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Mike woke up to sunlight filtering through the window of his and Will’s room, directly into his eyeline. He’d turned over, too lazy to be bothered to get up and fix the curtain, and reached over to where he assumed Will would be lying next to him, only to find an empty spot with rumpled sheets.
He let out a small groan and lifted his head, just to double check, and saw that he was alone before looking over to see the alarm clock read 8:14 AM, meaning Will had probably left to go work in the studio on campus, and probably hadn’t wanted to wake him before he left, even though Mike had told him multiple times he’d rather be woken up then wake up to no Will at all.
He didn’t have to be at his class he TA’d for until 10:00, which meant he could reasonably go back to sleep for another 30 minutes at least if he could get a ride with Max into campus, who he knew had a class three buildings away from his at 10:00, as well.
He relaxed into the warmth of his bed, and closed his eyes, trying to let sleep wash over him before the alarm would go off, but it was useless, he had already used his brain and knew he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, giving up completely by 8:30.
He grabbed himself a pair of jeans from the dresser and threw on an old stripped long sleeve that may be Will’s but he didn’t care enough to look for something else, as he ran a hand threw his hair before opening the door, and walking into the living room to see El and Max at his kitchen table with bowls of cereal.
“You know, when someone comes out into his house to people that don’t live in the apartment eating at the kitchen table they usually call the cops,” Mike said as he walked further into the room, going over to the coffee Will must have made before he left.
“Is Will here?” El asked as she looked at the curly haired man pouring coffee into his superman mug.
“No,” Mike said as he went to open the fridge for his creamer, before noticing a note attached to the fridge with a big magnet that read “I’ll be at the studio till 4:00 at least, please pick up the pizza for game night!”. “He’s at the studio till 4:00,” Mike said as he read Will’s loopy writing.
“Damn, I needed to tell him mom called and want him to visit soon,”
“Tell him tonight,” Mike said before pouring his creamer into the coffee, not giving much attention to either of the women, before remembering he needed to ask Max for a ride. “Max, you have a psych class at 10:00, right? Can I get a ride with you? I have a TA class at the same time, I’ll take the train home,” Mike asked the small red headed woman currently eating his fruity pebbles.
“Sure, but you have to buy me a coffee at the cafe on campus,” She said after a minute of contemplating.
“You're literally eating my cereal in my dining room,” Mike said, getting annoyed at this conversation already.
“Do you want to get a ride in MY car?”
“Fine,” Mike said, knowing when to pick his battles.
“Ok, but we need to leave soon so I can take El to work,” Max said between bites of colorful cereal.
“You aren’t scheduled today, I thought?” Mike said, turning his attention to the long haired brunette. He and El worked at the same bookshop, Mike as a manager, and El as a cashier and stocker.
“Emmy called out, a kid emergency, Mark asked if I could come in, he called like a half hour ago,” El said as she grabbed her and Max’s now empty bowls, brought them to the sink that she turned on with her mind, and started to wash them while never breaking eye contact.
“That’s the 5th time Emmy’s called out, I get that she has a toddler, but isn’t her husband supposed to take care of the kids in the morning?” Mike said as he shook his head.
“Shit happens, an extra shift means we can pay rent and eat something that isn’t ramen or pizza,” Max said with a smile as she put her jacket on, and walked to the front door, with El doing the same.
“Wait, give me a minute, I don’t have shoes on yet,” Mike panicked as he ran back to the room to grab a pair of socks and his converse.
When he finally got to his class, he realized it was just a 3 hour lecture on the importance of The Odyssey, and had to fight the urge to just slink into the crowd of other students, but it was no use, Professor Carmichael was already waving him over, 5 minutes after he walked in.
“Mr.Wheeler, we have a great day ahead of us today,” Professor Carmichael said excitedly as he clapped his hands together.
“We do?” Mike said as he looked around the lecture hall, looking for something to indicate the man was right.
“Of course we do! This is the last lecture before winter break,” the elderly man said as they walked over to his desk. “Also this is the last time they’ll have an attention span for the year,” He added with a laugh.
“Yeah, that makes more sense,” Mike agreed as he sat his bag down.
