Chapter Text
Mike’s got a tsunami in his gut when he thinks about his best friend, Will’s eyes on him make him so dizzy he thinks he’s going to pass out. They spent their graduation night playing an emotional game of D&D with their friends. Each friend with teary eyes takes turns putting away their binders. Will is second to last, and then lastly Mike. He’s not a kid anymore, he can’t keep making excuses. Will is going to slip away, he’s going to meet a man in a bar and Mike can’t be sure but he’ll probably act like a bitch. He’s probably got some dumb name, he’s probably got some lame backstory and one thing he can be sure of – he won’t be good enough for Will. Some lame lackluster loser is going to take Will if Mike doesn’t do something. Mike has been stuck in his own prison for as long as he’s been alive, so crawling himself out of it seems impossible. Will tearily places his binder in its place and Mike takes his time following behind him. He paces himself like his life is over once he’s done. Creeping towards the binders rightful place Mike makes his way, tears are threatening to spill. His eyes linger on Will’s binder. Maybe it’s too late. Will slipped away.
Mike closes the basement door behind him after watching Holly and her friends start playing the game that defined his childhood.
He begins to walk to the dining room, he finds Will lingering. Will has a shy look on his face, like he wants to say something. His eyes flicker to the carpet, avoiding Mike’s gaze.
“Oh hey Will!” Mike says in a gentle voice.
Mike believes he can flirt with Will and there will be no consequences. Every now and then he tells Will that he has really pretty eyes, sometimes his eyes linger just a little more than Will thinks they should for a friend, leaving a feeling of want in Will’s gut.
Mike thinks he can be slick enough that he can flirt and Will won’t notice the way Mike’s eyes fixate on only him.
Mike looks at Will like he is the entire sun, but Will is to never know that. In fact, Will doesn’t know, Will is shy and humble at best.
Despite Mike’s best efforts, which usually slips through the cracks, this time didn’t.
Will notices.
Will notices the way Mike’s eyes glistened up at him like a lost puppy that wanted to claim a home in Will’s heart. Will notices when Mike said “time to join your friends sorcerer” like the word sorcerer is a pet name. Mike might as well have said “time to join your friends lover.”
Will always believed Mike was straight so he never considered risking the friendship, now he is so sure he was wrong. Something about having one final summer left of their romance coded friendship while living in the same town has Will standing there in front of Mike, about to make the biggest leap of his life. He is terrified, but there is a buzz in his brain matching the clattering of his heartbeat. Something that feels a whole lot like hope.
Part of him is cautious, but he is tired of waiting.
Truth be told, previous to now he had long accepted Mike would never be his.
He loves Mike with his entire chest, but he would never chase Mike again.
“Friends? No thanks! Bestfriends” was all he could think about for about eighteen months, that is until Mike Wheeler made eyes at him that made him weak.
“I’m not afraid anymore, Mike.” Will leans against the wall. His voice is firm but the nerves rattle his bones. Part of him is indeed afraid.
“Afraid of what? Are you okay?” Mike asks. He looks Will up and down like he is expecting some kind of injury, then he places a grip on Will’s shoulder that would scare just about anyone else with its intensity, but Mike’s intensity about Will just makes Will feel safe.
“I’m okay,” Will breathes, he curses himself for just not being able to get it out. I mean how hard is it to say HEY MIKE WHEELER I KIND OF LOVE YOU AND I THINK YOU LOVE ME TOO.
“So what is it?”
“It was me.”
“What was?”
“The painting.”
“Yeah, I know Will! I still have it in my room. I remember when you gave it to me.”
Mike is confused and Will is considering backing out of his plan to tell Mike everything. Suddenly, Will feels fourteen again. Suddenly, Will feels like maybe his true feelings are hard to reveal for a reason – they are supposed to be kept secret.
The more Mike doesn’t get it, the more Will doesn’t want to continue.
“No Mike, nobody told me to paint for you.”
Mike tilts his head.
“..... She didn’t tell you to?” Mike asks.
Will shakes his head.
Mike stumbles back slightly.
“Mike?”
“Yeah?” Mike looks down.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” Mike smiles.
“You don’t get it Mike.”
“What don’t I get?”
“I’m not afraid anymore,”
“Yeah, I know you said that,” Mike laughs.
“I love you as more than a friend, Mike.”
“I love you as more than a friend too.”
