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“So we all agree that something is wrong, right?” Lucas asks.
“Oh, definitely,” Dustin replies, nodding along with El and Max. “Those two have never acted this weird.”
The four of them are currently sitting in a circle on the floor of Lucas’s room— besides Max, who’s perched on the edge of his bed, unable to quite maneuver her body into criss-cross-applesauce anymore due to her long lasting injuries from Vecna.
It’s been over a year since the accident— three months since Vecna’s defeat— and things are finally going back to normal. Weekly movie nights, D&D every Saturday, trips across town to the few places that aren’t destroyed— okay, so maybe things aren’t exactly normal, but when have they ever been? At least there are no longer spores filling the air and destroying everyone’s lungs by the minute.
Today, the Party was supposed to get lunch at Shirley’s Diner, a shitty run-down restaurant with even shittier food— but hey, at least it doesn’t have a giant chasm running down the middle. “Supposed to” are the keywords in that sentence, because everything, apparently, is completely and totally not normal.
The very foundation of the universe has cracked. No, not the Upside Down; something even more catastrophic. Something so unbreakable that its destruction can lead to the end of life as they know it.
“I just can’t believe they’re fighting,” Lucas muses with a sigh.
“This is a bad one,” El emphasizes. “They fought in California too, but it wasn’t like this.”
“In the ten years I’ve known them, I’ve never once seen them sit more than six inches away from each other. This is worse than the summer of ‘85.”
“I can feel the awkward tension between them. I think this is the longest I’ve gone without hearing Mike’s stupid voice get all soft while talking to Will,” Max adds. She might be blind, but even she can see that they’re acting strange.
Dustin shakes his head in defeat. “And they both canceled on us today. Are they really that upset that they might see each other?”
“El, what’s it been like at home?” Max questions. If anyone were to have information on Will’s unfiltered moods, it would be El. “Has Will talked to you at all?”
“No, it is weird. He has actually been pretty happy. Like, the happiest I have ever seen him.”
“Oh my god,” Dustin’s eyes widen dramatically. “This is worse than I thought. He’s moving on without Mike.”
“No,” Lucas adamantly denies, putting an end to that thought immediately. “There’s no way that Will could do that. They’ve been best friends their entire lives.”
“Well, how would you explain that then? Will is clearly having the time of his life without Mike. And think about it— has Mike been down in the dumps lately?”
Lucas and El look over at each other grimly. Silence.
“Exactly!” Dustin continues, waving an arm in the air for emphasis. “He’s been all smiley this month. They’ve clearly both gone insane if they’re happier while fighting. They need us to remind them why they’re best friends.”
“So— what? We’re going to try to set them up?” Max asks doubtfully.
“Well, kind of,” Dustin shrugs. “But, like, for best friends.”
“I think the first thing we need to do is figure out why they are arguing,” El suggests. “I have not heard anything from either of them.”
“I agree,” he nods, jumping into the plan that was already half-forming in the back of his mind. “Lucas and I can take them first. We’ll separate them and question them independently.”
Max laughs, raising her eyebrows. “You make it sound like it’s an interrogation.”
“It is, Max. The fate of the world rests on our shoulders,” Dustin states seriously.
“It’s true,” Lucas confirms. “Those two have never been this distant. We have no idea what impacts this could have on humanity.”
“Oh my god, you two are so dramatic,” Max groans as El giggles. “We’ve seen the end of the world, and Mike Wheeler is not it.”
“Alright, well don’t come crying to us when your house caves in. Again.”
*ੈ✩‧₊˚ *.☽ . *ੈ✩‧₊˚
It’s Friday movie night, and Will and Mike are dangerously far apart. Like, a full foot of space between them. These two need serious help, and Dustin is first to the plate— or something. He doesn’t really know how football works.
He’s the Neil Armstrong of The Party; testing the waters, exploring uncharted territory, becoming a hero to men. And for this, Dustin is glad— Armstrong was the one who got all the credit anyway. Most people can’t even name the other two astronauts. (Dustin can, of course. But that’s besides the point.)
Operation: Best Friends— affectionately named by El— is Dustin’s Apollo 11. His mission is arguably much more dangerous than landing on the moon; he has to fix WillandMike. (He had suggested the codename “Wike”, but was immediately shut down.)
