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The rain patters around him. He can feel the water soaking into his shoes, courtesy of pulling on the first pair he’d found on his way out the door.
The sky is darker than he can remember seeing it, deep red hiding behind dark clouds hanging over Hawkins like a void of eternal darkness.
The only light is coming from the building in front of him. He ignores the people around him bustling, the people apologising to him with blankets in their arms, ignores Jonathan leaving his side to find Nancy.
Will stands still, his eyes locked onto Mike as he watches him subtly trying to clean the peanut butter that had dripped onto his shirt with mild embarrassment.
If it was any other time, Will would’ve laughed.
But of course, it isn’t any other time.
He hadn’t known Mike would be here. He wouldn’t have come if he had. (He ignores the voice in the back of his head telling him he would have anyway—of course he would have.)
Will takes a deep breath in, bracing himself for the conversation he’d promised himself he’d have the next time he saw Mike. He’d spent the last few days wringing his fingers, restless on his feet, but he’d hoped he’d have more time.
Ever since they’d gotten back to Hawkins, Mike had been acting off. He guesses he should be used to the avoidance now, the brushed off touches. But he isn’t. He really isn’t.
He’d thought they’d finally gotten somewhere after the conversation they’d had in his bedroom, after he’d spilled his heart out in the back of a pizza van (admittedly he’d lied about who the painting was actually from, but a painting from El would always matter more than a painting from him.) He thought if he just pushed down the insecurities plaguing him that they’d be okay, that he’d be okay if he just pretended all those things Mike said didn’t happen.
My life started that day we found you in the woods.
But clearly he was wrong.
Mike had been avoiding him.
Most days he’s being avoided outright. Whenever he asks Mike something, all he’s met with is a hum or a nod before he’s making some excuse to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. Or whenever it’s Will’s turn to search for any more signs of Vecna, Mike is conveniently never there to join him.
It sucks.
And it sucks even more because Mike still looks at him. Looks at him in the way that makes bugs crawl beneath his skin. Looks at him like he used to before Will realised that he’s in love with his best friend and there will never be a world where he isn’t.
He was so tired.
So he decided that the next time he had the chance, he was going to do something about it.
He just hadn’t planned for it to be today.
Jonathan had dragged him out to help with the volunteering at Hawkins’ gym. Granted, it didn’t take that much convincing as Will was starting to feel sick of being inside, and his brother knew that too. It should have been easy. He’d done this countless times, and never before had he seen Mike there while he was.
Until now.
Will takes a step forward, his hands clenching at his sides. He can spot the exact moment that Mike realizes he’s there, because his shoulders jump and he shuffles like he’s too busy to notice anything or anyone around him.
It stings more than it should.
Before he has time to brace himself, he’s already found his way to the front of Mike’s table, rounding around the side to join him. Mike finally looks up at him, a small forced smile on his face.
“Oh, hey.” He shuffles to the side, making space for Will to station himself next to him.
“Hi.”
Mike doesn’t reply, but out of the corner of Will’s eye, it looks like he’s ready to jump out of his skin at the slightest contact, putting all of his focus on the piece of bread in his hands.
They sit in silence for a few seconds, the only sounds coming from the people around them, and before Will can stop himself, he’s talking.
“What’s up with you?”
Mike freezes. His shoulders tense and he looks the perfect picture of a child who’s been caught doing something they shouldn’t. He doesn’t look up.
“What do you mean?”
Okay, that’s how it’s gonna be.
“You heard me.” Will puts down the knife he’d been picked up, turning to face Mike more directly. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
Mike finally meets his eyes, “I haven’t been avoiding you.”
Will can’t stop the way his eyes roll in disbelief, “Yes, you have.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Mike.”
Their eyes are locked together, both full of their own quiet resolve. Mike’s eyes flicker down for a second but Will doesn’t put too much thought into the action.
He lets out an exhausted sigh, “What is it?”
