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If you'd asked Mike Wheeler yesterday what he thought of his best friend Will, he would have said something like loyal or brave. All very accurate words, even if Will didn't agree. Even if mere words didn't come close to explaining just how much Mike admired his best friend.
And yeah, maybe Mike should have told him more often, but things always got in the way. Things like a buzz-cut girl with super powers, jagged black gates dripping with vines from a place they called the upside down. Russians. Demogorgons. The Mind Flayer. Vecna.
Hell, even the freaking US military.
Will had been through so much. Too much.
Mike still couldn't help shivering uncomfortably at the memory of the day everything changed. The day whose anniversary was rapidly approaching, and with it, the uncertainty of another attack like the first one all those years ago.
Mike sensed it earlier – an uneasiness lingering under Will's skin while they prepared to rescue the kids from the MAC-Z. He didn't know if it was because of how long he and Will had been friends, or if there were strange supernatural powers at play. In any case, since that fateful November night so many years ago, they'd been bound together through their experiences. Through laughter and tears. Through pain and comfort.
Nothing would break that.
Strengthening it though – that was another story.
Mike still couldn't believe what he'd seen – Will Byers, his best friend and the sorcerer Mike always believed he could be, saving Mike's life with a flick of his wrist – once weak, but now more powerful than Mike had ever seen.
It was amazing.
It was beautiful.
And Mike didn't know if it was the residual flames that lingered around them, or the plumes of orange smoke that billowed around Will as he sank to his knees.
As Mike stood there, mouth agape and sweat beading on his flushed cheeks and blood-streaked brow, one word repeated over and over in his mind.
Hot.
Mike didn't dare to speak it. Instead he let the word linger on his tongue for a while, testing the weight of it before quickly swallowing it down. It was crazy after all. He was straight. El had been his girlfriend. He liked girls – very much, thank you.
He definitely wasn't…
Or was he?
Hot.
The word beat a steady pulse in his chest, spreading outwards to his arms and legs. Heat bled into his fingers and toes until every beat of his heart echoed that word into the depths of Mike's soul. He wanted to ignore it, to push it deep inside where it wouldn't wreak havoc on his mind. After all, a word like that and the loaded emotions behind it implied more than the friendship Mike had grown comfortable with.
It carried the very real certainty of an attraction Mike never felt before, not even towards El.
It carried something astronomical – the weight of an internal crisis, of a word he never thought would apply to him.
Yet, here Mike was, heart beating faster with every second while he looked at his best friend with new eyes. Clear eyes.
Hungry eyes.
As the back of Will's hand swiped away the drip of blood under his nose, Mike felt a sudden pull. It was as if a string attached to Will's heart became fused to his own, and the gravity of attraction pulled them together like magnets in Mr. Clarke's science class.
A force of destiny that Mike couldn't fight if he wanted to.
And really, who was he to resist destiny?
With a burst of energy, Mike sprinted across the field, dodging bodies he didn't dare look at. The tragedy of it all made Mike sick to his stomach if he thought about it too long, so he didn't. He kept his eyes – and his mind – focused on the boy before him.
“Will,” Mike breathed as he sank to the ground, onto earth damp with the blood of their enemies. He pressed his hands onto Will's arms – biceps that twitched and trembled from recent exertion. “Are you okay? I mean, you're obviously not okay, you just –” Mike gestured back over his shoulder then looked back at Will with awe “– that's fucking amazing, Will. You're a sorcerer. Just like I said you are.”
Doubt flashed in Will's eyes for a few seconds and Mike's heart sank in his chest. Of course it was a lot to take in. Being on the verge of watching your best friend die, and suddenly finding yourself snapping a monster’s body like a twig – it was more than Mike ever wanted to take on himself.
Mike didn't know what to do, just that he needed to do something.
Something to show Will how proud of him he was. To show Will that no matter how scared he felt, he'd never be alone.
That, yeah, the world was full of scary things, of overwhelming things that were impossible to understand. But as long as they had each other, he and Will would get through anything and everything.
Together.
A dam burst in Mike's chest at that realization, and he knew what he needed to do. Without hesitation he cupped Will's face in his hands, drew him in, and kissed him.
The quick brush of their lips tasted metallic, and salty in a way Mike knew he should expect but still surprised him. Nothing surprised him more though, than how right it felt.
Kissing El had been nice, but this… this pulled the breath from Mike's lungs and replaced it with something infinitely sweeter. Like chasing and catching the ice cream truck in the middle of summer. Like a warm blanket hugged around his shoulders on a cold winter day.
Like home.
As quick as the kiss started, it ended with a gasp. Will’s brow furrowed as he searched Mike's eyes for any sign of hesitation or regret. And Mike hoped that he found none, that Will only saw the love Mike held in his heart – love he'd been so afraid to show until now.
Will lunged forward then, and Mike held his arms wide to catch him, ready to kiss him again and again and again. As many times as Will needed.
Instead, Will pulled Mike close in a crushing embrace, and although it wasn't the kiss Mike expected in return, it was far more intimate than any gesture he could conjure.
So Mike leaned into it, into the steady pulse of Will’s slowing heart against his chest. Into the shallow breaths puffing from their lips against each other's cheeks.
The fierce heat Mike felt earlier began to cool, transforming into something Mike welcomed with unwavering certainty.
This was who he was. Who he was meant to be. And Will was the boy he was meant to be with. His best friend, his protector, his rock in the storm raging around them.
His soulmate.
“Is this real?” Will whispered, voice as ragged as Mike's felt. “Did you really just…”
“Yeah,” Mike pulled back just enough to brush damp curls from Will’s forehead and press a kiss to battle worn skin. “It's real, and I did, and Will?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you have to face, I'll face it with you,” Mike whispered tenderly as he continued to hold Will close. “Together. Forever.”