After 3 hours re-explaining the original hero’s journey, the professor finally released the class of bored 20-somethings into the cold streets of the New York winter, and Mike had never been more jealous as he watched the last student place their paper on the desk he was currently sitting at.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like being a TA, he did, he got credit for it, and it looked great on a resume, and between this and the bookshop he was making decent money for the first time in his life, but the attending a class he’d already taken and passed part was what drove him a little crazy.
Professor Carmichael was nice enough, he reminded him of a less racist, smarter version of his own grandfather, and he seemed to like Mike, at least enough to grade about anything he himself didn’t want to, which is how Mike ended up staying at the stupid desk for 3 hours grading a paper he’d already wrote 2 years ago, over, and over, and over again.
When he’d finally got done with the last of the papers, he’d stacked them neatly and put them in the correct drawer, and said a quick goodbye to the older man as he pulled on his jacket before finally making it out into the cold.
He had decided to stop to grab a sandwich, or something easy he could eat on the train from the place he likes by the station on his way back to the apartment, feeling like he deserved something for himself after sitting for so long he could already feel his lower back start to ache..
It wasn’t until he finally relaxed into the seat he’d been eyeing for the past 10 minutes that the elderly lady sitting previously in it kept mentioning her stop was next, that a large man in a suit shoved past him, causing Mike to promptly drop his bookbag and BLT directly onto the floor of the train, that he realized that he was maybe just destined to have a crappy day.
When he finally got off the train sometime around 4:30, after it had delayed about 3 times on the way home, he raced to the pizza place on the corner, about a block away from his and Will’s apartment, that he ran into a friend of his mothers, who just happened to recognize him, probably from a christmas card his mother had sent out about 6 years ago or some deity was just really upset with him.
“Michale Wheeler is that you, sweetie?” a woman said from somewhere behind him as soon as he finished putting in his order for game night that they’d all finally perfected after many nights of arguing, with one large pepperoni for him and Will, one large half pineapple and bacon, half supreme for El and Max, and a large pastrami pizza with extra pickles for Lucus and Dustin to share.
Mike turned around immediately at his full name, and looked down to see a woman in her 50’s with large brown permed curls and giant thick glasses, that he was 90% was named Shannon but wasn't sure.
“Uh… yeah,” he said, unsure of what else to say as he looked at the woman hoping he could get a clue to who exactly she was if he stared closer.
“Oh, you probably don’t remember me, I’m Sharon Quigly, I went to college with your mother, I think the last time I saw you you were about up to here,” she said with a laugh as she gestured to her hip, and Mike let out an awkward laugh.
“Oh Sharon, yeah I remember you now,” he said as he racked his mind for any information about this woman, besides the fact that he now remembered she had always pinched his butt whenever she saw him.
“How long have you been in the city?” she asked as she waited for her own order.
“4 years, I go to NYU for English Lit,” he said as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans just to have something to do with his hands.
“Oh that's so impressive, an academic. You know, my youngest, Alana, goes there for dance. She's a ballerina. I wonder if you guys know each other?” Sharon said casually, and Mike knew exactly where she was going with this.
“Probably not, I doubt we have any crossover classes, the dance rooms are on the other side of campus,” Mike said, hoping to cut her off before she could try to give him this poor girl's number.
“You never know for sure, though. Are you seeing anyone right now, Michael?”
This was the million dollar question, because the simple answer was yes, I’ve been seeing the same person for the past 2 years. Except, he does not need that to get back to his mother, who this woman will certainly tell about this conversation, and then he’d have to finally explain to his parents that he and Will aren’t just really close roommates, but have in fact been dating since the beginning of their junior year.
“No, but I don’t really have time for anything in the romance department right now, between this being my senior year and working,” He said, it coming out too easy for his own liking, but there was no chance he was telling Sharon that he had absolutely no interest in her ballerina daughter, because that would also definitely get back to his mother.
“You never know, I’ll give you her number, give me one moment,” Sharon said, not picking up on his discomfort at all it seemed as she pulled out a pad of sticky notes and a pen out of her purse.
“Ok, thanks, Mrs.Quigly,” he said with a fake smile as he accepted the pink sticky note that contained a number he would never call, slipping it into his front pocket.
“No problem, Michael. I’ll have to call your mother and tell her I ran into you. What a small world, right?” she said right before the bored teenager working the counter called out her name with two pizzas in his hands.
