Chapter Text
It’s a sweltering, sweaty day when Will finally comes out to his friends. They had huddled into Mike’s basement for some reprieve, as Mike’s mom always made sure the air conditioning was on. They were strewn across the room haphazardly, Max on the couch with El’s head in her lap, running her fingers lazily through her hair, and Lucas at her side, holding her unoccupied hand. Dustin star-fished face down on the floor. Mike and Will in chairs on opposite ends of the room from each other, with Will closer to El and Mike closer to Lucas. Seating had been weird ever since Mike and El broke up.
It was surprisingly Dustin, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet for the past half-hour, who broke the quilt of silence hovering over them. He rolled over so he was face up on the floor and announced, “I’m booooredddd.”
Mike scoffed, “We’re all bored, Dustin. It’s summer and it’s like 1,000 degrees out.”
Max rolled her eyes, “Will you two stop whining already?”
“I’ll stop whining if you entertain me,” Dustin challenged, sitting on his knees to face her.
Max looked to El who shrugged in her lap. She turned to look at Lucas who seemed hesitant to tell her he didn’t have any ideas either. El gracefully let Lucas off the hook by getting up from Max’s lap to whisper in her ear, causing Max to nod and break out into a grin. El promptly landed with her head back in Max’s lap, satisfied with her work.
“Okay, idiot, it’s your funeral,” Max warned with an impish grin that sent shivers up Mike’s spine. Max grinning never led to good things.
“Will you just tell us already? There was really no need to whisper, we’re all gonna find out anyways,” Mike huffed, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.
Max just held up her middle finger in return, smiling to herself at the sound of El giggling at the exchange. “We propose, an epic game of truth or dare. Loser has to… run across the street out front, totally ass-out naked,” Max made up on the spot.
Mike scoffed, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone, he scoffed like it was breathing. “No way! That’s ridiculous. What if my parents see?”
“Then don’t be the one to lose,” Max shrugged him off.
“I’m in,” Lucas smiled mischievously, reminding Dustin of the face he makes when he does his awful rendition of Never Ending Story. “Sounds fun. And I’m bored, too.”
Despite being on opposite ends of the room, Mike turned to look at Will, raising his eyebrows to see if he was okay with it. Will, who’s eyes were already trained on him, making his stomach do a weird flip. Maybe he was just hungry.
“Sounds more interesting than staring at the basement ceiling for another hour,” Will offered, and Mike couldn’t help but think the answer was just for him, Will reading his silent question.
“Okay, fine. I’m in too,” Mike relented.
“Of course you’re in now, you join whatever side Will is on!” Dustin exclaimed, exasperated by the unfair treatment since he joined the party.
“Wha- That is so not true Dustin,” Mike argued, arms returning to the familiar place of being crossed in front of his chest.
“It’s a little true, Mike,” Will shrugged with a soft smile.
“Okay, whatever, it’s kinda true, let’s just play this stupid game,” Mike replied, causing Dustin to roll his eyes at the immediate surrender to Will’s opinion.
“Since you’re so moody today, Mike, you can have the honor of going first. Truth or Dare?”
Mike would rather do some stupid physical dare than answer any personal questions. He probably didn’t even know the answers himself. “Dare,” he shot back quickly.
“OOO… You’re gonna regret this,” Max huddled El and Lucas close to her as they conspired against him. “Okay, Mike. I dare you to kiss someone in this room, on the lips.”
Mike spluttered, since him and El had broken up, that was off the table. And he’d rather kiss a tarantula than Max. For some reason, his gaze was drawn to Will, who was staring back with a furrowed brow, biting his lip. Mike rolled his eyes at Max, then turned and raised his eyebrows in question at Will. Will shook his head no, red in the face and Mike tried his best not to feel extremely offended. He turned and said, “We’ve done this before, what’s one more time?” before planting a chaste kiss on El’s lips earning lame whoops and cheers from his “friends”. He didn’t think about the implications of feeling absolutely nothing, besides the intense pain of being rejected by Will.
“Okay, Mike. Now you ask someone,” Max prompted impatiently, reading his internal distraction easily.
“No shit,” Mike replied swiftly. “Um… Lucas, truth or dare?” He saw Dustin’s eyes widen out of the corner of his eye at his decision to ask Lucas instead of Will as he usually would, to make sure Will’s dare or truth wasn’t too bad.
Lucas looked equally surprised. “Dare,” he replied, once again sporting his patented grin.
“I dare you to go upstairs and ask my mom for a tampon,”
“Holy shit!” Dustin gasped while El giggled furiously in Max’s lap.
One humiliating conversation and a tampon later, Lucas turned to Will. “Will,” he grinned, “Truth or Dare?”
