Chapter Text
Autumn in Rhode Island was a sight to behold. A mosaic of orange, yellow, red, and brown littered the grounds in front of Will's dorm building.
He rushed up the steps, flung the door open, chest rising and falling rapidly from the sprint he just made across campus.
"Woah!" Dustin stared at him wide eyed as he tinkered with a Rubik's cube "Hey, man. How was your-"
"Can't talk, I'm late! Talk to you tonight!" He yanked his apron from his bedpost and was out the door before Dustin could respond.
The shrill bell above the door rang out as he stepped in, shucking off his jacket. He winced at the loud squeal of the steam wand and the scent of espresso hit him like a freight train.
He had been working at the campus cafe, Brews Cruise- stupid name by the way- for the entire 3 years since he had moved to Providence. It was a stable job that gave him a steady income and it was where he met his coworker turned best friend, Max.
Their friendship had a slow start but when they clicked, it seemed like overnight they were attached at the hip. They texted nonstop, met up for lunch as often as they could, and went out together every weekend. She celebrated with him when they both aced all of their finals freshman year and she held his hair out of his face after taking one too many shots at their favorite gay bar on a particularly rough day.
She stood behind the counter with her arms crossed. Her red hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and her black eyeliner was smudged. The white flecks sprinkled across her apron were a clear sign that she had lost a fight against a whipped cream canister.
"I'm so sorry, Max. My ceramics professor asked to talk to me after class. I'll take one of your shifts or stay late for you tomorrow or something," he scrambled to rectify the mistake.
"No, you don't need to do that. But you do owe me," she said as she poked a finger to his chest.
"Sure, fine," he agreed, but when he saw the devious look in her eyes he quickly changed his tune. "Wait, no. No, whatever it is, no."
Whatever Max was requesting could not be good. The last time he'd blindly agreed to one of her plans, they ended up at some strangers apartment in Queens, passing a blunt around. There was a huge bird in the corner, noisy in his cage as they passed the blunt around again. They were deep in the fog of their own high when they realized the bird had escaped. It flapped around the room, as they all ducked their heads. The terror only ended when the bird ran straight into a window, falling to the floor. The owner assured everyone the bird was fine, as if that was the biggest concern.
They left as quickly as possible and were speechless the entire train ride home. That night, Will had a nightmare that a human sized bird was chasing him.
"Nope. Not interested." Will squeaked. "The trip to Queens was enough to fill the favors quota for the remainder of the semester, thank you."
"Will, come on! You never come out with me anymore. I miss it."
"Where?"
She looked at her feet and said in the quietest voice she could muster "At Lucas's…"
"What?! No!"
Lucas was Max's boyfriend. They had been together for a year give or take and he was a nice guy. He always treated Max as she deserved and had never given Will any reason to dislike him.
The problem lied within the fact that Lucas was part of a fraternity. The world had changed a lot in the last decade, and Providence was a relatively progressive area. It had treated Will with more care than Montauk ever had growing up- he never felt unsafe on campus holding a boys hand or wearing something traditionally feminine. However, it was still The World so the idea of walking into a mansion full of primarily straight white men with masculinity so fragile you could breathe on them and they would shatter was a genuine living hell for Will.
"Come on, Will! They have like three gay members! Maybe you could find someone new to obsess over?"
"Wow. Three whole gay people?" He feigned excitement, voice steeped with sarcasm.
"Ethan's gonna be there, you know? So will you please go? Please?" She gave him the saddest puppy eyes she could manage and pouted her lips.
It was a cheap shot using his silly crush to get her way. She knew Ethan was the epitome of Will's type- dark hair, dark eyes, strong features. He had a cute smile too, so that didn't hurt.
"Okay, okay. Stop. You sound pathetic. I'll go."
It was a painfully slow night for business so the shift felt longer than it was. But it allowed for them to wrap up the closing duties right as the open sign went dark. Max counted the tills while Will did a few extra tasks to set up the morning crew and scrubbed a table down where a family brought their sticky-handed kid. Who brings a toddler to a coffee shop at 9 pm anyway?