“Please don’t say that we’re best friends, not just friends. You said that last year on the tower,” Will warned.
“It’s so much more than that,” Mike confesses.
“I know!” Will admits
“You knew?” Mike’s eyes widen.
“You were flirting with me in the basement, Mike.”
“No I wasn’t,” Mike denies.
“Come on Mike, yes you were!”
“Okay, but so were you!”
“Well, maybe,” Will doesn’t even try to deny, he just takes in the way Mike looks so handsome in front of him.
“So the painting?” Mike ponders.
“It was all me, everything I said in the van came from me. I was so scared, Mike. I spent weeks perfecting it. In fact, I threw out so many drafts because I just couldn’t get it right. The painting was a secret love letter, but then when you saw me at the airport, you could barely look me in the eye and–”
“I’m so sorry Will,” Mike cuts Will off.
He steps closer to Will, he puts his hands on Will’s chest gently like he’s trying to confirm that this isn’t a dream. His heart is pounding, but he hides it well. Mike is so good at pretending like he’s not losing his mind. Ironically, this is part of the problem, his ability to not show an ounce of emotion when feeling the weight of the world is why this took so long.
Mike never understood why El even liked him, he often looked in the mirror and saw a loser.
He sees someone who is not only ugly but a total loser. The only thing he is good at is d&d and problem-solving. He doesn’t even understand why his ex-girlfriend had feelings for him, so he never even considered Will could. Even after he found out Will is gay, he never considered Will would choose him. All this time, Will thought Mike didn’t want him, but Mike wanted Will so bad and still does.
“I was lost in my own shit, I was trying so hard to not have feelings for you in the way that I did. I treated you so horribly. I’m lucky you even forgave me in the first place. I just wish you didn’t lie, but I understand where you’re coming from, and I'm glad you’re being honest now, and I didn't have to find out from someone else,” he continues.
“I’ll always forgive you, Mike. You were young and barely knew yourself, we’re still young, and we’re just now figuring it out. I’m also sorry for lying to you, you meant so much to El, but those words were mine. I was hiding behind her. Those were my feelings and I told you what I thought you wanted to hear,” Will admits.
A small sense of relief spreads through Mike’s chest. It will take him a lifetime to forgive himself for what he put Will through, and no matter how hard it is for him to wrap his head around Will’s lie – he forgives him just like Will has done for him, with all the stupid shit he’s done.
“Shit, I cut you off earlier,” Mike panics.
“I was just going to say that after what happened at the airport, I thought that you wouldn’t want something that intimate from me, that’s why I didn’t give it to you when you asked about it. I thought you would of wanted it from-”
“You can say her name, Will. I love you so much for trying to protect me, but I need to move on. I’ll always miss her, and she’ll always be with all of us, but I won’t crack hearing her name.”
“El…. I thought you would have preferred something like that from her. You seemed so in love, I never thought you could feel that way about me. Until today.”
Mike takes a beat.
“I did love – no I'm sorry I do love El, I just don’t think it was ever in the way I wanted to. I didn’t love her in the way she deserved. We were always having problems, we didn’t understand each other romantically. I felt a love for her, and I was so young and confused. I thought that I was in love with her, and I wasn’t. Truth be told, I don't know if she was in love with me either. I was one of the first people to take care of her. I think she was confused as well. When she met me she barely knew the world. She deserved a better boyfriend than me. I feel guilty about that. She deserved a boyfriend that was actually in love with her, not just someone who felt love for her."
Mike keeps going on and on, and it’s a lot for Will to take in. Both Mike and Will are overwhelmed by the moment, a moment they never thought would come.
Eventually, Mike is cut off by Karen Wheeler yelling from the kitchen.
“Mike, seriously! Dinner is cold. It’s been like thirty minutes. All your friends are waiting in the living room. They said you guys are going to some graduation party. Have you seen Will? Did he go home?”
“Will is with me Mom, we’ll be there in just a minute.”
“Okay, honey, I'm just looking out for you. Just because you graduated doesn’t mean I stop being a mom.”
“I know! I promise I'm okay.”
Mike turns back to Will.
“What now? what does this make us?” he asks, he shuffles his feet nervously like his sudden trauma dump would somehow make Will fall out of love.
“Mike, I don’t think you’re ready for a relationship,” he frowns. Will was prepared to lock Mike down tonight, but after thinking about it, he just doesn’t think it is a good idea, even if now he knows Mike feels the same.
