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Mike was having a very hard time processing what he was hearing in this very moment. He couldn’t believe it.
“You’re moving? Again?”
To his horror, his best friend nodded, confirming the horrible truth. Will was going away. He was leaving him.
Mike didn’t see this as an opportunity for Will to breathe in fresh air. He didn’t think about how Will was sick of the homophobic town they lived in.
All that was going through his head was that Will was abandoning him.
California had been enough torture—why did Will want to put him through the misery of not being able to hear his voice for months, not being able to touch—hug him—for months again?
Mike swallowed. “Are you joking? Did Mrs. Byers get a new job or something?”
Will shook his head. “I just… we’ve tried to live in Hawkins after everything, Mike. But we just can’t. I can’t. It’s like he still haunts me, even if I know he’s dead.” Will’s tone made goosebumps appear on his arms.
His immediate response was to assure Will.
“Will—you saw him die. You killed him.”
Will avoided his eyes. Look at me, he wanted to whisper.
“I know,” Will murmured. “I just can’t do it, Mike. I need something fresh. Better.”
He didn’t know what to say. Really, what was he going to say? That Will should risk his mental health for Mike and stay? Absolutely not. Mike might be stupid and reckless, but he’d never, ever sacrifice Will’s well-being for his own.
He felt haunted enough from all the shit that had happened to them; he couldn’t imagine how Will felt, since he had literally been the one targeted by Vecna himself for years.
He gulped down the need to act like an absolute child and nodded instead. “Okay. When?”
Will shrugged beside him, holding his sketchbook shut in front of him.
“Next month.”
Mike’s jaw dropped. “That’s way too soon! What about Halloween?” He panicked, feeling his stomach ache at the thought of not celebrating one of his favorite holidays with Will.
They were a little old for Halloween, but Mike didn’t care.
“Mike.”
“You’re going to miss Halloween!” Mike exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air as if it were the most outrageous news.
“Mike—”
“What am I supposed to do? I’m going to look miserable trick-or-treating with Dustin. I mean, Lucas will be gone for his tournament thing and it’ll be so lame—”
“MIKE! Listen to me.”
Will raised his voice, immediately quieting down after getting Mike’s attention.
He looked away. “Yeah?”
“I know you don’t want me to leave. I don’t—I don’t want to leave you. Or Dustin, or Lucas.”
His heart hammered in his chest.
I don’t want to leave you.
“Then don’t. Don’t leave me,” he whispered, his eyes firm on the ground. Why was this so hard for him to accept? He hadn’t remembered feeling this upset when El had moved with Will a couple of years back.
Will made a noise he couldn’t decipher. “You know I can’t—I’ve got to put me first, Mike.”
That was new. Will was so much more firm since everything. He carried himself more easily, like he’d finally grown into his skin, even if he still felt Vecna’s haunting spirit.
Mike loved that. He loved watching Will slowly gain confidence in himself, and be so him it hurt. He was still Will, of course, but this Will was even better. He was beautiful, and not afraid to be himself.
“I know,” Mike said instead of telling him how beautiful he looked in the dim lighting of his bedroom.
“I’m so—” As soon as Will started to apologize, he stopped him.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault that this place… doesn’t make you happy,” he said, his tone firm. “It’s not your fault,” he repeated, to get the point across.
“Okay…” Will said quietly, picking at the loose threads of the bedsheet.
Mike leaned back against the headboard, watching Will with a mix of sadness. “So your mom really liked Cali then, huh?”
The other boy nodded with a faint smile. “Yeah. I guess I kind of did too. It was peaceful, sort of.”
Mike wished he could sneak into Will’s suitcase and go with him.
“Are you going to write me?”
Will looked at him incredulously, as if he were asking the stupidest question known to man.
“Of course I will.”
Good, he thought.
“Change of topic?” Will asked a few seconds later, his cheeks a rosy pink.
Mike laughed under his breath. “Okay. Can you show me how you accidentally lit your homework on fire?” He couldn’t help but grin.