“Yeah, definitely a small world,” Mike mumbled as he held the door open so she could disappear into the throng of other new yorkers on the street where he’d hopefully never see her again.
He waited another 10 minutes before the teen called out his own name and he grabbed the pizzas before hauling ass out of the small shop.
He walked the block back to his apartment and was thrilled to see only Will in the living room, without any other member of the party as he entered their home, closing the door with a thud and turning all 5 locks with one hand balancing the pizzas in his other.
“You look like crap,” Will said as he came over and took the pizzas, putting them on the small kitchen table.
“Thanks, babe,” Mike said as he shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the hook by the door.
“Serously, the bags under your eyes are deeper than usual,” Will said as Mike walked over to where he was standing in front of the kitchen counter.
“It’s just been one of those days, I’m sorry I’m late, I got out at 3:00 but the train and the pizza place had other plans,” he said as he rested his hands on Will’s waist and buried his face in the crook of his neck, smelling the paint and pastels Will had been working with earlier on his skin.
“Yeah, I was getting a little worried, you were supposed to be home an hour ago,” Will said as he let his hands relax into Mike’s hair, gently massaging his scalp in just the way he loved.
“The train got delayed 3 times, then I ran into my mom’s friend while getting the pizza, where she tried to set me up with her daughter, and that’s all after 5 hours with Professor carmichael, so if I don’t get the chance to kiss you soon, I think I might kill myself,” Mike said dramatically as he lifted his head up to start kissing up Will’s neck.
“Poor baby, you did your job, then got asked out, how draining,” Will said sarcastically as he let Mike keep kissing his neck.
“Hey, I could always call Alana Quigly, the ballerina from NYU, if you want,” Mike said as he pulled back so he could look at his boyfriend in all his glory.
“Oh a ballerina, very flexible, too bad she doesn’t have the parts you like,” Will said with a small giggle and before he knew it, Mike’s hands were on the backs of his thighs, lifting him onto the counter.
“I could not give less of a fuck about her,” Mike said as he captured Will’s mouth in a hard kiss, that had Will clinging to him as he deepened it, while wrapping his legs around Mike’s waist and his arms around his neck, pulling him as close to him as possible when they heard a loud knock on the door and the jiggling of someone trying to open the door.
“Fucking goddamnit,” Mike breathed out as he pulled his mouth from Will’s.
“If you weren’t late, we could have been finished by now,” Will teased as he let his legs fall when they heard the muffled voice of Max from behind the front door.
“If you two don’t open this door, El’s going to unlock it with her mind, assholes!”
“Give us a minute I just got home, Maxine,” Mike called as he readjusted himself in his jeans while Will hopped off the counter to open the door.
“Hello, people who do not live here,” Mike said as the party came into their apartment like they owned it, with El and Max going to the couch, and Lucas and Dustin beelining for the pizzas.
“This is the wrong pizza, Mike, there's no mustard on it,” Dustin said as he showed him the abomination covered in deli meat and pickles, like it was evidence.
“I genuinely do not care, there should be some mustard in the fridge if it’s that big of a deal,” Mike said as he grabbed two slices of pepperoni for him and Will.
“Rude,” Dustin mumbled as he walked away, placing the pizza on the stove so he could go dig through their condiment shelf in the fridge, calling Lucas over to help him.
“What are we playing tonight?” El asked loudly as she looked over her shoulder at the boys.
“Not Monopoly or Pictionary, those are banned,” Mike said pointedly as he and Will walked over to the living room with Mike in his recliner and Will sitting on the arm.
“We could play Never Have I Ever, it’s this game I heard some girls at work talking about,” El suggested with a smile as she went to grab her and Max’s pizza and some cups for the three bottles of wine they’d brought.
“What is that?” Will asked curiously after taking a bite of his pizza.
“It’s a game where you start with 10 fingers up, and sit in a circle, the point of the game is to say something you’ve never done, but other people in the circle have, you want to win by keeping up as many fingers as you can. We can also do it so you take a drink instead of putting down a finger too, but that’s a bit advanced I feel,” El explained to her brother as she came back with the box, a corkscrew, and a stack of plastic cups.
“Sounds easy enough, I’m in, I’d love to be drunk,” Mike said as he took the corkscrew from the long haired brunette.
