Work Text:
Will pov:
It had been two weeks since Will saw Mike, and that was when his mom had invited everyone over to dinner. That day, Will had talked to Eddie to plan a confession, Mike and Steve had disappeared alone to the backyard, and Mike had come back crying. Will had spoke to him over walkie since then but no one had seen him in person, even Nancy said he had only left his room to eat.
Will was sitting on his bed, staring at the easel holding the first half of his confession. A painting. He was examining the details, ensuring every brush stroke was in the right place when El walked into the room.
"What are you doing," she asked. Will jumped up from the painting
"Uh- uhm- nothing.. why?" El gave him a look of disbelief but continued nonetheless
"Don't be mad, but I checked on Mike" Will was a little upset that El would invade Mike's privacy like that but he was more glad because now they knew how Mike was doing.
"Is he okay?" Will asked, maybe a little too eagerly. El just shook her head.
"He is crying in his bed right now" at that moment Will set his mind on going to the Wheeler house. If there was anyone Mike would talk to, it was Will. He jumped up off his bed and hugged El.
"Thanks for checking on him. I'm going to go over and see if he will talk to me" El reassured him that it was no big deal and walked to her own room. Will carefully rolled up his confession painting and set it in his backpack. Downstairs he added some of Mike's favourite snacks before zipping the bag closed and starting the half-hour ride from their cabin to Mike's house.
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*Knock knock knock*
Will rapped on the wooden door. Loud enough to be heard but nice enough to be answered. Just a moment later Nancy opened the door
"I'm here to see Mike" Will didn't bother with pleasantries. This was an emergency.
"He's really not doing well right now-"
"I know. El was kind of spying on him. I need to go up there, please?"
Nancy sighed. "Sure. No promises he will let you in though. I've barely seen him since that night."
"Thank you so much Nancy" Will barreled up the stairs and knocked on Mike's room door. A muffled voice answered from the other side.
"please leave me alone" Mike sounded like he was crying
“It's me"
"Will?" Mike sniffed
"Yeah"
"Shit uh, one sec" Will heard some fumbling and then the lock clicked. The door opened to Mike, red in the face from crying, with a defeated look in his eyes. Will immediately lunged forward to hug him. Mike let a small sob fall onto Will's shoulder but pulled away quickly.
"Hi" Will was desperate to fill the dead air between them.
"Hi"
"...is everything okay?" Mike paused for a minute as if pondering the question. He stepped away from the door and gestured into the room. Will walked in and plopped on the bed. Mike lowered himself beside him.
"Not really" Will offered a hand for Mike to hold. Mike stared at it for a second but hesitantly took it.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Mike pauses again "yes but… the thing is… I don't know if I can"
"Try me. Just start pouring out your thoughts and maybe we can make sense of it together. That usually helps me"
Mike slowly nodded "first I need you to promise me something"
"Sure. Anything"
"I need you to promise me that you will still see me the same way and that nothing will change with us"
"Of course, Mike. You're my best friend. Nothing can change that" Mike's expression dropped a little at that. Will wondered what went wrong. What in that sentence could've made him feel worse?
"So, uhm" Mike sniffed again "it's mostly about a person" Will's thumb traced small circles over the back of Mike's hand. Mike was just staring at the floor as he spoke
"The problem is, I like this person, but I can't like them. Not in the way that I do." He started crying again. Will's free hand moved to run Mike's back as he choked out his feelings "I really really like them but I'm not supposed to. It would be wrong. People would hate us and that's fucking IF they like me that way. What if they hate me? What if they never want to talk to me again? What if they don't love me back? What then Will?" Mike was on the verge of hyperventilating
"Mike" Will squeezed his hand "you need to breathe" Will guided both of their hands to his chest "focus on my breathing and try to match it" Will steadied his breath to an even pace and eventually Mike calmed down.
"I'm sorry, Will"
"Don't be. You're not doing anything wrong" Mike slowly nodded "are you ready to talk again?"
