Work Text:
February 14th, 1988
Through the half-closed blinds in Mike’s room, the sun started to shine. Mike's eyelids fluttered open as it beamed in; he turned away from it. His eyes then landed on Will, still asleep, his hair was tossed in opposite directions all around, his hands were tucked under the pillow, and his leg was half hitched up. It pulled a smile from Mike.
If anyone three months ago had told him he would be waking up next to Will on Valentine’s Day, he would have laughed. Partly because he would have denied that possibly in the slightest on his part, and because he thought Will could never see him as more than a best friend. Luckily, he was wrong, cause he’s never been happier to love someone like this.
Will eyes slowly be blinked open, squinting from the light outside. His eyes landed on Mike, whose own were already on him. This was a view he could get used to. Mike’s hair was messy and curly, his eyes puffy from sleep, and the soft smile he gave Will as he opened his eyes. It was everything he ever dreamed of. “Good morning.” He whispered.
“Good morning,” Mike responded, a hand coming up to Will’s face, brushing a piece of hair near his eyes. “How’d you sleep?”
“Mm I slept well, you?”
“I slept next to you, what do you think?” He said, scooting closer to him.
“So… good also.”
“Mmhm,” he happily hummed.
Will shifted closer, wrapping his arm around Mike's waist, clinging onto him for warmth. He cuddled closer, nuzzling himself in his space. Mike rested his arm against Will’s upper back, bringing him closer while softly playing with the hair on his neck.
“What’s the plan for today, Mike?”
“Cuddle, Movie, Dinner, and maybe more, but I’m not telling you yet.” He answered, twirling pieces of Will’s hair between his fingers.
“How are we gonna do dinner?” he said, tilting his head back to get a clearer view of Mike.
“Here. My mom and dad are going out, and Nancy is taking Holly out to the mall.”
“How did you convince her to do that?”
“I didn’t, Holly asked her weeks ago, just happened to be my luck.” He shrugged.
“Right… so you’ll tell me how much later.” Will chuckled.
“I won’t ever tell you.”
The two of them laughed. Will peered around Mike, looking at the clock. It was barely ten in the morning, they could sleep in just a few extra minutes. So they did.
Mike continued playing with the strands of Will's hair, sending him straight back to sleep. After a minute or two his eyes grew heavy; he fought back the sleep, but eventually stopped. Letting his eyes fall close and settling back down onto his pillow.
───── ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ─────
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Will opened the microwave door, taking out his now-warmed pancakes. He flipped them onto his plate, setting it down next to Mike’s on the dining table.
They’d managed to sleep in an extra half hour before hearing their stomachs start to grumble. Pancakes were the breakfast choice of the day, which Will absolutely loved, and had no complaints. He sat down at the table, reaching across to grab the syrup. Mike came back from the fridge with two glasses of orange juice in hand, setting them down in front of them before sitting down.
“Thank you,” He smiled, as Mike leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss on his temple. “You’re welcome,”
The sound of keys jingling and shoes tapping approached from around the corner; Nancy. “Oh hey, you both finally decided to wake up.”
“We didn't want to sleep through lunch,” Will answered, cutting a small triangle piece from his pancake and eating.
“Yeah, especially since dinner is at seven,” Mike said, putting another piece of pancake in his mouth.
Nancy smiled, “You guys have plans for today?” She said while grabbing a cup of juice.
“Yeah, Will doesn’t know everything 'cause it's all a surprise I planned.”
“Well now I know dinner is at seven.”
“Fine, but that’s all you’re allowed to know,” Mike said, crossing his arms. “And when do you and Holly leave?” He turned to look at his sister.
“We’re shooting to leave around the same time Mom and Dad leave for their date, so around six.” She drank the rest of her juice and placed her empty cup in the sink. “And we won’t be back till maybe ten.”
“Oh, so you’re dropping them off and picking them up.”
“Yup, Holly and I are gonna be at the mall; possibly do some shopping, then see a movie, and have it timed just enough to pick them up from dinner.”
Will swallowed his last piece of pancake before he spoke. “Sounds like a good plan.”
Mike hummed in agreement, getting up from the table and taking his and Will’s empty plates to the sink. “So until then, try not to guess what my plan for tonight is.”
“Do we have anything planned before then?” He said, pushing in his chair, joining Mike by the sink.
He turned towards Will.“Yes, but you can also pick what you want to do.”
