Chapter Text
Richie had taken Will to his car, and had already driven him to their usual spot. The two were silent for a moment before Richie spoke up. "So, are you going to keep it in your lap, or are you going to open it?" He asked.
"I can't just- Richie, I have no idea what's in here, what if it's something bad?" Will glanced back at the neatly wrapped box. It was so light, and he was so curious, but he was terrified. Richie rolled his eyes at that statement.
"Are you kidding me? Will, he looked incredibly jealous at the party. If it isn't an invitation to hop on his dick, then I'll-" Richie paused for a moment before shrugging, "I'll ask out Eddie. But only if it's a direct invitation."
Will stared at Richie for a few seconds before looking back at the box. "It isn't that, from what you've heard he would never do something like that." Will looked up.
"Okay, you should still open it." Richie reasoned, "It's not going to be something like 'I hate you forever, you're a fucking piece of shit, please die in a fucking hole'. He's still your best friend."
Will nodded, before he carefully opened it. With shaking hands he pulled out a flower crown, he studied the flowers and dropped it back into the box. "Oh my god." Will whispered.
"What? Are those the flowers for burning hatred?"
"Oh my god." Will repeated, this time louder and with a grin on his face.
Richie was completely lost, "Dude, what do the fucking flowers mean?" He asked again.
"They mean you have to confess your undying love for Eddie Kaspbrak, drive me to Mike's!" Will's grinned widened, "Well, if you want, it's just not that far from here. You don't have too, I can walk."
Richie rolled his eyes, starting the car. "You forgot about the card." He said with a playful smile.
Will looked back in the box, he put the flower crown on his head, taking the envelope. On the front was his name, written in Mike's messy scrawl, with a hastily drawn heart at the end of his name. Will tore it open and read through it once. Sentences stuck with him. you taught me what it means to deeply love someone. Then twice, There has been no love in my life that is greater than my love for you. Then a third time, But it is also a promise, that if you'll accept it, I'll be committed to you forever. And continued on and on until he got to Mike's house, his smile never leaving his face. I can't act like I'm not in love with you anymore.
Mike felt like his whole world was crashing down around him, and like there was nothing else he could do to stop it.
How long had it been since Will met that stranger? Why didn't he know about him? So many questions ran through Mike's head, and the words he had written down had a lasting effect. He sat in his basement in Eleven's old fort, the one Mike never bothered to clean up since it was a place of comfort, a place he called home. He let tears streak his cheeks, and in his mind he thought of Will. Because Will wouldn't care to know about Mike's tears. Will wouldn't care that he had poured his heart out on paper, spent time buying and picking the perfect flowers for his project. No no, Will Byers would most likely be spending his night with that stranger, the person Mike didn't know. The person Will was hiding from Mike this whole time.
Mike liked to think he and Will were best friends, he liked to think that they shared every secret with each other. He liked to think they didn't keep anything from each other.
"No! Mike, it's the other way around." Will explained with a smile on his face. Mike could watch Will smile every day of his life and never get tired of it. Will smiling was like catching a cold, it was incredibly contagious. "If someone hands you a bouquet of flowers using their right hand is when it means yes. If it's with their left, it means no." he explained.
Mike let out an exasperated sigh, "Will, why do I need to know this again?" He asked, a playful smile on his lips to make sure Will knew he was just teasing.
"Because!" Will giggled, "If you want to pass the next quiz, you'll need it." He replied. Mike felt his heart skip a beat when Will looked at him again. Mike sighed and wrote it down on a flashcard, pretending to be annoyed. "I forgot to tell you," Will spoke up, causing Mike to look back up again, concern across his face. "My dad's coming to bond with me, we'll have to end our study session an hour earlier." Will frowned.