They set the alarm and Max turned her key in the lock, pulling on the handle to ensure it locked properly. "Alright, you're coming to mine. We're gonna find you something hot to wear. And we both need showers, we smell like an old persons kitchen."
Will's nerves spiked at the thought of Max picking his outfit. She usually did, and she was good at it. Like really good. He always looked incredible but the outfits always practically plastered 'I'm gay!!!!!' on Will's forehead.
After trying on upwards of six outfits he stepped out of Max's bathroom and gave her a twirl.
"Holy shit, dude."
"It's too much, isn't it?"
"It's fucking perfect."
Will wore a light blue cropped muscle tee, the hem hanging just above his belly button and low rise jeans that showed off his v lines. Several necklaces hung from his neck and rings were stacked on a few of his fingers. He looked good and he knew it.
"Wait! One more thing." She disappeared into her room and returned holding a gold chain. She fastened it around Will's midriff, accentuating the narrowest part of his waist. "Ethan isn't gonna be able to resist. There's no way."
Will could never get a clear read on Ethan. Sure, he would laugh at things Will said, even when it wasn't funny. He would rest his hand on his shoulder or his gaze would linger a little too long. When Will would flirt, Ethan would flirt back. And sometimes late at night he would text Will things that could definitely be read as suggestive. Sometimes Ethan would text him nonstop for hours, but then other times he wouldn't respond to Will's messages for days.
It was a confusing push and pull that Will couldn't seem to claw his way out of. He wasn't going to lay his cards on the table. That required a level of vulnerability he usually saved for, well, never.
Luckily for Will, he didn't need to show Ethan his hand just yet. He just needed to drive him crazy enough that playing it cool became completely impossible.
The bass reverberated through Will's shoes, sending vibrations up his legs and through his spine. Max pulled him by his hand through the tightly packed bodies. He tried to focus on her hand, the music, and their shoes squelching on the sticky floors instead of the numerous pair of eyes that were on him. Showing up in this outfit might have been a mistake.
When they made it to the kitchen, Max threw her arms around Lucas and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Lucas poured a blue mystery liquid into red solo cups, and passed them off to Will and Max.
Will took a big gulp, and winced when the burn hit his throat.
"Will! I'm glad you came, man!" Lucas raised his eyebrows and nodded his head towards the other side of the kitchen. Will's eyes followed to find Ethan talking in a group of guys. He loved the way that Lucas was never uncomfortable with his sexuality. He never shied away from being a wing-man for Will— he even went out to gay bars with him and Max a few times.
"Go, go, go! Do something!" Max pushes him towards the other side of the room- toward the crowd of men, all clutching their beers with their with their backwards caps and and khaki shorts. Ugh.
He looked around for Ethan again and found him lingering on the outer edge of the group. Will took another gulp of liquid courage before he started in Ethan's direction. He attempted a casual brush of the shoulder, but he bumped into him a little harder than he intended.
"Bro, what the fuck?" Ethan spun around, his face scrunched in anger, but when it registered that Will was the culprit, he softened slightly. "Oh. Hey, Will! Sorry, man."
And sure, Will probably should have planned past this point, but maybe it would make it more authentic that he hadn't. Who knows. Too many seconds had gone by before Will realized he was just standing there, silent with wide eyes.
Ethan's hand came up to grab his shoulder and it sent a wave of nerves through his stomach. "Hey, you alright?"
"Oh. Y- yeah I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to.." His eyes slid over, past Ethan's shoulder to the group of people he was standing with. They were all looking at Will, waiting for him to finish. But there was one set of eyes that wasn't watching the interaction— they were set lower. They were fixed on the chain resting on Will's waist. His gaze slowly raked up Will's body until he met his eyes.
Will looked him up and down, taking inventory of his traits. He was cute. His eyes were an almost-black brown with thick dark lashes and there was a constellation of freckles smattered across his nose and cheeks. His dark curls were peeking out from under his hat, catching the red lights bouncing off the walls. He wore a Brown University hoodie and arguably too-short athletic shorts.
