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Will was picking at his fingertips as the cafeteria hoard with voices. It’s been almost a year since he came back to Hawkins, but it didn’t take as long to adjust back to his previous routine: bike to school, draw in classes he could give less of a fuck about, have lunch with his friends, and try to act as normal as possible while the world was basically ending.
And he wishes he were talking about the literal world ending - no, what he means by the world ending, is that he has to share a house with the one person he’s been in love with since he can remember how to form a thought, the one person he will never be able to have.
(Though a vein-covered maniac from some other dimension, whose slowly building up his powers to kill them all, is almost as equally as bad.)
And the only thing that was keeping him sane at the moment was how the other two members of their party kept talking over each other, keeping up a conversation Will could never take part in, so he kept quiet and occasionally sipped on his juice, letting the conversation fill his restless mind.
“Not going to lie, I miss Suzie. If only we could get out of this shitty piece of hell,” Dustin sighed. Since Eddie’s passing (May he rest in peace, Will likes to believe he truly was an amazing guy.) Dustin’s been in a not very good mood, and Will feels sorry for him, but there are moments from time to time when he gets back to his normal self, like when talking about girls.
“Tell me about it. I miss Max. I would trade anything just so she would call me an idiot again,” Lucas replies with a sad laugh. The topic of Max’s hospitalization is still a sensitive one, but they are able to crack a joke about it from time to time, because they know Max would find it kind of funny.
“I would do about anything so I could hold Suzie again, let her kiss me again, and say how nice my teeth feel on her tongue.” To this, Will squints his face in mild disgust, and he’s not the only one.
“That’s disgusting,” Mike mutters, a similar expression playing on his face as his eyes lock with Will’s and then jump to Lucas’.
Lucas just nods supportively, even though his face screams ‘sure, buddy,’ and Dustin sighs with frustration. “Oh come on, guys, don’t act like you don’t like having a girl's tongue in your-”
“Yeah, yeah, we get your point, but god, you don’t have to put it that way…” Lucas chuckles to himself, and Will is so glad he doesn’t have to be the one to call him out, because damn.
“Okay, Romeo, what I am trying to say, I could use a kiss right now, or anything, honestly, hugging my mom doesn’t feel that satisfactory.” Dustin takes a sip, and it finally seems like the end of this conversation, and thank god, because talking about girls’ tongues in his mouth doesn’t sound like a good thought to have while having lunch to Will.
“Yeah, I miss how nice it felt, I miss those sparks that were feeling like small fireworks in my stomach.” Lucas sighs longingly, and Will can do nothing but feel bad for him, even though he wishes for nothing more than for this conversation to end.
“Sparks? It felt more like a wet slug in my mouth, honestly,” Mike mutters, and Will straightens his back a little, because now he’s listening, even though he doesn’t want to hear about his practically sister and his best friend’s, whom he’s secretly in love with, late-night make out sessions, but he can’t help but start focusing on what Mike’s saying.
“What? Dude, no,” Lucas scoffs. “I know you and El aren’t together anymore, but don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy kissing her. A wet slug? Seriously?” Lucas continues, and Dustin lets out a small chuckle.
“What? Who said I didn’t enjoy it?” Mike asks defensively. “Just saying- it didn’t feel like the fucking Fourth of July, it was just okay,” He crosses his arms around his chest, and it seems as though his cheeks get a little puffy.
“Well, did you set the mood right? Did you hold her by her waist? Whispered sweet nothings into her ear? Those things are crucial for fireworks, Mike,” Lucas points out, and Will can’t help but join Dustin in the quiet chuckling.
He really shouldn’t be the one to join Lucas’ and Dustin’s sides with his own dating record, but it’s hard when Lucas is leaning over, quietly poking Mike with his words, and Mike is reacting with even more deflecting.
“Duh, I set the mood right, what I am saying is that it just didn’t feel like this amazing, magical thing you’re describing it as, kissing is just overrated,” Mike averts his eyes away from the three of them. “And can we, like, not talk about this anymore? She broke up with me for a reason.”
Will really should stop chuckling; this is his sister they are talking about, for god’s sake, but Dustin’s facial expressions and Lucas’ knowing looks aren’t helping, and so he tries to hide his mouth behind his juice box.
“What are you laughing about, Mister ‘I reject every girl that approaches me’?” And they are on his case now, Will really should have kept to himself and rather focus on peeling all the skin off his fingers.
