Fairly certain Mike did see Will crying, he just didn't say anything. Like I don't think he realized it was because of Will feeling sad over him specifically but I thought it was obvious he did see Will crying but didn't draw attention to it. I also think it is very important for both of their characters and their relationship, as well as very telling of how deeply Mike cares for Will to not say anything when he is crying, to just act normal and move on without addressing it.
Every time in the show that Mike notices Will's emotions and behaviors, especially his negative emotions, Mike never brings it up until after (unless he thinks Will actively needs help like when Will looks scared). This is the same Mike Wheeler who noticed every eyeroll and time Will was moping at Rink-o-Mania when he was literally there hanging out with his girlfriend, but he didn't bring it up until later when the two of them were fighting. The same Mike who, in season 2, said he knew something was off with Will because ‘he was quiet today’ when his friends just wrote it off because he’s always quiet. Mike always notices Will acting up but doesn't usually say anything in the moment unless he thinks Will is in trouble, he just lets him feel things and if it’s relevant later he'll bring it up.
It’s implied he’s very perceptive when it comes to Will's emotions and behaviors and he is always watching, especially when Will doesn’t seem like he is doing well, so it would be so bizarre if he didn’t notice Will crying beside him. It's likely he just didn’t see a reason to bring it up, so he didn't. For all Mike knows, it may have just been that talking about El makes Will think about his sister who is currently missing and in potential danger, which is a justified reason for someone to cry. Or even that the painting reminds Will of the time in his youth he missed out on due to the mind-flayer and upside down and that his childhood of campaigns in Mike's basement is over, or Will could be grieving the party he is no longer near and his friends he is so far from. Or he could be so overwhelmed by many emotions over many different things that he doesn't know how to articulate.
Mike usually just registers what Will is feeling and not why Will is feeling that way. Mike never needed to know why because him and Will are a team and, before this season, Will was, to Mike's knowledge, always open and honest with him (hence where Mike got the 'friends don't lie' thing he told El in the beginning) and Will would come to Mike when he wanted to talk about things, so Mike probably figures even if their relationship feels strained right now, that wouldn't change and if Will wants to talk about it, he will come to him, much like how Jonathan doesn't push Will to come out.
I think it's important to draw parallels between Jonathan and Mike's behaviors, how both act towards Will: both are overprotective of Will, both very adamant early on in the show about how being 'weird' does not equate to being bad, and also about how Will doesn't have to feel negative about being different because they are weirdos as well (making it a shared experience so he doesn't feel alone). Both are also careful when it comes to making sure Will feels safe and comfortable which includes not forcing him to talk about things unless he wants to (while still reassuring him they are there for him should he want to).
This is probably why Mike doesn't bring up that Will is lying (he knew El's letter well enough to know she missed the flowers and brought her some he handpicked so they would be Hawkins flowers, so he would also know about the painting and how El had no idea what is was or who it was for, because Will wouldn't even let her see it), but he doesn't bring that up because he thinks Will probably has a reason for lying, and he trusts Will, so he is happy to let Will share in his own time. This is another parallel to Jonathan and Will when Jonathan hints he knows Will is not straight but doesn't force Will to talk about it, instead letting Will come to him at his own time when he feels ready. I don't think it's a coincidence both Jonathan and Mike act the same way towards Will because both probably witnessed first-hand how Lonnie treated Will.
When Will came back, we know Mike was protective, which we don’t know if it was him trying to cope with the trauma of not only losing Will for a long time but also the recent loss of El, or if he was always that protective over Will, but it is implied in season 1 this was a status quo of sorts from before Will went missing. Mike would feel protective over Will and he would fight back with no self-preservation in mind, especially when people would act in similar ways towards Will that Lonnie did (like the bullies making fun of Will for being gay just like what Joyce brings up Lonnie would make fun of Will for, which prompted Mike to shove them before getting saved by El), which is most likely due to Mike being around during the abuse Will faced from his father which caused him to be protective of Will, and to a lesser extent all his friends (not lesser in extremes, I mean season 1 he jumped off a cliff about to kill himself for Dustin and from Dustin immediately screaming for him not to do it, fully convinced Mike would, and to be fair he does without even knowing El is there to save him, we can infer it is a common thing that Mike is willing to go to great lengths, even risk his own safety, in order to protect. But in terms of frequency instead of amplitude, he is chronically protective of Will while only really protective of his other friends when he feels they need particular protection he can provide).
Mike said he became friends with Will on the first day of kindergarten which means they were likely around 5 and Lonnie was still in the picture. This was before Lucas and Dustin, as Mike says Will was his first friend, so Mike probably knows more about it than either of the two of them, and like Jonathan, was there helping Will through it and supporting him/protecting him to some extent, for longer, which is why he is likely so perceptive of Will's emotions and what Will is feeling, even if he can't pinpoint why.
