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Mike and Will were sent on “Gate Duty”, well the whole party was, they were specifically sent to find the one Steve discovered a few years ago, at Lover's Lake. The two had bonded a bit more than the past years, the awkward exchange of glances turned into trust and meaningful conversations. Ever since the last dramatic talk about Will's connection at Hopper's cabin happened, Mike was somewhat bound to Will, like this need of protection took over him.
His padlin…
He never wanted to mention it though, the thought of making Will feel uncomfortable and resetting the progress they just got back would be a nightmare to him. The two sat on the small boat, looking down into the darkness of the lake, Will was on one side, seemingly trying to avoid being near Mike, as the other sat to his right.
“You see anything?” Mike said softly, turning his head a tad bit towards Will, but not fully looking at him yet. “No..” He says back, not exactly what they're supposed to be seeing in pitch black waters. Mike hummed in response, not sure what to say next.
“What exactly are we looking for?” Will questioned, he had never really seen what the gates looked like, besides for the huge one in the center of town, which he never looked at closely, he hated it.
“Uhm, a glowy-red hole in the ground that leads to another dimension!” Mike responded with a chuckle, trying to make Will laugh, it didn't work. Mike finally looked over fully at Will, whose face was practically glued onto the dark waters. He moved closer to him, Will tensing up and jumping at the warmth he felt to his right, he's been quite jumpy these past few weeks, makes sense with the situation going on, plus he hadn't been sleeping right for a while. Mike teasingly moved into Will's space to look down at the area he was so intrigued on, yet Will still avoided looking at him. He could feel Mike's eyes prying into him, he's been doing that for days actually.
“Hey.” Mike said, almost like a whisper. Will finally looked over to him, locking eyes with the boy he's wanted for years. Will hummed instead of actually replying, too tired.
“Uhm, you know, since it's just us here…I've been meaning to talk to you.”
Those last few words caught Will off guard, since when did Mike want to talk to him, in a serious manner. Will tilted his head, intrigued in what he had to say. Mike stood up, followed by Will doing the same. The two stood there, staring at each other, not saying a word, Will patiently waiting for Mike to speak, as his mouth was opened but nothing was coming out. A few seconds passed by, and he snapped out of whatever trance he was in.
“Well, uhm, I mean first of all, I just…wanted to say, you know, these past few years I've been a total dick to you. I wanna apologize for that. You know, that night at my house, the skate rink, anything else that I've done or said, I'm sorry.”
Will just looked. Silence. Then his brows furrowed, in a soft, yet concerned way. He didn't know where any of this was coming from.
“It's…it's fine Mike, really.” That wasn't the entire truth. In fact, Will had never felt more hurt in his life than those arguments, besides the harsh words from his so-called father.
And Mike knew that. He knows when Will's not telling the truth, for Mike, he's easier to read than a book made for a preschooler. Mike inched closer, Will still looking at him, actually not even realizing the distance between them was shrinking, he thought maybe Mike needed something from the backpacks behind him. Will turned, his back now facing the lake, the side of the boat, with Mike now just stopped in front of him.
He just looked. Nothing else, just looked.
He began to bring his face closer, and closer, and closer. Their mouths are practically centimeters apart. Will's eyes widened at the realization, ‘Oh my god.’
Maybe Mike wanted this as bad as Will did, so Will brought himself closer, feeling Mike's breathing getting faster. And then…
Mike felt a harsh grip on his jacket.
Will grunted in pain, his breathing picking up. His vision began to blur, as his head was involuntarily thrown upwards.
Mike just looked, placing his hands softly onto Will's body, confused as to what was happening, and then it hit him.
It's that damn true-sight shit Will has been dealing with. From what demogorgon he was seeing from now, who knows? Will's hands dropped, his body partially shaking as his eyes were almost rolled to the back of his head. Mike didn't know what to do.
Did he have to use the music, attempt to snap him out of it?
Shit.
Suddenly, Will's eyes slowly began to close, his body tilting, and eventually, he fell out of the boat. Mike stood in shock.
Shit!