His targets are sitting next to each other on the couch in Mike’s basement, about the same distance apart as El and himself are. They’re both covered by the same green blanket, with a bowl of popcorn between their legs. What’s even stranger is that they’re both using the hands farthest away from the bowl to eat. Are they that scared of accidentally bumping arms if they use the ones between them? This is very serious.
Just when Dustin is about to turn his attention back to the movie, Will leans forward and looks into the bowl. He tilts it towards Mike and whispers something indecipherable to him (perhaps Dustin should have sat closer), and Mike nods back. Will retracts his hand from under the blanket and stands up, walking upstairs.
T minus 10.
Dustin and Lucas meet eyes across the room.
T minus 5.
They both nod.
Takeoff.
Lucas pushes himself off the couch and makes his way up the stairs, while Dustin rises from the arm chair and takes this opportunity to claim the spot where Will had just been sitting.
“Hey, Mike,” he whispers.
“Hey?” Mike replies, squinting at Dustin like he’s grown another head. He figures he had just bolted across the room seconds ago, so that’s probably fair.
“So…” Dustin attempts, trying to play it as casually as possible. This is just a normal guy talk. “How’s it going?”
“Good?” he answers, somehow sounding even more confused than before. Jeez. Is it illegal to make small-talk around here, or something? “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” he lies, about two octaves higher than usual. “Why does something have to be up? I just wanted to check in. How’s Will?”
Mike looks somewhat startled at this. Interesting. Something is definitely wrong with them. He should have no problem responding to that question.
“Why are you asking me? Go ask him yourself.”
Defensive. Seems like he doesn’t know the answer. Very interesting.
Dustin likes to consider himself an expert on handling Mike Wheeler. Maybe not as good as Will, but second place for sure. He just needs to be direct. He can’t trick Mike, can’t trap him in, or he'll think he’s being lied to. Honesty requires trust.
“Dude, you know you can talk to us, right? Whatever’s going on between you two, we can fix it.”
Mike’s face contorts in the way that it usually does right before he starts yelling. Like, actual pissed-off, you hurt my feelings kind of yelling. Uh oh. He really fucked up.
Where did he go wrong? Mike can’t be that offended at the thought of fixing things with Will. Maybe he’s in denial. That must be it. He always has been pretty avoidant of his problems.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Mike shouts. Well, more like he says it in a normal speaking volume, but in the silence of the basement, it’s basically a shout.
“Nothing! We just want to help you guys out. Before it’s too late.”
“We don’t need help,” he insists, anger radiating off of him. “We don’t need to be fixed. We’re not broken.”
“Hey, it’s okay—“ Dustin tries, but he’s cut off by the sound of the basement door opening.
Well, it was a valiant attempt. There’s a reason that there were ten more Apollos before the successful mission. Hopefully Lucas had more luck.
ೃ➶･ﾟﾟ･-͙˚ ༘✶
After receiving the signal from Dustin, Lucas rushes up the stairs to chase a wandering Will. He doesn’t exactly have a script here; he’s just planning on winging it. Sure, Dustin might have been badgering him to come up with at least an idea of what to say, but he really doesn’t see a point. It’s Will— the first person that was ever nice to him in elementary school. They don’t need scripts to talk to each other.
“Hey, Will,” he greets as he reaches the kitchen.
Will is scrounging through the cupboards, moving items out of the way to see what’s behind them. Apparently he finds what he needs, as he grabs a bag of popcorn and places it in the microwave.
“Hi, Lucas,” he returns with a smile.
It’s the strangest thing— Will doesn’t seem upset at all. Just as El confirmed, he looks so carefree. Lucas refuses to believe that this has anything to do with the fight. There’s absolutely no way. He’s been around those two for almost two-thirds of his life. He knows how they act when they fight; Mike gets all moody and distant, and Will gets sad. There’s got to be something bigger going on.
He suspects that it has to do with the Upside Down. Will probably feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders now that it’s gone for good. Lucas knows that he feels that way, but it must be even stronger for Will.
These are two separate events. Will is still sad about the fight, he’s just able to mask it with the happiness he feels about the Upside Down.
“You making popcorn?”
Will looks to the popping microwave, and then back at Lucas. “Uh, yeah,” he says with a laugh, because that was admittedly a stupid question. Stupid as it is, Lucas can’t scare Will away. He’s got to ease him into it, dumb questions be damned.
