Work Text:
June 10, 1989
Hawkins, Indiana
The late morning sun poured in through the windows of Will Byers’ bedroom, casting a glow on his face that pulled him from sleep gently, then all at once.
“Shit!” He sat up, grabbing the clock by his bed. He was entangled in a mess of limbs where at least half of them were not attached to his own body. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“Hmm?” A muffled sound against his neck only raised the erraticity, Mike doing absolutely nothing to rouse himself from what seemed like a pretty good sleep. He almost felt bad about having to wake him up.
Almost.
“Mike, hey. Wake up, we fell asleep,” Will hissed as Mike’s head shot up, smacking into Will’s forehead with a crack. “Ow, god, Mike…”
Will groaned, rubbing the spot on his head as Mike blinked blearily at him, frowning as if Will had been the one to headbutt the everloving shit out of him.
“What was that for?” Mike grumbled, dropping his head back on his shoulder.
Any other day, really any other instance, Will would get up and shut the blinds and crawl back into bed to live out the dream that had taken up permanent residence in his heart and soul since he was a mere thirteen years old. The idea that one day he would be waking up in bed with Mike Wheeler clinging to him like some kind of half-naked koala bear? That he would be whining at the idea of Will trying to get up out of bed and leave him? Yeah, he would definitely indulge in this moment a little longer to appease his younger self. He owed it to the poor kid.
Unfortunately, time was not on their side this morning.
“It’s almost noon, Mike, wake up,” Will grabbed his face, pulling his head up.
Mike just smiled tiredly at him, “Good morning to you too,” He leaned in, pressing his lips to Will’s. “Sleep okay?” He murmured in between sweet, gentle kisses.
Good lord.
It’s like he wanted Will to melt into a pile of lovesick goo.
“Mike,” He warned, trying so hard to not give in to the way Mike’s hands came up to cradle his face as he kissed him. This wasn’t fair, his lack of urgency was going to give him an ulcer. “Mmm, Michael.” He tried again as Mike smiled against his lips, moving over and up to press his lips against his beauty mark.
Damn him to hell.
“Graduation isn’t until three, Will,” He kissed him again, briefly pulling away to yawn not in his face. At least there was that. “We have so much time, we have hours. That’s basically forever..”
The sound of footsteps and voices of his family filled the house, Will shaking his head and pushing him back a little. “You know my family doesn’t knock, right?”
Mike snorted, “I know, I know, I locked the door already,” He rolled his eyes, tugging him back down. “C’mon, baby, five more minutes—”
Normally, that would work, and it nearly did until…
“Will! Breakfast!” El called out, jiggling his doorknob.
“Shit,” Will scrambled out of bed. “Mike, window, out, now.” He said, practically tripping as he yanked his shirt over his head.
Mike’s eyebrows shot up, and in his state of panic, he rolled off the bed and onto the floor.
“Oh my god, Mike.” Will pinched the bridge of his nose, watching Mike slither under the bed. It was times like that when he sincerely wondered how the hell he had managed to fall in love with that idiot. He bit back a smile and cracked the door open, looking at his sister.
“Yes?” He blinked at her, watching her eyes drift right over to his bed, where Mike’s foot was sticking out.
“Breakfast is ready,” She said slowly, a knowing smirk pulling at her lips. “I will tell mom that you are getting dressed.”
“I’ll be out in five,” Will sighed a breath of relief, nodding. “I owe you.”
“That is what you said last time, Will,” She raised her eyebrows, “And still, no payment.”
“I didn’t tell Hopper about your tattoo appointment for next week.” He countered, glancing over her shoulder. “Or that you snuck out with Dustin last weekend.”
“Fine. Five minutes,” She tapped her wrist, her expression much more severe than what the situation called for.
Will sighed, “Five full minutes, this time, Jane, I swear to god–”
“Okay, okay,” She cut him off with a huff, “Jonathan wants pictures, so hurry.”
Will just snorted, closing the door on her and turning to where Mike was poking his head out now. For someone so intent on having their relationship be a secret, Mike was pretty hellbent on getting caught at that moment.
“Think she saw me?” He smiled sheepishly.
“No, she probably just thinks I’m hiding a severed foot under my bed,” Will said flatly, heading to him to tug him upward from the floor.
“Makes sense, did I hear we have five more minutes?” Mike gave him a toothy grin that vanquished any sense of annoyance that bubbled up at his boyfriend’s lack of spatial awareness.