“What do you mean, Will? I said that I love you.” Mike tries to hold back the tears. He feels like an open wound. He finally is honest with Will and he still can’t have him. Mike hates feeling vulnerable. It’s like stepping fresh out of the shower with nothing but a towel and suddenly there’s an audience.
“And I love you.” Will hates seeing Mike so upset. He wishes that Mike understood that he’s doing this to save their relationship. Will fears if they move too quickly, they’ll crash and burn like a bad car accident.
“Okay, so why can’t we be together?” Mike’s lip quivers, but he’s still holding on.
“Mike, you almost skipped graduation, you are not fully healed. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t in love with El, you still lost her. You watched her die. We all love her, and I miss her so much. She is my sister. I’ll wait for you, I promise, but when I finally get the boy I've wanted all my life, I want a healthy start. If we start out in a good place, we should last forever. That’s what I want, and it just dawned on me that maybe you’re not ready.”
Mike gulps at “all my life”. Being loved by Will makes Mike feel sappy.
“How long?”
“Not long…Month or two,”
“Will please?” Mike begs. This feels like a treat being tangled in front of his face. How is it that they both just admitted their feelings, but Will thinks they shouldn’t date?
“Just long enough that I can make sure this is what you really want, and make sure you’re in a good place.” Will doesn’t tell Mike that part of it is his crippling fear of not being enough.
Mike nods, unpleased but trying to hide it. He can’t let Will see that this is tearing him apart.
Will also tries to hold it together. They both want to be together so bad.
Mike and Will walk into the kitchen, they take turns reheating their lasagna and scarf it down before thanking Karen for the food, putting their plates in the sink and meeting their friends in the living room.
“Jesus Mike, what took you so long?” Max glares.
“Will was with me too. Why am I the only bad guy?” Mike demands an answer.
“Will is nice to me,” Max proclaims.
Will laughs.
“I’m nice to you!” Mike retorts.
“Stop yelling at me Mike, geez,” Max jokes as she’s trying to hold back her laugh.
Mike rolls his eyes.
Mike will never admit it, but he likes the joke bickering that he and Max do. It reminds him of his relationship with Nancy. Since she is gone most of the year, Max fills in the role. He has Holly, but Holly adores Mike.
“Stop antagonizing my girlfriend,” Lucas teases.
The friends stand up from the couch, it is to Ted’s dismay that they are there in the first place.
Ted is in his old man rocker watching some reruns.
“I got the address, let’s go," Dustin jumps up and down.
The Wheelers got a new car and gave their old one to Mike, who had just recently gotten his license.
They climb into the car and drive in continuous chaos, all the way to the party.
Once the car comes to a stop, out rolls Dustin, then Lucas, and lastly Max.
Will lingers in the passenger seat, giving Mike an empathetic look before getting out.
“Go ahead, I’ll join in a few minutes,” Mike says.
“Are you sure?...you okay?” Will frowns.
“Yeah! Yeah! I just think I ate a little fast, but I should be good to go relatively soon." Mike assures.
Will isn’t convinced, but doesn’t press the issue. He chooses to give Mike some space.
As soon as Will is out of sight, Mike brings his hands to his face and leans against the steering wheel.
Mike doesn’t understand why this is bothering him, Will promised he would wait.
Mike doesn’t want to wait.
Just a few hours ago, Mike was fine flirting with Will, wanting Will from afar and never believing it would amount to anything — actually it haunted him deep down.
Mike takes a big deep breath and throws his head against the head rest.
When Will came out, Mike thought he had a chance, but then Will never said anything.
Will said that whoever he liked — he was over.
Mike always wondered who it was.
After a few more deep breaths, Mike unbuckles his seat belt and exits his car.
The summer night air feels nice on his skin.
He leans against the car for a moment, bracing himself to join his friends, to join Will.
Inside the party, the smell of booze and smoke fills the air.
Will, Dustin, Max and Lucas stand somewhere in the living room trying to talk over the blasting music that shakes the walls and floorboards, specifically Miss You Much by Janet Jackson. This isn’t the music the group typically listens to, but they aren’t about to let that ruin the night. In their hands is a red solo cup filled with some mysterious liquor punch. Nobody in the group is a heavy drinker, spending their entire childhood fighting evil will do that.