“Rough day, Wheeler?” Max asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Something like that,” Mike said as he opened the first bottle of wine, a red the girls had picked up at the liquor store down the road.
“Are you guys fine with El’s game?” Will called out to the boys who were still looking in the fridge for mustard.
“Yeah, sure, where the fuck do you keep your mustard, Byers?” Lucas called back head still in the fridge.
“Usually on the door, but I made a sandwich earlier and finished it, so maybe try the trash,” Will said as he walked into the kitchen to grab another piece of pizza from the box still on the table.
“No!” and “SONOFABITCH!” chorused through the small kitchen as they both looked at the brown haired man in betrayal.
“You two can not be upset that I finished something out of my own fridge, go see if the girls have any across the hall or try the sauce drawer, Mike got a pretzel like a week ago, maybe there's some in there,” Will said as he shook his head at the two before going back to his spot on the arm of Mike’s chair.
“We found it! Thank you Mike, and your need to put mustard on pretzels,” Dustin said as he held up a handful of yellow packets from the drawer under the silverware victoriously, as Lucas brought the pizza over to the table, placing it next to the girl’s.
“Your welcome, now lets play this game,” Mike said as he relaxed into his chair, making an effort not to pull Will down with him, but they’d still not told any of the party except El about them, mostly because Mike was still getting used to the whole gay thing, and knowing their friends, they’d want him to talk about it, and it would be a whole ordeal, and he still hadn’t told his family. It wasn’t like they enjoyed lying to them, but Will assured him everyone takes a different amount of time to come out.
“Alright, everyone puts up 10 fingers,” El said as she raised both of her hands like she was showing them her palms for example.
Everyone did as she said, putting up their hands except for Will who was still eating his piece of pizza.
“Then, I say never have I ever blank, which is something you’ve never done but you think someone or multiple people in the circle have. Are we ready to start?” El said as she finished explaining, looking around to make sure everyone got how to play.
After a chorus of yes’s and got its sounded, El was ready to begin.
“Ok, never have I ever smoked a cigarette,” she said looking smug as Mike, Max, and Will all put a finger down in annoyance.
“That’s the other part of this game, you can target people,” she said with a smirk that was pure Jim Hopper, unsettling Mike deep inside.
Max was next if they were going by the circle rules and Mike had a feeling he’d regret agreeing to play this game soon.
“Never have I ever dated El,” Max said with a smile as she took a drink of her wine.
“Fuck you, that literally only applies to me,” Mike said as he put a second finger down taking a sip of his own wine just to calm his nerves.
“Will, it’s your turn,” El said from her spot on the sofa, giving her brother a smile that he instantly returned before taking a drink from her cup.
“Ok, never have I ever…kissed a girl,” Will said with a laugh as he watched everyone put down a finger much to Dustin's surprise as he looked at Max and El in shock.
“You two have kissed girls?” Dustin asked in disbelief as he looked between the redhead and brunette.
“That’s none of your business, Henderson,” Max said, the smirk seeming to be permanent for the night.
“My turn, never have I ever had red hair,” Mike said as he looked directly at Max, who promptly flipped him off with one hand while putting down her 3rd finger.
“Alright before that turns into an actual fight, never have I ever been kidnapped,” Lucas said as he looked between El and Will from behind his cup.
“That’s a bit insensitive don’t you think,” Will said as he and his sister put down a finger each.
“Not when I saw you use getting kidnapped as an excuse to get out of work, like a month ago, no,” Lucas said, shaking his head at the other man.
“The anniversary effect is a thing, but you're right, I just really didn’t want to go to work and it lined up,” Will said as he leaned back so he was leaning against Mike’s side and the back of the chair.
“I was innocent in this, and I will remember this, Lucas,” El said as she shot a glare at her friend.
“Dustin it’s your turn, go,” Lucas said to his right.
“Ah… ok, never have I ever ruined my friend's copy of Watchmen by getting paint all over it,” Dustin said as he caught his eye on Will.
“I apologized for that and got you a new copy, I thought we were done with this, Dustin,” Will sighed as he put down another finger.
“It was a first addition, William,” Dustin shrilled before they moved on.
“Never have I ever tried to domesticate a demodog,” El said as she shot a pointed look at Dustin in defense of her brother.
“HEY!” Dustin shouted before Lucas pushed him back, “Is for horses, now lets keep playing, Max I believe it’s your turn.”