"You wanna go talk?" Ethan's voice snapped him back into reality and Will's eyes flicked back to him. Will grinned and started off toward the living room, Ethan following right behind him.
Will's drink sloshed out over the rim as they settled on the uncomfortable sofa. He could practically feel the springs burrowing into his thighs.
"So, you came," Ethan laughed. "You never come to these."
Will tried not to read into the fact that Ethan noticed whether he did or didn't attend parties.
"Yeah I uh- It's not really my scene if that wasn't obvious." Will gestured down at his outfit and giggled.
"Yeah you… You look good."
Ethan's eyes dropped down to his lips for a split second, and then back up. He glanced past Will and his eyes lit up.
"Hey, man. I'll be right back, alright?" Ethan was standing and gave him a few quick pats on the back before he had fully processed what happened. Will's heart sank as he made a beeline over to a blonde girl standing at the beer pong table. He couldn't tear his eyes away. Ethan hugged her so tight her feet lifted off the ground and they fell into conversation. Even after Will managed to peel his eyes away he could still hear them flirting— she giggled. Ethan talked louder than necessary, she giggled some more.
Will sighed and began to fidget with the frayed edges of the couch. Max and Lucas were across the room dancing with each other. Maybe he would just leave, there was really no point in him sticking around. He could just tell Max he wasn't feeling well and-
The body plopping down beside him on the couch interrupted his thought.
"You really know how to pick 'em, huh?" he reached up and adjusted his hat to face forward so he could lean his head back and his legs sprawled out as if he was the only one on the couch. His knee nudged Will's and Will instantly pulled his away and hugged his arms around his torso to make himself smaller.
Will gave him an incredulous look, eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't get me wrong, I do think he plays for the same team. But, come on. Look at him." He cocked an eyebrow and nodded towards the beer pong table as he threw an arm over the back of the sofa.
Will listened. He looked over to see Ethan with his arm around two girls, laughing as though he was having the best day of his life.
"He's a douche."
"He's not a douche."
"He sorta is," he laughed and the corners of his eyes crinkled.
He was getting joy out of this.
Will shifted uncomfortably against the corduroy fabric. "Do you even know him?"
"We're both in Sigma Chi, so yeah. I'd say I know him pretty well."
Will watched the ripples in his cup dance to every beat of the song. Who did this guy think he was? Coming over to a stranger in a crowded party and giving unsolicited advice? The ego on him must be insane.
"I've never seen you here before." He was close enough now that Will felt his breath brush against his ear.
"Yeah, well, that's because I don't come to frat parties. My friend dragged me here."
"Not usually your scene, I take it?"
"Not really, no." He pressed his lips into a thin line and gestured at his outfit, once again.
"Mike." He extended his hand out to Will. "Wheeler."
Will stares at his hand and glances back up, eyes narrowing.
"Well, it's been super nice chatting with you, Mike Wheeler. I'm gonna…" He trailed off as he hoisted himself to his feet and headed in Max's direction.
Max and Lucas were tangled up together on the bottom step of the staircase, both very clearly obliterated.
"Hey I'm gonna head out. Are you okay here or do you need a ride?"
"Boo!!!!" Max held out a thumbs down and blew a raspberry. "Will, you're no fun. I'm gonna stay with Lucas tonight."
"Sure. Yeah, whatever. Just text me if you need me, okay? And you," he glared at Lucas. "You better take care of her or I'll hunt you down. I know where you live." He retrieved his keys from his belt loop, and tossed a small wave over his shoulder.
When the cool air outside hit him, it was like he came back into his body. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket.
Ethan 11:23 PM
u busy later? ;)
He snapped the phone shut and began the trek to his car. The tears began to burn at the back of his eyes. This was always how it was for him.
Guys wanted to be with him but not with him. They wanted to kiss him in secret while they slung their arms around girls shoulders and avoided him at parties.
