Chapter Text
ONE
Lucas knew that he and Mike were friends, but sometimes it was rough knowing that he wasn’t Mike’s best friend.
That spot was deserved for the one and only Will Byers.
It didn’t matter that Lucas lived closer, or the fact that Lucas was much louder and more talkative than Will ever was. No, there was some unexplainable bond between Mike and Will that Lucas could never dream of getting in the way of.
Take for example what happened at recess time the other day.
Because Mike was sick the past couple of days he had to stay in for recess to make up a math quiz. That meant that it was just Lucas and Will for recess time.
For all that he’d just complained about Will, he wasn’t actually a bad person. Not in fact, Will Byers was the opposite of bad. He was one of, if not, the kindest friend he’d ever had. He was soft spoken but only when he didn’t have anything to say. When it came to playing pretend during recess or talking about a new game they all enjoyed called Dungeons and Dragons, Will got very passionate and excited. His energy was infectious. Truly Will was a great friend to have. Lucas was just being a bit jealous of his and Wills relationship, but how could he not? It was hard being the one always left out in a trio.
That recess though, was fun, even without Mike there. They continued playing as space explores defeating evil space aliens. The two of them were having the time of their lives at recess until it all got spoiled.
The trio of the boys had come to realize that they didn’t exactly fit in with the other boys at their school. The other boys at their school liked sports like baseball and soccer, and sure, Lucas enjoyed playing basketball but it wasn’t what he really loved. What he, Mike and Will enjoyed were comic books, superheroes, playing video games at the arcade. And while some other boys did enjoy those things, for some reason because Lucas, Will and Mike liked them more than others, they were deemed “nerds.” Two boys in particular who picked on them were Troy and James.
Of course this recess they decided to target Will and Lucas.
“Hey freaks!” Troy yelled. Lucas looked over to see Troy and James snickering at them from across the school yard.
Lucas shook his head and turned back towards Will who looked tense at the other boy's presence. “Just ignore them, Will. They’ll go away.”
But of course, they did not. In fact, Lucas and Will ignoring the boys only made them pester them more. Getting closer, calling them more names, the ones they knew got under their skin such as Midnight or Fairy.
“What are you freaks deaf now too?” Troy asked as he shoved Lucas.
Lucas, in a rare act of bravery, decided that he wasn’t going to take Troy’s name calling today. Shoving him had crossed a line today. This was one of the rare occurrences where Lucas was able to stand up for himself and his friends.
“Shut up, Troy!” Lucas yelled back. “Neither of us are laughing. Your jokes aren’t funny.”
Troy’s face morphed into one filled with rage as he shoved Lucas harder than before, knocking him to the hard pavement.
“Well look who finally decided to grow a spine,” Troy smirked, gaining the upper hand again. “I’ll show you something funny.”
The next thing Lucas knew, Troy’s fist was colliding with Lucas’s cheek. His first instinct was to cry, sob, go run to a teacher. But that would only be proving Troy’s point about how Lucas and his friends were sissy’s, and that just wasn’t true. So he didn’t cry, he held back his tears and kept a brave face.
Troy seemed to take his bravery as a sign to punch him again, and then again. But Lucas would not cry.
“Lucas!” He heard Will cry after the third punch. “Stop it! You’re hurting him!”
“You want the same, Byers?” James asked and shoved Will, not hard enough to send him tumbling to the ground, but enough to make him trip over his feet and lose his balance, landing on the ground beside Lucas, trembling in fear.
“Aww, look at how scared little baby Byers is,” Troy said, shaking his head with a smile. “He really is such a little pussy. Just like you, Sinclair.” Troy kicked Lucas’s side before getting up and moving back towards James. Lucas bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out in pain. He wouldn’t give Troy that satisfaction. Not today. Not ever.
“Come on. I don’t wanna hang around these freaks anymore,” Troy said.
With that the two boys left and Lucas slowly made his way to his feet. He was about to help Will up when he heard a voice call out for him.
Lucas turned around to see Mike running towards the pair of them. “Will!” He yelled again and knelt down beside the boy still on the ground. “Are you okay? You're shaking. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Will told Mike.