However, that doesn’t mean they are new to drinking.
One time, while Will was in California, the rest of them wanted to be like Eddie, so Mike snuck a couple of his father's beers down to the basement. One by one, they opened their beers and took their first sip. All but Max, who wasn’t there, was still dealing with the aftermath of Billy’s death.
Dustin took his sip first, then Lucas and lastly Mike, who stalled despite this being his idea.
Their faces contorted at the taste.
They mutually agreed the beer tasted like shit, but finished them anyway to not look weak.
They didn’t drink again until the eighteen months Hawkins was in quarantine.
After a specifically stressful crawl, Dustin used his fake ID to buy a bottle of vodka and a bottle of orange juice. He met up with Will, Mike and Lucas at the WSQK radio station.
They took turns taking shots, washing it down with orange juice.
Eventually, they fell asleep and woke up with a collective migraine, vowing to never drink again.
Dustin continued to self-soothe with alcohol on occasion (with self-control), but the rest of them kept to their vow.
Stacey approaches Dustin, he looks to his friends for approval to go with her, resulting in a unanimous nod.
Max and Lucas head to a corner to make out, leaving Will standing there who promises he’s okay.
At first, Will panics, but the flavored poison is like a numbing agent for his soul.
He finds a spot on a nearby couch and sits down,
Soon a boy from his history class sits next to him.
Will is not interested, but the attention is flattering.
“Hey Will!” Aaron from history says.
“Hey Aaron!” Will exclaims.
Aaron scoots close to Will.
“How come we never talked in school?” Aaron asks.
Will can tell he’s trying to flirt, which is making his heart beat kind of fast. Will doesn’t want Aaron, he wants Mike. However, he would be lying if he said he didn’t like being flirted with, he just wishes it was someone else.
“I guess our paths just didn’t cross,” Will laughs.
“Except for history class with Mrs Anderson!” Aaron retorts!
Will can’t believe this is happening, his adrenaline is in overdrive. His chest is pounding, and his palms are sweating. Everyone knows boys don’t flirt with boys in public. This is so risky, but risk is nothing Will isn’t used to, only this somehow seems so much scarier than saving the world.
Will takes a drink of his poison punch and sits up properly. He knows he shouldn’t be doing this. He convinces himself he’s misreading the situation.
“Mrs Anderson!” Will yells far too loud.
“She hated me! I have no idea why. I always had my assignments turned in on time. Maybe it’s because I missed like a week of school last year because of Vec- Vacation!” Will proclaims.
The almost slip up reminds him why he can’t lead a normal life dating someone who doesn’t understand his childhood.
“Where did you go?” Aaron tussles his mid-length straight blonde hair, which isn’t Will's preference.
Aaron’s bright blue eyes aren’t what Will wants either. He wants Mike’s deep brown eyes. Mike’s eyes feel soft and kind, like home. Will thinks Aaron’s eyes are pretty, but they intimidate him.
Even in the way Aaron dresses, he compares it all to Mike.
“Where did you go?” Aaron asks again.
Will snaps out of his thoughts, he doesn’t even realize he is thinking about Mike again. He doesn’t even hear Aaron speak, he barely even remembers Aaron is sitting there.
“Oh! Somewhere desert-like. Kind of like Nevada but not.
Will answers as he starts fidgeting with the zipper on his zip-up hoodie. He can’t help but look down. This conversation is starting to feel flirty and Will only wants to flirt with Mike. He can’t help but feel like he’s cheating, despite him and Mike not being in a relationship yet.
The keyword being – yet.
“Sounds like fun,” Aaron smiles, putting his arm around Will.
Oh, this is risky.
“You could say that!” Will laughs.
This is the first full belly laugh Will has had in a long time.
He thinks it’s funny that, in reality, this was one of the worst experiences of his life, but he can’t get into it so Aaron is forced to believe he just vacationed somewhere having the time of his life. Will was attacked, forced to come out, and lost his sister all in the span of a couple of days. He had to watch his friends almost die, and El blow up in the upside down. This is a trauma that will stay with him until the day he dies. How would Aaron ever understand? How could Aaron ever understand HIM?
The whole town either thinks he came back from the dead like a zombie or just got lost in the woods.
Hardly anyone knows what truly happened to him.
Will is zoning out again when he feels a pair of dry lips brush against his.
Will freezes.
