Chapter Text
Today isn’t Will’s first time going to a party nor his first time getting a taste of alcohol as their group had certain bouts of adventures involving liquors in the past. But seeing Will stumbling his way, struggling to remain upright while making his way towards the others with drinks in both hands, this is absolutely a new sight to Mike.
Out of all his friends, Will was the least likely to get drunk. He doesn’t really drink much since he’s not the biggest fan of the alcohol’s taste. Maybe it’s because Will was stressing out on his latest art project that it pushed him so far to the edge he decided to drown it in alcohol. Mike recalls his friend venting out his frustrations about not being satisfied with any of his ideas despite Mike’s reassurance that whatever Will does, it’s guaranteed to be a masterpiece.
He stands up from the sofa where his friends left him half an hour ago when he refused to dance with them. He strolls onward to Will grabbing him from his shoulders to stir him away from another person, stopping them from colliding. The drinks in Will’s hands spill a bit on the floor causing the both of them to grimace.
Mike intends to snatch a cup from his friend but Will lifts it up to his lips and empties the drink in one go.
A bit stunned, Mike chuckles though it turns to a full on laugh after Will flings the cup somewhere over the crowd of bodies dancing nearby.
“Are you gonna give me the other one?” Mike asks, spinning Will around so he was facing the taller. For a second, Will just stares at his face, confused, before a flash of recognition pops up.
“Ah!” Will’s eyes brightens, and isn’t that cute, “It’s Mike!” he exclaims and seemingly forgetting the cup in his hand, he raises both arms and throws it over Mike’s head locking them in an embrace.
The liquor is everywhere. It’s at the back of Mike’s shirt, on his nape, some on his hair, there’s even drops that made it through his face and eyes, and he closes them to blink away the alcohol. He attempts to glare at Will except he instantly softens as he picks up his giggling.
“You’re a mess.” He tries to say it strictly, still, even to his own ears it sounded overly fond.
“You are.” Will replies in between his giggles. Mike thinks it’s unfair that he finds that sound so endearing. He can’t even pretend to be mad. He brings his arms on Will’s waist, reciprocating the hug.
He senses the boy in his arms pulling away one of the arms laying on Mike’s shoulders. Only now remembering the drink in his hand, Will leans away putting some distance between them. Just as the first cup he held a while ago, he drinks it bottoms up, carelessly tossing it after.
Breaking out from his fond stare at his friend’s undeniably inebriated display, he twists his head up to search where the bathroom could be. He spots an open door, a white sink peeking from the room. He tries to remove Will’s arms around him—although he doesn’t want to—to travel across the horde of party goers to the bathroom.
“Will, I’m going to clean myself up.” Albeit Mike enjoying the hug, he’s positive it would be better without the sticky touch of the rapidly drying alcohol all over his back.
“Uh huh. Okaaay.” Will drawls out. His voice sounding right beside his ear.
“Okaaay?” Mike imitates. “But you still haven’t let go.”
“I don’t think I want to.”
Mike feels his face heat up. So, Will is clingy when he’s drunk huh. It’s not entirely a new occurrence for the both of them. Their close proximity that is. Minus all the liquor, it would be just an everyday event.
“I can’t exactly walk like this.” Mike point out their position which prompts Will to loosen his grip. He takes a while to decide what to do, opting to let go of Mike but not without heaving out a dramatic sigh.
Mike hands Will to their friends to cease more chaos ahead of its creation. From the looks of it, all of them are still in their right minds save for Max who appears to be as drunk as Will.
“Dude—” Dustin was about to tell him something when he notices Mike’s appearance. He cackles as he nudges Lucas, a finger pointing at Mike. The latter joins with a guffaw of laughter catching Eleven’s attention. She takes one look at Mike and she too, bursts out in fits of laughter.
“What happened Mike?” she asks incoherently amidst her amusement.
“Your brother happened, that’s what.”
Dustin plops his arm over Will’s shoulder, “What did you do, Will?”
“Hmm?” It takes a second before Will was able to process the question. Jesus, he’s really drunk. “I gave him a hug!” the boy proudly proclaims, proceeding to hug Dustin as if to demonstrate what he did earlier.
“Aww~” Lucas joins in on the hug. Squishing Will in between.
“So, Will was being cute, that’s what.” Max says to Mike as she saunters to add in the unexpected group hug, snagging El’s arm, pulling her too, towards the embrace.
Mikes makes a move on joining in when all his friends shout out their protests. Shooing him off saying he’ll only be allowed near when he’s clean enough.
Jerks.
