Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mike had been working on this for months .

Since that day he had thanked El for the painting, and she’d responded with a look of total confusion. She’d never seen it, she said. And Mike could tell she was being genuine.

He had looked from her back to the painting, taking everything in as if it were brand new to him, as if he hadn’t spent hours staring at it and admiring Will’s beautiful work. Will’s art was pretty much his favorite thing in the world.

Well, almost.

He stood there with his arms crossed, dumbfounded, brows knitted in deep contemplation as he continued to stare, examining the individual brush strokes as El left the room.

He thought back to when Will gave him the painting.

Wait. Hadn’t Will had it in his hands when they met at the airport? Why did he wait so long to give it to him?

His eyes scanned the canvas again for some kind of clue. Why would Will lie and say El commissioned it? What was Will hiding ?

He focused in on the details and his eyes landed on the shield in the paladin’s hand, thinking back to Will’s words in the van.

It’s a heart. I know it’s sort of on the nose, but - that’s what holds the whole Party together.

Mike lifted a hand to his face, placing it under his chin in thought. What was he missing?

When you’re different… sometimes, you feel like… a mistake. But… you make her feel like… she’s not a mistake at all, like she’s better for being different.

What did Will mean by that? Sure, El was “different”, but something felt… off about that statement somehow. His eyes narrowed as they continued to scan the painting.

He shook his head and resolved to ask Will about it later.

That night at dinner, he couldn’t stop staring at Will, who had been staying with the Wheelers since the return to Hawkins. Mike had picked at his food, too lost in thought as he watched Will chat brightly with the others at the table, feeling a twinge of something he was unsure of every time he caught a glimpse of Will smiling or laughing.

Eventually, Will’s eyes captured his own, and as far as Mike was concerned, everything around them vanished in an instant. All he could see was Will, his soft, kind eyes, that smile he reserved only for Mike.

Mike felt his cheeks get hot and his stomach flutter.

Oh.

It felt like Will had been looking at him for centuries, but in reality, it was just for a moment. The world around him came back into focus as Will turned to respond to something Nancy said, seemingly thinking nothing of Mike’s stare.

Mike swallowed thickly, hoping no one caught that. He looked down at his still very full plate, finally tearing his eyes away from Will, embarrassed. What the fuck was that about? He heard Will laugh again and tried to focus on the matter at hand. The painting.

He wasn’t sure how he was going to approach the subject. He had so many questions. The more he thought about it, the less Will’s speech to him made sense.

He was also really worried Will would be angry or hurt by the questioning. They were just starting to repair what had been broken - what Mike had broken, and still felt immensely guilty about. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Will all over again and possibly lose him forever.

But Will had lied to him, and he had to know why.

Unfortunately for Mike, Will went straight to the basement to sleep after dinner, leaving Mike wondering and sleepless.

He laid in his bed, sprawled out, staring at the ceiling. He looked over at the painting on the wall. The heart on the shield caught his eye again. His paladin’s shield had never had a heart on it in the past.

You’re the heart.

He thought back to the van once more, vividly remembering the way Will had looked at him that day. The passion he spoke with had been apparent.

In a flash, he remembered a letter El had sent him during that time.

Will is painting a lot, but he won’t show me what he is working on. Maybe it is for a girl.

I think there is someone he likes, because he has been acting weird.

His breath caught and his eyes widened.

Oh .

Will had made this painting for him, and didn’t want to tell him. Because all that stuff he said - it wasn’t about El. It was never about El. It was him, it was always him.

Shit.

He wasn’t sure how to react to this revelation. He looked back at the ceiling, stiff. Maybe it was better if he didn’t confront Will. He could just pretend he never figured it out. Play dumb. Will obviously wasn’t ready to share his feelings, so it would be a real dick move to call him out like that.

In that moment, his thoughts moved to his own feelings. He’d never considered Will in a romantic way before - the thought had never occurred to him as a possibility. He wasn’t sure where he stood.

Mike loved Will, he knew that, but was he in love with him? His eyes darted around the ceiling as he examined his own memories, thoughts and feelings.

Images of their friendship over the years flashed through his mind, quick, blurry moments. Every single time he pictured Will, he was smiling at him in that way. He felt a warmth flooding his chest.

Will was so special to him. He was his best friend. He’d go to the ends of the earth for him. He would die for him, nearly did so many times. God , he cared about Will like no one else. Even during everything he went through with El, the entire time, Will was his favorite person in the world.

His mind flits to that moment their eyes had locked at the dinner table. The heat rising in his cheeks, Will’s beautiful eyes looking at him with what he now realized was love. That feeling in his stomach. He’s never felt like he did at that moment before. El certainly never made him feel that way.

Jesus christ. I’m in love with my best friend.

