Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.
It had been three days. Three long, agonizing days since that stupid, “practice” kiss with Will Byers. He had thought it would be easy—just a simple thing between friends. But nothing about it had been simple, and nothing about it was easy.
In fact, it had completely wrecked his brain.
He was sitting at his desk, staring at his D&D notes, trying to focus on rewriting a new campaign, but all he could think about was how soft Will’s lips had felt against his. Which was weird, right? Because it was just a kiss. And it wasn’t like it was even a real kiss—it was a favor. He was helping Will out, like a good friend. Friends helped each other out all the time. Will had been nervous about his first kiss, so Mike had been like, “Hey, no problem. I’ll help you practice.”
Yeah. That made sense. Total sense. Except it didn’t. Not at all.
He groaned, slamming his pencil down and slumping back in his chair. This was stupid. He was being stupid. It was a kiss, not some life-altering event. And yet… he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed.
Something had changed. Because now, every time he thought about Will—hell, every time he looked at Will—his heart started doing this weird flippy thing in his chest, and his palms got all sweaty. Like, what the hell was that about? He wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Not about Will. His Will.
He groaned again, louder this time, and flopped dramatically across his bed, staring at the ceiling.
His brain had been on overdrive ever since that night. He’d been lying to himself if he thought the kiss was going to be just a “favor.” It felt way too real. And the worst part was, he couldn’t stop replaying it in his head. The way Will had looked so nervous, his eyes wide and unsure. The way Mike’s heart had raced when he leaned in. The way their lips had barely touched, but it had sent an electric shock through his whole body.
And now Will was acting weird. Well, weirder than usual. Like, he was being all quiet and distant, and it was making Mike lose his mind a little bit.
He pulled a pillow over his face and groaned again. He was doing that a lot lately. Groaning like some kind of tortured poet.
“What is wrong with me?” he muttered, his voice muffled by the pillow.
The thing was, he knew what was wrong with him. He just didn’t want to admit it. Because admitting it meant acknowledging the fact that his feelings for Will were… well, more than just friendly. And that was terrifying.
They’d been best friends since they were little kids. Mike couldn’t even remember a time in his life when Will hadn’t been there. They’d been through everything together—the Upside Down, Demogorgons, creepy government agents. They’d saved each other’s lives more times than Mike could count. And now, all of a sudden, his stupid brain decided to throw feelings into the mix?
It wasn’t fair.
He heard a knock on his bedroom door, followed by his mom’s voice. “Mike? You’ve been in there for hours. Are you coming down for dinner?”
He pulled the pillow off his face and sat up, ruffling his already-messy hair. “Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute.”
As soon as his mom’s footsteps faded down the hall, Mike grabbed his walkie-talkie from the nightstand and switched it on. He didn’t even know what he was doing. He just… needed to talk to Will. He needed to figure out if they were okay. If he was okay.
“Will? You there?” he said into the walkie, trying to sound casual.
There was a long pause, and for a second, Mike thought maybe Will wasn’t even listening. But then, finally, the static crackled, and Will’s voice came through, quiet and hesitant.
“Yeah. I’m here.”
Mike let out a breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. “Cool. Uh… what’s up?”
More silence. Mike’s fingers tapped nervously against the walkie, waiting for Will to say something, anything. But all he got in return was a quiet, “Not much.”
Mike frowned. He hated this. The awkwardness, the distance. It wasn’t like them. They were supposed to be able to talk about anything.
“So, um, you wanna come over?” Mike blurted, his words spilling out before he could stop them. “I mean, if you’re not busy or whatever.”
There was another long pause. Mike could almost picture Will on the other side, sitting in his room, holding the walkie, maybe chewing on his lip the way he did when he was thinking too hard about something. Finally, Will’s voice came through again, soft and hesitant.
“Yeah. Okay.”
Mike exhaled, relief flooding his chest. “Cool. See you in a bit.”
He clicked off the walkie and stood up, pacing around his room as the familiar nervous energy started to bubble up inside him. Will was coming over. Maybe this was his chance to figure things out. Maybe they could finally talk about the kiss and clear the air, and everything could go back to normal.
Yeah, right, Mike thought, shaking his head. Like things could ever go back to normal after that.
---
About twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the basement door, and Mike jumped up from the couch, his heart racing for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.
Will stood in the doorway, looking as awkward as Mike felt. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets, and his eyes flickered nervously around the room before landing on Mike. For a second, neither of them moved. They just stood there, staring at each other, the weight of everything unspoken hanging in the air between them.
“Hey,” Mike said, trying to sound casual.
“Hey,” Will replied, his voice quiet.
There was another awkward pause, and Mike suddenly felt like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Should he go for a high-five? A hug? A fist bump? Why was this so hard all of a sudden?
“So, uh… you wanna play a game or something?” Mike asked, shoving his hands into his own pockets to mirror Will’s stance.
Will nodded, and they both sat down on the couch, the distance between them feeling like miles. Mike grabbed the deck of cards from the table, his hands shaking slightly as he shuffled them.
