Chapter Text
Will’s eyes fluttered open, the at first hazy image of Mike becoming clearer every time his eyes opened. It took a moment for him to grasp what had just occurred, before he knew it, the memories came flooding back.
The boy with a bowl cut was sitting in class, with no idea how much time had already passed, hoping for class to come to an end soon.
It was quiet - only the teacher talking and the sound of pens sliding across paper. His engrossment in his drawings kept him from paying attention to the lesson. The page was covered in small drawings of his best friend Mike, who he’d been sneaking glances at the whole period, trying to take in every detail of Mike’s face to perfect his drawings.
As soon as the bell rang, Will quickly slid the piece of paper under the rest of his books before sauntering to his locker. The hallway was crowded as usual, so he didn’t think much of people bumping into him, while he clutched his books to his chest.
He promptly deposited the books in his locker before realizing that the page he had placed between them was missing. “Damn it” he quietly mumbled. He quickly said goodbye to his friends before hurrying back to the classroom. Just as he turned around after realizing it wasn’t in there, he found Troy standing in front of him holding up his drawings.
Will’s eyes widened as he peered at his drawing - drawings no one was ever meant to see. The room was dead silent. He had assumed everyone had already left as soon as the bell rang.
Troy had always accused him of being queer and used that as his base to make fun of him. He took Jonathan’s and his mom’s advice on trying not to take it personally, but it was hard when he knew it was the truth.
These drawings of Mike weren’t just drawings of his best friend, they were drawings of the boy who had awakened feelings in him that no one else could. All his feelings were spilled onto the page in form of pencil strikes he had placed carefully to create a reflection of what he felt, a feeling that needed more than words to be described. Mike meant more to him than anything else in the world. Now Troy had this sheet of paper in his hand, with Will’s feelings spilled all over it.
Before Will could find words to keep Troy from understanding what Will was truly feeling, or even worse, ruining his friendship with Mike, Troy had already opened his mouth “Looking for your little drawings of frog-face?”
Will stayed silent, fearing speaking up would only make it worse.
“Fucking fag” Troy said in a penetrating voice while tearing the paper apart with a grin on his face.
Watching the other boy rip the page made him feel as if his heart was being cleaved in two. His eyes started to tear up, partially out of sadness but primarily out of anger. A rush of energy came through his body and even though he was nowhere near as big or as strong as Troy, he pushed him back.
His breathing was heavy and unsteady after he realized what he had just done. It was like his anger overtook him after all these years. Troy didn’t leave him much time for thinking, pushing him to the ground and hitting him.
Will’s head hit the floor and everything started spinning more with every punch. Tears sprang into his eyes as his consciousness slowly slipped away.
“Will! Will what happened?” Mike said, firmly grabbing Will’s shoulders. Will slowly sat up and looked around. Troy was nowhere to be seen. The room was silent, the only sound being the wind outside flurrying the leaves above the ground.
His gaze was drawn to the small pieces of his drawings that Troy had ripped apart. Despite the fact that his head was pounding and he still felt dizzy, he quickly reached out for the pieces and stuck them in the pocket of his jacket. His cheeks turned a pale shade of pink as he did so.
He was torn from his thoughts as soon as Mike spoke again. “Will!” the raven-haired boy exclaimed while his hands slid down his shoulders securely holding him at the side of his upper arms.
Will’s gaze shifted towards Mike, who gave him a worried look.
“Mike…”
He recognized the freckles that spread on Mike’s face, that he had drawn so carefully earlier. The number of visible freckles had increased a little since it was the start of April as the sun had begun to come out more. His dark curls covered most of his forehead, just like they used to when they were still kids, playing DnD together.
Will often thought back to that time, wishing things would go back to the way they were before -before they all got girlfriends. He was happy for them, he just missed the time they spent together, especially the time he spent with Mike.
Now Mike spent most of the time with El. He loved seeing them happy together, after all they were his best friend and his stepsister, but he knew he’d be lying if he said it doesn’t also hurt him. He had been dreaming about everything these two have been doing together - whether that was calling for hours, holding hands or kissing.
A wobbly voice echoed in the room “Will what happened? Please talk to me”
It was hard forming a sentence, still dizzy from getting punched in the face multiple times and all the thoughts that keep coming to his mind. He slowly exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding before he started explaining what had happened without revealing his true feelings for Mike.
“I’m fine…” Will exclaimed, avoiding looking at Mike.
Mike cut him off before he could finish his sentence “Will, please you don’t look well at all. What happened?”
“I just…You know how Troy can be”
Mike nodded, averting his gaze from his eyes down to his pocket, knowing that he wasn’t telling the whole truth.
“What about the Paper?”
Shit what was he meant to say - he couldn’t tell him the truth that’s for sure.
“It’s…it’s nothing”
Mike opened his mouth like he was about to say something, before closing it again and nodding, not wanting to dig any further.
A smile started forming on Will’s face, reliefed that Mike didn’t question him any further about what had actually happened. He knew he probably couldn’t avoid this conversation forever but for now he should be good.
Mike placed one of Will’s arms around his shoulder and swung his own arm around Will’s waist.
Will felt Mike’s warm hand reaching for his arm deliberately placing his arm around his shoulder. Their faces were so close. Too close. A shiver ran down his spine. The blood rushed into his head. The cloudy sunlight shining into the room, onto Mike’s face, creating a deep shadow under his cheekbones making them stand out even more. The raven-haired boy’s dark eyes were distracting him until hearing his breathy voice.
“Come on, I already talked to Nancy. We’re gonna get you home, okay?”
