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It’s a quiet night at the Wheeler house, and Will doesn’t remember how they ended up like this, but Mike and him are sprawled out on his bed flipping through old yearbooks.
“Come on, there must be at least one girl you find cute.” Mike says with his eyes glued to the pages.
Will squints, looking across the different people, picking a random girl and pointing his finger to the picture. “Fine, her.”
Mike glances over. “Her?” he grimaces.
He throws his hands up in exasperation. “I don’t know, Mike, I don’t even remotely like any of these people, most of them bullied me anyways.” Mike frowns.
“And anyways, there’s no point in looking for a date when we’re all probably gonna be dead soon.”
“Jesus, Will, that’s bleak!” Mike says with a smile, shoving Will lightly. Will blushes. “Come on, when we kill Vecna, we’re gonna get the fuck out of Hawkins and you’re gonna have a lineup of really nice, really hot girls who won’t even think of bullying you cause you’re so cool.”
“Yeah, right.” Will mutters and shakes his head.
“No, I’m serious, man.” Mike burns holes into Will’s head before he looks up and they lock eyes.
Will starts slowly. “I mean… Even if that did happen-”
“It will.” Mike interrupts with a smile.
“God, okay, but I just- I’ve never really flirted with anyone.”
“It’s easy, Will.” Mike says with another shove. They’re sitting with their knees brushing on the bed, the yearbooks long forgotten.
“No, it’s not. The two times anyone has flirted with me, it’s just been so awkward.” Will buries his head in his hands.
“We’ll just have to make it not awkward then. I’ll teach you.”
Will snaps his head up.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. Dead serious.” Mike sits up straight and tries not to smile.
“What- What are we even gonna do?” Will tries not to sound completely wrecked by the idea, but, come on. Practice flirting with the guy you’ve been in love with for as long as you can remember, how is anyone supposed to be normal about that?
“Um- Like- Okay, first, you’ll be the girl and I’ll flirt with you to show you how it’s done. And then we’ll switch and you try it.” Mike sounds so confident, like he’s thought this out for a while.
“I- Sure, sure, I guess.” Will hopes his face isn’t too red.
Mike smiles a big toothy grin. “Alright. So…”
Suddenly Mike is carelessly shoving the yearbooks to the ground, putting his hands on Will’s shoulders to reposition him directly across from him.
“If you’re flirting with a random girl, obviously you won’t know anything about her, so you have to ask questions. Pretend we were just walking down the hall or something, ok?”
Will nods. “Ok.” It’s basically a squeak.
“Hey, I’m Mike, we’re together in third period math, right?”
Will stares at him wordlessly.
“Will!” Mike rolls his eyes.
“Shit- Sorry, should I be saying stuff?”
“Duh! Okay, I guess you don’t have to say much, you can just nod.”
Will nods.
“Perfect.” Mike smiles earnestly.
“Soooo… We’re in third period math?” Will says, trying to break Mike’s intense eye contact with him that he doesn’t think he can handle anymore.
“Right. Yeah, I’ve noticed you in class. You’re cute, y’know?” Mike winks, and Will thinks he is seriously going to die.
“Oh- Thank you, you t-” Will completely loses his voice as Mike’s fingers start gently trailing up the bare skin of his arm. Both their eyes are locked on the action as goosebumps start to form on Will’s skin.
“I’m kind of… Failing. That class. Do you think you could help me?” Mike’s still softly touching his arm, brushing up and down, and then his eyes flit up to meet Will’s, big and brown and Will swears he would rather die at the hands of Vecna right now than have Mike keep looking at him like this without kissing him.
“Will?” Mike whispers softly, still not breaking eye contact.
“Huh? I- Do I have to answer?” Will can barely get the words out, not with Mike’s fingers tracing little circles on his arm.
Mike snorts a little, finally looking away, and Will takes a deep breath.
“Okay, so how was that? You see how I created tension and stuff?” Mike slowly pulls his hand away from Will’s arm.
“Mhm.” Will nods, his face burning hot.
“So… Do you wanna try now?”
Will fiddles with the hem of his shirt.
“Or, you know, we could just move onto kissing.” Mike says casually, even though his heart is beating faster than it has during any of their near death experiences.
