Chapter Text
Will had always loved autumn; the crunching of dead leaves, the smell of sweet coffee, and bright exhilarating colors that could fill in his paintings. It’s also the time where he can always, and he means always, whip out a grandpa sweater, or make the best fall outfits.
Will decided to get a latte instead of his usual black coffee. Being an art major is definitely not for the weak. Will clutched his sketchbook a little tighter, taking a deep breath as the wind continued to pick up around him. He shivered, focusing on making it to work before the cold air swallowed him whole.
Will hustles, seeing the little old library appear in the corner, pushing in the door, he leaves the chilly feeling outside. This library is owned by an old couple, Dave and Martha. They were high school sweethearts, after they got married, they opened this small library. They are the cutest and sweetest couple Will has ever met. Opening the door to the cozy place, he instantly starts to get flashbacks of his old ex-boyfriend. Stop thinking about that, he thinks, shoving it down as quickly as it comes.
“Will!,” he quickly snaps back to reality, scanning the room until his eyes finally land on his sister, Jane.
“Hey!,” his face quickly lights up, leaving the dark dismay he was thinking behind him. “I didn’t know you guys would be here,” he runs over to hug her, noticing Max from behind her.
They were behind the counter, per-usual. Max looked up at Will, “Who shit in your cereal this morning,” of course nothing could get past the Max Mayfield.
“It’s nothing, I was–,” pondering for a split second. “Deep in thought, that’s all. I’m fine, don’t worry.”
She lifts her eye-brow, but doesn’t push on it, which he's thankful for. Taking off his bag from his shoulders, placing it behind the counter, making sure to put his coffee far away from the already deteriorating computer. Opening a drawer, he grabs his name tag and puts it on. The library barely has anyone come in, the people that do, Will already knows the names by heart. There’s little Timothy and his mom, Sarah, the cute little old lady that always talks to Will, asking how he is and how his day has gone. There's also the grumpy old man, Carl, always coming in trying to return books he doesn’t even have, trying to get the money for it. People say he has a habit of forgetting.
“I thought you guys were supposedly going to the movies,” looking at Jane and Max, while taking out his sandwich and chips, which he never got to eat.
“Yeah, we were, except you know I don’t like horror. So, I made Max cancel it,” she says while stealing some chips. “Also, I realized that I had a bunch of stuff to do for my fashion class.”
“They literally look fine, all you need to do is add a little bit of detail. You are too much of a perfectionist for your own good,” Max bluntly states.
Will laughs, he loves these two girls with all his heart. It wasn’t easy when Will came out as gay 2 years ago, especially in Hawkins, Indiana. A small town, where everyone knew everything. They stuck with him through thick and thin, never letting any homophobes jostle or harass him. Even though they knew it was only the guys doing. “You could’ve gotten hurt,” Will remembers him saying.
“You think we’re going to let them go after you. Will, we love you, and you don’t deserve this,” Jane grabs his hand, he felt like crying at that moment.
“Have you seen the way they act with each other? I mean the football guys,” Max gently grabs his face, to wipe the cut on his lip. “They are quite literally the definition of gay.”
He smiles at the fond memory, holding a stifling laugh. Max has her hair to the side today, with a hoodie, and some baggy jeans. She wore her comfortable boots, which Will wishes he had. While Jane, has her curly hair in a clip, a skirt, tights, and a cute purple top, which is on top of he white long sleeve shirt, her coat hanging on the chair. He always knew Jane had fashion sense, but it really started to show once they went to NYU.
“Well, at least you have time to do your designs, I barely do,” he states. He had to do a portrait, but had nobody to draw, and the due date is next week. Will he even be able to find someone by then? It would be a miracle for that to happen, like the fairy godmother would appear, like she did with Cinderella.. He’s a fast sketcher, finding the person though, with a beautiful symmetrical face, is just the hardest part. With assignments piling up, practically building up, leaning like the Tower of Pisa. Like his English essay, which he barely has–
“Will, could you put away these books for me?”
