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Knock, knock, knock.
The door opened almost immediately, and by the speed of it Will half expected it to be Mike standing there, trying to keep a calm and collected composure but failing at hiding the smile that stretched across his face at the sight of it.
Instead of the light of his life, however, Karen Wheeler instead smiled warmly down at him. "Will, honey, come in! Mike told me to expect you. Here, hang your coat up here- How have you been doing?"
"Good, thank you, Mrs. Wheeler." Will answered politely, grateful to be out of the frigid winds that always seemed to get to him, no matter how many layers he wore. "Is Mike upstairs?"
"Yes, he should be waiting for you- he told me about what you two would be doing and I have to say, it's a relief. His marks in physics have really slipped up lately, perhaps you're just the motivation for him to get those grades up." Karen had turned away from him as she spoke, wandering briefly into the side room, and when she turned back she had grabbed a paper off of the dining room table.
Will had to stifle a laugh when he noticed it was Mike's last physics test, the C- standing out against the scribbled pencil marks.
"I'll do my best with him, Mrs. Wheeler. If it helps my case, I got a B+ on that same test?"
Karen put the test down and clapped her hands together once. "Wonderful! I can't wait to see the improvement on the next test. I can see it already!"
Will smiled nervously, shuffling his way closer to the stairs, grip tightening slightly onto his backpack.
Half of the time, their so-called 'study get-togethers' just turned into an excuse for them to make out, but Karen didn't need to know that.
A scoff sounded from the other room, and Will didn't need to turn around to know who that was. Karen's sudden frown gave him more than enough information.
"Do you have something to say, Ted?" She snipped, gliding past Will to stand in the doorway to the living room, where Ted laid brainlessly on his La-Z-Boy like always. "If not, then there's no need for any noises like that."
"I've been saying, Karen," Ted drawled, "He should be able to keep up his grades all on his own. The fact that he needs someone else to help him shouldn't be allowed. I was never coddled like that as a child."
Will was suddenly reminded of why he never liked going near Ted Wheeler during past visits to Mike's house.
"Will is over her volunteering his time to help our son, you should be happy that he's willing to give up his day to come over." Karen's tone was sharp. "He's lucky to have a friend like him."
Right. A friend. Totally.
"Nancy didn't struggle like this in school, and she's doing just fine. She got into her top college, for god's sake! Mike should be the same. Something's wrong with him, now in more ways than one apparently."
"There is nothing wrong with Mike." Karen's head turned sharply to look at Will, who had come up to stand besides her, unable to stay out of the conversation anymore. "Maybe if you paid more attention to him, you'd see that. But you're too busy with your TV and your chair and your newspaper to care about what your children do. Don't act like you suddenly care now!"
Ted had turned to look at him now, mouth slightly agape, seemingly shocked that Will Byers, the quiet kid who barely said a word to him whenever he was over, had spoken more than one sentence to him. Before he could speak again, Karen pulled Will to the side.
"I'll handle the rest of this, sweet. You go on up to Mike now, he's waiting for you."
Will would have liked to stay and give Ted a bit more of his mind to chew on, but he recognized the look in Karen's eyes as one he'd seen before, years ago, in his own mother's. The second he saw that look, he knew that he couldn't argue against her.
As he headed up the stairs, the voices of Ted and Karen began to rise, and Will winced. Did Mike always have to deal with their arguments? How often did they argue? How did Mike deal with it?
Probably not well, Will's mind supplied. He knew Mike well enough to at least know that.
Will's mind was swirling with thoughts and concern for Mike's well-being that, when he reached Mike's bedroom door, he didn't knock. The door swung open easily, and Will's mind suddenly caught up with his body.
"Oh, Mike, my bad-"
He stopped suddenly.
Mike was sitting on the floor, looking up at him as if he'd seen a ghost. Across from him, Holly was on her knees, much less alarmed than her big brother, face breaking out into a wide grin as soon as she saw him. That wasn't what caught Will's attention, though.
Various makeup supplies were strewn out around the two siblings and there was a large brush and palette in Holly's hands, sparkly from what Will could see of it. Mike's face was similarly sparkly, and Will momentarily forgot how to breathe.
Holly had, in short, given Mike a complete makeover. Will spotted eyeshadow, mascara, eye liner, lip gloss, and other similar products that decorated El's dresser among the mess on the floor, and Holly had applied each and every one to Mike's face.
In short, he might just be the hottest person that Will has ever seen.
For a moment, none of them said anything. Then-
"Will, oh my god, I'm so sorry, I'll get this cleaned up-"
"Will! Look, I gave Mikey a makeover! Isn't he pretty? I've been practicing!"
Will had to bring one of his hands up to cover his smile so he didn't end up making a complete fool of himself.
Holly sprung up from where she knelt and pulled Will further into the room, much to Mike's chagrin, and led him to sit down. "See? I did all of this myself, Nancy taught me- Mike! Don't cover it!"
Will had to stifle laughter as Mike covered up his face and Holly attempted to tug his hands down to show off her work more.
"Yeah, he's seen it, it's fine, Holly." Mike muttered from beneath his hands. "Say, didn't you make a bunch of drawings at school the other day that you said that you wanted to show Will?"
Holly let go of Mike's hands as soon as the idea was brought up, momentarily distracted. "Oh! Right! Stay right here, I'm gonna go get them!"
She dashed off, shutting the door behind her, and the second she was gone Mike began to stand up.
"Wait, Mike, stay a moment?"
"I'm so sorry, Will, she was insistent and I lost track of time, I'll go wash it off now and we can get started on whatever-"
"You don't need to wash it off! I like it!"
