Archive of Our Own ^beta

Will cast the spell, rolling his favorite blue twenty-sided die in the palm of his hands, and, unknowingly, spoke the wrong words from his description card. He noticed the mistake as he looked at the card again, but he was confident enough to let Mike decide if the spell would take the desired effect and an ally would come to the rescue of their party currently being held at multiple sword points by an angry group of hobgoblins, or if he would let it fail.

“As the portal appears and through steps in -”

“Oh, come on, dude, that spell shouldn’t work like that,” Dustin mumbled across the table, only slightly annoyed that Will once again found a loophole. Will grinned at him, too happy with himself.

“Leave it, Dustin,” Max nudged his arm, “I want to know what happens.”

Mike smirked without minding the interruption, purposefully not meeting Will’s eyes he was sure were full of joy and excitement. 

Just as Mike was about to continue, a real shimmering light appeared in the corner of the basement as the dice flew from Will’s hands, rolling across the mini battlefield coming to a step in between their D&D characters carefully set on the table. 

Nobody noticed the slight pulse and shift in the air, not until a boom echoed in the room, stopping the cheers over a successful saving throw roll. 

The party looked up at the sudden noise, shifted in their seats to murmur against each other what could have caused it, and in the next moment, they were blinded by a bright light that flashed through the room, then immediately dimmed again.

They blinked the sudden blindness away, when from the corner they noticed a movement. 

A figure was crouched on the floor, heaving a cough to get their bearings. Leather boots and dark feathered cloak were more or less the only visible features, that was until they stood up. Gasps echoed in the room and chairs being pulled across the floor as they all got up to see better when they recognized the face of the stranger.

In the middle of the basement now stood someone very closely resembling Mike, except for his clothes. He looked like he was trying out a costume for another one of their D&D campaigns, except the materials didn’t look cheap or store-bought, they were worn and weathered by everyday use and by the look of it also recent skirmishes.  

A sword was hanging by his side, sheathed, and with a prickle of worry Will noticed his temple was bleeding.

When their eyes met, the figure moved too quickly and made everyone scramble from the table to put some distance between them. 

“William!” he breathed out in relief. “You’re alright! Thank Melora.”

Chaos erupted in the room. Shrieks were tossed from one side of the table to the other, “William? Did you just-” “Who the hell are you?” “Where did you come from?” “Did you just call Will William?” “Dude, back off, what is wrong with you?”

But the figure paid them no mind as his eyes were only on Will, and Will couldn't help but stare as if frozen in place, watching the stranger with curiosity and fascination.

The Mike that wasn’t Mike lifted a hand, as if he wanted to touch Will, touch his cheek, maybe embrace him, his pained expression caused Will to take a step to him on an instinct, the resemblance to Mike and seeing him so worried and hurt tugged at every string in his chest. 

The figure stopped a few paces away when Mike, the real Mike, stepped halfway in front of Will, putting himself directly in between his friends and the stranger that could have been his mirror image. “Whoa, whoa. Stay where you are!” 

The paladin’s mind was reeling as he stared Mike up and down, then looked over at the rest of the party who were gawking at him with various states of shock and open mouth.

It was Will who first gathered his words, “You said my name. I- I am Will, but how did you know? Are you..” Will’s eyes returned to the abruptly abandoned table where their characters were in the middle of a battle, then he eyed the sword by this strange version of Mike’s side. “Are you a paladin? A real life paladin?” He asked, wonder and awe slipping into his words. Was this possible? How could this happen? 

He looked so much like Mike, but upon closer inspection he noticed the differences immediately. He was a bit taller, maybe a bit older too, just a few years up to them.

His hair was longer, past his shoulders and bundled in a messy braid which was tied by a tattered and faded yellow ribbon, the braid was sitting on his dark feathered cloak that was covered in patches of blood and something worse, gore and dust.

His temple was caked with old blood and Will’s hands itched to get a washcloth and clean it to make sure the wound wasn’t deep or infected. 

He’s beautiful, thought Will in a moment of weakness between panicking and being surprised by the sight in front of him. To his side, he noticed Mike tense up even more the longer he felt the other Mike’s eyes on him.

Something was pulling him towards him, but Will stayed where he was, probably because it was a bad idea no matter how much he wanted to justify it to himself.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. 

“I am a paladin, indeed, although if I am in a foreign land such as this and without the rest of my companions, I feel the title of itself is not carrying the weight it should be. Ser Michael of the Circul lineage, at your service." He made a small bow, cloak tucked into his side. 

“Dude, how cool is that?” Dustin was on the edge of his chair, leg bouncing with barely contained excitement ever since the stranger turned their face to them. 

Will tried to look around to gauge the reaction of the others as well, which were similarly speechless. Max was gripping Lucas’ hand, looking like she wanted to shout something very loudly, possibly in Mike’s face, but Lucas held her back with wide eyes that kept looking from Will to Mike and then to their new guest. 

The only one who didn’t seem phased at all by any of what was happening, was El, who kept sitting at the table, quietly taking in all the information. When Will caught her eyes, she only sent him a wink with a small smile. 

“And of course you’re William. Will. But-” the paladin paused, weighing his words as his eyes scanned the rest of the party, then darted back to Will’s face as the realization quietly hit him, he whispered the words almost as if to himself, “But you’re not my William.”

“What?” Will could only gulp, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. The word caught in his throat and he had to swallow hard, because he was seeing two Mikes in the room, and even on normal occasions dealing with one Mike was a tough task, not just because he could be a lot, but because everything about him was still and always will be endearing to Will, despite all they’d been through, and despite the pain of the longing that couldn’t be ever spoken out loud, Will was still head over heels for him, hopelessly knowing it could never be returned. 

But now, seeing another version of him, who spoke so… lovingly about another version of Will? Unbelievable. He had to be dreaming or something. How was this possible!? 

The paladin was watching Will with his dark gentle eyes, worry and sadness etched between his brows. 

Then, as if he didn’t turn Will's whole world upside down and didn’t send the rest of the party into more held back whispers and gesturing, he turned to look at Mike, who as Will noticed only now, was unusually tense and avoiding making eye contact with any of his friends. 

“And you.. you are me? What is your name here?”

Mike looked around the room, confused just like everyone else. “Mike Wheeler. Where did you come from?“ he gestured wildly with his hands, demanding any sort of answer that could explain how someone that looked exactly like him could appear out of thin air right in front of their eyes. Were they hallucinating? Was this some kind of prank? But he looked too real, too… sturdy. 

“I must have been teleported here. The last thing I remember was the battle. Where exactly is this place?”

“Hawkins. This is my family’s house. The Wheelers.” Mike sounded annoyed now, and Will wanted to smile at how crazy it was to hear both of them at once. Their voices sounded almost exactly the same – the softness that carried on the words when Mike wanted to calm someone down, then annoyance mixed with tension and abruptly barking the words out. He was putting up a wall to protect himself and even the paladin could see that, from the way his eyes swept over the room again.

“Hawkins.” he mumbled, “Are you sure we aren’t in Hawk’s End? It does appear similar to my town’s name.”

“What? No. No, that’s not.. wait. Wasn’t that the name of the town in your campaign, Will?” Mike turned to still speechless Will and the way his voice immediately softened when addressing Will was palpable in an instant. Will bit back a smile as he blushed, the attention of both of their gazes prickled the skin on his arms and neck, in the best way possible.

He coughed to get back his voice, “Yeah. Yeah, it was one of the older campaigns. The heroes of Hawk’s End, saving their town from the hordes of monsters sprouting from everywhere. Later they realized those were controlled by the Demon Sorceress.”

“Peculiar.” The paladin said. “In our world she was working for the Order of the Black Hand.”

Will and El flinched at the title, memories of Vecna and the Mind Flayer controlling his friends and trying to take over Hawkins were still fresh in all of their minds. Almost on instinct, Will reached out to touch his neck, but felt relieved when he didn’t feel any unnatural goosebumps against his fingertips.

It was a few weeks ago when the townspeople woke up from the horrible nightmare where Vecna was trying to control Hawkins, but the worst was hopefully really behind them. Everything was back to normal. As normal as it all could be, after the worst few years they barely survived. 

The paladin watched them carefully, adding with a desperate note in his voice “I have to get back to my world. To my companions. To my  William.”

When no one else spoke after the confession, Max asked, with hesitation and surprising gentleness,  “Your William?” 

“Yes, my husband.” The paladin nodded with great urgency. A curl of his hair freed itself from his braid and half covered his eyes, which were now downcast with sadness only Mike could truly understand. 

The Mike of Hawkins stood completely frozen to the spot, eyes not daring to meet anyone else in the room, and his fists were clenched by his sides, trembling with an avalanche of confusion that was threatening to swallow him whole. Shame was gripping his lungs so hard he was surprised he was still breathing alright. 

The paladin continued and his eyes were pulled back towards Will like a magnet always pointing towards the North pole. “I need to find a way to get back to my world. To him and to the rest of my companions. But especially to him. He’s where I belong,” he said urgently. “I’m part of his heart just like he is part of mine. The moments we have been apart were never good signs. Bad things keep happening when something tries to divide us, and my heart keeps breaking, knowing I cannot see any clear path back to him. It hurts me more than any physical wound my enemies could try to cut me with.“ 

His expression turned glum and desperate, he turned around the room if he wouldn’t notice any portal that would take him right back from where he came from. His eyes were lost as if he wasn’t really there with them anymore, lost in the distance of his memories somewhere beyond his line of sight. “I can’t- I need to know he’s okay.”

When he looked up, he saw all their faces shocked, and what was more frustrating were the tears glistening in Will’s eyes. He wanted to wipe any fear or discomfort from his face, to reach him and bring him into his arms, even if it wasn’t his William, he was still someone who wore his face and the heartbreak on his face was making Michael’s breath hitch with pain. 

The paladin looked at Mike next, only now noticing the odd tension that settled over the room. “Are you not.. are you not together in this world?” he asked, baffled.