Mike put down his pencil and made his way next to Will, bringing him into a tight hug. He knew how awful his thoughts got when Lonnie visited, he knew that bad memories came out in his thoughts more and that he didn't particularly enjoy spending time with Lonnie. Mike knew how terrible Will felt for not liking his dad, even though it was all completely justified to anyone normal. "Hey, if it gets too bad, you can always come to my house afterwards." Mike offered. He felt Will nod against him, mumbling out a thank you. And a few hours after the study session had ended, Will was in Mike's room, the two of them reading comic books and sitting too close.
Moments like those would be over, Mike knew he couldn't face Will anymore. Not with the knowledge that there was someone else in his life now, someone more important than Mike. He admitted that he was jealous over someone he didn't know, purely because he had Will sitting in his lap and laughing, and Mike wasn't there. Though his thoughts were interrupted by the door being opened and footsteps coming down the basement. He wiped his eyes quickly in preparation for his mom, since Holly couldn't annoy him into telling her what was wrong, even though he desperately wished she was awake too do so. Though he wasn't greeted by his mom, or Holly. He was greeted by the person he secretly wanted to see the most.
Will Byers.
Mike told himself that he wouldn't start crying again, but as soon as he saw the flower crown that he had made just a few hours ago, he couldn't hold back the tears in his eyes. Will was here to tell him off, he was here to tell him that he had a boyfriend and that Mike was just being plain creepy. He was here to mock him by wearing the stupid flower crown he had made just hours ago. He was here to shame him for being so stupid to think that someone as good as Will Byers would ever want him.
Mike buried his face in his hands and began crying again, not prepared for whatever terrible things Will was going to tell him. He was met with the only sound in the basement being his quiet sobs, and a feeling of someone pulling him into a hug. "Wh- What? What are you doing?" Mike asked, his voice shaking and nervous. He didn't know why Will didn't just get it over with.
"Did you mean it? What you said in the card?" Will asked quietly. Mike was taken aback, because of course he meant what he had said, he had been holding in those feelings for a few years now, and he didn't know what hurt more, Will coming to his own house to mock him, or Will thinking that Mike was lying to him.
"Yeah, I did mean it. Unlike some people I try to tell my best friend everything." Mike spat. He didn't mean to say it, and instantly regretted it when Will pulled out of the hug. Streaks were still running down Mike's face, but more threatened to spill when he saw how that comment had hurt Will. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"I'm not dating Richie." Will cut him off. "I- I know that's what it looked like. I know that I looked like I was dating him, but we're just talking about the people we really like. and sometimes that goes into kissing." He explained.
"You kiss him?" Mike asked, a bitter tone underlying in his words.
"It makes me feel better." Will looked away, ashamed. "I never thought you would like me back. I would kiss him and pretend it's you, but it still feels all wrong. I know it's stupid and wrong, but I never would have done it if I knew you felt that way for me. And I would take all of it back if I could, because I don't love Richie. He's my friend, but I don't love him. I don't know if I ever could, at least not while I'm in love with you." Will finished explaining, tears now threatening to spill from his eyes.
Mike stared at Will, before a small, watery smile spread across his lips. Mike pulled him into a hug, and soon enough, both of them were crying into each other. He felt relief, like he was emptying out any doubts he had. Will felt the same way as Mike did, and he wasn't dating someone else. Will was crying into him, for reason Mike didn't know, and probably wouldn't understand, but Mike felt like it was all going to be okay. He pulled back from the hug, wiping a few of Will's tears. "Can I kiss you?" He asked, his voice raspy from crying. Will gave a gentle nod.
So, Mike cupped Will's cheek, gently pulling him into a kiss. Mike Wheeler learned that kissing Will Byers was like taking a refreshing drink of water, it was like seeing the sun after weeks and weeks of grey skies. It was soft, warm, and it was full of love. Will Byers learned that kissing Mike Wheeler wasn't too hard and it wasn't too gentle. His lips were rough but smooth at the same time, and instead of knots that made Will want to stop, he felt warmth that made him never want the kiss to end.
But it did end. And when it did, they both giggled with each other, knowing it would be the first of many kisses to come.