Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mike Wheeler was kidnapped on the second of January, 1988.

As soon as potato bag was yanked off his head, his eyes instinctively found Will. It wasn’t difficult - the boy was seated right across the room from Mike, but Mike would insist that it was his heart knowing where to look.

Will was gagged and tied to a chair. His beautiful green eyes were glistening with tears and he was staring at Mike with an obvious plea for help.

“Will! Are you okay? Will!”

The need to get to him was overwhelming. Mike moved without thinking but the ropes around his hands and chair arms held him in place. Without even sparing the place they were in a glance, he rocked back and forward, hoping for the fall to break the chair like it did in the movies. There was no way he’d be able to watch Will suffer. Not again. His heart was beating frantically in his chest, his breathing couldn’t keep up and he immediately got lightheaded. He needed to get to Will quicker, save him, tell him it’s all going to be alright, tell him that lov-

“Not so quick, cowboy.” A hand pulled him back in place roughly.

There was another person in the room with them, who Mike completely failed to notice. Two, actually. The wore black loose clothes and what appeared to be… ski-masks. Their faces completely covered, builds obstructed by clothes and voice ridiculously muffled, it was hard to tell if Mike had seen them before.
Was that government? Mike thought they cleared the whole thing up nicely - he had a stack of NDAs that rivaled his comic collection to prove it.

Mike gave the abductors another once over and decided they weren’t special ops.

Could it be that it had nothing to do with Upside Down? How could Mike forget that it wasn’t just interdimensional monsters and governments that posed danger? Will was insanely attractive, regular perverts would snatch him any day. And they probably had.

“Who the fuck are you?”

The figure in black moved in and gave him a cuff on the nape. “It’s not your turn to speak, boy. You will speak when spoken to, got it? But not now, that didn’t count. So stay silent, okay? I mean, shut up!”

Mike could barely make out the words with how weird the voice sound from behind the mask, but if that idiot thought that any threats would intimidate him when Will’s life was in danger, he was in for a rude awakening.

“Who are you? Why is Will here? Let him go, you fucking monsters!”

He turned back to Will to check up on him. Will was now looking at him with that warm gaze that existed specifically to turn Mike into a puddle. It would be very distracting in any situation, but in here, with unknown kidnappers, it made Mike’s poor heart, that couldn’t decide whether it wanted to stop all together or set a world record in beats per minute, tightened from the onslaught of feelings. Even now, Will looked at him like that, with so much devotion. And Mike was doing nothing to save them. Useless.

Mike snapped his head to look at the figure next to him. “Listen here-”

“No, you listen.” The second kidnapper - shorter than the other one - stepped in front of Will. “We ask. You answer. Or that boy gets it.”

“Let him go and I’ll answer anything you want,” he offered immediately.

“You think you are so smart?” The shorty moved to Will and touched his shoulder. Will - the bravest boy in the world - didn’t even flinch, just kept on looking at Mike. The monster next to him raised his hand like he was preparing to punch Will across his beautiful fragile face.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Mike yelled out.

“Answer us or I’m hitting him!”

“But..” Mike startled. ”You didn’t even ask anything!”

Mike could swear Will glanced at the kidnapper with that signature ‘you’re being an idiot’ look before getting back to his gentle stare at Mike.

“Right,” the kidnapper lowered his fist. “But you will answer, correct?”

“What do you want from us? Who are you?”

The second kidnapper, closer to Mike, spoke again. “You aren’t meant to know who we are. It’s all about you. Speak the truth and no harm will come to the boy. Like today, we can’t guarantee what’s going to happen to him tomorrow. Not that we’re going to keep you till tomorrow. It’s just you know, with all the rising inflation and I mean, there is an election this year. Also, have you guys been reading up on greenhouse effect? I tell you-”

As the person went on, the voice climbed higher, as if whoever it was forgot to bring it down. But it wasn’t the voice, it was the ramblings that Mike recognized.

“R-Robin?”

The kidnapper froze.

Mike froze with them from shock.

“Who is Robin?” The other kidnapper cleared the throat, and it clicked for Mike - the voice had that same weird, unnaturally deep baritone.

Now that the initial wave of panic subsided and his brain kicked in again, Mike realized that the ropes on his hands were tied around additional layer of clothing and didn’t hurt at all. Will was not panicking in the slightest and… was that a shared glance with the shorty kidnapper?

“Guys,” Mike started carefully. “What’s going on?”

Now both of the kidnappers turned to Will.

Mike’s jaw dropped as he watched Will spit out the cloth from his mouth and take the hands from behind his back, getting up from the chair with no problem whatsoever. Mike tried his ropes, but he was still tightly secured.

“You can go,” Will sighed.

The kidnappers - Robin and, probably, El - both gave Will a pat on the back and walked out of the room.

Mike was so lost that he said nothing as Will neared him and gave him a sheepish smile.

“So,” he began.

“So?”

“I can explain.”

