Chapter Text
Mike couldn’t keep the goofy smile off his lips for the past four months, it’s been a permanent thing on his face that was honestly starting to hurt his mouth and cheekbones, but he refused to force it away. He’s never been happier, it wasn’t his fault he had to display that feeling on his face 24/7, really if it was anyone’s fault, it was Will’s.
Will Byers was the sole reason why Mike Wheeler couldn’t stop smiling like a fucking idiot, the village fool, walking around with the cluelessness of an animal and the naiveness of a toddler. Will was to blame for Mike not having any productive thoughts in his mind, just the consistent hum of dopey happiness and the picture and clarity of Will’s smile , Will’s laugh , Will’s voice , Will’s body …all things that made Will— Will , they were a never-ending loop in Mike’s head.
He had already been a moron gone on his best friend before they evolved their friendship into something more, he hadn’t thought he could get any worse than he was but his own emotions for Will proved to be a thing not easily pushed down, especially not now that he was actually with Will. He now had the claim of being Will Byers’s boyfriend, not friend, not best friend, not unrequited crush, but his boyfriend .
The thought of that made the grin stretching across Mike’s face even wider. He had already known his own feelings for Will were impossible to push away before getting with the other boy, but he didn’t know that his love for him had the capacity to grow anymore, that seemed like an impossible feat considering Mike’s love had already been so overwhelmingly present. His love growing beyond what he had already felt in his heart , in his head , and in his bones was an inconceivable concept to achieve and yet somehow his lanky thin frame and one tracked mind had accomplished just that.
Mike Wheeler was entirely, unapologetically, and ridiculously in love with Will Byers.
It was a real shame he couldn’t shout that from the top of every building he happened across like he wanted to.
Unlike himself Will wanted to keep their new relationship a secret, not yet comfortable with coming out as gay to their family and friends and not yet ready to face the gushing appearance of one Joyce Byers when she comes to find out her youngest self-proclaimed ‘I’m not going to ever fall in love’ son had indeed fallen in love and had his first (and only if Mike had anything to say about it) boyfriend.
Respecting Will’s current decision to not want to say anything about their relationship to anyone, Mike had to physically stop himself from sprouting the news out to people like he was a kindergartener with his first finger painting he was oh so proud of and wanted to show off to anyone willing to give him the time of day. He really wanted everyone to know Will was his , wanted everyone to know that he had managed to snatch the most perfect boy in the world, and that Mike was the one who had the pleasure of getting to hug him, cuddle him, and kiss him.
Everyone had to know Will Byers was off the dating market, everyone had to know they didn’t stand a chance in gaining his attention, Mike had seen how eyes followed Will’s every move in school and when they were out in public. His boyfriend was gorgeous, of course people were going to look, Mike didn’t mind that, what he minded was that he couldn’t pull Will into a kiss to show off to all those people that they had no chance whatsoever with Will because he was with Mike, he chose Mike.
More than anything though Mike really wanted to be able to tell their friends and family about them. He understood why Will wanted to keep them a secret, it wasn’t like he told Mike they had to stay a secret forever either, only in the meantime that he settled into their relationship. He had to admit he did enjoy the thrill of the secrecy of their relationship, it was fun, and he did enjoy that no one teased him about being basically obsessed with Will like he knew their friends would once they came out to them.
As fun as it was though, Mike really wanted to be able to do all the couple stuff with Will whenever he felt like it, but no matter how deep those desires ran, he couldn’t do that.
What he didn’t like with the whole secrecy thing going on between them was that he had to make sure they were alone anytime he wanted to do anything remotely couple-like with Will. Mike also didn’t like that he had to make sure to be careful with the amount of attention he showed Will, had to prevent himself from showing too much affection in front of their friends and family otherwise the whole point of them having a secret relationship would be rendered pointless.
However, it was getting embarrassingly hard to contain himself when they were around other people, Mike’s mind had a habit of blanking on the fact that no one knew about him and Will and there had already been several instances where he had almost outed them.
Again, that wasn’t his fault, his body was automatically programmed to Will’s, he couldn’t help how clingy he was. Mike couldn’t help that his brain didn’t understand why he couldn’t kiss, hug, or cuddle his boyfriend when presented with the opportunity to, which in Mike’s mind any day and any time was an opportunity to show Will affection.
Despite these slip ups and his own issues on the secrecy of their relationship, Mike didn’t want to push Will for too much, too soon, he didn’t want to pressure him to announce their relationship when it was clear that wasn’t something Will was comfortable with.
So, Mike did his best to behave himself, did his best to act cool around their family and especially around their friends, did his best to not cling to Will at every given moment, did his best to not slot their lips together in those same moments just because he could.
He did his best to pretend he wasn’t Will’s boyfriend when they were around the others, which was single handedly one the hardest things Mike had ever had to do on a repeated basis.
Which made moments where Mike got Will all to himself, all the more special, he didn’t have to pretend then, he didn’t have to pretend not to be completely smitten, didn’t have to pretend that his thoughts didn’t revolve almost entirely around Will, didn’t have to pretend that he wasn’t desperate at every given second to have some part of his body touching Will’s.
