He couldn’t escape the overwhelming amount of guilt that gnawed away at him each day since he figured out what he’d be doing. People always said thinking about the future is scary, but Will hadn’t felt that much because he knew his best friend would always be in it. Ever since he was five years old, Mike had crashed into his life and demanded to be a part of it, and Will accepted it with no questions asked. Even in the times they were separated by thousands of miles and unused telephone lines, he couldn’t just forget his best friend that easily. 

As Will filled out the paperwork for college, he felt like he was starting to regret his decision; a decision Mike didn’t even know about yet, mind you. Ever since they were little, they always talked about leaving Hawkins, when they were freshly 18 and ready to go on to the next phase of their life together. They both agreed on it, were excited about it. Mike was the one that first established the idea that they should go somewhere nice and sunny or any coastal state. The specifics never really mattered, they just wanted somewhere far removed from Hawkins, Indiana. 

The idea seemed like a dream, so Will agreed without any hesitation. He’d do anything for Mike, even follow him to the end of the Earth. They fought in a fucking apocalypse together. In those moments, had a situation arised, Will knew he would’ve died to save Mike. Luckily it never came to that, but that’s why everything now is such a jumbled mess in Will’s brain.

Will Byers loves Mike Wheeler more than ever, no amount of time has been able to heal that. He knows, he knows that Mike doesn’t feel the same way. There’s no need to try to reason with Will, because at the end of the day he realizes it’s illogical to harbor these feelings. It’s just, how do you stop loving someone when you’re always with them? 

People always say there’s a thin line between love and hate, and it’s true. But they don’t talk about how romance and friendship can seem so blurry sometimes, too. Where Will was, Mike wasn’t too far away following, and vice versa. Their friends liked to tease that they were MikeandWill instead of Mike and Will. Mike always yelled at their friends (mostly Max) when they were saying this, and Will could only stand by with an embarrassed blush dusting across his face. 

They weren’t MikeandWill, at least not in the way Will wanted- craved, even. He wants Mike to look at him with awe and desire, to see him romantically. But Will knows more than anyone that you can’t just change who you’re attracted to. Mike’s not into men and Will just has to deal with it as best as he can. 

He could wish on a million different shooting stars, blow out his birthday candles every year, and yet he still couldn’t wish that true. It’s a tough dilemma, because at the end of the day he loves being around Mike. If it was up to him, of course he’d go to college with Mike. Will even thinks he’d have fun doing it. But what if he just isn’t able to ever let Mike go? What if he just couldn’t ever move on?

Of course, Mike wanted to be roommates with Will- In fact, it was just a given. The thought of having to live in close contact with Mike everyday honestly drove Will onto the brink of insanity. He was constantly thinking up different scenarios. The most damning one was the thought of Mike bringing over a girl, and eventually having a girlfriend. Will didn’t like lying, and wasn’t a good actor, so pretending like it wouldn’t hurt seems like an impossible task. 

Will needed to get used to the idea of not being around Mike all the time, and so Mike’s suggestion of being roommates would go against everything he’s trying to do. Even if they weren’t roommates, he doesn’t think he’d get over Mike by being at the same school as him.

So here he is, filling out an application for the art program at NYU. Will thinks It’d be kind of nice, being in the big city. Jonathan would be with him, since he’d be attending his last year at NYU with Will. 

From what Will’s also heard, there was a thriving gay population there. Being around others like him would help a lot. Yes, he’s fully accepted himself for who he is, but he still has ways to go in being comfortable with it. The hardest part is telling anyone. Hawkins is scary and opening up to people in general is a tough thing for Will, it always has been. There’s people who will always hate him for who he is, and so he wanted a place where he felt like he truly belonged. He didn’t want to hide having to be gay anymore. It honestly was exhausting, hiding all the time. 

Eventually he wants to tell the party, he really does. It’s just been hard to actually speak the words, even when you know they’d fully support you. Will’s been in the shadows for so long, that he doesn’t know when or if he can step into the light. Maybe that’s his own fault, his own insecurity, or maybe because of his obvious fondness for Mike that makes it seem impossible to come out. Perhaps it’s a mix of all three? Either way, he knows interacting with other gay people might help him come to terms with things, or feel some sort of relief with his struggles. He thinks he owes it to himself to try. 

It’s a constant balancing act between both sides of what he wants. The side that just wants to be with Mike forever and play games, have fun and the other side that wants to know what it’s like to be accepted and understood for being gay, to be relatable and relate to others. In an ideal world, he could have both. He knows deep down he can’t do that at the University of Indiana, where the party had agreed on all applying together and eventually going. The thought of being stuck in Indiana for another four years just didn’t seem appealing, and he didn’t know how to have this conversation with Mike.

So he ignored it, put it off, ran from it- just like he does with everything else. He felt like a coward for it. He could already see the confusion Mike would display on his face, would he be hurt? Or worse, what if Mike didn’t even care? It was the hardest decision Will ever had to make, so seeing indifference on Mike’s face would probably hurt a lot. 

—

Whenever Mike and the rest of the party brought up college, there was always an excitement there. Most of them would be going together, with the exception of Dustin, because Dustin was a fucking science genius and needed something better than the state college of all places. Even El was going with them, wanting to be roommates with Max. Lucas didn’t mind being roomed with someone random, because everyone naturally assumed the MikeandWill thing again. Will hadn’t said much, because if New York did fall through, he would happily go to school with them. 

When Will got accepted into NYU with nearly a full scholarship, he almost couldn’t believe it was true. Good things don’t just happen to him, not like that. The happiness he felt didn’t last too long though, because now he knew he had to have the talk with Mike that he’d been dreading for a while. Maybe Lucas would be happy being able to room with Mike now, instead of someone random. He’s trying to find the silver-linings somewhere in this. 