“W-what? Wha-” Will sputters, trying to interpret what Mike just said.
“We don’t have to, but, y’know, I could teach you. You've never kissed anyone before, right?”
“No…”
“Great, so I can demystify it or whatever.” Mike shrugs. “It’ll be easier with me than with some random girl, and I’ll tell you what to do.” Mike can’t hold back the smile on his face, while Will’s head is spinning.
The thing he’s been thinking about for years, feeling perverted for even letting the thought cross his mind, is about to happen, initiated by Mike.
“I- Are you sure?”
“Yeah, man, it’s just practice.”
“Did you do this with Lucas or Dustin?”
“Jesus, no. I mean-” Mike realizes he can’t defend why the thought of kissing some of his friends is less appealing than kissing others and shakes his head. “No. No, but they- they just figured all this stuff out on their own. You- You want help, right?”
Will nods, biting his lip as he looks at Mike.
“Ok, ok, so…” Mike takes a deep breath.
Will tries to do the same, but all of a sudden Mike’s hand is holding his cheek and he’s forgotten how to breathe.
“Put your hand on my cheek too, okay?” Mike nods towards Will and he gulps, following what he said.
“And I’ll put my other hand here…” He whispers as his hand slides onto Will’s hip.
“I’m gonna start now, ok?” Mike searches Will’s face for any hesitation, but it’s mostly just disbelief.
Will nods with wide eyes.
Mike smiles as he leans in to press his lips to Will’s, softly moving them against each other before gently pulling away, leaving about 3 inches between them.
“Good?”
Will doesn’t trust his words, so he nods the best he can with his cheek still in Mike’s grip.
“This time I’m gonna do it longer, and I’ll give you some directions.”
This time? Will is going to die.
“Going in..” Mike mutters before his open mouth is on Will’s, his hand angling his jaw with a force that makes Will’s brain fuzzy.
“Open your mouth more…” Mike whispers against Will’s lips, and when Will listens right away, Mike smiles. “Good.”
Will’s whole body is limp, Mike is basically holding him up with his hand that is still on Will’s back, his fingers spread out.
Their lips have been moving in sync for a minute when Mike drags his tongue over Will’s lips. All of a sudden Mike’s tongue is clamoring to get inside Will’s mouth, and he gasps as Mike pairs the entrance with a subtle tug on his hair.
“Mm- You okay?” Mike breaks the kiss at Will’s noise. “Too much?”
Their noses brush as Will shakes his head. “Really good.”
Mike smirks, clearly having his ego boosted.
“Should I be doing more?” Will asks timidly.
“I mean, if you wanna, y’know, use your tongue or something. No pressure. It feels good though.”
“How do I-”
“It’s hard to describe. So just.. Follow my lead, okay?”
“Okay.”
Mike’s leaning in again, nudging Will’s jaw with his thumb, and at this point Will knows that means he should open more, and now Mike’s tongue is in his mouth again, and Will is moving his tongue against Mike’s and he’s really glad they’ve both brushed their teeth already and it’s all tongue tongue tongue and Mike is pulling back a bit to tug Will’s bottom lip between his teeth and Will is letting out the most embarrassing sound he’s ever made.
Maybe it wasn’t that bad, because Mike doesn’t even react, he just hums a bit, plastering his face onto Will’s again.
Mike does it again, the lip tug, triggering another sound from Will, and before he can wonder if Mike’s trying to pull reactions out of him, he feels Mike’s stupid smirk against his lips.
He has just enough control of his brain to decide to spur Mike on, sliding his tongue across Mike’s lips and gasping his name.
“God…” Mike mutters, his hand snaking to the hem of Will’s shirt, slipping underneath and gripping Will’s hip. His hold on Will is almost painful, but it’s not a problem for either of them since both their brains have practically slipped out of their heads.
Mike gets even more handsy, still not dropping his hand holding onto Will’s cheek, but letting his other hand explore the expanse of Will’s chest under his shirt. Will shudders, Mike’s hand cold against his skin that feels like it’s on fire.
All of a sudden Mike is shoving Will back onto the bed, flopping on top of him and moving his focus to Will’s neck. As Mike starts sucking on the spot right under Will’s jaw, he wonders how this is supposed to help him prepare for dating a girl. But he would never say that out loud, especially right now with Mike practically attached to his neck as if it’s his source of oxygen.