Will tried not to flinch at the bluntness of the question. He wanted to explain, somehow, that because his friends knew that Will was… different, maybe that was where those assumptions would point to. That he should apologize for that. Over and over again- but he ground his teeth in shameful silence instead. 

He was surprised to hear Mike next, a harsh tone that took him off guard, “No. No, we’re.. we’re just friends, okay? We’re friends.” he repeated, and Will had to look to the ground again. 

Yes, Mike had let him know that more than once before. They were friends. And Will would be okay with that, of course he would, if it wasn’t for this strange version of Mike showing up and saying in another universe he and Will were married. How could he ever be okay after hearing that?

The paladin raised an eyebrow, lip curled down with a frown. He could read Mike like an open book, a book with a lock, no less, and although this version of the world didn’t have the same occurrence of monsters as his homeworld, they were still monsters capable of getting inside their head. 

Michael found it more often than not that it was usually people being the most close minded and judgemental, and their hate often burrowed deeper than most monsters could, words sharper than any weapon, cutting them from the inside out.

“Apologies. I didn’t mean to assume. I simply can’t imagine.. well.” He looked at Will, hope in his eyes so bright it took everything in Will’s power to break eye contact before he felt like something would break him apart from the inside. “It is a lot to get used to such a different world, that’s all.”

Michael coughed and gathered his composure again, yet his heart was beating wildly at seeing any version of Will in distress. Wasn’t this Mike also affected by it? “Either way, I have to find my way back home. I would appreciate your help. I would be in your debt.”

With that, the rest of the party began to breathe and move again. They regrouped around the table and started putting together an idea how it was possible for the paladin to end up in their dimension and to devise a plan to help him make the journey back to his world. 

Something was very wrong. 

As soon as William noticed something pulled at his heart, tugged and yanked at the golden string binding him to his other half, he froze in place. 

Michael?

Time stopped in that moment. The battle around him still raged, but his ears were muddled with cotton, unhearing, eyes unseeing. 

He knew his friends were around him, still attacking, dodging and defending as best as they could against the hordes of the monsters, the earth under them as if it was spawning more and more each second.

William had lost sight of Michael, he didn’t know when exactly, it must have been for only a moment, but when he realized he couldn’t see him, feel him, it was as if something had cut him in half. 

In last attempt to end the battle, William reached into his pouch for his components, muttered the words of a spell he learnt only days ago, hoping there was enough conviction behind his teeth and called to his powers with his staff, called to his deity to protect them and to protect his paladin. 

He waited a beat- one, two beats. It was taking too long, but then as if an invisible force smited all their enemies into nothing.

When the dust finally settled, there were no more monsters around them. The ground shook one last time, before silence replaced the sounds of metal striking against armor and magic flying through the air.

William sank to his knees, panting and clutching his chest, the necklace around his neck cold to the touch and too heavy. A cry ripped out from his throat as he frantically looked around to find the silhouette of his paladin. Nothing. No sight, no feeling. 

In the periphery of his vision, he noticed movement as Dustin, Max and El rushed to him, “Will! Will, are you okay?” 

Lucas was not far behind, keeping an eye if any more enemies would show up, an arrow still knocked against his bow. 

As they scanned the surroundings, voices overlapping with the same uncertainty, everyone had the same questions: “Where is Michael? Have you seen him? Did they take him? There’s no body, no sign of him leaving with anyone.”

Panic started to seep through William’s veins. Where is Michael? Where is he? He was there, by his side only moments ago, and then poof, gone, disappeared. “I don’t know.” He managed to get the words out, barely a whisper, his throat closed with worry. 

His sister crouched beside him, hand on his back, offering him some comfort. He looked at her, tears in his eyes, “El, I can’t feel him.” He pressed his lips tightly shut after the words made it through, as if they were poison, spitted out. “I can’t feel him anywhere. Our bond… It should be unbreakable. Only.. only by death. I can’t-”

El looked up to their other friends, eyebrows worried, Max nodded and tore a piece of her cloak which El took as she sat beside William, close enough that they were still touching. She put the cloth around her head, tying it with a practised ease. 

The silence filled the battlefield except for a few crows settling back on the empty ground around, searching for food. In a few hours a new day would begin. A new sun would rise, but it was always the darkest before dawn. William felt like he was in a very bad dream and he couldn’t wake up.

El was scrying, trying to locate their paladin, but as the blood started to trickle from her nose, Will knew it wasn’t working. She never had to focus this much, even on more dangerous missions, not after all the years of training and studying magic. 

Something was so very wrong and William could barely breathe.

There, glinting in the last sun rays, Will noticed the beaten two-colored metal of Michael’s shield, his coat of arms in the shape of a heart. Dustin must have followed where his eyes were pointing and rushed to pick it up, wiping away the layer of dust that settled over it, and quietly handed it to Will.

He gripped the shield tightly and his eyes went white, trying to get anything from either scrying, locating Mike or asking his deity for help. Divination was never Will the Wise’s strong subject, but he had to try.

Michael? My beloved, where are you? 

Nothing. No pang of familiarity in the distance of the spell’s limits. He felt sweat run down his temple and blood ooze from his ears.

“I’m sorry, Will, I can’t reach him. It’s as if-- “

“Don’t. Please, don’t say it.” He mumbled, stopping her short of saying the unthinkable. 

Lucas was pacing beside him, and Max and Dustin were trying to search the rest of the battlefield if they didn’t overlook anything, but he would know. There was nothing there. No trace of Michael, just his shield and an empty space beside William where he used to stand, always too near, a hand on his elbow, a kiss ready to press against his cheek to warm him up. He shuddered now as he felt the cold air rush through him. 

“I can try one more spell. But if it doesn’t work… well, you might see. Do we still have any Greater Restoration potions? Might be in need of one soon.”

“Will, what are you trying to do?” El asked with worry written all over her face.

“I have to try everything, okay? I have to find him.” he said while wiping the fresh blood trickling from his nose again. “His oath is mine to him as well.” 

There was one more option he had. A spell he never used before, a ritual. But it'd take all of his energy with little to no insurance to keep his sanity if he failed, but he had to try. 

Contact other plane. 

As soon as William began casting the spell, he felt his energy leaving him with the words. 

He focused in his mind on his paladin and on the bond that always sang so sweetly between them. He imagined him, in all his brave and courageous self when they stood side by side on the battlefield, his long, dark and wavy hair, often plastered to his forehead from sweat under his helmet, but silky to the touch. Will could imagine running his fingers through it. Memories of his brilliant smile resurfaced next, a smile that turned something akin to shyness whenever their eyes would meet across the room; freckles dotting his cheeks like stars themselves. A sword on his belt, a shield on his back. His warm, gloveless hand holding Will's own. He imagined all that and pulled at their vow. 

Magic and love began to circle around him like strings of their oath, blue and yellow, mingling into green.

“My love, where are you? Show me, where are you? No matter the distance, the plane of existence or time itself, I will find you.”

With a pang in his chest, he felt the spell fail, and immediately he sank limp to the ground, Lucas and Dustin caught him before he could hurt himself. The spell ended as his mind shut down - but not before he caught a glimpse that looked like a miracle itself. 

He shook as a seizure muddled his thoughts into flashes of images - He saw him, alive and smiling, but he noticed the crease in between his brows, his hair disheveled, kind eyes tired.  A mere glimpse of the man he loved, but just enough to throw a tether to the other side, the one way sign pointing him in the right dimension. 

He would find him, he would always find him.

Will was crying now, exhausted, and his brain was not catching up with anything that was happening around him, except one thing he knew for sure - His paladin was alive! Michael was alive.

He felt hands on his own as they trembled from panic and cold, and his body being cradled to the side so he wouldn’t hurt himself through the aftershocks of the failed spell. His heart felt like it was being ripped in half, broken in two. 

He heard distant voices of his party by his side, “Help me with this now, carefully. Hold his head, like that, gently.” and felt the familiar healing tincture poured into his mouth. Calmness spread almost instantly through his tired mind and body, and sleep finally claimed him. 

With his last strength he gripped the handle of his paladin’s shield tightly in his hand. 

Michael kept pacing between the couch of the basement room and the stairs leading somewhere upstairs into the foreign land that he had no inclination to see or explore.

When he looked between the others, who were now crowded over books which this world’s Dustin brought from somewhere, they were all tense and arguing. 

“Just listen, Mike!” Dustin yelled across the room, the others flinched, but Mike remained unphased. “It makes no sense he would end up here with no explanation, right? There has to be a reason, something or someone who sent him here! After all this, that damn impressive lookalike of yours just shows up and what? You say we don’t even ask him about things?”

“He could be a spy for all we know.” Mike shouted back in the same tone, annoyed by Dustin’s admiration for that stranger, and it wasn’t just him - the whole party kept gawking and either comparing the two of them or just straight up admiring the taller and stronger version of himself, and it all started to piss Mike off. 

He would be on board to join in their questions about any details, as he was still kind of impressed by that sword himself, except if it wasn’t for the.. the love angle there. 

Mike didn’t need to know more. He was scared shitless what more this other version of him could bring up that could put him through absolute hell and probably caused him to lose all his friends. Nope. He had enough for the day. 

They just had to find a way to get rid of him. To push him away into some other portal, or even better, back to his mind from whence he probably came from. Somehow. That was a thought that brought all the shame and guilt right back up Mike’s throat every time he saw this cooler version of himself as much as glance in Will’s direction. He couldn’t be real. He just couldn’t.
“He could be an illusion, or, or, some madman, for all we know, and you want to trust him? How can you be so okay with this?”

“Because he’s cool as hell?” Max quipped with a smirk. “You know, cool sword, cool hair, much more improvement overall.” She gestured to all of him.

Mike made a face at her and scoffed “Gee, great. I bet your other version is much cooler than you are.”

“Oh, I bet she is!” Max smiled even more widely, and turned back to the paladin, “Am I in your world? Am I also named Max there?” 

