late, Dustin!”
”Mike,” Dustin pulled out of the hug and grabbed Mike’s shoulders, “Talk to him. Please, you’re MikeandWill. Do you really think he could just get over you? I was lying before, I swear. I just didn’t want you to get freaked out by it, I didn’t know you..” He trailed off, but Mike had heard enough.
”You’re- you’re right. Thanks Dustin,” Mike choked out. Dustin pulled him into another hug.
”Don’t screw this up, Mike.”
Mike nodded and left the room to compose himself. The world was ending. He had to tell Will now or there might never be another chance. He searched each room for him until he finally found Will alone, staring at the whiteboard with the diagram of the plan.
Mike took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then walked into the room. He didn’t say anything at first, instead choosing to sit next to him and enjoy his presence. He fidgeted with his hands like if he stopped moving, he would drop dead on the spot.
”Hey,” Mike finally said, still not turning to completely face Will.
”Hey.”
”Your speech. It was wrong,” Mike stated, turning to Will.
Will’s breath hitched, and Mike saw him instantly start fidgeting with his sleeve. In fact, Mike swore that Will’s face paled and blushed at the same time like he’d been caught.
“What? What do you mean it was wrong,” Will questioned, voice suddenly cold.
“No! No.. that’s not what I meant. The whole speech wasn’t wrong. Just.. part of it!” Will stared at him, not saying anything, so Mike continued, “The.. the Tammy part. I’m not your Tammy,” It came out barely louder than a whisper.
”What?” Will breathed out, like he could have possibly heard wrong.
”I’m not your Tammy. I’m Mike. The same Mike who’s in love with you. The same Mike who has been in love with you,” Mike rested his hand on top of Will’s.
”Mike stop, this isn’t funny. You don’t need to pretend to like me. If- If you think this will help me kill Vecna then you’re wrong. This is really shitty, Mike,” Will blinked out. He could see Will’s eyes getting glassy.
”I’m not- fuck. Okay, fine then,” Mike surged forward pressing his lips against Will’s.
He could feel the way Will gasped as their lips touched, the way he kissed back. He kissed back like he was hungry, like he had been waiting for years to do this. In a way, both of them had. Mike ran his fingers through Will’s hair, kissing passionately.
They pulled away for air and quickly went back to making out. It was exhilarating. Mike finally understood the point of kissing, a point he had missed while with Eleven. Will pulled away again, much to Mike’s disappointment.
”So.. what does this mean? For us? I can’t go back to being just friends after.. that,” Will stammered.
”It means.. after all this. After we win. I take you on a date. Somewhere nice.. and.. I ask you to be my boyfriend. And then we could be a real couple.”
”I’d like that,” Will smiled.
Mike grabbed Will’s hands, holding them in his, “Then let’s go save the motherfucking world.”