“You know there’s a whole bed for us to share Mike, you don’t have to be right on top of me,” Will expressed to him, face pressing down into the pillows below him to hide his smile as he tried to sound serious, “I’m not going anywhere.”
They were in Will’s room, alone in the house, a rare night where they had the house to themselves. Joyce and Hopper having gone on a date to Enzo’s, Jonathan having gone to Steve’s house with Nancy and Robin to have an 'older teens only' movie night that Dustin had bitched about until he found out he was going to have a Cerebro date with Suzie, and El having gone to the Sinclair home with Max to be with Lucas, likely having their own movie night/date.
He and Will were on Will's bed together, they had started off in their own spaces, content to be doing their own thing well being in each other’s presence, Will drawing a picture of the Party’s DnD characters in an epic battle against the bloodthirsty Demogorgon and Mike writing ideas for their next campaign in a notebook.
It was maybe ten minutes tops before Mike started to subtly inch his way closer and closer to Will.
Starting off with closing the small distance between them, then playing with Will’s fluffy hair, then laying his hand on his arm, which then progressed to Mike laying down on the bed completely, resting his head in the middle of Will’s back as he was laying on his stomach, propped up with a couple of pillows with his sketchbook stationed in front of him.
Eventually, a mystery to Mike really, he had ended up fully on top of Will, his entire thin body covered every inch of Will’s slightly smaller form, he burrowed his face into the back of Will’s neck, happy to feel every part of him, occasionally kissing the nape of Will’s neck when thoughts of the other boy felt like they were overwhelming his every sense, Will pleasantly shivered in response every time Mike's warm lips met his skin, which made Mike press even more kisses onto him.
For his part Will hadn’t complained as Mike attached himself to him like a sloth hugging a tree, he graciously and gracefully shifted with Mike’s awkward movements, accommodating him without looking up from his drawing.
“We haven’t spent time alone together in forever.” Mike complained back in answer, his voice slightly higher pitched and petulant then what he had intended for it to be, his excuse falling flat because he and Will had alone time three days ago and he was sure Will was going to tell him that without falter, so it was no surprise to Mike when he did.
Laughing, Will said to him, “We had alone time three days ago.” He dropped the pencil he was holding and moved his sketchbook a few inches away from him before he carefully turned around, Mike’s body was clumsily jostled as Will struggled to shift onto his back. Mike didn’t bother moving off of him, enjoying the fact that Will didn’t even attempt to move him, choosing instead to fight with himself to get adjusted the way he wanted to be instead of asking Mike to get off of him.
Finally on his back with Mike still laying on top of him Will wrapped both of his arms around his neck, Mike rested his head on Will’s firm chest, listening to the beats of his heart thrumming, “Three days is way too long Will, it might has well have been a year ago!” Mike exclaimed dramatically, pressing himself further into Will’s warm body.
“You’re ridiculous,” Will ran his hand through Mike’s curls, tugging at them in a teasing manner that Mike blushed over, it was such a simple thing, having his hair played with, but Mike blushed over it like Will was doing the most obscene thing to him, he really was ridiculous, “It’s cute.” Will further tugged at his hair, giving Mike a cheeky smirk when his blush spread from his cheeks up to the tips of his ears.
“Be quiet.” Mike half-heartedly mumbled as he buried his red face further into Will’s chest, attempting to hide his stupid blush that had no right to be as prominent as it was.
Sometimes Mike couldn’t believe that he spent so much of his life denying his feelings for Will. It was moments like this one where he was so obviously gone on the other boy that he had to wonder how idiotic his past self had to have been to deny himself this intimacy with Will for the longest time.
He sometimes thought about the years he wasted away by pretending to be someone he wasn’t, so caught up in an ideal he thought he had to be. He supposed that was why he was so eager to blurt out to the world that he and Will were together, why he wanted to gush to anyone willing to listen to him about having Will’s love and adoration. Mike spent so long hiding away in the metaphorical closet that now he only wanted to be free . He wanted everyone to know exactly who he was, now that he had come to accept and embrace himself and who he loved, Mike didn’t ever want to go back to being scared of his emotions, his thoughts, or his actions.
“Where are we in the decision to tell everyone about us?” Mike cautiously asked, he didn’t want Will thinking he was pushing him because he wasn’t, if Will wasn’t ready still then that was that, Mike would wait until he was because the only other alternative was forcing Will to do something he didn’t want to do and that wasn’t ever something Mike could see himself doing.
After having so much of his choices and emotions out of his control when they were fighting the Upside Down and Vecna, the last thing Will needed was for Mike to be the asshole that was attempting to take his choices out of his grasp, Will didn’t deserve that from anyone, least of all from him.
“No pressure!” Mike hurried to add when Will didn’t give him an immediate response, “I mean-I just-the Party’s been hanging out a lot more lately and it sucks balls to have to pretend that I don’t want to physically attach myself to you and kiss you every second of everyday, it’s getting harder to pretend in front of them.” Mike did his best to explain without sounding like he was pressuring or complaining, he wasn't sure he was able to accomplish that though.