They walked outside to Nancy’s car, Will clinging to his best friend for support. Nancy stepped out of the car and opened the door for them.
“Will, what happened?” Nancy said in a worried manner.
“Troy was just being stupid again…” the boy with the bowl-cut responded.
Mike’s sister nodded understandingly before the two boys got into the car. Mike slowly pulled his arm away from the other boy to buckle his seatbelt.
He felt the cool air hit his back. The absence of Mike’s warmth sent a wave of sadness through him.
After the short drive Mike stepped out of the car holding out his hand for Will to hold onto.
Will looked at the raven-haired boy’s hand before looking into his mesmerizing eyes. He slowly reached out. Mike’s hand had a comforting warmth. A feeling so comforting yet so wrong. Troy’s words from earlier echoed in his mind “Fucking fag”, leading Will to drop Mike’s hand immediately after he stepped out of the car.
He knew his feelings were wrong - disgusting even. An avalanche of shame and guilt came crashing down on him, crushing all his hopes. Hopes that Mike might feel the same.
“Thanks Nance! I’m gonna stay with Will for a little. I’ll just walk home later.”
Did he just say he’d stay with Will for a while?… Will assumed he’d want to spend time with El.
“Okay! I hope you get better soon Will!” Nancy said with a smile on her face.
“Thanks” Will smiled back.
They waved as Nancy drove off. Will’s palms started sweating now that he was alone with Mike again.
They walked to the door, entered the house and sat down at the kitchen table.
“Feeling any better?” Mike asked, slightly tilting his head.
“I guess…” Will said while looking down at the table.
Mike slowly stood up and walked over to the sink. “So, you’re not gonna tell me what happened?”
Will averted his gaze from the table at Mike who was filling up a glass. “It´s fine really”
The raven-haired boy placed the glass of water in front of his best friend. “You certainly don’t look like it” he exclaimed before getting some bandages out of the bathroom.
He sat down next to the bowl cut boy and adjusted his chair to face him. Will copied his movement. Their knees brushed. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt the blood rushing to his head. His ears turned red.
Mike’s dark eyes examined Will’s face. A shiver ran down Will’s spine. His chest rose and fell with every deep breath he took in an attempt to calm himself down.
Their eyes met when the dark-haired boy softly spoke with a concerned expression “I’m gonna try to be careful but it’s still gonna burn just…try to sit still”
Will nodded before Mike cautiously cleaned the wounds on his face.
The bowl cut boy’s nails dug into his thighs as he squinted his eyes shut.
Mike bit his lip mumbling “I’m sorry…I know this hurts”
When he finally removed the napkin from Will’s face, his hands relaxed again and slowly opened his eyes to see Mike smiling at him. He couldn’t help but smile back.
“The worst part is over” Mike said as he reached for a plaster. He grabbed Will’s chin, turning his head to the side so he could stick on the plaster.
Will’s heart skipped a beat from the unexpected touch. The house was peacefully quiet. The lamp above them bathing the room in a warm light. Mike’s touch on his chin and cheek as he stuck the plaster on was warm and gentle.
The raven-haired boy leaned back observing the other boy’s face. “Looks good!” he smiled seemingly proud of his work.
“Thanks” Will said in a grateful tone.
“You should lie down for a bit” Mike said while getting up.
Will nodded, following Mike into his room. The boy with the bowl cut flopped down onto his bed. Mike sat down next to him. The mattress shifted slightly as he did so. The room was silent again, the only sound being the constant ticking of the clock on his nightstand. Dim light shone through the window. The floor was cold under his feet.
“So uh...” Mike broke the silence turning to Will “When are your mum and Jonathan coming home?”
“You…You don’t have to stay, they should be home soon!” he responded not wanting to inconvenience his friend.
“No, no, I´ll stay with you...if that´s okay” Mike blurted out.
“Yeah…I just assumed you’d wanna see El…”
There was a moment of silence again before Will got a response “Oh…yeah…no…it’s fine…”
Will tilted his head giving Mike a confusing look.
“She’s busy today” the raven-haired boy exclaimed.
Will nodded unsure of what to say. The last few months they never hung out as just the two of them, the only time they hung out together was with the rest of the party.
Will’s thoughts being interrupted by Mike “How do you feel?”
A current of air rustling the leaves outside. The boy with the bowl cut leans back, supporting himself with his arms.
“Could be worse” Will responded.
His head still felt dizzy with a bad headache but Mike being there with him made it better - he always did. He just wished he was with him more often again. The bullying, his family’s money problems and the guilt over his feelings had been a lot lately but somehow Mike was able to make Will forget about these things for a while every time he heard his voice, looked into his dark eyes or felt the warmth of Mike’s body against his.
The raven-haired boy stood up from the bed. “I’m gonna get you some pain killers” he said before leaving the room.
The brown-haired boy laid down on the bed, immediately feeling a small relieve as his head hits the pillow. The quiet footsteps of his friend along with the wind outside drowned out the ticking of the clock on his nightstand. Will closed his eyes focusing on the sounds before slowly drifting off to sleep.
Mike opened the door to see Will, who fell asleep. A smile formed on his face. Not wanting to wake him up he decided to sit the glass of water and the pain killers down on the nightstand. He examined Will’s face again. The skin around his left eye had turned red and his lip still had some dried blood on it.
The taller boy reached for the blanket and used it to cover Will, tucking it in behind his shoulders like Will did when he was a kid at sleepovers, scared of the cold. Just then it hit Mike. He didn’t know if Will still did that, he didn’t even know if Will feared the cold anymore. He didn’t really know his best friend anymore. He spent so much time with El that he had started to grow apart from his friends - from Will.