Chapter Text
Two Days Later
“Hah-hoooo.”
Mike yawned, rolling over to look at Will, his sleeping body beside him. Will’s breath was warm against his face. He admired his burnished skin as it caught the light coming through the blinds.
He took his foot and intertwined it with Will’s under the covers, moving closer to him and wrapping him up in a hold. Their faces were now close to touching. He rubbed himself against Will as he laid his head back down into his pillow, unable to believe this was his life now.
Part of him felt guilty—guilty for letting himself like a man rather than a woman, guilty for allowing himself to be happy.
He had finally finished the Crazy Together chapter with Will’s help. Will had done a lovely illustration of that day, making slight changes to the way they looked and the way the scenery was depicted from memory, creating a fictionalised illustration of what they could both clearly envision in their minds.
Mike was amazed at how quickly everything had come together. He had spent months getting caught up on this chapter, spent countless, endless nights willing himself to write, only to end up in a spiral that led him to wanting something he thought he could never have.
Not until Will came back into his life.
They had been able to just pick up where everything left off. That was the glory of being best friends turned boyfriends.
They had celebrated hard, got drunk, and congratulated themselves in the bedroom.
He lay there, remembering all Will had done for him over the past two days.
Flashback to a Day Ago
“Mike, you’re being stupid. Your readers do not care whether your character has little feelings for his best friend—”
“Do you mean my boyfriend?” Mike grinned.
“I wasn’t your boyfriend by then, Mike, although we both wish we were.”
“I just worry,” Mike explained, “that the whole world is going to hate me for being who I am. God, I still haven’t told my parents…”
Will spun Mike around in his chair and took both of Mike’s hands, getting down to his knee level.
“All that matters is that you’re happy, not your readers. And an unhappy writer is a terrible one. Write the truth, and you will be rewarded. Plus, there’s already a fan theory that Kai has a crush on Fred.”
Mike gasped.
“What?”
Will laughed—really hard.
“You’ve got to tell me you didn’t know. Have you been living under a rock? It’s your most popular fan theory.”
Mike smiled.
“I don’t listen to all that crap.”
Will ruffled his hair before rubbing his back.
“God, what are we going to do with you?” Will said, pinching his forehead.
One Hour Later
Mike finished typing on his keyboard. The final clicks subsided, and his fingers could finally rest.
Will was looking over his shoulder.
They read through the finished product together.
“Kai envisioned kissing him right then and there, but he knew he couldn’t—not yet. He knew it would be more than crazy”
But they would go crazy together, just like he had said.
“All right. Kiss me now, Wheeler.”
Will didn’t even wait for an answer. He leaned over the back of the chair and into Mike’s face, kissing him.
Long story short, Will ended up on Mike’s knee.
And that was when Mike decided to get some shots from the kitchen.
Probably the worst idea they had ever had.
Back to Present Day
Will opened his eyes, staring straight back at Mike.
He had a throbbing headache from the night before, but it was all okay when Mike was by his side. The pain didn’t feel like pain. The hangover didn’t feel like a hangover.
He just felt like love.
He cuddled closer as his morning grogginess subsided, leaning into the warmth and kissing Mike on the lips, their faces pressed against one another.
Mike’s POV
As the kiss continued, a sense of warmth filled him. He had got what he had always wanted: someone to kiss him when he needed kissing, someone to hold him when he needed holding, someone to make sure he went to bed on time.
Will’s phone buzzed.
Mike got to it before Will could.
It was a message from Dustin.
Dustin 🧪:
Oh, Will! I’m in New York in a couple of days, lecturing at NYU on mechanical components of quantum physics. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up for a coffee? ☕
“Who is it?” Will groaned.
“Shush.”
“Mike, I’m being serious. I want to know who it is.”
“I’m typing,” he giggled.
“I’m serious, Mike.”
Will tried to grab his phone back, but Mike held it up in the air.
“No, no, no!”
“You’re being childish.”
Mike looked at the phone and typed.
Will:
Unfortunately, I’m at a book signing and will not be able to be there.
Dustin 🧪:
Why the hell are you at a book signing?
“What are you saying, Mike? Who is it?”
“It’s Dustin, if you really must know.”
Mike lowered the phone slightly, grinning.
“Oh, Dustin,” Will said. “What does he want?”
Mike looked back at the screen.
“He wants to know why you’re at a book signing.”
“We’re going to a book signing?” Will asked, confused.
“I’m going to England, and you’re coming with me.”
“Mike, that doesn’t answer the question.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you. We can meet all my adoring fans.”
He gestured, moving his arms in a wide circle.
“It’s wet and rainy there, Mike.”
Mike laughed.
“I’ll take you in first class to make up for it.”
“You were going to do that anyway. You’re rich.”
Mike grinned.
“Well, we haven’t even moved in together yet.”
Will looked at him.
“You think we should?”
“Well, I think we should.”
“We’ve only been together for two days.”
“Yeah, and you’ve been living in my apartment for two days.”
Will rolled his eyes.
“Shut up.”
“I love you.”
Will immediately went red before leaning forward and kissing him.
“But you don’t even know where I live. Do you think we’re going too fast?”
“I know where you live in New York,” Mike announced with a massive, cheesy grin on his face.
Will shoved him, ruffling the sheets of the bed.
“You are so stupid, Wheeler. So stupid.”
Mike smiled against his lips before picking up the phone again.
“Right, Dustin,” he muttered. “Let’s deal with you.”
He started typing on Will’s phone.
Will:
I’ve just moved into a much nicer apartment. Unfortunately, I’m in England on a book signing.
Dustin 🧪:
Why are you at a book signing for the hundredth time?
Will:
It’s for a book the museum has put together, highly specialised in the academic art world.
Dustin 🧪:
Will, that’s a lie. 😂
Will:
Shall we meet up at Christmas? I take it you’re back in Hawkins.
Dustin 🧪:
Yes, I’m seeing my parents.
Will:
Great, see you then.
A moment later, another message appeared.
Dustin 🧪:
By the way, you really need to get it together. Will, you sound a bit strange today. Hope everything’s going well. It sounds like it is, but just take care of yourself. This sounds cringe as fuck. Sorry, I’ve made it sound like I’m speaking to one of my students. 🤦♂️
Mike giggled.
“Well, I think he suspects something.”
Will shook his head, sighing at Mike.
“Bloody hell, what have I done?”
Mike looked at him.
“We’re going to Hawkins for Christmas.”
The thought suddenly made him pause.
He had been planning on avoiding Hawkins, but that was now impossible. He was going to have to tell his useless, homophobic, conservative father that he was as gay as anything—and that he liked Will.
But there were also happy memories associated with home, associated with Hawkins: their friends, the Party, and people he hadn’t seen in five years.
Dustin. Lucas. Max. Nancy. Jonathan.
Maybe going back wouldn’t be so bad.
Maybe he and Will could even have sex in his childhood bedroom, like he used to fantasise about when they were kids. Maybe they could be extra loud, just to teach Ted a lesson.
For the first time, the thought of going home didn’t feel entirely like something to fear.