Will’s hands are awkwardly hovering over Mike as he does this, which causes Mike to stop only to groan and say “Fuck, Will, put your hands in my hair or something…” Before quickly resuming his passionate gnawing on Will’s neck.
Will hesitantly lets his hands sink into Mike’s hair, not as long as it was in California but still just above halfway down his neck. He twirls it a bit, smiling at the tickling feeling of Mike kissing over the marks he’s already formed.
Will tugs a bit to get Mike to look up at him, but Mike just lets out an embarrassing little whimper and buries his face more into Will’s neck.
Will can’t help it and he laughs a little, earning a harsh bite from Mike, and he finally looks up.
“Laughing at me, Byers?”
Mike readjusts himself, coming up to kiss Will’s lips again, giving little teasing nips.
He pulls back for a second and his eyes flick all over Will’s face. Both their lips are red, matching the shade of their cheeks, both their eyes glazed over.
Somehow, after making out with Mike for what feels like forever now, just having him stare into his eyes is making his heart race even more.
He decides he needs to do something before Mike says he wants this to be over, and he grabs a fistful of Mike’s shirt, pulling him down onto him. Will’s hand cups the back of Mike’s head, his fingers digging at his scalp. Mike lets out a content sigh against Will’s lips, their kissing still messy but slowing down, getting more intimate. The buzzing in Will’s ears quiets a bit, which is perfect timing since there’s a soft knock on the door.
Their lips part and they stare at each other, breathing heavily, glancing over at the door before Jonathan pushes it open. They jump apart, scrambling to sit up straight and flatten their hair.
Jonathan is rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and Will thanks God he’s clearly too tired to notice anything.
“Hey, Will. Wondering if you’re coming down to the basement or if you’re sleeping up here.” Jonathan says sleepily, and Will wonders what time it is, it was just midnight a second ago…
Will bounces up. “I- Uh- Yeah I’m coming down.” He crosses the room quickly, not looking at Mike before he leaves but saying a quiet g’night directed towards him.
Will tucks himself into bed in the basement, but he can’t sleep. How is he supposed to sleep? His best friend, the boy he’s in love with, the straight boy he’s in love with, just made out with him for- 30 minutes? Was it that long? He’s warm all over, the buzzing in his head returning. He pulls the blanket over his head, wishing sleep would come as soon as possible to stop him from playing it all on loop again.
He was kissing Will’s neck. You don’t need to do that for practice. Or maybe it was to build up Will’s sensitivity? Maybe Mike is just a good friend. A very very good friend. He probably has hickeys. What the fuck. He has hickeys from Mike Wheeler. Will groans into his pillow.
Somehow he manages to get a few hours of sleep, plagued by dreams of Mike’s lips, much more intense than they were before he actually got to kiss them. He checks the alarm clock, a bright 5:31 blinking back at him.
He tiptoes up the stairs, trying to sneak into the bathroom before anyone wakes up to see how bad the damage is.
Mike’s light is still on. Will hopes he’s not planning to kick him out now or something. He probably seems so perverted.
He manages to get to the bathroom without making any noise, flicking the light on and looking at the mirror.
“Fuck.”
The whole right side of his neck is red and bruised. He didn’t think it would be this bad. It didn’t hurt at all when Mike was doing it. His stomach flutters at the thought, and he rubs his hands over his face.
He’s about to open the cabinet and look for some of Mrs. Wheeler or Nancy’s makeup when he hears a creak in the hallway. He is so screwed if it’s Mr. Wheeler.
Will nervously approaches the door, opening it an inch to reveal Mike standing awkwardly outside.
“Oh. Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Do you- do you have to use the bathroom?”
“What? Oh, no. I- I thought I heard you. It’s early.”
“Yep… I-” Will remembers the reason he’s actually here, and cringes as he closes his eyes. Mike raises an eyebrow. From where he’s standing, the door is covering the messed up side of Will’s neck.
“Just come in.” Will opens the door for Mike as he steps in, his eyes widening as he finally sees Will in the light. His hands fly to his neck.