Getting taken out of his spiraling mind, he turns around spotting sweet Martha, instantly getting up, taking the cart that she had rolled around the corner. “You do know I work here, right? It’s my job to put these away.” She laughs, patting him on his back, smiling at him.
“I do, but you know that no one ever comes here.”
He looked over to his friends, but they were already concentrating on their school work. He goes to the Fantasy section of the library, with two tables and with a booth, hiding in the background. He grabs the ladder that looks way too old to still have, putting the books away. Making sure to be cautious so they don’t fall. They smell old, but in a refreshing way. He knows that working at a library isn’t the greatest option, but at least it wasn’t as bad from when he was a waiter. He gets more free time, and whenever he can’t come in, they don’t question him.
The door swings open, to which a gust of wind goes through, with a bell spilling through the library. Will starts to hear three different voices, which he thinks are three guys. He’s too concentrated on putting the books away to turn his attention to it. They start heading to the back of the library, being too noisy.
“Woah, did you see her, she looked absolutely beautiful.”
“Yeah, and she is absolutely way out of your league.”
“Says the one that pulls all the girls. Oh wait, didn’t they all reject you,” one of the boys quipped.
Will is now standing on the ladder, which is quite wobbly below him. Not thinking much of it, holding one book in hand, he reaches up to put it on the top shelf. If I was taller, thinking about the height he is, I wouldn’t have to use this damn ladder. He reaches over to the side, making him lose balance, falling toward what he knows is gonna be a concussion. Will closes his eyes hoping that somehow that’ll sustain the agonizing pain. Except the pain doesn’t come, he feels an arm around his waist. It kind of seems like being in a dance, and getting dipped. The smell of, what Will assumes, a natural musk, mixed with something spicy, a hint of lavender engulfs him.
Opening his eyes to a browned eyed boy. He has curly hair that comes down close to his shoulders. Looking at his face, he spots an eyebrow piercing, and some sun kissed freckles all over his nose, to his cheeks. You would have to be as close as Will is, to his face, to be able to spot that. They looked like a whole constellation.
“Hey, you okay?” the browned eyed boy asks, “You took one hell of a tumble.”
Will blinks, trying his best not to stare at the gorgeous man in front of him, before nodding his head.
“Here,” the boy shifts him to his feet, Will gladly accepts the helping hand.
“Uhm. Thanks for uh–,” Will doesn’t know why he’s nervous. Something about the browned eyed boy, who looks almost like a puppy, is filling his stomach with butterflies. “Catching me– obviously,” Will states, matter-of-factly.
“It’s no problem, just make sure you don’t pick a ladder that looks like–.” He seems to pause for a minute, looking at the aged ladder, “Well like it's been through hell and back,” he finally settles on.
Will laughs, wiping the dust off that was on his jeans. “Well, that's what you get with a library like this. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Which is stupid, he probably just came over to catch him. The gorgeous boy looks at him, stares for a while, before blinking and looking away. “Uh, yes actually. Do you know where I can find the Fantasy section?” Will seems to look a little confused, knowing that he had been putting the fantasy books away. Will points to the sign right next to the boy.
Looking over his shoulder, he turns back flustered. “Oh, uhm– right sorry I– thanks,” the pink on his cheeks, still obviously showing.
Will shakes his head, laughing a little. “Well, it’s not like you could’ve noticed. I mean you did just save me.”
“Right,” he laughs, “Thanks for the help, Will.”
Before Will could even spill the words out, mouth parted half open, “It’s on your name tag,” he smiles. Will is not the best when it comes to not making faces, it’s one of the things he needs to work on. He starts to get flustered and super embarrassed now, you're such an idiot, he thinks, of course he saw the tag. Will looks at him, looking way to pink for his liking, lips thinned.
“Right. Forgot about that,” holding on to the name tag..