“Cool. For you and Mike?” Nice one, Lucas— subtly bringing Mike into the conversation. He gives himself a mental pat on the back for that one.
“Yeah?” Will repeats confusedly. “Did you want some, or something?”
“No, no, I’m fine. I can make my own popcorn.”
Will chuckles to himself, his smile containing some strange emotion that Lucas can’t currently decipher. “That’s where you and Mike differ.”
Ah. Lucas gets it. Will is bitter. Mike must be requesting too much of him. God knows that that boy can be lazy beyond belief. Will is surely tired of being his personal butler. That has to be what their fight is about.
“You do a lot of things for Mike, huh?” Lucas inquires, tapping his knuckles on the counter, like he’s seen detectives do on crime shows.
Will grins amusedly at him, grabbing the bag out of the microwave once it starts beeping, and dumps its contents into the large bowl in front of him. “You could say that, I guess.”
Lucas sighs. He might as well get to the point— the others will start to wonder where they are. “Look. We know about you and Mike.”
All at once, Will goes pale, his eyes widening like he’s seen a ghost. “You do?”
Shit, did he not want the Party to know? That’s probably why he’s been acting so normal— he’s been trying to hide his true feelings. Will should never have to feel like that; they’re all there for him, no matter what. “We do.” Lucas takes a baby-step closer to him. “We’re all worried about you. We just want you guys to be best friends again.”
“You what?” Will asks, looking even greener and almost like he’s about to cry. He must be more affected by this than Lucas had previously thought. Will has always been great at repressing his emotions. It’s time for him to let them out now.
“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Lucas soothes, placing a hand on Will’s tense shoulder. “Everyone makes mistakes. But we can fix those mistakes. We can learn to forgive.” Mike’s mistakes will be fixed. Lucas will make sure of it.
“Oh… okay,” Will mutters quietly, eyes on the floor.
Situation handled.
This is the perfect chance for Mike to make it up to Will. Lucas heads back down the basement steps, stopping at the bottom and turning to an angry looking Mike. Seems like Dustin’s talk didn’t go so great.
“Hey Mike, why don’t you go help Will with the popcorn?”
Mike glances between Dustin and Lucas, then stands up hastily. “Yeah, I think I will,” he grumbles, and stomps up the stairs.
“Dude,” Lucas starts, after the basement door closes. “What the fuck did you say to him?”
“I have no idea!” Dustin exclaims. “He seems really upset about Will. He got defensive the second I brought him up. I think he’s in denial. He kept saying that there was nothing to fix between them.”
“That would make sense,” he decides. Knowing Mike, he is definitely going to be stubborn about this for as long as possible. “From what Will said, it kind of sounds like the fight is Mike’s fault.”
“What did you learn?” El prompts, as Lucas sits next to Dustin on the couch.
“Will is mad that Mike makes him do everything for him. Like, he’s taking Will for granted, or something. Bossing him around.”
Max nods. “I can see that. Don’t even start, Dustin,” she warns, holding up her pointer finger before he can make a blind joke. “Mike is kind of an entitled brat, so…”
El elbows her lightly in the side. “He is not. Do not be mean.”
“Well either way,” Dustin raises his voice, pushing them back on track, “now we know the root of the issue. We should make a plan.”
“I think it’s the girls’ turn now, don’t you think El?” Max asks, sharing a smug smile with her. “Time to take matters into our own hands.”
“This situation could use a little girl power,” El agrees. Lucas thinks she might be reading too many Wonder Woman comics with Max, but she isn’t wrong. Maybe what Mike and Will need is some strong emotional intelligence— exactly what El is best at.
When Will and Mike eventually return to the basement and settle down on opposite sides of the couch, all the four of them can do is share a knowing look. This problem is entirely up to the girls now. Lucas just hopes it goes well.
❀∘◦°˖✧✿✧˖°◦∘❀
Approximately five days after their disastrous movie night, the Party all meet up at their old ice cream parlor for lunch. Well, old for the original members. El and Max had never been here before this year, instead choosing the new Scoops Ahoy as their primary hang out. Now that the mall has long been destroyed, that is no longer an option.
It is time for phase two of Operation: Best Friends. Max slept over at El’s house last night, staying up well past lights-out to meticulously craft their plan. It’s down to El to make the first move.