Either way, he knew he had to tell Mike. He managed to be brave enough to ask to stay the night after another party get-together, and it’d be the perfect opportunity to talk over it with just the two of them. Once everyone left, Will already felt the nervous sweating start. Jesus, it’s not like Mike is going to yell at him or something, he doesn’t know why it seems so scary.

And when Mike comes back down the basement stairs and shoots him a smile before sitting back down with him, Will thinks he’s forgotten all ability to speak. He had a whole script in his head, and suddenly it was empty. 

Mike caught onto his fish out of water look, because he gave Will a worried look. “Are you alright, Will?”

“Um, yeah.” Will supplies lamely, “I just have something to say.”

“Okay.” Mike said, looking a little more relaxed, “What is it?”

This was the part he was dreading the most. Mike was truly such a wild card person, so he could never predict his reactions to anything. He vividly remembers when Mike greeted him at the airport in California freshman year and completely dismissed Will’s painting, the very painting that he now proudly hangs over his bed. Honestly, that whole first day in Lenora with Mike was weird, now that he thinks about it. The point is, you never knew if Mike would just be completely dismissive over something or act like the world was going to end over it. There was hardly an in-between, either.

“About college, I kind of applied somewhere else.” Will started tentatively.

“Oh.” Mike said, obviously surprised, “Why?”

“It’s just Hawkins, I can’t stay here anymore. Or in Indiana, really. Sorry I didn’t say anything about it before applying. I didn’t know if I’d get accepted or if I’d get a scholarship either, but I did and I think I’m really happy about it. I just wanted to be completely sure before I told you” Will says, honestly rolling off of his tongue. He couldn’t help but smile thinking about it, his future in New York.

It’s not like he’d never see Mike again. This time would be different from when they were freshman. They’d call, and they’d be in Hawkins together for holidays and breaks. It’s not like he’d just vanish from Mike’s and everyone else’s lives, he’d just have a bit of space to figure himself out. That’s all. 

Mike quickly wrapped Will in a hug, “Will, a full ride? That’s amazing! Where’d you apply?” 

Will hugged back, and tried not to let his heart start beating too fast at the close contact, “NYU, with Jonathan. You’re the only one I’ve told.” 

Mike ends the hug and nods quickly, “Okay, New York, that’s nice. They have beaches there” 

“Yeah, it’ll be nice.” Will smiles and Mike returns it.

Honestly, the conversation went easier than Will thought and soon he was able to tell everyone else about it. They all understood and were happy for him, albeit a bit sad they weren’t going to college together. Lucas said that he kind of didn’t want to room with Mike, based on the way he kept the basement at times which made Will laugh. All of them were surprised that Mike and Will weren’t going to be together, since it had seemed like a given for so long.

Max snorted, “So you’re not going with Mike? How’d he take the news?”

Will furrowed his brows together, why were they all asking him that? “Honestly pretty well, he was happy for me.” 

“That’s surprisingly mature of him. I’m even more surprised I haven’t had to hear Lucas bitching about how Mike is bitching about not being able to be your roomie, or how you’re going to be so far away from him.” Max laughed.

Will blushed, honestly why did they all get it into their heads that Mike was the one that couldn’t stand not being around Will and not the other way around? Will was practically forcing himself to leave and Mike was happy for him. 

“It really wasn’t like that!” Will exclaimed, “He honestly was excited for me.”

—

Will knew everything was too good to be true. He got into NYU, accepted having to leave his friends, Mike was happy for him, the rest of the party was too. Now he could just enjoy the rest of his senior year with his friends, not worrying about the college situation for another 5 months. 

Good moments just couldn’t exist for too long, they had to shatter eventually. 

Dustin was running down the basement stairs, the last one there for their usual Saturday hangout with an unopened envelope in his hand. He plopped down quickly on the table and shot everyone a grin.

“Guess what I have!” He exclaimed, “I’ve been waiting all day to open this with you guys.”

“What is it?” Mike asked dryly, not caring to act excited.

“We don’t know, just tell us.” Max said, not caring to indulge Dustin in his guessing game.

“My MIT letter!” Dustin said, not reacting to Mike or Max’s lack of enthusiasm.

“Holy shit!” Will said.

“Open it up!” El exclaimed at the same time.

“Ah I can’t look at it!” Dustin said dramatically, holding out the letter to Lucas who just grabbed it confused, “Here, Lucas, you open it.” 

Lucas began prying open the letter when Dustin snatched it back, “Nevermind. If I’m getting into MIT I want to be the one to read it.” 

Will laughed at that and El smiled and urged Dustin on with her widened eyes.

Dustin tore it and when he got it out of the envelope he paused again in hesitation. It only lasted a second before he opened the letter and furiously began to read it. When Dustin’s face broke out into a large toothy grin, Will knew that the news was good. 

“I’m going to MIT!” He finally said and the party broke out into congratulations. 

“Shit, that's huge! I’m happy for you,” Lucas said, giving a strong pat on the back to Dustin. 

El was excitedly moving around in her seat on the couch before she just decided to get up and give Dustin a hug, “You’re going to do so good there.”

“Congrats, nerd.” Max smiled.

“Don’t forget us when you’re with all the other super smart people,” From Mike. 

“I knew you’d do it,” Will smiled. 

Dustin’s grin hadn’t left his face since he read the acceptance, and he thanked everyone for their words. Seriously, Will was overjoyed for him. It was something Dustin had been wanting for a while and he genuinely deserved it. He knew those fancy science schools would see him and accept him.

When Dustin could finally process what it meant going to MIT, he looked to Will, “Hey, Boston isn’t so far- I could go down to New York often or you could go up to me.” 

Will nods, excitedly thinking about it. Dustin going to MIT means Will won’t be completely isolated from everyone. Dustin would only be a couple hours away, and of course he’d have Jonathan too. He wouldn’t be around Dustin all the time, or his brother, so he’d have time to discover New York and figure everything out. He wasn’t completely cutting himself off from everything.

“Wait, you told him about NYU?” Mike suddenly asked, looking at Will in shock.