At his sudden admittance, Mike finally removed his hands from his face, one eyebrow raised almost self-deprecatingly, clearly not believing Will's words. "Come on, Will. You don't need to lie to make me happy or whatever. I'll be right back."
"No, Mike, listen to me." Will's hand shot out and grabbed Mike's wrist. "I'm not lying. I- Holly was right. You're really pretty."
Mike was staring at Will in disbelief and confusion now, although he lowered himself back into a sitting position. "You're not- I don't know, disgusted or anything?"
"What? Mike, why would I ever be disgusted?"
"'Cause I'm a boy." Mike's voice dropped to a near whisper seemingly unconsciously, as if he were whispering a dirty secret. His eyes looked away shamefully. "Boys don't wear makeup, don't touch it, don't even go near it. I probably shouldn't have even let Holly do this in the first place."
Will opened his mouth to speak, but Mike stopped him by putting a finger up against his lips. "Besides, you're absolutely lying by saying I look pretty. I'm Frogface, remember? Frogface never looks pretty. Simple."
Once Mike removed his finger, Will opened his mouth again, then closed it. Opened it again. Closed it again, thought a moment, then pulled Mike in.
Mike let out a very undignified noise when Will's lips smashed against his own, hands instinctively flying up and hovering in the air, then he gently led them to rest on Will's shoulder.
The kiss wasn't the best that they've ever had, but for the moment it was more than enough, and Will mourned the feeling of Mike's lips against his own the second he had to pull away.
"You're beautiful, Mike." He pulled Mike in again, although rather than kissing him again he just pressed his forehead against his boyfriend's. "I don't care about boys not wearing makeup or whatever- you have no idea just how hot you look right now. You should be able to wear what you want to wear without judgement, and this? This is harmless. This is perfect."
Mike's face had gone red, and Will knew that it wasn't just the blush already applied to Mike's face that was causing this. Still, Mike averted his eyes, and Will took Mike's hands into his own.
"What else is bothering you, Mike?" He murmured gently. "Please, tell me the truth. I want to help you."
Mike hesitated for one second, two seconds, three, then took a deep breath when Will gave his hands a gentle squeeze.
"I used to do this with Nancy a lot when I was younger." He muttered. "She'd practice doing makeup on me, and I never minded. Daresay even enjoyed it. Then, one day, Ted walked in on it." Mike shuddered at the admission. "It- It wasn't pretty after that. I was- I was scared you'd react the same way he did."
Will's heart threatened to break, and he again wished that he had said so much more to Ted earlier.
"He was wrong, you know that? There's nothing wrong with you," Will said, repeating what he had said to Ted downstairs. "He's an idiot if he can't see how awesome his son is, regardless of what he chooses to let his sisters put on him."
Mike let out a small, involuntary giggle at that last part, and Will's heart practically leapt. the urge to pull Mike close and kiss him silly suddenly arose in his chest again, so he did.
"And also," Will mutters against Mike's lips, "I happen to find frogs adorable."
Will could feel Mike smile into the kiss at that statement.
"Ewwww, you guys are gross!"
Mike and Will flew apart as the door opened, both of their faces a bright red. Holly looked back and forth at them completely unimpressed, holding a bundle of drawings.
"You guys better have not messed up the makeup." She pouted. "I spent a while on that!"
"Holly!" Mike practically shrieked. "You didn't see anything, okay? Nothing!"
Holly, clearly recognizing that she had power in this situation, smiled. "Only if you give me your dessert for a week!"
"Wh- Holls, you know that's not fair! I'll do three days, that's the highest I'll go!"
"A week!"
"Three days!"
"Six days!"
"Four days!"
"Five days!"
"Okay, fine! Deal!"
Will could barely hold in his laughter as Mike grumbled to himself and Holly plopped back down onto the floor, looking all too pleased with herself, placing her drawings on the floor. She knelt on the ground again and studied Mike's face again, frowning.
"His lip gloss is all messed up! Will, how could you!"
Mike let out a very indignant "Holls!" as Will burst out laughing.
By the time Will had calmed down, Holly was helping Mike to reapply his lip gloss, and as he watched fondly he noticed which tube she was using.
"I thought I tasted strawberries earlier." He remarked. "Did you pick that one out yourself, Holly?"
Mike, resigned, shut his eyes as Holly made a face. "One, you're gross. Two, no. Mike picked it out himself!"
Will shot a look at Mike, and Mike opened his eyes and smirked slightly at Will. "Strawberry is your favorite flavor, is it not?"
Will's mouth dropped open slightly. Then: "I'm going to marry you someday."
Whatever embarrassment Will might have felt at blurting that bomb of a sentence out was absolutely worth it to see Mike choke like he did then.
Holly, completely oblivious to the weight of that sentence, looked delighted at the thought. "You guys should! Then I get to be the flower girl, and I can do both of your makeup for the wedding!"
"That sounds perfect, Holly." Will said, watching as Mike's face practically was lit ablaze. "You'll be better than any professional."
"Of course I will be! I'm the best!"
Mike's face was still red, but it was substantially better than it was thirty seconds ago. "You sure are, Holls," he agreed, then looked straight at Will. "Of course, this will only happen if I get proposed to, huh?"
Will's eyebrows raised. "Is that a challenge?"
"Only if you want it to be-"
"You two are getting gross again." Holly announced, sticking her tongue out, then dropped her gaze to all the makeup on the floor. Her eyes lit up again. "Will! You should let me do your makeup right now! You can match with Mikey!"
Will startled momentarily, then exchanged a glance with Mike. He smiled, encouraging him, and Will thought that his heart might just burst out of his chest.
"Alright, Holly." Will settled himself into a more comfortable position. "Just use the strawberry flavored lip gloss on me too, okay?"