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Will really was in no mood to wake up.
His dream was a little weird, sure, but it wasn’t like it was a nightmare or anything. He was very content in just basking in the world his mind created, and then the knocking started.
And it didn’t stop.
Will let out a muffled groan as he forced himself to roll over off of his pillow and sit up, hair messy and going every which way. The knocking continued.
“Oh, for- WHAT?”
The door creaked open, and El poked her head in. “Were you asleep?”
“Yeah, and I was really enjoying it, actually.”
“You know you’re not supposed to be asleep right now. It’s dinnertime. Mom always says that you’re going to screw up your sleep schedule.”
“Yeah, well, if I screw up my sleep schedule then that’s my problem, not Mom’s.”
El stuck her tongue out at him. “I bet you stay up all night talking to Mike and being gross.”
“Wh- I do not! And even if I did, you have no proof of it!”
“I don’t need proof, I just know you.” El rolled her eyes. “Like I said before, it’s dinnertime, and after dinner you promised to play Mario Kart with me and Jonathan. Therefore, if you’re not downstairs in two minutes, I’m telling Hopper about what I caught you and Mike doing the other day when the door was shut.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Then get your sorry tail downstairs and eat!” El turned away, but before she fully left, she turned off the light, leaving Will in near complete darkness.
“EL!”
She was already gone by the time the protest left Will’s lips. Groaning, Will swung his legs over the edge of his bed, fully intending to go downstairs, when his phone that lay on the nightstand buzzed.
Of course he had to check who it was. And when he saw it was Mike, of course he had to respond.
Will’s heart ------------> Mike’s sorcerer
Will’s heart: u wanna come over tonight?? im planning out a campaign for eddie and i really want your opinion on some of it
Will’s heart: See where things go from there
Will’s heart: Wink wonk
Mike’s sorcerer: don’t you start with me michael wheeler
Mike’s sorcerer: i’ve caught onto all your tricks
Mike’s sorcerer: yeah though I do wanna see you <3 it’s been forever
Will’s heart: school was four hours ago
Will’s heart: BUT YESSSS ILY
Will’s heart: youre gonna have to be careful though, my whole family is home
Mike’s sorcerer: the window never hurt me before
Will’s heart: ill be keeping watch for you <3
Will smiled at his phone, and it took everything in him to put it down and then rush out of his room to get to dinner. He needed to make sure El didn’t make good on her promise.
Nonetheless, now he had a reason to get dinner and then Mario Kart out of the way. A reason that he really hoped nobody would figure out.
Will could barely focus on the conversation all throughout dinner, thoughts too concerned with one person. Offhandedly, he noticed that Jonathan seemed really fidgety too, but that observation was easily dismissed in his eyes.
Will lost the first half of Mario Kart races to El, only losing to Jonathan once, and her questions of what was up with him caused him to step his game up and seize first place for most of the second half. If El found out the reason for why he was distracted, he was never going to hear the end of it.
Now, despite going through actual torture before in the form of band camp, Will thought that it was practically torture to wait for everyone to go to bed.
The minutes trekked on slowly, and Will tried to amuse himself through meaningless YouTube, playing what he knew of their show on his piccolo, or working on his next art assignment, but all he could focus on were the footsteps that echoed outside in the hallway.
He needed them all to stop. Once they were all gone, then he could go see Mike.
It was past nine before he heard the final footstep echo and nothing else to come after it.
He waited five, ten minutes, just to be sure, then he was hoisting on his hoodie and sending a quick text out.
Mike’s sorcerer: heading out now, be there in 10 <3
Will’s heart: :D
Will let out a small chuckle at Mike’s quick response and went to leave, but before he could, he stopped momentarily.
A light blue sweater sat on the ground, one that Will definitely did not own. It took him a moment before he realized whose sweater it was.
Will picked it up and folded it before carrying it out with him. He had meant to return this sweater a while ago, and since Mike hadn’t reminded him about it it meant that he must have forgotten. Finally returning this will be a nice surprise for him.
