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Will hesitated when he reached the landing.
Mike was standing there, looking down over the edge, a water bottle in his hand.
He hadn’t spoken to Will on the ride here.
Hadn’t spoken to him since Will told literally everyone that he was gay.
Hell, Mike had been the last of The Party to get to his feet and hug him.
But he had hugged him, so at least he wasn’t totally, completely, disgusted by the fact Will liked boys.
Mike must have sensed his presence. He turned around, a tight smile on his face, and shook the water bottle.
“Want some?”
Will all but stumbled off the ladder, rushing to Mike’s side. “Yeah,” he said, trying to play off his eagerness. “Thanks.”
Mike shrugged like it was no big deal.
Will took a small gulp, nearly choking on it as it slid down his throat in a lump.
“Hey, uh, listen,” Mike said suddenly, looking down over the edge of the railing again. “About what you said back there.”
Will’s heart dropped.
Vecna was right.
Everyone was going to leave him.
Will passed the water bottle back, unable to make eye contact.
Mike didn’t say anything.
“Yeah?” Will prompted, priding himself in his ability to not just turn tail and run from the conversation.
“Just-” Mike cleared his throat. “That was a really brave thing to do. In front of everyone like that.”
A bitter laugh escaped Will before he could stop it.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he reminded him. “I couldn’t let him use it against me. Do you really think I wanted to do it like that?”
“No. No, of course not. It was just brave, regardless, y’know?”
Will hummed, tapping his fingers on the railing. He wanted to end the conversation, wanted to keep climbing, but he was pretty sure Mike wasn’t done.
“How would you have done it?” He asked, his voice a little quieter than before. “Did you have a plan?”
“Uh, no. Not really. I wasn’t really ready to tell anyone.”
“I’m sorry,” Mike said earnestly. “Is that- when I walked in on you and your mom talking, is that- were you going to tell her that for the first time?”
“Yeah.”
“Did anyone know?”
Will smiled sadly. “Robin and Jonathan knew about the crush. Which was on a guy, so yeah, I guess. But I haven’t really- I mean, I haven’t even said the word out loud.”
“Do you want to?”
Tears pressed at Will’s throat. “It’s scary. Makes it more real.”
“More real than telling a room full of people?”
“I think so,” Will admitted, blinking away a tear as it collected in his eye.
Mike’s shoulder bumped into his. “I’m not scared of it.”
Will let out a wet laugh. “Lucky you.”
“I’m just saying, if you want to give it a test run with someone who’s not going to run away, I’m right here.”
It didn’t sound too bad, to be honest. And getting it out of the way was probably for the best. He might literally die today, so he should probably say it once.
He blew out a deep breath. “Okay. I’m, uh.” He turned to Mike, finally meeting his gaze. He searched Mike’s face for any sigh of apprehension. When he found none, he took another shaky breath. “I’m gay.”
Mike smiled.
A genuine smile.
Will returned it shakily just as Mike pulled him into a hug.
“That’s okay,” Mike told him. “You’re still my best friend no matter what. And I’m proud of you.”
Will felt a wave of tears rushing at him full force.
Panicked, he pulled away and shoved Mike’s shoulder. “Dude, don’t be so sappy,” he choked out, failing to hide the onslaught of emotions.
Mike’s eyes shone back, like he wasn’t far behind.
“Sorry,” he said, looking upwards and blinking rapidly. “I, uh. I kinda needed a do-over. I was a little shocked back at the Squawk and I just sat there like a dumbass. Sorry.”
“I mean, it’s a big thing to dump on someone, so-”
“Honestly, I was more shocked with how you did it than what you said.”
“Wait, did- did you- did you know?” Will asked, his jaw dropping. He had tried so hard for so long to keep it hidden. The thought that all his efforts had been for nothing made him a bit sick.
“No,” Mike confirmed, pulling away from the railing and taking a step back towards the ladder. “Not consciously, at least. It makes perfect sense, so I guess deep down maybe some part of me knew.”
Will sat with this for a minute as Mike grabbed onto the ladder.
He wondered if Mike knew because he knew Will or because everyone in this shithole of a town had clocked it the second he’d stepped into the world.
“You go first. Nancy and Robin are almost here,” Mike said, smacking the ladder with his hand.
“Why me?” Will asked, walking over to him. “Planning to stare at my ass the whole time?”
The words left his mouth before his brain processed them. He couldn't be making jokes like that anymore. Not when it could just seem like honest-to-god flirting.
He winced.
Mike laughed.