Mike wanted to shush her, but she just punched a playful fist lightly into his side to keep him from interrupting again.

Will had to stifle a smile, pressing his lips tightly so he wouldn’t draw attention. The situation was truly baffling. 

The paladin watched their bickering with a bittersweet smile on his lips. He nodded at last at Max, “She is. She’s the worst, I can tell you that.” He said, but there was no ill-intend. “She’s clever as a fox, and just as fast.”

Max beamed at his words and Lucas whistled. “What about me, is there a Sir Lucas in your kingdom?”

The paladin sat down on the couch after finally giving up on his pacing. He removed the heavy cloak and put it over the armrest. “Sir Lucas the Valiant. Dear friend of mine and one of the best archers across the realm. He protected my back many times over. The rest of our companions can always depend on him to keep a cool head.” 

He looked at Dustin, “Sir Dustin is there too, always curious, always knows how to cheer his companions, he has a tune to brighten the mood on any occasion, or a book under his arm to share his vast knowledge. He gestured over the books on the table. “Seems like you all match the friends I have back.. back in my world.”

His eyes went over to where El stood beside Will, watching him like a hawk. She was still trying to trust new people, but it was hard with everything she went through. Understandable, too. 

Michael nodded to her with a smile, “El, the mage and savior of the kingdom. Her strength and kindness are unmatched. Only perhaps..” his eyes moved to Will, “only perhaps by her brother, William the Wise.” 

El quietly squeezed Will’s hand, repeating the word “Sister,” to herself as Will nudged her shoulder in kind, with half a smile on his face. 

There was a distance from his smile to his eyes. His face was unreadable, something that pained Michael to realize - he forgot there ever was a time where he wasn’t privy to William’s thoughts. He could understand the smallest of inclinations and movements from the position of his brows, his mood from the tilt of the corner of his lip, he could read his thoughts from the wells of knowledge that were his hazel eyes. 

And knowing all that… it burned him now, and it spoke volumes that this wasn’t his Will. Yet still, he was enchanting in all the same ways his cleric was. 

The version of himself broke off the strange lull in the conversation as the paladin kept studying Will from afar. 

Mike coughed to bring attention back to the problem, “Okay. So just. Let’s find a way to get him back to his world. Okay? If that happened with a spell, maybe another spell could reverse it?”

“Well, I gotta be the bummer guy, but it’s getting kinda late, and you know, we have to get back home, feed our cats.” Dustin looked regrettably from the paladin to his friends. “But we will be back tomorrow, first thing in the morning, right?”

Mike sighed, but nodded. He closed the books one by one. 

Lucas and Max nodded too, the three of them picking up their things scattered around the room and saying goodnight to the paladin watching them leave with yearning to return to his home as well. 

Mike looked between the retreating friends up the stairs, to the paladin lost deep in his thoughts on the couch, to Will, whose back was turned to him and who busied himself with putting their D&D books back up on the shelves. He sighed, “I’ll be right back. Just gonna see them off.” Mike mumbled, and ran up the stairs to catch up with Dustin, Lucas and El. 

Will tried to clean up the mess after the whole day. There were empty pizza boxes and coke cans and D&D characters to put away. 

“Are you staying here, William?” The paladin asked, suddenly interested in the change of tension in the air. 

Maybe.. maybe his senses weren’t completely wrong and something was happening between the other versions of William and himself in this world. His heart knew it would be true in every reality. But their distance and careful looks told him a different story at first.

After a moment of hesitation, Will came to join him on the couch, his hands curling into the sleeves of his hoodie, “I’ve been living here for some months now. It’s a long story. There was a monster that attacked me, a few years ago,” he looked up to see if he should continue, and after an encouraging nod from the paladin showing he was listening, Will told him everything. 

He was surprised it was so easy to talk to Michael, but as soon as he thought that, he felt stupid. Of course it was so easy, it was still Mike, and they used to tell each other everything. It was just as easy to open up to this version of his best friend, because deep in his heart he knew he could always trust him.

“We thought it was over, but the monster came back. We defeated it again but mom thought it was better to move away so we sold our house and moved far away. But then the monster came back and so did we- my mom, El and my brother Jonathan, but.. there wasn’t a house for us anymore. Mike’s parents were kind enough to let us stay because the whole town was quarantined and in quite a catastrophic condition. And now we defeated the monster again, but we are still figuring out the part of how to.. how.. to keep living after-after all that.” His voice wavered on the last sentence, excitement slowing down while his hands kept shaking more and more, until he felt sudden warmth wash over them. 

“I am sorry to hear that, William. Truly.” The paladin said, hands tenderly holding Will’s own, a thumb was moving in circles over the knuckles and Will thought maybe this is what love was supposed to feel like, soft and gentle. 

He looked up to see the paladin looking at him with so much concern in the familiar yet different eyes of one Mike Wheeler that Will’s first instinct was to pull away, unless he would blurt out something embarrassing. Something that might feel more like a confession, that he wasn’t ready to face the consequences of. 

The relationship between Mike and he was off for some time. With Vecna gone, Will had hoped things would get back to how they were before, years ago. But that was another illusion and wishful thinking on his part. Nothing would ever be the same, nothing could be. They had to grow up, find themselves and find someone… someone who might actually be okay with who they were. Maybe even part ways, if necessary.

Despite that first instinct to hide away from the searching gaze of the paladin, Will stayed where he was, enjoying the minute of attention from someone so closely resembling the one his heart belonged to.

“Mhm. It’s alright. I love it here, anyway.” Will admitted. It was probably a well known secret to everyone else. “ It feels more like a home than our house ever was.”

Will the Wise knew what he had to do once he opened his eyes back in his room.

“You’ve seen him, right?” El was sitting beside his bed when he woke up. He still felt exhausted from casting that spell, although the sleep rejuvenated his spirits slightly, there was still one option he could do now, and it would leave him exhausted once again.

He nodded. “Yes. I know how to get to him. I will bring him back.” WIll took her hand and she smiled sadly at him. 

“You do that, Will. And once you find him, you tell him to never do that again, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Will laughed and El was relieved to hear that and see him smile again. 

“I will cover for you at the academy, but you better be back soon. Otherwise the others might think you’re on your second honeymoon or something.” She raised a brow saying he definitely shouldn’t do exactly that while they were away.

“I just hope he’s okay.” The laugh died down after a moment, the real concern worrying Will immediately as his chest still felt torn in two. 

“I know. Me too,” she pulled him into a hug. “You can do this Will. Come back safe soon. Both of you.”

“I promise.” Will hugged his sister again, tight enough to make her laugh as they swayed from side to side for a short while. “Thanks, El. I owe you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“And El?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you. Keep the others safe here, okay?”

She chuckled as she stepped towards the door of his room, twirling her brand new staff in her hand, “Love you, too, Will. Be careful.” 

William drew the sigils of the ritual carefully on the ground, then prepared all necessary ingredients and decided to leave his staff for once. It was mostly to help him guide the magic into it, creating a sort of channel for the magic beside himself, but this time he wanted to feel it pour through him, all the electricity and all static, the positive and the negative, to let it guide him towards Michael. 

Plane shift.

The spell took everything he had in him. He felt it pulling on his mind as he traveled through time and space and unknown dimensions in a span of a heartbeat. 

He closed his eyes and pictured Michael, his paladin, his lover, his best friend from as long as he could remember.

Now that he had a destination - a glimpse of black unruly hair, brown eyes and a glance of the world where his beloved was stuck - he knew how to get him back. Or better, how to follow him there.

The world he saw, albeit for a brief moment, didn't seem like a prison or any vast planes of emptiness. He expected some enemies yanked his beloved right from under his nose, but no. There had been people around him, yes. Will couldn't see their faces, only unknown shapes and colors around them, but their energy seeping from them was weirdly familiar, and opposite of dangerous. 

It felt like their home, just… different.

“Hang in there, Michael. I can find you. I know it.”

It wasn’t long after that Mike returned from upstairs, with some pillows and bed sheets in his arms for the paladin to stay over on the couch, he stopped abruptly as he took in the scene in front of him and almost dropped everything from his hands, heart beating wildly at the sight.

He watched as the paladin was curled against Will on the couch, his head laying in Will’s lap, who was running his fingers through his hair. It must feel so nice,  Mike said to himself before any other thought arrived in his brain. 

“Mike- do you want help?” Will began to sit up, nudging the paladin away from him, mostly unsuccessfully. 

“What?” Mike looked down at the beddings as he completely forgot what he was doing. “Oh. No, no, it’s fine.” he shook his head slightly, and avoided looking anywhere in particular, “It’s for… for him, you know.” He set it on the couch beside them, feeling kind of lost about what to do next.

It was early February, his family was on some winter vacation for the weekend, except for Nancy who was job hunting in New York along with Jonathan. The cold was biting more and more despite it being almost the end of the winter, and so after a short discussion, Will switched to sleeping in Mike’s bedroom instead of in the basement. 

It was definitely past their bedtime now, and Mike was beyond exhausted, but worry gnawed at his mind. 

After everything they’d heard today from the paladin, about him and his version of Will… being so close.. offering Will to sleep next to his bed felt weird, almost wrong. What would Will think of him? It must make him uncomfortable from all the tentative looks the paladin kept throwing his way. 

Mike was so ashamed and it wasn’t even from something he did. 

Or maybe he did. 

Maybe this guy really appeared here in this basement, during the time of the year that was always hardest on Mike - struggling with his thoughts, with school, with depression and sunlight deficiency, or maybe it was him and his stupid, stubborn subconsciousness that brought him here, creating a version of Mike he could never be, poised as a perfect mirror of standards he could never achieve. 

Maybe it was really all his fault. 

But despite that, he would have never wanted Will to be cold and alone in the basement, and the fact that the paladin would be staying over there had definitely nothing to do with that.

“Will- do you, you can stay here if you want. But you can always come back upstairs, okay? You’re always welcomed there.” Mike tried to make his voice casual, as if he was talking to any other of his friends, but he knew he failed spectacularly. He couldn’t help it. He loved talking to Will, he loved hearing his voice replying to Mike’s tangents. He loved.. 