“Um, it was the wet slug, sorry,” Will replies, and suppresses another chuckle at the mention of how Mike described making out, as Lucas’ eyes wait for a proper answer.
“Whatever, you two are evil, and I wanna stop by the library anyway,” Mike gets up and picks up his food trail as fast as possible, sending looks at both Dusting and Lucas.
“What?! Will was laughing too!” Dustin yelps behind him, but Mike is long gone, leaving the three of them to exchange looks, and Lucas mutters something about Mike being helpless; they all are sure he’s going to give them hell about it later.
And the hell comes much sooner than Will expected, sitting by the couch with Holly, both of them quiet with pens in their hands. Out of the whole Wheeler household, Holly is his favorite (Mike doesn’t count; he’s got his own special category.) She’s, in a sense, like Will, quiet, imaginative, and really creative and driven.
He’s been spending more time with her lately, sitting in the living room while they exchanged colorful pencils as they drew, occasionally sharing an idea or something interesting they saw, but the peace doesn’t last long; it never does in this household.
“What are you doing?” Mike creeps his way to Will’s side, a cup of tea his mom made earlier in his hand, eyes darting first to the sketch in Will’s sketchbook before his eyes meet Will’s.
“Drawing with Holly,” Will gestures with his head to Holly, whose emerged in her own piece, not even noticing that Mike entered the room. “She asked me to draw the main character from her book, not really sure if I am getting it right, I don’t really remember her description,” Will chuckles.
Mike nods, and his face is unreadable, like the conversation from before is stuck in his mind, and that he really took it personally, which now, Will feels really bad for laughing at him for.
“It looks really nice,” Mike says, as if he didn’t say it about all of Will’s drawings; hell, Mike has that painting hung on the wall right next to his desk, and Will feels very self-conscious every time he sees it when he enters Mike’s room.
“Thank you,” Will says and averts his eyes away from Mike and back to the drawing. He feels like he should say something, even though he didn’t really contribute to the conversation; he still feels partially guilty. “About lunch today-”
“Just drop it,” Mike says before Will can finish, and Will swallows a big lump in his throat. Mike doesn’t necessarily sound mad, but definitely not all happy either.
“Okay, I just wanted to say I am sorry for laughing,” he says before he can make up his mind, and Mike squeezes his shoulder in acknowledgment and gets up. Mike disappears from the room, and it’s just him and Holly again, the little girl completely oblivious to the whole exchange.
Will shoots her a glance from the corner of his eye and wonders, would she still draw like this with him if she knew? That the person she’s been sitting with like this for months now is holding in feelings for her brother that he definitely shouldn’t be feeling?
“What color was her hair again?” He asks instead, because asking this is much safer than all the other questions he has, and her eyes look up to him, smiling, oblivious.
Dinner is always a little awkward at the Wheelers’ house. Jonathan and Nancy try to exchange as less looks as possible, knowing that if Ted Wheeler found out about their romance, there was a strong possibility Jonathan would have to go and live at Hopper’s cabin.
And so tries Will and Mike, even though they are on good terms again, after all the talks that happened after their whole California trip and Mike and El’s breakup, they became best friends again, but there are still things unspoken, mostly on Will’s part, and he wants to keep it that way. So he averts his eyes away from Mike, so he doesn’t even risk the possibility of Ted Wheeler catching it. Will doesn’t really like living in the basement, but it’s the best he’ll get, and he doesn’t want to lose it.
Holly is the only one keeping the mood up, bubbly and lively, and Will tries to match her energy to a degree, tries to be enough but not too much, and Mike usually joins them in the quiet chatter, but not today, and that guilty feeling is back in Will’s stomach.
He helps Mrs Wheeler and his mom to clean the table after, trying to be at least useful when he’s literally feeding off of their resources, and then moves to the basement, determined to finish the sketch of Holly’s character before he goes to sleep.
It’s nearing ten, and he begins to feel tired, slipping into his sleeping shirt and pants. The house is quiet, Jonathan is probably in Nancy’s room, and the basement is illuminated by a soft lamp near the couch. It’s cold and quiet, and Will feels lonely.
A quiet knock disturbs him as he pulls the t-shirt over his stomach, and his head snaps to the stairs. It’s not long after a tall figure emerges from the dark. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Will replies as he turns his body fully towards Mike, standing there in his grey sweater, a little short on his arms as his wrists poke out. “What are you doing here?” Will asks, now a little self-conscious.
