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Will knows this is wrong.
At least for him it is. He shouldn’t have memorized every little detail in Mike’s face, it was making it more difficult for him to stop drawing Mike. At first it was normal, a little sketch here and there. Then, it became the only thing Will could draw.
Maybe this had to do with the fact that Will’s crush for Mike had grown over the course of the years. Maybe it had to do with their amazing friendship, where they could tell each other everything. Maybe it had started when he moved to California, when the only thing he could think about was seeing Mike again. Maybe it had intensified when he came back to Hawkins, allowed to see but not touch. Because that’s what Will wanted, he wanted to touch. Not in a perverted, sexual way but in a loving way.
And he knew, he knew it was wrong, or at least that was what his dad said. Deep down, he wanted to believe that it wasn’t. Why would loving someone, regarding their gender be a sin or something satanic? Well, that’s besides the point. The point is, why can’t Will stop drawing Mike?
He knows he has a crush on Mike, he really does. Now, knowing he has one and being able to act upon it are two very different things. First, he doesn’t particularly wanna act if he hasn't even come out to him yet. He doesn’t know what he thinks about that, and if he wants to find out.
Now, back to the topic. He’s started to draw Mike, and he can’t stop, it’s addicting. His sharp jawline, his curly, black hair, his deep brown eyes, Will could be naming everything about him all day, but that’s only going to make him feel worse. The point is, he’s even got a separate sketchbook, only for drawings of him. He obviously hides it below his bed, so if Mike comes over he doesn’t see a million drawings of himself. That would be weird.
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Right now, Will is getting ready, he’s going to the lake with Mike. Only Mike. Is it a little weird? Yeah, it is. Does he mind? Absolutely not.
He just got out of the shower, only a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked in the mirror. Then he looked away, tugging a little at his towel to hide more of him.
He spends an unnecessary amount of time picking his outfit, overthinking everything. He settles in one white undershirt, plain jeans and a button up. Just when he finishes changing he hears a knock on the door. It 's Mike. Holy shit, it’s Mike. Okay, he just has to act normal and pretend like he hasn’t been thinking constantly about him.
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Mike was in front of the Bylers. He was excited, but a little nervous too. He didn’t really know why to be honest, lately he wasn’t sure of a lot of things. When he was alone with Will he felt a pang on his chest. As if… He liked him or something? But that wasn’t possible, was it? Mike likes girls. Or at least he thought. He’s liked El, right? He wasn’t even sure about that now. Yeah, of course. They've kissed, held hands, went on dates, and did what normal teens do. Then, El dumped him. Then, he started to feel butterflies on his stomach every time he was alone with Will. Then, he felt them even when they were with The Party. But today, they were alone, going to the lake to hang out. Why was that making his chest tighten so much?
Okay so maybe Mike did have a crush on Will.
That doesn’t change much, Mike is still not going to say anything and just pretend. He’s been lying a lot to Will these past months. Well, not lying, he’s been.. omitting. That’s just his way of feeling better about all of this.
He knocked again, thrown back into the real world by a thud inside the house, as if Will had tripped. Then, a few seconds later the door opened. And wow, Mike was completely and utterly fucked. He saw Will and his stomach dropped, but in a good kinda way, and the only thing he could think was wow. It wasn’t even that good of an outfit. Just a plain button up and jeans. A button up with the sleeves rolled up, that accentuated his biceps in the best way possible and oh god how was Mike supposed to live normally when Will’s biceps… no, ,scratch that, Will’s body was in plain sight? Alright, all Mike had to do was act normal. Yeah, he could totally do that.
“Hey”, said Mike awkwardly.
“Hey” answered Will, with a shy smile. A smile Mike wished could kiss away- now Mike had to stop thinking or he’d blush and the last thing he wanted was blushing.
“Sooo, you’re free today?” Mike said as smoothly as he could —which was really awkward— and leaned on the frame of the door of the Byers’s house. He cursed himself mentally, scratch that, he needed to think before acting.
Will snorted before answering. “Yeah, I guess. I dunno, I may have to cancel some plans.” He said, shrugging and feigning ignorance, even though both of them knew he didn’t have any plans, not today.
“Let’s go, c’mon” Mike said, grabbing Will’s arm.
“Wait, Wait! I’ve gotta go and put my shoes on Mike!” Will laughed and oh Mike hopes he can hear that laugh for the rest of his life.
“C’mon, let’s go inside. Can you go to my room and pass me my shoes? They’re under the bed.” Will said, grabbing Mike’s arm and dragging him to his house. And even though Mike has been here countless times, why does it feel different? Well, at least for him.
