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It’s been nearly three months since Will’s been back in Hawkins. Conditions are cramped at the Wheeler house, but things are finally starting to feel normal between him and Mike.
So maybe that’s why he gets too comfortable, opening up a drawer in Mike’s room without permission. Will had only been looking for a pair of socks to borrow since all of his were dirty. Mike is almost out of socks too, and sitting at the bottom of the nearly empty drawer is something Will hadn’t expected to find here.
Will the Wise.
The last time Will saw this drawing it was crumpled and ripped in half, thrown on the ground at Castle Byers before he took a baseball bat to the place. It should be covered in dirt, swept away by the wind or damaged by the rain, but it’s here in Mike’s sock drawer. It’s been carefully taped together, but the rip is still visible. Some of the colors bled through, blotched by rain or tears. When he lifts the drawing to inspect it further, Will finds that beneath it is a photo which has also been taped together. It’s from Halloween 1984.
“Hey Will, I was think–” Mike’s voice cuts off when he reaches the open doorway. His gaze is on Will’s hands before he looks up and their eyes lock.
Will drops the offending items back in the drawer. “I— Sorry, I was just looking for a pair of socks. But… I should’ve asked.”
Dark brown eyes soften from surprise to something else. Mike shakes his head. “N-no. It’s okay. You know you never have to ask.”
This confirmation of their renewed closeness imbues Will with the courage to pry. “Are these…? Um, why do you have these?”
Mike opens his mouth like he’s considering lying about it, but then he snaps it shut and sighs, closing his bedroom door behind him before plopping down on the bed. He brings his long limbs closer to his frame, wrapping himself into a protective shell and peering up at Will. He looks so much like a younger version of himself.
Mike lets out a groan. “It’s so stupid. After you left… to California. I don’t know, I guess I was missing you and I thought–” He stops, shaking his head. “I don’t really know what I thought but things were weird and I felt bad about what I said to you the day that, um. The day that Castle Byers got destroyed. And I had this dumb idea that I could try to fix it up, y’know?”
A gasp escapes Will’s lips before he can restrain it. “Mike–”
“I didn’t though. I tried but—” Mike shakes his head and lets out a self-deprecating laugh. “Turns out I suck at fixing things. Like I said… It was stupid.”
Will perches gently down on the bed next to Mike.
“It’s not stupid.”
Mike just shrugs and stares down at his fingers numbly.
Will inhales sharply. “Mike … I, um, I have to tell you something.” He’s not sure why he feels the need to confess to this, but he does. “It was me. I destroyed Castle Byers.”
Mike nods dejectedly. “Yeah, I know.”
It’s not a surprise that Mike put two and two together, but Will had no idea that Castle Byers meant so much to Mike, that he would go to the effort to try to fix it, to restore what once was.
“I’m sorry,” Will lets out in a whisper. He’d been so angry that day after their fight… Angry at Mike’s words, sure. But mostly at himself for how much those words affected him. For not being normal.
“No! What?!” Mike looks up at him, his delicate features scrunched up. “Why are you sorry? It’s my fault, Will. It's my fault! I hurt you… I never should’ve said those things to you.”
Will stares at his best friend with wide eyes. It’s everything he’s wanted to hear for so long, but he’s afraid to broach the topic of the specific things Mike said. Does Mike know exactly how deep and precisely he had cut him? Did Mike discover the evidence of Will’s silly unrequited feelings in the ruins of Castle Byers? Will shudders at the thought. No, Mike wouldn’t be talking to him this way if he had. He wouldn’t be the one apologizing.
“It’s okay, Mike.”
Mike covers his eyes like he’s pushing back in tears and shakes his head sharply. “It’s really not though. You forgive people too easily.”
“Nah, just you. You’re really hard to stay mad at,” Will says, with a sheepish shrug. It occurs to him immediately after the words escape him that he might be revealing too much.
