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It was night time : the street lamps and the moon were the only sources of light.
That’s when Will heard something small hit his window. At first, he didn’t pay attention to the noise, until it happened again and again. He got out of his bed with a sigh and opened the curtains, expecting a stupid bird or something.
No stupid birds around, but another stupid little thing was throwing rocks at his window : Mike Wheeler.
The brunet raised an eyebrow because what the hell . It was literally 2am. He opened the window and got a small rock thrown at his forehead.
“Ouch—”
“Will !” the raven-haired one said, as quietly as possible, but loudly enough for the other teenager to hear him despite being on the second floor.
“Mike…” he groaned, massaging his forehead after the small hit. “What are you doing here ?”
“Well, can’t I just say hi to my best friend ?”
“At 2am ? Maybe not.”
“Well, that’s too late, I’m already here.” Mike said, almost cheekily. “But I arrived with a little something !”
The brunet put his elbow on the space the opened window left and his chin against the palm of his hand, showing interest in that way, but also looking unimpressed. It’s not that he wasn’t happy to see his friend : It was actually surprisingly very cute. But he was tired and just wanted to draw in peace.
The taller teenager then showed what the little something in question was.
“Wha— Did you steal it ?!”
“No, who do you think I am ? I bought it myself !” Mike said, jokingly acting offended. “The perfect Harley bike…”
“It’s very pretty…” Will admitted. He wasn’t necessarily a huge bike fan, but he could appreciate them sometimes. He actually could even drive one a little thanks to Jonathan, but he was only 15 and needed to wait to be 16 to actually drive.
The dark-haired one gave a big smile, looking (excessively) proud of it, but it made the brunet’s heart melt a little. He smiled back but got a little confused :
“Why didn’t you decide to show it to me tomorrow, though ? We’re supposed to meet up with Dustin and Lucas in the afternoon.” he then said.
“I couldn’t wait for tomorrow to show it to you ! And besides…” Mike trailed off, suddenly looking a little more hesitant. “I was wondering if you’d uh…If you’d like to try it out with me, or something.”
Will could see how awkward his friend was upon asking for this.
“Are you sure you want to try it with me ?”
“Hell yeah !” The raven-haired teenager quickly said. “The roads are empty…And the lights are pretty and all…”
“Aren’t you too young to drive ?” The brunet asked, this time with a smirk, because it was fun to embarrass Mike.
“It doesn’t matter !” he fussed.” So, are you joining me or not ?”
Will pursed his lips, pretending to be pensive on purpose just to annoy the other teenager. He took his sweet time before answering.
“Fine, I guess I’ll give it a go.”
Mike’s smile at the reply wasn’t something the brunet could describe very well, but he could feel how genuinely happy it was. He playfully rolled his eyes while smiling too and closed his window.
He grabbed his favourite coat before quietly leaving his bedroom and going downstairs : the house wasn’t too old, so the wooden floor wasn’t very creaky. He managed to leave the house pretty easily and joined Mike.
“Hey.” he softly said.
“Hey…” the dark-haired one replied and they both shared a smile.
To Will, it felt surreal : just imagine your crush coming to your house at 2am and basically telling you that they’d like to spend time with you with something that excites them. Absolutely crazy.
They both stared at each other in silence until the brunet had the initiative of breaking it.
“So, I suppose you’d like to be the one controlling the bike ?”
“Yeah ! Yeah.” Mike eagerly nodded, which made Will chuckle.
Another silence.
“...So ?”
“Oh uh, let’s go.” the taller one finally said and hopped on the bike, quickly followed by his friend.
No helmets because they were too cool for that.
Will knew that Mike had been taking driving lessons as well, so he had total faith in him. Plus, it’d be quite sad to die from a bike crash after surviving against demogorgons and Vecna. Tragic, even. And perhaps a little stupid.
“You should hum, hold on tight.” the raven-haired teenager warned his friend who nodded in response.
The brunet wrapped his arms around Mike’s waist, which slightly made the latter lightheaded. Having Will’s arms around him like that felt so…
Hm.
“Is it okay like that ?” the brunet asked.
“Mmhh yeah, are you ready ?”
“I am !”
The dark-haired teenager turned on the bike, as focused as possible. Will couldn’t see his face, but he was convinced that Mike had his tongue slightly out because of how serious he was about this : the thought made him smile.