Mike headed to Will’s room, at a pace he felt was too fast. When he opened his door, he smiled. Will’s room was tidy, a bit too much, as if he was cleaning it before Mike arrived. He bent down and grabbed something out of under Will’s bed. It didn’t feel like shoes and oh, it was a sketchbook. Mike looked at it curiously. Why was Will hiding this? His heart started to beat a little bit faster as he opened it and found page after page of drawings of him. No one else. Just drawings of Mike. When Will called after him he quickly shoved the sketchbook into his backpack (Why the hell did he do that?) And searched for Will’s shoes for real this time. He found them and scurried off his room.
“Hey. What took so long?” Will asked, quirking an eyebrow at him and why was Mike sweating now?
“Um. I couldn’t find your shoes so— yeah.” He said, fumbling his words and fidgeting with a bracelet that Holly gave him.
“O—kayy?” Will said, suspecting that something was wrong, but not questioning Mike.
Mike gave him the shoes and tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach when they briefly brushed their hands.
“Alright! Let’s go, c’mon” Mike said, grabbing Will’s hands and dragging him outside to his car, and when he saw and heard Will giggling and blushing (why did he blush? did he..?, no, he can’t think about that and get his hopes up.) he felt his heart melt.
They got in the car, and Will looked at Mike and asked “Where are we going tho?”
Mike shrugged “You up for a view of the lake? Or is it a little romantic for you?” He said, winking dramatically to Will.
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“Or is it a little romantic for you?”
Will felt his stomach drop. He did his best to smile, but it looked forced.
“You okay?” Mike let his hand drop from the wheel to Will’s knee for a second, reassuring him wordlessly.
“Yeah! yeah— ‘course. Why wouldn’t I be?” But his voice sounded strained.
“Y’know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
Will fell silent. Could he? Could Will admit that he was.. different? Maybe he could. Yeah, sure, Mike never joked about gay people like the others sometimes did, and he defended him when everyone called him “fairy” and “fag”, he knew tolerating and accepting are two different things. But Mike looked so supportive.
“Will?”
Will snapped back to reality. “Oh. Oh, yeah yeah, of course I know that!”
Mike looked at him, narrowing his eyes. Then, sighing, he dropped it and just kept talking until they reached the lake. The Lover’s Lake.
———————————————————————————————
They climbed on top of the car, in a comfortable silence. Now’s the time. Will is going to come out to Mike and hopefully Mike isn’t going to hate him and make a face and tell him “ew” or—
“I can feel you overthinking from here” Mike said, lightheartedly but comforting
“How— Why do you always know?” Will groaned, as he covered his blushing face with his hands.
“I dunno, maybe it has something to do with the fact that we’ve been friends for over a decade?” Mike said, giggling. And oh did Will wish he could hear that giggle forever.
“Hey, Mike..?”
“Yeah?”
“I— I have something to tell you.” Will says, hoping his voice doesn’t falter too much. He gulps and looks at Mike. He continues even though he’s pretty fucking scared because why is Mike looking at him like that, does he hate him? Okay, that was a little exaggerated but is he going to be… disgusted? Well, fuck it, if Mike’s going to hate him, better find out late than never.
“I—” He cursed to himself, why did he sound so raw and emotional and why did his voice break and oh god, he was going to cry, why was he so sensitive? He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, that eventually got to his back and rubbed comforting circles.
“I’ve always felt like I’m… Different. Okay, that sounded weird. Not different as in hobbies, or things I enjoy.” He chuckled, sniffling. He felt Mike chuckle too, that was good. Maybe this wasn’t going to end that bad.
“I just… I don’t really know how to say it.” bullshit, he knew. He just didn’t want to say it directly.
“You can take all the time you need. I’ll be right here, I’m not going to run.” Mike said, with a really soft but with a hint of playfulness voice. Mike’s “Will voice”.
Will sniffled again. He really needed to get this out of his chest. He felt it heavy with concern and fear and a mix of emotions he couldn’t really describe right now. He smiled faintly at Mike’s reassurance. Right, Mike wasn’t going to run.
“The thing is, Mike, I don’t like girls.” There, he said it. And why didn’t he feel Mike’s hand on his back anymore?
He felt Mike stop on his tracks for a second, but then he immediately started again, and Will could feel the knot on his throat dissolve, and the pressure lifting from his stomach, and this was perfect, because it was Mike, they’ve been friends for so fucking long for christ sake. He dared to look into Mike’s face and all he saw was understanding. Not even an ounce of hatred or disgust.
“I— I’m sorry if—” Mike didn’t let him finish his sentence.
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“Don’t say sorry. Don’t ask for forgiveness for something that first, is out of your control, and second, isn’t anything bad!” Mike grabbed Will’s jaw gently, caressing it before he could overthink it.
Mike’s determined look changed to a soft one when he realized Will was starting to cry again.
