Archive of Our Own

“Guys! What’s going on? The lasagna’s getting cold!” Karen Wheeler shouts from the top of the basement staircase, earning, for the first time, a soft reply from her son Mike, “Yeah, we… we just finished. We’ll be right up.”

The five friends, could they even be called friends anymore? They all look at each other with tears in their eyes, having just finished their last DND campaign as children.

Max is the first one to pick up her binder and goes to put it back in its place on the shelf. She looks at it one final time, takes a deep breath and wordlessly makes her way up the stairs.

After Max, Lucas walks over to the shelf and slides his binder right next to Max’s. He gives it a final pat goodbye and heads off to follow Max upstairs.

Right behind Lucas, Dustin is already standing there, ready with his binder clutched in his hands. He puts it up on the shelf and promptly leaves, sniffing the whole time and not looking back.

Now Will steps up nearly sobbing and slides his binder onto the shelf, gulping down his tears. He takes a deep breath before slowly walking to grab his tote bag that’s slung on the back of his chair.

And finally, Mike makes his way to the shelf. He’s the last one in the basement with the exception of Will who is just starting to walk over to the staircase. But Mike doesn’t look at his own binder like the others. No, instead, he stares at the binder that had been placed just a few moments before. He stared at the name on the side with a certain kind of longing in his eyes. How could he have let them end it like this? How could they just leave this hanging in the air?

Those four letters glued to the side of that damn thing were driving him mad. He feels a sob bubbling up in his chest and fights it down. He places his own binder down right next to Will’s and lingers there for a bit before he has to turn away. He traces his thumb over the spine of his binder and slowly shifts his finger to trace those damned four letters.

Last week, he was cleaning his room for the first time since all his stuff was shifted to the guest and tucked away in a box in the far corner of his closet, he found something he hadn’t thought about in nearly four years. A rolled up canvas. From that day onward, so many thoughts have been darting around his mind. He feels so much all the time but has no idea what he’s feeling at all. It’s like he’s slowly succumbing to insanity. All he knows is that he desperately needs to speak to Will.

In three months, they would all be heading off to their own colleges, all scattered throughout the country. He realizes with a start that if he doesn’t do something about it now, he may never. And if he doesn’t, he’s sure to regret it. Now, something else blooms in his chest. It’s not sadness exactly, more like fear.

Before he realizes what he’s starting to do, it’s already done. “Will!!”, he calls out, quickly making a swipe at his eyes and whipping his entire body around to face the stairs.

Will, who is just at the top of the staircase, stops in his tracks and calls back down to his best friend, “Yeah?”

“Uh, I wanna talk to you for a sec. Could you close the basement door too before coming down here please?" Mike says nervously, hoping he wasn’t speaking with a weird tone.

He hears the door close shut and footsteps until Will emerges back into the basement with him. His eyes were still shining and Mike couldn’t help but notice how pretty he looked when he cried. What? It’s totally platonic!

“What’s up?” Will inquires, looking at him quizzically while making his way back towards near the shelf where Mike was still glued to his spot.

“Let’s just sit down for a second, yeah?” Mike replies, reaching out to grab Will’s wrist and drag him to the sofa. They sit down side by side. Mike takes a deep breath before starting, “So, Will,” he pauses, looking to his left to see Will’s face. “I uh, have kinda been wanting to talk to you about something that’s been eating away at me this past week.”

The look on Will’s face changes into something Mike can’t recognize. “Oh… Okay. What’s bugging you Mike?” he asks. Will’s voice starts sounding weird like, cautious, maybe? Like he was anticipating something.

“Yes. Um. It’s about what happened when I went to visit you in California. Actually more something and you’re the one who gave it to me?” Mike feels Will tense up next to him. “Sorry, I’m not speaking very clearly. Um, do you remember the pain-”

At that very moment, the basement door flew open and the screeches of Holly and her friends came echoing down the staircase, followed by their stomping as they bounded down the stairs. Mike swears he felt the entire basement start shaking.

Mike abruptly stands up. “Jesus, slow down!” he says to Holly after she practically jumps over the last two steps.

“Jeez yourself! You said you’d be done an hour ago!” she yells back. Her little friends crowd their table and start blabbering about whatever.