Mike looks back down at his hands, and Will is about to protest but before he can Mike speaks.
“We broke up,” He looks almost sheepish as he says the words. “Me and El.”
Will feels himself freeze, and he hates himself for the spark of hope that lights up in his chest. Stupid.
“Oh.” Will pushes the lump in his throat down, face softening. “I—are you okay?”
Mike shrugs, like he hadn’t just completely shifted Will’s entire worldview. “I think so.”
Will nods one too many times. His throat is dry. He ignores the ache in his heart as he speaks again.
“You guys can still figure it out.” You love her. Your life started the day you found her in the woods. The day I went— “I mean things have been weird lately, but that doesn’t mean it’s—“
“No,” Mike interrupts before he can dig his own grave. “This time, it’s over. For real.”
Will opens his mouth before closing it. Mike is still looking down at his hands and Will can do nothing else but follow the movements of his own fidgeting in front of him.
He swallows, thinking of something, anything, to say, but Mike beats him to it.
“It was mutual.” Will shifts his gaze to the boy next to him, the confusion in his eyes evident. Mike sighs. “El…she’s great. But she’s got bigger things to worry about. And I—I don’t know.”
“But…You love her.” My life started the day we found you in the woods. I love you. I love you. “Don’t you?”
Mike hesitates, but Will doesn’t let that spark in his chest flicker again.
“I don’t know. I thought I did. I think I wanted to. But it never really felt like—“ Mike trails off, like he’s frustrated that he can’t find the right words. “It always felt like I needed to love her. Like if I kept trying hard enough, I would.”
Will can’t say anything. He’s trying not to. Don’t say anything stupid. Don’t let yourself want.
“I think,” Mike says it like he knows. “The person I was really trying to prove something to wasn’t her.”
Will stares at the side of Mike’s face, brows furrowed.
His breath catches as Mike finally turns to meet his gaze again. “Can I ask you something?”
Will blinks at the turn in conversation. “Yeah—Sure.”
“It’s been on my mind for a while. But I talked to El.” He has an odd look on his face, like he already knows the answer to the question he’s about to ask. “The painting.”
Mike doesn’t wait for Will to react, “El didn’t commission it, did she?”
Will contemplates lying. He wants to say No Mike, El does need you. She loves you so much. Because he knows she does. Because how could you not?
But he knows Mike already knows.
“I..,” He exhales. “No, she didn’t.”
Mike nods like it was obvious. “I mean, I knew it was weird. El doesn’t even know anything about D&D. Of course she wouldn’t—“ He takes a breath. “Why did you lie?”
“It wasn’t a lie. El does need you. You are the heart, Mike. El didn’t commission it, but she still feels that way. That doesn’t change that. And..”
Will closes his eyes for a second, this feels like it’s too close, like Mike will look at him and know he’s so in love he could cry at any second. “I thought it’d mean more if it came from El.”
“Why would you think that?”
Will lets out a laugh, he can’t believe this conversation is happening right now. “Because she’s your girlfriend Mike. Or was, I guess.”
He feels like he’s missing something but he doesn’t understand what.
“You don’t get it, do you?”
Mike is closer to him now, like the invisible wall they’d had up before had started to crack.
Will doesn’t let his eyes falter. “Get what?”
“Will, I loved it just as much, if not more, before you told me that El had commissioned it. I mean, i’ve kept every single one of your drawings.”
He can’t stop the flush that blooms onto his face. He didn’t know that. “You have?”
“Yeah.” Mike bites the inside of his cheek like he’s contemplating the next part, but decides to go through with it anyway. “I kept them because they’re yours, Will. I—I’d look at them all the time. When you left, it felt like the only thing I had left of you. I mean—“
The wall between them has completely crumbled to the ground.
Mike continues, “I missed you. So much.”
Will’s voice is only above a whisper, “Me too.”
He feels his heart beating in his throat. He feels like he’s in a dream right now, Mike’s looking at him like he always does. Soft, happy with a hint of something else he can’t quite make out.
