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C H A P T E R  E L E V E N  :

" CURIOSITY VOYAGES PART TWO "

･ ｡ﾟ ⋆✩⋆  ･ ｡ﾟ

･ ｡ﾟ  ･ ｡ﾟ

| D E C E M B E R  24th , 1986 |

H a w k i n s , I n d i a n a

"NOPE. I CALL SHOTGUN."

Steve called out behind Billy as he opened the passenger door—only to be forced to stop in his actions.

"Screw you, Harrington."
He muttered with a dramatic sigh, only joking before walking to the back seat door, only to have to wait for Max and Eleven to file into the very back seat—the third row of the car.

"Put on your seatbelt, Max. You too, El."
Billy demanded, seeing that she settled down in her seat without doing so.

Only when Max and El listened to his demand, did Billy then sit in the back seat, along with Mike and Will next to him in the second row of the car.

The entire group had decided to split into two cars, and to just meet at the town library, so the other half of the group was in the other car.

Robin took the wheel next to Steve, and just like that, they were on their way.

The entire car was silent except for Robin and Steve discussing the secret Russian invasion of Hawkins, and how they couldn't believe they might be right about the meaning of the note.

But Mike had his mind on other things.

He stared out the car window, passing by the his neighborhood of houses that had light snow sprinkled along their lawns like his house had.

Snow.

Snow meant that Christmas was surely coming, and amidst all the chaos in the search for Hopper and Y/N, Christmas was but a distant thought.

Mike couldn't care less about Christmas at that moment—all he wanted, was Y/N.

Y/N loved the snow, he remembered that.

Ever since they were kids, Y/N and Mike always had the tradition of having a snowball fight—more like war, to be honest.

Y/N would always take it so seriously, always insisting on making a barricade before they began the war, and her tactic must've worked because she always managed to win over Mike.

She would always wear this parka jacket—one that must've been too large for her at her young age, and Mike could remember every detail of it.

He could almost feel the way the fabric of her gloved hand felt against his own hand as she would lead him to help her build a snowman or make snow angels.

He could almost smell the way her jacket used to smell of her perfume and the woody smell of the cabin she lived in.

He could so vividly see her smile every time he threw a snowball at her, and it hit.

He could hear her laugh as she would chuckle in defeat after she was hit, or as they made snow angels.

Mike felt himself smiling softly just at the thought of her.

That's how much of an effect Y/N had on
Mike—how much he thought of her.

God, please let her be okay..he begged to himself.

Please..please let her be alive.

He allowed the visuals to resonate in him—making it seem as if she were really with him.

He felt her presence again.
This was reoccurring, but he really did feel her.

He loved the feeling—it was the only thing that calmed him anymore.

Y/N's laugh and smile echoed in Mike's mind before he heard Will's voice interrupt his mental montage.

"Mike?"
Will asked, leaning his head forward a little to try and see Mike's face.

Mike cleared his throat as he tore his eyes away from the window, feeling Will's hard gaze on him.
"What?"

"Don't worry. We are going to figure out where Y/N is."
Will said, seeming to know what Mike was thinking about.

It was no secret to anyone.

"He's got it bad."
Billy commented on Mike's feelings for Y/N, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep in the seat.

Mike didn't say anything, but instead turned his gaze back to the window, trying to tune out the conversation Robin had with Steve in the front seat.

They had cursed to themselves—seeing that many cars trailed in front of them.

The traffic was tediously long for Mike as he wanted nothing more than to just solve this puzzle already.

"You really love Y/N, don't you?"
Will asked knowingly, feeling badly for Mike's lost love and his surely broken heart.

Mike paused his breathing for a moment, finding a calmness in hearing Y/N's name.

"Yeah.." He paused, nodding before looking towards Will. "Yeah, I really do. I do so much, that it hurts."

Mike finished, turning his head back to look out the window.
  It was the truth—he loved Y/N more than himself.

It just pained him that it took him so long to realize it—it pained him that it took Y/N's disappearance to realize his love for her.

"My anxiety has gotten so bad..to the point where I have attacks everyday." Mike confessed, realizing that he's been hiding these problems for so long.

Mike didn't mention the part that only Y/N knew how to comfort him, and without her, he suffers silently—because he didn't want anyone feeling sorry for him.

"I just miss her so much," Mike continued, his eyes staring into space as his feeling poured.

"I miss her so damn much to the point where sometimes, I can actually feel her with me.." He whispered, more to himself than anyone.

But Will had understood exactly what Mike meant, due to Will being in the upside down, he could feel people's presence if they were in the same room in the real world as he was in the upside down.

Apparently, Steve had been eavesdropping because he took this time to drop his own commentary in.
"I'm sure it's just part of the mourning process that you had to go through.
I'm sure—.."

Mike really didn't like that. He had hoped that the reason he felt Y/N, was because she was still alive.

Not because he was just depressed.

"Shut it, Harrington. You don't know what he's going through, so stay out of it."
Billy interrupted Steve harshly, feeling defensive of Mike.

"I'm just trying to help, dude—.."
Steve tried to defend himself, before Robin shushed him this time.
"Steve." She eyed him warningly, knowing that this didn't have to become an argument.

Steve huffed with annoyance before he turned around in his seat to face the road again.

Steve was going to have to learn that the friendship he had with Mike was not like the friendship he shared with Dustin.

Steve was going to have to accept that Billy was closer to Mike—that Mike preferred Billy.

Mike looked over at Billy who had reverted his gaze back out his window, his breathing grew unsteady.
Billy knew exactly how Mike felt—just not in the same situation—to feel the presence of something.

It was how Billy felt when he was possessed by the Mind Flayer, and to this day.

To this day, he felt the overwhelming presence of the Mind Flayer still looming around him—and he hated it.

