Chapter Text
Will woke up to the smell of coffee and waffles filling the apartment. He slowly blinked his eyes open, smiling sleepily. Light was spilling through the blinds and the sheets beside him were rumpled. He could hear the radio playing faintly, the sound traveling from the kitchen.
"Mike?" He called out groggily, slipping out of bed. The cool air hit him like a shockwave so he grabbed Mike's sweater where it was draped over his desk chair and pulled it over his head.
He padded into the kitchen with a sweet, sleepy, stupid smile. Mike was cooking waffles and nodding his head to the rhythm of the music. It was Just Like Heaven by The Cure, their self proclaimed song. You know, typical sappy couple shit. He floated over to his boyfriend wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing his forehead against his back. Mike let out a soft laugh.
"Good morning," he said, turning around to face Will, whose hands immediately found their way back around him, pulling them close together.
"Morning," Will murmured in response, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
Mike kissed him back and when he tried to pull away Will squeezed him tighter. He laughed, squirming.
"Hey! Your Birthday waffles are gonna burn if you don't let me get em out!"
Will sighed, reluctantly letting go. Mike took the waffles out with tongs and set them on a plate with a mountain of others.
"Think we have enough?" Will quipped, nodding at the huge pile of carbs.
"Well, I've been practicing. Wanted to make sure you had the perfect birthday breakfast." He punctuated this by kissing his boyfriend on the forehead. Will sighed, feeling a blush spread across his cheeks. "Plus, I figure whatever we don't eat we can give to El."
"Mm." Will hummed in aknowledgement. "She loves waffles more than I do."
Mike laughed. "You're both one trick ponies y'know that? Pancakes are way better-"
"Don't start with that shit," He argued playfully. "Waffles have syrup pockets. And the texture is way better. Pancakes are boring."
Mike shrugged with a smile. "Whatever you say birthday boy."
----
The apartment was small, cozy with only one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a tiny lounge. They loved it. It felt so perfectly them. The shelves had Mike's favorite books along with ones he was studying. On the walls hung Will's paintings. In their bedroom, Will's easel and painting supplies sat in one corner, while Mike's typwriter sat on the desk across the room. Sometimes they could sit in complete silence, both intensely focused on their craft, for hours. Then, afterwords, they'd talk about all their progress. Neither of them could ever get bored of the other.
The two of them sat down at their kitchen table, plates piled high with waffles and mugs filled with coffee. They made their mugs themselves in a couples pottery class Will signed them up for. Mike's was a lumpy blue thing, holding on for dear life. Will's was a perfectly smooth, pale yellow masterpiece. Mike was usually annoyed when things weren't perfect, but he adored that goddamn mug. It fit perfectly in his hands and everytime he drank from it he remembered that class. How cute Will looked, all focused on his art, clay smudges dried on his face.
The two smiled at each other dumbly.
"Thanks for this Mike," Will said, reaching across the small table to grab his hand. "I really appreciate it."
Mike took Will's hand and gave it a kiss, causing his boyfriend to blush profusely. "I love you. SO much. I want your birthday to be perfect."
They ate, chatting about their classes and how their projects were going. Mike confirmed that everyone was coming over for dinner. They made the plan a little over a week ago on Max's birthday, when the party went and got wasted and was too hungover to function the next day, to just have a chill night. They were gonna order some pizzas, have some cheap champagne, watch stupid movies and eat a Costco sheet cake. It was going to be perfect.
Will took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. Too bitter. Mike always drank his coffee black while Will always drank his with a life threatening amount of sugar. He slid out from his chair with his mug to add some more since Mike was holding out on him.
"Ughh Willllll!" Mike groaned sarcastically. "You're gonna get diabetes!"
"I'm totally not." Will laughed softly adding a few more spoons of sweetness. He sat back down, giggling at Mike's stupid face. "Plus, it's my birthday. I'm allowed to do whatever I want."
"Hm... does that include me?" Mike grinned, humored by his own joke.
"Mike!"
----
Will was smiling like an idiot the entire walk to class, Mike's arm around him. Mike didn't have a class, but insisted on walking his boyfriend on his 'special day.'
They kissed goodbye and when Will entered the classroom, he was greeted by his friend Sylvia pouncing on him.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY BYERS!" she shrieked, squeezing him like a maniac. He giggled, fighting her off.
"Thanks Syl," he replied breathlessly, his face no doubt red.
His art teacher, Mrs. Jaqueline approached them.
"Happy birthday William!" she said with a kind smile, giving him a handmade card. It was intricate and beautiful and he couldn't stop smiling.
Sylvia gave him a painting she made of him and he almost cried. It was so thoughtful and he couldn't wait to hang it up. His friend Charlie gave him a new set of headphones for his walkman since his old pair broke. In his next class, Liam gave him a gift card for an art supplies store downtown. Mia gave him a T-shirt with The Clash on it.