Is Aaron out of his mind?
Boys don’t kiss boys in public.
Will pulls back.
His eyes widen as he scans the room trying to see if anyone noticed.
Everything seemed normal. Nobody seemed to notice except— Mike.
Oh, fuck.
Mike enters the party through a door that directly connects to the kitchen.
If being a nerd is bad enough, Mike has pretty much become a recluse.
The only people he bothers to speak to are the people he already knows.
He has been through too much, he can’t bother with mediocre problems like who was dating who or who said what about whom, he doesn’t care.
This isn’t due to him not caring about people, he cares. Mike just doesn’t have it in him to pack on anymore baggage.
Mike eyes the liquor table, which is on a kitchen island. He is going to have fun. All he can think about is quieting his chaotic thoughts and enjoying a night out for the first time in what feels like a lifetime. He fills a cup with some pink-redish liquid he can only assume contains alcohol. He examines the cup before downing it in one go. The burning in his throat almost numbs it. He refills the cup for good measure, heading to the living room to find his friends–and Will. He’s never been here before, so he’s pushing past bodies, not sure where to go. He gets a couple looks from people he’s shared classes with, people that watched him swallow himself into nothing, in real time. He went from pretending he was okay, to not being able to fake a smile overnight. It isn’t just losing El, it is everything. His entire childhood.
He is very good at acting like none of that affected him, but it did. He can’t hide it anymore. Something that haunts him is the whispers about Will being too soft, they feel like a cheese grater to his soul. The only reason Will was ever whispered about was because of him. At six years old, Will and him would hold hands under the table. The teacher caught them one time and held a parent-teacher conference with Will’s parents, but not his for some reason. The teacher thought it was inappropriate. Mike remembers sitting in Will’s room while Joyce and Lonnie argued in the living room. Joyce embraced Will for exactly who he was, but Lonnie could never accept the real Will. He wanted Will to be just like him, what he referred to as a real man. Lonnie swung the door open to find a terrified Mike and an even more terrified Will. Mike didn’t come from a perfect family, but he certainly had never seen anything like this. His soul ached for Will. He always hated leaving Will to deal with Lonnie alone.
Lonnie started screaming at Will, calling him an embarrassment. Mike regretted ever letting Will hold his hand. Joyce pulls Lonnie out of Will’s room. She tells him to never speak to her son like that again. Joyce first focuses on her son and wraps her arms around Will’s tiny body. She tells him he doesn’t ever need to change and then hugs Mike, offering to take him home and apologizes for him having to see Lonnie's tantrum. On the way home, Mike felt sick that his and Will’s innocent affection caused so much trouble. Some boys from school overheard the parent-teacher conference and spread it around. Since then, Will got maliciously bullied, and Mike hated it. He always knew he was to blame. For a couple of years, Mike avoided being affectionate with Will, until Lonnie left. Once Lonnie left, Mike knew it was safe to hold hands with Will. At some point, they stopped holding hands, but the affection Mike felt for Will never left, even once Lucas, and then Dustin joined the friend group. Mike always knew that when his bullies were bullying Will they were also bullying him, because him and Will were the same. Back then he just didn’t know what that meant.
As Mike is trying to push his trauma to the back of his brain, he finally stumbles into the living room. At first, he doesn’t see it. Mike assumes his brain is playing tricks on him.
Once his brain catches up, Will and Mike lock eyes for what feels like minutes, neither of them able to speak. Mike takes in a harsh breath after feeling like he can’t breathe and places his cup on a nearby staircase before bolting out.
How could Will be kissing someone else? Especially in such a public place.
Boys don’t kiss boys in public.
Mike’s feet barely feel like they are hitting the ground. He’s shoving past people who are for sure muttering to themselves that he’s an asshole.
Once Mike feels the fresh air on his skin, he heaves with sorrow. He makes it to the end of the driveway before hearing a familiar voice.
“Mike, stop,” Will pleads.
Tears start forming in Mike’s eyes.
“How could you, Will? After what we talked about tonight. If we hadn’t talked about being together, I could understand. How could you kiss him Will?” Mike questions.
“I didn’t kiss him, Mike,” Will defends.
“I saw you,” Mike pressed.
“He kissed me, Mike, come on, you know me! You know I would never kiss a stranger at a party. I would never hurt you like that.” Will goes to touch Mike but he backs up.