“No, I have five minutes to get dressed and ready,” Will put a hand on his chest, stopping him from pulling him back into what would most certainly become a ‘much longer than five minutes’ makeout session purely judging from the impishness in Mike’s eyes. “You are going home to go get dressed and ready because your mom is going to freak if you’re late to your own graduation.”
Mike rolled his eyes, “I bet she hasn’t even noticed I’m not home yet,” He leaned in, pecking his cheek. “I’m not stupid, I have a pillow dummy in my bed just in case.”
“You set up a dummy?” Will tried and failed to dodge the kiss (not that he was trying that hard in the first place). “Isn’t that presumptuous of you? How’d you know I would even let you spend the night last night?”
“Oh, please, I do it every time I sneak out to see you,” Mike grinned, flopping back into Will’s bed and gazing over at him. “And don’t call me presumptuous, you sound like Max.”
He huffed a laugh, turning to his closet to get out his gown and dress clothes. “You’re really sticking around to watch me get dressed?” He looked over his shoulder to see, unsurprisingly, that his boyfriend’s eyes had not yet left him.
“I’m not watching you get dressed. I’m just spending quality time with my boyfriend. Quality time makes a relationship stronger,” Mike said simply, “I read it in a magazine, so it’s gotta be true.”
“Did you steal one of your mom’s Cosmos again?” Will snorted, pulling off his shirt and tossing it in his laundry basket before tugging his undershirt on and pulling on his button-down.
“Again—?” Mike scoffed, “I’ll have you know, they can be very informative, and you like some of the things I’ve learned from them, thank you very much!”
He laughed at Mike’s incredulous tone, knowing just how to rile him up. He wasn’t big on reading up on Cosmo, or whatever else Mike turns to for advice on certain things, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t grateful for it. Still, he stuck to his Rolling Stone himself.
Will finished buttoning up his shirt and pulling on his dress pants, his tie hanging around his neck as he made his way over to his bed. “Five minutes are up, babe,” He leaned down to kiss his nose. “I’ll see you at the ceremony, okay?”
“You’re so cruel to me, Will,” Mike sighed, as if he’d asked him to venture on a month-long journey and not a ten-minute bike ride to his own house to be away from him for a maximum of three hours.
“I know, so sorry,” He grinned, patting his head before turning to his bedroom door. “Go home, love you,” He said over his shoulder as Mike flopped onto his back and whined.
Will shook his head, biting back a grin as he slipped out of his bedroom.
—
The sunlight flooded in through the living room window, illuminating the cheap orange polyester gowns that crinkled noisily with every movement Will and El made.
He was fully dressed and ready now, his button-down on and tie neatly done thanks to Hopper, who had tied it for him after he, his mom, and Jonathan failed several times. El tried too, tying it into a knot before Hopper sighed and took over.
Excitement was buzzing under his skin, his smile wide enough that his cheeks began to feel sore. He’d had a good night, a good morning, and now he was one step closer to starting a brand new chapter of his life out in New York with his best friend and boyfriend.
The thought alone had him cheesing a little extra, he was sure he was glowing brighter than the horrible gown that covered his and his sister’s shoulders.
“Here,” He grinned over at El as she adjusted her cap, struggling to get it to stay. He reached up and fixed a couple of the bobby pins that had gotten loose, fixing the cap more securely to her hair. “Looks good,” He said, straightening the tassel out for her. “You ready?”
“Yes,” She smiled, nodding her head a little, “I can’t believe I’m graduating. I didn’t think I would get to.”
“I knew you would,” Will said, tapping the rim of her cap as her smile widened. “I’m really proud of you, Jane.”
“I’m proud of us, Will,” She yanked him into a hug, "I'm proud of you and me and everyone. We did it, we really did it.”
He felt himself tearing up a little at her words, seeing her here in her graduation gown, after everything. He wasn’t sure he’d make it here himself, more than once he thought he’d meet his end somewhere dark and cold, much too young and easily forgotten.
It hadn’t been an easy few years, nothing had been easy for him ever, but somehow, things were really starting to work out for the better. Despite it all.
“Oh, hey, before I forget,” Will cleared his throat as he reached into his pocket, handing her a little box. “Graduation present, and a late birthday present too, I guess.”
He watched as she opened the box, blinking down at the little gold oval-shaped locket, a swoopy ‘J’ engraved into the front. It made her eyes brighten all the more. “Oh, Will, it’s so pretty!”
