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Mike couldn’t believe his eyes.
The demogorgon crumbled into pieces under him, and there its killer sat, staring him down like his next victim.
Yet, Mike knew better. He knew that stare met something else. And as he watched Will go down himself, almost in slow motion, Mike sprinted to catch up with his fall. He wasn’t there quite in time, but he took him into his arms anyway.
Mike could feel the way he shuddered. Could feel the way he flushed, feeling finally full: just by having him in his arms. He could feel the way his own body crumbled to surround the other, just trying to keep him safe. He needed to keep him safe.
He had no idea what this all meant.
He totally knew what this all meant. He knew it for years.
They got back to their base around an hour later, and Will was still knocked out. He had carried him all the way home, and the only reason he had left his side was because Joyce convinced him to go get some rest with the others.
By the time he woke up and had gotten dressed, Will was still asleep, and Joyce was still attached to his side.
He watched them for a moment, before taking a step forward, “Mrs. Byers?”
“Mike? You’re already awake?”
“I think I slept for a good five hours. Go get some rest yourself, and I’ll watch him. Don’t worry, I can protect him, and I’ll let you know the second he wakes up.”
Joyce wasn’t really all that convinced, until she checked the clock. Turns out, Mike himself had underestimated the time, and in reality, it had been close to eight hours since Mike had turned in for the night. Mike watched realization settle on her face, and when she got up and let Mike take her spot on the floor next to the couch, it was like her exhaustion hit her all at once. She slowly walked over to the room to sleep. It wasn’t even a full three minutes before he could hear her lightly snoring from the other room.
Mike understood it all too well.
Mike took the time he had to lightly stare at Will as well, just thinking through the events of the night. The flushed feeling came back to him again, thinking of the way Will looked as he saved his life. As he saved all of their lives. The little laugh he let out towards Mike as he fell, like he knew exactly what he was thinking. Like he knew what he was doing to him, looking like that. Being like that.
He also knew that no matter how many times El had come to his rescue, it had never felt like that. He never had felt like this, like he would explode if he never got to see her like that again. Mike could live without having to be saved by El every day, without having to see El look at him like that. Hell, he might even enjoy it, feel less guilty every time El showed any love towards him.
Will was different. If Will suddenly stopped showing his interest, if Will never looked at him like he needed him just as badly as Mike needed him, he feared his entire short life would be over. That look was what was keeping him going. That look was what gave him the strength, the speed, and the stability just to be sitting by his side now.
Mike knew what it meant. He hated this part of himself, the part that knew that his bullies, his father, they were always right about him. Always right about what he felt towards Will. He was something disgusting, something to be feared. Yet, really, Mike couldn’t take the time to care about that right now. Right now, Will needs to be his entire focus. He could worry about the petty bullshit, the things that scared him, the way his heart scared him, later. He could worry about that problem when it arose, when he could really talk to Will through it all. When he knew Will understood. When they weren’t constantly at the cusp of death, he could work through his own issues.
For now, facing Will: that was what he needed to do. Be there for him.
He took his hand in his, like he had done years ago, lightly rubbing his thumb across the top of it. He then laid his head down on the couch near his stomach, staring at the wall and just hoping the other would be up soon, soon enough that no one else had to see them, no one else had to hear them.
Mike never got what he wanted.
“Hey, kid. How long have you been out here?” Robin came up behind him. Mike stopped the movement in his hand, but didn’t pull it away. He could play it off, especially to Robin.
He looked at the clock, “Only an hour, now. Figured I’d let Joyce sleep.” The time that had passed shocked him, but he guessed he had gotten lost in the thought of Will for longer, probably. Especially at night.
“Oh. Do you need a break? I can stay by him for a little while.”
Mike's grip on his hand grew tighter. “No. I can stay, you can go back to bed if you want.” Sadly, this didn’t go unnoticed, and Mike watched some sort of look go across her face. He didn’t like the look.
She smiled kindly, “Might as well keep you company, then.”
They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, until Robin spoke up.
“So you and Will are super close, huh?”
“Yeah, we’re best friends. Have been for over a decade now.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“Y’know, not all friendships can last as long as yours. Not everyone's that lucky, especially with all you guys have been through.”
Mike’s hand started moving again, involuntarily, “I suppose I’m just happy I can be lucky.”
Robin thought for a moment, before talking again herself.
“I never thought I’d get lucky like that, and I don’t really think I have. I don’t have someone like you I can be so honest with.”
“Steve?”
“No, not Steve. Me and Steve, well we’re a lot different than you two. I’m talking about Vickie.”
“Who’s Vickie?”
“Vickie, she…” Robin paused again, “She’s someone I can trust fully, but she just doesn’t know about the truth of Hawkins like we do. But she has everything else. She always gets it when I have to cancel, even though I always feel so bad. She gets so upset when I use the excuse of my dying grandma to go see her, but she gets so happy when we get to sneak off away from her job together. And the few times she gets to visit me at work are my favorite, but oh, does Steve hate it. He always gets so mad when we run away giggling together, just to come back all blushing and happy.”
“Because?” Mike was confused. Well, it was more like Mike didn’t want to believe it.
“We were kissing, Wheeler. Because we were making out in the back of the storage closet, because she’s my girlfriend.” Robin laughed, “Last time we got a chance, a certain somebody caught us, dropped his coke and ran. Made a mess, he did.”
