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The blazing heat of the summer sun cascaded into the mall, illuminating the entrance of Scoops Ahoy, Will had direct sight of it from his perch at the Surfer Boy Pizza counter, and also direct sight of Mike sweeping the floor in his navy outfit and crooked sailor hat. He flipped Max the bird as she sauntered out, giving Will a cheesy grin and wave as she left, it was Mike’s turn to close down.
Will wiped the counter as his co-worker nodded a goodbye as they left, Will was also on the close down shift at Surfer Boy, but he didn’t mind it much when it lined up with Mike’s shift end, on each occasion their shifts did line up like this, they would stay later than needed, sometimes being the only ones left in their section of the mall.
It was great fun, having loud conversations across the mall as they shut down for the evening, eating slightly charred pizza and half-melted ice cream and occasionally playing hide and seek before leaving.
They had both started working to save up money before college, and it was coming up to their last month of shifts before moving away, and Will felt a strange pang at the thought of it. He was more than excited to start his new life away from Hawkins, but he would miss this routine he and Mike had settled into.
Will grabbed the spray bottle and cloth and made his way around the counter to the tables, looking back up at Mike who was still slowly sweeping away, he playfully stuck his tongue out at Will as he lined the brush up to a crumbled piece of paper, hitting it like a golf ball into Surfer Boy.
Will watched as the paper ball landed under one of the tables “I’m not picking that up” He smirked, continuing to wipe the table down.
“Well, it’s not in my domain anymore so not my issue” Mike retorted, emptying the pan into the trash.
“Well, it’s property of Scoops Ahoy so it’s not my issue” Will replied, moving onto cleaning the next table.
“Yikes, not sure how your boss will feel about your shoddy cleaning” Mike teased.
Will rolled his eyes and kicked the paper back over, it landed between the center of both shops.
“Still not my domain” Mike chuckled, starting to now mop the floor.
“Well you can’t just leave it there in the center of the mall” Will groaned.
Mike shrugged in response and continued to mop.
Will sighed and made his way to where the paper lay, he picked it up, and a smirk formed on his lips. As Mike's back was turned, he threw the paper into Mike’s mop bucket and as it landed, the water splashed onto Mike’s calf.
“Oh come on!” Mike complained.
“You owe me fifty cents of your wage” Will laughed as he made his way back over to Surfer Boy.
“That‘s like thirty minutes of work” Mike scrunched his face up.
Will mimicked Mike, shrugging in response as he started sweeping his own floor, until he was interrupted by a wet glob striking his shoulder.
The wet paper rolled off Will’s shoulder and onto the floor, soaking where he had just cleaned, he glared at Mike and was met with a shit eating grin.
“That’s it” He grumbled as he picked up the paper and stormed over to Scoops Ahoy, Mike clocked onto his pace and maneuvered quickly, trying to hide round the counter, but the floor was wet and Will was faster.
They giggled as he tried to slip the wet paper ball into Mike’s shirt, that’ll teach him a lesson. Mike’s frantic arms tried to wrestle against Will’s, but he was stronger, he clasped Mike’s arms with his free hand, their legs slipping unsteadily on the squeaky floor and Mike yelped as the paper found its way into his shirt and onto his bare back.
“Alright you win!” Mike huffed as Will let go of his hands and he ruffled his Scoops Ahoy navy shirt, coaxing the paper ball out and onto the floor with a splat. “I’ll put it in the trash” he sighed as he plucked it from the floor and chucked it in.
The sight of Mike’s flustered and annoyed face set Will into a fit of giggles, teasing Mike had to be one of his favorite things to do, just spending time like this with Mike was his favorite really, just them, laughing together, having fun no matter what they were doing.
Will did feel slightly guilty at how much he did enjoy flustering Mike, how he enjoyed the closeness they would share, the way Mike looked in his Scoops Ahoy uniform, dark curls poking out under the hat he refused to wear straight.
But he had accepted now that nothing would happen between them and that Mike didn’t feel the same, so, he tried to treasure his crush for a bit longer, letting himself enjoy their moments together until they went to college, then he could hopefully get over Mike and meet someone else he would feel this way about, and ever better, they would reciprocate his feelings.