Will drummed his fingers on his knees nervously, used to Mike protecting him from the endlessly torturous possibilities of this game. “Uh… truth?” his voice came out high-pitched and squeaky, somewhat prepubescent.
Lucas, El, and Max conspired once again. Lucas’ head popped up like a meerkat’s. “Have you had your first kiss?” Lucas asked with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
Mike felt his bad mood worsen, bile rising up his throat. Why did the thought of Will kissing someone make him want to throw up? He’d watched El kiss multiple people since their breakup, and didn’t feel a thing. He was not enjoying the obvious conclusion.
Will’s face turned bright red, making Mike feel slightly guilty for not helping him out like usual. “Um… yeah.”
Mike’s heart plummeted. Is it possible to die from feelings alone?
“Who?!” El gasped, not in on this knowledge, either.
“Only one question at a time. El, truth or dare?” Will expertly diverted, his heart slamming against his chest. He briefly wondered if he was sweating.
“Dare.” El said simply, not thinking about it at all.
“I dare you to use your powers to make Mr. Wheeler’s remote float in mid-air.” The room erupted in laughter as El bounded up the stairs, the party sneaking behind her so they could watch from their hiding spots. Ted was in his designated spot in the La-Z boy, remote in hand like always. El focused until it was floating so high it was almost at the ceiling. They all stifled laughter as he didn’t even notice, oblivious as ever. El let it clatter to the floor, so he’d realize, causing him to murmur, “What the hell?” and Mike to fight the urge to parrot back a mocking, “Language!”
After a few more rounds, where Dustin revealed that he and Suzie had made out in the camp restroom, Max successfully stole one of Nancy’s bracelets, and El had made the entire couch float with all of them squished on it, the wheels had turned back to Will.
“Truth or Dare, Will?” Mike asked, not bothering to hide the minor annoyance evident in his voice.
“Um, dare?” Will supplied, trying desperately to avoid any questions about his first kiss. Mike frowned, and Will knew he’d guessed his intentions correctly. Until…
“Okay, I dare you to tell us who you kissed.” Mike challenged, voice still revealing jealous undertones. El squealed gleefully from her spot on the couch, and Dustin clapped his hands in delight.
And the thing was, Will hadn’t come out to the party yet. Hadn’t told any of them this giant secret, this secret that weighed him down with every step. This secret he could feel invading his chest, his very bones. And maybe it would feel… nice? Surely friends who stuck by him while he was literally possessed by a monster from another dimension will stick by him just for wanting to kiss guys… right? Will tried not to let his worry show on his face. Maybe if he said it casually they’d laugh him off and not make a big deal out of it. Will was starting to wonder if running down the street naked would be a better option when…
“Earth to Will! Tell us who you kissed so we can keep playing, dude!” Dustin reprimanded, waving his hands in the air to capture his attention.
“Um… I… uh…” He cleared his throat and tried again, and noticed his hands shaking in his lap. He clasped them together to try and stop it. “I kissed Jake.”
The room went silent until Mike snorted, “What the hell kinda name is Jake? Is she as ugly as her name?” He was not met with a reply. The room settling into silence.
“Mike…” Will prompted, begging him to understand with his eyes.
“Yeah? Was she ugly or not, Will? What did she look like?” Mike continued, oblivious as ever.
Dustin cleared his throat pointedly as Will focused on getting air into his lungs instead of panicky hyperventilation.
“Jake is a boy, Mike. I like… boys.” Will stated, voice a thousand times calmer than he felt. He was getting ready to bolt when he felt arms around his back, he jumped a little only to notice it was El, hugging him. The rest of the party joined in, a group hug, and Will couldn’t resist the few tears that stung his eyes at the acceptance. Then his tears changed purpose when he noticed that Mike was the only one not standing. Instead sitting in the chair with his eyes trained on his feet.
“I’m so proud of you Will, that was really brave,” Max said, probably the most genuine Will has ever heard her.
“Yeah, man. Really, you didn’t have to tell us because of a stupid game of truth or dare. Sorry about that,” Lucas scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly, being the one who had brought up the kiss in the first place.
“I like boys, too.” Eleven supplied, still unclear why this was such a big deal.
Will chuckled with wet eyes and with a strained voice, he said, “Thank you guys. Really, so much. I really appreciate it…” His voice trailed off as he turned to look at Mike, who now had his eyes trained on Will’s painting on the wall. The other members followed his gaze, soft faces turning stern in a matter of seconds. “I’m gonna… head out now, if that’s okay.”
A chorus of no’s and “stay!”s followed him to the door, he took one last look at Mike, still steadfastly avoiding eye contact. Was the only person who couldn’t accept him his best friend? The guy he’s been in love with since before he even knew what love was? He ran out the door, and then ran all the way home, not once looking back, tears of simultaneous relief and confirmation of his worst fears streaming down his face the whole time.