We are told this whole time that Will is a ‘sensitive boy’, and Lonnie would abuse him and try to change him for that as well as his perceived sexuality, so actually I think it’s important Mike didn’t say anything and let Will cry because it shows Mike provides space for Will to feel, space that others didn't and sometimes still don’t. He lets Will be sensitive and cry even though both of them have had people trying to teach them to suppress their emotions, especially their fathers (Mike's parents, especially Ted, did not respect Mike's grief over Will when he was missing and was not taking him seriously because Mike was not following those same ideals of toxic masculinity Ted and Lonnie were both trying to enforce, to different degrees, in their sons).
Mike is actively trying to stop the cycles Will, and himself, endured. He is trying to be conscious but accepting of all Will's emotions so Will doesn't have to go through what he did with Lonnie. He refuses to give up on or abandon Will when he went missing because Will had a dead-beat dad who stopped caring and abandoned him. And Mike not only praised his art but kept every piece given to him, with binders of it in his room and hanging it on his walls, keeping and displaying it proudly when we know Lonnie didn’t like Will making art because it fueled the ‘sensitive kid’ who was queer narrative he tried to force out of Will.
That's also why Mike immediately looks so guilty in the rain scene when he said what he said about Will's sexuality, because he realizes it is something Lonnie would say. That is also why he immediately goes to apologize despite the same rain he was telling Will not to leave because of. Why he prioritizes making amends and admitting wrong-doing when it comes to Will in a way he doesn't even do with his girlfriend. He is trying to break the cycles and not enforce the toxic masculinity Will painfully had to endure with Lonnie for years and he is trying to, despite feeling the effects of toxic masculinity himself that he is trying to overcome in his own 5-season arc, make sure it is not in his relationship with Will, especially not by his own hands.
Overall, I guess I think it’s not that Mike didn’t notice, but that Mike lets Will feel whatever he feels without judgement or trying to change or 'fix' it. He just sits beside Will and acts normal because he doesn’t want Will to feel like it’s bad to cry; he wants to normalize emotions between the two of them because he wants Will to have a safe place to express emotions, which is important for someone who’s dad abused him and enforced toxic masculinity before abandoning him because he saw him as ‘too sensitive’. It shows Will he is not 'too sensitive' for others and that people won't try to change him or abandon him for being himself, or even for being 'too much' or 'emotional', like his father did and probably convinced Will everyone would do. I don't think Mike realized the crying was because of him, but I think he did notice that Will was crying. He noticed the what and trusted that Will will tell him the why when he is ready.
☽ characters who pause mid-sentence like someone else is feeding them the words on a delay.
☽ someone who always knows the exact time without checking anything, and insists they “just feel it.”
☽ a person who cleans their glasses even when they’re not wearing any.
☽ characters who laugh at the wrong punchline, like they’re listening to a different conversation entirely.
☽ someone who claims they don’t dream, but always seems tired, like they’re busy somewhere else.
☽ a person who collects lost buttons and refuses to explain why. “You’ll understand eventually.”
☽ someone who never seems surprised by anything, even things they shouldn’t possibly know about.
☽ characters who compulsively straighten objects, except one item they always leave crooked. No one touches it.
☽ a person who flinches when certain names are spoken, but pretends they don’t recognize them.
☽ characters whose handwriting changes depending on their mood… or depending on who’s “in charge.”
☽ someone who treats shadows like they’re alive, stepping around them as if they could bruise.
☽ characters who hum melodies no one else has ever heard, but swear they’re popular songs.
☽ characters who know when they’re being watched. Every. Single. Time.
☽ a person who refuses to answer ringing phones. “If it’s important, they’ll stop.”
☽ someone who apologizes to empty rooms before leaving them.
☽ characters who insist they’ve met you before when you’re certain they haven’t.
☽ a person who treats coincidences like personal messages and acts accordingly.
⊹ ₊ ⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡˚₊‧⁺ ₊ ⊹
PS: I wrote the other day about how important ratings and reviews are for authors… and no joke, afterward I actually got two new ratings on my books. And yes, I can already hear some people saying, “It’s just two.” But I don’t care. I’m stupidly grateful.
So to whoever did it, whether you’re one of my followers or just someone who stumbled across my book, I’m sending you mental hugs and an ungodly amount of pizza. Like… way too much pizza. Enough to feed a small village.
Thank you. Really. Every single rating matters. ♡˚₊‧⁺ ₊ ⊹
remember when all of us including myself said over and over again that mike would have to make the first move because there is no world where will would. i’m sorry season 5 will byers i was not familiar with your game.
People on Twitter just pissing me off for understanding jack and shit about Dustin and how people experience loss and trauma.
a) PTSD can and does manifest as anger.
b) No, Dustin did not know Eddie for "just a week" Dustin had known Eddie since he started high school, which means they had known each other for just about a year, 8 months most likely.
c) Ages 13-15 are EXTREMELY important developmental years. That adolescent development got totally fucked by witnessing Eddie die in his arms.
AND D) His grieving process has been completely interrupted by everyone hating Eddie. He can't properly move on because he's stuck trying to move on from a person that no one is showing sympathy for, in turn, no one is showing sympathy to Dustin which means he's not being allowed to grieve properly. He is stuck in square one.
He's grieving, and he's traumatized. Maybe that's something incomprehensible to someone who hasn't experienced that grief, but it's comprehensible TO ME! Dustin Henderson I will always defend you.
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