“Really?”
Will nods, “Yeah. Of course.”
“So much?”
Mike’s smile is teasing, his face scrunched up with mirth.
Will wants to kiss him.
“So much.”
Mike nods like he’s gotten all the answers he wanted, a smile that lights up the whole room on his face. “Good.”
Will doesn’t question it when Mike leans up next to him, continuing his work like nothing had happened.
He doesn’t question it when Mike keeps looking at him with a dumb smile on his face.
And he doesn’t question it that when Mike says something a few seconds later, they fall into a conversation that feels like they’d never stopped at all.
Because for the first time in so long Will feels like he’s gotten Mike back.
——
The first time Will really notices something different is a week after their conversation.
They’re sitting next to each other in Mike’s basement, watching a tape that Mike had found hiding in a box in his room. Or at least they should be watching it. But Will is too busy focusing on how close Mike is, and Mike seems too busy staring at him to be focusing on the movie.
Now that Will thinks about it, Mike had been oddly touchy all week. It’s a big 180 from the constant avoidance he’d been experiencing prior, because now it feels like he’s always around.
It feels like it used to.
But different.
Will has tried not to think too hard about it. Because from his experience, thinking ruins things.
But all Will has is time to think as Mike sits pressed up against him. He’s used to sharing a blanket with him while watching a movie, Lucas and Dustin would whenever they’d join them too. It’s normal.
But Will can feel the warmth of Mike’s breath next to him. Can feel every time he shifts like it’s himself.
He doesn’t think that that’s so normal.
He isn’t sure when Mike moved so close to him, isn’t sure why he hadn’t stopped it because he knows he’s pushing the line between his feelings and reality. But Will is weak when it comes to Mike.
He jolts slightly as a warm pressure settles around his shoulders. He whips his head around to look at Mike, who’s watching the screen intently like he didn’t just put his arm around him.
He shifts under the weight, clearing his throat. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Mike glances at him. “Why?”
“No reason.” Will mutters out, trying to calm his racing heart.
They finish the movie like that. Mike doesn’t move once. Will can’t even remember what they were watching.
——
The sky is just as dark as it had been that day, only this time there’s no rain. Mike is walking next to him, occasionally pausing to check something just off the road.
They’d both been chosen to gather as much as they could in case of an emergency (Will really hopes they’ll never have to use it, but he knows that’s just wishful thinking.)
“I think we should head back.” Will finishes zipping up the backpack in his hand, shrugging it onto his back.
He looks up at Mike, who’s looking back and forth between the watch on his wrist and something in the other direction.
Will walks up behind him, tilting his head at the delay.
“Wait,” Mike turns his head to Will, and instantly he knows that they aren’t heading back any time soon. “I wanna check something out first.”
He sighs, about to argue until he ultimately gives in before Mike reaches forward, intertwining their hands in a tight grip.
Will’s brain instantly stops working. He looks down as Mike starts leading them across the dead grass. Mike doesn’t let go.
Will shivers as his thumb brushes across his knuckles absentmindedly.
His voice is barely above a whisper, “Uhm.”
Mike turns to look at him, cheeks flushed “Hm?”
Will lets out a nervous laugh, he’d never admit it was closer to a giggle. “Nothing.”
His face is on fire, his heart is confused. But Will knows he’d follow Mike anywhere, and if somehow this is just a thing Mike does with his friends now, Will is gonna take it.
——
Will is on his knees, digging through a box, trying to find a working flashlight. The one the party had been using over the past few weeks had run out of life, and of course, it was now his responsibility to find a new one.
Someone had been adamant in joining his search though.
Mike is across the room (for once) looking in his own box of supplies. He occasionally lets out a frustrated puff of air which Will has no right to find so endearing.
“Hey, babe, try the box on the left.”
Will is so distracted that he doesn’t even realize what’s been said until he hits his head on the shelf above him.
