Chapter Text
October 6th
“Hey!” Will greets, swinging the door open wide. “Come on in.”
Mike follows him into the house, through the kitchen, down a short hallway, and into the living room. Mike takes everything in, the warm colors, the framed family pictures that line the hallway. There’s knicknacks placed here and there. A half completed puzzle on a card table, an unfolded baket of laundry on a chair. The place feels lived in. Cozy. A definite contrast to Mike’s own house which you could take one look at and deduce everyone in the house spends their time in their separate bedrooms or not at home at all.
It makes sense to him somehow that Will grew up in a warm home like this.
“You’re the first one here.” Will says, gesturing to the empty living room. There’s snacks and sodas placed on the coffee table, some games piled up on the floor next to it. “El and Dustin had plans but they should be back any minute.” He makes his way over to a smaller couch and flops down and picks up the remote. “But since they’re all late I think it’s only fair we pick the movie.”
Mike assesses the seating options. Would it be weird to sit right next to Will when there’s so many other places to sit? There’s a large recliner, alarger couch which could fit three or maybe four, albeit a little snuggly, and the smaller couch where Will sits which seems designed to fit only two. All the furniture is mismatched, like it’s been acquired over time. It’s a little too much furniture for the smaller size of the room. But again, it’s cozy. Mike gets the impression that Will’s family doesn’t mind being close. Which, again, is very different from what Mike is used to.
Will looks away from the tv where he’s opened up Netflix and looks at Mike, raising an eyebrow. “You’re welcome to sit if you want.” Okay, he’s been standing here weighing his options much too long.
“Well, you know, standing is good for your core and I don’t mess around about my core.” Mike jokes lamely. Will laughs, clearly Max was right and he’s too nice for his own good. Mike ventures further into the living room.
It’d be weirder not to sit next to him right? He’s sitting on one side of the couch, leaving room for another person. If he’d wanted to sit alone he would have sat in the middle. Or in the chair. Okay. Just sit Mike. Before he can overthink it any further, he strides over and sits next to Will. “I guess my core can take a break for now.” He jokes a little stiffly.
“Your sacrifice is noted.” Will teases back, grinning at him. Mike is feeling jittery. Conscious of every one of his limbs and how unnatural they feel. Arms crossed, then uncrossed, hands on his lap than under his legs. Will is looking at the screen again, flipping through movies. Mike takes a slow breath and tries to relax. He likes this guy. A lot. And if there actually is something between them, he really doesn’t want to mess it up.
Mike’s phone buzzes, then Will’s does too.
The text is a picture sent in a group chat containing him, Will, Max, Lucas and two unsaved numbers. The picture features four people. Lucas and Max with matching manical grins. Her arms are crossed, and Lucas has one of his slung over her shoulders. A guy Mike doesn’t know with shoulder length curly brown hair is sticking his tongue out and holding up a peace sign. And the person taking the selfie, mid-laugh, is Jane, Director of Costumes from the farm. The four of them are standing in the barn in front of the costume rack.
A text comes through from the same unsaved number that sent the picture.
Sorry we can’t make it to movie night. We have to destroy a mask ;)
Then a text from Max pops up.
Have fun you two :p
Mike’s eyes grow wide as the pieces fall into place in his mind. He looks over at Will who is looking at his phone, mouth hanging open slightly. “I can’t believe they ditched us!” He says indignantly. “What is she even talking about? A mask?”
“I uh- yeah, I can explain that.” Mike says hesitantly. “But uh- is that your sister?”
“Yeah, that’s her.” Will confirms.
“Didn’t you say your sister’s name was El?” Mike asks, glancing back at the picture like the girl will suddenly be another person entirely..
“Yeah?” Will says, confusion lacing his expression.
“I met her at work and she introduced herself as Jane.”
“Ah. Well, Jane is actually her name, but our family and most of her friends all call her El.” Will explains. “It was a nickname she had from before my stepdad adopted her. It’s all kind of a long, complicated story that’s not really mine to tell. But she uses both names, just depending on the setting and stuff.”