“Was bored, wanted to see what you were doing,” Mike shrugs and makes the final step, and his bare feet his the cold basement floor. They stand a safe distance away from each other.
“Just changing,” Will makes a step forward, “and I wanted to finish the sketch for Holly, but I am getting a little tired.” He says honestly, leaving the lonely thoughts part out.
“Cool,” Mike nods his head, and Will is starting to not like how quiet Mike’s being; it’s unnatural for him.
“Did you- Do you need anything?” Will asks, now fidgeting with his fingers behind his back. Part of him wants Mike to bring up the conversation from earlier again, if it’s heavy on Mike’s mind, Will is willing to listen, even though it hurts.
“I was thinking, maybe you would like to come to my room?” Mike asks quietly, his eyes scanning the room as if this were his first time being down here.
“Like, for a chat?” Will asks, a selfish, greedy part of him hopes Mike will say yes, and adds a sleepover to the offer, just like when they were little kids.
“Yeah, yeah, I am kind of bored and don’t really want to go to sleep yet,” Mike replies before quickly adding, “I mean, if you want to- if you’re tired, I’ll leave you be, I was just- offering,” his cheeks bloom with light pink, and Will realises again how screwed he is.
“No, no- it’s okay, I am not that tired, really, I can come over, if you want,” Will hurries before Mike can change his mind. Even though coming up to Mike’s room after all these years feels weird, Will will take the opportunity, especially when Mike is the one offering.
“Cool, cool,” Mike nods his head, his tone softening, the anxious hint disappearing slightly. “Yeah, follow me,” he gestures, and Will is now taking careful steps behind him.
Will leaves everything, amongst his feelings, in the basement, a glimmer of happiness bubbling in his chest as he watches Mike’s taller figure lead them through the dark corners of his house.
Mike makes his way right into his bed and leans against the headboard, still quiet. “So, is there anything particular you wanna talk about?” Will asks before his eyes can linger too long on the painting’s crimson red shining in the dimly lit room.
“Hm, not really, you can tell me about your day.” Mike shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and pats the space next to him, kicking the blanket more off the mattress to make space for Will.
“You literally spent the whole day with me, there isn’t much to tell you that you don’t already know about,” Will chuckles softly, moving to sit next to Mike, close enough so he doesn’t seem rude and far enough so it doesn’t look weird.
Mike breathes out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, true, that’s only because you can’t seem to glue off my hip.” He says, turning his head to catch Will already staring back at him, before they both avert their eyes.
“Bull, you’re the one always asking me to come join you,” Will says, unable to hold back a smile. “Besides, we literally live together, bike together to the same school, it’s pretty hard to avoid you.” He adds.
Mike’s head seems to snap back towards him when he finishes the sentence, and Will curses himself out. “No- Not that I want to avoid you- it’s just,” he clears his throat, “you know, impossible to stay away from you.”
Smooth, really smooth, Byers.
Mike holds his gaze for a second longer and then drops his head. “Yeah, it’s quite impossible to stay away from you either,” Mike replies, and his tone has an airy feeling to it; maybe Will didn’t screw up that much.
Will nods his head in agreement, trying not to slap himself across the face for ruining the mood. It feels as if he was balancing on thin ice with Mike all the time- not that it’s Mike’s fault, no, Will is the one in love with him, the one crossing the boundary of friendship.
“Will?” Mike’s voice breaks him out of whatever kind of internal spiral Will was getting himself into and once again lifts his head up to look into Mike’s eternally black eyes.
“Yeah?” He asks quietly, bringing his knees up to his chest, hooking his arms around them as he searches for clues in Mike’s face.
“About today- in the cafeteria, I mean, it got me kind of thinking…” Screw Will up for wishing Mike would bring this conversation back up- “About what Dustin and Lucas said, they were kind of being dicks about it, but still- I was just like, wondering…”
Will takes a long breath. “You know, how they described the making out and-” Mike clears his throat before shaking his head, “you haven’t really kissed anyone yet, right?”
All the blood drains from Will’s face, because, first, no, of course he hasn’t kissed anyone, ever, and second, why is this about Will now?