Will sends Mike a confused look before slowly nodding, “Yeah?”

“He told all of us, dipshit.” Max said, but that made Mike look even more confused.

“I thought… Um, nevermind.” He said, which only worried Will even more. Mike always spoke his mind, so when he didn’t, it was a cause of concern. 

Will was trying to figure Mike out. Why was it surprising that Will told everyone else he was going to NYU? That’s surely something they all should know, especially if they all thought they were going to school together. 

Mike was just a bit more quiet the rest of the afternoon, and Will tried to not let that worry him. He couldn’t help it though, so when the rest of the party left at around three, Will stayed behind a little longer. Will could maybe try to figure out why Mike was suddenly quiet. 

“So, you told everyone.” Mike said once they were alone. 

“Yeah.” Will replied, not sure where this was going, “I did.”

“I just thought you’d wait… I was surprised.” Mike said, looking down at his feet that was kicking absentmindedly on the ground. 

“Why would I wait?” Will asked, because he was a little bit confused now. He didn’t think informing the party of where he was going was something he’d wait to say. I mean, Dustin opened the letter in front of them, so why was it shocking for Will to do it?

“Weren’t you going to wait for me to get my letter in? I just thought it’d be something we say together or something…” Mike trailed off.

It immediately left Will in shock, because what the actual hell? Together. They were going to tell everyone together. He only now suddenly realizes that he never exactly mentioned going away from Mike when he talked about NYU. Maybe he should’ve seen it coming, with how excited Mike was about it. Still, even in his wildest dreams he doesn’t think he would’ve envisioned Mike naturally following Will wherever he wanted to go with no questions asked. That was something Will did. Not the other way around. 

“Oh.” Was all Will could say, rather awkwardly. 

Now he didn’t know what to do because the thought of going all the way to New York with Mike sounded so appealing that he was now excited for it. Fuck. They’d be roommates in the big city and there’s really no escaping Mike there, it’ll be MikeandWill and WillandMike , they’d be a lifeline for each other there. He’d definitely have to come out to Mike there too, because there’s no way he’s not going to want to find friends in the gay community. Would Mike be weird if he got a boyfriend? Would Will even be able to get over Mike for that to happen? 

“No, don't worry, that’s okay! I’ll just tell them when I get my letter. I’m sure I’ll get in.” Mike waved dismissively.

Because he was missing an important piece of information; Will hadn’t been expecting to go to school with Mike. In fact, he was trying to come to terms with it. It’s like the rug has suddenly been pulled out from under him. Why the fuck does Mike have to be like that? So loyal and unquestioning about everything? Will said he was going to New York so of course he’d tag along. 

The next question is if he lets Mike know that Will hadn’t originally intended all of this, that the NYU conversation had been a “I’m leaving you guys and going to New York” kind of deal and not a “We’re going together” thing or if he just doesn’t mention it whatsoever. What if Mike’s hurt by it? Will knows now that he can’t always trust himself to make sound observations about what’s going on in Mike’s head, because he didn’t think Mike would want to go to New York with him and now here he is.

He just knew he had to inform the party before they could say anything to Mike, because he’d rather it come out of his mouth than theirs.

—

Where. The. Fuck. Is. Dustin. Henderson. 

Will actually feels like he’s on the brink of insanity because he has been trying to hunt down Dustin all morning, and before then he was calling all of yesterday, but he assumed he was busy calling family about MIT or out celebrating with his mother somewhere fancy. Of course, his mom didn’t let him go over to Dustin’s either because it was late on a school night. Now, Dustin just seemed to vanish into thin air. He wasn’t at his lockers, or in his first period, and Will has been roaming the halls searching for him.

He was able to tell everyone else about what happened, the situation thoroughly amusing Max because, “Yeah, that sounds exactly like Wheeler.” Again, Will wasn’t sure what she meant by that. It’s like the girl spoke in some sort of code that only she knew, only El occasionally joining in on it sometimes.

Will was starting to give up, and when the bell rang for the start of class, the idea of banging his head against the lockers was sounding more and more appealing. He only had himself and his severe lack of communication to blame, he should’ve just told Mike the truth yesterday. He’s an idiot.

Whatever. It’d be okay. Yesterday was one of the rare times they talked about college, so it was unlikely anything would happen.

…Or so he thought, because when lunch rolled around Mike came in with a grin on his face and plopped down right beside Will, everyone already seated and talking about random school stuff. “Okay so I was gonna open it up with you, but I got too excited when I saw it in my mail this morning.” 

Mike plopped down the NYU letter right in front of Will, “I got in!”

Will was happy for Mike but was absolutely terrified to look at Dustin and see his confused reaction. He’s never been one to be subtle.

“Wait, you guys are going together? But Will said-” Dustin couldn’t finish because there was a sudden yelp, and he assumed it was Max’s doing. She loved kicking at people whenever she got the chance, only it was usually Mike who was saying something stupid.

However, it was too late, because Mike looked confused, like he was trying to put puzzle pieces together, “What did Will say?”

“Nothing.” Lucas said immediately. 

“What?” Dustin asked, obviously confused but not elaborating any further, scared to be kicked again. 

Mike obviously didn’t believe that and when he tried to make eye-contact with Will, Will looked away. Okay, this was bad, there was no denying that this was bad. 

“Will?” Mike asked, soft and confused and Will just wanted to confess everything now, but he couldn’t. 

“Um, let’s talk about this later. I’ll go to your house after school.” Will said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“Oh,” Mike said awkwardly, “Okay, that’s… okay.”

“Anyways, good job Wheeler. Excited for you to go and learn how to write poems and read books, or whatever an English major does.” Max said, obviously trying to break the tension. 

Will gave her a grateful smile, thank god someone here knew how to navigate social situations at least a tiny bit. 

“Thanks? I guess.” Mike laughed, but he still looked confused. Will honestly couldn’t blame him. If he was assuming he was going to college with Mike and Dustin said that he’d be thrown off as well.