Mike let it settle, let himself think about it. If Will had caught them, and freaked out, what could that mean-
And then he thought some more. Thought about how close him and Robin had gotten, about how much they had been talking. About how much more confident Will had gotten over just a few days of being best friends with her. How he had been flirting just that little bit more than he had been since he and El had broken up and-
Oh. OH.
“So Will knows? And he’s okay with it?”
“He does. He’s more than okay with it, actually. He’s now taken to constantly asking me for advice on what he should do.”
Mike sat there, thinking about that. Advice. Will really thought he needed advice, when all he really needed was to say something and Mike thinks he would’ve fallen to his knees either way-
“How did you even know?”
“Know what?”
“That you were queer.”
And so Mike got the whole Tammy Thompson talk, the same one Will had gotten not even a day prior. And Robin was honest about it, about what she had told Will before everything happened.
Mike swallowed, “Do you think I’m-” He almost didn’t want to say it, and his grip on Will’s hand faltered. He spoke quieter, “Do you think I’m his Tammy? Is that why you told him all of that?”
Robin looked taken aback, like she was surprised that Mike knew.
“At the time, yes. But… with the way Will took it, I know he doesn’t see it that way. If anything, he sees you as his Vickie. You still have to be gentle with him, but… I think Will knows in a way that you and Tammy Thompson aren’t the same. I don’t think he would’ve asked me about the signs of you liking him back and then flirted with you if he did.”
Mike was quiet again, leaning his head back into the couch. Closer to Will.
“I’m in love with him. I know that now, I’ve known that for a while”
Robin looked shocked again, that Mike had admitted it. Mike laughed, “I know. Oblivious Mike Wheeler knows that he’s in love with his best friend, but he has no idea what to do with it. Do you think I have a chance?” He looked towards her now, knowing if anyone had the best chance to know, it would be her. Of course, for being so oblivious, he was pretty sure he knew his chance was a good one. But he just needed to be sure. He needed to know.
“If you don’t think you do, I think you’re more oblivious than you think.” Robin stopped, before speeding up again, “How’d you find out?”
“I think I’ve known since California. Will gave me this painting. It was, it was so beautiful, and I just fell in love with it immediately. And then he gave me this big speech about how much El loves me. But I just couldn't look away from him. I couldn’t look away from his- from the painting. And instead of hearing him talk about El, I just.. I heard him talking about himself. I heard what I wanted to hear, and then… then I realized. As we were pulling up to Nina. I wanted him to be talking about himself, talking about me. I wanted him to be saying all this to me, and not El.
Then I spent the past year really thinking about it. About how much Will meant to me. I broke up with El, spent more time with him. But I’ve been too scared to really do anything about it, and my Dad was really catching on, insisting Will stayed in the basement with Jonathan, so I just… kinda gave up. Got a little too scared. And then everything last night happened, and I really started to think more, and with Dad gone, I think I just want to… to try again, be there for him again, and love him again. Like how he deserves it. I couldn’t before, but if he can get powers just to save us, save me, then… then I think I can get over my own issues if it means being there for him.”
Robin was crying a little bit, and Mike kinda felt bad. He didn’t want her to cry, it wasn’t really that big of a deal.
And then she gasped, looking behind Mike.
Mike was a little confused until he turned around himself, and-
Will was awake, eyes widened with tears staring at Mike. Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. He wasn’t supposed to hear all of that.
Yet, Will hadn’t let go of his hand. If anything, the grip had been returned tenfold, and it actually kind of hurt. Will sat up, looked at Mike, then at Robin, then at Mike again.
And Robin took that as a sign, ruffled both of their hair, and left to the other room.
“You really meant all of that?” Will said, quietly. Mike jumped up to join him on the couch, never letting go of his hand.
“Of course I did. And I, I’m sorry I never said anything sooner. I know it’s a dick move, not being honest, I just, I couldn’t-” Will cut him off, rushing to connect their mouths together. Immediately, it was like fireworks went off in Mike’s head, and he had never reciprocated faster. This was nothing like El. This was so much better, so much more raw, so much more open, so much more perfect.
Soon enough, Mike felt himself getting pushed into the couch, Will climbing atop of him just to attack his lips more. Everything for the past decade had led up to this moment: on some ratty old couch at the end of the world. Mike held on just as tight to him, like Will would run away if he let go. Yet he never would, never would leave Mike’s side again.
Will stopped for just a moment, to look up, to make sure no one else was there. Mike sat flushed, struggling to breathe underneath him.
Rather than get up, Will simply used his powers to pile a few things in front of the door frame so no one could disrupt them. They needed this. They deserved this. Mike watched him with awe: how quickly Will had seemed to get ahold of things. He thinks the urgency helped, especially since Will seemed to attack him again like he was being starved for the past few moments.
And Mike couldn’t be happier.
It was a few hours later when others were finally in the room again, Steve and Jonathan working together to move the tables out of the way and back to where they were. Mike and Will were asleep on the couch, inseparable, with Mike laying across Will’s chest.
Jonathan simply threw a blanket across the two as everyone else piled in. Soon enough, they’d wake up and join everyone else, but for now, they deserved the rest.
Life was looking up again, even if it was just for that moment.
The fight could wait. It always did.