What the fuck would he do about it?

He sat up, contemplating. Part of him wanted to get up and run to the basement and wake Will and just kiss him like crazy. But that would be insane, right? He couldn’t just jump the gun like that. This was Will, and Will deserved better.

He looked around the room, trying to formulate some kind of plan, when his eyes landed on the box in his closet full of cassette tapes. Will loved music. Maybe he could do something with that, he thought.

He got up and took down the box from the closet shelf, bringing it to his bed and sitting down. He began to shuffle through the tapes, considering his options. A mixtape, maybe?

He couldn’t help but smile at the tapes. So many of them were copies of albums that Will had made for him to listen to. Will had such great music taste. The Cure, A Flock of Seagulls, Dead or Alive…

He remembered being 11, listening to A-ha in the basement with Will, dancing like idiots and trying their best to sing along to "Take On Me." Mike’s voice had cracked on the high note, and they both bursted into uncontrollable laughter.

He pictured them now, dancing together again, but this time, slow, tender, embracing - he blushed at the thought. He would love to dance with Will like that.

He realized prom was in a few months. He wished he could ask Will to prom, or at least to dance at it. But they'd become total social pariahs, as if they already weren't outcasts to begin with…

But god, he wanted to dance with Will on prom night. 

So that is what he resolved to do.

In the following months, whenever Mike had free time to himself in between dealing with Upside Down shit, he spent it listening to tapes on his shitty boombox, trying his hardest to curate the most romantic mixtape possible with what music he had at his disposal. Before he even started copying the songs to a blank tape, he took his time writing down the track order. This had to be perfect for Will. Mike’s anxiety ate at him, stretching out the time leading up to prom night. Every time he saw Will, his stomach did a flip.

He finished the mixtape less than a week before prom.

The anticipation built quickly, flooding his mind with images of the possibilities. He was nervous, yet confident at the same time. There was a small amount of doubt nagging in the back of his mind, wondering, what if I’m wrong? But he pushed it aside. Nothing else explained Will’s behavior, and he loved him so much, he needed Will to know no matter the cost.

So prom night finally arrived, and Mike stood, looking at himself in the mirror, the sight of himself in a navy blue suit and tie adorned with an abstract pattern with flecks of yellow making him feel strange. He hadn’t worn a suit since the Snow Ball all those years ago.

He wondered what Will was wearing. No matter what, he’d look gorgeous.

With a shaky breath, he grabbed his keys and headed out of his room, destination: basement to pick up Will.

He obviously hadn’t officially asked Will to prom - the surprise was for later - but standing at the basement door, he couldn’t help the pink tinge that crossed his cheeks at the thought that this was close enough . He raised a fist and knocked. “Will? You ready to go?”

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and nearly gasped when Will opened the door.

He’d gone for a less colorful approach with his outfit: a simple black vest over a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a single splash of yellow from his neatly tied bow tie. It was simple, but god it was so cute on him. Yellow suits Will well, Mike thought, blushing harder.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Will replied and quirked an eyebrow at Mike, catching something in his expression he couldn’t quite identify. “You?”

Mike swallowed nervously and jangled his keys. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Will gave Mike another curious look, then gently shook his head and mentally brushed off whatever he had been thinking. Mike tried to read these expressions and utterly failed.

He wanted to kiss Will so badly.

But no. The time wasn’t right.

They arrived at Hawkins High, parked and headed straight for the gym. They chatted about everything and nothing as they walked along, Will occasionally bumping into Mike’s shoulder unintentionally as they were walking so close, like they always did.

They finally entered the gymnasium and took in the sight of the dancers and the wallflowers. Mike spotted Lucas and Max dancing together in the crowd and smiled.

Will headed straight for the bleachers, planning to people watch. Mike followed closely behind like a lost puppy, nerves creeping up the back of his neck as they sat down together.

Will shifted his leg and their thighs were suddenly touching. Mike’s breath hitched at the contact, but he said nothing, instead continuing to look at anything and anyone but Will.

Will looked at him, curiosity in his eyes. “Something wrong?”

Mike shook his head adamantly, still not looking at Will. “No, I’m fine.”

Will shrugged and went back to people watching.

Mike was torn in a state between wanting to jump straight to the surprise, and being too anxious to even initiate it.

His anticipation got the better of him. He’d been waiting too long.

He finally turned to Will and extended an open palm. “Wanna get out of here?”

Will turned and looked at Mike again, then down at his hand, unsure of where Mike was going with this. They’d been waiting all year for prom, and now Mike wanted to leave when they’d just gotten there?

But Will had to admit to himself this was pretty boring, and he was curious what Mike had in mind.