He looks down at Will and he knows he won’t be able to say anything now. The moment is gone. That’s okay. After dinner, he will definitely tell him.

Mike offers Will a hand to get up and says, “We better go. Everyone’s probably waiting anyway.”

“Well, okay,” Will takes Mike’s hand and they both start heading out of the basement. “What did you wanna tell me though?”

“It can wait,” Mike says quickly. “Oh, do you think you can stay over after dinner? It could be, like, our last sleepover as children. In the morning, we wake up as adults!”

“Sounds like a plan then! I’ll just have to call my mother and tell her.” Will says excitedly. “She’ll love the idea. Is everyone else also staying?”

“Uh I was thinking it could just be the two of us?” Mike starts stuttering, “Y-You know, like, like our first sleepover? Back when the party was just you and me?”

Mike can feel Will’s gaze on him intensify and is about to suggest that they could tell the others too, if he wanted, but then Will interrupts his spiral by saying, “I’d love that Mike” with a soft smile on his face.

Mike’s shoulders relax and he lets out a sigh of relief. “Cool!”

“Cool” Will says with a grin.

They’ve both just entered the dining room and find everyone settling into their seats. They’re all still teary eyed and are doing a really bad job at hiding it.

Will takes his seat and Mike makes sure to sit directly across from him so that they could continue the game of footsie they had been playing earlier during the DND campaign. In order to do this, he has to sit next to Max. When he turns his head to look at her, he finds her switching her gaze between him and Will knowingly.

“What?” he asks her. She replies in an uninterested tone which is obviously faked, “Oh nothing. What were you and Will doing in the basement for so long? We were all waiting for you guys.”

Will’s eyes shoot up from his empty plate.

“Uh we were just um, I just had something I needed to ask him but we were interrupted. It’s nothing.” Mike says quickly as Max’s mouth opens, probably to stick her nose further into his business. Luckily, he’s saved by his mother who sets down two oven trays of lasagna on the table. Mike seizes the opportunity to cut out a slice and dump it onto his plate before sliding it to Max to distract her.

Once everyone starts digging into their food, a light chatter starts around the table which eventually erupts into their normal loud chitchat with everyone laughing. Sometime between Max getting up to get more soda and Dustin and Lucas fighting over whether pens or pencils were a better tool overall, Mike timidly kicks Will under the table. The kick is returned with at least twice the force and soon they’re both fighting giggles while attempting to contribute to the conversation going on. They keep sneaking glances at each other and multiple times break out into toothy smiles before biting them down or covering their mouths.

About an hour later, everyone’s full and slumping on the couch. The clock reads 9:30 pm and everyone decides that it’s best to get going.

“Hey Will, you coming?” Max yells from the front door.

Will glances at Mike before going to reply but Mike beats him to it, “Nah, he’s staying the night, I need to talk to him about something.”

“Just you two? Alone?” Max yells back at him with a grin in her voice.

“Yes! Now bye!” Mike says as he reaches the front door and proceeds to close it in her nosy face. He turns around to find Will standing right behind him and smiles.

“Basement?” He asks.

“Basement.” Will replies.

They hold eye contact for a second before Will darts away from Mike to the basement stairs and Mike is quick to follow, though he stops to catch his breath in the middle of the staircase. Will wins, obviously and is sprawled across the pullout sofa that he was supposed to sleep on back during town-wide isolation period. Of course Mike never let him sleep in the cold dark basement and always insisted he come up to share his bedroom, especially during the winter.

Mike drags his feet and dramatically slumps onto the pullout, causing Will to snort out a laugh while rolling his eyes. “It is quite literally just a staircase.”

“You have no idea how tiring it is.” Mike says back while still trying to catch his breath.

“What do you even mean? I came down the same way you did.” Will says, exasperated.

“Ah! No need getting into the logistics” Mike says, finally sitting up and scooting back to be next to Will.

For a minute or two, the tension between them grew thick while they both sat there waiting for the other to say something.

“Mike, what did you want to talk to me about?” Will asks, already anticipating what Mike wanted to say.

