Work Text:
It was late at night and all four of the boys have decided that they need a rest or take a break at least, so they sleep in the van. Jonathan and Argyle are sleeping at the front seats while Mike and Will are at the back.
It wasn’t exactly as comfortable to sleep as it was on a bed but considering how things are going right now, they’d rather not complain.
They took turns staying up as they thought one of them keeping an eye out would be a good idea, in case they were attacked or some car was suddenly headed towards them.
Though Jonathan insisted on just Argyle and him to stay up so Will & Mike would get enough sleep, they protested (mainly will) and he didn’t want to argue because of how tired he was.
It’s Mike’s turn after Jonathan. He was doing whatever they told him to do. Look out the windows, but keep your head low, check the back, both sides, etc.
Then suddenly, a bag fell on his knee. It was a black backpack.
It wasn’t his.. so who’s was it? Will’s probably , he thought. Mike places the bag back to where it was but it was then he noticed a roll of paper. It looked familiar.. but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Great. Uh, what’s that?” he asked curiously. Was it a gift for him?
Will hesitated, thinking of something to say.
“Um, it’s nothing. Just this painting I’ve been working on.”
‘Oh. It’s that painting. The painting for the girl he likes. Since when did Will even start to have feelings for girls? O-Or anyone!’ Mike thought. Did he suddenly change his view on them and he didn’t even bother to tell him?
He stares at the painting blankly, as if it meant nothing to him or he was annoyed by it.
“Cool.” he says, looking at an unfamiliar guy with long dark hair afterwards.
It was that damn painting again. Why would Will even pack the painting? Was she really that special that he had to keep this paper fully intact and protected? Why would he even make one for her? And who was this girl anyway? Was it Angela? Mike had so many questions in his head that he desperately needed answers to.
But.. he just decides to look away, hoping to forget about the painting that bothered him oh, so much. Then he hears his friend shifting in his sleep, he turns around to see Will was now facing away from him.. and away from the bag.
Mike thinks about it for a second, wanting to respect Will’s privacy but also kind of offended that he didn’t even tell him that he had feelings for someone.
They are best friends after all.
No, wait, were best friends.
Now, they’re just.. friends. They’ve grown apart. Even before Will moved away, their relationship was growing distant by the minute. He wished they were back to how it was back then. Closer than ever, and nothing getting in the way.
But everything was different now. Now Mike has a girlfriend, and Will likes someone else. Someone that’s not him. He should be happy right? Happy that his friend is finally getting out there, meeting new people and having new friends.
But somehow, he isn’t. He feels jealous.. and angry . Not at Will, but at himself. If he just paid more attention to him, maybe they would get closer, maybe they could be best friends again, or.. something more..?
‘No,’ he muttered. ‘Don’t be stupid. Will isn’t like me — he’s not one of those people.. he’s not gay, right? If he was, he would’ve told me by now.’
Mike closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in, and out, then opens them again.
Fuck it! It’s not like he would even notice it got unrolled. Plus, he could always just say Jonathan or Argyle did it, not him.
He turns his head back towards the bag and carefully unzips it, worried that he might wake someone up. When there was enough space, he gently took the roll, glancing at Will every now and then to make sure he didn’t switch positions.
Ahah! Now he has the painting. He faced the window so he could perfectly see it under the moonlight.
Mike then realises that Will hadn’t made a drawing for him in years. He remembers receiving them on his birthday.
Every year Will would draw him, his D&D character or a memory they shared together and it would be one of the greatest gifts he’d ever gotten. Probably even the best.
Don’t get him wrong, toys are great and all, he loved it when Dustin and Lucas gave him a lego set or a new Star Wars figurine but Will’s just felt different. Maybe it’s because he made it, himself? Mike doesn’t even know.
He shakes his head, trying to focus on the painting, right now, in front of him. ‘Okay, I’m gonna stop stalling and actually open it.’ he says to himself.
Mike then starts a countdown in his head.
‘Three,’ he pulls the string up from the roll.
‘Two,’ he places it beside him.
‘One.’ he grips the paper.
He then unrolls it, expecting to see Angela or some girl beside Will. Or maybe a portrait of someone twirling their hair.. but it was neither of those things.
