MIKE POV-

---- 11:39 PM ----

Later that night, the clock ticked on the wall. Mike took off his shirt to change into his pyjamas as his phone buzzed on the nightstand; the ringing filling the air. He picked it up, pushing the hair out his eyes to see Will's name flash on screen.

It still felt weird to him; Will was calling him. The first few weeks Mike arrived in this world, he had to grovel and beg to even get a text back, but now, Will was calling him first, and elongating their conversations. So with a smile, he answered the call.

"Hey, Will, what's up?" Mike greeted, placing the phone down, and putting it on speaker so he could change his clothes.

["Hi"] The brunette's voice came through, a smile evident on his lips as he spoke, ["I had a great time today... thanks for coming with me."]

Placing his pyjama shirt on, Mike chuckled, "It was your tickets Will. I should be thanking you."

["Yeah, but still... thanks."] Will mumbled,

As they spoke, the sudden familiar message appeared before Mike's eyes, temporarily making him stop, pulling his mind away from the conversation for just a second.

[Make Will Byers Happy]

[273 Days Remaining]

[Penalty: Death]

Mike sighed, feeling a sense of helplessness he couldn't quite explain; the words lingered in his brain even after the message disappeared from view. He thought that if he raised his favourability into the positives, then he would be in the clear and the objective would be complete... what did he need to do to make Will happy? Max out his favourability to one hundred?

["Mike, are you listening?"] The sound of Will's voice cut the raven-haired boy out his own thoughts,

"Oh, yeah, sorry, carry on," Mike nodded as if Will could see him,

["What were you doing?"] The brunette asked,

"Oh..." Mike explained, half-lying, "I was changing my clothes,"

["You're talking to me half naked?"] Will teased, feigning shock.

"Why do you make me sound like a pervert? Huh?" The ravenette groaned playfully,

["Because it's fun,"] Will chuckled out loud,

Mike thought back to the earlier message, every time he looked at Will he was filled with an unexplainable sadness; he wanted to help Will but didn't know how; he always wanted Will to be like this, cheerful and sunny. His voice was softer now, almost pleading, suddenly serious, "Please always stay happy like this, Will."

There was a small pause on the other end, and Will's voice came through again, ["That was random..."] he mumbled confused, trying to laugh off his nervousness.

"Just promise me that no matter what happens in the future... you'll find your own happiness." The tall boy asked, hoping to hear the audible promise.

["O-okay... I promise?"] he replied, but it seemed more like a question, now seeming concerned, ["Mike is everything okay?"]

"Of course, I was just thinking... you know, you really deserve to be happy. I just want that for you." The ravenette said in a genuine tone, causing a message to pop before his eyes, seeing his score raise once more.

[Fondness: 30]

["Thank you..."] Will's voice came through quietly, ["I'll be happy. I have my art, and ... well, you."]

Mike smiled at the simplicity of Will's statement, but he also felt like he was betraying Will in a way, with his status in this world up in the air; what's to happen if he suddenly disappeared? It was all too confusing, he needed Will to be happy on his own, not just because of Mike. "You've got more than that... you got your mom, and she'll get out of prison soon."

["I wish."] Will mumbled,

"Trust me... she'll be out soon; we just have to wait." Mike tried to motivate him; he was telling the truth, he remembered a scene from the dating sim, it was near the end, one of the 'good endings' featuring the brunette's mother returning after a 'trip'. Mike found it weird when he first achieved that ending, it didn't connect, but now with context, he understood. "And your brother, even if he's in the army, he misses you."

["Jonathan's not in the army... he's in rehab."] The shorter boy said abruptly.

"What?" That definitely wasn't in the game; Mike couldn't understand, why was certain information omitted from the dating sim? The game painted Jonathan as a tad distant as he was struggling... but not this.

Will paused for a second, accusing, ["Mike... you never really knew Jonathan, did you?"]

"Huh?! Um, well, I mean, I knew him." Mike stammered, his heart racing, he could hear it in his ears, a distant ringing.

["Everyone knew two things about my brother, he was an addict, and he didn't trust the government... why would he join the army?"] Will deadpanned.

"Sorry..." Mike apologised, not knowing what else to say. He worried Will would be upset and angry, what if his fondness went down again? He refused to deal with debuffs again!

["It doesn't matter anyway, he just said enlisted in the army as a coverup to strangers,"] Will shook his head, his tone was surprisingly indifferent; not showing any hint of resentment, ["I didn't really believe anything you said from the get-go."]

