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Mike struggled to explain the importance of Will Byers in his life. He usually opted for “He’s my best friend.” But then stupid Vivian had to reply “I have a best friend too!” And his mouth opened and closed like a fish, because how was he supposed to explain the extremely ravenous extent to which he loved Will?
It’s not the same! His mind screamed back at her, but he kept quiet. Instead, ruminating on all the special things he and Will had that no one else in the world could come close to.
Do Vivian and her “best friend” have sleepovers on school nights? No way. Do they go on magical adventures and hold hands until their stomachs feel funny? Didn’t think so. Do they fall asleep all warm and snug in each other’s arms? That’s what Mike thought. So it is different. Hmph.
Just as he arrived at his victorious conclusion, the extra-special-best-friend in question plopped down next to him with bright cheeks and a soft smile.
“Will!” He exclaimed, almost knocking them both out of balance from their cheap plastic chairs as he assaulted him with an unnecessarily aggressive hug. Mike turned around and glared at Vivian anyways, arms still wrapped around Will. Who did she think she was, anyways? Asking about Will, his Will.
He felt Will’s giggle vibrate through their joined chests, felt the puff of warm air near his ear where it landed. Mike reluctantly pulled away with rosy cheeks, taking all Will’s glory in once more.
“Will, get this!” Mike prompted excitedly; ready to be validated by his number one favorite person alive.
“What?” Will asked, equally enthused. His green eyes were shining at Mike in a way that momentarily distracted him from his news, until he noticed them crinkling as Will frowned, and got on with it.
“ Vivian,” Mike started, extra loud, so she would definitely hear what a disgrace she’s been. “Seems to think that her and her best friend compare to our clearly superior best friendship,” Mike drawled, reveling in Will’s undivided attention.
Will giggled sweetly at him, grabbing his hand under the table and squeezing it. Mike wanted to hug him again, but had a sneaking suspicion that constant hugging might be kind of weird.
“I did NOT say that!” Vivian whined, causing Mike to roll his eyes without turning around to acknowledge her. He was pleased to see Will following suit.
“Mike! Did your mom tell you I get to come over and play today until my mom gets done with work?!” Will asked excitedly, eyes twinkling and matching his bright smile.
“YES!” Mike cheered, before capturing Will in a celebratory hug before he could think too much about it. He beamed for the rest of the day, dreaded school becoming breezy with the promise of an afternoon spent with Will.
When Mike spotted his mom’s familiar tan car, he guided Will to it, opening the door for him. Mike ran around to the other side, and then scooted to the middle, so he could be as close to Will as possible.
“Hey boys! How was-“ Karen cut off mid sentence as her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and she watched her son delicately buckling Will in, gentle with him in a way she’d never seen Mike be gentle before.
Still, she chuckled a little. “I think he can buckle himself in Mike,” she voiced fondly.
“I can, but I like it when Mike does it for me,” Will supplied, making Mike turn to him with blinding joy written all across his face.
Mike held his hand the whole way home.
As soon as they got back, they raced upstairs to Mike’s bedroom, Mike pulling Will along by their hands that hadn’t separated since the car ride home.
They immediately launched into their secret fantasy world, one they could delve into with each other so seamlessly. Mike often wondered if they shared a mind. Sometimes when they got too restless to play D&D as a board game, they would personify their characters, running around pretending to be Will the Wise and Mike the Paladin. As they approached a spell, Mike’s paladin had quite the idea.
“Pause,” Mike declared, ignoring Will’s exaggerated sigh. He may or may not have interrupted more times than he could count on both hands already.
“What now?” Will groaned impatiently.
“I think my Paladin and your Cleric should kiss to break the spell,” Mike relayed, promptly disregarding Will’s impatience.
“Kiss?” Will repeated, furrowing his brow like he was confused.
“Yeah,” Mike confirmed, feeling oddly a little nervous.
“What does that mean?” Will asked, tilting his head in confusion (adorably, in Mike’s opinion).
“Oh! It’s like…” Mike wiped his hands on his shorts, suddenly aware of the sweaty state of his palms. “Well… you know how…” Mike fumbled, bouncing on his feet. “Haven’t you ever seen your parents kiss?” He questioned helplessly.
“No? I don’t think so. I don’t know what it is so I can’t really say. But mainly my parents just argue and scream,” Will answered, getting sadder throughout his sentence. He finished with a frown and a far away look in his eyes that Mike wanted to shake away from him like the portrait on an etch a sketch.