It was a painting of him and Will. The day they met. They’re on the swings, together. He rubbed his eyes, surely his vision was just messing with him?
They weren’t.
Was this.. a gift for him? But El said it was for a girl. Maybe the person beside Will is a girl.. they both just shared the same hairstyle and colour?
No.. it was wearing the same exact outfit he wore years ago. It was him.
There was a big tree on the side, clouds above, some grass at the bottom and the swings in the centre of it all. Both their faces were looking at each other, filled with nothing but pure joy.
He remembers it perfectly, it was one of the few memories he could and would never forget. How could he? It was a beautiful moment.
“Wow..” he whispers, very shocked at how wonderfully made it was. Oh, how he wished he could relive that memory. Mike wishes he could stare at it for hours and not get caught but he couldn’t; no one even knows that he’s seen it.
He takes a deep breathe and begins to roll it back when—
“You weren’t supposed to see that..” A voice spoke in the dark, startling Mike and making him jump.
It was Will, he’s awake. How did Mike not notice? He must be too busy observing the painting..
“Not until I give it to you anyway.” Will added.
Mike closes the painting and puts the string back on.
“Sorry, I was curious..” he admits.
He hands the paper back to Will, thinking he was upset.. he surprisingly wasn’t.
Will stares at him, taking it. “No, I.. I should’ve just handed it to you at the airport. But you just seemed out of it.”
“Out of it?” Mike asked.
His friend sighs, thinking of a response.
“I-I don’t know, you.. you seemed like you didn’t care at all. I thought it was because you didn’t wanna see me, that you only wanted to talk to El and spend time with her — well, you probably did.” Will stares at him with what seemed like a sad look on his face.
Mike furrowed his brows in confusion.
“Now I was just waiting.. waiting for the perfect time to give it to you but it looks like you’ve already seen it. There goes the surprise, I guess.” He lets out a nervous laugh, moving closer to his bag and putting the painting back inside.
Mike opens his mouth, thinking of something to say to make him feel better.
“Listen, I.. it wasn’t because I didn’t care about you.. I did want to see you, Will. I did! El, she told me that you were painting something, for a girl. And I guess I just got a little jealous.. you know?”
Mike glances up at Will only to see his eyes had grown wider along with a confused look on his face. He then realises what he had said, ‘Jealous.’
“Um, no wait, I meant— I got—”
“A girl? What girl? Weren’t you the one to tell me I didn’t like them?” Will raises his eyebrow, interrupting him.
Mike swallowed, remembering what he had said a while back, still regretting it. “Yeah, but that was months ago and.. El said that you were acting weird — you still are by the way.”
His friend scoffed, but he laughed softly.
“She thought you had a crush.” He added.
Will sighs once more, “Well, she’s not way off..”
His smile dropped, now curious as to what Will meant. “Not way off?”
“Even after all these years you still have a habit of repeating words, have you ever noticed?”
Mike ignored it, still waiting for an answer.
“Okay, well.. uh, how do I say this?” He stares at Jonathan and Argyle at the front of the van, like he was.. making sure they weren’t awake.
“I- um, are they asleep?”
Mike, who's still confused, glances at them.
“They should be.”
He turns back to Will, noticing his worried look.
“Hey.. are you okay?” Mike whispers, lightly brushing his fingers against Will’s. That seemed to grab his attention.
“Y-Yeah, yeah..”
“How about we talk outside and get some air? We won’t wake them up that way.” He offers, glancing at the full moon outside.
Will hesitates, but nodded ‘yes’ afterwards. Mike carefully slides the van door open, lending him a hand to hold as he gets down.
“Thanks..” His friend says awkwardly.
Mike looked around for a thing they could sit on, something that wasn’t too uncomfortable. He then spots a huge rock not too far from the van and points to it.
“There. We can go there.”
Once the two of them reached the rock, Mike jumped up to sit (it was a tall one). He stares down at Will and held out his hand for him to reach. It was just now he noticed how soft his friend’s hand is.
How Will could paint and draw yet manage to keep his hands like that is one of the mysteries Mike, himself, still can’t figure out.
Will took his hand, jumping up to sit next to him. He then adjusts his sleeve — he always fidgets with his clothes when he’s nervous or thinking and this worries Mike. What was he gonna say?
