Work Text:
It was March 22nd, 1978, Will Byers birthday. The young boy was turning 7, and Will remembers that he had never felt more miserable about it.
The boy's memories of the day still haunt him. It was nearing the end of his parents failing marriage, and his father, Lonnie, had grown increasingly violent.
He remembers being called a fag, a queer by him. He also vividly remembers being hit over the head with his own gifts, wrapped delicately by his mother.
He’d screamed for his brother and his mother, but it was not his lucky day. They were both out like a light, and Will had no choice but to bear what he was being given.
By the time his Mom and brother walked into the kitchen, Will was laying his head in his hands at the table, head pounding. He knew they could see the bruising, but Will kept quiet, a trait he’d always keep with him.
He’d been silently comforted by his brother, who grabbed him by his hand, and led him outside when his mother stormed into the living room. Distantly Will could hear shouts and screams. He silently cried into his brother's embrace.
…
It has been years since his Mom and Dad divorced, but the memories never left. They linger, reminiscent of unspoken rules. What he remembers dictates his every move, and his reactions. His therapist called it a ‘trauma response’.
It only makes it worse that he got bullied at school during the time, getting called a ‘gay fairy’. He had no escape and it left him adrift, alone.
He was starting to crack under the pressure.
That is, until an angel walked into his life. Or rather, came swinging.
An angel with curly, dark hair. An angel whose smile is the most infectious thing he’s ever seen. Mike Wheeler.
The two had become friends before the divorce, but only grew closer after Will began to open up afterwards. It had been hard before he was away from Lonnie, but Will gradually began sharing his interest in video games and comics with Mike at recess, who surprisingly loved them too.
It would take a while for Will to tell Mike about his past though. When he’d tell him, it’d been a year since the divorce and moving to his new home. His brother helped him build a ‘castle’, a fort which he suggested to call ‘Castle Byers’. It was perfect.
Will invited Mike over, something he’d finally felt comfortable doing in the past few months. This was his first time showing off Castle Byers to anyone, which had been finished the weekend prior, and he wanted to show Mike more than anybody.
He dragged Mike along, and Mike uttered ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever seen’ before running into the fort. Will followed close behind. They giggled as they settled in, and a comfortable silence blanketed the air.
Will took that quiet opportunity to open up. He vividly remembers how Mike’s eyes looked in that moment, ones that he knew he’d drown in if he wasn’t careful. He was so concerned. He had hugged Will, and it’s still probably the most intimate thing to happen to him. He misses how tender their friendship was when they were young.
Over the years, their friendship grew stronger, and so did their circle of friends, their Party. Their experiences grew along with them, good and bad.
Then Will faced the most traumatizing thing, something that even challenged his abusive father. He’d been pulled into the Upside Down.
And then nothing was the same after that.
…
Will was a different person when he returned. Not only was he distantly being controlled by the Mind Flayer, he was being treated like glass.
This upset him the most, and gradually his anxiety grew in intensity.
He remembers speaking with Mike, alone one day. He was shivering, so absurdly cold, and Mike had offered to sleep next to him. It was a strange offer, but Will hadn’t minded.
Mike began asking him odd questions, like if he really thought everything that happened to him was worth living for in the end. It caught Will off guard. Mike's breath hitched when Will responded with, ‘I don’t know’.
Mike never asked him those questions again, but he could feel the burning stare he held on him basically from that moment since then. He’s still scared after all of this time that he’ll disappear, and Will finds it a bit comforting. It’s the reason he loves him to death.
But Will has been recovering. So has everyone in Hawkins, and life has moved on. Will is in his senior year of highschool, still living in California, but things have changed again.
El no longer lives with him, now living with Hopper again. His Mom and Hopper decided to really take their relationship seriously after Will moves out, so all of his close friends live in Hawkins now. His brother also moved out, rooming with Nancy and Steve, something Will wasn’t sure would work but they seem to get along well.
His mother could finally afford getting him real therapy (not just the crappy school counselor), and it’s been the only way he hangs on now that his brother and El are gone. He never made friends in California after all.
He’s been lonely, so, so lonely. He still has nightmares of the Upside Down and his father from time to time, but he’s learned how to cope. It’s made him feel like a stronger person, but a part of him still resides in Hawkins. He’s like a husk.
So when he learns that his Mom finally wants to move back, he’s in tears. He and his mom hug, and they cry together out of happiness.
…
—Summer 89’—
When his eyes meet Mike’s, it’s like the world is colorful again. He’s just arrived at his new house in Hawkins alongside a massive moving truck, and to Will's surprise, Mike is standing directly outside.
