Work Text:
will was sitting in the juice aisle when mike found him.
mike sat down in front of him, his back resting against the shelves. “you okay?” he asks.
will shrugged, but said “yeah.”
mike’s eyebrow jerked slightly. “you shrugged and said ‘yeah’ at the same time.”
will looked up at his friend. “i did?”
“you did.” mike responded.
“oh.”
they both went quiet for a moment. it was an uncomfortable silence, and neither tried to break it for a full two minutes before mike spoke.
“i’m sorry.” he said.
“you’re…sorry? for what?” will asked.
mike bent his knees and wrapped his arms around them. “for being a dick. but especially for what i said to you…”
will looked at mike, confused. he’d forgotten all about their fight. there were bigger things to worry about.
“you just wanted to play dnd, and i’m sorry.”
will shook his head. “no, that’s not-” he mimicked mike’s sitting position, gripping his own legs tighter. “it’s not just about that, mike.”
mike’s eyebrows furrowed. “what do you mean?”
will had so much to say, but he knew he had so little time. would it be worth it? would it make a difference? he decided it was worth a try, but he might not have told the whole truth.
“i just feel like i’ve lost so much of my childhood already…” he let one of his legs fall straight on the floor. “like… the whole world is moving on at an increasing pace, but i’m just stuck here, like, on pause or something.”
mike’s expression was one will could not read, which was odd considering he could always tell how mike was feeling just by reading his expression.
“it’s stupid, i know…-”
“no!” mike reached forward and grabbed will’s hand, looking right into his eyes. “it’s not stupid. you’re not stupid, will.”
they sat there staring at each other silently for a while, a smile on mike’s face, but a nervous look on will’s.
“mike-”
“will, come check this out!” lucas exclaimed down the aisle.
both mike and will jumped, and mike removed his hand from will’s.
“um, right. coming.” will said, rubbing his arm uncomfortably.
lucas ran off, expecting will to follow.
will stood up and walked to the end of the aisle before he turned around. he looked at mike, flashed him a quick smile, then jogged to catch up with lucas.
once will was far enough away, mike groaned and let his head fall onto his knees. “shit,” he exclaimed under his breath.