The rest of the party congratulated him, but lunch was definitely quieter than usual. 

—

When they were finally under the shelter of Mike Wheeler’s basement, the two were finally able to freely talk about it. Will gained courage throughout the day on what exactly to say without coming off bad.

Once they were both sitting on the couch, Mike turned to look at him and Will did the same.

“So what was Dustin talking about at lunch? What did you tell him?” Mike wasted no time talking about it. Will liked that he was direct about things, but sometimes it sucked; especially right now. Will didn’t want to be direct with Mike, he wanted to curl up into a ball and hide. 

“Well, I wasn’t under the impression that we were going to go to NYU together, so I had told them I was going alone.” Will said, scared to see Mike’s reaction.

But Mike was blank and didn’t respond for a bit. 

“Mike?” Will asked.

The taller boy shook out of it, “Why would you assume you were going alone? We’ve always talked about college together and about being roommates and…” Mike stopped, as if he suddenly had a realization in his mind, “Oh, I guess it had always been me talking about that.”

A look of embarrassment washed over Mike’s face, and Will wanted to immediately shut that down, however Mike started talking again, “Shit. You were just going along with it and I look like an idiot, right? That was probably your way of telling me to fuck off or whatever and I just completely ignored it.” 

“What?” Will said incredulously, “No! Mike, that’s ridiculous.”

“But you were planning on going to NYU without me and I completely ruined that for you. I’m sorry, Will” Mike sighed.

Will hated when Mike was like this, he was never one to be kind to himself. He’d always been one to call himself dumb, or ugly, to not care about the self-deprecating jokes he made. Mike wasn’t ever one to have a high self-esteem, always caring about his friends more than himself. In situations like this, Will had to make sure he got everything out, even if sometimes it was embarrassing to tell Mike the truth. 

“Mike,” Will said, placing his hand on Mike’s shoulder, trying to hopefully stop Mike’s head from overthinking everything and to just focus on Will’s words, “You didn’t ruin anything. Sure, I had wanted to go alone, but that wasn’t because I didn’t want to go with you. I’m happy you’re going.”

Mike was confused by that, and Will didn’t blame him. It’s just complicated to try to explain it without exposing his feelings.

“I don’t understand. You wanted to go alone but you’re happy I’m going? That makes zero sense, Will” Mike stated.

Will sighed, running his other hand through his hair, “Yeah, fuck. I know.”

“So just tell the truth. I’ll try to understand it.” Mike said, not breaking eye contact with Will, which made Will stupidly feel butterflies, “Even if you say you hate my guts.”

Will snorted out a laugh at that, “I don’t hate your guts. Look, it’s just… I wanted to go to New York for a specific reason and I honestly thought you wanted to stay here anyways- I thought you’d want to be with everyone else.”

Mike looked like he was thinking over that sentence. He didn’t look upset like earlier, he just looked like he was trying to figure out Will at this point. It was honestly a bit unnerving.

“So what was the reason? Was it something you had to do alone? Without me? Maybe we can do it together or something, I don’t know.” Mike said.

Will laughed before he could stop himself, because that was definitely not something Will and Mike could do together. With Mike being straight and all that.

Mike reluctantly laughed along with Will, even though the look on his face showed he didn’t quite understand what was funny about what he said.

Will suddenly realized that now was probably the moment. Now or never. They’re going to go to NYU together, maybe be roommates and all that, he had to know Mike was okay with all of it. Ideally, he would’ve prepped out everything he was going to say beforehand, but being spontaneous would just have to do. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad, hopefully he won’t accidentally reveal his feelings.

“Sorry it’s just… shit.” Will said, his voice starting to go in and out nervously, “The thing is… I wasn’t expecting to tell you all this today. Of course I want to go to NYU with you, but the reason I had originally wanted to go is because I’m gay. I couldn’t stay in Indiana and I just wanted to be in a city and meet people like me. It’s still hard for me to talk about so I wanted to become more comfortable, accept myself for being queer. Sorry if you think that’s weird.”

Will could feel the tears in his eyes and he felt so stupid for crying, even just a little bit. It’s a strange feeling coming out to someone, to your best friend. The love of your life. Whatever. But Mike just came closer and gave him a warm hug.

“Thank you for telling me, Will. That was really brave of you.”

“Yeah?” Will laughed between his tears, “I don’t feel that brave. I was just going to leave you guys without saying anything at all.”

“Still, you’re going to New York and wanting to do all that, I know Hawkins treated you badly because they thought you were gay. I’m sorry if you ever thought I’d treat you like they did.” Mike said, and fuck, Will needed this. Mike’s words were actually reassuring and kind and he couldn’t believe he was just going to skip out on this conversation. 

“No, don't worry about it. None of you ever made me feel bad about it.” Will said, honestly. Sure he felt out of place sometimes, especially that summer before freshman year started when they all had girlfriends, but that was his own issue to work through. They never made him feel wrong, not on purpose. 

“So, just to clarify, you’re good with me going to NYU and being your roommate- right?” Mike asked and Will only laughed.

—-------------------------

Will and Mike were doing so great at NYU that Will had begun to forget that there had been anything to worry about. Mike liked being an English major so far and Will was enjoying his entry level art classes for his major. They even shared a lot of pre-requisite classes because they signed up for them together. 

Living with one another had been easy too, and Jonathan came by sometimes to hang out with them or make sure they were okay, just the average big brother instincts. Will had a couple friends in art class and after a few months he told the girl sitting next to him that he was gay. It felt weird, coming out to someone he’d barely known, but so freeing. 

He was right to do so, because she came out to him as well as lesbian and it was like an instant connection between them was formed. Her name is Julie and she was a local here, so she began to take Will under her wing. She knew a lot more about the area and could show Will good spots. 

At first, Mike was a bit jealous of Will having a new friend, because he claimed Friday nights were for playing video games until the sun comes back up. When Will said he could also do that on a Saturday, that shut him up. 