Mike never wanted to see Will upset. He’d rather fling himself off any roof of any height than have Will get even a tiny scratch. He floundered desperately, before straightening with an idea and running off to Nancy’s room.
“Where are you going?!” Will called after him, confusion increasing.
Mike returned in a flash, slightly out of breath, showcasing two of Nancy’s barbies triumphantly. Will’s eyebrows scrunched back together in response.
“Kissing is kind of like… one step up from hugging. But you only do it with someone you really love, like my mom and dad or the cute couples on the T.V., or like me and you!” Mike explained in a breath.
“What does it have to do with barbies?” Will chirped, gesturing at the plastic dolls still clutched in Mike’s hands. His face still looked pinched up, like how it does when Mrs. Gracey tried to teach them fractions.
“Oh… well, I was just gonna show you. So you know what kissing is, and then you can… see if maybe you want to do it?” Mike trailed uncertainly. “With me, i mean… to… break the spell?”
“Okay!” Will agreed, watching Mike with patient eyes that Mike wanted to curl up in.
“Okay! So basically… you get really close together, kind of like you’re going to hug..” Mike demonstrated, pushing the long-haired blonde barbie towards the ginger barbie with braids.
“And then… you scrunch your lips like this,” he continued, pursing his lips into a kissy face.
“And uh… press your lips together like that,” He finished awkwardly, pressing the barbie’s faces together.
Mike frowned a little when he noted that Will still looked confused.
“But… why?” Will pressed.
“It’s just… a way to show you love someone. Like hugging but even closer,” Mike tried, slightly uncomfortable by his own fault.
“Hmm..” Will pondered, lips pressed in the tight line they always form when he’s thinking. Mike loved that look on him.
“W-we don’t have to, it was a dumb idea,” Mike rushed to comfort, feeling equally as dumb as his stupid idea.
“No! I want to,” Will cut in, louder than Mike’s used to hearing him outside of D&D. He felt his stomach flutter.
“Oh! Um, okay!” Mike uttered intelligently. He took a hesitant step closer, prompting Will to take an even bigger one, the gap between them nearly nonexistent.
Mike was suddenly finding it a little hard to breathe. Will looked so pretty up close. His gorgeous green eyes flicking between Mike’s, trying to read him. Mike looked down at Will’s soft lips, licking his own self consciously.
“Mike? Are you going to show me?” Will clarified quietly.
Mike gulped. “Y-yeah.” He reached out with shaking hands and placed them on Will’s soft, warm cheeks. He felt so precious, like a petal.
Mike’s eyes were trained on Will’s lips as he copied Mike’s motion from before, licking his own lips.
Before he could react, Will’s lips were pressing against his own, firm but inviting. Mike felt his heart thrash wildly against his chest, his stomach leap with excitement. He really liked kissing Will.
Will started to pull away, but Mike lured him back in, planting another chaste kiss on his sweet lips.
Finally, Mike released him from his grasp, taking in Will’s pink cheeks.
“So, uh… did you….”
“I get it,” Will interrupted. “I get why people like kissing,” He continued, making Mike’s stomach feel funny again.
“Y-yeah. Me too. I, uh, I like kissing you,” Mike admitted sheepishly, looking down at his toes.
“Well… Mike and Will have kissed, but Mike the Paladin and Will the Wise haven’t!” Will grinned, and Mike wanted to ask him to please never kiss anyone else, to move in even, but wondered if that would be weird.
Will didn’t show up to school the rest of the week after that, and Mike was feeling increasingly anxious at his absence. He’d called the Byer’s house as often as he could, but his mom would only let him do it three times a night for some reason (four depending on her level of patience). And Nancy only let him borrow her phone for three unanswered rings before yanking it back.
“Mom, please will you take me to see Will? Pleaseeeee? What if something’s wrong?!” Mike repeated for the billionth time on the way home from school.
“Michael, he’s probably just sick. I haven’t heard back from Joyce but I will let you know as soon as I find out,” Karen reiterated with a sigh.
“You think he’s sick?! This is an emergency! Mom, we need to make your special soup and then go see him! Immediately!” Mike cried desperately.
After three whole hours of Mike’s relentless insistence, he was sitting in the back of his mom’s car with Will’s homemade soup (that he’d helped make, of course) sitting precariously in between his legs.
Joyce opened the door, and Mike noticed her eyes looked tired and sad. He’d have to make her another card, soon. She always seemed to love them, especially when Will drew and Mike wrote.
“Hi! Where’s Will?” Mike asked immediately, trying to inch past the barricade Joyce had made with her body, blocking him from the house.