“Right. That makes sense.” Mike says, cheeks feeling warm. Of course he had to go and confess his feelings for Will to the guy's sister. He couldn’t just keep his mouth shut for once.
Will shakes his head. “I don’t get it. What does that have to do with a mask?”
Mike huffs a laugh of resignation. There’s no point in lying. Jane- or El, will very likely just tell him what Mike said later anyways. Better it comes from him. “The mask I was assigned, the one Mason so graciously destroyed in the wash, was supposed to get repaired this weekend.” Mike starts slowly. “I asked uh- El, if I could maybe stick with being a zombie. She didn’t understand why I cared so much about being a zombie so I explained to her that it wasn’t really that, it was just that I wanted to keep getting my face painted. To see you.” Mike’s gaze fixes on the floral pattern of the couch, unable to meet Will’s eyes. “I uh- I’ve just really liked talking to you this last week Will. And I um- I didn’t want that to end.”
Will’s voice is full of amusement when he replies, “And you thought that the only way to see me was to have my sister destroy property belonging to our workplace so I can paint your face for about fifteen minutes a day?”
“I didn’t ask her to do that!” Mike exclaims looking up at Will in alarm.He’s grinning, head tilted slightly. Okay, so he’s not freaked out by Mike’s actions. That’s good.
He throws his hands in the air as he exclaims, “Actually, I can’t believe she decided that was the best way to handle the situation. I think your sister might be crazy.”
Will snorts. “Oh, that’s not in question.”
“Thank you!” Mike cries. Then he makes an effort to settle his hands in his lap and calm his voice as he continues. “But um.. I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you if you weren’t painting my face anymore. I mean, we haven’t known each other very long and like.. what if this hang out was just a one time thing? Maybe our friend groups wouldn’t really mesh and you wouldn’t want to do it again. I just.. I didn’t want to lose the chance to um.. to become friends.” Okay so Mike loses his nerve a little at the end.
Will looks back at the picture still open on his phone and snorts. “Well, considering they’ve abandoned us and are committing crimes together, I think it’s safe to say our friend groups are meshing.” He scoots a little closer to Mike and nudges his arm as he adds, “And I know we haven’t known each other long, but I think it’s safe to say we’re friends. So if you want to hang out outside of work, with or without our friend groups. We can.”
“Yeah.” Mike agrees quickly. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Cool.” Will agrees, leaning back against the couch and picking up the remote again. “So, I guess it’s just us tonight. What do you want to watch?”
They land on an indie horror film that Will’s brother introduced him to which he thinks Mike will love. Mike is sure he’s right, the premise is intriguing and the score is incredible. But he’s having a hard time focusing on the plot. Not because it’s bad or confusing or anything, but just because his attention keeps zoning in on something else.
Early on in the movie Will leans forward to get snacks and when he sits back it’s just a little closer to Mike. Mike follows his lead and moves a little closer himself after grabbing a soda. Now their arms brush any time one of them moves.
And Will keeps jumping at any little thing that happens in the movie. After the fourth time he nearly jumps out of his skin Mike whispers, “You like this movie, right?”
“Yeah.” Will whispers back, his cheeks a little flushed. “I’m just jumpy.”
“Okay.” Mike answers, then scans his posture. He’s undeniably tense. “If you don’t actually want to watch this, that's okay. We can watch something else, something not scary.”
“No, no. I do.” Will insists. Tearing his eyes away from the screen and sinking back into the couch, his arm now fully pressed against Mike’s own so he can feel as well as see when Will’s whole body relaxes as he focuses on Mike. “This is why my mom didn’t let me watch horror movies when I was younger. I get scared, but I still like them. The atmosphere, and the music, and the stories. I just have a hard time with parts of it because, well.. I know the characters aren’t real, but I still have a hard time seeing horrible things happen to them. I know that sounds weird.”
Mike gives up any pretense of focusing on the movie, gazing back into Will’s eyes, the action on the screen projecting splashes of light across their hazel.
“Not weird.” He says quietly. “Though maybe you should watch, like, romcoms instead. Less horrible things happen.”