A flare of panic raced through Mike’s fast beating heart when Will let his hands drop from his hair, stopping the petting motion he had been doing, sitting up Will kept his arms around Mike, moving them from his neck down to his waist as he adjusted them, sitting up on his bed with a lapful of Mike.
No doubt noticing his panicked expression and wide eyes Will softly smiled back at him, “I’m not mad at your question Mike, I’m not going to kick you off of me for asking a simple question.” Letting a breath of relief out through his parted lips Mike thought to himself that he had sort of jumped the gun on that conclusion, it was a tentative topic though, he didn’t want to do or say something wrong, and it felt like he was doing exactly that.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, seeing Will open his mouth, Mike continued on before he could get a single word out, “I don’t want you thinking I’m pushing or something.”
“I don’t,” Will assured him, “I need a little bit more time but I promise we can tell everyone about us soon,” pressing his lips to Mike’s forehead Will gave him a sweet lingering kiss there, “You only have to control yourself for a little while longer, do you think you can manage that?” Will quipped with a loud laugh escaping his throat.
Scoffing in fake offense Mike replied, “I’m not an animal Will, I do know how to control myself.” Even as the words left his mouth Mike knew they were a lie and judging by Will’s amused eyebrows shooting up to his hairline his boyfriend knew it too.
The fact that no one had caught on to them yet was honestly a miracle.
“I can’t wait to see this excellent control put to the test tomorrow when we go to Lucas’s basketball game.” Will smirked at him, eyes lighting up like stars in the night sky as he teased him with a little too much happiness if Mike was to be asked. Though he had to admit that Will’s more playful side always sent a thrill through a certain part of his body that he hoped wouldn’t be making an appearance at that moment considering how embarrassing that would be in their current position.
“Oh my god, I forgot about that, see no alone time.” Mike couldn’t help but groan disgustingly loud, he and Will had promised Lucas that they would go to his basketball game, or more accurately Will had promised Lucas him and Mike would go to his basketball game. It wasn’t that Mike wanted to be a bad friend, he knew how much the sport meant to Lucas and he also knew how much the Party’s support of his hobby mattered to his friend too, and he did want to show his support, of course he did, but hanging out at Lucas’s game meant having to go back to pretending, which for obvious reasons wasn’t something he looked forward to.
“We promised him we’d go.” Will said to him as his hands found their way to Mike’s hips, his fingers clamped onto the fabric of Mike’s sweatpants, using that grasp Will shifted Mike closer to him.
“ You promised him we’d go,” Mike reminded Will without real spite, Lucas wanted them there, so they would be there. Mike didn’t want to be a shitty friend like he was before the Upside Down came back to give them all hell.
His thoughtlessness for the Party wasn’t something Mike ever wanted to do again, he remembered all too well the times Lucas had begged him and Dustin to go to his games and the mocking words he and Dustin had thrown back at their friend, which was next level asshole behavior that Mike wasn’t proud of, but he liked to think he was doing better with showing his love and support to his friends. Which was why despite not getting a night in with Will like he wanted to, Mike would be going to the Hawkins High School gym that smelled like stale pizza, disinfectant spray, and teenage body odor to watch Lucas throw a ball around with his basketball teammates who weren’t as jockey and rude as Mike liked to pretend they were.
“I did,” Will nodded, tapping Mike’s hip with his hand, eyes staring down at it like it was a mystery to be solved, “We have to show Lucas we care about his hobby, plus the whole party is going, so it will be a whole thing that we can’t miss.”
“Yeah, I know,” Mike playfully rolled his eyes, he didn’t have time to say anything more as he was interrupted, between them his stomach gave a blaring growl, he hadn’t eaten all day, choosing instead to be with Will in the room, food was less important than cuddling Will, face reddening in embarrassment he ducked his head and scowled down at his stomach, “I’m hungry.” He said without actually having to, his stomach making whale mating calls was more than enough to clue in Will to the fact that he needed food.
“Really? You don’t say,” Will sarcastically told him through another laugh, tapping his hand against Mike’s hip again Will signaled for him to get off of him, standing up from the bed Will stretched his arms over his head before he grabbed Mike’s hand to help him off the bed, leading them out into the hallway and to the kitchen Will continued, “I think we have stuff to make sandwiches, is that okay with you?”
Stopping Will in front of the refrigerator, Mike leaned his head down to give him a simple kiss on the lips, one he didn’t bother trying to take further as his stomach interrupted them again when it let out another mating call that was even louder then the first one.
“That’s perfect.”
Mike watched Will dig around in the refrigerator, pulling out the ingredients to make them sandwiches. His brown hair, that he was trying to grow out, occasionally fell into Will’s eyes with every other movement that Will made. It was adorable watching him try and fail to blow the strands away with annoyance. Mike was tempted to move the strands of hair away himself but stopped his hands from reaching out to Will, content to observe as Will’s face scrunched up more and more with every failed attempt, creating the most cheek pinching expression on his face that Mike thought was ridiculously cute.
It was official , Mike definitely couldn’t wait to tell everyone about them, he only hoped the opportunity to do that came sooner rather than later.