He looked around panicked, taking his jacket off, and quickly jumping into the freezing lake water. With absolutely no light anywhere near them, it really wasn't helping that it was the one night where the clouds were covering the shining glow of the moon. Quickly, Mike swam deeper and deeper, eventually being able to see a faint outline of Will. He went faster, reaching his hand out to grab onto Will's. With a harsh pull, Mike grabbed and pulled Will up to him, hugging him close and bringing them right back up to the surface.
With a huge gasp for air, Mike tried to bring the both of them to shore, which was honestly a difficult task, Wheeler wasn't necessarily the most athletic in the party. Soon enough, they reached land. Mike placed Byers down softly, trying to wake him up. It wasn't working. Guessing at the amount of time Will spent underwater, Mike assumed that there was only one thing he could do right now.
He placed his mouth onto Will's.
Nancy had taught him how to perform CPR, just in case something were to happen to anyone, due to recent “upside down” related events.
Eventually, a loud gasp followed with lots of coughing. Mike turned Will onto his side, as he began to cough up a bit of water. Will placed himself on his hands and knees, while Mike sat to his side, holding him up. Will fell to his side, now sitting down, breathing heavily, looking at Mike, who was saying something right now but Will couldn't hear a thing. Just ringing.
“Will! Hey, can you hear me? Are you ok? God, man. Hello? Can you…just stay here ok? Give me a sec.” Mike said softly, trying not to startle Will, who was already so out of it. Mike ran quickly back into the water, just to bring the boat back to them. Will watched him grab their backpacks and Mike's jacket, and then he quickly ran back to Will.
“Ok! You alright…?” Will nodded his head, watching Mike in awe. God, he was so not over him. Everything about him was perfect right now. Mike placed his hands onto Will's body, Will looking confused.
“Can I…uh…take this off? Don't want you to catch a cold or anything, ha..!” Mike whispered with a soft chuckle at the end. Will nodded once again, moving along with Mike to help take his jacket and button-up shirt off. Mike turned to the backpacks and brought out a blue towel. He gently wrapped it around Will, bringing himself closer to Will.
Their bodies close once again. Will tried his best to not make eye contact, but god, was it hard. Then, Mike whispered something to him. He's not actually sure what he said.
“Will?”
“Huh?”
“I said if you're ok? Was it him again? Are you still cold?” Mike asked with caution. Will nodded his head again, smiling softly. Jeez, they were really close right now.
“I'm…ok. Just another episode, I think.” Mike nodded and smiled. Then everything froze, and Mike just…looked. Will was confused, maybe it was his super dry response, but what did Mike expect? He practically almost just drowned and died. Then, Will's body jumped at the feeling of something warm against his face, it was Mike's hand. Their eyes interlocked, mouths inching closer, and then, it happened.
Mike Wheeler just kissed Will Byers.
Will felt that warm feeling spread throughout his whole body, despite being soaking wet, as the two slowly melted into everything. Will's hands slowly reach up to Mike's face.
It was soft. It was innocent. It was…perfect.
The two slowly separated, both now feeling the cold breeze hit their bodies once again. Will smiled, and Mike smiled even more.
“Thanks..” Will whispered softly. Mike tilted his head, “For…?”
Will laughed quietly, “Well, for one, doing that right now”, the two shared a warm smile, “and secondly, saving me from drowning.”
“Its the least I can do for you, Byers.”
“Yet, it's everything to me, Wheeler.” Will brought Mike close to him again, and kissed him softly one more time. Mike giggled holding onto him softly. While being completely clueless to their surroundings, the lovebirds hadn't even noticed that the others were trying to contact them. Mike stumbled over back to their backpacks, and grabbed the walkie talkie he had packed.
“We should probably head back, yeah?” Will, who was looking worried from the call, nodded his head and smiled. The two of them got up, Will clenching onto the towel. Mike noticed, he grabbed his jacket, took the towel off of Will, and put his coat on him.
“Better?” Mike questioned, smiling. For the thousandth time, Will nodded in response, grabbing his bag and Mike's hand, and the two began walking back to the WSQK station.