𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 ( 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 )

6| the day was never complete without you.

mike hung his head down low at the breakfast table, his mind was heavy with the stress of the following day up ahead of him, he reached for the silvery spoon for his cereal but only for him to hold it gently in his lap, observing as the light reflects back into his dark brown eyes.

"honey, are you okay?" mike heard his mother ask, he felt his eyes roll accidentally out of old habits, he cringed internally, knowing that his girlfriend was giving him the attitude she rocks her world with, mike didn't want to always appear rude and disrespectful, maybe just the person you shouldn't always push to their limits, but he didn't want to turn into his once innocent elev- jane.

"yeah, i'm fine, mom." he replied, speaking as if something was caught in his throat, but no-one seemed to notice as they shrugged their shoulders and continued eating the second mike brought up the spoon from his lap and diving it headfirst into the dry cereal.

mike was stabbing at his pathetic watery bowl of oatmeal with his spoon, moving the mixture in different directions to make patterns that weren't really that interesting.

it was monday, which meant going back to the shitpit that lies right smack in the center of hawkins, school. mike was a little nervous and already tried to throw a sickie to get a day off, but it didn't work, so he was going to have to this the schoolday once again. he was nervous, not because of all the work that was supposed to be handed in today he didn't complete, but because he was going to see max again, after the whole hugging fiasco ago the sleepover two nights ago, and mike wasn't too thrilled to see her again. he wasn't to thrilled to see lucas either, with him being who max thought she was snuggling up to in that night, but in reality, it was the boy she despised the most on this earth.

"son! stop playing with your food," mike heard his father groan from behind the newspaper he read at the table every morning, "you must know now that it's not good manners to do what your doing, plus it sounds horrible, so stop it."

mike pulled a face towards his dad, sticking his tongue out and giving him a hard glare, he knew that he couldn't see; he was too busy reading about the same goddamn game that he watched yesterday. he heard a gasp from over the table, and he realized what was coming next...

"mom! mikey stuck his tongue out at dad!" holly snitched from the opposite side of the table.

"michael! this better not be true!" mrs wheeler shouted from the kitchen as other sounds like bacon and eggs being sizzled fueled that background noise, but was battling against ted's radio on the table.

"it's not mom!" mike yelled back, "holly's obviously lying!"

"am not!" holly spluttered and slamming her little fists onto the table, getting her yogurt everywhere.

"am too!" mike hissed back. already wishing he could be dismissed from the table.

"quiet!" mr wheeler bursted, bringing all the wheeler's to a lethal silence.

mike had stopped playing with his food and staring to eat it, like a normal person would. the porridge tasted just as bad as it looked and it felt like he was force feeding himself in front of his family, but they obviously didn't understand what was going through his mind at the moment. his hand was shaking as he brought the spoon full of oats up to his mouth and finally he was finished with it.

he darted upstairs to fetch his backpack, attempting to remember his classes for the day and cramming all the textbooks he needed for them. mike speeded back down, almost falling down the stairs like, three times, to give his family all a kiss on the cheek - and yes, that included his dad, but he didn't mind. he said farewell to them all, for which he got no response other than a mumble bye back. he didn't look much into it as he perched himself on his bike and cycled off out into his street.

one by one, the boys joined mike's route to school, they started to talk to the raven haired, but mike couldn't help but feel the overwhelming pressure to not just blow right in front of Lucas about what happened that sleepover, he obviously didn't know, at least mike hoped he didn't know. mike's palms grew slightly sweaty and it effected his grip on his bicycle handles, hands casually slipping off them when he wasn't gripping onto the handles for dear life. wheeler was no longer talking to the boys instead just hanging behind them like a wasp that wouldn't leave the picnic alone.

mike's head was so preoccupied with a certain someone that when it was time to rack up his bike next to all the others - it felt like he wasn't in control, an episode of autopilot? or just repeating weekly routine drilling into his brain? the metal of the framework of his bicycle clashed loudly against the post as he tried to shuffle it closer so he can clamp the lock on it, making mike cringe at the loud noise.

"are you okay, mike?" the boy in question squinted his eyes up at the person asking, hissing at the blind light behind the figure affecting his vision. 'can people stop asking me if i'm okay! i'm absolutely dandy! why can't they see that and leave me alone!' mike screamed in his head, however, destroying himself on the inside didn't affect with external appearance as he flashed a smile.

"yeah, i'm alright, will, you good?" he replied, standing up to only look down upon the smaller boy. the edges of will's lip turned upright as he tucked his hands behind his back, digging his heel into the ground as he twisted it left and right.

"yeah, can't complain." he muttered jokingly, mike didn't know what else to say so he let that short conversation die out. he glanced at the ground until he noticed will turn back back to the boys, chattering about some nonsense that mike's head was too phased to focus on.

mike was only confused in the lack of phoenix coloured hair and the person rocking that style irritating his day this early. no-one seemed to realize either, only mike, not even her boyfriend really cared. he shuddered about the night they were tangled up in, feeling those weird feelings throughout his body again. hate? remorse? love?

the bell soon rang throughout the school grounds before mike could think any further into his mind's strange sensations. he watched the three boys walked towards the entrance of the school amongst the stumbling youthful crowd as their tried so desperately to get to their classes on time. mike stayed where he stood, feeling too mentally and physically tired, he couldn't move his feet nevertheless feel them, same with his fingers - numb and cold.

he started to think about max again when a teenager in the upper year skated passed him, colliding shoulders as they glared at the raven haired boy. he remembered when they first interacted alone, in that sports hall, looking for one of dustin's experiments that had gone rogue and how max was so persistent to try and show off to mike about how much she could be a new member of the party by introducing herself as the made up character - zoomer, kicking her foot off the ground to push her skateboard around a very impressed mike wheeler (though he didn't seem to show it).

he recalled them both smiling at each other, knowingly too. it was at that time that boys and girls could've been friends without society branding them as a couple, it was time before ele-jane and himself officially became an item and before lucas was so brought up in consistently being by max's side. that short moment of content compared to their apparent hatred was slowly destroying michael from the inside, crumbling and weakening his heart from within.

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a/n

AHHHHH

OMG, I AM SO SORRY,

IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME,

this chapter lowkey sucks...

but the next will conclude what happened that night.

I LOVE YOU ALL FOR WAITING SO PATIENTLY!

VOTE AND COMMENT!
💘