Work Text:
Whatever chance Will had to create a new drawing, he would take. Generating tens of thousands of sketches each day in the hopes of finding the ideal one to expand into a larger piece. Today was one of those days. He was lying in bed, sketchbook and pencil in hand, when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in" He called out.
He spotted Mike as the door opened.
"Hey Will" he said, closing the door behind him.
"Hey! How are you?"
"I'm... I'm fine. Were you drawing?" He asked sitting down on Will's bed in front of him.
"Yea, just some sketches for the next campaign"
"Can I see them?"
Will extended the sketchbook for Mike to take it, and so did he. He sat up a little straighter as Mike flipped through pages filled with drawings, smiling to himself.
"These are so cool! You're such a great artist"
"Pff," he laughed, rolling his eyes in an attempt to break eye contact for a moment, though he quickly returned his gaze to Mike "Thank you!"
Mike smiles widely "Yea, you're welcome" he said, this time being him the one breaking eye contact as he looked blankly at the floor of Will's room before he spoke again, suddenly.
"Me and El broke up"
That caught Will by surprise. He sat up fully straight and staring at Mike with wide eyes, unable to say a word.
Mike looked up at Will for a second before returning his gaze to the floor again "She called me so that we could meet up and talk things out. Well... To break up"
"Oh shit Mike. Are you OK? Maybe she's just having a rough time, and it'll all fix itself. Kinda like Max and Lucas"
"Well, no, I mean... It made sense when she told me. It was kinda mutual"
"It was?" Will was getting more confused by the second.
"Yea. I love her, of course. Just, not that way. And the same from her"
"Ok" he paused to think "So you... You guys are both good? Like, happy as friends?"
Mike smiles "Yes, of course. We're both happy. Better this way"
"Ok, good! I'm glad" Will smiled back.
Mike seemed deep in thought for a couple seconds before talking again.
"El told me, in one of her letters" he paused for a second "about a painting, for someone you liked"
Painting? Mike's painting? Oh God, did El figure it out? And just told Mike!?
"Uhh... Mhh, maybe" Will was bright red, almost hyperventilating. He tried to look at Mike again, trying to gauge his reaction. Which really didn't help, Mike's eyebrows furrowed slightly looking away before looking back at Will, though not directly.
"Well, I guess it's a shame you won't get to see her anymore. You know, now that you're here. How was she?"
"Oh" a girl. Of course, what was he thinking? "Umm, yea, she's..." God, was he really gonna do this? "She's beautiful," they locked eyes "she has this longish black hair, she's always liked my drawings. It's so easy to talk to her, it's like I've known her my hole life" Mike's face remained frozen the hole time, staring at him directly. Will looked away, preparing himself for what he was about to do. "She's..." he took a deep breath "not a girl"
Will covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the most he could. At the verge of crying once the silence settled onto him.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Mike's voice once again "Hey Will, it's ok. You're ok. Can you look at me?" Will's hands moved to uncover his eyes but still covering his mouth, nose and cheeks. Looking directly at Mike again "It's ok, do you... Do you like guys?"
Will nodded slowly, not being able to speak but dropping his hands completely from his face.
"You're alright, really" Mike's gaze dropped slightly from Will's eyes just to get back to them "Do you feel any better?"
Will nodded again "Yea" he said quietly "It's just... Scary"
"I understand, just remember you're not weird or different because of this" Mike could definitely read his mind; it always worked out that way. His breathing slowing down.
"So, the painting was for a guy?" Will nodded once again.
"Well, what about him? Who is he?" Will's breath got caught once again debating on how to answer that question. Mike's hand stayed on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. He tried to ignore the vicinity between the two.
He couldn't help but drop his gaze at Mike's lips, with a thousand thoughts crossing his head. "He's..." Will whispered, cheeks burned red once again. Noticing, again, how little distance was left between them. He couldn't help but lean in and kiss Mike. It was a short kiss, just two or three seconds, but Will could feel his stomach flip before he separated and looked directly at Mike's eyes. He looked back at Will with wide eyes, Mike's hand dropping from his shoulder. He entered a panic, putting as much distance as he could between him and Mike, covering his mouth once again.
Mike stayed frozen with startled eyes and a half opened mouth, in a state resembling shock. His eyes fixed on Will as silence filled the room. Will's eyes couldn't help but water.
"I'm sorry" he whispered while standing up and sprinting towards the door, opening it up.
"Will!" he heard as he slammed the door shut behind him, running towards the bathroom and locking the door. He started hyperventilating, holding onto the bathroom sink and heavily sobbing trying to make as little noise as possible.
God, he really had to fuck everything up. They just got their friendship like how it was back then, and he just had to push it even more. Couldn't he be happy for what they already had?
He almost felt the need to puke, his face hot depending on his tears to cool him down. His head was spinning, not being able to hear the noise of tap water running but somehow able to hear a knock on the door.
"Will! Are you there?" it was Mike. Will couldn't answer back, too busy trying to stop an audible sob and calming down his head and lungs.
"Will! I'm not mad ok? I'm not angry!" He really felt pathetic, listening to Mike as if he didn't just ruin everything.
"Can you open the door? Let's talk it out, calmly" Will looked towards the door, dreading the conversation that he would get in by opening the door but knowing he couldn't run away from it this time. He moved towards it, leaning his weight on whatever object he could hold onto.
"Will, come on..." He heard as he opened the door, slowly. Once the door completely opened Mike stared at Will's state and immediately after ran towards him enveloping Will in a deep hug.
"Will, omg. Please, don't cry" he sounds distressed, his voice cracking as he whispered into Will's ears.
He heard Mike snuffle "I'm not mad Will, you mean so much to me" Mike separated them slightly keeping the closeness between them, noses still touching.
Mike's eyes moved down to Will's lips "Too much" Will's heart-beat sped up as Mike slowly leaned in brushing their lips together and distancing slightly for a second before going for a quick kiss.
Mike doesn't make any more comments, giving them a moment of silence. This time Will leaned in, fully. Closing the gap between them. Mike's hands holding his face in between them, smudging Will's tears through his cheeks.
Will's lips and chest never felt warmer, having waited for this moment for years now he could finally give in because Mike was kissing him back. He wrapped one hand around Mike's back and another holding his bicep, pulling him close.
Mike tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss. He leaned more of his weight onto Will, trusting for him to be able to handle it. Will leaned back, pressing his spine to the sink holding Mike as stable as he could. He moved one of his hands to the base of Mike's neck so that he could interlace Mike's hair in his fingers, feeling its smoothness.
Mike stops the deep kiss to lace small pecks on Will's lips, corner of the mouth, nose, cheek and under his ear before wrapping Will in a hug once again. "God Will, I love you" he could feel his smile against his neck. "So much"
"Me too Mike" he whispered hugging him back "me too"