“Are you sure?” Mike asked softly.
Will nodded, then caught Lucas’s eye. “I’m sure. Lucas, are you okay?”
Mike turned towards Lucas as if he didn’t even realize he’d been standing there the whole time. “What’s wrong with- whoa! Your face is all puffy Lucas. How did that happen?”
And that was just one example of the difference of how Mike acted towards Will versus Lucas. Will got Mike’s full attention, all his kindness, his soft side. With Lucas he still cared, but he was more abrasive.
“Troy and James,” Lucas explained and then winced in pain. He couldn’t say Mike was wrong though, his cheeks hurt, especially when he spoke now.
“Ugh those… those… assholes!” Mike yelled and both Lucas and Will gasped.
“Mike!” Will exclaimed at Mike’s rude choice in language.
“Well they are!” Mike said defensively. “Were they the ones that pushed you?”
Will nodded. “Yeah.”
A flash of anger crossed Mike's face and he huffed. “I can’t believe them. C’mon let’s get both of you to the nurses office.”
Lucas and Will shared a look, and thankfully Will spoke up as Lucas was in too much pain to do so. “Mike, I don’t really need to go to the nurses, Lucas got the worst of it.”
Mike glanced between Lucas and Will for a moment. “Well, you can’t be too safe. Let’s just have the nurse look at you just in case.”
“But-“ Will started, but then Lucas gave him a look that said ‘just drop it’ and Will did. They both knew that Mike was too stubborn to have his mind changed about this kind of thing, especially when it came to Will.
As they were walking back, Mike wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders, as if he was having trouble standing. Will being the quiet boy he was didn’t say a thing.
When they entered the nurses office Mike and Will explained what happened and Lucas was given two ice packs for cheeks that were starting to form bruises. As for Will he was given the all clear to head back to class as there was nothing outwardly wrong with him. The tension in Mike's shoulders seemed to release when he gave them that piece of information. Lucas couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the absurdity of his reaction. Troy and James didn’t even really hurt Will, he’d just lost his footing when stumbling back. Lucas was the one who got punched not once, not twice but three times. Mike really should’ve been worried about Lucas, and he knew that Mike cared, it’s just that Will was always going to be more important.
“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Will told Lucas once Mike had gone back to class, begrudgingly without Will. “You were super cool. You didn’t even shed a tear when Troy punched you.”
“I wanted to,” Lucas admitted quietly.
“Well you don’t have to be brave all the time. You could’ve told Mike how you were feeling instead of letting him worry about me,” Will said.
“Yeah…” Lucas replied. That was the final annoying piece of the whole Mike and Will situation: Will’s total oblivion to how Mike treated him versus how he treated Lucas. He didn’t realize that even if Lucas was able to talk and tell Mike how he was in more pain than Will, he’d still worry about Will more and there was nothing Lucas could do about it.
Lucas was slowly making peace with the situation. He just hoped maybe they could add one more member to their little group, then Lucas wouldn’t have to feel like such a third wheel all the time.
TWO
It had been one hell of a week for Lucas and his friends. One of the most insane weeks of his life.
And it all started with Will going missing on November 6th.
When Lucas and his friends Mike and Dustin first heard of Will's disappearance, they all immediately knew that they had to help in the search for him. No one let them though, but Mike was determined. Of course he was the first one to suggest such a reckless plan of sneaking out to the woods to search for Will.
Lucas saw it during that day, during the interview with Chief Hopper, he was worried, upset. He wanted to find Will. Yes, he and Dustin did too, but Lucas saw it in his eyes that he would cross heaven and earth to find Will.
That was until Eleven showed up.
It was no unknown fact that the group of them were nerds, meaning that all the girls at their school thought the same of them and didn’t want to be associated with them and risk ruining their social reputations.
Somewhere along the course of trying to get rid of Eleven and trying to find Will, Mike realized that Eleven was growing fond of Mike, it was clear as day. Lucas even pointed it out to Mike, which just made his affections for her more intense. Maybe it would’ve been better if he didn’t say anything, as Mike could be pretty oblivious to his actions (i.e. how he acted towards Will versus him and Dustin).