And that’s how the Harley began to go forward, in an incredibly smooth way thanks to the good road.
It felt thrilling for the both of them : for Will because he got to spend time with his favourite person and got to go a little crazy because he left without a say. For Mike because he got to have the brunet close to him and because he got to share one of his favourite things with his closest friend.
The wind hit their faces, but it felt refreshing in the best way possible : summer nights were always something they both enjoyed, unless there were too many mosquitoes of course.
Soon enough, they reached a big, large road where Mike could unleash the bike’s full speed.
“Oh holy shit— ” Will cursed, which surprised the other one.
“Is it okay ?” he asked his friend, because he didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable or scared.
“Are you kidding me ?! It’s more than okay ! It’s awesome !” the brunet answered and Mike could hear the way he smiled while talking. He wished he could see it, though. “Woohoo !”
The raven-haired one giggled at the enthusiasm and joined in.
“Woohoo, yeah ! We’re freeee !” he loudly said as they were going inside a well-lit, echoey tunnel.
“WE’RE FREEEE !”
The giggles turned into joyful laughs : freedom ! That’s how freedom felt like. No highschool, no parents, no crazy demogorgons nor dangerous scientists, no government behind their backs. Just the two of them enjoying a big ride.
Will’s grip around Mike’s waist tightened and the latter could feel the brunet’s head go against his back. It made his heart skip a beat, which felt ridiculous to him. Will obviously just wanted more security.
The dark-haired teenager slowed the bike down a little, so they could enjoy the moment a little more. They were currently riding next to the beach and the view was beautiful thanks to the moonlight, making them look at it in awe.
“How about we stop there for a while ?” Will suggested.
“Good idea.” Mike accepted and stopped the bike after a minute.
He parked it next to a tree and both teenagers got off it. They stood in front of the beach and the brunet decided to walk on the sand, quickly followed by his friend.
The wind there was stronger than next to Will’s house, which made the raven-haired one shiver. The brunet was quick to notice : he took off his coat and put it around Mike’s shoulders.
“You’re going to be cold.” the taller one said but Will shook his head.
“You’ve always been someone who gets easily cold. I don’t freeze as fast as you do.” He reassured him and Mike slowly nodded, sliding his arms into the sleeves. The coat was warm enough, especially because the brunet had been wearing it for quite a while. Maybe, that was why the warmth felt welcoming.
They both sat down in front of the water, their attention on the beautiful scenery. For Will, it was the water and its light waves who would slightly brush his feet. For Mike, it was the moon who was avoided by the clouds, but his gaze slowly turned towards his best friend who was bathing in the soft, white light.
He would be lying if he said that he had never noticed how gorgeous the brunet was until now : because he did, and he couldn’t understand why. Why did he find Will that good looking ?
He had encountered the same problem with Eddie, who he found strangely attractive, too. Which made him question himself. He felt like he was supposed to only find girls attractive…Not guys as well. But that was a problem for another time : for now, he wanted to enjoy the moment he was sharing with his best friend.
“Mike ?”
The said Mike snapped out of his trance, realizing that he had been staring for too long.
“Yeah ?” he awkwardly answered.
“Are you okay ?”
“Oh, yeah, of course !” He quickly nodded. “Got lost in my thoughts.”
Will simply nodded, used to Mike spacing out from time to time. He then noticed something on the latter’s shoulder.
“Wait, don’t panic,” he started, “but there’s a bug on your shoulder.”
“What ? Where ? Where is it ?! Which shoulde—”
“I said don’t panic !” The brunet started chuckling and removed the bug, carefully taking it into his hands. “It’s just this little guy. No big deal.”
“Toss it into the water !” The dark-haired one loudly said.
“No way !”
“Kill it !”
“I won’t !” Will said and simply put the bug on the sand, letting it go away on its own. “Not everything has to be killed just because you're a scaredy cat.”
“I’m not a scaredy cat…” Mike huffed, making his friend giggle even more. “I’m just careful. What if it’s another baby demogorgon.”
“Right, right.” the brunet playfully rolled his eyes, deciding to not mention how Mike used to be scared of bugs even before the Upside Down happened. “It’s kinda cute, though.”
“Is it ?”
“Yeah.”
The raven-haired teenager softly nodded and forced himself to tear away his gaze from Will’s face. Which was unbearably difficult.
It was currently 3am, but none of them felt tired. Actually, being together was recharging their batteries. They’ve never felt sick of each other, no matter how much time they spent together.