Will feels the hot wells in his eyes spill as he fumbles with the car door handle.
“Hold on! It’s not unlocked,” Joyce laughs wetly, clearly just as emotional as he is.
When unlocked, Will stumbles out and into Mike’s arms, something he’s wanted to do for so long.
“I missed you so much!” Will grasps the boy's shirt, crying profusely into his shoulder.
Mike rubs Will’s back with his free arm and nuzzles into his hair. He’s whimpering, and Will can only interpret that as his own tears.
His body is trembling when Mike says, “It really wasn’t the same without you here.”
Will laughs even if it’s not all that funny, and Mike shares the laugh. They must seem crazy right now, but neither of them care. Everyone can stare and laugh all they want, but the hole in their hearts is finally filled and no one can take that away from them.
Mike ruffles Will’s hair when he pulls away slightly. Will looks up to meet the boy's gaze, one entirely focused on him. Mike’s cheeks are blotchy, stained a bright red. Will assumes his look the same, or probably worse.
“God, Will the Great, in all of his glory! In the flesh! Hell yes!” Mike squeals, squeezing the living daylights out of Will. Will gasps and chuckles.
“Let me go, you idiot!” Will hits Mike, grinning like he’d won the lottery. He might as well have.
Mike huffs and finally lets the boy go, but grabs his hand, “I need to show you something before you unpack.”
Will raises an eyebrow, but is pulled by Mike before he could protest.
Will hears his Mom jump out of the car, “You boys better be back sooner than later!” She shakes her head as they fade into the distance.
…
Hawkins hadn’t changed all that much. It’s still the same, very uninteresting town in all of existence, with only one secret. Ever since they sealed the Upside Down off once and for all those years ago, Hawkins returned to its regular, boring state. Old crooked trees, and trailer parks reside here in great masses. The place had some shithole parts, but it wouldn’t be Hawkins if it didn’t.
When Mike leads Will down a familiar road, Will almost feels lightheaded. His childhood home, the home he feels most connected to is down this road. Where are they going?
“Mike, you’re joking, this is by where my old house is,” Will glances at the other, “Don’t people live there now?”
Mike looks almost offended when he looks back at Will, “Well, duh. I’m not taking you to your old house and asking random people to let us in. We may be uh- trespassing though. Didn’t really think of that.”
Will blinks.
“Dude, c’mon! Tell me where we’re going!”
“Nope! No chance,” Mike smirks.
Will whines and rolls his eyes but shuts up when Mike pulls him off the road. When they begin traversing through the woods, Will almost expects Mike to yell, “Pranked you! Welcome back to Hawkins!” and run in the other direction, but he doesn’t. Instead Mike picks up speed.
Thank god Will lives close to his old house, because it would have made this walk ten times worse. Will yells at Mike to slow down, but he doesn’t and Will clumsily stumbles along.
…
Will almost faints when they reach their destination. He’s cried more times in the months leading up to this than any other time in his life, so it’s unfathomable how he still has fresh tears.
Mike pauses, letting the shock settle, bone-deep into Will.
“Surprise!”
It’s Castle Byers, completely revamped and brand new. It takes everything in Will to not collapse.
He takes a few steps forward, relishing in the way the sun hits his skin and warms him up from through the trees. He gently touches the fort, almost as if it’s not actually there.
“Did you do this?” Will whispers, dragging his finger along the fabric and peaking inside. It looks just as it did before he destroyed it, and to his surprise, he finds one new thing as well, a thick photobook.
“Yup, it was my idea. After you returned to California, the Party helped me to fix it up for whenever you’d return. Even Steve and Robin dropped by a few times.”
Will bends over and crawls into Castle Byers, quick to pick up the photobook. He opens it up, and finds photos that are new and old, ones from when he was a kid up until recently, taken by some of his friends. Some were silly, like Max and El sticking their blue tongues out at the camera while holding popsicles, but others were photos like the gang at the Snowball all those years back.
Will is already crying again, harder than ever. This has touched a part of him he’d thought he’d shut off a long time ago, whenever the stuff with the Upside Down ended, he’d sealed away his childhood, deeming it a failure; something to be forgotten. He thought it was the right thing to do, but he’d forgotten the good moments too; moments that mean everything to Will.
“Will, don’t cry again,” Mike chuckles, crawling in next to Will. He’s much taller than when they last saw each other, and he’s definitely slimmed out.