“Holy shit, dude! Did I do this?” Mike can’t help but smirk as he rubs his fingers over the marks.
“Who else.” Will rolls his eyes, trying to seem as normal as possible about this.
Mike snorts, not letting go of his neck. “Nice.”
“You’re the worst. How am I supposed to cover this up? It’s literally my entire neck.”
“I mean, it’s one way to get a date. Show the ladies they’re missing out on a catch.” Mike does one of his stupid winks, and Will’s really annoyed he’s in love with him.
Will’s death glare finally gets to Mike and he releases Will’s neck, throwing his hands up. “Okay, sorry. We can look through the cabinet for something. Worst case scenario, you have to wear a turtleneck and look a little stupid for a day.” Will sighs. Mike’s already shoving everything in the cabinet aside, searching for concealer and turning up with nothing.
“God, this cabinet is so useless. It’s only like, pills and shit.” Mike shuts the door, turning to Will, his gaze moving down to his neck. “Fuck, it’s really bad.” He really can’t help himself from feeling smug, no matter how much Will wants to kill him right now.
“Mike.”
“Sorry, I’m just admiring my work.”
“I’m really going to kill you.”
Mike giggles before swooping in and wrapping his arms around Will, licking a huge stripe on the side of his neck.
“Ew! You’re so gross.” Will laughs a bit too loud.
“Shhh-” Mike’s hand flies to Will’s mouth. “Don’t wake everyone up, Will.” Mike says in a joke condescending tone. Will thinks he’s so funny when he licks Mike’s hand, causing Mike’s nose to scrunch up.
“Gross!”
“You did it first!”
“Whatever.” Mike smears his hand on Will’s shirt.
His hand lingers, playing with the collar.
“Hey, you liked- I mean, it wasn’t… Bad, last night, right?” Mike asks, chewing on his lip.
“God, yes, you’re a good kisser Mike, you don’t need your ego boosted anymore.”
“No- That's not why I’m asking. For what it’s worth, you’re a good kisser too.”
They share a look, smiling at each other.
“What- Why are you asking, then?”
“Uh- I was just wondering… Since, y’know, we both agreed the other is a good kisser and everything… Do you wanna… Keep doing that?”
Will freezes, his eyes widening.
“I mean, it wouldn’t be-” Mike searches for the words, Will knows he wants to say is it wouldn’t be gay but he lands on “It wouldn’t be, like, weird or anything. Just cause… We both don’t have girlfriends, and yeah maybe the world will end and it would be nice to do that. Like, make out. Making out feels good with anyone, we could just- Just pretend it’s someone else, or something like that.” Mike smiles nervously, waiting for a response from frozen Will.
His brain is short circuiting.
“Um. Sure. Sure. I guess I don’t have a problem wi-” He can’t finish his sentence before Mike is slobbering all over him, the suddenness and force of it knocking Will back a bit, and they stumble against the wall. Mike laughs into his mouth.
“You have a problem, Mike.” Will whispers as Mike angles up his jaw to start kissing his neck again.
“We need to be covering this up not making it-” Mike silences him with a kiss, because apparently that’s his new thing.
“You really love doing that, don’t you?” Will gasps out after they both come up for air.
Mike shrugs. “It’s one way to get you to stop talking.”
“Right, because you hate listening to me talk.”
“Only when you’re talking about trying to cover up my masterpiece.”
“Jesus Christ, Mike.”
“Fine, fine, stay here, I’ll snoop through Nancy’s room for something.”
Mike slips out quietly, leaving Will to sit with everything that’s just happened.
Mike wants to make out with him. Continuously. Wait til Robin hears about this. Can he even tell Robin? He wouldn’t wanna out Mike, but maybe he really isn’t gay and everything he said was the truth. That sounds so stupid, but anything could happen.
He sits on the edge of the bathtub, playing with a loose thread on his t shirt until Mike comes back a few minutes later.
“Ok, that was a high risk mission, but I succeeded.” Mike holds up the concealer he procured.
“I dunno much about this stuff, but hopefully it matches your skin tone or whatever.” Mike’s already holding up the little brush, dipped in way too much product, and leaning over Will, smearing it on his neck. He snatches Will’s chin in a tight grip, turning his head to the side. His breath hitches.