It was a great day.
After his classes ended he headed to the campus studio since it was free. He set his things down and found a painting he'd been working on last week drying up against the wall. He usually worked at home, but this painting was a surprise for Mike and he couldn't risk him seeing it. His birthday was in less than a month. He got his paints out of his bag and set them on the table next to the easel he had propped the painting on. He sat in the stool and began working.
The painting was of Mike and Will in a meadow, hands clasped, eyes sparkling. The sun was setting behind them and blue and yellow flowers bloomed all around them. Just as he was finishing up the details in Mike's curls, his elbow bumped the table. He grabbed it and kept it from falling, and the painting was unharmed, but in the process he had dropped his pallete. It landed directly in his lap, splattering his jeans with green and blue and yellow and gray and black. He groaned.
"Perfect."
----
Mike was a machine. As soon as he dropped Will to class he sprinted back home. He cleaned up the place until it was spotless, which didn't take much since they were both decently organized people. He went to Costco and bought yellow streamers and confetti poppers and a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. He also bought some yellow frosting so he could write Will's name on it. On the way out he grabbed a balloon with a wizard on it because it made him laugh.
When he got home he hung the streamers across the ceiling. He frosted Will's name onto the cake with an exclamation mark and a smiley face before popping it in the fridge. He wrapped his presents and set them on the coffee table next to the balloon and confetti poppers.
Max and Lucas arrived at noon and set their presents on the table before assisting Mike with the planning. Dustin and El would be arriving in about an hour since they lived a bit further away, and once they did, they would all huddle together and wait for Will to get home around 2:00 pm.
And that's exactly what they did. Dustin and El put their presents on the table and they all gathered in the lounge with the lights off. They giggled and laughed and guessed what Will would say when he got home.
----
Will walked 4 blocks home covered in paint. His bag was slung awkwardly over his shoulder and his arms full of the gifts from his classmates. He stumbled awkwardly up the stairs and fumbled with the doorknob. It was dark inside. He figured Mike was still out shopping. He sighed, kicking the door shut behind him and dropping his things on the kitchen table. When he turned around he was blinded by a flash of light and was deafened by the sound of 5 voices screaming "Surprise!"
Will stumbled backwards, eyes wide. He was startled and his heart was racing. He clutched his chest as he came back to his senses, registering the party standing in front of him, faces falling.
"Shit, dude," Dustin said. "You okay?"
El gave a nervous, reassuring smile. "Maybe we didn't totally think this plan thr-"
"OH MY GOD!" Will shrieked, laughing and pouncing on his friends. They all laughed and embraced. "I thought you guys weren't coming til 6:00!"
"We wanted to spend more time with you, so we figured we'd make it a surprise," Max said with a grin. "Although, maybe we should've just told you. You looked like you almost had a heart attack."
"Sorry if we scared you," Mike said with a nervous smile, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.
"No, no, it's fine! I'm really happy to see you guys!"
"What happened to your pants?" Lucas asked with a laugh. Will blushed.
"Dropped my palette. Let me go change and then we can all watch a movie or something."
----
When Will left the bedroom he was greeted by confetti showering him. Mike came over with a party hat, placing it on his head before kissing him.
They all crowded in the living room, Mike and Will huddled together in one corner of the couch, Max and Lucas on the other, and Dustin and El in chairs. Will couldn't stop laughing at the wizard balloon.
They decided to watch The Silence of the Lambs, which thoroughly freaked everyone out, so they put on Ghostbusters afterword to lighten everything up. Mike poured cheap champagne for everyone into random glasses and mason jars, since they don't keep alcohol glasses. Will doesn't really like drinking all that much but he doesn't mind a glass or two, especially when he's with his friends. The pizza got there around 5:30 and they all ate like they'd been starved. El loves pineapple on pizza and Mike kept teasing her about it. Will and Mike ate cheese pizza and the rest of the party just grabbed whatever they could get their grubby little hands on, no regard for toppings whatsoever.
After dinner Mike used a scarf as a makeshift blindfold to cover Will's eyes. He got the cake and put in the sparkly gold candles, the number 2 and 5 shining bright as he lit them up. El unwrapped the scarf and Will gasped softly. The cake was so... perfect. It was frosted with vanilla buttercream, he could tell from the smell. His name was written on it with an exclamation mark and a smiley face in his favorite color. He was 25. It was his birthday and he was surrounded by so many people who love him and he thought he could cry.
Everyone loudly sang him Happy Birthday and cheered when he blew out the candles. He sniffled, happy tears welling in his eyes. They ate the cake, which was phenomenal, and then, one by one, Will opened his presents.
