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Will remembers his mother's reaction when she had found out about him and Mike. They had discussed who they should tell first and it was quickly decided it would be Will's family. They had been so supportive of Will when he came out to them before and Mike had always thought of them as family anyways that it was the safest option for them. Will had called his mom a few days before she was expecting him to be visiting in Montauk, where her and Hopper had moved once Will went of to college in New York City, to ask if it was okay if he could bring his new boyfriend with him. As expected his mother was more than excited to be introduced and kept asking Will questions about him. Will answered a few but knew answering certain ones would clue his mother in that his boyfriend was Mike and they had both wanted to see the look on her face when she realized. When it finally happened, they weren't surprised to see tears in his mother's eyes. She later told them that she had always hoped they would get together and couldn't be happier. She even pulled Mike aside to thank him for taking care of Will and to officially welcome him into the family, as if he hadn't been apart of it this whole time.
After they had announced their relationship to the Byers' it was easier to tell their friends and Mike's family. Their friends had of course made some jokes, mostly at Mike for taking so long to figure it out, but they were also so supportive of the couple. Mike's family was who they were truly worried about telling, thankfully it went way better than expected. Nancy was very happy the second she had heard but that was too be expected. She had been giving them these looks for months now like she had suspected something. Karen was confused but tried her best to support Mike. The person they were the most scared to say something to was Ted. He had never been abusive to Mike but many of the comments he had made about gay people before had freaked Mike out. When Mike had told them that he gay before telling them about his and Will's relationship, his dad wasn't very happy about it. It had caused Will to tense up sitting next to Mike, worried about what the reaction would be when they announced they were together. When they had told them though Ted had actually calmed down. He had told them that he was okay with it as long as Mike was dating Will and not some other guy. It was quite a surprise to everyone in the room but Mike and Will were just happy that they were getting support from Mike's side of the family as well.
That was a couple of years ago. Now they are still living in New York City but it a bigger apartment now that both of them have jobs. They meet up with their friends often and have even made other friends who are like them. Their families often visit them and even though it stresses them out for a few days they still really enjoy having so much support behind them. They get to share their life together with the people that they care about.
One June when Will mentions their plans to attend their first pride together to his mother he doesn't expect much to come of it. They are truly just on the phone, having one of their many chats when his mother asks about their plans for next weekend.
"Oh a few of our friends had asked if we wanted to join them at pride. Mike and I talked about it and decided that it would be fun."
"That's sounds like a great idea Will! Mike is feeling okay going to an event like that? I know he has had troubles being opened about that side of him to anyone that's not us for many years."
"Yeah. We had a long talk about it and I assured him we didn't have to do anything he wasn't comfortable with but he said he's ready. He wants to start being more open and things have started to get a little better for people like us here. Plus we will be with friends, so I think he feels more comfortable."
"I'm very proud of him!" His mother responds and Will can hear the sincerity in her voice. This part of his mother has always been one of Will's favorite things about her, how she was also so loving to anyone. She had loved Mike as one of her own for years before he and Will had gotten together and since then it seems like that love has only grown. "I've never been to a pride, what happens there?"
Will chuckles at his mother's wording. "Well there's a parade and local gay owned business attend and really it's kinda like a big party that doubles as a protest. A big gathering to show everyone that we are here and just like everyone else."
"Oh Will." He hears his mother sniffling over the line. "I'm so glad that you guys have a chance to go and celebrate who you are."
"Thank you mom." They talk on the phone some more. Will doesn't really think much about the conversation as his mother has always been like that. She has hated how the world thought of people like him and Mike and was happy to hear they were living much better lives in New York than they were in Hawkins.
Will is reminded of this conversation about a week later though when Mike calls for him from the living room while he is painting. "Hey babe, were you expecting something from your mom?"
"What? No she didn't mention anything why?" Will is asking as he walks to the living room.
"Well because this just showed up at the door." Will walks into the living to see Mike hold quite a large box.
"That's from my mother?" Will asks astonished. He has no clue what she would be sending them.