Before he could say anything more, a new portal opened, shimmering in gleaming blue and yellow colors, the centre of it was deep emerald green. It looked like an oil painting, like something Will would paint and show Mike that same day with excitement all over his face, when the paints were still liquid and drying and beautiful on the canvas. 

The light from the portal got brighter and brighter until they all had to look away.

On any other occasion, William would have immensely enjoyed the feeling of the pure magic running through his veins. On any other occasion, he would rush to scribe any details he could remember about the spell into his journal - how it worked, how it felt, what components he might adjust, the timing, the placing. 

On any other occasion, he would have loved to remember traveling through time itself and crossing all the dimensions that flew in his mind all under one fraction of a second. If there wasn’t the tether - his oath, his purpose - tying him to his beloved, then he might have lost all of himself in the infinite space that the magic offered. 

Thankfully, he had a simple yet urgent mission, and that was connecting him with his other half of his soul, his paladin and lover, his Michael. 

When the spell finished, he felt drained and exhausted just as he predicted, and he hoped there weren’t any enemies ready for combat once he found the exit to the right place. 

He gasped for a breath as the portal hurled him out and he fell to his knees on a hard floor in a dimly lit room. 

His fingertips still pulsed with the echoes of the magic he used to cross the dimensions, and as his mind righted itself to take in his surroundings he noticed a pair of arms gently propping him up before he could tumble fully to the ground. 

“Whoa, easy. Easy. Wait-- Will?!”

That voice. He would always recognize that voice, despite his mind being muddled by the extortion and his eyes only just settling into the change of brightness. 

Michael. “Michael,” he whispered, longing barely contained on his tongue, and he blindly reached for his beloved. He found his sharp jaw, his hand traveled up to the back of his neck and his fingers tangled in his silky hair by memory. In an instant he closed the distance and pressed a feverish, urgent kiss to his paladin’s lips, kissing him sweetly.

“I found you. You're alive.” he mumbled tiredly against his lips and pressed another short kiss there, before pulling away to take a better look at him. His hand still pressed against the paladin’s cheek, sending a blush across his freckled face, “Did you cut your hair, love? It suits you.”

The voice above him stuttered in a surprised “I- I’m not- wait what?-,” and something about the hesitation in his beloved’s expression scared William. The hands that held him around his waist started trembling. 

Something was definitely still wrong. 

Did he find his Michael? Was he in the right place? The spell should have worked perfectly, although he never attempted it before. He didn’t make mistakes in his spells. 

Finally he took in the rest of the room. There were two other figures standing just a few feet away, in the process of rushing towards him. 

“William? Is that really you?”

Oh, that sounded more like his Micheal, a raspy edge over the ever-sweet softness of his voice. How could he ever mistake that?

The other figure was perhaps even more interesting. Someone who looked just like his own reflection. Almost. His face seemed younger, but that was possibly the only difference, he even had some of the same moles scattered over his cheeks and neck. 

His eyes were brimming with unshed tears. 

William flinched, not sure what he was seeing. Was it a mirage? A dream or a nightmare? 

But then Michael, his actual paladin, rushed to gather him into his arms from the other boy. One pair of warm arms changing for another yet the second one felt like home.

Michael’s hands were cradling his face, murmuring the words he so needed to hear, ”William, it’s me, I’m here, you’re safe, we’re safe. How did you find me?”

“Spells… lots of them. Drained me of everything I had.” 

“Okay, you can rest now, okay? I got you, love. I got you.”  He clutched him to his chest so tightly, still unbelieving to be seeing his William actually there in present. He found him. 

“There’s two of you. Great”. William beamed at his beloved, his brain moving in slow, sluggish tempo as he realized what he was seeing. 

The crossing over from another universe and reality made him dizzy and tired as if he was drunk. His paladin still had his usual long and braided hair, still the same scars decorating his cheeks and the same pattern of freckles that Will’s fingertips memorized ages ago. 

He kissed the wrong one. It didn’t feel like a mistake either.

William looked back at the boy that had been holding him before. It was like looking at a picture of Michael from some time ago, still the same, but he had a slightly different bearing to him. He held himself differently. He could see so many emotions run wild across this other Michael’s eyebrows, as he was kneeling beside him, hands tightly clutching at his knees, gaze darting between them and to the other William lookalike, who was also watching them with something like curiosity and pain in his eyes. 

“And another me? Fascinating.” He murmured as he saw the other boy move closer to them. 

“Just rest, I will explain later. Okay? You're safe.” His paladin kept murmuring to him.

“I know.” William said and tugged him down for a long and proper kiss, before promptly passing out from exhaustion. He was safe, both of them were safe, and with his beloved’s arms around him he could finally exhale. Knowing that his Michael was safe and alive was all he needed to relax into his arms immediately. 

Will watched this happen all in a span of a few seconds with flustered confusion. 

There was another him! A him that was the other universe’s Mike’s lover? Husband, he had said. Tears sprung to his eyes as he watched them embrace each other so carefully, the love between them felt so palpable and real, like he could touch it if he tried hard enough.

When Mike had gently moved Will the Wise into the arms of his rightful paladin, he was being so careful, it tugged on something inside Will’s heart. He wanted that to be him.  

The sudden urge to curl up somewhere and disappear, to run away and hide someplace far and safe, clawed its way back up his spine. Anywhere else would be better than facing whatever was happening over here, with Mike still frozen beside them and something that looked like the beginning of panic on his face.

At last, Will shook out of his stupor and offered to bring a first aid kit from the bathroom, but the paladin had stopped him with a gentle hand on his elbow. It sent shivers and warmth down his back.

“It’s okay. I can heal him, just give us some space.”  Michael realized he spoke with a note of protectiveness in his tone, holding his cleric in his arms almost possessively. 

He noticed the looks from his William to the other Mike before, but he couldn’t imagine why he should feel jealous over that kiss, jealous of himself. But maybe he could cut his hair someday? A silly remark that rang in his head. 

Will couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice at the paladin’s words, “You have magic too?” Before he seemed to realize - of course. Paladins. Special powers granted by their deity.. in this case… was that deity he swore the oath to and took his magic from.. Will? His William? 

“It’s not as strong as his healing, but it can help enough in cases like exhaustion.” The paladin pressed a lingering kiss to his cleric's forehead, closing his eyes. A warm yellow light washed slowly over the sleeping figure.  “Come back to me.”

The magic user under him leant instinctively into the touch and the healing must have worked as his tense expression immediately relaxed and his breathing settled into a gently steady pattern. His eyes flickered open for a brief moment, “I knew I would find you, my heart. I always will.”

“I knew it too. You can rest now.” 

The paladin gently picked up the cleric in his arms and set him easily on the couch, tucking his coat over him to keep him warm. 

The movements were so practiced, Will thought, as if this happened more than once. He turned his eyes to the floor as he saw him press another kiss to the other Will’s forehead, feeling like he was intruding on something special he shouldn’t be seeing. Something that felt almost dangerous to notice, especially in their world. 

But they were safe there for the time being. Mike’s basement always felt like a safe space for him whenever his family, especially his father, made him angry and sad, he would always come stay over at Mike’s place because he knew he would feel like himself there again. 

Now, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

He heard rushed steps up the stairs behind him, and he turned just in time to see Mike disappearing through the door, closing it behind him with too much force. 

Will flinched at a noise that sounded too suspiciously like a sob before the basement door closed and uncomfortable silence filled the basement once more. 

“Mike,” he wanted to call out, but the words stuck in his throat, weak. What would he even say? What could he say at this point? That these strangers that were actually them from another universe were happily in love and it shouldn’t look like some sort of vision that Will manifested unknowingly, and now Mike might be disgusted with him even more. Maybe he wasn’t okay with Will liking boys after all? 

He must hate me now, maybe more than before. He wouldn’t want to speak to me ever again. And I still have to live here for who knows how long. Will started to panic, breathing picking up on speed.

“It's okay. It's okay.” The paladin spoke quietly when he noticed Will’s inner turmoil. 

He brought one of his hands and rested it gently on the back of Will’s neck, unknowing how difficult a spot that place had always been to him, but somehow it stopped Will from spiraling deeper into the panic, bringing him back to the present. He breathed in deeply how the paladin was showing him and together they counted the heartbeats. In and out, in and out. Perfect. 

When Will looked back towards the steps upstairs, the paladin motioned him towards the couch, “Would you look after William, for a moment? For me?” He asked. 

Will nodded, still stunned and not entirely there. 

“I will go talk to him.” 

That got Will’s attention, he furrowed his brows, but nodded again. “He’s probably in his room. Second door on the right on the second floor. There’s stairs around the corner.”

“Thank you... Will.” the paladin said, and hesitated again, turning back towards Will. “I know it’s hard to see this, us,” he gestured between himself and William, who was sleeping on the couch. “You told me you and your Mike aren’t together here, but I want you to know that there isn’t a universe where the version of me wouldn’t love you. I do. I do so much, Will. And so does your Mike. He does, you have to believe me.” 

Will wanted to shake his head. It was hard to understand what was going on in Mike's head. There were the signals, and then there was the opposite of what he did. It was frustrating to try and understand him sometimes. 

He stayed quiet in the aftermath of the words, they somehow hurt him more than Mike’s avoidance, so he sat beside Will the Wise on the couch, and after a moment he took his hand, squeezing it gently. “I will look after him, don’t worry.” he mumbled at last.

Michael smiled at him, bittersweet, and his eyes told a million stories at once, “I know. You always do.”

Will’s eyes lingered on the paladin's features, with something akin to hope and happiness hiding in his own eyes. If not him, then at least his other dimension counterpart found the love he deserved, reciprocated, in the form of his best friend. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t a bit jealous of them and their love. It seemed so… natural and simple, even for that brief moment they shared in front of him. 

