Chapter Text
Mike hurried up the stairs to the Byers house, not caring how wet he was getting from the downpour. His only concern was his best friend and apologizing for how badly he had fucked up. He needed to get to Will and make things right; he couldn't lose the most important person in his life again. It would destroy him.
"Will!" Mike shouted as he reached the front door and started pounding on it. "Will, can you let me in?"
Mike continued to bang his hand on the door as Lucas rushed over to join him on the porch.
"Will, I'm sorry! Can you let me in so we can talk?"
Still, there was no response. Mike started to feel desperate. If Will didn't want to talk to him, maybe that meant he had already lost Will.
No. I won't let that happen.
Mike stopped hammering on the front door and walked over to the front room window to try and peer inside. The Byers house was pitch black and appeared abandoned. Mike squinted to see if he could see any sign of Will in the house, but he saw nothing.
"Do you see him?" Lucas shouted, trying to be heard over the howling wind.
"No!" Mike yelled back, lifting his face from the window and walking over to the side of the house, glancing around for Will. He spotted Will's bike lying on the ground, and Mike let out a breath of relief.
"Wait, wait, do you hear that?" Lucas asked when he reached Mike.
They heard someone crying out. Mike froze in place when he realized it was Will. But where was Will?
"Castle Byers!" Mike shouted to himself as well as Lucas as he took off in the direction of Will's favorite hiding place.
Mike ran as fast as he could, trying to avoid hitting any of the puddles that had formed because of the fast falling rain. As he and Lucas got closer to Castle Byers, Mike saw Will standing alone, a baseball bat on the ground next to him. But Castle Byers had disappeared. Briefly, Mike registered that Will had seemingly destroyed it, but that wasn't his concern at the moment. Mike hurried to Will.
"Will! Are you okay?" Mike demanded.
Will slowly turned around. His chest was heaving and he had a terrified expression on his face. He looked both angry and scared and Mike felt fear coursing through his body like never before.
"He's back," Will said in a quiet voice.
"Who?" Lucas asked, glancing over Will's shoulder to try and see who Will was referring to.
"Him," Will replied.
Mike's eyes widened as he stared back into Will's eyes and realized who Will was talking about.
"Not...the Mind Flayer?" Mike asked, hoping that he was wrong.
Will nodded and Mike felt his heart drop. He slowly inched over to Will, who simply stared back at him. It was clear to Mike that Will had been crying; his eyes were blotchy red and he was shaking, though that was probably because of how wet Will had gotten from the rain.
"Will," Mike said in a gentle voice. "We need to get you out of the rain. Let's get you inside and get you into some warm clothes."
Will just nodded at Mike and remained silent. Mike turned around and led Will and Lucas into the Byers house, moving quickly to get out of the rain. He pried open the back door and led the other two boys into the house. He shut the door behind him and turned on the light in the kitchen.
"I'll make some tea or something," Mike said to the other boys.
Lucas nodded at him and walked out of the kitchen toward the living room while Will simply sat down at the dining table, staring off in the distance.
"Will, how about you get out of those wet clothes? I'll bring you your tea in your bedroom. We'll stay here with you tonight, if that's okay."
Will nodded at Mike, still not saying anything, as he stood up and walked out of the kitchen. Mike then busied himself with making some tea for the three of them. Once it was finally ready, Mike walked into the living room, shedding his poncho and hanging it up to dry on the coat rack. Lucas had already changed into the clothes he had brought on his backpack. Mike shrugged his own backpack off and pulled out his change of clothes. He hurried to the bathroom and quickly changed before returning to the kitchen to serve the tea. He gave Lucas his mug first, which Lucas took while lying down on the couch. Mike took a deep breath before carrying the tray with two more mugs into Will's room.
Will was sitting on his bed in his pajamas. His hair was still wet from the rain, but it was starting to dry. Mike noticed right away that fresh tears were on Will's cheeks and he felt his heart breaking again. He wordlessly set the tray down on Will's desk before he sat down next to Will.
Mike didn't say anything, knowing that Will would talk with him when he was ready. Instead, he simply looked at his best friend and tried his best to come up with an apology that would convince Will that he didn't mean anything of what he had said earlier in the evening.
Will finally spoke up after several minutes of silence, but he avoided looking at Mike.
"Why did you come back?" he asked softly.
Mike swallowed the lump in his throat and scooted a little closer to Will.
"I needed to know you were okay," he replied as tears threatened to fall down his face.
"Well I am okay, so you can go."
"Wait, Will," Mike said as he reached over and placed one of his hands on top of Will's, which made Will pause as he stood up to let Mike out of his room.
"What do you want, Mike?"
"I just want you to know how sorry I am, Will," Mike said. "I'm sorry for hurting you today. Really, I am. It was a cool campaign and I hope you'll let us finish it some day. And I'm sorry that I said all of that stuff to you in the garage. You have been hurting and I haven't seen that, and I'm sorry for that too. I haven't been a good friend to you."
