Chapter Text
“Finally,” a cold, drained and generally exhausted Will Byers whispers under his breath as a car pulls up alongside him, coming to a sudden stop just as the tyre is about to scrape the curb. It’s a sight Will knows well, but he’s never been quite as relieved to see his best friend’s blue Honda Civic as he is right now. As he reaches for the passenger side door handle it suddenly opens of it’s own accord. Or rather of said best friend Mike Wheeler’s accord, who has leaned across the seats to let him in and is now waving at him through the open door.
“Hi,” Mike says cheerfully, as Will climbs into the car hastily, with a speed that implies someone’s chasing him. He pulls the seatbelt across his lap and leans back into the seat with a sharp exhale, letting his head loll against the headrest.
“Hi,” Will replies.
He can feel Mike watching him from the driver’s seat as he pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, louder than probably necessary. “Sorry. I just…” he trails off.
Mike clicks his tongue, not driving off yet, just letting the car idle as he stares at Will. He’s wearing a white t-shirt that is covering up far too little of his arms as far as Will is concerned. It’s winter for gods sake. He notices the way the fabric clings to Mike’s skin, a thin defence against the cold outside. The t-shirt suits him, which doesn’t help. Now Will can’t complain about it the way he want to, his words won’t have any bite. At least the heater is cranking out hot air in the cabin, creating a cozy warmth around the two of them.
“Oh. So it didn’t go well?” Mike is asking him. There’s a tone in his voice signalling he already knows the answer.
Will almost opens his mouth to say No it really didn’t, but then he straightens up a little in his seat and thinks about it. Had it gone badly? Not really. This had been the second time he had gone out with this girl. She had embraced him tightly when he’d arrived at the restaurant, she had asked him questions through the night and laughed at all his jokes. She had let him hold her hands across the table, and then take them away again when a pounding headache decided to also show up to the dinner (uninvited, might he add) and he needed to massage his temples in an attempt to get it to leave.
She had smiled at him when they parted ways, a little disappointment in her eyes after he had definitely dodged her attempt at a kiss, instead leaning in for a quick hug. Should he have kissed her? He really hadn’t wanted to in the moment if he was honest with himself. Though, he was pretty sure that was probably the headache talking.
So had the date gone well? Will supposed that it had. He’d had a nice time talking to her. She was very pretty - even Mike had said he thought so - and she obviously liked Will. And he liked her of course, definitely. Maybe if he had got a better night’s sleep he would’ve enjoyed it more. He was probably just tired.
“I think I’m just tired,” he finally says decidedly, words filling the empty car.
In his peripheral he sees Mike nod. “Makes sense. I bet you didn’t sleep at all last night. That thunderstorm was crazy, even I was freaked out and I don’t get scared of them like you do.”
Right the storm. Will had been so obsessed with stressing about his date just now that he had forgotten about the absolute downpour that had kept him awake the previous night. Every time he closed his eyes another deafening clap of thunder had taken him immediately out of his restful state, putting him on high alert all night. He shudders just thinking about it, and then realises Mike has been talking to him while he’s been in his own head.
“…So you can try and sleep now if you want” Mike is saying. “I know the seats aren’t the comfiest but we’ve still got another 20 minutes or so until we get you home”
They make eye contact over the centre console as Will nods, and all at once Mike is moving, straightening up, hands landing on the wheel at 10 and 2. “Right!” He says in a bright voice. “One taxi ride for Will Byers coming right up!”
Will settles back into his seat again. Thank god that night’s over, he thinks. If he’d had to stay out on the date any longer he’d have probably just fallen asleep at the dinner table, face first into his pasta. Now, his eyes drift shut, headache still there but a little duller now.
Through his daze Will hears the click of the turn signal, and his head rocks forward a little as the car finally pulls away from the curb. He notices that there’s music playing quietly from the speakers, something from Mike’s newest mixtape. Will doesn’t know the song yet but he’s sure he will soon, his best friend always plays his cassettes over and over, the same songs repeating until he and the rest of Hawkins are sick of them. Thankfully the volume isn’t at its usual blasting volume, instead it’s turned down, creating some peaceful background noise.
Eyes still closed, with his head throbbing, he kicks his shoes off and pulls his legs up toward his chest, curling his body inward, and turning to the side to face Mike. He sneaks a peek at the boy beside him through his lashes.
Mike’s eyes are firmly fixed on the road, eyebrows furrowing a little as he runs a hand through his hair. A couple of black strands fall down into his eyes and he blows them out of his face as his hand comes to rest back on the steering wheel. Mike’s hair looks nice, Will thinks, a quiet thought just for himself. He smiles, looking at the way it’s curling all around the boy’s head. The streetlights they’re passing shine through the black curls, creating a sort of halo. Mike is like an angel right now Will thinks sleepily. His angel, picking him up, driving him home, making sure he gets there safely.
“Thank you,” he mumbles.
Mike turns to look at him, eyes crinkling as his mouth quirks up into a smile. The hair strands fall back into his eyes. “What would you do without me,” he asks, jokingly.