“Um, can we maybe talk about it later? Right now I just wanna hang out with you. This is going to be our last sleepover as kids, can you believe it? Can we just, I don’t know, read together or something? Or anything you want.”

Will looks surprisingly relieved hearing this and quickly agrees to it. He gets up to turn on the radio and sits back down, in front of Mike this time with his legs crossed.

“What do you wanna do?” Mike asks.

“Should we play something?” Will asks.

“Oo, I got one! You’ll be way better at this than me but whatever.” Mike says excitedly, “Let’s do police sketches. So one of us will be the victim and the other will be the sketcher. The victim has to describe someone who we both know and the sketcher has to draw them and then guess who the victim is describing”

“Alright, but are you sure you’ll be able to guess who I describe if you’re the one drawing? Will teases, eyes twinkling.

“Oh shut up!” Mike jokes back and goes over to a pile of spiral notebooks and grabs the topmost one before falling back onto the bed.

“I knew it was a good idea to save these. This is where I was supposed to take my Spanish notes. As you can see, it’s practically empty and I don’t know even a bit of Spanish. It has ruled pages but I think that’s okay?”

“Yeah I’ll be able to draw on it just fine. It’s you I’m worried about but if you think you can do it, I say we begin.”

“Ha-ha” Mike says with no sign of laughter, but still with a smile on his lips, “You just wait, you’ll be begging for me to teach you my drawing skills.”

“Alright alright, if you say so. You start then?” Will asks.

“Sure. You just wait and see how good I am!” Mike says with glee. He divides a page into fourths with a pencil before propping the notebook on his raised knees in a way that prevents Will from being able to take a peek.

“Do you have a suspect in mind?” Mike asks in a stupid deep voice.

“Uhhh, yeah I think so. Okay I got it”

“Shoot”

“So this person has a kind of rectangular face? But a kinda strong chin.” Will says with his eyes closed, trying to get a clear picture of his ‘suspect’. He waits a few seconds for Mike to start the outline and then continues with a grin, “Their hair is really spiky, like, it’s going everywhere. The eyes are striking. I don’t know what to say about the nose. It’s just a nose.”

“Male or female?” Mike asks.

“Uhh, I’m not telling.” Will says, beaming when he feels Mike’s scowl on him.

Eyes still closed, Will hears the scratching of a pencil and a surprised chortle from Mike’s end. He cracks open his eyes to give Mike a questioning look to which he just shrugs and says, “You’ll see soon enough”, looking smug.

“He has cupid’s bow lips I think.”

“So it's a he” Mike states thoughtfully while making a big show of stroking his non-existent beard.

“Ah shit. Well, whatever. You’ll still never be able to guess.” Will retorts.

“We’ll seee” Mike says back in a singsong voice.

“He has ears, obviously. They don’t stick out, exactly but they are visible from the front profile.”

“He haaaaas ears. Okay. Anything else?” Mike asks after adding his finishing touches.

“No, I think that’s it. Can you guess who it is?”

“Uhhhhh.” Mike narrows his eyes comically and holds the paper too close to his face for him to actually be able to see anything. “Is it… Is it me?”

Will bursts into laughter. “HA! You wish! It’s Robert Smith! You know, from The Cure?”

Mike turns the notebook around for Will to see. It’s not as terrible as Will expected honestly. Maybe just a little higher than Holly’s level. “Eh, he was going to be my second guess anyway” Mike says, looking pleased with his idiocracy.

“Yeah, I’m sure. So that’s one point for me then!” Will says smugly. “What’s the prize for the winner?”

“Hmm, we’ll see. Your turn!”, he says, tossing the notebook into Will’s lap before he can object.

“Okayyy. Do you have your ‘suspect’ already??” ,Will asks.

“Yep, I got the person I wanna send to jail.” Mike says with a stupid evil smile. “So first of all, this person has a fat, oval shaped head.”

Will scoffs a laugh and starts his sketch.

“The nose is like a squashed tomato and they have kinda small and narrowed eyes, probably from years of glaring at young children.” Mike continues. “And a big bushy mustache and eyebrows.”

Will continues scratching away on the paper while Mike thinks of what to say next.