“Here,” Will motioned to the little divot on the side with a little grin, “You can open it here.”
She opened it up, her hand going to her mouth as she stared down at the pictures.
On one side, it had a group picture of the whole party. Her, Max, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will all together down at Lover’s Lake last summer. It’d been the day before the start of their senior year, a last hurrah of sorts that Mike had planned and forced them into despite the monster heatwave that almost led to half of them getting heat stroke. Will was able to convince a stranger to snap the shot with Jonathan’s old camera that he had given to him, and he’d shown Will how to get the print small enough for the locket.
On the other side was a portrait he had drawn of Kali.
He remembered, in the first few months after the final battle, El would come into his room late at night and tell him about her sister. How when they’d first met, she was the coolest girl she’d ever seen. Her purple hair, half-shaved head. Confidence that one could only dream of. She was a force to be reckoned with, a person who could’ve changed the world, if only she had the chance.
Will had been angry at Kali for a while, for the plan that she’d made that almost led to him losing his sister, to her giving her life when she’d done nothing but give for her entire life. But he understood the fear and the danger. The thought of becoming another experiment, of her blood being used to create more people like her who would suffer at the same hands that hurt her before.
He couldn’t say he wouldn’t have considered doing the same in their shoes, that he hadn’t considered doing the same for other, lesser reasons.
He drew her about as well as he could remember from their brief time meeting. It was hard to recollect the details of her face from a time when he was alternating passing out, seizing, and panicking whilst coming out to a room full of people, including Kali. In hindsight, not his best moment. To be fair, he hadn’t expected Mike to bring everyone everyone when he’d said to get everyone in to talk. That was on him for being vague, he supposed. He didn’t have the heart or energy to kick half of them out and the time constraints and threats of narrowing mortality were his own twisted version of a truth serum, but at least he got a pretty good face model for Kali through his tears and panic.
Ever the optimist, he supposed.
Mostly, though, he drew Kali from how El had described her. Free, brave, purple hair, and beautiful. All of El’s love went into it, like it possessed his own mind and hand in order to bleed onto the paper. He was glad he had so much experience painting the little figurines for Mike, it helped with painting such a small piece in order to fit in the locket.
“Kali…” She breathed out, her finger tracing the face. “Will, this is…” He could see the tremor in her touch, how her eyes welled up. “She looks…beautiful.”
“I know how much she meant to you,” He put his hand on her shoulder, but she quickly took it off, wrapping her arms around him instead. “She’d be so proud of you too, she is proud of you.”
El nodded, her lips pressed together as she sniffled.
“Now she can be with you, I mean, she is always with you. Her memory and-and in everything you do. She’s in your heart.” Will rambled a little as she looked at him, teary eyed and smiling. “Always.”
“You really think so?” She sniffled.
“I know so,” He gave her a sad smile as she pulled it out, putting it on and holding the pendant in her hand.
“I love it, Will,” She said softly, holding it to her chest. “Thank you.”
He just smiled and pulled her into a hug, looking over at his brother and Mom fussing over the blanket that was sagging over the window.
Soon enough, they were both standing alongside their mom and Hopper as Jonathan grinned behind the camera. Soon enough, Jonathan was fussing with the window, complaining about the lighting and the shot.
“Hold on, the lighting—”
Will and El laughed as Hopper turned back to his grumpy self, barely containing it as a quick few pictures turned into a more complicated affair, with his brother struggling to get the blanket in the right spot.
Then the phone rang.
His mother stepped away, much to Hopper’s ill-hidden annoyance. She picked up the phone and answered in a soft, exasperated tone. “Hello?”
“Joyce,” Karen’s tinny voice came, mildly panicked over the phone, “Have you seen Michael? He didn’t come home last night, and he hasn’t been back this morning.”
“Oh, no, no, I haven’t seen him,” Joyce looked to her sons, giddy and grinning. “Hold on, I’ll ask Will.”
Will’s head perked up, looking to his mom and tilting his head at her concerned look. “Something wrong?”
“Mike didn’t come home last night, sweetie. Do you know where he might be?” Joyce asked him, resting the phone against her chest.
“Oh,” Will opened his mouth, about to try and flounder answer when a crash came from his bedroom, and a half-dressed Mike Wheeler ran past the window that Jonathan was still trying to cover with the sheet.