When there was no one else who would understand what Will was going through after what Vecna did to him, he still had Mike by his side. But years after that has changed so much about them, and sometimes Will felt like he had to hold it all together himself, and he didn’t know how anymore.

Well, if he could do anything now, it was nice to at least offer some comfort to the other version of himself - to let him know that he was also not on his own there. That someone had his back and would keep him safe, even beside his brave paladin.

At the last moment before the paladin ventured upstairs, Will managed to call out and catch his arm again.

“Wait. Mik- Michael. Could you.. Could you kiss me?” He didn’t know where it came from, where he found that courage, but he had to ask. He wanted to know how it felt. From someone who could love him, even if it was just him in another universe. Especially after he saw the other two kiss before.

The paladin came back to his side, kneeled beside the couch and gently took his face in between his palms, eyes darting to his lips and back to his eyes, looking for certainty or hesitation. “It’d be my honor.”

Will leant in first, impatient, and the kiss was soft and sweet. The paladin deepened it slightly, and Will kissed him again and again, gasping as the other gently bit his lip.  

When they parted, their foreheads stayed pressed against each other for a blissful moment of peace. He just kissed Mike the Brave, and it wasn’t breaking his heart as much as he thought it would. He knew it wasn’t his Mike, because there might never be that option with his Mike. He would have to live with only this as a memory.

Will looked to the side where Will the Wise was resting, and his eyebrows furrowed as anxiety climbed back to his throat, but before he could say anything and apologize, the paladin pressed another small and tender kiss to the corner of his lips. 

“Nothing to be sorry about. Nothing to feel guilt about. It’s still us, we are connected. Let me go talk to him now, okay?”

Will nodded. “Yeah, okay. Okay.” 

As the paladin’s steps echoed up the stairs, Will stayed in the basement, close to his other self, peacefully sleeping. He picked up a paper and pen and started to draw to calm his thoughts, to pour his feelings into something tangible. He was frustrated and tired and so very confused, his head was aching from the whole situation, but his lips now tingled with the sweetest of touches he ever felt.

Before he realized it, there was a sketch of the slightly different version of Mike, just from his shoulders up, his armor barely visible, but Will wanted to draw his face, to map out all the details that set him apart from his Mike, especially how warm his eyes were when he looked at Will just then. He wanted to memorize it forever. 

The first thing the paladin noticed when he opened the door to Mike’s room, was the boy in question looking up at him with a startled expression and what seemed like seconds away from hyperventilating, he was wringing his hands in his hair with frustration, pacing along the room.

The second thing he saw was a beautiful painting hanging on the wall opposite the door.

It depicted a battle of brave friends facing against a three-headed dragon. Michael stopped in the doorway, transfixed by the resemblance of his companions, of himself and of William summoning his magic. Of a battle he had barely lived through, the few scars he suffered were always with him as a reminder of what was almost lost that day, not just his own heart.

Mike noticed him watching it, and without any urge to, he stopped his pacing to explain, “Will painted that. For me, he had said. It was… it was a gift.”

“It's beautiful.”

“Yeah. It is.”

“It makes you sad.”

“What? No! No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t, I swear..”

“But?”

“... He said El commissioned it. Which makes no sense, and- and I think it wasn’t the whole truth.”

“And you’re afraid to ask him about it.”

Mike kept his eyes downcast, but nodded. “I don’t want to make him uncomfortable or scared to answer. I don't know what to think, honestly.”

“He paints the stories you tell him about. Love had been based on less than that.”

The paladin sat on Mike’s bed, “My William wasn't honest with me only once in our years spent together. It almost killed us both.” he chuckled at the memory now, but his expression grew serious soon after, “I couldn’t imagine my life without him by my side.”

The presence of the paladin was inexplicably welcomed. 

Mike looked at him and saw a part of himself, yet someone that was far out of his reach, out of the realm of possibilities. He saw someone that stood tall and unwaveringly professed his love to his William at any moment he could. How could Mike ever compare to such a reflection? 

He returned to his pacing, until he couldn’t contain his feelings anymore. 

“You make it seem so… so easy! The way... you... and, and he-  I mean." Mike stuttered, taking a shaky breath. 

He hugged his arms close around himself, as if he wanted to hide and escape someplace where even this version of himself couldn’t see him. Where he couldn’t watch him like he already knew everything that was going on inside Mike’s head. 

Maybe he actually knew. Maybe he was the same after all. 

The paladin nodded, calm and collected like he was speaking to a scared animal. “It is that easy,” he smiled gently at Mike. “William is part of my heart. And I am part of his. Nothing will ever change that, we just accepted that sooner rather than later. It was a decision as simple as breathing, as easy as talking to him, growing up with him.” 

“It’s not easy! Nothing about this is easy. It could ruin lives here. His life.” Mike threw his hands up with frustration, the words he repressed for so long finally spilling out.
“And I can’t- I can’t say anything, because what if he doesn’t- I mean, he most likely doesn’t feel the same. I know he liked someone, some boy, but he never said who, and I can’t assume anything, I can’t say it. I can’t…”

“Breathe, young paladin.” Michael got up from the bed where he was watching the other pace around the room. He approached him, stopping him in his tracks and gripped his shoulders hard. “You might be scared to say anything, but your Will… he's very similar to my William, just like you are similar to me, whether you like it or not.”  The paladin's smile softened,
“And he looks at you with the same eyes, the same ones I see every day and dream of every night. The same hazel green that shines so brightly in the sun, and his smile even brighter when I make him laugh.” He paused, tentatively brushing a lock of Mike’s hair back behind his ear so he could fully see into his eyes. 

Mike wanted to look away but for some reason it was impossible to do so. 

He felt a slight blush pour across his cheeks at the close proximity of someone so… so calming, so sure of himself in every way.

Mike thought that he could never become someone like that - he was always the reckless one, the loud one who kept complaining about the smallest of details. 

But Will liked to keep him company, right? Mike knew that to be true. 

Maybe.. maybe there was a possibility that the man who was watching him with so much tenderness that Mike didn’t deserve to be looked upon with, could one day be himself for someone else. For his own past self.

“If he didn't tell you yet with words, he keeps telling you this with his eyes. trust them. Believe them, they're true and they're right. And you know it in your heart.” The paladin insisted, pressing a pointer finger at the center of Mike’s heart. 

The gentle touch was enough to give him the final push Mike began fully crying. 

He hiccuped as he tried to put distance between them, to cover his face, hide his eyes and hide the shameful tears that suddenly rolled down his cheeks. 

Instead, he felt warm arms tugging him to sit down on the bed as Mike broke down in sobs, the ugly cries heaving through his body as he tried to get his breathing back under control. 

The paladin let him weep, and gently wrapped his arms around his shoulder to bring him in a strong hug. Mike didn’t even realize how much he desperately craved that.

It took a long time before there were no more tears to be shed. Mike felt like he had cried out all of his childhood tears that kept accumulating behind a wall, behind a dam that was overflowing and full of cracks and rifts, only now fully breaking apart, leaving only flood in its wreckage. He was so tired, tired of it all. Of hiding, of lying to others but mostly of lying to himself. 

He tried to find his voice again, and it was shaking and unsteady, and he was glad they were sitting because he knew his knees were wobbly from the strain and would give up from the relief coursing through him now. 

The relief of telling this secret so deep to somebody that wouldn’t hate him, that would know his soul and heart the best anyone ever could. Mike had thought the only other person who could be told was Will, but even with him, there was the what ifs that plagued Mike’s brain each time he got too close, touched Will’s elbow one too many times. Caught his eyes and hoped it could mean more.

“It’s not the same here. People- people are dangerous. Words are dangerous. Even being… being too close as friends is sometimes too dangerous.” Mike wheezed out, voice rough and shaky, worrying his lip between his teeth. “What if something happens to him? Be- because of me, of us? I can't go through with that, not after everything that had already happened to him.”

The paladin was still watching him with sad eyes, his thumb gently wiped a few of the tears that ran down Mike’s cheek. 

“If your Will doesn’t know your fears, you will always be stuck in this frozen, hostile mindspace. He can’t reassure you if he doesn’t know what fears you’re battling in that stubborn head of yours. If he doesn’t know, then both you and him will always be hurting. And we both know you don’t want that. Hear me out on that - not saying something could hurt your close ones more than them knowing the truth.”

Mike winced at that. 

Not only because the image of Will being in pain again was unbearable, but because of everything they went through with Vecna was a constant reminder of his failures - when he should have told his family, his parents and sisters, the truth about the danger lurking underneath Hawkins, but he chose to hide it, just like he hid everything else from the rest of the world. It was one stupid decision after another and Mike could only blame himself for it. 

He didn’t want to make any more mistakes with Will. 

Every word he had said to him in the past that was hurtful and mean kept tormenting Mike for days, months, years afterwards, haunting him. 

If only he could be brave like the paladin sitting beside him. 

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I should.. I should tell him. I should let him know at least, not to assume things on my own again. It never leads to anything good when I do that.”

“He will understand. It’s William we’re talking about. He loves you, every part of you, every version of you. And he might be mad at you for dumb things you did” the paladin grinned suddenly, eyes turned to the ceiling as if he was remembering said dumb things he himself did, “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. But for the real things? The things that truly matter? He has the biggest heart, and the most forgiveness that I still believe we don’t even deserve, but he does. He does believe in me, and your Will believes in you, too. I really believe that.” Mike felt a steady hand grip his shoulder again. The weight and warmth beneath his hand was grounding.

He tried to stifle a new wave of tears that threatened to pour down his face, and his much kinder and wiser version of himself enveloped him in arms again.

“Now, I think it’s time the two of you talk properly. You don’t have to say anything you’re not ready to say. But I think it’d be good for you, for both of you. Trust your heart. It's in the right place, always has been.” The paladin gave Mike an encouraging nod and a smile, “And if you’ll excuse me, my heart is calling me to be near my beloved again, now that I can.” 

“Yeah.” Mike nodded, “Of course, yeah.” 