Mike and Will have only gotten worse since the boys talked to them. They won’t even stand next to each other in line anymore, casting very obvious glances at one another when they think no one is looking. It hurts El to see them like this. They are two of her favorite people in the world, and she can’t stand that they’re upset. It is time to take action.
“Hey Max?” she announces loudly, cutting off the separate conversations between Will and Dustin, and Mike and Lucas. “Why don’t you go save us a seat?”
“That’s a good idea,” Dustin cuts in, looking around at the tables that are slowly being filled by the noon summer rush. That was easier than El expected. He isn’t even in on their plan and she already convinced him.
“Yeah, El. Good idea,” Max plays along, making a show of struggling with her crutches as she attempts to move out of line. She has decided to take one for the team and act as a damsel in distress for the afternoon. “I’m going to need a bit of help though. Will, come with me.”
“Um,” Will blurts, clearly taken off guard. Out of everyone in the Party, Will probably spends the least amount of time with Max. It would make sense that he is surprised at the request. “Yeah, sure. Hold on,” he agrees easily, moving swiftly to her side. Of course he doesn’t complain— he’s Will. He does, however, glance subtly between the booths and the front of the line. El can read his ”what about my ice cream?” without him needing to say it— and he won’t say it, always putting others' comfort before his own. Luckily, the girls have already planned for this.
“Don’t worry, Mike can order for you,” Max dismisses his concerns with a wave of her hand. Then, in a slightly less friendly, more demanding tone, “Can’t you Mike?”
“Huh?” his eyes widen, like the mention of his name has startled him. “Oh, yeah. For sure. Don’t worry about it Will. I know your order.”
“Cool,” Max turns away without a second thought and makes her way toward the booths, Will hurrying after her.
El makes pointed eye contact with Lucas, signaling him to move to the side as she steps into his place next to Mike. One would assume that it would be awkward between the two of them, seeing as they’re exes and all, but it really is not. They get along great, and El thinks that they were always meant to be together. As friends, of course.
“Hello,” she greets him with a smile.
“Hi,” Mike returns, his slightly icy features melting in her presence. She loves that she has that power over him. She has that power over all her friends, and she thinks it’s her greatest trick of all. Though, no one can compare to the effect Will has on him. He can calm Mike’s moods in an instant with nothing but the touch of his hand.
“You know,” El begins, rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet. “Will loves small gestures like this. He would deny it, but he likes being cared for. Like how I leave the last cookie for him when he has a bad day.”
“I know,” he nods. El guesses that makes sense; if anyone were to be aware of Will’s likes and dislikes, it’s Mike. “And I try. He’s just so stubborn sometimes. He would never let me do this for him if you weren’t making him.”
El knows this as well. Will hates being a burden, even if it is no trouble at all. But unfortunately, he also expects everyone to be able to read his mind. He doesn’t speak up when something is bothering him, because he hates inconveniencing others— but in turn, he bottles up his emotions until he explodes. El thinks that is what’s happening now. Will sacrificed his own feelings one too many times, and now he is upset. Mike can’t be blamed for that, really. He just has to pay closer attention.
“So, um…” Mike raises a hand awkwardly to push a strand of hair out of his eyes. “You know about what’s going on between me and Will?”
“I do. We all do.” Mike grimaces at that, dragging his hand down his face. Before he can start complaining about them talking behind his back, El continues. “We just want you guys to be happy. And I think that you are happiest with Will.”
“Really?” he looks to her, surprise written all over his face, eyes gleaming with something she can not quite pinpoint. She doesn’t know what is so shocking about this. Unlike Will, Mike is not very good at hiding his emotions. His love for Will is easy to see. “You think so?”
“Yes. We all do.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he mumbles a bit bitterly, before giving El a lopsided smile. Has Will implied to Mike that they aren’t happy together? “Thank you for understanding.” With no warning, Mike scoops her up in a hug.
She does not understand what she is supposed to be understanding, but she returns his embrace anyway. “Always.”
This just goes to prove that girls are better at handling things than boys are. Hugs and thank yous are better than screaming and walking away. If they keep this up, Mike and Will are going to be back to normal in no time.
✮｡°𝄞 ˖˚♫˚˖ 𝄞°｡✮
As Will “helps” her sit down at an empty booth, Max tries to hide the evil smirk spreading on her face. There’s nothing she loves more than making Mike spend his allowance on the Party— and fucking with him a bit. Both of which she’s doing right now.