“OOH! They do not have that much hair but they have a receding hairline. Like it’s reaaaally receding.”

In that moment, Will realizes who Mike’s describing and bursts into laughter. “Is this supposed to be Hopper?!”

“Ahh, another point for Byers.”

“That’s so mean!”

“Well, he deserves it! I would have said homeless looking but he started shaving his beard a few months ago so it doesn’t really apply anymore unfortunately” Mike retorts, giggling while he attempts to dodge Will’s attempts to smack him with the notebook.

“He’s marrying my mom!” Will exclaims with glee while making several more swings at Mike.

“Well then I’m sorry for you!” Mike says and attempts to snatch the notebook out of Will’s hand. Luckily, Will yanks it up above his head, just out of reach. Unluckily, Mike’s momentum causes him to lose his balance and fall right on top of Will. Will, with one arm above him and the other on Mike’s shoulder. And Mike, with one arm reaching for Will’s and the other, helping him prop himself up, on the mattress, next to Will’s face.

Instantly, they both fall still, the only thing they’re focusing on is each other’s wide eyes and flushing cheeks. Mike comes to his senses first and scrambles into an upright position and stutters an apology. Will backs slightly away and brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s uh, alright. Do you wanna go again?”

“Nah, it’s alright. You’ve already won, fair and square” Mike replies.

Hearing this, a smirk appears on Will’s face. He says, “So what’s my prize?”

“What do you want?” Mike asks.

Will pretends to think for a while even though he already knows what he wants. “I want one of your comics. I get to choose.”

Mike pretends to glare at him but he really isn’t even mad. “Fiiine. Let’s go to my room then.”

Will eagerly shoots up to his feet and starts walking to the stairs when he turns around and sees Mike slumped over on his side. He turns around on his heel and goes over to stand in front of Mike, staring until Mike finally gives in and holds out a hand asking Will to help him get up. Will obliges and Mike nearly pulls him down. He grunts and yanks Mike into an upright position.

Mike acts reluctant while following Will up the stairs but he wouldn’t care if Will decides to take all his comics. They’re creeping up the stairs trying their best not to make a sound and wake anyone because it’s already late. They make it to the door and Will turns the handle and walks smugly directly to the bookshelf where Mike keeps everything.

He assesses his options before finally making his choice and promptly stuffing it into his tote bag which he dramatically swings over his shoulder before starting to wordlessly make his way to the door. That’s when Mike catches his wrist and asks, “Hey, do you wanna sleep in here tonight? I’m pretty sure we didn’t sleep alone down in the basement at age five”.

Will feels a fluttering in his stomach at this suggestion but pushes it down and agrees with a smile. So Will puts down his bag on Mike’s desk and they both go into the bathroom to brush their teeth.

Mike’s toothbrush holder already has two toothbrushes, a blue one for him and a yellow one for whenever Will stays over. They hastily finish brushing and plunk themselves down side by side on Mike’s bed.

They sit there quietly and Mike knows what’s going to happen.

Will sighs deeply before asking, “Mike, I’m dying here. What did you want to ask me?”

It’s alright, Mike is prepared. He’s been practicing what to say the entire past week. He’s got this. “Okay. Yeah. About California.” He takes a deep breath. “Will. Do you remember when we were in the van, you gave me a painting?”

Will tenses up and everything in the room starts screaming, PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

“You know, there was a dragon and the four of us were fighting it, as our DND characters?” Mike continues cautiously.

“Yes. Yeah I remember. Why?” Will says, staring at Mike intensely.
“You said that- that El commissioned it right?” Mike turns to Will who snaps his head away.

“Oh uh, yeah it was for you of course but she just wanted-” Will nervously rushes out but Mike interrupts him.

“Will, I know it was from you. El didn’t know anything about our campaigns.” He grabs Will’s forearm, his voice turning softer. “I'm not mad. Of course I’m not. I just- I want to know why you lied to me.”

Will moves his head to look back at him and takes a deep breath before looking down at his own lap. “I didn’t mean to lie exactly. I spent weeks on it for you once I heard you were coming over for spring break. I was going to give it to you at the airport but, I don’t know, you were tired I guess? You were acting kind of weird, almost like… Nevermind. And then after that there was just never a good time.” He looks back up to meet Mike’s gaze and Mike encourages him to go on, hand still clutching Will’s arm lightly.

