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Will has never been the type of person to enjoy big parties and definitely not the type of person who suggests going to a party instead of having a quiet night in, but it's summer and Vecna is dead and the upside down is basically old news by now so what's the harm in wanting to celebrate after finishing junior year with his best friends.
He’s also not the type of person to find himself in a circle with a bunch of his classmates and Mike and Max playing seven minutes in heaven, but here he is.
As two people stumble out of the closet a girl with frizzy blonde hair shouts, “Alright next up!” She places her hand on an empty beer bottle placed in the center of the circle.
Everyone watches intensely as the bottle comes to a stop at the one and only.. Mike Wheeler.
He stands up awkwardly as a few people mumble incoherently.
Will lets out a huff of air dreading the next seven minutes he will have to wait while Mike gets it on with whoever.
“Okay! Lets see who your partner is!” The girl says, extremely chipper.
As the bottle spins Will watches the ceiling. He doesn't want to know who Mike is gonna be making out with in that closet because at this point it really feels like Mike would choose to kiss anyone over Will, and that's just how it's always going to be.
As Will can hear the bottle come to a stop there is quiet bickering from people in the circle and a choked laugh from Max. He decides that he might care enough to see who Mike's partner is when a judgmental boo comes from the guy sitting next to Will. As he tilts his head down he freezes when he sees the rim of the beer bottle staring him straight in the eyes.
He feels time move in slow motion as he looks up towards Mike who has flushed cheeks.
They look at eachother for a moment and finally Will feels a hard push into his arm and he flips his head to look at Max.
"Snap out of it." She says with a plotting grin.
"Right." Will says, breathing in.
"Well.." The same leader of the game as before says. "You boys ready?"
Before Will can even look to Mike for confirmation Mike is already talking. "Yeah, I'm ready." He says with an uncomfortable shrug.
"Oh, okay." Will stands up and leans into Mike. "Are you sure?" And he responds with a quick silent nod.
Before they know it the door is being shut and they're in a dark closet alone, the only light being the one from outside softly dimming the two of them from underneath the door.
The sounds from the party taking place outside are drowned out by them breathing in sync, standing so close and so still.
"What do you want to do?" Will asks quietly, unsure of the boundary he is asking of and how close they are going to get to crossing it.
"Well, most people kiss." Mike says quietly and Will gulps. "But we can just talk."
Will is a bit taken aback by his acknowledgment of the fact that if they weren't them they would be kissing right now.
"Okay." He responds, looking deep into Mike's eyes he asks, "about what?"
Mike looks off to the side for a split second to think before meeting the gaze again. "What's something you've never told anyone?"
The question echos in Will's brain and the obvious answer comes to his mind. His sexuality, his attractions, the thing he couldn't bare to say outloud.
"I don't know." He chuckles softly at the awkwardness of it all, this whole situation.
"Come on." Mike encourages.
"Okay." He pauses, slightly uncomfortable which he assumes Mike can tell by the look on Will's face when Mike suggests,
"Actually, forget it." He flashes a soft smile.
Will gives a nod and they're back to staring at eachother in silence.
Some moments pass and suddenly Will can hear Mike take the smallest step closer, and he can feel warmth rush into his cheeks.
"I mean, we could do what most people do when playing seven minutes in heaven." Mike says with a heavy breath.
"Oh, you mean?" Will tilts his head and Mike responds,
"Yeah."
Will swallows thickly.
"Okay. Sure." He says calmly as if his heart isn't practically pounding out of his chest, ready to burst.
"Just a small one." Mike says slowly.
Will nods and Mike is leaning in, closer.. closer and right before the two of their lips meet a quiet laugh escapes from Will.
"Sorry," he throws his hand over his face and he's beat red. He catches his breath and notices Mike standing dead still with a sort of hurt look on him. "I'm sorry." He repeats, a soft undertone.
"No, it's okay." He licks his lips. "You brought me back to reality." He says, backing up and Will's eyebrows furrow at the statement.
Will panics, sure that he just ruined the only opportunity he had to kiss the true love of his life but the more he thinks the more he realizes it's probably for the best, not to get caught up on a pathetic kiss that happened while the two of them were drunk at a party in some random closet, except neither of them were drunk, and the way Mike dived in didn't feel very pathetic.
Forget it. He thinks to himself before realizing he hasn't said anything in response to the boy.
"It's just a kiss." He says without thinking.
"You're right, it's just a kiss." Mike repeats. "We probably shouldn't anyway."
