Chapter Text
As much as the weed let him feel a little loser, more carefree, thanks to his ventures in California, it doesn’t actually do much else for him, which is really fucking frustrating considering Mike fucking Wheeler has been staring at him for the past 20 minutes while they try and figure out what the fuck they’re going to do.
“We can’t just wait it out, nobody knows we’re here! God knows how long we’d be waiting”
“And whose fault is that Dustin?”
“You agreed with me! You said and I quote ‘sneaking into school would be pretty cool’ so don’t act all high and mighty now Lucas” Honestly Will is getting pretty sick of everyone getting all up in each others faces, at what point did they turn into a group of people that just argue constantly instead of actually being friends, maybe they were always like this and he just never realised, maybe he was so desensitised that it was just normal, or maybe it wasn’t and at some point it shifted without anyone noticing. Either way he’s over it.
“Guys! Constantly bickering and arguing isn’t helping anyone, all it’s doing is giving me a fucking headache, christ.” Thank you very much Max, honestly, she gets him.
“It’s not my fault he’s an idiot!”
“I don’t care, if you pick one more fight I swear on Mrs Byers that I will never kiss you again”
“Sorry Max”
At this point in time, they’ve taken root in the library, Jane, who’s currently wrapped in Will’s scarf, and Max are piled over each other on the floor with Dustin and Lucas sitting on either side of Will, and Mike directly across from him, because obviously he can’t catch a break. “Maybe we could see if there’s any food left in the cafeteria? None of us have eaten and it’s just making us all frustrated” Jane lifts her head from Max’s stomach to look over at everyone as she speaks.
From under her, Max speaks again “That’s not a bad idea, but who’s gonna go because to be completely honest I don’t really wanna move right now” If Will has to deal with Mike glaring at him for one more second he might genuinely combust, flames and everything.
“I’ll go I’m getting hungry anyways”
As he’s getting up from his place on the floor, Mike quickly gets up as well, almost stumbling over himself as he does. “I’ll go too, can’t um, carry all of it by yourself” Oh for fucks sake.
“Okay, hurry up then”
“Make sure you get the chocolate pudding!” He can hear Dustin shout as they make their way into the corridors.
The silence is deafening, nothing but the sound footsteps and wind filling the halls. The cold is getting more prominent, and for a second Will feels like he’s there all over again. He can feel the shiver go up his neck and it’s like it can’t breathe. Like if he makes a noise they’ll find him, drag him back. It’s so cold, he’s back, he’s stuck, the vines slowly wrapping up his legs, under his clothes. He needs to run, to move, to get away, but he can’t move, why can’t he move, why can’t he breathe, where’s his gun? Did he drop it? “Will?” Everything feels so wrong, his skin feels so tight, he needs to get out, it needs to come off, it’s wrong it’s all wrong, why can’t he move! “Will!” Oh that’s Mike’s voice, he realises. A gentle hand touches his wrist, it’s warm, warm?
“Mike?” Mike is here, he’s safe, Mike will keep him safe, he’s always safe with Mike. “Hey Will, you disappeared for a minute there, you okay?” Oh that’s right. He’s not 12 anymore, he’s not there. He’s with Mike. Mike who’s a fuckhead. He pulls his wrist away, trying not to wince as he takes in Mike’s soft expression, worry dripping from every inch of him. “I’m fine” As he turns away he hopes that just this once, Mike wouldn’t see right through him.
He needs to just breathe, he’s fine, it’s fine. Mike’s hand catches his upper arm, pulling him back to face him, placing his other hand on the side of his neck. “No your not, don’t lie to me”
Of course he knows, he always knows, god he hates him, he hates him so much it hurts, why can’t he just make it easy for him? Why does Mike always have to make it so hard for Will to get over him? He can’t do this, he can’t want him, he gave that up, for Jane. But god he’s so addictive, he’s addicted to loving him. “Mike-”
“Unless you’re going to tell me the truth don’t, just don’t lie to me Will, you can lie as much as you want to anyone else, just not me, never me.” His stare is so intense but he can’t find it in himself to look away. Mike Wheeler makes him weak, it’s a fact, everything horrible about himself comes out around him, because despite his best efforts he has never been able to do anything but love him. Mike Wheeler makes him horrible. Makes him the kind of awful person that desperately wants to kiss his sister's boyfriend till he physically can’t anymore.
“Cold- it’s cold.” Is all he manages to get out, god he’s pathetic.
Mike takes his hands away; their absence is mourned by every cell that they touched in Will’s body the second they go. “Are you having flashbacks? Here take my scarf, it'll keep the cold away from your neck.” He takes his time wrapping the scarf around him, readjusting it and moving it till he’s satisfied. “There, better?” And it is, it is better, but not because of the warmth, but because all he can smell is Mike. Mike. Mike. Mike. It’s all he can think about. “Do you want my hand as well?’ He raises his hand to the back of his neck “Like a- uh, physicall- um tether?”