Will had already been to Julie’s spot a few times before, but all those times Mike had been out, either studying at the library late or working on group projects for a class he was in. Today, he was home early and was curious about Will being all dressed up to leave. 

“Where are you guys going tonight, anyways? Can I come with you?” Mike asked, never one to shy away from inviting himself places. Will had still been a little embarrassed about openly talking about being gay with Mike, but Mike absolutely couldn’t come unless he wanted to be severely uncomfortable. Will remembers how strange he’d feel when girls would openly flirt with him in school, he’d imagine that’s how Mike would feel. 

“No, unless you want random guys assuming you’re into men and hitting on you.” Will shook his head. 

Mike’s mouth formed an ‘o’ out of surprise before shaking out of it, “Oh… Okay. I doubt that would happen, though.” 

Will laughed because that was honestly ridiculous. No matter how he looked at it, Mike was just objectively handsome. He wasn’t the rugged, manly type of handsome, but Will honestly doesn’t like that. Mike is beautiful like a prince or something. It’s cheesy, Will knows. Mike’s features are super sharp, like his cheekbones and his jawline, while also having a softness to him. His lips are full, eyes are deep and dark, his hair is laid out in soft curls almost touching down to his shoulder in length. He’s tall and skinny, and dresses mostly in darker colors- if Will didn’t know him he’d think he looks mysterious. Yeah, it’s safe to say a lot of queer men would be into someone like Mike, and that has included Will for a very long time. 

“What are you laughing at?” Mike said.

“Nothing,” Will laughed again and shook his head, “Sorry, you’re just wrong.”

“I am? And how do you know?” Mike shot back. 

Okay. So, the thing is… ever since Will came out to Mike, it’s felt different. Well shit, of course it would be, but not in the obvious way. Of course Mike knowing would shift their friendship around a bit, but it didn’t happen the way Will thought it would. It’s the opposite of what he thought, actually.

Honestly, if he didn’t know any better it felt like Mike Wheeler was flirting with him. He knew that was impossible, that he was just being delusional or reading into things more than he ought to. At the very end of the day, the worst case scenario is Mike is just doing it unintentionally. He knows Mike’s not doing it to make fun of him or any other malicious intent- but it still messes with his brain regardless. Not to mention the blushing of his face and the butterflies in his stomach whenever Mike says something that has more than friendship implications.

He’s met a few cute guys around at the club, but nothing has clicked yet, and he blames Mike… No, he blames himself. Will was gifted the incredible ability of foresight when he predicted that getting over Mike would be hard, even downright impossible. 

These boys were nice and all, but he always found himself more excited to get back to his dorm and talk to Mike about his day when he’d get back. It was so corny and lame, and Julie made fun of him for it endlessly. However, she had been begging Will to let her meet Mike after many months of him pining after him and telling her about things with Mike. When Will asked why she wanted to meet him, she remained quiet, saying she wanted to figure something out. 

They hadn’t been able to meet because again, Mike was out a lot working in the library when Julie came over, so today they’d be meeting each other. Will didn’t know how to feel about any of that. 

Will suddenly remembered he had been in the middle of something, and that something was talking with Mike, who was maybe possibly flirting or something of the variety with Will, god he wished he was better at this. 

“I don’t know? Maybe because I have eyes..” Will said, as honestly as he could, trying not to be embarrassed. He was just being objective, of course. Mike would understand. It wasn’t anything to read into, even if Will did have a huge crush on him that has quite honestly been past a crush for almost a decade now.

Will was brave enough to look at Mike, to gauge his reaction, and was surprised to see him slightly red, “Oh. Thanks.”

Will kind of wanted to make fun of his reaction, but there was sudden knocking at the door. The loud and violent knocks could only be attributed to Julie, because she always wanted to make her presence loud and known. 

“Hold on!” Will called and she finally stopped, he walked to the door and opened it to see her waiting.

“William,” She said. 

“Julian,” He said back, even though that 100% was not her name. 

“You must be Mike,” Julie said, finally glancing at the boy sitting at his small desk beside his bed. 

Mike nods and stands up to shake her hand, “You’re Julie, right? Heard a lot about you.” 

She shakes it back, trying not to laugh at how formal Mike’s greeting is, “Likewise. Will doesn’t ever shut up about you.”

“Really?” Mike asked, and Will wasn’t sure if Mike was embarrassed or wanted to join in on making fun of Will with her.

“Yup. He’s super sweet, always talking about you and the rest of your friends, which is why I’m on my mission to find him a boyfriend. Lucky guy whoever ends up with him, don’t you agree?” Julie asked Mike. Will is officially mortified. Having your childhood best friend and college friend interact is honestly a nightmare that Will hadn’t been anticipating. He was naive to think Julie wouldn’t embarrass him somehow.

Mike looked like he was lost for words, “Um, yeah. Right.” 

Julie looked at Mike questioningly due to his lackluster reaction and then back to Will before speaking up again, “Anyways, we gotta head out. Don’t miss him too much, Mike.”

Julie grabbed Will’s arm and whisked him out quickly. When they finally got out of the building and onto the streets to get to the subway she began to cackle like how she usually does when she finds something amusing.

“Holy shit!” She said in between her laughter.

“What?” Will asked, not sure what she was about to say next, but preparing anyway.

“That boy is queer. I may be laughing but it isn’t a joke.”

Will gave her an unamused stare, “Not funny.”

“Will! C’mon! I know these things. I knew the moment I met you and I speculated he was queer before I even met him! Your stories did a lot of the heavy lifting, but I needed to meet him and confirm it.”

“Julie, you can’t just look at someone and assume they’re gay. Isn’t that wrong?”

“Okay, yeah, but I don’t just look at you. I gather evidence. You had been staring at that one guy in class and then I kinda mentioned it to get you flustered, remember? I do that a lot with people, and it mostly doesn’t work. That means they’re straight. However, Mike passed my test with flying colors. When I mentioned you getting a boyfriend he looked jealous. Hence, he has a crush on you, hence he’s queer. It’s science, really.”