“Um, no?” He says, trying to maintain composure as he takes a second to look into Mike’s eyes before he averts his gaze to the wall, the shade of blue getting very interesting now…
“I was just wondering, and you can say no, that since by Lucas’ description, I suck at kissing…” Will looks back into his eyes, “and you haven’t had your first kiss yet, we could, I don’t know, maybe practice? Together?”
Will’s eyebrows furrow unintentionally as he can feel his heart stop beating, because this can’t be real. Mike Wheeler, Will’s best friend, Will’s best friend he’s secretly in love with since when he can remember, is asking him, out of all people, to practice, to practice kissing.
“Will?” Mike asks again, his tone hurried and face now full of regret.
“No- No, sorry, I just- What?”
Mike takes a deep breath and rests his head back against the wall, eyes finally leaving Will’s face. “Forget it, it was a dumb idea, sorry, just- just forget about it,” he sighs, and Will drops his knees to sit more facing Mike.
“No-no, I just- It just startled me, I am not rejecting it-” Way to go to not expose yourself that you haven’t been hoping for a day like this since you were twelve. “Can you- Can you just say it again?”
Mike looks back at him, his bangs covering his eyes. “I was just wondering, since I suck at kissing, and you haven’t had your first kiss yet, maybe, maybe we could practice together,” he says a little more quietly now.
“But, I have no experience, how can I help you get better when I don’t even know how bad kissing looks like?” Will replies with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Maybe if he plays this on more of a silly tone, Mike will realise how bad of an idea this is.
“I think it’s better that you don’t know, you don’t have anyone to compare me to,” Mike shrugs again, moving his eyebrows as he speaks, his tone also getting a little lighter, good.
“Isn’t the point of getting better having past experiences to compare it to and learning from them?” Will raises his eyebrows, and he once again gives Mike a reason to call this off, not because Will doesn’t want this to happen, but because he’s certain Mike does.
“If you really don’t want to do this, just say so. I will never bring it up again,” Mike says as he moves his hands near his face, and Will panics again.
“No, I do really, I just don’t get… Why me?” He asks and swallows as he lets the sentence leave his lips, if he doesn’t hold his tongue, things he doesn’t want out could make their way out.
“It feels safe,” Mike says simply, and Will’s stomach warms up, “and you haven’t had your first kiss yet, so we could be killing two birds with one stone this way.”
Killing two birds with one stone…
“Okay,” Will whispers before he or Mike can make up their mind.
“Okay,” Mike nods his head, and straightens his back a little too quickly, and Will takes in the view. Mike, with his hair slightly messy, face painted in the soft yellowish tone of his bedside lamp, his collarbones poking out of the sweater, turning to Will, getting ready to kiss him.
Mike sits cross-legged in front of Will, and Will mimics him, sliding his hands between his thighs to hide the slight tremble in them. Their eyes lock, and Will waits, waits for anything, because he has no idea what to do.
“So, um,” Mike clears his throat, “Lucas said to set the mood, but honestly, I have no idea what to do.” He admits, ending the sentence with a bitter laugh.
“Well, what did you do with… El?” Will asks and cringes at himself, sitting in front of his sister’s ex-boyfriend, asking how he used to set up the mood with her, waiting for him to press his lips onto his and pretend that this isn’t all he ever wanted.
“I don’t wanna do that, it seems as though whatever mood I’ve set with her, it wasn’t working, I need a new strategy,” Mike says, and Will bites down a laugh, Mike explaining all of this as if this were his next campaign.
“Then do what you feel is right,” Will replies, not intending to drop his voice this low, but Mike’s eyes snap back to him, and Will swears his skin gets one shade redder.
“Yeah- yeah okay… You don’t mind?” Mike asks, shifting with his arms so he sits just a tiny inch closer to Will, eyes searching for any discomfort.
“I don’t even know how the mood is supposed to feel, Mike, do whatever you think would work,” He kind of surprises himself how composed he sounds, seeming as if he isn’t the one here with butterflies already eating out all of his organs.
Mike hums, and his hand slides to Will’s cheek, the warmth radiating off his hand so comfortable on his skin. “This alright?” He asks sheepishly, and Will can see his eyes drop to his lips for a millisecond.
“Yeah, you don’t have to ask, I already agreed,” Will nods his head, fighting off the urge to raise his own shaking hands up to hook around Mike’s neck, instead patiently waiting on what Mike will do.