El shoved hers over first, excitedly exclaiming how much he was gonna love it.
"She rewrapped it, like, 7 times," Dustin jokes, earning in a playful shove from El.
"I wanted it to be perfect."
Will smiled wide as he unwrapped the purle gift paper, decorated with glittery silver stars. Inside, was a gorgeous, yellow, knit sweater, and some high end charcoals. He gasped, a hand flying to his mouth. "Are these Nitram charcoals? I've been wanting these for months! They're so hard to find!"
El blushed as Will launched onto her, laughing and thanking her profusely.
"I looked in almost 20 stores to find them! Glad it paid off!"
He examined the sweater. "Wait, El, did you make this?"
She nodded shyly and Will gasped again, hugging the sweater tight to his chest.
"I love it! So much, seriously El! Thank you!"
Next, Dustin insisted he open his present, a sketchbook made specifically for charcoals.
"Oh my god it's perfect. This is PERFECT!" He hugged Dustin tightly from the side.
Lucas handed over his present, a white shoebox with little sketches on it. Lucas isn't the greatest artist, but Will thought that made it ten times cuter, the shoe box covered in little stick figure of the party. Inside were blue converse with yellow tongues and details. Will immediately tried them on and laughed triumphantly at the perfect fit. "These are amazing! They fit perfect!"
"I kinda had Mike tell me your shoe size, like, 2 months ago. Wanted to get you the perfect pair." He smiled, hugging Will from the side before he was pushed out of the way by his girlfriend.
Max was next, handing over a heavy gift bag. Will looked inside and a breathy laugh was punched from his throat. He reached in and took out a bottle of tequila, and some margarita mix.
"Wow!" He laughed. He glanced over at Mike, who was smiling like an idiot. "This is great thank you!" Will has never been a heavy drinker, but on occasion, if he was in the mood, he liked to have a night with max and drink and gossip. Margaritas and shots of tequila not only made the conversation flow and the jokes funnier, but also had a habit of putting Will 'in the mood.' Mike had come home once after one of these nights and found himself slammed up against the door as soon as he entered the apartment.
"There's more at the bottom," Max said with a wide smile. Will reached in and found a small bottle of yellow, shimmery nail polish.
Will giggled and looked over at Mike who rolled his eyes playfully. Will likes to paint his nails sometimes, but Mike hates the smell. He does think it's pretty though. One time he actually asked Will to paint his nails. He ended up wiping it off because of his sensory issues.
"Thanks Max, I love it," he hugged her.
Finally it was Mike's turn. He dramatically handed over his gift with a bow, which Will rolled his eyes at. He opened it and gasped. Inside were oil paints, expensive ones he's been wanting for years. Not only that, but it was a set of fifty colors. He thought he might actually cry. He launched onto Mike thanking him. "Ohmygod ohmygod MIKE! I love them!! How did you afford these?"
"Picked up a few extra shifts at the library." He shrugged, a wide smile on his face. "Oh, also, I have one more thing for you." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it, revealing a golden ring.
Will's hand flew to his mouth. "Mike... oh my god... it's beautiful." The room was full of comfortable, loving silence, as everyone watched Will take the ring.
"On the inside...there's an engraving," Mike added, blushing profusely.
Will angled the ring to see the inside of the band, and sure enough, engraved on the inside it said-
"Crazy together..." He giggled, happy tears springing from his eyes as he hugged Mike again. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou I love it so much! I love you," he punctuates his sentence with a kiss.
"I love you too."
"Get a room!" Max yelled playfully, tossing a discarded piece of gift tissue at them. They giggled and everyone hugged.
----
After everyone gave their gifts, they finished off the bottle of champagne and watched a few more movies. Everyone left around 12:00am. Mike insisted he be the one to clean up.
After the mess was taken care of and all the presents were put away (Will kept his ring on), they fell into their nightly routine. They brushed their teeth side by side, Mike brushed his hair while Will turned off the lights, they drank some water, and they claimed into bed.
Will curled up into Mike and Mike kissed him on the forehead.
"Today was so great. Thank you for... everything. The ring, the party, the paints... I love you."
"I love you too." Mike smiled into his boyfriends hair, fingers lazily tracing patterns across his back.
Will hummed and pressed their bodies closer. "I love you soooo much."
Mike giggled at this and proceeded to attack Will's face with kisses. "I love YOU so much!"
They curled up into each other, soft and sappy and sleepy.
"Mike?"
"Mhm?"
"I'm sleepy."
"M'kay. Go to sleep."
"Are you sleepy?"
"Mhm."
"Well, maybe tomorrow morning, if your not too sleepy, you could fuck me?"
Mike laughed into Will's hair.
"I would love to,"
They kissed again before melting into each other.