"Yeah her name and their home home address is the return address."
"Well let's open it and see what it is because I have no clue."
Mike sets the box on the table while Will is grabbing a pair of scissors to cut open the tape. Once they open it up Will sees very colorful tissue paper instead, one for each color of the rainbow. They both look at each other confused before pulling the tissue paper out. Underneath is two baseball hats that have a rainbow on the front with the word 'pride' underneath and Will thinks he might be beginning to understand what this is. The next items they pull out are multiple shirts. Two of them are these white t-shirts that say 'He's Mine' with arrows pointing off to the side in a rainbow font, there is a black tank that says 'Sounds Gay I'm In' with another rainbow between the words, and another black tank that says 'I'm Gay and I'm Proud'. There are also some other pride style pins at the bottom of the box, small pride flags, and two rainbow lanyards for their keys as well. Their laughter increases with each item they pull out until they find a card that fell to the bottom of the box. Will reads the letter out loud to Mike
Hey Boys,
I found these shirts at a local market the other day and thought you guys could wear them when you go to your pride event. You know so people know you are gay and proud of it. I made sure to get enough for both of you. Also I was unsure how warm it was in New York right now so there's two t-shirts and two tank tops so you can wear which ever one works better for the weather. Plus I found these really cute hats that will help you guys keep the sun out of your eyes and decrease sunburns on your faces as well as other cute gay things! I hope you love them!
Love you both,
Mom and Hop <3
P.S. We also got some shirts for us too, aren't they cute!
Will is smiling so wide. Sure these definitely wouldn't be the shirts that Will would ever buy and he does find them a little cliche but he is so moved by his mother's thought of them that he doesn't mind at all.
"She saw these at a market and thought of us?" Mike is laughing though so Will can tell he doesn't hate this.
"Well I told her we were going our first pride this weekend and apparently she thought we needed very gay clothes to wear to it." He holds up one of the white tees. "What you don't want to wear this? I mean we will DEFINITELY be the only ones wearing these so we can find each other SO easily." And him and Mike continue to laugh. Then Mike is hold up a photo.
"She wasn't lying when she said they bought shirts for themselves too." Will looks at the photo and it's his mom and Hopper and they are both wearing shirts that say 'I ❤️ My Gay Son'. Will is so touched by all of this that he immediately turns to Mike and tells him to pick out a shirt.
"We are gonna wear these out of the house" Mike is asking with a straight face.
"Of course. My mother got these for us and I think she would love a picture back from us. Plus I bet other people will also be wearing clothes like this too at pride."
"Okay fine, but I'm calling this one."
Joyce is standing in the kitchen when Hopper comes in with a letter. "It's from Will."
Joyce grabs the envelope and starts to open it. "I wonder if it's about the box of clothes we sent them. I was expecting Will to call but he never did. I hope they got it before their pride event."
"Did you send everything you had because Joyce honey I told you I didn't think they would wear them."
"Of course I did. I wanted to give them options Jim."
There isn't actually a letter just some Polaroids of them at what looks like the pride event. The first is the two of them standing together smiling widely. Mike is wearing the black tank that says 'I'm Gay and I'm Proud' while Will is wearing the black tank that says 'Sounds Gay I'm In' with the rainbow lanyards sticking out of the pockets of their shorts and the baseball hats on top of their heads. The next one they are in a group of other people that are also wearing pride clothes. These must be their friends they were going with, Joyce thinks. The last one is them kissing while they are holding up their flags that Joyce had given them.
"Oh Jim look!" Joyce shows him the pictures with tears in her eyes. Then she notices a small note in the envelope.
Thank you Mom! These made us fit right in. Thought you would want some pictures of us. We love you!❤️Mike and Will
Joyce is so happy that she was able to give her son and the boy she has thought of as a son for years some joy in a world that tries so hard to tell them their love is wrong. She grabs the pictures back from Jim and attaches them to the fridge with some magnets. She will definitely be showing them to all of her friends when they come over, talking about how proud she is of them and how much she loves her boys.