“Okay, sorry…” Mike says, and he seems much more nervous than a few minutes ago, and weirdly, it makes Will feel better, like he isn’t the only one losing his shit right now.
Mike takes a deep breath and moves his hand on Will’s cheek closer to his ear, fingers brushing at the short ends of his hair. “You looked really good today, by the way,” he says, and all the composure Will had until now gets thrown out of the window, before he realises what this is…
Just a practice.
“Yeah?” He replies, just above a whisper, and before he can register it, he’s moving closer.
“Yeah…” Mike confirms, and his eyes drop down to Will’s lips again, and he’s moving closer and closer before he whispers, “Can I kiss you?” And Will is nodding his head absentmindedly in agreement.
Before he can properly adjust, Mike’s soft lips brush against his own, the hand in his hair slightly tightens, and Will feels warm all over, holding his eyes shut as he takes in the feeling of Mike’s lips on his own, soft and gentle, unmoving.
Mike pulls back slowly, his second hand sneaking to Will’s back as Will flutters his eyes open, not even realising when he managed to close them, and Mike’s looking at him from under his lashes, waiting.
“That was… That was nice,” Will nods his head quickly, realising why they are doing this in the first place, giving Mike the feedback.
“Really? Was that good for a first kiss?” Mike asks, hope flickering in his eyes as his hand presses even more into Will’s shirt, their faces still too close to be called casual.
“Even for a second one,” Will laughs softly, his fingers twitching from the want to reach out and hold Mike too, but that’s not what they agreed on, so he stays still.
“Do you want a second one?” Mike asks without thinking, and Will can feel his cheeks warm up even more. “I-I mean, if you wanna continue, continue practicing.” Mike clarifies.
Will swallows, he could call it off right here and there, he got what he wanted, a first kiss and the knowledge of how Mike’s lips could feel on his… but he’s greedy, “yeah, yeah, why not.”
“I’ll move my lips this time, okay?” Mike asks, but before Will can reply, Mike’s face is getting closer, and Will is closing his eyes on autopilot.
Mike’s hand slides down to his neck, and he’s being gently pulled in as their lips meet in the middle. It takes a second before Mike’s lips brush tentatively against Will’s own, and god, it feels even better the second time.
Will really tries to keep his hands to himself, but as Mike’s body seems to move even closer, he can’t help but move both of his hands to lightly cup Mike’s cheeks as Mike keeps brushing his lips against his.
Mike softly sighs when Will’s hands make contact with his skin, and Will swears Mike’s lips begin to move ever so quickly, and Will tries to match his rhythm, but he can’t help but feel he’s being clumsy, but he can’t help but think nothing feels more right than this.
And Lucas was right, it feels as though hundreds of fireworks were set right inside Will’s stomach, he just wonders if Mike feels it too.
“Wow…” Mike whispers when he pulls out, and Will quickly drops his hands from his face, not wanting to cross any unspoken boundaries that have been set, letting Mike’s warm breath fall on his lips.
“What?” Will asks, searching for anything in Mike’s eyes, but Mike is looking at his lap, one of his hands now dropped on Will’s thigh.
“You- Were you lying about never kissing anyone?” Mike looks up, and there’s confusion with desire written all over his face.
“What? No, Mike, I wouldn’t lie about that,” Will chews at his bottom lip, the same lip that Mike kissed mere seconds ago, “not to you, at least.” He adds.
“Then why are you so good at this?” Mike asks, tilting his head, that makes him look so cute. Will tries to keep the last bits of his composure.
“I-I don’t know, I guess you are a good teacher,” He stammers out, smiling to himself, because what else could he do in this situation?
“I am supposed to be the one learning here,” Mike smirks lightly, his knee brushing over Will’s as he shifts slightly, his hand still playing with Will’s hair. “Tell me, what should I change?”
Will looks off to the side and tries to think, tries to come up with anything, but he can’t get anything out of himself. Because kissing Mike for the first time was amazing, and the second was even better.
“I can’t think of anything, Mike. Don’t let Dustin and Lucas get to you. You are doing great, trust me,” he nods. Maybe this is crossing some boundaries, but they just kissed, for god’s sake, so praising Mike for his kissing technique shouldn’t do that much damage.
“You sure?” Mike leans just a bit closer, and if Will moved as well, their noses would brush, so he shifts a little backwards to create that space between them again, but Mike follows.