“Could you promise me something?” Will asked, without looking at the boy beside him.
Mike was now puzzled (again) , more than ever. What was he gonna say that was so bad it would require a promise? “Yeah man. What is it?”
“Could you promise me that no matter what happens, we’re still friends? That you won’t think I’m different after this? But if you don’t want to talk to me ever again, it’s fine, I totally get it.”
He was taken aback. Nothing could ever make him stop being friends with Will, nothing. “Will, of course we’ll still be friends. We’ll still be best friends. Crazy together, right?”
Will smiles fondly at the memory coming back to him. “I don’t think you’ll think that when I say it to you.” the happiness on his face quickly disappears.
Silence filled the air around them. The two of them clueless as to what to say next.
Will speaks, “What you said about El.. she’s, uh, well, not wrong..” his hand shaking on his knee.
“You.. you have a crush ?”
“Well, I—I mean..” He stutters, not even knowing if he should say it or not.
“I don’t even know if it’s a crush anymore, if I’m being honest. I really like this person, I have been for the longest time. And I’ve been giving them the most obvious hints, like making them a painting but.. they’re so oblivious. Now it looks like it’s too late, they already like someone else, a-and I don’t understand if they’re stupid, angry or purposely ignoring me — I-I don’t know but.. I really like them. Even they don’t like me that way, it’s fine.. but they’re really special to me and I’ll always be there for them, even if they’re not there for me.”
Mike’s heart drops. El turns out to be right all along. Who was he kidding? Will’s not like him, he doesn’t think of him that way. There’s no way he does.
“Oh wow.. um, she sounds really, really cool.” His eyes stinging with tears but he refused to let them out. Not here, not now, and definitely not in front of Will. “W-What does she look like?”
“You’re just gonna assume they’re a she?”
He turns to face Will, one of his eyebrows raised.
‘She—they— what? Did he say ‘they’? How did I not notice? Does he—Is he— is it a boy..?’ Mike’s head was racing with thoughts. It was then he saw that there were tears falling from his friend’s eyes. They were both crying.
“Are they.. are they not a girl?”
“Yeah—I mean, no.. h-he’s not..” he managed to say through his shaky breath.
It took some time for Mike to get through his trail of thoughts.. he wasn’t even sure if he heard Will correctly. He chews his lip, unsure of what to do, say.. or ask .
“You probably think I’m disgusting now, do you? It’s okay, Mike.. I completely understand. I don’t even know why I’m like this — like a mistake . I really wish I wasn’t but I just.. I don’t know .”
“No.” Mike replies sternly. “Listen to me Will, you’re not disgusting, okay? And you’re not a mistake. I don’t know where you got that from but you’re wrong. We—we just can’t help who we like. It just happens, i-it’s not a choice and we can’t control it, you know?”
His friend finally turns to him, rubbing his nose. “Yeah.. you’re right. That’s probably the most smartest thing you’ve ever said in your 14 years of life,”
“Hey! I’m gonna turn 15 in a few days.”
Will lets out a teary laugh. “Then 15 years of life then, which is worse!”
Mike beams softly, noticing how.. great — or cute Will looks. The moonlight perfectly highlighted his features, his smile, and those dark green eyes he could get lost in forever.
No. Stay focused, Mike. This is not the time to get distracted.
“So.. what’s he like? Is he kind?”
Will sighs. “He is, he actually is. I.. I actually don’t know what went wrong between us or what I did wrong but I hope he’s happy. I just wished he didn’t.. push me away. My friendship with him is more important than my feelings but even that is falling apart. We don’t even see each other anymore. I have no idea what to do..”
He looks down, who is this person and why would he even think of pushing Will away? He’s the kindest, most talented and amazing person ever.. there would be no reason to. “You can try talking to him.”
“That’s the thing, I have, on multiple occasions. But guess what? He pushed me away again . I wished he called more, or just checked up on me. A letter or two would’ve been fine but I got nothing.. absolutely nothing .” Will says, wiping the tears away from his face.
Mike frowns, something inside him aches with guilt. He hates seeing Will crying. Mike remembers taking him home or hugging him when he’d get those visions from the upside down years ago. He wished he could do the same now but he can’t.
Well, there is one thing he can do right now, he can try to comfort Will.