He was afraid this was how it would always be. His mom always told him one day he would fall in love, to which he would argue against. And now he wondered if this life of solitude was something he manifested for himself.
He swung the open the door on his Buick, settled into the drivers seat and turned the key. The engine turned over but didn't catch.
Shit. Please, please. Come on.
He tried again.
Nothing.
The tears began to track down his cheeks and his mind echoed with what he knew his dad would say if he saw him in that exact moment.
Something about how if he was a real man, he would know how to fix his car.
Or how he needed to stop crying before he gave him something to cry about.
He slammed his fist on the steering wheel and the horn sounded out, startling him. He took a beat. Rubbed the tears from his face and sniffled. There was a knock on the window so loud he nearly jumped out of his skin.
It was Mike. He was bent down to eye level with his arms crossed and a smug grin on his face, his hat turned backward once again.
He started to crank the window open and Mike wasted no time— "Car troubles?"
"I'm fine. I'll figure it out."
"I can drive you, my car's just right there." He pointed to a whole slew of vehicles as if Will was supposed to know which is his.
"Yeah, no thanks. You're probably like six beers deep."
He laughed and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. "I don't.. Uh, no, I don't drink."
Will stared at him, waiting for the punch line.
"I swear! You can smell my breath!" He leaned forward, sticking half of his head through Will's window.
His hand flies up, blocking Mike from getting any closer. "Okay, okay. No need to get defensive. I don't want to smell your breath. I believe you."
"So you'll let me drive you?"
The last thing Will wanted to do was ride in a car with this presumptuous asshole. But it's too cold to walk and he doesn't have the money for a tow.
"Fine." He rolled the window back up and stepped out of the car.
"My car's this way," Mike said and turned to walk ahead of Will. His stride was a little too long and Will had to power-walk to keep up.
Mike stopped in front of a beat up, rusty blue pickup truck and gestured toward the passenger door.
"This is yours?" He asked, raising a single eyebrow.
"Yeah I uh.. I got it when I was 16. I couldn't bear to part with it." His eyes darted away with an indiscernible look on his face.
Will walked over to the passenger side but before he could reach for the handle, Mike was there opening the door for him.
Huh.
"Thanks." Will mumbled.
"Yeah, of course."
Will watched him jog back to the drivers side. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms and tried to slump to expose less of his stomach. Not only was he freezing, but he just wasn't sure he was comfortable sharing 60 cubic feet with this guy while he was wearing possibly one of the gayest outfits he'd ever worn out.
Thanks, Max.
Mike reached his arm behind Will's seat, fumbling around until he pulled a hoodie over the console and threw it into Will's lap.
"Here," the corner of Mike's mouth turned up. "It's too fucking cold. You're gonna get sick."
What the fuck was happening?
If Will's hands didn't hurt from how cold it was, he probably would have rejected the offer. This was self-preservation, nothing more.
He pulled the hoodie over his head and smoothed down his loose waves, stuffing his hands in the front pocket. He tried not to think about how nice the jacket smelled. A crisp and clean scent, so strong he was sure it would linger long after he took it off.
The cracked plastic on the door dug into his elbow as he propped his head up and stared out the window, watching the trees pass by as they got further away from the house.
"You listen to music?" Mike asked, reaching for the CDs in the slots on his visor.
That's a dumb question. Who doesn't like music?
But he was too tired for sarcasm so he settled with a quiet "Yeah."
Mike popped the disc in and the first song began to play. The familiar first few notes made Will's jaw drop.
There's no way.
"Britney Spears, huh?" He stifles a laugh behind his hand.
"This is absolutely her best album. Arguably her peak, even. It won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album!"
Holy shit. Who is this guy?
This presumptuous asshole not only listens to Britney Spears, but has in depth knowledge about her career and accolades.
He began laughing and he couldn't stop himself. Tears form at his eyes for a different reason this time and a small snort escapes his nose. Embarrassing.
"What's so funny? A guy can't listen to a little Britney after a hard day?"