Mike smiled gently at Billy as he turned to look at him to check on him, sending him a thin lipped smile of mutual respect.

"I know how you feel.."
Will muttered, now playing with his hands in his lap.
Mike turned to look at Will, his eyes staring down at his fingers.

"What do you mean?"
Mike asked, slightly doubtful that Will could even begin to understand how he felt, but still interested nonetheless.

Will hesitated, looking around to the car to see that everyone was preoccupied—El and Max were sleeping, Robin and Steve were talking, and Billy seemed to be asleep as well.

"I mean..I know what it feels like to be worried about losing someone you love."
Will admitted, thoroughly confusing Mike.

"You? You love someone?"
Mike asked, not meaning for his words to sound condescending, but he truly didn't expect to hear it.

Will nodded slowly, his head still not able to look up to meet Mike's.
  "He's back in Maine—Richie. He's part of this party called, 'The Loser's Club.'"
Will joked, putting up quotations with his fingers as he smiled.

"He's always been so funny and stuff, but I got to know him well enough to know that he's buried a lot of feelings, and it can't be good."

Mike nodded, genuinely interested in his best friend's feelings as he opened up to him.

He always had a feeling that Will felt that way towards guys, and he never judged him for that.
Will always was, and still is, Mike's best friend alongside Y/N.

"I'm happy for you. I'm glad you found that for yourself."
Mike smiled thinly, his happiness for his best friend was genuine.

If Will's love for his friend Richie was anything like Mike's love for Y/N, then Will must really care for Richie.

Will had stopped speaking of his love, and Mike took that as a sign that he was finished with the topic.

"So, why'd you guys end up moving to Maine, anyways?"
Mike asked, trying to ease Will's tense nerves.

"I think it had something to do with Bob's idea to move there a while back." Will answered, shrugging.

"Do you like it?" Mike asked, "You're apart of a new party, so that's cool."

Will shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, I guess. But I miss Hawkins sometimes. I miss the real party." He smiled.

Mike nodded, knowing that their AV party wouldn't be nearly as functional if they weren't all together.

This was great—to all be reunited and working together again.

The car finally pulled up in the library parking lot, earning Mike's attention to look towards the windshield.

His heart began racing, eagerly waiting for what seemed like years for Robin to park the car next to the other car that held the other half of the group.

And as they all filed out, they formed their large group once again to enter the public library.
To their luck, they were open for only a few minutes longer—so they didn't have much time.

Dustin decided to lead the group up the steps that led to the library, opening the front door to have the smell of book instantly meet their senses.

The library was quite empty—seemingly because people had better things to do on Christmas Eve.

"Alright, we just need a U.S. geography book, and maybe a Russian geo book as well. We need to hurry, the library closes in 10 minutes."

Joyce told the group, and it was barely within a second that they all dispersed to look for one.

It was up to Dustin to explain to the librarian why all of them were there just minutes before closing time.

"Ma'am, this is the mother of all curiosity voyages.."
Dustin explained, Mike smiling to himself as he walked away to search for the book.

Mike wandered to the far end of the library, running his fingers along the books to look for any that may help.

He found no geography books in the section where they were supposed to be, so naturally, he became frustrated.
Filing through many books, yet he couldn't find any as fast as he wanted.

Granted, he was allowing his mind to wander to Y/N, interrupting his focus to find the book.

"Guys, we need to hurry up!"
Dustin yelled into the library since they were the only ones in there, a panic in his voice that warned the others that he couldn't keep the librarian occupied for much longer.

"Shit."
Mike muttered under his breath, feeling his breaths become quicker by the minute in all his anxiousness and impatience.

Mike shoved a book back on the shelf—beginning to walk back to the group to tell them that that half of the library was a bust, only to be stopped in his tracks.

He heard a loud smack, and he turned around to see that it was from a heavy book falling to the polished ground of the library floor.

Chills were shot through his body, unexplainably.

He looked around him to see if anyone might've knocked it over, but he saw no one.

"What the hell.."
He muttered to himself, obviously spooked and confused as to how this happened.

He walked cautiously over to the book that laid face down, looking over at the shelf that it fell from—one that Mike realized he hadn't check thoroughly enough.

He kneeled down to the ground, picking up the book to turn it over in his hands to reveal the title : Hawkins Public Library-U.S. Geography.

Mike's breath seemed to have caught because he found himself breathing heavily again with relief.

He actually found it.

But that's just the thing—he didn't.

How that book fell to the ground—he hadn't the faintest clue.

But the chills he received had still not left his body, and there was this silent hope inside him.

Deep inside, he hoped to God or whatever universal superiority there was, that whoever knocked over that book, was Y/N.

Somehow, someway, he hoped it was Y/N.

With a newfound burst of confidence, Mike ran towards the group to gather them up, around a table, throwing down the geography book on the surface.

Steve had found the Russian Geography book as well, and placed it next to the one Mike found.

"Alright. Let's find out where Hopper and my best friend are.."
Mike declared strongly, both his palms against the table.

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Authors Note :

surprise! i actually updated again only two days later, ahh

SO, that chapter was more of a filler so, sorry it's kinda boring :3

BUT did you guys catch the IT reference?? aw..

p.s. i'm sorry if you guys don't agree with my opinion on will's sexuality, please remember that this is just a story, & is just a theory of mine.

BUT, i hope you picked up on the book falling out of the shelf, because in the last chapter, y/n said she did that.

SO. y/n made contact..

well, we got a nice best friend moment between mike & will—they deserved one.

in the next few chapters, things are gonna start happening so be prepared..

it's gonna go DOWN pretty soon..

.

what do you think so far ??

any theories so far? any predictions?

thanks for reading.. stay tuned !!

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