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Will didn’t know how he got here.
It started when Will had dragged Dustin and Mike to Lucas’ basketball game when he came to Hawkins for Christmas break, even though Mike had been avoiding him.
While his school in Lenora got two weeks off, Hawkins High only had one, so the rest of the party still had school and activities, like Lucas’ last game of the season.
Once he found out that the two hadn’t gone to any other games, he was livid. He scolded them for about an hour, and by the end, they’d vowed never to make Will Byers angry again.
Will knew Lucas appreciated it; if the mega-watt smile the boy sent Will after he made the winning shot didn’t say enough, the crushing hug Lucas gave after the game said the rest.
But after the game, Lucas invited the three, plus El and Max, to the after-party. While the girls declined to have a girls' night, Mike and Dustin enthusiastically agreed, causing Will to come out of obligation.
Now, Will wouldn’t say he was a big drinker. He didn’t drink at all, with his father’s drunken words thrown like barbs that cut him as a child still fresh in his mind like they happened yesterday. But Will could never say no to Dustin’s puppy-dog eyes, even if the boy felt awkward by Mike’s avoidance.
So, Will went to the party and was now sitting on a couch that smelled like weed and shitty beer. Next to him, some couple he didn’t know was making out, and Will just wanted to go home.
“Will!”
The boy quickly looked up to see Mike clumsily approaching the couch. Unfortunately, he accidentally tripped over the guy’s leg, causing him and the girl he was kissing to grumble and go to a room with a bed, all while sloppily kissing.
“Mike?”
Mike grunted as he sunk into the couch cushions, drunkenly giggling as he looked up at Will from his slumped position.
“Hi.”
“Hi?”
Will froze as Mike leaned his head onto Will’s shoulder.
“Mike,” he whispered fervently, “we can’t be doing this.”
“Why not?” Mike spoke too loudly for Will’s liking.
“People will get the wrong idea.” Will closed his eyes as he took in deep, controlled breaths and tried to ignore Mike’s proximity, “you know what’ll happen to us if that happens.”
Mike just hummed and snuggled closer into Will’s shoulder. Will just sighed and decided the boy was too drunk.
“Byers!”
Will startled, attempting to push Mike off him until he noticed the voice calling was just Dustin.
“Dustin,” Will greeted, sighing in relief.
“Do you and Wheeler want to join us for shots?”
Will took one look at Mike’s slumped figure and decided.
“No, we’re good. We’re actually going to head out, tell Lucas bye for us if you see him.”
Dustin, the heaviest weight when it came to drinking in the Party, just shrugged and bid them goodnight.
“Come on, Mike, let’s get you home.”
Mike just grumbled as Will man-handed him out the door and into Mike’s car.
~~~
“Hello, Mrs. Wheeler,” Will greeted sheepishly, a passed-out Mike hanging off his shoulders.
Mike’s mom tsked and ushered him inside.
“Come in, Dear. Oh, he’s such a lightweight, just like his father.”
Will chuckled as he dragged Mike into the basement, picking him up slightly as he descended the stairs.
“Goodnight, Mrs. Wheeler,” he called from the bottom.
“Goodnight, Will! Sleep well.”
The boy deposited Mike onto the couch before grabbing one of the sleeping bags from the closet. As he set it out on the ground, he heard Mike shuffling.
“Mike?”
“Mmgh.”
Will stifled a giggle before squeaking as Mike dragged him onto the couch with him. The two were close, separated only by their thin layer of clothes, and Will’s face burned.
“ Mike ,” Will hissed.
“Sleep,” Mike mumbled, nuzzling into Will’s hair.
Though Will knew he could escape if he really wanted to, he just groaned silently and relaxed into Mike’s hold.
“Goodnight, Mike,” Will’s voice was so fond that he knew if Mike were in his right state of mind, he’d instantly know how in love Will was with him.
“Night.”
~~~
Will woke up to the sound of frantic pacing.
“Mikey?” Will sat up with a yawn, glancing over at the clock on the shelf to read 3:16 am.
The pacing stopped, and through his blurry eyes, Will could see Mike’s guilty face.
“Why are you up so early?”
“I felt something move next to me,” Mike murmured, playing with his fingers. “And I thought it was some girl.”
Will felt a pit in his stomach. That shook him fully awake.
“Oh.”
“But it was just you.”
“Just me,” Will looked down, taking in his clothes from the party.
“God,” Mike sighed as he rubbed his face with both hands. “Why is it you?”
Will felt his throat close.
“Do you not want me?” His voice was quiet, almost silent in the night. He could hear the cracks in it and winced. He meant to add a ‘here’ at the end, but his brain-to-mouth filter died on him.
“Fuck, Will,” then Mike was suddenly there, right in front of him, his hands holding his face tenderly with broken eyes.
“I only want you, and I shouldn’t.”
If he tried hard enough, Will could feel the floor beneath them collapse. He never thought he’d end up like this in his wildest dreams.
“I like that you want me,” Will confessed like a sin, “I want you to want me. Want me like no one’s ever wanted me before. Like I want you.”
Mike’s smile was small but adoring, matching the one on Will. They shared a knowing glance that spoke of love, warmth, and wanting .
Without any words, they moved in closer. Will felt the other’s breath ghosting his cheeks, their noses bumping and smiles touching as they came together at last.
Their kiss was short but sweet. Chaste but speaking volumes. They didn’t rush, knowing that they’d have the rest of their lives to learn all the ways their lips can move in one.
“I love you,” Mike pulled away just enough to breathe the words onto Will’s lips. To melt the words into Will’s brain as it rolled over Mike’s voice in his head and satisfied some deep, unconscious need.
“I love you, I love you, I love you.”
The boy gave Will a simple peck after each confession. A simple motion of lips on lips to hammer home how much love he had to offer.
“Words can not describe how my heart beats for you, but I know I’ll spend the rest of my days, my nights, and my life etching my name into your soul until no one will ever doubt my love for you.”
Will tugged Mike closer, burying his face into the taller’s chest.
“You say words can’t describe it, but I think you just said it perfectly,” Will chuckled, rubbing his hands along Mike’s back and enjoying the shudder they caused.
“I love you too. As the sun loves the moon and the earth loves the stars, even if one day we end up as two stars in the night sky, I know I’ll be there right next to yours, continuing to love you until everything crumbles to nothingness. But even in that nothingness, that vast, empty space, the memory of our love will continue for all of eternity.”
“When did you become such a wordsmith?” Mike asked with teary eyes.
“I learned from the best.”
Will didn’t know how he got here.
But he sure as hell wasn’t complaining.