"Can… can you hug me first?"
"Of course" Will released Mike's hand and pulled him close. Mike clung to the hug like it was his life's blood and Will could tell he was trying not to cry again. They stayed like that for a few moments but it was mike who sat up first.
“Okay uhm… yeah” Mike stared at his hand, reintertwined with Will’s, and a slight flush crossed his face
“Can I ask you a question?” Will asked. Mike looked up to meet Will's eyes and nodded. “Why can't you like them, Mike?”
“Because” Mike took a deep breath “because everyone says it’s wrong”
“I'm confused, why not?”
“They, aren't someone my parents would approve of, it's what they consider unnatural”
“Mike, you dated someone who can blow up a helicopter with her mind and you managed to hide that from them.” Will let out a small laugh to try to lighten the mood “I think you should go with what makes you happy, don't9 worry about what your parents think. You are clearly torn up about this so… would you rather be miserable until you move out?” Mike squeezed his free hand shut.
“That's true… but if this person doesn't like me back…” Mike trailed off into a mumble. Will took a deep breath. He had to do this, he had to help Mike.
“I understand” Mike snapped his head up.
“W-what?”
“If they don't like you back, it could mess a lot of things up, right?”
“Yeah..” Mike was clearly confused and he looked surprised to hear the words coming from Will. “If I confess and I'm wrong, if they aren't the same, not only would they probably hate me, I could get beaten up or kicked out.” Will's thoughts were going insane, did mike just come out? Is that what just happened?
“Is… is the person a guy?” Mike didn't answer “Mike, no matter the answer I won't see you differently at all.” Mike continued to glare at the floor. “look at me please?” Mike slowly looked up, tears were welling in the bottom of his eyes. Will gathered all his confidence, hopefully, this would ease Mike's pain and take the weight off of Will’s own chest.
“I know how you feel because… I'm gay” Will almost whispered. Mike blankly stared at Will. his expression was unreadable, there was shock and disbelief, joy and hope, all mixed into a blank stare. Will silently pleaded for Mike to say anything at all.
“Mike?” Mike blinked a few times as if he was just waking up.
“...sorry uhm, wow” WIll burst out laughing at that
“Wow? Really? That's all you have to say?” Will meant to seem lighthearted but Mike looked a little put down so Will took a deep breath.
“Sorry- I just, really? You're gay?” Mike looked deep into Will's eyes like he was waiting for Will to say it was a joke.
“Yeah, I am” Will squeezed Mike's hand. The muscles in Mike's body relaxed.
“Okay, cool. I'm bisexual” Will's heart fluttered with hope.
“So… is the person a guy?”
“Yeah, and he’s really great. I feel a lot more sure that have a chance now. I think he will take it well. I'm still nervous as hell because oh my god if he doesn't like me I'm really going to mess things up”
“I think” Will was full of hope, was there a chance he was the guy? “I think you should go for it” Mike nodded again and adjusted so he was face to face with Will.
“Yeah?” Mike moved a little closer, there is less than six inches between them now.
“Yeah,” Will whispered. Mike closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to Will’s hesitantly. Will’s heart exploded in a flurry of joy and excitement before his brain returned to his head and he pushed Mike away. Mike looked panicked.
“Fuck, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-” The tears returned to his eyes and he backed away from Will.
“No don't be sorry, I liked it. I want to do it again” Will slowly grabbed mikes hand again “its just, in the nicest way possible, you are in a very emotional place right now and I want to make sure this is actually what you want”
“It is. What I want I mean. Will I have liked you for longer than I think you know” Will's heart skipped a beat. How long had the two of them been dancing around each other without realizing it? Mike let out a pathetic laugh “but you're right, I'm sorry”
“Don't be sorry Mike, like I said, I want to do it again, just when you're feeling better. Was that what was bothering you all this time?”