Lucas found it odd to watch Mike interact with Eleven. It was almost like he was trying and failing to recreate the bond he had with Will with this girl.
A moment that stuck out to him was when they dressed Eleven up in a wig and one of Nancy’s old dresses and Mike called her pretty. It felt awkward, it felt wrong. It felt like Mike was trying to replace Will’s presence with Eleven.
Maybe that’s why Lucas had a distaste towards El in the beginning. She was taking Mike’s focus off of searching for the person he treated like his whole world and made Lucas and Dustin after thoughts.
All of that was pushed aside though because they needed each other. They needed El’s superpowers to help them find Will. Reflecting back on it, Lucas wonders if that was a contributing factor to why Mike liked Eleven so much; her ability to find Will. After all, Mike seemed to like her a lot more after she did things to further their search for him, such as trying to lead the boys to him and channeling him through the radios so they could figure out where he was. His affections wavered when she did something to hinder their hunt for their friend, like when they pulled Will’s fake body from the quarry and Mike thought Eleven had lied to them about Will being alive.
It was just a thought Lucas considered, but none of it mattered anymore because Eleven was gone now. She’d sacrificed herself, killing herself and the Demogorgon to save Lucas, Mike and Dustin. It was truly heroic.
And now Will was back home. Chief Hopper and Will’s mom managed to rescue him from the Upside Down. He overheard Hopper saying that he almost didn’t make it. Mike heard this too. He watched the thoughts swirling behind Mike’s eyes and Lucas knew he was imagining a life where Hopper and Joyce didn’t make it in time to save Will.
After the day he had he was too exhausted to try and comfort his friend. He wouldn’t really know what to say anyways, so he let himself get taken by sleep.
He was awoken suddenly with someone shaking him and a voice yelling “Guys, guys! He’s up! Will is up. Guys, Will’s up!”
He registered it was Mike’s voice but woke up with someone leaning on him. He quickly pulled away and made a grunt at annoyance towards Dustin for falling asleep on him, only to find Dustin was doing the same.
“Guys come on!” Mike yelled and it finally clicked in his brain that Will was awake. Lucas raced to catch up to Mike who was leading the way to Will’s room.
When they entered the room and saw Will, the real Will, awake and in the hospital bed, Lucas felt the most excitement and relief he’s ever felt in his life. They lost him, they thought he was dead less than four days ago. He thought that he’d never see Will Byers again, but here he was live and in the flesh.
Mike of course was the first to hug him, Joyce making way for them to come through when she heard Lucas yell “Byers!” In a moment of pure joy after seeing Will for the first time in a week.
Lucas followed in suit and gave him a big hug and was promptly shoved off by Dustin who gave him a massive bear hug as well.
“Will you won’t believe what happened when you were gone, man,” Lucas said excitedly. Him and Dustin started taking turns explaining different parts of the week and insane moments that Will had missed. Lucas was so overjoyed while talking, he almost couldn’t stop himself when Will started coughing and a sense of worry and dread washed over the room.
Mike was the first one to speak up. “You okay?” He asked in that soft voice that he usually only used for Will. His hand also reached out, as if to hold Will’s hand but he pulled back almost as quickly as he reached it out as if deciding otherwise.
“It got me,” Will wheezed, looking at Mike. “The Demogorgon.”
“We know,” Mike answered, looking strictly at Will as if trying to communicate something telepathically that only he and Will would know. Lucas glanced between the two of them, to see they were both looking at each other that way.
“It’s okay. It’s dead now. We made a new friend,” Mike continued. Lucas didn’t expect Mike to bring up Eleven so soon, especially to Will. “She stopped it. She saved us. But she’s gone now.”
A silence passed over the room for a moment. Lucas watched as Mike swallowed, not looking at Will. If Lucas didn’t know any better, he’d say Mike almost looked guilty, but he assumed he was just upset that Eleven was gone now and having to admit that fact. Lucas turned his gaze to Will whose eyes were still trained on Mike, searching for something. Lucas realized that for the first time ever, Will was witnessing Mike have a stronger connection to someone else other than Will.