And all he wants is to be selfish, to say yes, but he can’t and he knows he can’t. “What would Jane think?” Mike seems a little taken aback by this, his expression dropping a little. “Why would she care? We’ve always been touchy, ever since we were little”
“Maybe before we left but not really anymore, plus she is my sister, I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable”
“Why would she feel uncomfortable? She’s not like that, she won’t care that we’re both guys? You of all people should know she doesn’t care about that stuff”
“No it’s just- ugh nevermind, you should know what I mean” Mike reaches down taking Will’s hand with a tight grip. “Mike-”
“Nope your reasoning makes no sense, now lets go” He won’t lie, it does help.
Mike drags him through the halls before finding a comfortable pace again. “Y’know um Will, I am sorry, about everything, I treated you like total shit and that wasn’t cool, you are honestly like- how do I say this-”
“Mike it’s fine”
“No it’s not it’s like, you are so important to me, such a vital part of my life, I guess I just got so used to you being there that I just stopped trying because I thought we’d have time to fix it later, which is completely stupid and wrong and just because you’re here doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t appreciate you and put effort in because you deserve to have the people around you put the effort in to your relationships, and it’s just like you’re so amazing and I just I didn’t treat you how you deserved and I’m so sorry, I really don’t want to lose you, and-and I promise that I will spend forever making that up to you, treating you how you deserve, I just- I want to earn you, I want to be someone who is worthy of you, I want you to be with me forever because I make you feel special, and cared about and wanted and, um- loved, I just- you’re everything Will, you’re everything.” Yeah okay, Will hates him, he hates him. Because how can he say or that and expect Will to not want to kiss him till his face falls off. Mike’s holding onto his hand with both hands, and he can see that he means it. Looking into his eyes he knows that he means it. He has never had anyone look at him, and see all of him, not in the way Mike does.
“You are worthy of me Mike, you’re my best friend" Mike’s grip falters for a second.
“I’m not, but I will be, I promise, now um-” He takes his hand and pulls something out of his pocket. “I thought um, whatever it’s called that you did earlier, we could uh- try again? Maybe? God this feels stupid, it’s just I was so mean about it earlier, I just didn’t like that it was something that i didn’t know about you, because god I want to know everything about you Will, but im so I just, I thought maybe I shouldn’t kick it till I try it”
He can’t help it, he laughs, loudly. “Hey! It’s not funny, I’m being serious right now”
“I’m sorry- I just- Are you, Mike Wheeler, asking me to smoke pot with you?”
“Yeah, what’s so funny about that?” He grumbles, and it just makes Will laugh more.
“Yeah, yeah okay let’s go”
Will drags him over to an empty classroom, sitting down with his back against the wall, taking his time to roll another joint. “How did you learn how to do that?”
“Hm?”
“How did you learn to do that?” How did he learn? Watching his dad and his friends when he was younger? Or maybe it was Jonathon, and Argyle?
“Honestly, I’m not sure, I just kind of knew I guess”
“Oh Okay.”
“Yeah”
Will lifts the freshly rolled joint to his mouth taking his lighter back out to light it. He takes a puff before holding it back in his fingers and breathing the smoke out. “Okay so if you just hit it straight from the joint you’d probably have a coughing fit and I don’t want to deal with that so we’re going shotgun it again okay? I’m going to breathe the smoke from my mouth into yours. Easy.”
Mike opens his mouth then closes it again, looking Will up and down then nodding “Yes, yep, that’s what I wanted anyways”
Will is choosing not to think into that one too much. “Okay weirdo”
Shifting himself onto his knees, getting closer to Mike so he’s looking down at him, he took another puff of the joint, before grabbing his chin and tilting it slightly upwards, they’re so close, so close he could just push their mouths together if he wanted, just take this opportunity to kiss Mike just once, just one time, he’s wanted it for so long. He can feel his breath against his lips, he takes one more look at Mike’s lips then closes his eyes and breathes out, blowing the smoke directly into his open mouth. Mike’s hand grabs Will's thigh, pulling it over his lap, allowing him to straddle him as he blows the smoke into his mouth. God Mike drives him insane, the way his hand’s rubbing up and down his thigh, his other hand squeezing his waist. He’s dreaming he has to be. “Mike-” he whispers.
Mike just shushes him, and as Will opens his eyes and goes to pull away, he raises his hand from his thigh to his neck and closes the gap. His lips against Will’s, god kissing him so easy. Their lips fit together perfectly, like they were puzzle pieces made to complete each other. Mike’s other hand slips from his waist to under his shirt, regaining his firm grip on Will's waist, and Will swears he’s in heaven, that it isn't real, he always thought it’d be perfect but never as perfect as this. The joint in his fingers drops to the tile flooring allowing his hands to find their way to Mike’s curls, getting tangled in them as they pull each other closer. Mike’s mouth slowly shifts down from Will’s mouth to his neck pulling the scarf away, kissing and pulling with his teeth, marking, biting, and all Will can do is fill the air with soft gasps, chanting his name like a prayer. “You drive me insane Will”
“So beautiful it fucking kills me”
Will can’t help but let out a soft moan as Mike bites down on his neck again, so hard it’s bound to leave a mark. “Mike- you can’t-”
“Shhh, just sit there and look pretty” Mike lifts his head back up looking back at Will, muttering “fucking hell” before kissing him again, and he swears he’s floating, Mike kisses him like he wants to devour him, like he’s trying to worship every inch of his body, Mike kisses him like he’s perfect, like he’s all he’s ever wanted.
