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As the Christmas lights were blinking red and green, one thought went through Mike’s head: It wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair to be this gorgeous, smart, kind and also have powers? Where was Mike when everyone was queuing for powers? And were Will and El actually twins separated at birth? Geez, everything just got more confusing. As if it wasn't already.
The party was making their way to the centre of Hawkins, where many vendors had put out their best home-made holidays decorations and snacks. Some of the streets closest to the market were closed off for vehicles, so the whole party could walk more or less next to one another.
"Earth to Mike," Lucas waves his hand in front of Mike's face. "Were you listening to us?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," he nods, little conviction in his voice. He suddenly feels very worn out. It feels like he’s been playing someone he’s not for years and now, in this Christmas season, he just didn’t want to do that anymore. Was there even any sense in lying? "Sorry, I zoomed out."
"Yeah, we noticed." Lucas rolls his eyes at him. "Were you thinking about El?" He moves his eyebrows suggestively, looking from the girl to Mike. She shifts, clearly uncomfortable, but Lucas doesn't notice. Not only worn out, Mike also suddenly feels very fed up.
"Uh, yeah, kind of," his lips form a thin line as he exchange a glance with Eleven. "I think it's time we tell you guys." After a second of hesitation, the girl nods. "Me and El- we're not really together anymore."
It's quiet for a few moments, before Lucas asks: "What?"
"We dumped each other's asses," Eleven responds, her gaze fixed on Lucas's confused face. "Six months ago?" She looks over to her ex-boyfriend for confirmation. He nods.
"Yeah, give or take," he looks over at the rest of the group, his eyes stopping for a second at Will's face. "You aren't surprised?" He directs the question to everyone, though he really only wants a reaction from one person.
"Well, you've done that before, right? It's hardly the first time," Dustin shrugs, figeting with his rings. Eddie's death took his toll on him: the usual light in his eyes was dimmed, giving way to a new fog of grief. It’s been over 2 years since he’s been gone, but grief isn’t linear, and they know it best. "Just let me know when you guys will be back together."
"I don't— I don't think we will," Mike shakes his head slightly and finds himself lowering his gaze. Whatever teenage fascination he felt towards El, it was long gone. And he thought, and hoped, that the girl felt the same way about him. He lifts his eyes slightly to glance at the so-called Wonder Twins. Some time ago he wouldn’t admit it, but his eyes did linger longer on Will’s face.
"Yes," Eleven agrees, as if reading his thoughts. "I don't want to date Mike anymore."
"Wow, was he that bad of a boyfriend?" Lucas steps back, acting shocked.
"I don't know. He was my first boyfriend." El confesses, and Mike feels his cheeks warm up with embarrassment. He needs to change the subject, but before he can speak, Max chimes in.
"It's amazing, El. I'm so happy for you. Even though you already told me that," she eyes Mike, clear dislike in her eyes.
"Wait, El told you?" He stares at the girl, betrayal in his voice.
“She didn’t have to, basically. It was obvious.” Max says, still eyeing Mike.
“Yeah,” Will speaks, shrugging, “It was pretty obvious.”
”What?” Mike shrieks. “You knew, too?” He’s pretty sure that his cheeks are the colour of a reindeers nose.
“Sorry,” El says, but whoever she wanted to add gets cut off by the collective gasp they all let out looking at the Christmas market. It’s especially beautiful this year: half of the money the government spend on keeping Hawkins’s citizens quiet got spend on garlands, lights and huge Christmas trees.
The group dives into the commotion, not paying much attention on staying together. They walk by the shops, more or less one after another. Few minutes later, they can’t see El and Max anywhere. Lucas volunteers to go look for them and Dustin joins him.
The crowd becomes increasingly thick and Mike finds himself needing to tug on Wills sleeve to not get lost like the rest of the party. They follow the general direction of the people, when Will pulls them off to the side, out the crowd. They can finally breathe.
”Should we wait for them here?” Mike asks, looking at Will at his side. The boy is shivering slightly: even though it’s not the coldest day of the year, it still is December.
“I don’t know,” he responds, trying to warm himself up by rubbing his hands against each other. “Geez, I should’ve taken a warmer coat.” He mutters, mostly to himself.
“Do you want my scarf? We can get some tea, too,” Mike says, looking Will into eyes. He starts unwrapping the scarf off himself, not even waiting for a response.
“Well, no, I-I don’t want you to be cold,” he tries to protest, but then Mike’s wrapping the scarf around his neck and he’s not so cold anymore. “Thanks,” he buries his red nose into Mike’s scent, taking it in with his whole body. He loves feeling like this. Taken care of, but not like a child, but like an equal.