“I’m Mike,” the boy says, “Mike Wheeler.”
“Byers,” he says, to which Mike lifts an eyebrow, “Will Byers– sorry I, uhm–,” he cuts himself off before saying anything more stupid. “That’s my last name, Byers.”
Mike seems to find it amusing, laughing, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Will Byers,” and now Will’s legs feel like jello. Jesus Christ, does this guy want to kill me.
“It’s no problem. If you need anything else just let me know.”
Mike nods, walking back to his two friends, which Will finally gets to see what they look like. One of them has super curly hair, which Will is now jealous of. He has a dopey smile, a Spider-Man t-shirt, baggy pants, and some Adidas on. While the other, seems to be a basketball player, he has his uniform on, which oddly enough, looks like the NYU basketball team. Do these guys go to NYU, how come I haven’ t seen them? Will starts to make his way back to the front desk.
“Sooo, who was that,” Max says, insinuating something that Will does not want to respond to, knowing the look on her face.
“Yeah,” Jane giggles, “seems like you caught a handsome one.”
With that, both of the girls start to laugh, which reverberates across the library. Will wants to dig a hole, climb inside it, and never get out. “Shhh,” he says, which finally got the girls to start to stifle the laughter. “He was just helping me out, that’s all.”
“Oh really, “just helping you out.” Come on, he is still staring at you. He has been since you’ve walked back over here,” Max states. “His friend keeps staring at me, too. Stalker much.”
Will, curious to what Max said, looks back to a pair of brown puppy dog eyes staring at him. Mike immediately looks away, with a hint of pink forming on his cheeks. Will smiles, hiding his face a little, turning back around, which he regrets instantly, because both of the girls are staring right at him. “Oh my god, stop lifting you damn eyebrows at me,” which just seems to urge them to continue to do it.
“Okay, okay, yes, he is very cute, but–.”
“Oooo, looks like Will Byers has developed a new crush.”
“Maybe even a first boyfriend,” Jane laughs.
Right. They don’t know about the ex-boyfriend, which, yes, Will admits isn’t a good thing, but he’s glad they didn’t know. A twinge of guilt starts to crawl up his throat, and once it’s there, there's no shoving it down. It’s been months since they had ended things off, him and Cartlon. They went on dates, got gifts for each other, went to parties, but it immediately went downhill. Will remembers it vividly, but pushes the memory down before Max catches the shift of his attitude. It lingers there, and for a while, it’s not like you can quickly forget it.
“Well, I’m not trying to scare you, but he’s coming over here. Ugh, with his other friends, too.”
Will turns around, practically snapping his neck, looking towards where Max is pointing. Will makes direct eye contact with Mike. If he wasn’t already sitting down, he would’ve definitely fallen on the floor. Mike's friends are close behind him, with the curly haired one pushing the other. But this lets Will get a full view of what Mike is wearing. A DnD shirt, some jeans, and what seems to be converse. Will’s heart definitely starts to thump louder against his chest, he silently prays that no one can hear it. Oh God, he’s cute and a nerd? Jesus Christ, Mike Wheeler just wants me to fall for him?
“Hey uh-,” Mike looks from Will, to Jane, to Max, before finally settling back on Will. “This is probably really awkward, but my friend was wondering if he could have her number.” He points directly at Max, to which she makes a face. She’s never been really good at controlling her face, or her words.
“Right, and who exactly is this dork. Second, why won’t the shithead ask me?” Max looks at all three of them, Will swears he saw one of them gulp.
“Uh, that would be me,” the one with the basketball uniform raises his hand, slightly. “You’re very beautiful, and I was wondering if I could take you out sometime?”
“What is exactly your name, stalker?” Max tilts her head, staring him up and down.
“Oh, uh–,” starting to fidget with his car keys. “I’m Lucas, and you are?”