Will can’t count the number of times Mike has done that in the span of 12 hours, and the amount of butterflies it has produced. It’s embarrassing.
Mike’s tongue is caught between his teeth in concentration as he tries to cover as much as possible.
“‘Kay, I think it’s good.”
Will stands up and inspects himself in the mirror.
It’s extremely poorly applied, and it just barely matches his skintone, but it’s better than the absolutely ridiculous amount of hickeys underneath.
He shrugs. “It’ll do, I guess.”
“Great. So I guess we should keep this.” Mike lifts up the concealer. “Or buy something else. Like, 10 bottles. Cause you’re gonna need to put this shit on for like, a full week.” Mike’s evil smirk slips out again.
“You’re paying for it, I wouldn’t be smiling too much.” Will says while rolling his eyes.
“I guess I can finally make use of that government fund.”
“That’s supposed to be for, like, cars. And College. Not hickey coverups.”
“Who’s to say Dr. Owens didn’t have this in mind?”
“I think that would be really weird.” Will says before yawning, raising his arms up.
Mike can’t help the way his eyes flit to the little bit of skin shown when his shirt lifts up.
He coughs, pretending he wasn’t just staring. “You tired?”
“Yeah, I mean…” A smile grows on Will’s face as he tries to figure out how to word his question. “How long were you.. Making out with my neck? Cause I swear it was midnight when we- when we started. And then all of a sudden it was 1 am. I must have zoned out, I thought it was only 5 minutes or something.” Will scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, in disbelief this is an actual conversation he’s having with Mike.
Mike's face has gained a slight blush as he laughs, also feeling the awkwardness. “I mean, they say time flies when you’re having fun.” He wishes he could fake cough again to clear the tension, but he already pulled that. “So, you only got like, 4 hours of sleep? You should- Let’s go to my room, get a bit extra.”
“Alright.” Will nods and they tiptoe through the hallway, slipping into Mike’s room. They both flop down onto his bed, their arms brushing against each other.
Will tries not to shift too much to not smudge the concealer. Mike has taken to lightly kissing the other side of Will’s neck.
“Mike.” Will whisper-yells, holding back his smile.
“What? I’m being gentle.”
He ends up falling asleep snuggled into Will’s shoulder.
They jolt awake at the sounds of shouts from downstairs, the front door slamming shut.
“Michael, you’re going to be late!”
“Coming mom! Jeez!”
They stumble out of bed, and Will slips down to the basement to change.
He meets Mike in the bathroom where they inspect his neck in the daylight, decide it looks good enough, and strategize to try and block the view of Will’s right side from their house full of family members that do not need to know anything about this. Lucky for them everyone is gone already, so they just grab some toast and leave.
“I’m so glad we didn’t have to sit through breakfast trying to hide half of my face.” Will says as they lock up their bikes after a mostly silent ride to school.
“Would’ve been stressful-” Mike starts, and is interrupted by Dustin and Lucas suddenly facing them.
“What would’ve been stressful?” Dustin asks as they group up and walk into school.
“Nothing, just… We almost had to make breakfast for everyone, at my house. But we overslept. Separately.”
Dustin looks suspicious but he can’t really argue with it, so they all walk silently until they reach Will’s locker.
“Jesus, Will!” Lucas shouts as Will turns to open his locker. “What happened to your neck, it’s all… Pale and makeupy…”
“Oh- That, well-”
“Will had a hot date last night and she marked him up like crazy.” Mike bumps his shoulder against Will’s. “We had to steal Nancy’s makeup.”
“Oh man, really? Who was it?” This is the first time in months Dustin has been so engaged in a conversation, and Will glares at Mike.
“Nobody. Really, guys, I-”
“Nobody? Are you kidding me? Mike just said she marked you up like crazy and as far as I know this is your first official romantic interaction so it’s kind of a big deal. Come on, I haven’t seen Suzie in forever and I need to live vicariously through you.”
Dustin and Lucas are both staring at him expectantly.
“Okay, fine. She’s… older, you wouldn’t know her. No, it’s not Robin.” Will says as Dustin opens his mouth.
