Work Text:
Mike rarely ever needed to visit hospitals for anything serious. Sometimes, he needed an x-ray because Mike thought that jumping from a high place to impress Will (despite he himself told Mike not to) was a good idea, ending up with a cast on his left arm for the longest 6 weeks of his life. The whole party insisted on signing, though, which was fun and at the end of the 6 weeks, the cast was full of Will's drawings (Mike almost asked to keep the cast, but he felt the words stuck inside his mouth as soon as he thought of them).
Other times, Mike just came in for his vaccines which always caused him to be extremely nervous — once Will told him he was going to get his vaccine, and Mike insisted on coming along because Will would need emotional support, right? Mrs Byers was there, obviously, but… it wasn't the same.
Anyway, Will didn't even flinch as the needle went in, while Mike grimaced like it was happening to him.
"Does it not hurt?" Mike asked after the nurse had finished, incredulous.
"Just a little," Will shrugged and pressed the piece of cotton to the tiny red dot on his arm. Mrs Byers talked to the nurse while the two exchanged words. "Nothing too bad. Knee scrapes hurt more."
Point being, Mike had no experience with longer stays than a few hours in hospitals and, while he knew he wouldn't leave Will behind ever again, the thick disinfectant smell and suffocating white walls everywhere was a little maddening. Mike doesn't know if Will had any stays like this before, but it was obvious he wanted to go home just as badly — no, a whole lot more than Mike.
Mike wondered what exactly did Will experience in the upside down: what kind of shelter did he stay at? Just how did he escape each and every Demogorgon? Did he have any weapons around? Guns? Can Will use a gun?
Of course, Mike wasn't going to be the one to ask all of this to Will, especially now that it was all over. He wasn't going to make Will go through it all again for the sake of satisfying his curiosity, Will looked so tired already.
Will's eyes were sunken, skin pale as a ghost; he would only sit up to eat and leave the bed for the bathroom. Other than that, he would sleep for majority of the day and Mike would be right next to him, either asleep or doing something to pass the time, like talk quietly with Jonathan or Mrs Byers and read comics. The doctor guaranteed them that Will would get better in a few days, saying that Will should be feeling less and less weak in no time.
Mike just wished that day would come faster or that he could do more for him.
One day, Mrs Byers left to buy them lunch, while Jonathan and Mike stayed in Will's room. Mike was genuinely considering a quick nap while looking at the boring white ceiling — why would they make everything the same color?? — until he heard a hoarse voice, one he could recognize among thousands of people without mistake.
"Mike?"
Will was awake, his face full of sleep, but his gaze unwavering on Mike. Jonathan and Mike instantly came closer to the bed, each in their respective seat on opposite sides of the bed.
"I'm here, do you need anything?"
"No, you…" Will cleared his throat, Mike wasn't sure if he was nervous or it was the sickness making it difficult to speak. "You don't need to stay the whole time I'm here. It's probably boring and you're going to get tired-"
"No, no, I'm not going anywhere," Mike interrupted, not unkindly, only determined. "I'll stay until you're home, then I'll go back to my house. Don't worry about me."
Will was surprised, but a smile that reached his eyes appeared too. "Okay," Will breathed out.
Mike felt a funny feeling in his belly instantly, wrapping his arms protectively. Mike smiled too.
"Hey bud," Jonathan said, softly. Will turned to him. "I'm going to the bathroom, but if anything happens or you need something, don't hesitate to ask, okay? I'm sure Mike will be eager to get it for you anyway."
Jonathan had this fond, know-it-all look on his face, but Mike wasn't entirely sure what there was to know right now.
"Of course, anything." Mike nodded.
If Mike didn't know any better, he would think Will was blushing a little. Jonathan left after that, leaving the two alone for the first time since Will arrived at this hospital. The silence between them was comfortable, safe, but also felt like there was so much to say, so much to do that Mike didn't know where to begin.
"I missed you, you know," Mike said softly like it was secret, avoiding eye contact. "The party wasn't the same without you."
"I missed you too, Mike. And the whole party," Will responded as gentle as ever. "I was so alone in that place, I kept thinking that I just… wanted to at least see you again. See mom, Jonathan, anyone, but just… especially you."
Mike was attentive to every word spoken and it all sent an excited jolt through his vein, screaming Will was thinking about me!! Especially about me!!
"It was cold too, really really cold," Will continued, a distant look on his face. "I kept singing to soothe myself and- I hope this isn't weird, but I also kept thinking about how warm your bed was. How warm your hand was."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Will responded bashfully.
"Do you… want to do it again? Hold my hand, I mean," Mike suggested, his pinky lightly tapped on Will's. "We can do it more often too, if that's… something you'd be comfortable with. Just us two."