***

Vecna was defeated.
They saved everybody. Even gained a new sibling - Kali was an absolute delight. And she gave Will a bitchin haircut, so he was sold on her immediately.

And more importantly, right after El, Kali and Will had pulverized Mind Flayer and destroyed the bridge from their world to dimension X, as Mike held Will’s unconscious body - or at least Mike thought so - Mike bawled his eyes out, saying how he couldn’t lose Will and how he was his everything.

Call Will optimistic, but he gave himself solid 83% chance that Mike might have some unresolved feelings for him.

Just in case that was true, Will dropped to his knees in front of El and begged for forgiveness. Falling for her first boyfriend was not the classiest move. She pulled him up onto the bed, hugged him and told him that he was being an idiot. Apparently, Will was not as covert as he thought he was, and she had known for a while. He had her blessing. More so, El declared she gave her explicit blessing to Mike during their breakup to date anyone he wanted, including but not limited to her siblings.

The stage was set. Curtain was drawn. Mike would confess his feelings to Will in a conscious state, Will would reciprocate immediately and they would live happily ever after. Well, discounting all the secrecy and not being able to share it with the world. But what do the two of them need? A room to write and draw, a few best people to play DnD with - those they didn’t lack. They’d make their own little world, no problem.

But there was a problem.

Mike didn’t confess.

Will understood the nature of traumatic awakening to feelings, so he didn’t push. He’d let Mike take some time - a reasonable amount - to come to terms with it.

He had expected awkwardness in their interactions and braced himself for Mike potentially avoiding physical contact with him again.

Imagine his surprise when Mike didn’t hesitate pulling him into tight hugs at greetings, goodbyes, celebrations of critical rolls and most importantly at seeing Max take her first steps after coma.

Max had taunted Mike for his unshed tears, so Mike rebuffed her with some ridiculously convoluted sarcastic comment that only sounded good in Mike’s and, sadly, Will’s head. But afterwards, when it was just the two of them alone in the hospital room, Mike let his head fall onto Will’s shoulder, while his arms snaked up his torso, encircling him and pulling him into a desperate embrace. “I’m so happy for Lucas,” he whispered into Will’s sweater. “Watching her suffer like that - I know I wouldn’t be able to take it. Not again.”

Will patted Mike’s arm, swallowing back his own tears. He made Mike watch too often.

But times were different now. They were better. Mike’s questions about whether Will was okay gradually began to lose their desperate edge, leaving only soft and playful smiles behind.

In response, Will stopped waiting for Mike to be weirded out by him initiating the physical touch. The first time he leaned his head onto Mike’s arm during a movie marathon Will had played out the entire spiel with yawning at measured intervals, that gradually became shorter, so that his move seemed as innocent and nonchalant as possible. And yet, the moment he dived into it, letting his head roll to the side and bump into Mike’s bicep, Will’s heart was beating so rapidly he was physically nauseous.

There was not a second of hesitation from Mike’s side. He shifted slightly to put his arm around Will, tucking him into his body and securing him in place - almost like he had waited for the moment.

It became Will’s favorite pastime. Whenever they watched a movie, Will would eventually end up snuggled into Mike in some way. There was little he could recall about movies as the only thing he could concentrate was the weight of Mike’s hand or the gentlest strokes he dared. Seeing as the party’s favorite part of movie watching was the heated discussion afterwards, Will found himself in plenty of embarrassing situations where he had little to nothing to say about it, going as far as accidentally claiming that it was rather endearing when Schwarzenegger’s character and the Predator ended up teaming up to stop nuclear explosion. That only earned him flabbergasted looks all around. Mike thought it was the most hilarious joke ever told, but Lucas and Dustin stopped asking Will for his opinions on endings.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Will continued basking in these precious moments of intimacy. His favorite one happened during a massive get-together at Steve’s where the number of people huddled into his movie room exceeded number of places to sit, so Mike and Will volunteered to take corner place with the pillows that looked isolated and sad, where even the upper left part of the screen wasn’t visible. Not that Will cared when he found himself with his head in Mike’s lap, having his hair tenderly stroked. Will was lost in bliss, hovering on the edge of dreaming.

He felt Mike shift underneath him, and gave him an encouraging “mmhmmm” to continue doing his ministrations but the peaceful sleep took Will before he could see what Mike did with this.

And yet, no confession followed.

While Will was patiently waiting, he found himself getting greedy about touching. Late November brought about snow, biting temperatures, and a perfect excuse to hold Mike’s hands. The first time it even happened organically, honestly. Will had forgotten his gloves at home but had no desire to sit out the snowball fight. The cold cracked his skin so much it bled a little bit, which sent Mike into absolute frenzy the moment he noticed. Lucas and Dustin graciously turned away but Will could still pick up on all the snickering and their mocking ‘oh no, honey, how will you survive now?’ and ‘here, let me cut off my hands and give them to you, Will’.