“She’s… a truck worker, she was in for a delivery, but she’s a volunteer, she’s not, like, 40 or something.. And I-” Will glances over to Mike with pleas for help in his eyes, but Mike is trying to hold back his laugh. “I asked her to kiss me, I guess, and she went crazy. That’s it.”
“Good going, Will.” Lucas pats his shoulder. “Are you gonna see her again?”
“No, it’s probably a one time th-”
“What are you talking about? She said she wanted to see you every time she comes into town.” Mike interrupts, widening his eyes at Will, trying to communicate something.
“Uh- Right, right.”
“Man, your first girlfriend. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“So, making out with someone over and over doesn’t mean you’re in a relationship?” Lucas questions, an eyebrow raised when Will and Mike share a look, their faces tinted pink.
“I mean, I don’t really know her and… It’s just for fun. Can we stop talking about this?”
“Fine, weirdo, we have to get to class anyways. See you guys.” Lucas and Dustin walk off, sharing a homeroom. Once they’re out of earshot, Will shoves Mike.
“What is your problem? I could’ve just said I got a bug bite or something.”
“Come on, Will, they’d see right through that. And now, when it happens again you can just blame it on this mystery truck driver.” Mike leans against the locker beside Will, and Will tries not to freak out at the implications of when it happens again.
“I guess…”
After school they bike to the store and stock up on concealer that’s actually in Will’s shade, and they spend the rest of the afternoon making out in Mike’s room. And the rest of the night.
3 days into their weird relationship and Will has spent every night in Mike’s room, and gone through 2 bottles of concealer.
At school they keep their distance, so Lucas and Dustin don’t catch on, but the second they’re alone, Mike is all over him.
Friday afternoon, they’re trying to make out in Mike’s room but his mom won’t stop interrupting to ask questions about their preferences for dinner ingredients.
After the fifth time, Mike groans and flops back on the bed.
“I swear she knows and she’s doing this on purpose. Doesn’t want me to have any fun…” Mike trails off, crossing his arms.
Will thinks for a second. “Hey, I think the Squawk should be empty. It’s their monthly day off or something, Robin mentioned it.”
“Really?” Mike sits back up, and then realizes he sounded way too enthusiastic about that. “Cool. We could bike there now, right?”
“Yeah, but isn’t your mom working on dinner?”
“It’ll take her like 4 hours. When she asks questions about ingredients she normally has no idea what to do.”
With that, they bolt down the stairs, and Mike shouts “We’re going out!” before slamming the door and hopping on his bike as fast as possible.
Will still can’t believe how eager Mike is to be doing all this, but somehow a part of him still believes Mike is straight, just really desperate.
Will has a key for the Squawk, and he fumbles with it outside the door while Mike already starts nibbling on his ear.
“Mike, you’re just making this harder.”
“Ugh, fine.”
He steps out of the way and Will finally gets the door open. They step inside and find the nearest couch, situating themselves. Mike tries to cling onto Will as he stands up, walking over to the records.
“Let me put something on first.”
“Not The Clash again.”
“What’s wrong with The Clash?”
“Nothing, but you’re always listening to them. It gets old for the people around you, you know?”
“It was my idea to come here, so I get to choose the makeout music.” Will says matter-of-factly. Mike rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t really care.
A few minutes later they’re completely horizontal on the couch, hair messy, lips red, and Should I Stay or Should I go blasting from the speakers.
All of that combined causes them to be completely oblivious to Robin entering the room.
“Oh my God- Hi.”
They move apart as fast as humanly possible, tricky for Mike with his hand tangled in Will’s shirt.
“Hi- Hi Robin. Hello.” Will is insanely breathless and Mike sits up straight, his entire face bright red.
“I thought- You said today was your day off?”
“It is. I came in to grab something- Grab a record. For my girlfriend. My girlfriend, who I’m dating. I’m dating a girl.” She rambles, trying to make Mike feel more comfortable since he’s sitting staring at his shoes, face not cooling down one bit.
“Can I talk to you in another room?” Will suggests, getting up from the couch, and glancing back at Mike who hasn’t moved an inch.
As soon as the door’s closed, Robin is exploding.
“Holy shit, man, you guys got together!” She says while shaking Will’s shoulders. “This is huge!”
“It’s not… exactly… like that.”
