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Will would never admit it but he was scared. Whenever someone asked to talk, he’d get really paranoid and wonder if they’d found out. If anyone found out it would be a disaster. He’d probably get kicked out of his house and loose all his friends.
He’d finally figured out what had been bothering for so long. That feeling that would creep up on him whenever he hung out around his best friend, or when he’d see a specially attractive guy walking across the street.
When he was little, the guy who he didn’t consider to be his father, Lonnie, would call him “queer” and “fag”. But Will was too young. Too young to understand, to know what those words meant. He didn’t even know that some guys liked other guys.
Unfortunately now he was very aware that some guys liked other guys. He was that guys who liked other guys. And he hated it. He didn’t understand why he’d been made this way. He wanted to be normal. God, why couldn’t he be normal and like girls.
The reason he’d realized all of this was because of Mike. God, Mike.
At first he thought all friends were like this. That everyone got all nervous around their friends. That everyone wanted to be in their friend’s basement with the with the rest of their life. That everyone wanted to kiss their friends.
But no, it wasn’t like that.
Whenever he was around Mike, his palms would go sweaty and his heart would start racing. Sometimes Mike would sit a little too close to Will and his head would start spinning. The only thing on his mind being his best friend’s lips.
Being away from Mike after moving away was so hard. Specially since Mike would only ever call to talk to El. Will would constantly have dreams about being back in Hawkins with him and being able to kiss him, to run his hands through his hair, to feel his soft skin, to hear Mike whisper his name under his breath as they kissed softly.
He’d always wake up disappointed that it was just a dream and that he in fact hadn’t kissed Mike.
When Mike got to California, Will had been so excited. But of course Mike only wanted to see El, to be with El. And Will felt like shit because of it. He hated seeing them kiss, and… just be a couple.
God, how he wished he were Eleven. He wished Mike would get that excited to see her, he wished Mike would hug him like that, he wished Mike would kiss him.
But it would never happen.
——————
Even though Will knew Mike would never reciprocate his feelings, Will really wanted to tell him. He’s been keeping this a secret for four years, and he really wanted to tell him
Now was the perfect time for that. Jonathan an Argyle we’re sleeping in the front seats while Will and Mike sat, awake, in the back.
“Mike…” Will whispered, getting Mike’s attention. “can we,, talk about something?”
Mike nodded, turning his body towards Will, “yeah, is everything okay?”
Will nodded, “yeah.. i just… you know when we were burying,.. yknow” Mike nodded once again, “how i said that talking about ‘stuff like that’ was difficult, specially with people you care about, because… what if they don’t like the truth” Mike just nodded again, “i’ve been meaning to tell you something for a while.”
“what is it?”
“it’s actually the reason why i’ve been such an ass to El, even tho she doesn’t deserve it” Will closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “since I came back from the Upside Down, i’ve noticed how important you are to me. I’ve realized i don’t like being away from you, and how my heart races when you do just as much as sit next to me. I love just being with you, talking to you. I love it when you sit just a bit too close to me, and when you’d put your hand on top of mine to stop me from shaking”
“what’re you saying”
Will let out a soft laugh, “i— i just” he got closer to Mike, their knees touching. He cupped Mike’s cheeks and leaned closer until their lips touched. His heart was beating so fast he swore it was gonna beat right out of his chest, while he felt like there was a tornado in his stomach. Mike’s lips were chapped but it felt nice against Will’s.
The kiss lasted only for two seconds. But that was enough for Will. He knew that was as much as he’d ever get, so he was happy with it. He looked up at Mike. Even in the dark Will could tell his cheeks were flushed.
Will quickly moved back, away from Mike, “sorry. I shouldn’t have done that”
Mike didn’t say anything. In fact he didn’t say anything for a while. So they sat there in silence. The kiss was great while it lasted but, man Will really fucked up. Now Mike was gonna yell at him and tell him he was disgusting, probably call him names and tell him they couldn’t be friends anymore.
“…please say something”
Mike slowly looked up at him, “um…”
Mike slowly scooted closer to Will, he hesitantly leaned in, connecting their lips again. Will almost gasped at the feeling of Mike’s lips on his again. He wrapped his arms around Mike’s neck, tangling his fingers through his hair.
Mike wrapped both his arms around Will, bringing him closer, their chests against each other’s, feeling both their rapid heartbeats. It was all too good to be true.
“please tell me you’re just kissing” they heard Jonathan say with a raspy, sleepy voice.
They quickly pulled away and Mike scooted back to his seat, “Jonathan… we-“ he cleared his throat. “we were just um—“
“kiss all you want, i don’t care. Just don’t do anything g more than kiss”
Jonathan went back to sleep. Will and Mike looked at each other awkwardly, “so… what does this mean for us?” Mike hesitantly took Will’s hand.
“…i don’t know… we’ll figure it out”