Chapter Text
Opening the door to the house was like opening a portal to another world—lights shined, the music became slightly louder, and somehow a bit of smoke escaped from the air. The front entrance wasn’t too packed; only a couple of teenagers were talking in the foyer while holding their plastic cups in costume. They stopped talking as Will opened the door. Embarrassed, Will just gave them a quick nod before disappearing into the house.
Looking around, he realized he was stranded in a sea of monsters, ghouls, and whatever-person-or-animal-or-concept-that-can-be-made-sexy costumes. “The Monster Mash” echoed through the walls as Will started thinking about how many times that song had already been played at this party. There were cups on the floor, in the hands of other teenagers, spilled—it was messier than Will had anticipated.
Where would Lucas be…
He shoved his way through the halls, stumbling into a kitchen where a mysterious red punch was being poured for whoever was unfortunate enough to want to drink it. ( Well, there’s alcohol. That’s half the list. ) Just outside the kitchen was the living room, where more teenagers were crowded and dancing, not a single spot wasn’t filled. He could see couples making out (which grossed him out), including He-Man and Cruella DeVille. Will almost stopped being grossed out to laugh at the irony.
Through the living room’s large glass wall, he spotted a back, concrete porch outside. There was a good chance Lucas was there, hanging out with the other members of the Hawkins High basketball team. (Who always brought a basketball to every party they went to. Never stopping the grind, I guess. )
After shoving through a few more scantily clad female versions of popular cartoon characters, Will was finally able to get through the glass porch doors. He could instantly feel the change in temperature from the two areas—he didn’t realize how hot it was in the house, or how sweaty he had gotten until he was suddenly hit with a cold wind. Will clenched his jaw.
Will scanned the porch, trying to see if he could find any signs of the basketball team. Looking to his right he saw a hoop, ginormous and ominous arching over some tall, sweaty teenagers in basketball uniforms dodging each other while passing a ball. Did the basketball team seriously go as basketball players for Halloween? He already knew about their practicing habits, but this was an all time low. They didn’t even dress up.
He turned his attention to the nearest wall to the hoop, most likely where Lucas was hanging out. His eyes darted from bright blue wigs to long blondes to curly black hair, and—curly black hair? It was probably nothing. It could be a wig. Will walked a little forward to see the people against the wall who were being blocked by others, refusing to look at the curly black haired person. As he walked forward he suddenly felt a force and stumbled.
“Hey, shit—oh, sorry,” said one of the basketball players loudly.
Will was dazed, not really sure what just happened, but by the time he realized he had accidentally run into basketball territory, the player had already moved on. The sneakers continued to pound the concrete, and Will hoped nobody noticed.
But he knew that the basketball player had talked just a little too loudly for people to not look. Will watched in terror as the black curly hair turned around, revealing…
Will sighed. Just another rando. There was no way to describe the relief that fell upon him at that moment.
“Will!”
This time the voice came from the opposite direction of the curly black hair, and Will whirled around. Standing a little away from the wall was Lucas, waving his hands in the air. He smiled, looking over at Lucas.
And then there was more curly black hair that sharply turned in the direction Lucas faced. Turning around at the speed of light, Will watched as they spun around. Fuck.
Suddenly Will was stuck in his place—still slightly in the basketball territory—as he made eye contact with Mike and Mike made eye contact with him. All the other sounds tuned out for the moment and it was just them.
Will standing three yards away from Mike, not wearing his costume, in a void of black, and his face was no longer blank, he had a reaction, yes, he—
Another shove from a basketball player. “Watch it,” he remarked. He wasn’t as friendly as the first guy.
As his instincts from being bullied in middle school kicked in, he started quickly heading towards Lucas and Mike (mostly because he felt the need to get out of their space as fast as possible, but also a tiny part of him saw Mike. Mike. And he was running, he was running to him).
Will slowed down as Lucas kept calling for him, grounding him in the present moment. Will slowed himself to a walk by the time he reached the two of them, Lucas with a red cup, and Mike with his hands awkwardly in his pants.
“It’s good to see you, man!” Lucas held out an arm, offering a hug, and being polite, Will accepted. “I was starting to worry you weren’t gonna show up. Where’s your costume?”
He tried to articulate words in his mind, but all Will could focus on was the way Mike awkwardly looked at Will, no longer making eye contact, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t looking at Will at all.
“Didn’t have time,” Will stuttered, forcing his attention to Lucas. He strained.
“Hey, I’m gonna get some more punch,” Lucas said, shaking his cup at Will. “Do you want any?”
Will was slowly starting to live in the present again, shaking his head and moving his arms in accordance with his speech. “No, I’m good.”
“Mike?”
Mike froze, trying to say something by opening his mouth before promptly closing it again. It was almost as if Will could hear a little squeak from him. Will prayed that Mike wasn’t going to shut down again or run away, or worse, both.
The two awkwardly stood as Lucas left them. The party music continued behind them, as well as the yells and movements of the basketball players as they played their game, but to Will the only sound he could hear was his breathing. Mike moved, taking his hands out of his pockets, opening his mouth to speak again, then crossing his arms and staying silent.
“Mike—”
“—Will”
The two of them started at the same time.
“You go,” Will said.
“Uhm, you, can…” Mike fumbled with words, looking down at the concrete.
The two stood silently. It didn’t take long for Will to realize that Mike wasn’t going to talk until Will did.
“Nice costume,” Will said sarcastically. “Sorry—”
Mike still couldn’t make eye contact with Will. “Fuck you too, then.” He looked behind himself, trying to look nonchalant.
Will reached out to touch Mike’s arm and grab his attention, not being able to think about anything else that might be going on.
“Don’t—” Mike tried to shake Will off, turning red. “We need to talk.”
