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Mike’s curled onyx hair seemed to spread in small lines against the lightly-colored bed sheets as he threw his head back, mouth moving a mile-a-minute as he rambled on and on about the things Will missed, the things they didn’t get a chance to chatter about in Lenora.
Will likes it, likes having a small break from Vecna, where he can just relax and pretend like nothing was happening, that he was normal. He liked spending time with Mike, too. The time when they aren’t fighting. It’s rare now.
Mike’s mother, Karen, was going out with Holly’s hand enveloping her own, walking behind her like a lost puppy, right when Will knocked on the door, glancing at him and nodding up toward Mike’s bedroom window—signifying Mike's in his room . He just nodded and moved out of her way as she walked to her car, Holly barely sparing him a passing glance.
Nancy was probably with Jonathan, or with Steve’s new friend Robin. Will notes they spend a lot of time together nowadays.
Mike’s head is right next to Will’s lap as he throws his hands up in exasperation, and Will can’t see how his jaw doesn't hurt with how fast he’s rambling. Blinking, Will tries to catch his place back in focus, listening to Mike again.
“--Eddie Munson!” Mike exclaims and shines a wicked grin, his eyes alight with admiration, “Oh, he’s so cool! Eddie’s so tall and he’s got, like, curly hair. He’s our dungeon master.”
Wait, what?
Eddie Munson, dungeon master? So, they’d joined another party. Will couldn't pretend that didn’t sting like a slap to the face, knowing not only had Mike joined another party but Lucas and Dustin had too. Though that wasn’t all he’d heard about Eddie, albeit briefly, Dustin had told him a few things.
Eddie was dead. He’d died fighting the demobats and proving as a distraction to help against Vecna. He was in the Upside Down alongside Nancy, Robin, and Steve–additionally others too.
What makes him sick to his stomach is the mere fact Mike doesn’t seem to know. He talks about Eddie in the present tense as if he’s still among the living.
“He’s older than us,” Will zones back in and Mike is still rambling about Eddie, “He got held back plenty of times in his senior year. He wears all these rings and stuff. He’s really crazy, but in a cool way, you know? Like, you’d have to know him to get him.”
Will squints. God, was this some kind of hero-worship thing? He’d seen it with his friends–all of them, usually Dustin, except him and Mike–and Steve. But, even with Mike having Nancy Wheeler as a sister, he’d never once had an idol of his own, never rambled excitedly about their misadventures.
A part of him knows he should tell Mike, but he can’t. Not yet.
“I know him pretty well, I’d say. He invites me over to his trailer sometimes and we just sit there and talk. Sometimes, he’ll let me listen to some of his CDs, or he'll play them on his guitar.”
Mike closes his eyes and smiles, thinking back on something before continuing, “There was this one time when one of his clients came in while I—”
“Wait, clients?” Will blinked in utter disbelief, a little apologetic to cut Mike off. “What’d you mean, clients ?” His voice drops to the hushed tone of a whisper-yell.
His eyes squinted and his nose scrunched in suspicion, Will raises a brow and prods even quieter, “Was he a–?”
“Yeah.” Mike nods, and even though his rambling eases and his voice is quiet now, too, he seems relieved Will is actually listening and contributing to the conversation. Will’s heart relaxes slightly as he adds, “He is, I mean, I never bought from him or anything, I swear, but he is.”
Will huffs out a breath, his heart beating against his ribs hard as he eyed him warily. He glanced down at Mike and their eyes lock, making Will’s heart flutter with a twinge of adoration.
“Promise me you won’t ever do stuff like that, okay?” Will whispers, because why was it suddenly okay for Mike to run around with those types of people? When did Mike start hanging around those types of people? He pauses, before murmuring in addition, “Please.”
Mike grins, eyes crinkling as he nods, and because his head is still laid back, the sheet underneath him creases. He blinks, and now his brown eyes–still gazing into Will’s–seem fuzzier, warmed with a soft emotion Will can’t exactly read.
He hates how he can’t read into Mike’s expressions anymore. They’ve both changed so much.
“Okay, Will,” Mike’s lips purse, “I promise.”
There’s a pause of silence and Mike whispers softly, “Um…”
It’s tentative and quiet, as if Mike is hesitant to share this with Will. Will stirs again, shifting next to Mike, whose head is nearly on his lap. He blinks, nodding towards Mike, a reassurance to share.
“I grew my hair out for Eddie.”
What?
“Well, not, like, for Eddie. But, to impress him or something.” Mike shrugs, though his cheeks are dusted with a slight pink hue of what Will presumed was embarrassment. “I thought he was really cool, and I wanted him to look at me, I guess.”
Oh.
My.
God.
That wasn’t hero worship. That wasn’t a brotherly relationship. That was a crush.
Mike probably had a crush on Eddie Munson whilst Eddie was still alive. Will knew he was probably in over his head, of course, but what else could he think? That’s how Will had felt about Mike all of these years, only for… What? For Mike to have a crush on Eddie?
Was Mike gay? Was he like Will?
No. Stop it, stop getting your hopes up.
“Oh.” Will breathes, gulping as he presses on as briskly as he can, for this is a touchy subject. “Did he?”
A small, shy smile ghosts Mike’s lips momentarily, albeit awkward, “Yeah, at first. He thought it was really cool, that it suited me.”
“It does.” Will blurts, and even if he regrets it; he was eager to get his point out there, to show that he thought it looked cool. He probably liked it more than Eddie had. “It really does.”
He feels foolish, competing with some dead person who definitely wasn’t interested in Mike, anyway. He was, what, twenty, and Will had already made up his mind that Eddie seemed like an okay guy, so there was no way it happened. Neither of them would’ve acted on it, he knows that. It was more of an admiration thing, Will presumed, but that didn’t make him feel any better.
What did Eddie have that he didn’t?
Mike blinks his dark eyes up at him, a dopey grin on his face, and Will suddenly realizes his head is in his lap. He fights the urge, even if it was difficult not to, to run his fingers through Mike’s curls and twirl them gently. There’s a soft hue to his cheeks again as he murmurs with a very subtle tilt of his head, “Yeah?”
Will grins, even if it’s small, and nods slowly. “Yeah.”