“What if what I want to do is more of something you’d want to do?”
Mike raised an eyebrow at him, leaning his hip against the counter. “Like what?”
He mirrored him, leaning on the counter. “What if we watched all the Star Wars movies?”
“All three? Today?” Mike said, blinking in shock. Of course, he wasn’t opposed to the idea, but he did just rent out Evil Dead II to watch with Will.
“Yeah, I mean, we could quickly borrow the car, drive to the video store, and rent them out if they’re available.”
“We’d have to leave in ten minutes if we want to get through A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, before dinner.”
Will leaned off the counter, walking towards the stairs. “Well then, let’s get ready.”
Mike quickly followed after him, climbing up the stairs. Will grabbed clothes from his bag and headed towards the bathroom to change, while Mike stayed in his room.
He rummaged through his drawers, pulling out a pair of black jeans and a dark red knit sweater, along with a white t-shirt. He quickly changed, digging under his bed for a silver and black belt, and also remembering to grab Evil Dead II to return just in case, placing it in a bag.
As he put on his socks, Will walked back in dressed. He was now wearing brown jeans, white long sleeves, and a faded blue The Clash band tee. “I feel like that might be your favorite shirt.”
“How’d you guess what?” He chuckled, placing his folded pajamas on the bed.
“You wear it a lot, and you just also look really good in it.”
A pink tint decorated Will’s face. “Yeah.”
“Mhmm,” He hummed, standing up and moving towards Will. His hands came down to settle on his waist. “It makes you look extra cute.”
Will's face felt like it was practically on fire; on top of that, he could feel the heat radiating off Mike’s hands on him. “W- We go now,”
“Okay,” Mike held back a smile as he turned around, grabbed his bag, and headed out of his room. He very much enjoyed the effect he had on him. He liked seeing him nervous and flushed.
Will took two deep breaths before following behind.
They made it to the car downstairs, buckling in their seat belts. Mike pulled out of the driveway, navigating towards the video store. Will skimmed through the radio before letting a David Bowie song play, leaving it at a low volume so they could still hear each other.
“What's your plan if they don’t have the movies available?” Mike asked, turning the corner.
“See if they have Evil Dead II, I feel like people wouldn’t check out that movie this time of year.” He responded, looking at Mike.
“You never know, maybe other people want to see a horror movie on Valentine's Day.”
“Then my backup if they don’t have that would be Little Shop of Horrors.”
Of course he had a backup for his backup, Mike thought. “That’s a good choice.”
──── ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ────
Fifteen-minute drive later, and they’re pulling into the Family Video store parking lot. Mike switches off the car and unbuckles his seatbelt; as Will is already out of the car waiting for him. He grabs the bag that has Evil Dead II inside. Stepping out of the car, he follows Will inside. The bell above the door rings, and inside, they’re greeted by the worker. They used to be students at Hawkins High School. She looked familiar, but neither knew her name.
“Hello,” She answered in a cheery voice. “What movie are you looking on checking out today?”
“Hi,” Will answered, stepping forward. “Do you guys currently have any, or preferably all the Star Wars movies available to rent today?”
“Let me check our system.”
The girl turned to the computer and started typing. Mike stayed a foot away from Will, waiting as he scanned around the store, thinking about any other movie they could watch.
“We actually surprisingly have all of them available.”
“Seriously?” Mike was surprised; anytime he tried looking for them, they rarely had.
“Yup, would you still want them?”
“Yes!” They both said.
“I’ll go grab them,” Will said before walking away.
Mike nodded, then faced the girl at the counter. “I actually have a movie to return.” He took out Evil Dead II from the bag, placing it on the counter.
“Oh, nice choice, did you like it?”
“Yeah, it’s a great movie,” he responded.
“Indeed it is,” She said, grabbing it. “Name?”
“Uh Mike Wheeler.”
“Wheeler? You’re Nancy’s little brother, aren't you?”
“Uh yeah.”
“I’m Ally, I used to go to middle school with your sister, then I moved away and came.” She spoke while typing.
“Oh wow.” Maybe that’s why she seemed familiar.
“After all the crazy stuff that happened here, my parents wanted to leave for a bit. We’ve only been back for a month.”
“Everything was pretty intense here.”
“Sure was.”
Will finally came back, placing all three Star Wars movies on the counter. “Got them,”
“Perfect, are you checking out under your name?” She asked, looking at Mike.