Will scrunches his face in distaste. “Not my thing. Too predictable. And I hate when they won’t communicate. I just want to yell at the screen you obviously like each other just talk already!”
“Hmm.” Mike murmurs in agreement. “What I hate is when one of the characters is dating someone else who they clearly don’t work with when the perfect person for them is literally right there.”
“Yeah.” Will says quietly. And Mike swears he sees his eyes dart down to Mike’s lips for a second when he murmurs softly, “that’s infuriating.”
Their arms press together more firmly as Mike finds himself leaning in, and then there’s a piercing scream from the TV and Mike and Will both jump. Will grabs Mike’s hand in the process. Mike feels pure electricity shooting through him from the point of contact. They look at each other for a second, eyes wide. Then they both start laughing.
“Are you sure you like horror movies?” Will asks teasingly.
Mike looks down at Will’s hand still clasping his. Will follows his gaze and stiffens, “Sorry.” he mutters and starts to pull his hand away, but Mike catches it. He laces their fingers together and holds his hand properly. He breathes in a little shakily. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I like them better than ever actually.”
“Me too.” Will breathes out, the prettiest smile dancing on his lips. Then he turns back to the screen, his head dropping to rest on Mike’s shoulder. Mike turns his eyes back to the movie as well but his mind stays fully on the beautiful boy beside him. He bites back a happy laugh, grinning like an idiot instead. The butterflies in his stomach throw the party of the year.
He spends the rest of the movie trying not to move, soaking up every little gasp or laugh that falls from Will’s mouth, and hoping that he somehow finds Mike’s bony shoulder comfortable.
The movie is almost over when the front door bangs open. Will jumps again, his head regrettably leaving Mike’s shoulder. Their hands are still intertwined though and Mike gives Will’s a squeeze, hoping to assure him he’s safe. Then their friends flood the living room.
“Aww!” El squeals, taking in their close proximity and clasped hands.
“Look at that, your scheme worked.” The guy Mike has surmised to be Dustin says with a grin.
“Of course it did.” El states triumphantly.
“What scheme?” Will asks, sitting up more fully to question his sister, still, Mike notes with a great deal of joy, not releasing his hand.
“Max and I compared notes.” El says casually. “It was pretty clear this group hang out was really just an excuse for the two of you to spend time together since clearly you like each other.” She puts a lot of emphasis on like and bounces a little where she stands.
Mike sneaks a glance at Will. He’s starting to feel pretty confident he’s not just reading into things and Will is into him too. But he’s curious to see his reaction to El straight up accusing him of liking Mike.
He takes Will’s fully red face and the glare he levels his sister as a good sign.
Max jumps in. “We figured we’d do you lovebirds a favor and not stand in the way of all the lame flirting and gazing into each other's eyes and.. hand holding.” She says with a smirk, nodding pointedly at their linked hands so there’s no room to dispute her. It’s Mike’s turn to glare.
Will regains his composure. He clears his throat and stands up from the couch, dragging Mike up with him so they’re standing like the others. Their clasped hands swinging between them. “For your information, it wasn’t just an excuse. I genuinely thought we should all hang out. But then you all decided to ditch us, which is pretty rude actually.”
Lucas raises his hand tenatively. “For the record, I voted against it.”
“You voted against Max?” Mike blurts in surprise.
“Yeah. I do have my own opinions, you know.” Lucas scoffs, crossing his arms. “And I thought it’d be cool to all hang out. I mean, I had a great time meeting you all at El’s birthday. And tonight was really fun.” He looks at Mike and Will and winces. “Sorry guys.”
“Forgiven.” Will says quickly. Then he looks over at Mike. “We had fun too.”
Mike’s eyes are glued to him as he agrees dumbly, “Yeah. Lots of fun.”
Max gags. “See. This is exactly what we didn’t want to sit around and watch.”
“Oh come on, after all the times I’ve had to watch you and Lucas being all obnoxiously coupley?” Mike snaps at Max.
“Coupley huh?” Max smirks. “Is that what this is?”