Wordlessly, he reached out and took Mike’s hand and nodded. Mike briefly looked him up and down, a warm smile stretching across his face as he practically jumped to stand up, anxious.

He dragged Will along, past the dancing crowd, past the punch bowl, through the gymnasium doors and into the dark school hallways.

“Where are we going?” Will asked as they continued to walk, a sparkle in his eye.

“Shh,” Mike responded softly. “You’ll see.”

They finally came to the English classroom, and Mike looked around to make sure no one saw as they entered. He finally let go of Will’s hand, leaving him standing in the doorway as he walked toward a cabinet in the far corner. “Shut the door.”

Will raised an eyebrow, but turned around and did as he was told. When he turned back to Mike, he saw him pulling something out of the cupboard. A tape deck , Will realized as Mike set it on the teacher’s desk.

“C’mere,” said Mike as he hit the play button and the opening notes of “Space Age Love Song” by A Flock of Seagulls filled the room.

Will stepped toward Mike, confused.

He loved this song. He’d once told Mike it was the most romantic song he thought he’d ever heard.

Mike stood up straight and faced him. He extended his hand towards Will again and despite his nerves managed to smirk with a glimmer in his eye. “Dance with me?”

Will gulped and heat spread across his cheeks. Of course he wanted to dance with Mike, but he couldn’t imagine Mike’s reasoning for wanting to dance with him was the same. There was just no way.

But this was a chance Will couldn’t pass up. Mike had obviously put in some effort to make this happen. He’d be a fool to reject the offer.

So he reached out and took Mike’s open hand, nodding at him nervously. “Yeah.”

Mike took his other hand and they moved a bit closer together, swaying in time with the music and staring into each other’s eyes, each trying to read the other.

Mike smiled as the lyrics kicked in and he began to softly sing along. “ I saw your eyes… and you made me smile… ”

Will couldn’t help but chuckle. Mike was such a dork. It was one of the many reasons he loved him.

“ For a little while, I was falling in love. ”

He swore Mike’s face inched closer to his, but shook off the notion. Impossible.

The next verse started, and Mike sang again. “ I saw your eyes … and you touched my mind… ”

Mike definitely moved closer this time, he noticed, and Will’s expression turned to one of wonder. He resisted the urge to sling his arms around Mike’s neck and just kiss him. He knew Mike didn’t want that.

Mike made sure to look Will straight in the eye as he sang the next lines. He swallowed, nervous.

“ Although it took a while

I was falling in love. ”

Mike squeezed Will’s hands gently. Now or never. This was the game plan, and he really didn’t want to use his backup songs if he could help it.

Before Will realized it was even happening, Mike’s lips were on his, chaste, tender, yearning.

Will’s first kiss, and it was with the only person he had ever loved, to his favorite love song. You couldn’t make it up if you tried.

Will’s eyes slam shut and he lets go of Mike’s hands, looping his arms around the back of Mike’s neck just like he had wanted to earlier as he melted into the kiss. Mike’s hands moved to his waist, pulling his body closer.

Mike moved his lips against Will’s, almost experimentally, and Will returned in kind. He had no idea what he was doing, but he would try his best for Mike.

Mike pulled away first, but didn’t stray far. He rested his forehead against Will’s, breathless and giddy.

Will gazed back into Mike’s eyes, dazed by the kiss and still in disbelief.

Mike glimpsed down for a moment, bashfully, then looked back to Will.

“Sorry I took so long,” Mike said.

Will pulled back and shook his head at Mike with a smile. “Doesn’t matter.”

They stayed like that, beginning to sway to the music again as the song came to a close.

There was no noise but the static of the tape and their breathing for a few moments before the opening riff of “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure kicked up. Another favorite of Will’s. He looked over at the tape deck on the desk as they started to sway again to the beat.

“How many songs are on that thing?” he asked, genuinely curious.

He looked back at Mike, who simply said, “I dunno, like, seven?” It was exactly seven, and Mike knew that, but he wanted to play it at least a little cool.

Will couldn’t hold back a bright laugh. “You thought we were gonna be here that long, huh?”

Mike smiled at him. “However long it took me to work up the courage to kiss you.”

“Well,” Will started. “I’m glad you did it during the first song. I might have gone insane wondering what the hell you were up to if you took much longer.”

It was Mike’s turn to laugh. “I’ve been waiting for months to do that, Will.”

Will blushed, surprised. “Months? Really? You’ve… been planning this for that long?”

“Yeah,” Mike responded, grinning.

“How did you know?” Will asked. “That I would feel the same?”

Mike glanced to the side briefly, recalling all those months ago when he had his lightbulb moment.

“The painting,” Mike answered simply, and Will stiffened a bit.