“Thank you, Lucas, never have I ever played a team sport,” Max said as she smiled sweetly at her boyfriend.
Lucas groaned as he put down his second finger of the night.
“Never have I ever joined Hellfire Club,” Will said as he looked between the three boys with his own smirk.
“You're still mad about that? How? It was high school?” Mike said as he put a finger down before he looked up at Will, putting one of his hands on the other man's knee.
“Maybe, because you all spent that summer refusing to play DND with me, then as soon as I moved you joined a new party,” Will said as he poked his finger into Mike’s chest.
“I have apologized for that multiple times, Will,” Mike said as he gave him puppy dog eyes he knew always worked on Will from the past 18 years of experience before going.
“Never have I ever gotten a tattoo, this does not apply to El, because she didn’t choose it,” Mike said as he sent Max and Lucas a look before taking a drink of his almost empty cup of wine.
“Lucas, how the fuck does he know I have a tattoo?” Max asked entirely to calm for a woman two glasses of wine in, as she looked at her boyfriend with a look that could kill.
“I have no idea, maybe Will told him?” Lucas squeaked as he put down another finger, happy there was a coffee table separating him from the angry redhead.
“I didn’t tell Will about a tattoo, only you and El were supposed to know about that,” Max said as she slumped into the sofa next to El who had been quiet during this entire exchange.
“I may have told him, on accident,” El mumbled quietly before pointing to Lucas, “go, please.”
“Never have I ever kissed a boy,” Lucas said as his eyes caught on Will, sending him an apologetic smile that quickly morphed into shock as both Will and Mike put a finger down along with El and Max.
“I’m sorry, back up. Mike? When the hell did you kiss a guy?” Lucas asked as he looked at the curly haired man sitting next to him incredulously.
“I don’t kiss and tell, Dustin it’s your turn,” Mike said, hoping he could pass the flush of his face as a product of the wine.
“Never have I ever role played,” Dustin said as the group looked at him in varying looks of confusion before he quickly added, “sexually, never have I ever sexually role played.”
At that, Lucas, Max, Will, and Mike all put down a finger, Max and Mike having to start on the other hand while Lucas and Will both put down their first hands.
“Oh my god, everyone but me and El are sexual deviants, good to know. I can’t believe you guys, even you, Will?” Dustin said as he looked at his friends in mock disgust.
“It’s not our fault we have better sex lives than you, Dustin,” Will said with a giggle, starting to feel the effects as he finished his second glass of wine.
“Whatever, man, me and El are still beating you guys,” Dustin said as he pointed at El.
“Yeah, you guys are the weirdos, here. Never have I ever complained about my roommate,” said as she smiled at Max.
“Thats a fucking lie,” Will yelled as he pointed at his sister from where he’d just slowly moved into sitting in the recliner with Mike instead of the arm.
“When have I ever complained about Max?” El yelled back as she looked at her brother.
“When she moved all the furniture while you were in class, and you kept hitting your toe on a bookshelf that she moved next to your door,” Will said, immediately providing an example out of many.
“Fine, everyone puts down a finger if it applies to you,” El said as she put down her 4th finger.
Lucas and Dustin looked at each other before putting down a finger each, the same as Mike and Will, while Max put one down without looking at El.
“Max don’t feel bad, it was more about my toe than you anyway,” El assured the girl as she wrapped her in a hug.
“I get it, I think everyone put a finger that round, even Will and Mike and they’re the model roommates," Max said with a look Mike didn’t like. “Never have I ever faked an orgasm.”
“No, you have not,” Lucas said as he reached across the table for a hi-five.
El and Will both put down a finger, neither looking up from their laps as they did.
“How the hell does a dude fake an orgasm?” Dustin questioned as he looked at Will’s blushing face, confused.
“It was dark and years ago, that’s all I’ll say,” Will said before realizing it was his turn still, “Never have I ever got arrested.”
“Screw you, man, you ran before they could get you,” Max said as she and Mike put down their 8th fingers, while El put down hers as well.
“What were you guys doing that got all 3 of you arrested, and why were me and Lucas not invited?” Dustin asked, hurt clear in his slurring voice as he drank the rest of the contents of his drink.