Will shook his thoughts away and focused back on Mike’s pink stained cheeks and pout.
“I can’t believe you did that” Mike muttered.
Will knew he wasn’t really annoyed, he knew him too well, Mike has the most fun when he’s causing chaos, and so does Will.
“That’s what you get for ruining my clean floor” Will laughed as he made his way back over to Surfer Boy.
The sun was slowly starting the set as they worked on their respective shutting down jobs, shouting quips to each other as they checked each job off until Will had finished earlier than Mike, he had locked up and was now sat on the Scoops counter eating mint ice cream, no pizza leftovers today.
Although, eating hot pizza in this weather is the last thing Will wanted to do, he was grateful he chose a summer job that wasn’t as busy, it gave him more time to stare into the bustling summer crowd at Scoops Ahoy, watching Mike get into a flow state of scooping ice cream after ice cream as Will sketched his actions, it was good motion practice.
Will had finished with his bowl and rinsed it out, he wiped it with down with blue towel and noticed Mike fiddling with the alarm system, he thought it would be funny to sneak up on him and pretend to put the towel down the back of his shirt, but boy, was he wrong.
At the touch of Will’s hand on his neck, Mike yelped and his finger slammed into the keypad, it triggered the shop alarms and they blared as a metal barrier rolled down the entrance and back exit of the shop, they were deadlocked in.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Mike fumbled with the keypad and the alarms let up but the barriers were still firmly down. “Shit! What? That should have worked”
Horror crept up on Will’s face “Mike I’m so sorry, are we locked in?”
“We shouldn’t be, there’s an override code I used but it’s not working” He kept aggressively tapping the enter button, but nothing happened.
“Is there a number you can call?”
Mike checked around the alarm system and seemed to find something, he signaled Will to come closer “Read that number out for me” he pointed at a string of numbers inside the box and made his way to the shop phone at the counter, Will read the numbers out and he dialed them into the shop landline.
Mike explained what had happened and a couple of nods and mutters later, he put down the phone, his already pale skin had turned an even paler shade.
“Mike? What did they say?”
Mike sucked in a breath “We are stuck in here, could be a couple of hours, could be all night if they can’t find someone to come out”
Shit. A couple of hours wouldn’t be so bad, they could entertain themselves, but a whole night locked up? Where would they sleep? Ice cream for dinner sounded fun as a child, but now that it could be the only option, the lack of pizza leftovers was disappointing.
“What do we do?” Will bit his bottom lip in worry.
Mike shook his head, slinking his way down the counter.
Will joined beside him, being locked in Scoops all night was probably the last thing either of them wanted.
“I’m really sorry Mike, I shouldn’t of done that whilst you were concentrating, I’m such an idiot”
“No, it’s my fault, I should of been more careful, I’m the idiot”
“Both idiots” Will knocked his knee against Mike’s, trying to lighten the mood.
“Both idiots” Mike agreed, knocking his knee back.
Will stared at the sparkling grey speckled floor, his eyes followed up the wall to the opened window partition, then to the vent inside the room.
“Do you think we could escape through the vent?” He asked.
Mike chuckled “No way in Hell”
“Come on, I’m sure if I sucked in I could make it”
That made Mike laugh even harder and it brought a warmness to Will’s chest, he loved Mike’s laugh, and he loved being the one to make him laugh, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing being locked in with his best friend, it could be just like a sleepover, albeit a more uncomfy one, but it didn’t have to be as unpleasant as they were worrying about.
“What? You don’t think I could?” Will laughed.
“Will come on, maybe when you were younger but definitely not anymore”
“What are you trying to imply?”
“It’s just… I mean…you’ve grown… a lot, you’re like all muscle, everywhere now…like you can’t suck that in…shut up” Mike tripped over his words and Will laughed at his ability to never string a coherent sentence together.
“Yeah I don’t think you’d be able to either, you’re way too tall now”
“I dunno, maybe if I straightened out like a pencil you could push me through” Mike laughed as he laid his legs flat and brought his arms above his head.