“You… you figured it out,” Will said, flatly, but his upset at being found out was overcome by the simple fact that Mike was here, holding him, and he wasn’t angry or hurt.

“Yeah,” Mike replied simply. His smile widened before he leaned in to capture Will’s lips with his own again for a few moments, too brief, Will felt. He’d be happy to kiss Mike until he died from lack of oxygen, frankly.

The tape whirred and “Love is a Stranger” by Eurythmics began. Mike had really done an excellent job with the mixtape, he thought.

“I’m gonna need this tape, you know,” Will stated. “It’s mine now.”

“Duh,” Mike said with a chuckle. “It was always for you.”

Will smiled, laying his head on Mike’s shoulder, and they continued to dance into the night.

The song ended, and before the next could start, Mike reached over and hit the pause button. Will sank a little, disappointed he wasn’t going to hear the rest of the tape now.

“Aw, Mike, come on, I was listening to that,” Will said, half playfully, but meaning it.

Mike turned back to him, his free hand reaching up to brush Will’s hair behind his ear. “We should probably get out of here before anyone finds us or realizes we’re gone.”

Will knew Mike was right and he hated it. He hated that they couldn’t just dance with everyone else.

But in exchange, he’d received this intimate moment he wouldn’t give up for anything in the world.

Mike pulled away completely, leaving Will feeling cold. He ejected the tape from the player, handing it to Will. Will looked down at the label, noting the single carefully drawn heart in the middle. So fucking cheesy. He smiled again and tucked the tape into the pocket of his slacks.

Mike picked up the tape deck, going to put it back in the cabinet, and Will sat on the teacher’s desk, waiting patiently, watching Mike close the door and walk back over to him. Mike placed a hand on the desk on either side of Will, leaning his face in to kiss him once more. Will reached up a hand to cup Mike’s cheek, pressing back into the kiss, insistent, needy. He was pretty sure he would die without kissing Mike at least once a minute for the rest of his life now that he knew what it was like.

But Mike pulled away, shaking his head. “Not here.”

Will nodded, understanding. “Let’s get back to the dance?”

“Yeah,” Mike replied with a sigh and helped Will off the desk. They walked to the classroom door, fingers interlocked, and Mike opened it just a bit to peek out into the hallway to make sure there was still no one around before pulling Will through the door with him.

They walked hand in hand through the halls, only separating as they approached the gym. They stayed close, however - they always walked close, no one would suspect anything.

They spent the rest of the dance stealing glances and knowing smiles, sitting entirely too close together. The dance crawled to a halt as it got later, and the two practically ran out of the gym to Mike’s car and headed home once they deemed it acceptable to leave.

They went into the house and stopped at the basement door. It felt like an actual date for a moment, like Mike was dropping Will off at home. It was late and everyone was in bed already, so Mike decided to chance it and kiss Will goodnight. Will hummed into the kiss happily, standing up on his toes a bit to reach. Mike’s hand landed on the small of his back, pulling him closer, and Will couldn’t help but snake his arms back around Mike’s neck again. They pulled apart.

Will looked him in the eye, pleading. “Stay?”

Mike blushed at the prospect. “Sure, yeah, uh. Just let me get ready for bed,” he said.

“Mmkay,” Will replied, letting go of Mike and opening the basement door. He looked back at Mike with a smile before heading downstairs to get ready himself.

He changed into his pajama pants and a baggy Cure t-shirt and sat on the couch, buzzing with anticipation for Mike’s return. He contemplated the situation he’d found himself in. Mike loved him. Mike was in love with him. What the actual fuck. It didn’t feel real.

His reverie was broken by a knock at the basement door. The secret knocking pattern they’d come up with as kids. He laughed at Mike’s usage of it. “I’m dressed,” he said, slightly raising his voice so it would carry up the stairs.

Mike opened the door and walked down, grinning like an idiot when he saw Will again. Will looked at him quizzically, and Mike sat down next to him, grabbing his hands. “Missed you.”

Will giggled. “It was, like, five minutes.”

“Five minutes too long,” Mike complained, wrapping his arms around Will and nuzzling into his neck as he pulled him down so they were lying together on the couch then covering them with the blanket. Will’s hand moved to Mike’s waist. The heat of Mike’s breath against his neck was like a lightning bolt straight to Will’s heart, only magnified when Mike pressed a gentle kiss there.

Mike pulled away to face him once again with a soft smile. He thought of the promise they’d made to each other all those years ago on this very couch. Crazy together .

Crazy in love counted, right?

He sighed contentedly, closing his eyes. Apparently confessing your love for your best friend really takes it out of you.

He felt a gentle kiss on his lips, then Will said, “goodnight.”

Mike didn’t open his eyes, just tightening his hold on Will and responding happily, “goodnight."