Will laughed, and that was what mattered. “I can’t control them when I’m angry!” he giggled, justifying the use of his powers.
“Right, I bet you weren’t just trying to get out of doing chemistry homework.”
The other rolled his eyes, pressing his socked foot to Mike’s in a playful manner. Mike pressed his foot into Will’s side, making him giggle.
“You’re so annoying.”
Will started grunting mid-laughs, shooing Mike away.
“Really? I couldn’t tell since you’re laughing your ass off right now.”
He received a middle finger in return, to which he dramatically gasped.
“Who has taught you such rebellious behavior, William Byers?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. I think I know a very rebellious person whom I hang out with every day. He’s starting to be a bad influence on me.”
Mike was trying to keep in his laugh. “Excuse you?”
“You know him pretty well,” Will added, a narrowed look pointed in his direction.
He fell back against the bed dramatically, hitting the headboard in the process like an idiot.
They both burst out laughing until their stomachs started to cramp, and as he watched Will giggle—with the tint in his cheeks and his hair falling into his eyes—he realized one thing for the millionth time:
He was so madly in love with Will Byers.
October 20th
October 20th came by quicker than Mike had anticipated. The months were moving like fast trains, and Mike felt like he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
It was finally the day he had been dreading. So much so that he’d started hogging Will from the rest of the party and spending as much time with him as possible.
He’d heard enough of it from Max and Dustin, who argued that Will wasn’t his to keep. He’d just rolled his eyes and flipped Max off behind Will’s back so he wouldn’t scold him later.
Over the past month they’d done a lot of things. He’d taken Will to the arcade multiple times and let him win all the games, even though he could’ve won if he’d really tried.
They’d gone on multiple walks around the neighborhood, talking about things they usually didn’t talk about with the rest of the party. Mike really enjoyed that, because he could be honest with Will. They could talk about the silliest things or be completely serious.
When Will had been walking ahead of him, speaking his mind about how he absolutely hated the amount of homework the teachers were giving, Mike had wanted so badly to slide his fingers between Will’s soft ones and keep their hands intertwined as they walked.
He knew that was stupid, though.
“Mike? Honey, the Byers are leaving for California aga—”
Mike looked up from his position on the bed, annoyance on his face. “Thanks for reminding me,” he murmured sarcastically, getting up and following behind her down the stairs.
His stomach growled anxiously.
“Not now,” he sighed, dreading the moment he walked outside to the porch and saw Will and El.
“Behave, Michael,” his mom said between her teeth, letting Holly out first.
“I am behaving!” he argued, rolling his eyes.
“Can you take it down a notch? Don’t make me—”
He stepped into the doorway, huffing. “Yeah, okay, whatever.”
Mrs. Byers was hugging Holly tightly, while Jonathan and Nancy were pressing kisses to each other’s lips like starved people. El was standing awkwardly beside Will, whose eyes were red and puffy.
He’d been crying.
El threw herself onto Mike before he could take another step. He wrapped her in a hug, his stomach clenching at the sound of her sniffles.
“I will miss you and Nancy,” El sniffled, pulling away to look at him.
“I’ll send you letters every once in a while,” he promised.
“Okay.” She smiled sadly, turning back to Mrs. Byers.
“Is that a tear I see?” Will teased him.
“Shut up,” he shot back fondly, reaching out to ruffle his hair.
“I’m not twelve anymore, stop it—” he whined, slapping Mike’s hand away.
He was very much aware of that.
“Is this actually happening?” he asked quietly.
Will’s smile faltered. Mike slid his hands into his pockets, his lips thinned. “Yeah.” His throat felt itchy.
Don’t cry.
“Well, I—I’m gonna miss you,” Will sniffled.
He looked at him. Really looked at him.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “Or else I’ll cry.”
Will let out a wet laugh. “Mike Wheeler doesn’t cry.”
Mike raised a brow. “You’re right. I’m totally not going to.”