“What? With my big burley arms that can’t fit?” Will joked back.
“Shut up” Mike shook his head, he brought his arms back down and nudged Will’s side.
Will did just that, he shut his lips firmly together, knowing when Mike realised what he was doing it would annoy him, let the teasing game begin.
They sat in silence for a beat, and Mike tried to break the silence.
“So… What do we do now?”
Will didn’t reply.
Mike gave a puzzled look and Will just replied by raising his eyebrows, Mike knotted his in return. “Okay, talk, I’m not spending the whole evening talking at you”
Will shrugged his shoulders and he knew that did it for Mike as his fingers wiggled into Will’s side, trying to evoke a laugh or at least a noise from Will. He tried to hold it in for as long as could as he squirmed but he was starting to lose breath.
He exhaled a laugh, he’d lost this game “Alright, alright, what did you wanna talk about?”
Mike retreated his fingers smugly “I dunno, college?”
Will readjusted, his body becoming uncomfortable on the cold floor “Sure but can we sit somewhere more comfy if we are gonna be talking all night”
Mike rolled his eyes and removed himself from the floor, he extended his arm for Will to grab on to, Will obliged and pulled himself up and they made their way to the much comfier Scoops booth, the red seating a softer feel than the hard floor, if they did end up having to sleep here it wouldn’t be so bad.
Will called dibs on the spot and laid down, Mike mirrored him, laying on the other side, Mike’s crooked ‘AHOY’ sailor hat pressed against Will’s yellow Surfer Boy cap as they stared up at the splotchy ceiling. “So, college?” Will prompted.
“Right, yeah, how are you feeling about it happening so soon?”
They’d spoken about college here and there, they both applied and got accepted into the same one which Will was pleased about, the worst thing about college was leaving his family and friends behind, but luckily he didn’t have to leave his best friend, however, he was a bit nervous about what that meant for his growth.
It’s not that Mike would stunt him or anything, but Will was ready to experience all kinds of new things Hawkins could never offer him, he was looking forward to not being known as the weird, quiet, zombie boy that struggled to stand up for himself, but instead explore this newfound confidence of acceptance and freeness he had experienced after defeating Vecna.
He was also so ready to get over his years old crush on Mike, and even though he was accepting of his own queerness now and he tried to not feel guilty about his feelings toward him, he was looking forward to the day he didn’t have to second guess every interaction, looking forward to bumping and grazing into him without feeling like he’d been electrocuted, or zoning out of conversations with him because he’d get distracted at how soft Mike’s lips would be to touch.
He just wanted to think normal best friend thoughts about his best friend and college was that chance, he didn’t originally factor them going to the same college when he was constructing this plan, but they weren’t going to be roommates so he could at least explore some things without Mike being there all the time, and maybe then he could finally hang out with Mike with no added pressure, exactly like he could with Dustin and Lucas.
“Oh, um, I’m really excited, you?” Will replied.
“Yeah? Any bit in particular?”
“Just about everything, new town, new people, new experiences”
“Hm”
“What about you?”
“I dunno, I’m kinda… I’ve been really enjoying working here”
“Really?” Will was shocked, the way Mike would complain after every shift, he guessed the opposite.
“Yeah, like don’t get me wrong some of the customers are mouthbreathers and Max is annoying, but it’s fun closing up with you and stuff”
Will had to admit that was his favourite part of the job, just getting to see Mike at work, borrowing till roll and change when they needed it, catching each other's gaze as they served customers, watching anything Mike did at work really, but that’s probably not what Mike liked.
“They might have a Scoops at college?”
Mike made a small laugh “Not the same”
“Are you not looking forward to getting out of Hawkins?”
“Yeah of course”
“And meeting new people? I’m sure there’s gonna be lots of attractive girls”
Will felt Mike shift a bit, bumping their heads slightly.
“Is that what you’re excited for… meeting attractive boys?”
Well, when Mike says it like that, it sounds a bit shallow and judgemental. Mike had said multiple times how cool he was with Will being gay, but the fact that he might actually witness Will being gay, did that change his feelings? Is that what he thought of Will, because he’s gay he’s just boy crazy?