“It’s okay… I just-“ Will wipes at his eyes, “-this is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He can practically see Mike melt at this, and he brings a hand up to cup Will’s cheek. He smiles, “You deserve it, always deserve anything you’ve ever wanted.”
And Will blushes at this, looking anywhere but at Mike. Will taps the photobook. Maybe it’s time.
“I’ve been uh, thinking of telling you something for a long time, actually,” Will spits the words out, “And I mean a long time, like years. I just haven’t had the courage to tell you after everything I’ve been told by my father, by bullies. I’ve gotten better though and I feel like I can finally tell you.”
Mike removes his hand from Will’s cheek and interlocks both of his hands with Will’s. Will’s heart is beating out of his chest; He can see fireworks going off.
“You can tell me anything, you’re my best friend. We’re crazy together, right?” Mike’s caring eyes meet Will’s doe ones, which seems to calm him.
Will nods and inhales, “It’s a lot, so don’t roll your eyes if I ramble, okay?”
“I can guarantee that I’ve done worse things just being in Hellfire. Rambling is one of my many specialties.” Mike sarcastically grins.
Will giggles, flushing a bit. He watches Mike’s face crinkle, smiling slightly.
“Okay, so again, I’ve been wanting to say this for forever. I never wanted to hurt you, El, or our friends so I kind of kept this to myself, but now that you and El are just friends I feel okay with saying something,” Will waves the hands which Mike holds. He’s feeling flustered under the other boy's strong gaze, “God- it’s so hard to just say it.”
Mike cocks his head a bit, “If it’s any easier, you could wait and tell me later?”
Will cuts him off, “No! I’m… fine doing it now, I just need to pace myself, I guess. Just one second.”
Will looks down at their hands. One of Mike's thumbs softly swipes across Will’s knuckles, and Will can feel his heart slow.
He takes a breath in when he thinks his heartbeat is steady, and finally utters what he’s been locking up inside of him for all of this time,
“I am in love with you.”
Will refuses to look up and see Mike’s reaction. He continues, “I’m in love with you to such a degree that I can’t be myself without you. It feels like I’m missing a puzzle piece, I can’t live without you. I’ve missed you so badly that I’ve cried myself to sleep every night, and I’ve been anticipating this moment for so long I…”
Will pauses. Mike squeezes his hands, prompting him to continue.
“…I can’t see myself loving anyone else. From the moment we met, to when you comforted me when I told you about my father, and even after escaping the Upside Down, you’ve been by my side. Sure we’ve had our fair share of growing pains, like the things that went down the summer that the Starcourt Mall stuff happened, but you didn’t fail to eventually own up to it. I don’t think I could hate you for it even if I wanted to, I’m so head over heels.”
Will sneaks a glance at Mike, afraid to see his disgust. Instead, to his surprise, all he sees is pure adoration and love.
“So… that’s what I wanted to tell you.”
It’s quiet, bird chirping being the only sound reverberating through the forest surrounding the two. Will feels like they’re the only ones in the world right now.
“Wow,” Mike gasps, and Will almost thinks he might die. He fears he definitely said the wrong thing, but even then he knew he had to confess sooner or later, even if it results in heartbreak.
One of Mike’s hands unlocks itself from Will’s to gently lift up Will’s chin. Will finally breaks and watches Mike through his long eyelashes. Then, Mike presses a kiss to his forehead, his cheeks and nose.
Will’s eyebrows raise in wonder as he’s stunned into silence. He shakes ever so slightly as Mike leans in and kisses Will on the lips.
The kiss is gentle but passionate, one that Will ends up sinking into. Mike gently moves his hand from Will’s chin to the side of his face to deepen the kiss. Is Will floating? He must be dreaming.
“I. Love. You. Too.” Mike says in between kisses, lightly playing with the ends of Will’s hair.
Maybe he’s not alive. Maybe he’s in heaven, a place where he’d thought he’d end up so long ago. Will hums into each kiss, he’s on Cloud 9.
He had thought he’d lost his angel. He thought Mike had forgotten him, moved on to El and stopped caring for Will. It’s apparent, though, that that’s not the case. His angel has always been here to guard him, even when their relationship was on thin ice. Mike would do anything for Will, because he’s his Will.
Pupils blown wider than the sun, Mike and Will part.
“Happy late birthday present,” Mike smiles widely.
They both feel giddy, they feel like screaming until all of this pent up energy is released. Instead, Will wraps Mike in a feverish hug, stuffing his head between his shoulder and his neck, inhaling his scent. It smells like home.
“I love you so much Mike, my angel.”