She might not know Will that well, but she is without a doubt on his side of their argument. Even if the topic of that argument was that Mike’s hideous face offended Will to look at, she would one hundred percent back him up on that.
“Why did you ask me to come with you?” Will inquires after a few seconds of painful silence. They really don’t ever talk one-on-one, do they? “Not that I don’t want to, I just would have thought you’d choose El. Or maybe Lucas.”
“Well I can’t ask Lucas. Who else is gonna buy my ice cream?” she reasons. “And, I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to get to know you a bit better. We’ve been friends for— what? Three years now? It seems like I barely know you.”
She feels a bit bad for lying to him, but most of what she said was the honest truth. She thinks Will is really cool— the coolest boy in the Party, by far— and she’s been meaning to hang out with him. Though the circumstances might be a bit deceptive, the intent is still there.
“Oh. Yeah, me too,” Will affirms quietly, and Max can hear his leg shaking nervously under the table. She always thinks of him as a big ball of anxiety; no matter how many times they interact as a big group, no matter how many times they have private conversations during Party hangouts, Will is always nervous the second they’re truly alone. She wonders if that’s the case for everyone in the Party— if Will would be just as jittery if he was alone with Dustin. She kind of hopes he is. She would hate to think that he’s scared of her, or something.
She decides to break the ice with a joke. “So what’s it like being so close with Mike Wheeler? Sounds like a nightmare.”
Fortunately, Will lets out a small laugh. She can’t help but feel like it was a little forced. “No. No, It’s great. He’s the best friend I could’ve ever asked for.”
Max hums disbelievingly, scrunching up her nose. “I doubt that. Especially with the way things have been going with you two lately…” she tapers off, letting him fill in the blanks. And she hopes he does fill in the blanks. Preferably out loud
“Do you—“ Will starts, rough and shaky. He takes a deep breath and tries again, leaning in close and lowering his voice. His words are accusatory, but his tone is soft; concerned. “Do you have a problem with me and Mike not being friends anymore?”
Well that’s a complete shocker to Max. She knew they were fighting, but calling it off completely? After over ten years? This is more serious than she could have ever expected. This can’t just be about unreturned favors. There’s no way.
“You’re not friends?”
Will pauses for a minute, and Max only wishes that she could see his face. “Did you not know that?” he whispers; she can hear the regret in that sentence. She shakes her head, dumbfounded. “Oh, it sounded like you knew. Sorry, just please forget I said anything.”
“No!” she rushes, hoping that the entire establishment hasn’t turned their attention to them at her outburst. “No, you can talk to me. I mean, I was aware that something was happening between you two, but I didn’t know it was this.”
“But… you don’t have an issue with it?” he asks tentatively, almost like he’s afraid of the answer.
“I don’t have an issue with it,” she denies, a bit confused. It’s a strange question, but not completely out of character for someone like Will, always making sure his choices don’t negatively impact other people. “Obviously we want to be there for you guys. We don’t want you to make any rash decisions that you don’t mean, but if this is what you guys need, then we’ll stand by you. I just don’t want things to be weird within the Party.”
“It won’t be,” Will assures. “We won’t act differently in front of you guys. I promise. And this is definitely what we want.”
“Okay,” Max hesitantly agrees. She’s having a bit of a hard time wrapping her head around this. No more Mike and Will. She had always thought that they were a guarantee in life. If nothing else lasted forever, those two would. Max can only hope they keep their promise. She doesn’t want a split in the friend group because of this.
After a few more torturous minutes of ignoring the elephant in the room, a cup is slammed down on the table in front of Max. “One medium strawberry for m’lady,” Lucas declares dramatically, likely accompanied by a bow.
“Such a gentleman, setting my cup down with grace,” she retorts sarcastically, smiling as he slides next to her and kisses her cheek anyway.
Her attention is quickly pulled across the table, where Mike can be heard settling next to Will, pushing his cup towards him. “I was going to get you cookies and cream, but they had peanut butter, so I figured you’d want that instead.”
“You’d be correct,” Will replies, a shy smile evident in his voice. “How much was it?” Max can practically hear him reaching for his wallet.
“No,” Mike declines, and she imagines him setting a hand on Will's offering arm. His words are soft and caring, that familiar tone used for Will and Will alone making a reappearance for the first time in forever. They’re in their private bubble again, like the rest of the world doesn’t exist to them. “Just let me do this for once. Don’t be stubborn about it.”
