Work Text:
“Just forget it, Mike,” Will says, on the verge of tears. The other 2 boys don’t seem to care at all about his campaign, which he spent 2 weeks working on. He rips off his cloak and begins cleaning up all his dnd supplies.
“no, you want to keep playing, right?” Mike asks, trying to be nice. Will can easily see through his facade.
“yeah totally!” Lucas responds, also trying his best to make Will feel better.
“We'll just call the girls afterwards!”
Will is about ready to punch Mike in the face.
“I said forget it, Mike!” Will yells at the much taller boy, “I'm going home.”
And with that, Will storms out of the Wheelers basement and out the front door. He’s about to get on his bike when he sees Mike rush out after him. “Will, come on, you can’t leave. it’s raining.” Wow, how thoughtful of mike.
“Listen, I said I was sorry, alright? it’s a cool campaign, it’s really cool! We’re, just, not in the mood right now! ” Mike tries again, but Will has had just about enough. Will is crying now, but the rain washes his tears away making them invisible.
“Yeah, Mike, that’s the problem. you guys are never in the mood anymore. you’re ruining our party,” Will yells back.
“That's just not true!” what bullshit.
“really?” will starts, “where’s Dustin right now?”
Mike looks panicked, trying desperately to remember where the fourth friend was.
“see? you don’t know, and you don’t even care. Obviously he doesn’t either, and I don’t blame him. you're destroying everything, and for what? so you can swap spit with some stupid girl?”
shit, he didn’t mean to say that. he loves El, he really does. but not when El is dating his best friend. “Els not stupid!” Mike screams, “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”
what the hell?
“Of course it’s your fault!” Will yells back, not realizing what he said.
Mike's face goes white, eyes wide.
“Mike, I haven’t spent all this time wishing I was different, wishing I wasn’t a freak, wishing I could just be fucking normal for you to tell me that it’s not all your fault!” The tears streaming down Will's face sting. Mike knows he messed up, bad. Will never swears, much less uses a word like fuck when he does.
“I’ve spent years hating myself, crying myself to sleep just to be woken up by nightmares of you telling me you hate me for you to just brush it off like you didn’t cause all of this, Mike!” Will's brain finally catches up to his mouth, and he realizes what he just said. He just confessed to his best friend, who by the way, is straight. shit.
“Shit- I- Mike, I- Fuck, Im sorry I- I didn’t… Shit,” Will says, frantically trying to fix the mess he just created. He searches Mike's eyes, desperate for an answer. Mike is usually an open book. Will has gotten good at knowing exactly what he’s feeling, but today his stare is blank. He doesn’t know what Mike is thinking, and it absolutely terrifies him. “I… I should go… I-I’m sorry Mike,” Will says. He begins walking to his bike, but just as he’s about to pick it up he feels a hand on his wrist. “Wait,” Mike says, just above a whisper. Will turns to face Mike, unsure of what’s going to happen next. Does he hate him? Does he not care? Does he never want to be his friend ever again? “Just… come here,” Mike pleads. Wills stands slowly, walking back to where he was before, in front of Mike. Mike stares at Will, and Will thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him when Mike glances down at his lips. “Mike…” Will starts, but is cut off by Mike
“Will, look at me.”
He hadn’t even realized that he had looked at the ground. He looks back into the chocolate brown eyes of his best friend, the same eyes that had filled hundreds of pages of sketchbooks. Mike drops his wrist, which Will hadn’t realized he was still holding, and brings his hand up to Will's cheek. Will can feel his cheeks turn a bright pink, and Mike notices this. Mike moves his eyes down to the shorter boy's lips for the second time, however this time they linger there. Will can see a soft red dust Mike's dark freckles, and butterflies fill Will's stomach. Then, suddenly, Mike is moving closer. It’s slow, at first. He’s testing the waters. However, when Will doesn't back away, he crashes their lips together.
Holy shit.
Michael Wheeler is kissing him.