“Yeah… when Steve and I talked at your house he helped me realize that I actually liked you, in a not-just-a-friend way” Will chuckled “what's so funny?”
“Sorry, it's just that you know when I had that question for Eddie?”
“Yeah?”
“He was giving me advice on how to tell you that… Well… I’m in love with you” Will couldn't meet Mike's eyes, they were so piercing it was as if Mike could see into his soul. Mike's hand moved to cup the side of Will’s face he looked up and Mike pressed a small kiss to Will’s cheek. Will immediately flushed red. “W- what was that for?”
“I…” Mike looked like he was fighting with himself “I'm in love with you” the two boys just smiled at each other, glowing red. Will dove against Mike for a hug, almost knocking them both after the bed, instead Mike landed on his back in a fit of laughter, Will was laughing into Mike's chest, both of them tearing up from laughter this time. When they finally calmed down, Will, laying on Mike’s chest, looked up at him.
“I am so happy right now”
“So am I, Will”
“OH!” Will jumped up. “I have something for you” Will grabbed the bag from the floor, pulling out the rolled painting and various candies and snacks he had specially picked out for Mike.
“Will… you didn't have to do that”
“It was to cheer you up but” Will held up a bag of chips “Do you want to watch a movie?”
“I'd love to, but what's the paper there?” Mike gestured toward the roll in Will's hand. Will blushed and held it behind his back.
“It's nothing. It was for you but, it’s stupid”
“Please, Will? I promise it's not stupid” Will removed the elastic band from the rolled-up paper and handed it to Mike. He opened it and stared slack-jawed for a moment. The painting was of the swingset where they first met, outside the Hawkins elementary school, the sunshine peeking through the rain clouds. Puddles littered the grassy field. Mike just continued to stare. Will scanned his expression nervously.
“I love it. I'm going to frame it” Mike was gagged with admiration.
“Mike…” Will groaned
“No. I’m serious. It's amazing. Can I keep it?” Will couldn't hide his smile when he nodded. Mike carefully rolled the painting up again and set it on his bed. He stood up and wrapped Will in a soul-crushing hug. “Thank you” Mike whispered.
“Let's go watch that movie?” Will said, pulling back to look Mike in the eye. He nodded in response. Will stuffed all the snacks back in his bag and shouldered it to head to the basement.
“I’ll get drinks” Mike walked into the kitchen where Nancy was sitting at the table. She looked up at him and smiled.
“Hey”
“Hey” Mike grabbed two glasses and filled them with cold water.
“You feeling better?” Nancy asked
“Yeah, a lot better. Will really helped” Mike glanced around the corner and saw his dad in the living room, zoned into the TV. He simply stepped toward Nancy and leaned down for a hug, catching her off guard. “I’ll tell you later” he whispered in her ear. Nancy squeezed him tight before he backed away. Mike grabbed the glasses and headed down the stairs, throwing one more smile at Nancy.
In the basement Will had the array of snacks set on the coffee table, the first of the star was trilogy already loaded up on the TV, and the other two sat on the floor, ready to go. This had become a ritual of theirs on hard days, blankets, snacks, and Star Wars. Will lifted the blanket for Mike to join him. When Mike was settled Will snuggled up to Mike’s side.
“Is this okay?” Mike wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders.
“Yeah, it's perfect”
They both knew there was more conversation needed but the comfort between them was enough at that moment. Neither of them had been happier in quite a while. While the scenes of the movie flashed by Mike couldn't tear his eyes away from Will’s face, illuminated with a pale blue by the movie, and so peaceful. Mike knew at that moment that he was deeply in love and he was content with that. There was still a lot of inner healing he had to work on but for now, the contentment was here to stay. The problems could be dealt with later. Mike reached over to grab the bag of chips and Will looked up at him and smiled. He smiled that perfect smile Mike knew so well, and he was very ready to make Will smile like that for as long as Will would let him. No matter what.