ficlet for my dear @mayahawkins
“cali crew stop at a motel and there was only one bed (has this been done a million times? yes, but go wild with it, make it ridiculous)”
The motel lobby was small and dingy, with moth bitten floral curtains draped over the windows and glass vases with bouquets of plastic flowers covered in a thick layer of dust. In fact, Will was a little concerned about breathing in all the dust, but he figured he survived seven days breathing toxic Upside Down air, so he could probably handle a little dust.
Jonathan rang the bell at the check in desk, the metal tarnished from years of use. A short woman with dark gray hair and leathery skin appeared from a back room and looked the four of them up and down.
Will figured they had to be quite a sight. Argyle was still high as hell, the whites of his eyes almost completely red and a dopey grin on his face. Jonathan wasn’t much better, though Will knew some of that was from exhaustion more than it was from weed, since Jonathan hadn’t smoked as much or as recently as Argyle. Mike’s hair was sticking up on one side where he’d dozed off leaning against the window of the van, and he looked incredibly pissed off. He wasn’t particularly happy about Jonathan making the decision to stop for the night. Will was sure he looked a mess as well, and he was even more sure that the four of them smelled absolutely rank.
The woman put her hands on her hips. “Can I help you boys?” she asked in a gravelly voice.
“Yes,” Jonathan said confidently, “We need a room. Two rooms, if you have them.”
“We only got one,” the woman rasped.
“That’s fine,” Jonathan said, glancing at Will with what may have been a look of sympathy, “We can double up."
“No, sugar, we’ve only got one single. It’s a king,” she said.
“You’ve only got one bed in this whole place?” Mike interjected, less patient than Jonathan had been, but to be fair Mike had less weed in his system. None, to be exact.
The woman narrowed her eyes at Mike. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
“Okay,” Jonathan said before Mike could get into an argument with an elderly motel clerk, “We’ll take it if it’s all you have.”
Jonathan paid for the room and took the key, which was attached to a red plastic keychain with the number one in chipped white paint. Room one was at the end of the hallway, which Mike commented made no sense, and while Will agreed he didn’t see why Mike was so peeved about it.
The room was extraordinarily small. The king sized bed stretched almost from wall to wall on either side, you almost had to turn sideways to walk along the sides of the bed. There was a stretch of floor along the foot of the bed, some of which was covered by a small writing desk. The carpet was… well, it was disgusting. There were so many stains it looked like a Jackson Pollock original if Jackson Pollock worked solely with browns and yellows. It was impossible to tell what color the carpet had originally been, but Will hoped tan, because that’s what it was now.
“I don’t know if I want to sleep on that floor even with a blanket over it,” Will said, “I don’t want anything to like… seep through.”
Mike grimaced. “That’s fucking disgusting. You think the bathroom’s this gross? I’d rather sleep in a bathtub.”
Will followed as Mike swung the bathroom door open and flicked the light on. The light made a rattling sound as it flickered to life, and even when it did it was incredibly dim.
"This room is like something out of a goddamn horror movie," Mike said.
Will watched a spider run from the wall into a small vent on the floor and shuddered. Mike drew back the shower curtain in a swift motion.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Will said as Mike groaned. The ceramic tub was streaked with rust stains and a layer of green grime sat on the bottom.
“So much for sleeping in there,” Mike grumbled.
"Not like you'd fit anyway," Will added.
They exited the bathroom to find Argyle already passed out on one side of the bed and Jonathan sitting at the small desk with his head in his hands.
“Seriously, he just decided he gets the bed?” Mike asked, nudging Argyle’s leg not particularly gently, though Argyle didn’t stir.
“Well, I think we’re gonna have to share,” Jonathan said reluctantly.
“All of us?” Will asked, affronted.
“Well, yeah,” Jonathan said with a shrug, “It’s a big bed.”
“Not big enough for four!” Mike said.
“Okay, well you do whatever you want, Mike. I’m fucking tired,” Jonathan said, climbing into the bed on top of the duvet and settling in close to Argyle, leaving room on the other side of him.
Mike scoffed. “This is insane.”
Will frowned. “Yeah. It is,” he paused, “But I need sleep.”
Will ignored Mike’s disbelief as he got in bed next to his brother, leaving a very small space that Mike could squeeze into if he wanted.
Mike shook his head. “This is crazy,” he said, sitting in the small wooden desk chair, “I’ll just fucking sleep here.”
“Suit yourself,” Jonathan mumbled, “Can you hit the lights?”
Mike huffed and got up to flick the lights off. Once he did, the room was illuminated only by the moonlight coming through the window. Mike didn’t wait for his eyes to adjust and stumbled a little walking back to the chair.
“Shit,” he hissed, and slumped back into the chair, leaning his upper body on the desk and trying to get comfortable.
After fifteen minutes or so of silence, save for the cheap AC periodically kicking on with a rattling sound, Will was actually starting to drift off. That was until he felt someone standing above him and jolted awake.