Mike fucking Wheeler, his best friend and secret crush, is kissing him.
but instead of being happy, he’s filled with anger. After all this time of ditching him for El, or ignoring him, or mocking his dnd campaigns, Mike thinks he can make it all go away just by kissing him? Is he joking? Sure, Will is absolutely ecstatic that Mike is kissing him. But a kiss is not the same as an apology.
Will pulls away, and Mike's eyes fill with dread. “Shit, Will, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, that’s probably not even what you meant by what you said,” Mike blurts. Ok, Will didn’t mean to make Mike that upset. “Look, Mike, I'm not upset that you did… that. I’m not. but I'm sick of you ignoring me, or ditching me for El, and that’s not going to be fixed just because you like me all of a sudden. I’m tired. it’s been all summer, Mike, and honestly, I’m just done,” Will says. He’s proud of himself for finally telling Mike. He’s been pretending like everything was fine for months, when in reality he wanted to just go home and cry. Mike's face goes from sad, to shocked, to guilty, all in the span of about 10 seconds.
“Will, I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. I never, ever , meant to make you feel ignored. You’re my best friend, okay?” Will can see faint tears painting Mike's face. He quickly rubs them away, clearly not wanting Will to notice he’s crying. Will just stares at the boy in front of him blankly, listening intently. Mike looks around him, clearly thinking of what to say. “I’ve just been so fucking confused lately,” he blurts. “I love El, I really do. I think for a while I thought I loved her… the way that I love… well, you,” Mike says, finally meeting Will's eyes again. Mike… loves him? holy shit. “I guess I was just subconsciously pushing you away, because I was scared of my own feelings,” He continues, “I think I thought that the less time I spend with you and the more time I spend with El, I could end up loving her the way I’m supposed to.” Will looks at him, shocked. “I know that that’s not an excuse for the way I’ve been treating you, Will,” Mike finishes, “but it’s an explanation. And I’m so, so sorry. Obviously I can’t change my feelings,” He laughs softly.
Will's lips quirk up into a soft smile. He places his hands on the back of Mike's head, intertwining his fingers with the dark curls. Mike blushes as Will looks down at his lips. This time, it's Will to make the choice. And he chooses to. He pulls Mike in close, lips pressing against the others. Mike's hands move around Will's waist, steadying him. Kissing Mike is maybe the best feeling Will has ever felt. It’s like the first day of summer, the air warm and not a single worry in the world. It’s like the final stretch of a dnd campaign, when they finally defeat whatever monster they were battling this time. It’s like sitting in front of a fire in December, sipping hot cocoa and laughing with your friends. It’s like everything good in the world all wrapped up into one.
They finally pull apart after a minute, both gasping for air. Will's hands are still in Mike's hair, and Mike's arms are still wrapped around Will's waist. They smile at each other, lips red and cheeks pink. “I love you, Mike,” Will whispers, so only the other boy can hear. Those words are reserved for Mike's ears, and Mike's ears only. His mouth spreads into a toothy grin, eyes sparkling. “I love you too, Will,” Mike replies softly. Will closes his eyes and smiles. He doesn’t think he could ever feel so happy, not after the upside down and the mind flayer. However, the boy he had known for 9 years standing in front of him made him happier than he could ever imagine. Suddenly, Mike is crying again.
“Mike, hey, what’s wrong?” Wills says, turning his face to meet Wills eyes.
“I can't lose you again Will,” Mike replies between silent sobs. Will's face softens.
“You’re not going to lose me, okay? I promise. I'm not leaving you. Crazy together, right?”
Mike smiles at the reference from the year before. “Crazy together.”
Will pulls him in for another kiss, lips moving rhythmically, hands finding their respective places on each other’s bodies. Will can taste a slightly salty taste on Mike's lips, probably from the tears, but he could care less. He wants to stay like this forever, just holding on to Mike. Never letting him go. Everything is perfect right then and there, and he never wants that to change. William Byers loves Michael Wheeler, and Michael Wheeler loves him right back.