Mike flushes immediately. He hadn’t meant that. They had only held hands and kinda snuggled on the couch. And stared into each other's eyes a little. It had possibly been the greatest night of Mike’s life actually. But they still hadn’t actually talked about their feelings so, no, he wasn’t calling them a couple in front of all of their friends. But he can see how it kind of sounded like that. He opens his mouth then shuts it. Unsure of how to explain himself. He doesn’t dare look over at Will.
“Well I definitely think we all should hang out sometime.” Dustin, Mike’s new best friend, cuts in. “You guys get all Sunday’s off from the haunted farm gig, right? How’s next week?”
“Works for me.” Will says with a shrug. Now Mike looks at him, he looks completely unfazed by the whole ordeal.
“Me too.” Mike agrees.
“I’ll probably have homework but, yeah, I can hang for a bit.” Lucas puts in and Max and El add their agreements.
“Fantastic. Next week it is then.” Dustin says triumphantly. “Now I have to go home because tomorrow is a school day and that means early bedtime kids.”
“Lame.” El says with a smile before kissing him on the cheek. He grins and does the same in turn. Then he says his goodbyes to the others and “nice to meet you, by the way.” to Mike and makes his exit. Max and Lucas say they should leave too and follow close behind, then it’s just Mike and Will and El. “I should probably uh- also.” Mike says, gesturing to the door.
Will nods. “Okay, I’ll walk you out.”
“Cool.” Mike says. Very cool. He looks over to where El is just watching them, a grin plastered on her face. “Well, bye Jane.”
Her grin turns to a devious smirk. Mike sees why her and Max get along. “Goodbye Michael.” She retorts. Then she gives Will an we’re talking about this later eyebrow raise and heads upstairs.
When he and Will step outside and start walking towards his car Mike says, “You know, I think she tricked me on purpose.”
“How could she have possibly known what would happen?” Will asks.
“I don’t know.” Mike admits. “But she could have mentioned she was your sister when I started talking about how much I liked.. spending time with you.” They come to a stop next to Mike’s car and linger. That was obviously not how Mike wanted to end that sentence, but it really doesn’t matter because Will steps closer and nudges Mike’s shoulder.
“You like spending time with me, huh?” he says coyly.
“Yeah. Yeah, course.” Mike says, heat rising to his cheeks. “I already told you that.”
“I know.” Will says, looking down shyly, “It’s just nice to hear. I like spending time with you too, you know.”
“Then maybe we should do it more often.” Mike suggests, and Will looks back at him, he seems a little surprised by Mike’s boldness but quickly says, “Yeah. For sure. A lot more often.”
Mike nods. “Um, so would you want to- sometime this week? like not at work, if you’re busy I get it-”
“I’m free tomorrow after school.” Will cuts in. Then as Mike’s mouth falls open slightly, he quickly adds. “Unless that’s too soon.”
“No, it’s perfect.” Mike says, shaking his head. “Tomorrow after school. I’ll pick you up here at..?”
“Five.” Will says decisively.
“Five. I’ll pick you up at five.” Mike beams.
“Can’t wait.” Will says with a pleased laugh.
Mike can’t quite manage to dial back the ridiculous grin on his face, but that’s okay, because Will is wearing one to match. And he looks so damn beautiful. His eyes glinting joyfully, he’s wearing an old oversized sweater for a high school sports team which Mike imagines belongs to his step-dad, and his hair is little mussed from lying on Mike’s shoulder. Mike really wants to kiss him. But before he can work up the nerve Will says. “Well, um, I should really get to bed. School tomorrow and everything.”
“Okay. Okay yeah.” Mike says. “Well thanks for inviting me over tonight. I had a really good time.”
“Thanks for coming over. I did too.” Will says. Then he swoops in and kisses Mike on the cheek softly. “Goodnight, Mike.” He says, backing away towards the house. Mike’s hand moves instinctively to touch the spot Will’s lips just were. “Goodnight!” He calls a little belatedly. Will grins, clearly pleased with himself.
When Will has disappears inside his house Mike finally manages to get his feet to move, gets in his car and drives home. The happy glow inside him never once dimming.