The paladin wiped Mike’s tears so tenderly that Mike couldn’t help but lean into the touch. No one has ever touched him with so much tenderness and kindness. 

There was something tragic and something very poetic to be comforted so carefully by a version of himself from another dimension, from another life, who was very much different yet still the same boy on the inside and outside. The core elements that made up their soul and love and bravery thumped in the same rhythm in both of them.

Mike thought back to Will, who had stayed in the basement beside Will the Wise and was going through a similar situation, unknown and scary when faced with his own mirror reflection, but he knew Will had always been so much braver than him, so much smarter too, that only he could have survived the Upside Down and Vecna and still remain… Will. 

Will the Wise, and Will the Wizard and even Will the Sorcerer. Someone, who still remained Mike’s friend, who didn’t shove him away at all the stupid things he had said to him throughout the years. Who still comforted him when he saw all of Mike’s fears and insecurities when Vecna targeted him weeks ago. And he still wanted to be his friend. 

His heart trembled with fear but a new wave of hope washed over him. Mike had a feeling he was standing on a precipice and he wasn’t sure if the jump would kill him or save him, but he had to take that step into the uncharted waters. All he wanted to do was hug Will really tight and tell him everything. Absolutely everything. 

Slowly, Mike pulled away from the comfort of the paladin’s arms, “You should probably go there… Y-your Will and you can stay in the basement and in the morning we will figure the rest of it out, okay? We will find a way to get you guys back home.”

“Thank you, Michael. I can imagine your William needs some rest too. I will send him up here, if it’s alright. Be kind to him, and be kind to yourself. Promise me.”

Mike took a deep breath, “I promise,” he said with certainty, and the words had different taste on his tongue in the presence of an actual Paladin. They bound the meaning around Mike’s heart like a vow he really couldn’t break. Not that he would want to.

When Michael found his way back downstairs to the basement, his hands were restless to finally hold William’s in his once more. He found the other Will at the table, drawing something on a piece of paper while his eyes kept glancing between his drawing and the bed where William was resting quietly. 

As they locked eyes again, Will blushed and started sorting out the papers under his hands. A nervous tick Michael knew from worlds away where his William would keep thumbing between pages of spell books whenever he was postponing something important. The urge to settle against his side and offer him some comfort was just as painfully divided when the paladin was faced with the choice of sitting beside his beloved. 

“He kept calling for you… a few times,” Will mumbled. 

“I know. I could feel our bond mending back together. It’s stronger now than ever. He does call to me, when the nightmares return.” He didn’t specify what nightmares could plague Will the Wise in their world, but Will’s imagination could come up easily with an answer. “He knows to call my name to keep him safe, and I would be right by his side.” 

Will watched as the paladin intertwined his fingers with the sleeping cleric, and part of WIll shamefully wanted it to be his hand in Mike’s. He pushed the image to the back of his mind. Instead, he whispered, “I’m glad he has you. Truly.”

From the corner of his eye a tear escaped him, and in the next moment Michael was crouched beside his chair, hands carefully holding his face again. “William, don’t cry, please. It breaks my heart to see that.”

“I’m not your William, though.” Will felt more tears fall, he felt guilty that he couldn’t keep them at bay.

“And I am not your Mike. He’s upstairs, waiting, and I think he would like it if you went there to see him.” The paladin paused, searching for words.
“Before I knew that William was the only one for me, I felt so lost, now it feels like anything before him was just a small meaningless part of my life. But only after knowing the love he held for me, I saw the whole world in different colors, vibrant and alive. And I know that love hurts sometimes, sometimes too much,” he swiped a thumb under Will’s eye again, and gently pressed a kiss to the corner of his lip, barely there, “but I know there isn't a world or a reality where we aren’t meant to find each other. To love each other.” 

“Okay. Okay, I’ll go.” Will’s breath was shaky, but he nodded and slowly got up, hands lingering on the paladin’s arms for a brief moment, before he let the paladin fully take his place beside the couch after he gave Will one more encouraging smile. 

He wanted to keep clinging to this version of Mike, but his heart was pulling him up and away, because the way the paladin talked was true and honest, that something more was going on with Mike and he was blind to see it properly before, hidden by his own fears and shame.

He was worried about him. He was always worried about him lately. 

After Vecna… There was almost a time they almost didn’t make it, where everyone would stay frozen in time and captured in an imperfect illusion, but they managed to break through it in the end, alive and mostly well.

After that, Mike shut everything and everyone out. Almost everyone.

He kept his door open when it was time to sleep and reminded Will daily that he shouldn't stay in the basement, that he was welcomed upstairs where it was warmer. 

And when it wasn't as cold, Will stayed on the couch in the basement anyway, wanting to give Mike his space, but after the winter picked up on intensity, it reminded Wil too much of the Mind Flayer and his suffocating need for cold and for control. So he was grateful for the offer, and he was grateful to be allowed beside Mike again. Part of him was glad to see for himself that Mike was sleeping okay too, at least during most of the nights. 

Maybe his presence helped to keep his nightmares at bay, just like it seemed to work now, with the paladin carefully holding Will the Wise’s hand, murmuring him sweet nothings and whispering proclamations of love as if it was just the two of them in the world, without any hesitation. It ached to see that so close, but it was also beautiful. A reminder that at least some version of Will was deserving of Mike’s love. 

Will took two steps at a time until he slowed down in front of Mike’s bedroom door, hesitating at the last second. He shook his head, and after a short knock on the door, he opened it softly. 

“Mike? Can I come in?”

He didn’t get an answer, but found Mike sitting on his bed, arms curled tightly around his knees with his head properly up on top of them, facing away from the door so Will couldn’t guess his expression. 

This image ached even more than the affection flowing between the pair downstairs. Mike suddenly looked so small and fragile in comparison to his other universe’s version.

Still, Will’s heart skipped a beat, because no matter how the paladin might act slightly cooler or be slightly taller and act more sure of himself, this was the Mike that Will knew all his life. The same person, who asked him to be his friend on their first day of kindergarten while being scared himself. The same person, who kept all the monsters and demons at bay with just a few of his words, and a touch on his hand against Will’s. 

The boy Will loved probably all of his life. 

“You don’t have to say anything, okay? I just wanted to tell you something.” Will carefully sat on the bed, just beside Mike without touching him. He could feel he was listening, and for a while Will worried what he had been talking about with the paladin.

Maybe Mike really didn’t feel the same way, no matter how much Will’s heart kept telling him otherwise. The signals were all there, right? He noticed more and more touches, looks and smiles focused his way from Mike. He did try to tell Will, somehow, in his own, wordless way. And Will had to try the same, actually putting it into words, instead of drawings and dreams.

He didn’t know where to begin, so he started with the obvious.

“They’re  more similar to us than I would have thought at first” He began, so carefully. 

He saw Mike nod haltingly,  so he continued, “Seeing them… seeing them-, well, literally cross dimensions for each other, to find the other, it made me feel so… seen. ” Why was this so hard? 

Will looked to the ceiling while searching for words as if they would be written there, and when he looked back to Mike, the painting on the wall caught his sight. 

He’d watched it in this room many times, it was proudly displayed on the wall just above Mike’s writing desk - the painting he made for him, yet he never told him the truth behind it. 

You’re the heart, see how you’re leading us? That’s what you do. Will should have told him months ago what he really meant by it. Afterall, Mike had the tendency to be a bit oblivious. 

“What someone would do, for someone they care about, to follow them into danger or unknown, to save them. To care for them.” He continued quietly. “And I realized I've been doing it all wrong. The showing part. To you.”

Mike finally looked up at him, brows furrowed and eyes red as if he had been crying. It caught Will off guard, trying not to close the distance and do something reckless like hug Mike. His face was full of concern, not understanding what Will meant, and that look Will understood well, so he continued again. 

“I’ve been feeling so much, being near you, liking you for- for years and years. And I never got the courage to actually say anything. I didn’t have it in me to really confess, because no matter how I looked at it, you couldn’t possibly feel the same way, right? So I pushed it down, and tried to pretend that everything was fine and perfect. But it wasn't. It really wasn’t.” he shook his head, “I never had the courage to- to confess. To show you, that, Mike… I love you.” With the words actually out, it felt both terrifying and freeing at once.

Before Will lost all the bravery which he must have borrowed from the paladin’s previous words to him, he rushed to add another important part. “It was never a fleeting crush for someone. It was always too much that it became a part of me, a part-”

“A part of your heart.” Mike finished, barely in a whisper, voice soft and hesitant, but Will heard him, he always heard him. 

Will found Mike’s eyes and nodded with understanding. He waited patiently, and a small smile appeared on his lips when Mike slowly uncurled from himself, reaching out for Will’s hand. 

“Will,” there were a million things Mike wanted to say to Will. And a million more he needed to apologize for, but in the moment, it was as if he knew only how to speak his name. “Will,” he repeated and finally closed the distance between them and wrapped himself around Will in a hard embrace. It never felt right, to put up barriers and useless spaces between them, when all he ever wanted to do was to be closer and offer Will the comfort and safety he deserved. 

Will fully melted into the hug, and gripped Mike’s hand as his other arm wrapped tightly around the other’s waist, bringing him ever closer, breathing him in. 

Will had always loved Mike’s hugs. He loved any sort of hugs and embraces, even pats on the shoulders and other touches from his friends and family. But Mike’s hugs were special. They made him feel special. He burrowed his head into Mike’s neck and felt tears brimming in his eyes. “Mike,” he whispered back and hoped the word carried as much weight as his love confession. 

He brought up a hand when he noticed he wasn’t the only one fully crying, and tried to wipe the tears away from Mike’s cheeks. “Mike.” 

“Will,” the other boy sobbed, the name on his tongue just a soft breath of air, as if it was the only thing he needed to say. Mike was holding him so tight like he was worried Will would disappear any moment now, so Will, emboldened by not being pushed away, and even better - held so much closer,  pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

“I’m here, Mike.” he leant ever closer to him, his gaze wandering between his big brown sad eyes and his pretty pink lips. He closed the gap when they were just a breath away and finally, after years and years of repressing every bit of feeling inside his heart, he let himself feel it all. 