Well…Maybe Will did feel a little sick of Mike at some point. But it was mostly due to the black-haired one’s behaviour from a while ago, and not because of his presence. Since then, things have improved.
“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it ?” Will suddenly asked.
Mike started overthinking : did the brunet actually mean that the moon was beautiful, or did he mean something else by that ?
Because see, the raven-haired teenager wasn’t exactly the best at paying attention in class, but he did remember the teacher talking about Natsume Soseki and his infamous quote about the moon, which was about love.
Mike glanced at Will, who seemed alright. But the way his feet were slightly moving indicated that he was a bit nervous.
The dark-haired one swallowed, suddenly feeling a little stressed, too. Why, though ? It was no big deal. The moon was pretty, absolutely. But why did the sentence make his heart flutter so much ? He felt like he was in a bad romance movie that his mother would watch at night.
Romance ? No no no. Why did he even feel like he was in a romantic movie in the first place ?
“M-Maybe, yeah. It quite is.” he awkwardly answered a minute later, his fingers becoming fidgety. He couldn’t see the way Will swiftly looked at him, with a very small smile creeping up on his face.
“Cool.”
“Cool.”
All of a sudden, the brunet got up and extended his arm towards his best friend.
“I’m hungry, lead us to a supermarket.”
“Do you think there are open stores right now ?” Mike asked, accepting Will’s help to get up.
“Yeah, there are small night shops everywhere, especially around the beach.”
“Oh, right,” the black-haired one said, forgetting to let go of the brunet’s hand. They stood there for a while.
“So ?”
“Mmh yeah, good idea.” Mike nodded (a little too quickly) and finally took his hand back.
They went back to the bike and looked for a store. Will was right : there were quite a few and it was easy to find one. Once they entered the biggest one they could find, they started browsing through the shelves.
“Oh, I should take those for El,” the brunet mumbled to himself and took a pack of his sister’s favourite snack.
“How is she, by the way ?” Mike asked.
“Oh, she’s doing good.” Will smiled, “She even took a liking to badminton.”
“Oh yeah ? That’s nice.”
“Yeah ! But she cheats with her powers sometimes.” he chuckled. “She never cheats when she plays it with me, though. But she does with Hopper. It drives him crazy.”
The taller teenager smiled, happy to hear that the people he cared about the most got along so well together. He was glad there was no tension after everything that had happened between him and El.
“I’m glad she found something fun to do.” he simply answered, taking something to eat as well.
There was another advantage to this market : there was a microwave and seats where they could peacefully eat.
They went to the cashier to pay for the items.
“...How old are you two ? It’s late.” the cashier nonchalantly asked.
As Mike was about to speak up, he got interrupted by his friend :
“We’re seventeen.”
The cashier tiringly looked back and forth between the, actually, fifteen year olds, before scanning the products.
The black-haired one looked at Will with a surprised smile and the other one answered with a smug grin. Once they got their food, they went to the microwave.
“I think I just discovered a new side of you,” Mike said, “What did California do to you ?”
“I guess I’m just that hungry.” the brunet simply chuckled.
“Damn.” the taller one smiled again.
Somehow, everything about Will was soft, but also very cool, which didn’t leave Mike indifferent. It actually made him feel all giddy.
They sat down to eat, right next to the big window that gave them a nice view of the beach.
“Yuck, tomatoes,” the dark-haired one complained and gave them to the brunet, because he knew he loved them. In exchange, Will gave him his pickles. It was very practical for both of them. “What were you doing up so late before I came ?” he then asked.
“Oh, just drawing. You know, the usual.” the brunet casually answered. “I was trying out the watercolours my mother gave me. It’s not really popular anymore, but I think it’s better than the current wave of neo-expressionism…”
“Neo-what ?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Will chuckled. “Something that’s a little too contemporary, even for me.”
“Will you show me the final result ?”
“Sure, if you’d like to see it.”
“Of course I’d like to, I’d love to !” Mike quickly said. “I love everything you do !”
“Oh wow— ” the artist giggled, “That was intense.”
“I—”
“I’ll show it to you, no worries. You can even come see how I do it, if you want.”
“Yeah ! That’d be nice.”
Will smiled at his friend’s excitement. He wasn’t surprised at it, but it was always welcome with open arms.