Will wasn’t sure how to respond to her, so he didn’t. He knew she’d continue talking anyways. “I don’t even know how you can act surprised. You tell me everything that goes on with you two.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of, he tried to invite himself with us- and before you say anything that’s before he knew where I was going. I was saying he wouldn’t like getting hit on by guys and he just said he doubts it would happen. When I said that was wrong he asked why and I said it’s because I have eyes or whatever.” Will said, recounting the earlier events.

“He totally went red, right?” She asked, grinning as they finally made their way down to the station and began waiting for the train.

“I wouldn’t say red, maybe a light pink?” 

“Okay smartass, either way he blushed. I don’t know how you’re even doubting me at this point.” Julie said, matter of fact.

“It’s just a little hard to believe, is all. He’s been my friend since kindergarten and he’s known about me being gay for 8 months now, if he was like that wouldn’t he say something?” 

“Okay, I get it, I do. You’re trying to be reasonable, but we’re all a mess and do things at our own pace, so reason doesn’t really work here. Maybe he’s just unsure of how to tell you. Maybe he doesn’t know you like him, either.” She explained.

And okay, maybe that would kind of make sense. Still, Will didn’t like giving into his dreams of Mike ever accepting his feelings and liking him back. He always assumed the chance of it had been a stable zero percent.

“I feel like it’s so obvious that I like him.” Will grumbled, a bit embarrassed to admit.

“Maybe to you, but to him you’re going out to gay clubs and trying to meet people. He thinks you’re looking for a boyfriend, which yeah you are, but does he know he’s also in the running? What if he thinks you just see him like a friend? Will, this gay shit is confusing for everyone. We’re all just figuring things out as we go and I think Mike is trying to do that too. So maybe just open up to that idea a little bit. Let yourself hope and be happy, even if it doesn’t work out in the end at least you’ll know you tried..” She said and smiled at him.

Fuck, that was actually a really good speech. Maybe she was right. Julie was honestly pretty good at reading people, and if that included Mike then he should try to figure that out.

“You know what, fuck it. Let's go back and bring Mike.” She said.

“What?” Will said, his eyes almost bugging out of his head.

“I’m serious! At the very least if I’m wrong the bar is welcome for friends, gay or not. Plus if he’s gay and figuring it out he shouldn’t be doing it alone. He deserves the full New York experience.”

Will sighed, not knowing what to say.

“C’mon Will, with all your stories and just meeting him for like five minutes I’ve come to care for little ol’ Michael Wheelter or whatever his name is.” 

“Wheeler.” Will corrected, “And fine, but if he says no then I’m just staying there because I’ll be annoyed that you dragged me back to my dorm for no reason.”

“Deal.” Julie grinned.

—

When they got back, Mike was surprised to see them back already. 

“Hey, everything alright?” He asked, concerned.

“Peachy. Hey, Will mentioned how you wanted to come with earlier and I realized it was rude not to invite you! Don’t worry about feeling like the odd one out, friends are always welcome.” Julie said.

“Are you sure?” Mike asked, looking between Will and Julie. Will nods. 

“Yeah, okay… I’ll go then. I don’t have a fake I.D. I don’t know if that’s an issue.” Mike awkwardly explained.

She laughed, “Nah, it’s all good. I know the owner, they just let me in with whoever I want.”

When they get to the club, it isn’t too busy, which is surprising for a Friday night. It was mostly frequented by college aged students all around the city, so no random old creepy people coming around wanting to talk. There were also a lot of couples already paired up together today. Other times it had mostly been single people. 

They sat around for a bit and nursed on their drinks before Julie got bored of it and grabbed both their hands to get them to get up and go with her to the dance floor. Will laughed and just went with it, freely dancing with her. Had they been in a regular bar, people would’ve assumed they were a couple, which was incredibly ironic seeing as neither of them could possibly hold any sort of attraction towards each other. 

Mike just shuffled around awkwardly before Julie turned back and laughed, “Loosen up, Wheeler.”

She was trying to dance with Mike, but the boy honestly had two left feet. “Sorry, gotta go.” She suddenly said and tilted her head to the direction of a girl dancing alone. The girl was definitely Julie’s type so Will just smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

When Will turned back to Mike, Mike had stopped dancing altogether. Will laughed, “You’re absolutely hopeless.”

“Whatever, I knew I should’ve said no to going. So far I’ve just been made fun of.” Mike sighed. 

“So why’d you say yes? Not quite sure what you get out of coming here. Are you gonna be one of those overprotective friends that have to make sure the guy I meet is alright before we date?” Will asked.

“Um, no?” Mike said, “No, you can’t date whoever you want, Will.”

“Okay, cool.”

“Cool,” Mike muttered. 

It was silent for a beat before Mike spoke up again, “I’m just gonna go to the bathroom really quick.”

Will didn’t get another word in before Mike was speed walking away. He sighed and sat back down at the bar. On the right there was a couple making out next to him, he was only a little jealous. By now he’s had his first kiss, Julie making sure of it by taking him here, but he just wants to be in love like how he sees all the couples here. 

Someone sits down beside him and for a second he thinks it’s Mike before he turns to look. Definitely not Mike. It’s a tall and muscular looking guy, he has the frat boy look. Something the straight girls at NYU definitely love and appreciate. He’s not really Will’s type, but he’s attractive and he’s looking at Will so he sends the random guy a smile.

“I’m Cam, what’s your name?” He asked with a smile back, and damn he does have nice blue eyes. He could admit it.

“Will, nice to meet you.” 

“You have a boyfriend, Will? I saw you with that other guy earlier but I couldn’t tell.” Will blushes at the idea of a random stranger thinking he’s dating Mike. 

“No, he’s not my boyfriend. Just my best friend since kindergarten.” 