“Yeah, mine should be fine.”
They walked with their movies for the day, and Will had a huge smile on his face. “I can’t believe they actually had all of them; that never happened."
Mike opened the car door. “I’m just as surprised. I thought for sure they wouldn’t have any of them.”
“Now we can finally have our full day marathon.” Will slid into his seat and buckled up.
“Took us long enough.” He said while starting the engine. He pulled out of the parking lot, turning onto the street.
“Yeah, also, how did the girl know your name?”
“Huh?”
“She checked the movies out without asking for your name for the account.”
“Ohh, it’s because I returned a movie while you were looking for ours.” Mike stopped at the red light.
“Is that what was in the bag?” Will questioned; he did see him bring something with them, but he forgot to ask what it was.
“Yeah,” Mike admitted, before continuing their drive as the light changed colors.
“What movie?”
“Evil Dead II.”
“What!” He gasped, “I love that movie. Why did– oh, we were going to watch that movie tonight, weren’t we?”
“Yeah, but your movie marathon is a better idea, and a bit less scary.”
“Evil Dead II is not that scary, also sorry for changing our plans.” He said, leaning on the window, looking at the snow-covered lawns.
“Your idea is way better, plus I haven’t watched them in a while, I wonder if I could still quote most of Empire.”
“I think we both know the answer to that is yes, Mike.” Will laughed, smiling at his boyfriend.
He laughed as well, knowing that he most definitely could quote half of the movie. After watching it more than ten times, some lines get ingrained in memory. After twenty times, it’s practically second nature, and all he needs is to hear the background score, and he could repeat most of the scene.
─── ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ───
In the Wheelers' basement, everything is set up. Snacks are laid out on the coffee table: drinks, chips, popcorn, and an extra-large bag of Reese's pieces are displayed. The television set is on and ready to go, the static making a low buzzing sound.
Inserting the tape at the bottom, the sound of drums and the 20th Century Fox logo appears along with the classical music. Then the title screen appears.
EPISODE IV
A NEW HOPE
Mike is settling next to Will as they read the screen; he barely reads it since he already knows what it says. He shifts, reaching over, grabbing the blanket from behind them, tossing it over both of them.
The sound of blasters with the score playing in the background comes from the screen, then the score picks up. Dark Vader enters his breathing, being the center focus.
Then, Leia stops her message on R2, as he goes towards C3PO.
Will leans forward, grabs the popcorn, and places it between them. He leaned over, nudging Mike for a kiss, before leaning his head on his shoulder. “I find it crazy that she doesn’t find out that Vader is her dad til the last movie.”
“Right, like that was a crazy twist.” Mike agrees.
“I still remember the gasps in the theatre when we watched this opening weekend.”
“I don’t think anyone really saw it coming.”
“True.”
They continued to watch the movie, commenting every few minutes. It was hard for both of them to go one movie without commenting on it, at least a few times. Only at home though, in theaters they just turned to each other and shared a look.
Will forgot how much he loved this movie. It is one of the things that made him like being nerdier than most people. He didn’t understand how people could not like these types of movies; they were fun, and they were creative, and the effects they managed to do were amazing.
Two hours later, and a popcorn half emptied, Mike was putting in the next one.
Same sounds, drums, the classic soundtrack, then the screen read ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, way…’
EPISODE V
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Mike quickly ran back to the couch. Of course he’d seen this movie multiple times, but it didn’t stop him from getting excited about it. He’d exactly written a whole campaign for one of their D&D games just based on this storyline; by far possibly his favorite one yet.
He shifted on the couch, facing Will. He brought up his wrist. “Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han, old buddy, do you read me?”
“Oh god, you remember it?” Will laughed.
“Well, I finished my circle. I don’t pick up any life readings.”
From the screen, Han Solo continued speaking.
“Right. I’ll see you shortly. There’s a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I want to check it out. It won’t take long.” Mike spoke, repeating it line for line in perfect timing.
Will smiled beside him, absolutely thinking that this is the hottest thing Mike can do. He felt like he was watching him more than the movie, completely ignoring when Han showed up on screen until Leia started to yell after him.
“Them arguing as if they aren’t in love with each other is possibly the funniest thing ever,” Will said.
“I mean, maybe they weren’t ready to admit that just yet,” Mike responded.
“Yeah, but then that causes Leia to kiss her brother.”
