Work Text:
Contrary to popular belief, Michael Wheeler wasn’t stupid. He caught on. He knew it was him who Will was talking about, who he had a crush on. Now that he thought about it, he did feel kind of stupid for not noticing sooner, it was so obvious now that he knew.
Sitting around at the flipped WSQK gave him a lot of time to think about Will’s speech. He understood it, really. Wanting to feel normal, to fit in. It was everything he had ever tried to do, he mostly noticed it during his visit to California. In a stupid attempt to blend in, Mike had bought new clothes that were totally not his style and he just ended up looking like a mess and standing out even more than if he hadn’t tried at all.
Now, there was one thing he hadn’t understood at all. Who the hell was Tammy? And why was Mike her? He had a feeling it was some kind of inside joke Will had with someone, possibly Robin, since they had been spending a lot of time together these few days. He didn’t feel great about being the butt of a joke between those two. Was being a Tammy bad?
Like he had summoned her, Robin walked past the door. Mike quickly got up and called after her. “Robin! I wanna- I need to talk to you.” She walked into the room and Mike closed the door behind her. “During Will’s speech…” he started, which made Robin smirk. “Yeah?” She said. “He, uhm…do you know who’s Tammy?”
She snorted and nodded. “I think I do, yeah.” He stared at her, hoping she would explain, and furrowed his brows confused when she didn’t. “Is it bad? Being a Tammy?” She laughed again and he just started to feel like she was very directly mocking him.
“Fine, it doesn’t matter.” Mike said, annoyed and flushed, reaching for the door. “It isn’t bad for you. It’s bad for Will.” He turned around, confused. “What the fuck are you talking about.”
“Okay, recap, she’s a girl from my class I used to have a crush on, she liked Steve, getting over her helped me find my own identity.” He was a bit surprised at the news, but it wasn’t too unexpected. “And how am I like her?” “He likes you and you’re with El, how do you not see how this ends badly for him?”
“I’m not, and I don’t see how any of this concerns you.” He suddenly spat, throwing Robin off. “This is confusing for me too, you know. It’s like I’ve been constantly disoriented ever since I went to Lenora, and I genuinely feel so awful that Will thought I would react badly to him being…you know.”
“You can’t even say it.” Robin pointed out, which just infuriated Mike even more, even though it was true. He had never been great with words, or feelings, or anything. “I can. And I’m not his Tammy.”
Mike got out of the room. He didn’t know why he was so pressed about this whole Tammy deal. It felt insulting. He had been thinking about the many times Will might’ve shown his interest in him. The word “crush” didn’t even begin to define it. It felt so much deeper than that. Mike’s thoughts went directly to the painting. The one he had known El didn’t commission for a while. It all came up around 5 months ago, when he was hanging out with her at the training junkyard.
They had been broken up for a while then. He told her he hadn’t thanked her for the painting he had commissioned to Will and she said that she hadn’t done such a thing. So far he had always assumed Will lied to him because he wanted to make him feel better when he was upset about having fought with El, but now he was starting to think he did it out of shame, and he could never forgive himself for making Will feel that way.
As he walked, he spotted Will going outside. He watched him for a while before following his steps. “Will! Why are you here? Aren’t you cold?” Mike walked over to him. He was about to reach and touch his vest but he stopped himself.
“Needed some fresh air.” Will said softly, and Mike smiled. “Doubt you’re gonna get it in here.” Will chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”
Mike hesitated on saying anything, but he really needed to ask. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Will looked at him, slightly astounded. “I didn’t know how you’d react. I guess I was scared. It’s a scary thing to do.”
“It’s not fair. This. You should’ve been able to do it on your own time. And I should’ve made it clear that you could trust me. Because you can, with anything.” Mike looked at him, really looked at him. “And I wish you would tell me how you really feel about me. Because, and I’m gonna make this very clear, I, Michael Wheeler, am not your Tammy. I’m your Mike, whatever that means.”
Will smiled, and before he could say anything, Mike cut him off. “I know El didn’t commission the painting, and I know you lied because you were afraid, and I’m so sorry I was a jerk to you when we were in Lenora, and I’m so happy you can finally be yourself with all of us, with me.” Mike almost ran out of breath. “What I’m trying to say is, you know you’re…gay, you know what you are. I’m not exactly sure about myself yet, but now I know that I want to be with you, and I know I don’t want you to get over me.”
“Mike…” He said softly. No answer was really needed. He didn’t have to.
The sky turned bright, and the wind around then started moving rapidly. Mike looked up “Shit…time to work i guess.”
Will nodded and smiled, he didn’t want to leave, but he had to. “Good luck.” His voice low and caring before he started to walk off to the tower. Suddenly, Mike pulled him back by the arm, and before Will could even say anything, Mike had pressed his lips to Will’s. The kiss was slow, sweet and nothing like Mike had ever done. Will let him guide him, as inexperienced as he was, until Mike broke the kiss, smiling at him.
“Good luck, sorcerer.”
Mike watched Will walk away, then went inside the WSQK. Robin leaned against the doorframe, smirking. Mike rolled his eyes at her “Don’t even start.” But she was already behind him, teasing him.