Will's eyes feel heavy as Mike says it but he's right. It's for a different reason why Mike thinks that they shouldn't do it but still, a good idea.
"Yeah." Will confirms.
"But, they're expecting us to." Mike adds, gesturing at the door.
"Yeah." He says again, wondering if maybe they actually are going to step over their line of friendship.
"So," Mike says, reading Will's face and as hard as he is trying to hide it his expression has kiss me written all over it.
Mike doesn't lean in, instead he reaches both his hands out and grabs Will's forearms, slowly moving his hands down to Will's hands. He squeezes softly. Mike is holding both of Will's hands so gently, he leans in the smallest bit before a wave of shock stops him and his mouth parts a bit as he looks away.
"I can't." He says, dropping Will's hands and Will lets them fall.
"It's okay." Will assures him, the adrenaline he had from the intimate moment fading away.
"Just," he takes a deep breath and sighs. "Not like this."
Did i hear that right?
"What," he stammers. "What does that mean?" Will asks, eyebrows furrowed.
And Mike doesn't respond, he raises his head, eyes meeting Will's and Mike has the saddest look of desperation on his face as they read one anothers face, staring deeply into their eyes.
Will opens his mouth to speak and he's not even sure what he wants to say but luckily he is saved by the door knob twisting causing a jump from both of the boys.
"Hope you two had fun." Max says as she opens the door and Mike pushes past the two of them quickly.
"Uh, yeah." Will says rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, watching Mike walk away. "We're just gonna walk back to my house." He rushes past her and a "Goodnight." Is followed behind him as he goes after Mike who is already out of the front door.
Once the warm summer air hits him he takes a deep breath. He sees the raven haired boy standing on the sidewalk, hands in his pockets looking up into the clear sky.
"Walk me home?" Will asks, trying to break the tension as he approaches Mike.
"Yeah," He gulps. "yeah of course." He gently smiles at Will and the smile causes a pit in Will's stomach. This night has confused him so much. Mike has confused him so much.
They begin walking on the sidewalk as the streetlights beam on the two of them. Crickets chirp as they bask in the muggy air.
"Sorry for making things awkward." Mike says after awhile finally breaking the silence.
"You didn't." Will says followed by a soft thinly lipped smile he gives Mike.
He doesn't say anything, just nods as they continue walking.
"I get why you wouldn't want to kiss me, it's all good." Will adds on impulse.
"That's not it." Mike says shaking his head and Will hums in curiosity.
They stop at the end of Will's driveway and Mike turns to face Will.
"I don't know." He shrugs. "I just felt like-" he struggles to make out the words and he let's out a long sigh. "I just felt like that wasn't the right place out of all the places i could've kissed you, you know?" He quickly glances at Will's lips. "At some random girls house. And anyway, i don't want to make thinks weird."
Will's a bit taken aback by Mike's wording, he doesn't even mention how it was a game or how they were supposed to kiss. He made it sound like it was a natural thing for them to do. Normal.
He doesn't know what to say, he could admit to wanting to kiss Mike, and how he agrees that it shouldn't have been there, out of all places.
"Let's just forget this whole night then." Will settles on with a smile and Mike returns the look.
It goes quiet as they smile at eachother. Will knows it's not just him, something beyond the line of friendship is here. He swears on it. There is something between these two boys, the sparkle in Mike's eyes says enough.
"Alright well, goodnight Will."
"Night, Mike."
As Will turns to walk away, Mike's hand appears on his waist and he's being forcefully spun around. A soft gasp escapes from Will's mouth as Mike dips him and meets his lips suddenly.
The kiss is a passionate flame spread through Will's entire body. Their hands moving across eachother as if they're looking for something, looking for more. Mike's hand lands in Will's hair as he tugs on it gently and an almost sinful pant leaves Will's mouth. His hand lands in the small of Mike's back. He feels like he's going to explode and he can't seem to pull himself away, not that he wants to anyway.
Will lets out a soft hum into Mike's mouth as Mike's long fingers run through his hair. Mike's hand makes it's way away from Will's hair and down his back pulling him out of their current position and now they're basically hugging, practically absorbing eachother as they kiss.
Suddenly Mike pulls back and if he didn't maybe the two of them would've been stuck like that forever, not that it would've been a bad thing.
Will stands there, mouth parted and cheeks a dark shade of maroon. Mike's lips are bright pink and slick with spit.
"Like that." Mike whispers, a large smirk on his face.