Mike hesitated, taking a deep breath before he spoke again.
"I'll understand if you don't want to be friends anymore, Will," he said, feeling his eyes watering. He did his best to keep his voice steady, despite feeling like he was going to break down any second. "I mean, why would you want to still be friends with me? I've been a terrible friend and I've hurt you. I don't deserve you, Will. So if you want me to leave, I will, no questions asked."
Mike lifted his hand from Will's and turned to stare in front of him, just like Will was. Will remained silent for a few moments before he responded.
"It's just so hard, Mike," he said.
Mike's eyes shot up. Will was finally looking at him, but he looked sadder than Mike had ever seen him. Mike resisted the urge to grab Will's hand again. Instead, he just nodded at Will, inviting him to continue.
"It's hard to see you with El. And it's not your fault or anything, but it's hard for me to see you with her."
"What are you saying, Will?" asked Mike, feeling confused.
"I know this sounds terrible, but I'm jealous, Mike," Will said as he started to blush. "I know you two have been dating, but it sucks not getting to spend any time with you, Mike. I feel like I've lost my best friend and I hate that."
"Oh, Will," Mike said. "I'm sorry for making you feel that way. I didn't meant to."
"I know you didn't, Mike," Will said. "Like I said, it's not your fault. But it is my fault for missing you so much."
"What do you mean?"
"Please don't make me say it. You'll hate me if I do."
"Will, hey," Mike said as he grabbed Will's hand again. "Nothing you say to me will ever make me hate you. I promise you that. I will never, ever hate you, Will. You mean too much to me."
Will sighed deeply.
"See, it's you saying things like that that make me feel the way I do. You've always been so amazing to me, Mike. You treat me better than anyone other than Mom or Jonathan treat me. You've always protected me and made sure I was happy."
Will took another deep breath as he stared deeply into Mike's eyes, finding nothing but sympathy and a little confusion. He sighed again.
"I love you, Mike," Will said. "I love you so much. I'm sorry if that makes things weird and I'll understand if you don't wanna be friends anymore, just like you said to me, but I can't go on any longer without saying that."
Mike simply stared at Will, his eyes widening. Will felt his heart starting to thump faster and he quickly detached his hand from Mike's, worried how his friend was reacting, or not, to his confession.
"Mike, please say something," Will pleaded.
When Mike finally spoke, it was the most beautiful sound Will had ever heard, even though he knew he was probably hearing it for the last time.
"Oh my god," Mike whispered.
"What?" Will asked, feeling more scared than he ever had. Mike must've noticed, too, because his facial expression softened.
"I can't believe I just heard you say those words," Mike said. "I've wanted to hear them from you for so long."
Will's breath hitched in his throat. Was Mike saying what he thought he was or was Mike just humoring him? His heart rate was still picking up and his breathing increased as the anxiety spread through him.
"M-m-Mike, what are you saying?" Will asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.
"I love you, too, Will," Mike said.
Will didn't have any warning before Mike's lips were on his. Will closed his eyes as he felt Mike's arms wrap around him and he wrapped his arms around Mike's neck. The kiss was everything Will had imagined it would. It warmed him up in ways the heat of the house couldn't and he felt safer than he had in years. The kiss was over far sooner than Will would have liked, but he was grateful to be able to breathe again. When Will opened his eyes, Mike was smiling shyly at him.
"What about El?" Will asked stupidly.
"I love her," Mike confessed and Will felt his heart drop. Mike sensed this and squeezed Will's hand tight. "But not like I love you, Will. I love her like I love Nancy and Holly. She's like a sister to me. But you, Will? You make me a better person. You make me happy, Will. You make me feel complete. I just love you so much!"
Mike pulled Will into a hug and the two boys held onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Both of them started to cry as they finally let out all of the emotions they had both been feeling this evening. Will hoped Lucas wouldn't hear them in the living room and he was relieved when he remembered Mike had closed the door to his bedroom when he arrived.
Once both boys had finally calmed down, Mike broke the hug. He was smiling hugely at Will, who smiled back and felt himself blush when Mike gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"I'm sorry for treating you so badly," Mike said. "I promise you, that ends now. I'm always gonna be here for you, Will. I promise."
"Crazy together, right?" Will asked.
Mike's breath hitched slightly and he smiled at Will.
"Yeah, crazy together," he replied.
Will started to lie down on his bed, his exhaustion finally getting to him. Mike stood up and turned off the light.
"Stay," Will pleaded.
"I'm not going anywhere, Will," Mike said before he crawled back into the bed. Mike shuffled until he was right next to Will. They wrapped their arms around each other until Will's head was resting on Mike's chest. Mike gave Will another kiss on the forehead before he closed his eyes.
"I love you, Mike."
"I love you, too, Will. Always."