“I was not arrested at the same time as Max and Mike, I got arrested in California for the roller skate thing,” El said as she looked down, a little ashamed.
“Hey, don’t feel bad about that, from what I’ve heard she had it coming,” Dustin said with a kind smile, seemingly sobering in seconds.
“And Me and Mike fought a guy at a bar that was being a creep to Will, then he fucking bolted,” Max explained her own speech starting to slur and Mike nodded in agreement as he looked at Will with a drunken smile.
“Who the hell was going to get you two out if I got arrested with you?” Will said, looking between the two, having already had this conversation with both of them multiple times.
“Fair enough, Wheeler, stop staring at Will, it’s your turn,” Max said, pulling Mike’s attention back to the game, before looking down at his two fingers still up, noticing Max had the same amount.
“Never have I ever lied about my height,” Mike said as he smirked at Max from his chair.
“Bullshit!” Max yelled in outrage as she watched Dustin put down a finger while Mike waited for her to put down her ninth.
“It is not! I am 6’ feet, even, you told that guy on the street doing interviews you were 5’ 5 which is a fucking lie,” Mike said smugly, ready to pull out a tape measure if needed.
“Fuck you, Wheeler!” Max said as she was left with one finger, changing it to the middle so she could continuously flip off Mike.
“Never have I ever had a sexual dream about someone I know, but wasn’t dating,” Lucas said as he leaned back on one arm, and smiled drunkenly.
At that, Will, El, Dustin, and Mike all put down a finger, looking around like they were afraid it would only be one of them.
“We get it, you’ve been in the same relationship since you were 13,” Dustin groaned, now laying completely on the floor next to where Lucas was propped up against the tv stand.
“It’s your turn, man,” Lucas whispered to the man.
“Fuck, never have I ever kissed someone in this room,” Dustin said as he put his hat on top of his face, not even paying attention to the question he’d just unknowingly asked.
“Dustin, what the hell you just knocked me and Mike out of the game!” Max yelled as she looked at the man angrily before noticing Mike didn’t seem to care he just lost as well.
“Wait, who has Will kissed in this room?” Lucas said, realizing who'd just put a finger down.
“El, on the cheek,” Mike said a little too quickly for how relaxed he’d just been.
“Well cheeks don’t count Will, put your finger back up.” Dustin muttered from under his hat.
“Look everyone's tired, and two people have already lost, why don’t we call it quits for the night,” Will suggested as he got up from the chair, and started grabbing cups and plates.
“I’m ok with that, I think I was winning,” Dustin said as he held up 4 fingers still compared to Lucus’s 3.
“Yep, you won, you get to sleep on Will and Mike's couch instead of the chair,” El said as she tried to help him up, still drunk herself, ending up sitting on the floor next to him as she and Lucas traded places..
“El, don’t levitate him, it makes him throw up,” Mike warned as he looked at the two wearily before getting up to help Will clean up.
Mike grabbed the pizza boxes off the table and the cup next to Dustin on the floor before taking it to the kitchen.
“Hey,” Mike said as he put the pizza boxes on the stove, grabbing a sharpie from the cup of pens and markers on the counter, and writing MAX & EL in big bold letters on the top box after opening it to see pineapple, then repeating the process with Lucas and Dustin’s.
“Hey,” Will said as he sipped a glass of water, leaning against the counter in the same spot they’d been in earlier before they got interrupted. “Are you sad you lost the game, you hate losing?” Will asked as he watched Mike put their pepperoni pizza into the fridge with no sharpie.
“Not really, the questions were getting a little too…much,” Mike said once he’d closed the fridge.
“Yeah, I realized that a couple times,” Will giggled, still drunk despite his effort with the water.
“I’m sorry I was late, seriously, it’s been a day. I graded like 300 papers about the Odyssey, then I got a sandwich, like a perfect sandwich from Lenny’s and this asshole bumped into me and made me drop it on the floor of the train. I would have much rather have spent my day with you,” Mike said as he stood in front of Will with one hand on the counter.
“I’m not mad that you had a bad day, you don’t have to apologize," Will said as he brought his hand up to Mike’s face, completely forgetting about the 4 people in their living room right now.
Before Mike knew it, he was pressing his lips to Will’s again, his hands moving to Will’s belt loops to pull him even closer. Will responded to that by putting his arms around Mike’s neck, tangling his hands in the messy curls.
