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"Hey zombie boy? Do you wanna dance?"
It was such a simple question, but Will couldn't get himself to answer. He didn't know this girl, why did she want to dance with him? Why not someone else? Was this just a prank? Was she joking?
Everyone at Hawkins Middle knew him as "zombie boy," the boy who went missing for a week, died, and then came back to life. Even before then he was considered weird by his classmates. Quiet, artistic…sensitive. He could never fit in with the other kids.
Well, except for Mike. Kindergarten, on the swings, Mike Wheeler came up to him and asked something no one has ever asked him before: "Do you want to be friends?" Ever since then, Will was no longer alone. He had Mike, and after a few years Dustin and Lucas joined in too. Their little party even gained a new member this year, Max. Will thought she was cool, albeit a bit intimidating at first. But that was it. Just the five of them. Well, not five; there was Eleven too. But she was in hiding now. He missed her. She was the only one in the party who really knew what the Upside Down was like.
That doesn't matter right now though. What matters right now is that Lucas and Max are dancing together, Dustin is trying to pick up someone, and this random girl is now standing in front of him asking to dance.
And in all honesty, he didn't want to. Will wanted to dance with someone else. The one who always was and is currently by his side. The only one in the party left: Mike. Will turned to Mike, then back to the girl, then back to him.
Mike gave him a silent nudge, pushing him ever so slightly closer to the girl. "Um…I don't—" Another shove. "I can't really—" A shove again. Will looked back a Mike, who gave him the most 'Seriously? She's ASKING you to dance go' look he as ever seen.
"Uh— yea, sure!" Will finally got out. The girl smiled as she grabbed his arm and took him to the dance floor. Will looked back through the crowd to where Mike was. And Mike was there, looking back at him with those eyes.
Those eyes. The ones that were such a deep brown, that anytime Will looked into them, he felt his heart bloom. Mike's eyes. The ones who always looked at him with the softest kindness. The ones that anytime he stared for too long he would want t-
"Is something wrong?" Will snapped back to reality. Shoot. Still dancing with the girl. How long was he in his head for?
"No! Nothing's wrong!" Will spewed out as he looked off to the side.
"Okay then…" The girl said. And with that, Will had never felt to awkward in his life. He had nothing to say to her; and it doesn't seem like she had anything to say to him. They were far apart, his hands barely holding onto her waist to keep rhythm. Her arms lightly slumped around his neck. It seemed like she didn't even want to dance with him. So why did she ask?
"So…where are your friends?" Will shyly asked. There had to me someone that forced her to do this.
She gave a small laugh under her breath, "They are all dancing with each other. We were dancing as a group. We all came together as a sort of girls night yknow? But now that it's 'slow dance with someone time' they all paired up together. We were an odd number and I drew the short straw. I didn't want to dance alone and I'm sure you didn't want to either so…"
"Your friends are dancing together? Like girl and girl?" Why did he ask that???
She laughed again, a bit more clearly this time, "Yea? Is that so crazy?" Will looked at her face. She gave him a questioning smile. She…she had a point. It's just a stupid school dance, why can't he dance with his friends? Maybe he was just a wimp, maybe it was his father's words that were always in the back of his head.
"Am I…allowed…to do that?" Will asked slowly.
"Dance with your friends? Of course you are." She looked over his shoulder, "Do you want to go dance with him?" He turned around, and there he was. Mike, sitting at the same table Will left him at. Mike, looking down at his feet, fidgeting with his hands.
Will turned back to the girl. Hesitating, he gave a small nod. The girl gave one last smile and let go of his neck. He just stood there dumbfounded for a sec. She laughed again. "Go! Go have fun with your friend zombie boy." The girl beckoned him away and ran back into the crowd.
Pushing through the couples dancing slowly, Will's heart raced faster and faster. Is this…really ok? Can I do this? How do I ask him? Will he be weirded out? There's so many people here…will they notice? Will they judge? Does Mike even wan-
"Will are you okay?" Will looks up. Those eyes. Those eyes. He made it to him. He made it to Mike. He's right in front of him. Looking at Will with those eyes. A hand softly lands on his shoulder. Mike's hand. "Will?"
"…yeah. I'm okay." Will gives him a warm smile. Mike returns it. Yeah…this is ok. "Can I…ask you something?" He finally asks.
"Yeah, yeah of course anything. Although, I can't hear you very well, it's too loud. Can we step outside?" Will nods. Mike guides Will out with the hand one his shoulder. It's warm. He's warm.
It's chilly outside. There's a quiet breeze blowing in the field. The music, blasting from the inside, can still be heard thumping away. Will hates it cold, but this will do for now. "So, what did you want to ask?"
"Oh I just…" Will paused. He looked at Mike's face. His eyes, his freckles, his…"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to…uh to dance."