Dustin broke the awkward silence by continuing to talk about their said new friend. “Her name is Eleven.”
Will’s voice returned to its past enthusiasm as he asked, “like the number?”
Lucas, Dustin and Mike then started to explain all about El and her superpowers to Will. He seemed truly impressed by it, but Will saw that he wasn’t as excited as before. Maybe he picked up on how much Mike cared about her and was maybe threatened? It didn’t really make sense though. Will was always oblivious to how Mike felt about him.
Lucas didn’t know anything for certain, but he did know that this was the happiest he felt since losing Will. The happiest all of them had felt. He saw it especially on Mike’s face, how he barely spared a glance at anyone else and tried to keep all of Will’s attention on him rather than Lucas or Dustin.
That thing with Eleven must’ve just been a blip because this relationship between Mike and Will couldn’t be broken.
THREE
It took a few weeks but slowly the boys' lives started going back to normal, well mostly normal. There were still lots of people who harassed Will and the others about what happened to him. All of them were forced to say that Will simply got lost in the woods and no one was able to find him, always evading the search parties.
The truth? Hawkins Lab had them under NDA’s so they couldn’t say a word. All of them took this very seriously, as the lab had eyes and ears everywhere.
Only the party and a few other people such as Will’s family, Mike’s sister Nancy and her boyfriend Steve and Chief Hopper, knew what actually happened.
Well and of course Eleven, but those secrets died with her.
Lucas knew that she was still a touchy subject for Mike. While he was going insane over trying to get Eleven back like he was with Will, Lucas knew that Mike didn’t think Eleven was dead. Lucas didn’t know how that was possible though. All three boys watched as she and the Demogorgon died. Though he supposed there was nobody. They just turned to dust. Still even if she was alive where would she be?
Honestly, it was better that they didn’t bring Eleven up, both for Mike and Will.
Lucas had come to notice that whenever they talked about Eleven, wanting her around for her powers or just mentioning stories of her in passing, Will got quiet. Now Will was always quiet, but he got almost cagey and maybe a little irritated. If Lucas said so himself, he thought that Will didn’t really like Eleven, even though he hadn’t even met the girl.
He figured it had something to do with the dynamic that was Mike and Will and how Eleven was sort of throwing it all off whenever she was mentioned, as she was the only one Lucas had seen Mike care about on the same level as Will.
It all worked out though. They didn’t talk much about that week anyways. Will got tense when thinking about it. The doctors said he had some kind of PTSD, like what soldiers in the army had, except on a less severe level. Still it was prevalent. Will may not have fought any wars but he sure as hell survived the Upside Down, and that was sure to mess someone up, especially sensitive old Will.
Most of the time Will called Lucas the brave one, Dustin and Mike usually agreed. But truthfully, Lucas thought that Will was the brave one. It’s a quiet sort of brave but Lucas has been noticing it ever since he returned from the Upside Down. The fact that Will still got up every day after surviving being hunted by the Demogorgon, well that was something Lucas had to give kudos to, even though he knew it still bothered him, especially recently.
Mike was the first to notice the day before Halloween when Will had to go to Hawkins Lab for an appointment. Apparently he’d had an episode while the four of them were at the arcade. Lucas felt a bit guilty for not noticing, but Mike did, bringing him back into the arcade with an arm around Will’s shoulder in classic Mike and Will fashion. And of course following with that theme, Mike was constantly worrying over Will the whole night. Lucas could practically feel the anxiety coming from Mike’s direction. He watched the way Mike stuck by Will’s side like glue, always let Will have his turns if he thought Will wanted and of course used that soft voice that Lucas had come to name the Will Voice. Lucas tried to catch Dustin’s eyes to see if he was noticing it, but he was too involved within the games to notice.
Lucas thought maybe he was overthinking Mike and Will’s whole relationship, but he couldn’t help feeling like there was always something that Lucas was missing, or something the pair didn’t tell him. But he didn’t understand what it could be, or what it really was, all he knew is there was something different about them.