“Sorry,” Will muttered, grabbing onto the rung of the ladder. “I didn't mean it like that.”
“Don't worry, I got you. Platonic ass staring.”
Will groaned and lightly smacked his head into the side of the railing. “I'm going to jump off this tower.”
“Damn, what a power move,” Mike teased as Will began climbing. “Vecna will never see that one coming. Here he is, getting all this ammo to use against you, and then he gets to the final battle and you've just decided to die prematurely."
They climbed for another few minutes until they reached another empty platform. Will hopped off the ladder, much more gracefully this time, and made grabby hands at Mike until he passed him the water.
“Your ass looked great, by the way.”
Will choked, sending water spraying everywhere.
Mike stole the bottle from him as he coughed.
Will watched out of the corner of his eye as Mike sank to the ground and took a sip.
Once the water was mostly out of Will’s lungs, he sat next to Mike and leaned against the railing.
Mike had a weird look on his face, like he was lost in thought but also holding back on saying something.
“You okay?” Will prompted.
“Just thinking,” Mike muttered with a shrug. “About what kind of stuff Vecna would hold over me.”
“He won't,” Will assured him. “I mean this as a compliment, but I don't think he gives a damn about you.”
Mike hummed. “Yeah, okay, but... I mean he could. So shouldn't I tell all my scary secrets too?”
“Mike, he's not going to-”
“El and I broke up.”
Will didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything, actually, because that had to be a joke. He racked his memory trying to figure out when it could have happened and how he possibly could have missed it.
Unless it was within the last two days, he had nothing.
“Well we actually just never got back together after California. But everyone assumed we did and so we just, y’know, didn't say anything.”
Will winced, thinking about the painting hanging above Mike’s bed.
He'd lied for nothing.
Great.
“Also,” Mike continued. “I'm failing English because I keep writing the same pieces of my trauma into all of my assignments even when it doesn't make sense.”
Will opened his mouth to tell him that Vecna probably didn't care about his report card, but Mike barrelled on.
“And, also, I really want my parents to get a divorce and I daydream about how much better my life would be if my dad was gone. And then I feel guilty ‘cause my dad's not even that bad compared to Lonnie.”
“Mike-”
“Also the reason I didn't get up and hug you right away was because I was shocked. But it wasn't because of what you said or how you did it. It was because you said ‘I don't like girls’ and my first thought was ‘me neither’ and I don't really know what to do with that.”
He stopped his rambling, looking Will dead in the eye.
“Am I gay, too?”
Will couldn't answer that.
Sure, he knew what he wanted the answer to be, but he wasn't going to make that call for Mike.
“Uh,” he started with a shaky laugh. “I don't know. You could be. Or it could just be that we're best friends and we always do everything together, so it makes sense that you would automatically want that too?”
Mike hummed and then turned his body to face Will.
“I don’t think it’s that, Will,” he said with a light snort. “I think I just, uh, need to, y’know, think on it. Do some self discovery, or whatever.”
Will nodded, his heart beating quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, totally. Uh, if you want to talk about it. I’m, uh. I’m here.”
“Thanks.”
Mike smiled at him, a light pink dusting his cheeks. He glanced upwards.
“Should we get up there before they think we died?”
Will nodded, fiddling with his jeans for a second. “Yeah, just- I have to tell you something else.”
Mike nodded, his expression calm. Will wished he could take some of that calmness for himself. He wiped his sweaty palms on his knees and took a shaky breath.
“So, there might be something else that he tries to use against me,” he admitted, dropping his eyes to the grate-like flooring between them. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I- I mean, maybe I should? And, like, I want to make sure you know that it doesn’t have to change anything. I- I’m not asking for anything. I just- if you know and he tries to use it against me, then... well. Then maybe it won’t work.”
“Totally,” Mike agreed. “What is it?”
“Um. You know how I said there was a guy I had a crush on?”
“Yeah, the one you said you’re over?”
“Yeah. I’m not,” Will admitted with a wince.
“Oooh,” Mike teased, shoving his shoulder. “Will’s got a crush.”
“Oh my god, shut up,” Will whined. “Are you twelve?”
“You’ve literally never had a crush, you have to let me have this,” Mike said, grabbing his arm.
“It’s not as exciting as you think,” Will said, trying to calm his heart as Mike’s fingers dug into his jacket. “Uh. It’s- oh god this is embarrassing. Stupid Vecna.”
“It’s not Steve, is it?”
If Will had water in his mouth he probably would have spat it out. Again. “Dude, no.”
“Well then it can’t possibly be that embarrassing.”