Will takes another deep breath before continuing, “In the van, you were worrying so much about El and, I don’t know, I just wanted to cheer you up? I guess I was just telling you what I thought you needed to hear at the moment.”

Mike takes a second to understand and when he does, his eyes snap to Will’s in shock. He stammers, “W-What, so you’re telling me that you were thinking it would have meant less to me if I thought it came from you or something?” He sighs with a sad look on his face. “Will, you have no idea how happy I was when you first gave it to me. When I thought it was you who was giving it to me. I was so scared that I’d been losing you but when you gave me that painting, I was ecstatic that we were still fine. I was so bummed out when it wasn’t from you.”

“When did you find out? That it was from me?” Will asks timidly, still not quite sure exactly what the feeling between them was supposed to be.

“Last week.” Mike says, his voice still soft as ever. “I was looking through my stuff, trying to tidy up a bit when I found it in my closet, in a box with a bunch of your other drawings as well. I took it out and unrolled it. As I sat there on my bed looking at it, I felt it hit me all at once. El didn’t know anything about DND. In a letter she sent me, she said something about you working on a painting that you wouldn’t even let her see.” He pauses for a second to catch his breath. “I felt so stupid Will. But if I’m being honest, I think I always kinda knew.”

Will’s eyebrows scrunched up and his eyes turned sad. “I’m sorry Mike. I really didn’t mean to deceive you or anything. I regretted lying to you so much, I felt the guilt of it hanging over my head for the longest time. I still do sometimes. I just- I needed to say something to you to help keep you going. You were so scared, saying stuff like El didn’t need you anymore and I hated seeing you like that. I wanted to fix it.”

“Stop that” Mike says, sounding exhausted. “I’m not mad at you and you weren’t trying to hurt me at all. You have nothing to apologize for. You know, I think-... nevermind.”

“No, tell me” Will says in a soft voice to rival Mike’s. “You can talk to me Mike.”

“Yeah I know,” Mike says while looking away. “I just have this, desire? To be needed by someone. It’s stupid but I don’t know, I just need someone to need me. I took it really hard when I realized that all of a sudden, the people who I used to think needed me, really didn’t.”

“El did need you Mike-”

“She didn’t" He said, shaking head. "She never needed me. El is wonderful and strong and independent and she doesn’t really need anyone. It was just circumstance, like I said. She was cold and alone in the woods. She had escaped from a literal lab and had just seen someone being killed a few hours before we found her. She needed shelter, food and a bed, that’s it. Not any of us, certainly not me.” He brings his eyes to look into Will’s once again. “To be completely honest with you, I think the only reason I was pushing for her to stay in the beginning was because- because she was my key to finding you. Yeah, we became close later on but under different circumstances, it could have been anyone that night. There really wasn’t anything particularly about me.”

“You made her feel wanted!” Will says.

“I didn’t though. I didn’t see it then but I hate the way I treated her in California. After the skating rink, I yelled at her. I-” His voice breaks. “I couldn’t tell her I loved her. The fight we had that I told you about? Where there was something important I needed to tell her but I wasn’t able to? It was about that. I was terrible to her those weeks. We got over it eventually of course. I made sure to never make her feel so terrible about herself after that ever again. But can I tell you something?”

He pauses for a second and continues when Will nods, “That vision she shared with me, right before… She told me she loved me. I- I kissed her, but… I couldn’t say it back. I tried to but I just- couldn’t. I didn’t know what to feel about it for the longest time.” He says it and feels his throat starting to close up.

After a moment Will brings up his spare hand to place on top of Mike’s which is still lingering on Will’s arm. “She knew you loved her, Mike. It’s not something you need to say. I think if you love someone for long enough, it- just becomes a known fact. Like, something that’s part of you. Something you don’t have to think about…” His voice quiets and he slowly pulls both his hands away from Mike and places them into his lap.