“Oh, Mike, I don’t think he’s up to seeing anyone right now. I’ll tell him you stopped by,” Joyce soothed, reaching for the soup. Mike clung it more tightly to his chest.
“Please! I really need to see him. I just want to know he’s okay,” Mike begged, sporting his best puppy dog pout.
“I don’t know…” Joyce sighed.
Mike watched with wide eyes as Will emerged from the living room, hiding behind Joyce like he did on the first day of school every year.
“Will! Are you okay?! What’s wrong? I made you soup! Well, my mom did too, but I did all the hard parts,” Mike rambled nervously.
“T-thanks Mike,” Will answered quietly, not nearly as enthusiastic as Mike had been. He must be really sick.
“Can I come in? Just for a little! I promise. You can even sleep while I’m here if you want. I’ll be super quiet. I just… miss you.” Mike pleaded, trying to crane his neck around Joyce’s legs to get a better look at Will.
Joyce peered down at Will, still looking sadder than usual. Mike held his breath.
“It’s okay,” He heard Will whisper from behind Joyce’s legs. As soon as Joyce hesitantly inched backwards Mike barreled in, tackling Will in a tight hug.
“Michael! I’m so sorry, Joyce. He was relentless. He’s really very fond of your boy,” Karen said in the distance.
Mike reluctantly drew back and then heard a gasp escape his lips as he looked at Will. Will’s perfect face had been tampered with, he had a dark ring of black around his left eye, and a big bruise under his chin.
“Holy crap! Will! What happened?” Mike shrieked.
Will grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him to the safety of his bedroom. He shut the door gently behind them and sat on his bed. Mike sat next to him, as close as humanly possible.
“Will! What happened? Did you fall off your bike again? Are you okay?!” Mike worried, wondering briefly if this was a nightmare.
“I’m okay,” Will whispered, looking at Mike with wide, innocent eyes.
“What happened?” Mike demanded, keeping his tone soft, the way he knew Will liked it.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Will murmured quietly. Mike was very concerned about this, they talked about everything! Even the time Mike almost peed his pants! But he didn’t want to upset Will even further. He’d tell him, eventually, if he wanted to.
Instead, Mike captured him into another hug, raking his fingers through Will’s supernaturally soft hair.
He felt Will melt into the touch, and suddenly the gaping hole that had formed at Will’s absence felt satisfied.
After a few minutes, Will extricated himself from the embrace, but Mike’s grip kept him from going too far.
Without thinking much about it, Mike grabbed Will’s cheeks gently, just like he had before, leaning in to kiss him.
Will lurched backwards, then stared at his feet.
“S-sorry,” Mike squeaked. “I shouldn’t just… I should’ve asked. Did I hurt you?” Mike panicked.
Will shook his head no, still looking only at his socked feet.
“Will, what’s wrong?” Mike prodded softly, treating Will as fragile.
“Boys… boys aren’t supposed to kiss boys,” Will choked out, tears falling, plopping near his feet.
“W-what?” Mike exhaled, feeling like he might need his mom’s special soup all of a sudden.
“We, we aren’t supposed to kiss each other. It’s bad. Wrong,” Will explained sadly, finally meeting Mike’s eyes.
“Who told you that?” Mike asked defensively.
“M-my dad. That’s… that’s what happened to my face,” Will whispered miserably, a single tear slipping down his flawless face. Mike gasped pulling Will into his shoulder, running his hands up and down his back lightly to comfort him until Mike’s shirt was soaked through with tears and Will was pulling away.
“So…,” Will sniffed sadly, “that’s why I haven’t been at school,” He finished with a small shrug, like this wasn’t THE issue of Mike’s universe.
Boys aren’t supposed to kiss boys???!!! Why hadn’t anyone told him that?!! What a horrible, terribly cruel world. He was going to have to kiss someone other than Will?!
… Will was going to kiss other people?? Girls??? Mike could throw up at the thought, but he tried to put on a brave face for Will, ever his Paladin.
“I’m so, so sorry Will. I didn’t know, I never would’ve asked you to- God,” Mike sighed in exasperation. “This is all my fault,” He concluded miserably.
Will immediately started shaking his head no. “No, no Mike, it isn’t. I- I wanted you to. You asked and I said yes,” Will reminded softly.
“But-“ Will started to finish his sentence, and thus Mike’s hope for love and humankind as a whole.
“But we can’t do it again. Ever,” Mike finished for him, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Will nodded in confirmation.
“I won’t, I promise,” Mike whispered, linking his pinky around Will’s who linked his in return.