Mike laughed, slightly leaning forward as he grabbed popcorn. “Ugh, don't remind me.”
The movie continued; Mike repeating as many lines as he could remember. Which was definitely at least half of them, along with blaster noises.
Will giggled and smiled anytime Mike knew the lines. It was actually impressive how much of the movie he knew.
The scene with Han flying the Millennium Falcon lit the screen. “Hot”
Mike chuckled next to him.
“Don’t act like you don’t agree,” Will said, poking him.
“I never said I didn’t, I just always kind of preferred Luke.”
Will moved off Mike’s shoulder, “What? How did I not know this?”
“It hasn’t really come up– well, it technically has, but I accidentally agreed with you about Han being Hot instead of admitting I thought Luke was.’
“Ohh that’s right,” Will remembered back to when they cleaned the basement a few weeks ago. The topic of watching movies a lot came up.
They had both watched the movie plenty of times, but he poked fun at how many times Mike watched it shortly after it came out. He watched it for many days, for many months in a row. Will had thought it was because Mike thought Leia was Hot, when instead it was actually his brother it turns out.
“Question…”
“Yes?” Mike spoke.
“What were your opinions of my Luke Skywalker costume after Return of the Jedi came out?”
Mike shrank in his seat; he did not want to look Will in the eyes right now.
“Oh my god, Mike.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, blushing.
“Mike, you and El were literally dressed as Leia and Han that year.”
Mike covered his face with his hand, “I know.”
Will burst out into laughter; this was possibly the worst and funniest thing for him to realize.
“You're laughing as if you didn’t stare at me all of Halloween night.”
“Oh shut up.” He lightly smacked his shoulder.
“It’s funnier when I know I had to convince her to be Leia, because she liked Luke's costume first, then Chewbacca.”
They laughed for a few more minutes before focusing back on the movie. Mike continued to repeat the lines he knew until the movie was over. With perfect timing cause that’s when the basement door swung up, Nancy came half down the stairs. “Hey guys, we're all heading out now.”
Mike got up first, “Alright, thanks.”
Nancy disappeared back up the stairs, and Will stayed sitting on the couch, wondering what dinner was.
“Do you want to go upstairs to eat or stay down here and continue?”
“If I said down here, would that change anything in what you already planned at all?”
Mike thought about it and said, “Nope, not really.”
Then dinner and Return of the Jedi.”
“Okay, stay here. I’ll be back in a few.”
Will nodded his head as he got up to clear the garbage off the coffee table. There wasn’t much, just wrappers and some popcorn kernels left.
── ⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆ ──
Upstairs, Mike was waiting outside the front door. He looked at his watch, checking the time again. Then he saw Jonathan's car turning the corner towards their street.
He quickly pulled into their driveway as Mike ran over. “Jeez, took you long enough.”
“Yeah, sorry, there was a long line for pick-up orders.” Jonathan reached into the passenger seat, grabbing the paper bag that was emitting the most amazing smell.
Mike grabbed it. “Thank you again. I would have asked Nancy, but she had plans already,” He looked at Jonathan again. He was wearing a suit. “Do you have any plans?”
“Uh,” he stuttered. “Nope, not really.”
“You’re dressed in a suit.”
“It’s nothing fancy, just dinner with a friend.”
“It can’t be Nancy since she's out with Holly,” Mike said, trying to think of anyone else. That’s when he noticed the guilty look on Jonathan's face. “You’re going out with my sister again!?”
“No, we’re not going out again, it’s just dinner with a friend!”
“Yeah, right.”
“She and I are friends, good friends!”
“Will was once a good friend of mine.”
Jonathan didn’t have a response for that. “Enjoy your dinner.” He started pulling out of the drive.
“Wait, then who’s going to the movie with Holly?” Mike shouted.
“Some kid named Josh, I think,” Jonathan said, while sticking his head out the window before driving.
Who the hell is Josh? Mike would ask about that later, but the longer he stood out there, the colder the food would get. He rushed back inside, setting the bag on the table. He quickly went back to the entrance, throwing his coat on a hanger and kicking his shoes off.
He took out plates and cups from the cabinets, putting them on the counter. Taking out the food from the bag, his mouth practically started to water. Opening the to-go container the smell of chicken, vegetables, and potatoes with lemon filled the kitchen. He quickly put the food on their plates, worrying that if he took longer it would get cold.