It’s a short trip to the fortunately empty bathroom. He peels his shirt off then washes his face. Now, Mike’s problem is, whether he’s gonna go shirtless or if he’s gonna steal borrow a shirt from whoever this house’s owner is. He contemplates on this while wiping his face and nape with tissues. Taking in his situation, he concludes that what he wants as of this moment is to go home and take a shower. He breathes out a sigh.
He wears his shirt once more, frowning at the dampness as it hangs to his back. He exits the bathroom. Stepping big strides to reach the others faster.
Mike sees Dustin and Lucas right where he left them. Will’s not there anymore. Nor Max and El.
“Where’s Will?” The two boys turned their gazes at Mike. Both scrunching up their noses in disgust.
“Ugh! You still stink!” Dustin complains, pinching his nose. “Did you not use soap or something?”
“No.” He rolls his eyes. “I plan to go home anyways. I’ll shower there.”
“Going home already?” Mike hears Lucas ask. At least, that’s what he understood, he can’t really hear clearly with how the music was blaring, plus the fact Lucas has his palm over his nose and mouth.
Dramatic jerks.
“Let him. Besides, it is kinda late...” El mentions the time, moving over to them, giving the cups she’s carrying to the two boys. “We also should be going soon too.”
Mike eyes the direction El came from. There, he locates Will and Max arms locked with each other’s, cups on both of their hands. Will gulps down on one of the cups he’s holding on his arm that wasn’t intertwined with Max’s.
“You let him get another drink?!” Mike screeches at the others. His disbelief so visible that his friends can’t help but laugh.
Apparently, Max heard him when she gets to where they’re at, saying, “Why is it that you’re louder than the music, Mike?”
“Oh!” Dustin hastily calls out, intercepting Mike’s chance for a rebuttal to Max. “Since you’re going home now, take the drunkards with you.”
“Like hell I’m going with him!” Max immediately protests. Maybe she’s not that drunk yet as Mike initially thought.
“Okay. Understandable.” Lucas agrees. Mike was ready to ask what the hell was meant by that when his friend hurriedly adds, “But you’re taking Will with you right?” He was inclined to say that obviously he’s taking Will but prefers rolling his eyes than talking over. The quicker this conversation ends, the shorter he is away from taking that damn shower. “It’s gonna be hard taking care of two drunks, well, three if Dustin drinks more—”
“Hey—”
“I’m taking Will, of course.” He says it and hopes his intonation carries his message across. As if he’s leaving Will with these guys who lets him consume all the booze he wants until he passes out. That wouldn’t be healthy, right? He’s just trying to avoid that from happening. Not at all plotting to have Will for himself for a little longer. Especially drunk Will. After he discovered he’s a clingy drunk, Mike’s not going to waste the opportunity of course.
“Will, come on, let’s go.”
Rather than disentangling his arm from Max’s, Will clutches more. “No. Don’t wannaaa.” He drawls out, burying his face on Max’s shoulder. The girl in turn nudges her face on Will’s hair.
She smirks at Mike and with all the intention of teasing, asks Will, “You don’t wanna go with Mike?”
“Wanna drink moreee” Will giggles. He sips from the cup he’s holding, halting abruptly upon remembering something. “Oh no, this drink was for Mike.” Will says like it’s a dilemma. He’s so cute.
Will tugs on Max turning them towards the direction of the kitchen. “Let’s go get another one.”
That’s Mike’s signal to stop being whipped for a second. He steps in the way right in front of Will to prevent him from going further.
“No more drinks, Will.”
“But it’s not for me? It’s for you, Mike.” Will says tilting his head cutely to the side. Mike steels his heart, he can’t give in, no. They have to go home right now. But how would he convince Will of that?
“What if I don’t want a drink?”
“What do you want, then?” Will pouts; Mike is a weak man. Any more than this, this constant exposure to Will’s precious drunken state and he might as well just melt here—but no, he’d prefer to bask in Will’s presence alone, in the car, as soon as possible, please.
“Come with me to the car?”
“That sounded like kidnapping?” Max snorts.
“You’re kidnapping me?!” Will shouts.
“No—” Mike huffs, he’s set to go on a full argument with a drunk how kidnapping said drunk that it’s not possible before he decides it’s not worth it when he’s the only one who would comprehend the words he’d say.
He holds out his hand, hoping Will would just take it and go with him. Miracle does exists. Will not just takes his hand but outright latches on his arm intertwining it similarly with how he’s currently holding Max’s.
“Okaaay, I trust you, Mike. Let’s go.”
Before Mike was able to point it out, Max voluntarily extricates from Will’s hold. With careful movements, so as not to spill Will’s drink, she frees herself. She takes the half full cup from Will earning a grumble from the boy in response.