“Here, Will, take my hands,” said Mike and Will spluttered. Mike stared at him quizzically as he held out his hands in expectation. Will coughed, covering up laughter unsuccessfully, but hurried to get his hands warmed up by Mikes' lest he changed his mind.

“You should’ve been more careful,” Mike chastised him, somehow still making it sound so sweet. “You’re an artist, you have to take better care of your hands.”

Will preened at being called an artist. Especially by Mike. So he nodded eagerly, promising it wouldn’t happen again.

It happened again.

Will truly wish he could say he was graceful about it, only doing it from time to time, but basically every single glove in his household was sacrificed - a.k.a. hidden where it could never be found - for the greater good. Mom was very confused about it, but Will just hugged her as a form as apology when she wondered aloud every morning about where the gloves kept disappearing to.

So Mike had to hold his hands every time the group visited the hospital to wheel Max around. And when they went to spy on the remnants of military, packing up the base. During every outing he’d notice Will’s naked hands, warm them up in his and then put his mittens on Will’s which Will never failed to return to Mike’s backpack no matter how stubborn Mike was about Will keeping them.

They had been hanging out outside for the lunch period, when Dustin almost broke his perfect scheme. Mike and Lucas were running late, so Will was sitting on the table, jotting down the homework he forgot to do the day before. He had gotten so used to the shivering of his hands that he didn’t even realize what Dustin wanted from him when he called his name and tried to give him a pair of mittens.

“What’s that for?” Will furrowed his eyebrows.

“Your hands, obviously.” Dustin waived them in front of his face. His own hands had a pair of gloves.

Will blinked at him. “Why do you have a spare?”

“Mike made us both carry a pair for you.”

A beat of silence passed between them while Will was gathering his thoughts.

“He did?”

Dustin sighed impatiently. “Yes, so please take them and put them on.”

Will took the pair and pressed them to his chest, trying his hardest not to collapse from the onslaught of emotions. Dustin gave him a look, but didn’t comment.

With the last tender glance at the mittens, Will pulled his arm back and launched them, sending them flying deep into the forest.

“What the fuck, Byers?” Dustin screamed out, his eyes as big as saucers as he watched the poor mittens disappear somewhere in the deep snow.

“Listen here, Dustin,” Will pulled on his jacket harshly to bring his attention back to himself. “There were no mittens.”

“What?”

Dustin was very lost, but Will didn’t let him break the eye contact. It was of the utter importance that Dustin didn’t screw it up for him.

“Repeat after me,” Will said quietly. “There. Were. No. Mittens.”

“You’re crazy,” Dustin whispered back.

Will smiled maniacally. Yes, but there was somebody who was crazy together with him.

Dustin swallowed. “There were no mittens?” He asked tentatively.

Will nodded, patting him on the shoulder.

Just in time, as Lucas and Mike joined them at their little hang-out. Mike took in Will’s hands into his own immediately, but Will didn’t miss a disapproving look Mike had given to Dustin.

Bless his soul, Dustin didn’t try to protect his honor, simply grabbing Lucas and whispering to him conspiratorially while Will and Mike talked about their next class together.

It had been a while since all of them could devote their all to school, with neither crawls nor monsters distracting them from the mundane things like deciding on college and thinking of future career. It was a shame that there was a ton of very specific skills they had acquired that weren’t really applicable in the real world setting. Not counting intelligence agencies or military, of course, but neither Mike nor Will were eager to spend a second more in governmental facilities than they had to.

Even more so, Will always knew Mike wanted to be a writer, but he had started picking up on little hints that Mike didn’t really believe he could cut it as one. It was in the way he hadn’t used home-brew elements in their new DnD campaign or became extremely quiet when Will brought up New York literature programs Mike used to daydream about. Will had tried explaining it away by them all being mentally over-exerted with everything they’ve been through, but when Mike refused to submit a story for the contest their teacher recommended for him, Will snapped.

Well, that snapping was gentle and loving in the way he coaxed Mike into talking to him when it was just the two of them in Hopper-Byers’s lodge.

“Mike, please,” he gave Mike his best pleading gaze. When Mike didn’t say anything, just chewed on his lip, Will tried the least dangerous thought first. “Do you not like writing anymore?”

“I do,” Mike shook his head. “Of course, I do, it’s just…”

Was it difficult to write after everything that happened? Did he get flashbacks? Was it not as meaningful to write fiction after everything they went through?

Will probed and tried every explanation in his head, without voicing them, afraid to accidentally add to Mike’s worries.

“It’s stupid,” Mike said, finally averting his eyes.

“It’s not.” He really hoped his voice managed to convey the absolute truth of that statement. Whatever Mike’s reason was for not writing, Will would never laugh at him.

“No, really,” Mike sighed. “Everyone carries so much with them after Vecna. And I just-” He stopped himself again.

Will punched his shoulder. “Mike Wheeler, I swear, if you’re trying to say that your trauma is somehow lesser than others’, I will be pissed.”

Mike buried his face in his hands, and Will prepared to give a lecture about how much Mike had to go through and that he had to suffer no less than anyone else, but Mike mumbled something indistinguishable.