It was the best feeling he ever experienced. 

He kissed Mike and after a second he felt Mike kissing him back with a slow, deliberate press of his lips. It was everything he could ever want. 

Mike couldn’t believe it. Will was really kissing him, holding him like he was something fragile or desirable and worthy of his affection. He felt him biting at his lower lip, and gasped when the kiss deepened, letting Will in, letting him take everything he wanted, everything that Mike could give him. 

They parted slightly after a while, panting from crying and catching their breaths, and held each other still so tightly.

“I’m sorry for everything, Will.” Mike whispered, his eyes searching Will’s for any sign that he didn’t change his mind. But he only found him drawing him closer again, until their foreheads leant against each other, breath mingling and their hands tangled together over their knees. 

“You don’t have to be-”

“No, I need to say it. I love you too. So much. So much that I wasn’t able to even realize when it all began. It must have been forever. And I am sorry, and you deserve that - the apology, and someone... someone, that could be always sincere and honest with you, someone, who could love you like you deserve-”

“No, Mike. No. Because I don’t want someone. It was never someone, okay?” Will pulled slightly away so he could see Mike properly. He gently took his chin in his hand so he wouldn’t look away. It was too important. There were still walls in Mike’s mind, and Will was tired of scaling them, he needed to be let in. He wanted for Mike to let him in. “It was always you. Because I love you. Just you. Not someone else, to some other version of you, not someone who could be better or worse or different. It was always just you, Mike.” 

“Why?” he asked, and the whisper tugged at more of Will’s heartstrings. Sometimes he couldn’t believe this boy in front of him. He couldn’t see it, see what he did to Will. How Will saw him all his life.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Tell me why? Please, Will, please.” And then Mike crumbled into his arms again and hid his face in the crook of Will’s neck. He felt new tears seep into his t-shirt.

“Oh, Mike. It’s okay. I got you.” For a painful slow moment, Will could feel the shaking of the other’s body against him, all the while he could only hold him tighter, murmuring into his hair that he got him. It reminded him of the paladin and the cleric clinging to each other just moments ago in the basement. “It’s because you're Mike. Isn't that enough? You're my Mike. And I will always love you. You and the way you smile and the way you lead, and the way you come up with any sort of impossible plan.” 

“But you saw him.. the paladin, yet you would still love some lesser version of him?”

“Lesser? Mike, he is you, and you are him. There’s no point in picking apart who’s better or worse. And even still - you can always be whoever you choose to be. I just.. I only wish to be there with you. Next to you. 

“Will.” His voice was the softest thing he heard that whole evening.  

Will smiled into the other boy’s hair, smoothing the locks down in gentle movements and no longer feeling like his own heart was breaking apart. Now he felt like he held the heart gentle in between his own palms. “Mike.” he said back, just as softly. 

It sounded like an oath of their own. Just their names on each other’s tongue.  

Mike pulled him into a new kiss, more tender and slow as he mapped Will’s face with his eyes and his hands carefully caressing his cheeks. 

A glint of a tease wrapped itself along Mike’s eyes as he remembered what happened just a few hours ago. “I kissed your counterpart first." Mike mumbled against Will’s lips.

It made Will laugh into the kiss, “How fun, so did I!”

“Will Byers!” Mike’s eyes widened in astonishment at the proclamation. He obviously didn’t expect that, which made it all the more fun for Will. 

“It was nice.” he teased even more. 

“Nice? And is this… is me- is this okay?”

“Mike. Of course this is okay. It’s more than okay. It’s everything I’ve always wanted.” Will turned serious again and pulled Mike into a more heated kiss, pulling him ever closer.

Mike held Will’s face in his palms again, making him look into his eyes, gently running his fingers through Will’s hair with so much care, Will just wanted to melt into him again. 

“It’s what I want too, Will, so much. I want to hug you and hold you forever. To kiss you and make you laugh again. Like you used to before, before all that had happened. I really miss that. I missed you.” 

“I missed you too. I have you now, okay? I got you, Mike. And if you want me, you got all of me, too. I won’t let you rush away to hide again, okay? Not when you're sad, or angry, or pissed at something i did.-”

“I’m never angry with you.” Mike confessed with sorrow curled around his words, “I was always angry with myself and it was hard to realize that.”

“I know. I know that now, but, well it wasn't fun for it to be directed at me, you know?” Will looked down on his hands. One of them was still tangled with Mike’s fingers. The other placed against his leg where it was bouncing up and down from his nerves, jittery. Will moved his hand in steady circles, trying to sooth both of them. “It was hard.. I really thought… I thought you might even hate me, or despise me for liking.. liking boys, and that when you would figure out it was you who I liked- love, you would push me away completely.”

“Will…”

“Because I do, I really love you, Mike, more than you might still know, and it really hurt because I was too much of a coward to say anything about it to you. And then Vecna kept using it against me, and still after we defeated him, it would always be there, how I was different, how easy it was to use me, use that against me. I could never just be okay with myself, not completely, because something was always missing. And now, it’s you here, and I feel… I feel hope, true hope after the longest time, you know?” Will smiled at him up through new tears he didn’t realize he was trying to hold back. “I feel it could be better now.”

Mike was lost for words and angry at himself once more. “I'm sorry, Will. I really am. I never wanted to hurt you. I was.. I still am such an asshole, but I will try to do better, for you, and-and for me too.” he paused, smoothing his fingers over Will's cheek, wiping the tears away like the paladin did before for him. He hoped the gesture was just as kind and comforting for Will as it had been for Mike.
“I’m still really fucking scared, Will, and I don’t think that it’d ever go fully away. But I want to try. I really wanna try, okay?  I just want us to be.. I don't know…safe, I guess.”

“I’m scared, too. All the time,” Will nodded, understanding Mike’s unspoken words, the intention there, like he always could. “You saw it today. There's other worlds and other versions of us, Mike. And they love each other like I love you. At least I believe that. And they keep fighting all those real monsters and can still find happiness within their company. I think, no, I know that we can find that too. Around the right people we can still be safe, and with more time to figure everything out.”

Mike laughed through his tears, “When did you get so wise?”

“Mm, I think just today, around the time when you got really, really brave.” Will whispered and surged to kiss his Mike again, kissing his tears away, kissing his freckles that dotted his cheeks, until they were both panting and happily curled against one another in the bed under the covers. 

They shared more secrets and fears during the long night, hands and legs tangled. Mike’s eyes kept dropping low to look at Will’s lips as they talked about everything, and then he realized he didn’t have to just hide and look away as if his gaze was an accident. 

He could actually kiss Will. So he did, over and over again, relishing in the sounds and laughs it pulled from the other boy.

Michael! 

In the morning, Will the Wise woke up and felt the familiar weight resting against his chest and he knew it wasn’t all just a dream. He reached his hand, and his fingers curled into the silky waves of Michael’s hair, gently caressing it over and over as he felt the other wake up. 

“I thought you died. I thought I lost you, love.” Will barely got the words out, before a wave of sadness and despair so vast it felt like another heartbreak washed over him and left him tearing up at the bare thought of losing his partner. 

He was still exhausted from the night prior and using all his magic on the travel, and before that on trying to find him again and again, but seeing his Michael alive and finally back by his side settled that nagging feeling in the depth of his chest. What just a few hours ago felt like his heart breaking into a million pieces, was now a calm river of their love connecting their souls once more.

“Michael,” he breathed out again, “you’re really here.”

“I am, William. You found me, and thanks to you, I can finally breathe properly, my heart.” He tilted his head up and pressed a long kiss to his beloved's lips. “You won’t believe where I found myself. I have so much to show you, to tell you.” 

“Just kiss me again first, please.” Will muttered against his paladin’s mouth, bringing him in until they ran out of breath, their hearts beating as one, joined together once more. Will laughed with relief as Mike pressed more and more kisses against his cheeks, jaw, and again to his mouth. 

“I had a dream that you cut your hair, darling.” Will said with barely hidden amusement as he played with the messy braid of his paladin’s hair. 

“Should I?” Mike smirked, teasing.

“It's up to you. You look good in everything.” Will’s expression sobered up after that, the pain still evident in his eyes, “Just stay with me, okay? I never want to part with you again, not like this. It felt..--” 

“-- unbearable, like being torn in two.” Michael finished sadly, but overjoyed to be holding his William again, and in awe the other really risked so much just to find him. “I know. I'm sorry it happened. We haven't even found exactly what caused it.” 

“We?” Will finally looked around. “Where are we again?”

“I think you might want to see this, rather than me trying to explain.”

Not long after that, they heard footsteps from upstairs, the door opened and slowly stepped in this world’s Will and Mike. 

William watched them with unhidden curiosity, noticing their hands were intertwined. 

“Oh. That’s what you meant by that.” William took hold of Michael’s hand in his too, tightly. “Incredible. I thought it was just a dream, seeing his face, but it seems very much real.”

The boys made their way to the other pair sitting on the couch. Mike couldn’t help but blush at the memory of the kiss from the cleric. “Are- are you feeling better, now?” He went to sit at the table across from them, as Will moved to sit beside the cleric.

William nodded as his eyes rowed over both of their faces, then back to his paladin and up to the other Will again. 

“Oh. Oh. I see.” the cleric muttered to himself.

Will spoke next with a slight hesitation, “I think I might know how to help you get back to your world.” he smiled as he watched their hands. 

When the paladin raised his eyebrows, wanting to ask for a more concrete answer, it was Mike who jumped in with an explanation. 

“So we figured it out, right? How you got here. And now.. now, when everything is… changed… “ he never was so nervous as when he prepared what to say, but it had to be said, “... when the truth is out. You can.. you should be able to return. With a wish spell.” he added in a pleased tone.

At that, Will the Wise eyebrows rose even more, “A wish spell? You possess such magic?”