He would be lying if it wasn’t one of the main things he was excited for, but it means so much more than just being boy crazy. “I mean, that’s not the only thing I’m excited for”
“But you want to meet attractive boys?”
“Well, sure, do you not want to meet attractive girls?”
“I’m not bothered”
“Of course you aren't bothered, you’re straight, you meet attractive girls everyday at work”
“Well you meet attractive boys everyday at work, what’s the difference?”
“It’s not the same Mike”
“How is it not?”
He couldn’t be safely out in a small town like Hawkins, but in college it’ll be easier, he’ll be in a bigger, more accepting city where other people are more likely to be out too, and he can finally meet someone to get his mind off Mike but he couldn’t explain this all so he just shrugged instead “It’s just not, okay?”
Mike huffed and they laid there in silence until Mike broke it again.
“I just meant… I just don’t like it when things change…I guess?”
“What are you worried about changing?”
“I dunno…Us? Being best friends? Like when you meet cool new people and… boys, what if you don’t want to be best friends anymore? What if you don’t have time anymore?”
“Shut up, you’re always going to be my best friend Mike, nobody is going to change us” And he was right, the more he thought deeply about it, getting over Mike Wheeler would never be as simple as meeting someone else, especially when he was being so vulnerable, even if it was a struggle for him.
“You promise?” Mike whispered.
“Yeah, I promise” Will whispered back as he closed his eyes.
Will felt Mike’s head leave his, then a moment later his lids darkened, he opened his eyes to be met with Mike’s wide dark ones hovering over him, studying his face.
“Pinky promise?” Mike held his finger above Will, and Will brought his finger up to clasp around Mike’s.
“Pinky promise” he answered, a blush spread around his cheeks at the closeness of Mike’s face, he studied Mike back as their fingers stayed laced together, his curls framed around his eyes, Will wanted more than anything to lace his fingers through them instead.
Mike’s hat was so askew that a subtle tilt made it fall into Will’s face, which he was grateful for as it covered his blush and interrupted his not so ‘best friend’ thoughts. Will laughed into the hat as he sat up, replacing his own hat with it “I’ve always wanted to try this on”
“It suits you, maybe we should swap shifts” Mike grinned as he took Will’s Surfer Boy hat and placed it on, the brim pushed slightly to the left. Mike's inability to wear hats straight was hilarious, but it was more frustrating that even though he looked like an idiot, it made him even more adorable.
“What could be so hard about scooping ice-cream?” Will made his way to the counter and pretended to scoop.
They roleplayed Mike being all kinds of difficult customers, but Will kept up, all smiles and solving solutions. Maybe he could work in a busier job, or maybe it was just fun because it was Mike making all kinds of expressions as he shifted from one character to the other.
“Well, all I’d have to do at your work is sit at the counter all day” Mike teased, he rested his arm on the Scoops counter and tipped Will’s cap down, pretending to snore.
“I do more than that!” Will shoved Mike over the counter which broke him out of his pretend sleep.
“Oh? I thought your job role was to just stand there and look pretty” Mike chuckled.
Will’s blush crept back onto his cheeks, did Mike just call him pretty? Surely he didn’t mean it like that, he was just teasing.
“I make pizza too, sometimes” He muttered, trying to regain composure, albeit the pizzas he had made had been on the training days, and they weren’t quite customer serviceable yet.
Mike made his way back round the counter where Will stood “Yeah I couldn’t do that, I’ll leave the being pretty and flipping pizza to you”
He came close and removed Will’s cap from his head then reached out to take his AHOY hat back, he placed it back on his own head, crooked of course, then delicately positioned Will’s cap back on his head, making sure to center it perfectly.
Will didn’t know at what point he stopped breathing, could have been when Mike called him pretty the second time, or when Mike’s hands were fussing with getting his hat centered for longer than seemed necessary, they were very close and Will was frantically studying Mike’s face, what was he thinking?