“Say it again?” Will leaned closer to him.

The words came through slowly. “What if my writing is not good?”

From the way his ears turned deeply red, Will could tell that it was absolutely mortifying for Mike to admit. He could see how Mike can get into his head about it. His reasons for doubting himself were… ordinary, for the lack of a better word. But Will would be the last person to laugh at that, seeing as how he was constantly worried that maybe it didn’t matter in the end that he went through it all, if his brush strokes were just not clean enough to qualify as art.

And yet, he couldn’t help a light chuckle of relief. Mike groaned into his hands. “See, it’s ridiculous.”

Will brushed a stray curl behind Mike’s burning ear and said, “No, silly.”

He got up from the bed and pulled out the box from underneath it. “I just have a thing that might cure it for you.”

Mike peeked from between his fingers curiously as Will took a steadying breath and opened the box to reveal its rather embarrassing contents. He picked up the first page and began reading from it.

It didn’t take Mike even five seconds to realize that Will was reading the story Mike wrote for him when they were ten.

“How do you have it? Even I don’t have it.” He said, immediately drawing connections that Will was dreading. “I didn’t see you grabbing anything but the painting when we left Lenora.”

“Yeah, you see,” Oh, that was tough to say. Will really had to hope Mike liked him enough to excuse this obsession. “I’ve read your stories so many times that I remember most of them by heart. And any moment I had I jotted them down so that they wouldn’t get lost.” He pushed the box into Mike’s hands before shame could claim him completely.

Mike was staring at the mess of pages with an expression of such reverie that Will got enough courage to finish his thought. “Even your earliest works, for all their lack of commas, have always had the most natural charm and never failed to hold me enthralled from the beginning to end.”

Will was very biased, they both knew that. Still, “if you believe me at all, then you should never be allowed to doubt yourself as a story-teller again.”

They locked eyes and the moment between them was so heavy, Will could cry. He felt the gratefulness radiating from Mike in the way he held the box like it was the biggest treasure.

It was Will who looked away, unable to keep letting Mike peer into his open soul so directly. “Plus, my campaigns were always inspired by the plots you wrote. And you told me they were cool. You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” He forced a laughter.

Mike didn’t laugh back. He said, “They are my favorites.”

Will snorted. “Wow, that was a bit narcissistic, Mike. Praising your own work much, don’t we?”
Mike finally giggled together with him, and the gravity in the room returned to its regular 9.8.

Mike proceeded to gently torment Will with his secret box as they went through stories together, not letting Will’s face temperature drop back to normal. By the end of the evening, Will felt like if he received confession today, he’d make Mike sweat for it a bit.

But the next day when Mike handed in a new story for the contest, Will was more than content with having revealed his weakness. Because having Mike believe in himself was worth any level of discomfort.

Even with so much time ahead of them, they began looking into colleges with strong writing and art programs more often.

Not wanting to come off as a hypocrite, Will refused to succumb to any doubts he had about his drawings. Especially when Mike treated each and one of his as a candidate for MoMA in New York, London’s Tate or straight-up Louvre.

Will always loved drawing Mike, especially now when Mike would blush under Will’s watchful eyes, but he hadn’t anticipated that his one and only technique of oppression could be turned against him. Will had abused the hell out of the excuse of practice to draw Mike, only rarely giving into requests to draw his other friends - there was just something so intimate about the act. And having Mike with no choice but to listen to Will’s commands? Enticing.

It was a quiet winter evening next to a fireplace in the cabin, when Mike asked, “Can I draw you today?”

Will snapped out of his concentration. “What?” He wasn’t sure he had heard him correctly.

“I want to draw you, too,” Mike said, putting his chin on the folded knees. “You always do us,” -actually just Mike, usually - “but I want you to also feel appreciated.”

Will smiled. “You feel appreciated when I draw you?”

“Well, yeah,” Mike smiled bashfully.

Whatever insecurities tried to get a say, they were squashed to death by those words alone.

Not trusting his voice, Will handed over the sketchpad and pencil.

Mike picked them up enthusiastically, but when he looked at Will who couldn’t remember how normal people sat and made expressions, he froze.

“What?” Will asked him worriedly.

“I forgot that I can’t draw,” Mike laughed. “There is just no way the drawing will do you justice.”

Will giggled, letting go of the coil in his stomach. “I promise not to take it personally.”

Mike announced that Will is not leaving anywhere until Mike is satisfied, and Will remarked that he hoped at least somebody would find and feed them eventually. They continued to banter like that while Mike struggled with capturing the shape of Will’s face and then spending eternity alone of his eyes.

Will could not care less about the result and he kind of wished Mike would never stop drawing him because the army of goosebumps spreading over his head, of all places, made him melt. He didn’t even know that pleasure could feel like that.

He was right about somebody getting them, because Mike didn’t finish by the time the rest of the Hoper-Byers family returned home, interrupting the magic in the air. Mike tried to hide his work, but Will snatched it from him, adoring over the little details of his own face that Mike worked so painstakingly on.

