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It was cold.
Which was strange, they always had their apartment’s heating on something higher than necessary. Will was often cold and that was a scary thing to be. So Mike always had the heat up, to make sure Will was always okay.
But now it was cold and dark.
He sat up, there was no mattress beneath him, no carpeted floor either. It was hard, cold ground. And all around him wrapping around the world, were vines.
No. No no no no no no no no no.
He couldn’t be.
He can’t be.
He was back. He was back. He was back
“Mike?!” He called out as he stood to his feet. “Hello?! Mike!”
One of the vines lashed out and hooked onto his ankle dragging him away from where he was, dragging him further into the darkness that surrounded him.
His arms were swinging wildly trying to find something to hold on to. But all they touched were the slick vines that seemed to be the only thing around.
He was being scraped against the ground, cutting grooves into his back and limbs. He tried to wrench free from the grip of the vines but nothing was working.
More vines grabbed at his arms and his other leg. The grip was relentless. It pulled his limbs. He felt one slide around his neck, cold and slimy and awful.
“Mike! Mike! Please! Anybody!” It grew harder and harder to yell out, to scream, as the vines pulled tighter, as they wrapped around every inch of Will’s being. As it suffocated him.
He could feel it, everywhere. Engulfing him in cold darkness. He could no longer speak, cries turned to choked sobs as tears started to fall. He was trapped here. Again. He was alone. Again. He was going to die.
His mind tore through the nightmare with a choked scream. His breathing was shallow and ragged, his face was wet with tears that couldn’t seem to stop. He held a hand over his mouth trying to quiet his breathing. It just made it worse.
Beside him Mike woke up.
“Hey, what’s going on?” He was still half asleep and groggy, dragging a hand down his face. Will turned away hiding his face.
“I’m- I’m fine.” His voice cracked as he spoke, giving away his lie.
That caused Mike to snap to focus. Any leftover sleep was lost. He shot up and turned to Will, whose breathing was still short and shallow, whose shoulders were shaking and who was still crying.
“Breathe Will, breathe you’re okay. You’re here Will, with me. You’re safe, you’re safe.”
Slowly but surely, his breathing became more manageable. The breaths grew longer and deeper, more controlled, more regular. The tears didn’t cease though, they still couldn’t stop falling down his face.
“Hey, hey, what happened?” His voice held so much concern yet it was still gentle and full of love. He took Will’s shaking hands in his own, holding them steady.
“Tell me Will, you can’t lie your way out of this. I know something’s wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter, Mike. I’m okay.” Will said quietly, tilting his head so he couldn’t see Mike’s worried expression.
“Bullshit, Will. It matters, you’re clearly upset.” He lifted one hand and placed it on Will’s cheek guiding his gaze back to Mike. “So tell me what’s wrong.”
“I was back there.” It barely escaped his throat. It came out hushed and small and accompanied by another rush of tears.
It was strange. It’s been so long since he’s had a nightmare so bad.
He was so pathetic. He’s not 15 anymore, he shouldn’t be crying over a stupid dream. He shouldn’t be so desperate for comfort. He shouldn’t be dragging Mike back into this whole fiasco. He should be able to deal with this alone. It cannot be that hard.
Mike just pulled him closer. He held Will to his chest and planted his hand on the back of Will’s head. He seemed to sense the void of self hatred Will was sinking into, whispering ‘It’s okay to let me help you Will, I love you’.
And Will just cried. He let it all out and sobbed into the thin fabric of Mike's sleep shirt. He shook and he cried and he held onto Mike like he might slip back if he let go.
And in return Mike just stayed. He didn’t leave, he didn't push Will away for soaking his shirt or overreacting. He just held Will and whispered to him, telling him he was safe. He was here in their little apartment on the 7th floor. With Mike.
Where it’s warm, and safe. Where they wake up next to each other. Where they make each other breakfast, lunch and dinner. Where they fall asleep on the couch after watching a movie too late. Where they sit at the counter and talk about their days. Where they love each other so utterly and so happily.
After a long while the two fell asleep again. Will was warm and happy and at peace in the arms of the person he loved so deeply. Mike was content with a small smile on his face and his arms draped around the boy he loved so fully.
——————————-
They both woke up the next morning tired but calm. They fell into an easy rhythm, a regular routine they had done a million times. They both got dressed and Will sat down at the counter, Mike went looking around for ingredients determined to make Will some pancakes to try and improve his mood. Will knew he meant well, but he also knew through experience that Mike’s pancakes weren’t the highest quality. But it’s the thought that counts. And it’s a really sweet thought causing a tame blush to bloom across his face.
Will sat and watched Mike while he worked, Mike tended to mutter and mumble under his breath when he concentrated and Will thought the little things rushing through his boyfriend’s head were very cute. So he watched with his hand leaning on his cheek.
“What are you looking at?” Mike asked with a smirk.
“You.” Will said plainly. Reveling in the flustered look that covered Mike's face and the small “oh” that escaped his lips. It was cute and a little sad how flustered Mike got when someone complimented him or genuinely did something because they cared.
Mike is convinced every act of kindness is something he doesn’t deserve, and Will admits he thinks the same sometimes. He had learned to always expect the worst from both situations and people or that every kind person had some kind of ulterior motive.
But they are both learning it isn’t true. Mike is learning that he does deserve kindness and Will is learning that there are good people and that good things are allowed to happen, and will happen, to him.
They sat in relative silence eating the pancakes. Mike made a small face when he tried them. Grimacing as the lack of sweetness and odd aftertaste. Will just laughed and kept eating even though it wasn’t the best showing Mike that he appreciated it.