“Uh… I guess he’s outside?” Will said sheepishly, “Don’t know what he’d be doing out there…” He pressed his lips together, wincing a little as he watched Mike nose-dive right into the grass as he tried to put on his shoes while running. “Morning jog, maybe.”
Jonathan put a fist to his mouth, trying to hold back a laugh for his brother’s sake as Hopper stared him down.
“Wheeler? Really, Will?” He looked like he was going through the first few stages of grief as Joyce covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking.
“Oooh, Will!” El was grinning, taking way too much joy in the embarrassing moment for him. As if she hadn’t already known, as if she wasn’t the only one to know.
“Gross,” Jonathan teased, obviously pleased with himself as Will shot him a look.
Okay, he deserved that a little for how often he’d said that when he and Nancy had just gotten together.
“Shut up,” He shook his head, heading over to his mom and taking the phone. “He was just hanging out before graduation.”
Jonathan snorted, finally pinning up the blanket in the right place, though Mike’s retreating figure was still fully visible. Him in all his half-dressed glory. “Sure looked like it, bud.”
Will shot his brother a glare before putting the phone to his ear.
“Hi, Mrs. Wheeler,” Will greeted politely, “Mike spent the night last night. I’m sorry, I thought he told you. We, uh, well, he wanted to show me his campaign he’s been working on, and I guess we lost track of time. He’s on his way home now,” He said, leaning over to watch Mike still running outside away from the cabin, sighing when he saw that he’d only managed to get one shoe on.
Karen sighed in relief, “You’d think he would call, you know, after everything! Thank you, Will. I appreciate you, sweetheart.”
Will just grinned, “Sure thing, Mrs. Wheeler. I’ll see you at graduation.”
Karen said a quick goodbye, congratulating him before hanging up and likely preparing to rip Mike a new one.
Served him right, Will told him to sneak out thirty minutes ago.
“We’ll have a discussion about house guests after graduation,” Joyce said, though her face gave away the lack of severity despite her words. She seemed almost giddier than he had been earlier that morning.
“Door, three inches, that’s it,” Hopper tugged both El and Will back over. “Smile, picture, then let’s go.”
“Yes, sir,” Will snorted, grinning for the camera, and Jonathan snapped a few more pictures.
Really, it could’ve gone so much worse.
—
He’d narrowly survived the talk in the car, his mother stumbling over the birds and the bees (which he really didn’t need) and somehow it had morphed into her in tears telling him how proud she was of him and how happy she was that he found such a nice boy (to which Hopper made the most affronted noise he’d ever heard in his life), so really, despite the awkwardness of his mom’s initial talk, he couldn’t complain. She loved him, she loved Mike, and she supported them both. Hopper even came around for the most part, so long as Mike stopped sneaking in through the window and used the goddamn door. It was a habit Will was trying to break him of as well.
But he couldn’t help but be a little enchanted every time Mike Wheeler showed up outside his window with that stupid little smile of his. He looked a bit like a pathetic little dog at a shelter begging to be adopted, and well, he couldn’t say that look wasn’t working for him.
The ceremony itself went well enough, too, with Dustin successfully sticking it to their principal in the way he’d been planning since their sophomore year. He had said it was for Eddie, but Will felt like it was just as much for Dustin himself. He deserved that moment in the spotlight, to shine in that defiant way he did when they were kids. He knew he was getting sappy, he’d been all day, but goddammit if he wasn’t proud of him.
The party made it over to the Wheelers house after the ceremony ended, holing up in the basement for a while as Mike’s newest campaign kept them busy for a few hours. They’d made their way upstairs for lasagna, post-campaign, and dinner was as chaotic as ever when the party was all together.
Once plates were cleared and dinner came to an end, Will stood in the Wheelers’ driveway with his bike handles gripped in his hands.
It was far from the end of summer, yet tonight felt so final, like the end of something bigger than themselves. He knew, for the most part, that it wasn’t as big a deal as they were making it. They’d graduated high school, and they had plans to hang out in less than eighteen hours, down by Lovers Lake. It wasn’t goodbye, nor was it even Mike’s last campaign. He knew that, but it was a heavy night regardless.
Will gripped the handlebars on his bike, watching as Max, El, Lucas, and Dustin all climbed into Lucas’s car. The honk of the horn brought him out of his thoughts.
“Hey, man, put your bike in the back! We’re gonna swing by Stacey’s party for a bit, then we can drop you off at home!” Lucas called out to him, waving him over.