“HOLY CRAP!” Dustin said loudly as he finally stood up from the floor with the help of El and Max while Lucas watched from the couch.
“What’s wrong, Dustin?!? Are you ok?” El asked, immediately checking him for injuries, despite her intoxicated state.
Dustin said nothing, just pointing in the direction of the kitchen, bringing everyone's attention to Will and Mike kissing in the kitchen.
“What the fuck?” Max said in disbelief as she walked over to them, before clapping her hands loudly, getting the two’s attention.
Mike and Will broke apart without leaving their embrace, at the sound of the clapping, looking startled before realizing Max was standing right in front of them with Lucas, Dustin, and El looking on from the living room in various states of shock.
“Are you guys really, really drunk, because I’m really drunk but Lucas is not on the brain,” Dustin asked, breaking the silence as Mike and Will took a step away from each other.
“Uh, this is not how we planned this to happen,” Will said as he avoided everyone’s eyes.
“No, it’s really not,” Mike agreed, shaking his head a little too aggressively, making him look like a nervous dog.
“Agreed to tell us you make out with each other?” Lucas asked with a grin on his face wide enough to hurt.
“To tell you we're together, asshole,” Mike said as he stepped closer to Will.
“El, how long have you known about this?” Max asked, never taking her eyes off the couple.
“1991,” El responded easily.
“1991, that's 2 years!” Max said incredulously as she pointed her finger at them.
“Why would you not tell us,” Dustin asked sadly, as he came over to them with Lucas and El following.
“It’s not because we don’t trust you guys, we do,” Will assured Dustin.
“I haven’t told my parents or anyone else yet, either,” Mike added.
“So you two are dating, like dating dating?” Lucas asked, looking impressed as he looked at the way Mike was still holding onto Will’s beltloop, like he was tethered to him.
“Yeah, as much as we can be,” Will said as he leaned into Mike, happy to do it in front of everyone without worry.
“I’m happy for you guys. I’m mad that you lied to us for two years, but I’m happy for you,” Max said as she stopped watching them like a hawk.
“Wait, that means I can complain about you guys to everyone now, because they're like that all the time, because I'm the only one who knew,” El said excitedly to the others.
“Let me remind you, this is our apartment, you do not half to be here,” Mike said pointing at the door.
“Will, you realize you’re dating 6 as a 10, right,” Max said as she grabbed her and Lucas’s pizzas.
“He is not a 6, Max,” Will defended as she walked over to the door.
“Yeah, I’m a 8 at least,” Mike added as he rested his head on Will’s shoulder.
“Are the rest of you coming to my apartment, or are you staying in the room Will and Mike have definitely had sex in?” Max said as she shot Will a look, helping usher out everyone.
“Oh god, I was going to sleep on that couch,” Dustin said as he stepped closer to the door, with Lucas and El following them in quick succession.
“Oh, all we had to do was let them know we have sex for them to want to leave, we should have just told them when it happened the first time,” Mike said as Max opened the door with a bye, and the rest followed across the hall.
“Yep.”
“We told our friend we’re together,” Mike said as the door was closed by Lucas.
“We made out in front of them,” Will recalled with a blush.
“Maybe now they’ll stay in their own apartments,” Mike said as he walked over to the door to do up the locks for the night.
“One can dream,” Will said as he walked over to grab a piece of pizza from the fridge.
“Do you think we should tell our parents?” Mike said as he pressed his back against the door.
“Do you want to?” Will asked as he put the pizza down and walked over to Mike.
“I don’t know, maybe, we're going to graduate in the summer, they're going to start asking about the roommate thing, and I think my mom would probably be ok with it, she loves you, and I’m like 90% sure Nancy and Robin have made out at some point, so she shouldn’t have any problem with it,” Mike started to ramble, taking a mile a minute before Will grabbed his hands.
“Hey, you're fine, you need to breathe. Why do you want to tell your parents?”
“Because I had a crappy day today, and all I wanted to do was come home to you, and I’ve realized I want to have that for the rest of my life, and I need people to know that you are the thing that makes me happy at the end of the day, if that makes sense, it probably doesn’t,” Mike said as he looked at his shoes he hadn’t realized he’d never had the chance to take off.
