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Mike was late out the door, and he knew it. Phone in one hand and keys in the other, he locked his and Dustin’s shared apartment behind him and hurried down the stairs, too much in a hurry to wait for the slow elevator. He turned left when he made it out of the building, making his way toward Deja Brew. He glanced down at his phone, seeing that he only had ten minutes to make the usually fifteen minute walk. He swore and picked up his pace, wrapping his scarf around his neck as he walked. It was only November second, but a frosty chill had already settled over Chicago and Mike pulled his coat tighter around him.
A soft ding! sounded from his phone and he looked at it to see a message from Will.
Will — received @ 6:52 PM
I’ll be a bit late, my bus never came. Next one isn’t for another 10 minutes, so I should be there in 20?
Will — received @ 6:52 PM
Sorry!
Mike let out a sigh of relief and typed out his reply.
Mike — sent @ 6:52 PM
thank god, i’m also running late
Mike — sent @ 6:53 PM
don’t worry about it! see you soon :)
Will — received @ 6:54 PM
:) <3
Mike smiled at the heart and put his phone in his pocket. He slowed his walking a little, but still reached Deja Brew in no time and pulled the door open. It was almost empty, which didn’t surprise Mike. It was 7 PM on a Saturday, after all. Not exactly coffee rush hour. As he stepped inside, the bell above the door rang through the shop which alerted the man by the register.
“Wheeler!” Eddie called out from behind the counter with a grin as Mike walked up to him. “I thought you had a date to get to. What’re you doing here?”
Before Mike could respond, Steve came out from the back with a crate of clean cups and a kitchen towel over his shoulder. “He’s probably here to get coffee for it, huh, Wheeler?” he said with a smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows in Mike’s direction as he began stacking the cups by the coffee bar.
“Aw, he’s such a romantic,” Eddie said, his grin widening. “How’s the boyfriend doing, Mikey?”
Mike smiled sarcastically and flipped them both off, which only made the two men laugh. “He’s not my boyfriend, dipshits. It’s only like our fourth date.”
“Oh please,” Eddie drawled, “if I could trick Harrington into being my boyfriend after only one date you can get the cute art school boy who you literally will not shut the hell up about during work to do it after three.”
“That’s not what happened and you know it.” Steve rolled his eyes as he turned to go back into the kitchen with the now empty crate. Mike couldn’t resist a soft smile as Steve raised his voice to keep talking to them. “It was two dates and I was the one who asked you out to both.”
Eddie grinned and turned around, leaning against the counter as he faced Steve when he emerged from the back again, his kitchen towel now drying his hands. “You know you love me, Stevie.”
Steve swatted Eddie with the towel before throwing it back over his shoulder. “Don’t push your luck, Munson.”
“Trying to order coffee, guys,” Mike deadpanned.
Steve leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss into Eddie’s hair as he passed him, rounding the counter to walk out into the shop and start wiping down tables while Eddie stayed by the register with what Mike could only describe as a goofy grin on his face.
“You guys are disgusting,” Mike said with a shake of his head as he dug his wallet out of his coat pocket. “Can I get two peppermint lattes?”
Eddie shook his head a little as if to clear it, pushing himself up from the counter and turning around to face Mike. “Right on, little man. Put your money away, this one’s on the house. One gay to another.”
“I’m not—” Mike began, but Steve cut him off.
“One bisexual to another, then,” he called across the shop.
Eddie made a thumbs up in Steve’s general direction before moving on to the coffee bar.
“Guys, why are you—” Mike tried again but was once more interrupted by Steve.
“Because we care about you, dipshit,” he said without looking up from the table he was cleaning. “But repeat that to anyone and your ass is grass, Wheeler, you got that?”
Mike smiled, putting his wallet away. “Thanks.”
Steve nodded and waved absentmindedly toward Mike, but not before Mike caught a glimpse of a small smile on his face.
Eddie finished up the lattes and handed them to Mike just as the bell rang through the shop again. Mike just had time to catch Eddie’s wink at him before the older man busied himself with cleaning up the coffee machine.
“Mike!” a voice called behind him, and when he turned around, he came face to face with Will.