“What? No shit. That must’ve been nice having a friend who’s queer around with you.” 

“He’s not gay. He just tagged along with us tonight.”

“Oh?” Cam said, confused, “Okay… and he’s good with all this?”

Will nods, “Completely.”

“That’s really nice. I mean I wasn’t so lucky. My best friend was a football player like me, and in high school. When he found out he completely stopped talking to me along with everyone else. I got out of that shitty town and now I’m here. It’s been nice.” Cam said with a smile, but his eyes seemed a bit wistful.

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t really have the best childhood in my small town either. Everyone always kind of knew I was gay, and I got bullied for it.” Will shared.

Honestly, this was his favorite part about going here, the stories people could share. Nobody ever had the exact same story, but they all had things that could connect to each other. There was common ground. 

“It’s hard to find people in places like that that’ll accept you for who you are, nevermind go with you to a gay bar. Nice friend, I think I’ll steal him from you.” The guy beside him laughed.

Will laughed along with him, “Nope, he’s mine.”

“Who’s yours?” A voice popped up behind him. Will turned to see Mike looking between the two of them. 

“I was just saying I was gonna steal you from Will.” Cam teased. 

Mike’s mouth gaped, “What? It’s not… I’m- We’re not dating.” Mike managed to lamely get out. 

“Relax, man. Will was just talking about how good of a friend you are.” Cam laughed.

Mike looked a bit embarrassed, “My bad.”

“Don’t worry, not hitting on you or anything.” Cam said, “Straight boys aren’t my type, anyways.”

“What does that even mean?” Will laughed, “It’s kind of impossible not to have crushes on straight guys. Hitting on them is another thing, but to say they’re not your ‘type’ is BS.”

“Fine, you caught me. Unfortunately, I’ve had many crushes on my straight friends.” Cam sighed, “It’s inescapable.” 

“See, I knew it!” Will said. 

Cam looked to Mike, who was standing since there was no seat next to Will, “Hey Will’s friend, who’d Will have crushes on? What’s his type” 

Mike just stood there frozen, looking like he was wracking his brain for an answer but couldn’t think of anything, “I… I don’t know. We don’t really talk about that kind of stuff.”

“That kind of stuff? What do you mean?”

“Like… relationships and dating and all that.” Mike said awkwardly.

Cam made a confused face at that, “You’re fucking with me, right?”

“No?” 

“Didn’t you tell me you guys have been friends since kindergarten? That’s one of the most basic topics of conversation between guys. Man, when my friends started dating girls they’d tell me all the time about what they were doing.” Cam said, thinking back.

Sure, Will remembers that, but it was more so with Lucas or Dustin. Mike didn’t talk about El much unless he was worried about breaking up with her, until they eventually split for good after Vecna first fought them. Mike didn’t talk about kissing El or making out like the two other boys did, but Will assumed it was because El was his sister and that’d be kind of gross. However, even before El was his sister, Mike didn’t really talk about it with Will. It was good because Will would’ve rather died than have to hear about Mike’s relationship with a girl at that time, he had been so consumed with jealousy. 

“Well that didn’t happen. I only dated one girl back in freshman year.” Mike said.

“Really? So why are you in here, shouldn’t you be out trying to find a girlfriend? Maybe Will can wingman you next time.”

“I don’t want one.” Mike said shortly. Will could tell he was beginning to get agitated by this conversation. 

“I didn’t talk about relationships because I was gay, and Mike didn’t talk about relationships because he just didn’t date, it’s whatever.” Will waved off dismissively. 

“Okay, gotcha. Still, surprised Mike didn’t ask after he knew.” 

Mike shrugged, “I didn’t know if that would be rude to ask.”

Cam laughed at that, “You are hilarious. It’s okay to ask. As long as you’re not super weird and assume your friend has a crush on you just cause he’s gay.”

Will knew this guy meant well, and yeah that statement is definitely true, but jesus fuck it was just not applicable to this situation at all. Will felt himself freeze up by that. He noticed Cam sensed it and it’s like a lightbulb finally went off in this guy’s head.

“Ah… well, I mean. It’s not weird to wonder, but it’s weird when you’re straight and become a dick to them because of it. Sometimes we do like our friends, but that’s something you talk about and not assume and Jesus, I have zero clue what I’m saying now.” The man laughed awkwardly.

“I don’t assume that.” Mike said, “If anything he’d like our friend Lucas.”

“What! I don’t like Lucas.” Will said incredulously, “Maybe one time in like second grade, but I don’t know if that really counts.”

“You liked Lucas in second grade?” Mike said, his brows furrowing, “Wasn’t that the year I thought you were going to replace me as a best friend with him?”

“Yeah… I don’t know, I just liked being around him and thought he was cute.” Will said awkwardly, because it was weird to think about Lucas like that now. There were zero lingering emotions there. Basically the exact opposite of Mike.

“Oh. Okay.” Mike paused, “That kinda makes sense now.”

Cam laughed, “Yeah but second grade crushes don’t count. High school crushes are the most important. They’re the hardest to forget. You probably know, Mike. Is there a girl you can’t forget back at Hawkins.”

“No.” Mike said immediately, like he didn’t have to think about it. Maybe Julie’s theory might make sense, or maybe Mike just had a huge disinterest in girls at the moment. Will needs to stop hoping.

“Will, can we go now? If that’s okay. I can just go on my own too, if you want.” Mike said, it looked like he was guilty, not wanting to ruin Will’s fun.

“Do you want to wait outside while I tell Julie?” Will asks and Mike nods, heading out. Will gets up to go to Julie before Cam stops him. 

“Here’s my number. It was nice talking to you. Not trying to hit on you or anything. You like Mike, right?” Cam asked.

Will nods.

“Honestly, I think he likes you too. You should look into that.”

“That’s the second time I’ve gotten that today,” Will laughs and shakes his head, because what is up with today?