Take for example the next day, Halloween.
The night started off nice. The four of them trick-or-treating together, Will was even able to convince Jonathan to not come and hover over them the whole time. Lucas was secretly bummed when Max didn’t show up at 7 where he and Dustin told her to meet them, but they all were shocked– both literally and metaphorically– when Max turned up in a Michael Meyers outfit, ready to trick-or-treat with them, already knowing to head to Loch Nora for full sized candy bars.
Lucas and Dustin took the opportunity to talk to Max about her life back in California, mocking her a bit with the stereotypes they’ve seen on TV about how they all said things like “totally tubular.” Max corrected them immediately, telling the two of them that nobody actually said that.
Mike and Will however didn’t hear any of this conversation. Lucas knew that Mike was probably a bit pissed because neither Lucas nor Dustin really talked to him about inviting Max to come trick-or-treating with them. The problem was, if they asked, Lucas knew that he wouldn’t let her come, and as Dustin stated, their party was a democracy, and he, Dustin and Will were all open to Max joining the party. However, Lucas felt bad that Mike was ruining Will’s night with his salty mood. Because Lucas and Dustin were talking to Max, Mike stood firmly by Will’s side the rest of the night.
Well… for the most part.
Once again Lucas felt terrible for not noticing that Will went missing, but because he was with Mike, Lucas figured he didn’t really have anything he needed to be concerned about, given all the emotions and dynamics within the party that night.
Lucas, Dustin and Max were walking back from the house they just got full sized Mars bars from only to find Mike grumpily walking up the driveway looking like he wanted to burn holes through Max’s body with his eyes. Although something was missing from the scene.
“Hey where’s Will?” Lucas asked him.
That seemed to snap Mike out of his angry mood, his eyes widening in confusion and fear. “What?”
Shit, Lucas thought. “Mike, where's Will? Wasn’t he right behind you?”
“He was!” Mike shouted, looking around him, as if Will was just hiding behind him and not missing. “H-he was right here. I swear! He… I have to go find him!” Without a second to waste Mike took off running back the way they came.
“Mike!” Dustin yelled, trying to get him to come back.
“Why are you guys so worried?” Max asked, confused.
“Come on, we should go too,” Lucas said, instead of answering Max’s question because the truth was… he wasn’t exactly sure how to answer it. All he knew is that Will was probably having another one of his episodes and he refused to not be there to help him this time.
Lucas took off, following the way Mike had gone just a few moments ago. He heard Dustin and Max’s footsteps behind him, but he was focused on finding Will and Mike. Lucas stopped for a moment when he saw Mike’s Ghostbuster outfit as he ran down a side path of someone's house probably leading to a backyard or somewhere. He didn’t know why Will would be there of all places, it didn’t seem right. Lucas thought for a moment that maybe he should go run to talk to kids and parents out on the street about whether or not he saw him. But his gut told him to trust Mike, that if anyone knew where Will might be, it was Mike.
“Lucas, what are you doing?” Dustin asked, when he caught up with him. “Is that Mike, over there?” He asked, spotting Mike as well.
“Yeah. C’mon let’s follow him,” Lucas said.
Dustin nodded and was the first one to break out into a run, following Mike. Lucas stayed behind him on the narrow path, Max hissing questions and confused statements into his ear, but right now he didn’t have time to explain it all to her. The only priority was finding Will.
“Holy shit!” Dustin yelled, Lucas wasn’t sure whether he meant it out of relief or because he was tired from all the running. Either way, Lucas was also relieved to see that Mike had a hold on Will. He looked like he’d just come back from some sort of episode. His eyes were glancing all over the place like he wasn’t entirely sure where he was and was practically shaking from his spot on the ground.
“Is he okay?” Lucas asked.
For a split second Mike turned back to answer Lucas. “I don’t know,” his voice sounded frantic and booming at Lucas. Will’s whimpering made Mike turn back towards the boy on the ground, his hands holding onto Will even tighter to try and steady him. “I’m gonna get you home, okay? I’m gonna get you home. Hold on.” His voice changed back to the Will Voice as he said this and started getting Will to his feet.