Will inwardly cringed. As fun as the party sounded, he actually did have plans tonight. Plans that were a hell of a lot more exciting, to him at least.
“That’s okay, I should really get home. My mom’s, uh, I think we’re doing like a thing.” Will waved his hand, making a show of being mildly exasperated. “Uh, like a cake or something. For graduation.”
El covered her mouth, obviously amused by the lie as Max groaned.
“He’s lying,” Max said simply, “You’re lying, William!”
“He’s got a hot date,” Dustin rolled his eyes, “I knew it, that necklace came from that ‘M’ guy or whatever. Sure, sure, ditch us on the most exciting night of the year.” He was hanging out the window as Lucas snorted.
“Tell Marlon we said hi!” Lucas called out, grinning out the window.
“Tell Marcus to come and join the party!” Dustin tacked on, “C’mon!”
He told him the necklace was too obvious…
“I told you guys, my mom got it for me. The ‘M’ is for mom.” He cringed outwardly this time because, really, that was so much worse.
“Right, sure,” Lucas looked at Max with a stupid grin. He knew too much, that much was obvious. “Well, you have fun with your cake. Not too much fun, young man!”
“Be home by ten!” Dustin tacked on, teasingly.
“Be safe!” Max waggled her eyebrows as El giggled into her hand, eliciting an eye roll from him.
“Screw all of you,” Will said through the bubbles of laughter coming up his throat. A mystery boyfriend was easier to manage than them knowing the full truth, so he took it and ran. He put up a hand to wave goodbye and started pedaling down the street.
He got as far as the Smiths’ place before seeing Lucas’s car zoom past, honking as Max and Dustin hung out the window, making kissy faces at him. He just laughed, rolling his eyes as he flipped them the bird as the car disappeared from view.
As soon as he couldn’t see Lucas’s taillights anymore, he veered a sharp right and circled back to the Wheelers’ driveway. Instead of going to the front door, he stashed his bike in the neighbor's bush and snuck over to the garage where he gave the door three soft knocks.
He heard a soft curse come from behind the door and smiled to himself as the sound of shuffling followed. The door swung open to an exasperated Mike Wheeler.
“It’s been like, twenty minutes, Will.” He huffed, pulling him inside. “That’s fifteen minutes longer than you said you’d be. Fifteen.”
Will shrugged his shoulders. “Lucas and Dustin were trying to convince me to go to Stacy’s party for at least half of that, blame them.”
“Hey,” Mike looked annoyed at that, “why didn’t I get an invite?”
“First of all, you literally did,” He moved over to him, “Second, you already said you didn’t want to go,” he said as he pulled in, Mike’s hands immediately going to his hips, "something about one last hurrah of our school days, even though I caught you drafting another campaign last night?”
“Well, yeah, but after today, it’s not our school days anymore. Like, childhood is over officially.” He huffed, his hands messing with the belt loops of his jeans, “Stacey’s party is not the way to celebrate that.”
“Right, right, my bad,” Will was still grinning up at him, despite Mike’s pouty expression, he knew Mike would rather be right where he was than some party of a girl that called them both losers for the past decade.
He watched as Mike pulled away to shut the door, locking up to the deadbolt before pulling him in, burying his face in his neck, murmuring something unintelligible. He couldn’t help but smile, the clinginess was nowhere near new, not in the past ten months they’d been officially together, nor in the seven months leading up to them getting together – that in itself was a whole different story that involved over half a year of Will wanting to simultaneously rip his own hair out and throw Mike off the tallest point in Hawkins.
Mike tugged him over to the couch, pulling him down onto it, “Sorry it’s messy, Holly and those little shits don’t know how to clean up after themselves.”
Will was halfway in his lap, laughing as he looked around the basement. It looked much like it used to after their campaigns when they were younger. Smelled like it too. “Hm, you really are getting old.”
Mike let out an indignant squawk, “Excuse me, you’re older than me!”
“In body, but not in soul, old man.” He grinned as Mike gave him a shove.
“You’re such an asshole,” He was grinning now, pulling him right back in. “My asshole.”
“Gross, Mike.” Will bit back a smile, he was such an idiot.
“Oh my god, that’s not what I meant, and you know it!” Mike was ranting again, his hands flying about as he launched into a tangent that Will was not listening to.
It was funny, almost a year in, and Mike still was god-awful at flirting. It didn’t make much of a difference, Will was still enthralled with the awkward and weird things that came out of his mouth sometimes. He wasn’t any better, but it worked for them. Didn’t stop Will from making fun of him whenever he said something particularly dumb.
