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For once in his life, Will was happy.
Lying on his back on one of the many broken down cars that littered the junkyard, he smiled as the afternoon sun warmed his skin for the final time as it began to make its decent towards the horizon. He glanced at his best friend, lying next to him with his hands behind his head, propped as Will was so his back was against the slanted windscreen and his legs were extended along the bonnet in front of them. It was peaceful.
When the first hints of pink and orange began to trail across the sky above them, Will shook Mike’s shoulder gently to get the taller boy to open his eyes. Confusion flashed across Mike’s face for an instant - most likely not recognising his surroundings - before his gaze settled on Will and his memory came flooding back.
”The sun’s setting,” Will murmured, not wanting the tranquility to end. Mike nodded, and, after simply watching Will’s face for a moment, turned back towards the sky. The brunette followed.
They watched the sunset in partial silence, talking lightly about whether school in California was any better for Will now he’d been there two years, much as they had been earlier before Mike had managed to fall asleep. They’d both travelled to the junkyard with the intention of watching the stars, after Will had ranted about how much clearer they were there than in Hawkins in one of his letters to Mike. When Mike had flown out for the second summer in a row - having had to beg his mother after his… extended stay the previous time - Will had insisted they cycle out there and even lended Mike Jonathan’s bike.
Eventually, the bright hues faded to a dusky blue-black, and Will watched with growing horror as the clouds began to settle in a thick blanket above them, successfully shielding what little pinpricks of light Will had been able to spot. Great. He stole another glance at the boy next to him, who was staring, eyebrows furrowed, at the unrelenting clouds.
”Shit, Mike, I’m sorry,” He blurted, cheeks burning with embarrassment. Mike turned to look at him in confusion.
”What? Why?” He asked. Will felt his eyes begin to sting. This is so stupid.
“I- I made us cycle all the way out here, and I kept telling you how good it was in my letters, and now we can’t even see anything.” He began to ramble, “And- And I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it seems like we never get to do anything since I moved, just- just you and me.”
In full truth, Will had feared whether or not Mike would even show after what happened last time. Not because of the whole Vecna business - they’d been through shit before - but because him and El broke up right afterwards. But, Mike came. He’d smiled and waved to Will in the airport, engulfed him in a bear hug like they used to, and not one of those awkward half-hugs Mike had seemed to become so fond of directing towards Will when him and Eleven had still been dating. He’d even been civil to her when they did eventually have to meet. And now Will had blown it.
Mike seemed to think the opposite.
”Will,” He said, softly at first but then louder when the shorter boy had refused to stop blaming himself.
”Will. It doesn’t matter, really,”
Will looked unconvinced.
”They’re clouds, dude! I don’t expect you to be able to control them,” He smiled. Will loved that smile. “Anyway, cloud cover keeps the heat in. True fact. So now we won’t have to cuddle just to not get hypothermia.”
Will’s cheeks grew rosy at the image. I wouldn’t mind.
“Okay,” He gave in. A few beats of silence followed, both boys looking up at the fairly uninteresting sky, Will fully aware it was the only way he wouldn’t get lost staring at Mike as he so often did. Not to say he hadn’t caught Mike gazing at him a few times as well, but he was probably just spacing out.
Movement beside him. Mike rolled suddenly towards Will, using one hand to prop himself up next to Will’s head. His face hung over Will’s before the shorter boy could even turn to look.
”Guess what,” Mike said, grinning. It took Will a few moments to reply because oh my god he’s so close and his hair is falling into his eyes and are my cheeks as red as they feel and-
“Wh-what?” Will asked, more out of instinct than actual coherent thought.
”I can see the stars,” He said it like it was a secret. Will was intrigued.
”Huh? Where?” He strained to look past Mike’s head and back up at the sky, but all he could see was murky cloud. Mike’s fingertips on his cheek caused his mind to blank.
His head fell back against the car bonnet once again, staring wide-eyed back at Mike, who was wearing the softest expression Will had ever seen. He didn’t meet Will’s gaze, but instead focused on whatever it was he was touching on Will’s cheek.
“I see them here,” He trailed his fingertips lightly upwards and along his cheekbone, until they rested just underneath Will’s eye. His freckles.
“And here,” His voice was quieter now, almost a whisper in the deserted junkyard. Will shivered at the touch, unable to do anything but stare up at his best friend with his lips parted slightly trying to figure out why exactly Mike was doing all this.
“Here,”
He brought two fingers to the tip of his nose, staying for a while before travelling across to Will’s other cheek.
“And, my favourite,” Mike breathed. His hand travelled down, down, towards Will’s lips. He paused for a brief moment on his chin, as if considering his next move, before pulling his thumb upwards. Will let out a shaky breath as Mike swiped slowly across his lips, dragging the upper one slightly before letting it fall back into place as the pad of his thumb found where it was aiming for: a tiny freckle just above Will’s mouth, one the brunette was dimly aware of spotting in the mirror whilst brushing his teeth at some point. He was amazed Mike had even known it was there, but then again he was amazed at a lot of things Mike had done today.
For instance, the way Mike was currently staring unashamed at Will’s lips, not removing his hand or looking like he planned on it any time soon. Will finally came to his senses, aware that he was probably a very telling shade of red.
“Mike,” He breathed. Mike’s gaze immediately flicked to Will’s own, looking as though he’d been caught stealing. Will wanted to remove all the fear in those eyes. Gently, he wrapped a hand around Mike’s wrist, guiding it to the right so Mike could curl his fingers around Will’s jaw, with Will’s hand resting on top.
”Show me the stars,”
Will kissed him.
Mike kissed back almost immediately, their eyes fluttering shut. It was messy at first, Will being new to all of this and Mike still trying to get over the fact that this was actually happening. Eventually, he found a better angle and it was smoother. Will’s lips felt so right against his own, like they were two parts of the same constellation. They broke away for a second to catch their breath, Will’s pupils blown as he stared back at Mike. The taller boy decided he wanted use of both hands, and straddled Will’s thighs. Will gasped, looking away in embarrassment. Mike gently turned him back to face him with the hand still cupping his jaw and managed about three seconds of staring at him before surging forwards for an open-mouthed kiss. Will groaned - groaned - as Mike slipped his tongue into Will’s mouth, only encouraging the boy further. Will slid two hands into Mike’s tangled hair and tugged. Mike threw his head back, pulling away from the kiss in the process.
“Will,” He whined. Will committed the sound to memory.
Neither knew just how long they stayed like that, completely lost in each other. They didn’t notice as the sky began to clear, revealing the bright stars Will had obsessed over so much. When they eventually became too tired to continue, Mike rolled off of Will and lay on his back with his arms outstreched, Will gratefully accepting the offer and curling up against Mike with his head on the taller boys shoulder. They spent more time looking at eachother than the sky above them. They were each other’s universe.