Mike’s hands drop from his face and he lets out a startled chuckle. His smile lifting is like a sunrise to Will’s lovesick mornings. Mike’s previously cloudy eyes clearing up as he grins at Will.
“Yeah?”
It’s the softest Will’s ever heard his voice, and that’s kind of saying a lot. Will possesses a quenchless greed for these moments. They've been happening more often these days. Will meets Mike’s stare, their eyes lock.
God, he’s so pretty.
In moments like these, Will almost forgets that Mike isn’t like him. It’s a dangerous dream.
“Yeah,” Will replies in a matching whisper.
Mike breaks their eye contact and Will's sure he's imagining the slight blush present on his cheeks and the way his gaze pauses on Will’s lips. It’s stupid. Mike isn’t like that. Even if things between him and El seem to be on a break for now. They’ll probably get back together eventually, or if not Mike will find another girl soon enough. A girl… because Mike likes girls, Will reminds himself. Mike is normal. But in these tender moments, it’s hard not to let his imagination run wild. After all, this is all he gets to have.
If real life were like D&D, if he were actually Will the Wise, he’d cast Time Stop. Not to perform another action, just to exist completely uninterrupted in a slow sojourn through every millisecond with his Paladin.
“Maybe we could do it together!” Mike blurts out.
“What?” Will's wondering if he'd been too caught up in his daydream that he missed some important context.
“Uh! N-no not…” Mike clears his throat and shakes his head as if pushing away a thought. “I meant Castle Byers! Maybe you and I– We could try fixing it. Together.”
“Oh!” Will's already shaking his head. “No, you don't have to do that, Mike.”
“I want to!”
He says it so decidedly that Will is forced to believe him.
“Okay. If you're sure.” He’ll have to visit Castle Byers first without Mike. He can’t risk him finding that log where Will had so stupidly carved their initials in a heart. He’ll burn the damn thing if he has to, scrape off the bark, bury it on the other side of town. “But it's going to be a chore,” he tells Mike. “Might take several days… I messed it up pretty good.”
“Well, we have nothing but time these days. And I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty restless.” Will can't argue with that.
Everything's on lockdown in Hawkins. And it feels like everyone's caught in the same loop. Waiting. Planning. Surviving but not moving forward. Lucas spends most days in the hospital waiting for Max to wake up, Dustin spends his time at Eddie's grave or finding new ways to make himself a target, El's been pushing herself to the brink of exhaustion while trying to lay low. Everyone's just stuck. Will can't think of anyone else he'd rather be stuck with though.
Mike continues his pitch as if Will needs further convincing. “Besides, I think when we work together, we make a pretty good team. Don't you think?”
Mike smiles hopefully up at him and the vice grip that Will tries to keep on his wayward heart loosens just slightly.
You're not playing fair, Michael Wheeler, Will thinks.
Except Mike never agreed to playing this game with him and Will needs to let go of these childish delusions.
A team. Friends, Will reminds himself. Just friends.
“Yeah, Mike. We make a great team,” Will agrees and avoids gazing into those deep, dark eyes for fear of losing himself there for good. “Um, what were you going to tell me earlier when you walked in here?”
“Oh! Right, yeah. I've been thinking of this new campaign and I wanted to run something by you…”
Will listens intently, watching the way Mike glows with ideas. He's beautiful in a way that hurts. If God truly hates Will for being this way, why would he let him have Mike Wheeler as a best friend? Is this supposed to be torture? Well, maybe it is, but it’s the sweetest torture Will has ever known.
Even as his heart breaks slowly, even when it kills him to see Mike with El, even when he’ll have to play the role of Best Man at Mike’s wedding someday… He doesn’t regret it. He can’t imagine a world in which he doesn’t love Mike Wheeler.
Not possible.
Will smiles as Mike waves his hands wildly, excitedly rambling, bringing to life the campaign in his head. Sometimes it truly feels like time slows down when he's with Mike. No spells needed. Maybe this is just what love does.
Or maybe Will's just crazy.