He hesitates for a moment, deciding whether or not it was even a good idea. Mike brushes his thoughts away and wraps his arms around him.
Will sniffles and gives in, crying on Mike’s shoulder as his shaky palms clung onto him.
Mike takes a deep breath and softens his voice.
“Shh, it’s gonna be okay, Will. It’s gonna be okay. Of course he I wanted to talk to you. H-He I probably was just too scared that you don’t feel that way about him me.. that he I might just embarrass himself myself by telling you. He’s I’m just so lost now that you guys we don’t see each other anymore.”
His chest then starts to feel tight; he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to hold his tears back this time.
“A-And he probably doesn’t I don’t know when or how to tell you — he probably doesn’t I don’t even know if he I should be liking you this way. Maybe that’s why he’s I’ve been ignoring you.. because maybe.. just maybe , he’ll I’llstop having these stupid feelings. But he does I do care about you, Will. I do He does. More than you know.”
Will slowly lets go and faces Mike.
“You really think so?” He smiles weakly, a tear falling from his eye.
“Yeah.. yeah, I really do.”
He chuckles, but it wasn’t just any chuckle — it was a genuine one, like he was actually happy.
Mike admires him, glancing between his two green eyes, thankful that he at least cheered his friend up a bit. Then, without any hesitation or even thinking, he cups Will’s face and leans in to kiss him.
Will’s eyebrows raised and his eyes widened.
All Mike could think of was how right this felt, how long he’d been wanting to do this, how soft Will’s lips are. He never really believed it when people on TV said kissing someone you liked so much for the first time would feel like time had stopped and you’d feel butterflies in your stomach.. but now he definitely does.
Well, he did kind of feel that way when he first kissed El but there was one exception.. it didn’t feel right . Sure, he felt a bit happy and flustered when it happened but this kiss with Will was somehow different. It didn’t matter why , it just was.
He slowly pulls away, his eyes meeting the ones he was so lost in just a few moments ago. He realises what he had just done.
“Oh, s-shit. Will, I’m—I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking I—”
His words are cut off by Will closing the air between them.
He drops whatever he was thinking and just leans into it. Afterall, this wasn’t something he experiences everyday so it’s better to enjoy it while it lasts, you know?
Mike wipes the almost-dry tears on Will’s cheeks while Will grips onto the fabric of Mike’s shirt.
The kiss lasted for a few more seconds before both of the boys pulled away, looking in opposite directions.
Nothing but the sound of wind faintly swirling around them could be heard.
Still not daring to face each other, Will smirks and blushes. His hand moves to find another to hold.
Mike, however.. his entire face was red, his eyes wide open, still trying to process what just happened.
‘Did.. we.. just… KISS!?’ as childish as his thoughts were, he didn’t care. He just couldn’t believe it.
‘Will likes me too? Was I the one he was talking about? How long has he liked me? Why didn’t I notice? How didn’t I notice?’
He sheepishly turns back to Will, who was still facing the other way. He sees his hand between them just laying there.. like it was waiting to be held or something. Mike scoffs, and takes it, putting it on top of his.
Will finally looks at him with a soft smile on his face. He intertwined their fingers, reciprocating Mike’s feelings.
“Soo,” Mike scratches his head. “Was I.. the one you were talking about?”
The brown-haired boy giggles.
“Mike, oh my god.. sometimes your total obliviousness just blows my mind. Of course, I was talking about you. I even said that I made ‘them’ a painting and you just saw mine minutes ago!”
“Ohh…” Mike laughs and covers his face in embarrassment. “I’m so stupid!”
Will smiles fondly. “I’m so glad you finally admitted it.”
“Hey! At least I’m not the one crushing on a stupid person.” They both laughed.
Mike gently squeezed his hand, still overwhelmed by the fact that his ‘stupid feelings’ were reciprocated after all.
“I love your painting by the way.”
“Yeah?” Will’s thumb slowly caresses Mike’s hand.
“Yeah. You’re gonna have to make me another one when all this is over.”
He chuckles. “Oh? So the kiss was just a secret ploy for you to get another gift from me to hang up your basement wall?”
“Maybe..?” Mike smirks jokingly.
“Wow.. so sneaky, Michael.”