There’s a moment of silence, Like A Prayer by Madonna is playing inside the party – how fitting.
“Do you promise?” Mike whispers.
Mike looks Will in the eyes with such intensity he feels like their eyes could merge.
“I promise.” Will goes to touch Mike’s face once again and this time Mike lets him.
Mike knows Will would not lie about something like this, he isn’t someone that messes with people’s feelings. He’s kind, always. He would die for others.
“I love you Will,” Mike places his hand on Will’s, which is currently on his cheek.
“I love you Mike,” Will says back.
“Can we please…can you please just be my boyfriend?” Mike asks, looking down shyly.
Will nods, part of him still feels like things are moving too fast, but he loves Mike and Mike loves him, so what could go wrong?
Mike grabs Will by his hand and drags him to his car which is parked down the street, not too far but far enough from the party that nobody could see what he wanted to do.
Mike gently pushes Will against the car.
Mike starts breathing heavily, trying to work up the courage to ask his question.
He looks Will in the face without breaking eye contact.
“Will, can I kiss you?” Mike asks.
His heart is beating out of his chest, praying for Will to say yes.
“Of course,” Will laughs, he takes his hand and sweetly fixes (or messes depending on how you look at it) Mike’s hair from that stupid side part he had for graduation.
Mike presses his lips against Will’s.
He pushes against Will, so they are almost completely touching, at first so sweet and tender but then so touch starved from years of neglecting each other.
Mike puts his hand on the back of Will’s neck, and Will settles his fingers in Mike’s hair, gripping gently.
They break apart and kiss again on repeat until neither of them can breathe.
“I wish I was your first kiss,” Mike whines.
“I wish I was yours,” Will confesses.
Mike takes a moment to rest his head in the crook of Will’s neck, breathing peacefully against his skin.
“I don’t want to go back to that party,” Mike says.
“Worried about Aaron?” Will teases.
Mike gives Will a look, like a freshly picked scab.
Will reassures him by combing his fingers through Mike’s hair, placing his other hand on Mike’s back.
“Don’t worry about him. He could never replace or compare to my Mike Wheeler."
“Your Mike Wheeler?” Mike smiles.
“Well, I mean, if you want to be! I just thought that –” Will stutters nervously.
Mike presses his mouth against Will’s once again in order to ease his worry.
Mike thinks it’s cute when Will gets nervous, even if he can be an anxious wreck at times too.
They stood there leaned against each other for a minute.
“Let’s go home,” Will says.
“What about our friends?” Mike asks.
“They’ll figure it out,” Will replies.
Mike grabs Will’s hand and pulls him to the passenger side, opening the door and waiting for him to get in.
“Who knew you could be romantic?” Will laughs.
His cheeks are blushed slightly.
“I have so much time to make up for, and I can’t lose you. I’ve been the shitty boyfriend, I can’t make that mistake with you,” Mike states.
He won’t break eye contact, he needs Will to understand that he’s different now, he’s better.
Will smiles back at Mike, making Mike’s heart skip a couple beats.
Mike smiles back warmly and closes the door. He then gets into the driver's side.
They drive back to Mike’s house in a complete but harmonious silence.
Mike loves that they can say so much together, without saying anything out loud.
Mike parks on the street outside his house to avoid triggering the garage lights.
Mike rubs his fingers across Will’s hand. He knows that once they exit the car they have to pretend they are just friends.
First Will exits, and then Mike. They walk to the door in silence.
Once inside, Mike looks around, he notices his parents and Holly went to sleep.
It’s about 1 am. Mike wonders if his friends are still at the party. He kind of feels guilty about ditching them.
“Are we going to go down to the basement?” Will asks.
“No, not private enough,” Mike answers.
Mike leads Will to his bedroom and locks the door behind them.
“A little too soon,” Will jokes.
“Will I just don’t want my parents coming in! Nobody knows we’re together,” Mike laughs.
“About that, I just want to be on the same page. What do we tell our friends? Do we even say anything?” Will asks.
Mike doesn’t answer. Truthfully, he doesn’t know what they should do.
“Maybe we should just keep quiet, just for now. What if things don’t work out?” Will continues.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Mike asks.
“Mike, I want us to! But you’re still in the closet. I don’t even think your dad knows I'm gay! He certainly doesn’t know that you are.” Will responds.