“I think I might.” Will blushed, “At least, my character does.” he motioned towards the table where their D&D game was still set up on. “And because yesterday, somehow, my wish became reality, now I think I can do the same for you, for what you did for us.” 

He tensed slightly when the cleric brought him in for a hug. Will didn’t expect that, it was strange, to hug a version of himself, but only after a second he wrapped his arms back around him. 

“You and your mind,” the paladin beside them muttered with awe. From over the cleric’s shoulder, still unbothered to end their hug, Will could notice the paladin scooting over to kneel in front of Mike’s chair. Mike had his arms crossed, looking still half unsure how to grapple with everything that had happened, and half blushing about the intimacy blanketing the four of them. 

The paladin gently pried Mike’s arms from where he was pinching his own waist to keep his hands steady from shaking, and held them gently, "I'm really proud of you, Mike the Brave.” He said with reverence William usually seen directed at him. Michael kissed both of Mike’s hands on his knuckles with a soft smile, before wrapping his arms around him, pulling him in a hug. 

Will could see them all being near tears in their eyes, but also with a new hope being born in that moment.

The third time a shimmering portal appeared in his basement, Mike really hoped it was going to be the final time. 

As much as he loved playing fantasy and pretend games, after defeating Vecna and the Mind Flayer, and now dealing with their other-worldly lookalikes, he would prefer some time without any supernatural powers disrupting his home for a while.

Will was painting on the floor- which was now covered in used paper glued together to create a big space for the magic ritual. He carefully drew the sigils as William instructed him, and he kept pointing out how different yet similar the runes were from the D&D handbook. 

The paladin was picking up his armor, which he took off the night before, and Mike couldn’t help but come over to help him, learning how to put the heavy plates piece by piece on the paladin’s shoulders, forearms and legs. There was something magical about that as a ritual as well, it needed patience and sharp focus.

In the end, Mike handed him his sword so the paladin could tie it back around his hips. “It’s beautiful. I always wanted to try wielding a sword.”

Michael smiled at him, “Maybe one day you will. Maybe our paths will meet again, and I could teach you another thing or two.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we never meet again. My head is completely scrambled from this weekend. But…” he paused, glancing back at Will painting on the floor and William standing over him, explaining his spells and telling him about their friends, who were waiting back in their world. There was love and kindness in his eyes, just like the paladin had told him before. Mike couldn’t unsee it now. “Thank you, again. For everything.”

“It was my honour, and don’t doubt there will be others who could use your help and advice from you. I’ve heard of the tales you spun with your words, I’ve seen it inspire others, much like your Will’s drawings inspire you. You have a talent in that head of yours, you just can’t let fear blind you from using it.” 

From the other corner of the room, the conversation flowed similarly as William was looking over at Will’s meticulous painting of the runes. “You’re braver than I would have thought, dear Will. If I was in your shoes after what you told me happened to you, I don’t know if I would see the world so bright again.”

Will nodded, “It’s still hard, still difficult to get over everything.” He put the paintbrush down, satisfied with his work, it was all set and done. He inclined his head towards where Mike was helping put on Michael’s armor for him. “He helps. I don’t think I would have survived without Mike beside me.”

“That, I completely understand.” William helped Will get up from the floor. “Okay, I think it’s all ready. Sweetheart?” He called to his paladin, who immediately looked up, clipped in the last buckle of his belt and was by his side in the next stride. “I think we are set to go home.”

“Okay. Okay, good.” Michael mumbled. He looked back to Will and smiled, “Perfect work. It looks as if William painted it himself.” 

“Well, you know, the same artist?” Will laughed. 

William started the ritual. 

“We bid you farewell, our dearest halves.” The paladin looked at both of them, and bowed with a curtsy and a flourish of his feathered cloak. “It was an honor getting to know you.”

“What he says,” William raised his voice as he was a bit busy with creating the portal. It made both Will and Mike laugh. 

The cleric finished muttering the incantation, hands suddenly alight and something about seeing the magic alive in front of his eyes has Mike brought up his anxiety about the other worlds taking over Hawkins. He plastered himself beside Will, taking his hand in his own, as a small, paranoid worry told him to keep him tethered to their world, so he wouldn’t disappear into the portal along with their lookalikes.

Will glanced at their hands, then back up at Mike with a small smile over his lips. He wanted to kiss him so badly, and the joy that poured from the thought that he could now was so immense. He waited, though, there would be time later. Hopefully all the rest of their lives later.

Michael smiled at his William as he took his hand and stood beside him, ready to leave this world to go back home. There was a knowing look in his eyes, “You're thinking the same as I.” He said quietly.

“I always do.” William nodded. They had to leave, they didn’t belong in this other version of their world. But if they could witness anything, it was by no chance a coincidence that they ended up sharing a moment like that. “So, breakfast at Enzo’s tavern?”

“I’ll race you there!”

William laughed and pretended to stumble, watching Michael’s reaction as he immediately grabbed his shoulder to support him. He playfully spoke in a weak voice, “Oh, dear, I think you might have to carry me there. My senses aren't completely back with me.” He brought a hand to his forehead for the desired effect.

Mike sighed in fake annoyance as he picked up his cleric, carrying him bridal style through the portal. “What would you even do without me, love?”

“Well, I did almost lost my sanity.”

Michael looked sharply at him, “What? What the hell happened when I was gone?”

“Oh you know, the usual.” William waved his hand as if it was a completely normal occurrence. “El was mad too, you made me worry too much. But I found you, so it's all fine.” He mumbled the last part quietly, as he hid his face into the crook of Michael’s neck.

“Mmm. Good thing you found me. Good thing we saw some other new-old faces here. As strange as it was. It reminded me of something.”

“Of what?”

“I love you, William.” He pressed a kiss to his cleric, gentle and chaste.

“Oh.” William smiled at him. It wasn't often he heard those words from his paladin, despite the frequent usage of similar pet names. Their actions were usually more important than words, they didn't have to put their love into words as much because they understood each other all the same. “I love you, too, Michael. So much. I’m glad to have you back.”

The cleric and the paladin had looked so happy to find each other again, to kiss and be affectionate towards the other without a worry in their eyes. They could go back to their world now, where love like theirs wasn’t forbidden or seen as something wrong. They wouldn’t have to hide their love for each other there. True, they might have to fight monsters and demons probably on a daily basis, but even that seemed like a sensible exchange in comparison to being able to hold his lover's hand every day freely under the sun, at least in Mike’s opinion. 

As the portal began closing behind them, the two figures in the basement still holding hands looked at each other. 

“Now.” Will said and closed his eyes, making a wish. Mike did the same. 

The portal closed with their last goodbyes, and then it went back to the dimly lit basement, filled with empty pizza boxes from the previous day and scattered D&D minis laying on the floor. Will never felt more like home there. 

He felt Mike nudging his arms, their fingers still tangled, and as he turned to him, Will was already meeting his lips halfway. He kissed him like he was starving and for oxygen and the only air was to be found in Mike’s mouth. 

“Mike,” Will breathed against his lips and it was intoxicating and Mike realized he didn’t know why it had been so hard to find some of this courage ages ago. 

(He knew, and those fears would always be there, but they were hiding for now, covered under the light that shined from Will’s mere presence by his side. Maybe that was how the paladin felt every time he looked at his cleric - the brightness, the love in his eyes and the truth on his lips that Mike was too scared to see before, blinded by his own fears.)

“Will. “ he mumbled back, bringing Will in for another long kiss. 

Hours later, the main Wheeler house doors flew open, causing the boys to separate and jump from each other with a bit of anxiety grounding them back to reality. They sat slightly apart on the couch, pretending they were watching TV or something, instead of being wrapped in each other’s arms for the better part of the morning. Will risked a glance at Mike, who was blushing furiously and noticed his hair was a mess. A beautiful mess. He quickly reached out to smooth it back down.

When Dustin, Lucas,  Max and El finally barged onto the stairs leading down to the basement, they were barely holding back their laughs. Oh, right, their friend didn’t even know about Will the Wise appearing some time after the paladin. It was another secret they would keep just for themselves, at least for now.

“Sorry. The cooler version of Mike is gone again. He found a way back to his world.” Will announced and he grinned when he heard Mike’s offended gasp at the cooler part.

Their friends' faces fell with disappointment. 

“You couldn’t tell him to wait here? Just for a bit longer? I had some questions, guys! How did that happen anyway?” Dustin asked, while Max raised an eyebrow at El and the two of them exchanged a knowing look. Something shifted in the air, and they knew it, but it would be a long time before Will and Mike had the courage to properly name their relationship in front of other people, even their friends. They wanted to take their time just to get to know each other again, just for themselves. The rest would come later.

“Well,” Mike began, “he was here in the evening, and when we came back in the morning, he was gone, as if he was never here in the first place.” 

“You don’t think he might have left this place and gone somewhere in the town?” El asked, eyeing them both curiously. 

“No, I’m sure of that.” Will replied, he couldn’t help but smile slightly. Now that a sudden weight has been lifted from his shoulders, he found out that smiling was something so much easier. “I’m very much certain he found a different way home.”

“Oh, come on.” Lucas joined Dustin in pressing them for more details, “You have to share what all he told you. That couldn’t have been it!”

But as soon as they realized they couldn’t get more information out of either Will or Mike, they settled against the table to continue their game. The floor was now clean of any remaining paints or sigils from the ritual, everything seemed just like a day ago, with only cluttered books and pens and a lot of dice thrown on the table. 

“All right, keep your secrets. He wasn’t that cool anyway.” Max pushed a finger against Mike’s shoulder, “Seems like you’re stuck being lame and uncool in every universe, Wheeler.”

Mike only smiled at her more brightly, “Seems like it.”

He sat back behind his Dungeon Master's screen and started sorting through his campaign notes. 

After a beat, he locked eyes with Will from across the table and they shared a soft smile, eyes shining with their love that was no longer afraid to be read as such.

Maybe it was time to start a new adventure.