They played in silence for a while, neither of them really paying attention to the game. Mike’s mind was racing, filled with thoughts of that stupid kiss and how everything felt different now, and how he had no idea how to fix it. He kept stealing glances at Will, who was staring at the cards in his hand like they held the secrets to the universe.
After what felt like an eternity, Mike finally couldn’t take it anymore. He set his cards down on the table and leaned back on the couch, letting out a long, frustrated sigh.
“Okay, this is stupid,” Mike blurted out, his words surprising even himself. “We need to talk.”
Will froze, his eyes widening slightly as he looked up at Mike. “Talk about what?”
“You know what,” Mike said, his voice a little sharper than he meant it to be. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling a rush of frustration. “The kiss, Will. We need to talk about the kiss.”
Will’s face flushed, and he looked down at his hands, his shoulders hunching slightly like he was trying to make himself smaller. “What about it?”
Mike stared at him, feeling a mix of frustration and something else—something he didn’t want to name. “What do you mean, ‘what about it’? It’s all I’ve been thinking about, man. And you’re acting like it didn’t even happen.”
Will’s head snapped up, his eyes wide and panicked. “What? No, I—of course, I—” He stammered, clearly flustered. “I didn’t think you wanted to talk about it.”
“Well, I do,” Mike said, feeling a surge of nervous energy. “Because, I don’t know, I thought it would be no big deal, but it kind of was a big deal, and now everything feels weird, and I hate it.”
Will’s mouth opened and closed like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Mike could see the confusion and worry in his eyes, and it made something twist in his chest.
“Look,” Mike said, leaning forward and lowering his voice. “I know we said it was just practice, but… did it feel like more to you?”
Will’s eyes flickered with something—surprise, hope, fear, maybe all three—but he quickly looked away, his face turning red. “I don’t know,” he mumbled. “Did it feel like more to you?”
Mike blinked, caught off guard by the question. He hadn’t expected Will to throw it back at him like that. But now that it was out in the open, there was no going back. He had to be honest, even if it scared the hell out of him.
“Yeah,” Mike admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “It did.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Mike’s heart was pounding in his chest, and he could feel the tension between them growing thicker with every passing second. He wanted to say more, but the words got stuck in his throat. Instead, he just sat there, waiting, hoping Will would say something—anything—to let him know he wasn’t alone in this.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Will spoke, his voice so quiet Mike almost didn’t hear him.
“It felt like more to me too,” Will whispered, his eyes still focused on the floor.
Mike’s heart did a weird little flip in his chest, and for a second, he couldn’t breathe. Will felt it too. Will had felt it too.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?” Mike asked, his voice shaky with a mix of relief and confusion.
Will shrugged, looking small and uncertain. “I don’t know. I guess… I thought maybe you didn’t feel the same way. And I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”
Mike let out a huff of disbelief. “Dude, we’re best friends. You could never ruin that.”
Will finally looked up at him, and there was something vulnerable in his eyes, something that made Mike’s chest ache. “I didn’t want to risk it,” Will said quietly.
Mike felt a pang of guilt. Will had been carrying this fear the whole time, and Mike hadn’t even realized it. He’d been so wrapped up in his own confusion that he hadn’t stopped to think about what Will was going through.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” Mike said, trying to keep his voice light, even though his heart was racing. “Because I… I think I kinda like you, Will. I think I kinda like you a lot.”
Will blinked, clearly taken aback. “Like… like like?”
Mike groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, like like like. God, this is so embarrassing.”
But Will wasn’t laughing. He wasn’t making fun of Mike or teasing him the way he usually would. Instead, he just stared at Mike with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“You like me?” Will whispered, like he couldn’t quite believe it.
Mike shrugged, feeling awkward and exposed. “Yeah, I do. And I don’t know when it happened, but… it’s there. And I don’t want to pretend it’s not.”
For a moment, Will just sat there, staring at Mike like he was trying to process what he’d just heard. Then, slowly, a small, tentative smile spread across his face.
“I like you too,” Will said softly.
Mike’s heart soared. He hadn’t even realized how much he needed to hear those words until they were finally spoken out loud.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Mike said, trying to play it cool, but the grin on his face was impossible to hide.
Will laughed, a sound that made Mike’s chest feel lighter than it had in days. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the tension that had been hanging over them for so long finally dissipating. Mike could feel the weight lifting off his shoulders, replaced by something lighter, something warmer.
“So… what now?” Will asked, his voice tentative.
Mike shrugged, leaning back on the couch with a smirk. “I don’t know. Maybe we kiss again? For real this time.”
Will’s face turned bright red, but he didn’t look away. Instead, he smiled, a shy, genuine smile that made Mike’s heart skip a beat.
“Yeah,” Will said softly. “For real this time.”
And this time, when Mike leaned in, it wasn’t for practice. It wasn’t to help Will get over his nerves. It was because he wanted to. Because he’d been waiting for this. And judging by the way Will kissed him back, soft and sweet and perfect, he had been waiting too.
It was the beginning of something new, something real. And Mike couldn’t wait to see where it would go.