Robin blinks. “Then, what is it like, because what I saw was-”
“Oh my God, can you forget you saw that.”
“Hey, you walked in on me first.” She puts her hands up in defense. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Will sighs. “Okay, so, like 4 days ago for some reason Mike randomly wanted to find me a girlfriend. And we’re going through my options and I’m like, oh it’s not worth it since I can’t flirt, and then he started touching me and winking at me and then he’s like now we’ll move onto kissing? And then we’re making out for like 30 minutes straight and he said since the world might end we might as well keep doing it, like, everyday, since it feels good but he said to picture other people and we’ve been doing this all the time and I’m going crazy.”
He lets out a deep breath, waiting for Robin’s response.
She opens her mouth to speak, but he interrupts: “Oh, and also he gave me a bunch of hickeys.”
Robin’s eyes widen and then she nods, thinking it all over.
“So… You think all of this means you’re not together?”
“Well… Yeah. It sounds stupid but… God, I don’t know how to explain it but I would believe it if he's straight.”
“I used to think Mike was the most oblivious boy I’d ever met, but you just stole his spot. Come on, Will. Has he asked you to give him hickeys or put your hands up his shirt? He can’t care that much as a straight man about making his friend feel good.” She gives him a nudge.
“You really think he likes me back?”
“My God, I just walked in on your private makeout sesh.”
Will groans, dragging his hands over his face.
“Listen, I’ll leave you guys alone and you can continue in peace, but please at some point try to have a conversation with him about this.”
“I don’t want to ruin what we have going now, though. Like, fuck. I’ve been in love with him forever and now he’s making out with me but what if knowing how much I like him makes him stop?”
“Knowing how much you like him will knock some sense into his skull. But, I get it. Wait a little bit longer to talk, ignorance is bliss or whatever.”
They reenter the room, and Mike still hasn’t moved, his eyes fixed on the ground.
Will awkwardly shuffles over to the couch to sit beside him.
“Oh-kay so I’ll get going. Don’t do anything weird on the couch please.”
“OhmyGod Robin.”
“Sorry! I’m leaving, I’m leaving.”
The door clicks shut and Will opens his mouth, only to be interrupted by Robin coming in again.
“Sorry! Sorry! I forgot the record.” She grabs it off the top of one of the shelves, holding it up with a shrug before slipping out the door.
Will lets out a deep breath.
“Uh- Are you… Okay?”
Mike is chewing on his lip, his leg shaking.
“Mike?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. I’m okay.”
“She’s not gonna tell anyone. I promise.”
“I mean, what is there to tell, it’s not like we’re-” He sucks in a breath.
“Right.” Will frowns. “Right, yeah, it’s not…”
They glance at each other.
“Do you wanna leave? I’m sorry I suggested coming here.”
“No, no it’s okay. We can stay. If you want.”
“I want to, only if you want-”
“I want to stay.”
Will lets out a shaky laugh and Mike smiles.
Mike reaches over to rest his hand on Will’s shoulder and in no time they’re back to normal. As normal as french kissing your best friend is.
“Mm… Mike..” Will starts in an attempt to ask something, but Mike is so out of it, his eyes glued shut as his lips smack against Will’s.
“Mike.”
“Stop talking.”
Will listens, just for a bit, almost losing his train of thought as Mike pushes him further against the couch.
“I need to ask- mm.. ask- before it gets too late-”
Mike sighs, reluctantly pulling away from Will.
“You have like, 5 seconds.”
Will takes a few breaths and Mike makes a hurry up gesture.
“Shouldn’t we get going? It’s gonna be dark soon and we have to bike back. Dinner’s probably almost ready.”
“Oh my God, that’s what you stopped to talk about? Who cares.”
“What if we don’t get to eat anything?” Mike starts kissing Will’s neck.
“We’ll order pizza.”
“Your parents would hate tha-”
“Take your shirt off.” Mike mutters, his kisses not relenting.
Will’s whole brain is fuzzy and he can’t form a single thought.
“What?”
“Fine, I’ll do it myself…” He tugs on the edges, lifting it over Will’s head and throwing it off to the side, immediately returning to Will’s jaw while his hands move all over his skin.
“Mike-”
He pulls back to look Will up and down. He softly traces his fingers along Will’s chest.