Max thinks that the two of them are in a stare down, silence filling the table as everyone watches them hopefully.
“Fine,” Will eventually accepts, though he doesn’t sound too put off about it. Glad, she would even say. Pleased.
“Good.”
“Good.”
Will is a filthy liar. Try as he might, there’s no way he can convince her that their friend-break-up is for the best. They’re happy together. They always have been. If they don’t want to admit that, then that’s fine. They don’t have to. Max still has one final trick up her sleeve.
♛°˖☽˚𓆩♡𓆪˚☾˖°♛
It’s another Monday movie night with the Party, and Mike can only hope that this one goes better than the last.
He watches Will watch the screen from the opposite side of the room. He looks so cute in the armchair, curled up in one tiny corner of it while the popcorn bowl takes up the rest. He has one of Mike’s family blankets draped around him, even in the summer heat, and Mike just wants to go over and sit with him. There’s definitely room to Will’s right if they squeeze. Fuck the popcorn bucket— Mike should get priority.
But he won’t. They don’t sit together anymore. They can’t. Life is unfair and cruel, and there’s no way Will would be okay with that. He was shaken up enough from the last movie night, he doesn’t need Mike to add onto that now.
Before he can wallow even further into self pity, everyone’s heads turn toward the bathroom at the sound of a shriek. Mike pauses the movie as Max comes running out, pointing at the open door behind her.
“There’s a spider in there,” she informs, talking directly to Mike, as if that’s his problem. “Kill it.”
Mike rolls his eyes, standing nonetheless. The sooner he handles this, the sooner he can go back to pining after Will in silence. He grabs a glass off the table next to him, because unfortunately for Max, he doesn’t kill spiders. He captures them and sets them free, because Will finds killing bugs inhumane— ironic, since Will detests bugs. He’s always had a fear of spiders, ever since he and Mike were kids, but it seems to have increased tenfold after their many trips to the Creel house.
“Will, go with him,” Max demands, for some weird reason. That is not gonna happen. There’s no way.
“What? No,” Will refuses, as expected, shaking his head adamantly.
“Yeah, come on. You’re a man, you have to protect me.” She pulls him up by the arm and shoves him into the bathroom after Mike, with more than a little help from El by the looks of it. Before Will has the chance to flee, the door slams shut behind them.
Immediately, Will wraps his arms around Mike’s waist in a death grip, burying his face into his neck and letting out a little squeal. It would be cute if Will wasn’t practically shaking. Mike reaches for the light switch beside them and flips it up, searching the room for any sign of danger.
“Hey Max?” he yells behind him. “I don’t see anything. Where was it exactly? Wait a minute— how did you even see a spider?”
They’ve been tricked. He’s been outsmarted by Max of all people. He’s going to give her a piece of his mind— as soon as Will detaches himself from
Mike’s front.
“Hey,” he whispers, a little amusedly, setting a hand on Will’s back. “You’re okay. Max was kidding. There’s no spider.”
“Are you sure?” Will checks, slowly lifting his head up, opening one eye at a time. Adorable.
“Positive. And if there is a spider, don’t worry about it. I’ll protect you.”
“Shut up,” Will swats at him half-heartedly as he backs out of Mike’s grasp, blush coating his cheeks. Mike misses his body heat already. Maybe he should have kept up the act for a little while longer.
Mike sighs as he turns back around, jiggling the door handle that doesn’t budge. It’s locked. From the outside. The door doesn’t have a lock on the outside.
El’s powers.
Great. They’re stuck in a bathroom together. All alone. Forced into close proximity.
Maybe this isn’t so bad after all.
“It’s stuck?” Will asks from behind him, looking over Mike’s shoulder.
“Yep,” he confirms, facing him once again. Will looks gorgeous as always, even in the fluorescent lights of his dingy basement bathroom. He has no idea why the others locked them in here, but they handed him the perfect opportunity on a silver platter, and he isn’t going to waste it. Will is ethereal, and this is his chance to finally act on it. “So…” Mike looks him up and down, raising an eyebrow suggestively. “Come here often?”
Will lifts the back of his hand to his mouth as a chuckle escapes him. “You’re ridiculous,” he shakes his head, but doesn’t try to hide his fond smile.