"Really? But I thought I did so well." Mike mumbled,

["I did wonder why you'd go this far to help some guy's little brother,"] Will explained, ["I thought maybe you owed him money, or that he saved your life or something, but then, why would you still be here... I want to know, why did you help me in the first place?"]

"It's just that sometimes people want to help witho-" Mike began, saying what he always does when Will asked this question,

["'Without needing a reason too'?"] the brunette finished his sentence, almost as if he had it engraved into his memory; it was the sentence Mike repeated the first few times they met, ["I want the real truth... that day, at the train station and every day after that... why did you help me? It bothers me I don't know the answer."]

The tall boy hesitated, eventually answering, "It's because you remind me of myself!" he blurted out as if it was bubbling up inside him for weeks,

The ravenette's words hung in the air for a second as Will replied, ["We're nothing alike! You're the sun, Mike."] he replied, ["And I'm nothing close to that, I'm not the moon, I'm not even a star. You're different from someone like me."]

The instant denial made the raven-haired boy fill with awkward laughter; it was rude and a tad cringy, but he had to remember that he was inside a dating sim and that dialogue was one of the critics he gave his friend. "Brat... are you trying to hurt my feelings?" Mike said half-joking.

["But you have so much to do, and I have nothing ahead of me."] Will continued.

Mike had to cover his mouth to chuckle, but he was sure it could still be heard from the other side of the phone. That was another thing that made them both so similar, their envy; whenever Mike looked at Will, he felt envious. Despite Will's tough upbringing, he grew up to love with all his heart; he had family supporting him and he was sincere with passion in his art. Mike was jealous of that... a passionate heart.

["Why are you laughing?"] Will furrowed his brows.

"I was just thinking of something funny," The ravenette replied with a smile, "Trust me if you knew me last year, you wouldn't be thinking that." In the real world, Mike was a mess, he had no qualifications, no friends, no dreams, no ambitions. And when he did get jobs and saved money, instead of feeling accomplished like a normal person, he felt hollow. Yet, despite everything, he was sent into a video game... and there's not a single person who he missed.

["I wish I could dissect your mind,"] Will uttered in response, a tad serious, ["I never know what's going through your brain."]

"That's considered a superpower." Mike joked, trying to keep the tone light-hearted.

["You know what I mean..."] the shorter boy's pout could be heard through the phone line, ["Sometimes it feels like you'd suddenly just disappear like magic... never mind, forget it."]

Mike didn't respond to the conversation, instead deflecting with a chuckle, "I think you're starting to ramble, get some sleep. You've been up since early morning... don't stay up too late, okay?" he smiled soft,

Will giggled, he didn't understand Mike. Even after accusing him of magically disappearing one day, the raven-haired boy's tone was still warm... it was reassuring, ["I won't. You do the same... Goodnight Mike."]

"Goodnight Will... sweet dreams." The ravenette replied, both boys switching off the phone at the same time. Mike smiled to himself, that was the first time Will had ended the conversation over the telephone where he actually said goodbye.

Mike placed his phone on the nightstand, laying down on his bed, but he was unable to sleep. His mind was restless so he decided to stand up, and wander down the hall into his sister's room, knocking rhythmically before opening the door, seeing her sitting in bed watching a movie. The moment she turned her head, she had a teasing grin on her face, "You look happy today," her voice was playful, "Had a nice time with your boyfriend?"

Mike scoffed, crossing his arms, "Will is not my boyfriend,"

"'And they were roommates'," Nancy joked, a smile on her face, not bothering to look away from her movie,

Mike rolled his eyes, not wanting to argue. He shifted awkwardly not knowing how to speak before sitting on Nancy's bed, serious, "I saw mom today." He said abrupt.

Nancy froze, pausing her movie, her teasing grin disintegrated into one of concern. She sat up fully, her attention solely on her brother, "Oh, um, you saw her? What did she say?"

"I didn't get that far... I just popped in and out."

Mike thought Nancy would be angry and scold him for going there, but she was oddly calm. "I see..."

"Has mom ever called?" Mike questioned, a tad curious, his voice a whisper,

"Once..." the curly haired girl replied, "I asked if she could come here since I knew how much you wanted to see her and dad, so they can see how big you had gotten..." her voice falling into a whisper as if she was talking to herself.

Mike's throat trembled, he had misunderstood his sister in the real world; the whole time he hated her, thinking she was trying to protect their parents for their own sake, but it turned out it was for Mike's sake. And when he realised that it was already too late.