“Mike! Will!” Fuck, oh fuck Jane, Will’s eyes go wide, pushing Mike back into the wall and pulling away. “Shit, shit shit”
He's an awful brother, he kissed his sister's boyfriend, he kissed Mike, Mike kissed him. Fuck Fuck.
“Will? What’s wrong? We still have time, they sound ages away”
The fucking audacity he has to sit there and look genuinely confused, to look like he wants nothing more than to keep kissing Will. “What's wrong? What’s wrong! You! Jane! That’s what’s wrong!”
Mike rubs his thumb on his waist, “She won’t see if you’re uncomfortable Will, I doubt they’ll look for us here”
“Mike! What the fuck! That’s my sister! You’re her boyfriend! What the actual fuck if wrong with you!” He goes to get up, but Mike pulls him back down, holding him there with his hands planted firmly on his waist and upper arm. “What?”
“Will, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t act stupid with me Mike! My sister! You’re fucking girlfriend since we were like 13”
“Yeah no Will I remember I dated El but we broke up ages ago, like before you moved, she dumped me remember? We never got back together Will, me and El are just friends, we’ve just been friends for a long time”
“Wait- what”
“Is that why you keep shutting me down?” Hold on, he doesn’t understand, this doesn’t make any sense. What was all of that if they weren’t even together, the whole speech, the everything?
“Don’t lie to me Mike I swear to god.”
“I’m not!”
“Then what was that whole speech the whole your life started the day you found her, the day I went missing!” Will watches in live time as Mike’s entire face drops.
“Will no, listen, I did not mean it like that, at all, I was just panicked, the time you were missing was probably the worst time in my whole life, I still have nightmares about it, I never would have kissed you if I couldn’t give myself to you fully, why else would I have been flirting with you this whole time! El helped knock some sense into me and realise that I have been in love with you for god knows how long, it’s the whole reason I could never tell her I loved her, because I didn’t, it’s you Will, It’s always been you.” Will can feel the tears falling from his eyes.
“No. No. nonono no, you don’t, you can’t, I would have known, I would have seen it, I could not have spent my whole life looking at you to not see that, don’t lie to me Mike, I can’t do it, you’re being mean, I can’t, please don’t use me as a replacement for Jane please, I can’t Mike, I can’t do it, don’t do this to me.”
“Will, please you aren’t listening to me, I love you Will not El, please listen” Will pushes himself away from Mike. “No! No Mike I refuse to accept it, no, I spent so long shoving my feelings for you down for Jane, for your relationship, I didn’t do that for nothing, please Mike please just stop.”
Mike grabs Will’s arm pulling him back again. “I love you Will, please, you don’t have to do that, please, if anything El was a replacement for you! I didn’t think that I could have you so I settled but she showed me I didn’t have to! She’s the one who pushed me towards you! Why do you think we’ve been spending so much time together? You know I’m starting to see why you might have thought we were still together, but I promise you it wasn’t that, I promise you Will, please let me earn you, please, let me prove that I’m worthy of you, let me show you how special you are to me, please Will.” Will looks back at Mike, his eyes wet, they’re both crying, of course they are.
From somewhere else in the school they can hear Dustin shout out for them “Will! Mike! Where the fuck are they?”
“I just, I can’t Mike, I need time”
“Will-”
He pulls his arm away, walking towards the door. “I’m sorry”
“..Will” And god dammit why does he have to sound so pathetic, Will Byers is a weak man when it comes to Mike Wheeler did he mention that?
“Ah fuck it” He mutters, closing the door, swiping the lock, turning around and pulling Mike into an aggressive kiss, it’s wet, it’s desprate, raw, real. Mike backs him into the wall, his hands wandering Will’s body and it just feels like an explosion, like everything they’ve ever done was all just meant to lead up to this, his hands on Mike’s face, Mike’s hands under his shirt, kissing him like a man starved, like Will is his salvation, his everything, his hands moving to Mike’s dishevelled hair, gently tugging on his loose curls as he kisses down Will’s neck. Was he cold before? Because she sure isn’t now. It feels so wrong, but more importantly it feels so right, the rightest thing they’ve ever done, like kissing Mike is what he was born to do.
Mike breathes against his neck, the warmth of breath making him flush “Just say you’re mine just this once, please” he whispers, before sucking another hickey into Will’s neck. “Yours, I’m yours, I’ve-” He moans as Mike moves to another part of his neck and bites down “-always been yours”
“Mine.”
Distantly Lucas is shouting their names “MIKE! WILL! Come out guys! This isn’t funny!”
At that moment Will couldn’t care less, and honestly he doesn’t think Mike cares all that much either.