Chapter Text
New York University, NY
8:00 AM, Monday May 2nd
Mike felt his entire body convulse as his alarm clock began loudly pinging. His arm flew out towards his bedside table, knocking both the clock and a half-drank glass of water onto the hardwood floor. He sat up forcefully.
‘Jesus fucking Christ.’
He rubbed his eyes a few times as floating balls of light appeared in his already clouded vision. The sun was peaking softly through the bedroom window, a single ray hitting one of his eyeballs almost directly. He looked beside him to see Will struggling to find consciousness.
‘Mike what the hell.’
‘Sorry. I got startled.’
He stepped out of bed and did what he could to recover the broken glass and puddle of water. He grabbed a shirt that had been flung over the foot board and hoped it would absorb some of the mess. He heard Will groan.
‘That’s my shirt.’
‘It’s just water.’
‘Rude.’ He let out a sleepy chuckle.
Mike stood up with a shirt full of broken glass and water, staring at Will. Will was able to open his eyes just enough to catch his gaze and smile.
‘You’re a mess Wheeler.’
Mike rolled his eyes and returned a smile, with a rather mischievous edge. ‘Yeah well that's what happens when your super hot roommate keeps you up all night.’
Will felt his face flush as he sat up slowly. ‘I did not! And for the record, you didn’t say no.’
Mike tossed the shirt onto the desk beside him and climbed onto the mattress, slowly crawling his way towards Will. With devilish eyes, he pressed a single kiss on his forehead.
‘Yeah well you’re kind of hard to say no to.’ He stared at Will with soft eyes for a few seconds, taking in his sleepy haze, hair pushed in a heap towards his face.
He climbed back out of bed and began frantically searching for a set of clean clothes. If there was one thing Mike Wheeler struggled with, it was being on time for the one class that essentially determined his graduation. His professor had been kind enough to let his tardiness go under the radar twice. Mike was now leaning towards a third strike, which he was unsure would be received so lovingly.
He placed a rather wet kiss on Will’s cheek as he grabbed his backpack and sped down the hallway towards the door. Will flopped onto his back and closed his eyes, a smile forming.
‘DON’T FORGET YOUR NOTEBOOK ON THE COUNTER!’
‘WOULDNT DREAM OF IT!’
Will chuckled to himself and rubbed his face with both hands as he continued to wake up. He could already picture Mike sprinting down the block towards the lecture hall, shoes untied and backpack slightly unzipped.
God it made him laugh. Mike was always the same. Wanted to be on time, wanted to be organized, but it wasn’t in his nature. Will did what he could to instill more structure in him, but it was ingrained in his blood. As much of a protector and a strong force he was, he was never going to fold his clothes or hang up his towel. That was just the DNA he’d been handed.
On Mondays, especially lately, Mike and Will were ships sailing. Mike’s classes engulfed his morning, Will’s his evening. Both men worked part time at the local Bistro at the corner, shifts never seeming to line up. Will had actually learned to like the routine, as it gave him the morning to himself to keep the place a bit more… presentable. He would clean, prep a few meals for the remainder of the week, catch up on some studying, maybe even do some painting.
Mike on the contrary, hated it. Loathed it. After a long day of classes, all he desired to do was cuddle up to Will, share a meal, maybe watch a good movie (or two). But instead he was forced to work a long shift at the bistro, come home to Will already passed out in bed after a three-hour lecture. It often reminded him of their days at separate universities, having to try and catch the other at the right time via phone, often times failing.
He loved Will so much. Painfully so. The last four years of his life had been a whirlwind as he experienced romantic feelings both physical and mental he didn’t quite know were possible. Lucas, Dustin and even Max had expressed quietly that they figured it would fizzle out after Will got some exposure to the city, met a few new faces. But it never did. It just intensified. And now, with the uncertainty of life post graduation, the potential for new jobs and new cities, Mike had to start formulating a plan.
His shifts at the bistro had doubled as he started socking away money in every way he could. He had a realization several months prior that there was no life without Will, in any way, shape or form. So he began saving like hell. His goal, you ask? A simple gold band he had seen in a jewelry store window about three months prior. It was classy, simple, and perfectly symbolic. Something that would demonstrate his commitment to Will, his want to build a life together, and his promise to give Will anything and everything he could ever want or need. He knew they wouldn’t actually be legally bound like they may want, but he would do what he could to give Will the closest thing imaginable. Hell, he’d even arrange a small wedding if it was something Will wanted.
The only individual aware of this incoming ‘proposal’ of sorts, was Max. Max had become a huge part of Will’s life and emotional well-being, especially since her and Lucas were conveniently living about a block away. They were basically inseparable. Mike had shown Max the ring, as well as a few of his ideal speeches that would be awkwardly muttered before presenting it. Her reaction? She had basically jumped up and down so excitedly that the floors of their apartment had almost fallen through.
When she had asked Mike some more serious, detail-oriented questions like ‘when is this taking place?’ And ‘where will it happen?’, he hadn’t exactly thought those pieces through. All he knew was that on graduation day, he was going to leave that campus knowing Will would be with him forever, wherever they ended up. Their new lives would begin then.
***
Later that afternoon, Mike had found a free hour to himself in between classes to grab a cup of coffee and a shitty sandwich at a cafe nearby. He huddled up inside a booth, opening a notebook he had been slowly filling with various things he had planned to say to Will.
He flung his worn brown leather coat on the seat beside him and put pencil to paper. Just as a thought entered his mind, he heard a familiar voice through the chatter of the cafe. How could he possibly mistake that crazy redhead?
