Chapter Text
Will talked in his sleep a lot. Mike knew this because more often than not Will fell asleep curled around him, not that Mike had any objections. The first time he’d talked in his sleep, it had been mostly nonsensical, just odd phrases about food or school muttered into Mike’s ear. Occasionally, though, the things that Will said in his sleep turned Mike cold. Will still had a lot of nightmares and Mike had been roused from sleep all too often by a tiny, broken voice begging for help, a voice that immediately sent him back to the past.
“Please,” Will had said, one night, over and over. “Leave me alone.” He’d struggled with the sheets, fighting against invisible monsters, and Mike had felt frozen, helpless. Suddenly, he was thirteen years old again, huddled over a radio, listening to his best friend sob and cry for his Mom. Refusing to be that helpless ever again, he’d shaken Will awake gently, and held the boy close as he’d trembled in his arms. Those nights, Mike decided, were the worst. Because Mike couldn’t fight against Will’s subconscious. He couldn’t protect him from his own imagination. What he could do though, was listen out for the nightmares and be there to wake him up every time, to hold him tight and bring him back into a safe and warm present.
Tonight, Will was talking in his sleep again. Mike was propped up on his elbow, watching his boyfriend sleep, fondly, as he mumbled something daft about birds. He reached out and brushed some hair from Will’s forehead, affection building almost painfully in his chest. His feelings for Will had always been like this. So immense, he struggled to understand how he’d ever missed them, how he and Will had ever managed to not be together.
“Mike…” Will said and Mike felt his heart stop. Will only ever said his name in his dreams occasionally, but every time it made something ache inside him. Will’s face had scrunched up a little in a frown, now, and Mike just wanted to smooth his fingers over the wrinkles of his nose and head until Will’s face was calm and soft again.
“Mike” Will said again, softly, and Mike reached out instinctively to check for the tell-tale signs of a nightmare. Whenever Will dreamed of the Upside Down, he called for his friends or his Mom in his sleep. Most commonly, El or Mike (His saviours, Will often said, teasingly). But Will wasn’t battling with his sheets and his pupils weren’t twitching in a way that was eerily reminiscent of his past possession. He looked calm and relatively peaceful; the edges of a smile ghosting at the corners of his mouth. Mike found himself smiling back, helplessly, even though no one was around to see it.
Will shuffled forwards in his sleep and Mike’s arms moved up automatically to cradle him, keeping him pressed against his chest. Will nuzzled against him.
“Love you… Mike” Will muttered, voice heavy and quiet, and Mike felt his fingers tighten around Will involuntarily. He thought that his heart might’ve stopped beating, but he couldn’t be sure. He stared down at the boy in his arms and waited for Will to say something else, or to blink up at him. But he only mumbled more, sleepily, and burrowed closer.
Despite dating, covertly, for months (Hawkins wasn’t exactly a place you could be open about that sort of thing), they hadn’t exchanged “I love you’s” yet. In a way, it was because it was obvious to each other. The two of them dating, coming together like they were, it’d been inevitable from the moment Mike had spoken to him on the swings in kindergarten. Mike loved Will, and had loved him for as long as he could remember. Loving Will was easy, like breathing, and it was so simple and obvious that it almost didn’t need saying. There was no confession to be made between them, just a statement of fact. Will’s sleep confession though, the fact that he’d actually said the words out loud… Well. It robbed Mike of his breath. Heart pounding and his palms vaguely sweaty, Mike shook Will awake. Will moved, trying to shake him off, and he frowned again. Mike tugged at his arm, insistent.
“Mike?” Will said, crankily and blinked up at him, squinting up at his face through bleary eyes. Mike couldn’t stop grinning at him and it only made Will look more confused.
“What's…? What… Mike?” Will said, sounding disorientated and Mike laughed and reached out to cup Will’s face in his hands.
“I love you.” He said, giddily, feeling as if the smile on his face could never be wiped away. Will made a confused sound, but he looked suddenly far more awake. His eyes were locked on Mike’s, intent.
“I love you.” Mike repeated. He pressed a kiss to Will’s sleep mussed hair. “I adore you.” He hadn’t realized how much fun it would be to say, and he knew that he would be saying it every day from now on, if the steadily darkening blush of Will’s cheeks was anything to go by. Will was staring at him, a little open mouthed, before he recovered and his look of shock was immediately replaced with a very fond, soft look.
“I know, dummy” Will said, finally, a hint of laughter in his voice as well. “I love you, too." He said it matter-of-factly because it was a fact. He’d loved Mike before he’d known what love even was. Mike smiled stupidly all the same to hear Will say it back and he leaned over to kiss Will’s face over and over. Each was another silent ‘I love you’. A kiss on the nose. A kiss on each eyelid. Kisses all over Will’s flushed, smiling cheeks.
“Did you wake me up just to tell me that?” Will said, sounding mildly grumpy from being deprived of his precious sleep. Mike just dissolved into laughter to see the sleepy frown on Will’s face. He looked like a disgruntled, but lovable, cat. Mike nodded, biting his lip and pulled his boyfriend into a hug in silent apology.
“I love you so much.” Mike whispered into the skin of his neck, and Will’s mock-angry expression slid off of his face. He shivered and giggled beneath him, and god, Will was just so cute and adorable. His long, ‘artist’s’ fingers came up to stroke at Mike’s hair, gently.
“Mmm, I love you, Mike.” Will agreed on a sigh and it sounded so right. Mike pulled back.
“Say it again.” Mike demanded, holding himself up by his arms and hovering over Will. Why they’d waited so long to say the words, Mike had no idea. He could hear Will say them over and over; he’d never get sick of it. Will laughed and touched Mike’s face, eyes wide with something akin to awe.
“I love you, Mike Wheeler.” He said, solemnly. For a moment, they stared at each other, dizzy with it. Then, Mike dipped his head and kissed him again, hard, sighing contentedly. Will whispered it once more into Mike’s mouth. Giddy, young, in love for the first time, they traded “I love you's” back and forth in whispers, between kisses, like a secret between just the two of them. The worst kept secret either of them had ever had.