“Yeah, you’re a good kisser,” Will lets out and cringes at himself again. Once Mike calls this off, he sure needs to apologize and explain that he didn’t really mean for all of those things to come out as flirty as they did.
But Mike’s hand slips back to Will’s back, and he’s starting to lean over him more, making Will’s breath catch. “There’s still one more thing we haven’t practiced yet, though,” he whispers, and Will is already moving his hands to hold Mike by the waist.
“Okay…” Will whispers back, and before he can do anything else, Mike is bending down to place his lips back on Will’s again, a little more urgently than before.
Will supports himself on his elbow as Mike pushes his body weight more on him, the other hand holding him by his side as Mike’s long fingers tangle in Will’s hair, and it’s not long before Mike’s mouth slightly opens to lick over Will’s lower lip.
Will’s breath hitches, and he’s sure repeating himself by now- but if the first kiss was amazing and the second was perfect, then he doesn’t know what to describe this one, because it’s just not a few fireworks, but a whole show of fireworks.
And it takes Will just a second before he slowly opens his mouth, and Mike’s tongue slips in, wet tongue grazing Will’s teeth in a manner that Will believed he would never experience. But before he can adjust and let his own tongue explore inside of Mike’s mouth, Mike is already climbing on top of him.
They separate just for a second, and Mike slips fully onto Will’s lap, and Will can finally straighten his back and bring his second hand to hold onto Mike’s hip, as the other cradles his cheek.
And with this, Will forgets how to hold back, how to keep all his desires he allowed to think about only when he was alone, and opens his mouth fully, sliding his tongue over Mike like he’s been doing this all his life.
Mike hums against his lips, pleased, and one of his hands cups the back of Will’s neck. The same spot that sends shivers through his whole body, but now, it’s replaced by the warmth of Mike’s hand, as Mike’s equally warm mouth slides against his.
“Will…” Mike breathes into Will’s mouth, and Will doesn’t know how he’ll ever recover from this- how will he live his life now when he knows how nice and soft Mike’s lips feel on his skin. But for now, he pushes the thought down and shifts so he lowers Mike’s body weight on the mattress.
“...Yeah?” Will dares to ask, as Mike’s hands bring him down with him, and their lips connect once more, the wet clicks of their tongue brushing against each other fill the room as Mike’s legs hook around Will’s torso.
“Don’t stop,” Mike murmurs, and fastens his pace, and Will would be a fool to do so, so instead, he digs his fingers into Mike’s soft curls, finally feeling every strand on his fingers like he wanted to for so long.
He doesn’t care how hurried and hungry he might seem, teeth clinking against each other, and both of them panting as they try to get impossibly closer. Will just doesn’t want to think; he just wants to feel.
But all good things come to an end, and Mike’s pace is slowing down, and Will is starting to feel how out of breath he is, and after one last tug at Will’s neck, Mike leaves one closed-mouthed kiss on his lips with a loud smack.
Will slowly opens his eyes and enjoys the last moments before the realisation hits him. Mike is looking up at him, his cheeks rosy even under the orangish tone of the lamp, his lips kissed swollen, and his eyes hazy, and Will just thinks to himself; Wow, I did that.
Will blinks down at him and all of a sudden he’s too much aware of how he must look like; dazed, cheeks puffy, and eyes wide, and so he averts back, sitting on his heels as he lets Mike sit back up.
“How…” Mike starts, just above a whisper, “Was that?” He asks, sitting back into his original position, and for a second, Will forgot why Mike was asking that.
“Um, good, really good, I don’t think you needed a practice in the first place,” Will admits, once again thinking about the conversation from lunch. Lucas and Dustin were right; kissing is awesome, if only under slightly different circumstances.
Mike huffs out a laugh and runs a hand through his disheveled hair, and Will feels so, so awkward all of a sudden. What do people even do right after making out? Especially after a practice makeout?
And after Mike doesn’t say anything for a whole minute, Will starts slowly collecting himself from the bed. Is it a bad idea to run away now? Probably, but it’s better to disappear before Mike starts to have regrets, or worse, Will starts talking, and says more than that he liked the kissing.
“Where are you going?” Mike breaks him out of the quiet trance he started getting himself into, and Will stops halfway to the door.
“Um, going to bed, the world might be ending, but we still have classes to attend tomorrow.” Will shrugs, all of a sudden way too aware of Mike’s glare.
