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“Are you upset with me?”
Mike looked up, eyes wide, at Will who was nervously fidgeting with his sleeve. Mike’s heart broke at how… scared he looked, gnawing at his bottom lip and struggling to make eye contact.
“Of course not! Why would you think that?”
The boys were in the school auditorium, the whole room empty except for them. They were waiting on Jane to finish rehearsals for the Christmas play so they could give her a ride home and Mike could stay the night with them.
“You’ve been avoiding me all day. And last night, after ice skating, you didn’t answer the phone. Your dad said he’d get you to call back and you just… didn’t. I d’no, I just… I guess I was worried you were bored of me.”
“Will, dude-” Mike shuffled across the seats until he was right beside Will, and took the younger boy’s trembling hand in his own. “I could never be bored of you. If it was gonna happen, it would’ve been
years
ago. We’ve been best friends for 12 years, do you honestly think I’d just drop you without warning?”
“No, I just… why were you avoiding me today?”
Before answering, he pulled Will into a tight hug. He listened to Will’s rattled breath, felt the way his hands gripped the back of his shirt, noticed the way he buried his face into Mike’s neck.
“Is that how you felt today? Because I promise you, that’s not the case. I’m working on your Christmas present, I didn’t want you to see it before it’s ready. If I’d realised how that was going to worry you, I never would’ve. I just want it to be perfect.”
“And yesterday?” Will questioned, voice barely above a whisper.
“My dad never said anything. He probably didn’t bother listening to a word you said- he’s kinda an asshole like that.”
Will laughed breathily, wiping his eyes. He offered up a smile, before leaning his head back onto Mike’s shoulder. Neither of them spoke again until Jane came out fifteen minutes later.
As they drove back to the Byers’ house, all three of them were making mindless conversation about school, friends, and the upcoming winter formal. The atmosphere was the polar opposite of the auditorium, the air light and joyous. The subject of their earlier conversation didn’t come up again until almost midnight, as the two curled together in Will’s bed to go to sleep.
“Mike?”
“Mm-hmm?” he hummed back, not fully awake.
“I’m glad you weren’t ignoring me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“No problem, Will the Wise. I don’t know what I’d do without you, either.”
“I love you. Goodnight.”
Mike wasn’t falling asleep anymore. Will’s words stunned him out of his tiredness. A while later, when he was confident Will was asleep, he nuzzled closer to Will and whispered “I love you too.”