“You can’t have it,” Mike whispered to him while the others were setting up the table for dinner, trying to get the drawing back.

“Why not?” Will pouted. “It’s of me. You did a great job, I love it so much.”

“No, it’s at most a very distant less attractive cousin of yours. Look, it doesn’t have anything on your dreamy eyes, and I tried, but capturing your beautiful smile is-”

Realizing what he said to Will, Mike got flustered and mumbled something about having to go home and talk to his sister urgently, before darting out of the house with his shoes on wrong legs.

“What’s his deal?” Asked Nancy, walking out from the kitchen.

Will looked at the door, slammed behind Mike. “No clue.”

He really had none.

And just like that, he noticed that his patience had dwindled dangerously low.

The next day the council of smart people was called in session. Max, El, Kali and Robin were seated all around Will’s room, listening to him ramble on. He thought it might have been in bad taste to invite Nancy, leaving Mike at least one female person he could confide in.

“Why don’t you just say it first?” Kali asked immediately. “How difficult could it be to let that boy know you want some?”

Will waved his hands around, unsure of where to start explaining. “It has to be him. I don’t want to put him in an awkward position on the off chance he doesn’t reciprocate,” All three girls besides Kali rolling their eyes at the possibility. “I mean, it could be, maybe he does see it as friendship.”

“I get it,” Robin said with a kind smile, halting Will’s rising panic. “But we can never know for certain.”

“Oh, sure we can,” Max said. “Let’s just spy on them again.”

Will expected laughter or immediate pushback, but El and Kali just shrugged in agreement.

“Spying?” Will said, scandalized.

“Yeah, let me get Lucas on the walkie,” said Max. “I’ll let him to steer the conversation and we can just listen in.”

El turned to Kali, “Oh, can you project what I see and hear for everybody in the room?”

“Sure thing.”

“Will, you have any popcorn?” Robin asked already from the kitchen.

Will was left turning his head from side to side, watching Max call for Lucas, Robin organizing snacks and El and Kali preparing for the mission. They didn’t even seem to want his input.

And yet, he felt obliged to say. “I hope you know, that is a horrible invasion of privacy.”

The four girls turned to him as he checked that the house was empty and closed the door to his room shut.

“And I have no intention of being a part of it,” he said, sitting down next to Robin. “I am a good friend and would never do the boys so dirty.”

The girls exchanged glances and then El raised an eyebrow at Will.
He grabbed a handful of popcorn from Robin and waved for El to go ahead.

She smirked, entwining her fingers with Kali and pushing the bandana down to cover her eyes. It took a few beats but the room disappeared replaced with a dark place and Mike and Dustin hanging out in Wheelers’ basement.

Lucas was coming down the stairs.

Dustin was the first to ask, “What did Max want?”

“Nothing much,” Lucas replied. “She’s hanging out at Will’s with girls.”

“How come Will ditched us for them?” Dustin looked legitimately upset. Will was touched.

“Max said he doesn’t want to see Mike.”

Will squeaked in horror while Mike fell from the couch. “What?!” Mike yelled out.

“Yeah, something about Mike being an idiot,” Lucas said.

“But-what-huh?” Poor Mike barely managed to speak. “He said that? He doesn’t want to see me?” The pain in his eyes broke Will’s heart.

“Relax, I’m obviously joking. When did Will ever not want to spend time with you, you ass?”

That was true. There was never a moment where Will would choose anybody or anything over Mike. Even in that van. The soul-crushing pain of being next to him was better than the hollow of being apart.

Mike didn’t seem to know it though. He pushed his hair back, looking miserable. “I’m sure there are plenty of time he is upset with me.”

“Apples and oranges, Wheeler,” Lucas shook his head. “That boy adores you even when he’s pissed at you.”

Mike looked up hesitantly. “So, he.. he didn’t say anything about not wanting to see me?”

Dustin threw a pillow at him.

“When are you going to talk to him about your feelings?”

“What feelings?” Mike blinked ten times in three seconds.

Lucas, Dustin, El, Kali, Robin, Max and Will groaned.

“Hey, come on, quit it,” Mike suddenly looked genuinely mad. “I can’t just spring that shit on Will. What if he hates me for that? And you know what, I’m not talking to you two about it. Just put on the movie.” He sat back on the couch, crossing his arms and insisting that the discussion was over.

The image of him swirled and vanished as Will’s room came back into sight.

“So,” Max cleared his throat. “Why have we been operating under the assumption that Wheeler is not an idiot?”

“Hey,” Will pressed his lips together.

“No, really. Maybe he just does not know that you like boys?” El suggested.

Kali had to pat Robin on the back for a solid minute before the coughing and laughter finally subsided.

Will looked at her. “Really?”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Robin scooted closer to ruffle his hair. “But that’s not a bad place to start.”