Will shuts his eyes tightly. He doesn’t know what he would do without Mike, hasn’t ever known a life without him. “Die, probably,” he jokes back, but it comes out sounding a little too serious. He sighs, letting his legs flop down into the footwell, eyes staring straight ahead out the front window. “I feel terrible,” he groans, lifting the palms of his hands to his eyes and pressing so hard stars begin to swim in his vision. “I have a headache that’s lasted three whole hours and it won’t go away”
“Will!” Mike exclaims so incredulously and suddenly that Will has to turn and look at him again. “You sat there with a headache for three hours? You could’ve asked if the restaurant had a phone you could use to call me. I would’ve picked you up earlier.”
Will feels a strange warm feeling swelling inside his chest when he hears how bothered Mike sounds about this. “But we had already arranged for you to pick me up at 9.”
“But I-” Mike starts to say, before Will cuts him off.
“I didn’t want to inconvenience you any more than I already have. You already drive me—”
“Will,” Mike interrupts him. “You're not an inconvenience. Ever. I mean- seriously never.”
Oh. The warmth in his chest explodes into a million butterflies. Mike was always nice to him, but he had never said something that sounded so genuinely sweet.
Mike’s eyes soften as he looks over at his best friend. “You could like, kill someone and I’d help you hide the body.”
Will feels as though his cheeks are going to fall off from how hard he’s smiling. “Really?”
“Obviously!” Mike exclaims. “And you’d do the same for me I hope.”
Will nods so hard he winces, headache still very much there.
“See” Mike says. “You wouldn’t call me an inconvenience. You couldn’t be one either.”
Will sinks into his seat and stares out the windshield, afraid that if he says anything the moment will disappear. Mike’s words repeat over and over in his head. Will you’re not an inconvenience. You're never an inconvenience, Will.
The butterflies are back, more fluttery than ever in his stomach. And his head’s still pounding. Mike must see him grimace because suddenly he’s leaning over, hand on the glovebox handle, eyes still on the road.
“I have some Tylenol in here I think.” His hand bumps into Will’s knee as the hatch falls open. A couple of mixtapes drop out onto the floor along with a bottle of tablets and Mike sighs, picking it up to hand to Will, hand brushing his as he passes it over.
Will can feel where Mike touched his knee. And his hand. Hot and glowing, as if his skin had burnt Will’s own.
Will’s hands shake as he opens the Tylenol bottle, tipping two into his hand. The medicine doesn’t usually do anything to touch the headaches he gets, but right now he’ll try anything.
“Here,” Mike says in a half-whisper. He’s holding out his own drink bottle.
Will takes it, ignoring the tingle in his fingers when they make contact again with Mike’s. He takes a sip, popping the tablets in his mouth and swallowing. “Thanks”
He tries not to think about the fact that his lips had just touched the same drink bottle that touched Mike Wheeler’s mouth on the daily. Why did his brain always get so weird around Mike? He shared drinks with his other friends all the time and this never happened. He shook his head imperceptibly, trying to rid these things from his mind. He knew it was the tiredness’ fault, taking down his usual walls, doing nothing to prevent the many thoughts from pushing their way into his head, uninvited.
“So,” Mike says with a raise of his eyebrows. “Are you going to try and sleep?”
“I don’t think I can” Will replies. “This headache is making it impossible.” It’s only a half lie, the headache really does feel very uncomfortable. But mostly he just wants to keep talking to Mike.
Mike talks and Will can hear the smile in his voice. “As much as I think you should rest, I’m kind of glad you’re not”
Will glances sideways at him. “Why?”
“To be honest I’m really tired. Keep talking to me so I don’t fall asleep.” Mike stifles a yawn in the middle of his sentence, proving his point.
“Mike that’s bad. Do you need to pull over?” Will’s voice comes out sounding so concerned that Mike laughs.
“No, I’m being dumb. I just like hearing your voice.”
There it is again, another sentence coming out of Mike’s mouth that makes Will’s heart skip a beat. He can’t keep saying things like this, not if he wants Will to be able to keep talking to him.
They look at each other and share a smile with soft eyes. Will has always found that late night drives bring out a side of Mike that he otherwise wouldn’t see. It’s very pleasant, seeing him in this state, he thinks. There’s a level of comfortable conversation that can only be found in this kind of car ride. It feels as though he could say anything at all. Maybe it’s something to do with the way they’re both facing forward, not looking at each other. It’s a little scary, the way Will feels like he has to monitor everything coming out of his mouth, passing it through a filter before he deems it as okay to say aloud. He’s not usually like this. Again, late night drives.
Anyway, Mike wants him to talk, so he talks. He tells his friend in immense detail the night he’s had, even about the hugs and the hand holding.
“Did you two kiss?” Mike wants to know.
Will hesitates. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit what he was thinking to himself earlier. That he didn’t want to kiss her tonight. And he’s not sure if he ever will. But he’s facing the road and Mike isn’t looking at him and he could say anything he wanted to right now and it would be okay.
“No.” Will says bluntly. “We didn’t.”
“Really?” Mike says surprised. “But she's so pretty. Were you just scared, d’you think?”
Will sighs, mulling over what to reply with. “Yeah, I was nervous. I just kept waiting for it to feel different and I just… didn’t feel anything. Maybe I’m just bad at this stuff.”