In honor of having a good day, Mike explained his last minute plan: an afternoon full of dates. Starting at a lunch place, then going to the arcade, then to the book store, then to the park, and lastly to dinner.
“That really isn’t necessary Mike, it was just a nightmare, I’ve had them before and I will have them again, it’s inevitable.”
“Oh, so now I just can’t plan dates with my boyfriend? Wow. And I really had it all planned out this time.” He pulled out his phone. “I was about to call and reserve a table at that fancy restaurant you like downtown.”
“Hey,” Will said, narrowing his eyes playfully. “I said it wasn’t necessary, that didn’t necessarily mean don’t do it at all.”
“Aha,” Mike laughed, pointing a finger at Will. “So you’ve changed your mind as soon as I mention something that benefits you, I see how it is Byers.”
He gave Mike a playful shove. “You’re such a dork.”
“Yeah, I know. But you still love me.” He gave Will this innocent look that might have fooled him if he hadn’t known this boy for longer than he’d known how to ride a bike.
“Unfortunately, I do.” Will gave him a kiss before he could interject with another response.
Since it was still early Will decided they should be productive. He sent Mike to gather the laundry and he set off to clean the dishes leftover from the night before. Will had turned on some music and could faintly hear Mike singing along in the other room.
It was funny, Mike almost never sang seriously. He always put on a voice and purposefully made himself sound like a dying goat. When in actuality his voice was quite nice. Low and raspy in a way that worked. Will thought it was a wonderful sound.
Mike had walked by into the living room still singing softly. He stopped abruptly when he noticed Will staring. Will just burst out laughing Mike following shortly behind.
They kept cleaning until the rooms were relatively acceptable. With still an hour to go before Mike had said they should leave they sat at the couch and turned on a movie. The movie was mainly background noise as the two talked away.
Without noticing they talked an hour past when they were supposed to be leaving causing them to rush out of the building and down the street to the sandwich shop for lunch.
They sat down at a table with the food and Mike pulled out his phone.
“Okay, to make the dinner reservation at 6 we may need to cut the park walk short. It’s already 1:30 so we have about four and a half hours until then. Unless you don’t want to cut the park short, we could also cut the book store short, they close at 5. I think the arcade closes at 4 on Saturdays so we only have a little time there and this isn’t like the arcade in Hawkins, no this one is stupidly huge, Will like crazy huge so even with the amount of time we have I don’t know if-“
“Mike!,” Will took Mike's phone out of his hand and set it on the table holding Mike's hands to stop him from continuing the rambling. “It’s fine, I’m just happy to spend the day with you.”
“But I want this to be a good day, Will.”
“Don’t worry it will be, we can cut out the book store if you want, I can survive another few weeks with the next books in my series.”
“Okay, so then with that we can have like an hour in the park, but that’s if we stay in the arcade until closing, which we don’t have to do if you don’t want to. We could cut everything and just go back home and keep watching movies until the reservation. If you want. I don’t mind, it's up to you.”
“Mike.” Will looked him in the eyes. “The arcade sounds fun, let’s go.”
“Okay!”
They finished their sandwiches and set off. The arcade was a few blocks away. They passed a few stores with intricately dressed mannequins and interesting fashion choices. They passed a few other couples that seemed to have similar afternoon date ideas. Will loved the city they lived in, it felt so alive.
Holy shit, Mike was right.
This arcade was absolutely gigantic compared to the one in Hawkins. In fact you could probably fit about three of them inside this one.
It had dim lights and loud sounds. It was fairly crowded but the room was so big it didn’t matter. They set off immediately for the games they recognized. Will managed to beat Mike at everything they tried.
But Mike managed to win something out of the claw machine after Will had about 4 failed attempts. He happily gave it to Will as a present. It was a small bunny with brown fur. It was cute and Will loved it.
They roamed around for the next few hours. Trying all sorts of new games they hadn’t even heard of before. Will was having a great time.
And promptly at 4 everyone was ushered out of the building and it closed. The two of them made their way over to the park.
Mike sat down on a hill covered in small wild flowers. Will followed suit and sat with his head leaning on Mike's shoulder.
They sat there. Happily talking and chatting away. Well, Mike did most of the talking and Will did a whole lot of listening, but he was happy to. He sat there weaving a flower crown out of the small daisies that grew right next to his feet.
When he was finished he placed it over Mike's head and smiled.
“How do I look?” Mike said, posing a little.
“Beautiful.” Will said.
And on cue, Mike’s pale face turned pink and he looked down, flustered.
Will just giggled wrapped his arms around one of Mike’s and smiled into his jacket. Mike rested his head on Will's own and whispered. “I really love you Will Byers”
“And I really love you too, Mike Wheeler.”
Not too long after they went back home and changed into nicer clothes for the final part of their date.
The restaurant was full but quiet, instrumental music was playing softly over speaker hidden in some corner, and every table had a candle burning.
The waiter led them to their table against a window overlooking the street. This was their favorite anniversary location. Will loved it, and it was a rare place where Mike didn’t complain.
It was run by a nice family. Will knew their youngest daughter through his art history class so they sometimes got a discount for ‘family friends’
They ate and they talked and they laughed and Will was the happiest he’d been in a while. Mike animatedly talked with his hands, narrowly avoiding knocking over his glass that Will had pulled farther away.
When they were finished Mike paid the check and they walked home. And Will was tired. They both were. They quietly fell into their nightly routine. They both changed into their sleep clothes and brushed their teeth and slid into bed.
Will was held close to Mike’s chest, warm and happy.