“I can feel your heartbeat.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s fast.”
Mike pulls away to take off his own shirt, and Will whips his head away.
“Will, come on. Look at me.” He takes Will’s cheek in his hand, gently turning him so they face each other. There are tears in his eyes, and Mike’s face falters.
“Oh my God, did I do something wrong? I’m so sorry, I’m doing too much, you obviously don’t want this-”
“No, Mike.” Will sighs, not being able to keep it in anymore. “God, I said I wouldn’t do this right now... I’m in love with you. I love you so much and I- I can’t keep doing this and pretending that I’m not seriously attracted to you. I am, and I.. Do you like me like that?”
Mike’s silent for a second, his eyes on Will’s cheeks, using his thumb to wipe his tears.
“I like you. I’m.. Attracted to you.” Mike’s eyebrows scrunch up as he says it, not like he’s lying, but like the words feel foreign on his tongue. “I’m.. I’m so sorry. These past few days I’ve felt horrible just- saying it didn’t mean anything. I’m sorry if it felt like I was using you-”
His voice breaks, and now he’s the one crying.
“Mike, don’t cry.”
“What, you’re the only one allowed to?”
They both laugh through their tears and press their foreheads together.
“I think.. I’m gay.” Mike lets out a breath that fans over Will’s face.
Will blinks. “Like… Fully? You’re not bisexual or..?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever actually been attracted to any girls. I love El, but I was never in love with her and.. I was always so stuck whenever we made out. Like it didn’t feel right. But with you, everything just came naturally and.. Fuck, I’m so sorry I hid behind that stupid excuse for a week.”
“It was pretty stupid. I mean, what’s the point of giving me hickeys for practice?” Will rolls his eyes with a smile.
“Hey, I could have just been.. Building up your sensitivity or something.”
“That’s what I thought too, so you’re not the only stupid one.”
They share grins, the relief of everything setting in.
Will ends up with his head snuggled into Mike’s shoulder, their bare chests pressed against each other as they lie peacefully on the couch.
“I love you too. I forgot to say that.” Mike whispers, kissing the top of Will’s head.
“Mm.. Say it again.” Will’s voice is muffled.
“I love you. I lo- Hey!”
Will giggles as he bites at Mike’s neck.
“Payback.”
“It’s supposed to be a bad thing?” Will can’t see his face but he can hear the smirk in Mike’s voice.
“Did you already forget what a hassle it is to cover it all up?”
“I’m not covering anything up.” He says it so sincerely, Will can’t help but smile.
“I can feel you smiling. Possessive freak.”
“Oh I’m the possessive one?”
They playfully bicker for a bit until the conversation fades, both of them dozing off.
“Jesus Christ, Will, you said you wouldn’t do anything weird on the couch!”
Robin’s voice jolts Will out of his sleep, but Mike blinks a few times with heavy eyelids, staying in his spot on the couch. Will tries to sit up but Mike’s arm wrapped around him is caging him in.
“Hm.. What time is it?”
“Like, 7 in the morning. Did you guys sleep here? I swear, if there are any stains-”
“Oh my God. Robin we didn’t do anything, we just cuddled.”
“Aw, that’s cute. But also, I am disgusted at the sight of both of you topless. Please fix that and get out of here.”
“Got it.” Will tries again to get up but Mike won’t let him.
“Mike. We have to get up.”
“Mmn.. No..” Mike lazily kisses Will’s neck with his eyes shut.
“Mike, you look ridiculous right now. Robin is literally right here.” Will laughs incredulously.
“Don’t care.. Love… You…” Mike mutters, earning a jaw drop from Robin.
“Is this…?”
“We talked last night. I listened to you.” Will shrugs while Mike continues his sleepy attack on Will’s neck.
“I can’t believe I’m responsible for this chilling new development.” Robin shakes her head and heads over to the broadcasting booth. “I’ll give Wheeler 10 minutes to wake up, but not a second longer, you guys are making me sick.”
They lie on the couch, tangled in each other as they slowly wake up. Even though Robin is fake gagging at them through the window, they’ve never felt more comfortable. Will mouths thank you and Robin gives a thumbs up with a heartfelt smile.