Max and Lucas seem to have a conversation finally going, which Will is thankful for. Max can be very, well, terrifying. She’s a very outspoken person, says whatever is on her mind, which Will is insanely jealous of. If Will would’ve been able to speak out like that, he would’ve been able to confront Cartlon before things got worse. Carlton never hit Will, but he would always comment on things he would do, or wear, especially if they were “too feminine,” in his own words.
“Hey, you okay?” Will snaps out of whatever trance he was in, looking directly at Mike. And wow, he has the most perfect symmetrical face ever. Will has to force himself to stop staring at Mike.
“Uh, yeah, why do you ask?” Will definitely thinks that he saw, nervously gnawing the inside of his cheeks, looking down. It’s weird how the world works, one day you’ll be heartbroken, crying on the floor, hoping the floor swallows you whole. Then, you’ll be an utterly nervous mess, near a boy you had just met. And, if you told this to Will a week ago, he wouldn’t have believed you, not even close.
“You just seem..out of it?” Mike’s eyes go wide when Will finally looks at him. “Sorry, is that pushing? I swear I didn’t mean to push– I mean yes, I wanna know if you're okay.” Mike seemingly decides to shut his mouth, before rambling some more. From the corner of Will's eyes, he can see him fidgeting. Yeah, this guy most definitely wants Will to fall for him, or cupids arrow stabbed him right in the fucking heart.
“No, it’s okay, don’t worry. I just tend to–,” like, how does one tell a guy, yeah I broke up with a certain bastard because he was a massive, major, grade one asshole. But yet I still fell head over heels for you, by just looking at your face. “Space out, I tend to go deep in thought, uh, yeah,” is what Will lands on. Great, now he probably thinks I’m a crazy lunatic.
“Huh, that actually makes sense. I tend to do a lot myself.”
“Seriously?”
“I mean, yeah, for sure. Did you think no one else does it, or something, because I think I get called out on it about 20 times a day.” Mike smiles, a big, bright pleasant smile.
Will really doesn’t think he could fall anymore for this guy, but is he even gay? I mean, Will has done this mistake once, and we all know that it went to shit real fast. Cartlon's voice starts to linger in Will’s mind. Would you for once stop spacing out, and take that sweater off, you look like a girl in it. He tries, I mean Will really, really tries to get it out of his head, but it’s already there. Will hopes no one ever finds out what happened, he doesn’t want to burden people like he did back in Hawkins. Will swears he’s cursed, and that he brought it from Hawkins, to New York.
The whole store vibrates to the noise of the bell, wind bundling inside the, somewhat, quiet library. It seems that Jane, Max, Lucas, and to what Will heard, Dustin, the name of the other boy, are all distracted, having a pretty heated conversation about some show. Will looks to the door, face dropping instantly. He feels sick, pale, mortified, and whatever other bullshit word that describes what he’s feeling right now. Because Cartlon just walked through that door, the one door he wished he never saw him come through.
Will wants to throw up, Carlton looks around until he lands on Will. Will’s eyes widen, he wants to move, get up, do absolutely anything. But it’s like he's pinned down, he can’t move, he can’t breathe, and none of his muscles are moving. Mike seems to look at Will, then to the door, he sees his jaw clench. Will has no idea what that even means, but he needs to leave, now and fast. Thank God his feet decided to start moving again, grabbing 4 books, and muttering an apology to Mike.
This can’t be happening right now, how the hell did he find me? Is this hell, did I die? This is all Will can process through his head right now. That was, until he felt someone grab his forearm. He freezes, he wishes he didn’t, and regrets it as soon as he turns his head around.
“Will, you know it's not good to ignore people.” Carlton is still holding Will’s arm.
Will doesn’t know what to do, he can’t let Max and Jane see this, he doesn’t know how he can explain it to them. How the hell did he let this happen? Fight or flight, is what keeps repeating in Will’s head. Will feels him get pulled, making him stumble forward. He gets turned around to see Mike in front of him, like a shield, he looks crazy protective. Will thinks that super attractive, but right now, is not the time.