That was exactly how Will ended up with an issue of Playgirl accidentally forgotten (read: proudly displayed) on his bed. It was humiliating, but Will grit his teeth and let Mike come into the room. Will said he’d get drinks and left the room without even asking what Mike wanted.

He hoped and prayed that Mike would notice, make appropriate conclusions and then gracefully ignore the magazine. Max lent him a copy yesterday and Will hid under the covers with a flashlight going through it carefully, afraid of leaving traces of his interest (like the turned-down corners of pages, for example, nothing indecent).

There was no way he’d be able to hold any kind of conversation about the journal with Mike, he’d self combust on the spot.

Will downed a glass of water, filled up the next one and returned to the room, fully expecting Mike to be hiding his embarrassment behind math homework, but lo and behold, Mike was holding the Playgirl and staring at it with genuine interest reserved for a alien ship that crashes in your backyard.

“Is it yours?” He asked Will the moment he came back.

“Uhh,” Will short-circuited. “Who else’s could it be? Hopper’s?”

Mike looked at him in horror that Will felt reflected in his face and they doubled over laughing.

“Okay, so maybe he does know you’re gay,” Max said the next day.

Robin was fanning Will’s face with a stack of papers. He almost passed out recalling the story.

“Maybe he’s just not sure you reciprocate?”

Will pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “How clear can I be without outright telling him?”

Kali turned back from the TV playing some movie with Tom Cruise. “I might have an idea.”

In her defense, she didn’t say anything about the quality of the idea. And it was on Will to just agreeing out of desperation. But now that he stood in front of the mirror of Mike’s bathroom, he was very close to reconsidering. Bless Wheelers for taking Holy to see her grandparents. There was no way Will would even attempt it knowing he’d have to cross an entire corridor in nothing but his boxers with Karen and Ted sleeping behind one of those doors.

Usually it was Mike staying up too late, but today Will pushed it till Mike began dozing off with all the lights still on before slipping away to shower and commencing the plan. The plan of getting into bed with Mike in his underwear only.

Will pressed his head to the mirror. He could always claim momentary insanity. Stroke. Bet.

No, Will was no coward. He was a sorcerer. Even with no powers left after Vecna’s demise, he could still feel it - the confidence they left behind.

He opened the door of the bathroom, crossed the hall, opened the door to Mike’s bedroom and closed it behind quietly, the sound of the lock clicking barely registered with all the snoring coming from Mike. Unlike Will, he had only managed to get under the covers, still fully clothed.

Will took a breath and dived under the covers. Maybe it was better this way. Mike will eventually wake up and notice the state of Will’s undress while Will would be still blissfully asleep and unaware.

But instead, Mike turned around, his arm sliding across Will’s very naked waist. Will’s breath hitched audibly and that was enough to wake Mike up.

His eyes fluttered, obviously only noticing Will next to him and not Will’s wide open eyes filled with panic. “Sleep time?” He asked cutely and flexed his arm to bring Will closer.

Will could absolutely see the moment Mike realized that something didn’t feel right. His fingers brushed his skin, as if they were testing the feeling. Will wheezed and Mike’s eyes flew open.

“Will?” He asked.

That’s it. Just his name.

And then he mercilessly waited for answer.

“I’m, uhm, warm?” Will provided.

Nobody was warm. Hawkins’s nights were never that warm.

Mike looked and looked and looked. Then he nodded. “It is indeed warm,” and proceeded to undress himself down to boxers too.

Will’s heart was beating so fast. This was it. It was progressing much faster than he’d anticipated, but they are both boys, so maybe it was normal. Who cares. Mike needed to say three words, or maybe just two or one - Will can infer the rest - and Will would give him anything.

“Well, night,” Mike smiled and closed his eyes, his arm back on Will’s waist.

That was the closest Will came to killing a loved one.

He was sneezing aggressively in between his complaints to the girls. At least he didn’t get a fever like Mike did - probably because when Will stole the blanket that night as usual, Mike didn’t complain - as usual.

“Look, okay, maybe we should go for the heavy artillery,” Max suggested.

“Which is?” Will prompted.

“Jealousy.”

Will simply stared at her.

“It’s simple. We just get him to see you hugging a girl or something, he’ll go crazy and-”

“No,” Will shook his head firmly. “I’m not putting him through that.”

His eyes inadvertently found El and the memories of watching the two of them resurfaced without much warning, bringing back the dull ache in his chest. He sighed. “No jealousy, no more plots. Maybe he knows and just doesn’t want to do anything about it. It’s fine,” Will swallowed tears with some difficulty. “I can accept it.”

He didn’t look up from his hands, knowing that he’d be met with pitying glances.

“Hey, didn’t you say, that it was the crazy near-death situation, that made him speak up about his feelings?” Robin asked nervously. “Maybe what we need is just some adrenaline.”

Will gave her a tired smile. “It’s okay, Robin.”