Hearing those words, Mike feels like a spark of realization arises in his chest. What exactly he’s realizing, he doesn’t know yet. “You know, all those things you said in the van?” Mike asks. “I don’t know how you knew but those were exactly the things I always wanted for someone to feel about me. Where did you even get it from?”

Will tenses up and doesn't say anything for a solid 2 minutes. He’s thinking about something and seems to come to a decision because he relaxes and takes a deep breath. “I was- talking about me. You were always there for me no matter what. You made me feel wanted, like I wasn’t just normal but special. You were the only one who treated me exactly the same as you did before all the upside down shit. You made me feel like I actually mattered. You made me feel like I was better for being different. You made me feel like I wasn’t a mistake at all.”

They’re both facing each other now and before he knows what he’s doing, Mike leans forward and wraps his arms around his best friend in a hug. Will responds and clings onto mike as well. They stay like that for a while. Mike turns his face into the crook of Will’s neck and whispers, “Thank you Will”.

When they pull apart, they’re both slightly misty-eyed and grinning stupidly at each other. Will scoots back a little and falls back down onto the mattress with his legs dangling off the side of the bed. Mike lays down next to him and they both turn their faces to look at each other.

Finally Mike breaks the comfortable silence. “I missed you so much.”

Will scrunches up his eyebrows in confusion. “I’ve always been right here”

“No, I mean,” Mike turns to the side and props his head on his hand, causing his legs to brush over one of Will’s. He keeps it there. “I miss this, us. I miss talking to you. And hanging out with you. We haven’t been alone like this in how long? Since we were I think twelve right?”

“Yeah I think so” Will says, eyes flicking between Mike’s face and their legs which are slowly getting more and more intertwined.

Mike nods and continues, “I’ve just, always felt more, I dunno, attached? To you than anyone else. I know these past two years we’ve been hanging out but it’s just not been the same. I find myself thinking about you constantly, like wondering what you’re doing or whether you’ve eaten or whatever. I think it’s because you lived with us for like a year and a half and then the sudden distance left me feel, lonely? Or maybe a better word is empty.”

Now Will also turns to the side and lays his head on his bicep so that they’re now face to face.

Mike pauses before saying, “I’m just glad is all. That we can still be… friends”

“No, not friends, remember? Best friends?” Will teases.

Mike stays quiet, mouth open as if to say something but forgot what he was going to say mid way. Looking into Will’s beautiful eyes, faces so close, he can’t take it anymore, he knows what all these signals and feelings and confusion were pointing towards. He’s known for two years now, ever since Will came out. Everything just snapped into place and Mike is finally going to act on it.

“No”, he whispers, eyes flickering down to Will’s lips.

“What?” Will asks disorientedly.

Now that Mike’s said something, the dam breaks and everything in his mind spills out. “No. I don’t just wanna be your best friend Will”, he blurts out, voice quivering uncontrollably. He brings his shaky hand up to caress the side of Will’s face. “I haven’t in a very long time”

With that, Mike surges forward and finally, finally brings their lips together. It’s just skin on skin and it lasts only for a second before Will lurches back and abruptly sits up. Mike speedily does the same and worriedly glances at Will who’s staring at him, wide-eyed and his fingers lightly hovering over his lips.

It is in that moment that Mike understands what he just did. Horrified, he gets off the bed and kneels in front of Will, trying to look into his face and he starts trying to stammer out an apology or explanation or anything that would fix the mess he’d caused but before he could, he hears Will’s timid voice,

“Mike, you don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t really want this.”

Mike feels his eyes start to burn. He pathetically tries to hold Will’s hand but stops mid-way and just hovers there. His voice weak and trembling, he says, “Will, I have wanted this for as long as I can remember.” He does grab onto Will’s hand this time, and pulls it away from his lips to force Will to look at him. “It’s always been you. I’ve always known deep down but I finally realized when you came out that day. I realized that I am allowed to love you in the way I do. Don’t you feel the same way about me?”

Mike jerks his hand back and holds it to his chest, still kneeling in front of Will. Tears start rolling down his face. Trying not to sob, he continues, “I am so sorry Will, I shouldn’t have assumed. I should have asked you first or-or something. We can forget this ever happened and still be best friends.” When Will only stares at him, Mike anxiously adds, “We can still be friends right?” He looks down at the ground. “Please don’t hate me Will. I couldn’t bear you hati-”

Mike’s sob story is interrupted by Will grabbing his face with two hands and pressing their lips back together roughly. Mike responds immediately, clutching Will’s shoulders and pulling him down onto the floor with him.