Mike pulled him in for another hug, whispering in his ear “I’m so, so sorry Will,” one more time for good measure.
Mike wondered if he would still have to go to jail if he killed someone who deserved it. Isn’t that technically just helpful?
Lonnie should sleep with his eyes open, or whatever the saying was, Mike thought scornfully.
A lot of time passed with both boys tucking the memory away somewhere deep and safe within the neatly folded confines of their brains, not mentioning it again once Will’s eye healed, per his request. It was filed away with things like the time Nancy caught Mike trying to read one of his mom’s romance novels, or the time Joyce had stumbled upon him and Will putting her lipstick on each other; filed away with things they didn’t want to remember.
Unfortunately, as Will grew and so did his understanding of the world, he remembered. He
remembered Mike explaining kissing to him, how he said it was something only people who were really in love did. He remembered kissing Mike, the excited fluttering of butterflies in his stomach when Mike pulled him back in unexpectedly for one more. He remembered how it felt to realize that he was gay, remembered how that one ill fated kiss with Mike was probably going to be the only kiss for the rest of his entire life that he would ever even partially enjoy. Remembered how it felt to realize something that would be sacred to him for all of eternity was so insignificant to Mike that he probably didn’t remember it all. Especially considering they never brought it up again, and Mike had a girlfriend now.
Still, Will worried Mike would remember, and then he’d totally freak out and be horribly disgusted that he’d ever kissed a queer, if Will ever told the party who he really was.
And that carried Will to his overwhelmingly nauseated current state. Because of course, the party had to play truth or dare in Mike’s basement because it was summer and it had been raining all week. And of course, Lucas had to ask Will for his truth.
“Have you had your first kiss?”
Without any conscious thought on his brain’s behalf, Will’s eyes were finding Mike’s across the room. Mike, who was chewing his bottom lip anxiously, and quickly turning away when he noticed Will’s gaze.
Did that mean he remembered? Or maybe he was anxious for another reason, like thinking about his first kiss with El, whether it was good or not. Or whatever it was straight men worried about, Will wouldn’t know.
“No,” Will choked out, always one to follow the party’s well-respected “friends don’t lie” rule.
He saw Mike’s head whip back towards him out of his peripheral and quickly flicked his gaze to the carpet.
“ Really ? Not even just a peck?” Lucas pressed.
Will shrugged, almost imperceptibly, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.
“Shut up Lucas, maybe Will’s just waiting for the right person,” Max intervened, digging back up the fight her and Lucas perpetually had about the time Lucas pecked another girl’s lips in second grade.
“Oh my God, I was literally seven!” Lucas retorted for what felt like the millionth time.
As their pointless bickering carried on, Will slowly built up the confidence to peel his gaze off the basement floor. If he kept his head down for too long it’d probably start to get suspicious, anyways.
As he hesitantly picked his head up, he was met with Mike’s piercing stare on the other side of the room. Usually Mike would be sitting next to Will, sometimes so close to him that he felt a little claustrophobic, but obviously he would never tell Mike that, because he would never want him to move away. This time, however, he had opted to sit by El, his girlfriend, instead. And El wanted to sit by Max who wanted to sit by Lucas and suddenly Mike and Will found themselves separated by a giant distance that made Will’s stomach ache.
Will pulled himself away from Mike’s sharp eyes, instead pretending to listen to whatever it was that Dustin was going on about.
After a few more rounds of truth or dare, where El had moved Mr. Wheeler’s car halfway down the street with her mind, Dustin had prank called Suzie’s parents, and Lucas had eaten an entire can of tuna (much to Max’s chagrin), Will had almost forgotten entirely about what Lucas had asked him earlier on.
He’d almost forgotten, until Mike grabbed his arm firmly as he tried to file out with everyone else, right on the edge of the doorway. He was so close to getting away with it, but then Mike was yanking him back, calling one final goodbye, and closing the door behind the rest of the party forcefully.
Will tried to fake nonchalance, his heart hammering against his chest as if it were trying to remind him that Mike could read him like a book, even when he wasn’t lying.
“Uh- what’s up?” He asked, voice cracking a little. He winced at himself.
Mike smirked back, because they were inhabiting the same train of thought, per usual.
“What’s up with you, Will?” He asked coyly. If Will didn’t know better he might delude himself into thinking he was being flirted with.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um. What?” He tried, feigning confusion though he knew they both knew exactly what Mike was talking about.
Mike stepped closer into his space, making his heart speed up for different reasons.