“You love me,” Mike rebuts, stepping toward Will and backing him against the sink as a result. He sets the stupid cup that he’s still holding for some reason onto the counter, and hooks his fingers into Will’s belt loops, pressing them further together.
Will tilts his head up, faces mere inches apart. “Unfortunately,” he mumbles, following Mike’s example as he leans in, noses nudging. “Wait,” he suddenly pulls away, only enough to look Mike in the eyes. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You really want to make out with me in a bathroom?” Will teases, glancing over to the toilet on his right.
Mike thought that answer was obvious. They’ve certainly made out in weirder places than this. He’ll take a kiss wherever he can get one. “Yes,” he replies without hesitation, and leans back in to chase Will’s lips.
“But—“ Will turns his head away, putting a hand on Mike’s chest to stop him in his place. Mike retreats slightly so that Will isn’t bending backwards over the sink to get away from him, taking that as an adamant no. “The others are right outside. You know how they feel about us. I don’t want to make them uncomfortable.”
Fuck them for making Will feel this way. They have no idea how much they hurt him with their disapproval. They were both terrified to come out to everyone, but they had initially written that off as paranoia. Obviously their friends would support them, right? After all they’ve been through? Apparently not.
“The others are assholes, Will,” he reminds him for the hundredth time. “If they’re not okay with us, that’s their problem. Besides, I think it’s really only Lucas and Dustin. Max was supportive, wasn’t she?”
“More or less,” Will shrugs, playing with the collar of Mike’s shirt. “I just… it sucks. I feel like I want Lucas and Dustin’s approval the most, you know? We’ve known them our entire lives.”
Mike raises a hand to Will’s cheek, swiping a thumb over it. He wishes he could take all the pain away. “I know. It does suck. But we don’t need anyone’s approval, right? We have each other. And this is my house. If I want to kiss my boyfriend in my own bathroom, who is anyone to tell us we can’t?”
Will’s uncertainty seems to melt away at his words, his demeanor shifting in seconds. He bites down a smile, looking up at Mike through his eyelashes. Flirty Will makes an appearance, to Mike’s delight. “I think your boyfriend, maybe. He might have a say in that.”
“Oh yeah? And what does my boyfriend say?”
“He says to put your money where your mouth is,” he answers, pulling Mike closer by the waist, eyes locked on his lips.
That’s all the encouragement Mike needs. He grabs Will by the shoulders and flips them around, pinning him up against the door. Will inhales sharply, moving his gaze back up to Mike’s eyes. Mike leans in slowly, tilting his own head slightly to the right as his nose skims Will’s cheek. “I should put my mouth where your mouth is.”
He can feel Will’s resulting laugh on his lips right before he crashes them together, quieting him in an instant. Mike cradles the back of his neck in one hand, his hip in the other, and Will’s hands immediately find home in Mike’s hair, as they so often do.
Kissing Will has become a habit now— something easier than breathing. Something better than breathing. He no longer needs to overthink every movement, every touch, every advancement. He knows that Will likes it when he bites down on his bottom lip, and that he needs a warning before Mike sticks his tongue down his throat, so that it doesn’t trigger a D’art related flashback. He knows that a yank of his hair means more, and that a hand on his wrist means less. Mike and Will have always been able to read each other better than anyone else. This has just become another one of their things.
Mike feels Will’s grip tighten on his curls, pulling him down and closer. Just as he’s about to react accordingly, lightly licking Will’s lips and waiting for him to let him in, there’s a sudden influx of light and the force holding the both of them upright is gone.
Will stumbles backward, barely catching his balance before he falls. Mike tumbles after him, also thankfully caught by Will's balance alone. They look up at the rest of the room like deer caught in headlights. If Mike looks anything like Will does— red cheeks and shiny lips, with the likely addition of most-definitely-fucked-up hair— they’re screwed. There’s no denying what they had just been doing. Mike can only hope the others take it civilly.
Deafening silence overtakes the room as they await a reaction. Any reaction, really. They’re all just staring at the two of them like they’re from another planet. It really shouldn’t be that surprising that he kissed his boyfriend who he loves with his entire heart.
“Um— I think they made up,” Dustin guesses, the tension snapping at once as everyone jumps back into action.
“I think they made out,” Lucas corrects, mouth gaping open.