It wasn’t. His heart was being tortured with all over again, but this time around it was kind of Will’s fault. Maybe Mike had feelings for him, maybe he didn’t, but Will was acting recklessly and erratically. He wanted some clarity, but for all he knew, Mike was giving him that clarity and Will was just refusing to see it.

He moped for a week between Christmas and New Year’s. He did it very quietly, of course, not to disturb the holiday season for everybody, especially not the joined dinner with the Wheeler family.

Will made sure that neither Mike, nor anybody else picked up on his moodiness, because if they did, Will would’ve felt much worse. There was so much to celebrate this year and his little crush could be put on the back burner for time being.

Somehow he ended up alone at home for New Years, listening to the mixtape his brother made the year when he was obviously in love with Nancy but refused to do anything about it. At five past nine there was a gentle knock on his window, that startled him out of his melancholy.

It was Mike. Because of course it was.

“Partying hard?” He grinned at Will.

“Obviously,” Will rolled his eyes.

“Come on, get dressed. I have a surprise for you.”

Will was a little bit scared, seeing as the last surprise his sprang on Mike left him in bed with fever and sniffles, but Mike wasn’t a revengeful person. Usually.

Deciding that he can be a grown-up about it, Will even put on mittens. He almost walked out of the house, but on the second thought, he took mittens off and threw them behind the dresser.

Mike met him outside, and immediately put on a silky scarf around Will’s eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Told you, it’s a surprise.”

“If you’re planning on killing me, just so you know, I left notes,” Will waged his finger in the general direction where Mike should’ve been.

Mike giggled. “You probably forgot as always. But I told Ms. Byers that I’m stealing you for the night. You should stop disappearing on us like that.”

“Hey, I haven’t done it in a while,” Will replied, a little too high on the promise of the entire night.

Mike wrangled Will’s left hand into a mitten and then clasped their naked hands together, carefully leading Will forward. They walked for a while, but probably didn’t get far because Mike wouldn’t let Will walk faster than a snail.

He heard fire cracking and felt warmth radiating somewhere from his left.

“Okay, you have to forgive me if it’s not one to one, my memory isn’t as flawless like yours. But I tried my best and Jonathan helped a ton.”

“Helped with what?” Asked Will.

Mike undid the blindfold and it fell down revealing… Castle Byers.

“Ta-da!"

Will stood, completely shellshocked. He couldn’t believe. He just couldn’t believe his eyes.

“You did… You did this for me?” He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the shield reading ‘Home of Will the Wise’ and the flag waving in the exact same corner.

“Yeah,” Mike said softly. “But not only for you. I’ve always felt horrible about it being destroyed. It was so special to me too. The fact that I was the first one you let in once you’ve built it. I don’t know, just needed it to be whole again. Is that stupid?”

Tears spilled from Will’s eyes, ignoring all of his efforts to keep them in place. “Mike,” he choked on the inhale.

Mike touched his face, wiping away the tears. “Do you like it?”

Will nodded frantically. “So so much!”

“Well, come on then,” Mike grinned. “Come inside and tell me how many of the pictures and drawings I got right.”

The moment Will would find some calmness and stop bawling his eyes out, Mike would pull out another drawing of Will’s he recreated and Will would lose it all over again.

The last time Will saw this place, he thought that Mike would hate him for the feelings he had for him, would be disgusted with him, would never want to be his friend. And now, he felt so loved that his body couldn’t take it.

They made marshmallows and drank hot cocoa that Mike brought with him. The end of 1987 was perfect.

As they lay side by side next to the fire and gazed up the starts, Will turned his head to face Mike.
Mike did the same, and here they were, looking into each other’s eyes with the same careful hope written on both their faces.

Will couldn’t have asked for a better moment.

He laced their fingers together. Mike gripped his hand harder.

“Mike,” Will whispered.

Mike exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for a long time.

“I’m so happy I have you,” Mike said. “I hope you know that.”

“I do.”

“Good,” Mike smiled. He angled his head to be closer to Will and Will leaned in response, feeling his heart in his throat. “Cause you’re the best friend one could wish for.”

“I’m a what?”

Mike closed his eyes, nuzzling into the hair on Will’s head. “My best friend.”

***
All the Hawkins girls huddled in the living room of the Hopper-Byers’ house. It was January 1st, and since half of them had not seen the Godfather, Robin took it upon herself to educate them.

Nothing foretold troubles on the horizon, but Robin suddenly shivered.

“Do you feel it?”

“Yeah,” said Max, rubbing her arms. “It got colder.”

“Oh no,” Kali gulped.

El looked behind their backs. “He’s back.”

The rest of the girls slowly turned their heads to see the dark shadow standing in the doorway. The face was unreadable - covered by the darkness of the hall.

In the left hand the man held a bag with a dozen of video tapes. The one on top had a gruesome and bloody image, age inappropriate for most of them.

The four girls stopped breathing.

Only El dared to speak.

“Are you alright?”

The shadow moved, revealing the exasperate but strangely determined face of Will Byers.

“Adrenaline, you say?” He locked eyes with Robin who whimpered quietly.