The moving truck was attached to the one Hopper had given Jonathan a while ago, the back facing the end of the driveway.
“Wait, uh, there’s something I want to give you.”
Will started walking around the truck, and Mike followed.
He struggled to get inside it for a second, looking for something between the boxes. “There it is.”
Will retrieved a large canvas from behind a pair of boxes, hopping off onto the pavement. “Here.”
He took it in his hands, flipping it around. His breath hitched at the beautiful mix of colors and contours. It was a vivid painting of them—the whole party in Mike’s basement, playing D&D. El and Max were sitting on the couch, doing girly things, while the rest of them focused on the board in front of them.
He looked closer, admiring the painting when he noticed something. Will’s eyes in the painting weren’t on the board. They were glistening, in the most beautiful way. He followed the direction of his gaze, and it fell onto—
Him. His very detailed self, animatedly speaking with his hands, pointing at the board. Will had captured him perfectly.
“Wow,” was all he could say.
“This is amazing.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded, looking back up at his best friend. “It’s really good. Thank you.”
Will’s cheeks turned a rosy color. Mike had a feeling he was heating up as well.
“You’re welcome,” Will mumbled. Behind the truck, the faint laughs of Mrs. Byers and his mom were heard, so he knew it was almost time for Will to leave.
“You could hang it up in the basement if you’d like. Like as a—”
Mike surged forward, pressing his lips to Will’s. The boy made a small noise against his lips, like a shocked gasp. His stomach filled with an unknown feeling, like he was floating among the clouds.
Will’s lips were warm, a bit chapped and smooth. His hand came up to cup Mike’s face, coaxing his lips open in the process.
“Mike.”
“Mhm?” he hummed against his lips, holding both of Will’s arms awkwardly. He had no clue what to do with them.
When they pulled back, both blushing furiously, Will broke into a smile.
Mike mirrored it, feeling like a shy little boy all of a sudden.
“What just happened?” Will asked quietly.
“Uhm, k-kiss?” Mike stuttered pathetically.
Will’s eyes widened. “Another one?”
Mike shook his head quickly, face-planting into his hand. “No! I m-meant like we just k-kissed.”
“Oh.”
Will blushed, giggling. He looked around, and Mike suddenly remembered they were outside, even if they were covered by the moving truck.
“Shit,” he cursed under his breath.
“It’s okay. No one saw us,” Will told him immediately.
“Okay.”
They stared at each other for a solid minute before they both broke into stupid grins.
“WILL! We’re going, honey!” Mrs. Byers yelled.
They both jumped, turning their heads at the same time.
“Okay—we should probably…”
“Yeah.”
They came back into view, walking up to the front of the truck.
“Mike!” Mrs. Byers wrapped him in a warm hug, similar to the ones Will gave. “I really hope to see you come visit us on the holidays.”
He smiled when she pulled back, nodding. “Yeah—I’ll try my best.”
She winked at him, letting go to give his mom one final hug. Nancy was now standing on the porch, watching as Jonathan started up the truck.
“Bye, Will!” Holly waved.
Mike felt a sudden sadness invade him.
“I’ll be right back,” he told his mom despite her look of disapproval.
Will was almost getting into the back of the car, but Mike got to him first.
“Will?”
“Yeah?”
“Have a safe trip. I love you.”
The words came surprisingly easily to him. They didn’t feel heavy or forced like they had before.
Will’s face softened, so much so that he looked like he might cry.
“I will. I’ll write or call your house phone as soon as I’m back.”
Will smiled before quietly adding. “I love you too Mike.”
He squeezed Mike’s hand once, discreetly, to which Mike smiled as Will finally got inside the car.
Mike went to stand on the porch as soon as Jonathan started to back up the truck, waving to El. She waved back sadly, with a smile.
Eventually, they drove away from view, and Mike watched from the foot of the steps as they did.
He made sure his mom wasn’t looking his way before bringing one finger to his lips and smiling.