‘Oh look who it is.’
Fuck.
Max ran towards his corner, eyes wide and bright. She took a seat at the opposite side of the booth and slammed her hands on the table.
‘Wheeler, start talking. What’s the plan here?’
Mike felt his heart rate double. Every time Max starting questioning him about the proposal, it solidified how REAL it all was becoming. Mike’s anxiety was already naturally high. This particular situation was a whole new level of the game.
‘Max relax, I’m working on it.’
‘He’s starting to get a little suspicious. He keeps complaining about you working super late all the time and how you’ve been acting shady.’
‘I have not.’
‘Yeah you have. I mean, it’s totally warranted. But still. You might want to pick up the pace here. You’ve got two weeks left till we graduate. Plenty of time for him to find-‘
‘Hey hey hey. Stop that.’
‘I’m just saying.’ There was a glimmer in her eyes that drove Mike bat shit. He knew her intentions were good, that she was excited. But her energy level on the subject just worsened Mike’s nervous system shutdown.
He placed a hand on his coffee and anxiously ran a finger along the rim of the cup.
‘Do you think…. do you think this is dumb? That he’ll think it’s too much? Or-‘
‘Mike shut up. He’s fucking crazy about you and you know that. He’d jump in front of a moving train before he said no to this. And this is coming from the person who knows him, really knows him.’
Mike scoffed. ‘Oh? And I don’t?
Max began to laugh mischievously and sat back against the seat with her arms folded. ‘Well, let’s just say that I know exactly what happened that gave him that nice little bruise on his neck.’
‘What?! He told you?!’
‘Wheeler, we’re best friends. I know every detail of that boy’s sex life, and he knows mine.’
Mike’s mouth was left open in shock, also distain. His brow furrowed like it always did when he was disgusted.
‘That’s fucked up.’
‘Well so are you for man-handling him. Be gentler.’
Mike tried hard to suppress a smile, but he simply couldn’t. There was a small pinch of pride in it. He enjoyed leaving his mark on Will. It let the world know that he was his.
Max rather reluctantly, put a hand on Mike’s. ‘Listen blockhead, if you need help, I’m here. But in the meantime, just please don’t screw up. You’ve got two weeks left and then we’re faced with reality.’
Mike nodded nervously as Max slipped out of the booth. Suddenly, his mind was racing. All of the logistics he hadn’t lined up were suddenly all on the table, staring at him like he was under an interrogation light. Max was right. He only had two weeks left, and he couldn’t screw this up.
The part that had Mike clinging to dear life was not that fact that he had to plan a proposal. It was that he had to plan a proposal, while also studying for finals, while also somehow managing to be on time for any remaining classes and his work shifts, while also continuing to apply for jobs. And then of course, make time for Will.
He quickly finished his coffee and tucked his notebook away. Max had left him too frazzled to brainstorm at this particular moment and he could show up to his next class early, for a change. He left the cafe, looking upwards at the sky as several droplets of rain hit his forehead.
***
The day eventually came to a close. Mike turned the key to their small little excuse for an apartment, the smell of something delicious permeating the air. He smiled crookedly as he eyed a warm plate of something wonderful sitting on the kitchen table.
Pasta with meat sauce and a cold beer. If he wasn’t the luckiest man on earth.
He sat down and inhaled with a hunger so deep he wasn’t sure how he had managed to stay alive. Besides his sad cafe sandwich, he hadn’t managed to eat anything else. As he scraped the last bits of sauce off of the plate, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It started off rather soft, and then sank into a deep rub against his neck.
‘Hey you.’
He watched as Will sat down beside him, looking disheveled. He had obviously been asleep.
‘You’re really late tonight. Rough shift?’
Mike smiled as he swallowed the remnants of his dinner. ‘Yeah, I suppose. Lot of clean-up. How about you, how was your day?’
Will ran a hand through his hair and laughed awkwardly. ‘Actually, it kind of sucked. I spent most of it studying and my brain feels like pudding.’
Mike let one of his hands lightly graze Will’s cheek and slowly creep towards his chin. His skin was soft and warm, not a bump or a blemish.
‘Well I’m sure I can help you destress…. somehow…’ he winked as he pushed his plate aside.
‘Oh please.’ Will rolled his eyes and laughed. ‘You’re exhausted Mike Wheeler. I can see it in your eyes.’
Mike smiled and stood up, carrying his plate to the sink. ‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to crash.’
He let a moment of silence hang and then spun around quickly. ‘Hey so um…. I hear you’re letting Max in on some of my little secrets.’
Will looked confused. ‘What? What secrets?’
‘You know, that one?’ He lightly pointed to his own neck as if to mimic the placement of the giant bruise on Will’s neck. Will’s eyes widened.
‘Uh…. I might have. But only because it was so incredible.’
‘Uh huh.’
Will laughed and then abruptly stopped and let his eyes narrow on Mike.
‘Wait. When the hell did you talk to Max about that? That bruise is from like…. twenty-four hours ago.’
Mike suddenly felt his stomach twist into a double knot. He swallowed hard.
‘Oh um…. we saw each other at the cafe today.’
Will didn’t look convinced. It wasn’t often that Max and him had cozy conversations outside of Will and Lucas. Their relationship just wasn’t like that.
‘Uh huh. Well, I’m glad you two are actually conversing, I guess?’
Mike leaned in for a quick cheek peck and headed towards their bedroom.
‘Don’t get used to it.’
Will followed, smiling at the beautiful boy in front of him.