“Probably for a reason, you two would look good together.” Cam smiled, “Seriously, don’t chicken out because I’ll be mad.”

“What if I just never keep in touch with you? Then you’ll never know what happened.”

“Then I will find you and make sure you don't chicken out.”

“Okay,” Will said, “That’s totally not scary at all.”

“Bye Will, nice meeting you!” He said and waved him off. He found Julie and she said to just go without her, that she’d hang out with the girl she met and go smoke in her dorm room and talk. 

—

The way back was pretty quiet for them and it was almost 1am by the time they got home. Will didn’t realize they’d been out for that long. Will took his jacket off and took out the piece of paper with Cam’s number, setting it somewhere safe.

“What’s that?” Mike asked.

“Just Cam’s number, he gave it to me after you left.” Will said.

“Oh, so is Cam going to be your boyfriend now?” Mike asked, plopping onto his bed unceremoniously while Will stood a few steps over from him. 

If Will hadn’t gone through all that he had today with people telling him what they thought about Mike, he surely would've missed it. However, Will was paying extra attention to Mike’s words, and his face; which was now looking like he ate a sour candy but also like he was trying to hide it. It all kind of screamed jealousy. In fact, it was just textbook jealousy- no kind of about it.

Now, that would’ve been the point where Will started laughing at himself for being delusional, but he honestly wanted to test it. Was Mike really jealous? Did he like Will?

“What if he was? Would you not like it?” Will asked, sitting down next to Mike and staring into his eyes unblinkingly, not wanting to miss Mike’s reaction.

Mike was shocked by that, “What? Will, you know I don’t care about you being gay!”

“That isn’t what I asked, Mike. Would you not like me dating someone?” He asked again.

Now that he was closer he could see the nervous expression on Mike’s face, the gulping of his throat, and how he couldn’t look him in the eye. Holy shit. Maybe they were right.

“Would you be mad if I didn’t like it?” Mike finally asked.

“Depends,” Will said, “Why wouldn’t you like me dating someone?”

Shit, this was it. Time for Will to find out if he’s completely delusional or if he’s right about this. It honestly felt scary, because this moment could be the most important moment ever or just another moment to add onto the list of the times he embarrassingly thought Mike liked him. 

“Um,” Mike begins, obviously not sure how to get his words out, “What if it was because I wanted to date you?” 

Holy fuck.

Okay. So definitely not delusional, then. Good to know. Still, he couldn’t quite believe it, even when Mike’s words left no room for interpretation. Will had just spent so many years convincing himself it wasn’t ever possible, that Mike was straight as an arrow.

Will gave Mike a shy smile and Mike seemed to relax a bit, “Then I definitely wouldn’t be mad.”

“You wouldn’t?” Mike asked, sounding unsure of himself, like there was ever a possibility of Will not liking him back. It’s ridiculous, Mike is ridiculous. 

“Okay, maybe I’d be a little mad, only because I’d want to know why you didn’t say anything sooner,” Will begins, teasing, “But I’d mostly be pretty happy, mainly because I’d say I’ve had a crush on you for the longest time. That is, if you wanted to date me, of course.” Will didn’t know where he was finding the bravery to say all of this, but from Mike’s stunned expression he knew it was something he needed to say.

“Will, I’m in love with you,” Will gasps at the confession, and at the hand that quickly grabs Will’s own, that was idly resting on Will’s knew. He was not really expecting those words from Mike’s mouth. Sure Mike said he wanted to date Will, but that didn’t mean he was in love, not like Will was. Holy shit, Mike was actually in love with him, he feels exactly how Will does. It’s mutual. It’s been mutual for a while now. 

“I realized it awhile ago, years ago- honestly. I should’ve said it a lot sooner, but I was just scared, scared you wouldn’t see me that way. Even when you came out I wasn’t sure.” 

“I love you too, Mike. I’ve always seen you.” Will smiled, playing with Mike’s hand that was connected to his own, thinking fondly of all their memories together, and boy do they have so many. Mike was just a constant fixture in Will’s life, and so many moments included him or involved him. Knowing Mike felt the same made it all feel even more special, they had always been together in life, but now they could be together in every sense of the word. They finally found each other. 

And honestly… MikeandWill isn’t sounding too bad anymore. All their friends in Hawkins could see it, their parents could see it, and even people in New York who hadn’t known them too long could see it. There’s no more denying it, no more room for doubt.

Will smiled and Mike returned it.

“But honestly, I feel kind of dumb that people here could see that you were queer when even I couldn’t. I think my friendship rights should be revoked or something.” Will said with a giggle.

It made Mike laugh, “To be fair, I also had no clue that you were gay. Even when I did know, I was too scared to say how I really felt. But of course, you went and became the brave one again. And honestly? You should both revoke our friendship cards. We’re terrible as friends.” 

“Really? So what do you suggest we be instead of friends?” Will smiled, his lips not being able to relax into a neutral expression. He was just so fucking happy, who could blame him?

“I was thinking more like boyfriends?” Mike asked, looking at Will for confirmation and Will grabbed him by the neck and quickly pulled him in for a kiss. He could hear Mike groan into it with surprise and it made Will smile into it.

Kissing Mike? Yeah, he’ll definitely like doing this. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to this feeling, their bodies pressed together and their lips seeking each other out. It’s gentle and passionate and an overall reminder of the bond they’ve built up for almost 14 years now. It’s different, but the same. It’s just a new and heightened form of something Will thinks now that he might’ve always known they had. The pair had always been special, and the only reason it wasn’t discovered sooner was because of all the doubt that got in both of their ways. 

When the two broke apart Mike practically melted into Will and relaxed his head on Will’s shoulder, his face hiding in Will’s neck. Will giggled at that and even more so when Mike gave a soft kiss where his lips were resting.

“So, what do you say, Will? Boyfriends?” Mike asked, voice mumbled. 

“Boyfriends,” Will confirmed, kissing the top of Mike’s head.