Here it is , Will thought. The no-longer-friends speech.
“I’m sorry,” Will blurted before it was too late. He needed Mike to know now before he could say anything about their friendship, or what Will did wrong. He had to let Mike know that he was sorry .
“ You’re sorry?” Mike asked. “You? You’re sorry?”
Will was doing his best to prevent himself from completely shutting down. “Before—and I’m not trying to like, god, sound weird—before you tell me it’s over, I need you to know I’m sorry. So you don’t think I’m apologizing just because you’re upset. I’m sorry. I’m genuinely sorry,” he was speaking more confidently than he anticipated.
“God—” Mike, not even bothering to ask to touch Will for the first time in a long time, grabbed him by the sleeve and started to walk further away from the house.
Will assumed that Mike wanted to discuss this in a more private place; he was very eager and open to that suggestion. Though the party was almost deafening, he didn’t want to take the chance that someone walked by and eavesdropped on their conversation. Will decided that was the only thing that could make this situation worse.
The backyard led into the woods, the same woods that held Castle Byers if you walked long enough. The density was relatively thin, with the trees not being super huge or even close together, but they had a way of making anyone who entered disappear. It was the perfect spot. His beating heart was comforted by the calm sounds of the woods, but frightened at the unfamiliarity of it.
After Mike deemed them far enough in the forest to continue their conversation, Will took a few steps back and looked at Mike. He was biting his nails and not making eye contact once again. He looked around back at the house.
The lights from inside the house were barely visible, and the wind blew harshly on Will’s ears. Will looked at the invisible figure that Mike turned his head to, worried that someone or something had followed them into the woods. He always got so paranoid when he was in unfamiliar parts of the woods.
To get his mind off a potential stalker, Will decided to bite the bullet and start talking again, trying to pick up where he left off. “Hmm…”
Mike looked up, his hands once again in his pockets. It was then that Will noticed that Mike was wearing a jacket that he had gotten him, a nice leather one with shiny silver buttons. Will digested that in his head— so, he can’t not want to be friends with me anymore. Is he trying to say something by wearing that?
Code and unspoken terms had always been a key element to Mike and Will’s relationship, Will found it mostly endearing that they knew each other so well as to not have to speak, but it was a double-edged sword. And Will was feeling the cuts from that sword now.
Will collected himself. There was no use in hiding anymore, all of Will’s feelings were out on the table, and beating around the bush would only cause trouble. You can do this. He started to speak.
“If—if we could forget that this ever happened, and move on, or pretend that this was all—and have things go back to the way they were before,” Will looked at Mike. “I promise, that’s all I want. I want things how they were.”
Mike looked at Will. He finally looked at Will, his heart lifting ever so slightly.
“And I promise I will never-ever-ever bring this, or that , up ever again,” Will pleaded, his tears stinging his cheeks as the wind blew. “Because you’re everything to me. Everything . And, I don’t want to lose you. Ever.”
Will looked at the sky, not being able to stop himself from continuing to talk. It was rare that he got this worked up.
“But—Mike, say something… Please, tell me something . Tell me we're fine or tell me it’s over.” His voice quivered on ‘over’. Saying it out loud to Mike’s face made it a lot more real, his mind racing through the reality where this was the last time he ever saw Mike. His excess energy started converting to pacing.
Silently, Mike took a step closer to Will, almost looking as if he was going to cry himself. Will was too preoccupied in his own mind to notice.
“You know, actually, don’t tell me it’s fine. Just tell me it’s over, because, God, fuck…” Will’s mind was crowded with all of his favorite memories of Mike, which were most of his favorite memories in general.
The more Will talked, the louder his voice became and the tinier Mike seemed. “Because… just kill me. Put me out of misery. I—”
He took a deep breath, shaking and trembling once again.
“Because I fucking love you, Mike Wheeler.”
“Will—”
Will had almost forgotten that Mike was outside with him (he often monologued confessions to himself in his bedroom or in the shower). He looked at Mike, seeing him almost jogging to make up for the extra space Will had put between them from pacing.
“What?” Will asked.
As Mike approached Will, all he could focus on was the snapping of branches and the crushing of leaves as well as Mike’s hair flowing as he ran closer. Mike picked up the pace oddly enough. He’ll crash into me if he doesn’t—
Before Will had time to get out of the way, or even to react at all, Mike was there, and his hands wrapped around Will’s cheeks, and his face was slightly being pulled upwards and held in place.
Will looked into Mike’s eyes, the two regaining their sense of non-verbal communication. This touch, this gentle touch, had gotten their hearts on the same track once again, it was almost like a wound healing. The chill of Mike’s fingertips was the most comforting feeling that Will had ever experienced. Will felt the pressure of Mike’s forehead pushing into his, their runny noses from the cold almost touching.
“And I fucking love you, Will Byers.”
Will instantly burrowed his head in Mike’s chest as he hugged him tighter than he had ever hugged anyone, determined to never let go. Mike reciprocated, wrapping his arms around Will, and in a moment of impulse, gave Will a kiss on the forehead. Will only hugged tighter.
“I’m sorry,” Mike said, playing with Will’s hair. “I shouldn’t’ve run away.”
“Yeah, you’re a dick,” Will pulled out his face to look at Mike.
Mike jokingly moved Will’s head back to his chest. “Shh. I said I’m sorry.”
Will wrapped his arms around Mike once again. “Nice jacket,” he said into Mike’s shirt while feeling the leather. “I bet some really nice, handsome, loving, amazing, jaw-dropping, inspiring, talented, thoughtful person gave it to you.”
He nodded, “yeah,” he said. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”
Mike slowly rocked Will with the wind.
“Hey,” Mike said. “Cool?”
“Cool.”