After pouring their drinks out, he was ready to bring everything downstairs. He grabbed the large platter his mom usually used when giving them hot plates and placed their food and drink on it, balancing the best he could.
Will saw the basement door open, and a second later was hit with the most delicious smell. Mike walked down with a large platter, carefully looking down the steps. He managed to place it on the coffee table without trouble. “Dinner!” he cheered.
“Holy shit.” Will said, scanning the plate.”You did not make this.”
“Nope, Enzo’s did,” he responded with a chuckle. His cooking skills were at most decent, and he could never make this.
“Enzo’s? The fancy restaurant in town?”
“Yup that same one.”
“How did you-”
“Magic.”
Will wanted to ask more, but the sound of his stomach grumbling won.
They sat down on the floor, back against the couch in front of the table. Mike got up again, taking out Empire Strikes Back from the VHS slot, and putting in the next movie. Then, just like the last two times, the score began to play, and the title card appeared.
He took his fork and knife, cutting into his food, stabbing a piece to try. When the chicken hit his tongue, his taste buds cheered. “Wow.”
“You like?” Mike said, taking a bite from his food.
“What is this? Because this might be the best thing I’ve ever tried.”
“It’s chicken, peas, potatoes with a secret mix sauce.”
“It’s amazing.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
The movie played on their screen as they ate. Will continued thinking about how lucky he is. He knows Mike didn’t have to go out of his way to get Enzo’s for them, but he did. He knows Mike also didn’t have to agree to Will’s idea of a movie marathon, yet he still did.
It made him more excited for the other special occasions to come, because if this was what only two weeks of dating was like he was excited for more. He was already planning what they would do for their one-month anniversary, then three months, then six, and then hopefully a year.
Mike was definitely the happiest he’s been in a long while. Dating Will is one of the few things he’s gotten right in his life. Yes, he knows that it hasn’t even been a month of them together, but that doesn’t change the fact that after over a decade of friendship, they're still here together.
For some people, Mike has realized dating your friend ends up bad, but then for other people it’s been the best thing yet. Like, take Lucas’s parents for an example, they’ve been happily married for years, got together in high school, and stayed together ever since. That’s not that common for most people, and not possible for others.
Mike doesn’t necessarily think he and Will could get married– not that he wouldn’t want to, just that it doesn’t seem like a possibility they'd get. Either way, he’d be lucky to spend the rest of his life with his best friend and partner in everything by his side.
It was a quarter til ten when the movie ended, and their dinner was long finished. They were cuddled on the couch, fighting to stay awake.
“I think I stuffed myself.” Mike sighed.
Will chuckled, “Same, I think I’m going to go into a food coma.”
“We should probably clean here then, everyone should already be heading back here.”
“Right,” Will said, getting up.
They both fixed up the basement, folding back the blankets and tossing away leftover stuff in the garbage. Will went upstairs quickly, washing their plates, as Mike finished fixing up everything downstairs.
“Hey Mike!” Will shouted from the top of the stairs.
“Yeah?”
“I’m gonna shower first, then get ready for bed. You need any help down there?”
“No, I’m good, go ahead.”
Mike went upstairs to his room once he was finished, a few minutes later. Taking out a pen and paper, quickly writing something.
⋆⋅♥︎⋅⋆
Once they both showered and were dressed in pajamas, they quickly hopped into bed. The rest of the family got there just as Mike had closed the door. They’d probably think he had gone to sleep already, and that Will had left.
“I wrote you a little something,” Mike said, taking a folded piece of paper with a heart drawn on it out from under his pillow and handing it to Will.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to.”
Will unfolded the piece of paper, which was addressed to him.
Dear, Will
Thank you for spending your first Valentine's Day with me. You mean the absolute world for me, and I couldn’t be happier to be yours. I know we’ve had our ups and downs with our friendship in the past, but that has only brought us closer together. Sitting next to you on the swings in kindergarten has been the best decision of my life, because it’s led to this.
Love, Mike ᡣ𐭩
“I know it’s short but-”
Mike was cut off with a kiss. Will's hands cupped his face, and he immediately wrapped his arms around him, melting into his touch.
“I love you,” Will whispered, pulling away just slightly.
“I love you, too.”
He smiled into another kiss, because this was his perfect Valentine's Day, and it was only his first. With the person he loves most in the world. His Mike.