After a beat, she nodded.

He threw the bag of tapes onto the table.

“Let’s get started, then.”

***

“So, let me get this straight,” Mike interrupted Will. “You decided to kidnap me and make me believe your life was in danger to make me confess to you?”

“It sounds horrible when you put it like that.”

Mike bit his lip, trying not to smile at the pout Will was sporting. He was still very much angry, it was no time to let Will off the hook. “Well, put it differently.”

Will opened his mouth, then closed it, opened it again and still no sound came out.

He turned around from Mike, burying his face in his hands and allowing Mike a moment to grin at the sight of flustered Will. Will turned back and Mike schooled his expression into a stern mask.

“No, you know what, you don’t get to do this,” he crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you confess?”

Mike lost his cool immediately. Will was looking at him with such hurt expression that Mike forgot about where they were. He hated himself for putting Will through that.

“Is it because you don’t-”

“No, Will,” Mike had to interrupt him immediately. “Of course, I love you. I love you so much. I’m in love with you and have been for so long.”

Will was crying now and Mike tried to rock the chair again to get out of the damn ropes. “I knew you did, I could feel it,” Will sobbed. “So why didn’t you say anything? Is it me? Is there something wrong with me?”

“Because I couldn’t,” Mike would not listen to a second of Will blaming himself. “Because I’ve hurt you so much. I’m an idiot. The fact that I wasn’t able to be honest with me, with you and ended up saying horrible things to you. Treating both El and you like that… I didn’t think I deserved you.”

Will wiped away his tears, staring angrily at him. Will looked so precious - Mike’s heart skipped all the beats. “What did you solve by keeping quiet? Couldn’t you see how much I wanted to be with you?”

“I couldn’t be sure,” Mike hesitated. It was an iron clad rule of his to forbid himself any optimistic interpretation, that was in place to ensure he didn’t cross a line with Will, didn’t risk their relationship.

“You went on deciding by yourself,” his words were accusatory, but Will’s tone softened significantly, like he couldn’t hold onto his anger. Maybe it was their common trait with each other. He stepped closer, getting on his knees next to Mike and bringing their faces closer together.

Mike had an epiphany that they both admitted how they felt about each other. It was out there, in the open, and Will was not running away. Suddenly all Mike was capable of thinking was kissing Will.

“Will you untie me?” He asked sweetly. “I promise to forget the whole kidnapping me part.”

“That might have been a bit excessive,” Will chewed on his lips - stealing Mike’s purpose in life.

“Nah, about right. I was being an oblivious idiot and you gave me a push,” Mike winked at him. “But please, never ever do this to me again. I mean, kidnap me all you want, but please don’t make me believe your life is in danger.” Mike’s breathing quickened. “I was so scared, I failed you again-”

Will leaned forward, bringing their foreheads and grounding Mike. “It’s okay, I’m here, I’m okay. I’m so sorry, I’ll never do this again.”

“I love you, Will, I love you so much,” he said again, feeling the need to reassure Will. “I just don’t think I’m good enough for you.”

“That’s bullshit,” Will’s glare was a warning. “You don’t get to decide that. Stop deciding things for us. I need you to promise me that you will start talking to me. About us, about these things. Then I’ll untie you.” His fingers found Mike’s and laced them together. “And for the record, I have never met a kinder person that you, Mike. I didn’t lie to you back then. You are the heart. You’re courageous, funny, so talented, and so so freaking beautiful that I have all my sketchbooks filled with your face. If anybody here is not good enough for the other, it’s me.”

Mike couldn’t help his tears. “Shut up, you’re literally perfect.”

“My writer,” Will giggled.

Mike chuckled through the stream of tears. “Just you wait, you’ll be sick of all the prose I have about how your adorable bowl cut alone. And so many more to be written.”

“Promise?” Will’s mouth hovered in dangerous proximity to Mike’s.

His soft ‘yeah’ was swallowed in a kiss. A kiss wet from all the tears, but so sweet and right it knocked the air out of Mike’s lungs.

There was no destiny, Mike knew that, but damn it if he didn’t win some karmic competition to get Will Byers, a beautiful boy and the most loving soul, kidnapping him and accepting his love.
When they separated, Will had the audacity to joke, “Took you long enough.”

“Well, actually, I did try to kiss you that one time when we were watching a movie at Steve's—when you were in my lap. But you said ‘hmm’.”

In all honesty, Mike was terrified at the idea of breaking things irrevocably with Will and could barely bring himself to try again.

Will blinked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about? Why would I say ‘hmm’? I definitely said ‘mhmm’.”

“No-no, it was ‘mhhmhmm’, I’m certain.”

They stared at each other. Slowly, a smile spread across Will’s lips. “I guess it doesn’t work in this medium. Just so you know, all my signals to you have ever been to kiss me right this moment!”

Mike might be stupid enough to miss the sings, but he knows how to count his blessings. And he will be cherishing this particular crazy one until the end of his life.