“I’m sorry! Will, please just give me some time to figure this out. I don’t want to — I'm not ashamed of you or of us, I just genuinely have never done this before. My dad is kind of traditional, I'm scared of how he would react. My mom and my sisters would support me, I think, but my dad? I think he would disown me. I genuinely don’t care what he thinks, but at the same time, if he was to kick me out, I would be screwed.” Mike rants while pacing back and forth. Truthfully, Ted Wheeler is an absent father who probably wouldn’t disown Mike. At most, he would make snide comments under his breath, but the fear and unknown leaves Mike in a daze.
Will immediately walks over to him and wraps his arms around Mike. He squeezes as hard as he can, trying to ground him.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m not in a rush, Mike. If it wasn’t for Vecna maybe I wouldn’t have been able to come out either. Obviously, I can’t be with you in secret forever, but I'm patient,” Will says.
“Why did it take us so long? I could have been kissing you ages ago,” Mike questions.
“I don’t know Mike, I wish it didn’t, but we can’t go back in time. I’m just glad we’re together now,” Will smiles.
“Me too.” Mike reaches out to touch Will’s face.
This time, Will initiates the kiss.
Will gently pushes Mike up against his bedroom door, he stands on his tippy-toes to connect his lips to Mike’s.
Mike starts heavy breathing, no matter how much they have kissed in the last couple of hours, it always drives him crazy. Will notices his affect on Mike and kisses him again. He feels drunk on Mike’s affection.
All Mike can do is look into Will’s eyes. He can’t help but think about how much has changed so fast. This morning he was mourning El. This afternoon he was flirting with Will, and now they are officially together.
Will looks around Mike’s room, he’s been in this room countless times. He has seen every time it’s changed. He remembers when Mike had dinosaur toys littered all over his floor. Now, this room felt different. This is the first time he’s been in Mike’s room as his boyfriend. Will used to sleep on the floor, that is until Mike would say he was being ridiculous and force him to share his bed. Will at first felt hesitant, but after a while it felt so normal. It was so innocent when they were kids. They haven’t slept in the same bed since right before Will went missing.
“Are you tired?” Mike asks.
“A little,” Will answers.
“You’re going to stay the night, right?” Mike questions.
Will nods
“Last time I left your house after dark, well you know,” Will laughs.
“Don’t even joke! I can’t lose you again,” Mike laughs too.
Mike pulls Will closer, like if he lets go, Will is going to disappear.
“So, I — um well, since we’re together now, we can share my bed. I mean if you wa...want to,” Mike stutters.
“What about your parents? Or Holly? What if somebody sees us?” Will questions.
“I locked the door,” Mike answers.
Will’s face relaxes.
“Okay yeah! We can totally sleep in the same bed! We’ve done it before,” he says.
Mike smiles.
“I remember!” Mike says.
Mike rummages through his dresser to find something for Will to wear to bed; a T-shirt and some shorts.
“Here you go! Sneak into the bathroom down the hall, nobody will even question it. You spend the night all the time,” Mike explains.
“Okay,” Will nods.
Will closes the door behind him, and Mike hurriedly changes into something more comfortable.
After he’s done changing, Will returns, locking the door behind him. Mike is sitting on the edge of the bed.
Mike lifts the blankets on his side and slips under. He motions for Will.
Will climbs into the bed on the left side, next to Mike.
At first, they are both laying on their backs, side by side, but then Will speaks up.
“Should we cuddle?” Will wonders out loud.
“Yeah, I would love to,” Mike answers.
“Who’s going to cuddle who?” Mike whispers.
“I don’t know! I’ve never done this before,” Will whispers back nervously.
“Turn on your side,” Mike requests.
Will doesn’t say anything, he just does as he’s told.
Mike scoots closer and wraps his arms around Will, he sets his head against Will’s back.
Both Mike and Will relax against each other. Mike’s breathing settles, he's never felt this at peace before. He likes the way his bed feels less lonely. Will plays with Mike’s fingers, the ones wrapped around his waist. Will breathes softly trying to take in the moment. He can’t even remember a time when he didn’t dream of this, he just never thought it could happen. He was always so sure his love would be one-sided, knowing Mike loved him back made him wish he would have told Mike ages ago. Maybe back then Mike wasn’t ready and this was when it was always meant to happen.
“Goodnight Will,” Mike slurs, seconds away from falling asleep.
“Goodnight Mike,”