Dustin looked like he wanted to help. He stepped forward as Mike helped Will to his feet. “All right, take it easy” Dustin said, reaching out to help, but Mike held Will closer to him.
“I got him. I got him,” Mike said, almost defensively, as if Dustin would take him away or hurt him.
“Mike-...” Dustin tried.
“Keep trick-or-treating. I’m bored anyways,” Mike cut him off, his voice full of annoyance with them. Like Mike couldn’t trust any of them to keep Will safe. His arm was still wrapped around Will. Lucas saw in Will’s eyes that he was upset, but he knew that Will also felt guilty, as if him having his episode ruined the night.
Lucas wanted to say something but before he knew it, Mike had already pulled Will back up the way they came. Back home.
“What’s wrong with him?” Max asked, pulling Lucas out of his thoughts. She seemed to have picked up on the delicacy of the situation and asked it in a more calm manner this time. But that’s not what Lucas was focused on right now.
Lucas glanced at Dustin, who was doing the same. He noticed. Lucas knew that he noticed, but this time, Mike was acting like it was job to protect Will.
At that moment, they decided to share with Max what they could about the incident from last year, about how Will got lost in the woods and sometimes gets flashbacks of that time. Lucas could tell that Max had questions, but couldn’t ask them because she had to get home for her curfew.
So then it was just Lucas and Dustin.
“That was weird, right?” Lucas asked, as soon as Max left.
“What was weird?” Dustin questioned.
“Mike and Will,” Lucas told him. “I mean… I know how Mike gets around Will but…”
Dustin sighed. “I know. It’s like he wouldn’t even let me try to help Will. Like he has to do everything by himself when it comes to Will, as if we’re not his friends too.”
“Exactly!” Lucas exclaimed. He knew through small shared glances with Dustin that they both knew that Mike and Will were better friends with each other than them, but they never talked about it. Not like this. “It’s just… it’s always like there’s something they don’t want us knowing.”
“Yeah…” Dustin said in agreement. “Like they’re always trying to talk to each other through their eyes like they’re telepaths or something. Have you noticed that?”
“Of course I’ve noticed that! They do it all the time. Non-stop. And neither of them have ever looked at me that way,” Lucas pointed out.
“Me neither. And that voice that Mike uses when he’s talking to Will?” Dustin brought up.
“The Will Voice?” Lucas asked. “Where his voice gets all soft like, oh Will. Are you hurt? Are you okay? What’s wrong, Will?”
Dustin laughed at Lucas's impression of Mike. “Yeah, the Will voice. Never once talked to me like that.”
Lucas nodded. “Oh yeah. That’s for sure.” The two boys got quiet. There was something hanging in the air. Something about Mike and Will’s relationship that they just couldn’t put their finger on. Lucas had a small feeling about what it could be though.
“Do you think that they-...” Lucas cut himself as Dustin turned to him. Maybe he shouldn’t go around throwing out accusations like that. Although the bullying Will got was awful and shouldn’t happen, maybe Troy and James weren’t wrong about Will. He’d always been a sensitive kid, not that there was anything wrong with that but… the way Will acted around Mike? Well it was far more different than how he acted around the rest of the party. The same could go for Mike. They were both different around each other. Lucas thought back to how Mike nearly lost it that first day when Will went missing. Maybe there was something more to their relationship, and that wasn’t a bad thing. At least, Lucas didn’t see it as a bad thing. Others did though. So he kept quiet.
“‘Think that they’ what?” Dustin repeated.
“Do you think they got home alright?” Lucas asked instead. “Do you think Will’s okay?”
“Yeah, I’m sure they’re fine. Mike’s probably fretting over letting Jonathan take him home as we speak,” Dustin said.
Lucas nodded in agreement, then decided to switch the topic. Not that he didn’t trust that Dustin wouldn’t be supportive of them, but he couldn’t be sure. Not really. He wasn’t even fully sure that they even liked each other, though all the evidence seemed to suggest so. Lucas decided to be patient and see how Mike and Will’s relationship continued as they grew.