Once Mike was satisfied with the cap’s position, his gaze met Will’s, he looked tinged pink in the glow of the counter lights, Will noticed Mike’s eyes flit around his face, what was he looking for?
Mike’s wide eyes narrowed and a smirk formed on his mouth as if he was plotting something and he was ready to execute it, and that he did, he held up a scrunched tissue and before Will could register it, he pinned Will against the counter, gripping Will’s arms to his chest and firmly placing his legs either side of Will, pushing them together.
The pressure of Mike’s body was heavy, towering above him, too close.
“What are you doing?” Will was flustered, he was usually stronger than Mike, but he was firmly stood, not budging as Will tried to move under him.
“This is payback for getting us locked in” Mike smirked, hovering the ball of tissue in front of Will’s face.
“Where did you even get that?”
“It was in my pocket”
“That’s gross, get off me!”
“You’ll have to make me or it’s going down your top”
“How?! You’ve got my arms and legs, I can’t move!”
“Get creative”
Get creative? Was he going crazy? Will studied Mike’s face with intensity, what did he want? Their faces were so close that he felt Mike’s unsteady breathing, he’d never seen Mike make this expression before, his eyes looked heavy and they flicked up and down Will’s face, at this angle Will noticed it wasn’t the counter lights that were tinging him pink, it was him blushing.
How was Will supposed to read this scenario? He called him pretty, he blushed, he literally had him pinned up to the counter, asking him to creatively get him to move when the only thing that wasn’t pinned down was his face.
Was he reading this situation wrong? Was his desire to savour this stronger than what the potential aftermath could be if he had read the situation wrong? But Mike was blushing, his eyes were heavy, and Will was sure he kept looking at his lips?
This wasn’t normal best friend behaviour, this is what Will would fantasize happening, but this was real, all the signs were pointing to one solution, well that or headbutt him, but from Mike’s behaviour, that didn’t seem like the likely option, which was crazy, because the likely option was so far from real to Will a few minutes ago.
He bit his lips and Mike watched him intently, eyes flicking back to stare deeply into his own, they narrowed again, slightly impatient “This has probably been in my pocket for weeks”
A dirty tissue with god knows what on it touching his bare skin or giving into his deepest desires? Who would have thought this would be such a difficult choice to make. Mike sighed and tucked his finger into the collar of Will’s Surfer Boy shirt, pulling it open slowly, he was giving Will time but applying the pressure, and it was driving him crazy.
Will analysed Mike’s face one last time, Mike licked his lips, and that was the final signal Will needed, he inhaled, feeling Mike’s body weight rise with him, and he quickly crashed his lips into Mike’s. Having his first kiss locked in Scoops Ahoy with his best friend wasn’t originally how he thought it would go, but this was perfect.
Will was initially worried he read the signals wrong when he pulled back, but Mike immediately threw the tissue to the floor and fisted Will’s collar, pulling him in for a deeper and longer kiss, the brim of his hat hit Mike’s forehead but he just tilted into the kiss, Mike’s mouth was hot and tasted like strawberry ice cream and it drove Will crazy, he couldn’t believe this was happening.
Just as he savoured their moments teasing and laughing, he would savour this strawberry taste, it would be ingrained in his senses for the rest of his life, and he indulged further when he pushed his arms out of Mike’s grip and brought them up to knock his AHOY hat off and entwine his fingers through his curls, pulling at them like he had desperately fantasized about.
This encouraged a soft moan from Mike into Will’s mouth, and Will felt Mike’s hands grab at his waist, pushing him further into the counter, his neck craned and back arched, the pressure was suffocating and exhilarating all at the same time.
Will had to come up for air, only briefly as he pushed his way up to sit on top of the counter, he locked his legs around Mike’s and pulled him back in, kissing him desperately at the same level now, the force knocking his hat off in the process.
This was crazy, he was kissing Mike, Mike was kissing him back, and he could tell he was enjoying himself by the way his arms wrapped around him, grabbing at the top of his backside and sliding his tongue into Will’s mouth, no experience with another man would ever compare to this.