“You’re what I look forward to coming home to, too, Mike,” Will said as he pulled Mike away from the door to their bedroom.
“I think I’m going to call my mom tomorrow,” Mike said once he was sitting on the end of their bed.
“Ok, do you want me to be there too?” Will asked as he got his pajama pants out of the dresser.
“You there.”
“Ok.”
“I’m glad our friends know about us,” Mike said as he took off his shirt and jeans, walking over to put them in the hamper when the pink sticky note from earlier fell on the floor.
“What is this?” Will asked, now dressed as he walked over and picked it up.
“That is the Ballerina’s phone number that her mother gave me while picking up the pizza,” Mike said as he put the clothes in.
“You took it?” Will asked, annoyed.
“What was I supposed to do, this lady literally said she was going to call my mom to let her know I ran into her, I honestly forgot it was even there,” Mike said as he grabbed his own pajama pants.
“You could be dating a ballerina,” Will said quietly under his breath, bringing up for the second time that night, Mike noticed.
“I don’t want to date a ballerina, I want to date this artist that I’m fucking crazy about,” Mike said sweetly as he came over to wrap his arms around Will.
“I love you,” Will said as he leaned his head against his chest.
“I love you too,” Mike said as he kissed the top of his head.
“I’m happy they know about us too, I think we might have been driving El a little crazy,” Will said as he let out a small laugh that was muffled by Mike’s chest.
“Yeah, probably.” Mike said as he moved them toward the bed.
“Max is mad at us,” Will said as he settled into the bed, resting his head on Mike’s chest again.
“Max is mad that we didn’t tell her, she’s not mad at us, and I honestly think Lucas might have already known,” Mike said as he reached a long arm over to turn off the lamp on their bedside table.
“Yeah that makes sense, he probably knew before we did. Do you think Dustin’s ok with it?” Will asked into the now dark room.
“Dustin is Dustin, he’ll probably ask us some weirdly personal questions then give us a hug and say he’s happy for us,” Mike said, already dreading whatever those questions will be.
“ We have good friends. If you want we can tell my parents first, El told me, mom wants me to visit them soon, we could make a trip up for christmas, Jon and Nancy are going up for the 24th, it might be easier telling them than your parents first,” Will said as he rolled onto his stomach so he could look at Mike, the only light in the room the lights from the street outside the window casting shadows on the man's angular face.
“Do you think I have to worry about Hopper trying to kill me over dinner?” Mike said in a joking tone, but Will could hear the undertone of worry.
“I think that all of those people love you, and want us to be happy, and between my mom and Nancy they won’t let him,” Will said as he pressed a kiss to Mike’s mouth.
“That’s so comforting, babe, thanks,” Mike said with a laugh as he pulled back.
“Are you afraid to tell your parents because of your dad or your mom?” Will asked, cutting the bullshit and getting to the real reason Mike was nervous.
“My dad, I think my mom will be ok with it. I honestly think she’s been trying to get me to come out to her since I was 12, with her “you can talk to me about anything,” and “it’s ok to be different,” speeches over the years, and it’s ridiculous because I haven’t cared about what my dad thinks since I was like 14, but all I can think about is him looking at me like I’m disgusting, which probably won’t even happen because he’d have to look away from the fucking tv to do that,” Mike ranted as Will rubbed his hand up down his side.
“It’s ok to be afraid to tell them, and your dad has a pretty bad track record when it comes to saying the right thing, but I do know that telling my mom made it all a lot easier.”
“What if he says I’m not allowed to see my mom or Holly, you’ve heard how he talked about the stuff on the news when you lived with us,” Mike said, voicing his real concern for the first time out loud.
“Then we say screw him, and you see your mom and sister anyways, who I’m sure would never listen to him if he tried that,” Will comforted, trying to imagine Ted Wheeler putting down his foot at the two blonde women without laughing.
“Yeah, add Nancy into that and they might take him out,” Mike said with a small chuckle as he wrapped his arm around Will, pulling him even closer.
“We can call tomorrow if you still want, or we can talk to my folks, whatever you want,” Will said as he pressed another kiss onto Mike’s face.
“Right now, I want to go to sleep with you wrapped around me, and not have to think for the next 12 hours, because we’re officially on Christmas break now,” Mike said as he closed his eyes and felt Will relax on top of him.