"Oh!" Mike's eyes widened slightly. "I…didn't know it would be that." Will's heart sank. He opened his mouth to speak. "No wait Will! I just, I thought it would be…nevermind. Yes," Mike gave a bright smile as he gently grabbed Will's hands, guiding them to wrap around his neck, "Let's dance." He gently put his hands on Will's waist, and slowly began to sway to the bass of the pounding music.
Will laughs lightly, his breath visible in the air, "Sorry, I'm not the best dancer."
Mike laughs with him, "No no it's ok, I'm not that good either."
"I think you're amazing."
…
Will realized what he just said, "I— I mean your dancing! You're a good dancer. Well— you're good at everything, being the paladin and all."
Mike gave him a dopey grin. God how Will loved his smile. "It's only because I have my wizard to guide me." He said pulling Will in closer. Will's gripped tightened on the back of his neck, and he looked down at Mike's arms encircling him. "…I'm cold," Mike said quietly.
"Your wizard?" Will asked, his breath still visible, now mixing with Mike's in the air. He couldn't look away from Mike's gaze. Those eyes, those eyes, they were darting around Will's face. Up and down, as if he had to…Will didn't even know what Mike was thinking. "…Mike?"
A sudden pull at his waist brought Will closer.
Will hates it cold. But now, it's warm. His body was warm. His mouth was…wait. His mouth it was…Mike's mouth was on his mouth. Mike was—Mike was kissing him, ever so softly.
Mike pulled away, just enough to look at Will's face. One of his hands moved up his back to cup the back of his head. "Is it selfish of me to ask you to be just my wizard?" Mike whispered.
"Mike…" was all Will could get out. Mike Wheeler. His best friend since five, he…is he crazy? Will's eyes teared up ever so slightly.
If he goes crazy they go crazy together right?
He brought Mike back into another kiss as Mike threaded his hand through his hair. Will moved his hands to Mike's face, cupping it gently. Warm. After what felt like forever, he finally pulled back. "Mike?"
"Yeah?" Mike breathed heavily.
"It's freezing out here." Mike stared at him for a second, then burst into laughter. Will couldn't help but smile. "I'm serious! I'm gonna turn into a snowman out here."
Mike laughed some more, "Well, where do you want to go?"
"Anywhere that's inside. Please, won't my paladin find us somewhere warm?" Will asked jokingly.
Mike's smile grew even more, as he held Will tighter, "I got the new X-man comic earlier today, do you want to come to my house and read it? With me?" His cheeks reddened. Will had to be dreaming. Right? "…I mean, if your mom allows it and of course only if you want to—"
Will gave him a small peck on the cheek, "Yes, let's do that." He pulled Mike into a hug. For a moment, it was just them. Their shared warmth, their shared smiles, their shared heart.
Then the wind gave a strong blow. Will shivered against Mike. "Ok, yeah yeah let's go now." Mike said, pulling away from Will but not letting go of his hand. They quickly ran to Joyce's car, where they found her and Hopper smoking together. A quick conversation (with very minimal pleading) landed Will in the Wheelers house not long later.
Mike's room was always the same. Except it wasn't. Will sat on the side of the bed, in a pair of pajama pants and a shirt Mike lent him. Nothing unusual, he'd borrow sleep clothes before. But this was different. Will felt, he couldn't put a word to it. Comforted? Love? With his head swirling with emotion, it was hard to pinpoint any emotion he was feeling. But that's ok. This is ok.
"Found it!" Mike exclaimed, bursting into the room with a shiny new comic in hand. He walked over to the bed and jumped on. "I left it in the TV room; had to sneak past my sleeping dad to get it too." He sat up against his pillows and looked at Will. All Will could do was smile as Mike patted the spot next to him. Will shuffled over and snuggled up against Mike. Mike, in response lifted his arm for Will to get even closer.
"Ok. Ready when you are!" Will said, grabbing the comic and flipping it opening, offering one side for Mike to hold. They've done this before. This was nothing new. They have read comics together since they first became friends. No words had to be exchanged. They knew each other.
Will felt the comic slip, and snapped out of his reading gaze. He looked up at Mike, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Tired?"
"mmm," was all Mike could get out. Will huffed a small laugh. He grabbed the comic, marked where they were, and put it on the bedside table. As he turned off the light, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull him back onto the bed and under the covers. Mike nuzzled his face into his neck and sighed.
"Comfortable?" Will asked, rubbing Mike's back slowly.
"Mhm. Warm?" Mike asked.
Will rested his head on Mike's, "Yeah."
The wind rushed outside. It was getting colder. Will hates it cold. But now, he was warm. The world outside might be cold, but Will had never felt warmer.