“Of course,” Mike grines at him, trying to conceal his teeth chanting into one another. “Let’s get that tea. We’ll find the rest sooner or later.”
They dive back into the crowd, unanimously holding each other hands. Just for convenience. Mike’s hand is bony, but warm in Will’s cool palm. They manoeuvre between the squished bodies. Finally, they reach the small stand with all kinds of tea; black, green and red, in their glass containers behind the counter. The stand in miraculously bright and decorated. The yellow lights make Mike feel warmer, without even tasting the beverage.
“Hi, boys,” the lady with silver hair greets them with a smile. The queue had disappeared after the announcement for the fireworks show, so they don’t have to wait to get the drinks. “What would you like today?”
“Earl grey with… orange, for him, and I’d like the Christmas special, please,” Mike says and reaches for his wallet. Will just stares at him, stunned, while the lady pours their teas. He remembered.
“That’s gonna be 7$… thank you,” she hands Will the cups and puts the money away. “Have a nice day.”
“You, too,” Mike smiles at her and grabs his cup from Will, their fingers brush and Wills breath catches.
“You remembered,” Will starts after they find a quiet alley amongst the louder streets. “About the tea.”
”Of course,” Mike grins at him, cheeks pink from the cold. "How could I forget?"
The memories of their cozy evenings in the Wheeler house come back to him. Before Vecna attacked again, before they had to fight for their lives in the Upside Down. Will, drawing in his sketchbook, the tip of his tongue sticking out in concentration. He's sitting on a couch, covered by a blanket, even though he insisted he wasn't cold. Mike's laying on the other side of the couch, their toes touching lightly under the layers of fabrics. Mike, out of boredom (and a tiny need of touch), wiggles his toes, teasing Will. He looks up and tries to act annoyed.
"Mike.." He says slowly, his eyes narrowing.
"What's up?" Mike acts innocent, making these puppy eyes of his. "Is there something bothering you?" He says, as his toes dive under the blanket, following Will's calves and up.
"Oh my god, stop it!" Will catches Mike's shin with his warm hand. He grins, lifts his leg up and pulls.
"Hey!" Mike tries to keep his balance, but lets Will tangle their limbs together. He finds Will's hand under the blankets and pulls, making the boy lay on top of him. "What now, huh?"
A pink blush creeps up on Will cheeks, but he's not done yet. His hands dive under to find Mike's armpits. He grins mischievously and starts tickling Mike.
"Yeah, what now, huh?" He asks, as Mike wriggles under his touch.
"Stop! No!" He tries to reach up to tickle Will, but then he remembers: Will is not ticklish. Like, at all. Oh no. He abandons his first plan to try to throw Will off the sofa, but he's stronger and heavier than he remembers. "Stop!" He shrieks again, and Will stops abruptly. He's giggling and his hair is a mess, but he looks so gorgeous, Mike doesn't want to take his eyes of him.
"I had an idea." He starts, still grinning. "You will be spared," he starts, taking on his Will the Wise tone. "But you gotta make me some tea."
"Just admit it, you got tired." Mike does not want Will to get off him.
"No," he frowns. "I'm feeling gracious today. Consider yourself lucky."
"You know, I'm not sure about that tea. I'm actually pretty comfy like that." Mike says quietly, like a secret. He watches as Will's face becomes increasingly pink.
"Mike-" He breathes out. He's expression is now troubled, guilty. He raises and returns back to his designated spot. He sits there in silence, nibbling his nails before saying: "Tea? Please."
"Uh, yeah, on it." Mike gets up, his face hot and stinging red. Oh god. Why did I have to say that? I'm so weird.
"Um, Mike?"
"Yeah?" He says, not wanting to turn around.
"Earl grey with orange, okay? We bought it with mom last week, it's in the cupboard on the right."
"Sure," he nods, still not turning around.
He takes a sip of his tea, and immediately spits it back into the cup. "Hot!" He sticks out his tongue as Will chuckles.
"Of course it's hot! Geez, you're so dumb," he rolls his eyes, but can't ignore a warm, fuzzy feeling growing in his chest. He loves this- being close and teasing each other, just pure Mike and Will, Will and Mike.
"Excuse me? How dare you," Mike mumbles, still trying to cool down his burnt tongue. "Hey, stop laughing!"
"I can't-" Will holds his stomach. "Like, I love you Mike, I really do, but you're just so stupid some-" Oh. "-times. Uh, yeah." Will looks down, his foot playing with the snow on the pavement. His laugher is gone, and his expression is dark.