“You can stay here, if you want to,” Mike replies quietly, fixing one of the pillows they crushed with their bodies not so long ago.
“You sure?” Will asks, and once again leaves the door open for Mike, in case he decides that this has all been one big mistake.
“Yeah, come on, I don’t bite,” Mike breathes out a laugh, and Will almost wants to comment ‘Actually, you kind of do,’ but he stops himself and slowly turns on his heels, and back to the bed he goes.
He makes his way to the bed, pulling the covers over his thighs, as Mike turns towards the bedside table, fidgeting with the alarm clock before he turns the lamp off, and god, it’s so awkward, Will begins to think he really might make a run for it.
“You okay?” Mike’s soft voice rings through the silence as he adjusts himself on the mattress next to Will in the fully dark room. Will feels his body warmth, but they aren’t touching.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry, just getting tired,” He lies, fixing the pillow just so he gives his hands something to do and lets out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding. How is Mike so… casual about this?
“Was it the kiss?” Mike’s voice emerges from somewhere next to Will, a little shaky, and Will realises how screwed up he is.
“Yes- I mean, no-” He never can lie to Mike without sounding like a fool, “just, are we going to keep this… as a secret? Or do you not want to talk about it at all? We can just pretend it never happened, if you want to.” He says and mentally face palms himself.
“Yeah, I think keeping it a secret would be a better idea…” Mike whispers back, and Will replies with a simple ‘Cool,’ and they both fall silent.
Will tries to close his eyes, but his mind is running a million thoughts per second, and Mike’s quiet breathing next to him isn’t helping. He should have known this was a bad idea, because why would he agree to basically destroying his friendship with his straight best friend over something as stupid as kissing practice? Not even a full year after they pulled their friendship back together, also.
He hopes that in the morning, they will wake up, have breakfast, and ride Holly to school like they’ve been doing for a year, and preferably never bring this up again, go to school and make fun of how stupid the jocks look and then watch the news, making fun of how Mr. Wheeler keeps falling in and out of sleep and just act normal, joke around, and-
“Will?”
Will’s eyes shoot open again, realising that he’s still in Mike’s bed, and not on the thin, uncomfortable mattress in the cold basement of the Wheelers’ residence. “Yeah?”
“I…” Mike begins, and Will feels shuffling next to him as Mike switches his position to face Will. “I didn’t want to make things awkward, sorry,” he admits.
Will swallows and turns to his side, too. “No-no, I am sorry, I was the one who stood up and decided to leave without saying anything, sorry.” He says, trying to make out Mike’s face in the dark.
“No, that was a reasonable reaction- I am the one who should be sorry,” Mike sucks in a breath, “sorry for saying we should keep it a secret, I didn’t want it to come out as if I was ashamed,” Mike admits, and Will feels his stomach twist, because Mike should feel ashamed.
“No, Mike, it’s okay, I get why you would want it to keep it a secret, it’s better that way,” Will wants to add for you, it’s better for you, I know what they are saying about me, and I don’t want to drag you down with me, but he stays quiet.
Mike swallows before replying, “I… There was a part of me that was ashamed; it’s always kind of been there…” He admits. “N-Not about you, I am not ashamed about you- I didn’t mean for it to come out that way, sorry.”
Will stays quiet as he hears another swallow, and Mike continues. “The sparks… The sparks Lucas was talking about, I kind of lied back there, I’ve felt those before, but not with El,” Will narrows his ears. “I tried to ignore them, because I thought it was wrong. I thought it was wrong to feel them with someone other than my girlfriend, someone I shouldn’t feel those sparks with.”
Will’s heart rate picks up again, and for a second, he starts to hope.
“And when Lucas and Dustin started poking around it, I kind of got way too defensive, because it felt like they knew something I didn’t- something I didn’t want to admit, but it was written all over my face, and I didn’t want to admit it.”
“Mike…” Will whispers and wants to do nothing more but reach for Mike and comfort him, say it’s okay, that he knowshow it feels.
“And then I came up with this whole- practice shit, and I hoped, I hoped I would prove them wrong, that those sparks wouldn’t show up, but they did, and I am so sorry, Will, for using you in this way. I am really sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into my identity crisis.”