"I guess it's just not what I expected from a guy like you." Will shrugged his shoulders and looked back out the window to hide his smile. He focused on how his breath looked fanning out in a fog to keep another bit of laughter from bubbling up.
"A guy like me?" He felt Mike's eyes on him.
"Yeah, I don't know," he mumbled.
Mike drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and tapped his foot to the beat of the poppy synth.
"Sooo," Mike broke the silence as he turned the volume down a few notches. "Ethan, huh?"
"Don't want to talk about it."
"He already fucked it up? I tried to tell you. He's a real piece of work. You could definitely do better."
Will scoffed. "Yeah, well, there isn't exactly a plethora of gay men lining up at my door. You wouldn't get it."
"I don't th-"
Bzzzz. The sound Will's phone cuts him off.
Will already knew who it was before he flipped his phone open. The screen that lit up the cab was surely accentuating the annoyance all over his face.
Ethan 12:02 AM
where'd you go?? come to my room
This was how it always went. They always wanted the benefits, the attention, the sex. But they never wanted him. Not really.
Will 12:03 AM
already left
not tonite
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mike's eyes glance over at the screen. Will's hand quickly cupped around it to block his view of the conversation.
Will's scowl redirected to Mike as he snapped, "Do you just go around digging into everyone's personal business?" His eyebrow arched up in question.
"Let me guess," Mike seemed unphased by Will's sharp tone. "At the party he ditched you at the first chance he got, was all over girls acting like you don't exist, like the jackass he is. And now he's asking if you want to hook up."
Will scoffed and directed his attention back to his phone. He hoped Mike would drop it.
"Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just saying, he's an asshole. You deserve better than that."
"You don't even know me," Will laughed and pointed at his apartment building up ahead. "This is me."
He pulled the truck into the cul-de-sac, tires bumping up against the curb. As soon as Mike threw it in park, Will reached for the door handle and pushed it open. "Uh, thanks for the ride."
"Uh, wait— you never told me your name."
Will's eyes flickered to where the corner of his mouth was upturned slightly, a small dimple forming on his che- Nope, not going there.
"You never asked," he slammed the door shut.
He awoke to the abrasive blare of his alarm clock and slammed his hand down on the button. Why he agreed to go out with Max when he worked a morning shift, he didn't know. He squinted his eyes as he brushed his teeth in an attempt to block out some of the fluorescent bathroom light that made his headache far worse.
He pulled on his uniform, grabbed his apron and keys and paused with his hand on the doorknob.
Fuck.
His car.
There was no time to dwell— if he didn't start walking now he would be late two days in a row.
The familiar bell rang above as a brush of warm air hit him.
"Woah, dude. Did you walk here?" Max asked, head peeked over the espresso machine looking at him.
"Yeah. Car's busted. Tell you about it later."
"Oh! When I saw your car at Lucas's this morning I figured you finally got with Ethan. Damn."
"Shut up," he rolled his eyes and tied the strings on his apron. He adjusted his nametag and rubbed his hands down the front of the fabric, smoothing out the wrinkles.
"No but really… How'd it go with Ethan?"
"It didn't," he said as he used a sanitizer towel to wipe up the syrup stuck to the counter. "He ditched me the entire party to hang all over every girl in the house. And then," his hands flew up in exasperation, "he had the nerve to text me for a hookup!"
"Ouch. What an asshole."
"I don't know. I was probably reading into things. He obviously doesn't want anything serious."
"Will, you're the whole package. You deserve a guy who sees that."
The bell sounded off, and Max gave the customer a small nod.
"You're on register today," she winked as she resumed her position at the espresso bar.
He shot her a look, but schooled his expression as he turned around and-
Oh.
In front of the cash register, head down and hand thumbing through his wallet, was Mike Wheeler.
Will sighed, then cleared his throat. "So, you're stalking me now?"
Mike startled, eyes flicking up and he looked surprised to see him. "Oh- I uh… I-" he stammered and a blush spread across his cheeks. "Uh hi."