“Mike?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” Mike said at full volume, “Uh, can you scoot over?”
Will was on his back, and he wiggled slightly closer to his brother, who was on his side with his back turned to him. “Sorry, that’s as far as I can go.”
Mike nodded and crawled into the bed, also lying on his back, his shoulder pressed snugly against Will’s. It was a little pathetic, how Will’s pulse picked up at that.
“Is your brother spooning Argyle?” Mike asked after a moment.
“This is what it looks like to be secure in your manhood, little dude,” Argyle answered serenely.
“I thought you were asleep,” Mike said.
“Well it’s a little hard to stay asleep when you won’t stop talking,” Jonathan piped up.
“It’s a little hard to sleep in a dingy motel bed with three other guys!” Mike retorted.
“Shhh,” Argyle said, “Just snuggle up to baby Byers and let the Sandman sprinkle his magical sleepy sand, my guy.”
Will was grateful that it was too dark for anyone to see the way his face went bright red at that.
“What?” Mike squeaked, “I’m not gonna cuddle up to Will, that’s–”
“Mike,” Jonathan interjected harshly, “Please shut up. Some of us are trying to sleep.”
Mike huffed. Will guessed that Jonathan’s clipped tone wasn’t just because he was annoyed about being kept awake, and he didn’t know whether to feel thankful or pathetic.
Suddenly, something occurred to Will.
“Hey, Jonathan?” Will asked.
“Yeah, buddy?” Jonathan answered.
“Why don’t two of us just sleep in the van?”
There was a moment of silence before Jonathan burst out laughing. “That’s a good fucking question.”
Mike sat up immediately, “Will and I will go,” he said quickly.
Will felt his face heat up again, which was so fucking stupid, because obviously Mike would want to sleep with him over Jonathan or Argyle.
“Sure, fine,” Jonathan said, “Keys are on the desk.”
They made Argyle and Jonathan relinquish the duvet from the bed and Will followed Mike out to the parking lot. They spread the blanket out on the floor of the van, and Mike climbed in first with Will following.
Will slid the door shut, and Mike was already getting settled.
“Tired as shit,” Mike muttered, turning his back to Will.
“Yeah,” Will agreed quietly. He didn’t lie down immediately.
“You okay?” Mike asked, though he wasn’t facing him.
“Fine,” Will said, and laid down to prevent any further questions. There was more room to spread out in the van than there had been in the crowded bed, so he and Mike weren’t touching like they had been before. Will mourned the loss of Mike’s arm pressed solidly against his.
“You sure?” Mike asked through a yawn.
“I’m sure,” Will responded.
Unexpectedly, Mike flipped over to face Will. Will’s breath hitched.
“Sorry if I was weird,” Mike murmured.
“What?” Will asked.
“When Argyle was talking about us… cuddling or whatever. Sorry if I seemed weird, or like… defensive.”
“I didn’t think you were defensive,” Will said, “I thought you were grossed out.”
Mike huffed a laugh. “I wasn’t grossed out. Not by you.”
“Oh,” Will said.
“Can I–” Mike started to ask but cut himself off.
“Yeah,” Will answered without thinking. His cheeks tinged pink once he realized how eagerly he’d agreed to something Mike hadn’t even asked.
“You’re sure?” Mike asked.
Will nodded, still not knowing exactly what to expect.
Mike inched closer, until they were pressed together like they’d been on the bed. Will held his breath. What was Mike doing? And why?
“I think,” Mike said, "I might sleep better this way.”
“Okay,” Will responded quietly, not trusting his voice at anything above a whisper.
It didn’t take long for Mike’s presence and his warmth to lull Will to sleep, not to mention how ridiculously exhausted they both were. Now wasn't the time to question things or to have a crisis about the feeling of Mike's skin on his.
Next thing Will knew, the van door was being slid open and sunlight was pouring into the van. He cracked his eyes open and squinted up at Jonathan and Argyle, standing above him outside the door. The next thing he registered was arms wrapped firmly around him, soft breaths on his neck, and hair tickling his jaw. Before he could even start to process that, Mike jolted awake and rolled off of Will with wide eyes, staring at Jonathan and Argyle.
Jonathan’s expression was unreadable, but Argyle shot Mike a thumbs up.
Mike’s face was bright red as he met Will’s eyes. Will gave him a reassuring smile, hoping that wasn’t too incriminating. Maybe he was supposed to act repulsed, or laugh it off and punch Mike’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure, but he did know that he didn’t want Mike to feel embarrassed.
To Will’s surprise, Mike smiled back. “How did you sleep?” he asked Will.
“Really well, actually,” Will answered honestly.
“Yeah, me too,” Mike said, the soft smile not leaving his face.
“Cool,” Will said.
“Cool, Mike repeated.
Will wasn’t really sure what to make of it. He tried not to overthink. He and Mike were okay, and that was all that mattered.
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