Every time Mike saw him, Will just kept getting cuter. Since the first day they met, Will had gotten a haircut which framed his face in the best way, and his smile seemed to get brighter every day. The smile that Mike still couldn’t believe he had the pleasure of seeing not only in person, but almost every evening or late night on their nightly video calls. They could talk for hours about school, D&D, Lord of the Rings, or whatever occupied their minds at the time. Mike had quickly realized that he didn’t want to go a single day without talking to Will — or about him, much to Steve and Eddie’s dismay.
He suddenly realized that he’d been quiet for a few seconds too long, and Will was still looking at him, and the lattes in his hands felt hotter than they did a second ago, and wow, Will was really cute, oh for God’s sake, Wheeler, just say something.
“This is for you!” Mike blurted out, holding both of the coffees out to Will. He blinked, then pulled one of his hands back. “Wait, not both. Um, I got these for you— for us.” He heard Eddie stifling a laugh behind him and Steve barely containing a frustrated sigh. “Uh, that is, if you want one, I don’t—”
He was interrupted in his rambling by Will who reached for the still outstretched coffee, taking it from Mike. His fingers brushed over Mike’s, who stared at the spot where they touched and felt heat rising in his face at the contact.
“Thank you,” Will said and smiled up at Mike. “What is it?”
“Peppermint,” Mike replied with a smile of his own.
“Oh!” Will said and looked down at it. “Already? November only just began.”
Mike let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, we go all in with seasonal drinks here. And I know you told me the other day how you didn’t use to like pumpkin spice until I asked you out, so I thought maybe you’d like peppermint better. It’s okay if you don’t!” he hurried to add as Will looked up at him. “It’s on me, and I won’t be upset if you don’t like it — actually, it’s on—”
“And that’s our cue to close!” Steve called out from behind Mike, not even halfway done with the tables. “Time to get going, kids.”
Mike frowned and twisted his neck to look at Steve’s watch. “We don’t close for another hour.”
“Time to go,” Steve said with a pointed glare at Mike. “Don’t want to miss the movie or whatever you’re doing.”
Will laughed, immediately silencing the retort Mike had been about to throw at Steve. “Okay, we’ll leave.” He looped his arm through Mike’s and raised his other hand in a wave at Eddie. “See you later, guys.”
Mike let himself be led out of Deja Brew and into the quiet streets of Chicago. As they made their way toward the movie theater, they struck up a conversation about school and their respective studies. From their previous conversations, Mike had learned that Will was studying Art History and Illustration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He had been impressed when Mike told him that he was taking a Creative Writing class at University of Chicago.
“You know,” Will began as he took a sip of his latte. “When we first met, I wouldn’t have pegged you as a writer.”
“No?” Mike drank from his own latte, the warmth spreading through him and the sweetness of the peppermint tingling in the back of his throat.
Will shook his head as they turned into a park. “I definitely realized you were an artist, but if I had to guess I probably would have thought you were a dancer.”
Mike nearly choked on his latte as he let out a laugh. He coughed and wiped his mouth with his coat sleeve. “Dancer? Really?”
“Listen, dancers are hot,” Will countered, which only made Mike laugh again. “But yes. You moved so swiftly and with such ease in everything you did. It’s like your hands were dancing across the espresso machine.”
Mike hummed. “Didn’t realize you were watching me so closely,” he teased.
He was immediately rewarded with a blush spreading across Will’s face. “Shut up,” the shorter boy mumbled into his latte. “You’re really pretty, Mike.”
Mike fought a blush of his own at Will’s words. He shrugged and took another sip. “Yeah, well, I already liked to create stories for D&D, you know? I figured it could be fun to do something similar while I try to figure out what I want to do with my life.”
Will nodded. “I understand. I’ve been drawing since I could hold a crayon. My mom has this binder with every single drawing I’ve ever made at home. She was so proud when I got into SAIC.” He sighed, then finished the rest of his latte before tossing the empty cup in a garbage can they were passing. “What about you?” he asked, his hand holding Mike’s arm sliding down to grab his hand instead. “How’d the family take it when you began writing?”
“Oh, dad was furious,” Mike snorted as he threw his empty cup away. “I’m his only son, so he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. The irony of that is that I have absolutely no idea what he even does.”
He felt more than heard Will laughing next to him. “I’m sorry. He sounds kinda shitty, especially with everything else you’ve told me about him.”
“Yeah, well,” Mike shrugged, “we’re rid of him now. Mom divorced him this summer, and she got Holly, thank goodness.”
“Holly?”