With that thought in mind, Will crept out into the hallway, made his way into the garage, and grabbed his bike, making sure that the sweater was secure before he took off cycling down the road.
If he’d been paying attention a little more, he would have noticed how the door to Jonathan’s room was open slightly, the open space revealing an open window and nobody in sight.
As Will pedaled, he let his mind wander. What was the campaign going to be about? Where was it going to take them afterwards? Why had Mike been so insistent on him coming over tonight when he could have talked to him about it at school? They had second period together tomorrow.
When Will eventually got to Mike’s house a little sooner than he had originally planned to arrive, he grabbed the sweater, tossed his bike slightly to the side and went around to the back, where he knew Mike’s window was.
Ignoring everything else around him, he began to scale the house with the sweater stationed over his shoulder, using Holly’s toy slide as a stepstool to get onto the crevices that windows provided, completely focused on his task.
Maybe a little too focused.
“Will??”
Will startled, nearly falling in the process, and steadied himself. Looking up, perched on the window above his, was-
“Jonathan???”
Jonathan’s face was red as he looked down at Will, and Will quickly climbed up to get onto a nearby window so the two of them could be on the same level. Jonathan was carrying something in his arms. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” Will snarked back, raising an eyebrow. “It’s not exactly the nighttime routine to sneak into people’s windows?”
“Don’t act like you’re not doing the same.” Jonathan rolled his eyes. “You’re not supposed to be out right now.”
“Well, neither are you!”
“I’m older than you, I can be out past nine if I want.”
“I’m sure that being out past nine usually doesn’t mean that you can sneak into the Wheelers’! What are you doing here?”
Jonathan didn’t give him the dignity of a reply this time, and instead just showed Will what he was holding.
It was a jacket. A deep blue jean jacket. That was undeniably not Mike’s.
It clicked in Will’s mind all at once.
“Oh.”
Jonathan nodded, bringing Nancy’s jacket back towards his chest. “And you’re here because?”
Will didn’t dignify him with a response either, and held out Mike’s sweater. Jonathan seemed to get it pretty much immediately, and Will’s face was matching the redness of Jonathan’s by now.
“Um.” Jonathan shifted uncomfortably. “How about this, if you don’t tell Mom about this then I won’t?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Jonathan nodded, then began scaling the house with a precision that gave away that he’s probably done this before. Will waited where he was for the moment, not wanting to knock on Mike’s window while Jonathan was doing the same for Nancy.
Jonathan seemed to have blocked Will out by now, as he showed no hesitation as he knocked on Nancy’s window. Nancy, similarly, showed no hesitation in opening it, and Will couldn’t hear the words exchanged before Nancy was taking her jacket and moving backwards so Jonathan could climb in through the small opening.
Will waited until the window slammed shut once more to finally start moving again.
He made his way to Mike’s window with his own practiced urgency, but unlike Jonathan, Will had no need to knock before Mike was opening the window himself, a smile stretching across his face. “Will, finally!”
Will smiled back and climbed inside, letting Mike shut the window. “Finally? I wasn’t that long. I couldn’t leave you waiting for too long, could I?”
“Well, it felt like forever since you sent that text. I’ve been waiting for ages.” Mike put a hand on his forehead for dramatic effect. “How could you leave your boyfriend waiting for oh so long?”
“Shut it, you big baby, or you’re not getting your sweater back.”
“My sweater? Oh, you have it!” All traces of Mike’s dramatic facade were gone as he noticed the sweater and took it back. “I’ve been looking for this forever! Thanks for returning it. Say, the ride here wasn’t too much trouble, was it?”
“Not at all! Unless seeing an older brother doing the same thing as me counts,” Will muttered the last part under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. So where’s that campaign you were gonna tell me about?”
Mike brightened immediately as he reached for his notebook, already beginning to ramble about it, and Will settled in to listen closely.
If he started hearing noises from Nancy’s room later in the night though, he was going to be suing Jonathan later down the line. He deserved it.
At least he and Mike could keep it quiet.