As Mike’s hand played with the waistband of Will’s work shorts, a loud echoing bang rattled on the front of the shop, they immediately broke out of their position and Will was grateful the shutters were a blank sheet so nobody could witness what had happened.
“Hello? I’m here to fix the alarm system” a voice called out.
Will studied Mike, he was flushed, lips raw and curls ruffled, as Will’s gaze lowered, he noticed Mike’s shorts were bulging. For an ice cream shop, it was way too hot, Will was surprised the ice cream hadn’t melted like he melted against Mike.
Mike cleared his throat and yelled back unsteadily “Yeah, we are in here”
“You all okay? Happy to be freed?”
Not particularly.
“Uh…Yeah” Mike answered, unconvincingly.
“Alright I’ve just gotta attach the crank and get the shutters open so you’ll have to be patient a little longer”
Will felt the most impatient he had ever felt in his life, all he wanted to do was grab Mike back into his lap and continue where they left off, but instead, he slinked off the counter and bent down to grab his hat from the floor, looking at Mike felt impossible right now.
“Hey, you okay?” Mike whispered to Will as he crouched down to collect his hat too.
Will nodded, his brain hadn’t quite caught up to form words yet, he placed his hat on his head, tilting the brim down slightly to hide his red face.
As they stood back up, Mike tilted the brim back so he could look at Will’s face.
“We should get locked in places more often, don’t you think?” Mike asked, wide eyes searching Wills.
“Yeah, definitely” He smiled and Mike beamed back, things weren’t awkward, things were good.
The shutters pulled up with force and a bang as the engineer entered the store “Sorry guys I know you’re probably itching to leave but I just need to reinstall the system and get you to lock up after me, it shouldn’t take too long so just have a seat” he gestured to the booth they were sat in earlier.
They made their way to sit in silence as they waited for the engineer to finish, all Will could think about was Mike, how his lips tasted, how he pressed into him, how his dazed eyes looked at Will like he was starving for more of him.
Was Mike gay? Did he also have a crush on Will? Was this just a thing he did out of boredom? Mike had mentioned they should get locked in places more often, so surely that was a sign he wanted to do it again?
Will cleared his throat, he could be confident Will in Hawkins, he could test the waters. He bumped his arm against Mike’s and caught his eye as he asked in a low voice “You wanna carry this on when we get back or do I need to pin you down and threaten you with a gross tissue?” The words felt strange leaving his mouth, that might have been too far.
Mike choked, he'd caught him off guard but he regained his composure quickly “We can carry this on and you can pin me down with no tissue, how about that?”
Damn it. Will couldn't believe this was happening, all this time plotting ways to get over Mike, to now planning, with him, for Mike to be under him when they got home, what a closing down shift this had been. “I can do that”
They started laughing.
“Max is gonna lose her shit when she finds out”
“What? Are you gonna tell her”
“Well not all the details, but I never hear the end of it on every shift” Mike chuckled and did his best winey impression of Max “‘Just flirt with him dork’ ‘Of course he likes you’ ‘Just go over there and kiss him it’s not that hard’ ‘You’re so in love it’s pathetic’”
Will couldn't quite believe the words that had left Mike’s mouth, he wasn’t sure if Mike had even really processed what he’d said out loud either as he just kept talking like he hadn’t just admitted to maybe being in love with Will.
“She’s been trying to coach me through how to signal, you know”
Will's brain was filled with multiple questions but all he could manage was “How long for?”
“Since we started working here”
“Oh…Well, I finally got the message”
“Yeah about time”
About time? How about years Mike. Will just chuckled instead of admitting to him he’d been in love for a long time “Well she was right, I do like you”
“Good, I’m glad, I wasn’t 100% sure but I’m glad it finally worked”
“It sure did”
They smiled at each other, and Will was excited for the future, them going to college together, spending more time together, exploring new parts of themselves, together.
“You still looking forward to meeting new boys at college?” Mike asked.
“No, my mind is preoccupied with one” Always has been.
“Me too” Mike smiled back and reached for Will's hand, their fingers laced together as they sat waiting impatiently to go home and desperately finish what they started on the Scoops Ahoy counter, they should definitely get locked into places more.