And once they were done eating, they left the market and decided to walk around the city a little : it was very well lit, ranging from the buildings’ glow to neon lights. Basically, it was the typical night life that you’d see in movies.
There weren’t as many people as in during the day, but the streets were still quite lively.
Obviously, it wasn’t all that great : they could clearly see suspicious looking people lurking in the darkness of small alleys, some others were drunk, and a few others were seemingly rich, but also arrogant. But as long as they didn’t approach them, they were safe.
“Youuu maaake me feel, miiighty reaaal…” Will softly sang along with a song that was loudly playing inside of a club. It was a song from Sylvester that he really enjoyed.
Mike fondly smiled at the brunet’s sudden enthusiasm, because it was nice seeing Will being so unapologetically himself. He then took a look around and, to his surprise, he saw many couples holding hands…People of the same gender.
He then glanced towards the brunet to see what his reaction was in front of it : nothing. Will just kept comfortably walking. Actually, he looked even more confident. So confident that Mike was in awe : it was the way his best friend was walking with much more determination, with a straight back and his chin up. He was dazzling.
Damn, holy shit.
That was something else.
The taller teenager looked behind and noticed that the music came from a small gay club. He did hear about how popular those were becoming in bigger cities. Well, he didn’t really mind, actually. But now it made sense why so many couples were out like this, especially at night.
Will took a look at his watch.
“It’s 4am…I think we should head home !” he urgently said, to which Mike eagerly nodded.
“Let’s go !”
They started running back to the scooter, both with a huge grin plastered on their faces. It was an urgent matter because Joyce had to go to work at 5am this time, so it was important to come back without her seeing them.
While running, they tried to avoid all of the people that were around, stupidly giggling.
At some point, Will grabbed Mike’s hand to make him go faster. The raven-haired teenager tightened his grip around his friend’s hand, just like the latter did earlier on the bike around his waist.
The brunet glanced back for a second to see how Mike was handling the speed : his cheeks were red and his smile was mischievous. Once again, it made the black-haired one’s heart swoon.
When they finally arrived to the motorcycle, they quickly hopped on it and left the city center at full speed, adrenaline rushing through their veins.
“We really need to do it again, someday !” Will loudly said, definitely not regretting getting out of his comfort zone.
“Definitely !” Mike happily chuckled, but stayed focused because he didn’t want to cause an accident.
“Maybe with Dustin and Lucas next time ?”
“Mmmhh…” the other one lowly hummed, “I think it should be our thing, ya know ?”
Will smirked and put his forehead against his friend’s shoulder blade.
“Good answer.”
***
“There we are…” Mike mumbled and put a foot on the floor, still sitting on the motorbike.
Both teenagers then got off the bike and Will smiled, touching the vehicle.
“Alright, I get the hype, now. It was awesome.”
“Yeah ? You enjoyed it ?”
“Yeah !” the brunet enthusiastically answered. “Even when we weren’t on the bike, it was great. Thank you, Mike.”
The raven-haired teenager genuinely smiled at the words, one of his feet playing against the ground.
“O-oh, no big deal, I just thought it’d uh, be fun, with you, y’know.” he awkwardly started. “And it felt like I discovered you again, like I mean I saw new sides of you, I mean I think it was great that you were yourself but also like this, so confident, I mean I— ”
“Calm down, calm down,” Will chuckled, cupping Mike’s face while standing on his tippy toes. “I guess it’s fun to get out of my comfort zone from time to time. I think you should try to get out of it, too. Someday.”
And before the taller one could ask his friend what he was talking about, he felt a quick peck on his cheek.
The brunet backed off, a smug smile on his face upon seeing Mike’s flabbergasted facial expression.
Normally, he’d feel nervous about it : but he wasn’t a fool. Mike was the fool for thinking that Will didn’t notice the numerous, fond glances and stares he received from him. The way he was in awe because of him. The way he was awkward and even nervous sometimes.
The brunet had never felt so confident and happy before. He felt fulfilled. Because, this time, he knew how things would work out.
He started to head back to his house.
“Good night, Michael. Think about the moon.” he said before silently opening the door and entering his place.
All Mike could do was softly wave goodbye, looking like a fish with his open mouth. He didn’t even have the time to give him his coat back.
When his friend was out of his sight, he softly put his hand against his own cheek, without noticing the way his lips slowly curved into a smile.
Damn, Will Byers was so cool.
Mike Wheeler loved it.