"Hi," Will couldnt help the smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth. "What can I get for you?"
"Ah, so you can be nice to me when you're getting paid to," he resumed the search in his wallet, the smirk on his face growing.
Will rolled his eyes because of course Mike was back to being an asshole. "You gonna order, or are you just gonna stand there?"
"Do you speak to all your customers this way?" Mike's eyes scanned the empty cafe. "No wonder this place is a wasteland."
Will barked out a laugh. "Seriously, Mike. What do you want?"
"Well, I seem have lost my debit card so I'm gonna have to do the walk of shame out of here and hope you forget this ever happened." Mike flashed him an embarrassed smile before he headed for the door.
"Wait!" The words spilled out before he could stop them. "It's on me."
"Won't you get in trouble?"
"No, I'm allowed to when a customer is being particularly difficult." he deadpanned.
"Is that right?" Mike's eyebrows were raised now, his smirk back in full force, "And here I thought you were being nice."
Will bit his lip to suppress his smile, and looked up at him through his lashes. "So? What do you want, Mike?"
Mike's eyes flicked to his lip for just a moment, then back up.
"I uh- I'll do an iced americano with simple syrup."
Will scribbled Mike's name and order on the large cup, and passed it off to Max.
She pulled the shots and assembled the drink, and then slid it across the counter to him. "Have a good day," she said with a knowing smile.
Will was waiting for Mike to leave so he could tell Max to drop it, but Mike lingered.
"Hey, uh. Do you have a pen and paper I could use? A sticky note would be fine, I just need to jot something down."
"Oh, uh, sure. We don't have sticky notes but here—" He pressed the feed button on the receipt printer and ripped a piece off, handing it to Mike, along with the pen he used for orders.
"Thanks, I'll bring it right back."
Mike stuffed his wallet in his back pocket and headed to a small table in the corner. He faced away from the counter, he hunched over the slip of receipt paper as he scribbled away.
Will turned his head to find Max, mouth agape. The gears turning in her head were practically audible.
She lifted her hand to press the button on her headset and whispered into the microphone, "What the hell was that?"
He pressed his button to respond, "What was what?"
"You were just flirting with him! Isn't that the guy you were talking to last night? On the couch?"
And if she had actually been paying attention to his body language last night she would have seen he was annoyed. Not enamored.
"First of all, we were not flirting. Second of all, no. He came over to me, sat down and—"
"Oh my god. Holy shit." She cut him off, voice getting louder by the second. "You guys fucked last night, didn't you?" She said it loud.
"Max! Shut the fuck up." He hissed, eyes flitting toward Mike to see if he heard her.
Max must've realized how loud she was being because she resumed with a whisper into the headset. "Spill. It's written all over both of your faces."
"We didn't hook up. And we weren't flirting. He just…" He already knew how she was going to respond, "He drove me home last night when my car died."
"So he drove you home," she started, but Will knew she was far from done. "And came to get coffee where you work. And then, " her nose scrunched in disgust, "And then acts so disgusting with you that I want to tell you both to get a room?"
Will rolled his eyes again, "He didn't even know I worked here. Plus he's— It's not— He's not like me."
Will turned around at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Mike grinned, "Thanks. Here you go." He slid the pen and paper toward Will and tapped the counter a few times before heading toward the door. Will picked up the paper, but he couldn't bring himself to look at it.
The bell rang, announcing Mike's exit, and before he could turn to face Max, she yanked the slip of paper out of his hand.
"Wha— Hey!" He reached for the paper, but she was too quick. "You're gonna rip it, Max!"
She held it behind her back, other arm out to block Will from snatching it. "Now let's see what loverboy has to say." She said in a sing-songy voice.
As her eyes scanned the paper they twinkled with something mischievous.
She grinned from ear to ear as she shoved the paper into his hands. "Told you!"
Thanks for the drink.
I have a proposition for you.
Text me :)
729-555-9081
-Mike
P.S. nice nametag, Will