"Are you sure? What if… someone like Lonnie sees us?" Will was hesitant, but kept his pinky near Mike's.
"We won't let them see us, it will be like a…" Mike looked around for a moment, glancing over a few comics inside the box Jonathan brought. "A secret mission, like a spy."
"A spy?" Will laughed.
"Yeah!" Mike beamed. "Our goal is to hold hands without nobody noticing, so that means we assess places we can and cannot. Or ways to hide it."
"Okay, that sounds fun," Will nodded, amused. "Is… right now a good time?"
Mike looked around the room again, even stood up to look out of the window. Empty.
"I think so, maybe we just need to keep an eye on the window," he sat back down. "But I can just keep my back towards it, so give us some time."
Will was beaming, and frankly, so was Mike. There was no feeling like seeing your best friend again alive and acting the same as always; at the end of the day, he was still the Will Byers. The one and only.
Will reached out for Mike's hand, slowly intertwined their fingers together like he was giving Mike time to back out from it. Mike would never, instead gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"Can we do this forever?" Mike slipped out before he could catch himself, timid but true to his heart. Will's eyes widened, and Mike panicked for a moment. "I- I just thought, um, I thought that it would be cool, you know? Be able to sit together on the sofa of my basement or just doing whatever adults do together or whatever. Um, if you're comfortable… with it…"
"It's okay, Mike," Will laughed. "We can. I'm comfortable with it."
"Yeah?" Mike breathed out, his thumb gently moving in circles on Will's.
"Yeah," Will continued to laugh. "You're the best, Mike. Thank you."
"Anytime," Mike rocked side by side on his chair, as happy as he could be. Then a thought made him hold back a grimace. "Do you do this with the others?"
"Who? Lucas and Dustin?"
"Yeah."
"Um, no, just… you." Will laid on his side, still holding Mike. "I don't think they'd understand."
"Oh okay," Mike didn't quite understand why that made him relieved. Maybe it was the best friend title being, implicitly, above everyone else? Why did that matter so much? "Well, tell me about the mixtape that Jonathan made you, is it any good?"
They began chatting away, Mike wanted to avoid the heaviness that came with talking about this for, mostly, Will's sake. Part of it was for his own sake too, because saying out loud just how different Will was to Mike compared to his friendship with Dustin or Lucas filled him with anxiety.
Saying what it truly was would make it too real, too tangible for Mike to fully grasp what that means for his future and possibly Will's too and, honestly, a certain selfish part of Mike was glad to hear that he was different too in Will's mind. A good different, the type that let Mike have the honor to feel Will's hand against his, the honor of once knowing that a thank you kiss could send a rush of adrenaline through his veins.
Eleven comes to his mind and guilt floods every crevice of his being. Mike wished thank her properly and introduce the two, especially after all she did for them, just to bring Will back home. Mike had a feeling that they would get along.
Mike kissed her too at the school, and he vividly remembered what it felt like; or rather the differences between kissing Will and kissing El. Mike always felt the anticipation of seeing Will, a magnetic pull that always kept Mike close to Will as much as he could, and kisses made all the good feelings tenfold: the excitement, the love between them, the sincerity, the knowledge he was the only one Will did this to…
Wait, Mike has never kissed Will on the lips! Of course not, but… they did kiss. Didn't they? Would there be a vast difference between them?
Mike would assume so. El was his crush, kind, the superhero that everyone was incredibly amazed by — maybe a little scared of too, but amazed nonetheless — every step of the way. In short, safe and obvious option for a girlfriend, it was easy to see why one would love her.
Did Mike love her?
A part of him screamed, yes, we do love Eleven, stop being stupid. Another part of him felt like something was wrong about it, like he was supposed to be acting and feeling this way. With Will, he just… felt. There was no active conscious effort to love Will, as a best friend. Was El supposed to be his best friend too? No way, girlfriend and best friend were two different roles — besides, Will had that role of best friend already, Mike wasn't going to take that away from him.
Nothing was truly clear for him, but he supposed it mattered not, because Eleven wasn't going to come back. She saved him, Dustin and Lucas, and the only thing left for him was Will, and he will protect Will fiercely from now on. Mike will not let Will get hurt again, even if it meant putting himself on the line.
His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, and Mrs Byers coming in with two brown paper bags in hand. Mike released Will's hand as smoothly as he could, as he listened to Mrs Byers explain the fillings of each sandwich for everyone. Jonathan came in a minute after Mrs Byers, Mike wondered just how long was he in that bathroom.
As Will began eating sat up on the bed and conversation flowed easily, Mike could still feel the phantom sensation of Will's hand tangled with his, a kind reminder that it wasn't over. They had all the time in the world to enjoy each other's company, forever, just like they promised.