“I felt scared before my first kiss” Mike says, casually. “But it’s not as weird as you think, I promise. You’ll know what to do.”
“But what if I don’t” Will speaks into existence what’s been on his mind for a while now. “I hate that it’s not something I can practice. Like why does someone else have to experience my learning curve with me. It’s not fair!”
Mike laughs a little, kindly though. “I feel like the longer you leave it the scarier it feels. You’ve just got to get it over and done with.”
“I should’ve just kissed her tonight” Will sighs. “She’s in Michigan for the next month. How am I meant to deal with a month’s worth of these feelings?”
“God this is really stressing you out,” Mike says, surprised. “It’s not that serious, Will. Don’t worry about it.”
“I am worried though!” Will exclaims. “What if I spend a month worrying and then I kiss her and I suck and she stops talking to me and I have to restart the whole process of asking a new girl out. I’d rather not do all that again. honestly.”
Mike hesitates, like he’s deciding whether or not to say something that’s weighing on his mind. Will looks over at him but he determinedly stares straight ahead at the road. He must make his decision because he finally begins to talk. “If you really wanted to I could…” Mike trails off.
Will freezes. Is Mike saying what he thinks he is? “What do you mean?” He says quietly, as if he’s afraid to scare Mike off.
“Obviously you don’t have to” Mike starts again. “But if you really want to just get it over with. I can- I mean… You can kiss me.”
He must’ve imagined that just now, coming out of Mike’s mouth. There’s no way his best friend just said that. But when Will turns his head to glance over, Mike is just watching him, waiting for an answer. Will opens his mouth and nothing comes out. He looks back ahead at the road. Words have escaped him.
“Sorry that was weird,” Mike says quickly, eyes flicking away from Will, as he reaches for the blinker to turn into Will’s street. “I don’t know why I said that-”
“No!” Will exclaims, voice apparently working again. “No, I… That’s really nice of you. That would be… That would actually probably help.”
“Oh,” Mike looks back at him, eyes searching his face.
“I’ll just get it over with” Will says into the air, justifying it.
“I think it will help.” Mike’s voice cracks a little. “Then you won’t be freaking out when it actually properly happens with a girl.” He fidgets as he talks, one finger scratching at some peeling skin next to his thumbnail.
They pull into Will’s driveway, headlights swinging over the front windows which reflect back into the car, shining in their faces. Mike pulls up the handbrake. Will looks over at Mike who is already watching him.
Suddenly, everything feels very real. Will blinks and inhales, breath shaking when he exhales.
“Here,” Mike says. His voice sounds so loud now, filling the car, echoing around the two of them. He reaches up and turns the headlights all the way off.
It takes Will’s eyes a second to adjust to the dark. There’s no streetlights on his stretch of road so the only light illuminating the car is the moon. He can see parts of Mike’s face; the shape of his hair, the bridge of his nose. The shine in his eyes.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Mike asks.
Will nods once, remembers again how dark the car is and instead clears his throat. “Yes. I’m sure.”
Can Mike hear how nervous he is? Can he see how Will’s hands are shaking?
“I’ll just get it over and done with,” Will says again, convincing himself.
Mike leans in a little. Will can tell because suddenly he’s very aware of the sound of the other boy’s breath. Will looks up and into his eyes. If he didn’t know any better he would think Mike was nervous too.
A strand of black hair slips down from behind Mike’s ear, falling into his eye. Before he can stop himself, Will’s own hand is reaching up and slowly tucking it back where it belongs. His fingers hover there for a moment, and then move down to touch Mike’s jaw. The other boy lets out a trembling breath and Will can feel the warmth of it on his own lips.
Mike opens his mouth to whisper, almost like he’s telling a secret. “You know, Will. I-”
Suddenly it’s not so dark anymore. There’s light falling across Mike’s face, revealing all the details Will hadn’t been able to see in the moon’s glow. His hand, still touching Mike’s jaw becomes very visible to him, and Will tears it away from his friend’s face, feeling suddenly exposed.
Mike is pulling away too, his face no longer close to Will’s own, taking with him his warm breath.
A car revs behind them both, and Will suddenly realises why the world is bathed in light again. “Jonathan,” he says.
The other vehicle pulls into the driveway next to Mike’s Honda, driving right up alongside them and then Will’s brother is waving at them through the car windows. Jonathan turns his own car off and the light that had just been surrounding them disappears again, all at once.
“Right,” Mike says. “Well. I guess… I’d better.” Will’s eyes adjust to the dark again as he watches Mike gesture over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” Will agrees, picking up his discarded shoes from the footwell where he had kicked them off. “Sorry.”
They make eye contact a little awkwardly.
Will’s hand reaches for the door handle, and he trips a little as he steps out of the car. “Well. See you later”
Mike gives him a half smile that doesn’t fully reach his eyes. “See you”
Will shuts the door gently and steps back, watching as his best friend turns the car’s headlights back on and waves goodbye. Will waves back, hand still shaking a little. Mike reverses out the driveway, not looking at him again as he drives off.
Later, when Will is in his room lying face up on his bed, mind racing, he realises his headache is gone.