"Maybe she's just busy working?" Mike proposed, trying to pretend nothing was wrong, but it was clear Nancy saw right through his act.

"Mike... it's not your fault." She extended a hand to her brother, consoling him the best she could, "Mom and Dad were never 'good parents'. They gave us money and left... Take it from me, it's better to have no parents, then neglectful ones."

Right. Mike knew what that meant, his parents didn't want to see him. He could understand the message behind what Nancy was saying. He really wanted to understand. He had to, or he'd be too sad. Despite what anyone said... he wanted his parents; why couldn't the game had given him that?

Despite everything, there was one good thing about this all, falling into this alternate video game universe gave him his sister back. "Nancy... please don't leave me this time." He smiled weak; his only wish was for her to be with him for the remainder of his time here, however long that was... he didn't want to lose her again.

"I'm not going anywhere," Nancy chuckled, she was a little confused by the words 'this time', but she didn't question it, "Wanna watch this movie with me? It's actually kind of good."

"No thank you," The ravenette shook his head politely, "I think I'm going to sleep, I've been up since six,"

"Okay, goodnight." Nancy waved, watching as her brother left the room,

Mike closed the door behind him, walking through the hallway and back into his room. He sighed, feeling drained from the long day, both emotionally and physically. He collapsed onto his bed, faceplanting into the pillow; he rolled over, staring at the ceiling when a floating message popped up before his eyes, but unlike the usual pink, bubbly messages of before, this one was blood-red, as if warning him of danger,

[ERROR: SYSTEM MALFUNCTION]

The tall boy blinked, staring at the floating text; his droopy eyes ceased as he shot up, getting closer to the message. He was wide awake now. "What?" he shook his head, but the message disappeared before he could say anything else.

Confused, he looked around the room, scanning the walls, tables, and out the window, half-expecting to see something unusual or out of place. His posters were hung proudly on the wall, his desk was cluttered with figurines and schoolbooks, his laptop open in the corner.

Feeling uneasy, he stretched his arm out to the nightstand, grabbing his phone... but he felt nothing. He looked over, his phone wasn't there... he was sure he had left it on the nightstand before he went to Nancy's room. Mike shuffled, looking over the bed to the floor, to see if it had fallen beside the table... but nothing.

The ravenette blamed his memory, getting up from his bed with a sigh, lifting pillows, checking the desk drawers and even looking under the bed. The phone was nowhere to be found; he used it to just talk to Will, so it couldn't have just disappeared into thin air, right?

He shook his head, thinking maybe he had just dropped his phone in Nancy's room without realising it. For the second time tonight, he left his bed once more, moving toward his sister's room. Reaching for the handle, he pushed the door open, calling out, "Nancy! Can you call my phone? I can't find it anywhere."

"Damn! Let me watch my movie!" She sighed, pausing the TV once more, the light from the screen casting a shadow on her face, "You lost your phone again?"

"I didn't lose it." the tall boy mumbled, "It's not where I left it."

"So you lost it?" Nancy judged, before grabbing her own phone. "Give me a sec." She scrolled through her contacts to dial Mike's number.

Ring... Ring... Ring...

Nothing!

Mike strained his ears, hoping to hear the sound of his ringtone, or at least the subtle buzzing of the vibration somewhere in the house... but there was only silence.

The curly-haired girl bit her bottom lip in thought, "You sure it's not on silent?"

"I mean... maybe, but even then, it vibrates. I always keep it on my nightstand." Mike shook his head.

"Did you check everywhere?" she asked, clearly more interested in continuing her movie than solving Mike's phone dilemma.

"Yeah!" The ravenette sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I just used it like twenty minutes ago!"

Nancy wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, giving him an amused smirk, "You're always losing stuff, it's nothing out of the ordinary... it'll turn up," She started to turn her attention back to the TV, but then paused, looking at Mike with a sigh, "Want me to help look?"

"No... its fine." Mike shook his head, he couldn't deny something still felt off about the situation; his phone disappeared right after the error message, "It's probably just in my room somewhere,"

"Alright... if you don't find it in a few days, we'll buy a new one." The curly-haired girl said.

Mike nodded, "Yeah, thanks Nance," half listening as he left her room, stepping back into the hallway, hearing the sound of Nancy's movie playing faintly in the background...

The chime of the error message lingered in his head. He couldn't shake the feeling... something wasn't right.

------

2568 Words

I love my not-so-subtle Mitski references.

Stay Safe <3