“I suggest you not touch him again,” Mike grits out. “Unless you wanna cause a fight in a library. Where there are other people trying to enjoy the peace and quiet.”
Will can hear Mike isn’t kidding, when he grabbed Will’s forearm he felt some muscle. Well, at least Will thinks so. Mike is pretty lanky, but you can tell he has some sort of sleeper build. His biceps show through his shirt, practically begging for some sort of acknowledgement. Oh, and Will thinks he can acknowledge them alright.
“Who the fuck do you think you are,” Carlton spits out. “This ghost library has no one in it, well except for you, obviously.” Carlton turns to Will, “God, you can’t even defend yourself can you, Will? Your even more pathetic than I last-.”
Carlton didn’t even get to finish his sentence, before Mike slams him against a book shelf. Now Will is panicking. If he wasn’t showing it then, he’s showing it now. If Max or Jane see this, he is done for, questions would be asked and he wouldn’t be able to answer them. If he could, they wouldn’t be honest.
“Mike, stop, let him go, he’s not worth it,” Will is practically pleading. Will sees Mike’s face as he turns to look at him. His jaw is sharp, and looks like it could cut glass, his face looks like he’s ready to practically kill Carlton. “Let him go..please.” Mike’s face seems to contort, softening at Will’s plea. Mike finally lets him go, and Will can finally let go of a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding.
Mike turns to Carlton, which has a disgusted look on his face, obviously not liking that someone can one up him. “Leave, before I do something I’ll regret. If I see you touch, or come near Will again, I swear I won’t hold back.” Carlton doesn’t seem to move, but decides on a last minute comment, since he seems to never get enough.
“You move on that quickly? God you're such a slut.” He seems to speed walk away after saying that. Will guesses Mike’s words did affect him.
“God, I’m so sorry you had to see that, and deal with that. I never thought he would even find me here–,” why the hell is Will telling him this? “I just– I– he’ll leave me alone for now, hopefully.” Will decides to end it on that, not wanting to burden Mike with his ex-boyfriend, who's apparently psycho, and will do anything to talk to him.
“Look…I don’t want to pry, because that seems– well is probably personal, and very private. But who the hell was he? Why did he suddenly just– grab you like–like he–.” Will could see Mike was struggling not to pry, but…maybe telling one person won’t hurt. In Will’s defence, he did witness everything, and he’s glad Max and Jane were distracted enough not to notice.
Will started to ponder, for a while, watching Mike look at him with those beautiful, chocolate, puppy dog eyes. And God, how the hell could Will ever say no to those eyes. The universe is after me, I’m cursed. “I– look, my sister, nor does my best friend know about this.” Will looks to the front desk, they’re still talking. Will grabs Mike’s wrist, pulling him towards the back of the library. Nobody looks back here, it's always empty, it’s also impossible to eavesdrop on people back here.
“Look, I just met you, and I don’t think it would be okay to dump this on you. It’s too much of a burden, and also a long story.”
“I like long stories,” Mike says, looking at Will so fondly. “It is also not a burden at all. But would you feel comfortable with it? I know we just met, but it’s not like I’m gonna go around telling people what happened.” Mike’s talking in such a soft tone, and Will just can feel his problems melt away. Mike decides to continue, “Second, who would I even tell?”
If Will wasn’t convinced then, he was definitely convinced now.
“Okay..” Will looks directly at Mike’s eyes now. “Just be ready for the longest, probably most upsetting story you have ever heard.”
“Oh, trust me, I’m a great listener when I want to be. I mean, I do talk a lot– which if it bothers you just let me know.” Mike seems to stop, having a tint of red on his face. “See, rambling..like the world is gonna end,” he mumbles. Will giggles, and from the corner of his eyes, Mike is smiling the brightest smile he’s ever seen.