Will holds his breath because he’s sure he hears the pain in Mike’s voice; he’s been there, he knows what he’s saying, he’s been buzzing with the same small electrical sparks all night, even though he shouldn’t.
“I am really sorry, Will. You can leave if you want to. I didn’t mean to drag you into this,” Mike finishes, and Will can’t hold himself anymore and blindly reaches for Mike’s shoulders to pull him in.
“No…” He whispers quietly into Mike’s shoulder as Mike’s arms shakily envelop his torso. “Mike, I get it, I know how you feel, it’s okay…” Will adds, fingers once again going through the dark curls.
“But I used you, and you must feel so grossed out now that you know I-” Mike doesn’t finish, the words catching in his throat, and Will kind of feels like he’s hugging himself, a few years younger, when he realised why his whole body felt so warm when Mike was near.
“I don’t feel gross, Mike, that was one of the best feelings I've ever experienced,” Will admits, because if Mike is laying all of this about himself on the table, he might as well. “I also felt those sparks before, but never as intensely…”
Mike sniffles somewhere under Will’s chin. “Yeah?” He lets out quietly, and he sounds so young like this, not like someone who’s going to celebrate his seventeenth birthday this year, but someone who’s just now found out what queer really meant at the ripe age of ten.
“Yeah,” Will nods into Mike’s hair. They don’t need to clear everything up right now. Will just wants Mike to know he’s here and he understands.
“Did you- When you felt those sparks before… Was I around?” Mike asks sheepishly, and Will could drown in how honey-sweet his voice sounds.
“Yeah, only when you were around,” Will admits, and it’s the first time he hears himself admit something like this out loud.
Mike breathes out a laugh, and Will feels his own corners lift up, and Mike is already pulling away from the embrace. “I am sorry for making up this stupid kissing thing. I should have talked to you first instead.” He murmurs.
“Mike, it’s okay, I can’t really say I minded,” He says as the blush creeps its way back to his face, “and I get it why you wouldn’t want to open up a conversation like this, so I am kind of glad you went this route instead,” Will adds, and Mike chuckles softly.
“Yeah? You liked it?” Mike asks as if Will didn’t deliberately state like three times already that he indeed enjoyed kissing Mike, more than enjoyed, actually.
So, he reaches out his hand to place it back on Mike’s cheek, brushing over his cheekbones and lips to paint a picture of where Mike is and whispers, “Mike…”
“Will,” Mike whispers back, and his hand slides to Will’s side, pushing his sleeping shirt higher as Mike’s warm, long fingers brush over his skin.
“Can I kiss you again? Like, for real?” Will asks before he can make up his mind, and he feels Mike’s head nodding under his touch.
“Yeah, of course you can…” Mike murmurs, and before Will can react, Mike’s grip on his hip is tightening, and he’s leaning in.
Mike’s lips brush slowly at first against his, like he’s being extra careful, and when Will shifts ever so slightly closer, Mike licks over his bottom lip. It’s not as urgent as the first time, but Will can feel how eager both of them are, and so he opens his mouth to allow Mike’s tongue in again.
And Mike tastes even sweeter now, a hint of minty toothpaste and something that is just Mike. Will curls his fingers into Mike’s hair and presses their chests even closer, following the pace Mike’s set as their lips brush against each other.
If the world were to end tomorrow, Will’s happy he got to experience this, not under the circumstances of a ‘kissing practice,’ but because they both wanted this.
Mike slowly pulls out, and Will slides his fingers over Mike’s nose and lips, feeling his warm skin and soft smile. He doesn’t get when did he got so lucky.
“We should go to sleep,” He whispers, sliding his hand down to Mike’s back, slowly pulling him back towards his chest.
“Yeah, but promise we will talk tomorrow?” Mike chuckles and lets himself be pressed back into Will’s crook of the neck, his breath comforting on Will’s skin.
“Yeah, I think this talk is long overdue,” Will chuckles back. There’s so much he needs- wants to tell Mike, but his eyelids are getting heavy, and his heart is just now beginning to calm down, and the sleepiness once again gets over him.
“Yeah, sorry for taking so long,” Mike murmurs.
“Mike, it’s really okay, I have been postponing this talk since I can remember.”
“And that’s how long? For how long have you liked me?”
“Tomorrow, Mike.”
“Come on…”
“Probably since I was twelve, happy now?”
“Very happy.”
“Good night, Mike.”
“Good night, Will.”