"I love you, too." Mike spurs out, because he can't stand it- the void of Will's face, everything consumed by the guilt and the things they weren't willing to admit, afraid to ruin something that stopped existing long ago. Will looks up at him, his lips a straight line.
"Yeah, sure," he sniffles, his palms enveloping the cup. "Let's find the rest." He turns around, ready to dive into the dark mass of people.
"Wait," Mike touches Will's arm. He turns around to look at him, his face unreadable. "Uh, there's way too much people. We won't find them."
"You don't know, Mike," Will suddenly snaps back. "We have to find them sooner or later anyway," he knots his eyebrows, looking away.
"No, we don't," Mike says gently. "When they get tired they'll probably just go back to my house for the movie, remember? We can be there first, it's fine."
"They'll worry."
"Will, you're not twelve anymore," Mike turns his face to see. "They trust you. They trust you won't get lost in another dimension. Vecna's gone and, besides, I will protect you. They know we're together."
"You will protect me?" This small scowl makes Mike smile. "Don't forget which one of us has powers."
They find a less-crowded alley and slowly walk in the direction of the Wheeler's residence. A soft silence settles between them, though both of them are aware of the things left unsaid. Since they're in the less popular part of the market, it's darker, lit up only by the street lights. Mike breaths in quietly and let his hand brush Will's in the dark. He hears Will sniffle, but then the boy stoped. He looked at Mike in the dark not saying anything.
"Uh," Mike cocks his head to the side. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Will nods. "Why did you touch my hand?"
"Um," feeling caught off guard, Mike mumbles something that sounds very much like "I don't know".
"You keep doing this," Will puts on a pained expression and signs deeply. "Do you- ? I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into everything. We should go," he looks down and stats walking again.
"I do," Mike whispers and then says louder. "I do."
"What?" Will whips his head around.
"I'm sorry," Mike looks down, but then lifts his head with new confidence. "I should've said something earlier- before everything went down," he takes a deep breath in. "God, I'm so stupid, but.. I really want to do this right." He takes a few steps to face Will.
"Mike? What are you doing?" Will frowns, looking up slightly at the higher boy. He knows where this might be going, but- Mike's straight. He has dated his sister for years and there's no way he'd feel the same way Will does.
"Will, I-I," Mike's breath is shaky, like he's frightened, but he doesn't stop. "You've always been braver than me," he chuckles, taking Will's hands into his own. "When you told everyone that you didn't like girls, it- it was so so brave, I was just so proud of you, but at the same time," he swallows hard. "I wanted to be like you."
"What, gay?" Will grins uncontrollably. "Trust me, it's not so fun."
"No- I mean," Mike tries to smile back at him, but it comes out crooked. "I wanted to have the courage to tell everyone how I felt. Just like you did."
"Okay..? And how do you feel?" Will asks carefully, not wanting to push too strongly. Mike is fidgeting with Will's finger, when the words leave his mouth.
"I like you," he whispers. "I love you," he corrects himself, looking at Will's face, trying to read it. "I mean it." He adds as his frown deepens.
"What?" Will whispers, his eyes searching Mike's. "Are you- Is this a joke?"
"What?" Mike backs, confused. "No? Wha-?" He can't finish his sentence, because Will's mouth is on his, and for a second the world stops turning. Will's lips are soft and delicate and slightly cold, as their tea was long gone. They lay on Mike's chapped mouth, before moving slightly. If the world stopped turning a second ago, now it starts back again, just in different direction. Mike's hands grab Will's warm cheeks and hold their faces together.
They’re melting into each other, guided by desire and years of yearning. At first it’s hesitant, soft before becoming almost aggressive. Will shoves Mike against the wall, hand sliding protectively against the back of Mike’s head. When they stop for a moment, they’re both gasping for air.
“Oh,” Mike feels the warmth on his cheeks and his lips, and suddenly his eyes are watery.
“Are you okay? Was that too much?” Will asks frantically, searching for an answer in Mike’s face.
“No. And yes. Oh my god, Will,” he touches their foreheads together. “And you’re telling me that was your first kiss?”
He feels Will’s face become hotter. “Yeah. Was it bad?”
”Bad?” Mike’s backs out to look Will in the eyes. “It was—“ He looses himself in the depth of Wills irises, before whispering the end: “like finally seeing the sun after years of prison. You are my sun, Will. You always have been.”
”W-what?” Not Will’s eyes are watery. “I’ve got to be dreaming.” He closes his eyes, apparently willing himself to wake up. Mike closes the distance between them to link their lips again.
“I love you,” Will smiles into Mike’s lips when they part again. “And I think I like having a poet for a boyfriend.”
“I think I like having a painter for a boyfriend, too.”