Will pulls back, only slightly this time so that their foreheads and noses are touching. “I could never hate you Mike. I’ve been in love with you longer than I haven’t.”

Mike inhales sharply and pulls Will towards himself again, smushing their faces together. The kiss is salty from Mike’s tears that still haven’t stopped falling. This feels so right, like he lost a part of himself years ago and now that he has found it, he is finally whole again. Will’s hands are still glued to the side of his face. One of Mike’s arms is around Will’s neck, forever tugging them closer and closer together and the other hand is tangled in Will’s hair. He’s dreamt about doing this forever but nothing could compare to the real thing.

The gentle pressure of Will’s body wherever they’re tangled up. The sliding of Will’s lips against his own. Mike, with their mouths still connected, pushes Will against the side of the bed so that Will’s no longer kneeling but his legs are in front of him and his head is falling against the mattress.

Mike moves so that his knees are on either side of Will’s legs and he’s leaning over him. “I love you so much Will, I wish I could’ve told you sooner.”

Will’s eyes flutter closed and his lips part. “You love me” he breathes out.

“I love you” Mike agrees, placing a kiss on Will’s neck, right over his pulse. He can feel the frantic heartbeat on his lips.

“Tell me again”, Will pleads, eyes half closed but trained on Mike’s hair.

Mike moves away from Will’s neck to look at him. “I love you Will”, he kisses his cheek. “I love you”, he kisses his hair. “I love you”, he kisses him into the mattress, his hands pushing down on Will’s shoulders.

Will brings his arms up to circle Mike’s waist and digs his fingers into Mike’s back. Mike tilts his head to the side to deepen the kiss and oh their faces fit so perfectly together. Almost as if they’d been made to be fit together.

He opens his mouth and is pleased when Will follows suit. Experimentally, he traces Will’s open mouth with his tongue and tentatively brushes Will’s tongue, inducing a gasp from him. Mike does it again and this time, Will does it right back.

They’re pushing against each other and Will’s hands make their way up until they’re tangling in Mike’s hair. Then Will sits up and pushes him away and starts combing his fingers through it. Mike stares at Will’s concentrated face and smiles giddily. “What are you doing?” he asks.

Will ruffles his hair until he’s seemingly satisfied and brings his mouth to plant a kiss next to Mike’s eye. “I hate what you did to your hair, you look like your dad. Next time, let me cut it, please?” He kisses Mike’s jaw under his ear and in that moment, Will could have asked Mike for anything and he would have done it.

“Anything you want Will.” Mike says, panting and itching to taste Will’s tongue again but Will is still busy kissing down his throat. That’s when Will’s mouth opens in a yawn against Mike’s collarbone.

Mike’s entire chest surges with a rush of affection. He pulls away and gets off of Will to sit in front of him, the same way he was a few minutes earlier.

“Hi”, Mike says giddily.

“Hi”, Will replies through an uncontrollable smile.

“Should we get on my bed?” Mike asks. “I’m really tired.”

“Yeah, it’s late. I’m so sleepy”, Will agrees.

Will stands up first and extends both his hands to Mike who gratefully accepts them.

“Uh, you can wear any of my clothes.” Mike directs at Will. “I’ll change in my bathroom, you can change out here.”

Appreciatively, Will picks out sweatpants and a loose t-shirt from one of the drawers and puts them on.

Once he’s done, Will folds his clothes and puts them in his bag and then crawls onto Mike’s bed while Mike emerges from the bathroom and goes to switch off the lights.

The lamp stays on, as always and Mike gets into bed. The two of them are facing each-other and Mike snakes his hands under Will’s (his) shirt and settles them on his lower back and pulls Will closer to himself.

Their faces are close to each other again, as it has been so many times that night, and Will flutters his eyes to give Mike butterfly kisses.

“I love you Mike”

Mike gives Will one final kiss of the night.

“I love you Will”