Not giving Will the chance to question what was happening, Mike practically drags Will out of the house. He shouts his goodbye to his friends over the crowd waving his other hand.
When they’re outside, his body was hit with cold air making him sigh in relief now that he’s out of the suffocating party atmosphere. Mike also doubly feels his drenched shirt uncomfortably glued to his back.
It’s a good thing his car was parked relatively in front of the house. He stops right in front of it and turns to observe Will.
Will’s posture is so unsteady Mike thinks that the only thing holding him upright was their tangled arms. He feels the other lean on him heavier, almost snuggling to him. “Let’s get you inside, Will.”
Mike moves to open the passenger seat’s door. He gently pries Will’s arm off of him, guiding him to the seat. Will’s lowly mumbling how he’s being kidnapped right now, how his family would be worried. Mike chuckles at the boy’s adorableness. Not only was Will a clingy drunk but he’s also much more talkative than usual now that he’s intoxicated.
As Mike flumps down on the driver’s seat, he takes his shirt off in a flash tossing it at the back. He sighs, glad to be finally rid of that stickiness.
He feels Will staring at him, at his body. God. He’s so sure his cheeks are burning to a vibrant scarlet as of this moment. Suddenly, the temperature in the car becomes unbearable. He starts the engine and blasts the ac to its max setting.
He drives out of the driveway and decides to go to Will’s house first. He ponders a bit on taking a shower at Will’s, there’s no doubt that Joyce will let him. There’s also a high chance that Mike have some of his clothes left there during hang outs. Will’s mom might even ask Mike to sleepover, now that he’s thinking about it, it does sounds like a good idea.
He continues to think, Will’s stream of words a background noise to him, Mike’s a hundred percent confident it’s drunken nonsense anyways. He keeps his eyes on the road avoiding Will’s that are still directed at him.
“Why is your face so red, Mike? Are you okay?” The pure concern in Will’s voice was what made Mike pay attention to him. He quickly averts his eyes trying to come up with a reply.
“I’m fine, Will. I-it’s just hot.”
“Hmm. I think you’re hot.”
Mike almost hit the brakes. Almost. He feels his heart skips a beat. His grip on the steering wheel tightens as he tries to steady his heartbeat. What does Will meant by that? Is he really hot? Does Will really think of that? Mike’s aware he’s lacking in the muscles department but if that’s what Will finds hot then...well. Isn’t it getting warmer in here?
Mike’s about to open the windows but was caught off guard once again by what Will says.
“I like tall people, you know.” Will shifted in his seat. He’s got his back leaning on the door, his head resting against the window. He brings his knees up then tuck them within his arms. His eyes still on Mike. “I realized that because of you, Mike.”
Mike is having a hard time retaining his eyes on the road. All he wants is to stare at Will, return his fierce gaze, throw caution to the wind, perhaps get emotional—I should’ve gotten myself drunk too.
“I like people taller than me. Hmm...maybe because they make me feel safe?” Will goes on with his rambling, “You definitely make me feel safe. You have looong arms. You can just—” Mike notices from his peripheral, his friend mimicking what he guesses is a tight hug? That he usually envelopes Will with.
He sneaks a glance to Will. Yup, he’s still staring at me. Will pushes his head away from the window, puts his chin atop his knees, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. This new position makes him seem so small and so cute, Mike can’t help but bring his hand to Will’s head, softly patting the smooth brown hair. Will catches Mike’s hand. This jolts him to avert his gaze, refocusing it back to the road, as what’s sensible if he wants to go home in one piece. For a second, Mike thinks Will was annoyed by the head pat as to why he took Mike’s hand. But with Will still holding his hand, pressing it against his cheek, Mike thinks otherwise. He feels his heart flutters as he senses a press of kiss on his palm.
He notices Will shifting in his seat once again. Mike jumps in surprise when he feels a finger poke his cheek. “Mikeee, look at me.” Will pokes his cheek again, “Why aren’t you looking at me?”
“I’m driving.” Mike’s voice cracks much like he’s determination at dodging Will’s stare, it’s just because it’s his first time saying anything since getting inside the car, he reasons.
He hears Will sigh, retreating his hand from Mike’s face, he places it over Mike’s. He moves it away from his cheek, choosing to play with Mike’s fingers instead. He hears Will sigh, again.
“Why do you keep sighing?” Mike says suppressing his chuckles.
“Because, I’m not getting what I want.” Will whines out, jutting his bottom lip out on a pout. Mike stares a bit longer, having to physically shake his head to clear thoughts of Will’s lips. It’s getting incredibly difficult to keep his concentration on the road with the way Will is tempting Mike right now.