“Come here.” Mike pulled him into an embrace. A hug he wished was going to give comfort to Will. Mike couldn’t care less about the uncomfortable position. He only cared about making Will feel better, he didn’t want him thinking even for a second that Mike was mad or something like that, in fact he was kind of glad… He felt safer because he actually was gay too, wow, shocker, and he definitely didn’t want to make a special moment for Will about himself, but would Will mind, or was he going to feel more… in company? He didn’t want to find out but he felt himself start to shake at the possibility of confessing to Will something that he found out not so long ago and
“Mike, you’re shaking.”
Welp, there goes the plan to not make Will’s moment about himself, because even if he didn’t want to he couldn’t hide it anymore, not knowing there was someone like him.
“Oh— I’m so sorry, I really didn’t want to make this about myself, like, this is supposed to be about you and…”
He was quickly shut up by a look of Will.
“Mike, what do you mean by making this about you?” Will asked carefully. He had this soft, knowing small smile and Mike could melt right there. He couldn’t believe it, he felt so pathetic.
“I— I mean, I think you’re really brave for coming out to me. Especially because… Because I’m gay too… I mean, I know this is kind of sudden but yeah. I am too. So yeah…”
Mike felt as tears pricked at his eyes, he really didn’t want to cry, not when he was supposed to comfort Will. So he discreetly wiped away his tears, only Will noticed.
Will dragged Mike out of the top of the car, and quickly pulled him into a hug. “Mike, I am so, so proud of you. What you just did was brave, and I’m thankful that you’re confiding in me for this.”
Mike sniffled. Then he laughed. “Why are you laughing?” Will asked.
“It’s just— I really— I didn’t expect this. Like— Coming out, and feeling seen I guess.”
“Yeah, me neither.” Will smiled and buried his head in Mike’s shoulder. He really couldn’t help it, and Mike didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he looked like he liked it. Will was probably just imagining things. Right? It’s not like there’s any possibility that Mike likes Will back.
Right, they’re hugging right now, and Will feels like it’s too much for a friendly hug but c’mon Will, they both just came out of the closet and they feel great and why wouldn’t they hug? “Mike”
Mike doesn’t seem to react, keeping him there but not pressing closer.
“Mike” Will insists, and this time Mike pulls closer for a second then pulls away. His eyes are glossy, like he’d been crying. “What?”
Will hesitates for the second time today. Is he really about to confess his feelings?
To Mike?
Well, fuck it.
"I— I have another thing I really want to tell you but to be honest I'm really scared."
Mike’s gaze softens for the gazillionth time, and he listens carefully.
“I really like you, okay? Like, I know you know that, but— It’s not really about friendship this time…”
He studies Mike’s face, hoping to find something else than disgust or pity. Instead he finds something like hope?
“Oh, Will…”
Mike hugs Will, tighter this time. Will finds himself tearing up because he wasn’t crazy when he thought he saw Mike staring at his lips, or the goddamn “I didn’t say it” “You didn’t have to”
Then, Mike steps away for a second, just for a hand to find his way into Will’s jaw, and the other to his hip. Mike is looking at him as if he was the most beautiful person on earth, and Will really wants to believe that. He finds Will’s eyes and asks for consent wordlessly, and Will thinks he’s going to faint as he nods shyly, finally, he can kiss those lips that have haunted him in the past, but not anymore because oh god he’s getting closer.
He finally leans in and traps Mike’s lips in a soft and chaste kiss, neither of them really having that much experience but oh god does it feel good. His hands stay frozen at his sides for a second, then he puts them both in Mike's hips. He deepens the kiss, internally screaming "I love you!". He really hopes Mike can feel it, can feel his love radiating thru his skin.
After a few minutes they break apart, and Mike starts to giggle.
"What?" Will grins.
"It's just— Oh god I can't believe it— I found your sketchbook and I still convinced myself that you didn't like me somehow and" Mike kept giggling as Will paled.
"What!? You found— Oh god." Will hides his face in his hands because if he wasn't blushing before he definitely would be now.
Will groaned. Of course! When he asked Mike to go pick up his shoes, the reason why Mike took so long was because he was looking at his sketchbook.
His sketchbook.
Not because whatever shitty excuse he gave him.
"Wait. Did you find it and then... left it where it belonged?" Will asked, even though he knew what was probably going to be the answer.
Mike looked remorsed and Will wanted nothing more than the ground swallowing him. Mike had found Will's sketchbook. And Will had no idea.
"Can I keep it?" Mike asked shyly. Will felt like he had melted at Mike's tone. He grabbed Mike's hand.
"Yeah. Only if you promise to take good care of it, it's my treasure." Will said, half joking, half serious. Mike blushed at that and Will could spend all day just looking at Mike flustered
Will gave Mike a short peck on the lips and then grabbed his hands. He then softly asked
"Are you ready to... maybe make it official? We don't have to tell anyone! It's just— It would be nice." Mike kissed him as an answer. Then, gave a verbal one.
"I would love to, boyfriend."