Will thinks cupid might like him this time, at least, maybe. He’s never shared this with anyone, let alone someone he just met. Will he regret it later? Will he think he’s crazy? Or, even worse, will he turn out the exact same way that Carlton turned out to be? Get a grip William, you just met him, you don’t even know if he’s gay. Even worse, is that you think you two are dating.
“Hey, look you don’t have to share it, if you're not comfortable,” Mike says, while looking at Will. He looks contented, like he doesn’t care what's to come. Mike continues on, “I just wanna make sure that he’s not crazy. I mean, he didn’t have the right to grab you like that, like at all."
Will takes a deep breath, relishing this moment, knowing tears will probably come while talking about it. It’s been three months since the whole thing went down. Will relished over the same things, like any other heartbroken person would do. But, in the midst of it all, he found his people, Max and Jane always being there for him.
“Okay, well, let's go sit in the booths. The last thing I need is for my sister, and my best friend to find out.” Will looks towards Jane and Max. Jane looks at him, giving him the thumbs, then turns back to the conversation. Max turns around after, giving him a knowing smirk; turning back around to continue the heated conversation. Will is honestly very grateful, they won’t bother him, but they will ask questions. There's a twinge of guilt bubbling up in him, knowing he’ll just lie to them.
“Okay follow me!”
Mike trails behind Will, until he finds the exact spot nobody can hear them. Will fidgets with the hem of his sweater, it’s a little loose on the shoulders, showing a bit of skin. He feels very vulnerable, he doesn’t know why since Mike hasn’t said anything at all about it. Will fixes his sweater, covering up his vulnerability, like in some way, Mike might see right through him.
“That’s a nice sweater, by the way. It really fits you..” Will is taken aback a little, eyes widening, but he doesn’t flinch. He definitely feels his face going red. God, I probably look like a damn tomato. Mike gives a dopey smile, and Will’s heart does a summer sault. He fixes his sweater back to how it was, showing the little skin he has.
“Alright, uhm…” Will doesn’t really know how to start. Yes, he’s had time, but it’s a lot of things to cover, and he has no idea how Mike will react. It's gonna feel like a push and pull, but if Mike was asking, with his brown, beautiful, chocolate eyes, how can anyone say no. “Okay, but I need you to promise not to tell anyone. Like, I mean no one.” Will looks at him, hoping for some type of understanding.
“I promise, I won’t tell a soul.” He says something else, thinking Will couldn't hear him, it was in a small whisper, Will didn’t think he would hear it either, but he does. “It’s just me and you, Byers.” Mike says in a fondness so dearly, that Will practically melts. Well, not in his seat, but his face definitely turns into a different shade.
“Okay, because no one else knows...” Will starts to mess with his sweater again, pressing his one hand onto the other, like someone can hold him down. He feels weak, pathetic, all the words that Cartlon put in his head. Dejected throughout the whole break up, even though he didn’t do anything. It was rough, trying to overcome something, after being told so many harsh words. The one person that was supposed to love you, they weren’t supposed to do that.
“Hey, relax. I promise I won’t tell anyone,” his eyebrows twitch, while he puts on a dopey smile. “Even though I don’t really know them. Also, if I have to, I’ll say it over and over again until you believe me.” He sticks out his pinky, and Will’s heart is practically pumping out of his chest. “I pinky promise,” Mike states, like an everlong promise, never breaking.
Will smiles so hard, he sticks his pinky out, and they interlock fingers. They stay like that longer than necessary, but Will slowly removes their fingers apart. If Mike keeps this up, Will thinks his heart might end up on a damn platter.
“Okay, good,” Will nods, finally having the courage to be able to tell his story, taking a deep breath, and exhaling. “Just saying though, you did ask for this. It’s a long story, and I mean, really long.”
“Will, I love long stories. I mean I literally take a literature major.” He smiles, it's contagious, it's bright, and it just makes Will continue his story.
“Okay, okay yeah you're right.”