“What do you want, then?”
“I want you to look at me, Mike.” Will stubbornly say.
Mike smiles, ‘cause isn’t that what he himself wants as well. “I told you, I can’t because I’m driving.”
“Want to hold your hands.”
“You’re holding my right hand now, aren’t you?”
Will looks down at their hands as if just realizing it. He glances back at Mike, “Give me your left hand too?”
Jesus. Mike’s on the verge of combusting if this adorableness keeps up, really. Before Mike even get to reply he hears Will already whispering, “Wanna hug you.”
A beat passes where the two are silent. Mike could practically feel his heart trying to exit his body from how loud it’s beating. He feels like the steering wheel might break any moment now with how tight he is gripping it. He has a mind to hit the brakes once more, to take a breather or to take Will on his lap and hug the hell outta him. Definitely the latter.
“Kiss you.”
That. That forces Mike to stomp on the brakes so hard Will nearly falls off his seat if not for Mike’s arm impeding it.
He takes a deep breath and peers over Will who most likely haven’t even acknowledge that they’ve stopped yet. He’s still staring back at Mike with a smile on his face now that he got Mike’s full attention.
“You want to kiss me?” Mike asks. He has to hear again so he’s sure he’s not just hearing things he wants to hear from Will’s mouth.
The boy simply nods.
“Why?”
“That’s what people usually do when they like someone?”
He hears Will answer like Mike shouldn’t even be asking a reason why. Well, usually he’d just go for it. But this is Will. His best friend for the longest time. The most important person ever in his life. The boy who owns his heart. Mike can’t just kiss him because Will’s drunk and possibly wants to kiss him. He has to know why he’s even wanting to kiss him in the first place. Which is supposedly is because he likes Mike?
“You like me?”
“I like you, Mike.” Will smiles up at him so brightly it hurts. “Really like you.” He stretches the smile even more. “So much.”
Everyone has their limits. Mike had just reached his. He breaks at Will’s confession. He turns the engine off, lets go of the wheel, and slowly places his hand on Will’s cheek. Tenderly caressing it while staring deeply in his eyes. He glances down at Will’s lips, leaning in closer like he’s hypnotized, closer and closer until their lips are pressed delicately together.
This is everything Mike’s been dreaming of. All he cares now is the soft touch of lips against his as they share a gentle kiss. Mike doesn’t mind that they’re in the middle of the road, there’s not much cars passing at this time anyway. What matters most right now is he’s kissing his best friend. Fuck everything else.
At first, it was a simple feathery brushing of lips but their kiss gets heated when Mike bites Will’s bottom lip drawing out a dreamy moan from the smaller. The kiss deepens as Mike wanders his hands over Will’s torso before settling it on the other’s waist. He grabs Will, lifting the boy up and flopping him onto Mike’s lap. They continue to kiss fervently until they had to part for air.
Mike debates on whether to kiss Will again or stare at his face. Will’s cheeks are rosy from the alcohol and Mike hopes from the kiss too. His lips, a bit redder than usual, stretches into a grin. He snaps his eyes back onto Will’s, seeing it already staring back at him.
Mike watches as Will closes the gap between them, ready to meet him halfway for another kiss, but apparently the boy in his arms has other plans in mind. He notes Will’s actions with a fond interest. Will slumps down, ducks his head and props it on Mike’s chest, engulfing him in a hug. If Will was affected by the skin to skin contact, it doesn’t show. His eyes quiver shut, an easy smile still on his lips. He looks so contented.
Mike, on the other hand, is a blushing mess. The direct contact of his bare chest with Will’s cheek is scorching. But one glimpse at Will’s face makes it easier to breathe. He’s sort of torn between wanting to kiss again or letting Will take all the time he needs to stay in his arms. He chooses to quietly stroke Will’s hair, cherishing the pleasant warmth surrounding them.
“You kinda smell funny.” Will blurts out.
Mike doesn’t find the longing he felt earlier for an immediate shower, his craving for Will’s cuddling stronger as always. With Will on his lap, he couldn’t care less about anything else actually.
“You’re free to get away.” Mike teases, lifting his back against the backrest of his seat, attempting to take Will’s arms off his waist.
Will, all but tightens his hold. “No! I like this place.” Mike faintly laughs when Will nuzzles his face on his chest. “I wanna hear your heartbeat.”
“Yeah, well, those heartbeats’ for you.” He inwardly cringes at what he just dumbly blurted out. Though he counts it as a win when Will’s smile widens.
I’m so far gone.