“What?” He whips around to Mike, his hand reaching up to caress the sting on the back of his head.
Mike looks like he’s about to ask if he’s okay before his mouth snaps shut. “What?”
Will squints at him. “What did you call me?”
“I said—Uh,” Mike shuffles the way he always does when he’s nervous, “I meant to say Will.”
They stare at each other for a second. Will is pretty sure he’s gotten brain damage.
“Are you okay? That looked like it hurt.”
He shakes himself out of his stupor, “Yeah—Yeah i’m fine.”
Mike nods and turns back to his own box like he never said anything. Will reaches over to the box on his left, and his heart flips when the first thing he finds when opening it is a working flashlight.
——
It comes to a head that night.
The air is warm against his skin, the handles of his bike comforting in his hands. Mike is standing opposite him and he feels a sense of deja vu to the last time the two of them were standing alone in Mike’s garage, but this time it’s good.
Mike is looking at him like he doesn’t want to say goodbye. Will doesn’t want to either.
“Hey..” His voice is soft, so is his gaze.
Will’s lips tilt up, “Yeah?”
“I’m really glad we’re okay again.”
“Me too.”
Mike is stepping closer to him now, eyes flickering all over his face like he can’t stop on one spot. “And that we’re, y’know…where we are now.”
He nods, even though he doesn’t quite know what that means. His body betrays him though, he feels jittery all over. He wants to question it, but he’s scared of the answer.
Mike’s looking at him like he’s waiting for something, before he lets out a shaky laugh and then he’s leaning in.
He’s nervous, Will can see it in his eyes, the quiver of his lips. The lips that are so close he can feel their breath on his own. He almost lets himself take, but then he realizes where he is, and who he is.
“Wait—“ Will stumbles back.
Mike pulls back like he’s just been shot, “What?”
“What are you—Were you about to kiss me?”
“Sorry. I’m sorry, I should’ve asked. I just—We’ve been dating for weeks and—“
“What?” Will almost shrieks out.
Mike looks almost as confused as he is, eyebrows furrowed.
He probably looks crazy right now, but he doesn’t think he can calm down if he tried. Dating?
“I—What—Why would you—“
“Will. We’ve been dating. For weeks.”
If he didn’t already have a death grip on his bike, he’d have already fallen to his knees. “What?”
He doesn’t think he can say anything else if he tried.
Mike laughs breathlessly, nervous. “I thought we were dating.”
Will stares at him with wide eyes for a second, before he starts laughing. Full body, disbelieving laughter. It’s all he can do.
“Oh my god. I didn’t know. I didn’t—“
Mike is looking down at him nervously now, biting his lip before speaking gently, hesitantly, “Do you…not want to be?”
Will shakes his head quickly, his eyes wide but shiny. “No! I do. I do. I just—God, i’m so stupid.”
With newfound confidence, Will walks closer to where Mike had recoiled to, his eyes softening as he looks into Mike’s own.
“You didn’t even ask me.”
“I thought I didn’t have to.”
Will rolls his eyes, “Then ask me now.”
Mike swallows, his voice low when he speaks. “Will, will you do me the honour of being your super amazing, perfect boyfriend?”
Will laughs, and instead of answering, he places his hand gently on Mike’s jaw, caressing his thumb over the skin there as he pulls him down into a kiss.
He can feel the way Mike’s breath hitches, can feel the way Mike runs his hand up his arm before settling onto his own jaw like he’s something precious to be held.
Will tries to sink in closer, his head tilting in an attempt to deepen the kiss, and Mike responds readily. His other arm coming up around Will’s back, sneaking under the jacket he’s wearing to pull him in closer.
Will wouldn’t mind dying like this.
He pulls away first, and he feels his heart stutter in his chest at the way Mike tries to chase after his lips.
Will can feel the way Mike smiles under his palm and he’s sure Mike can feel his own mirrored.
“Was that a yes?”
“Obviously.”