“I know! I tend to be right a lot, especially when it comes to my friends.”
Will laughs, a genuine belly laugh that he needs at least 30 seconds to recover. Wiping his tears, he finally opens his eyes to look at Mike. He has a glint in his eyes, like he accomplished something great. Will needs to start telling his story before he keeps staring at Mike.
“Okay..his name is Carlton," he starts off safe, looking up from his hands. Mike is paying close attention, so Will continues. “We met at a NYU party, it was a casual meet up, nothing crazy. He…he was super nice, well when we first met at least.” Will inhales a shaky breath again, “he asked me if I was single, and I said yes, then it continued on from there. He took me on dates, got me gifts, and even complimented me. It was great I– I mean I was over the moon, he was my first boyfriend but….” Will hesitated, that was until Mike placed a hand on his knee. He assumes it’s to comfort, but also to encourage him to keep going. So he continued on, “he wanted to keep it a secret. I didn’t understand why– or at least how since he was treating me normally.
That was, until many months later, I tried to go out with some friends.” The vision of that night came quickly to Will, too quick for his liking. “He turned to me and asked where I was going. I told him, because I didn’t mind, but I didn’t expect him to…uhm..,” Will feels his hands shaking a little bit, which is stupid. “He told me I shouldn’t go out looking like a slut. It shocked me, to the point I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. It was weird, I always wore that outfit when I was with him, how come it was so different then?”
“Because he’s an asshole, obviously, and an insecure loser who doesn’t understand what he lost.” Mike huffs, his brows have a crease on them, and Will wants to wipe it away. “I– I mean from what I know so far, your kind, I’m gonna assume smart, and very pretty!”
Will is in complete shock again, he feels his heart start to go 2 miles per hour, heat rising to his cheeks. Mike's eyes widen, face going completely scarlett. “Oh my God, I– I uh, sorry that was– I mean not that you're not pretty ‘cause you are!” At that Mike hides his face in his hand, “Shit sorry, I didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anything. I usually tend to ramble, and never seem to uh– shut up, as you can obviously tell…’
Will decides to be brave, if at least once in his life, if he even has a chance with Mike, he’s taking it. He smiles, tilting his head to the side while placing his hand on Mike’s arm. “It’s okay Mike, don’t worry. It’s honestly super cute seeing you flustered like this.” He giggles at Mike's reaction, eyes widening, face still scarlet red, and barely maintaining eye contact, looking all over Will’s face. Will’s heart is practically about to come out of his mouth, it's pounding so hard, but yet he doesn’t regret it.
“Right, uhm, right yeah, yeah.”
“Yes, he was an asshole, but I loved him. I didn't notice it. That was until, well, you know,” Will removes his hand from Mike’s arm, and kind of moves it around, trying to make a point. “We argued, I told him he was being ridiculous, since I always wore the same outfit.” Will looks at Mike with poignant eyes; he’s very much still listening. “He turns to me and says something I didn’t expect. ‘You look way too girly for that outfit, it's way to feminine. Can’t you be a more hidden gay?’” Will doesn’t realize he’s crying until he feels a tear drop on his hand.
“Woah, hey, relax, don't stress about it too much. He’s gone now, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt you.” Mike places a hand on Will’s knee, a little higher than before. Will wipes his tears away, it’s ridiculous, but he does feel safe, more than he ever has.
“Did you know me in another life or something? We just met, but yet I feel really safe around you.”
“I don’t know, but it would be very cool. Different versions of us, kinda like DnD!”
“God, you really are a nerd.” Will sniffles, laughing at the same time. “But I agree, definitely like DnD. A whole world of adventures, maybe a little chaos, but always something new.” It felt a little awkward to Will that he was talking about DnD. It’s pretty nerdy and not at all something you would expect him to play, but it was always fun back at home.
Will feels a little homesick, missing Jonathan, but now that he’s met Mike, it seems to be growing a little less.