“My little sister,” Mike clarified. “Nancy, my older sister, was the most supportive with my writing. She even helped me and my friend Dustin find an apartment here.”
Will smiled and squeezed Mike’s hand. “My brother helped me find an apartment, too. I didn’t get to pick my roommate though, but I got really lucky with Lucas. He was great.” At Mike’s confused look, he continued, “he moved out a few weeks ago to move in with his girlfriends, Max and El. They live just down the road from me, and we hang out all four of us at my place now and then. I don’t think I’ve ever met three people more perfectly suited for each other.”
“That’s nice,” Mike smiled.
Their conversation continued, jumping from topic to topic as the two boys walked through the park, pointing at early Christmas decorations or stopping to look at various statues and monuments. Mike, who knew he had a knack for rambling and could talk for hours, found himself watching Will as he spoke about one of his hobbies or something he was passionate about. His whole face lit up and Mike felt like he could watch Will forever. He didn’t want to stop anytime soon, but they were almost at the end of the park and would then only have to cross the road to reach the movie theater.
He pulled Will to a stop, interrupting him in the middle of defending the Star Wars prequels. Will looked down at their hands first, then up at Mike. A frown crossed his face as he noticed Mike studying him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Mike said softly. He reached his free hand up and brushed away a piece of hair that had fallen into Will’s eyes. “I just didn’t want to go inside just yet.”
Will smiled, the frown melting away. “We’ve got at least two minutes before we’re even out of the park,” he countered, but he leaned into Mike’s touch and closed his eyes, and suddenly there was nothing Mike wanted to do more than kiss him.
He’d wanted to kiss Will for weeks now, ever since their first date, but he kept chickening out. He didn’t want to move too fast, or scare Will away. He hadn’t had a first kiss in a long time — he didn’t know when would be the right time.
Just as he was about to pull back and keep walking, Will wound his arms around Mike’s waist and sighed. “This is nice,” he murmured. “You’re warm.”
Mike smiled and let his hand drop to Will’s shoulder. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Very nice.” Then, before he could stop himself, he added, “but we don’t want to be late for the movie.”
Will opened his eyes and smiled up at Mike. “It doesn’t start for thirty minutes. I think we’re fine.”
“Okay.” Mike allowed himself to fiddle with the collar of Will’s jacket, his fingers skimming against his neck. Will once again leaned into the touch, before he suddenly instead leaned up, tilting his head back. Mike’s hand stilled its movements.
“Mike?” Will breathed, only inches away.
“Yeah?” Mike replied, not daring to move.
A beat. Will’s eyes searched Mike’s, and this close Mike was able to appreciate how beautiful they were. A shade of green Mike could write endless stories about, but he would never be able to describe it in a way that did Will’s eyes justice.
“Can I kiss you?” Will finally asked, and it took everything in Mike to not just lean down instead of answering him, but he managed to only lean forward a couple of inches and breathe out a soft, “yes.”
Will’s response was instant. Before Mike had time to close his eyes, Will stretched up the final inch and closed the space between them.
Kissing Will felt as natural as breathing. Mike’s eyes closed and his hand that wasn’t by Will’s neck went to his waist, pulling him closer. He felt Will smile at the touch before he pressed more firmly against Mike’s lips and tilted his head to the side. Mike did the same, moving against Will with ease. He tasted like peppermint, and if Mike thought he had enjoyed the sweet tingle of it before, it was nothing compared to the way it invaded his every sense when he kissed Will.
The kiss seemed to go on forever, though Mike knew it couldn’t have been more than ten seconds before he leaned back ever so slightly, taking a deep breath. He heard Will do the same and opened his eyes just in time to see a soft smile stretch across his face.
Will opened his eyes too, and for several moments they just stood there, holding on to each other and Mike’s hand resuming its fiddling of Will’s collar. Standing this close to each other, their fogged breath mixed with each other and the scent of peppermint hung in the air between them.
Mike was about to speak up when Will once again reached up and kissed him, shorter this time. A quick kiss as if to confirm to himself that he was allowed to do that, kiss Mike spontaneously.
“Sorry,” he murmured when he pulled back, then giggled as Mike tried to follow him down. “I think you were going to say something?”
Mike grinned, leaning down and stealing another kiss. “I think we can skip the movie. Don’t you?”
Will’s smile widened, and his reply wasn’t of the spoken kind as he reached one of his hands up to pull Mike down by the back of his head, meeting him halfway.