Mike doesn’t appreciate the accusatory tone he’s using. He’s had enough of Lucas’s opinions on their relationship. The last thing he— and especially Will— needs to hear right now is how disgusting they are.
Before he can say just that, Will beats him to the punch. “I’m so sorry. I know I said I wouldn’t. We’ll keep it private next time, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not,” Mike scoffs, taking a step forward with fake confidence, placing himself as a barrier between his friends and Will. He tries to hide the waver of fear in his voice as he adds, “I don’t care what you have to say. I’m not going to apologize for kissing my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” the entire room shrieks.
Now Mike is just confused. Sure, they never explicitly gave a name to it when talking to the others, but surely they could have pieced the label together themselves. That’s typically what you call a boy that you’re dating. “Yeah, boyfriend. Obviously.”
“Woah— hold on,” Lucas holds his hands out in front of him. “You’re dating? When was this? In the bathroom?”
Huh. Maybe they didn’t know. “No, last month. You really had no idea?”
The entire room shakes their heads in unison. “No man, we had no clue,” Dustin confirms.
Then what—
How did—
What?
“Why were you being weird then?” Will speaks up from behind him. Mike steps out of the way so he can move back up to his side. “The talk in the kitchen, and— and at the ice cream place? What was that for?”
“We thought you were fighting,” El tells them, and Max nods along with her.
“Yeah, you guys were the ones being weird. Why were you acting all distant if you’re literally dating?”
They thought he was fighting with Will? Why would Mike stay away from him if they were fighting? They’ve never done that before. Even if Will killed Mike’s mom, he would still be right at his side at the funeral.
Now that he’s thinking about it, those conversations make a lot more sense in this new context. “Whatever’s going on between you two, we can fix it,” and, “I think that you are happiest with Will.” They were words of encouragement, pushing him to reconcile with Will, not the statements of varying acceptance that he thought they were.
“We were worried you would catch on,” Will responds quietly, anxiously playing with the matching bracelet Mike got them a couple weeks ago. Friendship bracelet sounds a bit dumb. It’s basically their version of trading jackets— something that marks each other as theirs without threatening to out them to the world. “We thought that it would be too obvious if we were always on top of each other, so we acted normal.”
“You do realize that that was the dumbest thing you could have done, right?” Max rudely asks. It was not dumb. It was Mike’s idea. “You two have never been normal. ’On top of each other’ is your natural state.”
“Let me get this straight,” Lucas interrupts, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You wanted it to seem like you weren’t dating, so you avoided touching each other like the plague, which in turn drew more attention to yourselves, leading us to finding out that you’re dating.”
Mike and Will share a look, Will shrugging one of his shoulders. That checks out.
“Yes,” Mike answers simply.
“So you don’t have an issue with us dating?” Will clarifies, worry still evident in his voice. Mike feels the same way. Just because they had a misunderstanding before, that doesn’t mean their opinion isn’t the same.
“No, of course not,” El promises, steadfast and sure. “Why did you think we did?”
“Not you,” Mike corrects, shooting a death glare at Dustin’s head instead. “I believe Dustin’s words were that he could ‘fix’ us.”
“Dude,” Max smacks him in the arm, and Dustin yelps.
“I didn’t mean it like that!”
“We’re sorry,” Lucas amends, wrapping one arm each around Will and Mike’s shoulders, pulling them in for a hug. “We’re really happy for you guys. Seriously.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Dustin agrees, inserting himself between Lucas and Mike. As the girls join the group hug, Mike can feel the muscles in Will’s back start to relax under his hand. It’s been a stressful week, that’s for sure. Basically a walking nightmare. He’s just glad that it’s all over now. He has his friends back, and this time he’s never going to lose them.
“So, um,” Mike claps as the group separates, distracting himself from the tears that are rapidly approaching. “Are we going to finish that movie, or is there another spider in the closet?”
Max takes a step back, automatically falling into the chair that Will had previously claimed. “No. Please don’t go back into the closet. That was a disaster.”
Mike rolls his eyes as the Party laughs at that completely lame and unfunny joke. He grabs Will by the hand and leads him to the couch, pulling him down so that they’re sitting with their thighs pressed together, and wraps an arm around him, tucking him into his side. He thinks he hears Dustin mutter a thank god.
If the Party wants clingy, he’ll give them clingy. This is where Mike belongs. This is his home— attached to Will’s hip. If he gets his way, he’ll never leave here again.