Will swallowed and shut his eyes. “Ah, okay. Uh. It’s, shit. It’s you.”
He held his breath, keeping his eyes closed. The silence stretched on for what felt like ages.
Will couldn't open his eyes.
Couldn't bear to see Mike’s expression.
He waited until he physically had to take a breath.
“So a few minutes ago you were apologising for hesitating when I told you a big thing and now you're doing it again.”
Mike let out a weird laugh. “Ah, sorry. Sorry. I just-”
“Oh,” Will said. His stomach dropped as he realised what Mike was probably trying to put into words. “You don't have to, like, reject me. I wasn't coming onto you or anything, I swear. Just had to get that out of the way before Henry did.”
He offered an awkward laugh.
His face felt like it was on fire.
“That wasn't-” Mike cut himself off. Will felt him tugging at his hands. He peeked one eye open to find Mike staring at him. “It’s been really nice being loved by you.”
Will gaped at him.
“Oh my god, dude, you are rejecting me. Don't. Please. It'll make things way more awkward.”
“I'm not rejecting you!” Mike argued. “I was being honest! I was thinking about all the nice stuff you do that, y’know, now I'm realising was kinda romantic. It’s nice!”
“Not helping,” Will said, trying to climb to his feet. “Let’s go before Nancy catches us. Or I die of humiliation.”
“Wait!” Mike yelped, yanking him back down so Will was on his knees in front of Mike. “I’m just trying to process all the stuff happening in my brain. This has been a big day of discovery for me!”
“Tell me about it,” Will sighed. “But we do really need to go and-”
Mike cut him off with a freezing hand on his cheek.
Will looked at him properly for the first time since he’d admitted his lifelong crush.
Mike’s eyes were a bit wild, shining with a mixture of fear and excitement.
“Can I kiss you?”
It was Will’s turn for his brain to completely shut off. For a long moment he just sat there, processing the words over and over again, trying to discover a hidden meaning.
Oh, how he wanted to say yes.
“Why?” He whispered instead, knowing full well he'd let Mike do it no matter the answer he gave.
It terrified him. Mike could tell him it was out of pity. That he was trying to prove that he wasn't really gay. That he just thought it’d be funny.
And Will was going to say yes.
And Mike was a lot of things. He rarely took hints, he was oblivious, he was reactive, but he was never cruel.
“Uh. Call it an extremely codependent best friend thing where if you do something I have to do it too?”
“Mike-”
“Sorry. I'm panicking. I'm really bad at first kisses.”
“You don't-”
“Please kiss me. I really want to kiss you. Like so bad. I’m sorry I'm stupid and didn't realise.”
“Didn't realise...”
“Why I can't take my eyes off of you. Why I feel sick to my stomach when you're in pain. Why I don't want anyone else to touch you.” His eyes flickered to meet Will’s. Will couldn't breathe. “Why I was so fucking starstruck when you used your powers at the MAC-Z. I- me too. I have a crush on you too.”
If Will thought too hard about Mike’s words, he’d probably end up in tears. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Mike’s.
For a second, it was weird.
Mike’s lips were cold from the Upside Down air. His hands were shaking against Will’s cheek. Both of them were half frozen.
And then Mike let out a shaky gasp, warm air rushing out of his mouth and into Will’s.
Holy shit.
Will parted his lips just slightly and Mike seemed to take it as a go ahead to actually kiss him.
His hand tightened on the side of his face, holding him steady as their lips slid together.
Will’s head spun.
It felt so good.
He hadn’t imagined it could actually feel like this, but the way their lips dragged together had Will’s heart working over time.
“Woah!”
They pulled apart, turning towards the ladder in time to see the top of Robin’s head disappearing.
“What?” Nancy’s voice called out.
Mike let out a little laugh, his hand grabbing Will’s.
“Nothing! Just, I need a second, is all!” Robin called out.
“We’re almost to the platform,” Nancy argued.
“Yeah, but, uh-”
“We should go,” Will said softly, letting his fingers tangle with Mike’s. “Can we talk more about this later?”
“After we finish saving the world,” Mike teased, smiling softly. His cheeks were red, eyes a bit glassy.
He looked really pretty.
Will wanted to draw him.
“Come on,” Will said, getting to his feet and pulling Mike with him.
“Seriously, Robin, it’s two more steps!”
“I know, just, uh.”
“Is something happening?”
“An avalanche, I’m pretty sure!”
Mike’s brows furrowed in confusion.
Will let out a laugh.
He hadn’t felt this much hope in years.