It was all in good fun, and to see the way Mike’s face flushed an embarrassed, pretty pink. Sue him, he had his fun.
After a minute of letting Mike dig himself in a hole to defend his horrid flirting skills, Will climbed into his lap and pressed their lips together. Shutting him up, effective immediately.
Mike sighed, his hands moving to his waist and fiddling with his shift. He could tell that the kiss wiped away any thought he was having.
Will pulled back from the kiss after a moment, his forehead resting against Mike’s as he gave him a goofy little smile. “So,” He started, “Sitting in a bar is my future, huh? With random men?” He teased, knowing for a fact that the random man was, in fact, Mike himself.
“Well, that’s just one moment of it.” Mike was straining to kiss him again as Will pulled back, just out of reach. “Besides, you’re way out of that guy's league.”
“Mhm, and the rest?” He raised his eyebrows, borderline cheesing now.
“Fine, fine, if you really wanna know,” Mike rolled his eyes, grinning. “We graduate from NYU in the spring of ‘93. I major in English lit and minor in creative writing,” He snuck a kiss in against Will's jaw, “You double major in graphic design and art history,”
“Oh?” Will smiled, humming as Mike continued kissing down his neck. “Double major. Ambitious.”
“Yeah, we got this nice apartment downtown, two bedrooms,” He said between kisses, “First is for us, you know, second is a combination writing room for me and studio for you, we can work on our comic in there.”
“Our comic, huh?” Will pulled back just a little to look at him, and god, he knows he looks gone already.
“Mhm, I’m the writer, obviously—”
“Obviously,” Will’s smile widened.
“But I do consider your input, my loyal cleric,” Mike grinned back at him, his eyes glittering in the low light of the basement.
“Why of course, my valiant paladin,” He leaned in, their noses brushing, “C'mon, tell me more.”
“Insatiable, that’s what you are,” Mike huffed, though Will knew he wouldn’t refuse.
“Old news, storyteller,” Will’s hands made it up to his hair, disrupting the gelled-down strands to bring his curls back to life a little. “Go on, I’m listening.”
Mike didn’t fight it, letting Will ruin his hair as his hand came up to mess with his necklace. “Hmm, we get a dog.”
“In the city?”
“Small one,” Mike explained, tugging the necklace a little to bring Will closer, “She’s yappy, but not too energetic. She’s older, ‘cause the second you saw she’d been in the shelter for like, a year, you get all misty eyed and we end up having to get her.”
Will’s fighting a sappy smile, bumping their noses together. “You like cats,” he argued weakly.
“Yeah,” He hummed, “but I love you.”
Will couldn’t help it, the warmth of the words rushed over him, and he was a breath away from swooning. That, of course, he can’t do or Mike will never let him hear the end of it.
Will closed the distance again, slotting their lips together just for a moment before pulling away again — much to Mike’s dismay.
“I’m impressed that you think we’ll be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment, college, and an old ass dog.” He said, really giving the scenario serious thought. “And a bedroom big enough for an art studio and a desk for you to write?”
Mike stared at him, his lips pressed together. He knew that look well, he always got it when he couldn’t decide if he was annoyed or amused.
“You are such a dork, babe.”
“I’m realistic, Michael, this is serious business,” Will grinned down at him, toying with the collar of his shirt. He knew just how to teeter that line, how to keep that sappy, gooey look in Mike’s eyes. He knew his advantages, and he was damn well going to use them.
“Hm, I’ll show you serious business.” Mike’s hand came up behind his neck and pulled him back down into a slow, gentle kiss.
Yeah, Will knew exactly what he was doing, and he was right where he wanted to be.
Really, he didn’t know what the future held. They’d be off to New York City in a few months and shacked up in a dorm for the first year at the very least. Somewhere along the line, they’d finally tell their friends and maybe even Mike’s family. He was almost certain Nancy knew, but he’d wait until Mike was ready to fully be out to confirm. He knew he wouldn’t be going stag to any queer bars, and that Mike wouldn’t be stuck writing stories about their past, he knew some day soon they’d be out to everyone they love.
For now, it was theirs and theirs alone.
And if they showed up to Lovers Lake an hour late the next day with a clear mark of evidence in the shape of a singular dark purple bruise on the side of Will’s neck, well…
The secret was fun while it lasted.