“Friends don’t lie,” Mike whispered, looking somewhere on the lower half of Will’s face. Will wouldn’t let himself imagine where.
Will swallowed, watched Mike watch him swallow. “I- I don’t…” he started nervously, wringing his hands together. “I didn’t think you remembered,” He finally admitted, in a quiet, defeated sort of tone. Will’s gaze was back to the floor, wondering how many inches were between his shoes and Mike’s right now.
He felt a warm grip on his jaw and resisted a shiver as Mike guided his chin up, forcing him to resume eye contact. They were even closer than before.
“Of course I do,” Mike answered tenderly, in that voice that Will sometimes felt like was just for him.
He dropped Will’s face, and Will focused on not frowning at the loss of contact.
“It was my first kiss too,” Mike reminded him, and it almost seemed to Will like he was blushing a little. It was probably just his artistic mind, wanting to interpret something so sad as something beautiful, something worth replicating on paper.
Will opened his mouth and then closed it again, unsure of what to say. Before he could form a coherent thought, he heard himself speaking. “W-well yeah, but that doesn’t really count. Your first kiss-kiss was with El,” he muttered nervously.
Mike made a bit of an affronted noise at that something that sounded like, “Wh-wha-?! You don’t count it as your first kiss?!” He accused, looking at Will like he’d just sacrificed Holly in front of him or something.
Will’s mouth was once again too fast for his poor, unamused brain.
“W-well it’s different for me , because…” he stopped himself just in time, wide eyes flitting anxiously between Mike’s.
Mike had scooted back a bit at his outrage, but now he was smirking again, and slinking back into Will’s personal space, which he seemed to think they shared, for some reason.
“Because why?” He challenged, quirking an unfairly attractive brow.
“B-because, I-“ Will sighed, frustrated. “ Because ,” he tried again, “I don’t have a girlfriend. So I… don’t…have anything to compare it to,” he finished lamely. At least it got Mike to return his brows to an even level.
“Hmm,” Mike hummed teasingly, before rearranging his face into something more serious. “Hey, I know you don’t like to talk about this, that’s why I’ve never said anything, by the way, not because I forgot,” Mike started softly, then scoffed, like that idea was ridiculous. “But, for what it’s worth, I think Lonnie was wrong. In more ways than one, obviously. But, what I’m trying to say is that I… I think boys should kiss whoever the fuck they want to kiss,” Mike finished, rocking back and forth on his heels.
He chanced a peek at Will, who was beaming up at him. It made Mike’s entire body sigh, like he was being immersed in a warm bath.
“Y-yeah… me, me too,” Will nodded, feeling blush invade his cheeks. Mike’s eyebrows shot up a little, like he was surprised, which Will found absolutely ridiculous. He thought he’d been so obvious . Will was capital N Not interested in girls. Who he was interested in? May or may not perfectly resemble the boy standing in front of him, smiling like he just won a prize.
Mike stepped even further into Will’s space, until the tips of their shoes were touching. He leaned closer, and Will heard his own breath hitch. Mike’s intense gaze still seemed to be focused on that spot below Will’s nose. Will watched with great difficulty as Mike nibbled his bottom lip, capturing it between his pretty teeth. He moved the tiniest bit forward, and then jumped a little when he felt Mike’s arms capturing him into a tight hug.
Oh. So that’s what that had been. That’s- fine. It’s fine, because Mike just told Will he thinks guy should kiss whoever the fuck they want! As a guy who wants to kiss other guys in the 80s, Will knows he should be over the fucking moon at that commentary.
He’d just thought… well for a second there he kind of thought… Nevermind, it didn’t matter.
Mike was a really good best friend. Will whispered as much while they were still wrapped in each other’s arms.
Mike pulled back, definitely blushing now, but Will knew it was just at the praise he’d never learned to accept.
Will turned away, heading towards the basement door when Mike called out “Will!”
He turned around instantly, stomach fluttering like it had all those years ago. Like it always would, for Mike. Only for Mike.
“Yeah?” He asked, a little breathlessly.
Mike opened his mouth, then closed it.
“N-nothing,” he answered, shaking his head like he was trying to shake away his thoughts. “N-Nevermind, sorry, goodnight!” He rambled.
Will tried not to feel disappointed. He tried even harder not to let his disappointment show. He should really stop thinking. It wasn’t healthy for him.
“Oh,” He let out quietly. “Okay. Night, Mike,” he called back, turning on his heel without a backwards glance. He started his lonely walk home, internally reminded himself to get used to it. At least he had his shadow under the shitty Hawkin’s streetlights, following him the whole way home.